First Words!

On this beautiful Memorial Day, Hannah said her first true words, "MAMA"!!!  The past few weeks she's been babbling so much more.  Even the past few days her babbling has started to sound more clear, but not clear enough.  I swear I'd been hearing her say Mama for 2 days, but John didn't believe me.

BUT during a phone call that evening to my mom, clear as day, Hannah says "MaMa" that my mom could hear.  Both John and I smiled and Hannah continued to keep saying it.  It was such a beautiful thing to hear, it truly melts my heart.

Now onto tackle saying "dada"!!

We took a walk to a park down the road from our house to try out the swings for the first time.  It was pretty hot, so I can't quite tell if Hannah liked it or not.  Maybe she just enjoyed the breeze as she was swinging, but there were some smiles (pretty hard to catch on camera).  John took her down the sliding board as well.  Hopefully we'll get the chance to walk down there more this summer.

Happy Memorial Day!  Thank you to all the service men and women who gave their lives for our freedom.  God bless them all!

                                      

 

                                       

 

                                      

 

P.S.  Thank you to Aunt Jo for my adorable holiday outfit too :)

8 Months

It's so hard to believe that my sweet baby girl is getting so big, she's 8 months old already!

So much has been happening, it seems like she's learning something new daily.  Our big milestone this month was crawling.  Its safe to say that she is officially on the move.  It's unreal how quickly she's picked it up too.  One day it was 3 coordinated hand/knee 'steps', the next day she's all over!  It's absolutely adorable to see her moving around, she's a little person now :)

Hannah has figured out how to sit up from laying down and crawling around.  As I mentioned in a past post, this makes for a confusing/frustrating nap and sleep time, but it gives her the freedom to move around and be able to sit and play independently.

We've also been waving hi and bye-bye.  She is pretty good with waving bye-bye, the hi seems to confuse her a little bit.

Hannah loves to play patty-cake.  As soon as I say to her "Ready" and take her little hands, she squeals and smiles knowing what is coming next.  She gets a kick out of clapping and certainly enjoys the end when we pat her cheeks then mommy's.

Hannah is also clapping.  When we tell her "yea" she claps those cute little hands together and smiles.  I'm sure playing patty-cake has helped her with that, but still, she definitely understands what she's doing.

I've just started playing "so big" with Hannah.  I'll hold onto her hands and she is starting to stretch her arms out without my help.

Hannah is also working really hard to pull herself up to a standing position.  She'll crawl over to where I'm sitting on the floor, reach her arms up to me, and then pull herself up to stand.  Even when she's playing with certain toys on the floor, she'll stand, basically on her feet and hands, to play with them.  She's reaching up for the couches too.  As you can see from the pictures below, with the help of the wall she's leaning against, she is able to balance herself to stand for up to 10 seconds.  She's our active little girl :)

As far as Hannah's sleeping and eating schedule goes, we've made a few changes to her typical routine.  First, we've cut back to only taking 2 naps a day.  She's been waking up anywhere between 7-8am for the day.  She has her morning oatmeal, the nurses around 8am.  She is down for her first nap around 9:45 and sleeps til 11.  She then nurses/has a bottle when she wakes.  She has a solid around noon.  She nurses between 1:30-2 and then takes her second nap.  The time of this nap varies greatly, depending on how early she wakes up.  The past few days and mid-afternoon poop seems to be waking her early, leaving her rather unhappy, crying, but still so sleepy.  The nap lasts anywhere from 1-2 hours.  She eats oatmeal and a veggie around 5, then nurses 5:30ish.  She's ready for her bedtime nursing/bottle by 8pm and is out for the night.  Sometimes she'll play in there for a half hour, but then we'll notice it's completely quiet on the monitor and she's fallen asleep.  We are so blessed with a very good sleeper (in my opinion).  If she's anything like her momma, sleep is so super important to me.

From time to time, Hannah has some bouts with not wanting her bottle again.  The straight-jacket hold makes its appearance here and there and she seems to take it okay.

LOTS to report this month!!  Hope you enjoy my monthly pictures!

                                                      

 

                                                      

 

1st Mother's Day

This Sunday was my first Mother's Day! The sun was shining, the weather was absolutely beautiful, we were able to just lounge around and enjoy a day spent together as a family :) It was perfect and everything I could have asked for.

John and Hannah got me my favorite hanging basket plant for our front porch.  They also got me photo frames so I could put pictures up in Hannah's room.  (I'll add some pictures once they are finished)  John made a delicious steak dinner on the grill to top it all off.  

We truly had a wonderful day!  My husband and daughter have shown me how important my family is.  I've questioned some choices in my life, but becoming a mom is one thing I've never doubted.  I can't wait to see what else the future holds for us, we're on this ride together, for the long-haul!  

Thank you for a perfect Mother's Day with my family :)  I love you!

