Happy Birthday!

October is a big month for my family and birthdays, considering that my two favorite men in the entire world have birthdays two days apart! And yes this post is a little outdated!!
My Dad's Birthday was October 12. Last year my dad was here for his birthday but since I can't travel any more we had to celebrate over the phone. Happy Birthday Dad! I love you and hope you enjoyed your book. I can't wait for you to share it with the baby in a few weeks.

October 14 was Jarod's 29th Birthday! I can't believe it! The first birthday of his that we celebrated was 15. Wow, how time flies!! This was the birthday that nothing would come together though so it ended up being pretty low key and it wasn't lack of trying.
First, the Cubs made it to the play offs! That was the exciting news the bad news was that I had an in on tickets for Jarod's birthday but the Cubs got swept in three games and didn't make it far enough for us to go. I was so disappointed! I thought that would be the best gift and even bought him a new Cub's T-shirt to wear to the game. I ended up giving him the T-shirt but it wasn't nearly as exciting without the tickets.
After the Cubs tickets were a flop, I moved on to football tickets. Jarod and I have hit a new football stadium every year for the last few years taking in some college football games. I decided that it would be fun to take him to the Iowa- Wisconsin game this year. I have been working on tickets for a while and thought it was a done deal until two days before the game when I found out that our connection fell through. Strike 2.
So to make a long story short we ended up going to the Country Music Fest and seeing Taylor Swift, Cross Canadian Ragweed and a few other bands. We had a great time!
So Happy Birthday to my dad and Jarod! The best dad and husband a girl could ever ask for. I love you both!

The City of Brotherly Love

A few months ago, I was notified that I won a CIGNA Quarterly Champion Award for my Walk the Talk program. For being a winner I got to attend the CIGNA award ceremony in Philadelphia the first week of October. Jarod has school on Monday nights so he wasn't able to go with me. When I called to tell CIGNA this they told me that I could bring anyone from any where in the country. I was so excited that my mom got to attend with me!! They actually flew her in early to Chicago for the weekend and we flew together to Philadelphia.

There was about 150 people there that won awards through out the year. The evening started out by announcing the Quarterly Champion Winners and at the end of the night they announced the BIG Annual Award Winners. I was shocked to say the least when they called my name!! It is the biggest honor you can achieve at CIGNA and I was very humbled to receive it. Here is me posing with my two Tiffany awards. I wish the were jewelry not crystal awards but I am not complaining :)

The next day, my mom and I took in the sites of Philadelphia. We did the hop on hop off bus tour and saw all the history that the city had to offer. It was really neat to see the Liberty Bell, Independence Hall and the famous Rocky steps.

We had a great time in Philadelphia but the highlight for me was having my mom in Chicago with Jarod and me. We were busy all weekend getting the nursery together and making lots of fun stuff for the baby. Actually my mom all the stuff while I watched. She is so talented! I will have to post some of the stuff she made. It is so cute! We had the best time!!

Saying good bye in the Philadelphia airport was very hard for me this time. You would think that I was new to all of this living away from home stuff but the last few times have been harder and harder. I miss my mom so much and it is hard to live away from her! She is such an amazing person and I feel so lucky to have her as my mother. I can only hope that I can be as good as mom as she is. I have such a wonderful teacher and look up to her in so many ways. I love you mom and can't wait to see you again in a few weeks when our baby decides to come. Let's just hope the little one cooperates and knows that it needs to wait for his Mama to get here because I will need my mom!!!

My Cute Nephews

I was so excited to be home to see my nephews!! They are so cute and I enjoy them so much. I hadn't seen Boden since he was born so he had changed a lot.
I know that my baby and these two boys will be the best of friends. Every time I held Boden my baby would kick and move around a lot. Michael was really funny when I was home as well. He always wanted to say hi to my baby and was constantly patting my belly and wanting to see my belly. I felt a huge connection between my baby and the boys like nothing I have ever felt before. I can't wait to watch them grow up together.

Boden is the sweetest baby I have ever met! He is so warm and has such a sweet presence about him. You can't help but fall in love with this little guy.

You can tell that Michael and him are brothers but Boden definitely has his own look about him.

He is such a happy and content baby and loves to cuddle! So I took every opportunity that I could to cuddle with him.

Check out those eye lashes!!! He was talking to Lacy in this picture. He is just too sweet.

I LOVE these three pictures of Michael. He is so funny!! He never hold still and is constantly going but he loves to look at his magazines. They are adds from Toy R Us and he can look at them for hours. I love his serious eye brows. He is so interested in what he is looking at.

Michael is ALL boy. He loves his trucks, cars. Lego's and trains but he hates when the train comes by the house and blows it's horn. It is pretty upsetting to him and he hides between your legs or climbs up on top of you and pats you on the back and tells you it's ok. I think that is his way of reassuring himself.

It is hard living so far away from the boys. I miss them so much! I can't wait to see them next time and introduce them to their new cousin.

