Big Girl with a Belly Laugh

Steve and I have been working on trying to get Hannah to be a little more independent when it comes to feeding herself. She is great using her hands, but we are trying to get her to be a little more "lady-like," using her silverware. Some nights are better than others. This happened to be a really good night. She was so impressed with herself! Listen for her belly laugh!

Where's Hannah?

I'm sorry...I just can't stop myself! These videos are just too much! Hopefully it gives you a little glimpse of our little munchkin and how much fun she is! She loves to play peek-a-boo! This is her doing it with the kids at the dinner table!

Mrs. Potato Head and her Jewels

This video is of Hannah wearing her "pretties!" (a.k.a. her Mr. Potato Head Glasses and her gold necklace)

Tinkerbell in Action

Here is a video of Hannah in her Tinkerbell outfit. Mom is a little obsessed, can you tell?

Twirling Tinkerbell

Introducing Tinkerbell!!!!

We got Hannah this tinkerbell costume for dress up after Halloween and gave it to her for Christmas. She just recently has gotten into wanting to put it on at least once or twice a day. At first she didn't really know what to do once she put it on, but now she's getting the hang of it. She twirls around the kitchen like a little ballerina, sometimes jumping and turning trying to admire her own wings.

I just couldn't help but put up a few of these pictures...

This past week she decided that she would spruce up the outfit a little bit more and start accessorizing with her Mr. Potato Head glasses. A great addition to the outfit if I do say so myself! (I just hope people don't say she gets her style from her mother!) Can you tell by the look on her face how proud of herself she was?

Tinkerbell jumps, did you know that?

Wonderful Winter Happenings!

We have been busy since the New Year has begun! Hannah is almost 18 months old now! She is becoming very independent and starting to explore a bit more with her words. I'm sure I understand her better than most since I spend more time with her but she says things like basketball, turtle, bubble, puppy, baby, along with her usual animal noises and train sound. She surprises me with something new every day! I've actually begun journaling because I'm so afraid I'm going to forget some of these precious moments!

Here is a glimpse at some of the things we've been doing...

This picture was taken yesterday at the Strong Muesum of Play. My cousin Ian and his wife Kate brought their two kids out to play at the museum with Hannah. They had so much fun! This is them sitting on the stairs on Sesame Street!

Hannah LOVES her Mr. Potato Head that she got from the Pechler's at Christmas. There are always pieces scattered about on the floor and most often when we go anywhere there are pieces in her hand along for the ride! My favorite is when she wears these glasses. And I want you to know, she doesn't just put them on for the picture. She puts them on and will leave them on for 5-10 minutes at a time. You can tell she thinks she's big stuff when she's got them on! Too funny!
One other really fun thing we got to do was meet the family in Syracuse for Disney on Ice. Grandma and Papa Elmer got everyone tickets for Christmas. It was a great way to get all the kids together! You can probably tell from Josh's hat that it was about Nemo! Thanks Grandma and Papa for a wonderful evening together!

This is another classic of Hannah. Whether we are on our way out the door or just playing at home, she LOVES wearing winter hat and mittens. These ones happen to be mine, so they are a little big, but she doesn't mind one bit! It's great because I never have to argue with her about putting them on. Normally she asks before I even think about it!

This was Hannah's first experience with Play-dough. Santa brought her some at Christmas. She only attempted to eat it a number of times, so overall I didn't think that was too bad. We didn't do as much molding, squishing, or sculpting as I thought we would. She more than anything just wanted to keep changing colors before we could get any farther than taking it out of the container. Hopefully we can make some progress there as we play with it more!

She is giving us her "cheese" face here. So cute, huh?

Christmas in Lancaster, PA

Part of our Christmas celebrations was a wonderful couple of days down in Lancaster, PA where we met up with Steve's mom and dad and his sister's family. This was the first time the kids got to see each other since the summer. What a reunion! It is so much fun watching them interact and play together. It's like they've never been apart! We don't get to see a lot of one another, so we cherish any time we get! I kind of put the pictures in backwards order, but you still get the idea....

Here are the kids ready and waiting to go to "Sight and Sound" to see "The Miracle of Christmas" show. They LOVED it! (And so did we!)

The first couple of days we were there the kids got to do a lot of swimming! I wouldn't say Hannah loved it, but she was comfortable getting in with Gram. (Gram is such a good sport! She was hoping to not have to get in!)
This picture was taken minutes after we all got together at the hotel. So happy to be together!

Thanks Gram and Gramps for a WONDERFUL weekend together! Wonderful memories made that will never be forgotten!

Christmas Morning!

