Amazing

I am definitely pro-breastfeeding for many many reasons (most of them discovered while nursing Hannah for her first year, such as it can protect your baby from the chicken pox if you are immune) but I just found a new cool reason that breastmilk is so great: http://www.sciencealert.com.au/news/20081102-16879.html

Aren't our bodies amazing?

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas!!!

A Big Announcement!

Although I have known about this for months, I was sworn to secrecy in case somehow one of Paul's relatives stumbled upon this blog (which I can't see how that would be possible since this is a private blog and you have to actually know the IRL to look at it but I do understand their concern). Anyways, Sarah and Paul have come into town and have now had a chance to talk to his entire family in person like they wanted, so I can spread the news: Sarah is pregnant too! That's right, my identical twin and I are both having babies around the same time. I am due April 3rd and she is due June 22nd. Of course, our whole family is thrilled and I already have visions of our children playing together. This is also extra special to us because this will be our first neice or nephew.

Congrats Sarah and Paul!!! :)

Friday Funny

Trying to brush Hannah's hair after drying it off from the shower:

Hannah: No Mommy!
Me: Sweetie, we need to brush your hair.
Hannah: Don't brush! My hair is beautiful already! (this is even funnier if you could have seen how her hair looked and the indignant look on her face...)

It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas...

Decorations:
Here are our stockings. Hannah loves to take them off the hangers and put them over the heating vent on the floor in the family room. No idea why but recently I have convinced her that Santa wants her stocking hung by the fireplace and now she just turns them around and rearranges them.


Notice the Yoda Santa. Yes even Rob has a few Christmas deocorations he likes.



Here is Hannah putting her ornaments on the Christmas tree.

Cookies:

We decided to practice making cookies for Santa. Hannah was very generous with the sprinkles and enjoyed taste testing them. We have some more to make for the big night.

Gifts:
These little booties were made by Mare and are not only baby's first Christmas present, but they are actually baby's first present overall. I am always impressed by her knitting ability - aren't they adorable?

Picture Tag

I stole this from Amy. :)

The object of the picture tag is to:

1) Choose the 4th folder where you store your pictures on your computer
2) Select the 4th picture in the folder
3) Explain the picture
4) Tag 4 people to do the same

NO CHEATING! (cropping, editing, etc!)

Here is mine!

This was taken last Christmas and is a picture of Hannah with my twin sister and her husband at my parent's house. Look at how little hair my baby has and how young she looks! I can't believe that was only a year ago!

I am tagging Carrie, Gwyn, Jenn, and Joe.

Friday Funny

I pretty much never get around to doing the Friday Fill-Ins that all you committed bloggers are so good at doing so I thought I'd start my own Friday tradition and call it my Friday Funny. Hannah is at that precious age where she says and does so many things on a daily basis that make me laugh out loud so I thought I'd choose one thing each week and post it. Here is my inaugural post from this last week:

************************************************

Hannah: Mommy I need to go to Target.
Me: What do you need from Target?
Hannah: Um, I just need some groceries.
Me (amused): What groceries do you need?
Hannah: Um, I just need dinosaurs and firetrucks.

Finally.... Ultrasound Shots and 20 Week Picture

Only 3 weeks after the fact - here are the 20 week ultrasound pictures! It was really cool to see the baby on the screen, moving all around. Here are the 6 that they gave us on a CD:

Picture #1 is a side shot of baby - the head is on the lower left (the baby is looking up) and the body is on the upper right. You can sort of make out baby's right ear on the side of the head and see the spine on baby's back.

Picture #2 is pretty self explanitory - if you look closely, you can see the foot with the toes pointed downward.

Picture #3 is a shot from the top of the baby's head. No our baby doesn't have a massive forehead, it's just looking down on the head as the baby looks up. Forehead is on the right, you can see eyes and nose in the middle.

Picture #4 is by far the best and creepiest of them all (come on, admit it, you think ultrasound pictures are creepy too). It's of the baby looking straight on and throwing the peace sign. Head is on the upper left, body is on the lower right, hand with 2 fingers up is next to the head on the upper right. Dark spots on the head are eyes and nose and white spots are the start of teeth. Dark spot on chest is stomach.

Picture #5 is mostly just the arm and hand on the middle right but you can see head a little bit on the middle left.

Picture #6 is the leg and food. The leg is bent at the knee so you can see the thigh on the middle right, the knee on the upper right, the shin in the middle and the foot on the upper left.

So now that you've seen all the cool and creepy pictures of the baby, here's a final picture to leave you with - one of me at 20 weeks. The baby bump is definitely visible!

Catching Up On Different Types Of Kid Cuteness

Since our computer has been on the fritz since basically Halloween, I have missed being able to post some really great pictures of Hannah. Here is the condensed version of all the cuteness I have wanted to post over the last month.

