Snow PRINCESS!!!!

So finally after seeing it snow 4 or 5 times from the patio door, and it not sticking, IT STUCK! SOOOO Hannah played for the first time in the snow today!! She LOVED it and didn't want to go back inside, we actually went back outside on the porch she could play some more!
And of course hubby said "Its not cold, I don't need a coat" so he was in a hoodie, of course.
It was cold, but not a painful cold like it can get!
She tasted some and seemed to like it, but didn't want anymore, I am guessing because it was cold.
She stayed nice and warm all bundled up though!!

She fell down....might as well make a snow angel!!


Her first snow angel!!

My little snow princess!

Daddy helping her walk

Daddy helping her up after she fell

Trying to figure out how to walk in the snow!

Running away from us!

Can't get the ball to start rolling....

November has come and gone and left a mess in its wake. Our apartment has bare walls and packed tubs filling it to the brim. Our lives have been turned upside down by this and there isn't much we can do to fix it that hasn't already been done.
After they tried to break in the apartment that Monday morning we thought maybe we could just stick it out till June, not ever leave the apartment and get some mace and a taser. But that night someone stabbed my neighbors tires, all 4 of them. She had NO clue who would have done this. So we decided to leave. The complex wouldn't let us out of our lease, so we are going to buy it out, which means that we have to pay 2 months rent, plus that months rent. Thankfully Michael's Grandmother gave us a very kind and generous gift and are able to do this because of them.
We decided to go back to our old town and live with hubby's parents for a few months to save up for a deposit. Unless something else happens in the mean time. So that is what is happening right now; packing, saving, and hoping.

Hannah is growing up every day, right before my eyes. She has started this new thing where she will bring you a book, climb up on your lap and turn the pages, point, and read with you. And when you finished she will climb down, go get another book and repeat the process until you have every book she owns next to you. She LOVES books, board books right now.
She has also started to jabber a lot, it almost sounds like she is saying something. She even nods her head like she is really trying to get you to understand! She can shake her head "YES" and "NO", she dances (shakes her hips), she can say a lot of words, her newest one is "shoes" which she whispers. She is still rear facing in her car seat!! YIPPEE!! She only contests when she is tired, or when she has been in the car too long, which she would do even if she were front facing!

Thanksgiving was fun, we stayed at my dad's for 4 days, from Thursday to Sunday. Hannah slept pretty well, but she always ended up in bed with me. We got to spend time with everyone on Thursday, then Friday we just lounged around and my little sister's friends came over and we made cookies and had hot chocolate. Then Saturday we went over to my Aunts and played that one game "You are play sore mine" is "Your place or mine". I forget the name of it. But my grandma played with us, it was so funny everyone was laughing! Then we ate some sushi (my pregnant, soon to be sister in law, ate pizza) and then we had to leave. Then Sunday we left.
It was really nice to see everyone, and visit with my family. I wish we lived closer, but Michael LOVES his job, so that isn't going to happen any time soon.

Tuesday my sister was admitted to the hospital maternity ward. She was 2cm dilated. One of the twins has his head way WAY down and is pushing the cervix open. She is now 3 cm dilated and they are keeping her for a week at the hospital. She isn't too happy about it, but if she were home she wouldn't be sitting on her butt like she should be. So she is where she needs to be. I went to her house and got her clothes, books, and a picture of the kids for her, along with the essentials. So at least she feels a little more at home now.

Well Hannah is ready for me to come play with her now, she keeps playing peek a boo around the door, LOL. I love her.
Thanks for reading!!
Here are some pictures from November!!

At Grandpa Aaron's house

Morning Time! AHHH! LOL

I have 12 teeth!!

Still hadn't woken up from her nap all the way, so she cuddled with Grandpa.

Dad, Hannah, and her Great Grandmother (I love this picture, and this moment)

She found the joys of corn on the cob! LOL

My beautiful baby girl! I LOVE LOVE LOVE This picture! I don't know why, I just do!

Hannah's First SNOW!

This morning as I sat checking my email, Hannah was walking around the apartment, passing by me every so often to make sure I was still there, but enjoying her freedom. I had just opened up my Cafemom account to check it and I heard her exclaim, plain as day, "Hey! What is this?". I look around the corner of the office in shock that my 1 year old just said a full sentence and curious as to what made her say this! She has been saying "Wasdis" (whats this) for a while, but this was a WHAT IS THIS, LOL.
So as I look over at her, she is sitting in front of the patio door and sticking her first finger to the glass. She then would remove her finger, look at it, and stick it back, she was looking amazed and confused, so I grabbed the camera to see what she was so amazed about. As I got closer to her, I realized that it was SNOWING!!!! "Yey" I thought to myself, "here comes pink cheeks and winter colds!"
The snow was sticking to the glass of the patio door then melting as quickly as it had surfaced. She seemed really confused, and yet kept trying to poke the flakes off the glass.
We must have sat there by the patio door for about 20 minutes till the snow died down and she found something else to discover. It was a great memory, and I got some great pictures, they don't say much about the moment though....that was all ours!

