These are the Moments

1st Haircut

2012-01-25T16:12:00.000-08:00

Hannah had her first real haircut this week. She was beginning to develop a mullet so I figured I should probably do something about it. I had planned on waiting until James was home to help distract her, but the opportunity came and I took advantage of it. Therefore, I didn't get any really decent pictures. Here's an after shot and one of the hair on the floor. I cut about 3 inches off. Yikes!

Hannah did pretty well keeping still, however there was one mishap. I went to adjust the computer (her distraction) and she got a hold of the scissors and cut her hair. She added some more bangs on top. Seriously, I only had my back turned for like 15 seconds and she climbed up, got her own scissors, and cut her hair. Oh well, at least it kind of blends in with the rest of her bangs so it's not too noticeable.

She Walks

2012-01-22T20:35:00.000-08:00

Sofia took her first steps about a month ago, but is just now beginning to walk more and more. We figured we should document it....so here is the awful attempt:

I love her facial expressions. She is so proud of herself!

Hollywood Sign

2012-01-20T15:07:00.000-08:00

We hiked the Hollywood sign the other day with some friends. We carried the camera, but didn't pull it out until we were up on top. So, we didn't get a picture of the sign itself, but at least we used the camera.

Here's the view from the top:

It was cold. Hannah actually kept her jacket and shoes on (an amazing feat)! But, on the way down we got really cold. My fingers were numb when we got to the car and I couldn't unbuckle the girls to get them out of the stroller. Sofia was a trooper, but close to the end she gave in and fell asleep. What a comfortable position!

Sick Day

2012-01-18T15:08:00.000-08:00

James hasn't been feeling too well the past week or so, and last Saturday he was too sick to go to school. Lucky for us, it's the beginning of the semester and he has a little bit of extra breathing room with his studies. Unlucky for James, he has nowhere to go to hide from Hannah and Sofia. This particular day he was on the couch trying to rest. I did my best to do errands out of the apartment, but the park and the grocery store can only take up so much time. Anyway, in attempt to distract them from playing with (or jumping on) Daddy I pulled the felt out of our fabric box and we began crafting. However, Hannah was rather concerned about James. So, she pulled out this white material and put it on James as a blanket to make sure he stayed warm. It was pretty funny to see how concerned she was. Later in the day the garbage truck came and was being noisy. She went to the window and told the garbage truck to, "Be Quiet! Daddy's sleeping!"

Stubborn

2012-01-13T14:59:00.000-08:00

I have been told I'm stubborn. I prefer to use the word 'determined' instead - I think it has a much more positive connotation. Anyway, Hannah seems to have the same trait. We've never had any major issues as a result, but last Saturday we had our first major battle with Hannah.

I pulled out an old phone book to be thrown away and it was left on the floor (my first mistake). She and Sofia started playing in it and ripped out a couple of pages. They were being entertained so I told Hannah she could play with the pages (second mistake), but she would have to pick everything up when she was done . Anyway, she was playing while I was getting everything ready - we were going to meet James on campus for a picnic. After a few minutes everything was ready and it was time to leave, so I asked Hannah to pick up the paper she had ripped so we could go. She was excited about going to have a picnic with Daddy, so I thought it would be a quick process. As long as she's motivated, she's usually pretty good about doing what we ask. Unfortunately, she wasn't done playing. After trying to cajole her to pick up the mess for quite some time (maybe 30-40 minutes) I was getting weary of it. So, I set the timer and told her if it wasn't picked up by the time the timer went off we weren't going to go have lunch with Daddy. Well, when the timer went off she was in the process of pulling the paper out of the trash that she had picked up and throwing it on the floor. At this point I was really irritated, because I wanted to go have a picnic with Daddy at school. BUT, I had to stick to my word, so I called James to tell him we weren't coming for lunch. Hannah then started to cry, and then to scream, but still refused to pick up the darn paper. After giving her a couple of opportunities it was lunch time. I fed Sofia, but Hannah wasn't allowed to eat until the mess was cleaned up. After Daddy came home he and I ate, but she still couldn't eat. USually food is a good motivator for her, but not this time. Anyway, long story short the time-outs started and a lot of crying and screaming ensued. I can only imagine what our neighbors might have been thinking. Let's just say it was a long day. She fell asleep for her nap while in time out. Here's a picture of that.

We ended up spend the afternoon battling. She kept refusing to clean it up, but we felt like we had to stand firm in order to set the precedence. Finally, after 6 ours, she gave in and picked up the mess. Once it was over James and I were both tired, but she was happy as could be. Go figure.

Please tell me this is not the first of many to come.

Back Seat Fun

2012-01-10T15:15:00.000-08:00

This is what our backseat looked like the last hour of our trip from Utah back to California:

Hannah found the baby cereal and had lots of fun. By that time I got the box the damage had been done. At least she had fun. As a side note - that stuff gets everywhere. It took me almost 3 full cycles of the vacuum at the car wash to get it cleaned up.

Christmas at Flammers'

2012-01-06T21:05:00.000-08:00

We spent almost 3 weeks at Grandma and Grandpa's for Christmas and here are some of the things we did:

Of course Hannah was willing to brave the cold to swing.

Here Hannah is 'making dinner'. Apparently I dirty a lot of bowls when I cook!

This was one of Sofia's favorite spots...I found her eating food several times.

Here's the choir instructor with all her pupils.

Here's the table Santa brought Hannah and Sofia along with all of our Christmas gifts

Hannah's helping Sofia open her present. She was very helpful to everyone...maybe a little too helpful!

I love the outfit!

She insisted on helping haul out the branches after the Flammer boys cut down a tree in the front yard.

Visiting with Aunt Becky!

Back Home

2012-01-05T20:11:00.000-08:00

We spent the holidays back in Cache Valley and recently returned home. This is what we came home to:

Before leaving we packed up our kitchen and bathroom and sealed up the rest of the apartment so we could fumigate. We set off a bug bomb hoping to kill off the cockroaches. We arrived home after traveling for over 24 hours, James had the flu, we had our entire kitchen and bathroom to clean up, and our jam-packed car to unload and put away. What a fun day it was! It took a lot longer to get everything put away than I would have cared for, but it did happen eventually.

Unfortunately, I probably saw 30+ roaches the day we got home, so our dreams of a bug free home are gone...but it is definitely better than when we left. That being said, our silverware will remain in sealed Tupperware and 'yucky cockroaches' will probably be among some of Sofia's first words. Bummer. What else can you do?

Natural History Museum

2011-12-29T15:35:00.000-08:00

We had a free ticket so last week we finally made it to the Natural History Museum. It was pretty fun. Hannah was a little young for most of the stuff, but it was still fun to show her all the animals they had on exhibit. And it was kind of cool to see where 'Night at the Museum' was filmed.

Here they are in front of the tyrannosaurus that greets you when you first walk in.

Here we are sitting on a turtle:

Merry Christmas

2011-12-24T15:10:00.000-08:00

Here's to remembering the true meaning of the season!

A Whole New World to Explore

2011-12-18T15:15:00.000-08:00

We were at the park a couple of weeks ago (can I say...I love LA weather!!). Here is Hannah's usual spot sitting on the swing.

This is Sofia's usual spot siting on the ground playing in the sand or standing at the steps leading up to the slides.

