We're goin to Jackson

The weekend of January 20-22, we went to Jackson, Mississippi!  We added two new states to Hannah's list, so now I believe she has been to 11 states!!  Our little traveler did pretty well on the ride there, but got a bit fussy on the way home!  We were in Jackson for one of my best friend's wedding.  Lauren and I have been really close since I was a senior in high school.  We worked at Camp Westminster together and have maintained a close friendship since then!  We have always lived long distance, but I am so thankful to have her in my life and wish I saw her more often.  I didn't get a whole lot of pictures, but here are a few!

At the bachelorette party on the Thursday before the wedding.


The following pictures are from a little photo shoot I did of Hannah in our hotel room.  She was all over the place , but they are cute and I got a few REALLY good ones!!

My absolute favorite!

2nd favorite

3rd favorite

Hannah and I at the cocktail hour of the rehearsal dinner

After the Rehearsal dinner

On our way home, we stopped in Sikeston, MO to eat at Lamberts!  I used to eat at one of their other locations when I worked at Camp Barnabas.  Eventhough he is from Missouri, this was Matt's first throwed roll experience!  It did not disappoint, though made for a MUCH longer trip home and a bit of a fussy baby toward the end of the trip.

7 months

Time just flies by so fast!  I just got my 6 month post up, and it's already time for the next one!  Hannah continues to be such a joy!!!  I'm not sure if I mentioned her teeth in the last post, but she has two pearly whites on the bottom front.  They are so cute when she smiles!  They are now much easier to see, and she doesn't seem to "hide" them quite as much as she used to.  Hannah laughs a lot!  It is so fun to watch her continue to become more and more interactive.  She laughs at things we say, looks we give, animal noises, and of course tickling!  So far her favorite animal noise is a seal.  She likes to give kisses and talk to us.  Sometimes, she'll act like she is going to give Matt or I a kiss and then at the last minute turns away and "jumps" up and down with a big smile on her face.  It's so cute and we think she thinks she's pretty funny.  She loves to eat and definitely prefers the homemade babyfood to the store bought.  I think she likes the thicker consistency of what I make at home.  She has tried lots of things, but so far what I regularly have on hand are sweet potatoes, apples, pears, bananas, peas, and black eyed peas.  I have some blueberries, peaches, and broccoli in the freezer ready to cook and blend up when I have the chance.  She eats 3 meals a day and still LOVES cheerios! They are a life saver as far as meal time goes.  She really enjoys feeding herself and it keeps her busy so we can eat.  Hannah continues to be an awesome sleeper and we are so thankful.  She is taking better and better naps, and I'm struggling right now with the transition from 3 naps to 2.  She nurses about 5 times a day and is so much faster at it!  It is amazing to me that what once took 45 minutes to an hour, now takes 10-15 minutes tops!!  She takes a little bit longer at night, but that's because she is so sleepy and I have to keep jossling her awake!!  Hannah is a champion sitter.  She holds her back up so straight, and can lean over all kinds of ways and return to the upright position.  She still can't get up from laying down, but I don't think that's too far away.  In the last couple of weeks she has really learned to get where she wants to go!!  She is not truly crawling, but her army crawl is fast and efficient!  We are definitely mobile and are now starting to child proof our home!  I can't believe my "tiny" baby is actually able to go from A to B.  It is amazing how fast they learn and grow!!!  She is full of personality and doesn't let a thing get past her!  She is so alert in public places, waving to everyone and really studying some!  She sits very well in shopping carts, so that makes shopping much easier for me.  She is definitely still a mommy's girl and does not like to be held by others, but also loves her daddy and will go to him anytime!  I am so thankful that his traveling doesn't effect her willingness to go to him.  We won't return to the doctor for 2 more months, so I don't have an updated height or weight, but she can now wear most 9-12 month clothes, but still fits into most of her 6-9 month clothes.  The arm and torso length are a bit short for 6-9, but they fit everywhere else just fine!  My guess is that she is around 19 lbs and 28 inches.

Bedhead!!

My first hairbow!

Getting Ready

I'm ready!!!

A little video of Hannah's sweet laugh!

Ready for the snow!

Playdate with our friend Jay

I'm 7 months old!!

This big!!!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

The weekend before Christmas we went to see Santa!  Hannah surprisingly did awesome!!  She is generally not a big fan of strangers, atleast of them holding her!  She loves talking to them and smiling and waving!!  But, she did not even bat an eye when Matt placed Hannah on Jolly St. Nick's lap.  It was very sweet and an excellent opportunity for a cute picture!

After our visit with Santa!

Decorating for Christmas is something that I LOVE to do!  I really actually need to get a few more Christmasy things to celebrate the season.  But, among other things, decorating the tree is my favorite and always has been.  I have always loved digging out the ornaments and remembering where I got them, or who gave them to me, and finding just the perfect place for each of them!  Since Matt and I got married, we have gotten our tree at Home Depot, and once again, they did not disappoint!  I would LOVE to start cutting down our own when Hannah is older to build fun memories, but for now, Home Depot is perfect.  The only thing I would have changed this year is going for the taller variety!  I had no idea just how tall our ceilings were until I got the tree in the house!  The following pictures are just a few of the things we had around the house to celebrate the season!

