1st Time...

The girl's firsts are always hard for me, and the older they've gotten, the more I've learned not to take them for granted.

One of the saddest days for me lately was when my baby woke up one day and told me she didn't want her crib anymore, that she wanted a big girl bed like Hannah. She and daddy tried really hard to talk me into a bunk bed, but I just couldn't be that cool mom that allowed that, so we found another bed that made her happy, and she couldn't get it fast enough! Taking that crib apart was so hard for me. I cried taking it apart, I cried putting her new bed together and I realllllly cried tucking her into that BIG girl bed!!! She was so proud, and I was so proud of her, but she really wasn't a baby anymore. I told her that I was keeping her glider in her room as long as she lived under this roof, because she's the best cuddler and she lets me rock her all night long!! I love that!!!

Alice Anne also got her 1st haircut today!! Hannah went 1st and she watched Hannah very intensely and then when it was her turn, she freaked out!! She did NOT want to get into that chair. We bribed her with a lollipop, and that made everything better!

Hannah got her 1st "manicure" last week. She's been dying to go to the "special nail place" for the longest time and she got to go as a reward for getting a straight line every day last week. I've never seen her work so hard on her responsibilities!!! She was SO proud and of course we were so proud of all her hard work!!! She deserved it for sure!

We had LOTS of snow days in February and although we all complained of cabin fever, we really did have a good time. Jammy was here the 2nd week of snow, so I got some much needed relief!! I'm not much fun outside when it's snowing. I last about 2 seconds and then I get too cold and have to go inside, but daddy knows how to have fun out there!!! Hannah and daddy have SO much fun playing in the snow together! Alice Anne takes after me, and she's my hot cocoa partner. We could sit at the window and watch them for hours!

I LOVE this video. The snow was starting to melt, but they got a short little sleigh ride on our street and then they loaded up in the golf cart and headed to shadier streets and to the park with "snow hills!" We couldn't convince Alice Anne to ride, but Hannah had enough fun for everyone!

I had to post this picture because our family golf cart rides crack me up!! This is what our weekends usually look like. We have several trips to the park with all 4 of us plus both dogs and Hannah's bike all load up on the golf cart!! So much fun and I hope these are the pictures that the girls will always remember of their childhood!!

Dallas or Antarctica?!?!

It is Beyond COLD here!! We have been locked in our house for 3 days in a row and it's supposed to snow again tonight. Our driveway is a solid 2" ice skating rink and Hannah has had a blast practicing her ice skating skills out there. I would have taken a picture, but it's too cold for me to step outside. We're not used to this and we don't know what to do when it hits us! We're all getting cabin fever and starting to get on each other's nerves, but for the most part, the girls have been great locked in the house! Mommy on the other hand...well, I'm running out of ideas to keep these girls busy! We've done everything, including having a birthday party for each one of our babies and a birthday party for Wally and Ariel!!! I refuse to bake anymore, because I'm so bored I'm eating every single thing we bake, we've read every book we own at least 20 times, we've gone "swimming" in the bathtub, we've played every game and done every learning activity I know to do, we've cleaned our house until there's nothing left to clean, we've organized closets, colored and painted 2,000 pictures, had hot cocoa and popcorn parties in our "dining room chair tent," and played so much playdo that it's almost all dried out! What in the world is left to do? I wouldn't survive the arctics for a day!!!

Ice, Ice, Go Away...Come Again Another Day

They're all bundled up to play outside
Alice Anne did NOT want to come in!!
Baking for the 100th time. No more baking...we're all out of flour and sugar!

Sweet sisters reading books to each other

In case you didn't notice, we've been in our pj's for 3 days, too!!!

Christmas 2010

I can't believe that Christmas has been over for a month and I'm just now posting. Not acceptable...I am going to try really hard to get better. Honestly, we have been so busy and the girls are at a really fun age, that I haven't wanted to take myself away from them! I can't believe how fast they are growing up and I'm having a hard time with it, but we'll save that for another post!

We had a lot of fun this year! The girls favorite thing to do was go look at Christmas lights and go look at the nativity scene in the yard around the corner from our house. We literally had to drive by it every time we left the house and every time we came home.

