Pictures...Finally!!

Hannah & one of the Chick-fil-A cows.
Hannah & her HUGE pez dispenser.

Hannah just likes the icing on the cake and not the cake itself.

Bobby & Samuel at the Chick-fil-A party. Sam was just there for the food...

Hannah looked so cute for Bobby's work party at Wingin' It. We had so much fun. I think this is one of the cuter pictures of Miss. Banana.
Bobby & Sammy at the his department Christmas party (Bobby's party...not Sammy's!) Sorry Sammy is a little blurry.

Hannah playing with Lego's at Wingin' It.

Hannah had to bundle up to play on her new trampoline (it was one of those rare cold days right before Christmas.) She wore a pair of Bobby's socks over her own to keep her feet and legs warm. She's so cute in this picture. You can't really tell but her little nose was sooo red and she still didn't want to come in!!

There just wasn't enough room for our presents!

Sammy & his Rock 'N Play Piano. Perhaps he'll be a musician some day...

A somewhat blurry picture of the dress Emily gave Hannah.

Bobby & Sammy rest after all the excitement of opening presents.

Samuel plays with the guitar Papa Jordan gave him.

Merry Christmas!!

The Tale of Christmas...

December was a very busy month for us (and it's still not over!)

The Thursday before Christmas we went to the Cow's Christmas Party at Chick-fil-A. There were two cows and one was dressed like Santa. The "real" Santa was there too - he gave Hannah a candy cane and she was very disappointed. She doesn't like candy canes and said that Santa should have given her "chocolate instead." She played pin the Star on the Tree and had a big piece of Christmas cake. When we first got there I entered her in a drawing to win a huge Chick-fil-A Cow Pez Dispenser. I was just telling Bobby when they started the drawing that Hannah never wins anything - and they called out her name!! This dispenser is huge!! It holds like 8 packs of Pez.

The next day we went to Bobby's departments Christmas party. It was at Wingin' It in downtown Clemson. We had so much fun. We ate tons of food and Hannah was constantly wanting to go to the bathroom b/c one of the walls was a chalkboard and they had a huge bucket of chalk. She and Samuel also got an early Christmas present from June: Samuel got a stuffed cow (complete with udders) that sings 'Old MacDonald - With a Moo Moo here...) and Hannah got a Spongebob coloring book, crayons and a Spongebob umbrella. Even though it wasn't raining when we left the party she walked all the way to the car with her umbrella open!

The Monday before Christmas we had a "party" during our Monday Night Bowling League. Everyone brought finger foods but there was a ton of food! We brought Hannah with us b/c we thought another little girl was coming. Anyway, Hannah didn't eat any supper and completely filled up on snack foods - chocolate covered Bugles, a brownie with caramel in the middle, cinnamon squares with cream cheese icing and half a can of Mountain Dew. I know, I'm an excellent mother ;>) (Hey, it's the holidays and sometimes you just relax and let them eat what they want.) She was so hyper that evening - she talked non -stop and ran all over the bowling alley. On the way home she decided she was going to spend the night with my parents. I tried to warn my mom that Hannah had nothing but sugar that evening but she still said yes. The next day she called and asked me what we'd given Hannah because she had talked until mid-night. My mom would doze off and Hannah would say, "Not yet Granny. I'm not sleepy...." Now my parents know how we feel when she comes home from their house - maybe next time they'll think twice about giving her Little Debbie Cakes and Cream Soda!!

Our internet was out for a while so I also missed Sammy's 11 month update. He's standing by himself and will walk if we hold his hands or if he's got a push toy. He says "Yeah" "Mmmm" (for Moo) and "Papa". He loves to read books and can turn the pages if I help him a little. When we're bowling on Monday's he and Hannah stay with my parents. When he's tired and done playing he'll crawl over to my Dad and reach for him to pick him up. We'll home & my dad is sitting in his recliner holding Sammy - who's generally sleeping. It's too sweet. He's growing like a weed and gets more gorgeous every day!!

As for Christmas, Bob & Tommy spent Christmas Eve with us. We watched movies and baked cookies (not for Santa!). Christmas morning my family came to our house and we made a big breakfast for everyone - this is a family tradition. We rotate houses each year. There were presents galore and we just about drowned in wrapping paper and boxes. Hannah got: Ratatouille, a Little Einstein movie, a beautiful dress-coat-and scarf set from Emily, a McDonald's cash register set, some bubblegum scented body wash/shampoo/bubble bath, two Spongebob books, a Spongebob sleeping bag, a set of stuffed animals from Madagascar 2, and of course her trampoline. Samuel got: a set of huge lego-blocks, a Baby Einstein movie, two different little piano sets, a cute 'First Christmas' sleeper, a Wal-Mart gift card, some snacks and a guitar (from Papa Jordan of course!) They both had a blast and love playing with each others toys. Last night Hannah got out her guitar and Samuel was playing with his - they were both just sitting there strumming away. I have a video I'll post soon. And as soon as Bobby's phone learns to cooperate with me I'll post some pictures of all of these events.

