Hannah ~20 months~

Where has the time gone?! Hannah is approaching two years old and we are both amazed at how much she's grown and changed over the past few months. She is quite the little momma to her babies/stuffed animals. She loves feeding them, changing their diapers, reading them stories and singing them songs. :) She is still VERY into dancing and music. We dance in the kitchen to my IPOD almost every night after dinner. :) She loves asking for "one more" song in the car when she wants me to change the station and bobs her head/moves her arms to the music.She still is going to the bathroom on the toilet, however we haven't started serious potty training yet and just allow her to go when she asks for now. She loves singing into the microphone on her stereo (two of her favorite songs are "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" and "The ABC's"). Counting is also a new favorite (she can now count to 10...2 is her favorite number) and is into identifying  colors of objects, especially within books (green is her favorite color to point out). We think she may be transitioning to 1 nap a day very soon here (naps seem to be a little off schedule on the weekends lately), but for the time being she's still taking 2. She still will eat just about anything, however her current favorites are applesauce, edamame, olives and peanut butter on toast. She is very into her pets right now and loves feeding them and giving them hugs. :)Her little personality has really developed over the past few months. She has quite the sense of humor and loves making us laugh. We can't wait for winter break and two whole weeks off with her!!



Ready for her first dance class



Balance beam was one of her favorites



Thought she was soooo cool when wearing one of Nonnie's hair rollers

Ready for Leah's Mickey Mouse bday party

First cupcake

Feeling like a big girl :)

Playdate at our house with  her friend's Gavin and Nico

Cheeeese!!!

Road Trip to Oregon

 During the first part of November we took a road trip up the coast of California to Portland, Oregon.  On our way through Humboldt we dropped Hannah off with my family for a four night stay (the longest both of us have ever left her). Although it was so difficult leaving her, Josh and I enjoyed our getaway and the ease of siteseeing without a one year old. :) We traveled up north with our good friends Ian, Kara and Tracey. The main things we planned while in Oregon were visiting breweries we'd never been to, hiking to some breath taking waterfalls, and winetasting (the area we traveled to is known for their Pinots). Although the drive was long, we broke it up with many stops at new places along the way. It was so great to relax and have a much needed break from our hectic life in Sonoma County. :)  We both missed Hannah like crazy! I can't tell you how often we commented on how strange it felt to sit and eat a meal or enjoy a glass of wine without having to cut up food for and/or entertain Hannah. Our trip was frequented with many chats on the phone between us and her. Needless to say by the end of the trip we couldn't wait to get our hands on her and once back to Humboldt she couldn't stop giggling with excitement when she saw us and wouldn't let us out of her sight. :)

 Wild River Brewery in Grants Pass, Oregon (our first brewery stop of the trip).

 

Cathedral Ridge with the Colombia River behind us

With the girls (and Carter)

Wahkeena Falls

Latourell Falls

Multnomah Falls



Full Sail Brewery



Ponzi Winery-Tasting their Chardonnay
(Michelle Obama chose to serve this specific wine at Thanksgiving dinner in the White House)



Loved this small family owned winery

Halloween Happenings

Halloween was so much fun with Hannah this year! After reading a few Halloween books at the beginning of October she proceeded to point out and say "ghost" and "pumpkin" (her two favorite Halloween words) every time she saw one. :) Carving pumpkins was very entertaining. At first she absolutely did not want to touch the inside of the pumpkin, however was very curious about it. After watching mom and dad scoop out some seeds, she decided to give it a try and had a blast. She's definitely not the type of kid who likes getting her hands dirty, so any time she got a piece of pumpkin goop stuck to her hand that she couldn't get off she'd immediately look to one of us for help. :)

So proud of her pumpkins

We traveled to the pumpkin patch with our good friends Renee, Marc & their son Nico this year. Hannah loved looking at all the animals and even fed young calf. Hannah, Nico and another friend Gianna enjoyed climbing the bales of hay, picking out pumpkins, going on a tractor ride, digging for potatoes, and petting the animals.

Loved feeding the calf!



enjoying a graham cracker in the pumpkin patch



family pic :)



Trick-Or-Treating was very entertaining. Hannah loves monkeys, so dressing up as one was fun. Every time she'd try on her costume leading up to Halloween, she'd make little monkey sounds and just stare at herself in the  mirror. :) She had practiced trick-or-treating with her friends at daycare earlier in the week, however when it came time to actually go door to door she got very shy and wanted one of us to hold her hand. This lasted until about the 5th house and after that she say "Tick-O-Teet!" and hold out her pumpkin also saying "Hannah, Hannah" It was too cute!



The whole gang



finally getting the hang of it



With her BFF Kenzie



She didn't want to stop, so we had to do it a few more times at our house before bed :)



October Fun....Fortuna Visit, 80's Dance Party and Grape Stomping

It seems as though October was over before it began! We made a lot of fun memories in October, starting with yet another "Girls Dance Party" at Ramona's, (I think this is our 5th or 6th) and this time we had an 80's theme. My parents were in town, so my mom joined us, which was a blast! It was so much fun seeing everyone's 80's gear. :) We enjoyed some good laughs, food &drink and of course tons of DANCING!!

Pic with mom before heading out to the dance party :)

Group Photo...ready to dance!!!



Love my mom!



With Meagan, Mandy, Heidi, Tracy, and Ramona

During the song "I Wear My Sunglasses At Night"

This year at the annual "Harvest Fair" Kara and I entered in the Grape Stomp contest. Our team name was "Momma's Grape Juice" :) We made our own t-shirts with our kid's picture on the front and team name on the back. The contest was much harder than we thought it was going to be. I had the difficult job of clearing the hole through which the juice flows, while holding the glass jug. It was not easy (we tied for 17th out of 17 lol!), but we had such a great time and will definitely enter again next year.

With our kiddos before the grape stomp

It's much harder than it looks

My grape covered hand and her grape covered foot :)



 Josh, Hannah and I headed up to Humboldt mid-October to celebrate my dad, Josh and Shaun's birthdays. We had a fun weekend filled with lunch at the Pizza Co. and Bocci Ball in Ferndale, shopping, playing at the park, and dinner at Mazotti's in Arcata. The weekend trips never seem long enough, however they're always filled with fun memories and much needed time with family that we wish lived closer!


Dinner at Mazzottis for the guy's birthday

  


With Uncle Gary, Auntie Cole and cousin Brody on the Arcata Plaza



afternoon at the park

sliding with Nonne, he's such a good sport!

Dancing in the kitchen...this picture makes me smile :)

This month Hannah has grown and changed even more. :)  I'll post pics from the pumpkin patch, pumpkin carving and trick-or-treating as soon as I can and I'll also share a Hannah update. ( She'll be 19 months of the 4th of November.)