Correction

I just heard the whole story from Dan about who all helped him out in the ER and radiology dept yesterday. I only gave credit to Dr. Cheney in my last post, but several ER, radiology, and ortho guys helped out. Maybe some Drs from other specialties as well, I can't remember right now. So, great big thanks to Drs. Cheney, Elliott, Smith, Russell, and DeLucia. There were more, but those names stuck in my head and the others went away...I blame preggy brain on that one. Dan says that DeLucia did the splint itself. Great job on that. It looks great! We can't wait for the cast, though, so that Hannah can color on it. She's excited about it as well.

We really appreciate all the help in getting Dan checked out and splinted and on his way without breaking our bank. You are all the best. We are lucky to know all of you. I wanted to make sure to thank all of you. I know a lot of the wives of the Drs read this blog, so please send thanks to your husbands and be proud of them. They are really great friends!

It's broken!

Dan came home from soccer last night with a broken foot. He didn't have it looked at until today and the x-ray confirmed that it's broken. It's broken in a questionable spot on the outer side of the foot and Dr. Cheney (Libby, tell Nick thank you for me) suggested that Dan see a ortho foot/ankle specialist. That's just great. We are out of money for the year, so Cheney was able to not charge (thank you again). However, I'm sure the specialist won't be so accommodating. He doesn't go in until next week, so at least insurance will cover it, but that just means we will run out even more quickly and have to pay even more out of pocket for the baby visits and delivery and pedi appts.

Sorry for the doom and gloom, but I am not feeling well again and I really HATE soccer. There is rarely a game when Dan doesn't get injured somehow or come home needing to ice some part of his body. I don't get the attraction. Now he is on crutches for at least 6-8 weeks, more if the specialist says he needs surgery. I have a funny feeling I will be getting even less help around house now and much of the work I did with MIL last week will be thrown out the window.

Again, sorry for the gloom and doom, but hard to see the bright side at this point. Going to lie in a dark room for a minute and try not to puke.

Christannukah Week

Well, tonight is the 5th night of Hanukkah and the only Christmas. We have had a great holiday so far. Hannah has not been short on presents AT ALL. Dan's mom came in town on Monday night. We had a good dinner together at Red Robin (we love that restaurant when Hannah is with us). Then, Tuesday morning, we went to work on the house. Hannah's room was first. We emptied out the drawers and closet, cleaned, moved furniture, sorted outgrown clothes into bins (with labels via my new label maker - thanks Sue!), sorted others into charity or consignment, then put everything back into the room in an orderly fashion. Wednesday, we hung up decorations in Hannah's room and continued the organizing/cleaning into Mommy and Daddy's room. We got rid of anything we don't wear much, or is worn out/out grown, cleaned (it really needed a good vacuuming), and reorganized. I feel SOOOOO much better about the house now. I feel the MIL helped me get it to a place that Dan and I can take over, finish, and keep up with the changes. Hannah's toys in the living room are even organized into bins (thanks again Emmy!) and we even cleaned out the ottoman. Now, even with the new toys Hannah got this week (and we still have 3 more nights to go), we have an organized and liveable living room. I may even be willing to host another play group now that the toys are more manageable.

Anyway, I will post pictures of Hannah's new big girl room soon and maybe even my own room when I get some things on the walls.

Thanks Emmy/Sue/MIL for everything you helped us with this week. We really enjoyed having you and really need the help to jump start the re-organizing of the bedrooms. I appreciate it very much, we all do. We miss our Emmy already. Hannah had a blast with you and is currently enjoying a game of Candy Land with Daddy while Mommy types on the blog.

See you very soon.....hopefully in California so we can escape the cold.

Great!

This is what happens when Mommy tries to use the restroom in peace:


I told her to go to time out and she threw a bloody fit on the floor. I told her to straighten up and find the lid to the marker. When she couldn't find the lid, I threw the marker away. Well, a few minutes later, she finds piece of paper and shows me in a proud manner that she can color on paper. I tell her "yes, very good, color on paper only". Another minute later, she has dug the marker out of the trash and is using that marker to draw on the paper. Well, that marker is back in the trash and we are heading to bed as soon as Daddy comes home. Luckily, the Magic Eraser got most of the marker off the wall (it's still slightly visible if you look closely). Hannah's hands and arms are still discolored, but I can't use magic eraser on her skin. I am not patient enough to give her a bath, so she's going to bed blue and I'm going to bed nauseous. Oh what fun we're having.

I'm editing to add that Hannah just came up to me and pointed me to three more spots on the wall that I hadn't seen before. She was apparently trying to decorate the entire living and dining area. At least she's honest, right?


