hannah news and other happenings

the primary purpose of this post is to give a detailed update on what hannah's up to these days. so if that doesn't interest you, you can skip this one! first of all, patrick and i are not biased at all, and we are completely convinced that hannah is the smartest, most beautiful, happiest little girl in the world. she brings so much joy to our lives. so bright and full of energy. she often just breaks out a happy dance just for the fun of it. or a daddy dance. or a snack dance. or anything else. she loves music, and it never fails to bring tears to my eyes when i turn on praise music and we dance around together while she supplements with her cymbals or recorder or something. (yes, i know i sound like your mom. anybody's mom. you can roll your eyes!). we like listening to kids music, and she now has favourites such as the itsby bitsy spider, wheels on the bus, deep and wide, and the abcs.
she is very active, which is great until i need to go to the bank or the post office, at which point she becomes an incontrollable tornado of upsetness because i'm trying to contain her. she is getting much better at the park, and now likes to hang on the monkey bars (for a few seconds) and swing. she is learning to climb, but only goes one monkey bar before getting me to rescue her. she is still very independent, but is becoming more affectionate. we can occasionally get a kiss out of her, if she's in the right mood. she loves to kiss inanimate objects, like her books and even pictures on the wall. or the cellphone, if she's 'talking' to someone. she still would rather play with non toys, like carrying extra bags around. she likes the sandbox but wont' keep the sand in the box, preferring instead to bring pailfuls of it inside and dump it in our shoes.
i think she will be very passionate about life, and this manifests itself through the occasional meltdown when something doesn't go as planned. like her piece of zucchini bread falling apart. she's definitely a toddler!

she talks and talks and talks! i've stopped keeping track of individual words now that she's putting sentences together. she doesn't say I much, normally just Hannah. as in, Hannah washes toes. Hannah wants peekaboo book. Hannah zips up pjs. Patrick told me she said "i love shoes", which i believe, because the girl does like shoes! she recognizes lots of animals, but no colors. she can sing the first few letters of the abcs, then throws random ones in there for the rest of it. she can count to three, but only when she feels like it. she's very perceptive, and will bring up things you only said once. we told her we had to go to the grocery store to get some yummy food, and now every time we drive by that particular grocery store, she says nummy food, nummy food. she's normally a good eater, but can be very persistent if you mention something you're not giving her that she wants, like cheese, her favourite food. she occasionally says "hannah loves you", but only if you say it first. she loves going to church and seeing other 'kiddos'. there is no way to put her personality and everything into words, she is just so cute and expressive and fun. all those people who told me the baby bug would pass once your child got old enough to throw tantrums or be difficult were way wrong. i cannot wait to have another baby. except the whole waking up all night part.

she has definitely been the bright spot in a difficult month or so at the crisp household. we were very excited and hopeful when we made the move here, thinking that we would stay for a while and be somewhat settled. i hate to use it as an excuse because we've all heard way too much complaining about it already, but truthfully, the economy has made it impossible for certain industries, aircraft sales among them, to survive. Patrick's company recently told us they would be unable to pay any salaries at all any more, but really wanted us to stay anyways in hopes things soon improve. we considered that, and tried for a while, but decided to move on. right now we are pursuing other opportunities, even outside of aviation maybe. we haven't talked about it much because we dont' have anything to say yet. things are kind of up in the air for a while. we appreciate your prayers, and will keep you posted when we make a decision. moving again is not our first preference, but neither are we refusing to consider it, if the right job becomes available.

I would like to make two shout outs that really deserve their own posts.
first, Grandma Jan started chemo last Wednesday. We are so proud of her for being brave and strong and beginning this process. we wish we could be there, and are planning on visiting memorial day. it will be an every other week thing for 4 or 5 mos, i think. we love you!

next, Lara is running the boston marathon tomorrow! crazy, i know! she said tonight she wishes i could be there running with her, and i was like, uh, how bout the after party only route? she hasn't been training as long as some people, so she's worked twice as hard in half the time. lots of huge nasty blisters and other things. it's supposed to be really cold tomorrow too. I can't be there when she crosses the finish line, but i will be getting updates on her progress. technology these days. anyways, some people move to africa, some people run marathons, i guess. i happen to think africa is much easier than a marathon, so way to go, Lar. we're cheering for you!