Santa Santa Santa!!!

I had been debating over whether to take Hannah to see Santa at the mall. On the upside, I could get the cute picture of her sitting on his lap. On the downside, it would be really expensive, we'd probably have to wait in line, and she'd probably freak out and refuse to sit on his lap after waiting all that time.

So, after much debate, I decided to not mess with the mall. Fortunately, Hannah's babysitter had Santa come to her house over the weekend, and all the kids were invited to come visit and sit on his lap! And it was free!

I didn't really think she'd go for it. But somehow, Ms Kris, Hannah's sitter convinced her to sit on his lap! Without tears!!!
He pulled a bracelet out of his bag for her.
She loved admiring her new bracelet!
Now off to a completely different topic...

I had this great idea (at least it seemed like a great idea...) to cover the top of the coffee table with wrapping paper. It's multi-functional. It obviously adds to the decor of the room, but also allows for Hannah to be able to color and use Play-doh on the table without me having to clean up after her. Since she is so in love with Charlie Brown right now, I used the Charlie Brown Christmas paper. Pretty neat, huh?

Here's the problem...

Apparently she didn't quite get the point!!!
She decided that it needed to be unwrapped! Oh boy, so much for my bright idea...

I decided to rewrap it, but this time I had her watch me wrap it. We talked about how Mommy was going to put paper on the table and that Hannah needed to leave it there. So far it has survived the evening...so I guess we'll see!!!

H is for Hannah

Look at the super cute outfit that my Aunt Jasmyn made me for my birthday! Yes, you heard that correctly! She made my matching shirt and skirt!

P.S.--the only reason I'm smiling here is because my parents bribed me with M&M's to smile. It worked. I have them wrapped around my finger!
See, this was before the M&M bribe. I'm not really smiling yet. Instead I'm giving the "what are you going to give me?" look...
Even though Halloween is over, I really love pushing my little Halloween bear around in his stroller.
Awwwww...

Happy Halloween!

We had a busy Halloween weekend!

We took Hannah to the Pumpkin Patch. She was quite impressed by all the pumpkins!!! However, I think this is the only picture of her smiling. She was also very serious at the pumpkin patch!
I'll just give this one a big wet kiss!!!


Still no smiling
No, not yet, no smiling yet.
Later...we carved them. Dad had control of the camera.
Then on Halloween day, Hannah and I made sugar cookies!
Hannah really loved playing with the flour!
Then it was time to put on her Viking cheerleader costume! (Unfortunately the costume didn't bring the team any luck...)

At the end of the evening, Hannah was completely tired! We brought out her little couch and put it in the driveway where we sat and waited for more Trick-or-Treaters. She laid there and watched "It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown." She watched that movie 10 times over the weekend! She loves it! All the parents who walked up with their kids got such a kick out of her. She has a serious poker face on--she didn't even flinch when people commented how cute she was!
Happy Halloween!

A Visit with Family

Hannah really loves her family! She loves playing with her cousins. A few weeks ago Luke came over to play. He and Hannah really enjoyed coloring together!Then, he read her a bedtime story (which was apparently VERY funny)!!!
During Fall Break, my cousin Heather came to town with her little boy Liam. Hannah is just 3 months older than him.

We started their vacation here with a visit to the zoo. Hannah loved the Little People play area. It sure was a warm Arizona day in October though!

That night, Hannah and Liam enjoyed milk and a movie! I was relieved that Hannah shared her couch. She became a little possessive of her things while he was here! We are still working on sharing!
One day we went to the "Hangar Cafe" at the Chandler airport for breakfast. It is a neat little diner located near the runway. You can watch the planes take off and land while you eat! We loved this view of the two kids walking together. As you can see, Hannah had pulled one of her pigtails out and I hadn't had the chance to fix it.
We also visited the aquarium at Arizona Mills Mall one day. It was really neat! Look at those stingrays!!!

We stood inside the tunnel and you can take your picture from the outside.
We also took a day trip to Tucson to visit my Uncle Rick and Aunt Cheryl (who live in Tucson). My cousin Caitlin is holding Liam (her first cousin once removed). My sister Jasmyn is on the left, holding Zoey, and her son Kaden is in the middle.
Of course we had to allow for some park time! Look at these two cute kids on the slide!
Liam is a sweetie. What a great smile!
Heather and I only got one picture together. Heather actually just held her arm out and took it. She's taller than me, but I made sure that I stood on my tippy toes while she bent down a little. It's nice to be taller than her!
Also during that week...my nephew Kaden celebrated his 5th birthday!
...And my niece Zoey celebrated her 1st birthday! There's me and my sis Jasmyn and our two girls...they are 13 months apart!
Do you think Zoey enjoyed her cake?
Yep, I think that's a fair assumption!

It was a busy week, but it was a great week!

Soon...Halloween!!!

The World's Worst Blogger!!!

Well, I think I have won the award for the World's Worst Blogger! It has been so busy lately and my evenings (after Hannah goes to bed) are filled with cleaning or getting ready for the next day. It feels busier than ever!

So...here's Hannah's 2nd Birthday Post Part 2

I made a little Elmo poster for the door.
And an Elmo cake to match! The cake didn't actually taste that great--the frosting had so much food coloring in it that it tasted funny! But, it sure was fun to make and to look at, and Hannah got a kick out of it!!!
Cookie Monster cupcakes, round 1...
Cookie Monster cupcakes, round 2...
Family and friends came over to celebrate! Hannah sure did have fun sitting at her little picnic table with the other kids!!! (Is Gavin looking to swipe some food off her plate??? Hmmmm...)

Meanwhile, Tommy and Katie are having a deep dinner conversation!
Oops...blurry!
When it was time to open gifts, Hannah was much too busy playing. It was like pulling teeth to get her to open anything!
Kaden was quite willing to help though!
What??? A pink and purple Radio Flyer Tricycle! Yippee!!!
Aunt Jaz gave me these really cool boots. They zip up. I love to run around in my t-shirt, diaper, and pink boots! Not only do they keep my feet nice and sweaty, but the whole concept drives my mom crazy! She thinks I am obsessed with the boots!
A few days later...

Hannah also loves to imitate me putting on make-up. It used to be easy--I would just give her the blush brush and she would "pretend". Now she wants to be more like me! She has to open the container, and just "pretending" doesn't really work! Did she get enough blush on that brush?
Yes! Hannah has a pink chin! Oooohhh..I'm not supposed to worry about make-up until the early teen years. We're in trouble!
Is this a sign of the Terrible Two's???