The Willis Family

September Baby Girl!!

2011-05-03T21:05:00.002-04:00

I haven't posted in quite a while because I am pregnant and in my 23rd week. I had been so incredibly tired the first and into the 2nd trimester that the last thing that I had energy for was to blog. Plus I wasn't doing too much in the area of creativity. But here is my announcement!!! We will have a baby girl at the beginning of September! YAY!!

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On another note: We have definitely decided to homeschool Hannah for Kindergarten. I say "we" as in my husband and I but, I will most likely be doing the majority of it. Right now I am researching different curriculum and what she needs to know by the end of Kindergarten. I take things pretty seriously (that is the type A in me) and since I have never "Homeschooled" before, I am a little obsessed about getting the right material, including our faith into it, and not spending a whole lot of money. I could easily spend hundreds if we had it. Since we don't, I am trying to buy things as conservatively as possible.

I know it is "just"a kindergarten and it is such a great place to start because of the low pressure of it being "just" Kindergarten. I know things look different depending on the family, but I feel like I need to figure out most of it before September comes. Since I will have a newborn right when school starts, I feel like I need to get things together sooner. I am even planning on doing school during the summer, so I won't fret if we don't get to school that day. I know with a newborn I WILL be tired but Homeschooling is a priority and that is why I want to get a jump on it.

Any other homeschooling parents out there? I would love to hear your experience or advice!!!

Easter Foods

2011-04-21T17:12:00.001-04:00

This week I have been creative with food making. Since being pregnant, I have had no desires to expand on my recipes and have even grown quite bored of cooking. BUT...this Easter inspired me to get out of my box and look for different foods to make.

These were amazing!!! I omitted the meat inside because I am anti-meat...but they were still soooo good. I had an Easter playgroup at my house yesterday and I made these for the adults. SO easy and SO yummy! They are called Italian Easter Pie Palmiers.

These, to me look so beautiful and yummy to make. They are called Mexican Vegetable Roll-Ups. I will be making them for Easter Day at my in-law's house.

Last but certainly not least are the Chocolate Birds' Nests. I made them for the playgroup yesterday and they were a hit. I have plenty left over for Easter Day too. I have to say that they are messy....really good but messy.

On a side note: What do you use as your search engine? I use google.com and then I switch over to images. You can find it at the top left. When I am looking for a recipe, I need to see what it will look like. When you switch over to images you can see just that.

Leaving this blog to contine with another one

2010-01-26T14:56:00.002-05:00

It has been a year since I have posted to this blog and I owe it all to Facebook. I have enjoyed Facebook but I would like to continue adding pictures and stories on a blog. It's called Hands Always Creating since I am always creating up to something. This is one way to keep track of my life in one blog instead of multiple blogs for each thing I am involved in.

http://handsalwayscreating.blogspot.com/

Here it is...I will be posting everything that is going on in my life (ok, maybe not everything)...from family life...to jewelry...to sewing...to photography...to vegetarian thoughts and recipes. I hope you enjoy it!

Let's Update!

2009-01-15T14:49:00.011-05:00

This is a little update of what we have been doing since November.

Thanksgiving we spent time with my husband's very large family. It is always fun going to their house and never a dull moment. I wish I had some good stories to tell but those brain cells are gone...remember, I have an almost three year. I do remember eating..talking and lots of laughing.

Jonathan and his mom, Grace.

Jonathan's youngest sister, Mary, cooking or prending to.

Oldest niece, Nicole, and Jonathan's sister, Jessica (the blonde sister :-)) They were working hard on gravy.

Jonathan's oldest sister, Monica's, 5th child, Mary Grace.
(Hannah and Mary were playing on the piano..very cute!)

Christmas my mom came over the evening before to go to Christmas Eve service at our church, Bridgeway Community Church. This year's service was titles Colors. And it was so neat! They had skits of different families around the world...like America, China (or somewhere in Asia), Puerto Rico, and Africa showing what they would be doing on Christmas. For America they chose a family putting up Christmas decorations and when the kids went to the kitchen or something, the husband told the wife that he just got laid off. Which I know that so many people were laid off during that time and still being laid off. But we Americans can relate to that. In Asia they showed two Asian girls in a secret place to get together to talk about God and showed the pastor coming in and then later someone knocks on the door..it was a military person or someone with a really big gun that heard about their meeting. You think that he is going to kill them for the faith but he claimed that he wanted to know more about their. Great drama! The other countries were similar in showing what is going on there.

On the long note, Christmas morning was great! Hannah was so much fun to watch. And I love how little kids are so "into" each present that they open. They don't hurry up and open a present and then hurry up to get to the next present. I guess it'll be a little different when she gets older. But I enjoyed it a lot this year.

Our tree (She is REALLY happy about it!)

I don't have anymore pictures..I took mostly videos for Christmas.

January is here and today it is a high of 23 degrees! It snowed in the early early morning. Thankfully, I woke up at 5am and got to see it. It's just freezing out! But when it snows somehow it is so much easier to deal with sub-freezing temperatures. (ok, I am a true Floridian!)

I have been making jewelry like crazy lately and trying hard to build my jewelry business...you can view my blog and my etsy shop.

