It's neat to see how all the sudden a child just "clicks" and gets things academically, physically, emotionally and so on. Hudson has known his abc's and sounds since 2, which seems to be a bragging point amount mammas out there:). I'm truly amazed he knew them so early! The last year I worked with him at home and he was sort of into school but not showing much interest. Well recently, he's clicked and he's reading! Of course I have a whole kindergarten classroom just lying around here so I whipped out some Bob books for my mom to read with him. She told me he read the first book, Mat. Honestly, I didn't believe her. But he can:
Then we progressed to some harder ones. He can read them, sounding out words slowly, but that's how you learn! We often re-read the same books for fluency but it's a delight to hear him read and laugh at the funny parts. I love the connections he makes as well!
Can you see his little personality shining through? His lucky kindergarten teacher:).
One of the biggest blessings in my life, is this gal:
This is Ariane Stumbaugh. If you haven't met her, you're missing out. She is truly a God send. She is an amazing wife, mother, former teacher, and friend. I have never been in a friendship this positive, encouraging, loving…I could go on:). Ariane was a teacher. She met one of Jared's and my best friends, Wesley Stumbaugh, on an Christian dating website. They fell in love and the first moment I met her, so did I! They lived in Vegas, had two babies, and moved back to the Northwest to be near family. Now Ariane was a teacher, in Vegas, but her heart was leading her to stay at home with her children, near family. So when they moved, Ariane didn't look for teaching positions. Wes was previously selling furniture in Vegas and is now back to that in Spokane. It has not been an easy road to lose the majority income and trust the Lord to provide, but she does. She has sacrificed much but is able to raise her children which is by far the biggest blessing.
Die hard racers!
So my goal for Colton's party was to be as frugal as possible. We rented the library room for FREE! Their place isn't the biggest:). Colton had a Cars, racing themed party. She made these adorable racing box cars.
On your mark, get set, Go!!!!
The kids loved the race track, most of the time:).
So Jared joined in on the fun:).
Hannah didn't know quote what to think about this.
Then it was present time!
This smile is the cutest! Dimples, grins, cheesier, I can't help but eat it up!
And this one of course:).
The boys decided more racing was going to happen!
Before they all ran off, we did get one group shot!
Mommy and birthday boy
And a family pic. I.LOVE.THIS.FAMILY.
What an amazing little boy you are Colton Dean! We're so glad you're in Spokane so we can watch you grow up:). We love your energy for life, your sensitive and caring heart, and the joy you bring. What a blessing you are!
One of my best friend's sister, Geri, wrote her first book. Now Gina is a nonfiction reader like me but she wrote a short Christian fiction book called Splendor From Brokenness filled with suspense, mystery full of love. I was honored to be invited to her book signing down at Auntie's, a local book store in Spokane. It was interesting to hear her process and how she came about writing the book. It was very inspiring actually!
I was lucky enough to get a picture with the author:).
And of course my book signed.
The best part was being there with my Grandma and mother. Three generations at a book signing of someone we love:).
Well it's a been a PHENOMENAL football season for the Seattle Seahawks! When they made it to the semi-finals, playing the 49ers, Pops got a bit exited! He text me asking us to tell him when we were by the church. Now you know why:
Yes this is how we were greeted, car side:). He was a bit excited! This was Joe's football costume when he was 4 or 5. I was a Seahawks cheerleader with him:). He was dancing, cheering, and doing some "moves". LOL.
We even got Hudson in it for good luck!
So of course we ALL had to have shirts when they beat the 49ers. A friend posted this link showing how to make Hannah a shirt. SO I actually made something, ALL.BY.MYSELF. I'm just as shocked as you are! Here is the fabric cut out for the shirt
The final product! Go Hawks!
The boys and their shirts and Jared's jersey.
Hudson's favorite part was the cupcakes with the football ring:).
My family celebrated Jared's birthday today as well. It was a fun celebration and I think we will make Jared's birthday and Super Bowl the same day because we love him that much it's a holiday! Jared enjoyed eating, watching football, and eating:).
Congrats Hawks on your win! It was truly an amazing, and boring, game.
With so much going on in life, I forgot to write about our special daddy turning another year older!
We celebrated with Jared's parents coming into town and one of the few restaurants our kids do well at, Red Robin. Jared's a good sport, nothing fancy this year! It was a very nice evening and both children were angels:).
We left dinner and my present to him was a 12th man jersey for the Seahawks since they made it to the super bowl this year. Our friend kindly told us, true fans buy their gear at the beginning of the season lol. Well, I meant too but…
The next morning we played with Grandma and Grandpa one of Hudson's favorite games, Uno Moo. Hannah of course had to join in:).
We sure enjoyed celebrating Jared together with his parents. Nothing like Grandma and Grandpa when you wake up, a hot breakfast, pjs, and games! Thank you for bringing the most wonderful man into this world Grandma and Grandpa.
Happy 33rd birthday Hubs! We love you more than anything!
Words that describe my little girl are: spunky, energetic, snuggly, helpful, temperamental, smiley, lovable, active, fun, happy, sweet, sassy, determined
A few things I want to remember about her at this age are:
She is my mischief maker! She is always into something especially in a bathroom! If it's quiet, watch out! She loves my makeup/hair drawers and pulls everything out in the mornings but hey, it keeps her busy:).