And, just because I know you have all been on the edge of your seats since my last post...
the remaining fish have survived our little incident. We still have 7 surviving fish. Out of the original 8, that's not too shabby.

We are hoping to have a visit from Emmy tomorrow night and through the weekend. Here's hoping she can get a seat on a very full plane in the morning. I really need the extra support right now. This house is a disaster and I obviously need someone to keep an eye on the munchkin so I can get some work done. Hannah's really embracing the Two's more and more each day.

Another picture just for fun and because it makes me remember the very nice weather we had not too long ago. Hannah dressed herself and had fun playing outside for the last few days of fall.

more fish drama

Well, Dan thought it would be a good idea to let Hannah hold onto the food jar while they fed the fish last night. Hannah thought is would be a good idea to pour the entire jar of food into the tank...it was a big jar and almost totally full. NOT good! So, we changed as much of the water as we could last night. You aren't supposed to change too much water at once because it shocks the fish environment and the balance of bacteria/ammonia/and other such gunk in the tank. So, I woke up this morning to a very cloudy tank and one dead fish. I'm sure it was the one that was trapped under the treasure chest. The shock was too much for him all in the same week. I was sure we would loose the others today as they were all at the top of tank gasping for clean water/air...whatever they were needing. I went to the fish store and bought a special filter and changed more of the water. The remaining fish seem to be doing better. I will keep changing 50% of the water until it looks clear in there again. I can only hope they survive. So, no more perfect fish record, we've had our first casualty. Hannah didn't even notice.

A couple of positive things from the last few days:

1) I finally found Hannah the desk I've been searching for. I had to drive to New Albany to get it, but it's in really good shape, stores tons of arts/crafts supplies, and she loves it!

2) I've been able to go out 4 times this week for some fun, only one time without Hannah, but still fun. She got sick Sunday night, so the rest of the week has been rough, but she's been a trooper and is getting better every day. Hopefully, she will be well by this weekend and we can have some more fun outings.

3) On Monday, she was drawing on her Magna Doodle and drew one very small dot/circle. She showed it to me and said "that's the baby in you belly". So cute! She gets it now. Of course, now she has a baby in her belly too.

It's a Christannukah Miracle!

That's what we call Christmas and Hannukah around the Clearfield house.
I have been noticing for the past few days that we were missing one of our "Birthday Fish". We bought Hannah 5 yellow fish for her birthday and have since added 2 black ones and one sucker fish. Anyway, I count them every day or so to make sure I don't need to fish out any dead ones. I finally went looking for the missing fish tonight, thinking he committed suicide by jumping into the filter, which these yellow fish seem to try quite often. Turns out he was stuck under the treasure chest. When he came floating out, he seemed pretty lifeless just laying on the bottom. I started to scoop him up with the net and he swam away, just barely. Then he lay on the bottom with labored breathing. I put food in the tank and......

HE'S ALIVE!!! He's swimming around like nothing ever happened. A few days stuck under a treasure chest barely phased him. What a survivor. So, we've had these fish for 6months and no casualties. Not bad for first time fish owners (well, unless you count childhood fish which I killed).

It was pretty funny. When I saw it laying there lifeless, I told Hannah the fish died and we had to flush him. Dan started to tell her about the fish dying and she could tell he was looking sad and she said "it's ok, Daddy". Then the fish started doing better, and she was clapping and jumping around. Such a happy day!

I guess I owe it to the guy to clean the tank now and give them some fresh water.

17* feels like 5!!!

What the *&%$? This is the temperature outside right now. I am really hating hating Ohio this winter and it JUST started. Hannah just woke up, so I go to weather.com to see how many layers we need today. How the hell do you dress for 17 degrees, feels like 5?! That's nuts. Just insane. I need to leave the house today, I really really need to leave the house today. But I don't know how I will be able to make myself do it.

nothing much

That's what I've been doing....nothing much. Just the usual. I'm still not feeling well, so we stay home a lot and watch a lot of TV. Well, Hannah watches Curious George The Movie.all.day.long and I get on the computer. It works for us. The house is starting to show my laziness and Dan is putting up with me pretty well. He should, seeing as he got me into this mess in the first place. Just kidding.

Hannah had portraits taken on Tuesday and they turned out really well. I will try to attach a few. I can only attach the proofs, but the prints are cropped better and turned out really well. I will attach 3 cute ones and 3 goofy ones, just for fun. Family can look forward to more prints of Hannah this year. She was such a big girl at the shoot and tried her best to pose like they asked. In the proofs, you can see all the silly faces she made in between the good shots. She's definitely got the "cheerleader smile" down pat. It works best not to tell her to smile, but to get her to laugh. She's such a doll.