I hope to be back on sooner than later! Thanks for not giving up on this blog. :-)

Autumn is Here

2008-11-01T08:03:00.015-04:00

This is my most favorite time of the year! I love the colors that God has given us to enjoy during these couple of months. They go so fast too fast. I moved up from Florida 12 years ago and before that I had never seen trees turn colors. To some, that would seems unimaginable but it is true. I grew up with green trees all year round. I saw lot sof plants and flowers but nothing like the orange, red, yellow colors that we are experiencing right now. My dad has been visiting us, from Florida, for the last week and I felt so proud that I lived up here. I hope in the next couple of days that I will be able to take some really good pictures of Fallin Maryland. More pictures to post...but for now...Here's Hannah!

Hannah's thinking outside fo the box.

The things that my husband will do for me to get a picture.

Weeeeee....with mommy!

Weeee....with Daddy!

PUMPKIN CARVING!

2008-09-08T18:30:00.007-04:00

Hey Hon

2008-09-04T21:00:00.002-04:00

Hannah has gone through a couple of different names for me in her lifetime. The first one is "Mama"...that lasted for quite a while. Until about 6 months she did great with that name. Then out of nowhere she started getting "formal" with me and calling me "Mom". I was a little hurt by that considering she calls her dad, "Daddy" or Dada" all the time... Then she started calling me, "mommy" and I was very happy with that. And hoped that lasted a long time. It is an endearing way to get my attention as opposed to hearing "Mom!" There is just something negative about that. Maybe I am sensitive.

A week or so ago we were bead shopping at the craft store and she said, "look, hon". It caught me off guard but kept repeating it and I finally got it that she was calling me, "hon".

Where did she get that from??? I always call Jon, "Hon" or "Honey". Of course, when I am not having warm and fuzzy feelings towards him, I call him, "Jon". So, now I am "Hon" to my little 2 year old. I like it...it's cute...I hope that stays awhile.

A Day at the Park

2008-08-08T22:59:00.003-04:00

Update

2008-07-05T21:43:00.008-04:00

How Fast Our Friends Grow Up

2008-04-08T08:28:00.005-04:00

Victoria 11 months and Hannah 10 months

Hannah 23 months and Victoria is 2 years old.

Watching the water flow in the creek beneath the bridge.

I am amazed at how fast our little kids grow up. Here is Hannah's friend Victoria and her.

My Little Helper

2008-04-02T21:56:00.003-04:00

She is my little helper and wants to do it herself. She actually helped to empty the silverware tray out of the dishwasher the other day. She was determined to empty it ALL.

The "Look"

2008-04-02T21:52:00.004-04:00

Hannah inherited this look from me. And I got it from my mom. I usually give it to her after she has ignored me when I want her to put her coat or her shoes on. The eyes say it all....don't they?

Easter

2008-04-02T21:21:00.008-04:00

(This picture only took many shots to get them both looking the right direction)

We hid some plastic eggs after church and Hannah jumped right in and found all of the eggs around our back yard. She especially enjoyed the jelly beans that were in them.

Here is her video of the her looking for eggs and a little bit of her personality.

Florida Trip

2008-03-13T14:29:00.001-04:00

Do you see the face?

2008-02-05T14:42:00.001-05:00

I had drawn a face on a balloon with hair. Some how it got wet and Hannah hugged it. Can you see the face on her front side? Eyes, nose and mouth? :-) It looks like she has a mustache. This was permanent marker by the way.

Christmas.....a little late

2008-02-05T14:30:00.001-05:00

We had a nice Christmas this year and Hannah got some really great presents. One is her Baby Alive doll. This baby sucks a bottle and cries if you don't give her enough and she will cry and wail her arms and legs for a little while. Hannah gets so nervous that the baby is crying and will hurry up and grab and cradle her and then hop into my lap so I can comfort her. By the way it also pees and has real diapers. And you can purchase more. What a clever marketing ploy. But I can usually find Hannah either holding her baby while she is drinking from the bottle or she forgets about the baby and puts her on the floor and drinks the baby's bottle.

This was also another really good present. A kids table and chairs from Ikea. She can play with her play dough, color and play with stickers or eat a snack. It is awesome!

The "BIG" Snow Day

2008-02-04T07:24:00.001-05:00

This picture reminds me of the Cosby Show where Cliff was getting his daughter ready to go out and after the whole process she said that she had to go pee. Thankfully Hannah is still wearing diapers because it is a "process". And of course she wasn't fully cooperating. Running away here and there.

This is down the street from our house.
It was so beautiful and so peaceful to be outside when it was snowing.

My camera wasn't cooperating in the above picture. But Jonathan was pulling Hannah around on a piece of cardboard around our yard. This was the big snow storm. It was about 5 inches.

She's Cute...but she can throw a fit.

2008-02-04T07:07:00.000-05:00

I am sure I asked her to do something that was very reasonable but she didn't agree that it was the time to do it...and she threw a fit. Then I asked her, Are you throwing a fit?" And she said with a straight face, "Yep". And then went back to "crying". It looks believable though.

