Happy Birthday Aunt Patti and Great Aunt Margie

We just wanted to wish Aunt Patti and Great Aunt Margie a very Happy Birthday! We hope you both have a wonderful day! We miss you and love you! Love Rob, Jill, Josh, Brad and Emmalee

We are going to have to make a birthday cake and celebrate all of these birthdays!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY AUNTIE JODIE!!!

We are a day early in America because it is still the 26th of January but it is the 27th in Holland. So here is wishing Auntie Jodie a very Happy **** Birthday! (I am being nice and not saying your age! Remember you always told me good things come is small packages... well good things get better with age also.) Today Emmalee is 16 weeks old and growing like a weed. She is rolling over on her own and reaching for everything. She loves to play (takes after her Mom) As you can see she also is taking after her Auntie Jodie... she likes to read. It has been a pretty uneventful week here, I am still getting use to working and not being home all of the time with her but it is getting better. Papa Jim, Nana Phyllis and Rob are going to work at Habitat for Humanity tomorrow...I would go but all of my babysitters will be working! Well that is it for now! Auntie Jodie we hope you have a very Happy Birthday! We love you very very very much and miss you!

Love always, Jill, Rob, Josh, Brad and Emmalee

In Loving Memory...

Ger van Arkel
26 july 1921- 23 january 2007

I am sad to say that my brother-in-laws father Ger van Arkel also know as Opa (Dutch for Grandpa) passed away on January 23, 2007. To all of you in Holland, please know our thoughts and prayers are with you. We love you and miss you. Opa will truly be missed. Love Papa Jim, Nana Phyllis, Rob, Jill, Josh, Brad and Emmalee.

You can see my sisters blog at http://vanarkel.web-log.nl/

Toys, Toys and more toys!

Okay, I promised I would update my blog more often so I am attempting to live up to my promise! = ) Emmalee has had a couple more 1st this week.

On Thursday night we were all over at Papa Jim and Nana's and Uncle Bruce was in town. We were all watching Emmalee play with Papa Jim on the floor. Then Emmalee decided she did not want to be on her back she wanted to be on her stomach, with out any help she rolled over for the first time... we all cheered and then she smiled. She is amazing!!!

We went yesterday in to my work for Jeanne's baby shower = Jeanne is a good friend of mine who does Animal Assisted Therapy with me, she is pregnant with twin boys! Emmalee enjoyed seeing everyone! Then we came home and Emmalee played in her new Exersaucer! She loved being able to be upright and play with all differnt things. She smiled and laughed a deep belly laugh!

Nana bought us a pot of tulips and we have been watering them as directed, we know have a beautiful bouquet of tulips in our kitchen. We have a taste of Holland!

Until next time, we love you all! Love Jill and family!

A Time for Firsts......

Happy New Year to everyone! We celebrated a very quiet New Year at home. Emmalee, Rob and I were actually in bed before midnight, but we were awake as 2007 arrived. . . For a place where fireworks are illegal there was a lot of noise outside. Emmalee slept right through it. Emmalee celebrated her 1st New Year.

On January 2nd I went back to work and Emmalee spent her first day at the sitters. It was a very difficult day. I really enjoyed going back to work and seeing all of my co-workers and friends but it was not easy leaving Emmalee for the day. To top off the day, my 11 year old dog Dutch passed away. He was not doing well so it was a blessing but it was still very hard to let him go. Rob takes Emmalee to the sitters in the morning and picks her up when he is done with his work for the day. It makes it nice because then Emmalee does not have to spend 10 hours at the sitters. Becky (the sitter) lives down the street from the Boys Mom's house.

On January 6th, Emmalee went swimming for the 1st time.. A friend of mine (Mary) has a heated pool she uses for Watsu's and I used the pool for a Watsu and Nana Phyllis brought Emmalee up for her first swim. She loved it. She wanted to drink the water and kept turning her head towards the water. Emmalee was very relaxed and allowed me to float her on her back. I blew in her face a couple of times and then I took her underwater. Emmalee just blinked her eyes and then smiled, I think she likes the water. We had a lot of fun and I can't wait until the next time we get to go swimming.

On January 8th Emmalee and I were playing with our reflections in the bathroom mirror... I made some funny faces and Emmalee made some noises like she was going to laugh... I decided to keep making the funny faces and next thing I knew Emmalee was laughing a true baby belly laugh. I called for Rob to come, this was pretty funny because I was trying to yell without scaring Emmalee so I was yelling while making faces. Rob joined in the face making fun and Emmalee just continued to laugh. Josh came in to make it a family affair. (Bradley was at his Mom's) We called Papa Jim & Nana and they were able to hear her over the phone. Then we called Grandma Rosemary in LA and she got to hear Emmalee as well. I was very greatful that Emmalee saved this first for when I was not at work.... It did make going to work the next day very difficult.

Tonight Emmalee was laying on the floor at Papa Jim and Nana's and she was trying with all of her might to crawl. We had to provide a backstop for her to push on but she was working it really hard... She would grunt and push, grunt and push, grunt and push - she eventually reached her stuffed Panda bear we had sitting in front of her.

