Getting close...

At what point is my baby no longer a baby? She has hair and is totally into doing it herself... "no mom, i got it." And i think the real kicker, she's potty trained... Crazy i know! And her second birthday is next weekend. wow... wow...how did this happen? :) but it's a good thing. At least i don't have to change any diapers!

Stationery card

Gallery Greetings Holiday Card

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I totally made this for hannah and i must say it's way cute. Her birthday is almost here and it's hard to believe my little baby is a toddler! And with HAIR! I thought it would take us forever to get to the pigtail stage but we are here and it wasn't really that long... i guess it seemed like a while when i was living it. But i love shutterfly, they have some good stuff. Although it can be difficult sometimes in the cards to get exactly what you want. Easy enough to do with photobooks, slightly harder in the card section. Anyway. check them out. :)

working on it...

We've been working on potty training now for a while... or at least it seems like a really long time. I'm sure that if it were just Hannah i was working on then we wouldn't be doing this for so long. Either that or my kid would just be going commando for the rest of her life. But whatever the reason, it's pretty much taken all summer since I couldn't potty train and get roman out of the house so he wouldn't drive me nuts. But now that's he's in school it's crunch time for the girls. And i think today we hit a break through.
Hannah pooped in the potty with no prompting and this was the second day in a row! Unfortunately that was then end of using the potty. The rest of the day we missed but it is a step in the right direction!

This is where i should upload a photo but i'm slacking a bit in getting them onto my computer. Next time.

what a morning

This morning was an adventure... to say the least. Started out just fine until I was almost on the freeway and my brakes stopped working. As in i could not stop at the stop sign in front of me. No one was hurt and there wasn't anyone around so the car is mostly fine. But still not something you want to do. I coasted to a stop at a gas station near by and tried to call David. His phone was off. Texted the neighbors to go ring the doorbell until David heard them (the kids loved that) and then my boss who was home sick to come and get Roman to school. Then AAA to get the van and then a moment to freak out, but only a moment since then everyone got back from dropping off and I had to re-adjust so the girls didn't freak out. Holy moly.

The rest of the day was fine with no real big developments until the shop tells David that this is going to cost an arm and a leg. This is where I have to tell you... THANK GOODNESS FOR MY INLAWS. They saved the day when they got a warranty covering everything when they helped us get a minivan. Now instead of selling my second child off, I get my car back. Holy moly.

As i'm writing about this i'm getting a bit emotional. I just realized how incredibly blessed we are. Someone was looking out for me and the kids this morning. Losing breaks should have ended badly. But it didn't. The car is covered under insurance so we don't have to empty our bank accounts again. Everyone and everything is okay. Life maybe a bit more complicated but i'm going to focus on being thankful instead of stressed.

I am thankful for Hannah. And David. And my neighbors. And my boss. And my In-laws, especially my in-laws; and their foresight.

-ellie

Vicious cycle

Life is a vicious cycle did you know that? I wanted everything my mom was eating or drinking or whatever my entire childhood. And now that i have a kid, she wants what i am eating or what i am drinking. Never mind that it is exactly the same as mine! As long as it's mommy's it must be better then what what she has right?!

Can't complain to my mom about this though.... she just says i deserve it, and i can't argue.... I don't think i can remember not sneaking a drink from mom cup... EVEN AS A TEENAGER! I'm doomed and poor hannah is doomed as well... she is going to deserve a kid just like her...

I guess none of us is going to get a drink to ourselves for a loooonnng time...

What a trip...

On monday we had a day off from day camp and so the three kids and i decided to go to Habitot, a fun little place in Berkley that has lots of hands on activities and its indoors so weather is never a problem. To make it more fun we took BART there and David went part of the way with us before heading off to school.

Habitot was loads of fun with the girls doing art stuff and roman playing with any little boy he could find. We had lunch in the hall and walked back to the train. And on our way home had some more fun. The girls were getting tired and a bit grumpy so that was hard to keep them all happy but we got the station no problem. The problem only occured when i got to the car and realized we had forgotten to pay for parking, (so we had a ticket), and that david had my car keys because he drove.

Luckily i had the cash to take the bus, and we walked home from the bus stop. I ofcourse was worn out from pulling the wagon and keeping everyone together.... Luckily everyone took a nap, although Roman didn't fall asleep until i told him he could play quietly in his room. And then he was alseep on the floor in no time. Thank goodness, i was beat.

ellie

Swimming Lessons

My family is full of swimmers. My dad and his uncles swam, my sister, my brother (for a bit at least) and me all swam on year round swim teams. You could say chlorine runs in our blood. It got me a bit nervous when we gave hannah her first bath and she screamed bloody murder for the entire thing. I got still more nervous when this trend continued... very nervous. What if my child didn't like the water! how could this be possible when it's so much a part of who everyone in the family is! Now i'm not saying that she'll be on a swim team whether she likes it or not but it's nice to know that the option is there and if my child won't get in a TUB without screaming... what then?

I didn't really need to worry since we visited my sister when hannah was 6 or 7 months and we had a pool party. Hanging out in the pool with mom was fun, and there were no tears at all. My mother could not believe it was the same child. Since then baths are fun! and pools are even more fun!

And today we had our first lesson. And we learned how to kick and how to float and how to blow bubbles and i must say (with only a little bit of motherly pride) that my child is a natural swimmer. Took to it like a duck to water! (alright now i'm bragging a bit.... well, a lot. but who can blame me!?) We had so much fun we talked about it, all the way home. And during dinner. And the night is still young so i might get an earful later.

I wasn't worried... not really. :)

Picnic at the Park

Hannah woke up at 5 am and wouldn't go back to sleep, and i thought for sure we would be having a long a trying day because of it. But it wasn't so bad since she fell asleep while i got gas and took a 20 min power nap before going to the park for playgroup.