She's Growing Too Quickly

2008-02-03T21:52:00.000-05:00

It has been a little while since I have posted and shared some pictures. I have about 100 new ones since I have posted last. I won't bore you with all of them. The funniest has to be the one of her "walking" her friend Ana at the mall. Sometimes I go to the sing and dance story time thing that they have at the mall on Thursdays. I invited my friend Deb and her daughter Ana to go with us. Afterwards we took a walk around the mall.....this is one way to keep our kids together.
It seems like one day you are doing everything (feeding, burping, changing them) for your kids and it doesn't feel like there is an end to it and the next time you look and they are feeding themselves, trying to dress themselves, talking away and so incredibly mobile. I absolutely LOVE this stage of life that Hannah is in.

Crafty Items Sold on this Website

2008-01-21T15:27:00.000-05:00

Not sure how I got to this site but it is really unique. I'm enjoying browsing all of the "stores" that people have listed their merchandise. It is kind of similar to ebay except you don't bid and this is strictly items that people have hand-made. It gives me so many ideas for making my jewelry.

It is called Etsy

Enjoy!!

Hope you are staying warm!
By the way, Happy Martin Luther King day! Have you celebrated it in any way?

Play Wise

2007-12-20T22:00:00.001-05:00

New Orleans Trip

2007-12-20T21:24:00.000-05:00

On the plane ride there. She had her own seat, which made a huge difference in flying. The flight home was a totally different story. It made me not want to fly again for a while. (I am talking about Hannah , not my mom. My mom behaved herself as well.)

It took Hannah a day or two to feel comfortable with her cousin, Sophia. As you can see with the strong body language.

We visited a really neat place outside of New Orleans. You ride on a "train" and feed animals out of the cup or you toss it on the ground. Side note: never hand-feed a zebra. the can bite your hand off.

Sophia, Hannah and Cameron all having a blast jumping on the couch. I think the sugar kicked in.

Here we (Me, Hannah, Grana, my brother, Marty and his kids, Cameron and Sophia) are all riding on a ferry that you drive on with your car (for the first for us Marylanders) across the river to the city of New Orleans.

If you have the chance to go to New Orleans go to Cafe Du Monde down in the French Quarter. Get the Beignets & you could look like this after all of the powder sugar they put on them. As you can see in the background there are many many performers on the streets. This one earned a whole dollar from Hannah when he played "You Are My Sunshine" on his brass thingamajig.

A Cool Website

2007-11-28T20:35:00.000-05:00

This website sells one item a day that is below what you would pay at a store or online. Sometimes they are good sometimes they aren't that exciting. They offer the item at 12am and sometimes they sell out by noon that day.
Here is the website:
Woot

19 Month Update

2007-11-26T21:19:00.000-05:00

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

We actually ventured out to the Columbia Mall on black Friday. At the end, I asked my mom to remind me not to do this again next year. Although watching my mom and Hannah on the merry-go-round was very pleasant....along with my mom's sister and her grand daughter.

Hannah absolutely loved holding this little kitten. She had so much excitement in her, she didn't know what to do with it.

This was the start of the sick frenzy that our household had. This was sickness number one. She had a stomach virus and then two days later I got it and then two days after that Jonathan got it. Then Hannah got some cough, runny nose thing. She is done with the contagious part but still has some reminence of it. The above picture is sickness number one. Thank goodness for videos. The below picture is sickness number two as we were trying to have some fun. Can't tell, can you? Third picture she is getting much better!

This is Hannah's newest past time. She LOVES this bowl of beans. She gets to empty the beans into a cup and then scoop it out with a spoon and then empty it into the bowl and then stir it around. And she repeats this process over and over. Playdough is another one of her favorites!

This is a running joke in our family. I was driving one day and did something that I shouldn't have done and opened my mouth and put my hand over it and took a deep breath. We'll I looked in my rear view mirror and Hannah did the same exact thing.

Pickin' Pumpkins at the Patch

2007-10-31T15:22:00.000-04:00

We visited Larriland today with some friends. First, we let the kids go through a maze. Only a couple got lost. Hannah tried really hard to lose me and thought it was funny to run away.

Then we went on a hay ride. It took us to the pumpkin patch and then around the farm. It was gorgeous today. perfectly sunny and a little cool.

We even got to take a pumpkin home with us. Hannah picked the one on her right. We'll carve it tonight.

Those were the friends that we went with today. There were lots of pumpkins to choose from.

My Little Helper

2007-10-31T14:50:00.000-04:00

I am so proud of my little girl. She actually wanted to wash dishes. What mom would turn that down??

17 Month Old Video

2007-10-05T14:41:00.000-04:00

In case the above doesn't work.....Here is a collection of pictures of Hannah in a video format.
(Thanks Jen for the idea to go to this website....)

Our New Home

2007-10-05T07:29:00.001-04:00

Here is a picture of our new home. We have been here for a month and are adjusting to the our surroundings pretty quick. Molly, our dog, had the hardest time adjusting. She has gotten much better and see this home as our "home" and is quite comfortable now. We all really love living here. God couldn't have picked a better place for us at this time in our life. We have a big fenced-in back yard for Hannah and Molly to run around. A wonderful driveway for Hannah to do some chalk drawing. And the home, itself, is such a comfortable place to be. We are meeting people in the neighborhood. And most people are very welcoming. Our neighbor two doors down has been here for 42 years!!! And she said she still loves it here. Across the street is a gorgeous neighborhood with homes that were built in 1891. There are huge, old trees and quiet streets to take walks. And we have a pretty cool playground that is about a mile away. We go there quite often. We have a handful of not-completed projects. One day they will get done. Even though I have my own business helping others to organize their homes, I am having hard time getting to my own "stuff". I know, it has only been a month...I'll get boxes unpacked hopefully by the end of this year and get our home set up the way that it used to be. I think that is it....I will post more pictures of the update rooms that we complete.

