Dear Nathan and Hannah,
Your baby sister is now almost 22 weeks old. She is now the size of a least weasel or a baseball hat. I'm starting to feel her move more and my belly is now the size of a standard balloon. We just had a prenatal visit and everything is going well. Her heartbeat is strong and this week I've been feeling her move a lot more. I've been feeling a bit tired, needing to take naps sometimes in the afternoon, but for the most part, I'm still able to function fully.
Hannah you are pretty much convinced that you have a baby in your belly too! Your belly is pretty big (especially after meals), but I can assure you, there is no baby in there.
On Wednesday, the school had a special mother's day tea. I got to visit with you two at school, receive amazing gifts that you had made for me and share some snacks.
There was a lot of love in that room. You could feel the excitement, warmth and energy as soon as the kids walked in. When I left, I felt a little bit lonely. It was such a great reminder of how much love and energy you two bring into the house.
On Thursday we met up with a few friends and went to the nature center. This was a neat visit because for Hannah, it was the first time that you actually realized that we were digging up dinosaur fossils. You were so excited as you brushed the sand away, revealing the bone underneath.
And then we went on a walk around the lake. You all wanted to look for frogs because there were so many lilly pads on the lake.
Some days it's so nice to just sit back and watch you two play independently. I think back to just 2 years ago and am amazed by what both of you have learned to do.
Hannah, you love drawing, playing with play-doh, playing pretend mommy, and taking things apart (aka: destroying things).
Nathan, you are really into building lego sets and playing with your transformers. Both of those activities will occupy you for a long time. But out of everything, you probably enjoy playing games on my kindle. We really have to limit your screen time because it's so easy to lose track of how much time you are spending on the screen, especially when I'm busy with something else. So now we set timers for 30 minutes most days of the week during quiet time while Hannah is sleeping.
We still love going to Costco and seeking out the samples. Some days we are lucky and will be able to score 5-6 samples. You two are very good at indicating how delicious the sample is...especially Hannah.
On Saturday, we had a super busy day. We packed into the car after breakfast and headed out to Camp Mabry for their annual touch-a-truck event.
There were lots of things for kids to do. Hannah didn't quite like the giant slide.
And we all know who got really excited to take a picture with Mater.
And there were more than enough trucks and engines for you guys to climb into and honk horns.
HEB gave out free popsicles and that was a nice treat to cool us down from being under the hot sun.
Afterwards, we drove downtown to an event sponsored by facebook. I am part of Austin Mom's Network, a facebook group started by my incredible friend to build a network of support for Austin moms. There was free food from food trucks that I've always wanted to try (because someone in the family does not like food trucks),
fun activities for you guys to participate in,
including really neat and creative crafts.
After 2 hours at the event, we were all exhausted and ready to head home. It was quite the day. We made lots of memories and spent lots of great family time together.
Mother's day Sunday was a pretty typical day. Church, lunch out, Chinese school, but I couldn't help but take a picture of what we call the "baby mosh pit" at our church service. It's become a tradition that during the last song, all the kids flock up to the front to twirl, dance and rejoice. It's really the cutest thing ever (this picture hardly does it justice)
I think as far as siblings go, you two really play well together. Hannah still follows Nathan's directions for the most part and Nathan doesn't think Hannah is too annoying. Nathan, you definitely are proud to be the big brother because whenever I phrase things that I would like you to do as "Why don't you show Hannah how to..." your chest puffs up just the tiniest bit and you call to Hannah so sweetly, "Hannah, let me show you how to..."
For example, you two wanted to plant carrots in the planters that you guys built last weekend.
And then you help each other spin dry the kale for kale chips while I prep dinner.
And this morning, we stumbled on this happening. Hannah was actually helping you out by looking for the pieces that you need to build your Lego set. I had to pinch myself to make sure I wasn't dreaming.
Hannah you are a creature of habit. I am pretty much shocked to find that everyday after we come home from being out somewhere, the first thing you do is you take off your shoes and you put them in your cubby. Since you have started to do this, Nathan has also followed suit. Now I just need to work on putting my shoes away when we come home.
Hannah, you've also got the skill of summarizing down. For example today you and Nathan were both finishing up lunch out on the patio as I was cleaning up the kitchen after lunch. I overheard Nathan ask you to relay a message to me. You pitter patter in and ask if I could go outside and show Nathan my yellow nail polish on my toes. I told you that I was busy cleaning and that you guys could come in and see them when you were finished with lunch. You ran back out. I hear Nathan ask you, "What did she say?" I was expecting you to reply with what I had told you, but instead, you just said, "She said, No." Short and sweet.
Another thing happened this week. You two both decided to open the front door to check the weather outside. Teddy peeks out and sees a neighbor, so he darts out to greet them. I scolded you two with, "You two let Teddy escape!" as I rushed out to retrieve him. After capturing him I come home and I find you both sitting out in the time out area. Both of you looked a bit sad and sincerely apologized for letting Teddy escape. I quickly gave you both hugs and told you both that I forgave you. How could I stay mad at you two when you do something like this?
As Hannah emerges out of the terrible two phase I'm starting to really enjoy and cherish motherhood more than I have ever enjoyed it before. I look forward to see how your personalities play out as you go through this life journey. I love you both.
Love,
Mommy
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