We had a great Christmas! The anticipation was almost too much for both of them, but Hannah especially. They were in love with Suzy, our Elf on the Shelf, and she worked miracles! All I had to do to get them to do anything was to just glance over at Suzy and it was done! They have been very concerned about her and what she has been doing since Christmas. They want to know if she can come visit soon, etc.

We spent Christmas Eve with Gigi, Grandpop and Bekah. We went to the family church service, and the girls loved singing all the Christmas Carols. We came home for chili and tamales and then the girls got to each open 2 presents. Hannah was almost in tears when she went to bed because she was so worried that the adults were still up and Santa wasn't going to stop if the lights were on.

Santa was good to the girls! They are OBSESSED with everything princess, and Santa must have known, but nearly everything that he brought was princess. The main thing they requested were 18" princess dolls. Hannah wanted Ariel, Sleeping Beauty and Tinkerbell, and Alice Anne wanted Snow White. They got ALL the princesses and their accessories! They were so excited to go down stairs Christmas morning to see what Santa left. Gigi slept in Hannah's room with her, to keep her from coming down at the crack of dawn. I love nothing more than to see the look on little kids faces on Christmas morning. I just remember the magical feeling I felt when I was little!

Late Christmas morning we left for Waco, where Jammy, Papa, Aunt Mary, Carter, Aunt Sarah and Uncle Taylor were waiting for us. The kids wanted to open the rest of their gifts immediately and then we had another big Christmas meal. It was our first holiday meal with an "adult table" and a "kids table," and Hannah was very proud to be the "babysitter" during dinner.

When we got to Waco, Alice Anne was so hot! My poor baby spend the rest of Christmas and 4 days after, in my lap. She was SO sick and it was so sad, but mommy had no complaints of non-stop cuddling!

Daddy was off of work for 2 weeks over the holidays and it was SO much fun being lazy every morning, shopping, eating out a lot and watching Hannah and Brett ice skate several times! They both got pretty good at it!

I'm really upset with myself that I didn't get more pictures. I took a total of 12 pictures the whole weekend :(

Coming downstairs

All of the goodies that Santa left

Alice Anne was SO excited about her new chapstick!

One of Hannah's favorite presents...this bouncy ball. She literally hops around the house now instead of walking! It's so funny!

A Couple of Stories

I haven't even downloaded Christmas pictures yet, and that's on my to-do list for this week, but I had to write a couple of things down first, because I always want to remember these sweet things that my babies say.

Last night as I was tucking Hannah in bed, she looked up at me and asked me when she was going to start putting herself to bed. Shocked, since she loves for us to put her to bed, I asked her if she wanted to start putting herself to bed. She said, "No, I want you to put me to bed forever. Even when I'm big like you, and when I'm married to daddy, will you still live with me and put me to bed? I might live in another house, but I want you to always live with me forever and ever!" My response, "Of course, I'll live with you as long as you want me to live with you!"

Yesterday Hannah went for her 4 year check-up. She was really excited about the visit and we couldn't get there fast enough. She was even frustrated with me when I had to stop on the way there to get gas. I was so proud of her...she was so brave and opened right up to Dr. Moore, talking his ear off. She was above the 95% for height and 85% for weight. She was even excited to get a shot, because she knew she was going to get a pretty bandaid...poor little thing didn't know she was going to get 6!!!! Her eyes got bigger than I've ever seen them when she saw the nurse walk in with all the syringes. Poor thing was so brave! She shed some pretty big tears and I think I shed a few too. But one of the saddest things was Alice Anne, after watching all of that. She missed a shot at her 2 year check-up, and she was going to get it while we were there. She was pretty excited about the bandaid, too, until after seeing what poor Hannah went through. When Hannah hopped down from the table, Alice Anne looked at me and said over and over, "Mommy, I don't want a bandaid, I don't want a bandaid!!" SO SAD!!!

Happy 4th Birthday Hannah!

I would be lying if I said that I was writing this post with dry eyes. To say that I have had an extremely hard time accepting that Hannah is turning 4, would be an understatement. I don't know why, but for some reason, 4 just seems so big! Maybe it's because Hannah actually "gets it" this year, and knows that she's getting big, and she has been so excited about it. Or, maybe it's because she planned her birthday for 312 days, but, whatever it is, this mama isn't handling it very well. Every time she talked about it, I told her that I was sad that she was getting so big and that she wasn't a baby anymore and every time, she would give me the sweetest hug and tell me, "but mommy, I'll always be your baby...even when I'm 100!!!" That describes our sweet little Hannah perfectly. She always takes every one's feelings into consideration, and she always wants to make others feel good.

