Blankets, Converse, and a Dress

Jayce got Hannah this little "bear" before she was born. She hasn't really taken to it the way that he did his bears, I think partly because, though it is very snuggly, it lacks that silky fabric that babies love so much. But I'm trying to transition her out of sleeping with her favorite blanket, (more on that in a minute), so I have started giving her this bear every time that I put her down to bed. I walked out the other day and she was snuggling it like this.

It was so sweet! I kind of screamed, (I know, dramatic), and yelled for Chris to come look at Hannah. He came running in, eyes wide. He agreed that she looked super sweet, but asked that I refrain from screaming and yelling for him unless something is wrong. Fair enough.

That blanket I'm trying to break Hannah of? It's this one, which she loves to pull across her face, and hold onto each side until she falls asleep. Can I just tell you how many times I've stopped breathing for a second when I glance at the monitor and see her laying still, her face completely covered by a blanket? It's not good. Now I just keep her door open a little and sneak in a few minutes after she's down and take it away, or pull it far down in the bed so that she is only holding onto a corner. But she often wakes up when I take it off of her face, especially since she's holding onto it with a death grip. I'm still working on this. I got her a new "bear," with a silky side, and she's not loving it. As I said, we're still working on this.

On Saturday afternoon, in one hour, I took this plain onesie and a few old t-shirts and made this adorable dress for Hannah. Isn't it amazing?! I kept showing it to Chris and making him tell me it was cute, so I was obviously really pushing for feedback since he couldn't care less about stuff like that. My friend Tiffany made one for her daughter months ago, I think when I was still pregnant and didn't know the sex of our baby, and it was so cute that I've had it in the back of my mind ever since. I finally got my hands on some plain onesies and that was the end of it. I used this tutorial from KoJo Designs.

I realized the other day that apparently I need some Converse sneakers. Not really. They look cute on other people but ridiculous on me, a bad combination of skinny calves and big feet. It just doesn't work and I prefer either boots or sandals as my shoes of choice. They look amazing on the kids, but Chris got his without my blessing. Oh well.

Linking to the Wiegands and Friday Favorite Things.

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Halloween: A Dragon and Candy Corn

For Halloween this year, we had a dragon and a candy corn. Basically, we had two little sweeties.

My dragon was more than willing to pose before heading out for candy. It was too cold to take Hannah, so she and I stayed home and I (kind of) dressed her up in Jayce's old costume while we handed out candy.

Chris and Jayce went trick or treating and Chris sent me pictures with his phone so that I could stay in on the action a little bit. But I got some before they left anyway.

I had to wait until the next evening to put Hannah in her real costume, the trick or treating at the dorm. Since it was indoors it worked a lot better with a short-sleeved dress.

A short-sleeved dress + tights + white shoes + new headband. She was sweet enough to eat.

Jayce got a massive amount of candy in the dorms. It was a hit.

Hannah was a little darling, charming everyone and looking so sweet.

Chris was being grumpy and uncooperative about posing for pictures, and he got a dose of "This is Hannah's first Halloween, I made her whole costume, I have a new camera, and it is my birthday week, so I don't care if you don't feel like stopping for pictures." This pep talk worked so well for his attitude that I'm sure you're surprised to see him cropped out of the pictures. :)

It was a full week, since we moved from a few days of Halloween festivities into a few days of birthday festivities. It was great, but it wore me out. I'm looking forward to a few weeks of regularity around here, with normal bedtimes, and without activities every night of the week, before we start into the Thanksgiving and Christmas seasons. Here's hoping.

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My Favorite Cows

Halloween night was freezing around here so we decided to keep Hannah in and Chris would take Jayce around the neighborhood to trick or treat. I didn't want to take her out of her warm clothes to put her short-sleeved dress on, so we made due with part of Jayce's Halloween costume from when he was her age.

I love it! Her huge open-mouthed grin cracks me up every time.

Here is a look at my 2 favorite cows.

Are my poor children doomed to a lifetime of similarly posed photo opts? Perhaps.

I'm okay with that.

Linking to Miscellaneous Monday and Life Made Lovely.

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Family Blessing Service

Our church had it's family blessing service last weekend. Instead of the minister introducing our newest addition and praying for the family, they asked us to write a blessing for our child which we would read before the congregation at both services.

For the first service, Chris held Hannah, I held onto Jayce, and read the blessing. I did make the mistake of looking at Hannah's sweet face as I was starting off and cracked, but luckily I made it through without full on crying. Chris read it the second service and did not crack. We'll just chalk that up to excessive experience in either public speaking or emotional suppression. :)

Our blessing was this.

Little Hannah,

Though it is any parent's wish that their child will have all that their heart desires, and be spared of pain and sorrow, it is also an unreasonable and unlikely request.

So our prayer for you is this.

That in your moments of questioning, you will find peace in a Lord who has a plan for you.

That in your moments of pain, you will find comfort in a God who promises to wipe every tear from your eyes.

That your trials will make you stronger.

That your sorrows will make your joys so much sweeter.

That your outer beauty will be overshadowed by your inner beauty.

That you will love passionately, have your heart broken, and experience the fullness of a true love.

That your love for and service towards the Lord will be evident to those around you.

That the Lord will bless you with the desires of your heart, and that you will have the patience to allow him to do so.

Linking to the Weigands.

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On My Birthday

In my short, 30-ish years, I have a lot to be thankful for.

I'm thankful for a good husband and healthy kids.

I'm thankful for my children's wonderful grandparents, aunts, and uncles who love my kids as much as I do.

I'm thankful for a garage that lets me run inside without getting soaked in the rain or pierced by the wind.

I'm thankful for hot coffee and specialty creamers.

I'm thankful for the moments when I feel like I'm juggling plates, and the moments when it's quiet and I'm alone with my thoughts.

I'm thankful for adaptable friendships, where our relationship can survive through email, facebook, blogs or text when it needs to.

I'm thankful for pictures, and how they bring me back to the days that went by too quickly.

I'm thankful for this crew, even when they're being collaboratively uncooperative.

I'm thankful for a happy and full life. :)

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An Every Day Blog: NaBloPoMo

There is a thing in November called "National Blog Posting Month" or "NaBloPoMo," which encourages bloggers to post every single day in the month of November.

I tried it a few years ago and almost did it, 28 out of 30 days. I had decided to start a few days into the month, so I missed those first days. (But it was also my birthday, so I still think that's a good 'Get out of Jail Free' card.)

I think I'm going to try it this year. At least, I'm going to try for "every week day in November" as opposed to every day, which will still be a big challenge for me. It will be a good way to (attempt to) get caught up on my photos and thoughts, and (I'm hoping) can help me to speed up my photo editing and blogging process, which are much slower than I'd like for them to be.

It seems like a good self-imposed challenge, and I like a challenge. And now that it's public, then I'll really try to follow through with it.

There will likely be lots of these two, like this day when Hannah was heckling Jayce as we played Ants in the Pants.

And if I get caught up on them, then maybe Chris and I can sneak in there as well. Here's hoping.

Happy November!

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Florida, The Pictures

Grandpa and Jayce, working on the swing.  Jayce on his coloring pad, Grandpa on his ipad.

Hannah took a few naps on the swing as well this trip.  I think Patsy would have been close behind her if she could.

Of course, I just took pictures of everyone whenever my hands were free.

It was a warm and wonderful vacation and we were so grateful to be able to get away for a bit.

Now I'm just counting the days until next October. :)

 

 

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