We've UPGRADED!

It's that time! The little lady has officially started her solids! It's kinda crazy and weird that we are at this point in our lives now. It's seems like just yesterday we were bringing her home from the hospital and now she's sitting up, has two teeth and eating human food! Time flies!

 

How can you not love that face!

Hannah Lately...

Our little busy body has been quite the character lately. She's now 5 months and one week old and she's grown so much! She giggles all the time, rolls over, LOVES her bouncy spaceship, loves to touch faces, gives loves, and has recently started sitting up for a few seconds at a time. She's a champ at sitting if I'm behind her. She has two teeth and slobbers ALL OVER THE PLACE! She loves grandma and grandpa Bowman's little dog Marty. She can watch him for minutes on end and giggle with delight. It's so cute! I just can't believe how much she's grown the past few months/weeks. here's some pictures of Hannah and such:

Bath time!

Lady bug toes. She kept trying to eat her toes because of the googly eyes!

LOVES looking up at the ceiling fans. Sean caught this picture. I think it describes her delight perfectly.

Many a mornings I wake up and find little Hannah like this giggling. She thinks it's the funniest thing to have her blanket up over her mouth.

"No I said!" hehe... this was one of my first phrases when I was a little girl

Hannah has now decided to suck on her top lip instead of her bottom lip. Daddy was copying and it made me laugh. Twinners!

Little Bunny toes. Grandma Bowman gave Hannah these cute little bunny slippers and they finally fit!

Memories of Mom

When I was a little girl I remember vividly coming home from school and smelling the yumminess of fresh baked cookies as I was walked throught the front door. My siblings and I would fight over the cookies and even though they were still hot we would scarf them down as fast as we could until our tummy's ached... and then eat some more. They were SOOOOO good!

One of my fondest memories of my mom is this said memory. Mom would usually have something baking for us when we got home from school at least once a week. I loved it. Whether it was chocolate chip cookies, cinnamon rolls, some sort of cake, or her famous orange cookies, she always had a special treat for us. We were so loved :)

Sundays were my favorite. When we finished dinner and the kitchen was clean, we would want to dirty the kitchen up again. My mom would sometimes save some extra dough from the dinner rolls and we would make scones, or she would make caramel corn, or another sort of cookie. This said cookie was my favorite! Little did I know it was the easiest one to make as well. We grew up calling them Dog Poop Cookies. Other names for them are DP Cookies, Gorilla Poop Cookies, Drop Cookies of GP Cookies (I'm sure there are more names for them out there.)

For a while now I've been wanting to make these cookies but couldn't find the recipe. I finally called Mom and she gave it to me. Such an easy recipe!
2 C. Sugar                   1/4 tsp Salt
2 tbsp Butter                1/2 tsp Vanilla
2 tbsp Cocoa                3/4 C. Peanut Butter
1/2 C. Milk                 2 C. Oatmeal

Mix first 4 ingredients together in a saucer and bring to a boil. Take off heat. Add the next 3 ingredients and mix well. Add the oatmeal and mix again. Drop into spoonfuls on wax paper. Cool. Enjoy.

Literally takes 10 min if not less!

 

 

My siblings and I would fight over who got to lick the saucer. We could never wait for the cookies to cool either. We usually would end up burning our mouths and would still go back for more.

My only wish is that I can be the same way my Mom was with me. I hope to carry on these traditions and have yummy goodness waiting for my children when they come home from school. Such great memories and such great warmth. Oh the joys!

 

The Uncut Version of Me

I've had this post in the works for about 3 months now. It's been a hard post to put up. Since having a daughter I've felt the need to get this out there.

For the past 20 some odd years I've had this notion in my mind that I'm not thin enough, pretty enough, happy enough, in fashion, my house isn't clean enough, and I wonder what people think about me. It's always the "is it enough" that gets to me. It's taken me this long to finally "take my gloves off" and realize all is well.

When I was younger I wouldn't leave my house without having showered, my hair fixed, and make up on my face. I'd have to have everything perfect. I always felt the need to be in control of everything. There were times in my life I would go running morning and night just to make sure I didn't gain that extra pound and hope that I'd lose that extra pound. When I got to college it got worse. I had to have a perfect apartment that was spotless and always went to the gym whether is was 4 in the morning or midnight for fear I'd gain weight.

I've brain washed myself into thinking I was never good enough. Being a mother to a beautiful daughter who is full of life, love, laughter, and hope I don't want her being raised this way. I don't want her to think that she's not thin enough, happy enough, clean enough, or what people think of her. I don't want this to even enter her mind. I want her to know that I love her more than anything. I want her to know that it doesn't matter how much she weighs, what she look like, if she is in fashion or not, if the house is spotless, or what people think of her. What matters is that I love her, her Daddy loves her, and her Heavenly Father loves her. We will always be there for her no matter what. I'm making a promise to her to never lie to her, to never keep her in the dark, and never ever hurt her. Our little family will grow throughout the years and life will be more chaotic but I want her to know that  will love her fiercely, I will always trust her, and I will do everything in my power to keep her safe and to raise her with a deep love of the gospel. I'm posting everything about me that I can think of. I want her to know that it's ok to be who she is no matter what.

