Good-bye 2008, We'll miss you!

It's New Year's Eve today, and I sit back  and take time to reflect on the year. I spent a large amount of time today reading through Hannah's blog in awe of how much she has changed over the last year. Where has the time gone? I look back at her pictures from this time last year and I feel like I barely remember her wobbly unsteady little walk, her sleepless nights ( maybe that it why I don't quite recall everything) and her cute little personality coming to life. This time last year Todd and I would drive home from work and always say the same thing. " I wish she could talk, I want to hear all about her day at school" or "I wonder what she is thinking about". Well, on the way home from school yesterday Hannah didn't stop talking. I finally heard that she played with her friend Luca at school and made rainbows, and what was she thinking... ? Well, after sitting in silence for a minute or two, she says "Mommy, Murphy has a tail".  I just sat back and laughed, and thought, well, yes... he sure does have a tail.  At that point I thought about how simple, innocent and pure the mind of a 2 year old really is. I could only wish my thoughts driving home from work was about Murphy having a tail. However, it is a good reminder to appreciate the simplicity of life, and leave the rest at work.

2008 has been a busy year for us.  We moved into a new home in the northwest suburbs of Minneapolis in July. We love it. We have been so happy in our new home. I never thought I wanted to leave the city, and now, I don't think I could ever go back to city living with a little one. The commute has been easy, we love the bigger yard, more room in the house, modern amenities and the beautiful and safe neighborhood.   We still haven't quite gotten the energy together to decorate, but we have our first piece of furniture being delivered next month, slowly we will get there.   We have a guest room waiting for visitors!

We look forward to 2009, and can only wish for health and happiness for our family and yours. We will spend our last night of 2008 as a family, playing, laughing, and maybe even watching a family movie together. We will start the New Year tomorrow with our closest friends Kim and Jason.. and or course Hannah's best friend Eleanor. We are so thankful we have wonderful families that love and support us even though they are so far away, and we are thankful for our friends in Minnesota that treat us more like family than friends. 

Happy New Year Everyone!! I look forward to building more memories with you in 2009!

A sad goodbye

If this isn't the saddest thing you have ever seen I don't know what is. We had to prepare Hannah for Grandma and Grandpa's departure back to Ohio today. Every time we said, Grandma and Grandpa have to go home, Hannah got out the pouty, quivering lip and started to cry.  Above is the sad face she was making on the way to the airport in the car. Poor Hannah. She already misses Mama and Papa. The whole way home she was crying for them, we told her to look "up high" in the sky to wave good bye to them in the airplane, so she did, and then she cried some more.   But all of this only means one thing, that she had a wonderful time with her grandparents, and that is she is a very lucky little girl for them to come all the way from Ohio to spend Christmas with her.  The played, the laughed, they acted silly, they hugged, built a snowman, went on rides at mall of america, and best of all, they were able to spend quality time together.   Until next time Grandma and Grandpa... thank you for visiting, we all had a great time and miss you already. 

.... I have to point out, notice Hannah holding onto Grandpa's finger in the car. She did this every time they were in the car together or watching a little Dora, it was really sweet and genuine :)  

A winter wonderland with Grandpa

Christmas day was so much fun... it was actually "warm" for Minnesota reaching into the 30's :) So, Grandpa took Hannah outside and she experienced her first sled ride as well as her first snowman. Hannah thought being pulled around the front hard was pretty fun. The faster Grandpa went, the more she smiled.. and held on tight!   And Murphy, well, he wanted to make sure everthing was ok. Grandpa worked hard building Hannah a snowman while Hannah watched. Towards the end Hannah wasn't liking the cold, and didn't like trying to walk in it.. she just kept saying "I stuck"..... so inside we went to try out all the new  toys... which was a little warmer :) 

Merry Christmas 2008

 Santa was quite good to Hannah this year.... being a good little girl and all, how couldn't he be good to her. Hannah woke up with excitement about Santa, with a little confusion as well.. but when she saw her brand new kitchen and tricycle under the tree.. with even more wrapped presents, she quickly realized this Santa guy wasn't all bad.   Hannah loved all her gifts from Santa, grandparents and aunts and uncles. She is fond of everything and will be keeping her busy this winter. We thought she looked pretty cute in her chefs outfit ready to cook up some food in her new kitchen.  I hope everyone had a wonderful and safe Christmas! 

Merry Christmas Eve 2008

It's Christmas Eve at the Steinemann house today. Santa is running a little behind since Grandpa Dice got the flu and had to delay their flight in. We kindly asked Santa to make sure we were the last stop on his trip so Grandma and Grandpa could be with Hannah to share in her Christmas morning joy.  While waiting for grandpa and grandpa, we had a nice time going to Macy's Elf show and having a nice lunch together downtown. Hannah loved it as she yelled "more elves" "more elves", it was very cute and magical for all little ones.   We can't wait for Santa to arrive, and more importantly, can wan't to experience the magic of Christmas with Hannah. Merry Christmas everyone. I hope everyone's holiday is safe, joyful and magical! 

Hannah 2 Year Photos

It's true... after 2 years we actually got professional pictures of Hannah. This is coming from the parents who have yet to order wedding pictures ( sorry mom and dad, we promise we will get to it).   With Christmas around the corner and Hannah's big 2nd birthday coming up... we thought it was time to professionally document our little girl growing up. We thought they turned out really cute and we hope you enjoy them too!!  Hannah was great during the photo session.. very serious and interested in what was happening. No tears.. and that is all we could ask for :) 

It's a Party!

