Update, part 2

Okay, let's see where we left off...

October: October was a CRAZY month around here. We had visitors, birthday celebrations, sick days, and who knows what else. In celebration of Hannah's first birthday, my sister, Shannon, flew out early in the month. It was so nice to have her here for a little over a week. She was able to spend some quality time with Hannah and she also designed and made an amazing cake for Hannah's party. My mom also flew in for the party. She spent a few days with my other sister, Heike, before coming to stay at our place. This was after the party and Shannon's departure. (This is important to know, as our house is very tiny and having everyone here at the same time would have been a little bit crowded.) We had Hannah's birthday party and she had a wonderful time. She enjoyed the wrapping paper and tissue more than the actual gifts, but that's okay. I think she still had fun. Plus, the present opening was good practice for Christmas.

After Hannah's birthday (and the departure of all visitors), things took a turn for the worse. I came down with a really nasty illness (a virus was the official diagnosis). I was at the med center twice and missed two days of school. Right when I was beginning to feel better, my school closed for three days because we had so many students home sick - some with the almighty H1N1 and some sick, like me, with other viruses. I basically quarantined myself in an attempt to keep Hannah and Jeremy healthy, which was successful.

November: Another crazy, busy month. In the "school" world, November brought report cards and parent/teacher conferences. Thankfully, almost all of my conferences went well. Conferences were the same week as Thanksgiving, so it was nice to have conferences end and go right into a few days off. Sadly, November brought us Hannah's first ear infection. She was a trooper and eventually decided that her medicine was okay. Her ear infection led to a cold, which led to constant nose wiping. She was not such a trooper about that. We spent Thanksgiving with Jeremy's mom and dad. It was nice to be able to just sit and relax. Hannah loved most of the Thanksgiving foods - especially pumpkin pie. She ate half of my piece and wanted more!

December: What a fun month! I had three snow days, which are wonderful surprises. They helped the time until Christmas vacation pass a lot faster. Over Christmas vacation, my parents drove out from Oregon to visit for a few days. Hannah loved having her "Oregon grandparents" here for awhile. We hosted Christmas at our small little home - we had our family of 3, my parents, Jeremy's parents, Jeremy's brother and his girlfriend, and my sister and my niece all crowded together. It was loud and crazy. I think Hannah and I were both a little overwhelmed. :)

Hannah also had another ear infection (this time in the other ear). She did not handle the medicine as well this time. Each dose was a battle and was almost impossible to do alone. She mustered all the strength she could to fight us off.

Okay - that's a lot of updating. I think I'm done...again...for now. :)

Has it Really Been Six Months?

So, I realized today that it has been SIX MONTHS since I have updated this blog. That is quite simply ridiculous. But, in my defense, a lot has happened. Let me just take you on a whirlwind tour of the past six months.

July: I found out my dear friend and teaching partner was leaving my school. While this was incredibly sad (and is still very sad), it did open up a full-time teaching position, in my grade level. After a few days of waiting and hoping, I was offered the position. Rather than teaching 4th grade 2 or 3 days a week, focusing on science, I now teach 4th grade full-time and focus on writing. Quite a switch, but one that I am loving.

Hannah started crawling in July - this certainly brought a lot of changes to our life. Constant vigilance became our new motto. Molly (our faithful beagle) had to adjust to this new moving person. Thankfully, Molly is super patient and has continued to be wonderful with Hannah.

August: It turns out I don't remember a lot from August. I believe it might be because I was completely overwhelmed with getting my new classroom ready. I know a lot of things happened, but truly, I don't have a clue what they were. Perhaps I should have updated the blog that month. :)

September: Jeremy started classes again this month - taking a chemistry class at Grand Valley. He was in class 7 hours a week and was working 42 hours a week. Needless to say, he was busy and exhausted.

Hannah started learning more and more. She started figuring out how to blow kisses, which is quite possibly the cutest thing ever. We also worked really hard on some important signs. Hannah became really good at "eat," "more," and "done."