I am sorry that I have not updated the blog in a while, going back to work was harder than I thought it would be. There are not enough hours in a day! I also got a sinus infection and did not do much of anything last weekend. I am feeling better and my sisters email quilt trip pretty much lit the fire under me to update the blog.

Oh, this is a picture of Emmalee in her favorite postition to watch sports on TV with her daddy. Emmalee loves to sit on Rob's lap and watch the fast moving action of football and basketball (I think she also loves all of the bright colors!)

I promise to try and update the blog on a more regular basis. I hope all of you are doing well. We love you!

Love, Jill and family.

Merry Christmas 2006

We hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas. We had a wonderful day! This morning started with "Sticky Buns" from Diane - Thank you very much Diane, we loved them. We peeked under the tree to find that Santa had been here and had brought us lots of presents.. our stocking were full and everything was ready for us to open. The boys spent Christmas Eve with their mother and Rob went to get them at 11:30.... Once the boys were here we dug in. We all got a lot of wonderful, beautiful, exciting gifts. Emmalee hung out in her bouncy and watched all the action. The picture of Emmalee was actually taken first thing this morning. It has been a very long day for her and she has tried to get some sleep any chance she gets. We had a delicious meal and now it is time for me to get some sleep... it is only 7 but I am tired. I think Emmalee enjoyed her 1st Christmas and we are looking forward to many, many, many more! Love to you all. Jill and family

ZooLights 2006

As I mentioned in my update from last night, we went to the Phoenix Zoo for our annual zoolights trip. Sarah, Hunter, Deb, Nana Phyllis, Emmalee and I had a wonderful time looking at all of the cool lights.



They had a lot of the same things but they did add a camel ride, a wagon (hay) ride, and some new lights - such as giraffes off in the distance. The trees still danced to music and they had some penquins out dancing... I think it was a tribute to Happy Feet!!!!

It was cold outside so Emmalee was bundled in her nap sack. She seemed to enjoy all the lights - through her eyelids. I think she was just very cozy and warm.

Merry Christmas to everyone and we will update soon... I need to get Emmalee to bed so that Santa Claus can come visit. Josh and Brad are at their mom's tonight they will come send the day with us tomorrow. We love you all! Remember Santa knows who has been naughty and who has been nice! So be Nice! Love always, Jill
P.S. Thank you Sarah for taking the pictures and sharing them with us. My camera batteries died as soon as we got to the Zoo. I really appreciate you sharing the photos with me. You are the best!

Christmas is coming....

I have been very bad and have not updated the blog for a couple weeks. Emmalee is now 11 weeks old and Christmas is 2 days away. I am sorry I will try and do better. We have been very busy shopping and trying to get everything ready for Emmalee's 1st Christmas. We had Emmalee's 2 month pictures taken.

They turned out pretty good. She smiled once for the lady but was not real excited with the whole process....She was wondering where her Aunt Jodie was...... Here are the pictures that I chose from the store, I am going to sign off for now.

We will update with more pictures from the past two weeks (you can see some from our annual trip to zoolights on Hunters Blog at http://huntersday.blogspot.com )

You may have already received our Christmas card but if not here is the family picture that Papa Jim took for us. We love you all and wish you all a very Merry Christmas.

Love to you all, Jill, Rob, Josh, Brad and Emmalee

Two months or 9 weeks

It has been a very busy week for all of us. Last Saturday Emmalee got to meet her Grand Nan and Great Uncle Peter. (Nan is Grandma Rosemary's sister) Peter had a conference in Scottsdale so they came to visit us at our house. It was wonderful seeing them. Emmalee was a little confused because Grand Nan and Grandma Rosemary sound a lot a like. Emmalee then went on a ride to visit some of my co-workers up at Silverleaf spa in Scottsdale. On Tuesday evening Emmalee and I went out to dinner with my friends in the Women's Spinal Cord Injury Support Group. We had a very nice dinner at Macayos and Emmalee got to meet Lisa, Julie, Jennifer, Helga (and Bob). It was a great evening! = ) On Wednesday Emmalee was officially 2 months old. We tried to get her pictures taken but the people at the studio were not very nice we we decided we were going to go elsewhere. On Thursday Papaw turned 85 years young! Happy Birthday Papaw we love you very very much!!! We wish we could have been there to celebrate with you! Emmalee also went to the doctor for her 2 month check up and to get 5, yes I said 5 shots. She received 3 in her left thigh and 2 in her right one. She now weights 13 lbs 1 oz and is 24 inches long. She is growing like a weed. Today (Friday) Emmalee and I spent the day with Nana Phyllis, Grandma Diane, Aunt Julie and Aunt Andrea cooking for the Century 21 RAN Christmas party. We made lots of goodies..... Aunt Julie tried her best to mess up Emmalee's schedule in the hopes of making Emmalee wake up all night. We will see what happens. I am going to go to sleep. Until next time. I have not forgotten to post Thanksgiving pics, I still don't have them. Love Jill and family

All I Want for Christmas.....

