Why?

We have now entered the "why" phase at our house. I don't know where or how this started, but this is Hannah's favorite word. I'm not totally convinced that she is even saying to be inquisitive. I sometimes think she just likes saying the word. Conversations typically go something like this:

Hannah (out of nowhere): "Why?"
Us: "Why what?"
Hannah: "Why?"
Us: "Why what?"
Hannah: "Why?"
Us (by this point, we randomly pick some topic to discuss): "Why are we getting dressed?"
Hannah: "Why?"
Us: "Because it's cold outside"
Hannah: "Why?"
Us: "Because it's winter"
Hannah: "Why?"
Us: "Because God gave us 4 seasons"

Usually by this point, she's satisified or something else has caught her attention. I wonder how long it will be before she starts figuring out that we really don't have all the answers. Until then, we'll just keep coming up with creative responses :-)

Winter Sun

With all of these nice sunny days this week, we had to get outside and play.

Daddy's First Mate

Daddy took Hannah had a special father-daughter outing this week one of the days that I worked. He dressed her all up and took her to the GR boat show.

Jason picked the outfit all by himself. He had her coordinated right down to the navy and white shoes. He said she got a lot of compliments!


Still in her outfit, running around after playing in the nursery while we went to small group at church that night.

Family Day

Jason has this week off of work, so we took advantage of my day off doing something fun with Hannah by taking her to the Children's Museum. We thought since it was the middle of the week, it shouldn't be too bad, but when we arrived, the place was packed! It was initially pretty difficult keeping up with Hannah, as she literally just ran from place to place. However, eventually the activities caught her attention and she settled in.


Running through the triangle of mirrors.


Helping Daddy make a giant bubble.



Watching the big kids spin disks on the revolving wheel.

Surprisingly, she actually sat down for 30 seconds to read a book!

Watching the fish swim.

By far, her favorite activity was "sliding" down the bumpy slide at the farm display. Granted, it was really more intended for climbing up, but she loves to slide down anything right now. We just called it a slide with speed bumps. Kept her entertained for quite awhile.

23 months old

Hannah is 23 months old today. It's a miracle in and of itself that I'm actually posting on the day of her month birthday. Just in the last month, it seems like she's grown up so much. I think it really hit both Jason and I today that we will be having an official 2-year old very soon! Here's what she's up to these days:

*She is big into counting, although it's definitely her own version. Her count usually goes 1-3-4-3-FIVE! She also counts to three when she's about to do something big, like jump.

*Speaking of jumping, she is jump crazy! She literally jumps all over the house. She used to just do the motion but now her feet actually leave the ground.

*She's recently picked up the bad habit of throwing things - food, cups, toys. I know she's testing her boundaries, and she has gotten a few timeouts. She's also learning that whatever she throws gets taken away for the day until she can use it the right way. I am so frustrated with this game, though. I have a bad feeling this is just the beginning of pushing our limits.

*When asked her age, she points her finger (thankfully not THEE finger, just to clarify!) and says "one." We're now working on two. I think it's hard for her to get 2 fingers up, but she did show us one finger on each hand today when we asked how old she will be and said "two."

*She would love to play with my camera, but since I don't want it accidentally broken, I gave her my old 35mm camera. It doesn't work, but whenever I get my camera out, I distract her by having her get her own camera out. She loves to say "cheese" and take all kinds of pictures :-)

*She still loves taking care of her baby doll. When we ask her what her baby's name is, she tells us "Me." Every night when getting ready to brush her own teeth, she makes sure to get her baby to brush her teeth as well. We somehow ended up with an extra toddler toothbrush that we let Hannah use on her baby, which has actually been a great distraction while we try to brush Hannah's teeth.

*Somehow, she's learned to "ride the horse" whenever I have my legs crossed. She will commonly come over and sit on my leg for a ride. Unfortuantely, this is more like riding a bull, as it's not uncommon for her to lose balance and fall off. Thankfully, there's really not far to go :-)

*She loves to rock in her rocking chair. She'll pull it all around the house to have a seat. Tonight, she even read me Brown Bear while rocking in it.

*She loves to talk on my phone. She's a pro at pushing the buttons, holding it up to her ear, and talking. Unfortately, she seems to get stage fright when somebody else is actually on the other end of the line. Thankfully, we haven't had any crazy calls yet, but she has managed to figure out how to connect to the internet. She'll have to show me how she does that someday!

Yes, she even gets JJ in on the actions.

