Fort Wayne Christmas!

Hannah on Christmas!

 

 

 

 

Videos

In case you guys missed it, I posted three new videos of Hannah on Youtube last week. Enjoy!

We Have Internet Back!

Well, Merry Christmas! I know it's been a while, but we temporarily didn't have the internet :( I even got comments from Great Grandma Steele that she missed viewing photos of Hannah on the blog! Wow. We're back! We celebrated Christmas with my family at Thanksgiving, and with Paul's family this past weekend. Hannah is on the brink of crawling...so far, she has only learned how to crawl backward and roll over for her modes of transportation. She has one big tooth that she got around 6 months of age, and two more about to pop through. I actually expect about 5 more to just come in at once, with all the chewing she is doing. More to come later....for now, I'll just work on posting photos :)

6 Month Fall Photos

Well, with fall being my favorite season and all.....AND having a 6 month baby, it sounded like the perfect time for a photo session. What do ya'll think? Our dear friend, Meagan Mason, (who is 6 months preggo), graciously agreed to take some photos for us. Thanks Meg! They are wonderful!

6 Months!?!

Yes, indeed, 6 months ago today, I was laying in the bed in the next room, trying to take a nap because the contractions were making me sleepy :) We were about to pack up the bags and head to the birthing center so Addie could see how close I was getting to pushing that baby out! CRAZY. How times flies!

The little booger has gotten over her stomach virus (I think). It started on Monday morning with various forms of pooh preceding from her cute little tush, followed by an awakening from a nap at 6:30pm with vomiting. Vomiting babies are the saddest things ever, especially your own. The tub was our friend. I just sat on the edge of the tub and leaned her over my legs. Easy clean up. Well, sort of.

Today we visited our doctor! Hannah got the usual check up, and mommy got a physical and and update of shots! I never thought I would take a baby with me to get a physical. She did great! She cried for her shots, but calmed right down when I picked her up...kind of like those newborn days. I liked it :) Then, during my physical, as I juggled her from arm to arm, she was just such a trooper. Needless to say, as soon as we hit a car in motion, that little one was o-u-t.

I sat her by her basket of toys again today and she went about her business, taking one toy out at a time. I tried to teach her how to put the toys back in the basket, but each time I did that, she took them out again. I guess we'll have to teach her "picking up" later...

I love her.

Paul and I are going to Roman's Pizza for date night tonight!!!!! GF Pizza, Yippee!!!
Did I mention I made a GF Pumpkin Pie last weekend? It was delicious!

Thirsty?

"But whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty forever. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life" (John 4:14).

"Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters, and he who has no money, come, buy, and eat! Come buy wine and milk without money and without price. Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which will not satisfy. Listen diligently to me, and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in rich food" (Isaiah 55:1-2).

Wow! What a promise! I love passages in the Bible that talk about us being able to come to the waters that will actually satisfy and which call us to drink deeply of Christ. He is the fountain that eternally satisfies our souls. He is the fountain that never dries and will never disappoint. He is the fountain that will not grow old with age and decay, but the one that will stay the same from eternity past to eternity future. Daily, I need to come to Jesus to be satisfied in Him. Too often, I am self-sufficient throughout my day and attempt to find satisfaction in much lesser things that are never meant to satisfy me!

Can you relate?

The invitation is open to all in Isaiah. Read the passages again.

Only God can open our eyes to even see our need for Him. Only God can allow us to come to him and drink deeply of the salvation he has given through His Son!

Other Breaking News

In other breaking news for the week, our little one has managed to learn how to sit up by herself, unsupported. Ah, independence. She has also taken to playing contentedly on the floor with a basket of toys. Personally, I like that one. I like that she can entertain herself, but that she's interacting with her environment and getting those little brain cells going. By the way, the basket she is playing with is the same one we took newborn photos in. Sad, huh?

 

 

 

 

The Pumpkin Patch

We're starting traditions early in this family! We went to the Corryton Pumpkin Patch on the first weekend in October. So fun! I don't think I've actually ever been to a pumpkin patch. Hannah hadn't either, so we made for a good team. Paul showed us the ropes. We happened to go on a Radio station's "Listener appreciation day" and got a discount. We kind of got their package deal, which also included a corn maze and kid friendly games, etc. We walked around the corn maze (also the first one), tried to get lost, and then ventured out :) We were pretty excited about all that was included for the kid games. They are definitely something Hannah will LOVE when she gets to be a few years older. This pumpkin patch might have to become a Steele tradition :)

 

 

 

 

P.S. Hannah took a pretty hard fall in that one photo. But, she didn't even cry! Yippee! I think she has a hard head...

September photos

The Hannah Banana is looking more like a minature person! This is especially true when we put pants and a shirt on her. The jacket always helps. The little red outfit has been sitting in the closet, just waiting to be worn, and when I finally remembered I had it, we had to get some photos! I'm sure Aunt Linda will appreciate that one. It's cute! The shoes are still a bit too big for her though:)

 

 

 

 

Fall is Officially Here!