My school year started and I instantly remembered how tiring the first few days/weeks of school can be. I'll be honest, it was a hard adjustment - going from part-time teaching to full-time teaching. I had a new subject to create lessons for, we adopted a new math curriculum, which required a lot of attention, plus I had 26 students to try and get to know - oh, and figure out how to be a full-time teacher and mom.

Okay - that's three months of updates, so I'm going to quit for now. We'll focus on October, November, and December (and maybe even January) later today or tomorrow...or maybe six months from now. :)

8 and 9 Month Combo... (it's long!)

So, I completely missed Hannah's 8-month post, due to the fact that we were in Oregon having fun. :) I figured I would just combine it with her 9-month post - as it has all just sort of blended together in my mind. :)

What a busy age we are at! Hannah is constantly on the move. Even though she didn't truly crawl until her 9-month birthday, she certainly moved all over the place. She figured out how to move to wherever she needed/wanted to be by rolling and rolling and then turning on her belly and rolling and rolling some more. She also was pretty good and scooting on her belly backwards, looking behind her to see where she was going. That was pretty cute. Unfortunately, one of the things I have learned from all of this "belly-scooting" is just how dirty my hardwood floors seem to be. I'm going to have to become a lot more faithful and cleaning all the floors in my house.

When it comes to communicating, Hannah is so "talkative." She is saying things like "dada" and "mama," but not necessarily to myself or Jeremy. We get a lot of other "words" as well and lots and lots of shrieking. Mainly, I think, because she can. Thankfully, we have a VERY patient dog, who just sort of raises her head or push her head further under a pillow or something.

We're working with Hannah on using her spoon - which really just means while we're feeding her, we give her a spoon to play with. When she manages to get it in her mouth correctly, we celebrate and clap and cheer. We're doing the same with a sippy cup. So far she's not all that impressed with the sippy cup, but we're working on it.

Hannah loves to jump up and down. If we could spend all day holding her hands and helping her jump, she would love it. Sadly, she weighs almost 21 pounds and that's a lot of child to keep pulling into the air! I'm certainly getting in a workout every time we play! She loves to dance around with me to music, which we do in the privacy of our own home because I certainly can't dance. But Hannah doesn't know that, so that's okay! :)

She's taking more of an interest in listening to books and helping turn the pages. Although sometimes it just turns into a time of trying to eat the books and that's okay too. I also introduced her to the piano a few weeks ago. I'm not sure how she feels about it yet, but she was certainly intrigued by it.

I know I say it often, but I'm going to say it again. She is just so much fun and I don't know that I could love her more than I do.

Oregon or bust!

Back in June, we took our first family "vacation" to Oregon. My parents and sister hadn't had a chance to see Hannah since she was born and my brother-in-law hadn't met her at all.

To be honest, I was really worried about flying with an 8-month old. I did a lot of "research" and took to heart many of the tips that had been shared with me. Fortunately, my worst fears were never realized. Hannah was an amazing baby on each and every flight. Within 5-10 minutes of being in the air she fell asleep and stayed asleep until we were about 10 minutes from landing. She never cried, just got a little fussy, which truly, I was a little fussy as well. We had a great flight attendant on our flight from Grand Rapids to Minneapolis and he made sure that Hannah received her first pair of "wings."

I had a few specific requests for our time in Oregon. You know, a few local restaurants that I just "had" to visit. For example, I had to enjoy my favorite dish (arroz con pollo) at Ixtapa. I really "needed" to enjoy the deliciousness that is Bing's Chinese Kitchen. A stop at Taco Time for their crisp meat burrito was also on the agenda. And of course, no trip to Oregon would be complete without a trip to the coast and a teeny, tiny bowl of clam chowder at Mo's.

