This weekend Jason, Hannah and I went to Saturday morning services.  We are trying to decide which temple we want to join, so we me with the rabbi at Emanu-El.  After services Hannah took a 2 1/2 hour nap before we headed to Vulcan Park.  It was a beautiful, sunny 76%, so we walked around and let Hannah run around in the grass.  Afterwards we enjoyed lunch on the patio at Jackson's.  That night we went to Parker's birthday party (Harriet's dog).  Hannah had so much fun playing with the dogs, John Paul (Harriet's nephew), and being passed around by all of the adults.  I think that there was actually an hour long period when I didn't even see her.  This is a HUGE change/improvement from Mara & Phillip's wedding.  Thank goodness!  On Sunday we spent the day cleaning and cooking for our early evening company.  The Joyner family came over to play and have dinner.  We had fun sharing our toys and our home.  You could just tell that Hannah loved Delia.  She followed her around and copied her every move.  We can't wait to hang out with them again!

Last night on my trip to buy milk I decided I was going to try and find new foods for Hannah to try.  I am getting so bored with mixed vegetables and mandarin oranges, so I know Hannah must be!  We tried chick'n tenders and string cheese last night.  Hannah really likes anything she can hold herself and bite into, so these two choices were perfect.  Below are several pictures from the weekend!

We tried two new foods last night, string cheese and "chick'n" tenders (vegetarian chicken nuggets).  Both were a hit!
Umm.. this looks yummy!

Hannah has now taught herself to drink from a sports top bottle.
Hannah loves Rupert!
My table set for company.  Hmm... I wish I had nicer chairs!
The peanut butter kiss cookies that seemed to be the hit of the meal!
Hannah's new favorite parking spot.


If only her eyes were open!
Hannah and Jason playing at Vulcan Park.
Hannah and I enjoying the view from the bottom of Vulcan.  Well, at least one of us is enjoying it!

Kiss me, I'm Irish!

Or part Irish at least!  Hannah wore green for St. Patty's Day today.  She has not yet learned how to sit still or pose for pictures, so this is the best one I could get.

This past weekend my parents (Nana and Papa) and Robert and Buster (the dog) came to visit.  It was a last minute trip, but much welcomed and a nice surprise.  Friday night we cooked dinner and just played with Hannah.  Saturday Jason and Robert went to play golf with Bryan, so the rest of us went shopping in Homewood.  It was raining all day, so we headed home after lunch.  Jason and Robert were back so we relaxed for a little while before a marathon trip to Whole Foods.  If you have ever been grocery shopping with my dad you can understand what this means.  There are no quick trips to the store.  We shop every aisle and come out with a lot more than we went for.  Whole Foods didn't have all that we were looking for, so we went to Publix, too.  For dinner we went to the Fish Market.  It is a seafood restaurant where you stand in line to place your order and then they call you when your food is ready.  Hannah was having so much fun.  When Robert went up to get our food she stood up in her high chair and kept yelling "hey" to him.  She thought it was so funny.  After dinner we went for ice cream, and then took our sleepy baby home.  It was a short trip, but we were so glad they came to visit!

Hannah's newest trick is that she wants to spoon feed herself.  If you give her the spoon she dips it into the food.  If you don't give it to her she grabs it from you and very forcefully pulls it away from you.  She wants to do it herself!!!

Chili, Squeakers and Happy Purim!

This weekend was a busy one!  Friday night I surprised Jason with a Radio Flyer ATW wagon.  Of course, it is for Hannah, but I think he was more excited about it.  I thought it would be the perfect mode of transportation for our busy Saturday, but we decided we needed to test it out with Hannah before going in public.  On Saturday Hannah slept until 8:45!  It was unbelievable.  Jason and I were able to clean the kitchen, start laundry, take care of the dogs, and get breakfast ready all before Hannah woke up (yes, I did check to see if she was breathing at about 7:45).  We had breakfast and then got dressed to go to Homewood.

First stop was Sikes Children's Shoes.  Hannah has outgrown the pair of white mary-jane keds that we got in January (size 4).  I was actually excited because I thought now she would finally fit into white leather shoes.  I'm not kidding when I say that we tried on 12 pairs of shoes!  For a 1 year old!  She apparently has "soapbar" feet, which mean they are shaped like a soap bar, rectangular and thick.  So nothing would fit her!  We settled on a pair of white leather Mary-Jane's (size 5) that have a few little flowers on them (I was not happy about this part).  However, the real kicker is that the only shoes that would fit her are the ones that squeak when she walks!  She thought they were hilarious; everyone else thought they were annoying, but we left the squeakers (they can be removed) in for the whole day because she was so amused.  See video below.  She walked around in circles all day just to hear herself squeak!

After Sikes we headed to Homewood Park for the Exceptional Foundation Chili Cook-off.  It could not have been a more perfect day for an outdoor event.  The sun was shining and there was a nice breeze.  I am a terrible mom, though, I forgot sunscreen and Hannah got a little tan!  There were probably 100 different booths all serving up their version of the best chili around.  I tasted about 5 different ones before I burnt my mouth on some chili that was not even spicy hot, but too temperature hot.  Jason, as evidenced by the stains on his shirt, tasted more chili than I did, and I think his favorite was the booth who gave us beer.  As promised, we did vote for them as People's choice.  After tasting we headed inside to get some beer from Good People Brewing Company.  My pale ale was not so pale, so I gave it to Jason and he downed that along with a brown ale and a coffee oatmeal stout (sounds yuck to me!).  We watched the band play for a little while and Hannah was just mesmerized (see picture below).  She wouldn't dance, but she didn't want to move away from them!  The ice cream man was there so I got a bomb pop (the red, white and blue rocket popsicle) thinking that Hannah would like it, but she wanted nothing to do with it.  So, we just watched her run around the field at the park and listen to herself squeaking!

