Ben and Cheryl share…
Last week we spent a few days down on South Padre Island with Ben’s side of the family. It was so much fun to be all together! Lauren got some beautiful pictures of the beach, the waves at night, our general silliness, and Hannahgirl. Here are my faves:
Hannah’s first Christmas came and went! We had a full day to spend with each set of grandparents : )
Here’s a pic of her Christmas Eve nap:
Hannah played the critical role of Baby Jesus in Mission: Possible’s His-Story Presentation last week! “A daring role for such a young actress,” a friend in the business told me. : )
At 9 weeks, Hannah:
~ Smiles and coos when her diaper is clean again
~ Loves to have someone help her stand and bobbles her head
~ Outgrew her Moses Basket and sleeps in the Pack n Play (at the raised, infant height)
~ Responds conversationally to eye contact and verbal interaction when shes in the mood
~ Uses one eye brow during facial expressions in conversational interaction
~ Kicks a Baby Einstein baby gym toy to make lights and music start
~ Exhales a sigh of relief when you pick her up or do something else she’s been trying to ask you for
~ Has the chubbiest cheeks!!
Tags: Hannah
Here are a few shots from Hannah’s one month old photo shoot with our sweet friend Jill McKay from a few weeks ago:
At 6 weeks old, Hannah:
~ Looks at mobiles
~ Loves listening to music, and recognizes the ABC song from others
~ Smiles and coos
~ Has discovered her ears and loves to feel them
~ Has rolled from her belly to her back
~ Keeps Mommy busy enough that’s it’s hard to keep up with her baby book blogging : )
Tags: Hannah
But they are very good.
Sister Winter by Sufjan Stevens
Plant A Little Fir Tree.mp3 (2620 KB)
(Note: This is my (Ben) first post on our combined blog. Cheryl has been getting after me to get something on it, so I decided to connect it with my posterous blog and thus share a few things from time to time. Sorry for the delay.)
So I thought I would share a bit. The last few months have been a little crazy. The dust is finally starting to settle though, just in time for the busy holidays! In October, we had a Boy's Camp-out for Mission: Possible as the second half of our Fall Retreat. The Girl's Camp-out was earlier in September. Both went pretty well, and it looks like a good option for the future, as it immediately takes away the distraction of the other gender, giving the time a more personal and one-on-one feeling. Cheryl finished her last month of pregnancy (woo-hoo!!) in October as well. Our little girl Hannah came just a few days after the due date on October 26th, and we're so glad she's here! We've been taking the last four weeks getting to know our little girl, as well as learning to operate on a lot less sleep, how to deal with diapers, visitors, animals, and all those times where everything seems to be a priority and has to get done right away. It's been tiring but oh so wonderful. It has been so great to share this little one with friends and family, and we look forward to many more people meeting her as time allows. My little collection of little musical instruments has been growing, as I now own a toy accordion, an inverse ocarina and a stylophone. I also managed to snag a little 4-track cassette recorder off of ebay for $20 so I'm convinced that I'll be able to pull together my bunch of disparate instruments and sounds together to form some amazing original songs… (Ukulele + stylophone anyone?) It's primarily a hobby of course, but I'm convinced that Hannah will be able to play some strange instrument by at least two… This month I have tackled NaNoWriMo again. For those of you that don't know about it, it stands for National Novel Writing Month, and the idea is to write a whole novel in a single month. The "winning" word count is 50,000 words. So far I'm at 36,000 and climbing. A little more behind than I'd like, but I'm really going to try and win this year. I have been drinking a lot of tea recently. It is good weather to drink tea! (I've recently discovered Pu Erh and man it is good. Smells like a barnyard, but for some reason it is really enjoyable to drink.) Our little apartment is really taking shape and feels very much like home. The incoming cooler weather is a welcome change for Cheryl and I as we head into the winter and the holidays. We feel so very blessed to be in a place so close to our friends and family. We are also so thankful for the evident and moving hand of the Lord in our lives. We pray that we would continue to heed his call! I decided to throw a few pictures into the mix as well. Here they are:
Wow… we can’t stop taking pictures! Here are some snapshots of the last 3 weeks: (Thanks Jenn for the blog pic slide show format idea) Please comment to let me know which format was easier to view, the Flickr format from our Belly Pic montage a few posts ago, or this one!! Thanks!
We’ve already had lots of “first’s,” sweet visitors, and things to remember:
~ Hannah’s umb stump was gone at 8 days old
~ We’ve already survived 2 diaper rashes
~ Hannah has the funniest little sneeze!
~ We switched to using cloth diapers with service from Austin BABY! (Thanks Diane!!)
Mommy and Daddy are so in love with you Hannahgirl! <3
Tags: Hannah
She was born with her hand up on her face! 8 lbs, 3oz. 20 inches long on October 26th, 2009.
Check out those sweet long toes!
She was Daddy's girl right from the start
Mommy and her little one
Our little family : )
Mommy and Hannah in our matching jammies
Ready to bring her home!
Tags: Hannah
As I post these pictures, our sweet Hannah is already one week old! I got a bit behind on the blogging with all the recent goings-on…
Here are my favorite shots from our 9 month preggy belly photo shoot : ) It’s so amazing to look at these now with our new baby in my arms!
These beautiful shots were taken by the lovely and talented Caryn Werner. Check out her website: c2wphotography.com
So, if you’ve been paying attention you know that today was the doctor’s best guess on when our Hannah would arrive: October 21st. Well, it’s 11pm as I type this, and it’s a safe bet that we will not be meeting her today. : ( I mustered a smile anyway for my 40 week belly shots:
I’ll be back in the doctor’s office tomorrow morning to determine our progress. She insists that we measure right on track, but every other woman I bump into in public thinks I’m only 6 or 7 months along… I guess I’ll take the “So small!” comments over exclamations at how I’m larger than a house, an elephant, a tent… use your imagination.
It’s really sort of hard to believe that the day has come that we’ve been counting down to! We praise God for 40 weeks of healthy pregnancy, and wait expectantly, trusting Him for His perfect timing for little Hannah to join us. Thank you for your prayers on our behalf for peace, patience, and an uncomplicated delivery. We can’t wait to meet you, baby girl!!
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