She's been very sweet lately, well, when she wants to be. She is still being 2 and testing me every chance she gets, but overall, I can't complain too much about her. She is a really good kid. I think the worst of it at the moment is the whining. But, I can't really blame her when she's got a Mommy that's doing a lot of whining herself lately. When she's in a cuddly mood or just a sweet mood, she'll say "Mommy, you so cute." Makes my day.

I'll try to post again soon.

Hannah's scary tongue roll shot.
Posing and laying on the CHEESE
Being a real goof ball
Just being pretty
I'm not sure how to rotate these, but just tilt your head and get the idea.

Haven't come as far as we thought...

Our newest addition will not be arriving until July. My official due date is July 6, 2009. We are hoping for a July 7 arrival, but will be thrilled with any day this little one decides to appear. I warned the sonogram tech that I didn't think I was already 11 weeks. As soon as she put the machine on my belly, she was sure.."oh, no way you're 11wks." She estimated 7wks 4days. Hannah did the same thing. We thought we were going in at about 10wks and she was barely 5wks. So, it looks as though I have several more weeks of morning sickness to look forward, but I'm armed with a few doses of Zofran to get me by on the bad days.

I was only disappointing because we are too early to even see the arms and legs, but we saw a very healthy little heart and got to hear it. Hannah was looking at the screen and trying to see it. When the tech was moving the machine to get different measurement, Hannah was saying, "I can't see the baby". Dan had to take her outside for a while so I could speak to the Dr peacefully. All the talk of the baby had Hannah wanting to go get her babies. She took the keys from my purse and said "I be back. I go get my babies." Dan humored her for a while. She was really cute the whole time.

I love the Dr we chose. Turns out she has had two natural deliveries herself, so I know that she believes that women can do it and I don't feel she will pressure me into any unecessary interventions that I don't ask for. She was very receptive to my plans and didn't seem concerned about Hannah's delivery repeating itself. Although, she did reassure me about their protocol if it does happen again. I was very impressed with her and have a great feeling about this one. The best thing is that we will deliver at Doctors Hospital, right down the street from home. I plan to stay home as long as I can before moving to the hospital and cannot imagine doing that if I had to travel very far. She did the same thing with her deliveries and was very supportive of that plan. I hope this little one cooperates with me. I have 7 months to prepare!

As for the rest of the day, we had friends come in from out of town and we met them as COSI until 5pm. They had to leave to go work an overnight job and we kept their 5yo son with us. We had dinner at Red Robin (great for the kids) and then saw Madagascar 2 and he spent the night with us. It was such a good time. Both of the kids were very well behaved and we were so proud. It gave us a good preview of the joys of having children 3yrs apart. We had to deal with the usual, "she's touching me, she won't let me play with that, she's being too loud, she won't let me sit there, etc". Good times, but I think we can do it. We will be spending the day with them again until they have to head back out of town on their cross country tour.

I promise I will post pics soon. I'm just really not feeling like doing it right now. I'm needed in the living room anyway to referee.

little energy

I have very little energy these days. This new baby is not being kind to me. I am sick all day, with it getting worse around 4pm every day, like clockwork. I don't have the energy to post pics (sorry Sue and Libby).

We had a rough day today. Dan has had a busy week with interviews going on at the family clinic. He has been home late due to one thing or another and he had to work again this morning. He was due home around 12pm, but wasn't. It never fails that he's gone on my worst days. I was very ill this morning and Hannah was very hyper. She needed me to run around and play rough, which I can't do when I feel like I'm going to vomit at any moment and have a splitting headache. SO, with her not understanding my pleas for calm quiet play, we had several meltdowns and temper tantrums. At nap time, finally, she threw a fit about putting pants on. Not a fight I would usually take on except it was very cold in the house today and I knew she would just wake up cold and cry for me and not go back to sleep. During the struggle to put her pants on I had enough and slapped her on her bare thigh. She stopped immediately, starting crying pathetically and said "No, Mommy, don't hit me" with tears running down her face. We had a little talk about spanking and hitting and why you have to follow directions, etc. I got her to lay down and cried for hours. I've never felt bad about popping her before, but it was her reaction to it that got to me. I feel bad that I'm not my usual patient self. I feel really bad and I know that she is getting the short end of it lately. I really hope this phase passes quickly. I will know how far along I am next Friday and I'll know a little better how much longer this sickness may last. On a good note, when she's not throwing fits and driving me insane, Hannah is being very sweet and asking me if I'm ok and giving me hugs and kisses and making sure I eat snacks. She's always asking, "Mommy, you so happy?". She then says, "I'm so happy first".

