Happy Fifth Birthday Hannah

I can't believe Hannah is 5 already!  She acts grown up, but it still seems like she shouldn't be that big yet.  She had her check up on Monday and everything looks great. 50th percentile for both height and weight:
38.6 pounds
43 inches tall

This is Hannah's last monkey photo.  We decided once she starts school it will be too hard to take them.  So he's officially graduated.  A little sad, but it will be one less thing to try and plan each year.

We had a small family birthday celebration for Hannah and my mom (since her b-day is 4 days later). My sister's friend made the cake/cupcakes again this year.  We went with a Frozen theme, since it's both girls favorite movie.  Lots of fun!

November 2014

My cousin came to visit at the beginning of the month and we had such a good visit.  It had been over 3 years since we'd seen her...WAY TOO LONG!  She finally got to meet Abigail.  =)  We used that as an excuse to finally visit the new Children's Garden at the Dallas Arboretum.  It opened shortly after my mom fell and we just haven't made it out there.  It was REALLY neat.  The girls had a blast.

We took the girls out separately for about 5 minutes and were able to get 2 cute pictures of each of them.  YEAH!  They are so hard to photograph together that we are trying to remember to take them out alone.  And they always do better if it a short 5 - 10 minute mini session.  =-)




 

We enjoyed a quiet Thanksgiving at my parents house.  We cheated this year and ordered from La Madeleine.  YUMMY!  And since we didn't spend the day in the kitchen cooking we got to play at the school playground with the girls and finish up our Christmas card photo shoot.  It was a fun day and we LOVED spending time with family!

Most of our activities are winding down for the semester.  We have a few things at church the first week in December, but everything else it done.  Looking forward to spending time a home.  I hope to do some holiday baking and crafts with the girls!

October 2014

Wow October seemed to fly by...where did the time go!  It was a fun and busy month.  We had some cooler weather so we enjoyed spending time outside.  We've gone to several parks, taken lots of walks, and made a trip to the zoo.  Speaking of the zoo, the last time we were there, we got to feed a flamingo.  SUPER COOL!!  They nibbled bird seed out of our hands which tickled, and we could feel how soft their neck was because it brushed against us.

My mom and I also took the girls to a small church pumpkin patch.  It happened to be HOT this day which is the reason for the sleeveless summery dresses.  LOL!  The girls were fairly cooperative to take pictures, and had fun looking at the scarecrows and picking a pumpkin.



My MOPS group also took a trip to a different pumpkin patch in McKinney.  It was just the right size for preschoolers and both girls had fun.  Hannah even surprised me by getting her face painted.  =)





This post would not be complete without Halloween costume pictures.  I love the idea and look of homemade costumes so I began searching for ideas back in August.  I knew if I let the girls pick the would join the masses of Anna's and Elsa's.  =)  I finally settled on Minnie Mouse for the girls and me and told Nathan he was going to be Mickey (poor guy never gets a choice either).  I ordered 8 spools of red tulle and my mom and I got to work making 3 tutus.  You'll be glad to know that we found our way out from underneath all of that tulle and the costumes turned our REALLY cute!



Lots of fun at our church's Fall Festival this year, but no good pictures. We didn't find time for my mom to take pictures of the whole family this year. So Nathan created a make shift tripod and we tried to snap a few Friday night before heading out to trick-or-treat.  We went to a few more houses this year than in the past and Hannah was actually tall enough to reach the doorbell.

Anniversary Trip to Austin

This blog mostly focuses on the girls and parenting for many reasons:
1) it is my digital scrapbook
2) I can update non local family on our lives
3) my girls are my life

While this particular post will mention the girls, the real focus is Nathan and me.  We celebrated our 10 year anniversary in July.  Some days it feels like way longer and others it can't possibly have been that long. =) We love doing family activities so we don't plan a lot of couple only things.  We try to at least have dinner alone 1-2 times a year and our ABF (Sunday School) class sometimes does fun social things that do not involve kids.  Nathan and I decided that 10 years definitely deserved a special celebration!  We did our usual dinner date in July but waited until September when it wasn't 1000 degrees to get away.  Our last big vacation was to Atlanta the summer of 2009 when I was pregnant with Hannah.