This is the first time we all spent Christmas at my sister's house in Farmington, NY. Nonie and Papa came to spend Christmas Eve and Christmas day with us. It's so neat to see our family traditions and memories being carried through to our children. While we could smell the delicious cinnamon rolls (Aunt Ann's recipe), the kids had to wait at the top of the steps until Papa told them they could come down. They loved this! He sure knows how to drag it out!

Here is what Santa brought for Christmas morning! Set up beautifully...before the kids got to it!

Hannah looking to see what Santa put in her stocking!

We had a very relaxing day, spending most of it in our pj's. We then enjoyed a WONDERFUL dinner made by my mom. We decided to dress up a little bit for dinner and to get a family picture in front of the tree!

Gram and Gramps stopped by a few days before Christmas. Hannah was able to open a few of her presents, one of them being a brand new bike! She LOVED it! I'm sure we will get a lot of use out of this come Spring time. For now we are making tracks in Shannon's kitchen and living room!

Christmas Fun

Right before Christmas we went to the Strong Museum of Play for cookies and caroling with Santa. Here is Hannah in front of the Christmas tree while we were waiting to sit on Santa's lap.

And this is how close we got to Santa's lap. While we were in line she kept saying she was going to sit on his lap, and yes she was going to be brave and then....she cried like crazy when we got close to him! She reached out to snatch the Christmas duck from Santa, but that's as close as she got! We tried. Maybe next year!
Here is one of Hannah's favorite parts! SNACK! The museum provided great snacks and punch for the families.

Before we left Hannah rode the carousel with Daddy for the first time. She loved sitting on the horse...and then it started moving going up and down. That was all of that - She wanted off! So Hannah and Daddy enjoyed standing on the carousel until it stopped!

Here is a picture I forgot to put up in the last batch...Hannah helped Nonie decorate her Christmas tree too!

Getting ready for Christmas (and other things)

This was the first year that we cut down our own tree. The Pechlers are pretty experienced with this, so we just kind of tagged along and put in our input on which tree we thought would be best. When it came to cutting it down, everyone took a turn to help (with the exception of me and Shannon.) Hannah even helped daddy while he took his turn!

Hannah really enjoyed walking like a big girl through the trail of trees.

We decided to make it a day of Christmas and went to Fairport to see Santa arrive on the fire truck. We enjoyed some warm hot chocolate while we waited in the very COLD weather for the sleigh ride. (It's almost impossible to get her to smile on cue!)

Hannah had a lot of fun with the boxes from all the Christmas decorations. Kori and Kasy got pretty tired out pushing her around!

This has nothing to do with Christmas...We just finally have hair to make a mohawk! Well, sort of...Isn't she adorable? Love that smile!

26 Weeks

I know, I know...we are way beyond 26 weeks now, but I'm a little behind. Just wanted you to see the progress! Here is our little buddy, growing quickly! (It's amazing how much faster the time goes the second time through...)

Buying a House!

Most of you know that once we moved to Farmington and got settled in we began looking for a house. It has been so wonderful living with Shannon, Arnie, Kori, and Kasy, but we knew that at some point we would need to move into our own space. Our goal is to be settled into a home by the time the baby comes in March. We had an offer accepted on a house in Gananda, a planned community, in the town of Walworth. Last week we received our committment letter and are now waiting to hear on a closing date. I am trying to stay calm as they tell us it won't be until the end of January, knowing that there is some work that needs to be done on the house before we can even begin to move in. If you know me, you know that I am super organized and love to have everything in just the right place. So....I'm DYING to get in there and get us organized! Feel free to check out this link to the house and see some of the pictures. Keep in mind as you look at the pictures that we need to replace ALL of the carpet, repaint ALL of the ceilings and walls, and then have a list of other things we would like to do...It's a cute little house, and we can't wait to be homeowners. Enjoy the pictures!

http://homesteadnet.com/advancedsearchresults.asp?mls=926788&mode=view

November Fun!

I apologize that it has been so long since we've posted pictures. I'll try to catch you up on what has been going on here the past couple of months!

Here is a picture of Hannah from one afternoon when we decided to use chocolate pudding as finger paint. Let's just say she's a little too much like her mommy...playing was fun, but eating it was much better!

We took Kori and Kasy with us to the Strong Muesum of Play. That membership was one of the best purchases we've made since we've been out here! We get a lot of use out of it. It's amazing to see how in just a matter of weeks Hannah discovers new ways to play with the same things when we go. She sure loved having her big cousins to show around there! Here they are in Big Bird's nest!

Here she is doing "writing" crafts with Daddy!

She loves to shop at Wegmans. She goes around and thinks very hard about what she wants in her grocery cart. Once it gets too full, she even puts stuff back so she can continue shopping!

Here is a picture of me when I was 22 weeks along with baby #2! Let's just say things have changed since then...