Disney World 2009

Hannah met Mickey and Minnie!!! The highlight of her trip to Disney World. It was very cute, she went right up to them, and kept giving them big hugs. We went through Minnie and Mickey's houses, which she loved, and kept wanting to go back.


When we went to Disney, I thought for sure I would not be one of the those parents buying over priced Disney merchandise, but sure enough, Hannah left with a princess Minnie, a tinkerbell outfit, and tinkerbell toys. I guess you do get sucked in, but the smile on her face was worth it. She loves her Minnie.




This was also one of Hannah's favorite parts of the whole Disney experience. We were waiting in line to meet Ariel from Little Mermaid. They had a splash pad where you jump on these mats and water shoots out of the fountains. After studying it for a few minutes rather seriously, Hannah looked at us and said " No wet, I take off my shoes and socks". So she did, and off running she went. It was too cute to capture on camera. She was running and laughing and even made a little friend while doing it that was chasing her around the whole time.


And, no Disney experience is complete without the signature messy Mickey ice cream bar, all for $5. She loved it, and that is what matters.

Overall, it was a great day. We only spent one day at Disney, and if we could had planned our trip different, I think we would had spent an additional day there she loved it so much. We didn't know if there would be enough for her to do with still being so young, but there was more than plenty. Just seeing all her pricesses kept her busy. She met Tinkerbell , Ariel, Belle, and Mickey and Minnie. She saw Cinderella, Snow White and Sleeping Beauty dancing with their prince and I thought Hannah was going to pass out she was so excited. She expressions made the whole day. We feel very lucky we are able to bring Hannah to Disney and share in such a magical experience with her!! Something we hope we can do again one day, and a day we won't forget, as it was truly the highlight of our trip.

Time with Family in Florida

Hannah and Uncle John in New Symrna Beach. He came all the way from Jacksonvill on our last day of vacation to see Hannah and visit with us. We had a great time on the beach, going to lunch and playing at the park. Thanks for visiting Uncle John!! We miss you!



We started our Florida trip this year visiting Aunt Andrea, Uncle Cash, and cousins Ashley and Drake in Tampa. We had 3 fun filled days. We went to the park, saw horse races, went swimming, celebrated Easter, and finally went to SeaWorld. Hannah loved spending time with them.


Here is Hannah at the park. I think she thought it was pretty cool that parks in Florida actually had sand on the ground. I am not sure she knew what to make of it :)



And since Todd is into trains, Hannah seems to love "choo choos" as she calls them as well. The three of us went to see the Cruise ships in the bay, and take a trolley ride around town. Hannah loved it, we even saw Dolphins in the water really close up which was fun.

And... we were finally got to tell Todd's family in person that Hannah is going to be a big sister later this Fall. She will have a little brother or sister ( we don't know yet) the last week of Sept. She tells everyone she sees that she wants a sister... so we'll see!

We had a great time visiting!!!

Easter In Florida

This year we spend Easter in Florida. Sure enough, the Easter Bunny found us at Aunt Andrea and Uncle Cash's house. The Easter Bunny left a trail of eggs from Hannah's, Drake's, and Ashley's rooms to their baskets. Hannah had a great time and the Easter Bunny treated her quite well with chalk, bubbles, jewelry, and some tinkerbell toys. After we had the egg hunt and found her basket, we saw the front door and saw that the Easter Bunny had lost his tail!! He was hopping so fast from house to house his tail got stuck ( it closely resemebled cotton balls). Hannah couldn't believe it and it is all she talked about all day. She was really concerned the bunny lost his tail and didn't know how he was going to get it back :)

Easter Bunny 2009

On Saturday night, Hannah went to visit the Easter Bunny. She was so excited about it, we were actually a little shocked thinking she might be scared of him. She wasn't.. she ran right up to him and said "Bunny with big ears, hop hop". She hugged the Easter bunny and gave him a high five. It was quite cute. We keep telling her the Easter bunny will be visiting her at Aunt Andrea's house, as we will be visiting there in Florida on vacation. Hannah thinks the Easter bunny brings eggs and presents. Can't wait to see what she thinks of Easter morning. All these holidays get more fun year after year!!

