Princess

The shoe fits!

Princess Cinderella, um I mean Princess Hannah Claire.

Cut-up

The coast is clear.

Saddle up!

Loving life!

Good Morning Sunshine

For some reason we have been struggling with our sleep lately. Hannah Claire had been waking up around 3:30 a.m. for about two weeks. This has never been typical and we really didn't know what was wrong. We would attempt putting her down but it didn't always work. So on those occasions we usually brought her to bed with us until wakeup time. She is not the best bed buddy. See for yourself.

May 9, 2010

Sunday May 9th was a very special day at the Miller home. Not only were we celebrating the second birthday of our little angel, we celebrated Mother's day and also the dog's birthday. It was a very special day that could not have been any better. Hannah Claire and Daddy treated me to a yummy lunch after church at Konomi. It was delicious but sadly the fire scared HC. The good part was she wanted Mommy to hold her so I got some good cuddle time in. That is hard to come by these days. I think it was an excuse for her to cuddle because she has never been scared like that before. Sweet girl! I absolutely love being a Mommy, especially to Hannah Claire. It is the most challenging, rewarding job I could have asked for. I am so thankful that God trusted us to raise Hannah Claire! I pray everyday that I can be a great Mom, just like my Mom was. Daddy surprised me with this beautiful bouquet of tulips (my favorite!). They were gorgeous!!!

Hannah Claire had a few presents from Mommy & Daddy to open on her birthday.

Hannah Claire loves bubbles and now she has plenty! For you moms out there, the Avon bubbles are the best. One capful makes an entire tub of bubbles. There is an Avon store in the Galleria so you don't have to find a person who sales it.

Hannah Claire got a Makin Mud Pies table from us for her birthday. We got her some stuff to play with while she is creating her masterpieces. She had other ideas for the strainer.

Mommy & her sweet baby girl!

Daddy & little angel!

As I mentioned, the dogs also have a birthday on May 9th. We have always celebrated Allie's birthday on the 9th. Since Junior was a stray we just decided to celebrate on the same day. Who knew we would have a baby on the 9th too! Two years ago we went out with some leftover strawberry ice cream for the dogs to celebrate. They were acting so weird. Junior would just lay his head in my lap and Allie (who is usually running all around) sat beside me the whole time we were outside. I was having a few contractions & I guess they just had a sense about it. Hannah Claire loves the dogs but it is so hard to get a picture of them together. We worked for it on the 9th. Whoo Hoo! I'm not sure what they were looking at but we got all three in one shot!

Then Hannah Claire shared the love with Junior...

and Allie.

24 Months

Where do I begin? The last 24 months have been absolutely the most amazing of mine & Shane's life. Hannah Claire has brought so much joy to our lives. You hear people say they don't know what they did before kids. We understand now. She keeps us on our toes and we love every second of it! I do believe we have the smartest, sweetest, most beautiful little girl in the world living in our home (I'm not biased at all!). Here are some of Hannah Claire's favorite things :

*Couch time (this is suppose to be Mommy & Daddy's time together while HC plays, but she has somehow made it her time)

*Dinner & bedtime prayers

*Bubbles (outside and bathtub)

*Shoes (hers & Mommy's)

*Doggies (specifically Allie & Junior)

*Friends (Reece, Addie, Haley, Jackson, Preslee, Allie)

*Babydolls

*Chicken, pretzels, sup (of anything Daddy has) & any fruit you give the kid

*Mickey & Minnie, Tigger & Pooh, Elmo & Ernie (we have to sleep in the Ernie diapers, I'm not really sure why but she loves him!!!)

*Singing "bitzy" or Itsy Bitsy Spider, Jesus Loves Me & Sweet Caroline

*Sitting on the potty & talking about it but not actually using it

*Fireworks (HC is obsessed with fireworks. She has talked about them since New Years)

Hannah Claire is so sweet and loving. She has the best little personality and huge sense of humor. She loves to laugh and to make others laugh. She is a huge ham and will grin and show out any chance she gets. We are really blessed that she is such a good girl. She will test us at times but for the most part she obeys most of the time. She loves to be around people (which is a must for this family). We are so thankful that God chose us to be her parents and we pray everyday that we are raising her in a way that is pleasing to Him. Happy 2nd Birthday sweet Hannah Claire!

2 Years Old

Wow, has it already been two years since Hannah Claire joined our family and forever changed us. That would be a resounding yes! The past two years have been absolutely amazing. From the sleepless nights to the "woove you" it just doesn't get much better than being a parent. And being a parent to the sweetest kid ever. We really do have lots of fun together and enjoy spending time together. I pray she will always want to hang out with Mommy & Daddy.

