Hannah's 3rd Birthday

Hannah loved her birthday party!

Happy 3rd Birthday sweetheart!

Hannah’s 3rd birthday - I decided to take an hour or so in the morning so I could be there when Hannah woke up and see her off for the day, she woke up sleepily and snuggily, but quickly came around and realized it was in fact, her birthday!!!  She loved the Elsa banner and decorations we had for her and was excited to kick her morning off with a few presents, which she immediately wanted to either wear (the cupcake sprinkles dress I had ordered for her!) or put meticulously in her “pack pack” to take with her for the day.  She had a great morning at school and then woke up from her nap to learn that her mommy was there with pink frosted cupcakes!  (I also left work ask soon as I was done teaching my AP class, it was nice to have a fun excuse to ditch work). She finally got to enjoy the moment she had been looking forward to for weeks - when everyone would sing “Happy Birthday” to her!  After that, I was really excited to tell her that we were going on a special “just Mommy and Hannah” outing and that we would be gone for an hour and then pick up Lily.

Daniel took this picture when she got to school - super excited that it is her birthday!

Pink cupcakes and a class singing to her, as promised!

Knowing it could be a disaster, but hoping it would be awesome instead (because I really did think she would love it), I took Hannah to a salon, that had special pink princess butterfly chairs to do a mommy and me pedicure! And she LOVED it! She did a great job and while keeping her hands still was a struggle - she did manage to do it! After they were done and we waited a little longer to let everything dry, we headed back to school to pick up Lily and then head home. Hannah triumphantly ran around school showing everyone her nails as we picked Lily up...both barefoot...because I had forgotten flip flops and with it being still quite chilly outside, I really wasn't willing to risk wrecking my pedicure by shoving my feet into shoes and I knew if Hannah put her boots back on it would be game over!  

surprise princess pedicure!

excited for this to be the first of many mommy and me pedicures!  

By the time we arrived at home, all dazzled up, but before we had opened presents or had cake, Hannah was already running through the house, arms outstretched, shouting "best birthday ever!!!!"

Hannah, newly 3, Lily 11 months

We ate dinner, enjoyed her ridiculous cake - it was pink strawberry inside, with blue vanilla buttercream frosting and a layer of chocolate buttercream inside. And then enjoyed opening presents - which she was thoroughly excited about. She loved her new Belle dress and princess nightgowns and was adorably touched that Lily had "bought" her a present, exclaiming "ooooh, thank you Lily!!!" - it was really sweet. And as suspected, the design and drill set was a huge hit.

Hannah with her crazy cake combination.  Frozen color cake with pink inside and  oh, yeah! some chocolate!  

Before the night was over, but once she had opened her cake and presents, she was already confirming that it was “mommy’s birthday next” - not sad to have her birthday be over, but excited to shift the focus onto the next person’s turn.  It was a truly humbling reminder of who our Hannah is.

she loved her design and drill set

We opted to have her birthday party at a place called the "Playseum" in Bethesda - a children's museum of sorts that had a lot of different "shops" and stations that children could work through, and also came with "playseum dollars" that could be used to buy different goods or services in some of the shops - including books, making lip gloss or soap, painting different items in the art studio, snacks, etc. Ultimately, it went wonderfully - it was a bit crowded and crazy at times, but overall, the kids had a great time and we managed to enjoy seeing our adult friends while the kids played in the different areas - and most importantly? Hannah had a blast and absolutely loved that story time was tailored to her and the "decorate your own cupcake" session that ended with, once again, everyone singing her happy birthday.

playing at her birthday party

this photo totally cracks me up

snuggling with baby bunnies in the pet shop

opening her presents after her party - Happy Birthday Hannah!  

Lily @ 11 - Our smiley opportunist

Lily @ 11 months!

At eleven months, Lily is the resident opportunist and is continually grabbing what Hannah discards or what she has shifted her focus away from. Her second word was "uhoh" and her third was "mama." Two words Hannah has been distorting in adorable ways lately are "pasketi" (spaghetti) and chuff bars (clif bars).

Sister love on Valentine's Day

:) My valentines!

A random Wednesday night at our house - plenty of antics! :)

Hannah was super psyched to get a valentine from her Daddy

They are so adorable together!