It seems like just yesterday that she was born! We were eating dinner Monday night and I just happened to look up at the clock at 7:11...the exact time that Hannah was born 4 years ago. I teared up a bit, gave Hannah a big kiss, and told her how happy she made her daddy and me 4 years ago that very moment. We talked about how we couldn't imagine our family without her. She had fun asking us questions about when she was born and she always laughs when we tell her how she cried non-stop for months and months!! And now she's four!! She's not a crying little baby anymore, she's not even a toddler anymore, she's my preschooler that is asking me how many days until she gets to go to "the big school!" If only we could freeze time!!!

I want to write everything I feel about our kids on each of their birthdays, so I can always remember, but I really don't know where to start on this one. Both of our girls are so much more than Brett and I could have ever dreamed of in our children, yet they are both so different in their own way. Hannah is the most loving and compassionate child I have ever met. She has never met a stranger and she is one that everyone wants to be friends with. She makes the old people smile at the grocery store and makes the crying baby laugh at the park without even trying to. She is such a sensitive child and her cuddles can make any one's day brighter! She is SO curious...sometimes a little too much, and will WEAR YOU OUT with her 1,000 questions an hour!!! She won't accept "I don't know" for an answer, so you better be on your toes when you're around her. She loves to help out, and is very willing to do whatever it is that you ask of her. She still LIVES her day by her Responsibility Chart. Her 8 responsibilities are, "Obey, Be Nice, Share, Tell The Truth, Help Out, No Whining, Use Your Manners, and Stay In Your Bed All Night :)" She will do whatever it takes to make sure she gets a "straight line" every day!

Brett and I can honestly say that we couldn't be prouder of the little girl that we have raised thus far, and we are so excited to see how much more joy she will bring us in the years to come!!

Hannah is the best big sister we could have ever asked for! She absolutely adores her little sister and they play together like angels! They tell each other every day that they are best friends, and as a mommy that grew up with 2 sisters, it melts my heart! I see their friendship growing closer all the time and I pray that God will always protect that special bond that they have!

Her favorite colors are red, orange and pink, and her daily routine revolves around those colors. The panties she picks, the dress, the shoes, the toys, everything that has red, orange and pink are her favorite...and it can become VERY annoying at times!!!

She LOVES school and she loves learning new things!! She has known all her numbers and letters for a while now and can count to well over 100. She can count by 10's and is working on counting by 5's. She can do simple addition and subtraction. She can write all of her letters and can independently write "Hannah Leigh Belf, Alice Anne, Mommy, Daddy, Jammy, Papa, Gigi, Wally, car, stop, go," and many other words. She wants to know what every word on a building, billboard, etc. spells. Her favorite activity by far is coloring. She can color for hours...as long as she has a red, orange and pink crayon!!! Her favorite princess is Ariel and her favorite games are Hide-and-Seek, I Spy and Chase! She still loves ballet and started gymnastics this year.

She is a great eater!! She'll try just about anything and LOVES salad! I told her that she could pick any birthday dinner that she wanted, that we could eat at home or go eat somewhere and she said that she wanted to eat chicken caesar salad and macaroni and cheese at home--DONE!! She wanted pancakes, fried eggs and blueberries for her birthday breakfast.

Hannah and Milam had a fabulous 4th Birthday party together...Breakfast With Santa!! Hannah talked about it for months and could not believe that the REAL Santa was coming to eat Breakfast with them at her house!!! We have a lot to live up to next year!!!

Greeting Santa at the Door

How sweet is this!!

Santa Reading "The Night Before Christmas"

Sweet Sisters

Blowing out their candles

Her party wouldn't be complete without her dear friend Molly!!

Happy 4th Birthday Hannah!!! We love you all the way to the moon and back!!!!

Girls Weekend

Someone asked me today if I was a "hunter widow" and that's exactly what I have been lately!! Brett loves hunting and during hunting season, the girls and I get in a lot of good girl time! We have had such a fun and busy weekend! They are both at the perfect age and are so much fun to do things with!

