jesus loves me

Along with "I See the Moon" and "Happy Birthday" this is another one of her favorites. Obviously we sing it to her a lot. Well, she will go on these singing sprees and as soon as we get the video camera out - or someone calls to talk to her - she goes silent. You know how it is... This time however, Joe casually walked in the room and caught her as she was singing to me while I was feeding Joseph. It sounds kind of operatic to me...I'm not sure she knows the song has an end.

momma, look at me.

It's more of a demand than a whine. And it's because that's what I say to her all the time. When she's about to throw a fit, I get right at her level and say "Hannah. Look at me." Now I hear it back: "Momma. Look at me."

A few other things we're hearing a lot right now:

"No cry, Momma"
"Whatsa matter Mommy?"
"Daddy, what's wrong?"
(all said while she's the one upset or crying)
"I hold you, Daddy." (translation: pick me up)
"I help you, Momma." (help me)
"Water please. Ice on it."
"Boo boo hurts so bad." (doesn't necessarily mean it hurts, but as long as she notices a scrape or bruise, that's what she says)
"Whatsa problem?"
"Joseph's sleeping...Joseph's crying...Joseph's funny..." (Joseph this, Joseph that)
"Momma, bow came out." (the child thinks she was born with a bow in her hair)
"Go away bug!" (we go on lots of walks. she doesn't like bugs.)
"Yay! Good job!" (says after she or someone else sings a song she likes)
"Go to sleep...close your eyes." and "I see moon see me" (words to a couple of her favorite songs)
"Thank you." (says when she hands us something) "I welcome." (also says as she hands us something...she's a little confused. but cute - or as she pronounces it "coot")

She knows her abc's and numbers pretty well. A month ago I was reading Ten Little Ladybugs to her. When on the page with five ladybugs left:
me: "Count them!"
Hannah: "One....three, four, six, seven, eight!!!"
Not exactly, but awesome. She was so proud of herself.

In the last month alone, this child's personality has exploded. She is definitely entertaining. The drama level is at an all-time high (and going up I'm sure). But this age is fun and we are loving it for the most part.

She's starting to dress herself.

She is a very hands-on big sister. Which is great, except for when she does this kind of thing:

 

She is totally into Elmo. {Side note - we waited a while (20 months) before we introduced the TV. She never really had an interest in it and we didn't encourage one. Now, though, it's a different story. She says "Elmo Worldy" for Elmo's World or asks us to "turn Elmo on TV."} Joe loves the way she watches TV - like she's at the ready in case she needs to jump up and help Elmo.

 

I can't keep clothes on her. Not sure if it's a sign of potty training time, but she will bring me her diaper after she wets it sometimes too.

From time to time it gets quiet, and I realize I forgot to shut the door to our bedroom. She'll wander in and help herself to my jewelry and clothes. On one occasion I found her sitting on top of my dresser, my jewelry box opened and stuff everywhere. I was too shocked to be mad. You'll have to take my word for it, because I was not going to leave her there (despite how long she had been sitting up there by herself) and go get my camera. This time, all I had to risk was her going potty on the floor. She didn't...on this occasion.

And all of a sudden, she has started hiding...or her version of it. Chloe (my dog) does the same thing. As long as they can't see you, you can't see them. Right?

We love our Hannah Banana Buck (as she calls herself).

pictures of joseph

I tried to book a photographer to take 3-month pictures but I couldn't get anything anywhere around his actual 3-month day (July 18) and we felt like pictures at 4 months would defeat the purpose. {As typical with the firstborn, we had professional photos of Hannah taken at 3, 6, 9, and 12 months.} So, Joe suggested I take them myself, and so I did (in the small amount of time I have after I feed him and before Hannah wakes up from her nap). They are not at the professional level, but I think some of them turned out well.

Our little blue-maybe-green-eyed boy: A big smile for Momma to start.

My favorite is that second to last one....Mmmm, I could eat him up.

three months!

