Silent Sunday...Alternately Titled: Time to Lower the Crib

{Don't forget to check out my last Thankful Thursday post...I did a little back-blogging.}

{oh.  hi there.  i didn't know you were watching.}

{i was really just stretching.  that's all.}

{see?  i feel so much better now.}

Firsts

{Kimmee - Be Warned.  There is a picture of a tiny, balled up snake in this post.  The look on my son's face is adorable, but if you absolutely cannot look, I will understand.}

Last week was a week of firsts for our little family...

Hannah's first day at school (she loved every minute of it, and so did her brother),

my first ice cream truck visit of the season (I love the sound of that bell and my Dora ice cream),

Hannah held her own bottle for the first time (out of sheer desperation and hunger as I was trying to get Jack dressed for school),

Jack held his first snake (with Daddy's supervision, of course, and he was so proud of himself!),

{This little guy is a full-grown Powerball Ball Python; we call him Lotto.}

and Hannah crawled for the first time (to be honest, it was more of an Army crawl, but she definitely made her way across the family room floor to reach a bucket full of Jack's super heroes).

One of the things I love so much about our kids' ages right now is that we're inundated with first experiences, and I just want to remember them all.

Thankful Thursday

It's been too long since my last Thankful Thursday post, so here goes...

I'm thankful for 80 degree weather in March.

I'm thankful for afternoons at the park with my little ones and our friends.

{By the way, wouldn't this be a cute picture on their wedding program one day?  Just sayin'.}

I'm thankful for Kimmee who constantly works to help me stay organized (but not too organized) at work.

I'm thankful for Jack's teachers for giving his class time to dance each and every afternoon.

I'm thankful for Hannah's teachers who love on her and make her smile and taught her how to clap her hands with glee (she hasn't stopped since)!

I'm thankful that Jack is such a good big brother that he can have an entire conversation with his baby sister while she says not a word:

J: Hannah Bear, how was your day?  

H: (nada)

J: Was it good?  

H: (nada)

J: Did you play?  

H: (nada)

J: What did you play?

H: (nada)

I'm thankful for late-night conversations with my hubby once the babies are in bed.  It's nice to finish a sentence uninterrupted every once in awhile.

There's Going to be Another...

...

...

...

...wedding!

(I certainly hope you didn't think I was going to say baby!  Keep dreaming, my friends.)

Look at Aunt Jess' beautiful engagement ring!

Isn't it so very pretty?!

Late, last Wednesday night we got the word that while on a beautiful vacation in Utah, Jimmy popped the question and Aunt Jess said YES.

Jessica and Jimmy,

We are so happy for you and can't wait to participate in the planning and celebrations to come.  Such a fun, happy time!  Congratulations, and we love you both so much!

{I'm already dreaming of engagement shoots, wedding dresses, and place cards.  And, if I'm being honest, ring bearer suspenders and flower girl dresses.  Oh my.  Let the pinning begin.}

Happy Birthday, Grandma!

Today was Grandma's birthday, and what a lovely, first day of spring she had:)  Early this morning, Jack and I dropped Miss Hannah off for the day, and our little lovelies gave Grandma her first birthday present:

A nicely, framed photo of Hannah and Jack

(which reminds me - need to post those photos!)

Jack and Hannah also gave Grandma a Sesame Street birthday card, one in which Jack happily "signed" his name:)

This evening after work we met Grandma, Grandpa, Aunt Jess, and Jimmy at Red Robin for a fun, birthday dinner.  Both kids were very well-behaved, so that led to everyone having a very nice time.  Have I ever told you how much I love onion rings and chocolate chip cookie sundaes?  I do.

Grandma,

We had so much fun celebrating your birthday with you!  We hope you like your presents and that you enjoyed your day.  Remember...never regret getting another year older:)

Seven Months (and then some)...Details Included

Okay, Sweet Hannah Bear, it's about time Mommy got around to this...

Do you have any idea how much we love you, Sweet Girl?  Words cannot explain...

You have been very busy since the last time I wrote - you are changing and growing every day.  At your last doctor's visit you were in the 50th percentile for weight, height, and head circumference, but you are anything but average to us:)  You weigh about 17 pounds now.  Most of the time, you're wearing nine month clothing, but we've been buying up some 12 month clothes since your tootsies are starting to be a little squished.  You're still wearing a size three diaper.  

You love to eat!  You still attack your food like someone might try to take it away from you, and I absolutely love this about you, Baby Girl.  It's really the cutest thing.  You still love a wide variety of fruits and veggies, and this past month we also introduced you to some Puffs and yogurt drops.  You love the toddler foods, but you're still working on getting them smoothly into your mouth.  Your pincer grasp is getting better every day.  You've even enjoyed some table food - just tonight you were eating peas as we were trying to get Jack to do the same.  Thank you for setting such a good example:)

You make the funniest faces!  Your little personality shines through in everything you do, that's for sure.

