Winter in IL

We got a ton (well, it's a "ton" for us...probably not you Michiganders!) of snow the other day and both girls were excited to get out in it and play. This was really Ellie's first time "playing" in the snow and boy, did she not want to stop! I know she doesn't look completely dressed for the snow, but don't worry, she was literally outside for about 5 minutes. (she was even still in her jammies!)

(Hannah was busy playing next door with the neighbor boys when I took these, so I didn't get any shots of her.)

The girls sharing some computer time. I think Hannah was actually consoling Ellie here when she became upset about something (probably not getting her "turn" on the computer. :O)

Okay, we have a climber on our hands!!! Stacey, what do I do?!?! :O) Thankfully Ellie hasn't tried to climb up anything too high. So, for now, it's kind of cute to see her get up on something and then make her little grunting noise to get our attention...just to be sure we see her. I will say, she's got pretty good balance for a 17 month old!

Here she is on the tipped over block box. 

p.s. blocks are a fun toy,  but make a mess scattered all over the room!

"What do you mean, Get Down?" :O)

This is what people who own iMac computers do when they're bored on a wintery, Sunday afternoon!  

Check out my growing belly!!! I'll try and post more pics of that soon!

17 months old

Ellie is 17 months old today...wow, how time flies! She is really growing up before our eyes. I feel a little sad about how quickly she's growing, but then I remember that we're going to go through this whole baby phase again in a few months. And, well, I'm not so sad anymore. :O) 

Hannah is really maturing too. Dare I say that she's getting "easier?" Of course a couple of weeks ago, we had a few struggles. However, since then, she really has seemed to listen better and be more compliant when asked. (I'm knocking on wood right now, by the way!) Interestingly, she's been going through a little jealous phase. A few times recently, if I'm holding/hugging/kissing Ellie, Hannah comes and seeks the same affection. Another example is actually from today. I looked at Ellie and said, "Hi, pretty girl!" and immediately Hannah exclaimed rather defensively, "I'm a pretty girl too!" Of course I agreed with her! I'm hoping she's passes this phase before baby boy comes, otherwise I'm going to have two very jealous little girls around here! 

I realize that it's a little funny that I just got done talking about how Ellie is growing up and then here she is with her pacifier in her mouth (it is usually reserved for bed). The truth is, she's still our little "baby" and she needs her "pipie" once in a while... :o)

Building a tower with Daddy! Hannah was so proud of their creation!

Below is the tower seconds later, (after the picture above) when Ellie decided to test out its durability! Oops!

Carrying her "bebe!"

Ellie's new favorite hideout! She even "kicked" Gabby out one day to crawl in...poor Gabs!

Can't get enough of those beautiful blue eyes..

Proud little one!

Little Girls

Hannah and I had a ball the other day putting almost every single hair clip she has in her hair at one time. She thought it was great...and EXTREMELY pretty. I'm nervous that she's going to expect me to do it this Thursday morning for school! Hmmmm, probably not...

The girls and I yesterday afternoon enjoying some crazy time on the chair! 

Ellie's Vocab

I wanted to document some of the words Ellie is saying right now for myself and to share with all of you. So, here they are:

Bye-bye - "baba" 

Hi

Uh-oh

No - "newwww" kind of drawn out...and it's a definite FAVORITE of hers!

Baby - "bebe"

Book - "buh"

Water - "wa wa"

Hannah - "Nana"

Ellie - "Eh-yee"

Mama

Dada

Gabby - "Gaaaaa"

Papa

Please - "pea"

She tries Grandma and Grandpa too...

*added on 1/14/08 - Hot

*added on 1/17/08 - Dog - "daw"

                                     Belly - "be-yee"

I think that's about it. It's amazing how much she is learning and how quickly she is changing, even day by day! Our baby is growing up! 

Oh the fun!

I think it's beginning to sink it how much our life is going to change with a little boy around here! Our girls are all girl....a few of the pictures below are prime examples! 

We've been enjoying the unusually warm weather here in the midwest and even got to take a walk on Monday (64 degrees!) without any coats on!!! (just don't tell Grandma Smith that :O)

Hannah had her first day back to school after the break was today and since she missed the last two days of school before Christmas (we were already in MI), she received her goodies today at the end of class. She came out of class with a little bag that had a few things that represented the gold, frankincense and myrrh that the three wise men gave Jesus after his birth. (I guess it was the lesson of the day, not from before Christmas.) She was explaining what they were to me and told me that the wise men gave them to the king. I said, "Yes, that's right!" And she went on to say, "Yeah, the king that lived in the castle." Hmmm, not quite....we'll keep working on that one. :O)

Ellie enjoying her new princess car she got for Christmas...hopefully baby boy with like it too one day! 

Ellie modeling Hannah's new dress. She liked it for a few minutes and then decided the sleeves were just a little too long for her liking. (Brian put this on her, by the way, while I was getting my hair done last night!)

A RARE sight...Hannah napping in the afternoon! This was the day after she had a sleep over with Peter at his house...they tuckered each other out! 

Hannah discovered the nail salon today! After picking Hannah up from school, I had to make a quick stop there with the girls (I've never taken them before) to have a short procedure done involving hot wax and my eye brows...Ouch! So, I thought it would be special to have them paint Hannah's nails while I was "busy." They were sooooo great and she LOVED every second of it! She picked out a cute pink color and the woman spruced her up a bit by adding adorable little white flowers! It was priceless to watch Hannah's face during and after her special treatment...I know she felt like such a "grown up!" It was great! And, not only did she love the paint job, but I think this might be the ticket to get her to stop biting her nails! 

Happy New Year!

Does this picture look familiar?

Hannah still loves her sister, even after 16  months! 

It's A....

BOY!!!