Sisters??

2007-10-02T21:32:00.001-04:00

Hannah and Molly are establishing their ranks these days. Molly is usually happy to see Hannah when she wakes up from sleeping. She will come in to her room and put her nose to her crib to see if she is in there. And Hannah giggles. Hannah loves to see Molly and she'll get a huge smile on her face when Molly comes into the room. Although, for the last week Hannah has taken off with the word "no". Everyone has talked about it and sooner or later I knew it would happen. She knows how and when to use the word "no". Especially with Molly. She will point her finger at her and say "no, no, no, no". (Side note: I think she got that from the 5 Little Monkey song. The doctor tells the monkey, "no more monkeys jumping on the bed!") I'm not sure what Hannah is saying no to but she is good at it. All in all they have fun together and know they are loved by each other.

Bike Ride

2007-10-02T21:25:00.000-04:00

Our little one is growing up so quickly. We got a Wee Ride bike seat (www.weeride.com) and now Hannah and Daddy can take a bike ride together. She always taps her to let us know that she wants her helmet on to go for a ride. Jonathan said that she hums when they ride together. By the way, this is our backyard. I can't rake up the leaves fast enough. Any suggestions on a leaf blower/vac??

A New Fad

2007-08-05T20:29:00.001-04:00

I am not sure how Hannah got this way but I heard all of the toddlers are doing it. It must be the new fad. Parents....we wouldn't understand.

4 Generations

2007-08-05T20:24:00.001-04:00

Grana (my Mom) and Hannah, Grammy (my mom's mom) and me.

Here are four generations of the women on my side of the family...

(I know my grandmother is dying to give Hannah some candy, can't you see it in her eyes?)

Daddy's Going to Work

2007-08-05T20:14:00.001-04:00

This is our morning ritual when Daddy goes to work.

She is usually very sad to see him go. Sometimes it involves crying. I am so grateful for a husband who is such a wonderful Daddy to let us both stay home while he provides for our family. Thanks, Hon!

On the Farm at....The Howard County Fairgrounds

2007-08-05T19:54:00.000-04:00

A really big pig that had about 6-8 nursing piglets.
One is right by the nose of the mama pig.
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We pushed Hannah around in the stroller while stopping to see
the sheep and the goat that were behind these bars.
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Hannah absolutely loved these little ducklings. We can never get this close to them while walking around a lake in Columbia.
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Wondering what Hannah is laying in? It is a big huge pile of corn pieces.

Wow...Has it been this long???

2007-08-05T14:32:00.000-04:00

First pic I am entering is current and from the previous post....Look at how

much a child can change within only 4 months!

Things going on in our life

2007-04-06T20:41:00.001-04:00

This is what happens when Mommy sleeps in and Daddy feeds me breakfast. This is the Pop Tart a la all over my face, hair and clothes breakfast with a bath to top it off when Mommy comes down and sees what we were up to.

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My friend & neighbor, Deb and her daughter, Ana, and Hannah and I went to D.C. on Tuesday for the Cherry Blossoms. It was gorgeous out and the blossoms were really pretty too.

It looks like Hannah is telling Ana a great story about something.
Sure wish we had known baby talk.

Deb, Ana and Hannah on the blanket underneath a cherry blososm tree that we spent a couple of hours hanging out. It felt like it was that long....It was wonderful!!
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Hannah and I go to a playgroup every other Wednesday and last week we all decided to meet at a playground so the kids could play out side. Here are a lot of them eating lunch. You can see Hannah's pink little shoe in the bottom right corner. From left to right on the bench is Mia, Ella, Luke, Luke's cousin,Laura , and Lexi (aka: Bean).

Juanita and her daughter, Victoria, decided to join us at the park and we took a ride around the path in her stylin' wagon. Along with her stuffed doggie. Too cute!

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The following day Jonathan and I thought it would be fun to gring Hannah to the park again along with Molly (not pictured) and have fun! Which we all did!

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Hannah innocently thinking, "Sure looks nice outside. Fresh air....cool breeze."

Getting a little more curious, "Hmmmm, looks like there could be more out there. Wonder what's out there??"

Even more curious, Hannah decides she needs to get up and take a look much closer.

How Well do you know me??

2007-03-25T21:17:00.001-04:00

Create your own Friend Test here

11 Months

2007-02-23T07:18:00.000-05:00

Is Hannah trapped??? Nope, she is just playing inside of her hamper, which has the top off.

Victoria and Hannah playing together. I occasionally watch her while her mom takes care of a couple of things during the day. Victoria just turned 1 year old...Happy Birthday!!

Charlie and Hannah playing in the same room together. These two frequently get to spend some time playing with each other....well, as much as little babies can play with each other. They are super cute with one another, though.

Here we are having fun with Balloons....ok, Jonathan and I are having fun...
Molly and Hannah look a little irritated.