President’s Day weekend was a magical weekend for me - I disregarded almost all “things” that had to be done and really enjoyed hanging out with Hannah and Lily.  It was really wonderful.  Hannah is so independent now and has an increasingly silly sense of humor and Lily is sharing her personality more and more each day.  Lily waves really well now - but it’s a hand-wrist wave that turns almost in circles and is really cute.  When we go to leave a room with her at my hip, she waves at whomever she is leaving behind.

parks and sunshine!

Hannah is our incredibly coordinated monkey who can scale these all by herself!  (It was taller than me...and she's still 2!)

Hannah loved her braided play doh necklace

We moved this ottoman upstairs this weekend...and then couldn't find Hannah.  ..She had grabbed a blanket, and her iPad, and crawled in and was entertaining herself in her little cozy hideaway!

Lily has been continually crawling up behind Hannah and grabbing whatever she discards or has set down - like a half eaten apple, a ziploc of quesadilla pieces, a toy, etc.  And then she crawls away and enjoys that said prize all by herself, thoroughly pleased with her triumph.  It’s hilarious and adorable.  Possibly problematic later on, but for now, it’s very cute.  She has also started playing more independently from me and can crawl away and play for 10-30 minutes at a time in her play areas now!  Not all the time - but it is starting!  There was a moment a few evenings ago, when Daniel and I suddenly realized, “hey! Both kids are playing, happily and independently in the living room and we can stand in the kitchen and chat at the same time!”  It was amazing!!!  :)

Sleepy girl!

She can climb the stairs with ease

she LOVES this little foam chair and climbs into it every chance she has and looks so smug and pleased with herself when she does

Lily often sits with her legs bent both facing to the right - it looks awkward, but she moves in and out of it really easily.  She has also been putting everything on her head and laughing, it's one of her favorite things to do. She is into EVERYTHING at home and is really fast. She has easily gets very screamy/frustrated if she can’t do what she wants - like grab the remote or climb onto a precarious spot, etc.  She loves to hug and is just the cuddliest baby - so often when you pick her up she just snuggles in for a big hug! :) And she loves to be chased and under the chin tickles.

2 yrs 11 months, barreling towards three-nager

Our happy 11 month old loves swings!

Lily @ 10 Months - Visiting Elsa's House, Lots of new teeth, and Family Time

And we are off!  We have made it to Dulles, parked our car, dragged our things to the shuttle stop and are awaiting our shuttle to the airport - we have a long way to go, but are excited for VACATION!  

With two under three, this is how we roll.  

This month we embraced the crazy and finally made our way back down to Florida for a wonderful, whirlwind visit with friends and family! It was lovely and an additional, beautiful bonus was getting to spend time together as a family as well, I love vacation so much! Daniel has returned to Florida for work several times, but I had not returned since I was 16ish weeks pregnant with Hannah, when I had flown back to present at the state social studies conference in October of 2013, very shortly after our move to Maryland. For our trip to Florida, we cashed in our long postponed tickets to the Chicago baby-moon that the 2016 DC Snowpocalypse had obliterated and put it all towards taking our sweet family of four on an adventure.

Not only are we delayed, but they are kicking us off the plane.  No bueno.

herrrrro, airlines, get it together please...

Back on the plane!  We are going to Florida after all!  :-D

Hannah doing more than our share in Orlando!

The whole six day trip was wonderful and we split time between Orlando and Melbourne, but barely fit in the moderately ambitious plans that we had - and definitely missed catching up with many, many friends. But, still, it was a lovely trip and we even took one day and adventured to Disney, so that Hannah could meet her most obsessed about character - Elsa (from the movie Frozen). We were realistic about what we could manage and didn't even attempt the Magic Kingdom too (really in terms of Disney, we barely scratched the surface...but it wasn't even the main goal of the trip) - but we did meet Elsa and for Hannah, it was pure magic.

so so excited to meet Elsa - she's waiting in line (newly soaked from Florida showers), super excited

giddy doesn't even cut it!  :)

giving one last glance to Elsa on our way out :)

enjoying our lovely ride - and mickey mouse chocolate popsicles

fountains at Epcot

And then there was watching our girls interact with our friends and family and just getting to catch up with such dear people who had been such a central part of our lives for so many years! It was wonderful to get to pick things up where we had left off and enjoy everyone's company so easily. We even managed to meet up with former students who had two daughters just a few months younger than Hannah and Lily respectively and enjoy strolling through the Melbourne zoo with them.