If we place you in a position where you are sitting up, you can hold your position, most of the time.  You've also quickly learned how to go from sitting up onto your tummy, but you haven't quite figured out how to sit up by yourself.  Certainly not for a lack of trying though...which actually reminds me that it's time to lower your crib already.  Not only are you sitting up, but you are also doing your own version of crawling.  Just this week, I watched you do a little Army crawl across the floor to get to some of Jack's toys.

You are drooling like crazy, but I don't see any teeth coming just yet (at least, not that I can tell, but I was never very good with that with Jack either).  Most days you wear a bib over your shirt so that you don't soak through your outfit from all of the drool.  It makes for pretty cute pictures, if I do say so myself.

You are so in love with your daddy and Jack.  You just light up when they come into the room.  With Daddy, you just can't seem to look away, and then when he looks at you, you get bashful and turn your head into my shoulder.  Makes this mama's heart melt, I tell you.

You aren't really interested in baby toys.  You like to play with anything that is Jack's, and he's working really hard on sharing with you.  Most of the time, he does really well, but he's trying really hard to sort out "girl toys" from "boy toys" for you.

You can blow kisses, and it's the cutest thing.  If I say, "Good night, Daddy.  Give Daddy a kiss," you pucker up and blow a kiss.  Really, you suck in your little cheeks and smack your lips.  It's sort of backwards and there's no hand motion, but ohmygoodness do we love it.  

You are not a snuggler.  I was waiting to see if that would change as you get older, but it seems to be just the opposite.  You don't like to sit still at all, which makes it very hard to hold you.  You want to be standing and turning every which way.  As soon as I put you in that chair for a picture, you started to work your way off.  Immediately.  That's just the way you are!

Have I told you we think you're beautiful?  Because we do.

You love to reach out for us to pick you up.  We love it just as much:)

There's some more of that adorable drool I was talking about.

You love to watch Mickey Mouse with Jack, especially the parts with the singing.  When the hot dog dance comes on, my, do you smile and shake.  Mommy is reconsidering her original first birthday theme because it's seems you've found your own interests, Little One.

You've been to school already.  This past week you went for two days and you loved it - not a single tear!  The teachers just oooohed and aaaaahed over you, and you soaked it all up.  Your favorite was playing with the other babies and going on buggy rides outside.  Jack was so thrilled you were at his school, and he told me about seeing you in the hallway and patting you on the head.  Such a proud big brother, you have.

I love your tiny, scrunched-up nose!

Sometimes you are quite the chatter-box, but other times you're very quiet.  You say Mama (when you're upset and you want something), Dada, and Baba.

That's the face that you make when Daddy comes into the room.  Priceless.

Your new thing seems to be sticking your tongue out when you're trying to do something, which is rather funny because I do that very same thing:)

Together, you both just make my heart feel like it's about to bubble over with joy.  I love watching you two interact.  I hope that you'll be each other's best friends.

Precious Girl, we couldn't be any happier that you're ours.  A year ago we all wondered what you'd be like and what our lives would be like with another baby, and now - here you are.  And we are simply amazed.  Just today you were playing with a tiny Barbie Jack must have gotten from a Happy Meal gone wrong at some point - and it hit me.  One day, you and I will play Barbies, Sweet Girl.  I could've just squealed with delight once I realized it:)

We love you, Hannah Bear!

Wordless Wednesday

{What can I say?  He's bad to the bone.}

Missing You, Mommy

The other day, as we were riding in the car, Jack announces to me that he's going to miss me when he gets bigger.

"What do you mean, Sweetheart?"  I needed a moment to collect my thoughts and pull back tears because ohmygoodness, I'm going to miss you too, Baby.

"When I get big, I'm going to miss you."

Clearly he's put together the fact that Daddy does not live with his mommy and daddy anymore, and it's already begun to worry our sweet, little boy.  That, and the fact that I'm sure he's heard me say that he's growing way too fast and I want it all to slow down.  Oops.  I didn't mean to make him worried.

"Oh, Baby.  No matter what, you're always going to be my baby, and I'll always be with you.  Just like in The Kissing Hand.  We have lots of time together, just you and me.  And you have so much time to be small, Little Man.  You can stay with me as long as you like, don't you worry."

This seemed to make him feel a lot better, but ohmygoodness I was not prepared for that.  Not one little bit.

What We Were Trying to Catch on Video

Hopefully, you enjoyed the short clip of our little man "turning on the camera".  I honestly am not sure if we've ever laughed so hard.  I had no idea any of that had happened until I went back to watch the video because Hannah had spit up and I was otherwise distracted.  But, oh. my. word.  To die for, really.

As promised, here's what we were actually going for that night:)  Enjoy!

Silent Sunday - Great Wolf Edition

{and yes, I was kind enough to spare you the pictures of the crying and such.  you're welcome.}