A date with Daddy

Last night, Handley and her Daddy had a date! Robby called me yesterday afternoon and let me know he had been given tickets to the Thrasher's game and wanted to know if we'd like to go. He had forgotten that I keep Noah on Tuesday evenings for a few hours and was disappointed that we couldn't make it. He mentioned the idea of still going and taking Handley, but said he'd call later in the day and let me know if he was going to do that. Well, I never heard from him, but he got home as I was feeding her dinner. He really wanted to take her and I wasn't going to stop him. The game didn't even start until 7 PM and since she didn't' nap yesterday I figured they wouldn't stay but 45 mins. or so.

I finally heard from him about 9:15 when they were getting in the car to head home. He said she had a GREAT time! She was asleep when they arrived home, but woke up when he got her out of the car and was telling me that she had lots of fun with Daddy. Robby said she was really interested in watching the game and talking to all the people around them. They got on the "kiss cam" and Handley was even on the jumbotron for about 10 seconds waving at everyone. How cute! Robby's boss (who gave him the tickets) also bought her a hockey puck so that she could have a souvenir from her first hockey game!

Of course I sent the camera with Robby and told him to take some pictures, but do you think he did...NOT ONE! Oh well, maybe next time. I hated to miss it, but I'm glad they were able to have a special outing together!

Girls Weekend

Robby left early this morning for a bachelor party. A group of friends were going skeet shooting and then having a big camp out somewhere in north GA. Not my idea of fun (especially when it's supposed to be in the 20's tonight), but hey - to each his own.

Handley had I had a fun girls day. This morning we ran some errands and did a little shopping. We met Jen for lunch, and then had a great afternoon at home and at the playground. Handley was having so much fun playing with her baby dolls, new bottles, and pacis (see post below for more details) you would have thought Santa just brought a new sleigh full of toys. Every time I suggested a nap she would beg me, "Haney pay, Haney pay" and then would run to the far corner of the room. Translation - Handley wants to play so badly and there is no way I'm going to settle down for a nap. SO, I did something I've never done before and totally let her skip a nap. Before you think I'm a bad mom, you should all know this...she normally only naps 2-3 days a week as it is. The other days she just hangs out in her crib and plays for about an hour. I figured her playing in the playroom or playing in the crib wasn't really going to make much of a difference.

Tonight we went with our friends Sheila and Addyson to Chick-fil-A. Sheila's husband is a DJ so he was working tonight. The girls had a great time together. The loved getting to ride in the car together and play after dinner. The moms had fun too...it was way better than sitting at home by ourselves.

Handley and Addy holding hands in the car...so sweet!

Playing at Chick-fil-A

You can tell Handley takes after her mommy and LOVES Chick-fil-A's lemonade (which is what was in her sippy cup)

We've had fun, but can't wait for Robby to get back tomorrow afternoon. Tomorrow evening we are touring Northside Hospital, where Harper will be born. I'm so excited! Only about 7 or 8 more weeks until her big arrival!

Harper's glider...

finally arrived! I got a call this week that it was in and Robby went yesterday during his lunch to pick it up. He moved it into the nursery last night after dinner and it looks PERFECT! I'm so excited and love how it looks. Handley had fun climbing on it and quickly compared it to the one in her room...just making sure that she had the same thing. :-) Robby told her that was where we'd rock baby Harper and the next thing I knew, Handley had pulled her little wooden rocking chair into Harper's room and had her baby doll, ready to rock!

It might be hard to tell from the pictures, but it is brown with tiny pink polka-dots!

I've created a monster!!!

I have created a monster. A paci monster to be exact. Let me start from the beginning...

Handley never really cared much for a pacifier. During her first few months of life she would occasionally take one, but just kind of here and there. Then when she was around 3 months old she totally gave it up, spit it out if I tried to give it to her, and moved on to other comfort items (her beloved Lambie).

Over the past 6 months or so she's really started to notice that several of her friends have pacis (or binky's as they call them). When we are at their houses she'll seek out their binky, walk right up to them, and put it in their mouths. Occasionally she's tried putting it in her mouth to see what all the hype is about. I'm sure she is thinking, "well maybe they taste good if my friends like them so much." She quickly pulls it out and moves on to playing with something else.

The past few weeks when I've been watching Noah, Handley has been ALL about his paci. From the moment he arrives in the morning, until his mom picks him up in the evening she wants to carry it around for him, put it back in his mouth if it falls out, take it from room to room with us, and give it to him even if he's drinking his bottle. It's really cute that she's so attentive to his needs and wants to keep him happy.

