Exciting World of Plastic Bags

(I'm adding a disclaimer to this entry right now. I do not let Hannah play with plastic bags and as soon as I took this picture I confiscated it.)

Hannah got a really cool toy for Christmas. It was so cool that I played with it for about half an hour on Christmas morning. It's a fisher price toy. It's ten hollow domes of varying sizes. They stack on top of each other, or they stack inside of each other, or they can be made into little balls, or they can be put together in such a way that all of the pieces end up inside of each other to make one big ball. The other day Hannah found a ziploc bag I must have had some pamphlets in and she went around and picked up all ten of the pieces of her ball. It was pretty cute, because she invented the idea all by herself. It was pretty cute.

The One Way She Sleeps

Once again Evelyn is awake and I wish I was in bed, but what can I do? I realized the other day that she seems to sleep well in the swing, and she prefers to be upright. I think that's one reason why she doesn't sleep well in the bassinet. She just likes the swing better. It's too bad. I've come to rely on the swing. I put her in it to keep her off the floor, because when she's on the floor Hannah wants to play with her, and she always seems to squish her, or pinch her trying to pick her up, or all sorts of things. I feel like she's much more safe in the swing, and I can leave the room and not worry as much as if I had left her on the floor. I don't like to leave her on the couch either because, especially when she was brand new, Hannah would grab the blanket she was wrapped in and pull it. I'm afraid if I leave them alone together Evelyn will end up on the floor. But somehow I've decided I have to wean her off the swing to see if she'll sleep at night time. Wish me luck!

I didn't forget about Evelyn

You may have thought after all those pictures I have up of Hannah that I had forgotten about Evelyn. Ha! No way is that possible. Here's a cute picture of my other little darling. Doesn't she have nice eyes? I couldn't resist taking a picture today. I can't believe how nice and fat she's getting, especially since she throws up all over me every night. Why did I just publish that comment? I don't know, I guess. Maybe I want everyone to read it and sympathize with my plight. While I'm at it I should also tell everyone that she seems to have her days and nights mixed up. She wants to eat every two or three hours at night, while during the day she'll sleep for about five hours at a time. And the time she is the most alert is from about eight o'clock to twelve or one o'clock at night, precisely when I want to be sleeping. But I guess it's all worth it in the end, isn't it? I'm just going to have to figure out a way to turn her clock around. But even with all that, when I'm about ready to fall asleep holding her at night, and I can feel my mouth hanging open, I want to hold onto her forever and look at her beautiful face and always remember it. I wish memories were as easy to preserve as pictures are. Somehow the memory always seems better, no matter how good the pictures are.

Family Home Evening Adventures

Today for Family Home Evening we put up our Christmas decorations. (Yeah, I know it's late, but things are kind of busy with two little babies in the house.) Hannah had a delightful time looking in boxes and pushing them around. At one point I pulled out a little stuffed Christmas squirrel and arranged it carefully beside the T.V. with a garland curled around it. I saw Hannah's eyes light up as soon as I pulled it out, and I should have known right away that it would be useless to try my artistic talent on it, but I did anyway. No sooner had I taken my hands away from it (and perhaps even before) than Hannah headed purposefully towards it and claimed it as her own. She spent the next few minutes giving it hugs and kisses. It was pretty cute. I couldn't even begrudge my wasted efforts to use it as decoration.

This second picture didn't capture the moment very well, since I took it at a bad angle, but Hannah decided our empty boxes were just simply meant to climb on. She hasn't been much of a climber since she fell down the stairs one day, but she still has moments.

My Little Model

This was so adorable I just couldn't help but put it up. Once upon a time a long time ago (Hannah was maybe nine months old) her Grandma Jensen gave her a necklace. Ever since then she's delighted in wearing it. She doesn't really like hats, though. It looks like she's posing in this picture, but really she was trying to take the hat off. Appearances can be deceiving!

Isn't she just adorable though? My little model queen.

