Lilli's 1/2 Birthday

Yeah, our not so little Lilliann is almost a 1/2 a year old! Just to think about how much she has changed in the last 6 months and where she will be in the next 6 amazes me! She has been very busy lately GROWING, learning new things and making new friends.

This is Lilli with her cousin Cruz. Although she is all about him he is not so sure of her! Cruz was born in April so he is almost 3 months older then Lilli. I know size wise it is very hard to tell. Currently they are both in 12 month clothing! (just for the record her bib says "little girl BIG attitude" the attitude also seems to be growing!)

This is her newest friend Layla. Layla is 2 months old and lives in Texas. She was visiting Ohio for the holidays. She is actually Lasha's niece! Layla is smaller at 2 months then Lilli was the day she was born. (I'm not joking) The difference in the size of their hands gives it away! You have to love the hair! That by the way seems to be the only thing on Lilli that is not growing! She goes for her well check on Tuesday so I will post an update on her height and weight then! But until then a sneak peek at whats to come in another 6 months............

TA-DA

A PRINCESS party what else would you expect! (yes I am already in the planning stages of a party 6 months away, we are talking about me!) I bought this dress for her in October it's an 18 to 24 month. Lets cross our fingers and pray that with the way shes been growing she does not outgrow it before then! Ben is fighting me on the princess theme but it is so appropriate. It's not just that she is our only daughter she is also the only granddaughter! That has to at least make her a princess by default right? Not to mention that since Nathan and Lilli will be having their parties together he has the option of a prince, a knight, or even a king and you know Ben has no problem with that!!!

Happy 1/2 Birthday Lilli! you have filled our lives with such joy! We love you!
p.s. Don't worry you will always be your daddy's little princess even if he doesn't admit it!

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Jarrett Family Christmas 2008

Henry, Peg, Ben, Me with Lilli, Matt, Amber, Craig, Kelly, Christian with Cruz, and in the front Bryan with Nathan & Tressel. Missing from the picture is Becky who lives in California and will be visiting in January. And Kitty and Gregg who were unable to join us because they just added a new member to the family...

Jack Dylan. (congratulations!)

Our family had a wonderful Christmas again this year! We spent the day in Columbus at Bryan and Matt's house. We opened gifts had an amazing dinner and then the fun and games began. It started with wii bowling and Mario cart and then a game of Euchre all while you were dodging darts from the Nerf Guns! I wish I had some pictures to share but it was far to dangerous to snap any while holding Lilli! (according to the princess putting her down was not an option!) While sorting through the pictures today most of which Nathan snapped, I did come across this! Nathan and Uncle Bryan in true form! Nathan seems to have a very special bond with Uncle Bryan. I wish they lived closer! He was so excited to have a "sleepover" at their house. Two weeks ago when I told him we were going to stay the night at their house he went up to his room and then came downstairs with his Elmo backpack. When I asked him what was in it he told me he packed his suitcase for the sleepover. Curiosity of course got the best of me and when I looked inside I couldn't help but LAUGH! He had filled his bag with nothing but socks and underwear! He apparently planned on staying for quite a long time and although he would be wearing dirty clothes he would have clean socks and underwear!

THANKS BRYAN AND MATT FOR ANOTHER GREAT CHRISTMAS. EVERYTHING WAS WONDERFUL WE HAD A FANTASTIC TIME!

The Elf On The Shelf

Today we received a package in the mail addressed to Nathan and Lilli inside the box was an absolutely amazing book that I had once heard of a quite some time ago. It is about a little elf who visits your home every year around the Holidays. At night when everyone is sleeping the elf uses his magic and flies to the north pole to let Santa know if the children in the home have been naughty or nice. The next morning when the family awakes they must search the house to try and find where the elf is hiding for the day. Then on Christmas eve the elf returns to the North Pole to be with Santa and will not return to your home again until next year. The book came with this little elf whom we have named Alfred. Alfred made his first appearance today in our Christmas tree after Nathan got home from preschool. There was nothing else with the book the only address was the address of the company where it was shipped from. I am not sure who sent this wonderful gift but THANK YOU! I would highly recommend it for all families with young children who still believe. This book is the beginning of a wonderful Jarrett family Christmas tradition.