We wanted to go somewhere we had never been, but wasn't too far away.  Since we only had Friday - Sunday we didn't want to spend the whole time driving.  Also if there was some type of emergency with the girls we wanted to be able to get home quickly.  We (really I) did lots of internet searching and decided on Austin.

My parents have wanted the girls to spend the night for quite a while and we just hadn't planned anything. They kept Hannah when I was in the hospital giving birth to Abigail, but that's it.   Happy to report that everyone not only survived but also had fun!  There were a few tears and some fits by Abigail (aka Miss Strong Willed) but all in all they were really good.  We don't watch much TV or movies so those are a special treat.  They girls LOVED watching Mary Poppins throughout the course of the weekend.  In fact they have not stopped talking about it and spend lots of time pretending to be various characters.  They also baked cookies, went on walks, played at the school playground, painted, and of course read books and played with toys.  We are SO VERY grateful that my parents were willing to watch the girls for us.  They had so much fun and I know they created many special memories.

Nathan and I had a great trip!  We got to spend lots of time talking and not being interrupted (the downfall of 2 VERY verbal girls).  We checked out lots of small historical museums, toured the capitol, visited the zoo, and ate lots of yummy food!  We walked A TON so we didn't feel guilty going out for dessert in addition to dinner each night.  We ate dinner early and shared our entree so as not to completely stuff ourselves.  =)

Here's a few photos of our trip

We found this amazing mural while walking around downtown.  I can't imagine how many hours this took to create!
 

Loved all the free range peacocks and pea hens roaming the zoo.

Learned some interesting history from our tour guide.
 
Checked out the bats


All in all a great weekend!  We'll have to plan another get away in the future!

September 2014

Fall is in full swing...even if it is still hot outside.  Although we have had some cooler mornings lately and our highs haven't been 100.  I was more referring to all our activities kicking off again.  =)  Preschool choir and Bible Study have started and I decided to join MOPS (Mothers Of PreSchoolers) this year.  I am also teaching a Tiny Tots, mommy and me music class, this semester.  We are busy, but my girls are enjoying having lots to do and ask every day where we are going.

At the beginning of the month my mom told me we didn't have a "cover worthy" photo of Abigail yet for her photo memory book this year.  So on Labor Day was took Abigail by herself with THREE adults to do a mini photo session while Hannah played with G-Pa.  Abigail has very strong opinions about things and can be difficult to photograph.  We told her if she cooperated she could pick out a sticker.  She was SO VERY good and we got some ADORABLE photos.  Here's just a few of my favs.







Took a break from photos to look at the turtles swimming in the water.  Love this sweet Daddy moment!


On days we are at home I am trying to be more intentional and engaged in playing with the girls.  They are getting so good at playing together it's easy to just let them play while I work on the computer or around the house.  I still do that, but my goal is two or three days a week for about 30 minutes to work and/or play with them.  I started about a month ago and it's going really well so far.  There are TONS of cute crafts, learning games, etc. out there on the internet.  I spent time over the summer gathering info, planning, and preparing stuff.  Some weeks we focus on a specific letter, other times it's fine motor practice, sorting beads, counting pom poms or domino dots.  I'm having fun and so are the girls!!  They both love to learn and so I figure it might as well capitalize on that.  =)

One final photo...Hannah was enjoying looking out my parent's kitchen window and asked my mom to take her picture with her kitty.

August 2014

We started the month by taking a trip to AR to visit Nathan's family.  So thankful that the girls are good travelers.  There was hardly any whining in the car.  Hannah enjoyed reading signs out the window and they both enjoyed the many cows and horses.  Even though it was hot we met Nathan's dad at the park.  Everyone had fun and this park has a train to ride.  It was the highlight of the trip.  =)

Summer is almost over and I'm sure you're asking yourself where the swimming picture are...finally here!  We've had some crazy rain storms that made for some cooler weather (not that I'm complaining).  Hannah did swim lessons with Miss Julia (my mom's former students) again and we had a friend from church join us too.  She is still not swimming independently, but made LOTS of progress and has more confidence too. She's even jumped off the diving board, with her puddle jumper on.