Hannah and Greer (the little girl i nanny for) decided to take a nap before lunch. It only lasted two seconds but they said nite nite before so it counts!

Now they rolled all over the place. Had lots of fun. Then they realized why we had a blanket down in the first place... LUNCH!








Still loves the swings!

Had a visit from her cousin, Emma at grandma's house. They decided to read their photo books. Hannah is reading the one about her, Emma is reading about her and grandma. They play so well together and it's just so cute!

Where we've been

How hard is it to believe it is only tuesday? What happened to weeks that just flew by where you wondered where did all my time go? I'm sitting her waiting for the end of the day or even the start of nap time and it just isn't happening. To be fair to hannah, it really isn't her fault. She is being cute as ever although i have noticed an alarming trend towards being a toddler.... (When did that happen?!)

She seemed so small when she was a baby and now i look at those little cloths and i think, no way did she ever fit in these! Sometimes i miss that little baby who who just lay there and look at me, but then Hannah jumps in my lap like now and just wants to cuddle and i think, "I could get used to this." Plus she is talking to me all the time and that is just plain awesome. I would love for children to come out talking. It would make things so much easier. Now i know EXACTLY what she wants, because she tells me. There is no guessing to interprete crying. (i'm not very good at that part.)

My mom used to tell me that people would ask about what stage of life she like the best in her children and mom said, "the one they are in now". And i didn't realize how true that could be until Hannah started moving through stages. I love the one she in now. I love the talking, i love the walking, i love the personality. I could do without the tantrums but i'll get over it. :)

Ellie

Fourth of July

Yesterday was david's first fourth of july as a citizen and it was nice he got the day off to celebrate with us. And to see the fireworks. :) We also got to celebrate his birthday with chocolate, chocolate cake before the show started. There was a live band and tons of people with their picnic dinners but none had cake like us!

It was also Hannah's first time at the fireworks.

And i think things went pretty well. She did have to sit in my lap but i did hear a few "ooo" and i think a "wow" or two. I think her favorite ones were the Boom-less fireworks. In milpitas the city does a "ground fireworks" show set to music of course. It was a really nice show and i'm glad hannah was able to make it that late. She did a lot of "dancing" with my parents.

Dancing in the chair with grandma, Being tossed around by grandfather and just plain enjoying herself all night.

It was nice to hang out with the family. My parents fed me lots of food that i never actually get around to doing myself and it was marvelous. Hannah ate almost everything too. She even got to finish her daddy's corn on the cob! We left it on the cob and she cleaned off.... completely. But she had fun and that's what is important.

We also went to the Alameda Parade that morning and she liked that too. I think her favorite part must have been all the horses (there were a lot of them). And the periodic dog that came by (who wasn't part of the parade but still important to hannah anyway.) If i could understand everything she tries to tell me, i'd probably be hearing about it all week!

-ellie

Let me just say...

Things have been hectic... and it seems like i never have time for everything... And actually i should be cleaning the kitchen but i thought that we had slacked enough in the blog we should get on top of it. Although i have to admit i find it hard to believe that my life is all that interesting. If you've been a kid or had kids then you understand what i do all day. Feed the kids, entertain the kids, get them where they need to be and then feed them some more, listen to a bit of whining and then put them to bed.

I guess what makes it interesting is Hannah. My day is not that cool but Hannah finds new things to be excited about everyday. Today it was putting baby to bed and then having baby wake up. "nite nite baby" she says and then tucks her in. And then two seconds later flings the blanket off when i say "Good Morning!" We must have done that at least 20 times before she decided she wanted to be baby. Too cute. :)

A few weeks ago, it was Hannah's 18 month doctors appointment and we talked about what Hannah's was doing and things she should be figuring out or i should be helping her experience... boy i'm slacking! i looked at the questionnaire the doctor gave me and the whole problem solving section i couldn't really answer since we didn't do things like what they were asking! Naturally i got a bit panicky... I hadn't done any problem solving with my child! she wasn't going to be able to figure out anything! how would she be prepared for science exploration without problem solving. I shouldn't have worried. Today she was doing all the thing on that questionnaire without me trying to "teach" it to her at all... I think she'll be just fine.

Speaking of fine. I have to take this opportunity to record a milestone. We went to the beach on Thursday and the Zoo on Friday and my child managed to escape both places without a sunburn! How did i finally manage that you say!? Spray on sunscreen she thinks is way too much fun. Now sunscreen is a game. She wants it on ALL the time... Seriously. She sees something that looks slightly like the sunscreen can and she starts pointing all over her body... "ehh? uhh?" But my white kid has managed to keep herself from becoming a lobster and that's good! :)

Okay enough rambling... i think it may be time to stop wasting time and just get something done while hannah is asleep... maybe...

-ellie

She is so big!

So Hannah has this tendency to grow, she is up to 28 lbs! It's hard to believe how much she can eat and then she just keeps getting bigger! But at least she is getting some hair, that part I really enjoy. Just enough to to say she has hair but not enough to make it a pain to wash/take care of.

She is becoming more vocal and assertive with what she wants. If she cannot sign what she wants or we don't get what she is pointing to she will cry and cry and cry while we guess and guess and guess. We eventually discover the solution and she changes her mind to something else and we start all over again, we love it!!!!

Hannah is doing better with recognizing when she is tired. She now falls asleep quicker when she admits she is ready to sleep. Sometimes there is a little fuss about it but usually its quick.

As for Ellie, she is settling into the role of nanny quite well. She is juggling the schedule and duties with better understanding.

I am enjoying basketball, season just started, as coach and player for the ward. We have one win and one loss.

Ellie will probably add more later today, but that will do it for me, David.