My Top 10 in 2010

On New Years Eve, at that!  

1)  After two LONG years of trying, we're expecting the birth of our 2nd child on or about July 15th.
2)  I ran my first half marathon!  Physically speaking, the hardest thing I have ever done but completely worth it.
3)  David was rated by the VA, a blessing on so many levels.
4)  Hannah started preschool and loves it!  I didn't want to do it permanently, for my own selfish reasons, but she loves it so much.
5)  My first trip to Vegas.  Some good, some not so good, lots of things learned.  Can't wait to go with David!
6)  Girls trip this summer.  Playing catch up for 5 days in a secluded cabin was exactly what I needed.
7)  Kitchen renovation was started and pretty much finished.  There's some finishing touches that need to go up, as well as the deck, but as long as that's done before July, I'll be happy.
8)  Self reflection.  I've learned a lot about myself this year.  Still working on some of those changes but I know it will come.
9)  1 more semester down.  This last semester I took 6 classes, while David worked a normal work day.  What was I thinking????
10)  Hannah Banana.  This last year has been difficult, on a personal level, for me.  I can honestly say that no matter what I feel or think, she can put a smile on my face.

THE Playhouse

Because it's not just any playhouse.  It's a small shed.  No joke.  3 windows, a full size door, carpet, cedar trim and a little porch.  That's what my dad built for Hannah for Christmas.  It's very nice.  She didn't quite understand it, until we had it in the backyard. Right now her kitchen is it in, two chairs and a small table, her shopping cart and a little basket.

Right after we moved her kitchen in. 

My dad, putting her windows back together after transport.

Opening one of the windows

The inside wall that the door is on is made of white board, so Hannah can draw and erase on it.  Hannah also likes to play with steering wheels, so my dad found one and put it in.

This is the side.

Closing her door.

I took this one today because I didn't have any full shots yet.  

Hannah slept til about 730 Christmas morning.  It's a good thing she didn't sleep much later than that, we would've had to wake her up!  Her stuff from Santa was all laid out, unwrapped, as well as the rest of her gifts.  Santa brought Hannah a bike, a dollhouse and a pillow pet.  

Checking out her new bike in the kitchen.

Hannah explaining how it works to David.

Opening gifts.

Grandma Moon liked her apron.

She decided to help open Grandma and Papa's gift.

Hannah and her Tag Reader.

Hannah and David playing with David's slot cars.

Hannah's dollhouse. 

This is the mirror that David and I decorated for Hannah.

Overall, Hannah had a great christmas.  It was so much fun watching her open gifts and get so excited over them.  She got lots of little stuff, the kind of stuff that Hannah loves: makeup, books, jewelry, crayons and coloring books.  I've asked her what her favorite gifts are but they change every time I ask.  I think I like that best though.  Yesterday we spent the day at my grandma's and then the evening at my mom's house.  When it was all said and done, Hannah got Tinkerbell shoes, another pillow pet,  a bath mat that she can color over and over agian, a Tinkbell bed tent, Tag Reader books, a medical kit, some clothes, Tinkerbell statues, a play doh maker, a gum maker, two Barbie dolls and a play house, which I'll post about later.  

Sebastian

This is what happens when David and Hannah go into a pet store by themselves.  I've said it before, David and I are suckers for animals.  All kinds of animals.  One day, we're going to have a house with a huge yard to let all the animals our hearts desire run loose. One of our dreams is to go to the no kill shelter and take the two oldest dogs home with us.  So here's our new addition: a guinea pig.  

He likes to be cuddled.  If you scratch this one spot behind his ear, it tickles him.  And he makes happy noises, it almost sounds like constant chirping.  He whistles when he wants attention.  It took a little while for him to get used to us but he no longer runs when we walk in Hannah's room.  We take him out daily and play with him.  David and I are calling him our christmas present.  

Playdate at Monkey Joe's

Last week we decided to take Hannah and Braylon to Monkey Joe's.  It's nice because we can take the kids during the middle of the week, during the middle of the work day and there's a fraction of the kids there.  This time there were about 10 kids total.  We stayed for about an hour and a half the kids didn't slow down at all!  They had so much fun.  

This was the cutest thing: every time they went down this particular slide together, they held hands.   

It's nice when Hannah and Braylon get to play together like this.  They don't get much time to play together since they're in separate classrooms at school.  And they play so well together.  While they were playing, I was busy typing up a summary for school.  That's one of the nice perks of Monkey Joe's: free Wifi.  

Kitchen Update 1 Million and I don't know, I lost count...

These pictures have been taken of the course of the last month or so.  It shows the progression of our floor, which has taken some time on our part.  

And so begins a very messy job. 

I don't know which is worse, the floor or the wall.  This is what was behind out dishwasher.

It would've been nice if it had all come up this easily.

Taking up the wood flooring to even out the new floor with the old floor.

And of course Hannah wanted to help.

Part of the leveling process, we had quite the dip in the floor right there.

He's pondering, he really wanted the grout lines to line up but our design pattern made that difficult.

Laying out the pattern. 

Part of the completed work.  

And the grout went down today!  There's some small sections in which tile stills needs to be cut for but that's it!  All that remains is some finishing work; shelves, another coat of paint and stuff like that.  

Catch Up on the Life and TImes of Hannah Banana

I've had some issues with the computer program on my Mac, and I haven't been able to load any pictures for awhile.  Today, I was finally able to load pictures from the last month or so onto my computer.  Hence playing catch up.

The first three are from a walk/bike ride that Hannah, Rossi and I took a couple of weeks before Thanksgiving.  I'm not sure I'll be doing that again anytime soon!  Rossi still needs some training on a leash and Hannah needs help steering, which equaled a lot of work for me!  

She was so happy and proud of herself for pedaling all on her own!

One of the few moments I had them both going at the same time. 

Playing dress up, which is a pretty common occurrence in our household.  

The castle she built recently.  She's begun to really enjoy playing with her blocks.