However, she recently discovered the steps actually lead somewhere and decided they were more fun than the sand. Here she is climbing up the steps...

until she got stuck on a really big one. She worked really hard to get up it....

...and, after several attempts, she was successful

Here's Hannah monkeying around:

Sofia has discovered a whole new world....and my trips to the park just got a little more difficult!

2 1/2 Years

2011-12-14T15:05:00.001-08:00

I can't believe she's 2 1/2. Yikes! She's definitely turning into a 'big girl'.

*She loves pink

* Her favorite thing is to ride her bike. We do circles around our apartment complex and she has recently learned to actually pedal all the way around (as opposed to pushing the bike).

* 2 is her favorite number...2 pig tails, 2 graham crackers, 2 everything

* She loves to read and sing. She opens up books on her lap and then begins singing. Sometimes it's songs we've taught her, but often she makes up her own words.

* She is becoming more independent and wanting to do things without help - I still haven't decided if it's good or bad.

* She is a definite daddy's girl. The other night we were up on her bed and I was putting her to sleep when James got home. He came in the door and Hannah instantly said "You (pointing to me) down. Daddy get up." Needless to say, James finished putting her down for the night!

10 Months

2011-12-11T15:04:00.000-08:00

I can't believe she's already 10 months old. I don't know where the time has gone. She is such a cheerful baby (except at night, of course). She's growing so fast and learning new things all the time. Here's what she's been up to:

- The bathroom is her favorite room in the house. She discovered the toilet paper and learned how to flush the toilet and likes to do so repeatedly (Hannah's already teaching her bad habits)!

- She Loves food and prefers to feed herself. I have a love hate relationship. I like having a free hand, but don't care for the mess.

- She recently discovered stairs for the first time at the park and loves to climb up them.

- She loves holding on to something (anything) and bouncing up and down. I fear she might have my sense of rhythm (poor girl).

- Likes to be tickled.

- She loves the bear hugs Hannah gives her for about 2 seconds until she decides she doesn't like to be strangled/sat upon, suffocated, etc....

Recently her favorite activity includes standing up on the couch and then diving onto the pillows. She gets a kick out of it and repeats it until she dives off of the couch.

Science Center

2011-12-03T14:52:00.000-08:00

This Thanksgiving weekend has been pretty laid back and relaxed for us. James has been able to spend time on campus getting schoolwork done. In honor of him finishing up on Saturday we met him at school and walked across campus to the Science Center. The Center itself is neat, but they have a Discovery Room (aka Toddler Heaven) on each floor. Can I say AWESOME!! Anyway, I've taken the girls a few times, but James has never been to the Discovery Rooms so we decided to have a picnic and play. It was pretty fun, but I didn't get any decent pictures, just a few random ones.

This is the water fountain in the center of the Rose Gardens. The building is actually the Natural History Museum, not the Science Center. The Science center is adjacent to it, but the sun was too bright to get a picture of it.

Hannah's listening to James who is talking to her from the other end.

Here they are reading "The Three Little Pigs" and acting it out.

This happened to be the same day that USC played UCLA, so this is the tailgating that was taking place on campus as we walked by. This is the view of the quad from James' office on the 6th floor of the Education Building.

Our Thankful Turkey

2011-11-30T21:40:00.000-08:00

This is our Thankful Turkey this year. Hannah had fun helping make it - and even more fun tearing it down. Before throwing it away I thought I should document what we were thankful for. Here's the list in a totally random order:

Overlapping naps for Hannah and Sofers
Marriage to Britt
Parking garage
Drive thru ATMs (anything drive thru for that matter)
Homemade lunches
Big shopping carts at Target
Family
Free pressure cooker
Hugs at Institute
Amazingly large amount of storage in our small apartment
A small apartment for cleaning
My bike
Runs without the girls
TA position
Pretty flowers
Sleep
Sunshine so we can go outside most days
Health insurance
Blue spoons in the milk carton (compliments of Hannah)
Hannah playing nicely with Sofers
Hot showers
Days of cooler weather for baking
Tuition reduction!!!
Being a dad

Curly Q

2011-11-27T14:41:00.000-08:00

I came across these sponge curlers at the dollar store the other day and picked some up. It has been years since I've used anything like this, but thought it would be fun to try out with Hannah's hair. She was really excited about them, but I wasn't sure how she would do keeping them in during the night, but she did really well. Her hair turned out okay, but I forgot to take a picture of the curls the next morning, so there are only before pictures:

She liked the curly hair. She kept saying she had circles in her hair.

Our Apartment

2011-11-20T15:18:00.000-08:00

I took these pictures forever ago because several people have asked to see what our apartment looks like, but just kind of forgot about posting them. They don't really do it justice, but it gives you an idea of where we live:

I've taken all the pictures standing in the doorway of the apartment.

Dinning Room:

Hannah was helping me work on a sewing project!

Living Room/Office/Bedroom:

The futon folds out into our bed and it's actually a pretty good bed

Kitchen:

I decided to take it from afar so you couldn't see any cockroaches!!

Bedroom:

You can see Sofia's pack n play under Hannah's bed

Here's an inside shot of the bedroom:

This is the bed James built last year during his semester break. He loved doing it and we love the bed. Hannah's mattress is in the corner and the rest is play space. Hannah likes the play area and I love the extra storage space.

That's our 450 square feet of paradise!

Laundry Day

2011-11-18T15:02:00.000-08:00

Here are my little helpers getting ready to go do laundry!

Daddy obviously hadn't left for the day considering I never in a million years would have thought to put them inside the basket!

Yummy Cookies

2011-11-16T14:36:00.000-08:00

Hannah loves to help out in the kitchen and knows her way around pretty well. The other day we were having a 'picnic' with her blocks. She decided we needed some cookies so she ran to the oven, placed the blocks in it to bake, set the timer, used an oven mitt to pull the cookies out, and then placed them on the cookie rack.

What a funny girl. Maybe we bake cookies too often?!

Our Little Pumpkin

2011-11-11T21:32:00.001-08:00

This is the finished pinata. Hannah and James painted it orange in honor of Halloween...and Hannah kept putting it on her head.

Pinatas

2011-11-10T20:01:00.000-08:00

This Friday night James planned our date night and we made pinatas. It was fun and we took a few pictures of the process.

Here we are gluing the strips of newspaper onto the balloon.

Hannah is so pleased with her sticky hands!!

and Sofers is enjoying her role in the project.

They're Alive

2011-11-09T14:08:00.000-08:00

I like flowers, but definitely do not have a green thumb. I usually buy something and then take care of it for a few weeks, maybe a month or so, until it dies. Anyway - these are the flowers we've got on our balcony right now. I've had all of them for at least a month or two. The pink geranium has been alive for several months! It might seem silly, but I thought it was a monumental occasion!

sunday dress

2011-11-05T21:51:00.000-07:00

A friend from church gave Sofia this beautiful dress and she wore it on Sunday, so I snapped some quick shots before going to church. Of course, I didn't really get a good shot of the dress - go figure!

We haven't even left for church and Hannah already has a stain on her shirt...typical!