She loves to kick the sides of her crib, tip over Georgina the Giraffe when she wakes up, or just have conversations at the door saying "let me out people!"
Hannah has been teething her molars for a good 3 months and they finally came in. Some days are longer than others...
If you let her down, she's off! "You can't catch me, na na na na na na."
She's always looking for brother:).
Her binky and minnie are with her throughout the day, by far her two favorite things in the world.
Watching a show together
She used to always do this when she was ready for bed, lay down in the middle of the floor. We then knew it was time to put her down. Few.
Recently she's decided to fight sleep, again. She does this often during naps:
And within the last few weeks she waves goodnight as you lay her down, when she isn't fighting sleep. We find it's a fun game:).
Even a cute butt in the air shot
Bath time continues to be a favorite for her. She loves the water and gets overly excited if she hears the tub.
Minnie often rides with us in the car. The binky is a must!
This girl loves her coffee, ok mama's coffee. She loves to chew on my coffee cups and I think she even gets some and wants "more please" with her signs.
She loves her stroller and pushing her baby, water bottles, snacks, books, or favorite toy at the moment around the track, our dining room table.
This girl can eat! We hope her metabolism continues to stay as fast as it is now because she can down a good 6 chicken nuggets, share some fish tacos with me (meaning split!), eat her own mac n cheese dish when we are out (the 2 times we have…), and so on. She rarely refuses food unless she's not feeling well. She shares her mamma's love for eggs, mmm!
Even using a spook/fork/spork!
She also gets hungry quite often like her mamma. If she's having a meltdown, food is usually a good problem fixer, just like me:).
Dadda continues to be her favorite person. It's alright, I don't take it personal…She asks for Dadda in the mornings and 99% of the time chooses him over me for books, consolation, and he usually puts her to bed. She's a daddy's girl. LOVE IT!
She is a binky in the mouth girl. It took us until a while to get her to take it but it truly soothes her. Minnie is her second choice. These are my "weapons" on bad Hannah days. They come with me most places:).
She is life of the party at Lexies. The kids love her. She gives kisses to many but one favorite is Luke. She has recently learned how to fist it and blow it up. She says "kkkkk" for the blow up sound. The girls fight over whether or not it's a Hannah day and if they can push her stroller to the bus stop. A few have asked their mother's for baby sisters at Lexie's. I told them to ask their mommies really sweetly:).
I'm loving her interest in books. It still mainly pertains to real life animal pictures. No stories at this point in time; her attention span is too short. She also is still getting eyes, nose, ears, and mouth mixed up. Not the quickest learner but pretty cute even if she gets them wrong:).
She loves her babies!
Daddy's the best when she gets sick.
She wants to do everything like brother. If he's in a barstool, so is she. She's a "big kid" in her mind.
She holds her own in a lot of things but mainly Jump N Bounce. Yes she goes up the BIG slide!
Ready for more!
She enjoys playing, anything and everything! So all the toys at Jump N Bounce are a huge hit!
Going up with brother
She loves to talk on the phone:). Well she grabs mine and we have conversations.
Crocs, she loves crocs and putting them on herself. Oh and brother's chair of course:).
Waiting at the doctors office, watching the fish
Hannah did have her 15 month doctor appointment. This time around I've done her shots differently than Hudson's. It seems they are never both healthy during doctor visits so I previously cancel them and reschedule, hoping they were healthy. Well apparently if you're current on your wellness visits, you can go get shots anytime! So that's what I've done, both kids even:).
Hannah's stats are:
Weight ~ 24.3 lbs 64-65%
Height ~ 33 in 96%
Head Circ ~ 18.3 57%
She is saying a few words but mostly gibberish but in her mind, she is really talking!
-dadda
-mamma
-ball
-cracker
-no (favorite word with head shakes and all)
-more (word and signs with lots of clapping)
-please (word and signs)
-change (signs for diaper change)
Nana swears she says her name
Pops swears she says his name…verdicts still out:)
Nana thought maybe she had a hearing problem for a bit because when you say point to your nose, she points to her eyes. WE have been working on head, nose, mouth, teeth, eyes for the longest time and she still gets them mixed up. I know she can hear because we've always called her the head whipper! She hears a noise and that head whips to wherever it is! A more intensive preschool maybe in her future:).
She loves rocking horses or anything that moves!
She LOVES brushing her teeth!
She's social and loves to wave, especially bye bye!
Still has early mornings…teething
Outside is a favorite! We had barely any snow this winter so we went outside for some fun in the sun!
She loves to dance, well move in general:).
She's a cleaner and a tidier. Hmmm, where does she get that from?
And then her cleaning rag turns into a hat:)
Obsessed with the washer/dryer buttons
Hannah LOVEs to make coffees:)
We then moved her house into the playroom. I may have turned it into a coffee stand:).
What can I get ya?
Taking a break before more customers
Taking orders
Anyone want a Macchiato? Latte? Cappuccino? Come on over!
She can often get "rough" with Hudson:).
She also has a "look". Hmm, where does she get that from? I have no clue?!:)
Our Hannah is one of the biggest blessings in our lives. She has taught us so much and made us better parents. She has blessed us with her fun, energetic presence in our family. The love she has with her brother is just precious. We are blessed!
