Vacation--Pictures Days 1-2

Some pictures from days one and two--Springfield and the first day in St. Louis.

 Pillow fight at the hotel

 Mirrored doors are LOTS of fun

 Luke was definitely not too sure about standing this close to the bear

 "That fish is bigger than me."

 Luke had a great time playing miniature golf for the 1st time

 Luke enjoyed the cave

 Hannah took a nap (at least until the music started)

 One of the only family shots from the trip

 "We can reach the top Mom!"

 Sweet girl

Vacation--Itinerary

We went on a family vacation a couple of weeks ago.  We all had an awesome time; it was great to have some uninterrupted family time.

Our Itinerary:

*Sunday: drive to Springfield, MO; we stopped in Tulsa for lunch at Los Cabos (one of our favorites from when we lived there); after checking into our hotel and relaxing for a bit we went to Bass Pro (the original store--it's huge); we had dinner there and Luke loved seeing all the live and stuffed animals; our final stop was playing miniature golf.

*Monday: drive to St. Louis, MO; we stopped in Stanton, MO to take a tour of Meramac Caverns (Troy and I weren't too impressed as far as caves go but it was fun); once we got to St. Louis we checked into our hotel and again relaxed for a bit; we then went out for pizza and after eating we went downtown to check out the arch.

*Tuesday: go to the St. Louis zoo; we spent pretty much the whole day at the zoo; it was an amazing zoo and we all enjoyed it; Troy and Luke went swimming at the hotel when we got back while Hannah and I relaxed; we had left over pizza for dinner (our room had a kitchen) and then we went out for some amazing custard.

*Wednesday: this was a very busy day; we started at the Budweiser factory for a tour--we just did the beginning of the tour so we could see the Clydesdales; we then went to the MO Botanical Gardens which was beautiful and I could have spent all day there but we left after eating lunch; the Magic House was our next stop--we all really enjoyed this too; we then drove 45 minutes to Alton, IL--this is where my mom grew up and where my grandparents are buried; I haven't been there since my grandfather's funeral before Luke was born and knew the chance probably wouldn't happen again soon; we visited the cemetary, drove by their house, drove along the river road (Alton is located right along the Mississippi River) and had dinner at a family favorite restaurant before heading back to our hotel.

*Thursday: drive to KC; we got to my mom's house about 3; we spent the rest of the day just hanging out with my mom, aunt, sister and step-dad; my mom had had back surgery a week before and it was great to see her doing so well and recovering quickly.

*Friday: we spent the morning at my mom's and then after lunch we headed to Great Wolf Lodge; after checking in we got to the waterpark around 2:15 and Hannah and I spent about an hour and a half splashing and exploring before we headed back to the room for a nap; Troy and Luke stayed until about 4:45; Troy's parents came to KC to meet us for dinner; we went to a restaurant called T-Rex (you can guess why); it was a big hit and the food wasn't bad either; we got back to the hotel about 7:45--just in time for story time in the lobby of the hotel at 8; after story time LJ went to bed and the rest of us tried to be relatively quiet so he could sleep.

*Saturday: I decided that Hannah and I would go shopping in the morning and swim in the afternoon; Luke claimed he didn't want to go swimming in the morning but would rather go shopping--we tried and tried to convince him this wasn't a great idea but he insisted so we all went shopping; after the first 20 minutes Luke was done but he survived until we had lunch and then headed back to the hotel; we all  got ready to go swimming which Hannah and I did for about an hour and half again before nap time; Troy and Luke spent all afternoon at the waterpark; we had dinner at the hotel after we spent some time in the arcade; we repeated story time and the quiet evening as well.

*Sunday: we checked out of the hotel and headed back to my mom's for lunch; Troy was flying to Houston for the week so Sarah offered to drive back home with the kids and I (thank you Sarah); we left for home about one and got home about 6:15.

Mama

I have mentioned several times that Troy and I believe Hannah is saying "mama."  The night of my birthday Hannah was playing on the floor and Troy happened to be recording her because we haven't in a while.  We asked her where mama was--as you'll see we have pretty firm evidence that she knows exactly who mama is :)  Another great birthday gift from one of my children.  My 30th birthday Luke was 2 1/2 months old and I got a wonderful gift that day too.  You can read about it here.

