Catch Up from May

As usual, my post begins by explaining that I have been a horrible blogger and haven't made a post in over a month...also let me add that when one doesn't blog often enough, her posts are REALLY long when she finally does.

It seemed like the month of May lasted about 5 days...it went by really fast!

Hannah was invited to a Princess birthday party for her friend Diane. She was soooo excited to dress up and go to the party! She loved the bouncy house...
...and the pizza was pretty yummy too!
Hannah really hasn't been too interested in going in the pool. This happened last summer. It is so disappointing--we have this refreshing pool in the backyard (gated of course), and all she wants to do is walk around it. She hates to be splashed and has an absolute meltdown if water gets in her face! I bought her this Dora float ring, hoping it would motivate her, and this is what happened:

She just "floated" on our bed. She starts swim lessons tomorrow...I may have to leave the state while she has her lessons. She will be a tough student!

I love this picture...just enjoying a popsicle (NOT after swimming, of course).
On Memorial Day, we went to my sister Jasmyn's house. They had some water activities going on. It took about an hour, but she finally decided she could touch the Slip 'N Slide.

But, time for a quick nap. Standing on the Slip 'N Slide is really tiring...
It took more negotiating to get her in the little pool (this makes zero sense to me), but her she is sitting down. She doesn't look very happy though...
Last week, Hannah's babysitter had a little "graduation ceremony" for the preschoolers, as Hannah will soon be moving to the 3-year old curriculum (say it isn't so! My baby...) This totally cracked me up--look at these little gowns! She even had little hats for them, but she misplaced them before the ceremony, so they kind of look like they are just in a choir!
Hannah is soooo serious--no beach ball throwing for this one!
Later they had some outdoor activities. In front of her is a snow cone--I don't know if she got brain freeze or what, but after two bites she wanted nothing to do with it (again, I often wonder if my child could possibly be from Mars!)
Now time for the ring toss--no cheating involved!
I call this one "Hannah Potato Head"
A few weeks ago, we had an afternoon graduation party to go to. Hannah opted out of her nap that day. She normally takes a 1.5-2 hour nap in the afternoon still. So, of course, at about 4:15, she completely conked out in the car. That was a fun afternoon, let me tell ya.
I love this picture! Hannah is still practicing her smile. She really loves Taylor, they are buddies!
Time for bubbles!
Another edition of the Hannah Funnies:

Hannah: "Mommy, I talking. I talking mommy. Mommy. MOMMY! I talking. I am. I talking.

"Mommy, can I have a bite of your drink?"

"Oh no, daddy has muddy on his shoes!"

"Mommy I like apples. I eat them sometimes. I not going to eat this apple now. I don't want it. I like apples." (Hannah is extremely limited with fruits and veggies---she won't touch them. I am finally bribing her into at least eating a bite or two. The conversation above was after eating a few bites of apple).

"Mommy, I'm pooping. I'm pooping." ( I checked her pull-up and she had not pooped--so I said, " Where, in your imagination?") Hannah replied, "No, in my butt!!!"

Easter!

The Easter Bunny came to the Lavin house a day early this year because he knew we had a very busy Easter planned! Hannah really enjoyed seeing all of the neat things in her basket! Not sure what happened to the coloring of this pic though.Later we made Easter cookies together! She is a great baking assistant!
We even have matching aprons! About halfway through, Hannah randomly said, "But..cookies can't talk mom, they just can't. Well, I disagree Hannah! They talk to me all the time!
Easter Sunday! Hannah really loved her pretty purple dress and her Easter bonnet!
We went to my sister's house for an Easter egg hunt.

Looking for eggs (although if you look in her basket, I'd say she has already done quite well!)


