16 Months

Wow, the time keeps flying buy. Hannah Claire is doing new things daily and saying new stuff constantly. She brings so much joy to our lives. It really is amazing how much you can love someone. Here are some of HC's favorite things:

*She loves to sweep the floors.

*Petting the dogs (and she is pretty good at it, petting sweetly that is)

*Pushing her baby stroller

*Reading books, any book, it doesn't matter which one

*Showing out and entertaining those around her

*Waving

*Blowing kisses

*Words: "Uh-Oh", "bye-bye", "ty" (tide), "baa" (Bama), and many more but these are the biggies for now

*HC will whisper "Da" and then we practice yelling "Da" when we are getting ready for bed. She thinks it is hilarious.

*She is extremely loving these days. She loves to give kisses. I love it!!!

*She is still a huge cut-up, at every chance she is laughing or trying to make someone else laugh (wonder where she gets that?)

Our sweet girl for her red chair pictures:

Being silly with Daddy:

She had just head butted me. It hurt so bad, but HC thought it was hysterical. She is really one tough cookie.

She gave me kisses to make it better:

One of her favorite things to do is ride Roscoe. She even rides side-saddle sometimes, very talented!

Kickoff Classic

You can smell it in the air. That's right, the best time of the year. It's finally here...football season! As you probably know, we love this time of year. Shane and I headed to Atlanta for the Chick-fil-A Kickoff Classic between the Hokies of Virginia Tech and The Alabama Crimson Tide. We made a day trip of it so Hannah Claire went to Nana's. We did get some pictures before we left. Our little cheerleader was dressed and ready.

Shane and I were roughing it when we got to Atlanta. We are so spoiled tailgating with Nana & Pappy in the motorhome. We did enjoy ourselves though and took a few pictures of fancy tailgate. Keep in mind it was raining.

After our fancy lunch we met up with some friends before the game. Although we were surrounded by three alcoholics that didn't get along, we had tons of fun. After a very exciting game we are pumped about this season. Roll Tide!!!

What We See Daily

There are lots of things we get to see each day. Here a few of them.

Silly girl riding Roscoe:

Walking around, with her hands behind her back, wondering what to get into next:

Someone throwing a fit because she didn't get something she wanted (in this case to go into our room). Completely devastating!

Playing with her fridge magnets from Aunt Lorie. This usually consists of Shane or me putting them on the fridge and HC raking them all off onto the floor where they stay until after a certain fiesty little girl goes to bed.

Now I realize this may not be the best thing for a 16 month old to do but it is so stinken funny we can't help but to laugh when she does it. If we can get video of this it will go on here. She will shake her finger and jabber away. It started with the dogs but now she does it to almost anything, especially things that she is not suppose to touch. I will tell her no and she will shake her finger at it and tell it something. Hilarious!!!

Small Group Lake Party

This summer we had the so much fun with our small group. The small group semester was focused on a service project for our city. Ron, our fearless leader, was great at organizing the project at Cornerstone Elementary School. It was so awesome to get to be a part of the work that went on in Woodlawn on that day. I have to say our group went over and above the call. We worked from 6:30 that morning until around 7 that night. Some of the folks went back several nights to finish up the projects too. It is so funny, you set out to bless someone else and throughout the process you end up blessed yourself.

Our group grew very close throughout the summer. One of the couples invited us to their lake house to celebrate the end of the semester. It poured on us as we drove out to Smith Lake. We ate and hung out for a while. Then we decided a little rain wouldn't ruin our trip. So we suited up and headed to the water.

The Rutlands:

Mommy & HC (she loved it by the way!)

HC & her buddy Addie in their matching life jackets.

We did some tubing too. I rode with Colby, the teenage son of one of the couples. Wayne took it easy on me though and didn't throw us off.

Thanks to the Cornelius family for showing us such a fun day on the lake.

Silly Girl

Everyday around here is so much fun. Hannah Claire has the best little personality. She is always so happy. There is not really a story with any of these pictures but I loved them. You can see her two bottom teeth. Just last week I was looking in her mouth because her top two have been on the verge of busting through. Finally one on the top came through but I also noticed that we have two molars on the top already out. What?!? Where did they come from? Anyways enjoy the super cute pictures.

This one makes me a little sad. She looks like a little girl and not my baby. Slow down please HC!!!

She spotted some preseason NFL and laid back to enjoy. Does this remind you of anyone?

Our Morning Routine

Mornings are usually lots of fun around our house.  Between pancakes and dancing to Rick & Bubba intro music we have lots of fun.  Hannah Claire has recently taken to getting ready with Mommy.  She likes to sit in my lap and put on makeup.  She is good with the cotton ball for cleaning her face.  She also puts her finger over the hole where the lotion comes out and then rubs it on her head.  Probably her favorite is the blush brush.  We may have a priss on our hands.   

"Duck"

Bath time is always so much fun.  We also try to make it a learning experience.  Well, we have made some headway.  You can listen and hear for yourself.

Maybe everything is "duck" but at least it's a start!