Well this morning I was going through some old baby stuff and organizing some things in Harper's nursery. I came across a stash of pacifiers. Several of them were ones I'd received as a free sample or as part of a shower gift. There were about 5 total that I knew I wouldn't be using with Harper so I thought Handley might enjoy playing with them and pretending to give them to her baby dolls. I showed them to her and immediately she went into obsession mode! She started carrying all of them around, along with 2 or 3 of her baby dolls, the baby's bottles, 2 of her Lambies and a blanket for baby. If we went into another room, ALL of that stuff came with us. When we'd go from upstairs to downstairs, ALL of it came with us. I finally convinced her to put it all in a little bag to carry, making it much easier on her.

Then it was time for us to leave the house. She REALLY wanted to bring all of it with us, but I told her she could bring 1 paci and 1 baby. You'd think she were picking out her engagement ring or something. She could NOT decide which one to bring. She'd pick one up, start to walk towards the door, change her mind and head back to the pile and trade it for another one. This continued until she'd picked up each of them at least once and I was getting very impatient. She finally decided on a blue and green one. Finally!

When we arrived at Target, she REALLY wanted to bring baby and paci in with us. Normally she is really good about leaving her Lambie or other toys in the car. I decided that it wasn't worth the melt-down, so I let her. Our next stop was Babies-R-Us and again she almost had a melt-down when I suggested leaving them in the car, so again she brought them in with us. While in Babies-R-Us she saw me returning the BPA bottles for non-BPA bottles. Not a big deal except that those BPA bottles were the ones she's been using as "toy bottles" for her babies for the past 6 months. I promised her different bottles and was able to find a cheap 3-pack that would be perfect baby-doll bottles. On to our next stop...lunch with our friend Jen!

This time I really did not want to bring baby and paci out of the car because it was going to be way to messy to have them while she ate. She turned on the water-works, real tears and all, trying to convince me to let her bring them with her. Luckily, Jen arrived about that time and Handley was so happy to see her that she totally forgot about her baby and paci.

When we got back home she went right back to carrying all the pacis, babies, blankets, etc. around for the rest of the afternoon. It was really nice here today so we took a walk to the playground. I let her bring 1 baby and 1 paci. This time she didn't have such a hard time deciding and settled on a UGA one. I was interested to see what she'd do when we got to the playground and should have known that leaving baby and paci in the stroller would NOT be an option. The funniest part about the playground experience was that she kept up with her friends, swinging, sliding, climbing through the tunnels, etc. all while holding baby, paci, and Lambie. Impressive!

Just before her bath tonight she carried everything into the bathroom and just assumed that she would get to take a bath with baby and all the pacis. When I told her they couldn't get wet and that she needed to leave them on the counter you would have thought her best friend just moved away. She cried the entire bath. Then I KNEW she'd want to sleep with them, but to be honest, she sleeps with enough already and I didn't want to start another habit, so I told her they would have to wait in the bag until the morning. That didn't make her happy, but she eventually calmed down and went to sleep. Whew!!!! What a day. I'm eager to see how tomorrow goes, but I have a feeling it's going to be more of the same. What's so funny to me is that she doesn't even like a paci...she just wants to carry them around for her baby doll. I think one thing is certain though, little miss Harper isn't going to stand a chance of not liking a paci. :-)

Baby Noah

This week I started helping out a friend by watching her son a few days a week while she searches for a nanny replacement. He is 12 weeks old and just the sweetest little boy. It has been a really good situation for all of us. My friend has some extra time to interview and search for the perfect nanny, Handley gets used to having a baby in the house and having to "share" my time, and I get practice taking care of a toddler and an infant.

I couldn't have dreamed that Handley would do better than she has. She absolutely LOVES having "Baby Noah" around and is such a big helper. It makes me SO happy to know that she is going to be a great big sister when Harper arrives. She helps me change his diaper, hold his bottle, shows him toys, holds his paci, etc. She can't stand when he is upset and doesn't like when he's sleeping either (because she wants to be playing with him).

Here she is on the first morning...checking him out from afar.

And today, wanting to be as close as she can to him!

She's been such the little mommy this week. She puts her baby dolls in the swing, bouncy seat, etc. and tries to copy everything I do. Today when I put Noah on a blanket with some toys she ran to get a blanket, her baby and toys for her baby too. How cute is that?!?!?

In this picture, she had just watched me swaddle Noah and rock/sway him to sleep. She's copying me and doing the same thing with her baby.

I even got to use my new stroller for the first time today!

"Hold you, Mommy"

I often joke that if I had a penny for every time Handley said the phrase, "hold you, Mommy" I'd be rich! It's kind of an inside joke with our family. She is generally happy to be running around and is often pretty independent when we are at home. However, if she is feeling tired, fussy or nervous (like in new situations, around new people or in a new place) she starts repeating her request to be held over, and over, and over, and over. At times she'll run all three words together and even says it if I'm already holding her. It's become her way of saying she needs to be comforted.