Wow! I just looked at the posting that I had saved as a draft to come back and finish it. The title was 10 months old now. Ok, Hannah is now 11 months old (on the 14th of March) and doing SO many new things. Within the last couple of days it seems like things are starting to make sense to her. She started rolling her arms around each other...and I thought, "that looks like when we do 'Wheels on the Bus'"...Sure enough when I started singing it to her she started making the motions. Kids are amazing! Well, just yesterday Hannah took her first step at Grandma and Grandpa's house....and also later on in the evening while Daddy was home. She is growing up way too quickly! I can always tell she is getting longer when I put her in her crib if she has fallen asleep because her body is taking up more and more of the crib. When we sing, "If you are happy and you know it, clap your hands." She will start clapping her hands. She actually said "ma, ma" Not sure if she knows that it is me but I'll take it considering she has said, "Da Da, do ie (doggie), ra (ruff ruff). In addition to these wonderful things, Hannah has taken on a new attitude. A not so nice one. Jonathan and I have many discussions trying to figure out how to approach this new little attitude. I know we need to nip it in the bud...But how do you explain to an 11 month old that she shouldn't scream when she wants something. Or try to hit the dog or mommy or daddy or anyone. We'll hopefully figure this one out soon. We still love her and this is nothing compared to her future as a two-year old or even worse....a teenager.

Weather....

2007-02-12T10:01:00.000-05:00

Since I have not posted in a month....one question??? Is anyone excited that it will be up to almost 45 degrees today????????

Nap Time

2007-01-08T20:24:00.000-05:00

Hannah found the nose of a stuffed ostrich to suck on to soothe herself to sleep. This is the first picture I took of her while she was sleeping. I couldn't resist. With the flash and all she stayed asleep..phew!

New Pull Toy

2007-01-08T20:17:00.000-05:00

Ready, set.......

GO!!!

Uh oh!! What happened???

This toy was from Grana. Hannah is getting the hang of it. She figured out that she needs to pull the string to get them to move.

Sewing

2006-12-31T21:23:00.000-05:00

Today I got a sewing machine from Jonathan's grandmother as a Christmas present. I have been day dreaming of all of the things that I could make if I had only had a sewing machine. There are so many things!! I could sew clothes for Hannah...I could actually hem my way too long pants...I could make bags....I could sew my way too long curtains from Ikea that I have had up for almost 1 year....there is so much to sew...well, today Jonathan, Hannah and I went over to his parents house to open presents from Christmas since we were in Floriday on Christmas. I got a sewing machine from his Grandmother! How exciting is that???!? Ok, now I have it and I have definitely bitten off more than I can chew. This seems like the de-luxe....with SO many hem options...with 12 different feet attachments! Holy moly! What was I thinking? I am sure it isn't as hard as it looks. I hope to start making some things soon! Any suggestions??

First Tooth

2006-12-22T20:17:00.000-05:00

Hannah's first tooth popped out today! She is 8 months old and we had been waiting and waiting for a tooth to appear. We are in Florida right now for Christmas and Hannah had been have a fever off and on right before we left. After all of these months and no teeth and then when we decided to go on our first vacation she battled a fever and teething pain. We made it to Florida and a little tooth popped. She is really good at not letting me feel inside of her mouth. But...when she fell asleep tonight she was out cold and I stuck my finger in her mouth and used my nail to tap on her gums and it was hard!! She has her first tooth! Hopefully She'll wait until we get back to Maryland to get her next one.

Two Little Cuties

2006-12-14T14:23:00.000-05:00

Two little cuties hanging out together. Lexi is such a little doll and so fuun to be around and to watch her do her own thing. Here they are playing with a leap frog thing that makes noises. They weren't too bad at sharing. Last week Jen and Lexi came over for lunch and to hang out.

Going to the Farm

2006-12-07T14:07:00.001-05:00

The little goat was a beggar. If you had food he was right there
hoping for a handful of straw or whatever it was that we had.

I love animals...but since having Hannah and going to this little farm...I was SO protective over her. As long as they stayed far like this little donkey we were friends.

You can see directly left of Jonathan is little bunny. Once inside the gate there are animals roaming around for you to pet if they stayed still.

We visited an apple orchard in western Maryland a couple of weeks ago. They had a petting farm that you could also go to. Hannah really enjoyed it. She seems to love animals....anything with fur and feathers on it. The place was called Baugher's and they had GREAT apples and pears!

Riding on a bus

2006-12-04T08:57:00.000-05:00

This morning Jonathan woke up and said that his mom was upset at him because when he was over his parent's house he rode Hannah around on a remote control bus and he drove her up a hill and it looked dangerous because she could have flipped over. I said, "What are you talking about??" (Thinking he was having a low blood sugar). Then he told me the important detail...it was a dream.

Bath Time Fun

2006-12-04T08:47:00.000-05:00

We switched over from her baby bath tub to this almost big girl bath ring thing. She really really enjoys her bath now. She could be dog tired and will be perfectly content sitting in the water and playing with her toys.

Woah...look at those bubbles...tiny bubbles.

This is a new smile of hers. She squishes her nose up.