Speaking of going to the coast, what a trip that was! My parents rented a van and my sister and brother-in-law came along. Let me just say that while a van can "claim" to carry 7 people, they should really specify that 6 of those 7 people can't all be adults. Tom, Jeremy, and I had to share the bench seat in the back. We were very, very close by the end of the trip. Our trip to the coast started with a tour of the Tillamook Cheese Factory. I grew up eating Tillamook's mild cheddar cheese and to this day, find that it is the BEST CHEESE EVER!! Thankfully, our local Costco carries it. The tour concludes by letting you sample any of their cheeses, which is probably the best part. Of course we couldn't leave without also enjoying some of their yummy ice cream. Poor Hannah wasn't able to partake, but I'm sure she'll have her chance again. We drove down the coast and stopped in Depoe Bay, with the hopes of getting the best salt water taffy available. Sadly, they were already closed. :( We continued on our way and went to Agate Beach. Hannah absolutely LOVED the beach. She loved having the wind blow in her face, she loved putting her little toes in the sand, and even enjoyed putting her feet in the freezing waters of the Pacific.

Other than our day at the beach, we really just spent time relaxing with family. Shannon, Tom, Jeremy, and I had the chance to spend a day together, which was lots of fun. This of course gave Grandma and Grandpa some "quality time" with Hannah, which they loved, of course.

All in all, it was a great trip. Hannah did such a good job - she adjusted to all the changes really well, which was wonderful. Plus taking the trip was just a great way to start off the summer.

No Excuse

I wish I had a good excuse for why Hannah's 7-month post is so late in coming, but sadly, I don't. At least not a very good excuse.

However, my sweet baby girl is now over 7 months old and continues to be the best thing in my life. She is constantly on the go, rolling everywhere and anywhere. She desperately wants to crawl, but hasn't quite made it to that point yet. I think it must be so frustrating to be a baby and want to move, to know that somehow your legs and arms will help you move, but to not be able to figure it all out. She is really into standing on my lap and bouncing up and down. For some reason, that is the funniest thing to her and she just laughs and laughs. 

Just this week her first tooth has started to come in. It's breaking through the surface, which has made for a few long, fussy days. Thankfully, her times of happiness far surpass her times of fussiness. 

I sat her on the scale earlier today and she weighed in at 20.2 lbs. She's growing like a weed! She has pretty much grown out of her 6-month clothes and is comfortably wearing her 9-month clothes. I must say, there is nothing cuter than her chunky little legs in a pair of shorts!

I'm eager to be done with school, so that I can spend more time with her. We have plans of trips to the zoo, trips to the park, and lots of time outside. Of course Hannah and I will be deeply lathered in sunscreen during all of these trips.  :)

I say it each month, but I truly can't believe she is already 7-months old. I'm so thankful for who she is and for all that she has brought into my life.

Growing up

Has half of a year really past since Hannah was born? Really? Are you sure? Yikes! Where has the time gone?

It's been a busy month but a fun month. We have finally had some beautiful weather outside, which has meant going for walks and trying to get Hannah to enjoy the sunshine. Right now she's not a big fan of its brightness, so our walks outside are short. She's getting better though and the sun doesn't freak her out as much as it used to. 

Hannah has been eating more "food," which is an entertaining time for Jeremy and me. I'm amazed at all of the places food can end up. I think Hannah is trying to grow a garden in her nose, because I'm constantly wiping food out of her nostrils. So far we've tried applesauce, sweet potatoes, pears, bananas, and peas. She's still a HUGE fan of the applesauce and I think she would eat it all day long if we would let her. She definitely enjoys the sweet potatoes more than I do, which is a good thing. I can't stand them, but I'm glad she likes them. Just today we tried the peas and, well, let's just say we're going to keep trying, but so far, Hannah is not impressed by them.

She is starting to figure out how to make herself move towards things. Right now, she flips (quite quickly) from her back to her front and a few times she has gone from her front to her back. She is also getting really good at scooting across the floor on her back, almost in a modified crab-walk. This has, once again, heightened our level of security around the house. I spent my spring break doing lots of cleaning and lots of baby-proofing. I know that it's just a matter of time before she figures out how to scoot on her belly.  Yikes!