Halloween cuteness:

Friend cuteness:

Random cuteness:

Hannah's 2.5 Year Update

The pediatrician's office recently started doing a 2.5 year well-child visit. Hannah was actually the first one to be scheduled at our office since the recommendation came out from the AAP a few days before her 2 year well child visit. So today, we went for her 2.5 year check-up. Grammy got Hannah a book a few months ago called Baby Bop Goes To The Doctor and Hannah has been asking to read it a lot. She was very excited to do all the big girl things Baby Bop did. She stood on the scale, got measured, let the doctor look in her eyes and ears, and didn't move as the doctor listened to her heartbeat. She even said "Ahhh" when the doctor asked. She did of course insist that the doctor do all these things to her doll as well so dolly also got a good check-up.

Now come all the numbers/percentages for all the family reading. Hannah is still off the charts for height at 39.5 inches. She is in the 50th-75th percentile for weight at 30lbs. She met all the standards for a 2.5 year old and impressed the doctor with her speech. The doctor said that people must think she's 3 or 4 based on her height and how well she speaks but must also be confused by her baby face and baby whispy hair. I had to laugh (and agree). We got the clean bill of health and Hannah even took her flu shot like a champ. I told her as soon as the nurse was done, she could have a sucker. The nurse stuck her and she looked like she was going to cry for about a half second and then asked "can I have a red sucker?". All the way home, she kept saying "Mommy I'm a good patient". No arguements here!

It's A ...

BABY!!! You thought I was going to annoucne the gender, didn't you? (insert evil laugh here) Actually, I would love to announce the gender to everyone but I don't know the gender. Rob and I made a deal when I was pregnant with Hannah - he really wanted to wait until the delivery room and I really wanted to know early so our deal was that we would find out early with our first (since that is when you have your baby shower) and not with our second. And he remembered. Dang. Still, I went into the ultrasound with high expectations that I might be able to steal a glance if I really paid attention but no such luck. Try as I might, baby was just too wiggly and I just couldn't get a good enough look. I thought I saw the three lines that indicates a girl and the tech stopped there to point out baby's kidneys and bladder. Then I thought I saw something else that might indicate a boy and it turns out that was where the umbilical cord went into the belly. LOL guess I'm bad at reading ultrasounds. So, yay for team green and bring on the delivery room surprise! Of course most importantly, baby looked great, he/she was measuring well with a nice strong heartbeat, and it was so neat to see him/her moving around, kicking, waving, etc.

By the way, as of today, I am officially half way done! Our laptop is broken (the part is coming next week) so a 20 week picture of me and a few ultrasound pictures are on their way soon!

Kids Say The Darndest Things

Hannah started asking "where is our house?" while we were out driving a while ago and rather than listen to that question over and over again, I made it into a game. When she asks that, I say "is that our house?" and then point to whatever random building we are near, which always gets me a laugh and "nooooooo" from her. She has recently began turning it around and randomly pointing and asking "is that our house?" while I'm driving and I reply back to her "noooo" and the game continues.

Fast forward to today in Target. Rob was with us since he had the day off. Hannah and I are walking out of the bathroom (yay potty training!) and Hannah asks "where is Daddy?". I say "I don't know, we have to find him" so she pointed to the security guard and said "is that my Daddy?" Luckily I managed to choke back my laugh so that she wouldn't continue saying it and he didn't hear. Could you imagine if you were a guy in your late teens/early 20s and a little girl came up to you with her Mommy (who you'd never seen before) a few steps behind and asked "Mommy is that my Daddy?" Ha!

Maybe it's time for a new game...

Potty Training Success

No, my almost 2.5 year old is not potty trained yet but we're finally having some success. I was hoping that since she has always been a relatively easy child (not overly fussy as a baby, good eater and sleeper, easy to wean, no problems transitioning to a big girl bed, etc) that this would also be a piece of cake. I should have realized that that's not how these things work. We purchased a potty seat at 18 months and had success pretty quickly. She was going occasionally by 21 months and showing all the signs of "readiness" that I had read about, so I decided to give it a go and we tried taking away the diapers for a day. Big mistake. I did everything "right" - made no big deal of accidents, rewarded success, etc but by the end of the day, she wouldn't go near the potty again. For 3 months. Seriously. I didn't believe those who said trying to early was a bad idea but boy was it a bad idea. I was bummed but decided that obviously, even if she is showing signs, she wasn't ready. So we left it alone and she started to come around to the idea again. We tried once or twice throughout the summer with no real luck and then about a month ago, we decided to give up the diapers again for a day. My thought was that she speaks in complete sentences, she knows what's going on, certainly I could just explain it to her, tell her what she gets from the deal (a piece of candy and a sticker) and she would jump at the chance. Ha! Fat chance. Let me just say that I don't think I could hold it for 5 hours so I find her persistence admirable but it got us no closer to potty training. So I thought "fine, I'm done until something drastic changes." Well that happened last week and although I won't say it was a drastic change, it was her choice and maybe that is what has made the difference. She suddenly just started saying "Mommy I have to go pee-pee on the potty." Shocking at first, but what was even more shocking was that she would actually go when she said this. Now, for the past 3 days, she has asked to sit on the potty 3-5 times a day. Woohoo! I don't push, I don't ask (because if I do she just says "no I'm fine"), I just wait until she says she has to go. She still has dirty diapers and she also still has a wet diaper or two during the day so she's not telling me every single time but this is such leaps and bounds from what it has been that I am fine with whatever pace we need to go.