Yesterday I was cleaning up the dishes from lunch and she wanted to be held. She kept repeating, "hold you, Mommy." I told her, "as soon as I am done with the dishes I will be happy to hold you." She must have listened pretty well because the rest of the day she said, "happy hold you" when she wanted to be held. :-)

Valentine's Day Activities

This week we have been busy with Valentine's Day activities. On Tuesday one of our neighborhood playgroups had a little Valentine's get-together. The girls exchanged gifts, enjoyed cupcakes, and had fun playing outside.

Yummy cupcakes that Sheila made...

All the fun Valentine's gifts...

Handley giving her gift to Annabelle

Enjoying the cupcakes!

Yummy!

Today Handley and I hosted a Valentine's Day party for our other neighborhood playgroup. The kids got to make Valentine cards for their dads and also decorated a heart shaped cookie with icing and sprinkles.

Watching the cookies bake yesterday...

All dressed up for the party!

Snacks for the party
Card making and cookie decorating table

Handley patiently waiting for her friends to arrive

Everyone having fun!

Handley and Sophie decorating their cookies

Valentine treat bags
Handley checking out all of her Valentine's after everyone left...she loved seeing all of the cards and hearing who each one was from.

Loving this weather!!!

We are loving this nice warm weather. I know it's just a tease and that things are going to cool off again soon, but for now, we are trying to spend lots of time outside.

This weekend we went up to the lake with our friends, the Atkinson's (Trevor, Tiara, and Avery). We all rode together in my car (one of the wonderful things about having a big car) and stealing a line from Tiara's blog, "We had a six people, two dogs, tons of luggage, toys, and enough food to stay a week." Robby got a new luggage carrier to fit on our trailer hitch and we never would have made it without that!

Even though it was a short trip, it was a great get-away. The girls had a blast playing together. We hung out on the deck, took walks, went to dinner, and saw the waterfalls.

Here are a few pictures from the weekend:

The girls thought taking a bath together was such fun!

Holding hands

Handley checking out a stream and wishing she could get in!

An old, abandoned train...

Little kids in sunglasses...

is just one of the cutest things! I loved when Handley was really little and I could put glasses on her without her protesting.

Handley at 2 1/2 months

Handley at 3 1/2 months

That didn't last long though. As soon as she learned how to reach up and pull them off she wasn't about to wear them...until recently!

The other day we were driving in the car and she said, "sun, sun...eyes, eyes" and kept doing an over exaggerated squint. It was sunny that day and I think she's really used to seeing me put on my glasses when we get in the car. I happened to have hers with me so I handed them back and on they went (and STAYED!!!). Now when we go for walks or ride in the car she'll often ask for her glasses and keep them on. I love it!

Cousins Make the Best Friends!!!

Handley had so much fun playing with her cousin, Rylan. He is only 4 months older than her so the two of them have a lot in common. I thought it might take a while for her to warm up to Rylan, but she was all about him from day 1! The first thing she asked about in the morning when she woke up was Rylan and she wanted to hold his hand everywhere they went.

It was interesting to see the boy/girl difference between the two of them. Rylan is all about his cars, trucks, trains, etc. and Handley is usually all about her baby dolls, stuffed animals, and dress-up. However, they both got along great, had fun teaching each other new ways to play and enjoyed chasing each other around.

Handley and Rylan looking out the window at the snow

Handley wanted to hold his hand everywhere we went!

Papa, Rylan, Handley and Gigi

Gigi, Rylan, Handley and Papa

Aunt Heather, Rylan, Handley and Uncle Ryan (or "Unki Ry" as Handley called him!)

Petting a sweet dog we came across

Annual Posener Ski Trip

We just returned from our annual Posener ski trip. We spent the week in Keystone, Colorado and even though I didn't ski this year, the trip was a lot of fun! Handley has seen snow a few times in her life, but this was the first time she really got to play in it. She was fascinated by the climate difference in our home and that of Colorado.

Mommy and Handley riding the Gondola up to the top of the mountain (Handley thought this was SO much fun and kept calling it the "Gonga"!)

Handley and Daddy walking in the village. She insisted on holding someones hand when she walked around because I told her the snow was slippery.

Robby, Handley and Gigi

Rylan and Handley riding the Gondola with Gigi

On top of the mountain...

She loved seeing the real snowman!

Having fun swinging in the snow.

During our stay, the international snow sculpture competition was going in in Breckenridge Colorado. Some of us drove over one morning to check out the works of art!

Handley and Daddy playing in the fort.

Our condo had a hot tub (that wasn't too hot, more like a warm bath) so each evening everyone would head down there to relax. Handley got in a for a few minutes each time and she thought she was swimming in a pool!

Here she is ready to head down to the hot tub.