This is her "model" look (you know how in magazines the model is usually looking away, with a serious look on her face, and her hair is slightly tousled by the wind...)
An attempt at a pic of all the kids. Zoey had already been stripped of her dress (to keep it from getting too messy.) Kaden is trying to stop Zoey from walking away. Gavin is smiling for the camera, just like a good boy! Hannah isn't sure why they are all standing there!
I made this Easter Bunny cake for later, during our visit with Jim's family (of course, I didn't take any other pics there...oh well). I turned this the right direction in iphoto, but when I went to upload it, it was the wrong direction. This is so irritating! (Does anyone know why it does this?)
This picture is from March. Hannah and Jim were watching March Madness basketball and playing basketball together outside. She insisted on the orange tutu...I think her outfit is madness!
Also from March...Mirror, mirror on the wall...
Who's the fairest of them all?????
I think the answer is obvious!

Ostrich Festival and More

Last weekend we went to the Ostrich Festival in Chandler. Hannah and I rode the little elephant merry-go-round. (Please disregard the grumpy look on Hannah's face; I'm pretty sure it's just the camera angle and the lighting!)The ostriches stared us down! It freaked Hannah out a bit!
We went into the petting zoo...lots of goats and sheep.
Caught this one licking his lips! I think he was hungry for some cotton candy!
Hannah rode on Daddy's shoulders!

Ostrich Festival Recap:

We decided that Hannah is a "cheap carnival date."

She didn't really want the yummy carnival food...she just ate what I had brought for her.

The petting zoo wasn't her thing either, so we didn't have to buy any animal feed.

She was too little for most of the rides, so again, we didn't spend much on that.

So....

Corndog: $4.50

Animal Feed: $3.00

Pony Rides: $5.00

Unlimited ride wrist band: $25.00

Taking Hannah to the Ostrich Festival: PRICELESS!! (literally!)

On a completely different note, below are some pics of Hannah and her cousin Tommy playing "Hide and Seek."
Yes, above they think that Jim can't see them hiding behind the poles! They got such a kick out of it!
Sharing a snack together.

Practicing Her Smile

We have been trying to teach Hannah how to smile; also known as showing her "happy face". We've had some hits and some misses with this...

Getting close, just not quite there yet.
Instead of a "happy face", this is the "leave me alone" face.
Ooooh, look at that one! Close, but looks quite posed!
Aaaah, now that's a HAPPY face! I love this face!
Mmmm, enjoying a cupcake (and as the mom of a child who until recently wasn't much interested in cupcakes or many other treats, I am the one smiling behind the camera!!!)
Hey, another (almost) smiley face!
Now THAT is a serious smiley face! Wish it weren't so blurry!
Other funnies by Hannah:

Me: Hannah, do you need to go potty?

Hannah: Yes I don't!

Hannah: I wanna watch the eck-you-ers (The Rescuers; one of her newest movie discoveries)

Hannah: No, I'm serious! (more like "see-we-us")

Sometimes Jim and I will sing along with whatever movie she is watching. Her response often goes like this: "No, don't do that..." (she must be tone deaf because Jim and I both have really good voices..)

The other night at bedtime, we laid her down and turned off the light. She quickly sat up and said, "Mama I can't see my eyes! I can't see my eyes!" We just didn't have the heart to tell her that she won't be able to see her eyes unless she is looking in the mirror!

She cracks us up!

She is seriously growing up waaaayyyy toooooo ffaaaaasst!!!

Dora

Hannah has a new obsession...Dora! She loves watching Dora on TV! I am having to limit how much she watches because she could literally watch Dora for hours and hours at a time! That is just too much TV! Thank goodness for the DVR...she just watches the same episodes over and over. We got some Dora toys as a hand-me-down..including this Dora doll. She LOVES her!Just patting her on the head to make sure she's comfortable
I am trying to teach Hannah to smile for the camera..this is how it turned out!
Now for Mommy bragging time:

Hannah is doing sooooo well on the potty! We have been potty training since Christmas. Right now, she is wearing pull-ups and pretty much keeps a dry pull-up all day because she is going so much in the potty! She'll have maybe one accident each day. There are also times when she doesn't want to go potty b/c she is playing (or watching Dora...). There is some bribing involved, but for the most part, she goes when we put her on! She still hasn't gone #2 yet...which I hear takes longer. She also doesn't tell us when she needs to go yet...so we need to work on that too. She's been waking up dry in the morning and dry after naps for the past 3 weeks! She's doing so well and I am so proud of her!!!