A fun filled day at the splash park

I'm still way behind, but we are slowly catching up. These pictures are from a trip to the splash park that we took with our mops group a few weeks ago. It was one of our last really warm days, so I'm so glad that we went.

We went to the splash park one other time this summer...Hannah was much more brave this time. We had so much fun running through the water, splashing in the puddles, and playing in the sand. It was good to enjoy one of the last warm days of summer!

I love the many faces...

Let the potty adventure begin

YEAH!! Today marks the beginning of the potty training adventure. As I mentioned earlier, Hannah did poop in the potty while we were on vacation. This morning, she pooped again. I finally got the potty chair that I spotted on craigslist a few days ago (don't worry it was brand new :)) this evening. Hannah was very excited about it. She sat right down on it at the lady's house! When we got home it was time for bed, took her clothes off, set her down, she made a funny "pushing" face, and wouldn't you know?! She went potty!! High fives all the way around! Yeah Hannah!! :)

A Year and a half

Can it be that my baby is already a year and a half?! Happy 1/2 birthday Hannah!
She is the sweetest little girl I know!
Here's a little of what she is up to these days:

• says "I love you" without us saying it first
• stands/walks on tip toes
• says more words than I can count and now is talking mostly in phrases
• loves bubbles
• enjoys sitting to play with play dough
• loves to go for walks her her stroller
• loves animals
• isn't scared of anything but her toy vacuum sweeper
• loves to hear "Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear" and do the motions to go with the poem
• loves to sing
• is Daddy's little girl
• loves popsicles (she asks for them everyday..usually around breakfast time)
• loves to read and sing songs
• prays before every meal and bedtime. If she's the one to pray, she says "Dear Jesus..amen"
• can climb up and down off chairs
• takes one two hour nap in the afternoon
• uses manners: "please", "thank you", "sorry", "bless you", and "excuse me"
• has pooped on the potty twice!
• brushes her own teeth
• answers "Whats your name" with "Hannah" and "How old are you?" with "one"
• Talks with possession: "mommy's","daddy's"," Hannah's"
• Knows opposites "happy, sad" "open, closed"
• Answers yes and no questions
• points to the neighbors house (they just had a baby) and says baby
• talks on skype to family

She is a very busy little girl...always learning, exploring, and just so much fun! We are both absolutely in love and thank the Lord for our precious baby girl!

Heading home

Probably one of Hannah's favorite parts of the trip was getting to watch tv when she got up in the morning. We really limit the amount of tv at home, so she got a little spoiled while we were on vacation.

We packed up and headed up to Ohio. We purchased a portable dvd player for our trip..and I think it's the best $100 we have spent in a long time. It really helped keep Hannah entertained while we were driving.

being silly in the car

ah...fast asleep

We arrived at Papa and Grandma's house in time for dinner. It sure was nice to be able to stay with them for a few days. It broke up our trip home and gave us a chance to rest a little. Cody and Erica came and spent the day with us on Saturday, then we went with them to their church on Sunday. Although we always miss Farmington while we are away, it was nice to be able to see Cody and Ericas church and worship with them.

Thank you Lord for the chance to take a much needed vacation, enjoy the beautify of your creation, and have time away with our family!

TN Vacation Day 6

On Friday we went to the Aquarium. I think that this was one of the best parts of the trip for all of us...we loved it! We loved seeing the sharks and all of the amazing creatures that God created!

Check out this video of a shark swimming over our heads:



shark!

such big fish!

having so much fun!

not too sure about touching the horseshoe crab

or about the fish...

After the aquarium we went back to the condo for lunch and to rest during Hannah's nap. Then we headed out for another hiking adventure. No bears this time, but we did get to enjoy this beautiful stream.

After our walk in the woods we headed back into downtown for one last evening walk. We stopped for some ice cream along the way. We ended up passing our cones around to try each flavor. Here Hannah is with her cone and her Daddy's. I asked her which one she liked best and she held them both up...yummy ice cream!

Blessed

Taking a break from sharing our TN vacation to share a little bit about our day today.
In MI, all the teachers went back to school today (the kids start after labor day). Today I am thanking the Lord, that He has allowed for me to be home with my precious little girl. I know that the time goes so fast, and I'm trying to cherish every moment (even in the midst of the hard ones). I'm also continually amazed at how much children learn in their beginning years of life and how their personalities are being formed. Many still ask if I miss teaching, which I do (esp. in the fall), but I am so thankful and glad to be able to be home with Hannah every day. I miss teaching because I loved it, but can't even put a price tag on the precious moments I spend at home with her.
We spent the day today with my friend Rachel and her adorable son Joshua. If you know Hannah at all, you know how much she loves Joshua because she talks about him all the time. They are too cute together! I spent time today reflecting on how God brought Rachel and I together (our paths crossed at a library story time)...and how we each needed a friend at the time. Over the past few months our friendship has grown and we have been able to encourage & uplift oneanother as friends do. Rachel also worked in the schools before Joshua was born, so we were able to talk and share today about what it was like to leave, how we miss it at times, but how wonderful it is to be at home & and how worth it the sacrifices have been.
Thank you Lord for my precious baby, thank you for the the chance to be home with her, and thank you for friendships.
Here are some snapshots from our day (thanks Rachel...I haven't even got my pictures off my camera yet ;o)):

Enjoying a yummy brownie treat

such great friends! :)

"That they may encourage the young women to love their husbands, to love their children, to be sensible, pure, workers at home, kind, being subject to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be dishonored." Titus 2:4-5

TN vacation day 4

This was a quiet and relaxing day. In the morning, we went to the arts and crafts loop in Gatlinburg. It was fun to see our friend Jolene's best friend who own a jewelry shop there. Hannah enjoyed walking around and talking to anyone that would give her attention. She told them her name and how old she was, they were all blown away.

We spent the evening back at our condo. We enjoyed a family movie night, I don't know that we've ever really done that before. We watched the Lion King, and Hannah had popcorn for the first time (don't worry I bit the kernels out of each piece first). She loved it!