Thursday, October 16, 2008

Moving Mania!

This week we have been playing musical rooms at our house and clearing out our front room to change into our room, so that we can clear out our room and change it into Hannah's room. Let me tell you it has been craziness!! I don't think we realized how much stuff was in that front room that just accumulated over the last 6 years. For the most part we had to move all that stuff into living room/kitchen area which created complete disaray in those rooms so that Adam could paint our room. We choose the color "creme" which at first seemed more of a goldish tan but turned out more of a goldish yellow...it is nice though...it really brightens up the room.
I have been busy organizing and sorting all our crap and finding a proper place for it while Adam has been busy painting, cleaning carpets, and moving furniture. We have had a few late nights and we are tired but we must keep going!! I am determined to get this done by Hannah's b-day. Last night we completed the move into our new room and spent our first night in there which in turn has made Tulip so confused. When we finished emptying out our old room she walked down the hallway and looked in there and then looked at Adam putting together our bed in the new room and gave him a look as if to say "What the hell is going on in here?!". We realized that for 6 years and all her life we have been in our old room so this is obviously super confusing to her. All night long she looked really stressed out and confused.
When it came time to go to bed it was really hard convincing her to go lay on her bed in the new room. On top of it her bed as always been at the foot of our bed and Adam's dresser with the TV on top of it but since this room is shorter but wider she cannot fit in between the foot of the bed and Adam's dresser and now has to be on the side of our bed and next to my dresser...this has caused her additional stress. When I told her to lay on her bed she kept walking over to the foot of the bed and in between Adam's dresser and looking at me like aren't you going to move my bed over here, this is where I am suppose to lay down. I finally convinced her to get on her bed in the new spot but you could see she was not comfortable with it or relaxed. If we did not have the baby gate to keep her in there she would be out of there! I just felt so bad for her b/c you can't explain it to her.
Tonight the move into Hannah's room starts and will continue over the next few days as we make it her own. I plan to have her spend her first night in there on Sunday so she wakes up in there on Monday, her birthday. Pictures will come when the move it complete!

Monday, October 6, 2008

The Pacifier Fairy

The Pacifier Fairy came to our house this weekend! Now Hannah calls her pacifier her "pac", pronounced "pass" so that is how I will refer to it. Being that Hannah is almost 3 years old, and there is a hole in her pacifier and we didn't want to buy a new one, we have been wanting to get rid of it for a while now but have not had the best idea on how to go about it. We definitely wanted to conquer this problem before her little sister comes too. About a month ago on "Super Nanny" I learned of "The Pacifier Fairy"...here is how it works:

We warned Hannah that this weekend "The Pac Fairy" might be coming and so on Sunday before nap time we decided that this is when she would come. We told Hannah that the "Pac Fairy" comes when she feels boys and girls are old enough to give up their pacifiers to babies and smaller boys and girls that need it more then she does. What we do is we place it in an envelope, address it to the "Pac Fairy" and put it in the mailbox. If Hannah managed to get along without her "pac" and be a big girl and take a good nap without her pac the "Pac Fairy" would know leave a present for her. So before nap time we addressed our envelope to the "Pac Fairy" and Hannah for some reason remembered some little boy at the pool that she thought needed it so we made a special request on the back for the "Pac Fairy" to give it to that little boy. Here are the pictures of us going out to the mailbox before nap time to place our pacifier in there for the "Pac Fairy":

The front of the envlope:


The back with our special request:


And Hannah putting it in the mailbox and putting up the flag:




Then we went back inside and I read her a few stories. Normally I sit and rock with her a little bit but she wanted to go to sleep right away so the "Pac Fairy" could come...great!

When she woke up from her nap about 2 hours later she started to cry b/c she didn't think the "Pac Fairy" had come. Apparently she thought she would see her. We had to explain to her that the "Pac Fairy" is really quick and that she would leave the present in the mailbox for her. So off we went to check the mailbox and low and behold there was something in there for her!!

Getting ready to open up the mailbox:


The package!!




Hannah was so excited she was jumping up and down in Adam's arms and gave him a big hug! Then we had to quickly go inside to see what she brought to Hannah:



Hannah had a great time pulling out each of the 3 books and then of course we had to sit there and read them. We were so proud of her and she did such a great job without her "pac". Granted the last about 1 1/2 years at school she has been sleeping without it b/c they make them give it up in the Toddler Room but she had never done that at home. We even let her choose a special dinner last night and she chose pizza with olives of course...her favorite. Then we had special family movie night and watched "Lady & the Tramp" in Mommy & Daddy's room.

