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.