Catching Up

We have been busy here but I haven't gotten much posted on the blog. Here's a little taste of what we have been up to.

Playing with Play Doh

Feeding the heifers

Riding the Bouncy Horse

Sliding (and climbing on everything!)

Baking

Hannah prefers her tractors and Mommy made some Craisin scones.

Playing in the sand and water. I'm hoping this will be a good thing to help us get through the winter.

Swinging

Playing in a tube

Sliding with Mommy

I definitely exceeded the age limit of 12 years old. We crossed our fingers that we wouldn't exceed the weight limit!

15 Month Check-Up

Hannah had her 15 month check-up on Monday. She weighed in at 20 pounds 5 ounces and 28.75 inches long. There's not much else to report other than she's busy, busy, busy and learning lots a new words. I'll give a go at listing her current vocabulary (please forgive the bodily functions).

Mama
Dada
Doggie (also with barks to follow)
Cracker
Tractor
Apple
Bottle
Baby
Bye Bye
Hat
Hot
Poo Poo
Pee Pee
Papa
Bull
Moo
Baa
Peas
Please

I'm the Big Sister (Part 2)

Just in case the picture yesterday didn't speak louder than words, here are the words. Yes, we are expecting. The new little one should arrive on or around March 20th. Daddy is sure it's a girl but we will be happy with whatever we get. Hopefully we will find out the sex of the baby in about 4 months. If you are doing the math this will put the kiddos about 23 months apart. Hmmm....I think that equals a very busy Mommy for a few years!

If you are getting posts in your email (FeedBlitz) I wanted to let you know that there it a "baby ticker" at the top of the blog that shows our progress. If you ever wonder how far along we are or what the baby is doing you can look there.

I'm the Big Sister

A Fort & Swimming

Hannah has been getting a little bit bored around here. She likes to be outside but that only goes so far. Yesterday we made a fort in the living room with chairs, a sheet, and a big box. She banged her head many times as she would try to steady herself on the sheet and it would give way. Overall she had a great time. Daddy even took some time to play in the fort with her.





Last night we went to Family Night at the Malin Pool. You are supposed to shower before you enter the pool. I walked in, turn on the shower, and Hannah immediately screamed bloody murder. We made it quick. We skipped the hair because we weren't going under water anyway. Daddy claims he never showered when he went. At the threat of being kicked out if we didn't comply we quickly followed the rules.

This was not a good start to our first "big pool" swimming experience. We got in the water and Hannah wined, wined, wined. We got out and played with the fence and tried a few other distractions. We got back in and it wasn't much better until Mommy started blowing bubbles, and then she was sold. She loved it! We swam for about an hour until I decided that she was getting too cold. Unfortunately she didn't fall asleep on the way home but bedtime when very smoothly after all of our activity.

Medicine Lake

Today Hannah, Ben, my Dad and I spent the afternoon at Medicine Lake. It was pretty warm here and we thought rather than work around the house we would go play a little. Hannah absolutely loved the water! This summer she hasn't been in anything deeper than her little pool and she loved walking out into the water. She would purposely throw herself off balance and into the water. A couple of time she went face first into the water and didn't seem to mind. Here she is trying to dog paddle.

Then I tossed her up again and again.

And then we did the "back stroke." Wow, was my back sore after this.

Daddy fished. He didn't catch anything other than "rock fish" but I think he enjoyed just sitting back and relaxing.

Papa Lee went out on the lake in his kayak. I also went out for the first time right when we got to the lake. I was trying to see how fast I could get it going but my Dad wasn't up for a race!

Hannah being cute in the car as we were getting packed up to leave.

Mommy's Little Helper Gets Bigger

Hannah, Gus and I have been diligently watering the alfalfa after first cutting. Emma doesn't help yet. She willingly runs to the house when she hears the Gator start up. First cutting went well and now we are trying to give second cutting a good start.

Hannah has been going with me every time I change the wheel lines since Ben has been way too busy to watch her while I do it. Really we haven't seen much of him at all, but at least he's got work to do. Hannah has been enjoying the water changes a little bit more than she used to. She's still not a fan of having her clothes and diaper changed while she's asleep only to awaken to a sweatshirt being pulled over her head, then finding herself riding on Mom's knee through the brisk morning air down the bumpy field road, and is then made to stand in the field while the wheel lines are moved. She has found the evenings to be much more enjoyable as you can see from the pictures.

She really does know how these things work. She tries to do it for me. Soon enough I'm sure she will be able to. In the last couple of days of watching her I won't be surprised in the least if she ends up being a left-brained thinker...but she would come by that honestly. She is definitely watching and figuring things out.

I couldn't resist this last picture for some reason. It's like she's posing by her valve opener. Only a farm girl!

Her Name

I named our new little dog Emma. I told Ben I wanted to hold out and name a little girl Emma some day, but he assured me I had better just name our dog that. Apparently Emma was only going as far as an animal at our house. So, Emma it is.

She is super sweet. She loves to be held and petted. She will sit on your lap to be loved as long as you will love on her. Her favorite place to nap is just inside my closet. I think that's going to get a little bit tighter for her as the months go on. Several people have fallen in love with her but I'm holding on tight. We'll see how her long hair does out in the country but I think I'm already in love with this breed.

The New Little One

Yes, I know it was a quick turn around but I had my eye on these puppies before we got Thor. I called this afternoon and they still had some. We now are the proud owners of a female Golden Retriever. I have always wanted one and so I guess we will give her a try. We haven't named her yet. She is definitely very cute and lovable............and she can hear! I forgot how nice it is to say "no" and have your dog respond. She is already following Hannah around and seems to be a sweet dog.

In Rememberance of Thor

I know that I never really announced that we had this puppy and that's because Ben warned me that he was going to get run over. About a month ago we were given a deaf Border Collie puppy. My Dad pointed out that I must like projects...OK maybe but he was so cute!

I spent time working with him trying to get him to respond to some hand signals and learn some manners. Over the last week in particular he was starting to develop some distinct Border Collie traits...herding birds, chasing cars and trucks, etc. You can't yell at your deaf Border Collie and get him to come back when he's chasing something. So this morning he was out chasing the trucks running up and down our road and sadly was hit. Hannah and I didn't see it but we did spend a little time this morning laying little Thor to rest out back. He will be missed by many. I really should have sent him home with the our family that fell in love with him this weekend. He really needed a home with a well fenced yard since we actually should have named him Houdini.