Here's a better shot of the dress. Sofia definitely doesn't mind all the hand-me-downs, but it's fun to have a new outfit for her once in a while. Thanks Marie!!

air shots

2011-11-03T21:53:00.000-07:00

Who'd have thought this sweet, happy, little girl.....

....would be such a thrill seeking daredevil??

....and this wild, crazy, spunky big girl would be so timid?

Hannah does not like to be tossed in the air...Not at ALL. It was hard for us to coax her to try it so we could get a picture. It's so surprising to me since she is normally so daring and adventurous. I generally wish she would be a little more timid to try some things, but apparently heights are not her thing.

However, Sofer's can't get enough...she loves being tossed in the air. Dad's arms wear out long before she does. Here are a few attempts at capturing it on the camera:

Happy Halloween

2011-10-31T21:31:00.000-07:00

Here's a picture of the Halloween costumes. It was kind of fun to make costumes, but I'm really glad I stuck with something very simple.

In case you can't tell, they are Thing 1 and Thing 2 along with the Cat in the Hat. This is one of Hannah's favorite books and she was really excited about James wearing the hat and her blue hair!

James wasn't home when we left for our ward Halloween party, but here's the hat and bow tie for Cat in the Hat.

Hallelujiah!!

2011-10-31T20:41:00.000-07:00

Sofia is a very happy and pretty easy-going baby - and we love it. We've just been having a hard time getting her to sleep well at night. She's very consistent during the day with 2 naps totaling 1.5 - 2 hours each day. As of late, her routine at night has been waking up about 4 times - twice for feedings and twice more we've been trying to let her cry it out. We recently bought formula to try to fill up her tank right before bed in hopes she'd sleep longer. The only problem was...she wouldn't touch the stuff. Not in the bottle or sippy cup, hot or cold. She wasn't having anything to do with it. But, I can't really blame her - the stuff reeks!! Anyway, we have been able to mix it with her baby cereal, but that's about it. It helped a little, but no drastic changes. However, last night she only woke up twice. The first time we let her cry it out, the second time I fed her...and she didn't wake up for the day until 6:30 am. Can I just say it was....wonderful!!

2011-10-29T19:59:00.000-07:00

Grandma and Grandpa Flammer got their mission call.....

.....after several weeks of waiting.......

....and they will be going to.....

.......Budapest, Hungary this January!!!

We're so excited for them and appreciate the great example they have/are setting!

Our New Photographer

2011-10-08T20:29:00.001-07:00

She seems to have taken up photography the past few weeks....

I don't have the heart to tell her it's upside down...but she doesn't seem to mind.

5k

2011-10-06T14:37:00.001-07:00

James and I decided a little while back we wanted to run in a 5K race. Ok, I decided I wanted to do it and James agreed to run with me. :D Anyway, we ran in one this past weekend. Here are a few pictures PRE RACE:

Here are the girls pre-race. They're pretty interested with the sights and people watching.

James is getting his warm up pushing the girls around the park.

Here are some of the POST RACE pictures. I had them vertical, but they got switched and I'm too tired to mess with them and change them right now! So, sorry!

Hannah found her favorite spot at the park!

All of the running seemed to get to Sofers. Rough life!

Here I am showing the exhaustion!
:

So, really we're glad we did it. It was fun, didn't require any training, and short enough the girls could handle the stroller. We actually finished 1st in the stroller division - not too hard to do considering the other 2 strollers were walking. :D

To Sleep or Not?

2011-10-04T05:30:00.000-07:00

...I think NOT. I had just laid her in her crib to go down for a nap...this is the what I saw about 2 minutes later:

That little face doesn't look so tired...she looks more like she's ready to play. You can't see it in the picture, but she's standing up and pulling the curtain open so she can see out.

* As a side note - she now pulls herself up to stand. SCARY! She's moving and growing too fast!

Falling Books

2011-09-30T14:31:00.000-07:00

The books just fell down.

That's what Hannah had to say.

Family Pictures

2011-09-29T02:01:00.000-07:00

While Becky was here we also took some family pictures. We headed down to campus to meet up with James and here are a few pictures I liked....

The Week in Pictures

2011-09-27T13:10:00.000-07:00

Aunt Becky came to visit and that means....lots of spoiling and lots of pictures...Hooray! Here's a few things we did this past week:

Shopping in the Fashion District

Hannah showing off Becky's shoes...she's better at walking in heels than I am...she can even dance.

Posing in front of the Pier at Santa Monica

Sofers and I are all bundled up since the sun is still behind the smog/clouds/whatever

Becky and Hannah on the Pier

Her first steps into the water once the sun makes a show

This is Hannah's "CHEESE" for pictures

Here she is sporting the bling bling she never gets to play with when it's just Mom around.

A somewhat normal smile

A typical face

Yet another silly expression (she's usually full of them)

Finally, one with Sofer's cooperating (somewhat)

The beginning of the hike to the Hollywood sign.

A view from the hike

The end of the Hollywood hike...someone (of COURSE it wasn't me)...forgot the stroller. Whoops..how could I have left home without that monster of a thing sitting in the middle of the room?! Let's just say we didn't hike to far.

Becky with the girls!

1st Time

2011-09-18T17:28:00.000-07:00

We have no tv. Yes, it's true. We don't have a tv, but we do have Netflix so we can watch movies or some tv shows on our laptop. That's what we usually do for weekend entertainment. However, James has been pretty swamped with school, work, seminary, church stuff, family...etc.....So we haven't watched anything since this last semester started almost 5 weeks ago.

Last night we used our Netflix and actually watched an episode of tv. It felt nice to relax for a few minutes. We definitely enjoy it, but you know what? I don't really miss having tv all that much.

A..Plane Trip, A Wedding, and the Sniffles

2011-09-16T19:27:00.000-07:00

We took a short little trip to Utah for a wedding last week...Kyle and Cassie tied the knot. It was a fun weekend and neat to see them married. Thanks to Grandma and Grandpa we all flew home for the wedding. It was much better than driving - but we didn't take a camera with us. We could have - we had another carry on allotted, but by the time you add 1 backpack, 1 duffle bag, 1 diaper bag, a stroller, and a baby carrier we were out of shoulder space to carry the camera bag. I swear we packed lightly, but these little ones sure make travel more complicated. Anyway - no camera means no pictures. I don't have a single one of them...of course she looked beautiful in her dress and he was handsome, almost as handsome as little Noah, but I don't have any proof....maybe some soul will take pity on me and send me some, until then you'll have to take my word for it that Kyle is officially married.

After returning home from the wedding we were all pretty exhausted, but instead of recovering Sofia managed to get sick. Nothing major - just a fever- but enough to be cranky and fussy and sleepy all at the same time. I'm happy to report her fever has now broken and she's on the mend..not back to her happy self...but on the mend. Unfortunately, Hannah has now been coughing for the past couple of days, and the nose just started running. It doesn't seem as bad for her to be sick as Sofia (there's something about a sick baby that's just really sad), but she's definitely not herself. I'm hoping it passes pretty quickly and we can get back to 'normal' life!

Anyway, these are my excuses for not blogging (or taking pictures).

A Good Book?

2011-09-06T15:54:00.000-07:00

Here's a random shot of Hannah and Sofia reading together:

Hannah likes to look at the pictures and Sofia pretty much just chews on them....but they seem to enjoy it.