Dan will be home most of the day tomorrow and I will really try to post some recent pics.

Sorry...

...for the lack of blogs lately. I have zero energy, I'm nauseated, and I'm doing my best to make myself do the things that have to be done. SO, I haven't felt like sitting down and downloading pictures (it takes longer than I think it should). Some time soon, I will update everyone with super cute Hannah pictures. She has been taken pictures with our camera and has taken some really good ones all by herself. We also had Halloween with friends (Hannah was Elmo) andHannah has been enjoying football season with Daddy (which gives me much needed little breaks here and there). These and more pictures will be coming as soon as I find the energy.

A cute story to pass the time: One night I went to a movie with friends (High School Musical 3 - I think we were the only women there without children) and left Hannah with a babysitter until Daddy got home. Well, while waiting for me to get home, Dan had one of the students staying with us do OMM on his neck. Hannah thought they should pay attention to her and as a form of protest she dumped out all of her baby powder on the couch in the living room, the green fabric couch, not the black leather one that would have been better for cleaning - luckily, Daddy had it cleaned up before I got home. Apparently, she threw a big fit and ran through the house screaming and throwing things around. The couch got the brunt of it, though.

Hannah is now fully immersed in the Terrible Twos. She asks for things by whining and if not given to her immediately, she throws herself on the floor in protest. It's been quite a power struggle between the two of us the past week or so. I have learned to not give her anything unless she asks like a "nice girl" and I NEVER give in to her fits. It's been fun! No wonder I'm so exhausted.

I was telling Dan that I don't remember being this tired when I was pregnant with Hannah, then I realized that I wasn't chasing a 2 year-old all day when I was pregnant with her. To make it worse, I have terrible insomnia and can't take any medicine that actually helps. I'm doing my best, but I'm sitting here wondering why humans insist on having multiple children. Do we forget what they put us through? I haven't forgotten because I'm still living it, so why I wanted another one right now, I haven't quite figured out. I guess that's why God gives us 9 months to prepare.

Guess What?

Hannah is going to be a.......


I just found out early this week, while Dan was out of town, and I told him by having Hannah wear this shirt to pick him up at the airport on Tuesday night. Didn't take him long to figure it out either. I just told Hannah to tell Daddy to look at her new shirt. We are very excited and expect this little one to make an appearance around the end of June 2009. I will have an exact due date in a few weeks. Keep checking back for updates.

Halloween pics coming soon...

Fun with characters

Last Saturday, Hannah and I went to see Curious George at Barnes N Noble. She really enjoyed seeing George while stories were being read about him. After story time, we got to take pictures with George. At first, Hannah would only sit on the edge of the reading area and wave at George.
She finally asked me to go up with her for a picture.

Today (this Saturday), Daddy, Hannah and I went to see Bob and Larry from the VeggieTales at Lifeway Bookstore. Hannah had a great time with them and even gave them hugs and kisses.

While Bob and Larry got a break, we were surprised by the Chick Fil A cow! Hannah saw him Friday night at the Westland High School football game also. She really like the cow too.
I forgot to add that during Bob and Larry's break, we were eating nuggets that Chick Fil A brought and while Hannah had a mouth full of food, the cow walks up, Hannah sees him and yells "Mommy, moo cow!" and spits her chewed pieces of chicken and saliva ALL.OVER.ME. That part was great! At least Dan was amused.

Hannah quotes

When we told her the plan for the evening, Hannah replied excitedly, "OH, OK, Great!".

When putting on her shoes today she insisted she do it herself, "I do it!", then when she was successful said, "SEE?!" (with that smart alack look on her face - some of you know the one).

Just a few minutes ago she walked up to me randomly and just said, "I love you Mommy". Every time I would reply, she would repeat it (with her really sweet look and a crooked smile). It really made my day!

I love this little girl so much, she melts my heart, even after driving me nuts so much.

Ok, back to add more stuff.

While I was cooking tonight, she asked if I was cooking potatoes, I replied "yes" and she said "Ok, great, woo hoo!" Maybe her Daddy told her to praise me when I attempt to cook...ha.ha.

Now she's adding the woo hoo to everything. I can't believe the change in her attitude when gets a full nap during the day. She is being so pleasant.

We've had a really great day and all this funny talk is really making me laugh.

WOW!