" I ride airpane" " I play with Papa's toys",and "I all done"

And above were Hannah's favorite sayings for her trip to Ohio. While we didn't go to under the best circumstances, we did enjoy our trip to see the Dice family. One Saturday we arrived after a pretty rough airplane ride. Hannah did great, Mom on the other hand didn't. Lots of turbulence made for a very sick passenger. Dad wasn't feeling to good either. While we were almost kissing the ground upon our arrival, Hannah said she loved the "roller coaster" ride.

Ever since our trip to Ohio over Halloween, all Hannah has talked about is going to "Papa's house" and playing with "Papa's toys". She was so excited when she arrived. And when nightime arrived, she started to realize it was a little scary to sleep in a different house and in a different bed. We tried to make her feel special about sleeping in Mommy's old bed, but she was a little nervous. She looked up at me and said "Mommy, I see Papa, I all done now, I go home". I explained it wasn't that easy as we were pretty far away. By the second night, she was perfectly happy in her bed, and slept soundly.

The next day were went to the Children's Museum with her cousins Jake and Lucas, and Aunt Nikki and Uncle Jeff. We had a lot of fun as Hannah warmed up to her cousins. In the evening we went to my favorite pizza place Marions. Hannah sat next to Lucas and couldn't help but to laugh at him eating his pizza. I have never seen anything like it. I think he went through half a large pizza 18 months old while half of it ended up in his hair. Hannnah is a bit of a clean freak,s so she didn't know what to think of it but to laugh. Lucas had a smile on his face the whole time. You just can't help but to smile back. After pizza we went back to Grandma and Grandpa's house where the cousins had a great time playing with eachother. It was fun to watch.

And we tried really hard to get a picture with the Dice grandkids, but it is much easier said than done. Trying to get 3 little ones to look at the camera at the same time is not an easy task.. but here they are.

We had a great time. On Monday Grandpa, Dad and Hannah went to the zoo while Mom and Grandma did a little shopping. Then we went to Aunt Nikki and Uncle Jeff's to play with the Jake and Lucas again, it was a busy time, but so much fun.

And finally on Tuesday, we celebrated the life of Hannah's Great Grandma Dice. She is already missed and we are so lucky to have had her in our lives. I only wish that Hannah was able to know her, as I can only hope that Hannah has some of the traits of her Great Grandma. Her great grandma taught me a lot in my own life about what true love and friendship mean, and most importantly to live each day to the fullest with a positive attitude. I hope I can teach Hannah these very traits as she grows into her own person.

To Hannah's Great Grandma Dice,

We love you, you will always be in our everlasting thoughts, and bring a smile to our faces each day with joyful and funny memories that will last a life time, memories that I am so lucky to have shared with you. May you now be at peace, and enjoy the next stage of your life with Grandpa forever by your side. We love you, we miss you and we thank you for being you.

Chef Hannah

Chef Hannah in the making. Tonight we made pizzas for dinner, we meaning Dad and Hannah, while Mom watched.  She loves seeing what is going on in the kitchen, generally bringing her step stool from counter to counter to see what we are doing. As aggravating as it can be at times when you are trying to prepare a meal, the thought finally came to mind.. ahh we can have a little helper. Dad and Hannah love making pizzas together, as it is becoming "their thing".    She is getting pretty good at spreading the sauce and sprinkling the cheese. 

