cows and smiles

so my little stinker is finally sleeping. this is her first nap all day, and it's 3.30! suggestions, anyone? she's growing like a weed, as they say. i can definitely tell. she spent her first night in the crib in her own room the other day. i felt like she was going off to college. :-( but she's doing good.
we went to the fair the other day, where hannah saw her first cow. i tried to find the smallest one. we also saw tigers, which was a first for the whole family. we wanted to go on the ferris wheel, but they were going to charge for her, even though she's just along for the ride. (get it? i know, i'm stupid)

this is my savior while i take a shower. she usually lasts about 10-15 minutes in it, i put it on the floor in the bathroom. and yes, she's smiling alot these days.

patrick organized a fly-in (people bring their planes and give rides) and barbeque for his fraternity last week, and he's here multitasking. this is hannah's favourite position.
alas, she doesn't spend as much time here as i like, but isn't she sweet when she does? looks so little in that huge crib.
daddy helping nanners take a bath.
please, enough of the paparazzi already!

a big hannah smile.
so all parents know this story. you suspect a dirty diaper, you change her, you think you can contain it, you don't get a changing pad, just use the couch, but wait, she wasn't done. so jana grabs the closest thing, a walmart bag, we wait till she's done, and go straight to the bath. oh the joys.

alas, things are not always this peaceful. but it makes for a good picture, right? this is my world, right here. and i wouldn't change it for anything.

i started babysitting about 15 hrs/wk for a friend's two little ones. i can take hannah with me, and it's working out so far. keeps us busy. i also planted a fall vegetable garden, so hopefully i take the time to take care of it. if i do, we'll have our own lettuce, carrots, broccoli, and cabbage all fall. i also started playing in the longview youth symphony. i never practice, but it's fun anyways. patrick babysits for me. we also enjoy going to his softball games every wednesday. especially last night, because they won! i can't believe it's almost october. we are praying about what to do in december, when patrick graduates. we're excited to see where God leads us. thanks for taking the time to check up on us.

home again

so we are finally back in tx, after 10 days away. It was long, but a wonderful trip. First we went to Brett (Patrick's brother) and Jes's wedding, then saw my family in charlotte. I stayed for a few extra days, and my family helped me with the baby while i recovered from my wisdom teeth surgery. fun stuff. I did the 2 upper ones, and i do the lower ones next week. I'm so sick of soup and smoothies!

this is patrick's puppy that we found on the side of the road. no, we didn't keep him. things are crazy enough around here right now. but he's cute, eh? then this is uncle brett meeting his niece.

while in NC, we stopped at a beautiful covered bridge. Nana and Grandma Jan watched Hannah while we went for a walk.

the wedding was beautiful. Here's the best man and one of his two favourite girls, all dressed up.

so as you can see, the nanners has come between us in more ways than one. but good ways :-).

brett and his beautiful wife jes live near Greensboro, NC. we're excited she's part of the family. finally, the girls outnumber the boys in the crisp family (4 to 3).

we stayed at a wonderful bed and breakfast with the crisps. Patrick's parents live in virginia, and his grandparents in kansas.

Hannah got to spend a little time with her cousins, Kennedy (3) and Parker (1).

My mom was in Charlotte seeing my sister, so we got to see her some too. Did we mention Hannah can read already? well, soon, anyways.

My dad and Bunny got to meet Hannah too, but i don't have any pictures yet of them. We had some professional pictures done (thanks Chad) that we'll have up as soon as I get them. Things are going well, she weighed 8.5 today. we've had significant nursing problems that have really disappointed me, but I am learning to accept things as they are. She's here and healthy, so we are so thankful for that. Patrick's getting busy with school again. Last semester!

first of all, if this looks too long too read, skip to the end for my important thoughts.

so, I (Jana) have a few minutes! I kind of feel guilty for doing this, because there are a hundred other things i should be using this time for. oh well. I'm in the middle of making cookies, as well. My husband told me to not waste time on ironing but to do something productive, like make cookies. You've got to love him :-). so these are old, but patrick worked so very hard at making the nursery perfect for me, i wanted to acknowledge him. (i made him change the paint colour 3 times. after he had already painted it.) it is absolutely wonderful, and i am so thankful.

he also worked very hard at installing our dishwasher (thank you dad), which works perfectly even though he'd never done that before. also, we discovered a leak (more of a niagara falls) behind the wall in our shower, which he also fixed (with just a tiny little help from the plumber). We were without water overnight, and this was already 4 days past my due date. fun times. good thing i was used to it, being african and all :-).
my mother and my sister also worked super hard at restoring a dresser we bought on the side of the road. you think you get a good deal on something, then you end up paying more on supplies than it actually cost! i wasn't supposed to be around the paint fumes, so they spent days outside in the heat, and it looks wonderful. thanks, mom and lar.

