Cousin Savannah

My brother was down in the area on business, so he brought my niece Savannah and his wife Amie for a visit and they were able meet Hannah when she was just a week old.

Savannah is close in sound to Hannah, so I kept giving Hannah an identity crisis by calling her Savannah or Haven instead of Hannah! 

Savannah is only eight months old, so her and Hannah will be close in age as they grow up.

Lovin' Hannah

The kids love to hold Hannah. They have been sick this week, so sadly they have not had the pleasure recently.

Hannah is SO tiny! As of a couple of days ago she had grown to a whopping 6lbs and 9oz.

I look a bit tired here. I wonder why?

Levi wants to participate and feed Hannah.

Which baby is the real Hannah? They are about the same size. Actually she has dolls that are bigger than Hannah.

Welcome! Hannah Grace

Hannah Grace was finally born Feb 18th. Even though she was eight days overdue she only weighed 6lbs, 2oz and was 19 1/2 inches long. It was a scary, eventful start (I had my first ambulance ride) that ended up with a quick birth (under two hours after my water was broke). Long story, but God is good. He protected her and we are grateful to such a loving God.

She came out a crying!

She was my smallest baby. She didn't look scrawny, just petite.

Proud mommy!

Proud daddy!

I was having contractions the night before, so Grandma came down to help watch Haven and Levi while I went to my scheduled doctor's appointment. We were hoping the contractions meant she was coming soon. Once I was admitted to the hospital we arranged someone to watch the kids so she could see the birth, but Hannah came a bit too quickly, so she missed it.

Could she be a thumb sucker?

Haven was excited to finally meet her sister.

The nurses put this big bow in her hair. I loved it!

She has the funniest cry. She squeaks.

Levi was having a very important conversation on the phone, so he was a bit distracted. Who knows where Haven's smile went. Maybe she was just annoyed with Levi :o)

Levi LOVES to hold Hannah. Here is is shushing her because she was crying.

She is a bit tiny for the seat and she was not happy to be strapped in.

The walk down to the car was so exciting that she settled down a bit.

She had quite the greeting when she got home!

Valentine's Day

One of the most precious moments of my life happened yesterday. Jonathan brought roses home for his daughter for Valentine's Day. No skimping there! He bought me roses too, but the thought of his daughter warmed my heart beyond belief.

Sleet and Snow

We had a sleet storm that gave us quite a few inches of sleet on the ground. Sleet is not really easy to play with because it is ice and ice packs down. No soft fluff there! Well a couple of days later we did end up having about three inches of snow on top of our three inches of ice, and it finally warmed up enough for the kids to play out in it. This was last week. Today we got even more snow! Anyway, here are a few winter fun pictures.

Notice, I finally broke down and bought a new pair of snow bibs for Haven so that Levi could wear black snow bibs instead of pink snow pants. They were tight on Levi, so I have no idea how Haven fit into them. I guess because she is so skinny and he is stout. He does have Haven's pink gloves, but not for lack of trying to find him some gloves. His hands were to big for the toddler gloves and I couldn't find anything else around this late in the season. He took them off pretty quickly because they didn't fit him quite right.

Haven was climbing up the snowy mountain.

 Jonathan was taking the pictures, because I was safe inside, so I have no idea what this pitiful little face is about. Probably, my hands are cold!

 I asked Jonathan what this picture was and Haven said she was eating snow like a dog. She did see a dog eating snow the other day.....

 Of course there has to be a snow angel!

Mary and Joefus

Since Christmas, Haven loves to talk about and read about Mary and Joefus (Joseph). The other day she went so far as to have me put a blanket on her head and then she got out her horses and she was in her stable.

Today Haven was being Mary again and so of course Levi, who has to do everything Haven does, wanted a blanket on his head. We decided he could be the Joseph.

 This picture cracked me up, because at first glance I thought Haven was sticking her bottom out at the camera, and then I realized it was Levi's diapered bottom.

 I was trying to get Levi to smile for the camera. This wasn't even close, but hey it was something. Notice the blanket on the ground. For some reason he loves for me to spread blankets out.

 Levi eating yogurt. I think more is on his face than in his mouth.

First day of pre-school

Our High School sponsors a pre-school from the end of January to the middle of May. It only cost $30 for the four months!  She attends two and a half hours in the morning. The students come up with lesson plans and they teach and play with the children. Haven was so excited to go to school. She started asking about a month ago when she would get to go, so we made her a paper chain and each night we took a link off. Today was her first day! Jonathan took her and said that at first she seemed a little overwhelmed with all of the students and kids. She asked where her teacher was. She will not have just one, but one of the teens came and introduced herself. She has her own cubby hole with her picture and name. By the time Jonathan said good-bye she walked willingly into the new experience. Thank goodness Jonathan took her. He said it hit him that he was leaving her at school. Who knows how I would have reacted with all of my hormones a raging. I am very excited for her. I know it is something she is going to enjoy. She is such a social child, and this will allow her some interaction with children her age. She also loves to learn, so I know she will catch on quick and enjoy every minute of it! A lady at church had a backpack that was just the right size for papers, but not too big for a little girl. She was much more excited than this picture shows! Levi had the hardest time of all. He could not understand why Haven and daddy were leaving and he did not get to go. He cried and clung to daddy. All was well once they left though.