 
Abigail started the summer not really too sure about the water.  She watched Hannah's swim lessons from the other side of the gate.  She played in the gravel box with the younger sister our friend.  She was paying attention because the next time we swam with her she wanted to try new things.  She will blow bubbles, let me hold her out on her tummy and kick her legs.  And she'll float on her back for about 2 seconds before she's trying to sit up.
 

We've also finally found a splash park that the girls will actually play at instead of just crying.  They are still cautious but will actually get wet and seem to have fun.  Thankfully it's not too far from our house so we've gone 4 or 5 times.

July 2014

The girls and I had so much fun at VBS last month that when I was asked to help out with preschool music camp, I jumped at the chance.  The camp was 4 days and went from 9-2.  Although, I was done by lunch every day except Thursday, performance day. The kids learned 6 songs and did a program for their parents at the end of the last day of camp.  Hannah and Abigail had so much fun, but it was definitely hard on Abigail to mess with her nap schedule. They laid down in her room, but she never really slept. The theme was Kids Under Construction.  Hannah's teacher accidentally wrote her name on her costume so she got to keep it.  Oops!  All in all it was a great experience and I will gladly work next year if I'm asked. =)

We were hanging out with my family on 4th of July and I asked my mom to take a few family photos.  It was hot and we didn't want to frustrate the girls so we only spent about 10 minutes.  These may not be the best shots technically speaking but I LOVE THEM!  They are real and genuine.  Hannah was not feeling the camera love that day, but Abigail was being a total flirt! These are just my 2 favs.

Lately I've tried to be more intentional in our play activities, especially with Abigail.  When Hannah was 2, I worked with her all the time to learn her letters.  Not so much this time around.  Abigail is just as smart as Hannah and the same desire to learn.  She's known about half the capital letters for quite a while (most of which she picked up on her own or from Hannah).  After a few fun learning games she now knows all but about 4 or 5.

And Hannah is reading or trying to read everything she can get her hands on.  As she told my mom the other day "Grammy my only problem with reading is that I can't stop!"  He he, so cute and VERY true!  Lots of readers in the family on both sides!  =)

A few weeks ago we decided to get out all the art supplies.  Neither of the girls really enjoy being messy and we're attempting to teach them it's OK to get dirty.  Happy to report that they both did paint and get dirty, but it was not their favorite.  Next time we will try painting with brushes.  Both thoroughly enjoyed the chalk!  Fun times!
 

June 2014

We started the month off by attending VBS at church.  Both girls are actually still too young, but I was working so they got to come.  Abigail was just in childcare, but did get a bible story every day.  Hannah was in one of the oldest childcare rooms so she got to do all the preschool activities.  They both had lots of fun!  And I had a blast too.  I worked in the music and bible story room with two of my good friends.

Potty update on Abigail... She is doing really well!  We still have occasional accidents, but is doing much better at telling me when she needs to go.  We have even ventured out of the house on short errands in panties instead of pull ups. =) I bet by the end of the summer if not sooner she'll have it all figured out.

Both girls have sucked their thumb at night since they were about 6 months old.  Pretty much as soon as we stopped swaddling them, the thumb found their mouth.  When Hannah turned 4 we began talking a little bit about how we don't need to suck our thumb at night.  So about 2 weeks ago we decided to really start working on that.  I did some reading on the internet about how to help your child stop sucking their thumb.  There is lots of info out there and obviously not all suggestions are for every child. Our plan was to talk with Hannah and explain what happens to your teeth, how she's a big girl, etc.  She always sucks the same thumb (big callous) so we started putting a glove on that hand while she sleeps.  Lots of talk about how she didn't need to take the glove off, the glove won't taste good to suck on.  Then we told her if she could go 5 days of leaving the glove on and keeping it dry she could pick a stuffed animal to sleep with.  She has actually done really well.  Her callous is starting to get smaller and she's enjoying sleeping with a friend. We'll keep her glove on for at least another month to make sure the habit is truly broken.

Last but not least...NEW PHOTOS!

Gonna catch those bubbles!

LOVE THIS!

They love their new little bench in my parents garden!