The "fourth trimester" is over. Our little guy is three months old. {I don't think the swaddle - or the swing - is going away any time soon, though.} He is my cuddle bug and I love him like crazy. He'd be perfectly happy if I never put him down. Sometimes I'm tempted. But see, I have his sister who I'm also crazy about. And she keeps my hands quite full. He has no choice but to be lower maintenance.

the nursery: part 4

Yes, Joseph is here - has been for almost three months - and his nursery is still not complete, or even close. But I've got an excuse in that we recently moved and he just now got a room! He is still sleeping in our room in his bassinet and perfectly content to stay there. In the mornings, I'll pull him into bed next to me and that is my favorite time of the day. We lay there and snuggle. I nurse him, and then we snuggle some more. But, I know, he needs to move to his own room and so I am trying to pull it together.

Since I wanted to have an idea where we were going to put things (and because I was getting antsy to start Joseph's room) I drew up some layouts before we moved.

Prior to move-in, the church in Sandersville agreed to paint some rooms in the parsonage. {In case you do not know, we live in a church-owned home. There are benefits and drawbacks to this arrangement, but if you are fortunate enough to have a church that is able and willing to meet your needs and wants, it's not so bad.} Anyway, I chose Glidden's Vase Blue, a chambray color, for Joseph's room. I'm in love with it.

I have a few updates since my nursery posts, part 2 and part 3. The crib we picked out was discontinued. A different, but similar, one was ordered last week and will arrive any day.

The new glider cushions arrived and they are on. I took the rug from our living room in the old house and put it in the nursery - it is the same color as the yellow in Joseph's bedding. Yay!

Still need to do something with that dresser...

The side table I am using is the one that was in Hannah's room, a simple white-painted wooden table Joe's grandfather (Joe Buck Jr.) made. During the move, it got beat up a little and the paint was peeling in several places. I pulled off the little bit that was loose in order to sand it down and touch up the paint and it came right off. So now I have this look:

As both my mom and mother-in-law commented, if I had a cow theme going on, this would be great. But I don't. Still, I like the natural wood look better, so when I have some spare time I intend to peel the rest of the paint off. It'll be a long, therapeutic experience I am sure.

For the last several months I've had my eye out for fun additions to the nursery. I've collected as I go, not really having a specific theme in mind just finding things that I like. I'll pull it all together once we have everything in the room.

Back in April, I went to a garage sale on my girl trip to Brunswick/St. Simons and found an old oar. It wasn't exactly for sale (I spotted it in a junk pile in the backyard), but the nice lady sold it to me for a dollar.

A week or so later, I found a pair of handcrafted wooden oars (and met the nice old man who made them) while out exploring with Hannah in Jesup.

I don't know what I'm going to do with this oar collection yet, but I have a couple ideas.

I love this rolling storage crate from Serena and Lily. Mentioned it to my mom, and all of a sudden it's in the mail being delivered to the new house. Backordered for over a month, it arrived this week.

My little assistant.

Update: since starting this post a couple days ago, the crib arrived. Yay for progress!

the fourth

I hope you had a good one. I love the Fourth of July. The past two years I've wanted to take Hannah to see the fireworks. I don't think I ever missed them as a kid. My mom would take us down to River Street. We'd have a big family picnic beforehand and just run around and play until the fireworks started. So fun. Last year we thought Hannah was too young and it was too far of a drive (1 hour) and too late to take a baby quite adjusted to her schedule. But this year, we had it all planned out. We would drive to the nearest fireworks display, take a picnic dinner, and watch from the back of our car. Hannah had a cute outfit to wear too. And then she got sick. Throwing up and a fever that lasted 3 days ruined our plans. Sunday, she felt much better and was able to enjoy family that came in town. Gran Gran and Poppy, Sarah, Betsy, Grandma, Ben, and Katie all came to visit.

Grandma and Hannah lined the front walk with flags and had their own Independence parade. They also made a flag cake - a Brooks family tradition. Uncle Ben lit sparklers. On Monday we went to a BBQ lunch and after naps (and a storm), we took the kids swimming.