Jeromy and Tami

2011-09-04T21:10:00.001-07:00

My brother Jeromy came to Southern California for the weekend and we get to see him (for the first time in 2 years) and we got to meet Tami. Here they are with Sofia:

Tami has a fun key chain she let Hannah play with and and long, pretty hair - so needless to say she and Hannah were fast friends.Sofia also seems pretty happy with both of them.

I think this one might be my favorite.....the two bald heads together!! In Sofia's defense - she actually has hair, it's just so light you can't see it.

She Crawls

2011-09-03T08:46:00.000-07:00

As is the going trend, these pictures are a few weeks old, but they show what Sofia has been up to.

She can definitely crawl, but she's not all over the place yet. She'll usually go a few feet....face plant....cry....and continues that cycle. I don't mind this stage just yet, because she hasn't become mobile enough to get into everything yet!

Beach Babies

2011-08-28T20:40:00.000-07:00

Before school started we made our annual trip to the beach. Considering it's a whopping 12 miles away you'd think it would happen a little more often, but our goal was to go at least once this summer and we made it. It was a pretty overcast and rather chilly day, but that didn't dampen Hannah's mood. Here are a few pictures:

Sofia chilling on the towels...until she discovered that the sand is more fun.

Hannah being buried...she loved it.

James..working hard at digging so Hannah could be buried.

Me trying to get Sofer's to face the camera...to no avail.

The first trip into the water...she was very excited, but definitely wanted Daddy's hand as she ventured out to the first wave.

She quickly got more daring and had lots of fun running out to meet the waves, then changing her mind and running back onto the shore...and then running back into the water.

Here's her face as she's running toward the water

..and this is just as the water hit's her legs!! I love the face!

That grin never came off of her face.

6 Months

2011-08-23T20:46:00.000-07:00

Maybe it should really read 6 1/2 months since I'm a little behind.

At 6 months she:

* loves food (she's definitely one of ours). I mean really loves food. She eyes us spitefully as we put food into our mouths and tries her best to get it into her mouth...but she seems pretty happy with her baby food so far.

* smiles most of the time (except the past couple of days - my excuse is teething)

* loves it when her big sister plays peek a boo with her - or anything for that matter

* still wakes up a few times a night to feed - like I said, she likes her food!

Here she is in her usual, hunched over form:

and this is a face we see quite often:

We love our happy baby!

I don't remember her exact measurements, but she was 50% for weight and height.

Last Week We...

2011-08-17T20:23:00.000-07:00

...spent lots of time at Grandma and Grandpa's doing fun things like:

helping Grandpa irrigate the lawn with cold water.

going on a hike (ok, really a walk) and experimenting with the timer on the camera....you can just barely see the Wellsvilles...our aim was a little off centered.

picking peas out of the garden

and more swinging

and of course pushing our furry little friends on the swing

and even more swinging, this time sharing it with cousins!

2011-08-16T20:23:00.000-07:00

We just returned early this morning (12:30 am) from a vacation to Utah. James had 2 weeks in between semesters with no work, so we headed back to Utah. It was a fun trip and we all had a good time. We pretty much just stayed close to Grandma and Grandpa's house and enjoyed the big yard, family, and lots of yummy food. There's probably a lot I should write about, but my brain is to tired to think, so for now here is just 1 picture of Hannah:

This is a classic Hannah face. She spent majority of her time on the swing and LOVED it. This is just one of her funny faces.

Like Father Like Daughter

2011-08-05T14:46:00.000-07:00

I don't particularly want to post humiliating pictures of our kids that will embarrass the heck out of them when they're older....so I have avoided anything really toilet training related...but this I could not pass up....

She looks like she's so engrossed in the newspaper...and she really sat there for a few minutes 'reading.'

All I have to say - I definitely know where she gets it from and it isn't me!

She Sits

2011-08-02T14:46:00.000-07:00

...or should I say leans very, very uncomfortably for a few minutes until she topples over. This was her first time sitting up by herself, so I got out the camera and snapped a couple pictures before she toppled....

Doesn't that just look uncomfortable?

I can Dress Myself

2011-07-28T20:46:00.000-07:00

As with everything in my life I'm behind in posting this, but the picture makes me laugh. Here she is dressing herself with her newfound independence. She put her arms through the armholes, the skirt all by herself, and the shoes without any help.

I think the shoes are my favorite.

This girl makes me laugh!

5 months

2011-07-21T16:34:00.002-07:00

On her actual 5 month mark I tried to get some pictures, but this is all I ended up with. She was one unhappy little camper and screamed most of the afternoon. She's been a lot fussier as of late and the only thing I can think is that she might be teething...with all that drool and chewing on everything, but who really knows. That's my excuse for everything.

Here's a better picture of her being happy...and it's close enough to the 5 month mark so we'll count it.

Maybe she's going to be a seamstress...she sure seems to like the measuring tape.

At 5 months she is:

* mostly happy

* doing really well with rice cereal

* sleeping longer at night and less during the day

* rolling around and making diaper changes much more difficult

* becoming rather mobile. She's not crawling yet, but scooting around, mostly backwards.

bed head

2011-07-19T16:34:00.000-07:00

Here she is after her nap.....

I'm thinking maybe she woke up on the wrong side of the bed?!

Christmas in June

2011-07-12T20:14:00.000-07:00

Can I just say, having older siblings who are done having children is the BEST way to go. They've given us so many baby things and clothes, it's amazing. So much for the first child getting all new stuff, right? Anyway, several weeks ago my sister sent a box of clothing for Hannah. It was even better than Christmas. Hannah had so much fun going through all of the clothes and trying lots of things on. I had my hands full trying to organize clothes and keep my piles intact, so I didn't get any other pictures, but this one gives you the idea of what that entire evening was like:

as you can see by the floor, Hannah made sure I didn't do a very good job keeping the clothes organized.

Once the clothes were all finally organized and put away (a few days later) she still had a blast playing in the box:

Isn't life all about the simple pleasures? :D

Our Little Homeslice

2011-07-10T14:13:00.000-07:00

Big Helper

2011-07-09T16:20:00.000-07:00

She really is such a good helper. She LOVES to clean and has now expanded her horizons to ironing. Don't worry - the iron was not hot or even plugged in....

I think the spray bottle might have been her favorite part?!

Wrestling with Dad

2011-07-03T14:44:00.003-07:00

I guess Sofia wins?

2 years

2011-06-26T14:51:00.000-07:00

I can't believe she's now 2 years old. Wow! She is such a fun person with lots of energy and excitement for everything. That being said, the past few weeks have been challenging ones. She doesn't seem to need as much sleep as some children. She's always been that way, but the past month she's been staying awake long after we put her to bed at night and waking up earlier than normal. I can handle her without the sleep, as long as she's happy, but she has been so whiny and ornery and I don't do well with that. We're gladly accepting any advice. :D Anyway, we're fighting the sleep battle, and a lingering cold, and we were/have been potty training. I am happy to report she's mostly trained. I don't dare jynx myself and say she's totally trained, but mostly. She wakes up from naps and bedtime dry (at least there is a perk to her not sleeping in!). She ocassionally has accidents, but mostly when we don't make it to the toilet in time. We haven't ventured too far from home, but I think we're ready to do more of that without major fear of an accident. Hooray!! Aside from her whining, she really is a lot of fun. She cracks me up every day and for now she actually wants me to play with her. I realize that will change sooner than later, so I'd better enjoy it for now. Here are her 2 year stats:

Height: 33" (25%)

Weight: 29 lb 9 oz (75%)

...and here are a few random pictures of her:

Birthday Girl

2011-06-25T16:03:00.000-07:00

We got an "Elmo Says" book from the library last year and ever since, Hannah has LOVED Elmo. So, for her 2nd Bday we decided to attempt Elmo cupcakes. Here we are the night before making the cupcakes (you'd never guess she'd eaten some batter would you?):

Here's the final product....they were supposed to look a lot better, but isn't that pretty much the case with everything. At least she recognized them as Elmo. I suppose that's all that really matters.

