Hannah's 1st Birthday Party

On Saturday, April 23, we celebrated Hannah's first birthday with mostly family and some friends. I was wanting it to be small, but that is very hard to do when you have a large family. So, there were 27 people there. It was very sweet and meant a lot to us that it was a priority for all of our family and friends to be with us to celebrate with Hannah. She loved the cake and ice cream along with the hot dog she tried for lunch. The kids had a great time playing with bubbles outside too...even the big kids, a.k.a...adults :-)

I got several decorating ideas from my friend Kathryn and some of the decor came from her as well. I also purchased the cupcake toppers, banner and display sticks from a lady on etsy. I also purchased Hannah's onsie and hair clip from etsy.

We weren't expecting Hannah to receive so many gifts, but she did and we are so grateful for those who were so sweet in giving a gift. We gave Hannah a sandbox and she received sand toys to go with it from family, so that worked out well. My parents gave her a red wagon which she LOVES and we can now have a vehicle to go get the mail together, yay!

First birthday party down...success :-) Now I must start brainstorming about next year...really, I am not trying to rush Hannah growing up, but I am excited for what the future holds for her.

12 Month Stats

Hannah Grace is growing so well. She is taller than most kids her age and less chunky than most kids her age. It appears, she is following after her daddy on that one ;-)

Weight: 21.2 lbs and 50%
Height: 29 3/4 in. and 75%
Head: 18 in. and 50%

Hannah is so much fun.
She is cruising along everything-furniture, kitchen cabinets, climbing stairs, etc.
She knows how to open cupboard doors, so we have attached the locks already.
She can pull the knob off the dishwasher.
She loves to play outside in her sand box, swing, go for a ride in her wagon, or just crawl on the cement.
She is very curious.
She loves to play peek-a-boo and will with her blanket or behind furniture.
She loves to walk in her walk in go toy.
She can roll a ball back and forth to you.
She is WEANED! yay.
She drinks 2-3 cups of milk a day.
She is in size 3 diapers during the day and size 4 overnight.
We brush her teeth every night and she enjoys chewing on it too.
She has 8 teeth and 2 bottom molars that are making their appearance simultaneously.
She sleeps 13 hours straight at night and one 2-3 hour nap during the day.
She usually has a big appetite.
New foods she enjoys are red cabbage, hot dogs, chicken nuggets, ice cream, strawberries, mango, pancakes, and juice.
She can play pat-a-cake.
She can give high fives.
She is wearing 12-18 month clothes and size 3-4 shoes.
We celebrated her first birthday with family and friends on Saturday and she enjoyed her cupcake and ice cream.

We love you Hannah Grace. It has been a wonderful year and we are so grateful that you are growing so well and healthy. We're excited for new experiences and new things for you to learn in the coming year.

Hannah at her birthday party...riding in her new wagon from my parents

Red cabbage and spaghetti

Peek-a-Boo from behind the camera

Fun in the Sand...

For Hannah's birthday we got her a turtle sandbox. She LOVES it! She got some new sand toys from family and uses them to have fun. She is still figuring out the texture of the sand and has unintentionally gotten some in her mouth.

Happy Easter!

Hannah endured her first Easter today. I say endured because she did just that. My parents left today and so we kept Hannah up a little later than usual last night. We then, woke her up early this morning for church, which she did not like either. We managed to get her fed and dressed, attempted pictures--failed, and got out the door to church. The entire morning Hannah was just restless. She was irritable, tired, fussy, sleepy, hungry...not her usual self. After church we did manage to catch some pictures outside--still was a struggle, before Hannah just decided to crash on the cement. When we came home Hannah took a 4 hour nap--missing her planned Easter egg hunt with her cousins. Of course, we had to wake her up again for us to take Grandma Cathy to the airport.

This is not how I expected Easter to be today, but I am grateful that we serve a God who can look past all the obstacles and distractions that we had today and still love us, knowing that we honor and remember Him daily, and not just on a specific day. I guess as a mom, there will be those days, no matter if it is a holiday or not where I must go with the flow just to get through the day. I wish I would have been able to focus more on the Resurrection of our Lord this morning and afternoon.

Thank you Jesus for rising from the dead, for being alive and active today. Thank you for the ultimate sacrifice you paid for us. Thank you for eternal life, in heaven, with you. We love you Lord, Amen!

Attempting morning pictures...fail ;-)

Best family picture we managed...

Nice picture with my mom

Cousin Picture, Ally, Hannah and Mia (missing Ami)

Attempting a cousin picture...Emi had a rough morning as well.

And Hannah is done...proof of our rough morning...wanting to sleep on the cement

Hope you had a Happy Easter!

Happy 1st Birthday Hannah Grace

Hannah Grace. I don't know where to begin. You have blessed our lives with joy and love, more than we could have ever imagined. You are a beautiful girl and we thank our Lord for allowing us to be your parents. It's incredible how much you've changed since the day you were born. You are a very sweet girl. You are always full of smiles, love life, love people, love your mama and papa, and we pray that you will come to love your Lord early in life as well.

May the Lord continue to bless your sweet spirit. May He raise you to be who He wants you to be, to love, honor and respect your mama and papa, and love Him!

