Catching Up.......

Let's take a look back.......way back to 2011.......

October began a crazy, but oh so fun, couple of months! I'm going to try to recap some of the highlights from this past FALL.......

In October, we headed to a Pumpkin Farm in Lexington. It wasn't exactly what we were expecting, but we made the best of it! We began by battling the corn maze.....an hour later, we made our way out! You can see by the picture that Hanna was not thrilled with this. By the time we got out, it was dark, and we didn't have much time to look at pumpkins!

Later, we took a trip to the zoo with some of our best friends, "Nic-Nic" and Emma. These 2 girls had so much fun, and were even able to get super close to the giraffe.....a little too close for Hanna!

That same week, Hanna also had her first trip to the SC State Fair. She LOVED the rides and just watching all the people. She didn't like being in her stroller though, and wanted to walk around. This made it very interesting, and exhausting for mommy and daddy. 

Finally, to close out the month of October, we celebrated Halloween. I must say that Hanna was the cutest strawberry ever. When I saw the costume, I knew it was the perfect one for her! We celebrated in so many ways......Boo at the Zoo, mommy's Halloween carnival at school, and trick or treating with Hanna's BFF, Robert. I think her all time favorite parts was picking the suckers out of all the candy baskets and dancing with Becca at the zoo. These 2 girls can definitely "break it down!"

More pictures coming soon.......

Where, oh where???

So.....I'm not really sure how time has gotten away from me and it's literally been months since I have blogged, or read any other blogs. I guess between Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and just raising a one and a half year old, life has been pretty crazy! My goal over the next week is to get caught up, so be on the look out for lots of new posts and lots of new pictures of my sweet and sassy girl! She has changed and grown so much over the past few months, and I can't wait to show you.

Busy!

I sudddenly realized that my blog has come to a HALT! I haven't written in over 2 months, and I really haven't had time to read many other blogs. Life has just gotten a little crazy, but I'm going to try my best and recap the past few months.
Most of the time lately, we've been busy getting back to work and settling back into our normal routine! Ive been back at work now for about 2 months, and Hanna is back at Natalie's. Work for Jason has finally slowed down, and I don't feel like quite as much of a single mom anymore!:)
In the midst of all the work, we have still managed to squeeze in some time for some family fun.
The first week of September, my family headed down to Myrtle Beach for a LONG weekend! We stayed at my grandaddy's condo, and as great as it was, we sure missed him being there with us! I know he was watching us though, and especially loved watching all of our sweet girls enjoy the beach. This was Hanna's first trip to the beach. I kept waiting to go until Jason could get off and go with us, and it finally happened! I kept saying to myself, "I can't wait to have some relaxing days at the beach." HA HA....It was definitely different than any other beach trip. Chasing a one year old added so much excitement, but I wouldn't trade the craziness for anything.
Hanna LOVED every single bit of it.............the sand, the wind, the water, the sun, and the round-the-clock playmates that she had. Watching her run in the water and play in the sand made me so incredibly happy, and blessed to have such a perfect little girl!

And now it's my favorite time of the year........FALL! But, I'm going to save that for another post!!!:)

Just Not Ready!

It's so hard to believe that in less than 2 weeks, I'll be back at work, and Hanna will be returning to Nat's every day! Just thinking about it last night brought tears to my eyes. I know, I need to just get over it, and deal with it, but I am just not quite ready yet! I feel like I haven't had enough time with my sweet girl.  I'll never have enough time! I do understand that most parents would LOVE to have a few weeks off with their little ones, much less 2 months, but hey---it's a perk of being a teacher! I'm going to miss the morning snuggles, sweet kisses, pajama days, and just the love that she shows me throughout the day! I'm even going to miss the temper tantrums that I'm beginning the see, the picking up of blocks that I do at least 15 times a day, and the sound of Yo Gabba Gabba that is constantly playing on the TV in the background!
I am extremely blessed though to know how happy Hanna is at Nat's each day! She has been going there once a week throughout most of the summer, and it just makes me smile to see her reach out to Nat when I get there to drop her off. Her big grin just says it all!! Hanna has made some of the bestest friends there, and she just lights up whenever she sees them. Nat has become so special to us over the past year, and I can't thank her enough for the care and love to shows my sweet girl each and every day!
So, for the next 2 weeks, I'm going to spend as much time as I can with my angel. I'm going to try not to worry about the laundry that needs to be folded, the dishes that need to be put away, and the other things that really don't matter. We are going to soak up each and every minute of the summer vacation that we've got left!

Lions, Tigers, and Bears.....OH MY!

So far this summer, Hanna and I have made several trips to the zoo. The older she gets, the more fun it is to go! To watch her eyes light up when she sees an animal makes this mommy so happy.  Our first trip was with two of Hanna's best friends---Drew and Daegan. Kim and Morgan are two of my closest friends also, so we all had a great time walking around and visiting with each other.

Hanna and I then had a "Mommy-Daughter Day" at the zoo. We were supposed to meet our sweet friends, Amanda and Becca, but because of an emergency, they were unable to make it at the last minute. We decided to go anyway! I really enjoyed this time with my sweet girl and it was such a special day. She is growing up so fast, so I'm really trying to cherish these special times that we have together. I think her all time favorite animal was the gorilla! She was shaking because she was so excited. I just wish could've understood what she was saying to him.
She also LOVED the fish in the aquarium. She kept trying to grab them through the windows, and didn't understand why she couldn't get to them!
Trips like these are just one of the many reasons why I LOVE being home all summer! Boy, I'm going to miss this in a few weeks!!

The Cutest Kid on the Block

About a month ago, we had Hanna's 1 year pictures taken. We decided to do them a little before she actually turned one because I knew it would be getting HOT soon, and we definitely wanted outside pictures. I contacted an old friend Liz Myers with Zil Photography (http://www.facebook.com/zilphotography)  and asked her to do the pictures. One word to describe her......AMAZING!!! We headed down to Riverfront Park, and it was the perfect spot! Hanna was all over the place---picking up grass, crawling away from us, and was much more interested in the people and things around her than smiling for the camera. Liz was so patient with her, and we all had so much fun, and definitely got our workout! If you know Hanna, you know that she has quite the personality----Liz was able to capture this in her pictures! Her facial expressions are priceless, and I had the biggest smile on my face looking through the pictures. Thank you Liz for a fun and awesome afternoon!!!