It's been awhile

I am horrible at keeping up with this blog! I think it's knowing that nobody reads it! Still, I want to keep a record of what's been going on in our life. Since January a couple big things have happened.

1. We bought a house! We made an offer on the third house we saw. It was such an easy process and we feel so blessed. We put a significant amount down so we are actually paying less per month in the mortgage then we were in rent. And we are even paying extra. The goal is to pay off the house in 10 years.

2. Hannah is walking! She isn't walking full time yet, but she does more and more each day. Since writing my last post, she has also learned to clap (10 months), wave (8 months), and point (10.5 months?). She is completely off bottles too. I really wanted her off bottles by 1 year and we accomplished that at 10.5 months. The transition was so easy, but we did it very gradually.



I have less than 2 weeks with the preschoolers. A part of me is sad to see the year end. I had a really great group of kids and parents. And I will miss the kids that aren't coming back next year. But I'm so excited to be done with lesson planning for the summer!

Busy Week!

We met with a mortgage lender this week and got approved for more than we were hoping for. It was such a relief since getting all the paperwork ready for this meeting was so stressful! They require so much to approve you for a loan. Now we get to contact a realtor and start looking for a house!

Hannah and I took our first swim class today. She did really well in the water. She was a little scared at first, but by the end of the 30 minute class, she wasn't quite so clingy. There were some really nice moms there too. Speaking of nice moms, Hannah and I have our first group play date this weekend. I'm hoping to meet some great women and that Hannah enjoys the crawling time.

Oh and the day after I last posted, Hannah started pulling up on things. My mother in law thinks she's going to be a climber. I guess the higher energy level attributed to young moms like me will help!

Our life group is starting a parenting study next week. I'm looking forward to it, but I'm also a bit nervous. Parenting decisions are just so...personal. I often read/participate in parenting message boards and some of the philosophies I read just make no sense to me. I mean, I somewhat understand what they are staying, but I completely disagree. But I'm sure others feel the same about my views ;) We'll see how it goes!

Christmas & milestones

Hannah's first Christmas went so well! We spent the Sunday before at Dave's mom's where Hannah got new clothes, bath toys, a bath tub, sippy cups, and so many generous presents! She loved eating the wrapping paper. We spent Christmas day with Dave's dad and with my family at my grandparent's. Hannah loves playing with her new toys. It was so nice to have Christmas morning with just the 3 of us too.

I can't believe it's nearly 2010. It will no longer be the year that Hannah was born. But I think we'll start trying again in 2010-and sometimes it takes every bit of control to wait until summer. Hannah is so easy to deal with; it really makes us want another baby...

Anyway, I don't think I've really recorded her milestones so here goes:

Smiled socially at 5 weeks
Rolled over at 4 months
Tripod sitting at 4 months
Sitting unassisted at 5 months
Sat herself up at 6 months
Crawled at 6.5 months

And she is trying to pull up on things so I'm sure that will come soon.

In other news, we are getting ready to feet with a mortgage officer to get going on buying our first home. We met with a financial adviser to figure out a down payment so now we just have to wait and see on the loan. We are very excited to get things going!

Beginnings

I'm starting this blog to share my life with family, friends, and anyone interested. It will most likely be very family-centered since that's just where my life is at right now.

Recent happenings:

-Dave and I are dedicating Hannah at church on November 8th. I'm trying not to focus so hard on who to invite and all the logistics, but more on what the promises really mean. We're about to stand in front of our church and promise to raise Hannah in the ways of the Lord. I feel like we need to talk more about what that means. I so want her to accept Jesus, and I want us to be a model for her faith.

-We are starting to look at houses to buy. First time home-buyers right here. It's exciting and a little scary! We're not working with a real estate agent yet. Just checking some listings online to get an idea of prices and what we like.

-Hannah is rolling over, trying to sit up by herself, "talking" much more, and sleeping in her crib for naps and bed time. She sleeps 10-12 hours per night.

-Now that Hannah is much easier, I've started getting really excited/anxious for our next baby. Then yesterday I took an antibiotic that made me extremely nauseous, and I remembered feeling that way every day for 11 straight weeks due to my pregnancy last year. That made me willing to wait a bit longer for Hannah's brother or sister. Yes of course it was worth it in the end, but it was still a miserable experience at the time!