Boo Boo

Hannah sure had me giggling today when we were playing outside together. After enjoying many laps around and around, she inevitably took a spill on the cement. Surprisingly she got right up and said "I'm o-tay" and continued running... for only a few short minutes. It seems that all of a sudden she realized that she fell. She dramatically rolled up her pant leg and announced to me, "Be careful. Don't touch it." It was SOOO funny. Then she started limping around repeating it over and over and over. I came at her with wiggling fingers and said I was going to touch it and she let out a squeal and ran away. That's when I knew she was totally fine and completely functional despite the boo boo on her knee. The dramatic phrase was repeated throughout the rest of the afternoon for a while and she even requested her "boo boo princess" ice pack. (see picture) Kids are so funny!

Decisions

Had a tough conversation with Matt tonight about going back to work. It honestly gave me a stomach ache. I love, love, love being home with my girls. Hannah is changing every day and watching McKenna smile at me just warms my heart. I also love teaching. What will I do with the girls while I go back, if I do? I don't want to miss out on all of the things I am learning about them. This is just too hard to write about anymore.

It's heavy on my heart. Please pray for us. I need to know what's best for our growing little family and I cannot truly know or understand the plan without God's help.

Updates

I have not been very faithful in posts lately since the arrival of our newest baby girl, McKenna Joy. It's already been almost seven weeks of learning how to take care of a newborn AND entertaining/disciplining/keeping my cool with our 2 yr old!

We are learning many things every day about McKenna and Hannah. First of all, Hannah has adapted to having a little sister very well. To say she "loves" baby McKenna doesn't really put it into perspective. She adores her. When she cries Hannah tells me, "The baby is crying!" Sometimes this is followed by "I'm gonna get her..." which means I am running behind to see exactly what she means by "get" her. So far- so good. She hasn't tried to pick her up without me there yet. Hannah also wants to help her sister whether she actually needs help or not. McKenna will be peacefully sleeping when rudely awakened by a huge PUSH in the swing and Hannah saying "I push her, I push her." Or poor McKenna has a pacifier being jammed into her mouth when she is silently asleep because Hannah thinks she needs it at that exact moment. It may be frustrating at the moment but in the big picture it's the sweetest thing ever.

McKenna is sleeping about 3 hours on the dot at night. It's almost like she has a timer in her little body! When Matt wakes up he asks me what time she ate- I have no idea how to respond because it's like I'm just going through the motions. All I remember is that she ate and went back to sleep. Those are both good things- if she didn't fall back asleep I usually let him know cause guess what? It's HIS turn!!

While my sister was watching Hannah last night, all of a sudden she turned to her Aunt Stacey and said "I need to talk to my mommy" and started looking for me. I don't know WHAT she wanted to talk to me about- I have never heard this phrase from her but it cracked me up!! I love learning the funny things she says each day. Our household is never free from laughter.

Things are going well. Adjusting for sure. Some REALLY hard moments and usually followed by tears or frustration. But not too far from that moment will be followed by a sweet kiss and a moment to be cherished.

Bare Naked Hugs

Last night Hannah was bouncing all around before her bath in just her diaper. She danced to the music and seemed very pleased with her creative moves. After the bath she has a new routine of running through the house with her towel over her head exclaiming "I'M NAKED!!!" to anyone who wants to know. Matt and I rounded her up and got her in her room to put on her fresh diaper and pj's. Out of nowhere she stood up and just gave Matt the biggest, sweetest hug and rested her head right on his shoulder. It was the most precious thing to watch. She just looked so grown up- yet so tiny in his arms with her cute little bare behind still unclothed. As I was enjoying that moment it wasn't too long until she made her way over to me and repeated the same sweet gestures. I love our baby girl. She certainly is a gift from God.

Hannah's Latest Creativity

Last week and this week have brought along some adventure. We are trying to do nap time in Hannah's big girl bed and it sometimes works... and sometimes doesn't. She usually brings books or toys into her bed for a little bit then falls asleep. Well NOT LATELY.

The first creative move was "how to draw on arms and legs with marker". I forgot about the bag of highlighters and school supplies in her closet- she has just recently enjoyed figuring out how to unzip things so it hadn't been a problem. It was just in the closet and I had forgotten. WELL Little Miss H found it, took a peek inside and WOW! Markers! She took the caps off of every yellow (thank goodness) highlighter and creatively drew on her legs, arms, hands, socks, bed, and stuffed animals. Thankfully the baby wipes eliminated some of the art work but some of her animals may be tattooed permanently.

The next creative move was discovering how exciting diaper cream is. I checked in on her yesterday after smelling a very strong odor from her door... similar to Preparation H I was thinking. I opened the door to see her sitting with the tube of Vitamin A&D cream in one hand all squeezed out and her hands complete gel. YUCK. I could see all the things she wanted to play with and smear it on- electronic toys, drawing boards, and her clothes. Did I say yuck yet???? Baby wipes once again to the rescue. As far as the smell... we are still working on it. Smells like a Dr's office in our hallway and her bedroom.

God is teaching me patience. Between the creative art with household supplies.... and the constant whining.... it's all practice. I'm being molded, stretched, and created into a Mommy.

Finger Painting!

Yesterday we got out the finger paints and gave it a try. Hannah had a fun time exploring how it feels to have the paint on her fingers... and hands... and pretty soon her body! She enjoyed making "robots" as she told me they were.

With each new experience I am learning more and more that Hannah is definitely not a messy girl. The painting only lasted about 10-15 minutes before she realized how truly messy her hands were. Next thing I knew she was asking me "hands, mommy... ewwww messy".

If this next baby is a BOY my world is going to be looking a little different I think. Hannah's too. We'll have to see!

"Boogie, Mommy"

It is a common phrase in our household lately. "Boogie, Mommy. I can't get it." Hannah has learned that she can use her finger to fish out her boogies... I know. YUCK. Let me paint the picture of what happened today...

We were in the car and Hannah was contently snacking on raisins. I heard her start to talk about "boogies" and turned to see her finger in her nose. I was afraid that she may be sticking raisins up there so I told her not to. As the car ride continued, so did her complaints. "I can't get it, Mommy. Ow. Ow." What was I supposed to do- I was driving! We were close to home, so I explained we would blow her nose when we got home. "O-tay" she said.

We got home and the complaints continued and I got out a kleenex for her to blow her nose. (She has become very good at this and doesn't complain anymore.) I couldn't see ANYTHING up her nose or in the kleenex. I thought- PHEW, problem solved. She seemed to be pleased again and went on to playing.

Throughout the day I kept hearing complaints of her nose hurting, that there were boogies that she couldn't get, etc. I wasn't sure what to do for her and thought she was just being over dramatic.

.... 2 hours (or more) later we were enjoying a little cartoon together when I look over and she is tilting her head down and pulling a RAISIN out of her NOSE!!!! Sure enough... she stuck it up there earlier (to make my suspicions correct). THAT was why she was complaining!! I would imagine a raisin up your nose may cause a little bit of discomfort.

PS- This is not the first time a "mystery" disappearance has occurred. When we were on our way to Hilton Head, Hannah said that there was a sticker up her nose. HOURS later it came out... let's hope this habit breaks soon.