Life's happenings!

I haven't written in a while, but October wasn't really a very eventful month. A couple of things have happened as of late that I wanted to document, though.

The first two are Anna-related (as is all of life nowadays). The first is that my sweet girl turned six months this past week!

Oh how I love her. Watching her learn something new every day is so amazing. She is already learning to pull herself up, and can get all the way to her knees! Before we know it she will be all over the place, and it will be all I can do to keep her out of anything and everything. Even though I love watching her grow, I know these days of being able to cuddle her and call her my sweet little baby won't last forever, and I will miss them so much when they are over. :(

Anna is also getting her first tooth! We were sitting in church the other day and I noticed something sharp on her bottom gum, so I tried for about half an hour to see past her tongue and lip, which is always very difficult. Sure enough, there is a little white point about to break through her gum! It explains why she's been so fussy the past few days, too. I'm still waiting for it to break through the gum, but I'm so excited to see how cute she looks with one little tooth! :)

Finally, the ice cream shop closed for the season! Last Saturday was our last day, and we got to close at 4:00 because we sold out of ice cream early! We've been excited for this day to come, and now we have five months of freedom ahead of us. :) I don't hate work by any means, but it will be very nice to be able to stay home and spend some time with my sweet baby. I definitely don't want to have a mobile baby in the office either, at least until I have time to babyproof it. ;) I'm ready for my winter, especially my baby's first Christmas. :)

Such are the goings-on in the Gillis family. Here is my amazingly cute picture of Anna:

She wants so hard to climb out of her playpen. Thankfully, I think she has a little while to go. :) Till the next time!


  1Thessalonians 5:16-18: Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

Our spontaneous family beach trip!

On Sunday, Andrew and I woke up thinking we were going to go to church. As I was getting dressed, we were discussing the idea of perhaps taking a day trip to the beach. By the time I had all of my church clothes on, we had decided to go to Wilmington for the day. I changed clothes, we packed Anna a diaper bag for the day, and off we went.

Our first stop was the Oceanic Restaurant. This is our go-to place in Wilmington. We've eaten there twice before and this time we had lunch. It was a gorgeous day; not too windy, nice and warm, and clear skies. It was a terrific meal, view, and time together.

We love the panorama feature on Andrew's new phone, by the way! :) While we were at lunch, I checked my Facebook and saw a picture my mom had posted of the battleship in Wilmington. I called her and we discovered that she was only 20 minutes away! We met in the parking lot for a few minutes, since we were in a hurry to get home (which will be explained momentarily).

Andrew's parents had gone to North Myrtle Beach for the weekend, so we called them on the way to see how they were doing. Rena mentioned that they had their room for one night longer than they could stay, and offered it to us. This would mean going home, packing a bag for two nights, sleeping one night on the sleeper sofa in the room, and then having the room to ourselves the next night. While we were at lunch, we decided to go for it. We drove home after meeting my mom and packed in a hurry, and then made off for Myrtle Beach.

We stayed that night on the pull out couch in John and Rena's hotel room. Anna, for some reason, did not want to sleep by herself. She woke up at 11:30 and after about three hours, I gave up trying to get her to sleep in her bed and snuggled up with her between Andrew and I. Not very comfortable for me, but I do love snuggling my sweet pea. :)

On Monday, we spent time in the hotel room in the morning before we headed out for lunch. We drove down Ocean Blvd. for a little while until we found a little restaurant on the pier. We ate lunch, which was simple but very good!

 

After lunch, John and Rena had to go back to the hotel room and pack up to go home. Andrew and I hung out in the hotel room for most of the afternoon. We went for a drive around supper time, and ended up going to a restaurant called Damon's for dinner. Last time we visited Damon's, Anna refused to let me stop walking and it was not a very enjoyable time. Thankfully she was good this time, especially because it was pouring and it would not have been fun to walk her around outside. We went back to our hotel and went to bed; Anna was good, mostly. She woke up once around 12:00 but (miraculously) went back to sleep in her own bed. She woke up at 6:30, but I suppose I can't complain too much. ;)

Today (Tuesday) was our last day.We had planned on going to play mini golf, but it was cold and drizzling, so we passed on that plan. Instead, Andrew decided it would be fun to take the Southport Ferry to Ft. Fisher and go to the NC Aquarium. 

Anna really liked the ferry! She loved watching the water go by, and the people in the car next to us loved watching her. ;)

The aquarium was (for me, anyway) the highlight of the whole few days. I always love going, and I loved watching Anna look at the fish! She's starting to get the age where she's interested in the things around her more, and she liked watching the big fish swimming by!

We also took a wonderful family picture:

I love that so much <3 I remembered that Andrew and I took a day trip to the aquarium last summer, and we took a picture in the window of one of the tanks. I saw that same window today and just knew that we had to have another picture! It is so amazing to see how much we can grow in such a short time.

That was our vacation! I enjoyed having some time to spend with my wonderful family, and I am so thankful that the Lord gave us this opportunity! I know I'm posting late, but I am now nursing Miss Fussy-baby-that-doesn't-want-to-stay-asleep for the first time tonight, so we'll see how much longer I'm awake tonight. :P Heh heh, I love her so much.

I'll post this last picture: I loved this fish! I didn't see him the first time I walked by his tank, but I did a double take and noticed him blending in to the rock! He is such a good hider! I marvel at the expertise and perfection with which God created all of His creatures. :)

So thankful for all of the opportunities and blessings the Lord sends my way. :)

Psalm 107:1 Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever!

The happenings of life!

Life in the Gillis household has been going on much as usual the past week or so. Bruno is adjusting well to his new home, apart from his insatiable urge to chase the poor cat all around the house. Andrew and the other farm men are in a bit of a lull at the moment; they just finished harvesting corn and now they're waiting for the next busy period in which they will plant wheat and cut soybeans.

I had a major farm milestone yesterday:

I finally rode a horse! I had been wanting to ride for a long time, but I my midwife forbade me from riding while I was pregnant, and I haven't had time since Anna was born. Yesterday, the family who cares for the animals on the farm threw a birthday party for their daughter, Katerina. Katerina LOVES horses and goes riding here pretty much every Sunday, so today I asked if I could go along. I fed Anna and left her in Daddy's supervision, and then off we went. We had a bit of a scare when Colonel David (that's the horse's name) got his bridle stuck around his leg and I had to jump off, but after that it was smooth sailing. Well, maybe smooth isn't the word for it. It was so much fun, but it does make your tailbone sore after a while! :)

Anna has been sitting up all by herself lately, and she is so proud of herself! After I dismounted yesterday, I sat her in the grass and let her play. She enjoyed herself a lot!

I still can't get over how beautiful she is. :)

For the past few months, I've been working on trying to get her to drink from a bottle so that Mommy and Daddy could go out for a night. We've tried this before, but it led to much crying, a very frustrated Granddaddy and Grandma, and Mommy and Daddy having to leave the movie right when it was getting to the good part. :P Anna doesn't quite get the concept of a bottle. She loves it, but not for the right reasons. She liked to throw it around, get milk in her hair, and do everything except drink out of it.

Oh, well. Maybe we'll go out after she weans. ;)

That's all for now. In the blink of an eye she'll be crawling and I'll be chasing her all over the place! See you then!

2 Corinthians 13:14 The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.