I think they look a little better from further away:

She doesn't really care. She got to eat an entire cupcake all by herself. I'm pretty sure she has never had that much sugar in her system.....she was literally bouncing off the walls the rest of the night. I've never seen her so hyper. Needless to say, she only got one cupcake....no leftovers for her. :(

Here she is after opening her birthday gift - it's got a bunch of hair clips, elastics, etc.....and in case you can't tell she's admiring herself in the mirror.

She's not a baby anymore, she's entering the "little girl" phase. Sad, but fun.

4 months

2011-06-23T21:21:00.000-07:00

I can't believe she's already hit the 4 month mark. It is crazy to me how fast the time is flying by. She is a sweet little girl with lots of smiles. She's become proficient at rolling over and back again - diaper changes are getting harder and harder. She's still not sleeping as well as we'd like at night, but you can't have everything right? You'd think the logical nickname for her would be Sophie, but for some reason we never call her that - it's always Sofers. It's bizarre, but it just seems to fit and it has stuck. Hannah now acknowledges her by calling her 'The Baby.' I'm just glad she acknowledges the fact that she exists. :D Sometimes the 2 of them even play together.

4 month stats:

14 lb 6 oz (50th %)

24" (25%)

She's growing up so fast.

Our Girls

2011-06-19T16:25:00.000-07:00

I have a long list of things I should post about, but I have an even longer list of reasons why I haven't gotten around to it. Sometime soon I will, but for now here are some pictures of the girls:

This is 'the look' Hannah gets in her eyes when she's about to harm/damage something. Poor Sofia doesn't realize what's coming in this picture:

Hannah has kindly helped Sofia onto her stomach for some tummy time here:

and this is the end result of tummy time:

I think they're pretty cute!

Rolling

2011-06-16T13:43:00.000-07:00

This is where she started....

Here's where she ended up.....

She's been pretty close for a while, but she completely rolled over for the first time today. As a side note - I realize I need to start putting bows in her hair more often so she actually looks like a girl....bummer.

We've been busy...

2011-06-14T13:35:00.000-07:00

....here's what we've been up to this past week:

At the end of the 1st day I didn't think either of us were going to make it..it was BAD.
...By the end of day 2 things were still pretty bad...
.....but she's now gone several days without an accident. She's woken up from naps and most every night dry. Church on Sunday was the first major outing and we survived. I put her in a pull-up because I didn't want any issues in the nursery, but she was fine. She went to the bathroom a couple of times during church without a problem....

....I don't dare say she's potty trained yet, but pretty darn close. Hurray! No more diapers for her....Sofia on the other hand still does her fair share. :D

Tummy Time

2011-06-03T14:50:00.000-07:00

These pictures are a few weeks old, but here we are doing tummy time with Sofia. Hannah couldn't resist joining in on the fun.

A Beautiful Day

2011-06-01T06:25:00.000-07:00

We put Sofia down to bed last night before 9:00 pm. She didn't wake up for a feeding until 3:30 am. She has never ever gone near that long. She went right back to sleep afterwards, and slept in until 5:30. I still can't believe she slept that long. She has never done so well. I actually feel rested!! I'm hoping this becomes routine. :D To top it off, it's now 6:23 and Hannah's still asleep.
Wowzers...what a beautiful day it's going to be!!

too good to put down

2011-05-29T21:40:00.000-07:00

Apparently the book really wore her out.

my day

2011-05-23T15:41:00.000-07:00

12:30 am: feed sofia - she should not need to eat - I should have let her cry, but I didn't think of that until I'd already gotten up and at that point the damage was done.

3:30 am: feed sofia. This is more routine.

3:50 -4:00 am: put her back to sleep and look forward to at least an hour of sleep.

4:30 am: sofia is awake! what?! James, hero that he is offers to get her and try to put her back to sleep. Normally I would feel guilty, but this morning I roll over and am asleep before he's out of bed. :D

5:15am: James is getting ready for work and she's still fussing. This is normally our wake up time, but I can't keep my eyes open. Sofia goes to sleep and I catch a few zzz's while James heads to work.

5:50 am: reality sets in and it's time for me and Sofia to get up. No more sleeping in today!

6:10 am: Hannah's now awake and it's really time for the day to start.

7:00 am: Hannah throws up all of her breakfast

....I won't bore anyone with details of the rest of the day. Let's just say as I was scrubbing the floor, trying not to smell the throw up, trying not to let Hannah step in it, and listening to Sofia screaming in the background I had to laugh....so glamorous.

uh oh

2011-05-22T14:53:00.004-07:00

I'm in the bedroom when I hear something in the living room crash. Hannah came running to me and said, "Mommy. Uh oh!!!" She promptly grabbed my hand and led me to where the paper shredder had 'accidentally' been knocked over. This mistake led to a good time, if you can't tell.

It's too bad that cleaning up the paper shreds for real isn't as fun as pretending to.

Birthday Boy

2011-05-19T14:43:00.000-07:00

I know this is a little late, but last week James celebrated his birthday!! Luckily it was on a Saturday and during his break between semesters. Translation = we get to spend the day together. Hooray! I've been awful about taking pictures so I vowed I would take lots to document the big day, starting with his birthday poster:

compliments of Hannah and Sofia's handprints.

We started off the day with a long lost jog. We haven't done our Saturday morning run since Sofia was born and we've (at least James and I) have greatly missed it. It was a pretty chilly morning, so we bundled the girls up. Here they are getting ready to go:

Hannah insisted on wearing this hat. Are they really allowed to have such a strong opinion so early?

Smiling yet again. I personally love the ears.

I started off the day really well with pictures, but then forgot the camera...oops. Overall the day was great. We spent the afternoon at the beach with some friends and spent the evening relaxing and chilling at home. It was so nice to have time together to just relax....and I think James had a good day (minus the whole getting a year older thing).

2011-05-17T15:07:00.000-07:00

This little lady had a rough Mother's Day Weekend. She went to bed Friday night just like normal, but woke up in the middle of the night with a fever and throwing up. Yuck. We got her and the bedding cleaned up, some tylenol in her, and put her back to bed. She woke up at normal time Saturday morning. You could tell she didn't feel well, but at least her fever was gone. We figured she had a little bug, but weren't overly concerned about it...

