Auburn pasta

I just found these pictures of some really cool pasta that we got for Christmas. We received a package in the mail before Christmas for Jason that said "Go Auburn" on it. My mom had sent it and I really had no idea how cool it would turn out to be. It was Auburn pasta! Who would have ever thought that you could buy this stuff? So, I cooked it up for the bowl game and we enjoyed rooting for Auburn as we ate this yummy stuff! I added chicken, bacon, and feta cheese to the vinaigrette dressing and it was delicious! It certainly warmed the hearts of these Auburn fans!

Fun with Daddy

Hannah and Jason have had this game playing ritual at night for some time now. They chase each other, play hide and seek, and generally get hyped up together. It really is great fun for me to see them have so much fun together. I love the interaction that they have with one another. Since I enjoyed this type of great relationship with my dad growing up, I love that Hannah gets to experience it too. So, here is their own version of hide and seek. Jason jokingly calls it "hunt the seeker" since rarely does anyone stay hidden for long.

Hannah recently has begun jumping off things to us. She was pretty timid about this up until last week when she began jumping into the swimming pool (which is another post entirely, but certainly a LOT of fun has been had in the pool these last few weeks!). So, she has now carried that adventure into her bedroom where she loves to jump to Daddy's waiting arms. So fun!

These videos just make me so thankful for Jason and his great love for Hannah. Truly I could not do this parenting thing without him and I know that Hannah will benefit so much from these sweet days of interaction with her Daddy.

Oh the joys

So, I have been storing up all the funny things that have been said during the last week of potty training. Enjoy!


1. While I was going to the bathroom (without any privacy) Hannah exclaimed "MOMMY, good job, you went potty!!!!"


2. Jason was trying to help Hannah pull her underwear and pants up after she went potty and she adamantly told him "Daddy, that's MY job!"

3. While we were using the potty at CVS pharmacy, Hannah saw someone else's feet under the next stall, so she kept asking (loudly), "Mama, what are they doing? Mama, what is that person doing? Are they going potty?" They made a quick exit at this point.

4. After praying that God would help Hannah learn how to use the potty, Hannah saw Molly going potty outside and exclaimed "God helps Molly go potty too!"

Alright, I think I am done talking about potty training on the blog. I think we are good to go (pun intended) at this point, so I will move on to more exciting things. Hannah is doing great and we have more fiber around than I know what to do with. YEAH for conquering that big step!

Independence

There is actually a lot that I was not expecting when potty training rolled around, including constipation (PLEASE someone tell me how to solve that!!! Nothing is working right now!!!), teaching bladder control, and learning that throwing soiled underwear away is MUCH easier, although more wasteful, than attempting to clean them out. Besides these things though, I was not expecting the HUGE surge of independence that came in the past week with potty training. If you asked Hannah right now, she might actually tell you she could touch the sky...no joke!

Don't get me wrong, I think independence is necessary and wonderful, but in an almost 3 year old, it can get old quickly! She definitely wants to do things on her terms, which is probablimatic since her Mama has her own terms too. You see where this is going right?! We have butted heads more this week than we have in the past year. It has been interesting to say the least. The most interesting thing to me is that even in this surge of independence there is still a big part of her that wants to be cuddled and held more than normal. She is breaking out into her own little person but still wants to know that her Mama and Daddy love her. Last night she was disciplined by her Daddy and right after the crying stopped, she grabbed him for a hug and then asked him to rock her. It was sweet to say the least, and he certainly took up the cuddling opportunity.

I remember studying this exact concept in my graduate classes and I love that I now see it play out first hand. Erik Erikson came up with 8 stages of psychosocial development from infancy through late adulthood. The stage from age 2-3 deals with autonomy in children and their relationship with their parents. It actually discusses the autonomy coming directly from the potty training stage. While, I don't follow all these philosophies, I do find it interesting to see in Hannah what I learned about years ago.

Somersaults and fillers

Hannah has recently figured out how to do somersaults (sort of). She enjoys doing this over and over as she tries to develop her gymnastic skills. I always enjoy the flop that comes at the end...highly technical, I know.

Hannah has added fillers to her language for some time now, and I just find it so interesting. When she is excited about telling you something or is talking to fast, she adds "filler" words and sounds in to help move her story along. It is pretty comical when she does it. So, here she is talking about Molly with her filler words and sounds. I still find language acquisition fascinating and I love to watch her language develop in this way.

By the way...I have NO idea what she is talking about.

Goodbyes

Today we had to say goodbye to some good friends of ours who are going overseas for 5 months. They will be teaching in a semester abroad program with Baylor in Scotland. Can you imagine? I asked Jason when he thought he might get that gig. I'm all up for it! So, we had their youngest daughter over today to play for one last playdate while her mom packed for the rest of the family. She and Hannah absolutely love one another and play so well together. We painted, did crafts, watched a movie, cooked, chased one anther...long story short, I'm exhausted. But, we had great fun and will dearly miss this family for the next 5 months.

In potty traning news, there is not a whole lot to report. We are doing great with going #1 in the potty, but she is still working on #2 in the potty. It has taken all of my brain power this week to think of different techniques and ideas on how to make this better. I am pretty sure at this point that my brain has been flushed down the potty. Seriously!

We're not without war wounds

Thankfully these war wounds did not come from potty training this weekend but from sibling rivalry in the house. Hannah and Molly like to rough house A LOT (at Hannah's instigation) and unfortunately for Hannah's sweet face, Molly won this time. She is fine, but it sure does look bad when you look at her.

