Love the Sunshine!

It has been so pretty outside today! Daddy is recording a CD at the studio today with some friends, so it was just me and Hannah. I knew I had to get out of the house! Not only was it beautiful outside, but since daddy has been sick and not able to help with Hannah much, I was needing a day away from home!

First, we started with a picnic.

Then Hannah and I ran to Lowe's to buy a room darkening shade for her bedroom. I'm determined to get this child to take longer naps!!

After that we headed to the park to meet some friends. We got there early and so Hannah and I went on a little walk.

Everyone kept commenting about how happy Hannah was and she was just waving to everyone as we walked by. She loved it. I think she was so happy to be out of the house, too!

Our friends got there and apparently Hannah was pretty happy to see Will. They were holding hands. So cute!

Hopefully next time daddy can join in on the fun. We missed him!

Sicky

After both my nieces, my nephew, my sister, brother-in-law and mom all had a horrible stomach bug....it hit our house! Yuck! Fortunately (so far) Wes has been the only one to catch it. My best friend the past few days has been a can of lysol. Just ask Wes. Our house smells like a lemon....or 1,000 lemons.
This morning I scrubbed the toilet, floors, countertops, shower...anything that was in sight. Hopefully I've killed all the germs and Hannah and I have been spared.

A few posts ago I posted the most adorable picture of my niece, Marley in her pom pom hat. Well, lo and behold.....

My mom whipped one up for Hannah, too! Thanks, Granna. I'm so thankful to have a crafty mom. I just wish she would have passed some of those genes down to me!

Wesley is on the mend, so hopefully we have a fun weekend in store!

Wordless Wednesday

Lots of the "big" bloggers do something each Wednesday called Wordless Wednesday. It's basically just a picture or two without any words. I have so many pictures that need no explanation, so I thought I'd join in.

So, here's my first Wordless Wednesday. (Next time there really won't be any words - ha!)

Bye Bye, Granna!

We have had a few semi-warm days lately. Last week it was cool outside, but we finally saw the sun. Hannah and I bundled up and went on a walk. It was so much fun. I long for the days of spring. I can't wait until it's hot and sunny all the time!

Hannah is such a big girl these days. She's eating lots of table food (but still loves her baby food)! Before Granna left to go home today Hannah ate some cheez-its. She's even sitting in a barstool all by herself! Don't worry, Granna was REALLY close by and only let go of her for me to take the picture!

I can picture her sitting at this bar stool in several years and us just chatting.

We had a fun time with Granna and were sad to see her go! But, we're looking forward to seeing daddy!

Birthday Celebration

My family has always been big on birthdays. Wesley's birthday was yesterday, so we started celebrating on Monday with different little things...like on Monday I cooked his favorite meal, Tuesday I gave him a present, etc. Then he left me to go snow skiing!!!

That's right, Wes left at 4:00 a.m. Thursday morning to go snow skiing with friends. So, my mom came to keep me company. My birthday is about a week away, so we started celebrating!!

My mom took us out to eat and I decided I wanted to go to Clear Springs, a seafood restaurant. Yum!

Christie and Justin and their family came with us.

London & Granna
Carter & Granna
Sweet MarleySince daddy was on the slopes, Hannah and I had to take a family picture without him. sad!


Sisters!
My mom also gave me a present. It's a rhinestone gun! EVERY mom or Granna of a little girl should have one!! I've been digging through Hannah's room trying to find stuff to "bling!" Love it!

Thanks mom, for making my birthday so special. When my real birthday rolls around next week I'm going to have to make sure Wes tries to top what you did. haha!

Mommy's Little Helper

It's nice to have some extra help around the house when daddy is at work!

Have I mentioned that Hannah is into EVERYTHING?

Play time!

First, Wesley got me these beautiful tulips for Valentine's day! He's such a sweetie!

On Monday Hannah and I got to play with Micah! He's such a sweetheart. We used to play with him once a week while mommy worked for Micah's daddy, but now that mommy has retired from that, we've missed him! We were so happy to share our toys with him.


Come back soon, Micah!

Fun Friday Night!

Friday night we babysat my nieces and nephew while Christie and Justin went on their Valentines date. Hannah doesn't know what to think of a full house, but she loves watching her cousins run and play! We have so much fun when they are here.

This is the same day that it snowed, so Marley was all bundled up in this PRECIOUS hat that my mom made. Mom, where is Hannah's hat with a pom pom on top?

