I don't know what my problem is...

...but I just don't have the motivation to blog! I am doing this out of sheer obligation. To who? Not sure, haha. Anyway, there isn't a lot to report from the week anyway, so no one has missed much. Hannah and I are back in the "swing of things" now that there is visible pavement on our road. We've made a few trips out and about and are out of our "snowed in funk". We even had a bit of sunshine today! Imagine that!
Included in our outings this past week was a trip to Toys 'R Us for birthday presents. Toys 'R Us was having a buy one get one sale on Fisher Price toys (I found out about this sale thanks to a post on The Bump)so I thought it was the perfect opportunity to buy. Hannah thought so, too! Here she is reading the Toys 'R Us birthday checklist...upside down! Too cute!



For her birthday, we got her the Fisher-Price Laugh and Learn Learning "house". I love it and can't wait to play with it! (with Hannah of course!)

For the "free" end of the deal, I picked up this adorable choo-choo train. She LOVES it!


She really hasn't put it down!

On Sunday, we had our friends Scott and Kyonna over along with their two adorable daughters, Loralai and Danica. After getting off to a rough start, (I scared Danica which made her cry, which scared Hannah and made her cry) a good time was had by all.
Loralai "helped" Hannah with her sippy cup

and held her hand after dinner.

Hannah watched Danica the whole night. She's not used to seeing babies smaller than she is!



And a few from tonight...just a few of her many toys made it to the living room...


Well, I did it! A week's worth of blogging in one!
Good night! =)

I've fallen behind with my blog...

I have been trying to write at least five posts a week, but this week I haven't written any! It's not that I've been really busy, I just honestly haven't felt like it. I haven't even gotten many pictures of Hannah this week. Hannah has a *barely there* new front tooth on the top, so you can imagine the kind of week we've had. She's been sleeping great at night, but kind of fussy and clingy during the day.
It looks like the other top tooth is going to break through any day. I can't believe she's getting all of these teeth! It still seems like she's so little, but in reality, she's almost a year old! I know I've said it before, but I'll say it again, time has really flown by!
Although I didn't really take many pictures this week, I did sneak a few in the other day. I came home from work to find Grammy and Pappy showing Hannah all of the pictures and things on the wall. She was mesmerized by our clock on the wall, so Pap let her touch it!

I told Hannah to be easy, and Pap told me not to worry! (She's allowed to touch anything she wants in the house when Pap and Gram are here!)



Showing Pap Mommy's Willow Tree figurines...


Unfortunately there wasn't much to report for this past week. We're still kind of snowy up here, so not too many trips out...and when we're home, we have been lounging around. Here's hoping this week finds us somewhat more productive and interesting!
Have a nice night! :O)

Busy Saturday!

Whew! Today was busy! Thank goodness we all had a great night's sleep! I have to say I haven't felt as rested as I did this morning for, well, over a year! From being hugely pregnant and unable to get comfortable, to having a newborn who I watched sleep all night, I think my body had pretty much adjusted to waking up during the night. This wasn't the case last night, and I'm so glad!
So today, with lots of energy and motivation, I got all of my stuff together for taxes. Can I tell you what a pain that was?! Now that I'm considered self-employed, there is sooo much more I have to do! From finding receipts and tallying up bills, I did it all. After I finished, I felt like I was waste-deep in paperwork! I turned my paperwork in to our "tax man" (he's a family friend)only to find out that we are STILL missing a few things. Ugh. Back to the drawing board!!
On top of the taxes, I also did some extensive research on a convertible car seat for Hannah. She's getting so tall that I'm sure her infant car seat needs retired. I've narrowed it down to two options: the Britax Boulevard CS in Riviera:

And the Britax Advocate CS in Kathryn:


Can you guess which one I like better? I LOVE the Advocate, mostly for the pattern. The problem? Babies R Us only carries them online at this point. This wouldn't be a problem, but I have a $100 prepaid debit card from Verizon that I want to use toward her car seat. I don't know how to use that card AND pay the remaining balance with another card. See my dilemma? I've e-mailed Babies R Us to see if this is possible. If I don't hear anything back, we're going with the Boulevard, because I like that pattern, too.
We also had company today! Aunt Cheryl came to visit! She was sweet enough to bring Hannah a Valentine's gift as well! I got a few pictures of the action!
She loves her Aunt!

