No wonder we love it!

This just gives you a little glimpse of the fun we get to have every day living with Shannon, Arnie and the kids. I think Hannah's going to have a tough time being away from her cousins when we eventually make the move out! Here she is being made into a "Hannah Sausage." (This is something Shannon and Arnie used to do with Kori and Kasy when they were babies!)

The Best Laugh Ever!

This is the laugh that melts my heart. There is nothing like hearing your daughter laugh with such joy! Here is Hannah having some great fun with her cousins Kori and Kasy!

Our Sugarland Girl

Steve got me the "Sugarland" live CD/DVD for my birthday. Hannah has found one song in particular to be her favorite. It is called "All I Want to Do." She is so darn cute when she sings along and dances to the DVD. It's dark and difficult to see, but you can get the idea! Wouldn't Sugarland be so proud?

Happy Halloween!

Here is our Little Pumpkin! She hopped right into the costume, no problem at all! She even wore the hat all night long too!

Here she is trick-or-treating at her first house!

After visiting a few houses she was ready to ride. She wouldn't let go of that Twix bar though!

I knew she was chewing on the wrapper...little did I know, she got it opened and managed to eat the ENTIRE candy bar! Boy was she happy...and MESSY!

It sure was a chilly Halloween. She stayed bundled in her stroller when she wasn't trick-or-treating! Brrrr!!! What a fun night it was!

Strong Museum of Play

Hannah and I took our first trip to the Strong Museum of Play in Rochester. What a blast! We were there for 2 hours and only saw two displays! She had so much fun playing!

Here she is playing at the "sand" table. Excpet it wasn't sand! It was little plastic beads! So cool!

She was determined to figure out a way to get the balls out of here!
Hannah loves playing with balls, whether they are small or twice her size! (I think her daddy might be in luck. She seems like she's going to have to be an athlete!) She loved rolling the balls down the little tracks!

These were doors that had animals for each letter of the alphabet. After each one she opened you could hear her go "OOoohhh!!! And then she would look at me and point to them, like "See Mommy?"

Here she is driving in Elmo's Taxi. It took a little convincing to get her in there! She warmed up to the idea though and drove all over town!

We ended up getting a year family pass to the Strong Museum of Play because Hannah enjoyed it so much. I have a feeling we will be spending many winter days there!

Fall Fun

Here are some pictures from what we've been doing this fall! A little random, but still shows you how Hannah is growing!

Here we are in the corn maze at Wickham Farms. We spent the afternoon there with Shannon and the kids enjoying the maze, mini golf, and great snacks!

Hannah helped mommy blow out the candles on her birthday cake!
She was big enough to help Papa with the leaves this year! She didn't really care to jump in them at all, but helping her cousins sure was a hit!

Our big girl at 14 months old

Using a Spoon!

Just a warning...you guys are in BIG trouble now that I have figured out how to put videos on our blog!

Hannah has been doing some very "Big Girl" things lately! She just seems like she is growing up way too fast! I thought some of you might enjoy watching her eat her breakfast all by herself!

RIT vs Colgate

A friend of ours is the assistant coach at Colgate. We found out that they were playing against RIT at the Blue Cross Arena in Rochester. He so generously got us tickets so that we could go and watch them! I wasn't sure how Hannah would do since the game didn't even start until 7:00p.m. She did AMAZING! This video gives you a little glimpse as to how much fun she had! She was a cheering fool! Thanks for a great night out Jason! We had a blast! Colgate played an awesome game!

5K Pit Run

Steve completed his first 5k!! Yeah! His friend Matt had been asking him for years to do this with him, but because of his work schedule he was never able to.

This is a picture of the guys before they started. See how happy and rested they are?

Hannah was there to cheer daddy on in the beginning of the race!

Here's my honey finishing the race! We were so proud of him!

Hannah telling daddy what a good job he did!

They still look happy here at the end of the race, just not quite as rested!

Great job guys!

