New Toys!

Hannah was so excited to play with all of her new toys this morning!

But it didn't take long for her to have them all over the place- - did a tornado go through here?

Hannah's First Christmas

Merry Christmas everyone!!! We opened presents on Christmas Eve and Hannah had so much fun ripping paper off of the boxes and then trying to put it back on :) She loved all of the toys and couldn't wait to play with them all! She also got some cute new clothes, books, a puzzle, and swimming lessons! (Thanks Grandma and Grandpa Fiecke!) Here are some of Hannah's favorite presents (so far):




Once the paper was off, she couldn't wait to get her hands on all of the animals in her little people zoo!

What could it be?

A musical stacking snail! She didn't want this one to get put aside, even when it was time to open more presents!



Hannah's first Dollhouse - - More little people!!
A new mat for the playroom - - so fun to pull apart, and she loves the textures on it!
Bella and Jule scour the wreckage looking for their own presents.

Is this our front room or a Where's Waldo picture?

Hero took her present and ran!

Christmas Eve's Eve. . . . .

Hannah had been doing a great job of leaving the tree and presents alone, but by Sunday she just couldn't resist any more - - Hannah spent most of the day checking out the presents under the tree :) She gets that from her Daddy! We were getting ready to go for a ride on the Santa Train in Birch Bay and decided that she could open one present before we left (there was one we thought she could use that night. . . ). She had fun tearing the paper off, but then tried to put it back on :) After the present was open and out, we left for the train ride. Hannah loved looking at all the lights and miniature scenes set up! The train dropped us off at the North Pole to meet Santa - - once again, Hannah was not sure about Jolly St. Nick, although there were no tears this time. As soon as we got back home it was time for Hannah to go to bed before she could raid the pile of presents any more!

Hannah checked out all of the gifts before Mommy and Daddy gave her one to open.


To Hannah, From Great Grandma Fran

Furry Boots!! Yay :)

Bella found the paper scraps and thought they would make a nice bed.

Kiddie Christmas Party

Hannah and some of her friends got together this week for a fun Christmas party. Terrace shared her toys with everyone, and they had a lot of fun decorating special Christmas ornaments :) We made some attempts at taking group pictures of the kids all dressed up, but they really didn't want to cooperate. . . . .

Terrace looks on while Hannah tries out one of her push toys.
Amariah and Noah are both interested in the same toy - this can't end well!
Hannah forgoes the push toy and decides the chair works better.Say Cheese! Noah, Isabella, Amariah, Hannah, and Terrace all sit still long enough for a couple of pictures to be taken - - smiles cost extra :)

Letter To Santa

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11 Months Old

I would not normally choose a picture where Hannah is so obviously upset, but after meeting Santa TWO different times, this is the best she could do :) Very sad, I know. But I have faith that in a year or two we might be able to get her to smile at Santa. . . . .
I can't believe that Hannah is already 11 months old!! That means that she'll be 1 in less than a month - I'm not ready!! She's already showing us a glimpse of what life will be like with a toddler. Hannah loves to be independent, and is curious about everything around her. She is enjoying eating the same food as Mommy and Daddy and gets upset if she sees us eating something different. Besides signing "more", "milk", and "please", she recognizes a lot of others and is beginning more consistently say "ma" and "da" for mom and dad - and today I've heard her say "kiki" several times when she's been after the cats! She's still holding on to things when she walks, although she has tried a few steps by herself. She's gotten so steady on her feet that I know it won't be long until she's running all over. I just can't get over how much she has changed and grown and learned in the past 11 months!

Let it Snow! Let it Snow! Let it Snow!

This past weekend we enjoyed a snowstorm that made everything white and frosty (for a couple of days, anyway!). Being the hearty Minnesotans we are, we couldn't wait for Hannah to play in the snow for the first time. The puppy tried to help by showing her how much fun it was to play in something so cold and wet, but Hannah wasn't so sure. . . . . .

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By the way, thanks Caitlin for this great idea - I'm in love with Smilebox :)

Getting ready for Christmas

Hannah was so excited to help us decorate the tree! She had fun taking all of the ornaments out of the box and throwing them around for the cats to play with :) (We had already taken out all the breakable stuff!)

Jule especially appreciated the help from Hannah - she knows better, but it's just so hard to resist those bright colored balls rolling around!

Daddy helped Hannah put the very first ornament on the tree.

Our first Christmas picture with Hannah!
As usual, Bella enjoyed the view from the safety of underneath the tree.

Long Time No Pictures. . . . .

I know it's been awhile - but there's a good reason, I promise! Last month when our camera broke, we promptly ordered a new, "better" camera. However, this supposedly better camera was slow to take pictures, and they were kind of grainy looking - simply put, I didn't like it, so I didn't use it :( Sorry. We are in the process of getting the same camera we had before, but until it comes, we're back to using film. Very sad. What I've got here is the small sample of pictures taken with the unwanted camera - it's not much, I know, but it's the best we can do for now :)

Here is Hannah snuggling with mommy on the couch while they were both sick (We all got a lovely case of the stomach flu mid-month - Mommy escaped with a pretty mild bug, but Daddy and Hannah were miserable!)

Misery loves company - Daddy and Hannah when they first started feeling better.
Hannah has been trying to explore the drawers and cupboards - they have locks on them, so she doesn't get very far :)

Hannah meant to visit the puppy, but found Daddy instead!
It looked like so much fun that she just had to try out a carrier closer to her size :)

Hannah was having fun pushing the stools around the kitchen - until she saw the camera and decided to come say Hi.

Mommy and Daddy have had a game of Super Scrabble going all week - Mommy's winning by a LOT, so Hannah decided to help Daddy out. . . . .


But don't worry - Hannah likes to help Mommy, too! She knew Mommy was done with this yarn, so she thought she'd put it away before the kitties could find it :)

We have been getting ready for Christmas, and the kitties have their favortite sleeping spot back (under the tree). Hannah hasn't been too interested in the tree, but she sure is intrigued by the furballs she finds under it!

10 Month Pictures

Our little ladybug is getting so big!!

Happily, we now have a new digital camera to capture her every move with :) Well, not her EVERY move, seeing as how she moves too darn fast for that, but you get the idea! No more waiting to use a roll of film!! yay :)

Hannah's First Halloween

Some of Hannah's friends came over to play on halloween. The kids spent most of the time playing and painting pumpkins, but they were kind enough to let us take some cute group pictures of them in their costumes :)

Hannah didn't mind having her picture taken, as long as she didn't have to actually look at the camera! She was too busy studying the other kids' costumes :)
She even shared one of her favorite toys with her friends - her ball popper that plays music. She was ok with it as long as they were ok with her holding on to it and dancing!
The kids all worked very hard to decorate their pumpkins . . . . .
and Hannah worked very hard to decorate herself, too!
After cleaning up all the paint, they decided it was storytime :)
We had a great time with our friends, and we're so glad that they could come over to play! After they had all gone home and Hannah was taking a nap, Matt decided to try her costume on for size. . . . I think it's a perfect fit!!