December Daily: 12-2 & 12-3

December 2:  Yesterday morning I had a little over 4 hours at home by myself.  Yes, let me repeat that--4 hours at home by myself!  I would've had more time but I decided lying in bed under the warm covers listening to the silence warranted another 30 minutes.  Troy had gone in to work early and the kids had spent the night at Grandma and Grandpa's.  Maggie and I decided that it was very quiet; she really did keep looking at me like where did everybody go?

So, what did I do with this glorious time to myself?  I put up all the Christmas decorations, picked up the house, did 3 loads of laundry and ate two meals alone without having to get anything for anyone.  It was completely marvelous.  But you know what, it was almost too quiet.  Don't get me wrong I enjoyed the time to myself but it just didn't feel right.  I was missing the ones I love the most and it made me realize that long, hard days (like today as a matter of fact) are sweet too and I need to appreciate all the days we spend together making our house a home just a little bit more.

December 3:  Tonight after dinner we put the Christmas lights on our tree.  For some reason or another it seems that every year we get our tree and it takes us 4-5 days to get it put up and decorated.  Troy and I were going to put the lights on last night so we could hang the ornaments tonight after dinner but more than half of our light strands didn't work last night and Lowe's was already closed by the time we figured that out.  So, tomorrow is day 4 and hopefully by tomorrow night the tree will be covered in ornaments.

December Daily: 12-1

It's back.  I plan to attempt to do December Daily again this year (although there probably won't be daily posts).  The goal or aim of this project is not to record all the days events but just one story a day.  It can pertain to the holiday season or not--my choice.  As I have a bunch of things planned for the season I imagine most of my posts will center around Christmas.

December 1: Getting the Tree--We went yesterday morning to get our Christmas tree.  The high temperature yesterday was in the upper 70's so it didn't feel to much like Christmas.  But it was nice not to be freezing.  When we arrived at the tree farm, one of the workers asked if we had been there before; we had.  The guy then asked if we needed a refresher on how everything worked.  

Troy's response, "We walk around for a bit looking at the trees pretending like we'll cut a fresh one and then decide we like the pre-cut ones better and come back up here to pick one out."  

The guy laughed and said, "Yep, that's how my family does it too."  Glad to know we're not the only ones.

It was fun walking around among the trees with the kids.  This obviously was Hannah's first time getting a tree and she did great.  We opted to carry her rather than take the stroller--she's getting heavy!

We were home about an hour and a half after we left with our perfect tree.

11 Months Old

Hannah is 11 months old as of last Thursday!  Yep, this is a week late.  Another month of quite a few changes for Miss Hannah Bean.  Hannah's personality is really shining through.  She is so sweet and loving.  When she's in the mood she will really snuggle with you.  Hannah is also independent, inquisitive and adventurous.  

*Schedule: Only a few changes to Hannah's schedule this past month.  During the week I wake her up about 8 and on the weekends she is up by 9 at the latest.  She eats breakfast right after getting up and then nurses about 15-30 minutes after breakfast.  If we are home, she'll take a nap around 10-10:30 for about an hour or slightly longer.  She'll have a bottle  before lunch.  If we are out running errands she usually takes a nap in the car.  Hannah nurses again about an hour after eating lunch and then takes her second nap of the day.  This nap has continued to be a 2+ hour nap--hooray!  Depending on when she wakes up from this nap she may or may not nurse once before dinner.  We try to eat dinner around 6:15.  She nurses again around 7:30 and I am happy to say that she no longer naps after dinner.  This has changed bedtime in a very positive way.  She is most often in bed now by 9 after having one final bottle of the day.  

*Stats: She was 19 lb 15.5 oz and 29 inches long at her 9 month check-up.  As she is currently taking her nap I'm not exactly sure what her current stats are.  I can say that today I bought size 4 diapers and we'll make the switch as soon as  all the size 3's are gone.  She is now wearing all 12 month clothes and some of them are getting tight.  Pajamas are 12 or 18  month size.  Her hair is continuing to get longer but there's still not much.  It is still very light in color and sometimes there is a hint of red.  Her eyes are still blue and we're thinking they might stay blue since there hasn't been any change in them yet.  Hannah now has 8 teeth.  