She is Scooting

2006-11-28T14:02:00.000-05:00

After two whole months of not posting I think I am due to write something. (I had problems with the pictures on my camera...I lost 2 months of pictures of her). Well.....Hannah is officially scooting She kind of looks like a catepillar. This morning, I placed an object in front her about a foot and half away from her and just watched to see if she could get it. She did! She used one arm to drag herself over to the object. The object was a miniature pumpkin that I never let her have. Talk about motivation! I guess it is really time to start baby proofinng the house. I absoultely LOVE being a mom to my Hannah. It is wonderful to watch her change and interact with my crazy little girl. She "attacks" me now. By grabbing my hair or ears and opening her mouth really wide and planting it on my chin, cheek, nose or whatever she can get to. I love it though! So far, the words that she signs of knowing are Molly, doggie, Mommy, Daddy, Grana, Elmo, Clap-Clap (followed by her hands clapping).Whenever we say those words she looks directly to it. And the songs that she knows are..."The Chicken Dance", "The Wheels on the Bus", "5 Little Monkeys", Mr. Roger's theme song, "It's a Beuatiful Day in the Neighborhood", I am sure knows more than we think she does. Anyway, this is just to get me back into the blogging game. Pictures will follow soon!

A Mom So Proud

2006-09-27T20:13:00.000-04:00

I have been noticing some older babies in our play group being able to suck on their toe. I have been secretly jealous that they can reach their foot up and take a taste. And wondering when Hannah would be able to do that. Well today my baby was laying on the floor and I caught her with her big toe in her mouth. I am so proud! I had put Hannah on the floor and was on the computer and it seemed a little too quiet..so, I went over and looked and she was intently rolled on her side with her foot up to her face and her toe in her mouth. Daddy and I are always taking her feet to our mouths. She must have been curious as to what was the big deal. That is her new trick for the day. Gooooo Hannah!

Some funny babies

2006-09-16T21:59:00.000-04:00

Thought this was Hi-larious!! It is a video of a mom and her quadruplet boys laughing for a long time.

This is funny too.

Having Lots of Fun Today

2006-09-16T21:29:00.000-04:00

We had lots of fun today as a family. It is Saturday and we went to a community yard sale in our neighborhood...went to the mall (didn't stay too long. There were way too many people)...took a nap...and played a lot!!

Or go to the website to view the Chicken Dance.

Hannah absolutely LOVES flying in the air on a pillow. As soon as Jonathan puts her on the pillow she starts smiling because she knows what is going to happen.

Making Baby Food

2006-09-14T10:07:00.000-04:00

Today I decided to make Hannah's own baby food. It seems like we can save some money over time by making it ourselves (or myself). And if you know Jonathan, that is music to his ears. For Hannah's dedication day, my mom got me a book called The BIG Book of Recipes for Babies, Toddlers & Children. (It is a book that you gives you exact recipes for your children's food) I thought I would give it a try and make some apple puree and carrot puree. It looked good but when I gave a couple of tastes to Hannah she made a face that no chef wants to see. It's ok...I'll keep giving it to her to try. One word of advice...make sure you buy very sweet apples. I think the ones that we bought are a little too tart for her. It is fun to make food for her and good to know that I am "beating" the baby food industry by making her food. I hope this will last a long time.

On a different note....today is Hannah's 5 month birthday!! YAY!! Hannah!!

Almost 5 months

2006-09-12T10:14:00.001-04:00

Our Hannah girl will be 5 months on the 14th! How time flies. As you can see from the video she is rolling over on her own. She becomes obsessed with it sometimes. Once she gets started she keeps going. She gets stuck and we'll roll her back over and she'll do it again and again and again. Maybe it is a game to her? She is so much fun to be around. I've read other blogs and moms will say how the current month is the best month and I can relate. It keeps getting better. She is expressing a lot of her wants by grunting and reaching for an object that she is interested in. We were over Jonathan's parent's house and while Grandma was holding her she kept reaching for their dog, Job. It was quite obvious that she wanted to pet him. He wasn't as eager to be petted in fear that she would pull his fur.

Time with Hannah's daddy is becoming more and more beautiful. Even though he doesn't feed her as much as I do, since I am nursing, their bond is apparent. He loves to put her on a pillow, belly down and fly her through the house. She loves it!

She also loves to hang out on his shoulders.

My dad got Hannah an exersaucer while he was visiting. It took her a little while to get use to it. Now she'll turn around and spin in different directions to get the various toys.

On September 1st we celebrated Jonathan's 29th birthday...Can you tell how excited he was?? :-)

On the Sunday before Labor Day we dedicated Hannah at our church, Bridgeway Community Church.
Our Pastors, Dr. David Anderson and Dave Michener did the dedication. It was a time where we could publically announce that we are choosing to raise our daughter in a biblical way. And that we cannot do it alone without God's help. Our little girl is so special to us and most of the time very easy but when she gets older, we'll need his help. (Although we still need it now). Through God, us and our family and friends we hope to raise a Godly woman. (It is hard to imagine she'll be a woman someday)

I had to throw this picture in...nothing special happened just a cute picture.
(See, mom, I put her on her belly sometimes)

Hannah Rolling Over

2006-09-07T21:47:00.000-04:00

I filmed this today. Finally someone else gets to see her roll over. She is doing great getting over from her back to her belly. I know she is stuck when I hear her grunting which then turns into her moaning.