On the potty training front, we are doing GREAT! She went without ANY accidents today and even went #2 on the potty several times at her own initiation. We went to play group today and she even went potty twice at our friends house...so, we are very proud of the progress that she has made this weekend. I am sending her to Mother's day out tomorrow (with several changes of clothes) so we will see how that goes. I am not naive enough to think that we will not still struggle with this some, but as of now I am very encouraged with her progress. YEAH Hannah! So, anyone need some extra packages of size 5 diapers?!?!

We dove in...

...to potty training today! While I have to admit that I am exhausted tonight, I think it is more from the mental exertion it took to watch Hannah like a hawk, and not so much that it went badly. She actually did quite well for her first day (3 #1 accidents) and more times than that actually going in the potty (she even went #2 one time in the potty). So, we will call it a success for today and go at it again tomorrow. Her favorite part is the dancing and joy that ensues after she uses the potty. Tonight she wanted to hold my hand so that we could "dance like Mulan" after she used the potty.
It certainly is the simple and small things that bring the most joy sometimes. Praise God for this!

A full on conversation

I am loving the fact that I can now have and carry on full conversations with Hannah. I love to know what is going on in that little head of hers. Yesterday she gave me a glimpse into her thoughts....

Hannah: "Mama, we are getting a new car later today."
Me: "Really, what kind of car are we going to get?" (by the way, we are NOT getting a new car)
Hannah: "Actually, we are going to get a truck."
Me: "Oh, ok, well what color is the truck going to be?"
Hannah: "Gray, and I am going to ride in the front seat!"

She seemed so proud of herself after this conversation too. She sat in the backseat with a big smile on her face. And, when she did finally see a gray truck she pointed it out to me.

I am thoroughly loving the 2's!!!!

Just some fun pictures of our growing cutie. These are joyful days around our house and we are thankful to God for them.

Bedtime stalling

Hannah has become a master at trying everything to stall her bedtime. It usually happens once she is already in bed. She will pull out all the stops in order to keep her Daddy and I in the room with her, or to get us to come back in the room. Her favorite thing to say to Jason is "Daddy, you want to sleep with me?" He cannot resist these words spoken so sweetly from Hannah, so usually he caves. A few nights ago, she caught me off guard with this conversation after we had shut the lights off and gone downstairs....

H: (yelling and half way whining) "IT'S DARK!!! MOMMY, DADDY, I'M SCARED!!!!"
Me: "Hannah, you may not yell about this, we sleep in the dark every night."
H: (still whining) "But it's dark and I'm scared, I don't like......"
H: (all chipper and happy) "OOOHHHH Mommy, I like your fweater!"

Let me just tell you now that I busted up laughing. I could not contain it. Maybe it was the abrupt change from whining about the dark to liking my sweater. Or maybe it was the way she says sweater (fweater). But, there are many nights when her stalling at bedtime has me busting up laughing. It is these little things about a budding 2.5 year old that make me so thankful to God for her! What a joy!

First haircut

Hannah got her first haircut ever over Christmas from Granny. Jason had been talking about it for some time now, but I didn't necessarily want to take her to a salon to have it done. So, Granny was willing and ready to cut it once we got up to their house for Christmas. Hannah did well with it (although she does not quite know how to keep her head still) and has talked about it alot since then. Granny did a great job and even saved locks of hair for Hannah's baby book. Thanks for the haircut Granny! We love it! Sorry these pictures are grainy...I took them with my phone.
Hannah got the official experience in Granny's salon at home. She had the black cape and sat in a real salon chair.

I loved Hannah's hair, but I hadn't fully realized how stringy it had become in the back. It looks WORLDS better now after taking about 1.5 inches off.

All finished!

Look at this cutie!

Imaginative play

Hannah received her first dollhouse from Gramma and Grandpa for Christmas. It has been so cool for me to see her engage in imaginative play with this dollhouse. Almost all of her other toys (for younger toddlers) do not have any form of imaginative play involved, so I have been delighted with this new change. Hannah has loved playing with it and seems to enjoy all the new possiblities.
It is almost as tall as she is, so she often has to go from one side to another as the family does all sorts of different things.

This is one happy girl! Thanks Gramma and Grandpa!

Hannah's new toy

On Christmas Day Hannah was able to play with a cousin's camera. Long story short, she had a blast with it. It was a kid's digital camera and she has talked about it ever since that day. So, when she received some Christmas money from Granny and Papaw we knew just what to get her. However, when we went to the store we found a better quality camera for the same price, so Hannah is the proud new owner of a digital camera....and she LOVES it! She is getting much better at taking pictures, so I thought I would share some with you.
She caught Daddy making a silly face.

This would be a really nice picture of the backyard that she took, until you realize what Molly is doing....SORRY!

Well, this was a great attempt at taking my picture...but she has not quite learned how to actually get people in the shot.

Taking a picture of the TV that is playing her new Ice Age movie.

She loves to take pictures of Daddy and Molly.

Here is the best one yet. She decided to "take a picture of Hannah" in the mirror. I thought she did a great job too. We have had to teach her how to hold the camera so that her fingers don't cover the lens...
...or you get this shot with fingers in the picture...

...or this shot with full fingers covering the lens.

Oh well, for now, she is enjoying her new toy. I now have an excuse to not let her see my camera anymore too.

Back from the whirlwind

We got back this week from our whirlwind Christmas traveling. We spent a week in Birmingham with Jason's family and then 5 days with my family here in TX. We had a blast, but I will tell you that after 12 days away from home, I was pretty glad to get back. Hannah was starting to show signs of fatigue after being out of routine for awhile.
We had a great time with family though that included good food and great fellowship. I will work on putting up pictures soon, but for now I am just enjoying some quiet time at home.
We are so thankful for the blessings that this holiday season and new year have brought.