Hannah Claire's actual birthday was on Mother's Day this year so we decided to celebrate on Saturday. For some reason I thought it was be a great idea to decorate cupcakes myself for the big day. Keep in mind I have absolutely no experience at this at all. I asked for advice from my super mom friend Rachel. She did a Curious George cake for her son Noah's first birthday and Elmo for his second birthday. She gave me excellent advice and I gave the cupcakes a trial run the weekend before so I would know if I needed to purchase any. They turned out pretty well (if I do say so myself). HC was fascinated by what I was doing. I look forward to the days we will do stuff like this together.

I did realize that cake decorating will probably never be my career 1) I'm not that good and 2) I have carpal tunnel in my right hand since pregnancy. That really is not great when you are doing the same thing for a couple of hours. It was all worth it for this precious angel!

We had lots of family coming from out of town for the big party. Most of the out of towners showed up early so they could spend some time with the birthday girl. Nana brought a gift that was going to part of the festivities so HC got to open it early.

We also did our Mother's Day celebration for our two moms before the party got started. We are so blessed to have two very loving mothers. We love you both very much!

Along the way HC opened another gift and loves to play with her My Little Pony. (Sidebar: It is so funny to me that all of the things that were so popular when I was little are popular again; Care Bares, Strawberry Shortcake, Cabbage Patch Kids, My Little Pony. I love it!) HC has found a very special home for her My Little Pony. He now lives in our pantry. I'm not sure why but she will play with him and then put him back in the pantry. Hey, whatever works.

We got everything ready and HC wanted to play with one of the balloons. Sadly she lost it outside. She kept a close eye on it though first with Pawpaw John (her great-grandfather).

Then with her Pawpaw. I think this left a mark because this weekend we were at a party and HC held on tightly to her balloon so it wouldn't go anywhere. Our girl learns fast!

The party table.

Has anyone ever told you how hard it is to get a 2 year old to stand still for a picture while there is a whole house full of people there for a party.

We attempted the Birthday Girl Hat again this year. The strings were too short so we just tried to get a picture. It went much better than last year. You can see that here.

HC was focused on the candles.

Nana brought punching balloons. The party goers loved them.

Hannah Claire gets the opening gifts thing but the sweet thing wants to stop and play with each gift. She did proceed to stop, sit and look through the entire book Mawmaw & Pawpaw gave her. Who cares that all these people are here, I want to look at my book.

HC even took time open her cards.

Some Miller loving before the Scottsboro group had to head back north. (Aunt Janet, HC, Mawmaw & Pawpaw)

After the gifts were opened a few of the kids played in the splash pad Nana had gotten HC. It was a huge hit!

Head first and still fun! Aunt Lorie was worried but HC was not worried at all.

Hannah Claire and her good buddy Addie having fun in the sun!

She would dive in or jump in and splash.

It was not super warm that day and the water was cold. HC got out and did her shiver dance.

I just love this picture. How often do you get a 2,3 & 4 year old stop and smile for a picture.

The Florence group was getting ready to head out so we got a quick group shot. (Aunt Lorie, Pawpaw John, Granny Sue, HC, Nana & Mommy)

Thank you to everyone who made Hannah Claire's second birthday so very special.

You Go Big Girl!

On Saturday, April 17th Hannah Claire and I hung out at the house while Daddy went to Tuscaloosa for A-Day. After a very long nap I asked HC if she needed to go pee-pee in the potty. She said yes, so we gave it a whirl. She always wants to get some toilet paper and I tell her only when she goes tee-tee in the potty. She sat on the potty for a few minutes and then asked for some t.p. again. I peeked in the bowl & guess what I found. That's right! Tee-Tee!!! We saved it and showed Daddy since he was almost home.

Modest

Very proud of herself!

(Sorry for the picture of HC's handy work but the blog is how we document life so you get the good, the bad and the tee-tee.)

I let her run around without clothes because that is the ultimate reward for her. I was hoping it would motivate her to do this all the time. Well, she went tee-tee again on Monday morning and the poo-poo that night. She was a little sad the next morning when she went looking in her potty and nothing was there. I guess she thought I would leave it to admire. I think that the number 2 experience may have scared her a little because she has had zero interest in the potty since. Daddy did talk her into trying again this past Thursday morning. She went poo-poo but on the floor in the bathroom. It was right beside the potty so we are working on it. Hopefully we can start making some serious progress soon!