Christmas Pictures At JC Pennys

I took Nathan and Lilli for their annual Christmas pictures this past week and oh what a nightmare! I choose to use JC Pennys (opposed to Sears) since they had impressed me by doing a great job on Nathan's 4 year old pictures and Lilli's 6 week pictures, I'm not saying it was a bad choice but simply bad timing. Our appointment was at 6:40 a good hour before our "little flowers" cranky time which would have been great if the studio had not been running an hour behind. We went back for pictures shortly before 8:00 and were out out the door at 8:16. This was not because Lilli had become cranky but because the photographer was cranky! She had clearly had a long day and just wanted to go home (as did the rest of us!) This led to her being inpatient and uncreative and it showed in almost all the pictures! These are the only ones that were somewhat cute. I called the store after several days of stewing over the terrifying photo shoot. I was impressed by their desire to make things right. We went back in tonight (again at 6:40) for retakes and the pictures turned out adorable. The photographer was patient, creative and actually listened to my request! She worked hard to make the kids smile and just kept snapping until she captured their personality's with big grins and bright eyes! Thanks to her I will continue to use JC Pennys and will now have some really cute Christmas gifts from Nathan and Lilli!

The Results Are In

Our Christmas tree is up and if I must say so, it looks amazing! There is a bit of an imbalance when it comes to the decorations. Most of them seem to be on the lower level of the tree while the top has a few sporadic bare spots. I told Nathan that the bottom looked better because he decorated it , which is true. I just didn't tell him that it was because he hoarded all the ornaments! I can only imagine how great it will look when Lilli is old enough to have an opinion on where everything should go! All in all, I'll take the imperfect, imbalanced tree every year for as long as I can. Someday, all to soon my children will grow up and I will miss that "perfectly" imbalanced tree!

Sorry we did not get more pictures they were all blury. I will get some more with both Nathan and Lilli Soon!

Christmas Tree Weekend!

That's right it is the Jarrett Family's Christmas tree weekend and Nathan is very excited! He has been asking me for a week now to decorate the house for Santa and today is the day! Nathan can not wait so right now I have to go to the attic and haul everything downstairs! This is my least favorite part, it falls in line right next to packing it all back up. Ben thinks we should wait another TWO WEEKS to put the tree up! How crazy is that, at that point why even bother! So today he snuck off to work leaving me, Nathan and Lilli to do as we please. He may have got out of hauling it all down but guess who's hauling it all back up! I'll take some pictures of our work in progress to share!

HELP WANTED!

As most of you know I have a very good friend named La Sha who I am always with. Which works out very well since her son and Nathan are the best of friends, at least most of the time! They share a very unique brotherly love where they are friends one minute and mortal enemies the next! (Since La Sha and I have words for everything we will call them frenemies!) La Sha in fact spends so much time at my house that she has acquired the nickname "squatter" from my husband! Lately La Sha has not been around nearly as much! She has been helping out another friend by caring for her two young children during the day. I do not mind sharing "my" La Sha with other people however we miss her! By we I do mean all of us, even my husband (although he will not admit it). Without "squatter" around he has to listen (or at least pretend to listen)to me talk endlessly about everything that I usually tell La Sha. Nathan will ask me daily where "Da Sha" is because no "Da Sha" means no Peyton and no Peyton means no fun! Then there is Lilli and well Lilli just misses her "Auntie La Sha", because she makes her laugh and paints her toenails! Charlie and Maggie even miss her because there are no extra hands to scratch them and now who are they suppose to lay by when they have to pass gas! Without La Sha around, our house is missing a great deal of LAUGHTER. (after all who else do you know who reenacts the clue movie so well!) I now have to post a wanted add in the news paper that will read as follows:

