Wednesday, July 02, 2008

Hannah AnnMarie

So after looking back last night..i feel like no one has really seen many pics of my big girl, as she has grown up.

I began this blog as a way to keep our family(mainly Pauls, since they are all out of town) updated after the girls were born. It was my baby book for the twins. But in all reality, it has really not only become my baby book...it's my dairy, it's my life and it's all about all the fun, stressful and interesting happenings in our house. It's not just about the twins or about my pregnany with the twins. I made it through all of that already, and i'm still in one piece!

So with that being said i wanted to add a ton of pics from our flickr account so everyone can see what my big girl looked like growing up. Of course, she looks like her mommy, so she's BEAUTIFUL! LOL!

I also wanted to do a post on my big girl.

Tomorrow Hannah will be 47 months old(on the 1st..i've been working on this for a few days now)! One more month and we'll be celebrating her 4th Birthday(48 months/1460 days)! I can't believe it! Time has really flown by way too fast! Sometimes i feel guilty, almost like her and I both got robbed of a year and a half of time. When she was a baby, she got every once of attention i had...and then all of Pauls attention on top of that. Our lives revolved around HER.

Then i got pregnant again and things changed. I slowly wasn't able to get down on the ground and play with her...slowly my energy was drifting away...and then Julia came to live with us.

Julia became her new playmate around October of 2006. After she moved in, i really seemed to have lost some time. Julia played with her and i sat on my couch and slept....and slept and ate. That was all i could do as my belly expanded more and more. I gave her as much love as i possibly could...but it wasn't like before.

Before i got pregnant, we did everything together. We even had a little daily ritual we did almost everyday. We'd get up, get dressed, and on days she didn't go to school i'd go get her a taco from taco cabana(the lady there knew us very well) and then i'd go through starbucks and grab a coffee...and we'd head home. I even remember one day, i got brave and decided to take her INTO starbucks to get my morning JOE. Now thinking back..it's funny. BUT BOY that Friday that she pitched a fit and made me so upset. She wanted to touch everything, wanted 10 different cookies and i did all i could to not cause too much of a scene as there were people glaore in starbucks that morning. That day was the first and last day we went INSIDE the starbucks. And now, thinking back, that day wasn't soo bad. It was pretty funny!

Every morning after we got home, she'd eat her taco(always bacon, egg and cheese) and i'd drink my coffee and we'd play all day long. I took her EVERYWHERE with me. She was such a good baby..and as she got older she was also a GREAT toddler. I remember very vividly as she began to talk...it was SOO neat. We could have a little conversation and my days weren't so quiet anymore. She really started to talk and blossom once we moved to the old crappy house we were going to tear down.

I remember very vividly putting her in her high chair with her breakfast and getting in the shower. The kitchen was SOO close to the bathroom that i could talk to her while i showered. I loved those days and i still cherish them.

After the girls were born things changed a bit. She got ripped off a bit. I do regret that i wasn't able to give her soo much of my time anymore. But that's really just part of life and having siblings.

It's soo cool how she has such a great memory. Some days she reminds ME about things we did back when. One thing she loves to tell me all about was a day i do remember very vividly myself. We went grocery shopping and we were living at the old house we had bought to tear down. We backed my suburban into the driveway and i got out. Then i got her out and opened up the back to get out the groceries. For some crazy reason a frog flew into the back of my car(SERIOUSLY, IT FLEW INTO MY CAR). Now if you know me, you know i absolutely HATE frogs. I REALLY don't like them...they scare me more than anything. As it happened i jumped and screamed so loud everyone in our neighborhood probably heard me. I didn't know what to do or how to get the darn thing out of my car. I called Paul on the phone screaming like never before. Finally i grabbed the little black thing in the back that is made to put grocery bags in, it's a netted thing. The frog was entangled in it and i yanked it out of my car as fast as i could. Luckily i got the frog out. I don't know what i would have done if i hadn't been able to get the darn thing out. All along Hannah was standing there laughing hysterically at me as i was screaming...she reminds me about that all the time.

Hannah is so much like me. She soo strong willed and just a little OCD like me too. Maybe that is why we butt heads sometimes. Her OCD is definitely inherited from me too. She does these funny little things...like organizing her babies over and over again. And then theres the blanket thing. She will take 30 minutes to make her blankets just right on her bed...just like mommy! She is truly a spitting image of me. When she takes a nap she has to have her blankets just a certain way. She will move them all around and move them again after that! It's really cute. It's something i'm sure i did when i was her age too. And now that i'm 32, i still have to have my bed perfect...i can't get in a bed that has not been made up first. If i do, Paul knows i'm really really sick.

Now a days, she's really mommys big girl, helper. She LOVES helping me. She LOVED helping me even when the girls were babies. I remember one day she went and grabbed a bottle of water and a pre-made powder formula and just poured it, put the lid on it and shoved it in a babies crying mouth. It was SOO FUNNY! What a big girl she was...even back then. NOW, she's even better at helping. She helps me round up(or herd) the babies when i need help. She loves to play with the girls non stop..and of course it wouldn't be right if they didn't fight like sisters, right?

I could keep going on and on about my sweet baby. I love her with all my heart. I know these past few years have been rough. First mommy gets pregnant, then we find out your having two sisters and then they take over the house. But one day, i promise you will be happy for the two beautiful sisters you have.