I don't want to jinx myself, but I have to admit that I'm so excited at the thought of having her out of diapers before this next little one is born!

The Great Pumpkin Patch

Rob had the day off on Columbus day, so we decided to venture out and pick our pumpkins for Halloween. Last year, Hannah and I went with Mom, Dad, Grandma, and Grandpa. I didn't want Rob to miss out on the fun again this year since Hannah would probably actually know what was going so we waited until he could go too . Unfortunately that meant Mom and Dad couldn't go since that was the day they were leaving to visit Matthew but we still got to meet up with Grandma and Grandpa and had a lot fun. Here are some pictures from our adventures:

We decided to try the corn maze. Hannah was fearless and often Rob had to jog to keep up with her as she ran down the path ahead of everyone.

We made it out of the maze!

A love for riding horses begins.

Practicing driving skills on a tractor.

That looks like a good pumpkin!

Our family!

This farm also had trikes to ride, inflatable slides, a bouncing house, a hay pile to run up, animals to look at, and a dinosaur who ate pumpkins, all of which Hannah thoroughly enjoyed and we had a hard time keeping up with her as she ran from one area to the next. We also got to take a hay ride out to the pumpkin patch (which was a lot bumpier than I remembered!) and they let us try fresh sweet corn off fresh off the stalk. Hannah loved the corn and after she ate every last kernel off the cob, I had to convince her to give me the cob before she started eating that. As a treat, before we left, Grandma and Grandpa bought her a basket of fresh cherry tomatoes (you will never meet a kid who loves tomatoes more than Hannah) and we bought her a few honey sticks for the drive home.

We had a great time and look forward to doing it again next year!

Cutest Thing Ever

Hannah: Mommy where's baby?
Me: Right here (points to belly)
Hannah (in high pitch voice that she uses to talk to babies): Hi baby! (pats belly) How you doing baby? I love you! (kisses belly)

Makes a mama's heart melt... :)

16 Weeks

Okay I'm not quite 16 weeks (will be on Friday) but I had my 16 week appointment today. Everything looks good but baby does not like the doppler. He/she kept moving away as the doctor tried again and again to pin down the heartbeat. Since I can feel baby pretty well now, I was able to help by saying "baby just moved over there", "now baby is over there", etc but it wasn't really helping since baby just moved the second the doppler went over him/her. Finally the doctor found the heartbeat, which was 160 beats per minute, and I got to feel and hear lots of movement from baby so that was pretty neat. Rob and I tried to get Hannah to pay attention to the heartbeat but she was busy drawing and decently unimpressed. I thought maybe she would be interested since she loves to pat baby, kiss mommy's belly, and is constantly asking for me to "open baby", but she was busy writing her name (obviously she can't actually write her name, that's just what she told us she was doing) and playing with the little barbie doll she got from McDonalds.

I made my 20 week appointment and ultrasound for Nov 10 at 9am. Very exciting!

6 Introspective Questions

Okay I'm hopping on board with all you deep-thinkers but I can't promise my brain won't hurt after this! ;)


1. What surprised you most about yourself once you became a mother? I guess the thing that surprised me the most was how much patience I suddenly had. I am not a patient person and I'll be the first to admit my shortcoming in that area. I was truly terrified at the thought of a baby who cried constantly or a toddler who worked on my last nerve and it hasn't been like that at all. I am extremely patient and even enjoy seeing some of the harder things (like getting rid of the hitting/pushing habit) pay off. I was also afraid that I wouldn't know what to do and not all of it has been exactly instinct, but I'm surprised how much of it is. I didn't even know I had "mommy" instincts. Amazing! I had also heard a lot of people say things like "well don't worry if you don't fall instantly in love - it's just not like that for everyone." I was really worried that that's how I would feel and it so was not. I feel in love the second I saw that little face. I remember when Hannah was home for about a week, I was nursing her in bed and Rob was getting ready to go to the store, and I looked at him and said "I know people love their kids, but did you ever think you'd love her this much this quickly?" It was just like a light for me - it was like she was a part of me that I didn't know I was missing.

2.Did you find that people looked at you differently than before you were a mother? Yes of course. Rob saw the struggles of pregnancy for me so I think that had a big impression on him and certainly our families also look at both of us differently. We aren't just their kids anymore, we have kids of our own. I also met many great and interesting friends that I would not know without being a mom.

3.How do you feel you have changed since motherhood? Well I feel like I have somewhat answered that in question 1. I think I am more patient, less selfish, and more understanding. I also have much more sympathy for other mothers and am less judgemental. Being a mom is hard and we're all doing the best we can for our family. How can you argue with that?

4. Are there parts of yourself you feel you've lost and you deeply desire to regain? At first, yes. I am an extrovert and even though I was the one who wanted to stay home, the transition to a stay at home mom was a lot more difficult than I thought it would be. Once I found things to do (playgroups, errands, etc) where I could get the adult interaction I craved and was able to pin down a routine, things got much much better. Now I couldn't imagine things being different, although I do desire to rejoin the workforce at least part time at some point.

