Two Years Old

I swear I was in the hospital giving birth just yesterday and now I have a sweet little girl! I really cannot believe she is already 2! She doesn't really get the whole birthday thing yet, but will say "happy birthday to you." And she if you ask "how old are you?" she can reply two and hold up 2 fingers. We are doing a small family celebration this weekend for Hannah (and my mom) since their birthdays are only 4 days apart. I'm sure baby girl and I will celebrate birthdays together too since they will also be close together. What can I say we crammed 4 birthdays and Christmas into a one month span. =)

Hannah had her two year check up this morning and the doctor said she looks great. She weighs 28.6 pounds (65th percentile) and is 34 inches tall (50th percentile). She has never been that high on the weight chart before! Hannah is getting better about trying what Nathan and I are eating. She still get her own meal, but we're glad she's trying new things. She still hasn't mastered feeding herself with a spoon, but she's getting better. She says "Hannah have turn." Hannah only got one shot this morning and she didn't even cry. She whimpered and I thought she was going to, but she was distracted by the band-aid or "circle sticker" as she called it. Such a big girl!

Hannah is really such a sweet girl. She gives lots of hugs, kisses, and snuggles. She knows most of her colors and we're working on numbers. She can count to three, but then wants to skip to 8 and 9. She also knows the letter "x." She's usually really good about picking up her toys before bed or nap. She hardly ever cries when we put her to sleep and she LOVES to help carry things or throw things away. She's going to be a big help when baby sister comes.

Speaking of baby sister...Hannah totes her baby doll all over the house. She hugs her and feeds her a bottle. So sweet! And if you are whispering she says "Shh be quiet, baby sleeping." She's going to be a great big sister!

As promised we took a picture with Hannah's monkey friend for her birthday. I wasn't sure how cooperative she would be, but she did surprisingly well. Of course the toy teapot was a great distraction. =) I bought party hats knowing that monkey would wear one, but not too sure about Hannah. We put monkey's hat on and asked if she wanted to wear one too. She said yes, but when we tried to put it on she said " no, all done hat." She did keep pointing to monkey and asking to wear a hat, but REFUSED to let us put one on her. So I finally asked if she wanted to wear monkey's hat and she excitedly said yes. So I took off monkey's hat and put it on her head and she was happy as a clam. Then I took her hat (which was EXACTLY the same) and put it on monkey. Too funny!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY SWEET HANNAH!

Thirty-Five Weeks

Haven't written about baby in a while so I thought I'd do a short post. This pregnancy has gone really well. No complications. I certainly FEEL pregnant, but nothing major to complain about. My doctor likes that I am a very boring patient. My weight and blood pressure are good, and baby seems to be growing nicely. She's measuring exactly where she's supposed to be and has a good heartbeat.

I am scheduled for a C-section on Jan 5. Since I had to have a C-section with Hannah and it's only been 2 years, my doctor wasn't comfortable with me doing a vaginal birth. She said most of them go really well, but if things go bad it's REALLY scary and happens quickly. Nathan and I did NOT want to mess with that so we opted for another C-section. Hopefully little girl will wait until her scheduled arrival!

There was much less preparation this time, since we already have baby stuff. All the newborn clothes are washed and waiting in her closet. The nursery is all ready since we moved Hannah to a new room. We do need to move the crib up to the highest setting though. =) Nathan's coworkers are having a small shower for us tomorrow so maybe baby girl will have a few NEW clothes to wear. Not that she will care!

Twenty Three Months

We did lots of fun things in the last month. My mom and I took Hannah to the Dallas Arboretum to take pictures with the pumpkins. Hannah enjoyed riding in her wagon and looking at people, flowers, pumpkins, etc. However, she did NOT want to pose for pictures. She wanted to PLAY. I think we managed to get two good shots and if you look closely you can see that we are holding on tight to keep Hannah still. =) Just realized I don't have those photos from my mom yet, so you'll have to wait until another post.

Hannah has enjoyed her 10 week music class at church. Tomorrow is our last class and I know she will miss going. The week before Halloween they let all the kids come in costume and we took a group picture. LOVE the peacock costume in the middle. That's one creative mommy!


Nathan and I decided months ago that Hannah should dress up as a monkey this year. It's not very girly, but we call her little monkey so we couldn't pass up the opportunity. We did add a pink bow and tutu to the costume so she wouldn't look like a boy. =) She wasn't too sure about the costume at first, but warmed up and then asked to wear it. We still wear the tutu some days while playing at home.