"Look! Mommy has that camera out again!"

She's the center of attention! ;)

Since I hardly have any pictures of the two of us, I had Micah take a few pictures...

She's definitely Mommy's girl!!

...and just because these are too funny NOT to post...Hannah was eating a few of her 'lil Crunchies at dinner last night and got one stuck on her bottom lip. The funniest part was she didn't know it was stuck there. Micah and I were laughing so hard! She's so cute!






Well, tomorrow is Valentine's Day, and Micah and I are actually going out on a date...alone! This will be our first time out together since June. Sad I know. It's about time! We're heading to Red Lobster, and then car seat shopping! I can't wait!
Goodnight! :)

Snow day!

Well, school was canceled for today, so I'm at home with my precious baby girl! Yay! The snow is pretty, but I think we're all starting to get a little cabin fever. Hannah hasn't left the house since Sunday...and even then, only to Gram and Pap's. We usually make it out to Target or the mall once a week, so I'm sure she's missed our adventures the last two weeks. I know I have!
We're doing really well with our napping, too! She's been taking both of her naps in her crib for the last four days! If by Saturday, we're still on a roll, I think I'll have Micah pack up the swing to free up some additional space in her room. Now that she's "on the move", we're going to need all of the space we can get!
In other "Hannah News", she has started to throw temper tantrums. They are horrible! If she throws something out of her reach, she wants me to get it for her. She simply will NOT lean over to get it. She looks at me, points to it and says "Eh"...as if to say, "Okay Ma, do your job!" It's hysterical! After a few seconds of me encouraging her to reach for her toy, (she really can do it, I'm not being mean!) she broke down. I tried picking her up to comfort her, but she looked right at me, opened her mouth as WIDE as it would go and screamed at me. It was the funniest thing I think she's done to date! How in the world are you supposed to correct a 10 month old's behavior?! I scooped her up and made her cuddle with me until she settled down. It worked...eventually. I had to distract her a bit by allowing her to peek out her bedroom window and watch Daddy shovel snow for the 18th time this week.
Hannah is usually happy and content. I know her teeth are still bothering her, and although she is napping in her crib, she isn't taking as long of naps. We've gone from two hours down to one to one and half. I'm sure the lack of sleep during the day is also contributing to her grouchiness. I was able to snap a few pictures this afternoon and they actually turned out okay! I thought I was getting really good with my new camera, but after the pictures I've taken the last few days, I'm starting to wonder how much I really know! I seriously think I need to take a class on photography. Now to find the time (and money) to do that!
Here are a few pictures from yesterday:
She had an "Alfalfa" look going on!



And a few from today:
She is able to stand at the ottoman by herself!

Mommy is close by, of course!

She noticed the camera...

...and wanted to touch it! I really need to get a UV filter to protect my lens from fingerprints!!



I'm thinking we'll attempt a birthday photo shoot this weekend. I have a few cute ideas, so I'm hoping Hannah's in a picture kind of mood!
;)

Short and Sweet

That's exactly what this post will be! Suffice it to say, we did in fact have school. There were 96 absentees, which is a lot for our little school. *Almost* every district in our county was closed today...and we were open. I had five students in total today, so it ended up being a relaxing day. We are supposedly getting 6-10 more inches by tomorrow night, but right now it's not doing anything exciting outside. Perhaps we'll be spared this time!
Well, I think Hannah is officially a "crib napper"! She took both naps in her crib today without a fight. I can't tell you how excited I am about this! The fact that she went right to sleep for my Mom today is great! She isn't quite as fussy either, so I'm hoping the worst of the teething pain is behind us for now.
After dinner, and before bath time, I got the bright idea to try on her bikini from this past summer. Mind you, she was two months old the last time she wore it...and it was huge on her. This time around, it was a bit snug. She wasn't too amused with playing dress-up tonight, so pardon the less-than-thrilled expression on her face!

Hannah-10 months old

...and 2 months old in Myrtle Beach last year...how time flies!!


These two pictures are random, but as I was looking through our vacation pictures, I couldn't help but not post these. They are my favorite! Look how much she's grown!

Micah had to get some kisses in before bedtime tonight. Hannah loves her Daddy!

;) Good night!

Ooooh, Monday...

