Posts Tagged ‘Hannah Michelle’
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This week we had the opportunity to go to the circus – which was a first for all of us. Initially, I had some reservations about going; I have mixed feeling about zoos and circuses because of the welfare and treatment of the animals. But, Julia loves animals and probably won’t ever be able to see an elephant or lion this closely. So we decided to go.
Excuse the camera phone quality - We forgot our regular camera
We went with some friends, John, Angela and their little guy, Evan. The girls had a really great time. Julia was in complete awe. Thanks to Angela, we scored some seats center ring right at the bottom, so we had great views of everything. When they brought out the elephant, Julia mouth dropped. It was great.
They also had acrobats who did these amazing {although completely crazy} stunts. At one point in the show there was a woman on this small platform hanging from the ceiling. She had nothing securing her to anything and she did these twists and turns by just holding on to a bar. From the ceiling. Then they had women climbing sheets hanging from the rafters and doing synchronized twists and turns. It was really, really impressive. And really, really crazy. I suppose it’s not crazy – their trained professionals – but I’m probably not going to sign up for acrobatic classes anytime soon.
I’m glad we went, if for no other reason than to see Julia and Hannah’s faces when they saw all the animals and acrobatic tricks. It was a fun family adventure.
Have you ever been to the circus? What did you think?
Visit Alicia at Alicia’s Homemaking for more Try New Adventures Thursday.
Unintentional Co-Sleeping
Posted on: January 19, 2011
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Nap time in the Big Bed
When Julia was born, I was firmly against sleeping in the same bed with her. I viewed our master bed as a sanctuary, a safe haven from the day. And as such, I didn’t want to share it with anyone but Jonathan. Which in reality meant, I spent a lot of nights sleeping in a rocking chair. But despite the hours spent sleeping nearly upright, I never gave in.
And then we had Hannah.
I was way too tired to make the trip 20 feet to Hannah’s bassinet and back every few hours. Before I knew it, Hannah was 6 months old and co-sleeping. Honestly, Jonathan and I didn’t mind, both knowing it gave us a little more sleep. However, somehow {maybe intuition?} Julia caught on to our new sleeping arrangements and demanded to have a spot too. Well, demanded might be a tad strong, maybe begging at 3 am is more like it. And really, who were we to fight it? {Ah, the life of sleep deprived parents}. Slowly, we weaned both girls out of our beds {well, Julia never fully – she still managed to find her way back in every few nights}.
Once we moved to Texas, we had the horror {and I do mean horror} of discovering that our movers broke Hannah’s crib. So, much before she {or we} were ready, Hannah was bumped up to a big girl bed – a twin mattress on the floor. Before we knew it, Hannah was coming into our room every.single.night. We pushed both girls’ beds together, in hopes that it would deter Hannah from leaving. But it did not. And, if Hannah left, Julia was sure to follow.
So our sleeping arrangements are back to unintentional co-sleeping. And while we don’t love fighting over the space at 1 am, I’ve learned to deal with enjoy having baby feet in my face every night. After all, this won’t last forever. Right?
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I use to make fun of my mom for all the different phrases she used on my siblings and me growing up. And even to this day {sorry Mom!} I tease her about never getting our names right. Some how I am always transformed from Sarah to MarSarah {my sister and my name mashed together}. My brother’s have it worse, since there are four of them {LinJessFletchJohn}. My mom would always tell us that we’d be the same way once we had our own kids. I never believed her. Until now. The things I never thought I’d say, until I became a mom:
1. Don’t put that in your mouth.
2. Get your hands out of the toilet.
3. Fingers out of your nose/mouth.
4. Wipe that look off your face.
5. This is your side, this is your sister’s. Don’t cross the line.
6. Oh! Someone has a poopy! {Said in either total praise or total disgust – depending on the circumstance}
7. Go ask your dad.
8. When I was your age…
9. I’ll give you a cookie if you…
10. Because I said so.
Are there things you said you’d never say/do that now as an adult/parent you find yourself doing just that?
Visit Oh Amanda for more Top Ten Tuesday.
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I have always loved animals. Even creepy crawly animals. Ok, ok, maybe I don’t love bugs, but I respect their life cycle and what they are made to do. But with out exception I love, love, love big dogs. Sure, I’ve come across some that are mean, a little scary, but mostly they are just big ole babies.
When we got our dog, Jack, nearly four years ago, I fell in love fast. He was such a cute puppy.
Serious puppy cuteness
Now as a 90 pound lap down {I wish I was joking about the lap dog part} he is such a gentle giant with our girls. Which makes me love him even more. We all still refer to him as “puppy”, though he is clearly not.
As this week’s adventure, I took Jack and the girls to an off leash trail yesterday. It was so much fun, until…
Jack jumped in the creek.
I don’t know if you’ve ever smelled wet dog, but let me tell you, it ain’t good. And since Jack is a “lap dog” that sleeps on our couches and beds, he was in serious need of a bath before I let him roam the house.
Thankfully we have a pretty large tub, and Jack {being the awesome dog he is} actually didn’t put up a fight getting into the tub. He either stood or sat the entire time.
