Union Station & Crown Center

We took Hannah to Union Station to see the train display.  She loves trains, so it was a big hit.  She even rode the kiddie train all by herself.  Since she's never done anything like that before, we were worried she would try to jump out or something.  But she listened to the conductor's directions and didn't get out until the train stopped.  We were so proud of her!

She really liked to chase the train around the big Christmas tree.

Mama and Hannah in front of the Christmas tree train

Dada in front of the 1982 train.  He has this ornament series and Hannah likes to play with them.  The 1982 train is actually his favorite one, so I made him pose for this picture. :)  He's wearing a weird oar sweater because he proclaimed it ugly sweater day at work.  That's a story for another time.

The big train display (although there were a bunch of smaller ones, too).

Hannah was fascinated and kept saying "more trains!"

There were a lot of tears leaving Union Station, but then Hannah was excited to see more trains at Fritz's at Crown Center.  The last time we were there was the day before she started daycare this year.  That time she refused to wear the engineer hat, this time she put it on first thing!

We also went back to the Crayola Store where she was excited to draw on the easel.  Last time it took some serious coaxing.

We ended out night playing outside of Crown Center on the giant wooden toys.  Hannah was SUPER EXCITED to see the giant tree, all of the lights, and run around in the toys.  

Her favorite, of course, was the train.  But she also liked the fire truck, tractor, and cow.  I couldn't get many good pictures.  She was so giddy, that she didn't stay still for long.

I can't blame her.  I would have been the same way as a kid.  Okay, even as an adult I thought it was an awesome night.  I definitely want to make it a Christmas tradition for our family.

Christmas Parties

This was the first year we went to the company-wide Black & Veatch party.  It greatly exceeded my expectations.  The highlights were a Micheal Jackson impersonator singing Billie Jean and a photo booth.  Our pictures turned out pretty funny.  Especially since we thought they were only taking three pictures so we left the booth and everyone yelled to get back in.  So our 4th picture is of me laughing to hard to do anything and Steve frantically trying to put on 3 hats.  I also won a free Christmas CD for doing the Electric Slide.  Apparently the engineers don't like to dance, so they have to bribe people to get on the dance floor.  The joke's on them because pregnant or not, I would do the slide for free.

My work party was last weekend.  The best thing at my party was a white elephant exchange.  (I knkow it doesn't quite measure up to Michael Jackson!)  We didn't take our camera, but the pregnant girl ending up with a bottle of wine in the gift exchange would have been a good picture.  The wine was left at the party making the white elephant a big success...getting rid of our bad stuff and taking home nothing! :)

Week 23

Here are the long over due belly pictures! I've been too busy lazy to do them before. Although, I didn't really have much of a belly until around week 20, so you didn't miss much. The first picture is with Jane, who is due in March.

Baby #2 is doing great. She has a "vigorous heartbeat" and moves around a lot. It seems like she moves around more than Hannah did, but maybe I'm just remembering the end of the pregnancy when Hannah was too big to move much. I've only gained 15 pounds so far, which seems good to me since I'm more than halfway done. With Hannah I ended up with 40 extra pounds...and less than 6 pounds of that was her! I haven't been as hungry with this pregnancy, and I've also severely limited my trips to McDonald's. :) Or maybe I haven't gained as much because I've been running around after a toddler. She keeps me pretty active with getting down on the floor, lifting her up, and climbing on equipment at the park. Sometimes I forget I'm pregnant until I feel Baby #2 move. I was reading my old blog post, and it doesn't feel like my belly is in the way this time.  Maybe I'm just used be being pregnant now?  I also haven't had any emotional outbursts about food! :)

Reading*

*Okay, I know this isn't really reading, but still think she's pretty smart.**

**Yes, I know everyone thinks their kid is smart. :)

Jobs

Thanksgiving Memories

Hannah loved cranberries, but wasn't too sure about sweet potatoes and stuffing.

Steve and Casey built this tower out of Hannah's blocks.  Someone said it looked like the Eiffel Tower, so that started them building other monuments.

Hannah spent a lot of time playing the piano at Grandma and Grandpa's house.

 Hannah liked to grab someone's hand and then direct them to draw or play with her.  Her favorite buddy was Grandpa.  She made him wear hats with her.  After awhile he would ask Hannah if he could take it off.  She always replied, "On."

We met the Chous in the park.  Hannah was very happy to play outside and her favorite thing was the merry-go-round.

We also met the Burtons and Dickersons for an epic three games of bowling.  We had a great couples-night-out (well, with one fetus), and we're hoping to meet up again over Christmas.  And here's our unfortunate photo of me being excited and Steve....wasn't so sure.

Hannah had a great time riding tractors, climbing on haystacks, and exploring the farm at Granny and Papa's house.

More memories...without photos :(

Marissa and I placing #1 and #2 in a game of Blokus against Steve and Casey....a feat which has never been done before, and probably never again!

Hannah spending time with her great-grandma Alice, great aunt Peggy, and granny.  She showed off her mad drawing skills...okay just scribbles.

Hannah saying the names of her relatives. She can say Granny, Papa, Ga (Grandma), Ga (Grandpa), Ju-tin (Uncle Justin), Aun Mar (Aunt Marissa), and Casey (Uncle Casey).

It's Another Lady!