....until she went lifeless and stopped breathing. Her skin was so white and her lips were very blue. It was very scary. James started doing mouth to mouth while I called 911. After a minute or so (which felt like eternity) she threw up and started breathing again just in time for the paramedics to arrive. Once she was stabilized we learned she'd had a febrile seizure. Aparently it's not uncommon in toddlers when they have a fever that spikes really high there body has a seizure which basically reboot's their system. Anyway, we learned that there's nothing we can do to prevent it other than trying to make sure we keep her fever down. The paramedics left, and we were a little shaken, but she seemed to be doing fine....

....the rest of the day she seemed pretty normal....until the same thing happened and she had another seizure that afternoon. Lucky for me, I was at a church meeting with Sofia. James wasn't so lucky. He was with her and called 911 again. This time they took her in the ambulance to the ER to do some testing. After a very very long day, she was discharged. Let's just say that 10 hours at the ER, a catheter, IV, blood drawing, and urine sack is not fun for anyone, but especially a 23 month old.

....basically, she's just fine. The fact that she had 2 of the seizures in a 24 hour period makes it a little more complicated, but her doctor is not concerned about epilepsy. We just have to be careful if she ever gets a fever to make sure we get it down asap. Let's just say we are fully stocked in children's tylenol and motrin!!

....I'm happy to report that she's 100% better now.

Totally Awesome

2011-05-15T20:00:00.000-07:00

Words cannot describe how funny I think this picture is.

Laundry Day

2011-05-04T15:37:00.000-07:00

I believe I've mentioned before that we believe in child labor. Here's proof of her helping with laundry:

Here's a better view to show just how big of a help she really is:

and, of course she found a different shirt she wanted to wear. Naturally we have to dirty 2 shirts in one day whenever possible. :D

Introducing....

2011-05-01T14:50:00.000-07:00

.......PIG TAILS!!

Grandma actually put her hair into pig-tails for the first time a couple of months ago when she was here... I found some really ity bity hair elastics and just tried it again a few days ago...

She seems so much older with her hair like this. She must have grown up overnight. She's no baby anymore. That's lots of fun, but a little sad at the same time.

This is her giving hugs to Sofia. I'm proud to report that Sofia is still alive (after multiple attacks- I mean hugs).

Simple Pleasures

2011-04-29T15:09:00.000-07:00

It's time to empty the paper shredder. I thought I knew a good helper for the job:

Sofia's supervising her work.

Making sure she gets every last piece:

Dutifully transferring it to all of the bags:

Look at that concentration:

With a little help she learned how to play with the scraps:

Now she's really having fun.

Who knew paper shredders could be so much fun?

Potty Training

2011-04-27T14:46:00.000-07:00

I'm pretty sure she's got the concept down:

Do you think she's ready for potty training?

Easter Sunday

2011-04-24T20:45:00.000-07:00

Here are the Easter Baskets:

and a view from the back....I think bunny tails would have been a good idea.

Here are just some random pictures of the girls this morning:

Hannah is putting Mini to sleep by bouncing on her bouncy ball. This is often how James and I put Sofia to sleep - by bouncing on our pilates ball. She (Sofia) sure likes it and Hannah mimics everything we do.

and here she is falling off of the ball. (We usually try to avoid this when holding Sofia).

Here is the little one smiling yet again:

and here they are in their matching outfits:

All Smiles

2011-04-17T16:47:00.001-07:00

This is a picture that Grandma and Grandpa took while they were here. Once they got here she started smiling and has been doing it ever since. We love it!

Grandma and Grandpa

2011-04-14T14:45:00.000-07:00

So....Grandma and Grandpa Flammer were here for a week. Guess how many pictures I took? Not one, nope not a single one. Luckily they did take some so we have a couple pictures to prove they were here. It was fun to visit with them. Here are a few pictures from their visit:

This is at a Children's museum we went to:

Hannah really liked the plane. I mean really liked it. We made 2 stops to visit it because she liked it so much.

I thought Grandpa Humpherys would be proud!

I think this is so cute of Grandma and Hannah. I wish I wasn't in the background. I'm sure there's some way to photoshop it out, but that is out of my domain.

Here she is doing what she loves to do...I swear I don't talk on the phone that much, but she sure loves to.

Here she is doing Grandma's hair. If you could see her other arm, you'd see the comb she was using in Grandpa's hair. They were pretty good sports.

This is what Hannah looks like after making cookies with Grandma. She's definitely learned how to pick out the chocolate chips. :D

Although there aren't many pictures to prove it, we had lots of fun with Grandma and Grandpa. Mostly it was just fun to spend time with them. Hannah and Sofia definitely loved the extra attention. What lucky little girls they are!!

Thailand Sofia

2011-04-01T11:58:00.000-07:00

Here's a picture of Sofia's namesake. She lived across the street from us in Thailand and was such a sweetheart. Unlike typical Thai's she was so affectionate - She would run up to us and give us great big hugs. She would often come over to our house to give us flowers she had picked. On the days I worked at the preschool she would always come and talk to me if I didn't have anyone to play with. :D Both James and I loved her so much and knew we wanted to name a daughter after her. I'm pretty sure our Sofia won't have the same brown skin or hair or eyes, but we hope she has a little bit of her personality.

A Name and a Blessing.

2011-03-28T09:15:00.001-07:00

Sofia Mae Flammer

This past Sunday James gave Sofia her name and blessing. It was a neat blessing that seemed to match her sweet personality. Grandma and Grandpa Flammer were able to come and now we're starting a week of fun with them. Here are a few pictures of Sofia in her blessing dress.

I tried getting some pictures of both her and Hannah together, but this is what we ended up with:

1 Month

2011-03-16T15:02:00.000-07:00

Um, I'm a little behind in this post, considering she's now 5 weeks old. Better late than never, right? And, I did actually take (or attempt) pictures of her when she really was 1 month.

I can't believe she's already a month old. The past few weeks have flown by. People always told me the time flies by with children. With Hannah I never believed it. It inched by hour by hour, particularily at night. :D However, it's now flying by. Really fast.

Here are the 1 month stats:

weight: 8 lb 9 oz
height: 21 in

The past week or so she has started sleeping better. We now can regularly expect to start out with 2 hour intervals for feeding at night, and then down to 1 hour or sometimes more before morning. Most of the time she actually goes back to sleep when she's done eating. Hallelujah!! She's doing pretty well. She has been spitting up quite a bit and has gotten more fussy, but I'm still just thrilled that she's sleeping as well as she is at night. :D Overall, we're doing pretty well, despite appearances of this picture:


Hannah wanted to hold her. Maybe that's what's causing the crying?

Swinging good time

2011-03-13T16:08:00.000-07:00

We pulled out the swing to see if Sofia liked it a few days ago. I'm not sure how much she likes it, but Hannah LOVES it. Since she's not allowed to swing in it herself, the next best thing is pushing her sister in it.

Here she is after being reminded to push "gently:"

Here she is looking to see who's watching:

I'm not sure Sofia likes it all that much, but she usually tolerates the pushing for a minute or two. Hannah's learning to be gentler, but we make sure we ALWAYS do up the seatbelt. Some days I really wonder if Sofia will survive to reach age 1.

Bummer

2011-03-09T20:12:00.000-08:00

This is what happens when Hannah jumps and lands on my glasses:

They broke into 2 pieces. Bummer!! I went to the optometrist and spent $300 for an exam and glasses. Double Bummer!!

