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ROLL TIDE!

Being a Baby is Tough Work

Things have finally started to seem normal to us.  With both of us working and Hannah Claire in school we have a routine going.  I never realized how much I liked routine and order in my life.  We stay pretty busy on the weekends with football on Saturdays and church (and naps) on Sundays.  Here are some new pictures:

As you can see Hannah Claire has a really tough job being so cute.  She lays around like she is the queen of the house.  I guess she really is.  I might have to reclaim my title!

As you can see, Hannah Claire is so overworked when it comes time to eat.  We love this look from her.  She always puts that little hand on her head as she eats.  You may not know this but drinking from a bottle takes tons of energy, or so HC wants us to think:)

We went to dinner and high school football game with our good friends Jon and Karen (who are expecting their first!!!).  We were at a Japanese steak house.  It was really loud and Hannah Claire just slept right through everything.  As you can see she is covering her ear with her hand.  Guess she is annoyed with us for picking such a loud place.

As hard as being a baby is, there are many times of sheer joy.  HC likes hanging out with Mommy and Daddy while we eat dinner.  

Many people don't know that Hannah Claire has an alter ego.  She is SUPER BABY!  She loves to fly through the air.  Here is one of the few pictures you will ever see of SUPER BABY because as we all know superheros must keep their personal lives secret.  We ask that you tell no one of SUPER BABY's real identity:)

Hannah Claire likes to hang out with Mommy during tummy time.  Really it is probably the other way around (Mommy likes to hang with HC because we all know HC hates tummy time).

HC and Daddy spend time watching football together.  We are still so amazed at how much our little girl loves football.  We shouldn't be surprised since we both love it so much.  We try not to let her watch much tv but go ahead and try to break her concentration when football is on.  

We met some good friends for dinner one night and 2 of their 3 girls.  They are such sweet kids.  One of the girls named her new baby doll Hannah Claire.  She even asked us if it would be okay for her to name her doll HC.  It was so sweet and we are so honored.

Bama Baby

Yes it is our favorite time of the year again...Alabama football!  We kicked off the home season with a win against Tulane.  Hannah Claire made her first trip to Tuscaloosa and had a blast.  Here she is hanging out at the tailgate showing off her new stroller and her elephant Nana gave her.

Tailgaiting is so much easier with a motorhome that has air conditioning.  We are so spoiled but it worked great for HC.  We were able to hang out outside and then go in and cool off.  As you can see HC gets plenty of entertainment from the adults around her.  Daddy is so silly!

She also gets some down time to hang out with her bear blanket.

She and Nana have some fun playing before the big game.

We got to the game a little early so we could have some pictures made.  She loved the walk up to the stadium.  She was riding on Mommy & Daddy checking out the crowd.  She is so alert and watched the crowd as we passed by.  Here she is once we arrived at our seats.

Ready for kickoff...

Little Bama Belles get tired from all of the gameday festivities.

After a good powernap we have to focus on the game.  It was closer than we wanted it to be.  You can see the concern on Hannah Claire and Nana's face.

Not to worry.  Bama pulled it out.  We headed back to the motorhome and got ready for the trip home.  HC got her pjs on and got her bottle before bed.  Being the big girl that she is and  getting to go to Bama games, she decided she would hold her own bottle.  Miss independent!  (I have no idea where she gets that :))

Week 17

Week 17 was a big week in our house.  Not only was Shane home for good, but Hannah Claire started to school.  I fully expected to be a basketcase, but I wasn't.  In fact, I didn't even cry.  We really like the school HC is at and the teacher is great!  Plus there are only 4 kids in HC's class and two of them were not there the first week.  HC got lots of attention and she loved it.  I think I was just ready for our family to have some sort of routine.  Now with me working, Shane home and HC in school we could finally start life as we now know it.  We had a great Labor Day just hanging out and spending time with some great friends.   Here are some pictures from last week:

HC loves her playmat.  She really doesn't pay any attention to tv until football comes on.  She then forgets everything else and everyone else and zones in on the tv.  Moments before this picture was taken she was playing with her toys.  Now she is focused on some football game.  She is our child.

Here is HC hanging out with our good friends the Coverts.  We had a cookout with them and the Martins on Labor Day.  It was great because they will be moving very soon and we are sad about it.  Yes, they have on UT orange.  They are huge Tennessee fans and it was game night for them.  We watched the first half of the game with them and then came home.  I'm glad we did after seeing how that game ended.

This was HC and Daddy on the first day of school.  You can see the excitement in her eyes.

HC & Mommy on the first day of school (we didn't take any pictures at school)

These were on Friday morning before school.  As true Alabama fans we all wear some sort of UA or red on the Friday before games.  HC is no different.  

Shane's New Blog

Shane has started a new weekly blog.  Everyone encounters things that annoy them throughout the day, Shane had decided to document some of those things.  Check it out at http://justdontmakesense.blogspot.com

Week 16

This was Shane's last week away from us. We had a good week. I had to work so my aunt, Lorie came to stay with Hannah Claire. HC had so much fun with her. We really are so blessed to have so much family and great friends that love HC and are so willing to help out when we are in need. Thank you to everyone who helped us through this time while Shane was away. Shane and I also celebrated our 4 year anniversary while he was away. It was sad to be apart on such a special day but we did get to spend the weekend together, just the two of us. (Well and thousands of Alabama fans in Atlanta, GA). Shane's parents, Mawmaw and Papa and Aunt Janet stayed with HC while we were gone. (Thanks, especially for making it easier to leave my baby for the first time overnight.) Here are some of the pictures from that week.

My sweet husband sent these beautiful tulips (my favorite!).

Hannah Claire got to try out her exersaucer for the first time. She LOVES it!!!

Aunt Janet brought HC a baby doll. She was amazed by the doll from the beginning. We didn't even get the doll out of the box and she was trying to get hold of it.

Hannah Claire also got to try out her Bumbo for the first time. As you can see she enjoyed her big girl seat.

This is her strawberry outfit. It is so cute but she doesn't much care for the hat. I think mainly because it ties under her chin. Notice we had to use the pacy to get a good picture.

Before Shane left to go back to Indy we were spending some qt together. HC was sitting in her Daddy's lap propped up in boppy. She was laughing and cutting up and then in the same breath leaned over and was asleep. It was hysterical! We had to take a picture.

You can see she had a blast with Aunt Lorie. Silly girls.

I love this picture too. Lorie was talking to HC and look at that face! I would just love to know what she is thinking.

Week 15

These pictures are from a few weeks ago. Shane was in Indy for training but he did get to come home for the weekend. HC and Mommy were very excited to see him. I had to go back to work so Nana came and stayed with Hannah Claire. She had a blast! Here are a few of the pictures:

Hannah Claire hanging with Daddy. She is probably watching football on tv. She doesn't care much for tv unless football is on and then she locks in and it's almost impossible to divert her attention.

She tried on some of Daddy's flip flops. A little big, but maybe she can wear them next year.

Our good friend Sharon kept HC for us one day. Hannah Claire had a blast. She always loves to see her good friend Isabella. Don't they look like BFF's?

I just love this picture. She is such a joy!

HC and her Nana having some fun!