Hannah just turned 17 months, which seems so old to me!  She amazes us at what she understands and makes us laugh constantly at all the cute things she does.  One thing is for sure, this girl LOVES to talk on the phone!  She will ramble on to the person on the other line for quite awhile.  Her face is so animated while she talks and laughs and her hands are moving all around. Most of the words you can't understand, but every once in awhile she throws a real word in there. It really is so cute. 

Here are a few pics of what Hannah has been up to lately.

 Having fun with Maya...

Hannah loves picking and eating cherry tomatoes off the vine...



Finally, she loves gathering up pillows and blankets and surrounding herself in them! 

Fun Times

It is so fun to watch Hannah experience new things and just enjoy life.  She is such a happy little girl and is so fun to be around!   It won't be too long until she shares the spotlight with our little baby boy.  We have made it to the third trimester & pregnancy continues to be a great experience!  Enjoy some new pics of our Hannah Joy and the video of her dancing at a recent wedding!

Nate and Hannah were playing under the laundry basket "fort".  She kept wanting him to put it back over their heads again and again.  He even got a few kisses and hugs :)

Trying on Daddy's hats...

First time touching a butterfly...

She can't get enough of her baby doll and stuffed animal dog lately. 

She pretends to give her a bath, feed her milk, gives her kisses, & pats her back.  It is so sweet. 

Finally,  she is very into bringing out all the bowls and colanders from the kitchen.  Here she is trying it out on her head! 

Have a great week! 

Busy, Busy, Busy

As the title says, our lives have become much busier the last few weeks since school has started back up.  Hannah is also a very busy little girl, going from one thing to the next.  She has a lot of energy and continues to be such a delight.  We are adjusting back to Nate and I both working (me only until the end of Thanksgiving when Baby Boy arrives)!  Thankfully Hannah is doing great with the changes...she is loving her Mondays with Grandma and making new friends at daycare the rest of the week.  I miss my days with her terribly, but we take advantage of the time we have with her in the evenings and weekend. She is our biggest joy!!!  Here are some things she has been up to...

Making cookies with Maggie (Grandma Clark) and cousins Emery and Elena...

She loves electronics...

She has figured out how to plug in her mp3 player in her room

Hannah on her first day of daycare!  She is doing great at Michelle's house.  We hear she is the "garbage disposal" because she loves to eat all of the leftovers.  She has a big appetite!

She tries to sneak off and play in the toilet...this time it didn't turn out so well! 

She loves to help clean... below she is helping sweep!

She love to play outside.  She is learning to use sidewalk chalk.  She also likes to color with crayons, but we have had to clean some off the walls recently!! 

Always saying "hi" and "bye bye" to people!  Some of her most recent words she has added to her vocabulary...  whoa ,  ball,  please, paci.  She will repeat (or attempt) to say a lot of words we say or ask her to say.  Her little language is coming along well! 

Finally, some recent pics of at the park...

A few more random thoughts about Hannah...

- She now has 13 teeth

-  She loves to throw things  

- She loves to walk and run everywhere (as well as twirling and walking backwards)

-  One of her favorite things to do is give Maya treats

-  She loves to carry around her shoes

-  She can't actually whistle, but she will do a high pitch whistling sound if someone else is whistling to make it sound like she is also whistling...pretty funny

- She is very into Elmo and Sesame Street.  She loves the opening song and Elmo's World song

-  Her favorite snacks right now are  vanilla goldfish, cherry tomatoes, and peanut butter crackers

Have a great week! 

Summer Vacation

We went on a wonderful family vacation down south, stopping three different locations to visit family and friends.  Our first stop was in Bowling Green, KY!  I went to Western Kentucky University, so we made a trip to the campus and also spent some time with two of my best friends, Jeanne and Julie.  I am so thankful for these life long friends! 

Nate showing Hannah around the football field at WKU.

Hannah and I with Jeanne and Julie!