We're Alive

2011-03-07T14:04:00.000-08:00

We've now had 2 full weeks of 'real life' Translation - Grandma is gone, James has been working long hours at work and school and church, and it has been me home with the two little kiddos. Here's what's happened:

- we've learned there is one grocery store with shopping carts too small for Sofia's car seat

- there are 2 other grocery stores that will hold her car seat, but then there's very little room for many groceries.

- Hannah likes to help Sofia roll over

- Hannah is oblivious to the fact that Sofia cries when she is hit, clawed at, or pulled off the couch.

- Sofia has only been pulled off of the couch by Hannah once in the past 2 weeks.

We're all still alive......I'd say it's been a successful 2 weeks.

Grandma

2011-02-27T21:09:00.000-08:00

I should have posted this a while ago, but just came across the pictures and remembered I hadn't done it. Grandma Flammer came after Sofia was born to help out. Can I just say...wonderful?! It was great to have her here for the company and for all the help. The extra set of hands was very useful with distracting Hannah, and having a yummy home cooked meal every night was a heaven send. Hannah spent lots of time helping her out in the kitchen. Here's a picture of them at work:

and a picture of her with Sofia:

Thanks so much for all the help!!

The Past Few Days

2011-02-18T15:17:00.000-08:00

These past few days have been really good. Grandma Flammer has been here to help - and those extra 2 hands have been wonderful. Everything with Sofia seems to be going pretty well- she is a pretty chill baby and we are VERY happy with that. She eats, sleeps, and poops pretty darn well. So, that makes life much better. Everything she does, we think back and it was lots harder with Hannah. I'm not sure if that's because Hannah was the first, or if it's just because she was a more challenging baby. Maybe both? Anyway, here are a few random pictures of the past few days.

I personally love this one. I was trying to get Hannah to kiss Sofia for a baby announcement picture, and this is what we ended up with. It seems more realistic than having them both smile. :D

Here they are snuggling together on Valentines Day after work!

Family Pictures

2011-02-13T12:51:00.000-08:00

Here's our most recent family photos. Our family of 3 right before leaving for the hospital:

and here we are right after getting home from the hospital. Our new family of 4:

I'm thinking we should take another photo sometime soon when we're all looking a little more chipper. :D

Hello Sofia!

2011-02-10T17:34:00.001-08:00

Well, at 1:30 AM this morning Sofia decided the time was right, apparently someone forgot to tell Sofia that her parents usually go to bed at 9:00 so she may have been the first baby born when both parents were sleeping (Britt really wishes she would have been sleeping!). Britt went to the Doctor yesterday for a checkup and he told her to head over to the hospital. We got to the hospital at 2:00 in the afternoon and they hooked Britt up to check the heart rate and contractions, then we proceeded to walk the halls of the 5th floor for 4 hours waiting for a bed to open up in delivery (Britt and I really missed the glory days of Logan Hospital) We finally got a bed at 9:30 and from then until 1:30 it was a contraction marathon. Britt was a trooper as always. I tried to talk her into an epidural, when she declined I asked the nurse if I could get one. I envy the guys manage to miss out on the hard labor part of delivery. Any who, Britt did great, I wont bore with the gory details needless to say we now have a 7 lb. 1 oz. 20 inch bundle.

I personally think that Sofia is a genius, after practicing for just a few seconds she was able to pull off a pretty good Elvis lip impersonation. Maybe Hannah can teach her to say 'thank you, thank you very much!'

I am somewhat partial on this picture, but this may have been the 'reality check' moment when Hannah might have been calculating the implications of being a big sister and having to actually share her room and mommy time.

There is something absolutely amazing about holding a newborn baby. With all the feelings of inadequacy comes an overwhelming feeling of gratitude for wonderful parents (Britt's and mine) and the joys associated with family. I am a lucky man.

Brittany Update

2011-02-06T03:40:00.000-08:00

I have officially passed the 38 week mark in pregnancy and am definitely in uncharted territory. I have the typical complaints of pregnancy (not sleeping well, back aches, my brain has turned to mush, underestimating the size of my belly, etc...), but for the most part am feeling fairly well. Everything has gone smoothly thus far and we're keeping our fingers crossed that it stays that way. I'm a little nervous about the arrival of another little one, but I know we'll get it figured out one way or another. I spend my days playing with Hannah, cooking, and cleaning. Nights are spent in preparation for Sofia and doing church stuff. Nothing too exciting, but it seems to keep me occupied.

James Update

2011-02-06T03:30:00.000-08:00

He is keeping VERY busy with life. He's doing the energy efficiency job 4 days a week as well as being a TA for an undergrad class on campus. School takes up 2 days a week as well as lots of evenings. His church calling takes care of Sunday and lots of time in between. So, he has his hands full. He seems to be enjoying school. It stresses him out and is definitely a challenge, but he seems to enjoy it (and that makes me very happy). I know he's overwhelmed with everything and feels like he is stretched pretty thin at times, but he is doing a great job. It's so much fun to watch him play with Hannah - I sometimes wonder which one is a bigger kid.

Hannah Update

2011-02-06T03:21:00.000-08:00

It has been a while since I've posted anything and I'm trying to document things a little better before this baby finally comes. So, I thought I should do a quick update on all of us.

Hannah:

She is such a happy little girl. She's grown up so much the past little bit that she definitely isn't a baby anymore. She has learned how to throw a good fit - enough to be considered a drama queen. But, for the most part she's generally happy and very good natured. She's lots of fun to be around. Some of the new things she has been doing include:

- a few words (finally!!!) She's said daddy for a long time and has recently started saying mommy more and more. Her favorite is uh-oh (right after she's thrown something). She's just started saying some phrases like "it's cool" and "get out." Sometimes they are in the right context, but other times I think she just likes to say them.

- throwing things over the balcony. We live on the 3rd floor and there is common area in the middle of the apartment complex down below. She's just discovered the law of gravity is more fun going from the 3rd floor to the 1st then it is from the high chair to the floor.

- purses and shoes. She loves bags and always wants to carry (drag) her own. She also has discovered she likes wearing our shoes and walking around.

Here she is playing dress up. We had just gotten back from a sale where I stocked up on some clothes for her for the next year. She was very excited and wanted to try them all on.

Roaches B Gone

2011-02-04T14:26:00.002-08:00

We have this little problem - called roaches. They kind of appeared all at once and then multiplied in force. I think I'm pretty good (for a girl) at dealing with this kind of thing. They were okay for a little while, but once they mass produced they were everywhere. There's just something disturbing about turning on the light at night and seeing 20 of the littler vermin scatter around. It was to the point where I would have to wash dishes before we could use them. Gross. Anyway, we talked to the manager and she arranged for the exterminator to come. In preparation for that we had to remove everything from all of the cupboards and closets. All of the furniture had to be a few feet from the walls. Yuck. Yuck. Yuck. It was not a fun process, but we did it. Here are some pictures of the disaster our apartment was for a day. It felt like moving all over again. Now, we're just crossing our fingers and hoping they magically disappear.