We went to Atlanta for Christmas this year.  On the 23rd it was a balmy 65 degrees and even warmer in direct sunlight!  It was so nice to be outside and just soak in the sun.  We celebrated Christmas with my family on the 23rd.  My sister's family, and my brother and his wife came to my parents for a delicious meal and to open presents.  It was so fun to hang out with my siblings, their spouses, and my precious nieces!  I am so glad that Hannah has such loving cousins on both sides of the family!  It is really sweet to watch them interact with her.  Abby and Caroline just love babies and are so good with Hannah.  They hold her and do a great job playing with her.  Molly Ryan also LOVES babies and absolutely adores Hannah.  She wants to hold her all the time and be right by her side all the time!

Caroline, Hannah, Abby, and Molly Ryan

Abby, Hannah, Caroline, and Molly Ryan

Caroline helping Hannah stand up!

Hanging out with Uncle Eric and Aunt Melissa

Molly Ryan, Hannah, Caroline, and Abby

Loving being held by Aunt Catherine and Molly Ryan

Hannah thinks she is a big girl playing with Molly Ryan's new toy!

On Christmas Eve, the Goforths came back over for a delicious brunch, and to hang out for a little while before they headed back to Asheville.  Then in the evening, we went to church with my parents.  It was a very nice service and Hannah did awesome!  I wasn't quite able to hold the candle for the candlelight portion because Hannah was VERY interested in it!!  We had saved our presents to eachother and to/from my parents for Christmas morning.  We woke up to see what Santa had brought for Hannah.  I think the bows and paper were her favorite part.

Then we went to church, and after church drove up to see my parent's lakehouse at Lake Lanier.  Everything was finished except for the floor.  It looked so awesome and we are so excited to spend time there this summer and for years to come!  That evening Matt and I left after Hannah went to bed and walked around the village at Stone Mountain.  It was all lit up for Christmas.  It was beautiful and fun to spend a little time alone with Matt.  We had a wonderful Christmas for sure!!!  

On the 26th, we went over to Eric and Melissa's house for dinner.  They were so sweet to have us and served awesome steaks and potatoes!  We really loved to spend time with them and see where they live.  Then on Tuesday, we ate dinner at our friends' the McClure's house.  They were two of the first people we got to know while living in Boston and back in the summer they moved to Atlanta!  It was great to see them and spend time catching up with them.  They have a little girl as well who is so precious!  She was still a baby when we left, but now is just full of so much sweet personality!  

We came back to Indianapolis for a night to unload our Christmas loot, and then headed to St. Louis.  Although I don't have any pictures to show for it, we had an awesome time!  Hannah LOVED being with all of her cousins and aunts and uncles, and see the other set of grandparents.  She was very happy the whole time we were there and let everyone play with her!  I think she really enjoyed showing off her new sitting up skills.  While we were away, she really figured out how to sit up!  She doesn't fall over now unless she means to.  She also figured out how to wave and clap!  The other development is that her 2nd tooth came in!  She now has both of her front bottom teeth!! So fun to see these new developments in her. While in St. Louis we ate delicious food at Matt's parent's house, we went bowling, and spent New Years Eve at dinner with friends and then back at Jonathan's house with him and Andrea.  We so appreciate their hospitality in letting us come take over two of their rooms!!

This is Hannah on New Years Eve....she just couldn't hang on!!!

6 Months Old

I can't believe it has already been 6 months.  One one hand it's hard to imagine life without Hannah, and on the other hand it feels like just yesterday we were heading to the hospital wondering who our baby would be!  It has been a wonderful 6 months and she continues to bring such joy to our home!  At 6 months, Hannah weighs 18 lbs 3 oz and is 27 3/8 inches long.  She is in the 95% percentile for height and 90% for weight.  She is wearing 6-9 month clothes, but can now also wear 9-12 month things as well.  She can sit up on her own, but still falls over if she reaches a certain way.  She rolls over and has finally figured out that rolling can get her wear she wants to go!  She has also started trying to scoot on her tummy to get places....sometimes she is successful, sometimes she goes backwards, and sometimes she gives up and just rolls there!  She continues to be a great sleeper!!  We are so thankful for our awesome sleeper.  Hannah sleeps about 12 hours (sometimes 12.5) at night and takes 2-3 naps during the day.  Her naps tend to be anywhere from 30 minutes to 1.5 hours.  We've continued to add more foods to her diet.  And although she generally makes funny faces, the only thing she really doesn't like so far is black eyed peas and green beans.  I am really enjoying making her babyfood.  It is so easy and really inexpensive!!  She has also begun eating cheerios to help Matt and I get through meals.  She knew to eat them right away and has done great feeding herself.  Most of them end up in the highchair or on the floor, but it definitely keeps her occupied for a while!  She smiles and laughs a lot.  Matt usually gets her ready for bed (diaper/pajamas) and it is my favorite thing to stand outside the door and listen to her belly laugh at her daddy.  She talks all the time...sometimes it's more like screams, but they are definitely delightful!  She has also just started sticking her tongue out and blowing raspberries.  She does this mostly when she is mad, or doesn't want anymore baby food, but sometimes it is a happy thing.  It's pretty cute, but gets messy with the babyfood!  When we were at the doctor, she (the doctor) was looking inside Hannah's mouth and discovered a tooth!  I know it wasn't there the day before so it must have popped up in the middle of the night!  She doesn't show it off very much, but it is there and it is sharp!!!  No more gumming mommy's finger!!!