Molly is still doing a fantastic job with having a baby around. Hannah has certainly gotten more comfortable with petting Molly and grabbing at her. Molly is so patient with her and 

never snaps at her or growls or anything like that. In fact, most of the time, Molly just lays there and does absolutely nothing.

Jeremy and I are absolutely loving this age with Hannah. She's so vocal and so much fun. She is really developing her own personality, which I'm loving. I truly can't imagine life without her and am just so thankful for all that she has brought to my life.

4 Months

Here we are again, celebrating the passing of another month in the life of Hannah.  Before we go too far, let's just get the specifics out of the way. She had her 4-month appointment yesterday and now weighs 15lbs, 7.5oz. This puts her in the 90th%, up from the 50th%, which is where she was, at her 2-month appointment. She is now 24 inches long, which keeps her in the 25th%.

This month has certainly brought with it A LOT of talking.  Hannah has certainly discovered her voice and loves to use it.  She often wakes up just "talking" away in her crib. She's pretty chatty in the morning and again in the afternoon.  I can only imagine all of the fun things she is trying to tell me. Sometimes she gets this look on her face and I can imagine her saying, "This is very serious, mom." It's so cute!

She has become a little more independent this month.  For example she is definitely holding on to her bottle during feedings and not wanting to let go. I usually have to pry her fingers off of it when it's time to burp. Burping is still not a favorite pastime of her and I'm not sure it ever will be.

Her sleeping positions have taken on a whole new personality as well. She's beginning to squirm around and we are often straightening her out. There are times when I really don't know how she can be comfortable.

We were able to enjoy a warm day this past month and it was nice to be able to take Hannah out in the sunshine. You can tell she was born in the late fall, because the sun really bothered her at first. It was this foreign object up in the sky that was making her world brighter than it had been in months.

All in all, it's been a good month. It's still surreal at times to think that she is mine. She is such a precious little girl and now that her personality is starting to come out, I know that we're in for some fun times.

Happy 4 months, Hannah!

3 Months - plus four days

My little peanut celebrated her 3 month birthday on Wednesday, which is incredible. It has been a pretty busy month, which I suppose is why I'm just now getting to this post. A lot has gone on this past month. Hannah celebrated her first Christmas, which she did in true Hannah fashion - she slept through it.

We also spent a lot of time inside this past month, due to tons of snow and bitterly cold temperatures.  In order to go outside, we had to bundle Hannah up in her snowsuit, which she really doesn't like.  It just became a lot easier to stay inside.

In the past month, Hannah has really started "talking" up a storm. It's so cute to listen to all that she has to "say." She gets a real kick out of it when Jeremy and I "talk" back to her.  It makes her want to talk all the more. Here's a cute video of her "talking" during tummy time.

This month Jeremy's work schedule changed, so he's now home with Hannah three days a week. We're both really excited about this. Not that we don't like Hannah's daycare, but it's such a special thing for Jeremy to be able to spend so much time with his little girl. Of course I'm just a little jealous. :) However, the two week days that he does work has him gone until 1am, so Hannah and I get to have our own time together as well. :)

In other development news, Hannah is really holding her head up now. When we sit her on our lap, she can keep her head nice and steady for a long time.  She's also tolerating tummy-time a lot better now and can often spend 10-15 minutes at a time on her tummy before she gets too fussy. She still has a full head of hair, although because she's moving around more, she has a nice, round, little bald spot right on the back of her head. I have confidence that her hair will grow back. :) Her eyes are still dark blue and beautiful. Everything, especially her hands, finds its way to her mouth. She's constantly sucking on her hand, not her fingers, or the side of her bib or her sleeves. Most everything she wears, ends up with wet sleeves.  We do just think she is absolutely precious and couldn't love her more.