Addresses

2011-01-26T20:03:00.000-08:00

Somehow in the transition from our old computer to this one I lost all the addresses we had. Funny how that always seems to happen. Anyway, I've spent some time online and have found most of them - at least those of you who are in a more permanent residence with home phones. As for the rest of you...mostly those who don't own your own home...I can't find you. If you'd like a baby announcement (when the time comes) or any other possibility of getting mail from us please give me your address. You can call me or email me at bflammer@gmail.com. Thanks!!

Matching Aprons

2011-01-18T21:32:00.000-08:00

Last year I made an apron for myself and a matching one for Hannah. At the time it was way to big for her, but I figured one day it would come in handy. We just broke it out and she loves it. Here she is helping me make a mess in the kitchen.

Determination

2011-01-16T21:27:00.000-08:00

Just like all other kids, Hannah loves the cell phone. She knows exactly which pocket it goes into in the diaper bag and she always finds it. I try to keep it out of her reach as often as possible. This shelf is our "out of Hannah's reach for important things like phones, ipod, and keys. I went to the bathroom the other day and this is what I found.....

Yep, she got the cell phone. And I'm willing to bet she connected to the internet since that isn't a part of the plan.

Child Labor

2011-01-14T21:20:00.001-08:00

I'm sure this is normal, but Hannah absolutely loves cleaning. I'm not sure if it's just because she sees me doing it or what...but she loves it. Doing the dishes, 'cleaning' the mirrors, wiping up spills, dusting. She likes the broom, our dustbuster, and the vacuum. She has always loved these, but since visiting Grandma's at Christmastime where she had free reign on a little motorized broom, she REALLY likes the vacuum at home. She thinks she should be able to do it all alone and gets mad at me when I try to help steer in any way.

This is the look I get when I try to help her. She's not too happy with me.

Baby Jealousy?

2011-01-12T21:26:00.000-08:00

We came home with a car load of things - mostly baby stuff. It took a day or two to get everything unpacked and organized. Hannah absolutely loved going through all of the baby clothes (that added at least a few hours to the entire process). But, I think her favorite part was the car seat. She thought it was absolutely great. She kept climbing into it over and over. She wasn't too happy when we finally put it away. Maybe there will be a little bit of sibling jealousy once she sees that she's not the one using the car seat.

Nap Time

2011-01-11T13:21:00.000-08:00

It has been a long day, and it's only 1 pm. Hannah's napping so I just got done all the cleaning and cooking. I know I should post pictures and update on what we've been up to. But, I'm tired, and the back is aching....so I think I'm just going to lay down next to Hannah and close my eyes.....

Grandma's Kitchen

2010-12-29T20:10:00.000-08:00

Hannah loves the kitchen. I mean, she loves it - everything about it.

She likes helping me bake.

She gets excited when the mixer comes out.

She loves her spot on the stool helping me.

She likes the water - just turning the faucet on is lots of fun.

She really likes washing dishes - mostly because of the soap suds.

She loves to play in my pots and pans, stacking and organizing them.

Let's just say she's had fun in Grandma's kitchen. She has lots of fun cupboards and drawers to play in. Here she is playing with the different mixing bowls.

Cousin Fun

2010-12-22T19:58:00.000-08:00

We made it home for Christmas. Hannah is thrilled with the new house to explore and all of the toys. She has had fun playing with her cousins. Here's a picture of her and cousin Ellie practicing their piano skills.

And here they are giving luvs:

18 Months

2010-12-18T16:54:00.000-08:00

She had her 18 month check up a few weeks ago and here were the stats:

weight: 98 %

height: 50%

I had the sock drawer open

while I was packing and she climbed the ladder of her new bed/play pen and crawled right into the sock drawer. I actually had the camera in hand so I snapped a quick picture before getting her out.

Yes, that's our little chunker. She's officially been demoted from whole milk to 2%. She has finally recovered from all the shots. Not only did she have her immunizations, but also the flu shot, a tb test, and had her blood drawn to be tested for lead. It was a rough couple of days for her. Apparently she takes after me and has very small veins that are hard to find. After 2 unsuccessful attempts at the doctor's office they sent us to the lab, where they finally got her blood. It was not fun for either of us. She screamed and screamed and screamed while I got to hold her down.

I'm just glad it's over, but I'm afraid she has a fear of doctor's offices now. A week after her doctor's visit I went to my prenatal checkup and brought her with me. She was perfectly content until we entered the examining room - then she started to scream. My entire appointment and ultrasound were completed with her in my arms. It wasn't particularly fun, but it was the fastest doctor's appointment I've had yet.

Whew

2010-12-11T14:16:00.000-08:00

Hot water. We finally have HOT water. After it being gone for 4 days, it is so good to have back. We missed it profusely. I know we don't have freezing cold temperatures here, and we lived without it for 2 years, so I shouldn't complain. But, when we didn't know it was going to be turned off or when it would be turned on, we got pretty cranky without it. Now we can go back to clean dishes, and long relaxing showers in warmth! hooray.

Winter

2010-12-06T21:11:00.000-08:00

The weather is our favorite thing about LA (the only really redeeming factor). The mornings and evenings are pretty cool, but the days warm up and are usually nice and pretty sunny. It's great!! We love it, but my morning runs with Hannah are pretty chilly. So, I decided we needed to make a hat and mittens to keep her warm. Here she is trying them on for me. I couldn't get her to stand still, so it's a little blurry. She really liked them at first, but now I have a very hard time keeping them on her. Oh well!

The Newest Addition to the Family....

2010-12-04T21:10:00.001-08:00

Our double jogging stroller!!!

Our double jogging stroller! I know it might seem lame, but I am pretty excited about it. We were planning on buying one, but they are so expensive so we haven't done it. Plus, it takes up lots of room and we had to find a spot for it. Anyway, thanks to Craigslist we got a decent deal on one. It's definitely been used, but it was just what we were looking for. We decided to test it out with Hannah and her baby doll in the infant harness. They seemed to like it.

Here's the rain tarp. It doesn't rain very often, but when it does I hate not being able to go outside or get any exercise. So, we made sure we got one with a rain cover. Hannah thought it was pretty funny.

Our Little Climber

2010-11-28T21:16:00.000-08:00

This post is about a month overdue, but we don't have much else to report on. Several weeks ago Hannah entered the climbing phase. One day she just decided to start climbing out of the blue.

She first discovered the chairs. We quickly learned to push them in so she couldn't stand on them.

She then crawled from chair to chair under the table until she bonked her head and decided it wasn't fun anymore.

She has since learned to move the chairs and we've given in to letting her stand on them to reach the table. She's also started trying to feed herself and absolutely loves being in the real chair like a big girl.

We've learned that we can't leave anything out. Well, we still forget now and then, but luckily nothing of major importance has been destroyed...yet. I've also learned that the computer only comes out during nap time and after Hannah's bed time. She loves getting her hands on it and we haven't figured a way around it other than not using it. HEhe.

I guess that's life. Not to exciting, but that's all we've got!!

She's Back

2010-11-15T14:19:00.000-08:00

After a very very long week of crankiness, whiny-ness and general orneriness she's back to her happy self. Honestly, this whole time change thing was not fun. Benjamin Franklin obviously did not have children when he came up with it. We're seriously thinking Arizona is the place to live. All I have to say, is I'm glad it's over and I'm not looking forward to it again in the Spring. Maybe we can boycott it.