Because we really didn't eat a meal of chili we headed over to Taziki's for a lunch of greek salads and hummus.  Lately I cannot not get enough greek salads.  I have become somewhat of a connoisseur.  I think I have tried every greek salad in the city and I have to say that the best one is at Pappas' Grill in Vestavia.  Taziki's was not so great, but we needed to stay around that area to meet Gigi for the handoff.  Hannah was spending the night with Gigi and Pops, so we met Gigi after lunch to give her Hannah.  Jason was much better than I was, and he went to workout Saturday afternoon.  I was beat from the sunshine and activity so I laid around and caught up on some DVR.

Saturday evening we attended the second "Babies & Bagels in Birmingham" program.  This is a group of Jewish couples who have babies from 0 - 4 years old.  This was not really a program as much as it was an excuse to drink Margaritas!  They had a buffet dinner for us a Zona Rosa in Liberty Park, and all the margs and Mexican beer you could drink.  We met some really great people, and had a lot of fun having a night out.  After dinner we went down to Billy's at Liberty Park with two other couples.  We stayed to hear the band play one set (mainly because we paid a $7 per person cover charge!  RIDICULOUS for 4 on the Floor) and then Jason told me it was time to go home at midnight.  He was turning into a pumpkin!

Sunday we slept in, thanks to Hannah spending the night out.  I made a fifteenth trip to the Apple store because my computer broke AGAIN, Jason worked out, and then we put together the wagon.  We got it all strapped down in the back of Jason's truck and headed to Trussville to show Hannah her new toy.  Hannah, Jason, Gigi, Pops and I all went to the park.  We pulled Hannah around in her wagon, which she seemed kind of indifferent about, and then we played on the playground.  Hannah didn't really want anything to do with the slides or other playground equipment.  She just wanted to play with the gravel!  It wore her out because she fell asleep on the way home.  She had fun!

Last night was my first time to play in a Bunko group that I was invited to (thanks to Saturday night's event!).  It was great catching up with old friends, meeting new ones, and playing an easy, yet entertaining game!  I didn't win, but it was still a fun time.

Today is Purim, so Hannah went to school in a costume.  It was kind of a last minute decision, so Hannah went as a ballerina.  The pictures are from my cell phone, so they are not great, but you get the idea.  She's a cutie!

Biggest Loser Update

As you may or may not know, Jason and I are participating in "The Biggest Loser" competition at the JCC.  There are two teams of five, and one Touchton on each team.  I am on the 5:30 am team, and Jason is on the 5:30 pm team.  We are currently in week 4, and we have both lost weight.  Jason has been the biggest loser overall in 2 out of 3 weigh-ins!  The one he didn't win was post cruise, and we just won't talk about that one.  He really is doing great.  He works out at least 6 days a week, which is more than me, and he really is enjoying it.  The program only lasts 8 weeks, but hopefully we will both make it a habit to eat right and exercise often!

Wordle

I found this fun website that jumbles random words into a cool shape.  They can take words off of your website, or you can type in exactly what words you want them to use (very cute idea for a "Save the date" if anyone is getting married anytime soon!).  You can choose from several fonts and colors, and the more you have a word listed the larger it will appear.  The website is www.wordle.net.  Above is my creation!

Hannah IS A GIRL!

Ok, so I thought this problem would have gone away once Hannah's hair grew back, but apparently she still looks like her gender is questionable!  At Brookwood Mall on Saturday a lady sharing the elevator with us asked us, "how old is he?"  You can see she was wearing lime green with polka dots, ruffles, and pink shoes.  Do you know anyone who dresses their boy like that?  And, I may be biased, but she is way too pretty to be a boy!  You can also see her getting her first taste of lollipop!  She was a little more interested in playing with it than licking it, but she figured it out pretty quickly!  FYI, we do not plan to make giving her candy a habit, but this helped out when she was losing patience in the bra department of Belk's!

Snow on March 1st!

As all of you know (because you were/are probably victims of it, too), Birmingham had a huge snowstorm yesterday!  It began snowing sometime after midnight- I know this because Jason got up at this time to have a midnight "snack" and it was not snowing then- and it didn't stop until sometime between 2-3pm.  We think we got about 3 - 4 inches, but I'm no meteorologist, so you be the judge!

Hannah had more fun playing inside than outside in the snow!  I thought it was neat to have the snow in the background, though!

A snowflake fell right as I was taking a picture, but you can still tell that Hannah does NOT like being left sitting in the snow!

I guess it is a good thing I've never actually put a plant on my plant stand! (see below)

Does our house have more curb appeal with snow in the yard?  Unfortunately, I don't think so!

Below you can see how high the snow came up off of the curb in our yard.  3, 4 inches?

Below you can see two cars parked on the street.  They are parked there because they tried to drive up the hill but they slid right back down!

This is why people who live in places that it snows all the time have mudrooms!