This is why I keep Hannah rear-facing! This is a link to a great blog written by a grandfather:
http://forum.carseatdata.org/convertible-seats/1827-rear-facing-is-best-true-story.html

His grandson was recently involved in a collision and suffered severe injuries that could have been avoided if he were rear-facing. His blog really breaks it all down and gives great information and links. He asked us all on car-seat.org to spread his story and the rear-facing message. I felt strongly that I should. I downloaded his before and after pics so that readers of my blog can see without having to register at the other site.

This is Joel before his accident:

This is Joel after:
He can wiggle his fingers and toes, but cannot raise his arms. He is undergoing severe physical therapy for head, brain, and spinal injuries.

Some great points from the blog and links:

Car accidents are the #1 KILLER of all children. Greater than all childhood accidents combined.

Children under the age of 2 years are 75% less likely to die or sustain serious injury when they are in a rear-facing seat. This finding was true regardless of direction of the crash, even those crashes with side impact, which typically are the most severe.
Why? Because a child's head is 25% of their body weight. When their heads fly forward in an accident, there spinal cord can only stretch 1/4 of an inch while there vertebrae can stretch much further. This leads to internal decapitation.

There has never been a reported case of a broken leg caused by rear-facing. Even if there were, a cast is better than a HALO (like the one Joel is wearing).



I just read this blog tonight while surfing through my car-seat forums (yes, I read car seat forums). It was too touching not to share. This is a cause that is close to my heart and one that I wish got more attention from Doctors, Paramedics, and lawmakers. In countries where children rear-face the longest amount of time, the death rate from auto accidents are the lowest. In our country, where our children rear-face the shortest amount of time, the death rate from auto accidents are the highest.

We have to change our attitudes about our children when it comes to the most dangerous activity we participate in on a daily basis. We also have to stop being worried about how fast our children will "grow up" and move on to the next step. It permeates every aspect of our lives, but the car is one place that it does not belong. Every step "up" in car seat is a step down in safety.
Rear-facing is safer than forward-facing.
Harness is safer than booster.
High back booster is safer than no back booster.
No back booster is safer than seat belt until a child passes the 5 Step Test.
These are milestones that we should not be in a hurry for our children to reach and we certainly shouldn't rush into the next step before our children are ready. The results can be deadly.

Here is my disclamer: I am aware that there are parents who make the choice to forward-face their children after knowing the facts, and that is their parental decision to make. I'm sure I make many parental decisions others would disagree with. However, most parents (in the general US population) are not aware of the facts and blindly trust that lawmakers and Doctors know best, when in fact, it is just too inconvenient to change these archaic laws. This is what I am hoping to change. More awareness is always a good thing!

Hannah's napping!

Yea!!! She actually fell asleep today without a fuss. Well, without much of a fuss. She was up early this morning and then went with Kelly Bull to the play group at the Fire Museum while mommy had an appointment. Thanks Kelly! We had lunch with the group at Steak n Shake and then played at home for a little while. She was not happy that nap time rolled around and tried to stall by asking for water and then chocolate milk. She also refused a dry diaper. Oh well, I have to pick my battles with her. But, as soon as I left the room, not a peep. Oh, the peace and quiet. Have I been using this time to pack for the trip?....NO. I've been relaxing and enjoying the quiet. I think I've had enough quiet time and I'm off to start packing now.

Just Whining

I am so tired, my eyes are burning and want to close, but I can't sleep! I'm so wound up, I can't rest at all. There is so much to be done, but when I feel like this, I just get overwhelmed and can't do anything. I've checked my online message board about 100 times today and there's nothing exciting going on. I've done a little laundry and made lots of to do lists, but that's about it.

Hannah fought her nap again today. She's been playing in her crib from about 2-3 then getting up for a little while and laying back down about 3:30. Then she plays for about an hour before falling asleep. Obviously, the late naps mean I have to wake her up if I have any hope of getting her in bed before 10. Oh well, it's not too bad because we are going to CA this weekend. Her being on a later schedule won't be so bad. I am, however, worried about the aftermath of this super long trip.

Funny dog story

For those of you who don't know our dogs, we have two; Lil' Lisa and Jimbo. Dan got Jimbo while we were engaged and I "adopted" him. After we were married, we got Lisa. Jimbo is a Beagle/Terrier mix, about 20lbs and Lisa is a Mini Dachshund, about 8lbs. Jimbo is older and usually the boss, but Lisa is very vocal and doesn't back down easily.

So, they ran out of their normal dog food and I didn't feel like taking a seperate trip to the pet store for their "special" food. I got a new kind of food from Target while I was there anyway. We get home tonight and poor the dogs some food. They immediately go after it. I leave the room to get Hannah ready for bed. I come back in the front of the house and all is quiet. I see Lisa laying in her bed, which is by the food. Jimbo is in the living room staring at her and whining. I look over and see that the food bowl is empty. I fill it up again and invite Jimbo to eat, thinking he is whining because he is still hungry. I go on my way and hear Lisa barking and growling in her mean bossy way and Jimbo is again whining....

