Exciting Week

So it has been an eventful week at the Casey household. First of all, we have suspected that Hannah has been teething for quite some time now, but nothing was showing yet. I mentioned it to Hannah's babysitter and she pointed out that she could see/feel four teeth coming on the top. The next day, we were talking and checking Hannah's mouth and it is actually six teeth at the top! Today one is finally starting to break the skin so hopefully some more will follow and Hannah will be a tad bit happier. Crazy that she is about to go from having two teeth to eight!

The other excitement this week is that we are really close to having a full time walker around here! Up until this week, Hannah has not done a lot of steps with out holding on to us or her push-walker. Thursday night, Hannah and I took Daddy some dinner at the wrestling match. Before we left, she was doing 2-3 steps back and forth between us. She was really starting to gain her balance. On Friday night, Hannah became a little more stable and walked between my mom and I taking about 7-8 steps. Sometimes she didn't even need help to start. Today, we practiced some more and Hannah got up to almost 20 steps! I don't think it will be long before she takes off running! Here is one of the videos of Hannah perfecting her walking.

It's Party Time!

Today was Hannah's first birthday party! We kept things low key and had a lot of family make the trip to help us celebrate. I decided to use cupcakes as our theme and it was a lot of fun! I found invitations, plates and even cupcake thank you cards at our local Hobby Lobby that gave me my inspiration. Then, instead of a big cake, we had lots of cupcakes including a giant one just for Hannah. To continue the theme, I bought a cupcake-shaped cookie cutter for sugar cookies and for jello jigglers. It was so much fun! I was even convinced to try my hand at home made icing and decorating which I had tons of fun doing! It was so nice for many of our family to come and help us celebrate. Many helped with food which made for a fabulous meal. There were a few kids there who all had fun playing with toys and helping Hannah unwrap her gifts. Hannah dove into her cake in 1-year old style and had a ball. It was a fabulous day that we will always remember! Family shot before the party started. The table of goodies -- it was fun making the cookies, cupcakes and Hannah's giant cupcake! Hannah enjoyed opening her presents!Hannah wanted to play with her presents as soon as she opened them! She got tons of fun new toys to play with!

Hannah already likes her wagon we got her for her birthday. I can't wait for spring so we can try it out!
Hannah getting ready to blow out her candle of her own, personal giant cupcake.
This is pretty good stuff -- I like playing with it and eating it!

Happy 1st Birthday Hannah!

Well, today my baby turns one. I am amazed at how just in the last few days, Hannah is looking more like a little toddler than a baby. I know one day I will blink and my baby will be completely gone and a toddle will be looking back at me. One thing that is keeping Hannah as a baby is that she isn't walking yet. She loves to cruise around the furniture and has mastered pulling up on anything and everything, but the steps aren't there yet. Everyone says I should be thankful -- I know it won't be long! She continues to babble up a storm and sometimes real words are starting to come out. For instance, she signs "all done" everytime we are finished with a meal. Every now and then, I'll hear "aa duh" as she signs it. She also loves her daddy very much and is always saying "dadadada." She loves going to the sitter's in the afternoon while both Tim and I are at work and is interacting with the kids more and more. I love picking her up because as soon as she sees me, she starts smiling/laughing and crawls as quickly as possible over to me -- it is so sweet! Although she is still small (somewhere around 18 lbs -- check up a the end of the month) she stuffs her face at every meal and loves to eat! Her personality is really starting to come through. When she gets mad, she sits down and squeezes her eyes tight so she can force out one little tear -- it's those moments that she turns into our little drama queen. Even with those moments, she continues to be a happy, go-lucky baby. We are blessed beyond immagination at our baby girl and can not wait to see what this next year holds for her! Happy Birthday, Hannah -- we love you very much!

Christmas with the Casey's

Christmas was so much fun this year! It was fun to think back to last Christmas -- I was very pregnant but still thought I had over four weeks until Hannah came. Then just five short days later, she was here. What a difference a year makes...