Our church has done a Fall Festival for the last several years and our ABF (Sunday School) class always decorates a booth. Hannah enjoyed walking around the festival this year, but didn't really want to play any games. During our shift to work she entertained herself by taking handfuls of candy from the booth bucket and putting them in her bag. She has no idea what candy is and didn't eat any of it. But it sure was fun to grab! =)


Then the following Sunday we met my parents and sister at another local church for their Trunk or Treat. The parking lot was set up with decorated cars and kids walked by and got candy. Hannah even surprised us by agreeing to ride on the pony. She seemed to have fun and got to wear her costume one more time. =)

Dallas Zoo

So we went to the zoo a month ago and I'm just now getting around to posting about it. Better late than never right! =) We took advantage of cooler weather and rode the DART train down to the zoo. We only saw part of the zoo so Hannah could come home and take a nap. We had lots of fun and enjoyed watching Hannah see the animals. If you ask her about the zoo she can still tell you some of the things she saw. Here's a few pictures!
She posed for the picture and then said "all done elephant."


First ride on a merry-go-round. Not to sure about it.

Waiting for the train to go back home.

Hannah's New Room

Hannah slept in her new room for the first time last night. We've been talking about her moving for a few weeks and have even gone in there to play a few times. She cried when I laid her down, which she doesn't normally do, but only for 2 or 3 minutes. She slept all night and was happy this morning. She said "fun ladybug bed."




These pictures were taken with my camera so the quality isn't near what it normally is. =) The letters over the crib were made by a friend of Nathan's and painted by my mom. The rocking chair was mine as a little girl.

I'm really glad I decorated my nursery gender neutral. Love the green! But I had SO MUCH FUN making Hannah's room girly! Hopefully she will enjoy it too!

Twenty Two Months

My sweet girl is getting so big! Our scale says about 26 pounds. She's starting to loose that baby look. She is still growing her mullet (as Nathan says) with most of her hair in the back. However, it's FINALLY long enough to pull into very tiny pigtails. =) Grammy cut just a few bangs that were getting in her eyes. Thankfully the pigtails have helped with the messy bad hair days. She does come by this honestly...my sister and I didn't have much hair until we were 3.



Hannah continues to talk more and more every day. We laugh at her constant running commentary. We are also extra careful about what we say around her, because she will often repeat whatever we say. =) She still loves to sing, dance and read books. She has also discovered coloring. In fact we have to hide the crayons and only get them out when we are ready to color.

The weather has FINALLY cooled off so we've enjoyed time outdoors. We've gone to the park a few times, but Hannah fascination with climbing up and down the stairs has limited our visits. That's ALL she wants to do and Mommy has a hard time following her by herself right now. =) We have enjoyed taking a walk around the block every night after dinner. Of course it takes a good 30 minutes because we have to stop and look at every leaf, acorn, newspaper, etc.



Our big outing this month was a visit to the Dallas Zoo (pictures coming soon). We rode the DART train and saw a few animals before heading home for a nap. Grammy and Aunt Kara got to join us too! Hannah had fun and she can tell you that she saw a baby giraffe, an elephant drinking water, and pet a goat. We look forward to many more visits in the future.

Twenty One Months

Oh how time flies! I can't believe another month has gone by! Now if only we could get some cooler temperatures! =) We did have a few nice days last week and we took advantage of them by going to the park.

Hannah's language has exploded this last month. She has said at least 50 new words. She will consistently put 2 or 3 words together to tell or ask you something. "Miss Observant" doesn't miss a thing...she will point out every hat, star, monkey, baby, etc. anywhere we go. =) She knows 3 shapes: heart, star, and circle. We are trying to work on numbers and colors, but are not quite there yet. She sort of knows red, blue, one, two, and three. It is so fun watching her figure things out.

Our church offers a mommy and me music class every semester and we finally signed up. We had our first class this morning. Hannah was a little shy, but did do a few motions to the songs and enjoyed shaking her bell. It's a 10 week class so I expect her to warm up as the class continues. So blessed that we can do things like this!!


I finally ordered furniture for Hannah's new room this week. Yeah me! Can't wait to get it all put together. I promise to post pictures of the completed room soon.

22 Weeks

This will be a short post because there isn't much to tell. My pregnancy seems to be going well. Baby girl is growing nicely and has a nice strong heart beat. My doctor likes that I am a nice boring patient. =) Nathan and are still deciding on a name. We plan to do what we did with Hannah and narrow down to 2 names and decide at the hospital once she is born.

For those wondering...our nursery is going to stay a nursery and Hannah is going to move to a new room. We are converting the guest room into her new room. She is not ready to move into a big girl bed yet, so we are going to buy another convertible crib. We painted the room pale pink last weekend and I can't wait until it is all set up!! Still have lots of work to do including order furniture. We hope to get Hannah moved sometime next month so she gets used to her new room before baby girl comes.