*Food: Hannah loves to eat!  Seriously, she loves it!  This past month we have again tried so many new things--grapes, cantaloupe, apples, mashed potatoes, sugar snap peas, broccoli and other things I'm sure I'm forgetting.  I am thrilled to have such a good eater!  I am also starting to wean Hannah.  I think that we are both ready for this transition although it makes me sad.  She is nursing about 3-4 times a day and has a bottle 2-3 times a day.

*Activities: Hannah is still into whatever she can get her hands on.  She really enjoys getting her hands on stuff she's not supposed to have--the TV remote, computers, our phones (maybe it's an electronic thing).  Oh, she also has figured out how to take the outlet covers out and chew on them.  What a great skill (in her eyes anyway).  Her fascination with balls has continued and she likes to put them into different things and take them out again.  Hannah is still enjoying pushing things along the floor and crawling after them.  She also seems to be getting more interested in listening to stories.  They have to be short books but at least we're making progress.

*Mobility:  Hannah is still not walking.  I fully expected her to be walking by now but I'm completely okay that she's not.  She is still walking along anything she can hold onto and within the last few weeks we've noticed that she is getting more brave about moving between objects and stands for just a bit longer before plopping down to crawl.  Also within the last week or so she is allowing us to help her walk where as before she would immediately plop down on her bottom rather than put weight on her feet.

*Favorites: Hannah is still a big time momma's girl although she loves to see her Dad come home from work and must immediately be in his arms.  Hannah loves to sing and dance--it's really evolved the last few weeks.  Other favorites:  eating, feeding herself, playing peek-a-boo, bath time and just moving in general.  Hannah also really loves to swing.  She gets very excited when she realizes that we are taking a walk to the park and bounces in her stroller until we get to the swings.

*Noises/Talking:  Hannah now has recognizable words (at least to us) for Dad, Maggie/dog, Daisy/kitty, brother and thank you.  She is saying bye bye and has an adorable wave to go with it.  She also has a sound for hi--it's a squeak that imitates the low to high pitch you hear when you say hi.  Hannah loves to have sound conversations with any person within hearing distance.  

*Events: Grandma and Grandpa Johnson were here for a few days at the end of October.  Hannah celebrated her first Halloween--she was a ladybug (and very cute I might add).  And we've enjoyed lots of trips to the park so the kids can be outside and Hannah can swing.

(I know you're wondering where the pictures are--I got a message from Blogger that my storage limit has been reached for pictures :(  I need to figure this out but I promise we will still have pictures.  I'll try to get some on here in the next couple of days.)

Busy=Absent

Yep, that's me--absent.  At least from the blogging world for the last 3+ weeks.  That's a long stretch for me to not blog.  Life has been busy is all I can say.  

Last year at this time, I was about 37 weeks pregnant and I was so organized--all the Christmas shopping was done; there were multiple meals in the freezer for easy dinner prep; I had two free days a week to do whatever was necessary or what I wanted.  I knew looking ahead last year that this crazy time of year for us would get even more crazy and busy.  I was right.  

This year, I have an 11 month old (her 11 month post is hopefully happening today too) and a 4 1/2 year old.  The Christmas shopping is maybe half done; I do have a few freezer meals but not nearly as many; and my "free" days now include a beautiful, little tag-along so there are not as many days of what I want and more of what is necessary.  In no way am I complaining but as I said life is busy.

We hosted Thanksgiving this year.  We love to host Thanksgiving.  Troy loves to smoke and fry some meat and I like cooking the rest of the meal and entertaining is fun for us both.  That all adds up to more busy.  

I mailed out one year birthday party invitations yesterday.  (I can't believe I just typed that sentence out.)  I have handmade all 4 of Luke's birthday invitations; I bought a template for Hannah's on Etsy and saved myself a bunch of time although they do still have a small handmade touch.  That bothered me a bit--I wanted to do the whole thing from scratch.  Life is too busy for that much time on birthday invitations.  There was no skimping on the cuteness factor though--that's a line that won't get crossed.  The list of items to do before her party is long and I'm hoping I can carve out small chunks of time to get those tasks done before the day of the party.