All was going well until she had a rough time falling asleep and she kept saying she wanted to go sleep in Mommy & Daddy's room. She didn't fall asleep until about 9:30pm and I was beginning to worry it was due to her lack of the pacifier. She even got up in her crib at one point and looked around on the shelf where her "pac" was normally kept but she never mentioned it at all. She finally fell asleep and slept until about 8am this morning only waking up maybe once last night...so overall I would say her first official night without her "pac" was a successful one! Let's hope it continues, but much thanks to Super Nanny for the wonderful "Pacifier Fairy" idea!

Monday, September 22, 2008

Is there an otter in the house?

This weekend Adam's mom came up to visit and help us with some house stuff. On Saturday night she watched Hannah for us so Adam and I could go out on a date. We went to McCormick & Shimeck's for dinner which was really nice. I ventured out of the box and out of my comfort zone and got Dover Sole which I have never had before and it was the first time since I can remember that I haven't order my "standard" on any menu and really enjoyed it. I was pleasantly surprised b/c it was really good! It did come with mashed potatoes so that helped.
Anyway, when we came home Adam's mom let us know that all night long Hannah was pretending to be a baby otter. She was "eating" clams and sea stars just like her book "Pup's Supper" about a baby otter and she was floating in the bath tub like an otter among other things. At about 5:30am on Sunday morning I wake up to a loud screetching coming from her room...at first I couldn't figure out what the noise was but then it occurred to me that Hannah was still pretending to be an otter at that early morning hour and rather then calling out my name like she always does when she wakes up she decided she would call out to me in what I can only guess she thought was a baby otter's call. I sent Adam in there to deal with our "baby otter" who thank god went back to sleep. The next time she woke up that morning she was Hannah again b/c she called out to me in the regular "Mamacita" way. :)

Thursday, September 18, 2008

Hannah's "Me Doll"

The month of September at Hannah's pre-school they are studying the human body and learning all about themselves. So our first official school project was to make a doll that looked like Hannah. Last week we were sent home with a blank paper doll cut out about 1 1/2 feet high and told to be creative and have our little one's take the lead in decorating it. So finally last night we got down to working on it and Hannah was so proud of it this morning:



She helped me with all the gluing, pulling of her pom pom strings to help create her own mini pom poms and gluing of that, she layed out all the letters on her shirt and put the stamps on her hands & feet. We also had to attach a card about Hannah so this is what she told me:



This morning we also brought the sunflower seeds from our huge sunflower in the backyard and pictures of how it grew bigger then our house this summer to share with the class so Hannah was in heaven showing everything to her teachers this morning. When the teachers all saw her "Me Doll" they all agreed the Aggie theme was very appropriate for Hannah.

Monday, September 15, 2008

Late nights all around!

We had such a busy weekend but a fun one. Hannah was up until 11pm on Saturday night and 10pm last night...her latest times to date! She had a lot of fun but the poor thing is tired! On Saturday we went to the first Aggie football home game of the season and the first night game in the new stadium, since they just added lights this last year. In addition the game started at 7pm b/c it was being televised so they pushed back the start time. We made sure Hannah took a late nap that day. The game was great! Not only did the Aggies win 38 - 24 against Portland State but there were also some really great plays. Andy and Laura joined Adam, Tara, Jenny, Hannah & I as season ticket holders this year and since Andy & Laura were watching their niece Lily (who is only 3 months younger then Hannah) she came along too. Hannah and Lily got along great as they always do when they get together and both of the girls did really well. Both enjoyed the game and stayed awake until it was over at 10:30pm without too much fussing. Of course we did give them ice cream, popcorn, and other snacks that helped them stay awake but I was still really surprised at how well both of them did. Here are some cute pictures of Lily & Hannah at the game:

Hannah & Lily cheering on the Band-Uh before the game:



At around 9pm the girls were getting a little antsy so we took them for a stroll around the stadium, which turned into a little job sometimes chasing after them...where they got there energy at that time of night I don't know! Oh yeah...possibly the sugar from the ice cream. :) Anyway we stopped at the Aggie Firetruck for the girls to check it out:



And here are the girls back in their seats towards the end of the game...see how much fun they are having that late at night!