Hannah must have missed Micah today, because she was monstrously cranky all day until he came home. I guess after being snowed in together on Saturday, and Micah watching her Sunday while I worked, she wanted him home!
Although she was horribly cranky, I did manage to get her to take both naps in her crib! *breaks out in a thunderous applause*
I have to admit I was a little concerned we'd not be able to break her of taking naps in the swing. I wouldn't mind, but replacing three D batteries at least once a week was becoming both annoying and expensive. Plus, it won't be too long before she outgrows it. I could tell she was starting to have a hard time getting comfortable in there as well. When I'd strap her in and start to walk away, she'd tilt her head off to one side and squirm a bit to find a comfortable spot.
She wasn't too happy with me for the first nap, but I let her cry it out for five minutes, and that was all it took. She actually slept an hour and fifteen minutes for the first nap, and an hour and a half for the second...and she didn't make a peep!
This is an even greater success because I just know more teeth are ready to break through. Today at lunch, I gave her a Gerber biter biscuit, and she wailed with every bite. Eventually the pain subsided (after a dose of Motrin) and she started acting more like herself. She's still not completely up to par, as she spent a good part of the day with her little head on my shoulder. Although I know she was doing it because she was uncomfortable, it was the most precious thing. The more I "awwwed" at her, the more she'd do it...then look up at me and smile.
Other accomplishments this weekend included saying "Jesus"! It's a little botched and difficult to make out, but she's definitely saying it! My Dad had her looking at pictures yesterday, and they stumbled upon one my Mom took at the beach a few years ago. She had written "Jesus" in the sand and taken a picture. My Dad told Hannah what the picture said, and after a few prompts, she said it! I can't begin to try and spell what it sounds like from her, but it is so cute!
She is also walking with her walker...which I know is old news...but now we're able to let go and she isn't falling right over. This of course works best on the carpeting. It's not so safe on the hardwood or tile where she hits high speeds and wipes out. I snapped a few pictures tonight of the action. Unfortunately, they aren't the best quality pictures ever, and I'm not the best with photo editing just yet:

Daddy was following speedily behind to prevent a fall, so he's a little blurry.

Blurry but adorable!

This is the look of determination!

Daddy can always get her to smile! :)

I wasn't having much luck with picture quality without the flash.

Well, that's it for tonight! We're expecting roughly 6-10 more inches of snow (on top of the 21-22 inches that's already on the ground) tomorrow through Wednesday. I know I shouldn't say this, but I'm secretly hoping that school gets cancelled tomorrow or Thursday. It would be such a nice break for my Mom, and I'd love to have an extra day with Hannah this week. I guess I'll just have to wait and see what happens.
Have a great night!

*Snowed in!*

Well, it's official! We're snowed in! This morning when Micah went out to attempt to shovel the driveway, we had 21 to 22 inches of snow! Although it's beautiful outside, it was quite a pain! Micah spent around six hours shoveling our driveway, and shoveling our road to assist a few cars that were stuck. Our municipal has yet to touch our road and it is now 4:15 in the afternoon. Currently there is a truck stuck right in front of our house, but I have forbade Micah from helping. He truly needs a rest. He's been complaining about how sore he is from all of the shoveling.
Hannah and I have been taking it easy today, enjoying time inside. We did manage to take her outside for a few minutes this morning and got a few pictures (with our old point and shoot camera) of her in the snow:




Micah shoveled a path in the driveway, so we had Hannah stand in it to show just how much snow we got!

This is a poor representation of how hysterical this actually was. Patrick made a dash for the backyard as usual, but got stuck half way up the hill. He pretty much bounced up and down until he packed down the snow enough to move onward. He eventually got the hang of it and pranced all through the yard!

I got a few pictures looking out our windows as well:

Looking out the side window. The snow collected on our window sills...

Looking out the front window toward the road...

Front yard...


Micah shoveled our driveway and a portion of the road. This should give you a good idea of how much snow is on our road!

And, a post wouldn't be complete without a few cute pics of my Hannah girl! She was enjoying some time with Daddy after he was done "playing" in the snow:


I managed to sneak a good "tooth shot"! She has two on the bottom, and several more on their way!

Well, that's about it for now. It's only quarter to five in the afternoon, but I'm sure we'll keep busy watching cars get stuck on the road. While typing this post, two more were stuck...right in front of our house. You'd think the municipal would at least tryto get up here!
Have a great evening, and stay warm! :)