9 Month Check-Up

Hannah had her 9 month check-up this morning.  I was anxious to get her official numbers for height and weight.  She weighs 19 pounds 15.5 ounces--basically 20 pounds (I was guessing 21 pounds based on my scale).  And she is 29 inches long.  The percentages are 75th and 90-95th, respectively.  So she is still way above average.  The nurse and doctor were also very surprised to learn that Hannah has 5 teeth.  And yes that's one more this week; her top right incisor broke through on September 25.  Everything looked great according to the doctor and she said we could start moving toward all "table" foods including meats.  Dr. Grim was also quite impressed when I told her Hannah was saying mama.  I have a video to prove it which will be my next post.  We are so blessed to have a happy, healthy, growing girl :)

Fall Fun List

Luke asked me last week about our list--our summer fun list.  I told him that it was probably time to make a new list since we are into fall (at least on the calendar; temps aren't reflecting it much yet).  So, Luke wanted to look on my computer to come up with some ideas.  He knows that I get a bunch of our ideas from Pinterest and he wanted to check it out himself this time.  We have a few items still from our summer list but most are new and relative to fall.  We had a great time putting this list together.

1. Have a camp out in the backyard
2. Fly a kite
3. Make a bird feeder
4. Do a scavenger hunt
5. Make our own playdough
6. Play in the rain
7. Watch the clouds
8. Go fishing
9. Go to a pumpkin patch
10. Play with leaves
11. Carve pumpkins
12. Go trick or treating
13. Lego challenge activities
14. Go on a leaf hunt
15. Paint with corks
16. Make apple sauce
17. Make leaf animals
18. Make pumpkin mummies
19. Halloween marshmallow fun
20. Make bubbling brew/potable potions
21. Make egg carton spiders/bats
22. Paint rocks: pumpkins; monsters
23. Salt painting
24. Make button trees
25. Make sand bowls

Enjoy the fall!

9 Months Old

Hannah is 9 months old today!  We have had another busy month.  We took a family vacation; Hannah has started eating some "real" food; AND two more teeth have come in plus everyday life stuff too.

*Schedule: This has been changing around a bit with Luke now in school and because of our trip.  Most school days I have to wake Hannah up about 8:30.  There are some days she is up on her own at that point but she can sleep until 9 or later as well.  About 20-30 minutes after waking she has a very short feeding followed about an hour later with a longer feeding.  If we are out running errands she usually takes a nap in the car but if we are home she typically takes her long nap of the day starting about 11.  This nap has increased in length during the month and is currently about 2+ hours.  She eats lunch when she wakes up and then we play for a while--this is her happiest time of the day.  Hannah nurses again about an hour after eating lunch and then once more about an hour a half later before hopefully taking her second nap of the day.  This one has also increased in length during the month and is at least an hour but ususally more.  She will nurse once before dinner ususally around 5-5:30; we all eat dinner together between 6-6:30; she nurses again around 8 and takes about a 30 minute nap although thankfully this nap seems to be fading out; then she's ready for her final feeding somewhere between 10 and 11 and then it's off to bed.  She will occassionally wake up during the night still but it has decreased in frequence this month (with the exception of teething).

*Stats: She was 18 lb 3 oz and 27 inches long at her 6 month check-up.  This put her in the 75-90% for height and 90-95% for weight.  The last time I weighed her she was about 20.5 pounds and I haven't measured her for length since last month.  We have her 9 month check-up on Thursday so we'll see if she's still up there in the percentages.  She is now wearing 9 month size clothes along with some 12 month as well.  We bought her first pair of shoes in a while this month and they were a size 4.  Pajamas are now 12 month size and the brands that run small are starting to get tight.  Her hair is continuing to get longer.  It is still very light in color and sometimes there is a hint of red.  She has enough hair now to make a static electricity ball make it stand up (a vacation event).  Her eyes are still blue.  