The next day Hannah didn't get up until 8:15am which helped her catch up on some sleep. In the afternoon we headed off to Kathryn's house...a classmates of Hannah's since the infant room for a BBQ with her parents and two of Hannah's other classmates, Sydney & Gabby and their parents. Kathryn's house is a beautiful house in South Davis with a pool and of course toys that are like brand new to the the visiting girls. We had a great time swimming there, picking fresh tomatoes from their very large vegetable garden, having a wonderful dinner, and of course playing, playing and more playing. Those 4 girls get along great and so they have so much fun together. And of course the parents have a good time together too and we actually get to talk b/c the girls keep themselves quite occupied with each other. Here is a picture from the pool:



Hannah & Kathryn being silly:



We left Kathryn's house around 8:45pm and Hannah cried practically the whole way home and pretty much from the time we got in the car that she missed her friends and she wanted to go back and spend the night there. It did not help to try and explain to her that she was going to be seeing all her friends the very next day at school. Because she was so sad she didn't go to bed until after 10pm and was just so tired. Poor girl...what we won't do for fun. Adam says she woke up around 8am this morning...so again she got a little caught up on sleep but she is still tired. Adam has a Masonic even tonight so Hannah and I plan to have a relaxed evening and watch and early movie and have an early bed time.

Friday, September 12, 2008

My Daddy's a Fireman!

This week at Hannah's school they have been talking about "Community Helpers" and so they asked Adam if he could come in and talk about being a volunteer fireman and maybe get dressed up in his outfit for the kids. So Adam arranged to come talk to the kids at their afternoon circle time yesterday. Hannah was so excited all week that she was going to be her Daddy's special helper that day and yesterday morning when I dropped her off everyone was so excited that Hannah's Daddy the fireman was going to be coming by in the afternoon and Hannah was just glowing!

I of course went along to take pictures and I am so glad I did not miss this. When we got there all the kids ran up to Adam saying "Are you a fireman?"...he was like a celebrity! All the kids (from both preschool classrooms!)gathered around in a circle and Hannah and Adam were the center of attention. Now usually in circle Hannah is pretty quiet and reserved and I usually have to encourage her to answer questions if I am there for circle time...but not yesterday! Her teacher Miss Naomi started off by thanking Hannah for sharing her Daddy with the class and Hannah quickly cuts in "And my Mommy & baby too!". Here are a few pictures at the beginning when Adam still was not dressed up and just talking to the kids...you can just tell how proud Hannah is...she just kept squeezing Adam's arm, hugging him and smiling (the lighting was bad in the room and I think my batteries were low on my camera which doesn't make for the best pics):








Adam asked the kids if they knew what a firefighter did and he got some pretty standard answers...they put out fires, they rescue cats from trees...but my favorite was...if lock your kids in the car they help get them out...hopefully that kid was not speaking from personal experience!

As Adam started to slowly put on each piece of his fireman outfit he described to the kids why he wears each piece and the whole time Hannah was either reminding him not to forget this piece or that or just looking at him so happily.



At one point when Adam was almost finished Hannah jumped up and gave Adam a big hug and then hugged his arm...I just have never seen her like this...it was just too cute.



After Adam was done telling kids how a volunteer firefighter is different from a regular firefighter and how not to be scared of a fully masked firefighter if he comes to help you in a fire and giving them some important safety tips, I helped Hannah pass out some firefighter badges (stickers) to all the kids and the presentation was done. It was a huge success and Hannah has not stopped talking about it.

Monday, September 8, 2008

So Cute

This morning Hannah asked if we could pull out the baby's bath tub from behind her crib (it has been stored behind there since we last used it for Hannah about 2 1/2 years ago :)) and get it ready so her baby could come. I thought how sweet...she is excited to meet her baby sister. But I told her that her baby still had a lot of growing to do in Mommy's belly and reminded her she had to wait until around Christmas. She then pulled out a blanket and wanted to get it ready so that her baby could come. Again I told her that was really nice but we needed to let her baby do some more growing in my belly. So then she asked if she could look at her baby...she lifted up my shirt and rubbed my belly, gave it a hug, and said "awww". It was so cute!!! Hannah is just going to be the best big sister and I sincerely hope she continues to be this excited about "her baby" after she comes. :)