Let's go fly a kite...(dare you not to sing the song)!

They had so much fun!

May 2014

Lots of proud mommy moments this month so be forewarned.  And cue bragging now! 

All of Hannah's letter sound knowledge clicked and she is reading.  Very basic easy words of course.  She can sometimes get frustrated if she comes to a harder word, but she can do it.  I am SO proud of her!!  She is enjoying reading lots of new words.  Hannah memorizes things so quickly that she is keeping me on my toes to find new things for her to read.  Thankfully between free internet downloads and the library it hasn't been too hard.

A few weeks ago I decided to start potty training with Abigail.  She's two months younger that when I started with Hannah, but she is so much more aware of things because she watches Hannah.  I took a slightly different approach this time and just let Abigail run around in a shirt and panties.  There were MANY accidents the first few days, but after day 3 it was beginning to click. She's had almost no accidents since then and has gone potty at church, the park, my mom's house, and a restaurant.  Just this week I started letting her sit on furniture while in panties....she was previously confined to the floor which is easier to clean.  =-)   I still put her in pull-ups if we're away from home, but I bet that won't be for long.  So proud of my BIG girl!!

Not too many new photos this month.  We've actually taken photos playing with bubble and sidewalk chalk.  But my mom has been busy getting ready for her piano recital as well has healing from her fall in January.  Hopefully I can post those soon. Until then...enjoy these!

They are enjoying the glassed Grammy bought them.  Silly girls!

April 2013

Hannah is learning to recognize more and more words.  I think she knows at least 10 now.  And she loves finding them in books, or signs, or really anywhere.  One day she was looking at a book that she has memorized and kept pointing to words and telling me what they were.  She is putting her knowledge of beginning letter sounds to work.  I predict she will be reading "for real" soon.

Abigail is still trying to keep up with big sister.  She follows her everywhere.  She wanted to name her Easter bunny the same name as Hannah's (we convinced her otherwise) and wanted the same color toe nail polish.  Thankfully most of the time it doesn't bother Hannah.  She's a great big sister.

Even more beautiful weather this month, so we're still enjoying time outside.  Grammy has even taken her camera out the last few weeks.  Check out the cuteness!





 






We didn't do the whole Easter basket thing, but the girls each got a stuffed rabbit from G-Pa.  We colored Easter eggs with Grammy, and she got them matching dresses.  Our church had many places around the building set up to take photographs Easter morning.  We took full advantage of an opportunity to get a family photo.  =-)

March 2014

Hannah was looking at a book the other day and pointed to the word "the" and told me what it was.  She must have figured it out by herself, because I didn't teach her.  She is having so much fun finding "the" in all her books.  She hasn't yet made the connection between letter sounds and reading yet.  But she can spell phonetically like a queen.  Abigail loves letters too.  She is constantly learning new ones on her own, as well as the few I've taught her.  I thinks she knows half upper case letters now.

We've been the enjoying the few days of spring weather.  It gets so hot here in the summer we take full advantage of actual spring temperatures.  We have gone to school playgrounds and several new parks.  There are tons of parks in Plano, so we just looked at the map and picked some that weren't more than a 10 minute drive.  Hannah loves to climb (thankfully not at home on the furniture) and has enjoyed various ladders and rock walls.  Abigail has discovered the slide.  She can't climb ladders yet, but goes up the stairs and runs to the slide.  She is very brave and will do them all, even the really tall ones.  She is so tiny though that if it's a tall slide she flies down.  Someone has to stand at the bottom to stop her or she will fly off and land on the ground. We've enjoyed watching both girls become more confident and independent in their play.

We made yet another trip to the Dallas Zoo.  I think that makes 4 for the year and we decided to renew our membership for next year as well.  This time my sister got to join us since it was her last day of Spring Break.  It was chilly in the morning so there were very few people.  We got to spend lots of time looking at the giraffes and elephants up close without feeling like we needed to give someone else a turn.  Due to the cool weather the zoo moved their animal encounters indoors.  We were the only ones at the African penguin demonstration.  We learned lots of information and even got the touch the penguin.  It was really cool and we were all surprised how soft it was.