Smart Cookie

This fall has brought new excitement for Hannah- becoming a big sister and starting preschool.  She loves telling me about which of her friends were at school each morning, and she has started reading books to me like she's the teacher.  "Can everybody see this picture?  Good job everybody!"  And she can sing the alphabet by herself, and can write a perfect H.  She's recognizing many letters and we started an ABC book where she's learning to write her letters and she can sound out many of them.

She loves singing and can sing "Jesus Loves Me", "Oh How I Love Jesus", "Ba Ba Black Sheep, "Father Abraham", "Zaccheaus", "This Little Light of Mine", "Great Big God", and several others.  She blows me away by what she can learn so quickly, and by how sweet she is.

Grandma came to visit from NZ for a few weeks and Hannah loved that play time and bonding with her.  It was very sweet to watch that special relationship grow.  

        Hannah enjoyed Halloween and was the cutest Minnie Mouse ever!

                  Her first day of Preschool and first field trip to a Pumpkin Patch.

        She always wants to help with Ella, and talks about how much she loves her sister.

Big Sister

Hannah is a big sister!  Ella Grace was born August 28, 2012 and she's perfect!  She weighed 3 more ounces than Hannah.  Getting to introduce her to Hannah was so special.  Hannah was immediately taken with her and has been so very sweet.  We are so thrilled to have our 2 sweet, healthy, beautiful girls!

2 Going on 20

Our sweet Hannah is 2 1/2 going on 20!  She is so busy and taking in everything around her.  She constantly amazes me at how much she is learning and doing!  She has big conversations with me now, and doesn't seem to forget anything.  It seems much harder to keep up with this blog as she gets older, and as her baby sister grows in utero.  Here's my attempt at summarizing the last few months:

We went to Ft. Meyers, FL in May for the 2nd year in a row.  Had a wonderful week away!  Hannah, with her amazing memory, was talking today about that trip in detail.  She loved having her own seat on the plane and the time on the beach, collecting new shells every day in a big bucket, and building sand castles.   The other exciting May event was Andrew's graduation from Southern Seminary with his Masters in Christian Education.  Very proud of all his hard work.

Hannah is daytime potty-trained now and we're loving this little gap in time of not buying diapers.  She is proud of herself for being a big girl!

We've been going to the pool this summer and she's getting more comfortable in the water.  Loves jumping in to me, climbing out, and repeating.  Also loves making new friends in the baby pool area- overheard her say to a little girl "we have to go home now" as I was packing up one day- cute!

She's pretty excited about becoming a big sister.  She asks me every day if her baby sister is awake and kicking.  We're looking forward to our little family growing.

Catching Up

I can't believe I haven't written an update in almost 4 months. There's a lot of exciting news to catch up on! Hannah is going to be a big sister in September! If her love for her baby dolls is an indicator she will be a great sister and very helpful in taking care of baby. She loves changing her babies' diapers and taking care of them if they are crying. Hope she handles the crying of a real live baby as easily.

Hannah has grown so much the last few months. We set up her twin size bed in her room and after about a week of being curious about it she chose to sleep there instead of her crib, and she hasn't looked back. She continues to amaze us with her vocabulary, and has big conversations with us all day. She has new friends who have become a big part of her life. I started an in-home preschool program for 2's and 3's in February and Hannah adjusted to that change in our schedule and loves when her friends come over 2 mornings a week. She's learned how to share well and quickly became best buds with one of the girls who attends.

We had a very nice Easter with many special people. Hannah loved the egg hunts and spending time around some of her favorite friends. We are looking forward to vacation in Florida next month, as well as celebrating Andrew's graduation from Southern Seminary!

Christmas 2011

We started Christmas Eve with a special breakfast. Hannah enjoyed the music at the Christmas Eve church service. We read the Christmas story (using her nativity scene that was a gift) and let her open one present.

On Christmas Day we snuck her stocking into her crib. Daddy got to see her open those presents before going to work, and we did the rest later in the afternoon. She got to see Aunt Sarah and Uncle Dan on skype first, and then Grandma and Grandpa. Aunt Judy and Uncle Bob came over for Christmas dinner and presents. We had a very enjoyable Christmas!

Two

Hannah's 2nd birthday was so much fun! Daddy and I snuck presents into her crib before she woke up so she'd have a fun day from the beginning. We gave her a wooden play kitchen and had balloons on it so she'd see it as soon as she came out of her room. She's been playing "cook in the kitchen" each day since. Poppa, Granny, and Aunt Amy came up for her party that evening, and she was surrounded by friends and so much love on her special day. Daddy and I made her a cookie cake with a playground scene with Abby Cadabby and Elmo, her favorite Sesame Street characters. She gobbled up her piece of cake and she had a huge smile on her face when everyone sang "Happy Birthday" to her. She was spoiled rotten with all the toys and clothes she received. It was really wonderful to have a house full of such special people to us. Aunt Amy was able to stay 2 nights and we had a great visit with her!

Hannah seems to have even more energy now that she's 2!! She's not as keen on her nap anymore and sometimes plays with her stuffed animals for an hour before she gives in to sleep. Her language continues to explode with new words and phrases. She says 5 word sentences now and it's fun to have conversations with her now. Daddy taught her to say "Hannah Jit" when asked her name and Judy taught her that I am Mommy Jit and Andrew is Daddy Jit!

Talk Talk Talk

My friend Leah Puckett did a photo shoot for us and I'm finally posting a couple of them. They are beautiful photos! The bunny photo is from Halloween. I thought it only made sense to dress her as her best friend.

Hannah has been talking up a storm the last couple weeks or so. She asks for her favorite stuffed animal friends by name- Bunny (sounds like money at times), Eeyore, Pooh, Elmo, Abby, etc. She takes 10 stuffed animals to bed most nights. She loves to ask "where did he go?" when Daddy walks into another room or "where did bunny go?" when she can't find him. She asks inquisitively "what's this?" about tons of things she sees each day. She says "love you" and "night night" and still spoils mommy with cuddles before bed. She asks for special friends like "Bob & Ju-ju" she adores and "Amy", who runs our church nursery.

We took a little trip to Hilton Head earlier this month and Hannah enjoyed the beach and playing at the children's museum there. It's so fun to see her learning every day. We're looking forward to celebrating her 2nd birthday in just 1 month!