Twenty Months

Hannah is talking more and more every day. We still teach her the occasional sign, but we are mostly focusing on words now. We will ask her to say certain words and she just looks at us. Then we play and she randomly say things I had know idea she knew. Little turkey! Here's the new things she has said this month: Hannah, hop, hug, hat wow, ad, bow, knee, ear, eye, head, help, hair, arm, off, on, ebow (elbow), ing ing (chimes), ulla (umbrella), emo (Elmo), nom nom (Cookie Monster), ta (tag), ho (hole), ip (lip).


We have been praying with Hannah before meals for months now. She has started putting her hands under her chin when we say it's time to pray. If we ask her who to pray for she will usually include family: momma, dadda, Hannah, baby, etc, and sometimes things like stars, sun, and kitty. It is SO sweet!

Hannah has 3 molars and is working on the 4th. That will bring her tooth total up to 12. This last molar is being really stubborn. Her gum is all red and swollen and she's had a runny nose and slight fever. Poor thing! Overall she is a really happy girl and loves to play, sing, and read. Such a sweetheart!!

Sisters

I had another sonogram today and it looks like Hannah is going to have a little sister! We would have been happy with either, but it will be nice not to have to buy clothes. =) I hope Hannah and "little one" will be as close as my sister and me. =) Baby seems to be healthy with normal measurements. We couldn't be happier!! Enjoy this picture and stay tuned for an update on Hannah in the next few days!

Nineteen Months

Can't believe another month has gone by! Hannah continues to learn new things. Her new words: hi, bye bye, up, harp, bue (blue), nu (sun), ca co (rooster), qua qua (duck), da chi (chicken), moo (cow). She likes to help brush her teeth and hair, she will hold her bib under her chin, help rub your legs when putting on sunscreen, and many other things. She is even getting pretty good at putting her toys back in her basket when we're done playing. =)

We've started trying to prepare Hannah for the baby. She will point to my tummy and sign "baby" and give my tummy kisses. So sweet! She will also do the same thing to Nathan as well so she doesn't quite get it. =) We bought her a book called I'm a Big Sister. She will sign that babies cry because they need their diaper changed. She LOVES books and can tell or sign one thing from almost every book. She amazes me! Nathan and I both love to read so we are very glad that Hannah also seems to enjoy books.

It's been SUPER hot here so we've spent lots of time in Grammy's pool. Hannah seems to really enjoy swimming. She will splash and play with her toys on the step and float in her "boat." We're trying to teach her to kick her legs too. We've dunked her twice and she has cried both times. Thankfully she calms down quickly, so we'll keep working on it.

Soon We Will Be Four

We are excited to finally announce that we are having another baby in January! I am 13 weeks already so we've known for a while. Just wanted to get past the first trimester before sharing. We are super excited!

Things seem to be gong well so far. Baby has a good heart beat and seems to be growing. I've felt nauseous a lot, but haven't actually been sick. Hopefully I will start to feel better in a few weeks. I go for another appointment in 2 weeks.

Can't resist posting my favorite sonogram photo.

I plan to write another post tomorrow about Hannah so stay tuned.

Eighteen Months

We officially have a walker! She finally gained the confidence about 3 weeks ago to walk unassisted for more than a few steps. She likes to be close to mommy and daddy though so she won't go into another room unless we follow her. She will follow us where ever we go. =)


Hannah is saying lots of new words: ha ha (donkey), haow (hello), grr (bear), yeah, Bob (the tomato from Veggie Tales) and she tried to say "up" today. She will also make a "k k k" sound for my sister Kara, and "t t t" for Tommy (Nathan's mom's husband). Hannah has even learned a few new signs: walrus, keys, yes, blanket, swimming, help, window, and medicine. She tries to help brush her hair and her teeth. She knows what Kleenex is and will help blow her nose.

Hannah asks to listen to music all day long. She can do motions to "Wheels on the Bus, Happy and you Know it, Itsy Bitsy Spider, This Little Light of Mine, Shake your Sillies Out, and a few others I can't remember. She also knows that a piano can play music and likes to play at Grammy's house.

We went to the doctor this morning and they were very pleased with how she is doing. She is 22 pounds 10 oz (20th percentile) and 32 inches (60th percentile). She jumped up on the weight chart which made everyone happy. She got 2 shots, but calmed down very quickly. Hannah has 8 teeth now and is working on a molar.

