Happy New Year!

Every year since middle school, I’ve written a reflection of the previous year and hopes for the coming year in a journal.  I would dedicate time usually on New Year’s Eve or Day to the task.  I honestly never look forward to the task but thoroughly enjoy reviewing previous years’ happenings.  So, without further adieu…

Daniel and I have had the ultimate blessing of watching Hannah transform from infant to baby to toddler in 2011.  It’s truly amazing what development happens in such a short time.  I’ve thoroughly enjoyed my role as mommy, and have added to it another role—Missions Assistant, a job I started in April at our church.  The 12-hour per week job has been an incredible blessing.  I have gotten to know some amazing people who serve the Lord wholeheartedly, and grow in my faith.  It’s been a great way to balance my desire to feel like I’m contributing to God’s Kingdom and loving my family.  I’m blessed to have such wonderful caretakers for Hannah while I work.  Before she was born, I prayed for the people who would nurture and educate her.  My prayers have been answered through these women.  Hannah loves going to play and I love that she gets to be around other kids.  My job has been a blessing to us and an answer to prayer.

Daniel also began a new job in March of 2011.  He is still consulting on executive compensation, but for a smaller company.  He works for Meridian, which spun off from Hewitt, the place where Daniel and I met—a return to our roots.  Daniel is happy with the new job, which is again a testament to God’s provision and guidance.

In addition to working at the church three mornings a week, I’m there nearly every other day with various commitments.  At the beginning of 2011, I joined a Bible Study class called the Amazing Collection, in which we study a book of the Bible each week.  I’ve never accepted the challenge of reading through the Bible before, so this is giving me a fantastic big picture.  I study with and a group of amazing women.  We’ve studied from Genesis through Isaiah thus far.  We take a break for the summer, so we’ll be done mid-2013. 

On Fridays, I attend MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers).  I’ve met a lot of new women since none of my tablemates are members of DBC.  It’s a fun, encouraging time I look forward to.  I also gave up my 7 year membership to LA Fitness and joined our church’s fitness center.  I squeeze in workout time whenever possible.  I also still am a part of praise choir, a Sunday school class, and small group, but my newest role is taking on a significant part of the leadership of the women’s ministry.  I’ve been challenged and grown in a new way through this role.  My project right now is putting together a 40 day devotion guide, written by women in leadership roles in the church to distribute to every woman who comes through our doors—no small task!  This project will be girded in much prayer!

We had some good vacations this year.  We had a good time this summer with my family in the North Carolina mountains.  Daniel and I celebrated our 6^th anniversary with a trip to Siesta Key—our first overnight away from Hannah.  (Thanks, Mom and Dad!)  In the fall we traveled to Vermont and New Hampshire for a fall foliage trip and the opportunity to knock two more states off our list.  We made some trips to both grandparents in Nashville and Orlando.  We spent Thanksgiving in Nashville and Christmas in Orlando.  There were a couple of unplanned trips, as we traveled to north Florida twice for funerals (Daniel’s Uncle Ted and our sister in law Chrissy’s father) and Daniel went to Nashville in August for his dad’s heart valve replacement surgery.  We’re thankful that B.A. has recovered well from the surgery and doesn’t oink (it’s a pig heart valve).

I’m currently having a blast with some new Christmas gifts, indulging in this new technology—Pandora, Keurig machine, ipod Touch along with all of the apps, blue tooth music speaker—all totally new gadgets for me!  I was reluctant to dive into the apple world for fear it would steal my time and confuse me, but I’m glad I did.  Hard to imagine what Hannah’s world will be like when she’s an adult.

I love it when the Lord gives me a verse and keeps bringing it to the forefront of my mind.  For the last part of 2011, it was the verse from James 1:17 “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.”  I believe the Lord really wanted me to focus on being thankful for the people, things, circumstances, and opportunities in my life.  Recently, I’ve been led to reflect on the fruit of the Spirit.  I’ve also been convicted of my need for stopping uncontrolled eating and maintaining a nutritious diet.  And what is the last fruit mentioned on the list?  (Gal 5:22-23)  “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.”

