Happy 4th of July!

Now, if this doesn’t say “Happy 4th of July,” I don’t know what does!

We said good-bye to Jason’s parents this morning and took them to Burbank to catch their plane. Then we spent a quiet afternoon at home…Hannah napped, Jason straightened up the garage (isn’t he wonderful?!), and I uploaded and organized some pictures.

Jason had the day off, but had to work this evening, so Hannah and I were on our own. After waving bye-bye to Daddy, and blowing kisses as he drove off, we decided to stay outside for a little while to enjoy the beautiful afternoon. (We did the backyard grilling thing yesterday since everyone was here.) Hannah had a great time running around the front yard, and watching a few early (although probably illegal) fireworks, and I got some adorable pictures! (Check out our photo album if you want to see more.)

Independence Day is one of those holidays that sort of comes and goes in my life without much fanfare. When I was little we used to go to the local parade and fireworks display, but as I got older I spend the 4th at camp, or in Texas visiting my husband’s family. It just sort of got lost. Now, I’m not un-American, but I’ve never been super-patriotic either. But, this afternoon as I was watching Hannah run around the yard, I began thinking about how thankful I was for our country — how thankful I was that Hannah was born here. Sometimes I think we take for granted the freedoms that God has blessed us with here in America. Just take a minute to think about some of the things that go on in other places in the world where Christians are persecuted, people live in daily fear of car bombs and terror attacks, babies are killed or abandoned because they are the wrong gender, children are orphaned and going hungry, people are enduring the aftermath of civil war and government corruption…. Sure, our country isn’t perfect, but, doesn’t that give you some perspective? We have so much to be thankful for.

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On a different note, today is also Hannah’s 15-month “birthday”. So, in honor of that milestone, here is peek into her little life:

• She has 8 teeth, and is working on about 4 more (ouch!)
• As far as food goes, her current favorites include cheese, bananas, blueberries, oranges, crackers, peas, ‘nilla wafers, milk, apple juice, water, lemonade (especially if its Grandpa’s!), and oatmeal.
• She strongly dislikes orange vegetables…meaning carrots, which oddly enough were on the favorites list just last week.
• She knows how to use a fork and spoon with amazing dexterity, but insists on eating her morning oatmeal with her hands…I’ve taken to stripping her down to her diaper, and then giving her a bath immediately following!
• She likes bathtime, but does not like getting her hair washed. As soon as the first cupful of water hits her head, she grabs on to the nearest parent, attempts to climb out of the tub, soaking said parent in the process.
• She loves to dance…espeically to the “Gilmore Girls” theme song (”Where You Lead” by Carole King), and will squeal, immediately drop whatever she is doing, and begin swaying from side to side as soon as the music begins!
• She loves “back and forth” (translation: sitting in the rocking chair and going…back and forth!), and now thinks that every chair is, or at least should, do the same.
• Her vocabulary has expanded, and continues to amaze us. She’s added several words, and phrases, to the 20+ words that we had counted at 12 months: airplane, outside, bird, ouchie, cookie, cracker, oatmeal, beautiful, “back and forth”, “I like”, yuck, up, down, please, thanks, yes, no-no (that is usually in reference to things that she is not allowed to touch or do, not usually in response to something we ask of her). She is able to point out several animals, and loves to tell us what sounds they make. So far her repertoire includes duck, quack, cow, moo, kitty, meow, dog, woof, sheep, baa, and bunny – for this one she puts her finger on (or sometimes in) her nose and wiggles it. She can also do the motions to the song “The Itsy Bitsy Spider”, and has learned the signs for Jesus, love and beautiful. And, she now folds her hands and bows her head with us to pray before meals…Of course, the prayer isn’t officially over until she declares “Amen!”
• Maybe this should go under vocabulary achievements, but I’m thinking it’s more of an indicator of things to come. She now will come to me and say “I poop.” The first few times she did this I kind of laughed and brushed it off, because I figured she was just mimicking what I would ask her when I was changing her diapers. Of course, the answer was obvious. But, fairly quickly the smell gave her away, and I’ve discovered that 9 times out of 10 she is absolutely right!! What about that one time she’s wrong? Well, she’s not…I’m now convinced that she knows it’s coming! Because, no sooner do I get her (wet, but not dirty) diaper changed, it’s time to do it again! So, my question is this, does this mean I have to start searching the stores for XXS Pull-Ups? She’s still in a size 4 diaper…she could probably still fit into a size 3 – the size 4 tabs overlap quite a bit around her tiny waist, but because she is so long the 4’s…um, shall we say “contain everything” much better! Potty-training already? I thought I had more time!

Hannah has her 15-month check up on July 13th…Although that will be more like 15 and 1/2 months. So, for those interested, I’ll have all the updated stats – height,weight, percentiles – then. I can’t believe it’s been 15 months! She’s growing up in to a wonderful little girl. It is amazing to me to list out her “milestones” and see just how far she’s come in just over a year. Isn’t our God amazing?! He is the one who gave her the ability to learn, and understand, and communicate. I am still humbled at the incredible privilege it is to be her mom, and pray each day that the Lord would give us wisdom as we raise her.

Just because I can’t resist, here is one more picture of our cutie!