Hannah - 6 Months

Our Hannah is officially 6 months!!  I feel like it was just yesterday that I was holding Hannah for the first time....it's SO hard to believe she's been here 6 months, but then I also don't remember life without her.  Crazy!  

She had a GREAT check-up...here are her stats:

Weight -18.9lbs - 91st percentile

Height - 25 inches - 25th percentile

The doctor wasn't concerned at all about her weight or height.  She's expecting her to have a growth spurt in height any day now, and she said her weight will level off once she starts crawling around, etc. 

Eating:  She's nursing 5 times a day, eating cereal in the morning and eating a veggie in the evening.

Sleeping:  She sleeps 11-12 hours at night.  She naps 3 times a day for a total of about 3 hours.  The first nap is usually her best nap (lasting 1 1/2 hours).  If her first nap isn't long, she usually just makes up for it in her second nap. She sleeps in her crib, in her sleep sack, and on her stomach.  I lay her down awake and on her back but she rolls over within 10 seconds of being in her crib.   

Other Fun Facts about 6 Month Old Hannah:  

-She wants to chew on anything and everything.  I feel like she must be teething, but I haven't seen any teeth yet.

-She loves her big sister!  Emily can calm her down in seconds.  She'll start singing to Hannah and all will be well.    

-She will copy us.  If we make a noise, she'll make it right back.  

-She loves peek-a-boo!

-She enjoys being read to, although she tries to eat the book the whole time you're reading!  

-She's sitting up VERY well these days.  I sometimes still put a pillow behind her but she doesn't usually fall.  

-I sometimes call her "Happy Hannah" because this child is HAPPY.  She smiles if you pay her any kind of attention, which is easy b/c I would love to play with her all day.  She has the cutest laugh that will make you grin from ear to ear.  

-She still has a dimple on the right cheek...A-dorable!  

-She has a very specific cry when she's getting sleepy....it's so easy to tell when she's tired....she lets me know it! 

-She really enjoys pulling hair.:)  

-She has started saying "Mamamamama."  I'm not sure if she associates it with me yet, but she's definitely got the sound down....won't be long.:)  

-She dislikes loud noises (vacuum cleaner, the noise made while taping up moving boxes, etc.)

-She loves Baby Einstein.  This DVD is a miracle worker.  If she's fussy and I put this DVD on, she immediately calms down and will watch the whole thing.  

-She doesn't usually mind the car, although the drive to Panama City and back was a little far for her taste.  She let us know it for the last few hours each way.:)  

-She still sucks her thumb to go to sleep, but not usually throughout the day.  

-She loves any kind of water....pool, bath, ocean.  

-Hannah certainly does cry, but she's generally a very easy going baby.  

Happy 1/2 birthday sweet Hannah!  You bring so much joy into our lives!  We love you so so much!!!

Clemson Girls Night

A few nights ago several of my Clemson friends got together for dinner at Smoke on the Water in Greenville.  We had such a great time!  It's crazy that I've known these girls for over 10 years now.  God truly blessed me when he gave me friends like these during my college years.  These girls love the Lord and it's evident in their lives!  

We enjoyed catching up and talking about what's been going on in each of our lives. We missed several girls from our group that don't live in the G'ville area....hope to see them soon!  

L to R:  Keri, me, Kristin, Rachel, Angela, Jennifer

 I always walk away from my time with these girls encouraged and thinking we MUST do this more often!   

Playdate with Hudson

Our good friends Rhett and Shannon are back in Greenville visiting for a couple weeks. It's been so good to see them and catch up on life!  Their little boy, Hudson, was born on January 30th.  He's just 2 weeks older than Hannah.  He's absolutely adorable, as you can see in the picture below!!  

Hudson and Hannah had fun talking to each other and showing each other how good they were at sitting up.:)  

Emily was asleep for most of the playdate, but she woke up in time to play with the babies for a few minutes.:)  She saw my camera laying on the table and insisted on taking a picture.  Emily took the picture below...it's a little close up, but I was proud that our faces were even in it!  Go girl!  

It was a fun afternoon with friends!  

Work Team

We've had several friends come over to help us get the house ready!  Lou, Megan and Chris all came over to help paint and take down wallpaper.  The guys were painting and the girls were taking down wallpaper.  Who do you think got the good end of that deal?  Ha, just kidding!  Megan and I enjoyed chatting and we decided that it really is a great feeling when you get a big strip of wallpaper to come down!

The crew (minus Chris, who literally ran from the camera).  

She was working hard too, playing with her toy and just looking adorable!  

Emily loves going over to the "new house"!  We have no furniture in there and the child runs and runs pretty much the whole time.  I'm not sure what she'll think when we get all of our stuff over there, but she'll adjust.:)  I was trying to get her to stand still to take a picture, but she took off right as I was about to snap it.  I decided this picture was more true-to-life anyway.  

We're so thankful for friends and family that have taken time to come help us get the house ready!!  

Another First - Eating Cereal

Hannah is officially eating solid food now, even if it's just rice cereal!  We started her at 5 1/2 months.  She's still sleeping 11ish hours at night, so we didn't feel the need to start her before now.  She's doing great!!  Here are a few pictures from her first taste!:)  

She wasn't quite sure what to think, so she just stared at the spoon!  