My body has been through a lot the past 2 years—pregnancy, miscarriage, pregnancy, c-section, and breastfeeding for a year.  To be honest, I’m looking forward to being selfish for awhile.  So it is only a week into the New Year, but I’ve committed to taking steps to eat a nutritious diet and exercise regularly.  I’ve started keeping a daily log of everything I eat—a true eye opener and being intentional about fitting in the gym time.  I find when I start moving, I have momentum to get things done around the house.  Bodies in motion stay in motion, I suppose.

My “resolution” for 2012 is ask the Lord to mature the fruit of the Spirit in my life.  Each of these character traits reflect the nature of Christ and are the by-products of His control in my life.  If I am truly surrendering my life to the Lord then love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control should be evident.

Other things to look forward to in 2012 is re-decorating our master bedroom and turning 30!

It’s going to be a good year!

13 months

The 13th month in 3 words:  Climb, wean, vomit.
While not walking, Hannah can sure get around!  Anything 18 inches off the ground or less has become a jungle gym for her.  We had to hide the Hannah-sized rocking chair she got for her birthday because she just wanted to stand on it.  She can stand up in high chairs and shopping carts.  No close calls, but we strap her in any chance we get.  She climbed up on Daniel's briefcase propped against the table the other day to get to his wallet-one of her favorite toys.  She can scale the steps but has no interest unless she's following us up there.  It's nice to not have to transport her from room to room, as she'll follow us around the house.  She has quickly transformed from baby to toddler.
Hannah has some things she's learned this past month that are cute.  Yesterday her hair bow came out and she tried to put it back, placing it on her head as if there was a magnetic force that held it there.  She was frustrated when it didn't stay.  She has fun taking things out of boxes and occasionally delights in putting them back in.  She's starting to stack her cups and put the rings on the Rock and Stack.  She presses the music button on her horse and does a little dance by thrusting her head back and forth.  At Kindermusik this week, each child was given a CD wrapped in tissue paper.  Hannah meticulously unwrapped each CD.  She's going to have fun at Christmas!  One of her favorite things to do is roll the balls that rattle across our hard wood floors.  She'll chase them down and roll them back to us.  Hannah's become more snuggly this month.  If Daniel and I are standing close to each other, Hannah enjoys flipping back and forth between us, being held in each of our arms for 30 seconds or so.  She really loves her daddy!
Weaning-We're done!  We were both ready, and now Hannah is drinking milk from a bottle.  Moving to sippy cup this month.
Vomit-Ugh!  I wish this wasn't such a large part of month 13, but it was.  Hannah vomited for 13 days in a row, anywhere from 1 to 4 times a day.  We had to wash and re-wash her sheets, car seat, clothes, high chair, carpet, etc.  During the time, we spoke to 2 different nurses and 1 urgent care doctor.  We thought at first it was residual mucus from a cold, but she was diagnosed yesterday with reflux.  24 hours later and a few doses of medicine, and we've hopefully kissed the vomit good bye!  Hannah never cried or seemed upset.  Maybe it upset us more than her.  We're praying we have found the solution.

I realized we've been slacking with the camera!  Below are a few pictures from our Thanksgiving trip to Nashville and our church's candy cane breakfast last Saturday.  You can tell Hannah had a blast. 

Hannah loved interacting with Grandma's cats.  The cats did not enjoying interacting with Hannah.

Hannah learns the right way to play with the kitty.

Triplets decorate the tree.

Finished product.  Maybe next year the ornaments will make it halfway up the tree.

