Visit to the Concrete Jungle

We had a wonderful visit with Aunt Steph and Unky Mike in NYC!

On Friday, we went to a park with the biggest sandbox I've ever seen - Hannah was in heaven. It even had a little water fountain in it so you could make mud.  Hannah was a mess!

Saturday morning, we took the choo choo train (AKA the subway) to the Central Park Zoo and Hannah again loved feeding the sheep and alpaca at the children's zoo.  She also got her first airbrush tattoo of a penguin.  She was nervous at first about the airbrush, but walked around the zoo with her shirt up proudly showing off her tummy tattoo.

After nap on Saturday, Unky Mike gave Hannah a Special Agent Oso shirt he made her and she was so excited!  She insisted on wearing it immediately.   Once she was changed into her Oso shirt, we went to Tribeca to a great park built out onto a pier on the Hudson River.  There was a huge sprinkler park, another big sandbox, swings and they even had a miniature golf course right on the water.  Unfortunately, we had no swimsuit for Hannah, so she went into the sprinkler park with all of her clothes on.  Thankfully we had packed an extra outfit.  By the time Hannah finished in the sandbox and sprinklers, there was only time for a quick swing with Mina and Aunt Steph, and then we had a nice dinner outside right by the water.  From there, we headed to Butter Lane for the most delicious cupcakes.  By the time we got home, it was pretty late, but Hannah was a trooper!

Sunday we visited the Natural History Museum, and Hannah was definitely cranky after a late night at Butter Lane.  We did have a few fun moments despite her mood.  She loved the "train" ride to get there, and the astronaut ice cream daddy bought at the gift shop was a big hit!  She was also very interested in the early hominid exhibit.  The re-creations of early hominids had all of the parts, and Hannah certainly noticed!  We looked like a bunch of teenagers cracking up every time she would point and say 'PENIS." Other museum visitors seemed to agree that a two year old pointing at a male hominid shouting penis was hilarious - at least it wasn't just us...



We are now back in Michigan, and celebrated the remainder of Memorial Day playing in the sprinklers in our backyard.  Thank goodness it is a short week, because I am exhausted!

Naked Baby

Hannah couldn't wait to play with her new outdoor sprinkler.  I stripped her to her diaper since she was too excited to wait and grab a swimsuit, and then she insisted on stripping down to her birthday suit to run streaking through the ice cold water.

Back in the Pool

We had a nice brunch outside today with Poppy Hal, Grandma Marsha and Leah to take advantage of the beautiful weather.  After we ate, we filled the pool and Hannah was so excited!  Our neighbors gave us their old pool, and it is so much nicer than having to blow up the inflatable pool.  It even has a built in slide, but Hannah told us she was too scared to try it out.

Big Girl Pony Tail

Greenfield Village

Hannah and I went to Greenfield Village this morning with her friends Nathan, Macy and Brooke.  Unfortunately, Hannah was having a cranky morning, but she still enjoyed seeing the farm animals, riding the train and checking out the fish in the pond.  What a beautiful day to be outside!



Transportation Week at School

Hannah and friends made their own train for transportation week.  She is the 5th car from the front.

Flower Girl at The Genna Wedding

We had the Genna's wedding tonight, and the setting was beautiful.  It was at Jeremy's sister's house on a gorgeous lake. I'm hoping the photographer got some great shots of Hannah walking down the aisle for her second time as a flower girl.

Hannah walked down the aisle with her "buddy" Nathan and the two of them were adorable together.  Whenever Nathan wandered off, Hannah would say "Where my buddy Nathan go?"  Even though she was interested in where Nathan was at any given time, she apparently already feels boys have cooties and did NOT want to hold his hand to walk down the aisle.  They each walked by themselves, and Hannah did great getting to Jordan who had Tic Tacs as a bribe in his pocket.  Unfortunately, she tripped and fell, and that was the end of her good behavior.  Since she only had a one hour nap, we didn't have high expectations.

The bride made Hannah an adorable flower girl outfit that Hannah changed into after the ceremony. The outfit change saved the flower girl dress from getting covered in food, which was good because the dress was on loan.  Thanks to the Hays' for letting us borrow Brooke's beautiful flower girl dress!

I experimented with a new lens, and apparently still need some practice.