*Food: Hannah is still really enjoying solid food and she has solid meals twice a day.  This past month we have tried some more "real" foods.  They included rice, cheese, strawberries, pancakes, scrambled eggs, and green beans.  Hannah liked it all although I think the strawberries were a bit intense in flavor and she made quite the pucker face with those.  I'm waiting to use up most of the baby food we have before starting consistant table food.

*Activities: This is pretty much the same as last month.  I would say pulling up on things and pounding on whatever she's pulled up is favorite now though.  Of course everything is going in her mouth.  Another development that has a sigh attached is teething on the bricks by the fireplace.  She is very determined in this endeavor and we are constantly pulling her away from the fireplace.  Hannah and Luke are continuing to interact more and more and Luke loves to have Hannah chase him.  While on vacation Hannah also figured out how to climb stairs.  She's very proud of herself when she gets to the top.  Hannah has also learned how to clap.  She is very good at imitating it back to you.

*Mobility:  We have another super speedy crawler on our hands.  Hannah has two speeds--fast and turbo.  If she is after something or someone, you can see her kick it up a notch to get there quick.  Hannah has also started walking along the furniture so it won't be long before she's walking on her own.  She can stand for a couple of seconds on her own but then she realizes it and falls down.  She still hasn't mastered sitting down from standing yet.  Currently, she lowers one hand to the floor first and then sort of falls to her bottom.  It makes me nervous because most things she is holding onto with the other hand are too tall for her reach all the way to the floor first and it looks like she's going to fall on her head all the time.

*Favorites: These really haven't changed much from last month either.  I continue to be Hannah's favorite person but she has a smile for any one that says hello or interacts with her.  Other favorites:  a new shape sorting toy that sings songs; cups; any sort of tag (this has always been a favorite); banging toys together; blowing bubbles and sticking her tongue out (she recently found it); and pretty much any toy that makes some sort of noise.  Maggie is also a new fascination since Hannah can crawl to her--poor Maggie though because Hannah likes to pull her hair.  Luke is also a huge favorite and she likes to play peek-a-boo especially with Troy as they crawl around the couch.  

*Noises/Talking: Troy and I are both fairly certain Hannah is saying or at least attempting to say momma and she knows what it means.  She also says da-da-da-da all the time and we are trying to teach her that Dadda is Troy.  She is still constantly jabbering and in general just making different noises.  One noise I'm not sure I've mentioned before but she's been doing it for a long time now is her grunting especially when she's excited about something.  She throws her arms out stiff and shakes her upper body and grunts.  It's quite hilarious.

*Events: This last month Hannah has just mom time for 2 1/2 days a week when Luke is at school.  I can tell she really enjoys having me to her self.  We went on our family vacation two weeks ago.  Hannah did really well--better than I expected really.  Then the night we got home she started teething again.  It was strange really because she got her bottom right lateral incisor on September 16 but wasn't fussy until that night.  The next 3 nights were very rough because she was so congested and couldn't sleep without being upright.  So Hannah and I slept in the recliner in her room for part or all of the night.  On September 19 her bottom left lateral incisor came in.  I've never seen a baby with 4 bottom teeth and none on the top but I shouldn't expect Hannah to be normal in this as nothing has been "normal" with her.  

We are all ready to cheer on the Cats today :)

This Week...

This week...

...Troy has been out of town for a training course in Houston.
...Hannah has two new teeth and I believe more to come.
...Hannah and I have not been sleeping well because she is so congested from teething.
...Sarah drove home with us from KC on Sunday and stayed until Tuesday morning.
...I have not accomplished much of anything except grocery shopping, laundry and unpacking from our vacation.
...was Luke's first full week at school.
...the letter of the week at school is "N" and Luke took a picture of nuts and a necklace for letter show and share on Wednesday.
...we had a nice salmon dinner with Sarah, Grandma and Grandpa H, Kristi and Wesley on Monday.
...we had dinner with the McBride family on Wednesday night.
...I am grateful to have family and friends supporting me during this long week.
...Luke and I went to the eye doctor together.
...we are looking forward to going to the KSU/OU game in Norman on Saturday with Todd and Georgia.

And right now I am looking forward to leaving for the airport in an hour to pick up Troy!