First Spoon Meals

The first thing Hannah ate by herself was applesauce on December 5th. (I'm publishing my post under that date although it has been a couple of weeks now since then.) Ben was feeding her and she kept grabbing the spoon and eventually he just gave it to her. The first picture is of her eating applesauce. The second picture is of the second thing she ate all by herself; yoghurt. Just look at how covered she is in it! By the way, she's always liked getting her picture taken and sometimes she's started pointing at the camera and squeezing her eyes shut. I'm not sure why, but I think it sure is cute!

Hannah Baby

Hannah really enjoys doing baby things nowadays, like playing in the bouncer and the infant carseat. Sometimes she falls out though, and gets little bonks, but she still seems to love it.

Hair All Gone!

So...I did it. Just like I said I would. I told everybody that as soon as my baby was born I was going to get a haircut. It wasn't very hard to do, since I was really ready for a change. One day I had noticed that my hair was very long...longer than it had been for several years. I wanted to grow it out just as long as it was before. I could be a couple of inches short of my goal, but it did reach the small of my back. I loved the way it felt on my elbows. But I had to use a lot of shampoo, and it took forever to dry, so I always wore it up, and I didn't really like the way it always got in Evelyn's mouth when she was trying to eat. I could get used to having shorter hair.

Evelyn's Blessing

Evelyn was blessed yesterday, and here are some pictures of our family and of Evelyn in the blessing dress Mom made her. She's fifteen days old in these pictures.

Here are some more pictures of my new little beautiful. They were taken a few days after she was born, I believe on the 22nd.

Hannah's New Little Doll

These pictures kind of depict how Hannah treats her doll. I gave her a doll a while ago so that she could practice taking care of and loving it. That way when the new baby came Hannah would not be as jealous since she'd have her own baby to play with. However, I quickly noticed that Hannah's favorite thing to do with her doll was to give it a hug, sling it over her shoulder, take a few steps and then drop it, head first, onto the floor. I guess that gave me a good idea of how she would treat Evelyn when she came! Hannah is really a good big sister, although I watch her VERY closely and don't leave my two little girls in the same room. Hannah gives Evelyn multiple hugs and kisses a day. (She just learned how to give kisses and they are very involved. Anyone who has had a baby learning how to kiss will know what I mean.) At first Evelyn (who is a lot more expressive than Hannah ever was) complained a little bit. She didn't really like being mauled. (Can you blame her?) But now she gets this expression on her face that says, "Oh well, what can I do?" and she just lives with it. She is turning out to be a good little doll for her big sister!

Evelyn's Fourth Day

Here are a couple more updated pictures of Evelyn. Mom took them. For those of you who don't know, Mom has come to spend a few days helping me adjust to having a new baby. Isn't that sweet of her? Evelyn and I got up this morning and Mom said Evelyn already looks different. (Today is Wednesday, and Evelyn was born on Saturday). I guess it could be true. She kind of looks different to me, too.

Our New Little One

So, everybody, pictures, like I promised. I really think that the pictures speak for themselves. I am the Mom in green (obviously) and Hannah is the sweet little beautiful girl gazing in awe and wonder at her new sister. The new sister is Evelyn Jane Hildebrandt, born October 18, 2008, weighing seven pounds and one lonely ounce, and both of her Grandmas appear in the pictures too. Alas, you can only see my Mom's arm, but there is a lovely picture of Ben's Mom, Jane. Enjoy!

Hannah's Second 1st Birthday

Although Hannah celebrated her first birthday on her birthday with the Hogenson family, we celebrated with her again when her Dad was home from working in Castlegar, B.C. Ben and I gave her some late gifts ... a doll and some blocks, and her Grandma Jensen gave her a book. These were some cute pictures of the event. I know you can't see Hannah's eyes when she first looks at the doll, but look at her mouth anyway. She was really excited about it. She wasn't sure how she felt about the baby having a bottle though ... She wanted that for herself!