*She is a big helper around the house. Here she is helping Jason fix our refrigerator. I think she's definitely management material :-) She actually is very good about putting her toys away when asked. She's also very good at bringing us things when asked. I do think that she will be a big helper when the baby comes, at least we're really hoping it keeps up!

We are just so amazed by all of the changes we're seeing in Hannah and how quickly she's becoming a little girl. Every phase has truly been fun and trying in its own way. We just continue to praise God for choosing us to be Hannah's parents and look forward to all he has in store for us.

Sick

We had planned to spend this weekend with my parents. Unfortunately, those plans changed. Hannah was just not acting herself when she woke up in the morning, and I had a feeling something was wrong when all she wanted to do was sit on my lap and cuddle. I was right. As my parents were on their way over, Hannah got sick :-( Thankfully, I caught them about half-way over, and they made the decision to reschedule. I can't blame them. Hannah got sick 5 times between 9 and 12:30.


Hannah and Daddy watching cartoons.


Poor little thing was completely worn out by late morning.

I took her upstairs with me once after she'd just gotten sick, and as soon as she saw the refrigerator she started crying for milk. She must have been so thirsty. It broke my heart to not be able to give her anything. Later in the afternoon, Jason went to the store and got some Pedialyte. We gave her some a little at a time, and thankfully she held it down. By dinner time she had perked right up, so we gave her a little more Pedialyte and dry toast. She was famished and ate it right up. Again, she held it down without a problem.

Thankfully, she's back to her regular self today. So far, Jason and I have avoided it all together. Still praying that it doesn't hit us at some point, but at least we know it's short lived.

Night at the Motor Lodge

This weekend we got a real treat as my Aunt Lynn treated us to an overnight stay at the Frankenmuth Bavarian Inn Motor Lodge as a thank you for helping out with my cousin's graduation party last summer. We were so excited to get away for a little winter escape! We had a great room with a view overlooking the river.


Hannah playing hide and seek


The Lodge has 5 pools to choose from, including a pool with fountains for toddlers. It was perfect for Hannah to play and splash. She LOVED it!



Hannah got brave and wanted to try the bigger kids' pool. She did really well. She kept wanting to "jump" to us from the edge of the pool, but when it came right down to it, she could only muster up enough courage to step off the edge :-)


Hannah had a lot of fun swimming with Daddy.


Watching some German television while eating a snack after swimming.

Since my parents live in Frankenmuth, about 2 minutes away from the Lodge, they kept Hannah overnight for us so that Jason and I could get some time to ourselves. After swimming, chasing Hannah around the kids' play area, and running after her down the halls, we were ready for some adult time! We dropped her off around 7:00, and from what we hear, she was fast asleep by 7:30. She must have been worn out by all of the activity because she slept until 8:45 this morning! I think that was definitely confirmation that a great time was had by all!

What's for dinner?

One of Hannah's favorite activities while I'm making dinner...


Sitting in a cake pan.


Must be comfy b/c she laid down and said "night night."

Swimsuit modeling

We are getting ready to soon go on a mini family getaway. Since we're in the middle of winter, I really hated to buy Hannah a bathing suit for such a short period of time. Thankfully, our friend Claire is letting Hannah borrow a couple of her cute suits. Hannah was so excited to try them on! Of course, she had to do it herself.




Hmm... something doesn't seem quite right.


Ready to hit the pool!

23 weeks

I'm already 23 weeks into my pregnancy and feeling great! The baby has been moving so much lately. He's definitely an active little guy. I feel like I'm showing a lot more at this stage than I did with Hannah, even though my weight gain is 6 lbs. less than at the same point. I haven't had too many strange cravings recently, although anything chocolate always sounds good. I must admit that I've been much more relaxed about what I eat and don't eat this time around. Don't get me wrong. I haven't thrown all caution to the wind, but I do have coffee, eat lunch meat and even (gasp!) hot dogs from time to time. Aside from buying a few necessities, including a crib, double stroller, and some boy clothes, we feel pretty well set. I'm sure I'll hit panic mode as my due date approaches, but so far, so good!


23 weeks with baby boy


23 weeks with Hannah

Hannah update

It's been awhile since I've updated the blog. We haven't been up to a whole lot aside from the everyday stuff. Here's a glance into some typical days at our house:


Hannah LOVES JJ! She brings him his toys, attempts him to walk him, and even tries to groom him. Thankfully, JJ puts up with her.


Hannah's gotten much better with using utensils.


She loves to be up at the table.

Wearing Daddy's hat b/c it's cold outside - "brrr" as she says.

We definitely have one active little girl on our hands.