Easter 2014

He is risen! He is risen, indeed!

We had a wonderful time celebrating our first NC Easter as a family. Our friends invited us to spend part of the weekend with them in Oriental. We love being so close to the coast! This was an easy trip for us and it was super fun, too! Hannah and Emerson are three months a part and play really well together. Ashley and I are both pregnant with our second and, if all goes according to due dates, these two will be two months a part. We are so fortunate to have met a family we really connect with that have children the exact ages of ours. 

The girls had a blast playing with one another. They dyed Easter eggs, made Easter cookies, and just had fun being together. 

We headed home after naps on Saturday. Riding back through small town NC was fun for us. We stopped at a little hole-in-the-wall BBQ joint for dinner and we were in heaven! I see more small trips through NC and exploration for us in the future. 

Sunday, we got up early to see what the Easter Bunny left before heading to church. He did not disappoint! 

We were proud of ourselves for getting up and out of the door in time for the first service at our new church. That was a miracle in and of itself :) The service was very nice; however, we missed our PRUMC church family tremendously. I really missed singing in the choir with Scott. There's nothing like singing, rejoicing, and worshipping on Easter Sunday with Scott and the PRUMC choir. I've been stalking the website waiting for them to post the service online. Wes and I have missed that church more than words can say, especially during the special holidays. It's the church we met at and where our story began. Although this blog is really dedicated on keeping folks up-to-date on the kiddos, I'll have to write about that one of these days. It's a pretty neat story and one I didn't even fully grasp until Wes proposed..... I digress. 

After the service, we headed back home. We weren't able to get a good family picture this year,  but did manage to snap a few fun ones. 

Hannah had only a few minutes to peruse what the Easter Bunny left before church, so she enjoyed looking back through her basket of goodies. While I cooked lunch, she and Wes watched Frozen (an Easter Bunny treat) and ate bunny marshmallows. It was sweet hearing H explain the movie to her daddy. We had the typical Easter meal of HB Ham and I cooked broccoli and sweet potatoes to go with it. We had a wonderful family meal, just the three of us and were able to focus on all our many blessings. 

Happy Easter to all!!

Family fun!

I'm a couple of weeks behind, but we welcomed all the Vances to our house a few weeks back. Hannah had a blast with her grandparents and cousins. She could hardly contain herself over the weekend. 

H had such a special time with her grandparents. Mimi brought a special craft to do each day she was in town. H loved this!!! They made a graham cracker bird house, stained glass Easter eggs with tissue paper, a big foot/handprint bunny, and culminated their craft making with sugar cookies. Mimi really honed in on H's interests and jumped right in when asked to play princess, tea party, blow bubbles, and so much more. They really had a special time together. 

Hannah loves reading with her Smooth.

Time with the Vance cousins was a special treat. H let the boys stay in her room for the night and had her first "sleepover" with Madeline. We set up their air mattresses wight beside one another. M was a big trooper! I heard H did great and slept through the night, but that she got up a bit early. 

Cannon was precious and set up "the perfect" dollhouse for H. He took out all of her furniture and arranged it in a way he thought she'd like. He did a good job. It stayed that way for over a week before she changed it. That's a big deal!

Bailey was, as always, ever patient with H and she soaked up every bit of attention he'd give to her. 

We were so happy to host family and spend special time together. 

H had a hard time saying goodbye this visit. She's always gotten a bit sad when we've had to say goodbye to family, but this is the first time she's had a complete meltdown. I'm talking reminiscent of the scene from Hope Floats. She begged her Mimi not to leave and just boo hooed as hey pulled out of the drive way. She had true crocodile tears in her eyes and wailed. It took all of the strength I had to hold her in my arms. She was ready to run after them and jump in the car, too. It's always sad to see family leave, but it lets us look forward to the next visit even more. 

Disney Part 4

Day 6: Magic Kingdom

We were out of the door bright and early on our last day at Disney. Again, there were very few lines when the park opened. We rode Peter Pan and Small World multiple times in a row with no wait! We were also first in line for a great character meet and greet with Donald and Daisy! 

I didn't want our trip to end! Hannah's smile and happiness were unbelievable the entire trip. On our last day, I tried to plan activities around H's favorite things she'd done and also squeeze in a few she hadn't done.

Our last flight on Dumbo!