Here he is before his bath:
Not too thrilled, but being a good sport.
He never once tried jumping out and just sat there while the girls and I washed him.
Here he is post bath:
Can you tell he is a little spoiled?
To make up for the trauma, Jack got extra love from the family:
Visit Alicia at Alicia’s Homemaking for more Try New Adventures Thursday and Jill at Diaper Diaries for more Things I Love Thursday.
This Year’s Last Family Photo
Posted on: December 31, 2010
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It is really the last day of 2010? I swear the year just started. And now it’s over. Wow.
Christmas Eve in Granbury, TX
December has been a slower month in terms of Windham-ness. It’s been busy, with settling into our apartment, becoming official Texans again and meeting new people. But, we have been able to have a lot more family time, uninterrupted by event after event. And it’s been very good for all of us.
December was Jonathan’s first full month at his new company. Can I tell you, I love his job? Seriously, it is as though the job was written just for him. Already within the first month I can see him flourishing as never before. It’s awesome. I never realized how important my husband’s job was until now. How much enjoying what you do can impact your family. It’s just been wonderful.
Julia has become a kid genius. I’m sure all kids are bright, but it seems like Julia is asking questions and probing for answers that are years ahead of her. Her biggest questions now are about the earth, the sun and the moon. She’s not content with simple answers, but wants us to explain where the sun goes at night, why the moon moves when we are in the car and where Texas is compared to Iowa. Speaking of Iowa, Julia’s really been missing her Iowa friends. A lot. She had us in tears the other night when she started crying asking to go “home”. She talks about her Iowa friends on a daily basis. We are still navigating how to introduce her to new kids, get her more involved with kids. I’m working on a post for that next week.
Hannah, my precious little Hannah, who has decided that now as her vocabulary haas nearly tripled this month so has her attitude. Vocabulary first – Hannah has become quiet the talker! She now speaks in more sentences than not. The other morning, she crawled into our bed at the crack of dawn and requested to watch Word World, which came out “Wa Wor World”. Too cute! And of course, to get 30 minutes more sleep, I let her. Her attitude, on the other hand is not so cute. Now, when we ask her to do something, her first reaction is “NO!” and holding her hand out to us. Hmph. I’m fully realizing she is going to be quite the little firecracker.
As for me, I am still in a little shock that we’ve moved. I told Jonathan the other day I think it will take a few months to really sink in. In a good way, as it seems each day I get a little more excited about being home. I finished up #14 {Finish our wedding album} on my 30 before 30 list this week. I’ve been spending some time this month reevaluating my list, debating on changing up some of my items and coming to terms with not getting as much completed as I wished. I still have half a dress sitting in our garage that never got completed before we moved.
Here’s to a new year and hopes that it will be a blessed year for you and your family!
Top Ten Christmas Highlights
Posted on: December 28, 2010
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I’m still in shock that Christmas is over. Every year, after the food has been consumed, presents opened, friends or family have left, and the stillness of post-Christmas life set in, I’m always a little sad and shocked that things happened so quickly. This year was no exceptions. It was a busy, fun {with some drama} filled weekend. Here are my holiday highlights:
1. No sleep – I knew going into the weekend none of us would sleep. And I was all too correct. Between family arriving late at night, festivities being delayed, and general funness to be had, there wasn’t much time for sleep. Thankfully, the girls made up for it by sleeping in the first day we were home.
2. Food – So. Much. Food. And someone brought cake balls, which I had never had, which were so incredibly amazing. I stepped on the scale yesterday. Hmmm… let’s just say I started back running this morning.
3. The presents – Or lack thereof. We didn’t give the girls, or anyone, anything for Christmas. The girls did, unexpectedly, get some gifts from other people, but there was such a peace at not feeling obligated to purchase anything for anyone.
4. Food – Did I mention there was a lot of food? Well there was. Cake balls and reindeer cupcakes. Tamales and sweet bread. Turkey and my mom’s dressing. Poached eggs with Bearnaise sauce. Hmmm….
5. Movie watching – Our family loves A Christmas Story and has to watch it at least once during the holidays. I watched it with my two younger {cause I can no longer say little} brothers. An absolute favorite.
6. Cousins galore – My girls have been on a cousin high for days. All Julia can talk about is “My cousins this”, “My cousins that”. It’s sweet as can be.
7. Grandparents are the better version of parents – Julia thinks her Grandpa hung the moon. In the weeks leading up to seeing my parents, Julia talked non stop about them. “My Dampa got this for me”, “My Omi lives in Tennessee and wants to see me”. I could quote her for days. This girls loves her some Dampa and Omi.
8. Drama – Ok, every holiday has to have some drama, right? Or is that just me? Literally, it was me. Sad to say, I had a few not-so-great moments this weekend. I even have a post to tell you all about it.
9. Far off friends – I got to visit with Emily, my friend who I met once in Iowa, before she moved back to Texas and then on to Scotland. We’ve formed a friendship over our blogs and we had the best time spending an afternoon with her and her two kiddos.
