Thursday, September 30, 2010

Oops! Pardon me!

I love this adorable little video of Rebecca and her cousin Makenna that I captured when the camera was recording at just the right moment.  They’re so cute as they just keep on going like nothing happened!

I can’t believe how much Hannah has grown and changed over this summer!  Earlier this year I had to hold her little hands as she went down a tiny 3’ slide and now look at her!  She loves to go, go, go!  I see a gymnastics class in our near future.

Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Waiting for Hannah ~ Apple Picking Style

One final apple picking post for 2010. 

As I was going through the pictures that we took a couple of weeks back I was reminded of just how patient Rebecca and Victoria were as they waited for Hannah to come home and how much they grew and changed into the beautiful young ladies they are today.  When they first learned about Hannah they were just 6 and 7 years old respectively yet they always talked about her and asked about when she was coming home.  It was a wonderful encouragement to have these 2 little cheerleaders by my side as together we waited for God to bring Hannah home.

Here is a quick photo montage of the girls as they waited with me.

2005 – I was finalizing my dossier when this picture was taken.  Look how little they were! 2005

2006 – DTC March of 2006 and at this point my file had been logged for 6 months.2006

In 2006 Rebecca and Victoria also made this adorable video for Hannah after they’d created pages for her Blessings Book.

20072007

20082008

2009 – We had Hannah’s referral in hand and knew every bit of her beautiful pictures by heart.  I would be travelling to China just weeks after this pic was taken and our day was filled with excited chatter of how next year Hannah would be with us!!!  I think the girls spent over 2 hours this day oooing and ahhhing over the adorable little clothes that filled Hannah’s closet.

2009

2010 – Hannah is here!!!  The girls began talking about our annual ‘Apple Picking Sleepover’ in January of this year and we were all excited that this special day was finally here!  2010

I will be forever grateful for the precious friendship Rebecca and Victoria share and for the multiple blessings I have received by being their Auntie.  Hannah is already in love with her older cousins and I love to see them sharing time together!

Saturday, September 25, 2010

Hannah’s First Apple Picking Adventure!

I had so many great pics and videos of Hannah’s first apple picking adventure that I wanted her to have a post all her own. 

There were tears in my eyes more than once as we shared this time together!  After years of hoping and dreaming Hannah is Home and this was one of the many times that I still find myself pinching myself, believing that it’s true!  Hannah is here!!!

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That’s All Folks!!!

Friday, September 24, 2010

A Photo Montage of our Apple Picking Adventures!

Saturday was a day when dreams came true.  After years of dreaming and talking about this day, Hannah was here to enjoy our annual apple picking adventure with Rebecca, Victoria and Mommy!  Imported Photos 00114

We met my brother, SIL and their kiddos at our local orchard and the fun began.  Imported Photos 00106

We boarded the tractor  ride and headed out to the orchards.

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This year the absolutely are amazing!  So red and so large.  Lots of yummy apples to make apple crisp and apple dumplings.  Mmmm!!

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The part of apple picking that makes me giggle is that we spend more time taking pictures than we do actually picking apples!Imported Photos 00109

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Sunday, September 19, 2010

Cousin Love

This weekend Hannah’s cousin Rebecca stayed with us for the weekend and her honourary cousin Victoria was here too.  The girls have been coming over for sleepovers since they were just toddlers and now they’re almost teens.  Time flies all too quickly.

This weekend they were a great help with Hannah and we absolutely loved having them come hang out with us. 

They helped Hannah try on her strawberry Halloween costumeImported Photos 00239

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Played Ring Around the Rosie

And baked apple crisp.Imported Photos 00244

We love you Bec Bec and Tor Tor!   We’re so glad you were able to share the weekend with us and can’t wait for the next time!Imported Photos 00248

Saturday, September 18, 2010

Finally…..

Our annual ‘Apple Picking Sleepover’ is complete with Hannah home!!!Imported Photos 00094

More to come later.

Friday, September 17, 2010

The Final Piece of our 'New Normal'

Yuck! Yesterday the final part of our 'new normal' began and it was t-o-u-g-h!!

I have taught piano for the past 11 years and last evening we started our new semester. The HUGE difference this year is that I am back at work now which means that Grandma picks Hannah up from daycare on Thursdays and takes her to her place while I come home to teach. In the end we were apart for more than 12 loooong hours! I hadn't been away from her for more than about 9 hours until yesterday so it was a new challenge for both of us.

Hannah seemed to handle it much better than mommy. Kids are just that way. (She had a rough period in the night which could be due to our separation...or teething, or whatever but the guilt makes me think it's because of our separation. Oh the guilt!!) Hannah loves her grandparents so spending time with them is always a treat for her. I did well being apart until Mom called to ask a question and suddenly I was sitting there with a student at the piano and me with tears in my eyes. Oops!

