Hip Chick

Today was a beautiful day so we took advantage of it by spending some time outside.

I'm ready mom!

oh so cool!

I am one hip chick!

takin' a break

sharing a cracker with Emma.

I wish everyday could be this beautiful! I hope you were able to go out and enjoy it!

I Wanna Go Medieval!

For some reason, I have been wanting to go here:

I have been before but it has been almost 15 years since the last time I was there.

Not sure why I want to go again... I just remember it being fun and the food was good. That and I have never been there with Nick so it would be something new to do with him. Sadly, I think Hannah is a bit too young to go but mommies and daddies need some fun alone time sometimes! :o)

Fenced In

Nick and I have finally decided to put up a fence. I am so excited. Not only can I just let the dogs outside without worrying about them, but we'll have some privacy and I know Hannah will be 'contained' when we're playing in the backyard.

We're going to stain it first before we put it up. I also think Nick has also been talking to Tom (Hannah's papa) about getting some trees for the backyard. It will be easier to move in the trees without the fence being in the way. So we're not really sure when the fence will actually go up (hopefully by May), but we have it and I am so excited! :o) YAY!

Meal Plan 3/29-4/2

Here is what I plan to make this week:

Chicken and Stuffing Bake with asparagus


Turkey Meatloaf with corn and mashed potatoes


Cheesy Chicken Crescent Rolls
(the recipe above is not the actual recipe that we use-we've memorized it...but it's the same ingredients, just a little different preparation)

Hannah, Where Are You?

Hannah loves to be covered up with blankets and pillows while she sits on the couch. We'll cover her up and she'll just sit there, without moving. She is hiding from us!  :oP It's so cute.

17 Months

Today, Hannah is 17 months old. When did my baby get so big?

We just love her to pieces. She is definitely the joy in our lives. We put her to bed at night after giving ni-night hugs and kisses and we just look at each other as ask how we got so lucky!

Hannah and daddy

Hannah and mommy

The below pic was taking with my new handy-dandy camera remote! Love it! :o)

Our first decent family pic in quite some time.

And because I took tons of photos last night, I will post a few in this entry. I will save the others for a new post, another day!

Hannah's new wubby from Grandma L (Nick's mom). Isn't it cute!?

and because we love to play on the couch now...

Here is what a 17 month should be up to these days, courtesy of Baby Center:

How your toddler's growing: She's becoming much easier to understand now that she often combines pointing with a word or two. And her growing independence is asserting itself in numerous ways: She may be able to take off her own socks or diaper (undressing fully will come later, and putting clothes on,quite a bit after that) and brush her own teeth (though “brushing” at this age pretty much means sticking the toothbrush in her mouth and chewing on it, so she continues to need your help).

Yep! This is Hannah exactly!

If "no" hasn't already become her favorite word, she'll begin using it with a vengeance. She's gradually easing toward one nap each day, which means this is a transition period that's potentially hard on both of you. If she's having trouble sleeping, try cuddling up with her for a few minutes to make it extra cozy.

I fear the one nap a day... :o/ I don't know why. Luckily, for right now though, Hannah is still taking 2 naps a day.

How your life's changing: Toddlers are known for being finicky eaters, so save yourself some time and heartache by keeping meal preparation simple. But try to present a fairly good mix of foods at every meal. If you offer a variety of healthy options, chances are she'll get all the nutrition she needs — though it may mean she's eating her vegetables at one end of the day and grains at the other.

Hannah is not a finicky eater at all! We are very lucky. I'm sure once summer comes we'll add to the list! Watermelon...YUMMY!

Justice Juels

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I am in love with her necklaces. Wouldn't they be a great Mother's Day gift???  :o)




Head over to The Foster Family—Reviews & Giveaways Blog to enter to win one of the fabulous pieces of art!

Easter Photos

This afternoon we (myself and my mother-in-law) took Hannah to get some photos taken for Easter.


*thanks grandma!*

Let me just say that I was ready for a nap after the 30 minute session! Man, was Hannah all over the place. At first she would sit still for pictures with an easter basket but then when we tried to take the baskter away she wasn't having any of it. So we had to keep the basket in the pictures. She wouldn't stand up for us, then she wouldn't stay on the backdrop. Oi! Finally we just gave in and called it quits. Plus, we weren't very fond of the girl taking Hannah's pictures this time. It was a different girl than we've had in the past and she just wasn't on top of things. I think she missed some really cute shots because she just wasn't taking all that many photos. I don't know...

We did get a handful of good photos though.

And our favorite! :o)

Meal Plan 3/22-3/26

Trying to not go as crazy with meals because we end up having leftovers. So I have taken that into account with my meal plan this week and two days are left open so we don't have any food that goes to waste.


Monday:
Slow Cooker Dump and Go Easy Chicken


Tuesday:
something easy—some sort of pasta dish perhaps? or grilled cheese?

Wednesday:
leftovers???

Thursday:
Three Cheese Beef Pasta Shells with garlic bread
(made with ground turkey)



Friday:
leftovers???

Beautiful Life

by Fisher


Hey child- up & go...
A big world is out there
Waiting for us to
Live in every day

Outside you will find
There is love all around you
Takes you- makes you wanna say

That it's a beautiful life
And it's a beautiful world
And it's a beautiful time
To be here- to be here- to be here

Yeah, the sky's blue
-Just us two
Side by side
We'll see the world
That surrounds us
Hey- seize the day
Each road- every mile's
A photograph in motion to astound us
-Carry us away

Into a beautiful life
'Cause it's a beautiful world
And it's a beautiful time
To be here- to be here

Leave all your cares behind you
The sun is rising- turn around
It's right in front of you
And it's a beautiful life
-It's a beautiful life 

So Lovely

The weather the past few days has been so lovely. I have been able to open the windows, do a little bit of yard work and go on some walks with Hannah.