Fall is in the air, well, at least in the morning air :) Fall is by far, my favorite season. Let's see...there is the smell of fall, the trees changing into gorgeous colors (and we have a great view of trees from our front window), warm clothes, hot beverages (pumpkin spice latte!), and this year, we have a cuddly baby to dress up in warm clothes too! How delightful! It's too bad we stopped getting those Land O' Lakes hot chocolate mixes because of how bad they are for us....they were quite the delicious addition to our hot winter beverage selection.

On another note, Paul took me out for my birthday dinner last night, since he will be camping at Big South Fork on Friday night in preparation for his race on Saturday. 17 miles! Craziness. I don't know how he does it. Anyway, back to the thoughts on dinner. One word: Amazing! We tried out a new little spot (for us) in Knoxville called Echo Bistro and Wine Bar. I'm not a huge wine fan, but apparently the issue is that I don't like bad wine. Our waiter, who was fabulous, allowed us to taste a couple before we decided on one to share. With our wine ordered, we began to drool over the menu. None of the appetizers really struck our fancy, so we went straight to the entrees. I had called ahead and talked to the chef/owner, who reassured me that there would not be a problem for me to order from their menu. I checked with the waiter on what there were restrictions on, and he said I could order anything I wanted! For the gluten free girl, this is the ultimate shock statement. I laughed and told Paul that I've never had so many options. I actually got to read all of the menu! Paul was sold on the delivery of the "special" speech, given by our animated and well rehearsed waiter. I admit, it sounded fairly appealing (oh, and it was). I went for the Bison Strip Steak "Denmark": Broiled to perfection then topped with sautéed shiitake mushrooms, country ham and blue cheese crumbles. Doesn't that sound amazing? Well, I think it tasted better than the menu could credit it. I hesitantly gave Paul two bites. Paul had a "trio" on his plate of swordfish with a butternut and coconut milk puree (totally going to make this puree at home); fried scallops on some relish sauce; and lamb (sorry I can't give more description, but it was his favorite). We decided the best part of his dish was the sauce with the swordfish. Haha. Oh, then to top off dinner, we went for dessert...."Chocolate, Chocolate, Chocolate Mousse." It was indeed chocolately. I usually don't think anything is too rich, but this was too rich for me to finish. The best part was that it came with homemade whipped cream and fresh berries. The whipped cream was so good that we asked for more so that we could attempt to finish the mousse!

Alright, enough about food. The restaurant, service, meal, and catering to GF was awesome and is up there on my new favorite in K-town. But, we have to save it for "special occasions."

The end.

August Photos

I felt the need to put up some updated photos. I guess the blog gets a lot of attention and then a lot of neglect :( Sorry! Hannah thoroughly enjoys standing up nowadays, with a little support from us. I think she's going to skip crawling and go straight to walking. Yes, baby-proofing the house is on my to-do list!!

 

 

 

 

Photos from Fort Wayne

 

 

 

One more video

Trip to Fort Wayne

Cris and I spent Labor Day up in Fort Wayne with her family.  Given that it was between our birthdays, we had money pooled from my parents, Cris's Dad, and my grandparents to get a video camera. We got to try it out some while we were up there. A couple of our videos are below.  Enjoy!

Nashville July Visit, part 2

 

 

 

 

July Nashville Visit Photos!

 

 

 

 

Rollin' Over, part doi

I stand corrected...Hannah can now roll over. haha. Well, at least for now, we'll call it that. This time, it is from her back to her right side. She's not a fan of the end result and can't lay flat on her tummy when she does it. She still lays on her arm. At any rate, it's progress. There were no photos taken of that today, but I'll get some soon!

Rollin' Over

I was determined to have Hannah reach her "rolling over milestone" by her four month birthday. She did it! All I had to do was put her in a disposable on Tuesday the 10th, and she went right to it. I had put her down for a nap, but her little legs were thumping on the mattress and I thought, "I bet she'd roll over if we tried right now." So, I interrupted her "naptime" to attempt the rolling over and she did it! I'm so proud of my little monkey. Although, I will tell you that I tried to get her to roll over again just a few minutes ago, and she was not interested. I guess she has a mind of her own!

On a side note, we are currently trying to wean her off of sucking her fingers and onto the pacifier. We've been told by multiple sources that later, it will be much easier to get rid of the pacifier and not the fingers. I guess the battle is easier now than later....even though it's still a bit hard now :)

Feel free to leave comments on the posts. All you have to do is sign in, and hit the comment button. I like comments. Bye bye for now!

4 month appointment

The stats are in! Miss Hannah weighed in at 13 lbs 11.4 oz. She is 25 inches long, and her big head is 16 1/4 inches. She is at the 50th percentile for weight and 90th for height. She definitely cried when she got her shots, but it was no where near as bad as last time. She's doing well now....she's sleeping! When we got home, she was cheerful and smiley, acting normal :) YAY. I'll be sure to give her some extra lovin' on today :)

Today's Photo Shoot

Hannah almost rolled over yesterday, but those are nakey photos, so I thought I probably shouldn't post them on the internet. I think the cloth diapers hold her back a bit on the whole rolling over process. She gives up too easily. But, when she was naked, she went right to it, and was completely on one side for a second.

So, I threw her in a disposable, and tried again today. I think she might get it eventually. Here are some sweet photos of her today. She'll be 4 months in one week. I'm sure I'll probably do a "4 month photo shoot." Hopefully they will be better than today's.