Our mornings are so often rushed and crazy - after getting in after such a harried trip down, it was so nice to have a lazy morning with Chris and Natalie and some sweet snuggle time with these girls :)

Hannah and Lily got some bonding time too!

they loved Aunt Marsha!

meeting up with Paige and her sweet girls at the zoo!

Enjoying the zoo...and time with mommy

And, for Hannah, the beach and the Melbourne coastline was an instant hit. She found the edge of the water enchanting and both girls had a great time at the pool. And! It was also wonderful just have time away from the daily grind and to get to spend time together as a family. It was all just really wonderful!

beach time!

it took a few minutes, but Hannah was a huge fan!

those cheeks!!!  :)  OMG

pool escapades with daddy

staying warm with mom by the pool

Since we have gotten home from Florida, Hannah continually states that she wants to go home.  After our first full day back in routine, I was tucking Hannah into bed and she was begging to go home.  

When I explain, “honey, we are home,”

Hannah will exclaim “No! Go other people’s homes, different houses!!!”  

Me:  “So you want to visit Chris and Natalie?  Or Uncle Bill and Aunt Marsha?  Or Brie and Thomas and our Florida friends?

Hannah:  “Yes!!”

Me:  Aww, Hannah, you have a travel bug like mommy and daddy!

Hannah: *eyes wide* “No trouble, no trouble”

Me: *gently laughing* “aww, no, not trouble, TRAV-EL.  Mommy and daddy and Hannah and Lily are travelers.  We like to explore and go to different places and travel around the world.  

princesses celebrating A's special birthday!

evening shenanigans and snuggles

Additional Hannah musings from our almost-three-year-old daughter:  

When we say that we love Hannah, she replies “I love you too much!” instead of “I love you so much” or “I love you too”... I love it!

Hannah insists that “Mommy loves Daddy, Daddy loves Mommy, Hannah loves Lily, Lily loves Hannah, Chance loves Holly, Holly loves Chance”  

Our beautiful winter snowflake at the winter show...who sang the first song...and then ran off stage because she hated the second song...

Hannah asks “Why” frequently now - and when you call her on asking it so many times in a row that it’s ridiculous, she just bursts out laughing.

Hannah also loves to say “it’s delicious!!!” and “I’m ridiculous” ...and it seems so funny somehow to hear more complex words come out of her mouth.  

Olaf was at the winter fest at Hannah's preschool

Hannah tells Lily “you're bokay" over and over and over when Lily starts crying and hovers over her like a mother hen.

the new bookshelf/reading seat, that has been a hit

Lily our excited wiggler and big time snuggler:

At 10 months, Lily has more and more personality almost every day.  She wiggles and shows her excitement by bouncing up and down with her entire body.  She’s an AMAZING snuggler - when you pick her up she cuddles right into you - with her arms and by tucking her head into my shoulder in the sweetest way.  For weeks already she also has understood the phrase “no.”  She can be heading over to the dog food and can reach for it, and I can say “Lily no” and she already stops, turns and looks at me… (her face usually then crumples into a protesting cry, acting as if her feelings are horribly hurt that I said no). We started the month out with her second front tooth allllmost breaking through and have ended this month with almost six teeth. In a single week we went from 3 teeth to 5 to alllllmost 6!

they loved their new sweaters from Aunt Betsy!

oh that dimple!

Lily @ 10 months

As we end nine and reach month ten, Lily seems longer and leaner and when she crawls it’s much more coordinated, fast and aggressive.  She climbs stairs and is standing to cruise way more steadily now - usually only holding on with one hand. After a really stormy, tumultuous week with Lily, it was suddenly as if the dark and stormy had never happened, the clouds cleared and our daughter was ever-so-suddenly the happiest baby you have ever seen.  All smiles and giggles and whole body bouncing up and down with excitement.

I believe Hannah demanded we take this picture as she exclaimed, "family time!!!"