Like many family's, we did Christmas in shifts this year so it extended for over a week. Before Christmas, my dad came over and ate with him and exchanged a few gifts. It was Hannah's first taste of opening presents.

We spent Christmas Eve at our own home, just the three of us! Neither of us have ever been at our own "home" on Christmas Eve and it was fabulous! After church, we put Hannah to bed and just hung out. Tim and I watched a movie and worked on a puzzle and relaxed. It was so wondeful! The next morning, Hannah opened her presents from us and Santa and we had a relaxing day at home, just the three of us. I could really get use to that! That evening, my mom came over for dinner and we again opened presents. It was one of the best Christmas's ever!

Hannah's gifts from us and Santa -- she loves her new kitchen!
Family Photo Op - Christmas 09

A few days later, Ken, Delaine, Kyle and Nikki made their way to STL and we yet again did Christmas. By this point, Hannah was an old pro at opening and playing with her gifts. It was so much fun watching Hannah interact with all of our family and enjoying this holiday.Throughout all the food, gifts, and family, we also remember the true reason for Christmas. God has blessed us immensly this year and we thank Him daily for these blessings. We can not wait to see what is in store for the Casey's in the coming year!

Family Get-a-way

Without going into too much detail, it is easy to say that this fall has been quite challenging on our family. While the situation is really out of our (Tim and I's) control, the last few months have been quite taxing on us. I don't think I realized how much until we got back to school after Thanksgiving break. I think I probably could have skipped the last three weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas break and been just fine! It didn't take too long into this three week stretch that I realized our nuculear family needed to get away! I asked Tim about trying to get away for a few days as soon as break started and he agreed whole-heartedly. When we started talking about where to go, we both were thinking about Indianapolis! We have never been there before and we knew it wasn't a very long drive. So, this past Saturday we loaded up the car and headed to Indy. Thanks to Tim's mom, we were able to stay at the Residence Inn right downtown and just enjoy each other and some well deserved family time with Hannah. We didn't really have a plan or schedule, so we just took in the sights. We pretty much stayed downtown going to the mall, the Indiana State Museum (where Santa and Mrs. Claus were visiting) and eating at a few different places. We also just enjoyed some downtime at our hotel. I've never really been anywhere before Christmas, so it was nice to enjoy some Christmas decor somewhere else besides St. Louis This is the beautiful huge tree at Monument Cirlce in the center of Indy. Each street off of the circle was lined with lighted trees - it was so awesome!Hannah's first visit with Santa! Although she looks a little dazed in this picture (this is usually nap time), she did great with Santa. It was a fun first experience!
Our attempt at a family picture -- at least we captured the moment of our family time!

We're almost there!

Hannah is eleven months old today. In four short weeks, we will be celebrating Hannah's first birthday. It continues to amaze me how much she grows and learns each day and how much fun it is to be around her. Hannah continues to be a happy baby who loves to play and laugh. She still only has two teeth, but it seems like she is working on more all the time. She pulls up on anything and everything she can, and is working on standing alone for a few seconds at a time. She continues to love to clap and also can do "high-five," "sooo big" (as demonstrated in the picture) and has started a little bit of "bye-bye." She still babbles a lot and her favorite thing to say is "Dada." The other night we were in the car waiting for the basketball game to be over and Hannah stood against the window and was saying "Dada" over and over again. It was pretty cute! Hannah also loves to eat! She eats all table food and shovels it in like it's going out of style! You may never guess it because she is still quite petite, but she doesn't miss too many meals. She absolutely loved Thanksgiving and all the yummy things to eat! It's the time of year that seems to go by quickly, and before I know it, Hannah will be one! In the mean time, I am excited to take some time to spend as a family and enjoy Hannah's first Christmas season. Thanks for an amazing eleven months, Hannah! We can't wait to see what is next!

My Little Pony

No, not that kind of pony - my first pony tail (sorta)! Hannah's hair is finally long enough to be put up with a rubber band. I thought she looked pretty cute tonight and wanted to share this pic!