Merry Christmas!

Christmas for us start on the 20th with Zach's family (laura, peter, abbie, amy and steve). Laura picked up Bean early and babysat the whole day while Zach and I worked. Then when we got there we opened presents and Bean had a great time. I don't remember getting as many presents as the two girls made out with!


Check out pictures here:

Christmas Pictures

Pictures!

Zach and I finally found time to take Gillian to get her 1 year/ christmas pictures this morning. She did a great job and we got some great pictures. I forked the extra five dollars to have them online so I can post them. I ended up buying a lot which I am excited about. Me and Zach jumped in for one picture so I get another family one which is exciting. Other than that Gillian is doing great with the walking. She still prefers to crawl when she wants to get somewhere quickly, but Zach and I promote the walking as much as possible. She will stand on her own for long periods of time and will even get up in a sitting postion which to me is very exciting.

WE ARE WALKING!!!!

On Thankgiving Gillian took her first step (well it was actually four)!!! We thought it was a crazy flook, but it turns out she has finally learned that she can walk with no ones help. Within the last three days she went from a couple of steps to walking the leghten of her bedroom. Zach and I are THRILLED!!!! We are so excited. We sit on the floor with her and let her walk from one to the other for an hour. I am so proud of her! Here is a short clip I took on Sunday.

5 generations

We went to see Zach's great grandma on her birthday. Including Gillian and Abbie, there were five generations there which is amazing. We had cake and I met some of Zach's family that I have never met before. Me and Laura were good sports about the children being passed off : ) It was a pleasent visit and I was happy that I got some pictures taken.

Gillian's Birthday Party

We had a blast at Godfathers for Bean's party. We ate pizza and cake and I opened presents since Bean was more interested in eating it then actually looking at them. She got some great gifts. She also got her own cake that she played in and let Zoey play in as well. Overall it was a success and it was great seeing everyone there for her!

Halloween Part Two

I have been so busy lately (and so tired) that I have slacked on updating and I am very sorry for that. These are pictures for Halloween that I never got to put up. Zoey came over for her halloween present and then we went down and spent the night with Adam, Anthony, and Amanda. We had a lot of fun and it was a blast trick-or-treating with Bean. I can't believe how much candy she (well Zach) got!



Trick or Treating!

At Q's mom's house

Zoey in her costume!!!

Happy First Birthday Gillian Claire Cochran!

Two Days Old!!!


Today!!!!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

Gillian's First Halloween

Ghost Poop!

I have gotten a few request for my Ghost Poop receipe so I decided to put it on here.

Ingredients
8-8 1/2 c. Rice Chex
2 sticks butter, melted (do not use corn oil butter)
12 oz. Real chocolate chips
1 c. Creamy peanut butter (I am kinda generous on this because I love peanut butter)

Directions Melt butter, chips and peanut butter over medium heat. Put Chex in large pan or bowl. Pour melted mixture over Chex and fold to coat well. Take 2 large ziplock bags and divide a package of powdered sugar in them. Pour half of the mixture into both bags and shake like mad. Lay out on a baking pan to cool off. Looks and feels like puppy chow. Stores very well!

I hope you enjoy!

Monster Bash 2008

Saturday we went to my work's annual Halloween Party. It was blast! I was very impressed with the decorations and the food. Everyone showed up in a costume and people brought wonderful Horrordierves. Someone made fingers and I made Zach try one cause I couldn't bring myself to it! The unrnal cakes though were good and the Pumpkin cheese cake was AMAZING!!! I made Ghost Poop and took items from around my apartment to make a great display. There were even a couple of Jack O Laterns. Everyone loved Gillian's costume. Overall we had a blast! What a great time. I can't wait till next year! If you want to see more of the party ecspecially the amazing decorations head over to HalloweenMaven. But here are a couple:

New Restaurant Experience

We went to the City Market and had lunch at BO Lings. Though Gillian was fed her normal fruit and veggie baby food she still wanted some more. So I gave her some of my rice and the string carrots they put for decorations. She was having a blast! She would use her tiny cute fingers to pick up the rice and then look at us and smile. When she put it in her mouth she would clap and then squeal. What a ham!!!! She is just to cute!

The American Royal

Gillian went to her first American Royal over the weekend. Grandpa and Grandma Dunn were competing in several horse shows and so we went to see them. It was a lot of fun and only I would be the one to find a giraffe at a country west show! They had a petting zoo with what they called "exotic animals" and they had a zebra, giraffe, kangaroo, and a camel. I was dying laughing when my sister tried to have Zoey feed a goat and the goat took the whole cup of seeds and ran away. The giraffe unfortunately was not letting anyone feed it so my dream of feeding and petting a giraffe is still just a dream. The Budweiser Clydesdale's were there and also a ton of booth to shop at. We did not get to see Glenna or Dad compete because the schedule is so far behind that it would have been hours and with babies that is a long time to wait. But none the less it was still a great time. Zoey was not afraid of any horse and ran right up to them. Everyone was a great sport. Who knows, maybe in a few years we will be there to watch Bean or Zoey compete in their own show. I mean they are getting a pony next summer.

Some News

I found out recently that starting November I will only be working Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. This is due to the economy and the state that it is in right now. It will only be temporay (that is what I am told). At first I was taken aback by the news and really didn't know how to respond. Of course my first thought was money. After that shock it went from Gillian-daycare-gas-then back to money. I am going to take this journey with a smile for now. This will mean I get to spend Tuesday and Thursday with my Bean and that excites me very much. I don't feel I get enough time with her as it is. I have to talk to the daycare today to see if they will allow me to place her as part time instead of full time. If they will allow this most of my worries will be calmed. It also means that I have more time to clean and do my wifely duties. I don't have to drive anywhere I don't want to and also I can schedule appointments. So for now I am happy about this and hope that it will all work out. I guess we will see!

11 Months Old!

Happy 11months! Only one more month to the BIG 1!!! lol

And Gillian felt she deserved a treat so she got up and reached for her snacks and helped herself. Little Stinker...

Maybe Im not suppose to do this...

HAHA I will anyways!!!

Victory is mine!!!!

Powell Gardens

Sunday evening we went down to Powell Gardens for their annual Jack o Latern event. It was beautiful. I have never been there before and I was amazed. They had a scarecrow garden where there were about 20 different scarecrows and you could vote for your favorite. Then along the paths they had Jack O Laterns all along the way all lit up and pretty. It was very pretty and we really enjoyed it. I think this will have to become a tradition. Ohh and the exhibit they had going on down there was the Chapungu. They had stone statues everywhere and they were very interesting. I really liked the family oriented ones and of course the music ones. Thank you to HalloweenMaven for such a great suggestion! http://halloweenmaven.blogspot.com/

Finally I got to go to the Pumpkin Patch!

So after waiting my turn I was able to go to the Pumpkin Patch. It was nice but I agree with Ziggy and I think it would be more enjoyable for everyone when Gillian is older. We did a lot there and we even took a hay ride to the pumpkin patch and that was new for everyone. Overall I liked it and the weather was awesome. Gillian really likes to be outside and watch everything and everyone. Just like her mommy.