WANTED: A full time squatter

Must have the following qualifications:

• able to complete at least 85% of the OK Magazines crossword puzzle with minimal to no help from me
• be VERY competitive and enjoy playing scrabble and other random games
• like to watch Amazing Race, Survivor and Big Brother then compare notes
• capable of doing voice overs
• have a sharp eye for people watching
• have an outgoing personality with stalker like traits

You will only be considered for this position if you are able to multi task! You will need to be my right and left hand when mine are full! Must like the song currently playing called Pull shapes by the Pipettes and believe that it truly makes the world a happier place

Serious inquiries only

A Fantastic Frolic In The Fall

My favorite season is coming to an end and that means winter is just around the corner! This was once again another beautiful fall in Ohio. If you are not as fortunate as us to live in a place where you get see all the beautiful foliage don't worry we took tons of pictures. Nathan seems to be like me and loves the Fall. Every day he walks outside and picks up a handful of leaves and tells me "look mom it's fall again!" Lilli on the other hand is not loving the leaves in fact she hates them! When they are in a tree far away from her she will admire them but if one touches her she has a melt down. This made for some really interesting pictures! Here are just a few of our favorites from this years fall collection.

2008 Fall Collection

Something To Be Proud Of!

CONGRATULATIONS

After several weeks of hard work and being away from home, Ben Graduated from the State Fire Academy. He has now fulfilled his dream and is a full time firefighter! We are all very proud of you and all the goals you have set and accomplished. WAY TO GO!

Lilli Is 4 Months Old

WOW, Lilli has turned 4 months old! She is such a good baby! Her day pretty much consist of sleeping, eating, laughing, and non stop babbling. There is an occasional tummy ache or my teeth really hurt cry! But over all, we couldn't ask for a happier baby! She had her well check today and everything went great. She is an amazing 26 1/2 inches long and weighs in at 17lbs 15oz almost an even 18! The doctor said Lilli is in the 98th percentile for her weight and her height is off the charts! Her BIGGEST milestone this past month........

She's eating solid food! We are still working on the whole spoon thing but she's so smart I'm sure it will not take long!

An Uncanny Resemblance!

Lilli turned 4 months old Today! I will be posting a blog with some updated pictures on Tuesday after her well check. That way I can post all her current info at ounce. BUT...until then take a look at this! This is a Photograph of Lilli when she was six weeks old next to a Photograph of her Great Grandfather Merlin when he was around the same age in 1909! Is it just me or is there an incredible resemblance? Not only our their faces almost identical but look how long Merlins fingers are! Remind you of anyone?

Old Family Photographs

A Journey Back In Time

This weekend we had a wonderful visit with some cousins of ours, Dick & Mitzi. They came in to town for dinner and we had a chance to catch up and reminisce about old times. We were able to sit down and sort through a couple boxes of old family pictures. Dick and Mitzi were able to help us put names with the faces in the pictures. It helped us tremendously and we really appreciated it! We feel so fortunate to have these old family photos and we are glad to have someone able to help us sort through them. We learned some interesting things and heard some great family stories. We now know the difference between the black Scheids and the red Scheids! We came across some old postcards from the World Fairs Century In Progress Exposition that took place in Chicgao in the early 1930's. Mitzi shared a wonderful story about someone she knew going to the fair with her two younger siblings. They traveled to Chicago by train, stayed at a hotel for five days, ate, and went to the fair all for $12.00. What a true example of just how much things have changed through the years!

World Fair Century In Progress Expo early 1930's

Remembering

Merlin S. Scheid

November 10th 1909 - November 1st 2001

Seven years ago today we lost a very important member of our family, Grandpa Merlin Scheid. Grandpa Scheid was an amazing 92 year old man with the charisma and heart of someone half his age. He spent the majority of his life maintaining the home he purchased in the 1930's as well as farming the 100 acres of land that surrounded it. He was a hard working family man that was respected by all who knew him.