She is keeping him from the food! Everytime he so much as gets within 3ft of the bowl, she attacks! Poor Jimbo is starving and is afraid of our little 8lb-er. What a wuss! I had to hold Lisa while Jimbo was allowed to eat. I guess I'll go to PetSmart tomorrow and get their normal food so they can co-exist peacefully again.

I swear I feel like I have 3 kids already; 4 if you count Dan on some days.

My favorite photo of all "the kids":
P.S. Lisa doesn't look quite as big without all that hair! She looks more like a drowned rat when wet. Jimbo really has nothing to be scared of. He could totally take her. He's just a big ol' whimp!

Dublin Irish Festival

We went to the Irish festival as a family last month and I am just now getting around to posting 2 cute videos from the day and a few pictures. When we got to the festival, we were a little bummed about how much it cost to get in and were a little worried about the heat. It seemed at first that there wasn't much to do except spend money on arts/crafts and eat/drink. However, we ran across an Irish band playing live and Hannah had a blast singing along with the songs and clapping her heart out. We also found a arts and crafts area and she a Daddy had a blast coloring and gluing sprinkles onto paper. There was a horse to look at, a pond to peek into and a nice play area for little ones to let out some energy. We a had a blast and really are cherishing the days we have together as a whole family.

Getting ready for the sun:
Trying to step into the water to be with the fish:
Arts and crafts with Daddy:
A really big "wee":

Singing, dancing and clapping:

Change of plans

We had planned on taking a trip to Hot Springs, AR to visit my brother and sister Friday thru Monday. However, we decided to cancel at the last minute. We were flying stand by and the flight in the morning was filling up fast. It looked as though we wouldn't make it in the plane. SO, we are staying home. It's probably better this way. They are expecting strong storms from Hurricane Ike in Arkansas and I would hate to be cooped up in the house all weekend. Also, they lost power for several days when Gustav blew through. We definitely wouldn't want a replay of that. I guess it's just a sign that I need to stay home and get ready for the big trip coming up next week.

I am flying with Hannah to MIL's house on Thursday and leaving her there on Saturday. I will then meet Dan in San Diego for a friend's wedding. We will stay there until Monday, when we will rent a car and drive to LA to stay with Dan's sister and a few friends until Thursday. Then, we are flying to San Francisco to be with Dan's family for his 30th birthday. I can't believe he's almost 30! We really are growing up. Seems so strange to think that we were together for his 19th birthday, and now here we are. And we have a little girl, too! We have a come a long way and have really had a difficult year. This trip will be very rejuvenating for us; as a couple, and as parents. We have never been away from Hannah this long (well, I haven't). I am looking forward to the time to spend with Dan and friends and reconnect.

An added bonus will be if I can finally wean Hannah. This child has been difficult to wean. I never thought I would be nursing a 2 year old, but here we are. She is being so good about it, though. She is down to just nursing at bedtime, and only for a minute. When she asks during the day, I tell her "not until bedtime". Tonight, when I counted to 10 and said "all done", Hannah said, "I go Emmy's house. No milkies." I've been telling her for the last month (only a few times) that she will start to have milk from a cup like a big girl. She will stay with Emmy soon and not have Mommy Milkies anymore. I guess she gets it now. It's not something I tell her all the time, because I don't want it to back fire. I just didn't want to shock her with it next week. I'm so proud of her. She's getting so big and really smart. It's great to see her "get it" after we discuss something. I love it! Now we just have to see what happens when I return after a week. I wonder if she'll remember and ask again?

I tried to tell her "milkies all gone" the other day and she looked at me very sad and then perked up and said "other side?". She just knew there had to be some in the other side. I know that's a bit TMI for some you, but those are the things you hear when nursing a toddler. I will be sad to be finished, but I know it's time for both of us. I have been so blessed to be able to nurse at all and especially that it went so well for so long. I will enjoy the last few nights of nursing my baby this week. I'm sad that this is it. It will be good to have my body back for a little while. Well, until I'm pregnant again and another little one takes it over. Oh, the joys of being a mother.

Pictures from the zoo

I decided to post the pictures tonight to cheer me up a bit. I'm all cried out for the night.

Both of these pictures are of Hannah posing for me while climbing on a "balance beam" in the play area. She didn't want to leave. I had to promise her a carousel ride, which she LOVED.

