Bottle Free

It's official...we are DONE with bottles!! Even though she is only 10 months old, I decided it was about time Hannah transition to a sippy cup for everything. She has been using one for water for a few months now and is always trying to steal Aly's cups. So, last Thursday, when I had a long weekend from school I went cold turkey with Hannah. She didn't even fight it! It took her a little while to get used to it, but she never cried for a bottle and goes to bed just fine. It wasn't that hard because she doesn't drink very much milk anyway so it wasn't a big deal to her. Now, when it is time to take the pacifier I think she will mind...a lot. I think I will wait a little while on that....

Hannah's New Trick

She can stand all by herself now!! She still doesn't do it for very long, but she is definately developing her balance. She even took a half step on her own last weekend!! I think she will be walking in the next month or so, but for sure by her birthday!

This is exactly why...

we hire people for home repairs. We have really hard water and our hot water tank has needed fixed since this summer. We have been too busy (and nervous) to do it ourselves. The women at Home Depot said it was really easy though: just turn the water supply off, hook up a hose to the tank, run it down the stairs to the toilet and open the valve to let it drain. So far, so good. The problem came with the second part of the job. She said once the tank was empty, to let some water into the tank to break up the rest of the sediment and then drain it again. Easy enough...except there were a million other things going on at the same time and we forgot 'some water' part. When Dan went back upstairs to check on it, water was EVERYWHERE!! I ran up there and grabbed some towels to soak it up. In the mean time I hear some that sounds like rain downstairs and run down to see water POURING through the bathroom vent. To top it all off the smoke detector starts to go off because I forgot all about the grilled cheese gourmet dinner I was making. We eventually got it all cleaned up (and are still praying it doesn't warp the floors). Alyssa was so cute during the whole ordeal! She keep telling Dan it would be 'OK' and the 'floors would be fine'. She was very calm and encouraging! The worst part about it is that I don't think it corrected the problem! If it didn't we will be finding someone else to fix it for sure!!!

**UPDATE**

So it didn't fix the problem, of course. Luckily a friend of my parents knew what he was doing and fixed it for us. It needed 2 new heating elements...Dan never would have able to been able to do that himself!! Oh well, we have hot water again...and in below 0 weather, that is all that matters!!

Snow Day!!

It is the first official snow day of 2009 and there is actually a lot of snow!!!! Last night we all went out to play in it!! Aly loves to play in the snow, but this was Hannah's first experience! She liked riding on the sled with Aly and crawling through the snow...which I had to move out of her way because it came up to her chin. She was covered in snow from head to toe so I had to go in with her pretty quick because she got so cold. Dan and Aly stayed out for a while and when they finally came in we had hot chocolate!

She looked like the kid in "A Christmas Story"!!

Crawling in the snow...


Sledding!!!

Tears, Cheers and POOP!

Aly isn't potty trained and she really has no desire to be either. She peed a few time on the potty back around Thanksgiving, but nothing since. I am not really looking forward to the training process any more than she is, but I have been slowly been trying to prepare her by talking about it, making it sound exciting and glamorous to use the 'big girl potty' and even slipping a few bribes in along the way. Last week when we were at Target she wanted to look at the toys and found a game she 'needed'. I saw it as a golden opportunity and told her that the game looked really cool and fun and that I would buy it for her when she started peeing on the potty all the time and/or when she pooped on the potty for the first time. She said ok and didn't ask for it again. I thought I would push is a bit farther and asked her if she wanted to buy some panties. Her eyes lit up and she picked out two sets: Minnie Mouse and Disney Princesses. She carried them around the store talking about how when she used them we would buy the fishy game she wanted. She showed Dan her new panties and had to sleep with them that night (not on...still in the bag). She even brought them in our room in the middle of the night when she woke up, but she did NOT want to wear them....or use the potty. I still didn't push the issue. Then last night...