5. How do you define your Identity? By your kids? Spouse? Career? Well I am all those things. Aren't we all? I think defining yourself by just one of those aspects limits your true self. I am me. I am a mom. I am a wife. I had and will one day have a career. I am all those things and taking any one of those things away makes me, well, not me. I guess what I'm saying is that I define myself by all those things and I think that's okay.

6. Can you believe that you were created with amazing potential and with gifts that only you can bring to the table? If not, what's holding you back from embracing this truth? I think it is amazing how well suited we are for the gifts we have been given. And I think the gifts can have a place - you don't have to utilize every single gift every single day of your entire life. I think gifts can have a shelf-life, so to speak. I was always a good student. Well, my student days are over right now and although I can take aspects of what made me a good student and apply them to other areas, I don't feel like being a good student means that I was destined to be a student for the rest of my life. Some gifts are meant to hone in on other gifts or show us potential we didn't know we had. I also think some gifts are meant to take us to a specific place and then it's time to move on and discover other gifts.

Wordless Wednesday

Message To My New Little One

STOP SCARING MOMMY! Seriously, I like seeing you on ultrasound, but having spotting twice now is making Mommy downright jumpy. I did appreciate the wave you gave me during the ultrasound today, the way you looked like you were trying to talk to me by opening and closing your mouth, and how you flipped over as if to say "that's enough for today" at the end. And don't get me wrong, I'm all for cool pictures just as much as the next person. However, Mommy's nerves can only take so much. So, no more spotting, and I hope to feel some of those acrobatic kicks we saw on the ultrasound very soon!

Friday Fill-Ins

1. My birthday, homecoming, and a hayride to pick our pumpkins this year are some of the things I'm most looking forward to in October.

2. I'm not one for surprises. Sometimes I wish I could just go to the end and see what will happen. That's true for books, movies, and life!

3. Parenting doesn't come with a handbook. You have all these ideas of how you will act and how you won't act. I think most people stick to their overall ideals, however, some of the little things aren't as clear cut and that's why there is a saying, "never say never"! Bribe my 2 year old with a sucker so she sits there quietly in the cart while I shop? Heck ya!

4. When I'm down, I try to surround myself with people. Extroverts gain energry from being around others!

5. At home is where you'll find me most often. We do make an attempt to do at least one thing every day to get out of the house, but with a toddler who naps 2-3 hours in the afternoon and then a house to clean and a family to feed, home is where we are most often.

6. A rainy day is good for sleeping in! I LOVE to wake up and see that it's raining. It usually means Hannah will give me an extra half hour of sleep!

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I’m looking forward to relaxing at home, tomorrow my plans include going to the store and taking a nap, and Sunday, I want to go to church and take a nap! (Do you see a weekend theme?)

Thursday Thirteen

13 Things I Learned From Watching "How I Met Your Mother"

I know I've already done a Thursday Thirteen about this show, but it's just so dang funny that there are plenty of things to say about it. So, in honor of the show starting it's new season this week, here are some things I've learned from watching the show.

1. You can walk 500 miles but you can't push a car without wheels.

2. Krav Maga is not a form of yoga.

3. Never slap a person without the approval of the Slap Bet Commisioner.

4. Wood glue does not replace screws in coffee tables.

5. Nothing good happens after 2am.

6. Ted Mosby is a jerk.

7. Never buy an apartment until you are sure the floors are level.

8. Architects are hot.


9. Taking 5 shots in 2 minutes is a bad idea (I think we all knew that one).


10. Even fake swords can send someone to the hospital.


11. Never leave 100 mice in a cardboard box overnight.


12. The worst pick-up lines seem to get the best results.


13. Don't insult police officers if you need a ride home.

The Little Drummer Girl

As stated in a previous post, our little girl is all about music these days. Not only does she like to try to play Guitar Hero with Daddy, but he has also now convinced her to play her own toy drum while he plays. Recently, our friends brought over Rock Band and Hannah loved to play 4 drums at once. Here she is, practicing the game with Daddy (who almost got hit in the head on more than one occasion):

She usually chooses to sing Baa Baa Black Sheep as she whacks the drum and she actually has decent rhythym (for a toddler). I expect she will be getting a band together any day now - I bet her stuffed animals will be a great audience!

A Post From The Past

This post is from July 23rd and now that I've officially made it into the 12th week, I wanted to share it:


Today, I got my positive pregnancy test. It was a light line, but it was a line none-the-less, and I am so happy that I go back and forth between being giddy and bawling. If you are reading this, it means that I am past the 12 week mark and everything is going great. I'm not really sure what I want to say in this post - mostly just share that right now, I feel so much joy, hope, and happiness. We are going to be parents again. Hannah is going to be a big sister. I feel so blessed.

Hello little one - you are already well loved and we can't wait to meet you!

Wordless Wednesday

This picture is from 2 months ago - I finally feel brave enough to post it:

Toddler Should Be Spelled O-C-D

First off, I don't actually think my toddler has OCD, I think all this is perfectly normal toddler behavior. I know that kids, especially this young, crave repitition and find comfort in things being in a specific order. Rob and I were just sitting there one night, laughing about how our child, if she was an adult, would be labeled obsessive compulsive because of the following habits:


~ All doors in our house must be shut. She literally walks around, shutting every single door on the second floor and then comes down and does the same thing to the first floor.

