Spring Flings and Special Family Visits!
March: We enjoyed a lovely visit with some old, dear friends Ryan and Erica Roling and their sweet children Autumn (who is about 6 months older than Hannah) and Sienna who is 4. This was the first time we'd seen each other in about 5 years so it was so much fun to catch up, meet each other's children and just enjoy each other's sweet fellowship. The kids got along so well and it was precious to watch them make friends and enjoy dancing, singing, coloring, going for walks, playing at parks and of course jumping on the bed together! Unfortunately we didn't take many pictures of our time so I don't have one with Erica in it but here is three for you to enjoy anyway!
Thank you SO much, Rolings for spending your spring break to come and visit us. We were deeply blessed by your stay and miss you so much. Wish we all lived on the same block!
A week after the Rolings left we headed off for adventures in Nebraska with the Barnacles! Shawn got to be with us for a week then Hannah and I stayed for another 10 days. It was SO good to have such a long time with my sister. I'm so blessed to have my best friend also be family. Rachel is truly one of the most Godly, smart, thoughtful, funny, self-aware, capable, and beautiful women that I know. The first week when we were all together we took off for a couple nights at a cabin at the Platte River State Park where we enjoyed delicious meals cooked over the grill, cozy fires at night, and hiking during the day. One afternoon we witnessed two geese fight ferociously over a morsel of food at the pond we walked too--providing an object lesson for our two toddlers in why it's much better to be kind and share! :) From the cabin we packed up and took the kids for a day long adventure at the Omaha Zoo! Sea turtles and sharks, tigers and howling gibbon monkeys as well as gorillas, humming birds and penguins all amazed and delighted our two little ones as well as us adults! Needless to say by the time we returned to the Barnacle residence we were all EXHAUSTED. The next day we let the kids watch the Curious George movie and just vegged out!
After Shawn had to sadly leave Rachel and I planned 10 days of sister fun! We enjoyed eating all kinds of yummy food-- from Indian food to pumpkin bars, a delicious brunch out, just us two with no kids at a beautiful restaurant, and a chocolate cake made just for me! We stayed up too late every night watching silly girl movies, drinking decaf hazelnut coffee with our sweet treats and laughing and laughing! We really looked forward to our nights of girl time after parenting two toddlers all day through the ups and downs of sharing, being kind and gentle with one another and all the things that go along with being friends living in the same house! Hannah and I also got to experience some of Corban and Rachel's normal weekly events like gymnastics class, eating lunch with Rachel's good friend Jamie, visiting her other close friend, Mandy's kindergarten class, and enjoying the local library story time. When it was finally time to pack up and leave, I felt sad but very satisfied with all the new memories we had made and catching up that we had gotten to do.
Enjoy the slide show!
April: April was a quieter month-- enforced upon us by illness. Hannah was sick for almost three weeks straight--first a fever and an ear infection, then a stomach bug complete with seven days of diarrhea and mandatory showers after each diaper change, then back to another fever and just general fussiness for another three days! In between each illness she had a few days of being better and then she would get sick again. This is our biggest bought of dealing with illness that we've had so far.
Also during this time Hannah reached the big milestone of weaning herself. It had been happening gently, gradually but surely over the past several months. Finally in April she just quit asking to nurse before nap and bed going for three days without nursing, then asking to nurse again one day but only very briefly doing it. It was more like she just wanted to see if it was still available! At first I was sad that that part of her childhood was over. Hannah is not a snuggler and I deeply enjoyed getting to hold her and cuddle her during her nursing times. However, I felt good that it happened on her schedule and was such an easy and natural transition. Now we enjoy reading books, telling stories about our day, and singing songs together before naps and bedtime while we all lay on the bed.
April is also Shawn's birthday! I love my husband SO much and am incredible thankful that he was brought into this world and ended up sharing his life with me. I can't express what a blessing he has been to me over the past 14 years that I have known him and I hope I get to celebrate his birthday with him for many more years to come!
Hannah and Shawn making music together on the patio one spring evening.
Happy birthday beloved Daddy and Husband!