From Megan:  My class voted on if it would be a boy or girl. The results were 11 for girl, 8 boy, and 1 puppy. Nice. Although we would have been happy either way, I was really hoping for a girl. A girl is great for practical reasons since we already have girl clothes...even in the right seasons. But mostly I wanted another girl because I wanted Hannah to have a sister. I'm excited to see if they have similar personalities or look alike.  I always thought it was neat that Marissa looks like me, although it does lead to some confusion when people mistake us for each other. :)

From Steve: We're excited!

From Hannah: Baby sees-ter!

Likes and Dislikes

Some of Hannah's likes and dislikes at 20 months:
Likes

• Drawing
• Naming objects and repeating the name until you say, "Yes, that is a car."  Then she finds a new object.
• Naming letters that she sees on shirts or signs
• Counting to 10
• Being outside
• Eating fruits, pasta, cereal, yogurt, cheese, and most vegetables- Her favorite food right now is "Dada cereal" (Honey Bunches of Oats)
• Dressing up in her duck Halloween costume and refusing to take it off
• Wearing a plastic bowl as a hat
• Helping with chores: laundry, dishes, raking, etc.
• Trains
• Blocks
• Reading

Dislikes

• Having her hair brushed or fixed...much to the disappointment of Mama
• Having her face wiped off
• Eating hamburger or olives
• Leaving parks
• Going inside
• Not getting her way

More Park

Happily, I was wrong.  We had one more good weekend of warm weather.  We took full advantage of it and went to THREE parks.  Here's some of Hannah's weekend activities:

Riding a tire swing by herself for the first time

Helping us rake leaves in the backyard.  

Watching the ducks at Antioch Park.  Hannah said, "Hi ducks.  Hi goose."

Trying to climb things that are for big kids and getting stuck.

Park

Hannah enjoying one of the last days of fall at the park on Sunday.  Couldn't it stay autumn just a little longer?  I don't think I'm ready for the cold.

 

Draw-ing

Hannah's new favorite activity is drawing.  At first I couldn't get her to even pick up a crayon, and now she doesn't want to do anything else.  We have notebooks and crayons all over the house.  When I tell her it's time for dinner, she says "draw-ing" in a very annoyed voice.  I can see teenager Hannah coming out already.

But besides her occasional attitude, I love it that she wants to draw so much.  It's great for fine motor skills and creativity.  She has also learned her colors by me commenting on her drawings or crayons.  Plus she can do it anywhere- waiting in restaurants or on long car rides.   But best of all, it is something she can do to entertain herself.  I think kids should be able to find interesting activities that they can do on their own...you know, besides plopping themselves in front of the tv for hours at a time.

A couple of months ago she drew just a few marks on the page.  Then she started making lots of back and forth scribbles like this:

 Now she likes to draw "dir-cles".

And One More

I just found out there is another teacher pregnant at school!  That makes 3 of us and I teach in a small school....only two teachers per grade level.  Our due dates are in March, April, and now May.  Teachers love those spring babies so maternity leave runs right into summer vacation! :)

Week 17

So I haven't talked much about kiddo #2 yet....

We knew we wanted two kids and 2 years apart seemed good to us.  We wanted them close in age so that they would have common interests and play together.  Although I know we know it is probably going to be a lot of work at first (two kids in diapers!), we think it will be great in the long-run.  I found out the day before I started school that I was pregnant.  I had a few good weeks, then my morning sickness turned out to be all-day-long sickness.  With Hannah I was only tired and nauseous after school was over.  This little one made me feel like I had the flu all day long and it lasted for weeks.  It was a rough start to the school year, especially since my class is a little high-maintenance this year.  Luckily I have a wonderful husband who told me to go to bed early while he did the dishes or laundry or took Hannah to the park to play.  Ever since I started the 2nd trimester I've been feeling MUCH better.  I have my energy and appetite back and I really don't feel pregnant at all....except I can't fit into my pants.

Last time I was pregnant with my friend Sarah and co-worker Melissa.  This time I also have pregnancy buddies: Jane and Melissa (again)!  My due date was a month before Melissa's last time and this time she is a month before me.  Jane is only a week or two ahead of me.  It is so fun to go through pregnancy with friends!  The doctor has said April 12, 15, and 18 for the due date.  I usually say the 15th just because it is in the middle, but I'd really like it to be the 18th.  Then Hannah and baby would be exactly 25 months apart.  We find out if it is a boy or girl on December 1.

I can't believe it is November already and I am almost halfway through my pregnancy.  Our October just flew by!  Steve spent a weekend in New Orleans and two weeks in Hannibal, MO for work.  The last two weeks I've been busy doing 1st quarter grades and then parent/teacher conferences.  It always calms down after those are over, and I am very thankful!  I need a little calm for awhile.

Smile

Why Hannah is a Daredevil

She doesn't get it from me. 

Halloween

We were in Chillicothe over the weekend so the grandparents and great-grandparents could see Hannah the Duck in person. The costume was actually a baby chick, but every time Hannah saw it she said "Duck.  Quack, quack."  Hannah got her very first taste of candy this Halloween...Reese's were okay, but she likes Kit Kats better.  We were back home Halloween night to throw leaves in our backyard.

Trampoline

On the trampoline at Grandma and Grandpa's house over Halloween weekend...

In the Park with Ollie

I am in love with these pictures of Hannah and Ollie at the park, so I made them super big. :)  Here is my favorite one...

Hannah did a great job of walking on the wood beam all by herself.

This is what it looks like when you've seen big kids climb up up the ladder...and you want to do it too...but you can't figure out how.

Big Ollie!

Ollie  and Hannah played in the leaves and put them in each other's hair.  Ollie also taught Hannah how to climb up slides.  They had a great time together!