Enjoying the Start of Summer

We are having a great start to the summer!  We joined a club with cousin Sabrina and I know the girls are going to have the best time at the pool.  Hannah loves spending time with her cousin, especially when we meet up for ice cream.  Hannah picked out her "beautiful" headband...

Today we went to the Zoo with cousin Macy and finally got to ride the train!  Hannah was so excited and talked about the train all morning. 

In other news, Hannah wore big girl underwear from the time she woke up from nap yesterday until bedtime.  It was definitely nerve racking to take her to dinner without a diaper, but she did great!  She even went on the big potty at the restaurant 3 times. 

It's a . . .

Baby sister!  After we told Hannah the news, she still kept insisting she was having a baby brother.  Hopefully she'll warm up to the idea of a sister!  Baby 2 checked out perfectly in our ultrasound, weighing in at 9 oz.  Such a relief to know that she is growing and thriving.  Hopefully she won't fall off the growth curve like Hannah did toward the end of my pregnancy.  At least if she does, we will be less worried than last time. Now it's time to start thinking about names.  We had picked out Brody Nathan or Brody Liam for a boy, but haven't yet decided on a girl name.  Luckily we have 4+ months to pick a name.

I'm now 19 weeks pregnant - this pregnancy is really flying by.  I'm still wearing non-maternity tops, but I don't think they will fit for much longer.  Very few of my regular pants still fit, time to break out the maternity wardrobe.

The 5 (or 500) Whys

Hannah is constantly thinking and trying to understand everything going on around her.  She must ask us "why" 100+ times each day.  If I let Sadie out, she needs to know why.  When I tell her Sadie has to go to the bathroom, she asks why.  When I respond that she drank a lot of water, she asks why.  When I tell her Sadie was thirsty, she asks why.  The "whys" can go on FOREVER!

Our answers never seem to be sufficient, so I did some research:

Results of a University of Michigan LiveScience initiative showed kids were more than twice as likely to re-ask their question after a non-explanation compared with a real answer. And when they did get an explanation, which was about 37 percent of the time, they were more than four times as likely to reply with a follow-up inquiry as if they had received a non-explanatory response.
Preliminary results from a separate new study suggest there is such a thing as too much information in a response. "It seems like kids might have an optimal level of detail they're interested in."

Apparently we just need to determine what she considers a sufficient response, and the level of detail she wants.  In the meantime, Jordan and I have a lot of explaining to do.

Bad Parents - Sorry Baby 2!

Jordan and I were sitting in bed last night, when I realized I never called to check the results of our sequential screen - a combination of bloodwork and ultrasound that determines risk factor for Down Syndrome, Trisomy 18 and Spina Bifida.  They call if there are any problems, but I still can't believe I didn't call to confirm that everything was ok!  Life has just been so crazy lately, and we have been busy thinking ahead to the big ultrasound on Friday.  I called first thing this morning, and we again have the lowest risk level for everything - very exciting news!

I will post again on Friday to let everyone know if the nursery is staying pink, or if it's time to start shopping for blue.  Or more accurately, continue shopping for blue... (I may have picked up a few items just in case.)

Mother's Day Gift

Hannah made me this fridge magnet at school for Mother's Day, she was so proud when she gave it to me!  She also got me a Kindle (with Daddy's help) as an early Mother's Day gift.  Jordan has a very hard time waiting to give a gift until the actual day of the event, and apparently Hannah follows in his foot steps.

Busy Bee

We had such a nice weekend!  On Friday, Hannah took Grandma Joanie to gymnastics in the morning, then met up with Baby Josephine (Charli's sister) at the park, and then went to play at cousin Sabrina's house.  Hannah LOVES cousin Sabrina's house, and always gets upset when it's time to leave.  From there she went to dinner with daddy, Unky Ian and Macy, while Sara and I had an adults only dinner at the Melting Pot.  So nice!  We should make that a weekly tradition...

Saturday we went to the Zoo to ride the train, but unfortunately it wasn't running.  Hannah was so disappointed, but I promised we'd go back soon.  Today was another busy day.  We had Josephine's baptism, followed by Jake's 4th swim party.  Hannah had a blast at the pool, and thoroughly enjoyed her birthday cupcake and cookie.