It's been super HOT here lately. Thankfully Grammy and G-Pa have a pool and the water is warm enough to swim. Hannah cried a little the first time we went swimming this year, but not for long. We taught her the sign for swimming and she can tell you what it is and that she swims with duck and fish. We've gotten in the pool two other times and she's had lots of fun splashing and playing with her toys. =)

That's all I can think of right now. One more cute photo before I go. =)

Seventeen Months

Hannah is still not officially walking, but she is very close. She loves to walk back and forth from my lap to Nathan's lap. She can take 10 or 12 steps in a row. =) She just doesn't realize she can walk anywhere she wants yet. She is saying a few new words: ba ba (sheep), hoo hoo (owl), and eow (cat). To continue with the animal sound theme the snake says "sss" and if you ask about a lizard she will stick her tongue in and out of her mouth. Too cute! She continues to learn new signs as well: work, apple, cow, banana, pillow, tree, yogurt, Grammy, G-Pa, hippo, ball, bee, bunny, and phone. We just love our sweet little girl! She is SUCH a good baby and so happy. We could not be more blessed!!

Here's a few of my favorite photos:

Easter and Standing

We had a great Easter even though Hannah didn't participate in any egg hunts. We did give her a few plastic eggs to play with and she enjoys pulling them apart. Easter church service was wonderful and then we enjoyed dinner with my family. My mom used to make a lot of my clothes as a child. When Hannah was born she decided to smock her an Easter dress every year. At least until Hannah refuses to wear them. =) Thanks mom!

Hannah finally said mama and dada this week! She would babble those sounds, but didn't make the connection to Nathan and I until recently. Just love hearing her say them...too sweet. She also started standing (for a few seconds) without holding on. Then last night she got herself to a standing position without pulling up on anything. Go Hannah!

Stay tuned for another update in a few weeks.

Sixteen Months

I thought I'd start off this post with a few funny stories. Hannah has always enjoyed eating yogurt (organic Yo-Baby). Once she learned the sign for "baby" she would point to the picture of the baby on the yogurt container and sign "baby." A few weeks ago she was having yogurt for dinner and we weren't feeding her fast enough. So she signed "please" and we said please what. Then she signed "please more baby." Apparently since there is a baby on the container of yogurt that must be what she's eating. =) We've tried to tell her that she's EATING yogurt even though there is a PICTURE of a baby. Sill girl! Nathan thinks it's hilarious and wants to encourage her "cannibalistic" behavior.

Hannah can tell you that a dog says "oof" and a monkey says "ah ah". However if you ask her what the cat says she will make a purring noise instead of "meow." We were playing with her stuffed cat and I made meowing noises and then I put it on her lap and pet the cat's head. Then I told her when kitties are happy they purr and made purring noises. She does know that a cat meows because if she hears that sound she will sign "cat"...and then make purring noises. =)

We're continuing to work on identifying body parts. Hannah's known head, foot, tummy, ear, and nose for months. She finally figured out where her eyes are this week. Although she has a hard time pointing without poking herself in the eye! She can also find those same body parts on her stuffed toys too. She LOVES to look at pictures of herself (and other family). Most of the time she can point to all the people in our family.

Still not walking and no new verbal words. Here's the new signs she learned: sheep, bird, turtle, bug, mouse, bath, caterpillar, elephant, train, pig, and ice cream. She continues to babble and cruise around the furniture. She is getting more confident in her assisted walking, she's just not ready to let go yet.

Can't post and not include pictures! Here's a few of my recent favorites:

Fifteen Months

This post is a few days late, but Hannah had her check up this morning so I decided to wait. The doctor was pleased with her weight gain, although she's still on the small side. Also got 3 shots today. Poor baby! =(

Weight: 19 pounds 12 ounces (5th percentile)
Height: 30 inches (50th percentile)

Hannah is finally cruising around the furniture and will take steps if you hold her hands. We have one of those cars that converts into a walker, but she isn't interested in doing anything but play with the toys on the front.

She crawls all over the house and loves to play "find mommy or daddy." She brings her toys to us and LOVES to give them hugs. =) A 5th tooth finally popped through and I think she's working on another one.

Still not really saying more words thought, but the doctor says it's still early. She'll tell you a monkey says "ah ah" and the doggy says "oof." She continues to learn more signs every week and will continue pointing at something until you tell her what it is. Here's the new signs she's learned since last month: book, pretty, toothbrush, duck, swing, music, giraffe, bread, penguin, dog, mommy, baby, chair, whale, diaper, car, tray, pancake, flower, and sandwich. During meal times she will put two signs together and ask for "more please", or "please milk."

