Happy Thanksgiving!

We celebrated Turkey Day with Grandma, Grandpa, Oma and Opa. We had a very nice day filled with delicious food and amazingly, the only one who napped was Hannah! We reminisced about last year when Hannah was just a few days old and she joined us at the dinner table in her Boppie for a nap...what a wonderful year of blessings we have had and we have so much to be thankful for! Our health, our happiness, our wonderful friends and family, our jobs, our house, our freedom, our relationship with the Lord, and our hope for another wonderful year. Happy Thanksgiving!!

One Year Old!

On Saturday, November 14th we celebrated Hannah's first birthday. It was a superb party and a wonderful celebration with our dear family. It was a pink theme and everyone--even grandpa, papa and great grandpa (Opa)--wore pink!! The weather was beautiful and we were even able to go outside for some pictures. Hannah enjoyed opening all of her wonderful gifts and playing with her toys. We cannot believe how quickly the first year has gone and how much she has changed. She is such a joy and a blessing in our lives and we thank God for the privilage and honor of allowing us to be her parents. We love our little girl!!

We've got ourselves a walker!!

Last week our precious, sweet baby girl took her first steps. She's still a little wobbly, but she's certainly making progress everyday in becoming more confident. We're sure by her birthday party this weekend she'll have a lot of showing off to do!! Her birthday party--where has this year gone? She has done some amazing growing and we love to watch her as she is turning into her own little person. She has conversations in her own language, she plays patty-cake and peek-a-boo, she loves Ike's toys more than her own, and loves to read books. She loves having dance parties and goes tick-tock to the clock. Being a mom is the most amazing gift I have ever been given and I honestly can not comprehend that she will be one year old next week...

She was a 'Lil Pumpkin for Halloween and enjoyed her first candy--sweet tarts and dumdums! We also carved pumpkins which she enjoyed watching us do.

It's happening...

Our little Miss has learned a few things in the last few days--to stand unassisted for seconds at a time and how to climb the stairs. I don't know if I'm ready for this or not. Wasn't it just yesterday that she couldn't roll over or sit up on her own--now she's getting ready to walk?? Impossible. Last night Craig put her feet on his feet and walked with her so she could get the action down...and although she didn't master it in that quick lesson I know it won't be long!! People always said that time flies --I never felt that way--but now I do! Hannah used to be just a tiny spot in her crib, scared to sleep in there by herself and needing her mommy or daddy with her to fall asleep. Now she takes up a large majority of her bed and can fall asleep by herself (with the help of her left thumb). She used to be the silent observer just taking it all in, now she's a wonderful journalist keeping us up to date on all the recent developments. It used to be that she could only eat one ingredient meals--now she can eat what we eat and a LOT! I would not trade the last ten months of my life for anything. It is the absolute best thing in the whole world for her to see me for the first time after work, drop whatever she is doing and crawl as fast as she can to get into your arms...I love you, Hannie!!

The Apple of My Eye

Today was Hannah's first trip to the apple orchard--she LOVED eating the apples by herself the tractor ride. This was definitely the start of a fall family tradition!

Our dear sweet Hannah is ten months old already!! She weighs 18 lbs. and is 28 ½ inches long. Yesterday we celebrated by getting her a new purple ball (which Ike decided should be his) and her first hot wheel car. She carries a car around at daycare all day, so we figured she needed one at home, too. We went to the Celery Flats for a family and enjoyed the beautiful weather.

Hannah is crawling everywhere…fast! It is amazing how quickly she can get from one spot to another. Her favorite place to visit is Ike’s food and water and she pretty much makes a beeline there whenever she has a chance. She’s not so fond of the hardwood floors and she’ll do a spider crawl on her hands and feet so her knees are off the ground. She has just recently started playing Peek-a-Boo behind the curtain and stands up to the back slider and bangs on the glass to get Daddy’s attention when he is outside. In the last few days she has been standing on her own for a few seconds at a time, then puts her arms out in front of her and drops to the floor. She still loves being read to and has discovered that she is able to turn the pages. She has started babbling a little more and sometimes has quite a lot to say whereas other times she’s content just to sit and watch. The Little People Noah’s Arc flag is still her favorite possession and she has it with her most times. Elmo is her favorite TV friend—although I’m not sure if it is Elmo or the fact that’s the only thing she gets to watch, but she waves her arms and talks to the TV when he’s on. Sometimes she’ll crawl up to the TV and stand there staring up at it...it’s quite cute!

Last weekend her two bestest baby friends came over, Lauren (7 months) and Addie (4 months). Since Hannah is the only mobile one so far we had a difficult time getting them to pose for a picture—eventually it’ll be easier (I think). We look so forward to those three beautiful girls growing up together and it is amazing to see how different they all are.

We have some fun things planned in the next couple of weekends--her first trip to the apple and pumpkin orchard and her first fair...I'll be sure to post some pictures!

She is still the most amazing baby—a great sleeper, a wonderful disposition and a beautiful smile. The work day can’t go by fast enough until I get to see her again and hold her in my arms. She is such a special blessing for us and we are so grateful to have her as our own!!

First trip to the zoo!

Saturday we took Hannah to the Binder Park Zoo for the first time. She's been carrying around a small giraffe, named Geoffrey, for a few weeks now, so we thought it was time for her to see some in real life--and feed them! It was a beautiful day and we arrived early before the crowds, so we had a lovely time. Our first stop was at Wild Africa where we saw zebras, ostriches, gazelles, birds and a few monkeys along the way.
The most amazing part was actually getting to feed the giraffes. We were on a platform so their heads were at our level and we were able to feed them lettuce leaves.
Hannah seemed to be amazed at first, but then got a little overwhelmed as they were a tad bigger than her Geoffrey, she loved them from far away, though, and waved her arms and 'talked' to them. We walked through the children's zoo and by that time Miss Hannah was tuckered out and took a little nap, chillaxin' in her stroller.
Before we left, we had to get a friend for Hannah and Geoffrey--introducing Ginny! She was a hit and she and Hannah had quite the conversation most of the way home. We know Hannah loved seeing the animals and this will become something that we do many times as a family as she grows and gets big enough to feed the giraffes by herself!