We were getting the girls ready for a bath and Aly was running around naked like she always does. Every time she left a room you could smell a little 'treat'. We keep asking her if she had to go poop on the potty and she always very certainly said no. Then she went in the laundry room and shut the door. A few seconds later we heard shrieking coming from there and we just looked at each other and knew she had pooped on the floor. We opened the door and she hadn't pooped yet, but was getting ready to...so Dan picked her up and sat her on the potty. She pooped...and cried. We were cheering, but when she saw what she had done just started screaming more! Dan took her in her room to clean her up and when he was done through the tears she cried, "I wanna go buy the fishy game now!!" So even though that is not exactly what I meant by the first time she poops on the potty...she technically did do it. Now she is the proud owner of a brand new 'Let's go Fishin' game. We will she what tomorrow brings, but something tells me she is still not ready to give up her beloved diapers.

Sisters at Play

On The Move

Hannah has been crawling for a few months now, but she just started walking along the furniture a few week ago. This week she realized she can walk behind a push toy. She was so excited! Aly walked at 11 months and I don't think it will be too long before Hannah is walking by herself either. Here is a video:

Ok, so Dan isn't the greatest at not cutting off our heads ;)

Marley, smarly

Dan and I saw 'Marley and Me' on Saturday. It is a really good movie...you will need tissues though. Anyway, it is about the world's worst dog, Marley. Well, they apparently have never met Sammy! Lily isn't nearly as bad, but Sammy! She IS the the world's worst dog! We got her just a few months after we got married and she was our first baby. However, I can't even begin to tell you everything she has done, eaten or destroyed over the last 6 years. From laptop cords, to furniture, to dozens of cookies at a time. She will eat anything...except for grapes and black olives. I came down after putting Hannah down for an after-lunch nap the other day and found Sammy like this:

It never ceases to amaze me how much she really wants to be human. I honestly think she would sell her soul for a stale, moldy piece of bread! Even though she is horrible we love her to death...and lily too.

Now that is the life!

Zoo Lights and COSI

We went to the Zoo lights this weekend before it was over. It wasn't as cold as it had been, but the girls were really bundled up in the stroller. They each had on multiple layer, were covered with their 'me's' and covered by a big fleece blanket! I wish I would've been that warm! We weren't there for very long, but we had fun.

The next day we all went to COSI! It was the last day for the 'Sesame Street' exhibit: The Body. Hannah was too little to understand...and Aly had fun, but we spent the majority of the time in kidspace. They both had a blast. COSI is awesome!

Happy New Year!!

I can't believe it is 2009 already!!! Last year was a good year for us for so many reasons! God blessed us with another beautiful baby girl! Aly is so beautiful, smart and well-spoken...plus, she loves Hannah more than we could've imagined! And we celebrated our 6th wedding anniversary! Despite the fact that we had a new baby, things were pretty calm and we had few major life changes. Our year basically revolved around becoming and adjusting to being a family of 4. We got to spend a lot of time together this summer and just enjoy each other. Even though we have no idea where we will be at this time next year, this year will be a great year too!

Here are some things we are really looking forward to this year:

1. Hannah's 1st birthday...that came really fast!

2. Aly's 3rd birthday...Holy cow!

3. Aly starting pre-school in the fall (I don't know if we are really 'looking forward' to this or not!!)

4. Dan getting a teaching job...hopefully ;)

5. Me getting a NEW teaching job...hopefully ;)

6. A family vacation...somewhere warm, with water and a fairly short drive...any suggestions??

7. Our favorite friends finally having a baby...we can't wait to meet baby seedling!!

Our New Year's Resolutions (I hate these, but what the heck):

Dan - Grow deeper in his relationship with the Lord

Jenn - Grow deeper/more consistent in my relationship with the Lord AND Workout more Start working out (I am going to try to do the "Couch to 5k Running Plan"...anyone want to do it with me??)

Alyssa - Ditch the diapers and start using the big girl potty!

Hannah - Learn to walk AND give up the bottle...of milk, that is ;)

So, here's to 2009...hope everyone has a GREAT new year!!