On a not so happy note,
2 men tried to break into our apartment today.
It was about 9am, I think, and someone rang the downstairs buzzer to be let into the building. I pressed the intercom and replied "Hello?".
"We don't have our key, can you let us in?" Replied two booming voices
"No, I'm sorry, I can't, please call the complex" and I gave them the number.

"Well, I don't live here, but she stole my car (or card, couldn't understand him very well), I just need to get in"
"Sorry, I can't let you in"

CLICK (someone let them in the building)
STOMP STOMP STOMP (very quick stomping up the stairs)
I immediately locked the other 2 locks, we have 3, and looked through the peep hole to see who they were.
There they were, 2 black men, about 6'2" tall wearing hoodies and knit caps with built in bills, one with a white cap, the other black.
They started banging on my door, and my neighbor across the hallway.
I backed away, and called the police, as I am backing away, I saw them walk toward the other side of the building.
The police answered and I told them what was happening.
As I was talking they came back over to my side of the building and started knocking again.
I looked through the peep hole and saw NOTHING..... then it came into focus as he was backing away, it was his EYE! He was trying to look into my peep hole! Then, as I was on the phone with the police, the one in the white hat started BANGING on the door, HARD! Then, the part that still gives me chills as I talk about it.....HE TRIED TO OPEN THE DOOR! He then started leaning on the door, almost throwing himself on the door, to try to get in, and kept trying the knob! I ran over to the dining room and grabbed Hannah and stood there. As I looked over the patio I saw a car, running, with another black male in the drivers seat. I told the operator that there was a car there, and told her the make, and color, and the plate number.
They must have heard me, because they both ran out of the door and got in the car and sped off!
An officer came to my house and took a report.
I called the apartment office and told them what had happened and they kind of brushed it off, but asked us to get a report. Didn't offer to come down and talk to the police or anything.
Michael came home for the day because I was so upset and scared....but I am fine now.
I DO NOT want to live her any longer, and we are talking about getting out of our lease because we are in fear for our safety. But we aren't sure we can, and don't want to borrow money, because, that just isn't who we are. We would rather just buy a gun and protect ourselves till June.
But the officer said that as of the end of his shift, they hadn't found them. They went to the property, and no one was home. But they will try tomorrow.
We might go and stay with Micheal's parents for a couple months rent free (thank you guys!) so that we can get enough to put a deposit on an apartment or a house to rent. We just have to find out about the lease.
Well, we are all fine, other than Denna being frazzled, and my heart permanently sunk into my stomach. We had them come and change the door knob because it was so loose, ugh.....I don't want to write about this any longer.

The good news I talked about in my last post was that my little brother is going to be a daddy! YEY!! I am so excited! She goes this Thursday for an ultrasound, and then she will get a due date! I am soo happy. I am going to be getting 2 nephews and another niece or nephew, all next year!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Well that's it!
Thanks for reading!

And here comes November....

Not happy about being on the carousel!

Running around the house in her new outfit!

Graduated to the BIG tub!!

The last nice day for the year! It was 70 degrees that day!