In just a few weeks you start Pre-K! I can't believe it! You have been with me..almost everyday of your life since August 1st. Only a few days of my life, have we been apart. It's a bitter sweet time for me. My baby is moving on in life...getting ready to start school everyday! Getting ready to go to real school. Getting ready to wear uniforms...getting ready for her first taste of independence! Where did our time go? I will miss you soo much! The girls are also going to miss you being home with them. It'll be weird, but i know we will adjust. You are such a laid back child. You adjust to anything soo easily!

These past 4 years have been the best 4 years of my life. I couldn't imgaine the emptiness i'd have if you weren't here. I'm soo thankful everyday that you were chosen to be with us. You brighten my day when things are rough. You help me in anyway you can when your with me. You help hold babies hands when i need a little extra help. You are beautiful inside and out. I can't wait to see what your future holds & will always support you no matter what you choose to do in life. I know you will make your daddy & i proud! You already have in the four short years you've been a part of our lives.

I hope you have a very HAPPY 47 month birthday!
Love,
Mommy!



Also, stay tuned...i'm going to do more posts on my sweet Hannah soon! I just really feel compelled to tell everyone about her life...our life shouldn't just be about the twins...it's about all 3 girls now!



The day before we left to the hospital! Big ole' mommy...only a mere 200lbs! YEAH, that's right baby..i gained 75lbs! I went a bit crazy on food!


3d/4d pic of my first born! In the hospital high as a kite on some kind of meds. Paul told me i kept telling him we had to go to Vegas b/c we left our bags there! LOL!And then here she is...for the very first pic. Nice Mohawk thanks to the lovely nurses. Lots of dark black hair.

When Hannah was born she had 2 hemotomas and bleeding on the brain due to the 3 hours she was stuck in my birth canal. We had a MRI done on day 2 and then another one 2 weeks later. Everything was fine..just scary for a first time mom! She was born at 9:30am on a Sunday after 3 hours of REAL labor! And then she had to get a sun tan for 24 hrs. She did NOT like that! I think the jaundice was due to the hemotomoas & bleeding. It was a horrible 24 hours...she cried and cried b/c we could only take her out to feed her and change her diapers. Proud daddy and his girl!Her first hospital pic! This was on our announcement!Leaving the hospital...yep, those are cankles! I'd swear i was still prego when i left...my belly just didn't shrink and i was swollen soo bad! Her first pic at home! Soo tiny in that big cradle!Look at that...daddy is ALREADY sleeping!
August 04'

Hannah a few weeks old...in her brand new swing!

Her monthly shot on the chair in the living room!

Her first pic outside in the light! She didn't look too happy!Proud mommy & daddy!

Mommy on one side...baby on the other! That's how we STILL sleep when she's sick! This is the MOST comfortable couch ever! We need a new one b/c it's all yucky..but i LOVE it soo much. In the background was our 250 gallon salt water tank. After Hannah was born we got rid of it b/c it was so much work and also very costly!Hannah in her crib..with all her animals! This is what my dr. told me to do for her eczema...put diaper rash cream on her face! Nice right? We don't go to that dr. anymore!September 04'

Dr. P...he delivered all 3 of my girls! Yeah i know...my girls looked GINORMOUS here! Thank goodness they've finally gone down!

Mommy was exhausted and Hannah lived on my belly sleeping! It's soo different with one! I can vouch for that! Playing under her gymni! She loved swatting at her animals!

Her favorite was the grey elephant and the parrott!Daddy did this just for the pic...please don't think i put my precious baby in a crib full of stuffed animals!
October 04'

Hannah's first Halloween outfit! I'm a leopard! Hannah's first playdate at our house! Layne on left, Colin on right! All our old neighbors! We had a Halloween party at our house for the babies!
Hannah's Halloween pj's
Mommy & Hannah...look at that precious smile(or maybe just gas).
Hannah's baptism one week before my sister had allison!
AND less than 3 months later...we welcomed Allison into our lives!
Rare pic of all 3 sisters together! What special day!
Auntie Brenda with her new niece! Yep, i look like a moneky with all the make up on...i was sleep deprived!
Allison's @ 2 days old! Soo precious!



Hannah @ 3 months all wrapped up in a blanket...she loved our couch!
Sweet smiling!
Hey baby, you don't sleep under the gymni!
Hannah's baptism!
The chair at 3 months!
We celebrated her birthday every month on the 1st!
Look at that crazy hair! Uh...hey baby wake up! It's not time to sleep yet!
Booty shot!

4 comments:

debi9kids said...

How sweet!
I love getting to know hannah a bit more. So nice to hear the story of how it used to be....you painted a lovely picture of such a sweet relationship between the two of you.
Debi
BTW How the heck do you get so skinny so fast after your pregnancies???

cat said...

Nice post! I can vouch that it is definetely much different having one than two babies.

GibsonTwins said...

That was such an awesome post! I liked getting to know Hannah more :)

She sure was a cutie pie baby too!

I left the hospital at the same weight I checked in at with the twins because of such bad swelling- how pathetic. Couldn't even put my shoes on!

About my playroom- there is a gate that keeps the kids/mess out in just that room. We often leave it for a few days before the big cleanups/vacuuming becuase they trash it in mere seconds anyway~ lol

Will get caught up on the rest of your posts when I get back home, still out of town, hopefully going to the fireworks tonight!!

Harris Boys said...

I'm with debi...you look great and I just love this post...every single word of it. hannah was so cute as a baby and to me looks exactly the same but older if that makes any crazy sense!!

have a happy and safe 4th!!!!!!