Alice Anne seems to have grown-up all of a sudden and she is my little doll! Honestly, I can't get enough of her! I'm really, really sad that she is such a big girl now and no longer a baby at all! I can't even talk about it with out tearing up! The other day, I told our "Elf On The Shelf" (aka Suzy), how good Alice Anne was doing at using her manners. Ever since then, Alice Anne has ended every single sentence in "ma'am." It is so funny! "May I please have some water ma'am?" "I need to go to the bathroom ma'am" I love it! Hannah keeps telling her that she doesn't need to say that and Alice Anne just laughs.

Hannah is really into the Christmas Story this year and wants to talk about baby Jesus all the time. She asks me questions all day long about baby Jesus and half of them I don't even know how to answer, and when I do answer it, it leads into 100 other questions that I don't know how to answer.

Hannah asked me today what Santa was going to bring me for Christmas. I told her that Santa only brings presents for kids. She got such a sad look on her face and asked me if that made me sad. I told her that I would get some present from other people. She said, "mommy, what do you want daddy to get you? I'll tell him and I'll make sure you get it. I don't want you to be sad on Christmas." My tender hearted little one!

We've had so much fun looking at Christmas lights this year. Of course the girls love all the really tacky light displays and they've begged us to get a blow-up snowman to put in the front yard, but there is just no way!!

I wasn't going to do breakfast with Santa this year because Santa is coming to Hannah's birthday party, but Hannah has talked about us going to eat breakfast with Santa last year so much lately and kept asking me if Alice Anne could go with us this year, that I went ahead and did it. She obviously loved it and I want that to be something that they'll remember doing with me every Christmas. I'm so glad we went...they had a blast!!! Alice Anne tried to act shy and pretend like she didn't like Santa, but the second he left, she begged for him to come back! When we got in the car she said, "I give Santa big hug at Hannah's party and I tell him I sorry. I really want a Snow White doll! I sweet!" She obviously thought about it after he left and is a little worried that he won't bring her presents if she doesn't give him a hug. Hannah literally talked Santa's ear off and luckily he went right along with everything that she said about him coming to her house for her party. The girl can talk!! We were waiting in line at the grocery today and the old lady behind us simply said, "looks like you have 2 good helpers." That's all Hannah needed her to say to initiate the conversation. By the time we had paid, the poor lady knew everything Hannah had helped me with the past 3 days, Hannah's full name, birthday, all her friends names and their birthdays, what kind of parties they had all had, what she was going to have at her party and on her real birthday, what she wants for Christmas, how many dogs she has and how old they are, what kind of party she wants to have when she turns 5, 6 and 7, what we were going to do the rest of the day, and a bunch of other stuff the poor little old lady did not care to know! It's so funny, but sometimes a little embarrassing!

We went to a live nativity after baths the other night. They had costumes there and the girls got to dress-up like Mary and Joseph. Of course Hannah was Mary and she told Alice Anne to be Joseph. Alice Anne insisted that she was NOT a boy! Hannah was so funny when we left. She said, "mommy, you know we weren't the real Mary and Joseph. It was just pretend. Could have fooled me!

They couldn't get enough of Baby Jesus

Hannah and her new BFF

Alice Anne doing a pretend pout!

Another thing that I LOVE doing with the girls at Christmas...making chocolate covered pretzels and they love it too!

Roasting marshmallows and making smores!

Bundled up in mommy and daddy's bed to watch Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer!

My Little Angels

This story was so sweet I had to write it down...

This afternoon the girls and I were putting some Christmas decorations up and Hannah went and sat down on the couch. I could tell she was thinking really hard about something. She sat there for a few minutes and then walked over to me and teared up. She said with the sweetest, most concerned voice, "Mommy, what can I do if I miss you so much when you go to heaven?" Shocked, I said, "Honey, mommy's not going to heaven." She said, "Yes you are. Everyone goes to heaven someday. But I'm going to miss you when you go and I'm going to always be sad." I was doing everything I could to not let my tears show, so as I kissed her head over and over, I assured her that I would not go to heaven for a long, long time and that I was going to stay right here and be her mommy. She said, "Mommy, when you go to heaven, I want to go with you..."

Talk about melting a mommy's heart!!!

My sweet little family on Thanksgiving