I asked London if she would smile for a picture and she turned and said: "No, I need a kleenex." So cute...and at least she has good manners and knows that she should wipe her nose before a picture, right?

Here's a good one....kinda. haha!

And here's Carter. Excuse the mess in the background, but I had to get the jump rope in the picture. He said that when you pulled the jump rope out of the chairs, summer time would be here. I couldn't wait to pull it out because it is soooo cold! I'm sad to report that when we pulled it out so we could eat dinner, it was still snowing outside.

This boy has quite an imagination!

And here's the snow icecream we made. I got the recipe from another girl's blog. You just add sugar, milk and vanilla...and we added Cinnamon because London walked in right after Carter and I finished making it and really wanted to help...so I let her add that.

It didn't really matter what we added, because it wasn't very good!

We ended the night with a movie and popcorn. I love these kids so much and can't wait until they come again!

Snow!

Friday morning we woke up to SNOW everywhere! It was so pretty and I was so excited to bundle Hannah up and take her outside to play.

Hannah didn't know what to think, and her face was pretty much blank the entire time we were out there. No smiling, laughing, crying, nothing. Although, she probably couldn't move because mommy put so many layers of clothes on her!

Watching daddy build a snowman

tada! Our beach babe snowman!

We enjoyed playing in the snow. It will probably be the last time we see this much snow in many years. The last time it snowed like this was in 2004. I'm not complaining, though. I HATE cold weather and I wish it would get into the 90's soon!

Laughing Out Loud!

If you've ever talked to me, you've heard me talk about 4 people. Wes, my mom, my sister and Ashley. Ashley is my best friend, and I'm certain I could not survive without her.

We are the same age, and pretty close to the same stage of life. We're kinda the same person.

Well, recently I got to spend a couple of hours with Ashley and her mom. That evening Ashley called and said her mom made this comment:

"Shelly sure has it all together as a mom. I'm impressed" (or something along those lines)

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA. I literally laughed out loud.


As the events of the day went through my mind, I couldn't help but think what on earth would make her say that.

Was it the fact that I got down my street and realized I hadn't packed a change of clothes for Hannah incase of an accident? No, that couldn't be it - she didn't know about that.

Maybe it's that at lunchtime I realized I had forgotten a bib for Hannah and had to improvise with a burp cloth. Maybe?

Or maybe it was after I tucked the burp cloth into her shirt I dug through her bag, pulling EVERYTHING out of her bag looking for a spoon...in which I didn't fully know if I had remembered one. Alas! I found a spoon....Maybe?

Or maybe it was the 20 minutes it took me to change her diaper, in which Hannah almost fell off the changing table in the public bathroom....Maybe?

Or maybe it was after returning from the bathroom I realized I put Hannah's yogurt melts in her diaper bag and didn't seal the package, so I had to one by one pick up the spilled yogurt bites and put them back in the package, making sure I sealed it tightly this time....Maybe?

All I know is that Ashely had to have cracked up when her mom said that as well...mainly because I call Ashley almost weekly telling her I want to trade my mommy card for my career card because I'm just not good at this mommy stuff! haha!

Whatever she saw that wasn't actually happening, I hope that I give everyone the vibe that I have it all together. That's my goal....if I LOOK like I have it all together, maybe I WILL have it all together one day.

No pictures, please!

Wes and I decided that we needed to be more conscious of taking pictures WITH Hannah instead of just OF Hannah all the time. She's going to grow up wondering if we adopted her when she was 10. We are just horrible at taking pictures with her.

Apparently Hannah doesn't like the idea.

I guess Hannah doesn't like sharing the attention...what do you think?

"No, no!"

Who knew that "no, no" would be used so much in my daily vocabulary? We are definitely to the point of starting to somewhat discipline Hannah. The only way we do it right now is by saying "no," then taking her away from whatever she is in to.

Today she was eyeballing the subject....

Mommy: "Hannah, no, no!"

Hannah: "mommy, I can't understand words yet."

Back on the prowl! This is when I turned off the camera to redirect her to her toys. Why is it that babies are so fascinated in things they shouldn't touch, rather than their toys?

There's always next week

I always look forward to church on Sundays. Wes and I teach 12th grade Sunday School at 8:15. Most mornings I'm up at 6:30 getting myself and Hannah ready to leave the house at 7:45. Well, this weekend our youth group had fuel weekend (which is referred to as Disciple Now at other churches). So, we didn't have to be there until 9:30. I got to set my alarm for 7:45, instead of 6:30! That was great, so I thought!