This is the big daddy gorilla that was watching up from the top. He kept sticking his tongue out at us.
If you look closely at this picture, you can see a very small 2mo old monkey. She's mostly white. See her? Look closely.


These two gorillas were hanging on the hammock for while looking down on all the kiddos.


Here is Hannah watching a Silver Back Gorilla eat his snack.


Now I can fall asleep a little bit happier. Enjoy the pics!

What a day!

We started our day early today; even Daddy was still getting ready for work. We headed out to the zoo with the spouses group and several of our friends. Hannah had a blast. We stayed late and had lunch there at the zoo. We got to see very active penguins and several gorillas (which we couldn't find last time). Thank you Laura for telling us so much about them! I got several pictures, but will have to post them tomorrow. I got Hannah to sleep at 9 and I am heading there myself soon. Dan is also going to sleep early because he is fighting off a cold. UGH!

When we got home, Hannah threw a fit about taking a nap. She fought and screamed so hard I gave in and let her stay up a little while. She asked to call her Grammy and Poppy (my mom and dad). Well, my dad informed me that he was on the way to the vet to put my cat to sleep. :(

I knew he had been sick for a long time, but it's still never news you want to hear. Apparently, he has been losing weight rapidly and not eating. He has been taking a few sips of water for a few days, but not using his littler box. We were all kind of praying he would pass away in his sleep last night. He was so lethargic today, they decided it was time. I think the worst part was just knowing that I couldn't be there to hold him while he went.

We rescued this cat from the wild during a very bad winter 10years ago. We aren't sure of his age when we rescued him, but we assumed he was still pretty young (under a year). I made my parents keep him and I named him Tom because he was such a tom cat. He had severe respiratory issues from the time we found him, probably from an illness during his first year. He always breathes and snores really loudly. His chest sort of rattles when he purrs. Since he was really mine anyway, when I moved into my own apartment during college, my parents were thrilled to let me take him to live with me. I wasn't allowed to have pets so I strategically positioned his litter box and he knew to hide under the bed if maintenance came in. He was more like a dog than a cat. He would come when I called him, or snapped my fingers. I let him sleep in bed with me and couldn't sleep well when I stayed away from him because I missed the rhythmic sound of his rattled breathing and snoring. Dan is deathly allergic to cats, so I would have to vacuum when he came over and keep Tom from laying on him, although he always tried to anyway. When we got married, I let my parents take Tom back to stay with them. We lived in the same city and I got to see him often and cuddle with him. I have missed him so much this last year and hate it that I wasn't with him as he got sick. I really wish I was with him today to say goodbye. My mom wouldn't even take a picture of him because she said he looked too sick. I will have to find an old picture later. I know I have many.

I will miss him so very much.

Mocking

Now Hannah is mocking me! She's such a little grown up. She's always mocking me, when I cough, choke, trip, etc. Tonight, on the way out of Bob Evans (YUMMMYY!), I rolled my ankle stepping off the curb and just said "ouch, ouch, ouch". Hannah, following me while holding Dan's hand, stepped off the curb, did a little hop and said "ouch, ouch, ouch", while laughing. What a little smart alack. I don't know what to do with this kid. Such an attitude for a 2 year old.

Of course, Dan thought it was hilarious.

Other than that, Hannah and Dan learned a new game tonight. Hannah jumps from our bed to Dan sitting 3ft from the bed. Doesn't look safe to me and I didn't want to watch, but they insisted I take videos. I did, but cannot possibly post them until I clean the room a little bit more.

Ok, I'm over the fact that the room is dirty in these pictures, so I am posting them anyway. Enjoy.

For those of you who just have to see pictures, here is Hannah wearing her stylish rain boots (I've been letting her dress herself around the house).

We have Blood!

We started our day with an early wake-up (for us- 8am). Then we had a very nice woman come to help Mommy get the house ready for our new house guest. Then we headed off to a birthday party for our friend Lilah. She's 2! The party was great. Hannah was already tired when we headed to the party at 11, but Daddy met us there, and after some cake, Hannah got a second wind. I left a little early to get back to the house as Leslie was finishing up. I expected Dan and Hannah home shortly after, but they were having a blast at the park until well after 2pm! I'm so happy that Hannah was able to have a fun day with Daddy when we thought he was going to work all weekend without a break. Unfortunately, I have no pictures from the party yet. I'm sure I will get copies from friends soon. I'll be sure to add them to the post.

Mommy and Hannah both got a great nap and finished our day with a family dinner and lots of Elmo. After bath time, we were brushing Hannah's teeth and she slipped off of her stool and hit her mouth on the counter. She bit her tongue pretty good and mommy was worried. Just when I thought all was fine....We have blood! Lots of Blood!

