Christmas 2012

It was fun to have the girls with us for the Christmas Eve service this year.  Hannah has come with us every year, so we thought we'd try with Abigail too.  Our church has childcare for kids under 5, but the service is pretty family friendly. They both did really well...minimal wiggling a talking.  The service is mostly music which they both loved!  We talked to Hannah beforehand about being quiet and sitting still.  I brought paper and crayons but she was happy to hold her stuffed monkey.

We enjoyed spending Christmas Day with my parents and sister.  The day began by meeting for our traditional IHOP breakfast.  YUMMY!  Then we went back to my parents house so Abigail could nap while we opened gifts.  Sweet girl was still sound asleep when I went to wake her up...she even slept through opening the window shade and my mom taking a picture.  LOVE this photo though!!



Hannah definitely understood more about Christmas this year.  Nathan and I have chosen not to do the whole Santa thing, but she was super excited about opening presents.  She was even excited about passing out presents to everyone else.  The girls big gift this year was a play kitchen.  More on this in Hannah's post next month.  =) Abigail mostly got books and clothes, but she plays with all of Hannah's toys too.


We woke up to pouring rain Christmas morning, but by 1:30 or so it turned to snow.  They snow fell for several hours and was so pretty to watch.  After the girls naps we went out to play for a few minutes.  I didn't come prepared for snow so none of us were dressed warm enough.  G-Pa built a little snowman and put him on a plate for Hannah to hold.



All in all it was a really fun day.  We feel very blessed to be able to spend time with family and have them spoil our girls!

Three Years Old

Can't believe it's been 3 years since Hannah was born.  My little tiny baby has turned into a big girl.

Hannah's latest pretend play activity is taking pictures.  My mom bought herself a necklace with a camera charm.  She showed it to Hannah and let her wear it for a few minutes.  Hannah immediately put it up to her eye and said "Smile, say cheese puff."  My mom gave her a little toy plastic camera to take home with her and she has had the greatest time.  You can tell she pays attention when we take her picture because she would bring me her camera and tell me to look at her focused one, she moved the toys to better light and went to change her lens.  Too cute to watch!

Speaking of taking photos.  Hannah is getting better about following directions and looking, standing, or doing what we ask her.  Of course as with any three year old, she must be in a cooperative mood!  And she doesn't last long before she says she is all done.  But we have actually gotten some really cute photos with natural smiles.  This is one of my recent favorites and I love Miss Abigail in the background.


Hannah was very exited to 'wake up' the Christmas tree after Thanksgiving.  We told her last January when we put up the tree that it was going to take a VERY long nap.  =)  I decorated the big tree during the girls nap.  Nathan and I both had small trees that we used in our apartments before we got married.  They have been sitting in the attic since we bought our house.  We decided to bring one small tree out this year to put up in Hannah's room. She couldn't quite hang the ornaments independently. So, I laid them out, she picked one, and told me which branch to hang it on.  We placed the decorated tree on top of her dresser (out of Abigail's reach) and turn the lights on whenever Hannah is awake.  Abigail has done surprisingly well with our big tree.  She has only pulled off one or two ornaments and hasn't tried to pull up on it.

I think I would officially call Hannah potty trained!!!! We hardly ever have accidents and we recently started napping in panties.  She still sleeps in a pull-up at night, but Hannah almost always wakes up dry.   Such a big girl!

 Monkey has been busy this year taking his monthly picture with Abigail.  Hannah was excited to take her picture this time and asked for balloons.  She had SO much fun with them!  Hannah's favorite place to go eat is Chick-fil-a, so we are taking her there for dinner tonight.  Then we're doing our family celebration Friday night so Aunt Kara and G-Pa can join us.  Hannah is at such a fun age, this should be a fun birthday!

Eleven Months

This post is a little late because we didn't have time to take our monkey photo last week.

 Abigail started pulling up to a standing position a few weeks ago.  She is very excited that she can reach more things.  She also loves to get one small toy in each hand and carry them all over the house.  She even pulls up with things in her hands.  And she gets MAD when you take them away.  Silly girl!  She is not trying to walk yet, but I predict it won't be long. 

I am still trying to teach Abigail sign language, but she seems more interested in talking.  She says "mo-wah" when eating and signing "more."  She can say dada, mama, ba (ball), and gwa gwa (duck).  She still signs "all done" and sometimes say ah da.  She also just started signing "water."  It's so fun to watch her begin to communicate.  =)
 

Poor baby STILL doesn't have any teeth.  It seems like her gums have been swollen forever.  You can definitely feel a bump on her bottom gums, but nothings has poked through yet.  Abigail also has a runny nose and cough with I think are teething related.  She doesn't always feel her best, but she usually tries to be happy.  And she LOVES bath time!