Since the weather is beginning to warm up we've had a few fun outings. We went to the Dallas Arboretum with Grammy. We drove to Arkansas for the weekend to visit Nathan's family, and we went to the park with Grammy and Aunt Kara to see ducks.

Fourteen Months

Hannah is at such a fun age. It seems like she's learning something new all the time. She is developing quite the personality. =) She finally figured out how to pull up, but isn't cruising yet. She'll take a few steps if she's really motivated to get something though. Once she started pulling up it took her about 2 weeks to figure out how to get back down. She is a super speedy crawler and now ventures into other rooms. Thankfully she usually stays in the room we are in, but will follow us if we leave.


Hannah also said her first word about a week ago..."uh oh." She enjoys dropping and knocking things over so she can show off her word. She says "ma ma ma" all the time, but hasn't connected it to me yet. In fact she seems to think I'm just a fixture that is always there. =) Of course, she asks for Nathan (via sign language) multiple times a day. Already a daddy's girl!

Speaking of sign language. She has caught on very well and learns a few new signs every week. She doesn't always to the sign correctly due to limited fine motor skills. But once she learns her version of a sign, she is consistent in the way she does them. Here's a list of what she knows: bye bye, more, all done, milk, water, cheerios, light, fish, monkey, daddy, play, please, thank you, doll, bear, cat, and I love you. Here's a photo of her flashing Grammy an "I love you." This is by far my favorite sign, she will respond if you say I love you to her, but also does it spontaneously. SO SWEET!

Thirteen Months

December was such a busy month and I was behind so readers get to enjoy two posts this week. That said, I can't believe another month has gone by. =)

My grandma turned 95 at the end of December. I had not seen her since college and she'd never met Nathan or Hannah. So we decided to take a trip to Tucson, AZ. The original plan was to fly, but airfare was expensive. So, my parents (and sister) rented a car and we all piled in for the two day drive. We were supposed to rent a suburban but there was a miscommunication with the rental company and we ended up with a Tahoe. That means 5 adults, a baby, and all our stuff had to fit in the car. Needless to say it was crowded. =}

My grandma on her birthday

It was a fun trip and Hannah did really well. The only thing she had trouble with was napping in the car. She is used to sleeping on her tummy in a quiet dark room so I'm guessing that was the problem. It was really great to see a lot of my family and to introduce them all the Nathan and Hannah. We were even able to meet Nathan's aunt for lunch in New Mexico on the way there.

Lots of my mom's family

Nathan's aunt and her husband
We saw lots of my dad's family too, but no group photos. Not sure when I'll subject Hannah to such a long drive (thankfully AR is only 4 hours away), but I'm glad we were able to take this trip.

We went back to the doctor for Hannah's weight check yesterday and everyone was pleased with her weight gain. She's now just over 18lbs and 29 3/4 inches. That means she gained 2 1/2 pounds and grew 1 1/2 inches in the last month. Go Hannah! She loves milk and peanut butter and doesn't seem to be allergic to either. YEAH!

It is so fun watching Hannah learn new things! She still doesn't say actually words (though she babbles all day), but she does know a few words in sign language. We started signing "more" at 6 months when we introduced food. It took a while for her to pick it up, but now she knows "more", "all done", "milk" and we're working on "water". It's nice that she can tell us what she wants instead of crying. Hannah can also point to her head and belly if you ask her where they are. We're working on foot and ear but don't have it just yet. She is also beginning to do motions to songs ie: clap your hands, wash the spider out, etc. She waves bye bye to people and even to her toys (some of the electronic ones say bye when you turn them off). Too cute!

That's all I can think of to write now. I'll update again in February unless something big happens before then.

Christmas 2010

As promised a Christmas post...only 2 weeks late. =)

We began our celebration with a family breakfast at IHOP. YUM!! Then we went back to my parents house were the adults opened presents and Hannah took her morning nap. Hannah woke up about noon, ate lunch, and opened her presents. Hannah was a little overwhelmed at first by her books and shape sorter. Then she unwrapped the Laugh and Learn Puppy from Auntie Kara. It has a learning mode that says hand, foot, tummy, etc if you press the corresponding buttons. It also has a song mode where it sings things like, If You're Happy and You Know It, Itsy Bitsy Spider, and Head and Shoulders. As soon as Hannah made the puppy sing she started dancing and was very happy.


Grammy and G-Pa gave Hannah her first dolly. She's very soft and has lots of ribbons and things to pull on. Her one big gift was a red wagon. We let Hannah try it out were excited she seems to like it...got a smile. She even took a ride around the house. =) Can't wait for warmer weather so we can take a walk.

We spent the rest of the day spending time together and then had a yummy casserole for dinner. It was a fun Christmas!