patrick took us to the lake for my birthday. this is our last pre-baby picture. ever. kind of wierd.

the past few weeks have been incredibly stressful and frustrating, and my sweet husband wanted us to have a family day off, so he borrowed a boat, we packed a lunch, and off we went. (he also got me a spa gift certificate. that's why i want to make him cookies :-).
this is us trying to get our baby carrier worked out. that is one special guy.

i'm not sure if patrick put this one up already. even if he did, it's worth seeing twice.

although it is clear my daughter is not sure what she thinks about me, i have to say, it is literally impossible to describe how much I (and Patrick too) love her. pretty much everyone knows how much i disliked being pregnant. my sister told me she didn't like it either, but it was worth it because of what you knew you got out of the deal. i was skeptical. however, nothing on earth is more precious to me than this squirming, squalling bundle of baby and blankets. i never knew i'd be able to love anything as much as i love patrick. especially something that doesn't (yet) love me back. i know we're still in the honeymoon stage of our relationship, but i am convinced that everybody was right: there is nothing in life like having a baby. speaking of, i know patrick didn't talk about that much, but just like nobody could describe how wonderful it is to have a child, they also can never describe how difficult it is to actually HAVE the child. not to scare anybody, but i honestly didn't think i was going to make it!)

no to say that it's been easy. it's actually been significantly harder than i expected. they mean it when they tell you you won't have any free time. you honestly can't even take a shower some times. and there are nights where they wake up every hour. and you look out the window wondering if the world is still there because life for you has stopped, every day and night running into each other. but it's worth it. i would do anything for this child. i would give anything to this child. she has already changed my life.

last thing: i must add that our birth was absolutely wonderful. don't get me wrong; it was still 5 hours of excruciating pain, but other than that, it was wonderful. we had a natural birth at home with a midwife, and i cannot say enough about how that was the best thing. there were no complications, but even if there had been, the midwife is very experienced and trained to deal with alot. if she can't, the hospital's never far away, and there's enough time. so if you are pregnant, or will be, or the husband of someone who will be, don't overlook this option or write it off as wierd and scary. do your research, and you'll be glad you did. also, don't believe everything the doctor tells you :-). it's your body, and your baby, you make the decisions.

Splish, Splash, Its' Time For A Bath!!

Hannah has just woken up from a little nap. She has no idea whats in store for her...

Let the festivities begin.

I don't think she knows if she wants to laugh or cry?
Crying won out in the end.
There's noting like holding a baby after a bath.
That's what I'm talking about. The best part of the day.

This is a good one. My two girls.

Someone elses belly to blow one. Jana calls it abuse.
Feet. Monkey feet?
Thanks Mrs. Geddis for coming to take this picture.After dinner snack!! Mmmm...mmm...good.

I know, I know, I know....

I know its been a long time, and I truly am sorry, although we have been slightly distracted over the past few weeks as we continue to figure out what to do with this baby that lives in our house. Overall, I think things are going better. Hannah has had some difficulty with nursing, and has politely expressed her frustration to us over this past week. To her relief, we have taken her suggestions to heart, made a few minor changes, and things seem to be going much better!

Jana is definitely more the talker, so I will try to get her to get on here later and give you all more details concerning the day to day activities. However, for those visual communicators out there....here is some instant gratification. Enjoy.

Hannah's first outing. It's 105 degrees, buts she's bundled up none the less.

Where else would we go? Starbucks of course.

P.S. Hannah's beautiful, but Jana's Hot!
Ahhhh!
Jana taking Hannah for a walk.
The new family out and about.

More Baby Hannah Pictures

Well I know I promised an update yesterday, but I just didn't get around to it, I hope you can understand. Jana is recovering well. I think she would like to be up more, but the midwife wants her to really stay sitting down for a few days, although me may venture out tomorrow for a quick starbucks?!?

Hannah is also doing very well. We had a checkup today and everything is ok. The hardest thing about the day other than being incredibly tired was watching Hannah cry while they took a little blood from her big(very little) toe. We're still getting used to having a baby. She really is amazing, we both just love looking at her, and inspecting her little fingers, wrinkles, and puggy little cheaks.

Here are a few more pictures. You'll be seeing more of Jana when the rest of us do. Thanks again for all your prayers and support.