Baptism

Hannah was baptized today!  She wore the same dress that my sister, Catherine, and I wore when we were babies, and Catherine's little girl Molly Ryan wore!  What fun to be able to pass down the same baptismal gown.  Matt's parents were able to come in town for the baptism, and we were so glad they were there!  Although we have a church family and people we have come to cherish here in Indianapolis, having actual family there to celebrate special events is so wonderful!  We are so thankful that they drove to spend the weekend with us and to celebrate!  Grandma Margie gave Hannah a beautiful cross necklace that she wore for the day.  Luckily, Hannah never "discovered" it!!  She was such a good girl up in front of the church.  She smiled and cooed and kicked her legs in joy.  There were no cries at all, even with the water!  It was a very special day, and we pray that Hannah grows to know Jesus and that He gives us wisdom in raising her up in a home that knows Him and loves Him.

Thanksgiving

We returned from Atlanta and had a nice quiet 5 days at home before hitting the road again for Thanksgiving.  We went to St. Louis this year.  It was actually the first Thanksgiving Matt and I have spent with family since getting married!!  It was wonderful to be a part of a family Thanksgiving.  Hannah did great during the meal.  She had just woken up from a nap and happily sat in her highchair while everyone ate all of the yummy food!!  Hannah enjoyed seeing her aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandma and grandpa!  While in St. Louis, we went to the zoo!  Hannah didn't seem to notice the animals much, but she sure had fun walking around while it was 65 and sunny!  I didn't get very many pictures, but here are a few!

Our little family on Thanksgiving Day

Hannah hanging out with Aunt Julie

Daddy and Hannah at the Zoo

Hannah with Grandma Margie at the Zoo

5 months

With each month, it is more and more unbelievable how fast time goes!  Baby development is absolutely amazing, and I am so thankful that God gave this little girl to me to watch her grow!  She is officially mobile....not crawling, but rolling everywhere!  Gone are the days that I can leave her for a minute or two on our bed while I dust or put clothes away!  Hannah is such a joy.  Watching her figure out how to really roll was so fun!  She kept trying to go from her tummy to her back, but one arm would keep her from getting all the way over.  Finally she figured out that she needs to tuck that arm under her before she tries to roll.  It is amazing to watch her little brain work, trying different things until something works!!  She squeals all the time!!  It is fun to hear her try different sounds.  So far the only babbling she does is mamama.  Other than that, she squeals and makes other noises.  We are working on dada!  She still sucks on her thumb, but loves all of her fingers, sometimes having most fingers of BOTH hands in her mouth at one time.  Hannah has the cutest little laugh.  Matt and I LOVE to make her laugh!  She likes peek-a-boo and loves to be tickled.  Sometimes she watches my hand coming in for a tickle with anticipation, laughing before I even touch her!  She has gotten much more comfortable on her tummy.  We had a few weeks where she would roll over at night, but could not get comfortable on her tummy so would wake up!  Now, we lay her down and she flips right over and sleeps all night.  This week she really got the hang of baby food!  She LOVES peas and avocados, and will eat sweet potato, squash. bananas, apples and pears.  She tries to grab the spoon and we all get really messy while she eats!  It is fun and pretty cute to see her open her mouth for the next bite!!  Nap time is going much better!!  Hannah really seems to have gotten the hang of it!  She still takes 3-4 naps a day, maybe one of them will be long, and then other just short catnaps, but she takes them all in her crib!  She sometimes doesn't fuss at all, but if she does fuss it's only for a minute or two.  I am so thankful that the process is easier and there isn't quite as much effort going into nap time.  Being a mommy is the best job in the world.  I am so proud of my daughter and so thankful that she is mine!  I didn't take a "5 Month" picture this time, not that I've been really good at that anyway, but she has definitely grown!!  Her 6-9 month clothes are fitting perfectly, but the length is starting to get a little snug!

Having fun with daddy before bedtime

Still having fun

Mommy I'm ready to go to sleep!!!

This was from a different night, but thought it fit well with the timeline.  Hannah had had a bit of a cold and fell asleep on Matt before bedtime, this NEVER happens anymore, so Matt was enjoying the sweetness.