Saturday, December 27, 2008

Merry Christmas!

Between the arrival of baby Michael last week and visiting with Grandma Cindy, our holiday season has been filled with joy. On Christmas Eve we braved the snow covered roads and went to church for the Christmas Eve service. The next morning, Hannah was delighted to see that Santa had come. She pointed to the presents under the tree and said "ho,ho,ho!" We opened some presents in the morning, and then gave Hannah some time to play with her new toys. The rest of the presents waited until after her nap. Hannah received lots of wonderful presents, and has spent the weekend enjoying them all! She told us "cute!" every time she opened something new, from the doll clothes to books to Daddy's socks. . . . . ;) She has been busy cooking up a storm in her kitchen, and feeding us all plate after plate of yummy treats. Hannah has also been doing a great job of taking care of her baby Molly - feeding her and rocking her to sleep in Molly's new bed. She has also mastered the puzzles baby Michael gave her when she came to visit him in the hospital. It has been a wonderful week for us and we hope all of you had a blessed Christmas!

Our first family picture with baby Michael.

Checking out the goodies Santa left in her stocking.

Hannah was so excited about her new kitchen!

She couldn't wait to get on the phone and tell all of her friends about her new toys.

The tent looked like so much fun that she just had to open the box right away to check it out.

Hannah's first bike - this one spin around the house will have to do until there's not so much snow on the ground.

Tuesday, December 23, 2008

I'm a Big Sister!

A side-by-side comparison of Hannah Christine and Michael Robert - they are most definitely related!!



Grandma Cindy brought a very excited Hannah to the hospital to meet her baby brother - she loved him immediately and couldn't wait to hold him!
She loved him so much that she thought she was the only one who should hold him :)
Hannah was leaning in for a kiss, but got a big yawn in her face instead.
Checking to make sure he has all of his fingers and toes - Hannah showed us his head, ears, mouth, eyes, hands, and feet :) Yup, all accounted for!
Hannah has delighted us all by how loving and affectionate she has been with Michael, both in the hospital and since we've been home. She calls him "my baby" and has been a big help around the house bringing Mommy blankets and nuks, and talking to him when he's upset. So far the only problems that have come up have been because she wanted to carry him around the house. . . . . . Two years ago we were blessed with Hannah, and now we are doubly blessed with Michael and his terrific big sister!

Michael Robert

Baby Michael is here!! He was born at 8:06am on December 19th. He weighed in at 9lb 1oz, and was 21 inches long (he may have had a week less time to grow, but he was still almost as big as Hannah!!) Everything went well, and Mommy and Daddy were SO excited to finally meet their baby boy :)


Michael was not a big fan of his first bath. . . . .
. . . . but he was sure happy to be warm and snug in his blankets again!
Our little delinquent - - Michael gave Daddy a big surprise when his umbilical cord fell off while still at the hospital! Since that is where they put the security tags on newborns, it was time to find a new spot, and Michael got his first (and lets all pray his last) ankle bracelet!
Home at last! We came home from the hospital on Monday morning, and it was so good to be home!!

Then and Now

Two years ago I was waiting impatiently for the end of my pregnancy - - I mean the arrival of Hannah :) This year we may have known when Michael would make his debut, but I was still impatient!



Winter Wonderland. . . .

Hannah wasn't a big fan of the fluffy white stuff last year, but this year we're having trouble keeping her OUT of the snow! She loves playing outside and doesn't care that she's getting cold.

After Daddy showed her how to shovel the driveway, she grabbed her little sand shovel to finish the job :)

Daddy teaching Hannah how to make a Snow Angel.
A little hard to walk in maybe, but so much FUN to play in!

Wednesday, December 17, 2008

Let it Snow!

Hannah crunched through the small patch of snow in our yard the other evening while Daddy worked on putting up Christmas lights.


Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Hannah's Animal Sounds

Hannah and Daddy had fun in front of the computer again, this time going through animal sounds.

Sunday, December 7, 2008

Lighted Parade

Last night we decided to ignore the drizzling rain and made our way to Lynden for the annual Lighted Parade. Hannah is a big fan of parades, and loved waving at all the cars, trucks, tractors, and horses that passed by. She also got her first taste of Hot Cider (more warm than hot, but she didn't know that!), which she thought was great. After a couple of months of trying to get her to distinguish between "car" and "truck", last night it finally clicked and she was telling us what each vehicle was - she even got "tractor" right most of the time! It was a fun parade, despite the chilly rain.


Cheering on the trucks.

Who needs reindeer when you've got cows to pull your sleigh?


Saturday, December 6, 2008

Here Comes Santa Claus. . . . .

We've read books, sung songs, and even practiced "What does Santa say? Ho, Ho, Ho!!", all in preparation for meeting Santa. . . . . .

As you can clearly see, it worked :) Hannah was bouncing around the house all morning saying "Ho, Ho, Ho". She was giggling and laughing all the way through the store after we told her we were on our way to see Santa. She put her arms around my neck and buried her head in my shoulder the minute she she saw Jolly St. Nick. And the look she gave him when I rescued her from his lap was scathing! Although she did condescend to take a couple of candy canes from him. . . . . go figure! :) Shortly after we left Santa's house of horrors, Hannah was back to smiling and saying "Ho, Ho, Ho!", so I'm convinced there was no permanent damage caused by today's traumatic adventure.

Decorating the Tree

Hannah helped Mommy and Daddy decorate the Christmas tree this morning (with some help from her favorite kitty, Jule). She enjoyed telling Daddy where to hang the high ornaments, and it didn't take her long to figure out how to put them up herself. Her favorite ornament (surprise, surprise) is a ceramic Winnie-the-Pooh - it went on and off the tree multiple times as Hannah tried to decide what special place of honor Pooh should get :)


Thursday, December 4, 2008

Computer 101

Daddy was helping Hannah practice her computer skills yesterday - - she had a lot of fun waving at herself on the screen :)