Lessons In MotherHood...

Hannah and Daddy at Sleepy Hollow

 The day I found out I was pregnant with SURPRISE baby #2, hubby assured me I was not!

I assured myself I was NOT...

But those little home pregnancy tests begged to differ.

I joined the ranks of a welcome home deployment pregnancy...

 Along with many other women who's husband came home from Italy in March of 1998 from the 78th Fighter squadron.

Hannah Winning her Women of the Old Testament trophy

8 months later came a determined bald ( my only bald)  little girl. I think God made her my only bald baby to tell me that she would be different. 1 out of 7 very hairy babies...

She definitely would defeat all odds.

Hannah and Daddy at her Honor Star crowning

Its amazing when you raise a child. You can pick out certain character traits as they are growing.

But it isn't until they become teenagers, do their personalities really bloom. You can see the person they will become. Raising turns into molding and life lessons begin to shape their character.

The girls Molly, Emma and Hannah

 As a child, Hannah tackled everything in dress up shoes and princess clothes. She was the girl on her pink bike with the flowing dress over the back wheel. Slides were climbed in marabou heels and when she would walk next door to her Nana's house, the clanking echoed down the block.

When there were just two....

She craved stability and security and loved her sister to pieces. As long as she had all three, her world was GOOD! The pets that we had became her soulmates. She cared for them and connected with them and shared her secrets with them. When we had to get rid of them, her world shattered. Her security was gone and for 6 months, she mourned... whole-heartedly.

She still is that way today. Link The Cat is her love... and the thought of anything happening to him can send her curled in the corner crying...

But make no mistake. Most people don't see that side of Hannah. She craves justice and has no problem sticking up for herself... (we are still refining that quality in her.)

Friends, neighbors, strangers... it doesn't matter who you are. She will defend herself and her loved ones. In any way necessary...

But its usually the ones with the tough exterior that are the sweetest...

And that is our Hannah.

 

Our Banana

 She loves children and babies and can't wait to have her own. Penelope and Hannah share a bond that goes deeper than deep... and I often worry that one day things might change and Hannah would never recover from that.

I pray it never does.

She loves to cook and bake and knit and crochet...Qualities most 14 year old girls spit at, let alone publicly admit to.

She is fiercely loyal and loves her Daddy.

First day of Kindergarten for our Hannah

 She is never ashamed to say how much she loves him to anyone or admit that her Daddy smells the best! She loves to use his pillow because it makes her feel like he is close to her, even when he is at work.

She has to kiss her Mom goodnight... every night... and never likes to stray too far from her Little Red Nest. She would be the happiest if we lived here forever...

Although lately I have been forcing her to spread her wings a bit. Embracing freedom is a good thing...

And when she is ready, the world is a wonderful place.

Halloween 2012

My sister and I always say that she will make some lucky guy so happy... whoever that may be. Although, no one will be good enough for our Hannah... will she know what a GEM she truly is?

OF course He will... because we will make sure he knows all.the.time.

Christmas Formal 2011

Her love of those dress up shoes and pretty dresses extended into her teenage years. She wants to major in Cosmotology. Im excited... Her natural ability for color and style will make her excel in life.

Looking back on that day in May of 1998...

God knew what He was doing when he destined her soul to enter this world. Although at the time, we saw it as a change in our plan, He saw it as one of the greatest blessings we will ever know.

A girl more beautiful and larger than life. That is changing the world by proving GOOD still exists. Its cool to LOVE your parents and FAMILY is above friends...

To our Banana... Gosh, we love you... seriously LOVE you...

and would be lost without your smile.

Xoxo,

GiGi