Pebbles

It's a little hard to see in the pictures, but Hannah actually let Judi put her hair in a little "Pebbles" "do" (what do you call it? it's not a ponytail or pigtail....) after her haircut. She usually hates to have anything in her hair and definitely won't let me do pigtails, so I had to snap a picture before bedtime.

Cool Kid

Hannah is such a fun little girl. She got a vest (it's reversible!) for Christmas from "Aunt D" and since Aunt D was coming to visit, we made sure she had it on to show off. Hannah decided to grab Mommy's slippers and then once I had the camera out turned into a real ham. She has so much personality!

We took Hannah to get another trim/haircut tonight and this time she did wonderfully. She climbed up in the chair and sat with her sucker the entire time. Didn't cry, flinch or even look my direction....I think it was the sucker. She's growing up so fast!!!

Little Dancer Girl

Aunt Karen got Hannah a little dance outfit for Christmas. Hannah hasn't yet enjoyed playing dress-up with the tutu, but she did ask to put on the little dance outfit today. It's so much fun to see her in her little dance clothes spinning around!Hannah loved to run around and make the dress spin, but she didn't want to stay in the outfit for long...and the ballet shoes didn't last long. Aunt Karen is going to have to work with Hannah because although I do remember the 5 positions, my one year of ballet in 3rd grade isn't what we want being taught to our little girl -- trust me.

Sick Mommy

Well, whatever Hannah had, I got.....worse.

Friday night when I was reading to Hannah before bed I felt a little queasy. I decided to not work on cleaning the basement and instead to spend the night on the couch watching TV. I will spare everyone the details, but I'll just say that within an hour or so I was on the bathroom floor. I ended up making a huge mess that I had to clean up because Jon was out of town with our church youth group. I was so sick that at 10pm at night I called my mother-in-law and asked her to come in the morning to take care of Hannah all day. They couldn't get to our house until about 8:30, so I was praying that Hannah would sleep in.....and she did - she woke up promptly at 8:30. I managed to get up and we went downstairs. She was running around asking for waffles and milk and I asked her if she wanted to watch TV first. You should have seen the look in her eyes as she said "oh, sure!" It was the "oh my goodness, Mommy never does this" look and she ran to the couch. She laid with me while we watched something Mickey Mouse (after I found out what channels have kid shows on them - the only one I know is PBS, and Saturday morning it doesn't show kid shows!). When my in-laws showed up around 9 I told them Hannah needed to eat and fortunately Grandma Woolley took over with Hannah.

Hannah spent most of her day playing with Grandma and Grandpa. I spent my morning on the couch dozing on and off, and when Hannah went upstairs to go down for a nap, I did too. I asked my in-laws to get some Gatorade for me, since Jon's basketball stash was empty. When I got up from my nap, I had a piece of toast and 32 oz of Gatorade. That was my first food in about 24 hours. I was worried that I was a little dehydrated (especially since my urine was an orange-brown color!), but I just couldn't handle the thought of anything other than water in the AM (and didn't have any electrolyte drinks that I could easily get). I'd also assumed I would only have a 24-hour bug like Hannah and be fine by Saturday night.

Ron & Sally left to go home after Hannah went to bed on Saturday and after about an hour or two I realized that I wasn't going to be able to do Sunday on my own....so I called my parents. I probably should have called them earlier in the day so they could have come the night before, but I really thought I'd be better. Instead, my parents left their house in WV at 4am!! to get to our house by 7. Of course, Sunday morning Hannah didn't sleep in! She was up at 6:30, so when my parents arrived, I was once again on the couch with Hannah watching TV. My parents spent the whole day cleaning the house, doing laundry and dishes, doing our grocery shopping, and playing with Hannah. By lunchtime I had another piece of toast, and by dinner time I was able to eat a small meal. I don't EVER remember being this sick. My parents left after dinner to head home so my mom could work Monday morning -- they are such troopers!!!

I should also mention that Saturday night after dinner Jon called to tell me he felt queasy....yep....he got it too. He was in New York on a ski trip and ended his "puke free since '93" streak.... I think I had it the worst, but being away from home and being sick isn't easy for anyone either. He skipped one of the sessions with the youth, and then spent 6 hours in the car on the way home on Sunday (fortunately he didn't have to drive). He drove out to school to do his lesson plans and after trudging through the snow realized that he'd left his keys with me so that if he lost them skiing he wouldn't lose his school keys!! ARGH. So, he had to come home, switch keys, and then go back to school! Jon stayed home on Monday and by Monday evening the entire Woolley household had recovered. THANK GOODNESS!!

