Back in the blogosphere again

I've been out of touch blog-wise for more than two weeks. Why? you ask. I have a job, I'm too tired at night, I don't have anything to say, laundry is waiting, my muse is on strike. However, because the past weekend provided a plethora of events to share, it's time to blog once again.

Hannah comes to Minnesota
Need I go on? Probably not, because most of the readers of this blog saw Hannah, held her and kissed her good-bye, and now miss her almost as much as I do. Hannah came on Thursday evening with her mom, but her daddy had professional responsibilities at a conference for the weekend and missed out on the fun. : o (

Annie, admiring Hannah's new hair look...near-baldness becomes her.

Play time started early in the morning each day. Elisabeth and Hannah appeared in our bedroom, listened to us snore, then greeted us with a sweet good morning of little cool hands and baby smooches. Grandpa's response was, "Hannah, go make some coffee and I'll get up later." He doesn't know what he was missing, and that's a good thing, or he'd have been out of bed in a flash. Hannah is a chatty, playful morning baby who jives to the theme song from "The A Team", "La Cucaracha", and turns up her tiny nose at "I've Been Working on the Railroad." Every girl has her favorites.

Hannah's vocalizations are in the realm of kitten purrs and puppy growls, which she uses to hold stimulating conversations with her family members. Charlie is especially adept at Hannah-communication. Add Spanish and English to the list, and you can understand what a multi-lingual chiquita she is becoming.

Hannah, giving Baby G's new baby gym a drooling workout

Before Elisabeth and Hannah arrived, Grandpa shopped for rice cereal and baby food peaches, his personal favorites. Hannah had tried rice cereal a couple of weeks ago, so was willing to take a bite or two. She wasn’t exactly peachy keen about the peaches, though, which didn’t bother Grandpa Larry a bit. He dug right in, at which point Hannah attempted to reclaim her rightful fruit.

Baby G's shower
The highlight of the weekend was a shower for Annie and Baby G, creatively planned by Baby G’s aunties, Elisabeth and Angie. The attendees were all moms, with the exception of Angie, but NO PRESSURE, Angie! Annie received wonderful gifts of all kinds…such generous guests! Angie compiled data sent in by guests to predict Baby G's arrival and vital statistics. The majority predict Baby BOY G. The guests brought cards with advice for Annie on being a mom, and for Baby G about how to handle being Annie's child. Oh dear...

Doreen, about to become Grandma Doreen, developed a cozy friendship with Hannah at the baby shower. As you can see by the expression on Doreen’s face, she is in a state of disbelief about how Evan can possibly mistake Hannah’s flat lambie toy for a bear. You can see by Hannah's expression that she's given up, and has decided to go along with her daddy's incorrect interpretation of her pet.

Everybody loves Hannah
Baby Girl reveled in attention from Auntie Annie, Uncle Tanner, Auntie Aunchie, and Uncle Charlie, and she entertained all of us with charm and sweetness. She shared some secrets with Baby G that we won't know about for a while, but we're fairly sure she included advice about being a newborn and how to make it work for everyone involved.

Here she is, waking up sleepy Uncle Charlie,

and snoozing with Auntie Aunchie.


Annie and Tanner practicing to be parents

Grandpa and the queen of polkadot fleece

Sisters, goofy as always

Hannah and Grandpa Charlie
On Sunday we moved the party from St. Peter to Owatonna. Grandpa Charlie drove over from Spring Valley to see Elisabeth and Hannah. G'pa and Hannah talked, watched football, and had a great time together. At four and a half months, Hannah knows how to charm her (nearly) 84 year-old great-grandpa! When Elisabeth, Charlie, and Annie were babies, Grandpa Charlie was the one who could calm their crying and distract them into laughter. He was a natural with babies, and still is.

All good things must come to an end, dang it!
We had to say good-bye before little Hannah figured out that being cold isn’t so much fun after all. Thank you, sweet kiddies, for a wonderful weekend.