                 

                  

My little Hannah bug just melts my heart.  I cannot imagine my life without her in it, and I wouldn't want to be without her.  She makes me smile when I'm sad or unhappy, she makes me laugh when I need a little pick-me-up, she is the sunshine to my cloudy day.  I look forward to when she wakes up and greets me with a smile and "Mama".  I can't wait to come home from work and see her.  She has blessed our lives so much!!  

I am so thankful and honored to be a mother to this special little girl.  I thank the lord everyday that he has given me the opportunity to be a mother, to give away some of my unconditional love, and to shower my baby with my attention.  

Here's a little poem I found online, this is so true.  I cannot imagine my life before I was a mom.  

Before I was a Mom  Before I was a Mom - I slept as late as I wanted and never worried about how late I got into bed. I brushed my hair and my teeth everyday. Before I was a Mom - I cleaned my house each day. I never tripped over toys or forgot words to a lullaby. I didn't worry whether or not my plants were poisonous. I never thought about immunizations. Before I was a Mom - I had never been puked on - Pooped on - Spit on - Chewed on, or Peed on. I had complete control of my mind and My thoughts. I slept all night. Before I was a Mom - I never held down a screaming child so that doctors could do tests...or give shots. I never looked into teary eyes and cried. I never got gloriously happy over a simple grin. I never sat up late hours at night watching a baby sleep. Before I was a Mom - I never held a sleeping baby just because I didn't want to put it down. I never felt my heart break into a million pieces when I couldn't stop the hurt. I never knew that something so small could affect my life so much. I never knew that I could love someone so much. I never knew I would love being a Mom. Before I was a Mom - I didn't know the feeling of having my heart outside my body. I didn't know how special it could feel to feed a hungry baby. I didn't know that bond between a mother and her child. I didn't know that something so small could make me feel so important. Before I was a Mom - I had never gotten up in the middle of the night every 10 minutes to make sure all was okay. I had never known The warmth, The joy, The love, The heartache, The wonderment or the satisfaction of being a Mom. I didn't know I was capable of feeling so much before I was a Mom.

 A special Happy Mother's Day to my own mom.  She is an inspiration to me everyday and I look up to her immensely.  She has shown me how to be a mother and she is the person I look to when I need help of my own.  No one can top this woman, she is truly amazing!  I love you so much mom and am so proud you are mine! 


Happy Mother's Day to my three incredible sisters as well.  You three have all shown me the ways to be a great mom through the interactions with your own children and husbands.  You have raised some pretty amazing kids and I can't help but be thankful for being a part of all of your lives.  You've got no choice, you're all stuck with me!  


Happy Mother's Day to all the Mom's out there!!  I hope you have a wonderful day spent with your loved ones.   

I'm crawling!!

It's official!  I'm on the move!  

If I can ever figure out how to post a video on here, I'll add the video of Hannah crawling....  

But now we are ALL OVER the place!  She is a force to be reckoned with.  She hasn't quite figured out to come to us when we call her over, instead she looks at us and laughs.  She seems to love her mobility, being able to go find whatever she wants to play with next.  She also loves the lineleum floor.  Maybe its the coolness on her legs/body, but she certainly squeals when she finds her way over to it.  

Here are some pictures of my silly girl sitting on her turtle friend :)  She crawled over to this, sat right up on top of the turtle, and was laughing. 

 I can't believe how happy Hannah makes us, we could just laugh at her for hours!  I absolutely love hearing John laugh at Hannah when she does something silly.  John is such a wonderful dad, I am the luckiest wife/mother in the world!  

Hannah has also begun sitting up in bed now.  This creates a fun little problem at naptime, bedtime, and when we wake up each time.  Gone are the days when she would wake up and lay in her bed playing very contently.  Now we wake up, immediately rollover,sit-up and are ready to go.  This include waking with tears because we aren't quite finished napping and being rather upset that we're awake.  Some days the naps are a struggle.  She fights going back to sleep but she is still tired, its a fun battle.  I hate hearing her cry in bed, but I know she'll be just as miserable if I let her get up, so tears it is.  I know she's had a good nap when she wakes up happy and smiling.  If she wakes up unhappy with tears, she's definitely not ready to be up yet.  

Pardon the not-so-great cell phone quality, but here are some fun shots John captured at bedtime with our silly little girl!  

Sitting and playing with my mobile  (this was taken down now)                                         STANDING UP in my bed! 

      

St Gerard 5K

Our church had its annual Spring Festival that also included a 5K walk/run.  Our friends Brian and Gina and their 2 children, Chloe and Owen came along with us to spend a fun-filled day together.  Gina and I walked with the kiddos and the guys ran.  This was John's first 5K and he was pretty excited to get it done!  Not that he put any pressure on himself (HA HA!) but he was really hoping to win the 30 year old age group.  He had been 'training' for a few weeks and was ready to kick some butt. 

                                   Pre-race pictures: 

                                                         

 

After the race:                                        So proud of my daddy!!                                          Giving Gina some lovin'

                                                         

 

John took First and Brian finished Second

The LaMacchia's

The Gemalsky's

Such a fun day spent with wonderful friends!  It's always a good time when we get together, just wish we could do it more often :)