We'd yet to meet Princess Tiana, so that was a priority. We arrived early enough to make the character cue on the first try! This was one of my favorite meet and greets. H was a complete ham! Tiana was so good with her. Hannah started by asking Princess Tiana to sign her book and then promptly pointed out her picture on the princess shirt. Tiana acted so excited when she saw her picture. She then asked Hannah to join her at the ornament tree. They looked at a few ornaments and talked about frogs for a bit. Then Tiana asked H what her favorite food was and she said frog legs....HA! She and Tiana laughed and their interaction was priceless. We thank this Tiana for making H's trip so special!

Small world fun!

A trip around the carousel 

A final meet and greet with Princess Aurora

One of my favorite pics from the trip! A final trip on the Tomorrowland Speedway

Happy 3.5 years!

Happy 3.5 years Sweet Hannah! My goodness, time surely does fly. 

Hannah's happenings: 

Favorite Things Interview: 

*Favorite movie: Peter Pan

*Music: Ana and Elsa 

*Games: "candy landy"; 

*Show: Olivia

*Books: Sophia the tea party

*Best friends: Emerson, Lily, Kevin, and Jack

*Favorite color: Purple

*Favorite food: cookie

*Toy: Ana, Elsa, Ariel, and Minnie 

*Stuffed animal: rapunzel 

*Thing to do with mommy: play and read books 

*Thing to do with Daddy: watch a show on the iPad 

*Thing to do outside: play catch the ball

*Animal: crocodile, it snaps! Like at Captain Hook...

Stats:

*Size 3-4T clothes

*Size 9-9.5 shoe

*Height: 38.5 inches (51st percentile)

*Weight: 35lbs even (79th percentile)

Milestones:

*can write the letters H, A, N, and O and can write HANNAH (with the letters in order);

*can follow simple patterning; 

*continues to work on phonics; 

*understands most opposites;

*added a heart to the shapes she can draw;

*will draw and color real objects. Suns, clouds, rainbows, balloons, flowers, and people (with all appropriate features) are among her favorites.

*Very into playing pretend anything! Hannah has such a creative mind and can turn any object into a toy. For example, her jump rope and/or a spool of ribbon turns into her "Rapunzel" hair. A current favorite is playing "Disney World" and pretending to go on all her favorite rides.

*mastered riding her tricycle! We struggle getting her to wear a helmet and she won't ride very long because of it; 

*began pronouncing her L's correctly (vs. as a W)! This is new within the past month. 

Daily routine:

*still naps in the afternoons anywhere from 1.5-2.5 hours (hooray!);

*bedtime is between 7-7:30pm and she sleeps until about 7am;

* LOVES books and generally enjoys several before bed and other times throughout the day; 

*Hannah has always been a good eater, but sometimes rebels when new foods show up. Since our move, we've been able to eat a lot more dinners together as a family. That's huge! What a difference it's made in her attitude in trying new foods. She ate her first fish taco a few months ago! And even enjoyed a bowl of chili. She now loves her Daddy's spaghetti and is warming up to most casseroles. 

Current struggles:

*still struggles with clinging to momma in new situations, but getting better (especially if an older little girl shows her some love and interest); 

*went through a stage where she cried at school drop-off November-January, but it's better now; 

*has a hard time listening in exciting situations (eg-swimming class, friend visits, family visits, etc);

General:

*Hannah started attending the neighborhood playground on Thursday afternoons. We are lucky to have around 50 children ages 5 and under in the 'hood for Miss H to meet. We really lucked out! Around 15 or so show up for the weekly play dates. 

*Unfortunately, ballet was cancelled in January. H was the only child left, and the decision was made to discontinue the class. We took this opportunity to try several, short term activities with her. She took soccer and a pottery class in February with one of her friends. She is currently in swim lessons and will continue through May. She has really enjoyed each new thing! 

*H had her first true sleepover with cousin Madeline. Both slept on air mattresses beside one another during a recent visit. I hear H did really well through the night! Madeline was a trooper for letting her stay!

*Verbalized she was scared for the first time during a sene watching one of the Cinderella Sequels.

22 weeks

I haven't updated on the baby in a few weeks. I have an elaborate "belly book" that recorded details from every week I was pregnant with H along with belly pictures from each week. Poor BV2, I have yet to write down many details and I'm over half way to the due date. 

The second trimester is going well. I'm over all nausea now, all food aversions, and generally over the constant exhaustion. Although, there are still days it hits hard and I have to rest. I started exercising again back at the start of my second trimester and am in a great routine with that. 