What really struck me during this time when we were all sick is how in the world you are supposed to be a mom and take care of others when you're really sick. I don't remember my mom ever being sick -- I'm sure she was, but she must really be able to "play through" because I don't remember her being down for the count. I'm also not sure how people do it who don't live near family -- I called in-laws and parents who drove 1.5 and 3 hours (respectively) to come and help out on zero notice. I don't think I really understood how good it was to live near family until we had a kid....and I'm thankful for that even more now.

Baking Brownies

Hannah helped bake brownies tonight after dinner.....she really enjoyed helping stir....AND LICKING THE SPOON.

What a goofy grin that girl has!!!

In, Abby, In!

I was cleaning up the family room when I heard Hannah yelling "In, Abby, In!" from the other room. I assumed Hannah was trying to put Abby in her cage, and knowing that Abby usually ignores Hannah when any instruction is given by the 36" person, I finished what I was doing before going to investigate.

When I got to our front room, I found Abby laying on the floor outside of the cage, and Hannah sitting inside the cage eating a carton of blueberries....

I asked her to open the door, so she did.....
...which she promptly shut again and started laughing.

She kept opening the door and asking (telling) Abby to come in with her, but Abby wasn't going to have any of that! What is it about the dog's cage that my child loves?!

Headband

Hannah doesn't like to wear headbands or any other hair accessories. However, somehow this afternoon I convinced her to try one on. I think she forgot she was wearing it because she left it on for over an hour. I think it's sooo cute!!!

Little Miss loves to make funny faces at the camera!

Sick Baby

Hannah got sick for the first time last night (Feb. 17th).

Around 11:30 at night she was crying in bed, so I went to see what was wrong -- her covers were off. So, I put them back on her and went to bed. About 30 minutes later she was crying again, so Jon went this time, assuming he needed to pull up the covers again. Instead, he screamed "Julie" and I was scrambling for my glasses and running down the hall, thinking something horrible had happened since his yell was blood-curdling.

Hannah had thrown up in bed. While she was upset about it, she got her arms in it a bit, so I picked her up and went to take her to the bathroom to make sure she was done while Jon took the sheets off her bed. I fumbled with the gate in her doorway (I think I jumped over it to get in her room)...and she threw up all over me...a lot. I comforted her because she was really upset not understanding what was going on & then went to open the gate (again)....and she threw up on me (again). At this point, Hannah and I are both covered in puke. There is also a pile of puke on her carpet and another in her bed.

I finally get the gate opened and we go to the bathroom...and she puked on the rugs. I tried to get her to spit in the toilet, but then realized I had to teach her to spit first. That was interesting. So, we spit a little and then I undressed her. Meanwhile, Jon is trying to clean up the puke in her room and is so overcome by the smell that he almost pukes! (In his defense, it did smell really bad.) Hannah and I then proceed to take a shower together and I start a load of puke-covered laundry. We gave her a little juice to make sure she wasn't dehydrated, brushed her teeth and put her back in bed with clean sheets.

It's now 1:15am. About 15 minutes later, she throws up again. We repeat the sheet-stripping process and then start to wonder if we have any more clean twin sheets in the house (fortunately, Jon found an unopened pack and I didn't even care that they weren't washed before we put them on her bed). I took Hannah into the bathroom and sat her on the counter because she asked me for water, so I got her a small cup and she (almost immediately) puked all over the bathroom floor (narrowly avoiding me this time). I pointed her head toward the sink, but then she leaned up and puked on the floor a second time. This just wasn't our night!

By 3am we had everything cleaned up for the 2nd time, but Hannah wouldn't get back into her own bed. So, I decided to sleep with her in the guest room. It's funny how even when she is really sick she still calls our guest bed "Josh's bed" (because Uncle Josh sleeps there...and I don't think anyone else who visits sleeps in late enough to still be in bed when she gets up). All night (well, what was left of it) Hannah wanted to sleep on top of my arm - she held my arm and every now and then would reach out and touch my face to make sure I was still there. Needless to say, I didn't sleep much, but I love the fact that I can comfort her just by being close.

Poor Jon had to leave the house before 7am to go to work -- I don't know how he did it -- I was a zombie in the morning. Fortunately, my job allows me to work from home when things like this come up -- I didn't get a ton of work done, but did the essential stuff.

Despite not sleeping all night, Hannah and I were up and moving by 7:30, but I knew Hannah wasn't herself when she laid down on the couch with a blanket and watched PBS for over an hour -- something that she never does at our house (she might watch something for 15 minutes, but that's usually the max on days the TV is on at our house, which is only once or twice a week). She also spent a lot of time cuddling with me on the couch reading books. However, by the time she was up from her 3 hour afternoon nap, she was back to her good old self.

This was the first time that Hannah has been sick where she threw up....she hasn't had many colds and has been so healthy since she came home from the hospital, it was certainly a new experience for us. I guess we're earning new "stripes" as parents. It's not fun to have a sick child, but I'm glad this was a short-lived "bug" and all is well again.

