1st birthday pictures

Hannah had a great first birthday. She heard from lots of family and friends, opened presents, and celebrated with Grandma and Poppy. She'd rather chew on the presents and play with the ribbons and bows than open them, and she'd rather eat fruit and vegetables than eat cake, but that's ok! It was a special day.

 Sweet potato pancakes for breakfast! At lunch, Mommy even let me lick the top of the sweet potato jar. Note the theme: sweet potatoes. Hannah's favorite.

Opening presents from Mommy and Daddy.

Clementine the monkey                                           pat the bunny

 Grandma and me

My 1st birthday cake                                          Poppy and me

Saturday, the 11th, we had a Very Hungry Caterpillar themed birthday party in our backyard. It was a great time and we are very appreciative of the friends and family that came from near and far to be here to celebrate.

rested, bathed, and ready to go in my birthday dress!

The party's here! We made a huge caterpillar out of beach balls for the front yard.

Hannah's monthly "9th" pictures hung on a clothesline with small circles for the guests to sign.

Daddy worked hard getting everything ready. The signs on the food table are clips from the book. Most of the menu consisted of food eaten by the hungry caterpillar.

Mommy made a caterpillar for the food table...

...and a butterfly for the gift table.

Hannah's bib (found on Etsy).

Daddy's about to say the blessing...

Time to party!

...more interested in the balloon.

All the kids had fun playing in the caterpillar tunnel from Aunt Jennifer.

two birthday crowns and a pile of presents = one spoiled birthday girl

Some that came to celebrate...

happy birthday hannah maddalena gnann buck!

It's been one year. One year ago today, we welcomed our sweet Hannah into the world. It was the most precious day of my life. We were overwhelmed with love.

09.09.09

 

with Daddy, Uncle Ben, and Uncle Will

 

with Grandma and Gran Gran

with Granddaddy and Poppy

 

with Mommy and Daddy

 first bath

in my homecoming gown in Uncle Ben's arms

on the way home from the hospital

I never could have imagined how I would feel then, or how much more love I would feel for her every day since. Watching her grow and change and learn new things has been nothing short of amazing. Daddy and I are quite in love with this baby girl.

It has been a year of learning, and we truly have learned so much - about Hannah, about taking care of a baby, and about patience. Like all other new parents, we have faced challenges and trials. A few come to mind: her weight gain problems, stomach viruses, breastfeeding, and her skin problems. We have learned how babies grow and develop and reach milestones in their own time. We were excited as we witnessed her for the first time - sleep through the night, move to her crib from the cradle, smile, laugh, roll over, eat solid foods, crawl, wave, drink from a cup, clap, and take her first step.

We have also learned a lot about ourselves and about each other - how to be a parent team and how to be a couple at the same time.  Countless times over the past 12 months we have asked God for patience, wisdom, and discernment. We have prayed asking God to help and guide us as we try to be the best parents we can for Hannah.

It has been a year of thanksgiving. We never go a day without giving praise to God for Hannah. We know that she is a gift from Him, to love and nurture while she is ours. How incredibly blessed are we? Over the past 12 months I have taken thousands of pictures of Hannah. I don't know what I'll do with all of them, but I love to look at them and watch them come up on my screen saver. I'm reminded of how fast she grows and how much she has changed. I love to see some of our favorite memories - her first Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter, her baptism, her first GT game, her first family reunion, special family visits, and trips to see friends.

A couple things I now know: The best sound in the world is the laughter of your child. When I hear that sweet laugh everything else just melts away. Her daddy can get her in laughing fits and when I see the two of them my heart is so full. I know that the most precious sight is watching your child sleep - in your arms or in the crib. The many times I have just watched her I feel that God is right there and His love is so good. While I was pregnant, a friend told Joe and me in regards to her own daughter as an infant, that if she could do it all over again, she would have held her more. I knew at that moment that I was never going to forget those words. I have lived by them. I have treasured every moment I've gotten to hold or rock Hannah. I know that my time holding her is getting shorter and shorter as she grows and becomes more active and independent. I try to ingrain those moments in my memory...

I also know that I love Joe now more than ever. I could have never thought that possible a year ago, but it's true. He's a great daddy and my perfect companion on this crazy journey!

Hannah, month by month:

1 month

2 months

3 months

4 months

5 months

6 months

7 months

8 months

9 months

10 months

11 months

1 year!

3 funerals and a busted toilet

Yes. I neglected to mention some other things that have been going on. My hard-working husband has had quite the load lately. In addition to "the usual" aspects of running a church and the day to day issues, three long-time church members passed away in three weeks. These are founding members of Epworth UMC, so it is quite a hit to the congregation. Thankfully these three individuals lived relatively long, full lives, though they will be missed. 

This past Sunday was Confirmation. Joe baptized and confirmed four teenagers as well as welcoming three additional people as new members. It was quite a big day in our small-town church. Afterward, before Joe could get to the fellowship hall to bless the food for our church lunch, he went in his office to find a pipe going to the toilet had busted. This week, everything was moved out and new carpet was installed in three rooms damaged by water. What a week...

I am blessed - so blessed - to have such a great husband. He works hard, and his work isn't easy. Then he comes home, every night, and cooks supper for me. He supports me staying at home, and is a great father to Hannah.

Recently I was asked to contribute to a friend of mine's blog about being married to your spouse's job. She focused on three occupations: married to the military, married to medicine, and married to the church. All very interesting. You can read my q-and-a here: into the lives of wives: married to the church.

 My two favorite people.

where have we been?

Not really anywhere actually. But isn't it amazing what happens when you don't have a computer? I learned one thing about myself over the last couple weeks: I am seriously attached to my laptop. And that's not necessarily a good thing. I've used Joe's laptop a few times to check email, but have spent little to no time on Facebook and posting to the blog. The un-connectedness is kinda nice, actually. Joe would laugh at me saying this. He makes comments all the time about this thing being my best friend.

Some miscellaneous pictures from the past two weeks:

In Savannah visiting Gran Gran and Poppy, Sarah and Betsy for Gran Gran's birthday.

At Joani, Tim, and Graci's house. Hannah loved playing with Graci's toys.

Playing in a cardboard box!

Hannah has been so fussy lately with teething. Sometimes she just crashes from exhaustion. On this particular night, we had just fed her a bottle and sat her in the highchair while we ate dinner. In no time she fell asleep. Precious.

She started drinking from a cup - a real cup. She hasn't really taken to the sippy cup, but she l-o-v-e-s the big girl cup.

Last week she started standing up all by herself without pulling up on anything. And now she does it constantly. Up and down. Up and down.

Another picture in her favorite spot.

She has figured out how to lock/unlock the dog crate in our bedroom. And, on Sunday morning while I was putting on my make-up, I heard her messing with the crate, walked in to find her like so:

I didn't think Joe would believe me, so I took pictures. She does it again, this time with me watching:

Notice how she has Hungry Caterpillar in there too.

Last night she was talking up a storm while playing with her toys. This face makes me smile.

She was shaking her penguin so hard she fell backwards. 

Big girl...

And just like that, she's almost one.