~ If she wanted to do something and you tried to help her (or, heaven forbid, even just do it for her), then she will completely undo what you have done and redo it.

~ Whenever we walk into a house, she must immediately sit down and remove her shoes and socks, usually tripping whoever was coming in behind her.

~ If we walk by a curb, she must be allowed to walk along it for a few steps and then jump off.

~ If we walk by grass, she must walk through it. Even that annoying little strip they put in the parking lot for no known reason.

~ Once she finishes a snack, she can't hold the box, wrapper, or napkin it was in. She will keep saying "All done" over and over again, continually getting louder, until you take it.

~ When she takes a bath, she must put every single toy into the tub with her, one by one. When she gets out, she must put them all back, one by one.

~ She asks to wash her hands constantly.

~ She cannot sleep unless fully dressed, no matter how hot her room gets during the summer. If it's really warm, I remove the covers once she is asleep.

~ She must have both her kitty blanket and her princess blanket covering her to sleep. She also needs a sippy cup with water and at least one stuffed animal in bed with her, but it can't be touching her.


Deviating from this list can only end in disaster (or at the very least you risk a major meltdown). Our toddler, the next "Monk".

Hurricane Hanna(h)

While "hurricane" could easily describe our toddler, at least our Hannah is learning how to help clean things up. She even sings a clean up song and occasionally offers to help clean without being prompted (as a way to stay up later, of course). Hurricane Hanna must be her evil twin, Hanna without the "h" on the end. ;)

Hope all those in the way of the evil Hanna stay safe and dry!

Thursday Thirteen

Thirteen Funny Phrases From My Toddler

1. "I'm awake!"
This is what she says to me every morning when I come in to get her. Not "good morning" or "hi" but "I'm awake!"

2. "Want rock again!"
This is what she says when Daddy stops playing Guitar Hero.

3. "I need Cash!"
No she isn't talking about money, her favorite little friend is named Cash. Sometimes when she asks for him at a store, people look at me funny but whenever I take the time to explain it, people always comment on what an adorable name that is. I agree!

4. "Uh-oh, we're home!"
She's just started saying this for some reason as we pull into the garage and I think it's pretty funny but I am trying to get her to say "yay we're home" instead.

5. "The lights are on."
This is funny because she was looking out the window when she said it, so I had to explain that those weren't lights, that was the sun.

6. "I'm a grumpy gus."
Sometimes I call her a grumpy gus when she is in a bad mood. Now she occasionally she answers this way when you ask "what's wrong?"

7. "I need shopping!"
This one isn't funny, I just like that I trained her so well at such a young age. ;)

8. "Ceiling is inside, sky is outside."
One day, Hannah looked up, pointed to the ceiling, and said "sky". I said, "No baby, that's the ceiling. The ceiling is inside, the sky is outside." Now she says this over and over again every time she looks up. It's also funny because it sounds like "c-wing is insiii, sty is ow-siiii".

9. "Need clean up!"
This is her attempt to stay up later when her "need play little bit" fails, but we do let her clean up her toys before going to bed. We're not dumb.

10. "So pretty"
She says this about herself while looking the mirror - it's how I got her to start letting me brush her hair but it's funny because she stops and says this in front of all mirrors, no matter where we are.

11. "Ooooh big girl!"
Hannah did not like stepping on the scale at the doctor's office last time she went for a well-child visit, so we have been practicing at home. Now whenever Mommy has to go to the doctor, she insists on stepping on the scale too after Mommy gets weighed. She always says "ooooh big girl" because that's what I say to her at home. I hear nurses giggling.

12. "Need salt baby"
Yes she has a fake salt shaker and she salts her baby dolls. No idea why.

13. "I need cuddle with Mama"
This one isn't funny but it's soooo cute. I'm going to miss it when she stops saying it.

Mad About Music, Part 2

Hannah: Daddy?
Rob: Yes?
Hannah: Do you love me?
Rob: Of course I love you.
Hannah (trying to sing the Barney song that she just heard for the first time a few days ago to Daddy): You love me. You love me. We're best friends, friends should be. With a great big kiss. You love me.

Mad About Music

Hannah loves music. I know that all kids love music but she adores it. She has already mastered singing most of her favorite nursery rhymes ("Baa Baa Black Sheep", "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star", and "Row Row Row Your Boat" are just a few of the songs that I hear her singing to herself at night) but she loves all music equally. Whenever a song comes on the TV or one of her toys starts singing, she immediately begins dancing and swaying to the music. Play it for her one or two more times and she is trying to sing along. This week, my dad introduced her to a MP3 player. She seemed a little uncertain as to what he was trying to put on her head at first but once she got a listen, she was hooked and kept asking "more please" over and over and over again. We finally had to turn it off and tell her it was broken just so they could leave! Here she is with the MP3 player at first:

And then once she realized that she liked it:

And no, I am not purchasing an MP3 player for my toddler, but it was very cute! Maybe she'll play an instrument some day like her mom and dad! :)

One Word

USING ONLY ONE WORD.....