(Pay no attention to the outfit Hannah chose for the occasion.)

 

Check out Joseph's shoes! He is one patriotic Yankee Doodle Dandy.

{part two}

I am playing serious catch-up. We won't have Internet here at the house for about another week. I'm using a wireless card, but it's a dial up connection and those are just miserable. Seriously...I'd rather not have Internet at times than exercise the patience it takes to watch pages load. I've also been using Joe's laptop instead of mine, which has all the pictures on it. Anyway... Here's a little photo album of the last few weeks:

So I mentioned Joseph spent much of three days in the swing as we were loading up to move. When the swing failed to soothe, this was plan B. It's hotter and impossible for me to lift boxes, but it stops the crying. His mom does rock...

The boys. Joseph is right down there between Ben and Will playing on his mat.

Progress...  

Goofballs.

I couldn't resist this picture:

Or this one. Fun, the things you find when you move. Joe's plebe midshipmen cover from USNA.

Hannah decided she needed to wash off her Crocs. 

Then she got thirsty.

This is what a full POD looks like. The PODS driver was impressed with how full it was due to it's weight. I was impressed by the packing skills.

A few days in Savannah here but no pictures to post. It flew by in a whirlwind. Then...


{Sandersville}

Our first Sunday at SUMC:

Great service. Met everyone through a receiving line on the front steps. Nice, but hot. {These are typically what our family pictures look like right now. If you have a toddler, you can relate.}

...and Joseph was bored.

Finally, we took a break from unpacking and went over to a friend's house to swim.

A big smile for Mrs. Anna!

Joseph's first time in the pool! He was not ok with it at first, but then was as calm as can be.

 

The first week here I spent all the time I could unpacking and putting things away. I had friends come to help me. {Jennifer and Kate, I love you!} We had several people from church stop by the house with fresh vegetables, fruit, and meals. Unfortunately due to timing, we had to go back to Savannah for doctor's appointments that Thursday and Friday.


{Joseph - two months old!}

While this deserves its own post. I am way behind and figured he'll get his own post in about a week when he's three months! He's doing great! He had his two-month check-up and he was 12 lbs, 4 oz. (> 50%) and 24" long (75%). It was our last appointment with Dr. Seibert. He is an awesome pediatrician and we were sorry to leave him. Of course, we need someone closer. We also had a hip ultrasound, precautionary due to the slight hip clicking the doctor found at his newborn visit. Happy to report that all is well. Our baby is healthy. He is nursing great so I am one happy momma. Thank GOD. I did get a two-month picture of him, albeit a few days late in his nursery (if you can call it that). He's wearing what Joe was baptized in (minus the sweater).

I love him. Speaking of - this is his birth announcement. I don't have the digital file so it's a bit blurry.

{Randomness}

We've taken several trips to Wal-Mart. On one such occassion, Hannah was fascinated by the receipt. Yeah...us too.

Smiles from the car seat:

There is a farmer's market downtown every Saturday. Ready for an adventure, we strolled the kids from the house (about a mile and a half) to see what it was all about. Joseph mainly slept, but the rest of us enjoyed it.

{A goodbye}

My dad came through Sandersville with Renee and Andrew on their way out west. It was a short visit. It has been my dad's dream for a long time to live out in the Pacific Northwest. I am sad that he is leaving. {It is no secret that I don't like the fact that he is moving that far away.}

{A reunion}

After church on Sunday we headed to meet up with the "ADPi mommies" at my friend Kristen's house in Greensboro. We have been looking forward to this "reunion" for months. It's a bunch of our sorority sisters from Tech, who all have at least one baby. If I'm counting right, there were 11 of us, 7 husbands, 18 babies/toddlers, and one on the way. It was crazy. But definitely fun. And so good to meet all these kids I know so much about and have followed growing up. We missed a couple of our in-state girls. Out-of-staters, we missed you too. Shout out to Holly, Abby, and Kelly!

That brings me to July. And I'll save the rest for another day. {This slow connection is for the birds and it has taken me hours to upload these pictures.}