You are thought of often and we miss you greatly!

There's Work To Be Done

For the last couple of weeks we have awoke every morning to strangers loudly talking over the UN-ignorable sound of jackhammers, excavators, and dump trucks all around our house. (A perk to living on a corner!) My son whom of course is the only one amazed at the fact that we have a work sight in our front yard, continuously ask me what they are doing. After several days of no sleep, repeatedly explaining that they are laying new water lines and answering the question WHY over and over again it was time for a change! From that point on every time Nathatn would ask me what they were doing and why, I would simply reply "there's work to be done!" After this went on for a couple of days I found Nathan no longer glued to the front window of our house, instead he was always in the back yard. Every time I seen him he had out the same toys and was sitting in our gravel playing. After awhile I said to him "you must really be having fun playing!" At that point my witty and out-spoken 4 year old looked at me and boldly replied "I'm not playing, there's work to be done!"

Smile Maker

All of you that follow this blog know the story of Philip the monkey and how obsessed Nathan became with him. What many of you do not know is that after that he became obsessed with seeing himself and his artwork on the computer! He constantly wanted me to read blogs to him and post new ones all about him and all of his artwork. He began to realize that what is on the blog can be seen by all his favorite people even when they are not at our house! He thinks this is truly amazing and well needless to say Nathan now has his very own blog. A place where he can share his stories, adventures and showcase all of his artwork with a little help from me. His blog is titled "Nuttin But Nathan The world through the eyes of an amazing 4 year old" because everyone who knows Nathan knows just how amazing he really is! To get to his blog you can either scroll down this page and click the flashing button that reads "I'm Nuts About Nathan" or click this link and be sure to save it to your favoriteshttp://www.nuttinbutnathan.blogspot.com/ When you visit his blog you will definitely smile but most likely LAUGH believe me It will make your day. So in return make Nathans day, Nathan loves to hear all your comments about his stories and art so be sure post one or leave him a message in the message box at the bottom of his page! ENJOY!

LILLIANNS BAPTISM

Lilli was baptised on Sunday and everything went great! She was a blessing to us from the beginning and now we get to share her with her godparents Jenny and Joe! We could not be a more fortunate family! We have two wonderful children who were blessed with amazing godparents to stand beside them on their journey through life. Along with very special Grandparents, Great Grandparents and an amazing collection of Aunts and Uncles. Thank you to everyone who has been such an important role in the lives of our children! We greatly appreciate all of you.

What A Wonderful World!

Our Annual trip to the pumpkin patch was a success! We had so much fun feeding the goats, getting lost in the corn maze, playing in the apple orchard, going on a hay ride and of course picking pumpkins!

Nathans favorite part was riding the bike through the hay maze and picking pumpkins! If he would of had his way we would have most likely come home with over 100 pumpkins! Evey pumpkin seemed to be the perfect pumpkin! Lilli however just laid back and took it all in! The scenery the noise and all the new smells. Which were not always pleasant let me add! The weather was cool but sunny so over all it was a wonderful day!

Look Who's 3 Months Old !

Yes it's true our adorable little red head is already three months old! She has grown so quickly we're not sure where these last few months have went! At her last appointment on September 23rd she was already 15lbs and 6oz. She is so smart and strong she amazes us every day! She has already begun the modeling stage and loves to stick out her tongue when she sees you doing it! She's able to hold her head up so well that she can now play in her walker and her jumparoo! If you want to make her laugh all you have to do is bark and growl she thinks it's hysterical. She has a well check on Tuesday the 7th so check the message board on the bottom of the page to get an updated weight and a length!

Why Do We Say CHEESE, When Cheesy Is What We Get?