I sewed this dress for Hannah this fall and was excited to find a turtle neck to go under it so she could wear it when it was cold. So, today was the day!

Isn't she precious? Well, she woke up at about 7:40 (just minutes before my alarm, so I was glad!) and I got her up, changed her, fed her and handed her off to Wes so I could get ready. Wes left at about 8:30 to go help out with the youth and I was going to meet him at church at 10:00. Well, Hannah decided she was TIRED at 8:45. I thought "OK, I'll just lay her down for a quick nap, get her up at 9:30, throw her in the car and we'll go." Well I tried waking her up at 9:30 and she was a zombie. So sleepy!!

Anyway, to make a long story short, I was sitting in my church clothes, all ready to go. Diaper bag packed and little girl sleeping in her precious dress. And sleeping, and sleeping and sleeping....

When she finally woke up, I think she thought it was funny that I had started my morning off rushing around to get us ready all for nothing....

Needless to say, we didn't make church this morning.
There's always next week, right? I guess being at church at 8:15 has its benefits.

Funny girl!

Last week during Hannah's snack she was cracking up! I caught a little on video.

A baby's laughter is so contagious!

Beautiful Baby!

So, I know everyone that has children thinks that THEIR children are the cutest things on earth. It's a natural feeling as a parent. The difference between those people and me, is that I really DO have the most beautiful baby on earth. haha!

Regis and Kelly are doing their annual Beautiful Baby Contest. The deadline to submit a picture was January 31st and they will announce the 10 finalists on March 1st (my birthday). On that same day, the public will vote for the top 5. Then those top 5 will head to New York for a photo shoot and an appearance on Live. The baby that does the best at the photo shoot is the 2010 beautiful baby winner and will appear on the cover of Parenting Magazine and will win $125,000 to go towards college!!!

Each time I say something about winning money for Hannah's college, Wes quickly brings me back to reality. The chances of her winning are 1 in 24,090!! Looks like EVERYONE thinks they have the most beautiful baby, huh?!

This is the picture we submitted:
So although I believe Hannah is the cutest thing on earth, I realize I'm just living in a dream. ha! She will always be the most beautiful thing to Wes and I, and that's all that matters. But come on, how do you pass up a chance of winning $125,000 for her?!

So here she is.....the 2010 beautiful baby, coming at ya!

Musically inclined

Anyone who knows me, knows that I am 100% tone deaf. I have absolutely no rhythm and can't hear a beat in a song to save my life. I hope, however, that Hannah has inherited her daddy's genes and will someday be musically inclined, at least more so than mommy.

With daddy as her teacher, there is hope. However, she hasn't quite figured out the difference between a guitar and a drum. She usually beats the guitar while Wesley strums it. haha!

Told ya so!

In my 9 month blog about Hannah I mentioned that she had been pulling up on things. Well, here's your proof:


Incase you are wondering, it DOES scare me that the next step is standing alone, then walking. Whew....let the good times roll...

Oink Oink

Aunt Christie, Uncle Justin, Carter, London and Marley gave Hannah this pig for Christmas.

Hannah loves it. It's also one of mommy's favorite toys, too. I have the song it sings when you push it's nose running through my head daily!

Thanks Hayes'!

9 Months!

Nine months? Really? How? When did this happen? I can't believe Hannah is 9 months old!! How did 9 months of pregnancy go so slow and 9 months on earth has gone so fast?!

Hannah's development amazes me each day. Right when I get used to one "stage," another one is right around the corner.

It really is true that you fall more in love with your children each day.


At 9 months Hannah is....

• Crawling everywhere
• Eating some table foods (bread, cheese, cheerios, bananas...)
• Still eating alot of jarred baby food (3 times a day)
  
• nursing 3 times a day
  
• In size 2 diapers
• Sleeping 12 hours at night (7:30-7:30)
  
• Pulling up on things (pictures to come soon)
• Still in love with her pacifier
  
• Saying "mama" and "dada" (without fully understanding what she's doing - melts our hearts anyway)
  
• Wearing 6-9 month clothes
• Playing so well by herself
• Playing so well with others (quite the bully, however - sorry, Marley! ha)
• Growing like a weed

Love you, Hannah Girl!