Spending Time With Family

 Every time the horse went up and down she made a "whoo" sound.  It was funny!

My brother was in town last week from Germany, so Hannah and I tagged along with my brother and parents to Seattle for the day.  Hannah loves her uncle Justin.  She met him earlier this summer when we were all in California, but she loved him even more this last time he was in Seattle.  We walked around Pike Place Market, did some shopping, rode the carousal, and ate at Ivar's with all the seagulls.  Hannah loved the carousal ride, and was very intrigued by all the seagull at Ivar's on the pier. 

Labor Day Weekend

 Hannah ran out of clean, dry clothes so she wore my sweatshirt the last morning.

We had to get a picture of the entire families feet in the sand :)

This past weekend we took our first family vacation.  Where did we go?.....camping along the Washington coast.  Every year Blake and I suggest going somewhere over the long weekend, but by the time we actually get around to planning something it's too late.  This year we got online early, reserved a camp site, and kept our fingers crossed for nice weather.  We couldn't have asked for a better weekend.  The sun was shining, the ocean was surprisingly warm, Hannah loved the beach and did great sleeping in a tent, Lucy was in heaven being in the woods and water, and the best part was no cell phones or internet for 2 days.  Blake and I had some great talks around the fire with no interruptions from phones, we were able to play games, and just enjoy each others company.  Life has become so focused on "being connected" but it's really important to unplug from the world every once in a while.  We had such a great time, we may have started a new family tradition of camping every Labor Day weekend. 

Big Girl

At Hannah's last appointment with her pediatrician, she suggested that I start letting Hannah feed herself with a spoon and fork.  Of course that gave me a little anxiety with how messy things can get, but doctors orders.  Here was our first attempt with yogurt.  Hannah thought it was fun and did fairly well. 

Birthday Party

I can't believe that our love bug will be "1" on the 31st.  Where has the time gone?! With each milestone, it's bittersweet.  I miss some things about her being little, but at the same time I'm also so grateful for the stage we're at now.  This past weekend we celebrated her birthday with family and friends.  I went a little crazy with learning new skills, and putting them to the test for her party.  I knew she wouldn't remember her first birthday, but my philosophy was if I never have another girl I wanted to make sure I made this the best girl birthday party ever.  I took a cake decorating class and learned how to work with fondant.  I learned how to make tissue paper pom poms at a mutual activity.  I made stuffed animal owl party favors, inspired by someone selling them on Etsy.  Best of all, inspired by Pinterest, I made a tulle tu-tu and a fabric cake and sewed it on a onesie for Hannah's birthday outfit.  It was all a lot of work, but so fun at the same time.  Hannah had a blast with cousins and friends and she loves all of her new toys. 

Stuffed animal party favors- so fun to make.

Ready for the party!

I can't wait to make another cake and decorate it with fondant.

First baby doll.  It even giggles.

She loved her cake.  She still doesn't love things stuck on her fingers.

Ready for the sun with her new shades.

Her birthday was an owl and bird theme.  She loves her PB Kids owl "Joy" and now she has her sibling "Penny."

Splish Splash

It's finally summer here in Washington, so Hannah and I have had a few play dates at the local outdoor pool.  I think Blake felt left out, so we went last night.  The water was warm, but the air was cool so our swim was short.  Hannah loves the pool, so I'm sure her and I will be going again soon. 

Lately

We've been playing outside a lot

Our "hungry little hippo" eating pizza and ice cream-YUM!

Discovering the fan

We have a beaver in our house and it's not Blake, Lucy, or I.  Hannah pried off the rubber crib protectors with her teeth and thought she would try out wood to see if she liked it.  Apparently she did.  I had to hurry and make these fabric protectors.  They turned out cute, and I learned how to use my serger in the process. 

Hannah discovers a laser...

Memorial Weekend

Memorial weekend in the Northwest is the kickoff weekend to camping. We had great intentions to join in on the festivities, but when we checked locations to camp everything was taken. Instead we stayed in town and hiked Saturday, went to Yakima to visit Blake's parents Sunday, and had a BBQ with friends on Monday. By Tuesday, we were tired. Hiking was so much fun. It was Hannah's first time, so I was curious to see how she did. She loved it, but then again what's not to love when you're carried around for 7 miles. Lucy had a great time too. She loves being outside in the woods. When we got to the top of the mountain we had our picnic and enjoyed the sights of the waterfall. The way down was the funniest part of all. Lucy was wet from the hike up, but fairly clean. Until she saw the biggest area of mud. She literally went up to it, laid down, and then proceeded to roll around a few times. She was completely covered. Hannah made us laugh coming down the mountain as well. She was making noise and kicking around, and then all of a sudden she was silent and her head was down. She had fallen asleep.

Crawling Mishap

Hannah is in full blown crawling. We thought she would never master "commercial baby crawling" but she surprised us a few weeks ago. She getting really fast, and likes to get into everything. Today I had the laptop on the floor and I turned my head for one second, she grabbed the top of it, her hand slipped and her eye met the laptop. She's usually tough when it comes to hurting herself, but this one made her cry and left a mark. I felt soooo bad.

Thanks Grandma Gibbons

Blake's mom made this dress for Hannah a few months back and she finally fits into it. There was this adorable cherry stocking cap that went with it, but the weather has gotten too warm for that, so I made a headband that matched.

Daddy's Idea

I walked into the room to this last week. Blake thought he would take every ring to Hannah's toy and have her wear it. I think she was fine with it until she realized they didn't slide off very easily.

Lucy's 2nd Birthday

I can't believe it's taken me this long to post these pictures. Lucy's birthday was back on April 22nd. There's this local pet store called Paddywacks that have these special birthday dog treats, so we picked out one that looked like a cupcake for Lucy's big day. I thought the birthday hat was only fitting for a picture :)

Growing like a WEED

Hannah is already 9 months old! The time has gone by so fast. It makes me sad sometimes to think how big she's getting. I keep reminding myself to cherish each day with her because the day will come soon enough when she doesn't want me to snuggle and rock her to sleep. I think that will be the thing I miss most as she gets older. She is such a snuggle bug and I love that about her. Hannah is at such a fun stage in life. She has such a little personality that makes me laugh. She will chuckle when you tickle her. She's big enough to sit in her stroller without the car seat attached; she loves to look out and see where we're going. She has two little chicklet teeth on the bottom. She will eat just about anything you give her, especially ice cream and Greek yogurt. She's starting to warm up to my dad, and that's a big feat for her. She loves the sunshine. There for a while she acted like it was going to burn her eyeballs. Now each sunny day we have a play date in the backyard with toys and Lucy. She loves Lucy and I can't wait to see her chase Lucy around in the backyard. They're such good pals. I took these pictures about 3 weeks ago, before her teeth started to show.

Easter

Hannah's first Easter dress


Easter dinner at Grandma Pitts house, outside enjoying the sunshine

This past week was so much fun. We took a trip out to Utah for 5 days to spend time with family and friends, and to see our niece Halle be baptized. Hannah loved being around all of her family. I think she enjoyed all the attention she was getting.

Spring is Here!

Yesterday the sun was shining so I took advantage of the light for some pictures. Hannah is getting so funny when you get her to smile. She literally smiles with her whole face-such a ham! It makes me laugh.