I have always thought that I was a very fortunate mother! My son and now daughter both have a big beautiful smile. You know how you always see those young children in photos who have that comical smile that you can't help but notice? My children have never had one of those smiles, unless of course they're just acting silly. Well that is until now! Nathan recently had his first school pictures taken and being a mother you have to order those! In doing so I realized that sometime between the age of 4 and 5 almost all children temporarily loose the ability to smile normal! This ailment seems to affect males more then females. So at this point I'm asking myself is there a cure? How long will this last? All of course while laughing and praying that Lilli does not come down with this strange disorder! ........Then again these are the pictures that high school graduations are made of!

Monkey Buisness

I'm sure that if you are trying to read this post you have been annoyed by the "pet" monkey climbing around our page! As most of you know I LOVE MONKEYS so I put him on the blog as an experiment. I was just curious, I wondered what he would do! Nathan however has become very fond of him. He has named him Phillip and insist that he is his pet! He now makes me log in frequently because "Phillip is hungry" and of course Nathan must feed him his bananas! I have been told that if I take him of the page he will be "SO ANGRY". And you guessed it, our house is ran by a 4 year old so the monkey stays! (at least until he looses interest or I convince him that Phillip needs to go back to the zoo with his other monkey friends! Where of course we'll go visit!) The picture below is a picture Nathan drew of Phillip. He told me he needed to hang it in his room so he could look at it "allllllll" night long and then he wouldn't have to keep coming downstairs!
Help us out when you visit, by clicking on the banana to feed Phillip or click on him to play!

He Earned His Masters!!!

Congratulations Henry!

You did it! Your hard work and dedication did not go unnoticed!

We all love you and are very proud of you and all you have accomplished!

Way to go!!!

In Loving Memory Of My Mother,

Theresa A. McClellan

August 21st, 1960 to September 21st, 2001

My mother was a unbelievably selfless person, who left us all way to soon. She dedicated her life to trying to make a difference. She spent years teaching visually impaired children, special needs children and even high school children who were labeled high risk. (expected to dropout) When she was not in a classroom full of children she was at home in a house full of children. Which may not seem unique to most until you realize that not one of those children belonged to her! My Mother and Father ran a foster home. A foster home that through the years lovingly cared for over 20 children. Together they changed the lives of every child who walked through their door. I can say this without doubt because I am one of those children! Although we miss her dearly we know that she is in a better place. And if I had to guess I would say God needed her in heaven to tame the unruly children! Mom you were an amazing woman who touched the lives and hearts of all children lucky enough to cross your path. We love and miss you!

On This Day In History

Gas Price Wars At Pumps 18th September 1956 : Many towns and cities across the US are seeing price wars in filling Stations with prices changing hourly by stations wishing to increase business, the prices during a price war can range between 24.6 cents per gallon and 30.2 cents per gallon. WHAT A DIFFERENCE 52 YEARS CAN MAKE!

GRANDPARENTS.
Few can bring the warmth we can find in their embrace and little more is needed to bring love than the smile on their face.
They've a supply of precious stories yet they've time to wipe a tear. Or give us reasons to make us laugh, they grow more precious through the years.
I believe that God sent us Grandparents as our legacy from above. To share the moments of our life as extra measures of his love.
~Author Unknown.~~

Nathan's Going To Pre School

Nathan started pre school and he loves it! He is going to the catholic school here in town. I can not beleive how eager he is to go each day! It took him a week to realize that the teacher had a name other than "teacher". Now he seems to have settled in and and gotten the hang of things. He is 44 inches tall now and outgrowing everything that he owns. He is happy go lucky most of the time but also has a temper that gets him in trouble!

Bens New Job

Ben loves his new job on the Fire Dept. The only bad part is he has not been able to spend much time with the family due to all the training. He should be finished with that by November though. Which doesnt seem to far away but to me and the kids it is an eternity! (Im begining to understand how single parents feel!)

Lilli's 2 Months Old Today

It is hard to believe that Lilli has already been with us for two months it went by so fast! She had a well check today and our 9lb 8 oz bundle of joy now weighs 14.2 and has grown 2 inches since birth. She is right on target for all her milestones and is able to hold her head up exceptionally well. These days she is full of smiles and loves to babble!