This is who I am:
-I weight 155 lbs.
-I'm 5'10 and 3/4 but I say I'm 5'11 because I've always wanted to be 6'0 so 5'11 is closer.
-I love deeply.
-I have a temper.
-I don't function well on little sleep.
-I am every emotional and cry a lot.
-I'd rather smile and say I'm doing great than say I'm drowning.
-I don't like hurting or hurting people but find ways for vindication but never follow through with it.
-I am quick to forgive.
-I am not so quick to forget.
-I wear a size 9 shoe.
-My pant size is 8-10.
-I wear a size Medium shirt. Sometimes a large is its button down.
-I hate that dresses aren't long enough for me.
-I have a past I don't want to remember but I know the memories are there to help others.
-I worry I am not a good enough mother.
-I never knew I would love being a mom but I honestly do. Words can't express how much I love it.
-I act independent but I know I really am dependent.
-I say I don't need much but I know I do.
-I know I'm difficult to work with because I think I can do it myself.
-I have a hard time asking for help.
-I gained my testimony of Jesus Christ when I was 24 years old.
-I miss going to church for 3 hours but hate sitting there for the 3 hours (doesn't make sense).
-I love to vacuum.
-I hate mopping.
-I say I don't mind when people misspell my name but it secretly drives me nuts, especially when they try to tell me that I misspelled my own name.
-I love that my name is Shannan with an A and not an O. 
-I try everyday to not let the negative seep through.
-I pray everyday. I worry my day will go badly if I don't.
-I'm superstitious.
-I will do something the exact same way over and over again if the first outcome went well.

This is me. Some may find this refreshing, some may find this stupid. But for me, this is what I needed to do. This is who I am. This is what makes me me.

This is me. No make up Just the uncut version of me and I love it.

Do a little Dance

I just can't get over how cute my little lady is! She makes me laugh more and more each day. She has quite the personality! Her new "discovery" has been this bouncy spaceship that Auntie Jessi let us borrow and oh my goodness has it been a hit with the little lady! She eyes this thing down when we pass by it and stares at it till we put her in it. She gets so excited and so hyper when we put her in it. If we're not in front of her she'll look for us, "do a little dance" then look back at us for approval. It makes me laugh! She's just the funnest thing there is!

A funny story about the little lady: I'm in Young Women's so I get to go to mutual on Tuesdays. The little lady has a hard time with this and totally knows that I have to leave because she starts acting out. It was about 5pm and I was trying to put her down for her quick evening snooze. After about 40 minutes of her arching her back, screaming at me, and many wet diapers I gave up and let her miss her nap. 7 o'clock came around and as I was leaving for mutual she started yelping and looking for me. I left her with Daddy and about 45 minutes later I get this text that says "so... she's pretty fussy and I don't know what to do to help her. She might be hungry" and I text back "we're almost done, can you hold off maybe 15 minutes?" 5 minutes later "she's crying pretty hard now" so I went home to rescue daddy and help the little lady. As soon as I get into the door she gets this big ol' smile on her face and starts giggling! She puts her arms out for me to pick her up so I do. When daddy comes by us, I ask her "do you wanna go see daddy?" and daddy put his arms out. She immediately turned her head and grunted/groaned/screamed! We tried it again and she got mad! She did the same thing and held on to my neck. It was so funny and so cute! We couldn't help but laugh. She's a feisty little thing and I have no idea where she gets it from ;)

I sure love our little lady. She cracks me up every day and makes me want to be a better person. She'll be 5 months on Sunday and I can't believe how fast time flies. I look at pictures of her when she was first born and I miss my little 8.11 lb baby. She's now almost 20 lbs, 26+ inches long, has two teeth, and continues to grow and grow. I sometimes stare at her when she sleeps and wonder how in the world I got so dang lucky. I love you little lady!

Hannah Roles Over!!!

I am one proud mama!!! My little 4 1/2 month old little lady has officially rolled over!!! I can't believe it!

Little Miss Chatter Box

It's official! The little lady has started "talking" and boy oh boy does she have a voice!! From the minute her eyes open in the morning to the minute she goes does for a nap or to bed she's just jabbering along. It's amazing that only one week has passed and I feel like her "vocabulary" has doubled! She isn't really saying words but she is definitely trying to talk. She is constantly trying to form some sort of word and sound. It blows me away! Sean came home from work the other day and asked what she was doing because she was so loud. I just said " oh she's talking to you! She starting doing that now." He was blown away. Now he thinks it's the funniest thing ever. I also think she's cutting another tooth too. But boy oh boy is she cute! I took this picture of her sitting in her little chair the uncle Jaspur and auntie Angie got her and she looks so old! She can sit really well propped up now. I was concerned about her not having any interest of rolling over but her pediatrician said it was very normal and that she probably wouldn't roll over till 6 months or may skip it all together because of her little chubby body hehe :) I just giggled.

Another "joy" we've learned is that it's sort of a joke to go to church with Hannah now. She gets distracted over every little thing now and its a joke to try and nurse her in the mother's lounge. She's so loud too! Sitting in sacrament meeting is atrocious. She jabbers on and on and it's embarrassing to have so many people look back at the loud baby! I walk with her up and down the halls but that's a joke too. She screams and screams so finally we give in and bring her home after sacrament. The moment we set foot in the house she acts famished, nurses, then falls asleep. This little one already has us trained!!  I sure love our little lady though. She's just growing up too fast.

I'm obsessed with this picture right now. When I put her in her chair she acts so grown up by propping up her arm and jabbers along. My little lady is so big!