Naples Grape Festival

For the last couple of years we have gone to Naples' Grape Festival! This year it was exciting to know we weren't hours away from home. Both of our parents came along with us and my sister's family. We had so much fun trying the delicious grapes. Think a grape pie is gross? Think again! Steve was able to meet up with an old friend from Houghton College that he hadn't seen in 14 years, whose mother happens to be one of the most well known grape pie makers in the area! We walked away with a pie that was absolutely delicious! We were grateful for the grape pie, but even more grateful for the new found friendship we have made with this couple! They have been a blessing to us already!

For those of you who haven't seen it yet, Hannah is walking! She LOVES walking while holding hands with people. She's such a big girl!

(I'm realizing I never posted the big event on the blog. She took her first steps around her 1st Birthday but it wasn't for another month or so that she really took off on her own!)

Apple Picking

We have had the chance to do many fun things since we've moved here to Farmington! One of the best Fall activities...APPLE PICKING!! We had so much fun going through the fields and rows of trees picking just the right ones!

Hannah seemed to enjoy it, but I have to say, she enjoyed eating her apple a whole lot more. The best part...if she dropped it, she could just get another one!


She did help us pick apples a little bit, but was SURE that her apple didn't get too far away from her!

Beginning of Chapter Two!

My sister Shannon and her husband Arnie so graciously opened their home to us when we decided to make the move to Farmington, NY. (I think they are nuts!!) The transiton has gone well for everyone! Steve is adjusting to a new job and doing a lot of work to learn everything about "United Professional Advisors." Hannah has moved right in and acts like she has been living here all along. The pictures I posted show you a few of her favorite things about living at Aunt Shannon and Uncle Arnie's house. She LOVES to play pretend in the kitchen that her cousin Kori used to play with. You can also find her terrorizing the cats throughout most of the day. Poor Periwinkle has been very patient with Hannah! She is very gentle with her though and loves petting her. She also loves playing with her cousins! There is always someone to entertain around here and always someone to entertain Hannah which is great for Mommy!We are so grateful to Shannon and Arnie for opening their home to us. It is such a blessing!

Chapter One Ends at Camp-of-the-Woods

I must apologize for taking such a long break from our blog. I guess you can say we've been a little busy! As most of you know, Steve finished out his contract at Camp-of-the-Woods in September. We decided that after a wonderful 4 years together at COTW (a total of almost 7 years for Steve) that it was time to begin another chapter somewhere else. It was a difficult decision because we would be leaving many wonderful friends behind. COTW was a wonderful place for us to begin our journey together, but now we are excited to see where the Lord leads us in the next chapter of our lives!

I thought I would show just a few pictures of our time right before we left. One of the most exciting things was a visit by a bear in our driveway. (I took this picture from our front porch!) I had been waiting 4 years to get this picture! Isn't he cute?

I couldn't help but add one of Hannah's favorite things about summer -Golf cart rides with Daddy! She looked forward to this every day! Let's just say our family drew a little attention when we were together on the golf cart!

Then there was moving day! We couldn't have done it without the help of so many friends and family. Steve's mom, Paula, came and stayed with us for a number of days while we did the last minute packing. What a blessing! She occupied Hannah while we were distracted by other things. What a huge help that was!
Here is Hannah standing the doorway watching daddy as he packed our 26 foot truck! (And yes! It was filled to the brim!)

Hannah was a good helper at checking to make sure we didn't forget anything!

We couldn't help but take a photo of us in front of our first house! So many wonderful memories that will never be forgotten!

Beach Baby!

We spent about 10 days in Destin, Florida with my mom and dad, and the Pechler family. We have been wishing for warm weather here and boy did we get it in Florida! It was HOT! We spent most days down by the beach floating in the waves! Here are some pictures from our trip!

Hannah was the life of the party each night at the dinner table! She knows how to make every one laugh!

Kori and Kasy were great at entertaining her down at the beach! They made her all sorts of sand, water, and seaweed buckets to play in! What great cousins!

Kori even snorkeled to find some shells for Hannah to play with in her water bucket.