Daddy's Helper!

The Blizzard of 2010 is still in progress.....snow, snow, and more snow. It seems like all we do is shovel the driveway! Hannah didn't go to the babysitter's house all last week because of snow days (and this week isn't looking promising, since another foot has fallen today), and I'm sure it hasn't been easy for Jon to keep her entertained. However, Hannah loves to be outside, so at least we can wear her out a little by playing in the snow. She is always running for her boots and coat, and it's so much fun to see her run around outside. She especially loves helping Daddy shovel snow.

Let's go, Mommy!All set to go outsideOur snow bunny! Shoveling
She's a very eager helper!

(But, this snow was a little too heavy for her to push)

Of course, Abby wants in on the action too!

Sitting on a snow mound Yep, that is our mailbox.

Yep, that is a LOT of snow.

Hannah and Daddy survey their work.

Hannah takes off running for the neighbor's house.

Little Miss Independent never looked back!

Once the work was done, Hannah was all ready for a ride!

Hannah didn't want to ride in her sled - at all. But, she wanted to be in her wagon...and go for a walk down the street. I discovered it's "slightly" difficult to pull a wagon down the sidewalk when there is over a foot of snow out. Fortunately, the next 2 houses down from us shoveled their walks, but at house number 3 we had to turn around. Hannah wasn't amused, so we went up and down part of the street a number of times.

Once we were done outside, we made hot chocolate with milk on the stove. Hannah thought the marshmallows were the best part!

Jake & Hannah's Snowday

After almost two weeks of being at home with Hannah every day because of snow days....Jon was ready for a break. His Facebook posts were full of admiration for stay-at-home moms and comments of "I don't know how they do it" and he began to look for summer day-camp programs for a few hours each day at our Rec Center for Hannah.... Sheri had told him that if he ever wanted to bring Hannah over to play with Jake that he could because it would help occupy Jake and wear him out a bit.

So, Jon finally called Sheri and Hannah went over to Jake's house to play for a little bit while Jon ran errands. The kids ended up spending a ton of time playing in "Baby Megan's" play mat. Who knew two toddlers would find so much fun sitting in a baby toy! Sheri thought it was funny and sent me the pictures she took, so enjoy!

As a thank-you to Sheri for the time away, Jon brought her Chipolte for lunch -- a favorite of hers, but one that she never gets anymore, since you have to get out of your car...and she's not about to get two kids out of the car for a take-home meal!

I'm so glad that I have a husband that gets to spend so much time with his daughter, even though it isn't always easy for him. I'm also thankful that we have such a wonderful friend in Sheri who loves to have Hannah over to play. There are certainly days where I'm so jealous that I don't get weeks with her to do the "stay-at-home mom" stuff for days in a row, but Jon (and Sheri) remind me that it's not always fun!

I do realize that, but I think it's the tug that working moms always feel -- trying to balance being home with kids they enjoy and love with doing a good job at work doing something they also enjoy -- it's hard. But, in the end I think that we've made the right decision for our family at this time. (Of course, having a great babysitter helps us feel secure about that decision too.)

Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day!! Hannah was looking too cute in her red dress that I just had to snap some pictures! Enjoy. Loving on Abby

Such good friends!

What a stinker!

Abby is so gentle with her...despite being 3x her size!

I Luff you!

Snow, snow, snow!

It's a winter wonderland here in Ohio!

For full disclosure, since I back-dated the post (today is actually 2/18/10), I should add that since these pictures were taken (2/5/10), Jon's missed almost 2 full weeks of school, and we've gotten about another foot of snow. I think we've had enough winter! I love playing outside with Hannah.

Here we are running for the swingset.

Hannah got her snow boots and snow pants and told me she wanted to go "outside" so we got her all bundled up and headed out. As it turns out, she doesn't like to be outside when it is still snowing, as it gets on her face. She also doesn't like to fall down (which happened in this deep snow), and she doesn't like to be pulled in the sled. Hmmm...what to do with this girl!

The snow is certainly beautiful, but I'm very glad that Jon can be home with Hannah when the weather is bad, that our power lines are buried underground so we don't lose power (when I was a kid we once lost power for over 2 weeks - welcome to living in the "sticks" of WVa), we have a nice gas fireplace for when days are chilly, and I can work from home when I need/want. Right now I can sneak upstairs and tell Hannah that Mommy is working and she tells me "bye, bye" and goes back to playing as if I left for the office. It's been nice on a couple of days when I could have gone to work, but it was nice to not fight bad roads and traffic to head downtown -- I still billed a full day of work, but got extra time with my kiddo, including a leisurely breakfast, family lunchtime and getting to put her down for her nap.