Happy birthday Hannah!!!

Yesterday we celebrated a very special day- Hannah's 2nd birthday!!  It was a special and fun day but also sad as we thought of all our family back in MN and MI who couldn't celebrate with us.  We enjoyed a fun morning celebrating with her and then had a little party for her at home with a few friends.  We are so blessed to have this little girl- she brings us smiles and laughter, hugs and kisses and a few screams now and then when V likes to tease her! 
Both of my children are unbelievable blessings that I thank God for every day but waiting for H was not an easy thing.  I knew in my heart our family was not complete when it was the 3 of us. But I just didn't know what God was doing when I had to wait and pray for 6 years for Him to answer my prayer for another child.  The doctors had no explanations for why I got pregnant so easily with V but just couldn't get pregnant again.  And it was extremely hard to watch my friends get pregnant and especially when some of them weren't even expecting to. 
Now, as I look back, I know God's timing was best but that's not what I thought while I was waiting, praying and crying for 6 years!!  One of the most wonderful things that came out of it was that my sister was pregnant at the same time with her first child!  That was nothing short of God's timing- our babies are almost 3 months apart to the day!  So that made my pregnancy with H extra extra special (as if it wasn't already!!)- being able to share it with Sara.

Here we are at my baby shower!

Our mom couldn't be prouder!!

What a blessing to share this moment at our 2nd baby shower with my precious V.

Here we are right before I was induced.  This was a really special time for V and I because we were very close and at the end of this day, she would have to "share me" for the first time!

She was so happy to finally be a big sister!

I was ecstatic!  I was finally the mother of two children, the answer to my heart's cry for so long. 

I just could't believe it.  Thank You, Lord!!!  I kept thinking pinch me, I'm dreaming!!  :)

V loved having her little sister in the back seat with her!  

She was only a couple days old here but she loved to read to H in the car.  Too cute!!!

The proudest big sister in the whole world!

Here is her birth announcement picture.

This was the day V was baptized and I couldn't be happier!

H was 3 days shy of 3 months when she helped us welcome her little cousin Evie into

the world!  My mom, myself and H hung out all day with Andy and Sara and H barely made a peep all day but as soon as Evie was born, she cried and cried.  It was so precious, it's almost as if she knew what happened.

The proud aunt Sheri!

Grandpa holding the 2 new granddaughters.

(H 3 months and Evie 1 day old)

Ok, all that brings me to this day, March 26, 2011.  Hannah's 2nd birthday!

Here she is showing that she is 2!  Can you see her 2 fingers she is holding up??

We are on our way to the donut place for her birthday donut.  We've never done this before and it makes me shudder to think of feeding her a donut but I wanted to do something different.  Usually I ask who's birthday it is what they want for breakfast but not today!

Of course I had to bring the candles and we sang to her but I was so worried

about setting off a smoke alarm!  Thankfully nothing happened.  :)

And yes of course, I had to make sure she had some fruit with her very

unhealthy donut so she enjoyed a clementine with it.

"Mmmm, my birthday donut is soooo good!"

Next stop was Toys R Us for a little birthday shopping!

She was sick of having her birthday crown on but V was trying to push it back on!  Sisters!!

Taking a ride with Pooh for her birthday!

This was on the way home after we stopped to get her some balloons.  Uh oh, where is she??

This is the gift we got her- an easel!!  We thought it was the perfect

gift for a girl who LOVES crafts.  :)

V wrote this precious message for H.What a

wonderful big sister she is!!

Eating a little lunch before her party.

She loved blowing out her candles.

She barely made a dent in this huge cupcake cake.  (thank you Sara!!)

This is to show how big the cupake cake was!

A few of her guests.

Time to open the presents!  I loved how she got really into it this year!

Thank you everyone for her new toys/clothes!  She loved them all.  :)

What a happy day to celebrate Hannah and all that she means to us.  Thank You God for

giving her to us to love, to take care of and most importantly, teach her about You.

Happy 2nd birthday Hannah Joy Rose!!!

Craft time with H!

One of H's top fun things to do is crafts.  She loves painting, coloring, sewing, drawing with sidewalk chalk, pretty much anything crafty!!  So, I found a fun recipe for "clay dough" at one of my favorite websites http://theiowafarmerswife.blogspot.com/ and we did it together the other day.  She did really well and loved it except for one thing- she kept eating the flour/salt mixture before I added the water. I don't know why because it was not good at all!

Here she is mixing the ingredients!

She did a great job!

But of course, mom has to step in and make sure the flour stays in the bowl!  :)

Not only did she have to eat the flour/salt mixture but she tried to finish off the water too! Silly girl.

After you mix the 3 ingred. together, knead it for a couple minutes.

Then flatten it out and make fun shapes with cookie cutters or you can just play with it.

She was so proud of all her creations.  :)

After we baked them at 300 degrees for 30 minutes, we painted them.  She had a lot of fun doing this but I'm afraid I had too high of expectations.  For some reason I thought she would enjoy painting them more than she did.  She painted one and then just wanted to paint her fingers!  Oh well, we made fun memories together and that's what counts.  :) 

 

Here is the recipe:

1 c. flour + 1 t. flour

1/2 c. salt

1/2 c. water

Mix 1 c. flour and salt together, then slowly add the water, stirring as you go.

After you stir it around a few times and it starts to mush together dump it on the counter and knead it for about 5 minutes.  If it's a little sticky, add the extra 1 t. flour.

Now roll it out and cut it into shapes or just play with it or sculpt!  You can leave your shapes to dry for 48 hours or bake it at 300 degrees for 30 minutes.

Then you can paint it!  

Hope you enjoy it!