I was surprised at how much Hannah loved the ocean! She wasn't afraid of the waves at all! It didn't matter if she was in your arms or in her float, she was all giggles! I think she even liked the taste of salt water! YUCK!

We were so grateful to Aunt Beverly and Mike for opening their beach house to us! We always have a great time with them when we visit! They sure do know how to make someone relax on vacation! Thank you to you both!

Hannah's 1st Birthday!

We were in Destin, Florida with Nonie and Papa's friends Aunt Beverly, Mike, and Delaney on Hannah's first birthday. Even though we already had a birthday party for her back in Rome, we couldn't resist but to celebrate the big day!

This time around Hannah knew the singing was for her and was clapping right along! She still didn't quite get how to blow the candles out...maybe by birthday #2?

The one thing she had figure out was how to eat a piece of birthday cake. Actually, she had no trouble with that at all! Look how sweet! She knows her mommy loves chocolate just as much as she does! What a sweetheart!

Look at that face! That plate was completely empty by the time she was done. Not a crumb left! As long as she had chocolate cake in front of her, she let me leave the silly hat on her! As soon as the cake was gone...off with the hat!

Beach Baby!

Hannah and I had our first day down at the beach here at Camp-of-the-Woods! It was such a beautiful day! I wasn't sure how Hannah would like it because she doesn't normally like to be hot. Well, lets just say she LOVED it!
I know it looks like she is ready to burst into tears in this picture, but she is actually laughing hysterically after splashing herself in the face with water! She was so cute to watch.

When I put her toes in the water she wanted to just keep on walking out further. I had to turn her around....so far no fear! So she settled for sitting in the water and playing. It gave me hope that we may be able to enjoy many days down at the beach this summer! Bring on the warm weather!

I couldn't resist!

I just couldn't help it...This might be our best family picture yet! This was taken by our friend Cecil last night at the Luau camp had to thank the preseason staff for their hard work!

Too Cute For Words

Here are some pictures taken over the last two months. These just show you a little bit of our sweet baby girl who makes us laugh all day long!

That tongue is always out!

She has found some new interesting ways to sleep! We think it's adorable!

There's that tongue again!

Going for a wagon ride around Delta Lake Camp with Gramps!

This is her funny face that she and Daddy make at the dinner table together. Precious, huh?

10 Month Update

This past month has been full of many changes in Hannah. One day you can't believe what she's doing and the next day she surprises you with something new again! She has mastered crawling and is now really starting to walk around holding on to things. (It's amazing what a little one can find to get themselves into!) One thing we quickly discovered is that she doesn't like to be told "no". She sticks her bottom lip out and lets it quiver right before she starts crying. It's the most pathetic/sweet thing I've ever seen! Now that she stands up on things all by herself she thinks she is so great! Often times when I go in to get her after her nap, this is what I find...

(Who can resist taking a picture of that sweet smile? *sigh* I just love her to pieces!)

Since she's been pulling herself up on things lately we knew she was ready for a toy to walk behind. We couldn't resist this adorable stroller. She already had the baby for it (which we didn't have with us when she first tried it), so it was just perfect! When she got up behind it and took her first few steps, oh boy, was she excited with herself. She was squealing and laughing like you wouldn't believe! How precious is she? I think she'll be walking before we know it!
Her newest accomplishment is signing "please" when she wants something (especially when it has to do with food). It only took her one night of practice before she could do it on her own. Steve and I were both shocked at how quickly she picked it up! I'm hoping to continue more signing with her. So far she can do 3 signs! She is showing us throughout the last couple of weeks that she wants less to do with baby food and more to do with people food. If she can feed it to herself, she LOVES it! I'm bracing myself for lots of sweeping and lots of scrubbing! Here she is for the first time with a hole banana! What a mess!

Everyone told me before Hannah was born that she was going to grow up too fast and to enjoy every minute of it. I didn't have a clue how quickly they meant. It's so amazing to see her personality evolve and watching her explore and grow every day. I just never realized that my precious baby would grow up this fast! I wish I could figure out a way to slow it down...