1. Where is your cell phone? table
2. Your significant other? dorky ;)
3. Your hair? brown
4. Your mother? helpful
5. Your father? funny
6. Your favorite thing? children
7. Your dreams last night? weird
8. Your favorite drink? lemonade
9. Your dream/goal? family
10. What room you are in? bedroom
11. Your hobby? books
12. Your fear? loss
13. Where do you want to be in 6 years? here
14. Where were you last night? home
15. Something that you aren't? quiet
16. Muffins? blueberry
17. Wish list item? health
18. Where you grew up? nice
19. Last thing you did? showered
20. What are you wearing? PJs
21. Your TV? on
22. Your pets? furry
23. Friends? loved
24. Your life? great
25. Your mood? hungry
26. Missing someone? friends
27. Your car? SUV
28. Something you're not wearing? shoes
29. Your favorite store? Target
32. Your favorite color? purple
33. When is the last time you laughed? yesterday
34. Last time you cried? happiness

A) Four places that I go to over and over: museum, Target, pool, friends
B) Four people who email me regularly: mom, Mare, church, Amy
C) My favorite four places to eat: Fridays, Thai, Changs, Wasabi
D) Four places I would like to go right now: bed, Europe, friends, siblings
E) Four TV shows I watch all the time? Friends, Scrubs, Gilmore (Girls), (How I Met Your) Mother

I Slept Like A Toddler

Whenever someone had a great night's sleep, they often use the phrase: "I slept like a baby". Anyone who has a baby knows that is the most ridiculous phrase in the English language. However, after last night's 2 storms, I'm thinking I'll start using the phrase "I slept like a toddler." Last night, I woke up at 5:30am to the loudest storm I've ever heard. Seriously, it sounded like someone had cymbals right next to my head that they were crashing over and over again just to see if they could make me jump high enough to fall out of bed. And where was Hannah? Was she scared crying for "mommy" or asking to sleep with us? No! She was passed out, sound asleep, as if the whole house wasn't shaking every time the thunder boomed. This very same storm decided to repeat itself 2 hours later at 7:30am where, once again, my toddler slept as if it was just another quiet Tuesday morning. Amazing! Hopefully tonight I will find myself sleeping like a toddler - I could use a good night's sleep after last night!

Friday Fill Ins

1. I believe whatever doesn't kill you gives you compassion for others and reminds you that we are all human. Sometimes good things happen, sometimes bad things happen, but it's how we handle them and how we help others that make the difference.

2. If you're good at something, rock on! I think it's great when people use natural given talents to do something good. I also think there are many ways (some you may not have even considered) to use your natural talents.

3. Why so calm? What else is there to be? The things I want to control the most are out of my hands.

4. Something is out there, it's the neighbor's cat and it's driving our cat insane. Seriously, I have never heard such noises come out of an animal and Lacey just keeps backing up and slamming head-first into the glass door trying to get the other cat as it lays peacefully on our deck, mocking our poor kitty. Luckily their cat gets bored easily because I am not interfering (I almost got attacked the last time I tried!).

5. If my life were a sitcom, it would be titled "Kids aren't the only way to go crazy, but they certainly are the fastest." Hehe okay I stole that from someone else and it's not entirely true - Hannah is the best thing to ever happen to me but sometimes toddlers do make their mommies a little crazy. A phrase that is heard around our house: "Hannah, sweetie, you're making Mommy crazy and she didn't have very far to go."

6. Sitting on my back porch I see a pond and the back part of our neighborhood, including the nice playground and walking trails. I also see lots of spots where the grass hasn't grown in yet even though we have lived here for 3 years. Crappy soil.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I’m looking forward to going out to dinner and hanging out with Mike, Manda, and Chad, tomorrow my plans include going to my in-laws for dinner and a festival that's in town, and Sunday, I want to go to church and take an afternoon nap!

Thursday Thirteen

Thirteen reasons why "How I Met Your Mother" is the best show on TV:

1. It's going to be lengen - wait for it and I hope you're not lactose intolerant because the end of that sentence is - dary.

2. They still haven't explained the goat.

3. Robyn was a Canadian teenage pop star who sang about going to the mall.

4. Annoying habits have never been so funny ("It sounds like you stuck a screwdriver in a pencil sharpener").

5. They poke fun at our neighbors to the north and it's actually funny.

6. Dawson guest stars on the show and he is bald with a beer gut.

7. Blue french horns rock.

8. Neil Patrick Harris is a womanizer...

9. ...And he's hilarious...

10. ...And he has more bad pick up lines than Joey ("Haaaaaaaave you met Ted?"). .

11. It's fun to look at the actresses in the background and try to guess if one of them is the mother.

12. Marshall and Lily are the cutest couple ever.

13. The funniest plot line ever given to a show: slap bet.

Hannah's First Trim

This morning I finally caved and took Hannah to get her first trim. I considered doing it myself but then thought better of it and opted for a kid's place. (I wasn't sure how she would take it since trimming her nails usually leads to a full-on melt down while she cries "it hurts it hurts" over and over again.) Luckily, the kid's place was the right choice and she loved playing on the slide, getting to choose her own car to sit in, and picking her own video - Elmo, of course. She did start to squirm and protest a few times but the lady didn't seem even a little phased by it and continued to cut and talk as if Hannah were sitting there perfectly still. She told me there was no need to decide about bangs today since Hannah has none but that I should be thinking about it for the future. Since Hannah usually takes and tosses anything I put in her hair after about 3 seconds, I'll say she'll probably have to have the bangs some day. Anyways, we bought the "baby's 1st haircut" package so they took a picture, gave us a certificate, and saved some hair for us. I forgot my camera (booo!) so I didn't get any action shots but I do have some before and after shots. Not a huge difference - which is why I'm calling this is a trim and not her actual first haircut - but Rob and I both agree that it looks better without all the straggly ends.