The Five Magic Foods

Sure there have been ebbs and flows over the year, but for the most part, Hannah has earned an A when it comes to sleep.  Our challenging times have been more with eating.  We're working on the transition to whole milk, thus ending a very special mommy-baby relationship.  We're also introducing Hannah to all types of fingers foods.  On Friday, we accidentally ate at a restaurant that was nicer than we thought it would be.  No problem for Hannah--she ate veal and lobster stuffed ravioli off of a piece of paper we put on top of the white table cloth.  She can be really finicky with what she likes, but there are five things we can count on her to always enjoy:  black beans, green beans, banana, cheese, and anything crunchy that Gerber sells.  We rotate through the first four on a daily basis and try to stay away from the Gerber snacks.  The black beans are especially delightful, both on the incoming and outgoing ends.

 

Hannah was overwhelmed and tired on her birthday and disappointed me a bit with her disinterest in her cake.  I preserved it and brought it out when she was feeling better.  Although she loved it, we're not adding cake and icing to the rotation.  I especially like the last picture since it shows all five of her teeth!

Hannah Meets Santa

Since we've had Hannah, we've done more and more family friendly activities like Burt's Pumpkin patch, zoo membership, and our city's community events. This year we decided to check out the annual Light Up Dunwoody. The city closes down part of the road in front of the farm house and has a tree lighting and celebration. I was excited for the opportunity for Hannah to meet Santa for the first time. She very patiently waited in the 20 min long line and observed all of the kids running around with antlers and balloon animals. When it came time for her big moment, Hannah let Santa know what she thought of him

"Help!  I'm drowning in a sea of red and white!"

Before I knew it, I was the one who was sitting on Santa's lap so Hannah could have an extended visit.  

"I've got my eye on you.  You better not make a move on my mama!"

"What?  You give presents?"

Overall, it was a fun experience.

Carolers

"I'm still not too sure about this."

"Is that guy in red behind us?"

One

Happy Birthday, my beautiful daughter!  Thanks for a year of many wonderful memories!

Customize your own announcement

Buzzzzzzz!

Hannah got a lot of attention today, as she wore her costume to childcare, Kindermusik, my office, and around the neighborhood.  Hannah is always on the move, so getting pictures of her is not an easy task. 
Giving Mommy Hugs and Kisses:

 With her friends at Kindermusik:

Being cute wears a girl out!

Before trick-or-treating!

11 months

We are so very close to the big 1!  In fact, we went to Party City tonight to get Hannah a Halloween costume and some birthday supplies.  I couldn't let the month go by without her monthly update, though.  Besides the New England trip and pumpkin patch, the 11th month didn't yield many photos.  Below are a couple along with a few of our favorite videos from the month showcasing some of Hannah's new talents.  Overnight, she learned how to feed herself and drink from a sippy cup and straw.  She also has begun crawling with her belly off the ground and really cruising around.  Daniel and I simply act as her vehicle to move from one place to another.  She'll reach out her hand and we know she wants a change of scenery.  She'll lead us to where she wants to go.  She has 5 teeth (although I think she's working on balancing it out) and her hair is thickening, bringing more and more comments about her beautiful strawberry blond hair.  Hannah is not afraid of dogs, cats, water, strangers, or Halloween masks.  She's curious about everything.  The childcare workers still comment on her patient, busy, content personality, and we occasionally get comments about Hannah pulling hair, stealing pacifiers, or, my favorite, pulling up on a boy and then eating his jeans.  Hannah loves going to play while I work and pushes away from me to hop into her crib at nap and bed time.  She loves her sleep and is now strongly attached to her Latvian doll, Riga.  We bought Riga in Riga, Latvia while I was pregnant.  My favorite thing Hannah does is wave and say "i" for "hi."  Unfortunately, she will only do this to her imaginary friend.

Check out my teeth

It's sooooo hard for mommy to get a picture of me.  I'm always on the move!

 

 

Hannah loved playing in the water at the base of a waterfall in NH.  Wonder what she'd do if Daniel wasn't holding on?!

 

This video was taken the first night Hannah starting feeding herself.  I took it when she was already getting pretty tired.  If you watch to the end, you will hear my favorite part of the video.

Round, round, get around, I get around...