She also kept pushing it out with her tongue.  I'm not sure if she she got any that first time, but she has seriously improved over the last few weeks!  

Emily was cheering her on the whole time...seriously!  She saying "open your mouth, Hannah", "say ahhhh" (while also demonstrating the opening of the mouth), "Yay....good job Hannah!"  

"Somebody clean me up and quit taking pictures!!"  -H

We're so proud of our baby girl!  She's going to be eating what we're eating before I blink my eyes!

These Days

Hannah Beth is growing up fast!  She's actually closer to 6 months than to 5, but here's the picture I took a few weeks ago.:)  

She's rolling over both ways.  I'm sure it's a matter of days before she will be rolling all the way across the room.:)  

Our girls!  Hannah is very interested in grabbing her feet these days.  It's adorable!  

This was Hannahs' first wagon ride.  She's posed for one picture before, but she didn't actually do any riding that time.  She thoroughly enjoyed the ride.  Now that she knows what it's all about I have no doubt she'll want to be in on the action every time the wagon in pulled out.  

Emily is almost 2 1/2 and Hannah is almost 6 months. Bert and I are loving these ages!  It seems like Hannah is learning a new skill every day and Emily is constantly surprising us with her vocabulary and her ability to put together complex sentences.   They're keeping us busy for sure, but we wouldn't want to miss a minute.:)

Bible Time

Emily and I have started having "Bible Time" each morning during Hannah's 1st nap.  (Hannah isn't quite ready to sit through the whole Bible story without fussing or trying to eat the page....we'll bring her in to Bible Time soon though.)  

We're going through "The Big Picture Story Bible" and reading a story or two each day.  This Story Bible is GREAT....perfect for her age!  

She LOVES it!  We usually take breaks to talk a little bit about the story as we're reading.  She'll point to someone in the picture and ask "What they doing, Mama???"  

The other day I asked her if she was ready to have Bible Time and she got so excited.  She started running around looking for her Bible.  She ran up to me and said "Where Bible Time go, Mama."  Ha...she thought the Bible was called Bible Time.  We've been working on it and yesterday as we were walking to the couch to have Bible time she said "This the Bible....Bible is God's Word."  Woohoo....we're making some progress!  

I'm really enjoying this time with my big girl!  She's like a little sponge just soaking everything up.  Thankful this is what she's soaking up.  

Jacob Turns 1

We went over to Toccoa for Jacob's 1st birthday party.  He actually doesn't turn 1 until August 9th, but since the Sanders were in Toccoa last weekend they decided to go ahead and have his party a couple weeks early so that all the family could be there.  

Jacob was more interested in playing than in opening his presents, but don't worry b/c his older cousins were more than happy to help!!  

Happy Birthday, Sweet Jacob!!  We love you so much!!  

Painting, painting, removing wallpaper and more Painting.

We started working on the house the day we closed.  My parents are going to be ready for a vacation when we're all settled in or new place.  They have been a HUGE help.  One night last week they didn't get back to Toccoa until 1 am and another night they didn't get back until 1:30.  Yikes!  Mama kept the girls for me so that I could work on the house too!  I've enjoyed being able to help and the girls enjoyed their Mimi time!  

                                     

Jeff and Linda had planned to come up and join in the painting fun, but because of Bert's grandfather being sick they're trying to spend as much time as they can in FL.  Please keep them in your prayers.  

Brett, Katherine and Jacob were going to Toccoa last weekend.  They decided to come a day early and help us with some painting.  Bert and Brett painted from about 4 -11 (with a dinner break) on Thursday night and then Brett went back over to the house on Friday morning to paint some more while Bert was at work.  We SO appreciated their help and we REALLY enjoyed their company!!  

Jacob was learning to walk right before our very eyes that weekend.  He was already taking several steps before they got here, but by the time they left he was taking even more.  We think he was trying to keep up with Emily.:)  He loved to walk up to Hannah's exersaucer and play with her! 

Homeowners

We closed on our new house on July 24th! We're SO thankful and excited to move in! It's going to be a few more weeks before we move in as we're still finishing painting the entire house except one room. We had the carpet replaced already and we've already taken down wallpaper in five rooms! Come on over sometime and we'll put you to work! :)

Our first night after we closed we bought a Little Cezars pizza and enjoyed just being in our new house together.  The girls were excited!:)  

We're thankful for all of the many blessings He has given us, and we're praying that this home would be used for His glory!  

Meeting Millie and Billie

We found out Bert's Pawpaw has pancreatic cancer, so as soon as we could we hit the road for FL to go visit Mamaw and Pawpaw for a few days.  We were VERY thankful to be able to go and spend that time with them.  We love them SO much!  

On our way down to FL we spent the night in Jackson with Bert's parents.  We were able to see our twin nieces, Millie and Billie, who were not even a week old at the time!  We were excited to get to hold those sweet girls!!  They are absolutely beautiful!  They both weighed 5 lbs 9 oz and were 17 inches long!!  Yes, you read that right....they had the exact same measurements!  Crazy!  

Michael (Bert's brother) and Sarah are doing such a great job!!  I'm SOOO impressed that they're able to function with as little sleep as they're getting.  I remember the first few weeks very well...they're good, but hard. 

This is Linda with 5 of her grandbabies.  Doesn't she look happy??  

All of these kiddos are very blessed to have such a loving, kind, talented, and generous grandmama!!