Sibling Love

This morning Liam chased Hannah around the house. Well ok, he had some help from me considering he is only 5 months old. It consisted of me holding Liam out in front of me and running after Hannah. Both of them were laughing. Afterwards Hannah came up to Liam and gave him a huge hug. She then said in the sweetest little voice "I wuv you baby bruhuh" and kissed him on the forehead. Then my heart melted. I knew Hannah would be a good big sister, but I didn't realize just how quickly and how much she would love and adore him. Best friends in the making.

4th of July

The Friday before the 4th Jake's lab planned a retreat and the kids and I were invited to go too. It was a picnic and hike up at Palouse Falls State Park. We ate yummy food, saw some gorgeous sites, and watched Hannah run around in the sprinklers. It was fun to get out of town for the day and see some of the beautiful things this area has to offer.

Some pictures of Palouse Falls

The 4th of July is my 2nd favorite Holiday (Christmas is my 1st). I love celebrating the birth of our country and seeing everyone dressed proudly in red, white, and blue. I love the warmth of summer, the BBQ's, the fireworks, and being with family. This was the first 4th of July that we weren't able to spend with either mine or Jake's families. We were pretty bummed about that but luckily my brother David and his wife Alaina came for a visit. On Saturday they came over for breakfast, then we took Hannah to the park and went to lunch at our favorite little Greek restaurant. Hannah refused to hold my hand while walking around, she only wanted Uncle David's hand. It was precious. After the kids napped we all went to the Aquatics Center which is basically a miniature water park and had a great time out in the sun. For dinner we went out to Mexican. This restaurant is normally packed but it was surprisingly empty. I guess it is probably because it was the 4th of July, not Cinco De Mayo :-)

On Sunday we went to church, took naps, and went to a BBQ with some of our church friends. The next day was the 4th of July. We met for breakfast and then said goodbye to Uncle Day and Aunt Laina. After breakfast we took Hannah to the park and got some ice cream. When the kids woke up from their naps we went to the water park again. (There isn't much else to do in this small town) We ended the day by going out to dinner at Applebee's and shooting off some fireworks in our parking lot. From our balcony we could see a ton of illegal fireworks people were shooting off. It was purty. Hannah had fun pointing out the different colored lights she could see. It turned out to be a fun weekend!

The kids with Uncle Day and Aunt Laina
Liam chilling poolside in his awesome shark swim suit
Such a cutie
All dressed up for the 4th of July Festivities

Her First Prayer

Every night since Hannah was a baby we say family prayer together before we put her down. Once in a while we ask Hannah if she would like to say prayer. Two nights ago she finally said yes. It was such a special moment for us as parents. Of course I had to help her along and give her things to repeat. And even though some of the words were jumbled together in a language only a mom and dad could understand, it was the most beautiful little prayer we had ever heard. It's times like those where we feel like we are doing something right and teaching her the principles she need's to know.

Sweet Hannah, Heavenly Father is always waiting with outstretched arms for you to call upon Him. He is never more than a prayer away. Strengthen your relationship with Him through prayer. Love you, infinity.

"I have been driven many times to my knees by the overwhelming conviction that I had nowhere else to go." -Abraham Lincoln

California Trip

The kids and I flew to my hometown back in June to see Grandma Geri and Papa. We started the trip in San Jose and went to Great America. I have so many wonderful memories of my childhood at that theme park. It was great fun to be able to take my children there. Grandpa and I went on a couple of thrill rides while Grandma Geri watched the kidlets for me. Most of our time was spent in Kidzville though. Hannah was a little unsure of the rides at first but she had a great time. We spent about 8 hours at the park. Liam was such a trooper. There was this awesome Baby Station in the kid area with a room that had comfy rocking chairs just for nursing mothers. I spent quite a bit of time in there :-) We rode on fun rides, ate funnel cake, and enjoyed our time out in the sun together. Unfortunately I don't have a lot of pictures to document our trip. I couldn't find my camera and was worried that I lost it. Turns out that I thought I packed it in my suitcase but found it at the end of our trip at the bottom of the kids suitcase. Whoopsies. I managed to snap a couple on my cell phone though.

Hannah enjoying the Classic Car's ride.
The Ghost Chase Ride.
The next day we did some clothes shopping for the kids (Gma Geri loves to spoil them) and went to my cousin's Graduation BBQ. It was great to see part of the extended family. We drove back to P-town that night and spent the next few day's going to a church BBQ, playing at the park, going out to dinner, visiting my brother and his family, and hanging out at my parents house. Thanks for a fun trip Padres!