Our next stop was  Atlanta, GA!  We spent a few days with Nate's brother Steve and his wife Bonnie.  It was so much fun spending time with them and experiencing a little taste of their lives in Atlanta.  We stayed busy going out to eat, shopping at IKEA,  swimming, playing games, and so on. 

One of the days we took Hannah to the Atlanta Children's Museum.  She LOVED it!  Here she is painting...

Going down the banana slide...

Playing at the water center...

She loved pushing this shopping cart around. 

Building blocks...

Spending time with Aunt B...

Hannah really liked Steve and Bonnie's cats.  She was chasing them everywhere!!!

One afternoon when Bonnie went to work and Steve and Nate golfed, Hannah and I went to the awesome Atlanta Aquarium!!!

Our final destination was Gatlinburg, TN.  Here we met up with Nate's parents, brothers/sisterinlaws, and cousins, as well as the whole Olausen family.  We had a great time!!! 

We took a hike in the Smoky Mountains to see a waterfall.  Here Hannah is playing in the water with cousin Emery and Maggie (Grandma Clark). 

Hannah loves eating corn off the cob!!!

The Olausen family!! 

Finally,  all the cousins together. (Lilly, Joshua, Elena, Hannah, Emery) We had such a great time and Hannah was a wonderful traveler!  She is such a flexible and happy little girl.  She makes life so much fun!

Remember when Hannah...

Hannah is always doing so many things I don't want to forget.  I love this picture of her at 14 months...she is so expressive and such a blessing!  A lot of pictures below...

Hannah is only allowed to have her pacifiers in her crib when she sleeps.  We have a bunch of them in there that she likes to play with.  We almost always find her with a few in her hands and one in her mouth.  She has learned to throw them into her crib when it is time to get out, but we had caught her multiple times attempting to wrap 1 or 2 up in her blanket for later play.  Pretty smart, huh! 

She will actually scribble with her crayons now instead of just wanting to eat them!

She loves walking around on our deck while playing with the bubble wand, throwing around her balls, or saying "hi" to the neighbors and "woofing" at their dog!  She will say "hi" to people over and over.  She also loves to say "bye bye", but usually it is delayed and she says it after the person has left. It cracks us up. 

Hannah has not been much of a climber, but she has figured out how to climb up onto her little chair by herself.  Here she is reading her favorite kind of books...touch and feel. 

She likes to carry around her blankie (as well as this new pink one) up on her shoulder.  That poor white blankie is getting very ragged, but she loves it!!

Nate taught Hannah to throw her toys into the tub before she gets in the bath.  It is a cute little thing they do together. 

Throwing them in!

Trying to blow bubbles in the bathtub.  She usually ends up drinking the water, but she is trying!

Hannah is often very deliberate in what she is doing.  One time when we were up at the lake, she spent about 20 minutes straight carrying puzzle pieces from the floor into Maya's crate, making sure the crate door was completely shut after each piece was placed inside.  It was so cute. 

Placing the puzzle piece in the crate! 

Playing in the river water after a walk...

She is not afraid to get her hands dirty!  She really likes splashing in water, even puddles. 

We went to our local walking path through the city.  We thought we would let her walk for a few minutes and then put her in the stroller the rest of the time. She ended up wanting to walk for about 1/2 a mile.  She was so hot but she was LOVING it.  Walking is probably one of her favorite things to do. 

We spent a day up at Nate's family lake cottage.  She loves being up there.  Here she is getting a bath in the little tub with Grandma Clark...aka Maggie! 

She also got to swing with Maggie (Grandma) after she swam with Papa Jack in the lake! 

Here she is blowing kisses...it is a very sweet little thing she does. 

Finally, a few more random things she likes right now...  She LOVES blueberries!!!  Her favorite song to sing together is the Itsy Bitsy Spider.  She tries to do the hand motions and has a sweet little singing voice.  She still loves holding things in her hands.  When going to church the other week, she had a golf ball and her snack cup in the car on the way, and was still holding those two things when I picked her up from the nursery.  She never let them go for about 2 hours!!!  Also, her latest words she says...yeah,  princess, basketball, shoe.  We love this girl!!!