Hannah's Video of her Rolling Over

4 Month Updates

2006-08-28T12:50:00.000-04:00

Hannah is doing wonderful...by our standards and her pediatrician. She is 13 pounds (40%) and 25 inches long (75%). She is eating great. She doesn't have too many rolls on her legs but she is making up for it in her length.

Hannah just rolled over this morning from her back to her stomach and then almost immediately she rolled onto her back again. I was so excited that I pick up Hannah and said, “YAY, Hannah, you did it!” She looked like she knew this was the first time and she was able to do it and then her mommy got excited about seeing it, which made her excited. Well, that is how I interpreted it.

Staying home and not watching t.v. during the day has been wonderful. I focus a lot more on Hannah and what she is doing and I also reflect on God's goodness in our home.

1-God has given us enough financially so that I can stay home without working to watch our baby.

2-God has given me a husband who encourages and supports me in being home with Hannah.

3-God has given me a beautiful and loving daughter. She has a such a sweet spirit and most of the time such a pleasant baby to be around.

I truly am thankful for my life and the people that are in it.

As soon as we get our camera back from Jonathan's parent's house, we'll update those too!

Water Baby

2006-08-03T20:26:00.000-04:00

Hannah is surviving the heat these days by swimming in the community pool. She loves it! We didn't think that she was going to like it but she surprised us! When in the water, she kicks her little legs like she is a frog. It is a cute site to see. I guess she is use to being in water since she spent 9 months in my belly!

Hannah Found her Voice

2006-08-02T16:04:00.000-04:00

Hannah found her voice over the past week and uses it ALL the time. It is really fun to watch and listen to her. Kids grow up so fast!

HANNAH'S VIDEO

My New Best Friend

2006-08-01T17:04:00.000-04:00

I just purchased my first sling and I love it! For the first time this Sunday Jonathan and I were able to stay in church for the entire service! Hannah falls asleep so quickly in the sling and it makes visiting others much easier! I bought it at www.slinglings.com.

Our Little Sweet Cheeks

2006-07-27T15:51:00.000-04:00

We have come up with a new nic name for Hannah....our little "sweet cheeks". Quite fitting, wouldn't you say? We'll have to bring out the photo when she's older, maybe in high school.

Updates....

2006-07-19T13:51:00.000-04:00

It has been a while since I have posted and with a 3 month old lots of things change so here is an update of pictures.

Does she look like she do anything wrong?? Or does it look like she already did something wrong?

Molly wants to be part of the fun that Dad and Hannah are having.

Hannah trying to play with her toys and Molly is hanging out making sure Hannah doesn't get away.

Daddy and Hannah with her new pretty skirt on.

Bath times are such a joy now... She enjoys taking them and staying in the tub for a very long time. We love singing to her and believe it not she enjoys or voices too!

Hannah has found an intense interest in cups lately. She has been sucking on the edges of cups. This was taken at one of her baths...She was obsessed with the cup that night.

Hannah is doing a wonderful job at holding her head up and playing with toys. Here she is with Grana playing with one of her favorite rattles.

A looooonnnggg walk...

2006-06-30T18:52:00.000-04:00

We usually go on long walks with Hannah and Molly in the mornings and evenings. Sometimes they last a little longer than others. This time it was a loooonnnggg one and Hannah was still recovering from it. So, instead of disturbing our little one I decided to leave her in her front carrier and put her right in her bouncy seat. She didin't seem to mind the unusual position. I think it is cute...but then again almost anything she does, intentionally or not, is cute.

Hannah's newest stats

2006-06-22T10:43:00.000-04:00

Ms. Hannah Leigh went to the doctor's office yesterday for her 2 month check up. Her newest stats are 11.2 pounds and 23 inches. Our baby girl is growing. She has grown a whole 4 inches and weighs 4 more pound since she was born. Amazing! Well, I had built up so much anxiety about her getting 5 shots, thinking that was going to be the worst part. I sat in the waiting room to be escorted to the chambers when another lady was waiting. I told her that Hannah was getting 5 shots today and I was nervous because I didn't want to see her in pain. She said, "You are going to have "fun" this eveing". I didn't know what she was talking about. 6:30pm came along and the crying started. I could tell this was different than her normal evening crankiness. WOW!! I tried holding her at different tiems and she wanted nothing to do with me. All she wanted was her Dad. Did she remember that I took her to the evil doctor's office? Finally at 10:30pm Hannah went to sleep in Daddy's arms and then later ending up on his chest. Even Mom couldn't fix the pain she was in. After she went to bed she actually slept really good only waking up once at 3am to eat a half a meal thanks to Mr. Tylenol. She has to endure these nasty shots at 4, 6 and 15 months next time. I am not looking forward to it. I am suppose to help with taking the pain away not leading her into it, right?

Bath Time

2006-06-08T15:20:00.000-04:00

Hannah is now enjoying her baths. The first couple were scary for her but now she loves having water poured on her and it is a perfect time for mom and dad to talk with her. She tells daddy about her day and they smile at each other. It is adorable to see them talk.
This transition is "fun" too. You have to be very quick with a baby who doesn't have a diaper on. Dad got to experience that the other night. All of a sudden he was very warm. You can only imagine what happened...we'll leave it at that! :-D

She is growing

2006-06-08T15:17:00.000-04:00

This picture is from a couple of days after the previous one. She is able to grasp onto the butterfly now! As you can see, she has her eye on the birdie...Watch out birdie, here comes Hannah!