2008 in Review

With a new year upon us, it's always nice to stop and reflect on the past year and the highs and lows that it brought.  For my family, there was quite a mixture.  

January saw quite a few unfortunate events for the family.  My sister slipped on ice and fell, breaking three bones in her ankle.  This required surgery and many months of recovery as well as faith that everything would be okay.  At the time of the accident, she was unemployed and therefore uninsured.  It was certainly a frightening time, but one that brought us all a little closer.  That same month, my dad was in a terrible car accident.  He found himself in an icy road situation and rolled his truck.  The jaws of life had to be used to remove him from his truck.  When we finally were able to see pictures of the accident, they were very humbling.  Let's just say, we're very fortunate to still have my dad with us and for him to have no serious injuries.  My dad is 6' tall.  When he was standing next to his truck, he was taller than it.  That's how squished it had become.

February was a great month for Jeremy and I.  It was the beginning of February when we found out we were expecting.  What an exciting bit of news that was, but also a scary time as we also found out that I had some low hormone levels and would have to take some extra measures in order to keep the baby growing and developing.  Because of this, we made the decision not to tell our families until we were into the safety zone.  That meant keeping our secret until the end of March, when we would share our news during the Easter holiday.

March brought with it some fun times.  I was able to spend a weekend with my sister, Heike, and her two children.  While with them, I attended the annual Michigan Reading Association conference, which was a great time of learning and buying children's books, my favorite thing in the world!  Like I mentioned earlier, in March, we finally reached 12 weeks of pregnancy and could share with our families that we were becoming a family of three.  Needless to say, all parties involved were very excited.

April brought with it our first trip to see the Detroit Tigers play.  We were able to take my niece and nephew with us and had such a good time.  Sadly, the Tigers lost, but the experience and time with Amber and Baeley was fantastic.

May was a fun month.  I had the annual "Michigan, Our Michigan" play at school.  As always it was a great success.  The kids did a great job and all the teachers involved were very thankful when it was all over with.  May was also the month we found out that our little bundle of joy would be a little girl.  There had been much discussion about this, with most of our friends and family thinking we would have a boy.  The outcome really didn't matter to us, we were just thankful to find out that our baby was healthy and growing and doing very well.  My students also threw me a baby shower this month, which was a lot of fun.

June, July, and August were crazy busy months for us.  Jeremy worked and took classes at GRCC.  I worked in the school office and tutored a few students.  My parents also came to visit, as well as my sister Shannon and her husband Tom.  Shannon threw a wonderful baby shower for me and totally outdid herself with food and favors.

Truthfully, I don't remember much of September.  I know school started and I know that I was great with child.  Which is probably why I don't remember a lot.  I wasn't sleeping real well and when I was sleeping, the only place that was comfortable was the big, overstuffed chair in our living room.  

Then October came.  Along with it, came my due date, which also went away.  Thankfully, sweet Hannah didn't keep us waiting too long.  She made her dramatic appearance on October 14th, at 10:45am.

The remainder of October, and the months of November and December have been a general whirlwind for us.  We have become parents and a lot of changes have come along with that.  Much take-out has been eaten and much sleep has been lost, but we've made it.  We've kept each other sane, most of the time, and have fallen head-over-heels in love with our daughter.  I had 7 weeks off from work, which was a hard thing for me, as I'm not used to being home day after day.  It was also hard for me to not have any control over the happenings going on at school in my absence.  But, I wouldn't have given up those weeks at home with Hannah for anything.  It was a precious time for us to spend together and to get to know each other.

All in all, it's been a good year for us and we feel so blessed.  I have left a lot out...other family health problems and other family situations, but those things have passed and we've moved on.  We've grown closer together and have learned so much this year.  

I'm looking forward to what 2009 holds for us, especially how we will see Hannah grow and develop.  May all of you have a wonderful New Year!

