Christmas in Pics

Here is a summary of our Christmas, in pics (mostly):

Pre-Christmas celebration with the Claysons:

All of my family was in town for a couple of days before Christmas.

We loved our time with these fun, crazy kids!

Christmas Eve:

I took some pics of our Christmas tree.

And other decorations.

Scott's childhood paper Santa is still my favorite. :)

We added some pink birthday cards to our decor this year.

We are so grateful for the birth of our Savior!

We found a more size-appropriate wreath this year.

Scott wrapped most of the presents this year. Nice.

Most of my family was able to spend Christmas Eve at my grandma's, eating fondue and acting out the Nativity.

Hannah sure made a cute baby Jesus in a manger/wagon.

Hannah loves her great-grandma Meservy.

And we discovered that Hannah really loves riding Grandma's chair up the stairway, as do all of the grandkids. Wheeeeeeee!

At my parents' house, Hannah was getting sleepy, so Scott helped her open her Christmas pajamas.

What cute jammies for a cutie baby!

Christmas Day:

Santa filled our stockings to the brim! Thanks, Santa!

And there were plenty of presents under the tree.

Cole and Clay burst through the paper first...

...with Faith and Hannah close behind. Hannah did really well, even though we woke her up extra early.

She loved her main gift from Santa.

And she enjoyed looking in her stocking with her daddy.

Time for breakfast.

Hannah was spoiled and loves all her new toys.

I love these 3 kiddos!

After church at our ward (to which Scott and Hannah were super late due to me accidentally taking Scott's keys along with mine to early choir practice--ugh), we snapped some adorable pics of Hannah in her pretty Christmas dress from her Clayson grandparents.

Jingle all the way--hey!

Then we headed over to open presents with the Carters.

Hannah got even more fun toys.

We ate and ate and played games.

My weirdy bro-in-law shot this pic of my almond roca, but I think it looks pretty cool. And yummy.

Post-Christmas:

Hannah playing with all her new bath toys.

Our Christmas haul (minus the flat-screen tv that Scott is still trying to decide upon). I think we need a bigger house just for Hannah's toys.

One of my favorite gifts was this gag gift (advent calendar) from Scott's bro and sis and their spouses. Now I get to start celebrating Christmas on October 1st instead of November 1st. Yay! :)

We hope you all had a wonderful Christmas! We are so grateful that we were able to spend it with so many family members and with our healthy little Hannah!

Chubby Chubber

Yup, that's right. My baby is finally getting chubby. At her 1-year well-child check one week ago, Hannah weighed in at a whopping 19 lbs. 10 1/2 oz. That's the 26th percentile--her highest yet. She actually gained 1 1/2 lbs in the 3 previous weeks. Amazing! Her height was in the 38th percentile, but we think she's probably taller than that. And not surprisingly, her head is maintaining its largeness--99th percentile. :)

I'm convinced that Hannah's rapid chubbing-up is mainly due to the fact that I started weaning her soon after Thanksgiving. That whole milk is really doing her some good. And frankly, it makes me a little sad to realize that my skim milk has contributed to her skinnyness all this time. Oh, well. Can't change it, so why worry about it, right?

Anyway, speaking of weaning, Hannah decided to finish weaning herself. We started slowly, cutting out one nursing every week or two. And Hannah was doing pretty well. She didn't love the change for the first couple of days, but then she would adjust. For example, when I cut out Hannah's morning nursing just over a week ago, she burst into tears at the sight of her sippy cup. Sad. But this morning, Hannah yanked the sippy cup of milk out of my hand before I could give it to her, and she guzzled the whole thing. Love it.

So, I was planning on cutting out Hannah's final nursing (night) this Sunday. But Hannah apparently had other plans. Last night, she just refused to nurse, so we gave her whole milk. And she was happy. Tonight she did the same thing. So I guess we are done, and she is weaned. I'll admit that I am a little sad. In case you hadn't noticed, I am a wee bit sentimental, and I was planning on relishing every moment of our last nursing this Sunday. Fortunately, I have done plenty of relishing this past year and this past month. I have absolutely loved nursing Hannah. Sure, it was stressful being her main source of nutrition for so many months. But it was so worth it. I loved the bonding and closeness it provided. Ever since Hannah was finally able to breathe well (2nd time in the hospital) and began to nurse well, I have been in love with nursing. I'm so glad I decided to do it, and I'm so glad I stuck it out through the stress. I love Hannah so much, and I'm so glad I was able to give to her of myself in this way.

And I'm pretty sure that knowing how much good whole milk is doing for her has made me much less sad about weaning Hannah. Ok, maybe just a little less sad. It's truly a loss for me. I'll never nurse my sweet Hannah again. But fortunately, I know there are so many more gains coming in our future together. Wow, I love that baby.

All right, it's high-time for some cute Hannah pics:

I love this shot of Hannah's gorgeous lashes.

And there's that adorable face.

Look at those chubby thighs!

I have loved watching Hannah figure out all of her new toys.

My favorite thing is to watch her kiss her baby doll. She has even started saying "baby." Super cute!

She absolutely smothers her baby with kisses. Wonder where she learned that? :)

Hannah's new favorite game is putting her toy bag on and off her head. Over and over again.

And she's very serious about it. It's hilarious.

Last but not least, cutie Hannah playing with her beloved jingle bells.

Christmas pics coming soon...

Hannah's Birthday Parties

Hannah's birthday weekend was a busy one, mainly due a quick trip to Vegas.

We had to stop at our favorite pizza place in Beaver on our way down. "We Toss 'em, They're Awesome!" :)

The happy couple: Scott's cousin Tyler and bride Kristie.

I hardly took any pics of all the fun wedding festivities with Scott's family, but I did take a few cute pics of Hannah at the reception.

What a pretty girl! I just can't believe I didn't even get a pic of her with her cute cousins.

Proof that Hannah wasn't the only one at the reception. :)

We spent Saturday night in St. George with my sister and her fam.

The kids woke up bright and early to spend a little time with Hannah on her birthday and to help her open a birthday present.

Hannah played with some of her new toys on the way home on her birthday.

And she eventually fell asleep. Super cute!

Party #1 with the Claysons:

We were 45 mins late to our first party at my sister's house. Thank goodness the guest of honor was well worth waiting for. :)

Hannah had plenty of help opening all of her presents.

She loved all of her new toys and was especially fond of these jingle bells.

Hannah got some new, cute clothes.

Family photo op.

We celebrated lady-bug style.

I made Hannah's cake/cupcakes and froze them all the day before our trip. Then I decorated the cake (my first time ever) right before the party. It was definitely a (hurried) labor of love. Don't look too closely...

Happy 1st Birthday, sweet baby Hannah!

Hannah enjoyed some mac and cheese while the rest of us enjoyed pizza and bread sticks provided by my parents.

Time to add the candle.

The frosting was actually quite yummy, and I don't usually like frosting.

The Clayson clan.

Hannah liked the frosting and didn't mind the cake, but she really loved digging her hands in the cake. Fun!

And she enjoyed some ice cream.

Party #2 with the Carters:

More presents to open. We really need to teach that baby how to rip paper. :)

Daddy Scottie is such a good helper. :)

Cutest snake I've ever seen!

Time for more cake.

Just a cupcake this time. Not sure why it's sideways.

Still pretty yummy.

Stinkin' cutie pie!

Dig in!

Hannah was totally spoiled and ended up with tons of presents. Not sure where we'll fit all of them. And Christmas is just a few days away. Crazy!

We had a wonderful time celebrating Hannah's 1st birthday with her. Thanks to all of you for helping make it so fun and special!