Lacy's Senior Pictures

Wow! My baby sister is a senior. How fast time goes by. It seems like just yesterday that this little girl was born and changed my life forever. Lacy was born premature and the first day of her life was quite a traumatic one for all of us. I remember everything so vividly from that day and I know that it is a memory that will last with me forever. I remember the look of concern on my dad's face when he brought her out after the delivery. I remember seeing my mom sob, which I had never seen before, but mostly I remember thinking how special this little baby was to all of us and how badly I hoped that she would make it.

The first day was really touch and go with Lacy. I remember my dad taking us for a drive telling us that sometimes babies came into this world only to get a body before they returned to Heavenly Father and those were the really special babies. He told us that Lacy might be one of those very special babies. It was a day of numerous prayers and blessings for our little girl.

When we got back to the hospital, they let us go in as a family to say our good byes to my baby sister just in case she didn't make it through the night. I remember walking into the room and circling her with all of us. I was on her left side and got up close to her face. We couldn't hold her but I started touching her hand and fingers. I kept my hand over hers and I remember she grasped my finger and wouldn't let go. She had such strength and I could feel it. It was in that moment that I knew that my little sister was going to make it and she has had me wrapped around her little finger ever since.

Lacy stayed in the NICU for a long time and my mom and dad ran back and forth between the hospital and home so my mom could feed her. They would always take one of us with them and we would rotate through the other four of us at home. The day that Lacy came home from the hospital happened to be my day to go with my parent to the hospital. When we arrived, they asked us if we had brought the car seat. We looked at each other but were weary to get our hopes up. We told them yes. (We had the car seat in the car the entire time waiting for this day.) They told us we better go and get it this baby was going home today. We were so excited!! I remember my dad and I getting in the elevator and literally jumping up and down with excitement. I don't think I have ever seen my dad so happy or relieved than he was in that moment. I got to help bathe and dress her and we got to take our little miracle baby home.

What a blessing Lacy has been in our family. This picture captures so much of who she is to me. She is laid back and goes with the flow. She is so easy to get along with and so tender hearted. She is a wonderful friend, daughter, sister and aunt. She is quick to laugh and loves to have fun but mostly she is my little sister who I love very much! Love you Lacy!

Grandma's 70th Birthday!

For my Grandma's 70th Birthday, I flew home to spend the weekend in McCall with all the girls and the babies in the family. The weekend started out great! The cabin was beautiful! Friday we went to My Father's Place for lunch, hit all the cute little shops and took all the kids down by the lake to play. The night ended with a late night of playing cards as usual!!
They had a huge swing on the front porch that all the kids loved. Here are a few of them. Michael, Lacy holding Boden, Madden, Lexie and McCoy.

On Saturday it was raining but that was ok we had planned on spending the day making all of our crafts- a Gill tradition. Here is Ash working on her adorable quilt. She kept saying she was tired, little did we know......

My mom and Grandma made PJ's for everyone! Even a pair of maternity ones for me. This was my mom's last pair and I think she was done sewing for the day :)

On Saturday night we celebrated my Grandma's Birthday. Ash made her this beautiful cake and it was so good as well!! And then we opened presents.

My Grandma got lots of fun gifts and one not so fun one. Earlier in the week, the flu had been going around the family. Em stayed home with her kids because they were both sick so we thought we were ok. Not the case at all.

Heidi and Michelle playing cards or hiding from the germs, take your pick!

Ash and Lacy got it first! Poor Lacy was really sick as you can tell from this picture. She loves this picture by the way. It brings back such fun memories! Anyway, they got sick on Saturday night. Later Lexie and Heidi came down with the flu. Michael and Boden got it on Saturday night as well. Next it was my mom's turn on Sunday morning. I thought I was going to make it but nope Sunday afternoon I came down with it along with my poor grandma! That means every one of us that were at the cabin got sick who had not had it the week before. Let me tell you how fun that was with two bathrooms at the cabin and a bunch of sick people! We all left pretty early on Sunday morning, thanks goodness since mine hit Sunday afternoon. We tried to stay away from the guys but sure enough my dad, Ty and Jim Miller all got sick on Monday and Tuesday. This was the most contagious flu ever!

So Happy 70th Grandma!! It will be one that none of us will ever forget!

Em tagged me!

1o years ago I...
1- I was 19
2- Just started my second year at BSU
3- Thought I was going to be a radiologist
4- Worked as much as possible to save money to go to California to see Jarod
5- Was missing Jarod with him in CA and me in Boise

5 things on my "to do" list today (or tomorrow...)
1- Get some sleep!
2- do some laundry
3- Clean my house
4- unpack from Philadelphia
5- Catch up on my blog

5 Snacks that I enjoy...
1- Hummus
2- chocolate
3-frozen grapes- a big craving!
4-granola bars
5- fresh fruit

5 things I would do if I were a millionaire...
1- Travel to all the places that I want to go
2- buy a bigger house but still in downtown
3- help my family out
4- Buy a private jet so I could fly back and forth between Idaho and here or have my family come out whenever
5- Move abroad for a while

5 places I have lived...
1- Boise, Id
2- Redlands, CA
3- La Mesa, CA
4-San Diego, CA
5-Chicago, IL

5 jobs I have had...
1- CIGNA
2- American Specialty Health
3- Health Net
4- Euro Magnet
5- Nanny
I tag whoever wants to have a little fun since most of you have already done this!