Luckily, Dr. Daddy was there to save the night with a washcloth dipped in ice water, some Tylenol, and more Elmo in Mommy's and Daddy's bed. Here are the resulting pictures.



Now, more than one hour past our goal of a 9pm bedtime, she is sleeping soundly and I am going to join her shortly. I'm sure Dr. Daddy will be watching football well into the night.

Looking at herself

Hannah caught me doing this last night and made me play the videos of herself over and over and over and over. She loves looking at herself. She kept saying, FUN, FUN, FUN!

Libby, this is for you!

From Hannah's birthday. This is the video from her opening her gift from Aunt Libby and saying "thank you Libby". I have a whole series of these, but I will copy them to a disc for you instead of downloading them all (they take forever).

SUPER- HAN

Before we put the fish tank on it's new stand, we had it sitting next to the couch. Hannah thought it was fun to jump from it onto the couch. This was especially fun while wearing her Superman outfit.
P.S. Yes, I was afraid she would hit her head on the counter. Luckily, she didn't. Also, please notice that I have been keeping the dining room clean. We are actually eating at the table every day now, usually as a family for diner. Yeah!

A few Hannah funnies

Yesterday, I was telling Hannah to put her spoon back on the counter rather than throwing it on the floor. I told her, "Hannah pick up that spoon and put it on the counter". She picked it up and threw it again. I told her again. She looked at me and said, "I time out". I said, "no, you don't get to pick time out, you have to follow Mommy's rules." She rolled her eyes at me and put the spoon on the counter. Such attitude at 2!

We keep finding her with things she shouldn't have, things that we put out of her reach. We discovered how she is getting all of these things today. She has learned to move her little step stool around to reach just about anything she wants. Her latest find was an entire bag of tortilla chips that she was carrying around living room and sharing with the pups. They love her new trick!

My car safety obsession is rubbing off on her. On the way home from the zoo Dan got into the back seat with her to help her eat her lunch. She said, "Daddy sit right here". Then, "Daddy buckle up!". I LOVE it!

Labor Day at the Zoo

Dan didn't have to work today so we all went to the zoo. We finally bought a family season pass so we can enjoy the zoo all year long as many times as we want. If only the pass included Zambezi Bay! Oh well.

Hannah wanted to see Elephants and Monkeys most, so we made sure to find them. She said hello to all the animals as we saw them. Hello fish, hello manatee, hello monkey, hello elephant, etc. Very funny to hear her pronounce the longer names.

She also enjoyed the carousel with Daddy. Hannah gave the horse a goodbye hug.


I think the most fun she had was getting wet in the mister, also with Daddy.


And here they are looking at the Manatees.
Mommy's just no fun at all. I'm only here for logistics, apparently.
Oh wait, Mommy got to hold her at the elephant exhibit.


She was so tired tonight, she went on a massive tear through the entire house, screaming, throwing things, and then biting Daddy. Not a fun way to end the evening. We decided on a quick bath and straight to bed (after reading her Elmo book of course). I guess it ended well after all.

My first blog!

Ok, I've decided to give this a try.
I'm not sure how long this post will be because I only have a few minutes before baby Nathan wakes up and demands more attention. I will only be watching him 2 more days and then it's back to being a full-time mom just for Hannah. I will miss Nathan, but I am looking forward to having all of my days back to focus on Hannah.

I plan to start doing some "school" time with her every day. She is showing signs that she is ready for some "formal education". Last night, out of nowhere, she was counting, and made it all the way to 20! I didn't even know she could. I guess all that Elmo is paying off.LOL! Maybe I should sit down with her and show her what the numbers look like. She also knows the alphabet with few mistakes, but can't recognize the letters yet. She knows most of her colors and a few shapes. I just know she will amaze me if I actually sit down and teach her every day.

I can't believe she's growing up so fast. She amazes us everyday. Her vocabulary is going through the roof and she has a great sense of humor. When you ask her what her name is, she can say "Hannah Banana" and "Hannah Rose Clearfield". She has a lot of Clearfield pride because she always shouts her last name.

I have cut out cursing but she still imitates me in ways I wish she wouldn't. I got angry a while back and said "crap" really loud. She walked around saying it the rest of the night. D'Oh! She also thinks it's hilarious to tell Jimbo to "HUSH!".

She is getting really good at splitting me and Dan. She knows to wait a while after I tell her no and then move on to Daddy and ask again. Good thing we communicate well. We will have our hands full in a few years (not that we don't already).

Well, the little one is awake so I'm off.