Uncle Jo-Jo comes to Florida.

What a fun filled week-end! Jillian (well to be honest all of us) was beyond excited that Uncle Jo-Jo was coming all the way from Virginia to see us. On Friday Jillian and Uncle Jo-Jo were able to spend some quality one on one time together they went to the mall and then to the park. On Saturday Joey came along with Jillian and I for a birthday party at Monkey’s Joes jump house and had a blast, it was fun to see the two of them together and loving every minute. On Sunday the family all went out on Poppas' boat to go fishing. Even though the fish were not biting we still had a nice relaxing time before Uncle Jo- Jo had to catch his flight back to cold snowy Virginia later that evening. Thanks for coming to see us Joey we all love and miss you!

When Daddy Is Away The Girls Will Play. Part 2

On Sunday we slept in till 7:15...WOW if you know anything about our little Princess~Jillian Grace, you know that, thats late for her. We woke up had a nice relaxing morning and then headed to Orlando to see Jillian’s God Mother Amanda Wiley. Glen and I have known Amanda going on 8 years now, she is a great friend and we all love and adore her. Amanda is due to have a baby (it’s going to be a surprise) in May and we could not be more excited for her and her husband Frank. During our visit, Amanda took us to a fun doggie park (Jillian loves dogs) and water park, the weather was beautiful, Jillian had a blast playing in the water.

When Daddy Is Away The Girls Will Play! Part 1

Glen had a birthday party to go to in Miami (Happy 30th Tyson) so he was gone most of Saturday and Sunday. Jillian and I made some fun plans of our own and hit the road ourselves. Saturday we hooked up with Lindy and Macy Moore and went to Sea World (surpise~surprise), Jillian and Macy decided not to nap and so we spend a good 5-6 hours at Sea World having lots of fun. On our way home both girls crashed, I was able to bring Jillian in the house, wash her up, get her in her pajamas, put on her night time pull-up and put her to bed without her wakening up…now can you say WIPED OUT :-).

Valentine's Day

Happy belated Valentine’s Day to everyone! The Gause family had a nice day. Jillian had a Valentines party in the morning then we went to see daddy at work to bring him some yummy treats. In the evening, Glen and I went out to the Van Halen concert, which was more fun than I thought it would be. I don't know why I wouldn't think it would be fun, but I alway have fun when I go out with my Valentine...I love you honey! It was a great Valentines date. Ti Ti Martha and Tio Jon came over to hang out with Jillian for the night. They were Jillian’s 1st ever babysitters (outside of family) and Jillian had a blast. She was so excited and so amped up that she did not go to bed until 11:30, and do you think she would sleep in???? NOOO Mommy’s little Valentine woke up with the sun at her normal 6:15 time.

Two Little Monkeys' Jumping In The Crib!

Jillian and Baby Sam have become very close friends over the past 6 months. We get to play with Sam on Mondays and Tuesdays, Jillian wakes up in the morning asking to play with baby Sam, she calls him her little buddy. Now that Jillian is no longer napping she likes to come with me to wake Sam up from his morning nap, Sam also enjoys having Jillian wake him up. When he sees her he jumps right up ready to play. I cannot begin to tell you how thrilled I am that Sam and Jillian love each other as much as they do. Sam's Mom Erin and I went to high school together, Erin, Glen and I all worked together and Erin was my Maiden of Honor in my wedding, so as you can tell Erin is a close friend of ours.

IPEZ

Jillian along with two friends Preston and Wyatt went to IPEZ on Friday. Ipez is a fun indoor facility for kids like Jillian, Preston and Wyatt because they love jumping, climbing, sliding as well as all the fun obstacles courses. It’s a great place to go when the weather is yucky.

Orlando Science Center

The weather was kind of rainy on Thursday so we decided to go to the Orlando Science Center this morning. We met up with Ava Colet, one of Jillian’s friends for a play date. The girls don’t really get to see each other as much as they would like so getting them together is always a nice treat. Jillian was super excited to ran around and show Ava all the fun things there is to do at OSC.
Because Jillian has chosen to take a later (NOT LONGER) nap we were able to stay at OSC until 2:00, I thought for sure Jillian would nap on the way home but……NOOOO! When we got home we went up for a nap and for the second time this week she was not tired and therefore did not want to nap, after 45 minutes of trying I told her it would be okay for her rest time to be over, she was showing no signs of wanting or needing a nap :-{ . I believe she is starting to wean herself from her naps (my only 45 minute break), however having said that Jillian is really getting into independent play, she willingly goes to her room and plays or reads books which, is very nice for all involved.

Lake Lilly Park

When I first moved to Florida, I lived with my cousins in Maitland, where I soon discovered Lake Lilly Park. Still to this day (20 years later), Lake Lilly remands my favorite park. Yesterday daddy was not feeling well so I decided to take Jillian to feed the birds, ducks and turtles. We spent nearly 2 hours there having such a great time interacting with all the very (almost too) friendly animals, playing on the playground and running on the bridge. As no surprise Jillian had no fear, in fact she was encouraging the birds and ducks to come closer as she feed them by hand.