Okay, I am bad.. I have not put any pictures on here from Emmalee's First Thanksgiving..( I have not downloaded them from Mom's camera) But Emmalee and I went and visited Santa and I wanted to share the photo with everyone. She was great. She stared at him afterwards like "Okay who are you and how are you related to our family." I will write more soon. Love to you all. Jill and family

My first Turkey Day....

I was hoping to show some picture from Emmalee's first Thanksgiving but they are all on Nana Phyllis's camera so we will share those later. It has been quite a week. As you saw Grandma

Rosemary and Grandpa Al came to visit from Louisiana. Bradley celebrated his 13th birthday and we had Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving was wonderful. Dennis, Samantha, Madison and Hunter came and joined us for Turkey, Ham, 2 kinds of stuffing, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, rolls and green bean casserole. Rosemary made a pumpkin pie, peacan pie and an apple pie. The meal was incredible, and the company was even better. It was a very nice day. The weather outside was perfect.... yes, it was in the 80's (very warm for November but it was nice). All the boys played with Brad's new deer hunting game...

On Black Friday I got up at 3:30a.m. because Emmalee was hungry and I fed her... I then got ready and went shopping... boy did I get some great deals... I hit Staples first and then WalMart, after that I went and fed Emmalee again and picked up Nana Phyllis for some more shopping... we went to Costco, Kohls, Best Buy and Radio shack okay a couple Best Buys and a couple Radio Shacks.... Grandma Rosemary took Josh and Brad shopping, Papa Jim and Rob went golfing and Grandpa Al watched football.

Friday night we went to see Rob's friend Chuck's son Jake and his friend Justin play in the State semi finals for football.... it was a great game and the boys played hard but unfortunatly they did not win. It was a hard loss as both of them are seniors. Papa Jim and Nana Babysat for Emmalee.

Saturday we didn't do much but take some pictures, as you can see Emmalee loves Tigger as much as her mommy does. She is getting so big... she is now 7 weeks old and growing like a weed. She loves to smile and coo. She also loves to sit in her swing and watch the birdies and listen to the music or sit in her bouncy chair and listen to the music while it vibrates.

It is now Monday and we just took Grandma Rosemary and Grandpa Al to the airport... it was a sad morning, we did not want them to go. We love them very much.

I will write more later and include more Turkey day pictures! Love Jill and family

Happy Thanksgiving!

Just wanted to take a minute and wish everyone a very Happy Thanksgiving. We are thankful for so much this year. We will update with picture from the day soon. We love you and miss you. Thanks for being a part of our lives! Love the Sclease family! = )

Happy Birthday Big Little Brother Bradley

Bradley celebrated his 13th birthday at Rockfish restaurant in Chandler. His Dad and I got him a cell phone for his birthday. I had it arranged with the waitress to bring it to him when Papa Jim called.... (Papa Jim was not feeling good, he had a bad tummy so he stayed at home). Papa Jim called and wished him a Happy Birthday and then asked him how it felt to talk on HIS new cell phone. I thought he was going to jump out of his chair. He was so happy. After dinner at the restaurant we went back to Papa Jim and Nana's and had French Silk Pie (Bradley's favorite... and mine) Emmalee even had a little taste.

We had a wonderul day. It was really neat for the kids to have Grandma Rosemary and Grandpa Al here to celebrate Brad's birthday!

There is now another Blod some of you may be interested in. My girlfriend Sarah has started a blog for her son Hunter. If you are interested in seeing the blog the address is http://huntersdays.blogspot.com/

Hope you all have a great day! More to come.... Love, Jill and fam

Six Weeks and a couple days

On Friday Emmalee was six weeks old and she got to meet her Grandma Rosemary and Her Grandpa Al for the first time. They came all the way from Louisiana to spend the week with us. They are here to meet Emmalee, to help Bradley celebrate his 13th birthday and to have Thanksgiving with us. Grandma Rosemary jumped right in the truck to see Emmalee and even had tears in her eyes when she looked at Emmalee for the first time.


Bradley came over later Friday night after his school dance to see his Grandparents, he shared his Grandma Rosemary's lap with his little sister. Bradley had a great time at the dance and even danced with an 8th grader! = ) He was pretty hyper all night from all of the caffine he had and excitement. Bradley and I stayed up until Midnight and I was the first to wish him a Happy 13th birthday.

Bradley and Papa Jim went and played 9 holes of golf on Saturday. Bradley is celebrating his birthday with his Mom by going to an ASU football game. Then we will have him on Sunday to celebrate. On Saturday afternoon Bradley and Emmalee spent some quality time together. Bradley told Emmalee some things about birthdays and going swimming in Papa Jim and Nana's pool. He then read her some of the books that Grandma Rosemary brought for Emmalee's library.

Okay I am going to end for now but will post more after Bradley's birthday celebration.

Emmalee did sleep from 11:00p.m. to 7:00a.m. last night.... Mommy enjoyed the sleep! = )

Love always, Jill