Well its officially November, which means family, friends, holidays, drama, and food! This will be Hannah's second Thanksgiving and Christmas. But she will have more fun this year because she can walk around and talk to everyone! Sadly we are going to miss out on Thanksgiving this year. My mother can't do it because of conflicting schedules and not enough time or energy, and my sister can't because she is dealing with her grandmother, who has been giving a few weeks to a month to live. I would go to my father's, which we usually do, but the day after that is my High school reunion. So we are going to go Saturday and stay till Sunday evening. I wish we could go for Thanksgiving but there is NO way I could go there, then leave, then come back for the weekend....I wish I could though. So I don't know what we are doing for Thanksgiving now...nothing I guess. We shall see.
Hannah is not crawling at all any longer, she practically runs to get where she needs to go. She has also figured out how to get up on the couch and has fallen several times because of this, which breaks my heart. She is about 21lbs now and 27 inches tall. She is still rear facing in her car seat, and will be till we think she is big enough to front face. She can say "Whats this/that?", "Dog", "Dada", "Mama", "Kisses", "Juice". She can shake her head "NO" and recently learned (with the help of G-ma) how to shake her head "Yes"! She loves to play the piano, even though hers only has 4 keys, that is her favorite thing to play with! She loves to watch "Super Why" on PBS, and will stop whatever she is doing to watch the whole 30 minute show. She even dances at the end when they sing the "Hip hip Hooray" song! She is scared of the vacuum, and the noise the garbage truck makes when it puts the dumpster down. She has 10 teeth and 2 more on the way. She can eat practically ANYTHING that we allow her to eat, and LOVES her veggies! Her favorite food has to be cheese. She no longer has a bottle, as of 10/16! She hasn't had a drink of formula since and doesn't seem to mind at all. She loves water, and diluted juice, but HATES milk, so we have to substitute it for water in her cereal, and some in her scrambled eggs. She also loves yogurt and cottage cheese, so she is getting her dairy!
Well that's about it!
Thanks for reading!
Oh I also have good news but can't say anything till I am given the go ahead from them, they still have to tell a few family members! But when I can tell, I will tell!!!

Car seats

Okay I am sick and tired of seeing parents with their kids not in car seats, or if they are, they are installed or harnessed incorrectly, or they have a child under the age of 1 front facing! I am just plain TIRED of seeing it. Parents should automatically know that the first thing they need is a good car seat when they have a child. They should go to the store and research different seats, then when they do, they would realize:

1. Rear facing till 1 year and 20 pounds AT LEAST, it says it on every new car seat.
2. Car seats expire! It says this on every car seat now.
3. There are laws on how long your child has to stay in a car seat.
4. You can buy a convertible (rear facing and front facing) car seat for under $60, NEW! If you can't buy one, CPS and Family Services can give you a voucher for a free, new car seat.
5. There has been so much research devoted to car seats, this must be the most important purchase of my babies life!

And if they don't go to the store and realize this, your pediatritions office has posters up EVERYWHERE in his/her office that 1 year and 20 pounds, and the laws in your state reguarding child safety seats.
There are classes that you can take that they offer during your labor and delivery class for car seat installation.
There are instructions that come with EVERY car seat that tell you how to buckle them in correctly! COME ON PEOPLE, ITS IDIOT PROOF!! But I still see, every day, someone with their 6 month old front facing, or their 2 year old not in a car seat, or bouncing around in the back of the car as mom drives 65 down the highway.
Or the mother that is a baby sitter that has OTHER peoples children in a 23 year old car seat that was recalled 2 years after it was made.

What can you do about this you ask?

Well, if you know someone who is about to have a child, or has a child car seat age (ages 8 and under) please suggest that they take their car to a fire department with a car seat tech. They will check your installation or reinstall , and your childs harness to make sure they are in correctly. This 30 minutes could save that childs life in an accident.
I know many of you are probably rolling your eyes at this very moment. But this is very serious stuff to me, and I take it to heart. I find that people who are do not research these things when they have a child are the ones who are more likely to have a lot of regret later in life.

Thank you for reading!

Hannah's second 1st birthday!

Hannah had her 1st Birthday party at G-ma and G-pa's house on Saturday! She was so tired, but kept on a brave face. She smashed a little cake and played and walked around, then opened her WONDERFUL presents!
Thanks everyone for coming and for the wonderful gifts!
My mom made a beautiful cake with a zombie sticking out the back for Michael, LOL! And she made an Amish organic cake for Hannah to smash, she loved it!
And Michael's family did all the decorations and food, Carol made some wonderful grilled cheese and piggies in a blanket, YUM!!
It was sooo fun!
Now on to the terrible twos!!

The first, First Birthday Party

Saturday Hannah had her first cake smashing, paper ripping experience! She had her Barn party at my Grandfather's farm. There were about 15 people that came, and lots of food and fun! My step mom decorated the whole barn in fall colors with pumpkins and scare crows all around. It was really cute! Everyone had cupcakes instead of cake, which seemed a lot easier, but ended up a little messy! LOL. Hannah ended up with a pink face and hands for a day, but its gone now.
She got lots of presents including:
Her first piggy bank (we already collected all the loose change and put it in there)
Tennis Shoes (pink of course)
A princess blow up chair (she likes to sit in it to watch "Superwhy")

A savings bond from her Great Grandma and Great Grandpa
A push stroller that she can put a doll in and it makes music
Lots of warm winter clothes! All of them are really cute!!
A baby words book

And a Teddy bear