So, now I need to move on to Hannah's 11 month post so that I can still have enough time to fix dinner before Troy gets home from work.  Wish me luck :) (Oh, and forgive me if it doesn't happen until tomorrow or even this weekend or maybe even next week.)

I Love... A 400th Post

This is my 400th post.  That's a lot of moments recorded and memories to be cherished over and over.  (I reread bits and pieces of my blog probably every other week--it's so fun for me.)  A few weeks ago I tried to decide if I should do anything special for this post but decided against it partially because I haven't had much time to blog lately.  I really need to do just a random pic post but as you can see that hasn't happened.  It's on my list for this week although it's closer to the bottom that the top.  So, for this my 400th post I'm just going to make a list of things going on right now in our lives.

Luke

*Currently playing Legos.  He absolutely loves his Legos.  I love that they foster his imagination so much.  The stories he comes up with while playing are awesome.  The animals are currently playing at a waterpark and going down the waterslides.

*Today is Monday which means it's karate day.  Luke really loves going to his class.  I love that he gets to interact with other kids, burn off some energy and have improvement goals for himself.

*Luke is learning so much at school.  He can write his name; his cutting skills are greatly improved; they have a letter a week which they write repeatedly and work with all week; and he's become more independent.  That last one is tough for me but I know that is what is best for him.  I love that Luke loves to go to school and learn.

Hannah

*Currently napping.  It's very early for her morning nap; it's 9:25 now.  The time change this weekend has messed with her schedule.  I love that Hannah has a schedule now (somewhat)--it's been a long time coming for this mama who likes to have a consistent schedule.

*Hannah is a superb eater.  I have yet to find something she will not eat.  Hooray for having an awesome eater!  I love that she enjoys anything I give her.  

*Probably within the past week Hannah has started trying to sing.  Last night coming home from my dad's, Luke and I sang Frere Jacques the entire 15 minute drive home to comfort her.  When we got home she was trying to imitate us and was humming.  I love watching her grasp new concepts.

Troy

*Currently at work.  Troy has been very busy at work lately.  I'm so grateful that he has a job that he enjoys (at least most of the time).  I love that he choses to support our family and that I get to stay home with our children.

*Troy has been diligently researching our trip to Switzerland for our 10 year anniversary trip.  He is good at research (something I don't enjoy as much).  I love that he is so excited for our trip and that I get to spend around 12 days with just him in May.

*Troy is in two fantasy football leagues this year.  He is commissioner of one.  Troy really enjoys the process of all of this.  I love that he has his own activity he can get lost in for a while if he needs to. (Yes I really do mean that.)

Me

*Currently blogging (obviously).  Blogging is a form of scrapbooking in my mind--preserving memories and recording our stories.  I love that I am able to record all of this information to share and to revisit down the road.

*I have recently had some time to do some actual paper scrapbooking.  Within the last week I have made 5 pages!  Considering that is more than I've done since Hannah was born, it is great progress.  I love that I also have my own activity that I can get lost in when I need to.

*I have been struggling lately with not having much "me" time.  I realize that this time in my life is not all about me but rather making sure that my family is taken care of and has what it needs.  Even though it may not always be easy, I LOVE LOVE LOVE being a wife and a mom.  

Halloween

Could they be any cuter?!?!?!  Also, they look just a smidge bit alike, don't ya think :)

We had a great time trick or treating last night.  Both of the kids were in great moods and the weather was perfect.  We all went out for about 40 minutes and then Hannah and I came home to hand out candy while Luke continued to get more candy with Troy.  We continued our tradition of walking around with the neighbors--the kids have such a great time together!  

 This will be a favorite forever.  I love that they love each other and have fun together.

 Cutest bug ever!

 At least we're all smiling

 My handsome fireman!

Visitors

Grammy was here with us last week and this week Grandma and Grandpa J were here so we've had lots of fun with grandparents lately.  It's been a while since we've had a chance to spend some quality time with all of them so it was nice to catch up and obviously the kids enjoy having more playmates around.

 Decorating a Halloween House

 Fun at the park

 Being silly

 Hanging out

Carving the pumpkins