Hannah and and her friend Sydney

Hannah, Elsa, and Greta  (aka Gigi)

And finally, Hannah, Emmaline, and Sydney

Today was the Christmas party at Hannah's school. We talked about it all week with Hannah and today was the big day. When she was "running" into her classroom this morning, Hannah was yelling "It's a Party, It's a party"!! That's my girl! :) All roaring to go, the kids had lots of sugar and opened presents the parents bought for the class room. It was really fun to see all the kids interact and play, as well as have time to talk with other parents.   The pictures above are Hannah's best friends at school. All the moms of these girls tell me they hear stories about "Hannah Steinemann" almost every night. As Hannah is talking more and more each day, it is fun to hear her talk about her friends. She loves little Emmaline. When we get in the car to go home at night I ask.. "what was the best part of your day Hannah"?  And everyday, I hear the same response "Emmaline". Later in the evening we start to hear about Sydney and Elsa and Gigi.. and everyone once in a while.. the cute little boy named Luca. 

The teacher at school always tell us that Hannah's enthusiasm and excitement for life is contagious! We like to think so too. When Hannah gets excited about something, everyone all around knows it ( Ask Grandma and Grandpa Dice about the time she looked out the widow and saw a horse).  It is fun to watch Hannah grow into a little girl more and more each day, and a little heart breaking all at the same time.   I am not sure I am ready for my "baby" to grow up quite yet... however I am finding the experience a roller coaster ride of fun! 

These boots are made for walking..

As Hannah likes to say "Mommy boots", "Hannah boots", and "Daddy boots". She is fascinated by boots these days... mostly likely due to the character "Boots" on Dora the Explorer. None the less, Hannah finally tried on "mommy boots" tonight. It was really funny.  As you can tell, Mommy's Uggs went past Hannah's knees. She loved trying to walk in them, she was really proud of herself.   I am sure in a short 1o years or so, she will be requesting her own version of the latest "ugg" trend, but hoping this will due for now :) 

All dressed up and no where to go...

Well, we thought she just looked to sweet to not have anywhere to go... so it was the big night.. we were off the see the man himself, Santa Claus. We made our trip to Ridgedale mall only to find out that it was a 3 hour wait...hmmm  that wasn't going to work. So, we decided that Santa was going to travel across town to go to another mall to see us (that is what we told Hannah) and we finally saw him at Southdale. Santa pictures will be posted soon.. but it was a fun evening and Hannah was really excited to meet the big man!

Hannah wanted Murphy to pose next to his picture on the end table... she thought it was hilarious Murphy was standing next to his own picture... 

And before we went to see Santa, she wanted to give him a kiss good-bye. Too cute.

Hannah is getting so excited for Christmas, it is just so much fun. She runs around the house saying "Mama coming" and "Santa coming". She can't wait for Grandma and Grandpa to visit.. we aren't sure what she is more excited about! 

Let is snow, let is snow, let is snow...

It's the first real snow of the year! Well, real enough you actually needed a shovel vs. a broom to remove the snow. We got home from work and put on Hannah's snow suit to help Dad shovel the drive way. Hannah's favorite part of the snow was being able to put on her boots. She loves boots. We are thinking it is because the monkey on Dora is name Boots...    And at school today, Santa Claus came to visit the kids. We heard all about it on the way home from work. I asked Hannah what Santa had to say... she replied "ho, ho ho". 

It's Starting to look a lot like Christmas....

And while the Gators were beating Alabama.... Hannah and Mom decided to start their own holiday tradition of building a Gingerbread house together each year. This being my first gingerbread house, I wasn't sure how it was going to go... but after it was all said and done, it was kind of fun. And Hannah, well, Hannah loved the gum drops, the icing, and all the candy really. She was having a lot of fun and laughing each time she snuck another piece of candy. It was really cute. And when Dad would jump off the couch cheering for the Gators.. Hannah would yell "Go, Go, Go Gators"!  It was a really fun night..

Dad took a picture when we were in progress, getting ready to "ice" up the window :) 

And finally, we put up our Christmas tree - with the snow falling outside, and some Christmas music one, it was a perfect day . It was a lot of fun this year with Hannah. Mom got out all the ornaments, Hannah brought them to dad as we talked about what each ornament was... ( and what color it was.... except she thought they were all green....hmmm, need to work on that) and Dad hung them on the tree. Hannah chose a few special ones to put on the tree herself. She kept wanting to hang the "neigh, neigh"  (rocking horse). It took her about 4 attempts, but she figured it out. 

Of course, Murphy was there to ensure everything was going smoothly. Christmas is going to be so much fun this year. We keep telling Hannah about Santa Claus and the Reindeer... we think she is starting to put a few things together.  We watched Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer together this week. She kept yelling "more snow monster" when the abdominal snow man was on... that was the highlight of the show for her.. not rudolph  :) 

Happy Thanksgiving 2008

We are a little late on the Thanksgiving update. Things have been busy!!  Dad and Hannah went to Florida to spend time with the Steinemann family. Mom wasn't able to go because she hurt her back... and was very sad about it. She missed them so much, and missed see the Steinemann's! Hannah and Dad however had a great time. They got to spend time with Grandpa, Andrea, Uncle Cash,  Uncle John, and Cousins Drake, Ashley and Sean.   They went to the zoo and saw all kinds of animals.. while she was there she was able to pet goats and touch a sting ray. They went to the park and played and even went on a boat ride in Tarpon Springs one day. One the boat, a dolphin followed and she was able to see dolphins yelling "more more" as she saw them!!  So much fun. She can't wait until next time to see everyone again, it was a special thanksgiving for Hannah and Dad! We already miss you!!