We are so excited to announce that we found out today that we are having a boy! And more importantly, everything looks great...10 fingers, 10 toes...we are thrilled! I think we're still in a bit of shock as we both thought it would be another girl (which would have been equally as great)...I'm sure it will sink in in 4 months when we meet the little guy!

We had the girls with us and Hannah was so sweet when she heard the tech tell us the news. She exclaimed, "I really wanted a brother!" She also mentioned on the way home that she's going to need some help now, because she's going to have 2 babies to take care of! What a help she will be! 

The Proof!

 

Merry Christmas!

We spent a great week in MI celebrating Christmas with my Mom and Dad, Matt, Stacey, Luke and Taylor. The kids had a great time playing with each other their new toys and decorating Christmas cookies. Who knew so many sprinkles and icing would taste that good on one single cookie?! 

We returned to IL on Christmas Eve afternoon to be able to attend our church's Christmas Eve service. It was a very special time for our family to be together, celebrating Christ's birth. Hannah is really beginning to understand the true meaning of Christmas and it was great to watch her listen in church and know that her heart is in the right place. Poor Ellie was in nursery, not really enjoying herself, but I'm sure next year will be different. 

Yesterday, after opening gifts as a family, we spent the day with Mom and Dad Giere and Johaniks down in the city. Grandpa Barker and Trudy were there to watch the gift giving craziness and Ellen, Jackie and AJ joined us for dinner. It was a great day with family! Unfortunately, Ellie has been a little under the weather and was less than her usual jovial self. Again, hopefully next Christmas will be better for her. 

We hope that you all had a wonderful, special day/s with your family and friends too. We wish you health and peace always!

This was the only apron we could find at my mom's house. It's obviously a "few" years old, so I guess she doesn't use it too often. :O)

Ellie trying out Luke's gift.

Santa came!

Did he bring me anything?

Pretty girls in their matching chairs...gotta have pink!!!

Angelina Books!!!

A few of my favorite things...

I usually don't post like this, but felt the spirit to share a few of my favorite things about the holiday season. 

Celebrating the birth of Christ

Spending time with family and friends

Eating way too many treats (baking some of them myself)

Decorating the house and tree

Shopping for gifts (if I know what to get people)

Seeing my children's excitement as they experience all of the above too. :O)

the list goes on and on, but I only said I'd give you a few.

If you have a second, share w/ me what your favorite things are...come on, leave a comment, it's fun! ;O)

Hannah's Birthday

I was about to write a post without adding any pictures and then I remembered I forgot something...it was Hannah's 4th birthday last weekend! How can I not put pictures up of her party?? Shame on me.

Hannah turned 4 on Dec. 9...it is true. I cannot believe how quickly the time has passed. Nor can I believe that after 4 years on this Earth, this little girl has become such a wonderful, hilarious, caring, passionate little human being. We just marvel at her and laugh and laugh and laugh. Brian and I are so thankful for Hannah and tell her all of the time. We thank God for her and pray that she has many, happy, healthy years ahead of her. 

We had a "kid" party for her last Sat. and it was a riot....4 boys and 2 girls in attendance! Not exactly easy to pull off the princess party that she wanted. But, I tried...and think I did a pretty good job. Upon arriving, the kids decorated crowns and tiaras to become the little princes and princesses that they all are. :O) They decided to play "castle" after that, which only made sense. We ate lunch, opened gifts, played more castle, had cake and then decided it was time to calm things down a bit. So, we broke out the Christmas books and much to my surprise, they all came and sat on the couch to listen to Brian read How the Grinch Stole Christmas (in his Grinchy voice :O). It was great! 

The two Princesses: Hannah and Madelyn

We also had the pleasure of having Hannah's cousin Peter spend the night Saturday night after the party....actually, I shouldn't say "after" the party, since it just continued all day with those two! Here they are Sunday morning showing off Hannah's birthday present from us. 

Elf Yourself

I found this on another blog and haven't laughed so hard in...well, days! If you have a few extra minutes, you have to do this with your own pictures. It is just too funny!

Giere Elves
Click here if you want/need a good laugh!

New traditions

Part of Hannah's birthday present this year was a special date with me (Sarah) to see the ballet The Nutcracker. There was a special performance right in Aurora at a beautiful, old theater and we had the best time together! I was literally brought to tears watching her in anticipation of the performance to begin. She was so excited and honestly, on the edge of her seat. After the lights dimmed and the curtain went up, she looked at me immediately and just grinned with true joy. It was priceless. I think it's going to be a new tradition for us every year around this time and hopefully Ellie (and baby #3) will join us too. (Brian would have come, but was a trouper and stayed home with Ellie.)

Negligent

I am so sorry that I've been such a slacker about getting new pics on here! I don't know what's gotten in to me! :O) I'll try harder...

CA - part 2

San Diego - Sea World

Big News

I'm sure most of you have heard, but I wanted to share, just in case, that we are expecting baby #3 in mid-May! Everything has been going really well so far (no getting sick this time!) and we are so thankful for that! I'll keep you posted w/ growing belly shots and other news as it comes along the way...

Hannah is very excited for another baby in the house and I'm sure Ellie will share those feelings eventually. :O)

She's Off...for real this time

I know I announced several weeks ago that Ellie was walking. Well, she kind of fooled us after taking a couple of steps! Instead of "taking off", she chose to still crawl 97% of the time. That is, until this past Sunday night! Brian was "working" with her on it and ta-da she walked across the room...again and again and again!!! And now, she just won't stop! Our baby is growing up! ;O)



Ready for a walk...



Brrrrr...time to break out the winter outerwear!








I also wanted to share a "Hannahism" that I've been meaning to write about...she takes a vitamin on occasion and she calls them her "invitamins." Too cute!