Here are some pictures that I snapped of her 2 weeks ago at the pool:

And here she is after her trim (I couldn't get her to put down the milk :)) :

Friday Fill Ins

I've never done one of these before but Hannah is napping and I'm bored, so here we go:


1. Oh, I can't wait until I have a potty-trained toddler! I am so ready to be done with diapers!!!

2. A gallon of skim milk and a vegi tray for tomorrow's baby shower is the first thing I see when I open my refrigerator.

3. I never leave home without, um, Hannah? ;) Just kidding - she occasionally does stay with daddy or grandma and grandpa to give me some time to myself so I guess I'll say my wallet, keys, cell phone, and sunglasses.

4. If I were a condiment, I would be horseradish mustard because I love spicy things!

5. Rude people are really high up on my list of pet peeves.

6. The last thing I thought of before I went to bed was ahhhh, so sleepy.....

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I’m looking forward to having dinner with the in-laws and dessert with Mike & Elisabeth, tomorrow my plans include going to a fun double baby shower, and Sunday, I want to finally get Hannah's 2 year pictures taken.

Thursday Thirteen

Thirteen Weird Things About Me:

1. I order pickles on my sandwich then pick them off and eat them separately
2. I organize my groceries in a specific order at check out and then am secretly annoyed if the sales clerk bags my groceries out of order
3. Most foods are fine but if cottage cheese and applesauce touch on my plate, I can't eat it
4. I have an identical twin
5. I am not awake in the morning until after my shower, no matter what time it is
6. I love lots of color (and you'll agree if you've ever been to my house)
7. I do not like pet birds, probably due to the fact that every pet bird I have ever held has bit me
8. I am afraid of spiders, even the little ones creep me out
9. I love going to both my and Rob's family reunions (I don't think this is weird but others have told me it is)
10. You will rarely, if ever, see me in a pair of shorts
11. Although I think little boys are adorable and would love to have one, I secretly also think it would be fun to have to all girls (shhh don't tell Rob ;))
12. I actually think CinderElmo is a cute video and like the songs (that one was just for you, Amy :P)
13. I hate coffee, dark chocolate, and basically anything else that tastes bitter

Some Pictures From Our Trip

Last month was our 5 year wedding anniversary. We tend to travel a lot to see family and friends but haven't actually gone on a trip of any kind since our honeymoon. I decided to remedy that this year by suggesting that we drop off the kiddo at grandma & grandpa's house and go somewhere fun. After much research into "fun" things to do that are within a few hours of our house, we decided on an amusement park. They had a discount online, I found a close and reasonable hotel, and they have a free waterpark inside. Sold, sold, and sold! It was so fun to walk around the park just talking, holding hands, and enjoying all the rides. We hit all the rollercoasters at least once, a few of the carnival rides, a bunch of the water rides, ate (an expensive) lunch, and spent some time picking out a few gifts for Hannah. We left around 7pm which was just in time to go back to our hotel and out to a romantic dinner. I had a massive headache the next day but it's hard to say if it was caused by being dehydrated from the 90 degree weather, the drinks at dinner, or all the rollercoasters we rode. Anyways, I just finally downloaded all the pictures off our camera so here are a few from our anniversary trip!

Here is a picture of us (had to do something to kill time while waiting in line):

Here is a picture on a ride. No, no one was in the car with Rob to take the picture, he just held the camera back and snapped (I was impressed too):

Here is a picture I took of Rob - notice the roller coaster in the background (okay not as impressive as the previous picture, but still good):

And here is a picture of me and Jen (we stopped by on our way back home for lunch and a quick visit). She said this was the first inappropriate picture taken of her at work, but we don't believe her :P (j/k - you know I love you!):

Yay for a fun and relaxing trip!!! :)

4th of July Fun

We spent the 4th of July with Rob's parents. Usually Rob's brother has a 4th of July party but he spent so much time and money on the celebration last year that I think he needed a year off. Instead, we spent it just hanging out, eating, playing board/card games, talking while relaxing in the hot tub, and enjoying a few adult drinks after Hannah went to bed. There were some family friends in town and it was great to see everyone and just have fun together. Hannah loved sitting in her new princess chair while watching the guys set off a few left over fireworks from last year and, much to my amusement, is still repeating "Daddy burn self" whenever you mention the word "firework". (Rob didn't actually hurt himself, but one of his shirts now has a hole in it.) Here is a picture of us looking festive - hope everyone enjoyed their holiday!