Once we sat down for dinner we realized that Hannah is getting pretty darn smart. I ( mom ) have been fighting a cold. Hannah looks at me and says "Mommy nose ache?" Which was pretty funny and I said, well yes, mommy does have a nose ache. Then she starts to whimper and says "Hannah tummy ache" and we say,,,,oh, your ok, and she continues to whimper and finally says " Hannah's tummy needs an M&M". As much as we probably shouldn't had just starting laughing out loud at that moment it is just hard to help.  I was half shocked that she was already trying to manipulate us, and half proud of her at the same time. All I could think is that I am sure this is probably something I did as a kid too.   So, to end our dinner, we did not give in and give her a M&M to remedy her tummy, we did give her a hug and assure her she was just fine :) 

Spring time, Murphy finally gets out for a walk.

Not only has it been a long winter for all of us, Murphy has felt the effects to. He has put on a little weight this winter, going from 7 to 8 lbs, even his harness is too tight. So, onto his spring and summer exercise routine where Hannah insists on holding his leash and walking him anytime we are outside. Murphy's leash in one hand, Hannah's purse with stuffed animal Murphy tucked in, they are quite the site! 

And finally, her real BIG GIRL bed!

Her she is, so proud of her new big girl bed. We are a little late on our updates. Last weekend, mom and dad got a king size bed... finally after talking about it for 5 years. We gave Hannah our queen size bed. She loves it, and is so proud of it. We went to Target to pick our some bedding and when she saw the Shabby Chic quilt she ran up to it hugging it... so that is what she got. Each night on the way home from school she says " I go see bed" . It is the first thing she did when she got home each night. She loves playing on it, and sleeps like a champ. I would never in a million years thought our child would actually sleep from 8pm to 8am.. what a dream! I think the funniest part is that Hannah doesn't want mom or dad in her bed. I lay down with her at night to read books and after the last book she says "out mommy, get your own bed" ... and she says it with a smile thinking she is really funny. I can't help but to laugh. 

So it is official, our baby isn't a baby anymore, she is turning into a little girl, our little princess lately. She loves dressing up with sequin play shoes, jewelry and insists on often wearing a tutu, even to bed.  It is finally getting warmer out, and the evenings of playing on the driveway have already started with Hannah's side walk chalk art covering our walkway. We are really looking forward to this summer, to get out and play, swim, spend time at the parks.  Last summer was a litle crazy with moving, and finally this summer we can relax and focus on spending time together! 

Hannah Transitions to a "bigger" girl bed.

Hannah had a big night last night. We took the rail off her crib and put on the railings. She was so excited when we first put them on. She was jumping on her bed all smiles.  When night time came, she then became a little more scared. We read her books, and when it was time to get in her bed.. she said "mommy, keep lights on", "mommy, no close door". All of the sudden the realization of sleeping in her new transitioned crib got to her a little bit. But, all in all, she did great. We put Murphy's big dog pillow ( he never uses, no worries) right below her crib in case she fell out. She she did fall out once. I heard heard a boom around midnight and she got herself back in.. about half way and fell back asleep. I couldn't fall back asleep, so around 1am I peeked in on her. Her body was in the bed, her feet were standing on the pillow sound alseep. I gently got her whole body back into the bed.  It was kinda funny.   So, there she is all smiles in her transition to a big girl bed.  We have a gate at the door in case she tries to escape, we have our bases covered, but it is a weird feeling going to bed knowing there is a chance your 2 year old could possibly be roaming around the room at 3am without you knowing? 

Swimsuit Model

Today we went shopping for  new swim suits for our annual trip to Florida in April.   Hannah loved this suit and was so excited about it, I had to capture her model poses on camera and share. I think the monkeys get her every time :)  She was all smiles, running around the house talking about everything she knows about Florida. We heard about alligators, sharks, beaches,dolphins, Mickey Mouse, Cinderella,  Andrea, Cash, Cousin Ashley and Cousin Drake, Lauren and Gracie. And what she is most excited about... riding on an airplane!  

 While her little bikini is perhaps a little risque for a 2 year old, I figure she has a short time in life that a big belly actually looks cute in a swim suit... so why not embrace it!  No worries, her other suits do have more coverage :)   1 month to go, and Florida here we come, we can't wait!