Christmas 2008

A lot of people told me that Christmas would take on a whole new meaning, now that I have a child.  I listened, I smiled, I nodded, but I didn't really take it to heart.  However, I should have listened.  Christmas was amazing this year.  Not because Hannah really participated in the holiday, but because of the meaning behind Christmas.  Having a newborn made me realize, more fully, exactly what God did all those years ago.  I can't imagine sending my only child away.  Hannah is such a precious part of who I am and the thought of sending her away is something I can't even fathom.  But that is precisely what God did.

We had a fantastic time on Christmas and hopefully did a few things that will become family traditions.  Of course we know Hannah won't remember her first Christmas, but that doesn't mean we can't try to get things off on the right foot.

Our holiday week started off with a trip to Frederick Meijer Gardens.  I really wanted Jeremy to see their "Christmas and Holiday Traditions Around the World" display.  I have seen it before, with my students on a field trip, but I knew that Jeremy would really appreciate all of the fun, historic facts that come with each tree.  Hannah enjoyed looking at all of the lights.  Of course our visit wouldn't be complete without a stop at the Ireland tree.  Apparently their big holiday tradition is to decorate their trees around "The 12 Days of Christmas."  Here is a family picture in front of the Irish tree.

Sadly, we couldn't make it to church on "Christmas Sunday" because of the weather.  It was too crazy outside, so we stayed in and had a family day.  By Christmas Eve, the weather had cleared up and we were able to make it to a very meaningful service at church.  Our pastors focused on the different elements of the traditional Christmas tree and how they relate to the true Christmas story and to the Christian life.  It was fantastic.  Christmas Eve was also Hannah's first trip to the church nursery.  I'd like to say that I handled it okay, but truthfully, I was a nervous wreck the entire service.  Of course, she slept the entire time she was in their, so I had nothing to worry about.

Christmas morning we lounged around after a delicious breakfast of waffles and bacon! YUM! We opened gifts, mostly for Hannah, and just spent the day as a family, watching Christmas movies and hanging out.  Since all of our families were out of town over Christmas, I fixed Jeremy and myself a Christmas dinner with most of the trimmings.  Hannah feasted on her usual bottle of formula.

All in all it truly was a wonderful day, all that we could have hoped for.  We have been so blessed this year and are so thankful for everything God has given us.  We're looking forward to the new year and all it has to bring. 

Two Months...and a couple of days

I apologize for the lack of updates, but we've had a busy past month.   Plus, our computer died on Thanksgiving day, so that didn't help things at all.  

It's hard to believe that Miss Hannah is two months old already.  She is changing so much, growing and growing and growing.  I think the biggest change is her beautiful smile, which she is sharing with us constantly.  I'm sure I can speak for both us when I say that her smile totally melts our hearts.  She is just beautiful.  Sadly, we haven't quite caught the smile on the camera yet.  We're still working on that, but trust me when I say, it's beautiful.

She is also "talking" to us a lot more, constantly cooing and making very cute little noises.  Hannah is such a good baby.  I'm hesitant to admit it, but she is consistently sleeping through the night, which is such a huge blessing.  Lately she's taken to falling asleep around 7:00pm, waking around 9:30pm for her bottle, falling back asleep by 10:30pm, and sleeping until about 5:30am.  We couldn't be happier and can only hope that this continues.

This month also saw me going back to work.  I headed back on December 1st and it was with mixed feelings.  I was hesitant to leave Hannah behind, but I was anxious to get back to my regular routine.  It has gone really well.  Hannah is home, two days a week with Jeremy, and at a really nice daycare center the other three days.  My students and I have adjusted to being back with each other and that is going really well.

We are looking forward to this first Christmas as a family.  We know that Hannah won't remember it, but still know that this will be a very special Christmas for all of us.  Hopefully, with Christmas vacation starting next week (HOORAY!!), I'll be able to post more, but I won't make any promises.  

Until then, we truly hope that you all are doing well!!