It's hard work being a baby

Hannah has been off to the races since she's learned to crawl. It must be catching up with her b/c I've been catching her laying down mid-stride for a break for a few seconds, as if she's recharging, and then she's up and off again. I actually caught her on camera today..

My sweet little girl about to crawl under the table.


This is how I caught her on the other side.

After her break, she's good to go!

Saturday morning play

Dragging out all of her toys on Saturday morning...

I know there's more in here...

Our little lookout

Keeping a watch out on the neighborhood...

Weekend with Grandma and Grandpa

My mom sent me some pictures of Hannah's weekend with them. Looks like she had a great time.


Hannah and Grandma

Hmm.. what did they feed her???

From what I hear, she's definitely Grandpa's girl...

Weekend away

This weekend, Jason and I got a nice treat - a weekend all to ourselves! My parents were kind enough to babysit both Hannah and JJ so that we could enjoy a weekend up in Traverse City. We actually started our weekend a little early, as we saw Dave Ramsey Live downtown on Thursday, which was amazing, and then treated ourselves to a late dinner at the BOB afterward since we weren't on the clock.

We headed north fairly early the next morning. Since check-in wasn't until 3:00, we did some shopping downtown and then cruised around Mission Peninsula. We were surprised by how much snow they still had. (Little did we know that we'd be getting even more as the weekend progressed!) We made our way out to the lighthouse, and although we were totally not wearing the best hiking attire, we did trek through a small trail out to the actual lighthouse (or as close as we could get).


View of West Grand Traverse Bay (notice the snow up to the fence!).


The lighthouse, so peaceful and serene.


Our attempt at a self-portrait.


Jason attempting to get out to the lake. (This is as far as he got. Remember, no winter gear!).



An actual picture of me! I'm always the photographer.

After our little adventure, we headed back to check into our room, and what a room it was! We literally had the biggest suite at the hotel. It had 2 rooms, a gas fireplace, king-size bed, and a jacuzzi tub. Believe me, after being out in the cold in the afternoon, we took full advantage of all of the amenities!


Jason in one room of the suite.

The rest of the suite.

With all of the events of the day, we certainly worked up an appetite, so we headed to a restaurant that's new to us, The Blue Tractor. With a name like that, we weren't exactly sure what type of restaurant we were visiting, but it turned out to be a really fun, nice place. They had a great menu, and an "interesting" beer selection. They actually had Black Label (yes, you Frankenmuthers know just what I'm talking about!!). Now, Jason is quite picky about his beer, but marrying a Frankenmuth girl, he agreed to give it a shot. The first few sips were actually decent but by the end of the can, it was going down pretty rough.

My cheap date

Saturday we got an early start, and since we'd shopped downtown Traverse City the day before, we decided to head up to the Lelanau Peninsula. We started getting snowflakes as we were leaving Suttons Bay, but what's a little snow? We're Davises! Perfect day to go to the Sand Dunes!

This was the beautiful view.

Although the roads were snowy, it really was pretty driving through the woods.

By the time we got back to Traverse City, Jason was definitely ready for the massage that we had booked. It definitely warmed us up and relaxed us after the stressful drive! We ended the evening at one of the local watering holes for dinner and then back to the room where we just watched a movie. A perfect end to a nice, (mostly) relaxing weekend!

Daddy, this is what I want for my birthday

We took Hannah to Toys R Us today to check out some birthday present options. This little girl has expensive taste!


Cruising in the Caddy


Checkin' out the system



I'll take it!


Sorry, sweetie... Here's your reality check.

11 Months Old

What Hannah's been up to these days:

• She is on the her feet more than she's on her hands and knees. She is getting very good at walking along all of the furniture.
• She has a big fascination with JJ's toys. They're like a magnet. She can be totally surrounded by her own toys, and she'll still go for the one toy of JJ's that's within sight.
• She's a talker, although we aren't sure what it is that she's saying. We hear mama, dada, ya ya (??), bah bah (bottle??), and a bunch of other unrecognizable sounds.
• She's getting a little temper. The other day, she was about to climb up the stove. After telling her no, I pulled her hand away and gave it a little slap. Not enough to hurt but enough to let her know I meant it. She looked at me, stuck her bottom lip out, and proceded to scream. Discipline is going to be a trip.
• She's pretty much is done with all baby food (although we're still doing bottles). We've yet to find something that she doesn't like or won't eat. Feeding her what we're eating is definitely making us eat more healthy!

