{Ethan}: Ethan Turns Three!

Ethan,

You amaze us. From writing your own name (with a lot of instruction from mom!), to accidentally doing math, we have really enjoyed this year. You learned numbers, letters, and colors, started to color with intention and string along better sentences. You've picked up on some attitude that came with turning three, which has us reading a few books. We can still reason with you most of the time, and you respond well to Daniel Tiger songs (thanks PBS).

We've loved being your parents these last three years and look forward to the year ahead!

Love you forever, like you for always,

Mom & Dad

{Hannah}: ten months old!

Two months from today, our girl will be one! Pretty unbelievable! She's becoming more confident in her cruising and has stood on her own for a couple of seconds, but I still think it'll be at least a month or two before she is confident enough to walk.

She is in to everything. She understands "no" and smiles when you tell her no! Especially when she's about to crawl into the bathroom or Ethan's room - which she knows she's not allowed to do! Hannah requires a ton of supervision, to say the least.

She took a spill by our media cabinet earlier this month. We didn't see exactly how she hit her mouth, but she got a big gash in her gum, and the bleeding prompted a trip to urgent care. I won't tell you how fast Austin drove!

Other than that, she has had a pretty routine month of climbing, crawling, eating, and napping!

{Hannah}: nine months old!

Oh, Hannah!

This girl rocked month nine like a superstar. She ditched the army-crawl for a legitimate crawl. She can pull up, cruise, and is very close to standing on her own. It's exciting and terrifying at the same time! She wants independence so badly, but she's also afraid to go on her own. I'm ok with that because I think she isn't far from walking, anyway!

She had her first (diagnosed) ear infection, followed by antibiotics. She was cutting her first tooth, but I assumed she wouldn't do that quite so early. It was a pleasant surprise to find that tooth!

Hannah had her second Zoo trip this month, as well as her first trip to the Children's Museum! She loved both, of course.

Hannah is headed for her first beach trip tomorrow (Ethan's second!) and I can't wait to share photos of the adorable outfits my mom made for them!

To say we are obsessed with this blue-eyed beauty is a total understatement!

And now the monthly sticker photos:

We love these two very active kids. They're giving us a run for our money! 

xo,

Elizabeth

{Hannah}: eight months old!

So much has happened in just one month! Hannah is army-crawling (and has taken a few "proper" crawls as well!). She is starting to pull up, and get herself into a sitting position from laying on her stomach or back. In other words... She's on the move! Her face lights up when she's in her walker, being helped to walk, or pushing her standing walker. She can't wait to chase brother (though I really hope we have a couple of months!). She is very interested in the world around her, but thankfully she's not darting from one thing to the next... Yet.

Pulling up in the pool

We also went to Tulum, Mexico for our first big trip away from Hannah, and she did well but was ready for her mama to come home by the end of it! I think she's outgrown most of the screaming phase, and is pretty content as long as she's eaten and slept well.

Crawl attempts

Enjoying the merry-go-round at the park

Father's Day pool trip (first big pool trip)

Feeding herself carrots!

Standing up and playing

Brother is her favorite entertainer!

We can't wait to see what month 9 brings. You're such a joy, Hannah! And an adorable girl to boot! We are so blessed to be your parents. You've become an easy baby ;)

xo,

Elizabeth

Welcome Hannah Rosalie!

This has definitely taken me longer to post than I imagined it would! I've written two posts and Blogger managed to delete both... So here we are, one week old, third try is a charm!

Hannah's birth was amazingly easier than Ethan's - from delivery to recovery. I'm happy to share more of the story privately, but I will say my doctor almost didn't make it in time! My doctor's practice is connected to the hospital I delivered in, and she had to run across the hospital to get there -- that's how quickly we progressed at the end. 

The two days at the hospital dragged on forever. The first night was torture because our recovery nurse - inadvertently - woke us up repeatedly when Hannah was asleep. It was awful, especially because she was a really nice person and I really struggled to be nice about the sleep! Ha! The second night was better but we were so tired from the first night that we look like zombies in our first family picture:

And while the reclining bed is awesome, it's also a little inconvenient, and being in a small room with little storage will make you crazy.

Ethan is warming up to Hannah and is generally concerned about her whereabouts, why she is crying (if she is) and wants to help us rock her (terrifying because he isn't gentle), get her car seat when we are getting into the car, and give (throw) her a pacifier if she is crying. So we need to work on being gentle, but overall, he cares about her and we think it's pretty sweet!

She's a calm, sleepy little sweetheart, a pretty good eater, and she does not have her days and nights backwards like her brother did, which is a bonus!

We are unbelievably blessed by her. We can't stop snuggling her, we love dressing her up every day, and we love her sweet demeanor! We can't wait to get to see her personality develop over the next few months!

And yes.. We are totally blown away that she is already a week old!

xo,

Elizabeth