Kitchen Aid mixer and memories

I walk by my Kitchen Aid mixer about a million times a day.  It is still on the floor next to the front door just waiting for a home in the kitchen!  That is not really the point here.  Like I said, I walk by it a million times a day, but today was different.  It started off a train of thoughts that led to tears.  Kitchen Aid mixer- "A Baker's Christmas" on the tablecloth- hmmm, I wonder what I will write this year- what in the world can we possibly write after a year like this?- "welcome Hannah Catherine and Piper Jane"- and finally: "we sure miss Mark."

Yes, I am sure missing Mark today.  But Hannah's sweet cuddles and jibber-jabber are a comfort.  Hoping this isn't too silly or emotional for everyone.  Just thought I would share what is on my heart today.

8 months old

Hannah is 8 months old today.  She weighs 18 pounds and 12 ounces!  She is growing fast and pretty tall too.  Still no crawling, but we think a tooth is on its way.

What I'm Reading

Baby Animals by DK: very simple with big pictures; the animals are shown doing 3 activities; I add their sound for Hannah although my tiger and bear sound just alike and I am still not sure how to do an elephant trumpet :)

Bunny and Me by Adele Aron Greenspun and Joanie Schwarz: shows all the actvities that a baby and bunny can do together and is beautifully illustrated; our friend Jennie Smith bought this for us 2 years ago with a hope and promise that we would have a baby someday- thank you.  It is a great book but it means so much more to us than the words and pictures.

Mr. Brown can Moo! Can you? by Dr. Seuss: so fun!  Hannah loves all the sounds and usually ends up watching my mouth to see how I am making all those noises :)

Rise and Shine! illustrated by Tim Warnes: beautifully illustrates the children's song about Noah's ark; Hannah has really enjoyed the singing of this book- I happen to love the extra attention to detail by the illustrator.   Fun fact: he has another book illustrating Jesus loves Me that will be on Hannah's Christmas list :)

It has been forever since I have shared what I have been reading. . . mostly because I am not reading anything.   I barely have time to get through World Magazine before the new one arrives!  But Hannah and I are enjoying lots of books and these are her favorites right now. 

Fun with the noise maker

 Hannah loves this little toy- it is a noise maker that sometimes sounds like "gobble, gobble" when you shake it.  And Hannah shakes it a lot! 

October is here!

Since it is still pretty warm here, we took some pictures of Hannah outside in our new backyard!  It is not quite as scenic as the Smith's beautifully landscaped backyard of previous pictures but the sun still shines and there is a fence for the backdrop :)  Enjoy!

Texas State Fair

All ready for the Fair!

Hannah and her friends Deanna, Taylor and Faith- great helpers too!

Dr. Shull, Hannah and Aaron



Hannah missed most of the Fair by sleeping- 2 Hours!



Lunch with the Arnolds and Pattersons- yummy turkey legs!



A friendly giraffe

Me and some friendly animal

Kangaroos!!!  You know that I love the petting zoo!

A fun family photo just before we left the Fair

We had a good time at the Texas State Fair today.  We got to hang out with the Arnolds and the Pattersons.  And surprise-o-surprise!  We ran into our former pastor Dr. Jim Shull from Mississippi.  It was great to see him and introduce him to Hannah.

We had some good "Fair Food" but, alas, only tried the fried cheesecake.  All those fried treats and we only tried one. . . so sad.  There is always next year.

Walkin' with Papa

Mimi Jo and Papa have been visiting us this week.  We have done lots of projects and gotten boxes unpacked.  Hannah has also been going for walks with Papa in the mornings.  They have had lots of fun!

For Aunt Kirstin (or what to do when your dress is too small)

Here are a few sweet pictures that I took of Hannah a few days ago. She is wearing the sundress that Aunt Kirstin made for her a few months ago when she so much smaller! So we have made the dress into a shirt. . . a super cute shirt indeed.

While most of the pictures I took show off the dress turned shirt, most of them do not show Hannah smiling. She was much too distracted by everything outside. Airplanes, butterflies, falling leaves- any noise or moving thing really. And of course there are the "no mama- I will absolutely not look at the camera" pictures as well. :)

Buying a House

This is a picture of the house that we are hoping to buy in Hurst, Texas.  It is just a few streets away from where Aaron grew up!  If all goes according to plan, we will be closing at the end of September.  It will be great to have all of our stuff out of storage.  But the even better part is that MOLLY WILL BE BACK!!!  My parents have graciously kept that fuzzy bunny while we have been living with friends but I am really ready to have our whole family back together under our own one roof.

One part of the house that needs updating are the kitchen counter tops.  We think that we are getting to pick those out ourselves :)  So Hannah and I took a long meandering visit to Home Depot today to check out the options.  I think I will also be painting Hannah's room right away- probably a light buttery yellow.  So we picked out paint samples too.  Hannah was sooooo good walking around the store in her Baby Bjorn.

Other updates: Hannah is eating squash and carrots these days.  And she really likes bananas. 

We had a good time in Tyler, TX, with Mimi Jane this weekend.  It is always nice to get away for a few days and visit family.  Aaron did some plumbing work and I updated Mimi's picture of Hannah and added Piper's to the mantle.  Hannah had a lot of trouble sleeping there but is getting back on schedule now. 

Aaron is hunkered down grading tests.  I can't believe that mid-term is here already!

That's it for now. I think I have a few fun pictures of Hannah that I can post soon.  Stay tuned. . .

Six months old

I do not like green beans!

Six months old

I love to play in my walker- thanks Aunt Robyn and Cousin Daniel

Super excited about the coming bottle :)

Hannah turned 6 months old this past week.  She weighs 16 pounds and 4 ounces.  She is 26 inches tall.  And she got a double ear infection!!! On top of all that she caught a cold- poor girl.  Enjoy the pictures :)