Hannah truly lights up our lives. Her personality is showing more and more. She's really becoming this little, more independent person. It's so much fun to watch her grow and learn. We're looking forward to all that she's going to discover.

Early Valentine's Day

I love getting flowers from Jason, but I always tell him not to get them for me on Valentine's Day b/c they're so overpriced. Tonight, he brought home the perfect Valentine's Day surprise for me - a single rose, a box of chocolates, and a sweet card. Something just to let me know he was thinking about me. What a thoughtful husband!

You'll notice 2 cards in the picture below. The card that he got me this year seemed awfully familiar. I rummaged through a drawer where I keep some special things and found last year's card. Yes, the same exact card! At least I know he still feels the same way :-)



Happy Valentine's Day!

First attempt at a spoon

I saw on my girlfriend's blog that her little girl who's about the same age as Hannah is feeding herself pretty well with a spoon. This is something that we've been kind of putting off as we just dread the complete mess that will come along with it. However, not wanting to spoon feed Hannah until she's 21, I decided to let her give it a try this morning.

She really thought she was big stuff when I handed her the spoon. She knew how to hold it and even get it into her mouth without food on it.

However, just handing her a spoon and putting a bowl of oatmeal in front was probably not the best approach.

Notice that after about 2 seconds she completely forgot the spoon and just dove in hands first.

This obviously wasn't working, so instead I decided to let her help me feed her. We've obviously got some work to do.

Miss Trouble

Hannah's always into something these days. Lately, her big fascination is the bathroom, the toilet paper roll in particular. This is what I walked into the other day...


Having a great time unrolling the tp



Did I do that?


Now spreading the fun around




Yup, I'm a ltitle stinker.

A fun family day

Yes, we visited yet another show yesterday (4th or 5th one this season). This time we checked out the newest (and some not-so-new) cars at the Auto Show. Of course, Jason most enjoyed checking out the vintage cars on display, but some of the new ones were pretty nice, too.



We were happy to have our friends Eric, Jill, and their little girl Claire join us. Claire's been under the weather most of the week, so it was nice to see her perked up a bit.



I think the girls had fun checking out the new cars. In fact, I think I overheard them discussing which ones they're going to talk their dads into buying for them in a few years :-) They'll be cruising together before we know it.



After the show, Meulenbergs headed home as the show took a lot out of little Claire. The three of us enjoyed a little family date at Mangiamo. It was a particularly momentous dinner for Hannah. She got her very own meal from the children's menu for the first time ever - spaghetti and meatballs with a side of applesauce. Yum!

Growth spurt??

It seems like Hannah just recently got totally out of her 6 month clothes and into 9 months. At this rate, I figured that buying 12 month clothes for the spring/summer would be about perfect. My friend Juleen and I went to a Mom 2 Mom sale this morning, and I scored some great deals on a lot of adorable 12 month clothes. Much to my surprise, when I tried them on her at home, they fit! I don't know if she's hit a growth spurt or what! Granted, some of them were long, but not nearly as big as I expected. Hopefully we have a warm spring so that she gets to wear some of them before she outgrows them!

A snapshot of Hannah's day

Is there any wonder why I don't get a lot done during the day???

Our baby bunny

Favorite things

Here are a few of Hannah's favorite things lately:

Crawling back and forth under the dining room table




Walking along the banister


Reading the ads in the Sunday paper

Her mischievous side

Lately, Hannah has taken to laughing either when, or just after, she's done something "bad". Just now she tipped over a stool by our front door. When I asked her what she did, she looked at me laughed. She's also started doing this in the car. Out of nowhere, she'll suddenly start to laugh. When we get her out of the car, we find that she's take her mittens off. I think we might have a little stinker on our hands.