So, everyone, lots of immediate family members (mostly doting uncles) have been asking to see this video, and it sure is cute. Ben had said that he didn't mind missing Hannah getting her first taste of icecream, as long as he could watch her eat her first bite of cake, but Mom convinced us to wait anyway, and Ben was very glad we did. It was a lot more fun to watch her get her first taste of icecream than it was to watch her eat her first cake. Since then, Hannah has delighted in eating anything cold. She'll down a whole popsicle in just moments. I guess in some ways she's just like her Daddy!

Hannah's First Birthday

I've got lots of pictures for this one, but I couldn't help it. Hannah was delighted with all of her gifts, especially the little picture book Linda, my sister, made her. She still loves to touch the soft spots on the book.

Hannah was so spoiled on her birthday. She received a lot of gifts from her aunts and uncles and her Grandma and Grandpa Hogenson. It was a really big birthday party for such a little girl. She got lego and a Fisher Price phone and books and electronic toys and all sorts of things. We chose Stephen to help her open the gifts because he played with her the most during the summer while we were in Calgary, and they became pretty good friends.

I think Hannah is so lucky. There are so many people who just adore her, and love her, and cuddle her and spoil her. I don't think she'll ever have reason to think that she isn't loved with so many people around "loving her" all the time!

Happy Birthday Hannah!

Hannah Walks

See my Hannah baby? This first video is an earlier video of her walking. These aren't her first steps...I don't actually think we got them on video, since by the time I'd see her take a couple of steps, it was over. This is one of the first times she'd taken more than a couple of steps, though. However, she's usually more careful about falling. It's not as often that she just goes ker-plonk. Grandpa broke her fall and saved the day.

The second video is kind of funny. We took it today (the 30th of July). She's getting better at walking and has taken over twenty steps now. However, she usually chooses the shortest route to get somewhere, as you can note since she headed for the couch first. Mom was holding the video camera, and a "kazoo," (incentive, you know), and half-way through her Grandpa suddenly rushed out seemingly from nowhere, and this video is the result.

Growing Up So Fast Part II

The picture of Hannah sleeping is really cute. My brother David babysat her and when I came home I found her asleep and took a picture. Ever since she learned to roll over she's preferred to sleep on her stomach, usually with her face planted into the sheets. The picture of Hannah standing up is the most recent one of her, at about eight and a half months. I was working on the computer and when I turned around I found she had pulled herself to a standing position to get the books on the second shelf (which she isn't allowed to have.) That's the first time I saw her do that, but she did it again today, although she propped herself up on the toolbox instead of on her walker.

Growing Up So Fast

Just thought this picture was cute and had to add it.
This was a picture of Hannah and I when we went to the Devonian Gardens in Calgary. There were lots of turtles and fish in the water behind us. Hannah didn't honestly seem to be that impressed, but it was a peaceful place and we enjoyed ourselves.
Here's Hannah with a baseball hat Ben and I got her. For those of you who don't know, Ben has about fifteen and he wears a different one almost everyday.
I think Hannah looks cute even when she's upset.
Ben took this picture. It was the first time Hannah discovered that she could find us by leaving the room we had left her in. It was kind of a cute peek-a-boo picture.

Hannah Changes

Well, I've thought about it and decided that a better name for this blog might have been "Hannah, in the Hildebrandt Family." Ah well. I just can't get over talking about her and showing pictures of her. She's the pride of my life. She is my life. I spend all day with her, every day. That's a lot of time.
So, the first picture is of Hannah wearing a headband her great grandma sent her, and the second, obviously, is of Hannah playing with her feet (it's been her obsession for quite a while, every since my Mom pulled her feet up and bonked them on her nose), and the third picture is of Hannah with a spoon, which she also loves, since she loves to eat and that, to her, is what the spoon represents. Back to the second picture. It's funny that Hannah really likes to be undressed nowadays, because she can get at her feet better. The first thing she does when I take off her sleeper or change her diaper is grab her feet. It makes for an interesting diaper change.






Okay, so this is a video of Ben playing with Hannah. (The funny thing is Ben is the one making the most noise.) But I would definitely say we have a beautiful little girl. She learns so much every day. She's so happy. She always coos and laughs and plays and it's impossible not to catch her joyful spirit.