I can feel BV2 moving all the time now. I have been able to feel the little kicks from the outside, but when Wes tries the baby stays still. Bless! This baby rolls and flips a lot more than I remember H doing. That is still the weirdest feeling to me. 

The latest heart rate for BV2 (21 weeks) was between 148-152.  

We finally told H she was going to be a big sister at 20 weeks. We told her at dinner on night. The basic conversation went down like this:

Me: H, have you noticed how mommy's tummy is getting bigger?

H: yeah, so is mine...and so is DADDY'S! (Emphatically pointing to his belly). 

{giggles from both me and W}

Me: well, there's a baby growing in mommy's tummy! You're going to be a big sister!!!!

H: can I have a biscuit?

{giggles again}

Me: would you like a baby brother or sister?

H: a SISTER!!!! 

W: {shakes head, hoping she's wrong... Lol!!!}

That was about the extent of the conversation that night. The next day, she did tell Max on FT her big news and patted my belly to show him where the baby is. She also told a lady at church that her mommy has a baby in her tummy. She's asked a few times if I'd open up my belly so the baby can come out. She also asked me one night if the baby could go in the other room. This was after I told her not to jump in my lap.... So it begins....

She still insists she's having a sister. We'll see! We did ask her what we should name the baby. She likes "Happy." Too cute! Let's hope we get a happy one!

Megan comes to NC!

We were so excited when Megan and Aunt Sue traveled to NC for the week to visit! Hannah started carrying around a picture of Megan in the days leading up to their arrival. Picture Megan and Hannah were already having lots of adventures when the real Megan arrived. Hannah informed me that they were going to play princess, go to the ball, and ride in the coach. Fun!

These girls are two peas in a pod. It is so fun to watch them play together! Megan and Susie arrived during Hannah's nap, so we all went to wake her up. Wow! H was about to burst. She was so excited, she bound out of bed and started running around her room. She couldn't contain the excitement! 

The girls had so much fun dressing up and sharing their royal wear. They even made a deal where Megan got to wear H's Rapunzel nightgown and H got to wear Megan's Belle nightgown every night to bed. The negotiations between a pair of 3 year olds is pretty cute!

Thankfully, we had great weather (mostly) and were able to spend the majority of our time playing outside. Tuesday, we took them to our favorite park! It was a very warm day and the girls loved being outside. We ended our visit with a ride on the carousal and had a picnic lunch.

Sandbox playing...

Dancing to the piped in Disney music...

Important discussions...

I'm pretty sure Susie and I could have left the two of them to themselves for hours. When we picked H up from school, they immediately grabbed hands and couldn't quit talking. Then, a game of chase and hide and seek ensued. 

My very favorite picture!!! 

Thursday was cold and windy, so a trip to the Children's museum was a must!

H loved the theater stage and dressing up, while Megan enjoyed the water table.

Making their Great Grandaddy proud!

Susie and I made the girls a batch of pancakes to celebrate their last morning together. We mentioned the special breakfast the night before and neither girl let us forget. They both woke up asking for pancakes!

We are so grateful for our special visit with Megan and Susie. These little ones love each other so much and it is pure joy to watch them interact with each other. They have a special bond and one that I hope lasts a lifetime!

Daddy weekend

My sweet husband took over all parental responsibility last weekend while I had a wonderful girls' weekend on the NC coast. H and her Daddy have a great relationship, so I knew this would be a fun time for the both of them. I left during H's nap on Friday and was a little worried she'd be upset when she woke up and I'd already left. When I received this picture, I knew no tears were being shed.

Friday evening was spent doing her favorite things. Daddy took her to the mall to eat at CFA, they spent time riding the escalators (a must for her!), and finally picked out a special treat at the Disney Store. I hear bedtime was even pushed to about 9pm...She was one happy little girl. There wasn't a lack of fun Saturday or Sunday either. They had a "play date" at the golf course with another dad and his two boys. Hannah promptly informed me that her ball "made it in the hole and Daddy's almost did." HA! She also told me they ran errands at places like Home Depot and enjoyed washing the car together. A perfect weekend doing all things Daddy and Hannah! I know it was the perfect weekend when I went to take her to school after returning home and she cried for her Daddy! I'm so thankful for a husband who understands a mom's need for a break and jumps right in to make a special weekend for his daughter.