Using Her Hands

2006-06-05T19:10:00.000-04:00

Over this past week Hannah has been grabbing for her purple butterfly. She will spend at least 15-20 mintues in her bouncy (which gives me time to eat and shower, you know, basic neccessities) trying to grab her little butterfly. Today I saw her grab it or maybe her pinky got caught on it, and she seemed to have gotten excited about it. We are so proud of her!

Some More Smiles

2006-05-31T07:51:00.000-04:00

We love our baby girl's smile. It makes our days wonderful. She is cooing and talking so much now. It is such a pleasure to be with her and talk with her.

Special Visitors from Florida

2006-05-31T07:36:00.000-04:00

The Willis family had some special visitors this Memorial Day weekend. Pap (Walt, Alyssa's Dad) and Granma (Joan, Alyssa's step-mom) came to visit Hannah from Florida. We had lots of fun over the weekend. They actually got all of us out of the house everyday. We wouldn't normally have gotten out so much out of fear and being first-time parents. Hannah did really well though. We shopped down in Annapolis, near the pier, spent a huge part of the day at The Columbia Mall another day and then Dobbin Center at the various stores around the center. Usually Jonathan and I are too concerned about Hannah's feeding and sleeping times that we don't get out nearly enough. We thought it would be too much trouble to get her out of her routine but Hannah showed us that she can handle sleeping and eating outside of her home. It was so nice to get out and actually see other people and babies. Hannah and I were missing out on the world. We even ate out at a restaurant!!!

Hannah's First Bottle

2006-05-23T16:27:00.000-04:00

Here is Grana and Hannah bonding

On Sunday we decided to let Grana give Hannah a bottle. We tried it a couple of nights before but she was "not having it". For some reason Sunday was a good day for her to take the bottle. For mom..it was not easy. I thought I wanted her to take it. That would mean I could have more freedom and could go some where anywhere for more than 15 minutes alone without anyone. But when I saw someone else feeding her it was hard. I know it won't bother me soon when I am able to leave but for the first time it was hard.

A sleepy family

2006-05-23T16:06:00.000-04:00

Even Molly joined in on sleeping...

How did Hannah get into bed with mommy?? It is amazing
how much longer she will sleep if she is next to a warm body.

One of many pictures of daddy with hannah sleeping. They make a great team!

It seems like we are a sleepy family. It is easy to catch either mom or dad catching a few zzzzz's these days. And having a little Hannah right next to you makes napping extremely wonderful.

Her first smile caught on camera

2006-05-16T10:14:00.000-04:00

Aunt Genelle swaddled the little one

Last night Genelle came over to visit us. It was a very interesting evening. First, Molly got out of the house and Genelle spent a good 20-30 minutes trying to get her back in. Well, there was a big puddle in front of our house filled with dirty, gross water. Molly thought it would be fun to splash in it and then stare at us like, "ha, ha, ha, I am playing in the water and you can't catch me." So, after I finished tending to my daughter I took a walk to look for this rebellious dog. Genelle was trying to get her into our neighbor's, Kim and Jeromy's, fenced-in area and then shut the gate while she was inside. She wasn't cooperating. So, I tried it...thank goodness it worked! I guess she trusted me. Later on, for punishment, we gave her a bath!

But...the most exciting thing that happened was...Genelle and I had a photo shoot of Hannah and we caught her darling little smile on camera! We knew she could do it but had not proof. But this was such a wonderful moment for Jonathan, Genelle and I. It is amazing how much newborns can change. More and more everyday she seems to be more aware of her surroundings and the people around her.

Today she went for her 1 month shot. It wasn't fun. I can't believe how hard it is to hear your baby in pain. She recovered though and slept a lot of the day. She got weighed at 9 pounds (55% in her age bracket) and she is 22 1/2 inches (95% in her age bracket). So, she gained 2 pounds and 2 1/2 inches since her last check up three weeks ago!

Hannah's First Bath

2006-05-08T17:29:00.000-04:00

Her cord fell off, time for a bath!!!! Although Hannah got very clean from her first bath, it wasn't the most fun thing for her to do. It started off really well. We were told by Grana to wrap her in a blanket before putting her in the baby bath tub, so the water wouldn't be a complete shock to her new baby body. So, we tried it. And it worked..for a little bit. She seemed very peaceful and it looked like this might be a success. But before we knew it she started crying and we sped up the process. She has had one more bath and still doesn't like it. We hope she will one day.

Pictures

2006-05-05T10:46:00.000-04:00

Playing in her bouncy seat

A quick snuggle before daddy goes to work

Mommy and Hannah

Grandpa and Hannah

Grandma and Hannah

Grana and Hannah

Going for a ride

The family...Daddy, Mommy, Hannah & Molly

Daddy and Hannah

Our little angel sleeping

Here are a couple of pictures of our baby Hannah. She is doing really well. We can see a personality coming through. She has really changed our life in a really good way. We are still getting use to getting up in the middle of the night. That is probably one of the hardest adjustment right now. But...this too shall pass. She is still on her own schedule with eating, sleeping and waking. But we can see somewhat of a pattern forming. We think. She is adorable and we love having our camera even more now that Hannah is here. We have never used it so much.