Now we're preparing for Hannah's 3rd birthday....

Clemson Basketball

Bobby and I haven't been on a "date" in a while (I don't consider bowling on Monday's a date) so this past Saturday we left the kids with my mom and headed to Clemson to watch some basketball. Bobby bought tickets off of E-bay from someone who has season tickets so we were pretty close (closer than we normally are anyway :) They played South Carolina State and we basically knew that Clemson would win before we even bought the tickets but it was still fun. I like Raymond Sykes and was excited to see he and his Chicken Legs play. Bobby was impressed with freshman Brian Narcisse. Hopefully we'll be able to go to more games before the season is over!

Lipstick versus Cupcake

Earlier this week I made some delicious chocolate cupcakes with cream cheese icing (that Hannah & I dyed blue using food coloring.) So after supper this evening we each got a cupcake for dessert. Samuel inhaled his within 3 minutes of us giving it to him. The following is a picture of the aftermath.

Earlier this week I attended my monthly Avon sales meetings. My boss gave each of us gift bags full of miscellaneous Avon products. I fared pretty well except for some hideous red lipstick. Bobby put some on just playing around and Hannah exclaimed, "Daddy's got funny lips!" So I let her try it too. Later she came into the room holding the lipstick, wanting to put on more. I told her if she could figure out how to open it she could (it's the Pro-to-Go with a button on the side that you slide up and the lipstick comes out of the top.) Being the genius that she is, Hannah figured it out and the next thing I know I'm looking at a miniature clown. She actually added more after I took this picture! You can decide which is funnier because I surely can't!

Fun at the "Mama" Library

Hannah loves going to the library. So the other day we braved the bitter cold and headed for the "Mama Library" (Hannah's affectionate name for our local library. Don't ask me where she got that from!) Some of her favorite books are "Eat!" Cried Little Pig, Stuck in the Mud, and Hattie Hippo. She gets mad if she wants to get them and someone else has already checked them out. Hannah loves playing with the puzzles and sitting on the bean bags. Samuel just crawls everywhere and plays with the stuffed animals. Here are some pictures from our recent trip. Enjoy!

The Very Busy Day

Yesterday we spent the afternoon at Clemson University. Bobby's department had a Thanksgiving luncheon so I loaded the kids up in the pouring rain and off we went to eat some turkey. It was fun though. Hannah loved the attention and the food was excellent! I love all of Bobby's co-workers but Hannah & I are particularly fond of June :) It wouldn't be Thanksgiving without lots and lots of Cool-Whip and cake.

Then I took the kids home for naps and thought Bobby would be home in time for an early supper. But he had a lot to do and couldn't come home before we went bowling. So, I again loaded the kids up in the pouring rain and we drove to the bowling alley. We went non-stop but the kids didn't mind and it was just one of those fun, albeit, challenging days!

Sammy is 10 months

As you know it's the 23rd so Sammy is now 10 months old. He's growing up so fast - I'm excited but sad at the same time. Now he has 5 teeth, loves solid food and refuses to eat baby food, and is standing alone for a few seconds at a time. He'll pull up, let go and clap for himself. It's so cute. He's saying a few words but his favorite is "MaMa!" He adores Hannah and follows her everywhere she goes and wants to play with whatever she's playing with.
Also, Sammy refuses to go potty on his Baby Bjorn potty. He only goes if I put him on the big potty. Perhaps it's because that what he's seen Hannah doing but who knows?

No More Pull-ups!

As many of you know, Hannah has been using the potty since February of this year. After watching "Potty Time Elmo" over and over and over and over and over.... and seeing Sammy using his potty, she just decided to start going. But until recently she still wore pull-ups to bed. For a while she'd wake up wet and then there were dry spells. Recently I noticed that we were throwing away pull-ups simply because she'd worn them 2 or 3 days in a row. So last Friday Bobby & I made the decision to let her wear underpants to bed. She's doing great and I think she likes it a lot better than those bulky stiff pull-ups. My little baby is a big girl...sniff sniff.
So in closing..."Way to go Hannah and so long pull-ups!!"

What a Zoo!