It is so nice to get fresh air into the house after being cooped up all winter. I cleaned out our fireplace in hopes that Spring is here to stay. Although this weekend had me a bit nervous. At first they were calling for upper 30's (brrr!) and some snow but now they have changed it to lower to mid 40's with just rain on Saturday. That's a bit better. I don't really want to see snow again until November! :o)

I managed to clean up some of our flower beds yesterday afternoon and this morning. I cut back all the dead plants and grasses and tried to get rid of some of the weeds that are already starting to make an appearance. I can't wait to go to the nursery to get some flower and plants. I already have plans to move some plants from our front beds to our back beds and then redo our front. I just want a few more flowers in the front. And then in the back I just need to fill in the bed I made in the fall. We just ran out of time to buy things last year. But our grass in the back is coming in nice. Its green and will hopefully fill in a bit. I'm sure we'll have to plant more grass seed but at least there is some grass back there. Plus, we're hoping to get some trees in, our garden in, Hannah will be getting a sand box and then we are putting up a fence (YAY!). We need a fence and its gotta get done so that is 1 of 2 big projects (or 3 depending on what you consider to be projects *wink*) we will be working on.  :o)

And with the time change and this nicer weather, we have finally been able to get out for some family walks when Nick gets home from work. I missed going on our walks! I told Nick I need to walk my ass off... not in a speed sense of walking my ass off but literally walking until my ass disappears!  :oP But its nice to just spend some outside family time together after being stuck in the house. Sometimes its the little things that put a smile on our face and leaves us going to bed happy! :o)

So, I hope you all have a chance to get outside; whether its to do yard work, go for a walk or just read a book. Enjoy this perfect weather!

Hannah Update

Since I don't post monthly updates of Hannah anymore, I hardly ever give you guys a 'real' update on her. So I thought today I would post what is going on in Hannah's world! :oP

Let's see... where to start...

Teeth:
Hannah now has 12 teeth...well she is in the process of getting 12 teeth. I was tickling her the other day and noticed some white shiny things in the back of her mouth. Come to find out... little missy has 4 back molars coming in. How did I not know that she had more teeth coming in? Crazy! So yes, total tooth count for Hannah: 12.

Food:
Hannah will pretty much eat anything. She still loves her crackers or any form of a cracker type food (ie. animal cookies, cookies in general, graham crackers, wheat crackers, etc.). She is loving bananas right now. I have also given her some chicken nuggets from McDonalds and she loves those (of course)! She is drinking from a straw cup still and we have just started to 'play' with silverware.

Walking, Running, Climbing:

Hannah is a walking pro! :oP And actually she will even run at times. I think it is so cute when she runs...her little legs are so freakin' cute. She will climb up stairs but I don't really let her attempt to go down. Although she can go down my parents two steps into the living room. And its a controlled step down where she actually bends at her knee to go to the next step. It used to be I would hold her hand and she would just kind of fall forward with her foot out. She also loves to climb on the couch. She looks so accomplished when she gets up there and sits down. Little stinker!

Clothes:

Hannah is currently in between the sizes of 12 months and 18 months. 12 month tops seem to be too short and 18 month tops seem to be huge. The same goes for pants. I haven't really bought Hannah any summer clothes yet. She has a few outfits but I honestly don't know what sizes to get. I think she is going to end up wearing 18 month in the beginning and 24 months towards the end...but I really don't know. Summer is a ways away so she might go through a growth spirt by them. Will I bee able to hold off buying all these cute summer outfits??? I might just have to break down and go with 24 month stuff! :oP

Easter:

Easter is quickly approaching and I think Hannah is old enough to play in a sand box... so that is what I want to get her. Yes, I know it won't fit in her Easter basket but she honestly doesn't need any more little hand toys. So I figured we'll get her a little pail and shovel set for the sand box and put that in her basket. Then we'll just get the sand box and put it outside. I think she'll love exploring and playing in it. I loved my sand box when I was little!

Potty Training:

I think it's right around the corner, so one day very soon we're going to venture out to Babies R Us to get a potty.  Hannah has been showing signs of knowing when she goes potty (she'll grab her diaper) and when we ask if she went potty she go to her room so we can change her diaper. I think if we get a potty for her it will at least help her associate the word 'potty' with using the potty chair, which will hopefully  help in a few months when we actually give potty training a serious go! Although, I'm in no real hurry to potty train Hannah... but if she is showing signs, why not encourage those signs??? Now I just need to figure out what potty is best... 

I spy...

...something yellow!

YAY! It will be so nice to have color in our landscape again! :o)

Lazy Weekend

Hannah's new favorite thing is to get up on the couch. She likes to be covered by all of the pillows and blankets. 

Reading Where Are Baby's Easter Eggs? while sitting on our papasan chair cover. The dogs slept on it in our room but we're tired of it being on the floor. It was on its way to the basement but it seems to have made a pit stop in our living room... :o/

I love the smocked dress! I couldn't wait until summer for her to wear it so I put a long sleeved onesie and pants on under it. So cute! :o)