Tuesday's Child

I heard this poem the other day for the first time in a very long time - it was in a poem book that I had as a child but I haven't thought of it in years. My baby girl was born on a Tuesday. Seems to fare well for her as far as the childhood rhyme goes:

Monday's child is fair of face.
Tuesday's child is full of grace.
Wednesday's child is full of woe.
Thursday's child has far to go.
Friday's child is loving and giving.
Saturday's child works hard for a living,
But the child who is born on the Sabbath Day
Is bonny and blithe and good and gay.

It also bodes well for me and my twin as we were born on Sunday. Poor Rob though - he was born on a Wednesday. I told Rob this but he wasn't upset about his ill-fated fortune because he thinks that the person who made this up was a "Blossom" fan and that Wednesday's child was actually full of "whoa!" I have no comeback for that except to say that this poem has been around for more than 100 years, and I'm pretty sure the poet just rolled over in his grave. Really though I just smiled, rolled my eyes, and shook my head (which Rob has gotten very used to in our 5 years of marriage).

Here is a day of the week calculator if you are interested what day of the week you or your child were born: http://www.searchforancestors.com/utility/dayofweek.html

July 2, 2008

I don't want to write sad posts (which is why I have avoided the topic of my miscarriage) because this blog is supposed to be about the wonderful journey of raising our child, but it's hard not to think of what today could have been for our family and what it isn't. My goal was to be pregnant again before this day, but since I utterly failed at that, my new goal is to do a better job of letting go of things that I can't control. So goodbye July 2nd - I hope we meet on better terms next year.

Dorkfest

I feel like this picture sums up our weekend at the convention the best:

Wordless Wednesday

Please add your own caption:

A Two Year Old's Idea Of A Good Time

1) Take Mommy's hand and say "come here Mommy"
2) Drag Mommy into playroom
3) Put Mommy's hand right next to the button on the Walk & Talk Big Bird and insist "Mama push button"
4) Run out of room and hide around the corner once Mommy bends over to push the button
5) Peek around the corner when it starts it's annoying talking
6) Laugh hysterically while shrieking "it scares me!" and run to cling to Mommy's leg
7) Repeat

(Apparently my toddler is a preparing herself for a future of roller coasters and other thrills)

A Haircut Is In Our Future

Hannah is finally getting some hair. Some thought it would never happen, even I had my doubts, but it's finally growing in. You can even see it in pictures now:

We're not in need of a haircut just yet (I'm holding out on the bangs to come in) but I see ponytails and barrettes in our somewhat near future!

Wordless Wednesday

Stealing this from Amy because I think it's cute - add your own caption to the picture:

Mommy's Little Mimic

Hannah has really gotten into mimicking everything Mommy does these days. Rarely can I cook a meal or wash my hands without my "helper". The funniest part I think is when she is "mommying" her dolls and stuffed animals. She tells them "take turns", "no throwing", "do not hit", and often just randomly yells "no" at them. I try not to laugh too much but it's difficult, especially at this moment when I can hear her in room. She has just woken up from her nap and she is asking the stuffed animals "want new bed?" and telling them "no pushing". Apparently the stuffed animals must be pushing each other to get into her bed. What a bunch of little hooligans - I bet the lion is the one doing the pushing, he always has that mischeivious look in his eyes...

On another note, as she is mimicking everything Mommy does, she is also wanting more and more independence. The most common phrase heard around our house is "want do it self." She wants to put on her own clothes, pull on her own diaper, put on her shoes, dry off by herself, climb into bed, climb into her carseat, walk down stairs, brush her own teeth, brush her own hair - the list just goes on and on. If Mommy makes the mistake of trying to help to hurry things along, well just watch out. Usually I can either instruct her enough to do it right (such as when she is trying to put her shoes on the wrong foot) or I can distract her enough to get her to let me do it right once she's already done it (such as when she brushes her own teeth). It's great to see her mastering so many skills, even if I'm exhausted from chasing her around, trying to get her head out of the arm hole in her shirt.

All Cozy In The Bouncer

I let Mare borrow our bouncer a few weeks ago for her new little one. Hannah adored her bouncer as a baby and even took naps in it until she was 6 months old. Apparently Mare's new son didn't share Hannah's love for the bouncer so Mare returned it to us the other day. I had the intention of sticking it back down in the basement for storage but since there was no rush, I left it sitting in the family room until I made my next trip downstairs. Last night I found Hannah relaxing in the bouncer in just her diaper after a bath. I guess I should have realized that her love for the bouncer would not diminish with time. Here she is at 2 years old and just for fun I also included a picture of her at 2 months old. Hmm, she seems a little bigger now...

Fun At The Waterpark

This past weekend we visited Dustyn & Emily. We had tons of fun and Hannah especially enjoyed the visit to the waterpark. I thought maybe she was a little young for the slide since it was sort of long and kind of twisty. However, after her insistence of "want slide" over and over again, I finally asked if I could go down the slide with her. When I was told no due to concerns about landing on the child or something, I asked if there was an age limit. I was told no there was not an age limit, as long as she was okay with it and we were okay with it, they were okay with it. So, I nervously sent my 2 year old down the slide while Rob stood at the bottom waiting. She loved it. Seriously, we practically had to drag her away when it was time to go. Here are some pictures of our fun day at the waterpark - guess we'll have to look for one of these near home!