We love you Hannah Grace, Happy 1st Birthday

Love,
Mama and Papa

The day our miracle Hannah Grace arrived...

The day Hannah was born, at about 7 a.m. the nurse came in and said that my doctor wanted to start me on pitocin...at first I refused, but they would not have it, so they started me on one drip of pitocin because I was not progressing as they wanted. Because I am Group B strep positive, they usually have the babies born within 12 ours after your water breaking...and Hannah was just taking her sweet old time to come out. By about 10 a.m. I was in active labor with contractions 3-4 minutes apart and by 1:00, I was ready to push. I pushed for 15 minutes and Hannah was born at 1:15 p.m. on Wednesday, April 22, 2010 weighing in at 7 lbs. 5.5 oz and 20.5 inches long.

She was the most beautiful baby. I could not have imagined a more beautiful baby. She had dark hair that was almost black, just like her mommy's, very long body, just like her daddy's and the sweetest fingers and toes. We did not get to hold her very long because she was not crying as she was supposed to, so they took her from me for about 2 hours...that was hard.

As I write this, it seems all so simple, I got pitocin, contractions started, then it was time to push and she was out. It was not so simple...I did go ALL NATURAL...that was the hardest thing I had ever done in my entire life. Delivering all natural without any drugs was the most difficult experience that I had ever had or will ever have. I experienced so much pain that directly after Hannah was taken to the nursery and everything was all cleaned up and it was just Daniel and I in the room together, I stated that I will never ever, ever ever, have another child! I busted every blood vessel in my face and couldn't believe I endured through labor and delivery, but I did. It was an extremely spiritual experience and I would not have traded it for anything in the world. My faith, trust, hope, and direction from and in the Lord strengthened me more than I could have ever imagined. And, I could not have gone all natural without my amazing husband by my side for the entire labor and delivery. He was the most incredible coach for me. He was so tender to me, cheered me on, counted my contractions, fed me ice, and kept his face clung to mine. I love you Daniel Grasham and you are my hero!

Thanks to Heather Lynch for some hospital photography.

The day before our miracle was born...

I am amazed at how fast the time has gone. I sit here and write and just can't believe that our sweet girl will be one tomorrow. When Hannah was first born, many people told me to cherish the days while your children are young, for they will grow up fast right before your eyes.

On this day on April 21, 2010, I was very anxious for Hannah to arrive soon! I had eaten my leftover spicy enchiladas for lunch that day and had eaten a lot of pineapple.

Daniel got home from work, and sometime after, we were arguing about something, I can't remember now what it was. We were supposed to make it to church that night and while we were on our way, we just couldn't make it because we were both so outraged at one another. Not that I am proud of this story, but this is what happened that day. So, we drove back home and discussed until we had settled our dispute. By this time, it was like 8:00 p.m. We didn't have any dinner planned or ready and so we just decided to relax and enjoy our time together at our favorite Chinese restaurant, Peking Garden. We got there, sat down, placed our order and ate our wonton soup. My chicken and broccoli with brown rice came and I took one bite of chicken, ONE... And then it happened, one trickle...and I said, "Uhh...I think my water just broke", so I went to the bathroom. I thought it was nothing, so I came back to the table. No sooner had I sat down, it happened again and this time it was a gushing river! (Sorry for the details, but this is how it happened) So, I got up and walked outside while my sweet husband, as calm as he could got boxes and paid for our food and we were on a mission to get home to pick up our bags/pillows/change clothes and get to the hospital. So, I went outside and called my doctor. My water broke at about 9:15 p.m. on Wednesday, April 21, 2010. I will never forget that day...where I was...what was going on and how we got to the hospital. After getting home, I changed clothes, thinking that it might stop (boy was I WRONG) it just continued and even worsened, and we got back in the car to head for the hospital. Daniel wad driving of course, and was going quite fast. I remember telling him that he didn't need to drive so fast on the highway and that we'd be fine. He said that he needed to get to the hospital as fast as possible and because there was no one on the highway, he could go fast...and by fast he meant 100 mph?? really?? Anyway, he said it was the one time he could do it and it was necessary. We got to the hospital, got all checked in and just waited for active labor and contractions to begin.

I was grateful to have Dan's cell phone so that I could go online...there were a lot of minutes and hours that pass by...oh and we watched the TV show Lost as well. I remember that my contractions were not really that bad...and I had been up all night when they would come and go--and I thought people didn't know what they were saying because I was thinking this labor isn't so bad after all. (Ha! Little did I know what was to come.

More to come tomorrow!

Dime Box

A couple weekends ago Daniel, Hannah and I went to Dime Box for the first time as a family without doing any work on the property. It was very relaxing to be there and enjoy just doing whatever we wanted. We walked outside a lot, saw the horses, fed the horses, fed the guinea hens, played games inside, and just relaxed and talked. Hannah started walking with her walker for the first time and proceeded to push everything around that she could, foot stools, chairs, walker, and toys. She had a blast. She also managed to sit alone in a child chair and play on the table with Papa. We had a great time together and are looking forward to going again in a few weeks.