The flight to and from Cali with a 2 year old and 4 month old on my own wasn't as bad as I expected. Hannah kept busy with books, a lap top toy, movies, and snack's while Liam kept busy nursing, sleeping, and smiling at anyone who would look at him. He made quite a few friends on that trip. Babies have a regressive affect on adults, and I love it. A lady that sat near us told Jake that he was lucky to have such a wonderful and calm mother for his children. She said that she see's a lot of mom's who travel on their own and seem stressed and uptight. Thank you nice lady for noticing that I didn't flip out when Hannah threw minor tantrum's or Liam tried to do #2 out of his diaper. I appreciate it :-)

Saying goodbye to Grandma Geri at the airport. The kids love their Gma Geri and Papa!

2 and a 1/2

Today Hannah is 2 1/2 years old. Where has the time gone? Liam just started using the bouncer/entertainment toy we bought for Hannah when she was his age. It seems like she was just bouncing in it herself. Sometimes I miss my sweet little baby girl. But other times I just love the stage she is in right now. She has always been a talker, and she continues to be. It is amazing how she is able to talk non stop. She has so many words I can't even list them. But her definite favorite is "pink". We will be driving down the street and she will be yelling " I found the pink!!" She call's out other colors but there is no doubt pink is her favorite color. She wants to wear pink, color with the pink crayon, eat pink, drink pink drinks....such a girly girl.

More favorite things: Reading, singing, Tangled, Tinkerbell, ball's, coloring, chicken, cheeseburgers, apples, apples and caramel dip, milk shakes, manderines, honey nut cheerios, fruit loops, Gatorade, ice cream, balloons, baby bruh-uh, Jack, princess blanky, going for walks, ducks, and the park.

She is developing quite the tude too (as in attitude). A few week's ago Hannah was being disobedient so Jake said "Hannah, stop, or your going to go to time out". She flipped around towards her daddy, placed her hand out in a halt position, and yelled "Time-out daddy!!!" Is it bad that I laughed? Oh my goodness, it was hilarious. She makes us laugh all the time.

She sleeps from about 9:30 pm - 8am and takes a 2 hour nap in the afternoon. I'm sooooo glad she still takes naps. It is so nice to get that little break in the day to do something to recharge my batteries, like read a book or watch So You Think You Can Dance :-) She has the most beautiful natural curl to her hair. She is a fantastic eater and will eat almost everything we give her. She even eats her veggies first, but she only likes peas or corn. We love our little princess!!!

Such a pretty little girl
Showing Liam how to play with the toy's on the bouncer
So precious!
She has the most gorgeous hair. All I do is wash it and brush it out and this is what it looks like. Amazing perfect curly locks. Lucky girl!
You can tell they are siblings :-) Love them to pieces!!!

Happy Half Birthday Princess!!!

Double Stroller

We splurged and finally bought a double stroller! The Baby Jogger City Mini Double Stroller, to be exact. We love it!! Hannah loves to get in it and Liam is so comfy in it that he fall's asleep. I love being able to take the kids for walk's together by myself now. The stroller even folds up smaller than our Graco single stroller! It is amazing. It turns on a dime, fits through door-ways, and is very easy to fold and lift. It fits newborn's up to 5 year olds. I did a lot of research to find the perfect stroller, and I'm very happy with our choice. Here are some pictures of the kid's in it.

Hannah looks kinda funky in this picture. I took away her pink purse she was holding right before I took the picture. And she kept her arms in the position she was holding it in. Silly girl.
Taking the kids for their first stroll in it. You can see Hannah is holding her purse again :-)
Liam asleep in the stroller.

Reading

Hannah loves to read. Her favorite book right now is A Cuddle for Little Duck by Claire Freedman. It is always the last book she wants us to read to her right before bed. Yesterday I found her reading the book to Liam. And the funny thing is she actually knew words that were on specific pages. What an incredible memory! She did little quirks that Jake and I both do when we read to her. Like when she gets to the page about the frog Jake always says "ribbit ribbit ribbit" while he tickles her and she does that to Liam. Or there is a page where the baby duck wiggles its tail and I always shake the book and say "wiggle wiggle wiggle". The video is a little long but it is so stink'n cute. At one point Liam's foot gets in the way of the page and Hannah gently moves it aside and says "no no baby bruh-uh". That part makes me laugh every time. At the very end she even says bye to the camera. Thank you Hannah for sharing your love of reading with your little brother, and for being so adorable.