I enjoy the teaching and it was fun to get back into it and the extra income just helps ends meet a little better right now but being apart from her is still yucky! One thing that I changed this year and am happy that I did is that all my students are on one night now so that Hannah and I only have to be apart one evening and I only have to ask my parents to care for her one evening a week too. That part is a good change.

So, we're into our new routine and I know it will be just fine. Thursday's will be long but Friday's and the weekend will be just around the corner and we'll have lots of time to share together then! Yay for Friday!!!

This weekend we have one of those 'We can't wait until Hannah is home to do this with us........' events coming up! Stay tuned for lots of pictures and stories of our time together.

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

Oh no! We have visitors! **UPDATED**

If you know me, you know I’m not a pet person. I have nothing against pets, they’re just not for me. I’ve always lived a very busy life and have felt it’s not fair to have a pet that I have no time for.

That being said, Hannah and I came home last Thursday to find a mommy cat and her 3 kittens had taken up residence in our courtyard. I guess we’re not the only ones who realized it was a beautiful, private, quiet place to hang out. I’ve watched the mother and she makes her way in and out under the neighbour’s deck and they come up through the hole in my deck around my lilac tree and air conditioner.

I would never hurt them but I’m looking for suggestions as to how I can discourage this mother (Siamese) and her kittens from living here and encourage them to leave? I’m going to call animal control tomorrow and see what they say as I have no idea where the mother lives. I want our deck to be a safe place for Hannah to play and I’m not thinking the cat would be too willing to share it with us.

Until they find a new home, Hannah’s enjoying watching them through the screen door.Imported Photos 00038 Imported Photos 00041

Kitten anyone???

**UPDATE**

It's now Saturday night and I think my little family has moved on to greener pastures and warm milk. I'm not a cat person so did not make any effort to get to know them.

One thing that was recommended to me was to put egg shells where the cats were entering my property. I'm lucky that the only access to my deck for the cats was up through the deck around my lilac tree. I put the egg shells there on Tuesday morning and have not seen the cat or kittens since.

Hopefully they've found a wonderful new home with a family who loves them.

Monday, September 13, 2010

Big Girl Car Seat!

It was finally time.  As much as I loved Hannah’s bucket car seat it was time to move her to a big girl car seat.  The bucket we had borrowed was good up to 35 lbs and 32”.  She still had a lot of room weight wise but had suddenly grown taller so it was time to trade it in and install her new seat that had been a gift from some great bloggy friends just before I received Hannah’s referral. 
I had put off the change for as long as possible for a couple of reasons.  My baby girl still loved to sleep in the car and the bucket allowed me an easy transition into the house when we got home where she could continue her nap.  Also, it was an emotional move for mommy to move her out of the baby seat and into the bigger one.  All too quickly she has left babyhood behind and is now all toddler.  The car seat was one of these transitional points.
I have chosen to put Hannah’s full sized seat in rear facing hopefully until she’s at least 2 years old.  I read on both the Canadian and American Paediatric websites that they recommend babies be rear facing up to 2 years of age when possible.  Hannah doesn’t mind and since we spend a lot of time in the car I want her to be as safe as possible.  
As you can see from these pics, the change was much harder on mommy than it was on Hannah!!Imported Photos 00018
My little monkey teasing Mommy about taking her piggy out.  Imported Photos 00014

Thursday, September 09, 2010

Family Fun!

My parent’s were watching my niece and nephew a few weeks back so I invited them over for supper and a swim in Hannah’s little pool.  The 3 littles had a ton of fun together!  Hannah and Makenna are just 4 1/2 months apart in age and have gotten to know one another really well over the past month and enjoy one another’s company.Imported Photos 00011

Imported Photos 00004 Watermelon yumminess.

I’m guessing at this point the neighbours (and possibly Grandpa too) weren’t nearly so excited that we’d built the deck!  :o)

I had planned on letting the kids go for a swim but we ran out of time.  The kiddos decided the water isn’t necessary to have fun in the pool.

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I’m so thankful for Hannah’s cousins and the fun times they share together.

Tuesday, September 07, 2010

The Big Question Is…

….did any of the yogurt make it into her mouth???Imported Photos 00135

Yesterday's post about Hannah's Unique Sippy Holder reminded me of these pictures that also capture one of Hannah’s current habits. She’s a HUGE fan of blueberries and calls them ‘blah blahs’ so I’ve taken to calling them that too. The funny thing is that sometimes she eats the entire ‘blah blah’ and other times (like in these pics) she bites into them and that’s it. I can never tell what kind of day it will be but since she enjoys them so much I’m happy to give them to her whichever mood she’s in.

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Hannah is a great eater and as much as this may sound funny, I’m going to miss these messy meals as I love watching her explore her foods both in tastes and texture.

Monday, September 06, 2010

Creative Sippy Holder

I laughed the other day when I saw Hannah walking around with her homemade creative sippy holder. :o) She wandered around all evening with one sippy in her hand and the other tucked in her dress. Both available for easy access and looking cute at the same time!Imported Photos 00129 Imported Photos 00131 Imported Photos 00132

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