10. Food – Ok, now I know I’ve mentioned the bounty of food we had. But did I mention I skipped making dinner on Christmas {because we had so many leftovers} and ate Nutella on French bread instead? Yeah, well I did. And it was awesome.
How was your Christmas? What are some of your favorite highlights?
Visit Oh Amanda for more Top Ten Tuesday.
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Our family will no longer be celebrating Christmas.
That seems hard to grasp, since without question, Christmas is my favorite holiday. But it’s true. Our family will no longer be celebrating Christmas in the American style. Our daughters will not open Christmas presents, there will be no exchange. We will not be checking our gift list and wondering who we missed. Instead, we will be turning our focus towards Christ.
I have to admit, we are still navigating what we think “no gifts at Christmas” needs to look like. How to be sensitive to others while following {and better understanding} our own convictions. It’s awkward, because I love giving gifts. Just little things, but something that shows my love for another. Jonathan suggested that we start focusing on gift-giving throughout the year. Spread the love to not just give in December, but feel free to give year round as we have people on our hearts.
So far, giving up gifts has been amazing. I’m not focused on myself or stressed about making sure Aunt Carol’s babysitter’s neighbor has her gift. I’m able to talk with the girls about Jesus, telling them how exciting it is to be leading up to His birthday. We are taking the money we normally spend on our family gifts and meeting the true needs of others with it. I have had a renewed love of traditional Christmas carols, singing of the coming of Christ, the longing for our Savior. Time after time, I have stood in awe of God’s amazing love for us. And that’s what Christmas is: celebrating Christ’s arrival and the end of our separation from God.
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One desire I have for my girls is that they would grow up cooking along side me. At times it can be quite overwhelming having a 3 year old and a 1.5 year old “helping” me, but I am always looking for ways to incorporate them.
Our family makes a lot of homemade tortillas and the girls {i.e. Julia} always want to help roll them out. Unfortunately we only have one rolling pin and it is way too big and way too heavy for the girls. In the past I’ve had Julia use a little plastic play one, but it doesn’t work very well. Then last week I found this:
It’s a junior size rolling pin made by Fiesta. It is made from silicon and is non stick. It’s the perfect size for the girls! We’ve used it once and Julia loves it! Her tortillas might not turn out perfect, she is able to help now and make her and Hannah’s tortillas.
What tricks or tools have you picked up to help incorporate your kids in the kitchen?
Visit Kristen at We Are THAT Family for more Works For Me Wednesday.
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Yesterday my SIL and I decided to treat our three youngest by letting them help us bake snickerdoodles. Rare is the day that I bake with both my girls helping, let alone three. Each mom manned a counter and had the girls take turns helping us measure, pour and stir.
The girls had a blast helping. It was so much fun to be baking with Christmas music playing in the background and the girls laughing and having such a good time. Hannah especially liked the mixing spoon. Who can blame her? 🙂
*Another adventure this week was my new hat {see picture}. What do ya’ll think?? Is it a keeper?
Visit Alicia at Alicia’s Homemaking for more Try New Adventures Thursday.
My Last Minute Family “Picture”
Posted on: November 30, 2010
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At some point late Saturday night, I announced to Jonathan “I’ve forgotten to take our family picture, let’s make sure to do it tomorrow before you leave.” Then at some point late Sunday night {well after Jon left} I announced to my SIL “I forgot to take our family picture before Jon left.” I soon came up with what I think was a brilliant idea. I asked my 7-year old niece to draw a family picture:
Grandma, Jonathan, Sarah, Julia, Hannah, Jack
November has been a crazy, crazy month. The second week of the month, Jonathan accepted an offer at a company in Austin, Texas. This new job is an amazing opportunity for Jon and we are thrilled to see how God will be using his talents while there. He started the job Monday and is spending this week on a company scavenger hunt – a way the company gets new employees to learn all about company history and their fellow co-workers. Pretty cool idea, huh?
Julia turned 3-years old on the 23rd. Wow. I can’t even fathom that three years have passed. On one hand it’s flown by, but at the same time I can’t remember life without my precious little girl. I’d love for you to read my birthday letter to her: Happy Birthday, Julia Mabel.
Hannah has really started talking more and more. She’s added “Katie {her cousin}”, “guys {as in “hey guys”}, “yes”, “Julia {which sounds more like Ju}” and “grandma”. Hannah is really claiming her own and making me see that she is a force to be reckoned with. She is showing some stubbornness and making herself known far more than I expected at this age. And topping it off with a fearlessness that puts Julia’s antics to shame. She is keeping us on our toes, there is no doubt about that.
As for me, I’m feeling like I’m just trying to keep up with it all. Aside from packing and moving, not much has happened for me this month. I had started the 30 Day Shred, but couldn’t keep up with it the last few days in Iowa and certainly haven’t been able to while we’re in this holding pattern {Jonathan is in Austin, while the girls and I are in Ft. Worth}. It’s been a trying month at times, dealing with a lot of emotions and changes, but God has really been good to show me His continues faithfulness and love. I will say though, I’m so looking forward to setting up all my Christmas decorations. And don’t be surprised if I leave them up a little longer this year.
A Wife Loved Like The Church 
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