We began November with a trip to Atlanta ,GA. My best friend Michelle (who I haven't seen in 2 years) lives two hours south of Atlanta so we decided to "meet in the middle" with our families. We went out to eat Saturday night (our hotel was right next to a Cracker Barrel so we just walked over. Yum-o!) After supper all the kids went swimming in the hotel pool while Michelle and I went to buy snacks for the zoo - and to spend some "girl" time together.
Sunday we all went to Zoo Atlanta - which was so much fun. I think I was more excited about going to the zoo than Hannah was! The weather was perfect, the animals were amazing and even Sammy was good the entire day.
Hannah wanted to see all of the animals from 'Madagascar' and was a little disappointed that they didn't have a hippo. But she did enjoy the zebra's, lions, and giraffe's. In the World of Reptiles she saw a yellow eyelash viper that she'd read about in her snake books and she worried that the Komodo Dragon would eat her. We rode the train and the carousel twice. Hannah loved the petting zoo - she brushed every animal in there! And was very excited when we saw a kookaburra. She loves that nursery song and couldn't believe that there was one at the zoo and "it was taking a bath!"
Here are some pictures from the zoo...

Hannah and her "best friend." She cried when I made her get off so we could move along.

Hannah, Will and Wesley. Once again she's the only girl.

Me and "Clucky" (my nickname for Michelle.)

Hannah loved petting the animals. Especially the pig.

Sammy pets a sheep.

Wesley wanted Hannah to ride with him in the stroller. He called her the "pickiest puppy." (After hearing us call her the "pokiest puppy.")

Mei-lan the panda.

Hannah & Bobby pose with a statue of Willie B.

Boy does he look grumpy!

The giraffe's were mine & Hannah's favorite part of the zoo.

Hannah, "And the elephant was eating..."

Hannah, "Phew!!! They're stinky!!" She preceded to pull her shirt over her nose and walk away.

The Tale of Halloween...

This year Hannah wanted to be Spongebob for Halloween. I checked our local stores but did not find the much desired costume. So I turned to the Internet. But all of the costumes I found were either for adults or too pricey for our budget. I was talking to Emily about the trouble I was having and she said that she could make a Spongebob costume and it wouldn't be a problem at all. Boy was she right!! She is very talented and creative (as you can see from the pictures below.) In a little over two weeks she had it ready and Hannah was so excited. She wanted to wear it every day! At first we were planning on Samuel being Plankton but after all of the work Emily put into Spongebob we decided to recycle Hannah's Dalmatian costume.
We always go Trunk or Treatin' at Wal-Mart. Hannah was the only Spongebob and everyone -adults and kids- were constantly pointing at her in awe. One lady even gave her a "prize" for having the best costume!!
Hannah actually understood Halloween this year so she was very excited about her costume and getting candy. She would walk up to the cars and just stare at the people and wait for her candy. It was too cute!

Costume Party

Saturday night we went to a costume party at the Steele's house. It was the first costume party I'd ever been to and it was so much fun!! Bobby & I dressed up as Napoleon Dynamite and his "girlfriend" Deb. We had to improvise a lot with our costume's but I think we did a pretty good job. Samuel was a dalmatian (Hannah's first Halloween costume) and Hannah was Princess Presto from 'Super Why' but she looked more like a fairy princess.
The party was a blast. Josh & Lindsay were dressed like an '80's couple and they did an excellent job (sadly I don't have any pictures of them). There was a ton of food, apple bobbing, dancing (those kids dance better than I do!!), games and a pinata. There were kids everywhere and Hannah was the only girl. I'm not joking! The Steele's have four boys and all of their cousins are boys. She can keep up pretty good though :)

Napoleon & his Dalmatian

Hannah attempts to hit the pinata.

Napoleon & Princess Presto ("With spelling power!")

Hannah is resting after so much fun.

Sammy shed his costume shortly after arriving.

Princess Presto meets Shirley Temple?

Sammy is 9 months

Sammy is now 9 months old! Good grief where have the months gone??!! I took him for his check-up yesterday and he is healthy as a horse and right on schedule as far as milestones are concerned. He weighed 20 lbs 4 oz is 28" long.
Now Sammy can say "Duck", "Cow" and "Quack. Quack." He can also snap his fingers. One night I was trying to feed him & he kept getting distracted. I snapped my fingers to get his attention and he was mesmerized so I kept doing it. He'll rub his thumb & middle finger together. It's too cute.
On his 9 mo. "birthday" we carved our pumpkin for Halloween. Hannah wanted a Spongebob face - big surprise huh? This year she actually stuck her hand inside the pumpkin and helped scoop out the seeds. Last year she wouldn't stick her hand inside at all. So here are all the pictures of us carving the pumpkin & 9 month old Sam.

Hannah wanted an "orange" pumpkin for Halloween.

Daddy & Sammy with the pumpkin.

Sammy watched with interest as Daddy carved the pumpkin.

OK, it looks more like Spongebob in person. This picture doesn't capture it very well.