Hannah's reading!!!

Here is a video of Hannah "reading" her library books this morning. The last one she read was Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star. She says "Tinkle star" on every page!

Feeding Daddy

Hannah is a mooch....

...although today she just flat out stole Daddy's cereal. LOL He poured his cereal this morning and got it all ready, then had to go into the kitchen to grab something. Hannah quickly climbed up on his chair and started helping herself to his cereal! When he asked if she was eating his cereal she just gave us her cute little "I'm innocent" smile and kept eating. So Daddy sat down next to her in hopes of getting a bite or two. And Hannah was very gracious and spoon fed Daddy a few bites. Too cute! You'd think she was starving the way she was spooning the cereal into her mouth. But she had already eaten two bowls of oatmeal this morning. Must be going to grow a bunch soon!!!

Spring Blooms

So I finally got to see what exactly was growing in the front of the house...daffodils!!! There is only a small group of them, but they are beautiful none the less. It is so nice to see their bright sunny faces on a cloudy day. I also found two hyacinth (?) plants out front. They are gorgeous and smell delicious!!! As for the rest of the flowers that sprouted up, I think they are going to be some kind of lily. But we shall see when they bloom, whenever that may be.

New Built-ins!!!!

Woo Hoo!!! This past weekend we got our built-ins installed in the living room. Matt's brother-in-law delivered them up and put them in on Saturday. They are BEAUTIFUL!!! He did an excellent job and they are way more wonderful than I had ever expected them to be!!! It has given us lots of storage which our house lacks and they totally changed the look of our house. I love it!!! We just have to paint it now which will be a big task, but well worth it. We are going to paint it white to match all of our new trim we're putting in. Then we can fill it with books and really enjoy it!

It's a Girl!!!!

Yesterday we went in for an ultrasound. That was soooo much fun!!! At least once the tech told me I could use the bathroom. LOL When the nurse had scheduled my ultrasound at my last doctor appointment she gave me the directions on drinking water before the ultrasound. I had to drink 16oz about an hour before my appointment, and then another 16 oz 30 minutes before so my bladder would be full. I guess when your bladder is full it pushes on the uterus and helps them see things better. Well, that is TORTURE for a pregnant lady!!!!!!! I had to pee soooooooooo badly by the time they actually came out to get me. It was actually starting to hurt! The ultrasound tech asked if I was okay and I said, "No! I have to pee!!!" She was like, "Oh, just go to the bathroom. I don't need your bladder that full." Boy, did I love her!!! All that water drinking and holding for nothing!!! Oh, well....................
The ultrasound was so much fun! It is amazing to be able to see your little one moving around inside of you. We got to see her little face/nose/lips, arms and hands, legs and feet, and spine and cranium, and GIRL parts! Yes, it is a girl!!! I am so excited!!! Now I will have two little princesses running around. It will be so much fun! We are going to name her Elissa Faith...Elli for short. God is good!!!!

Builder James

I love old fashioned, wooden toys!!! And I'm so glad my kids like to play with them. Yesterday it was so nice to hear them both busy playing...Hannah with her wooden train set and James with his lincoln logs. James doens't play with them so often anymore, but it was nice to see him enjoying some building time away from computer/video games. He was working very hard in his room for a long time until I called him to dinner. He was so excited to tell me about the big tower he was building and how he was putting windows in it and everything. After dinner he rushed off to work on it some more and then before bed he was ready to show it off. So of course I had to take pictures of it! I wish he did this kind of stuff more often..............

Crown Moulding!!! Hooray!!!

We finally got the crown moulding up in the living room yesterday afternoon. We had a friend from church come over and help out. He and Matt did all the work...I just watched...and they did a great job! And what a change it made to our house! It looks beautiful and it will look even better once we fill the nail holes and paint it! I can't wait till we can do the rest of the house. It is already looking like a totally different house! Being homeowners is great fun...a lot of work, but fun! Enjoyt the pics...hopefully you can kind of tell what it looks like. It is was a little difficult to get a good picture of it.

Just like Mama

Yesterday morning I was putting rollers in my hair before church. Hannah was standing outside the bathroom watching me. I had one extra that I wasn't using so I asked if she wanted it in her hair. She very quickly agreed with an "Uh, huh"! So we put it in her little bit of hair and she of course wanted to see in the mirror. When she saw herself she got a huge grin on her face and was so proud that she had a roller in her hair just like mama. She even kept it in while we ate breakfast...just like mama! She is soooo cute!

What we've been learning...

Since I've started watching a couple of kids, I've had to turn back into "Teacher Amber" and parts of our house look like something out of a preschool. So I thought I'd share some of the things we've been learning.
Our daily schedule is not totally consistent, but we do have some routines that we stick to everyday. We do a weather report everyday and keep track of the results on a chart by the patio door. This month we've also been talking about March coming in like a lion and going out like a lamb and vice versa. So far we've had more lamb days than lion days, but I'm hopeful that we'll just continue to have lamb days, right on into April! After our weather report, we go down into the hallway and practice our alphabet. That's the only place I had enough wall space to hang all the letters of the alphabet. We also talk about our special letter for the week and our special number. This week was the letter "e" and the number 4. We use Hannah's Leap Frog phonics thing from the fridge to practice the sound of the letter. They really get into that. Then it's off to the dining area to do our calendar and practice the days of the week and figure out what day we are on. From there our schedule isn't so strict. I try to make sure we do some kind of art project and maybe a worksheet with tracing letters and numbers. And we try to make it outside if the weather is nice. Today we were able to be out for like an hour. We could have stayed out longer if it hadn't been lunch time! After lunch we do story time and usually read for half an hour or sometimes more. Then it's nap/quiet time. My favorite part of the day! LOL Anyway, that's kind of what our daily schedule looks like.
This week since our focus was on the letter "e" we talked a lot about elephants...painted pictures of elephants, pretended to be elephants, did some math counting peanuts (elephants favorite food), sang about elephants and even learned how to say elephant in Spanish! We also played lots of games where we had to listen with our ears and look with our eyes (more "e" words!), like Simon Says and I Spy. Wednesday was Johnny Appleseed day so we read a story about Johnny Appleseed and ate apples for a snack. We also made our own apple trees by dipping our fingers in red paint and stamping them onto a tree shape. Hannah really enjoyed this and was so proud to show Daddy her "Apple Tee" when he got home from work. I know, apples don't start with "e" but we still did other things with the letter "e" that day. Thursday is our Bible story day and we read the story of Elijah and how God took care of him by sending the ravens to feed him. After the story we made ravens using our hand prints for the wings.
It has been a busy and fun week. Next week we are on to the letter "f" and the number 5. And since Friday will be the first day of Spring I think we will focus a lot on that and flowers and nature. The kids have already been excited by watching the buds grow on the trees and bushes. They check them everyday when they go outside. It will be so much fun once the leaves finally pop out!

"Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it."
Proverbs 22:6

Life is funny sometimes!

At our small group last night Hannah was sticking her hand down her pants....ewww!!!...anyway, somebody mentioned that she's at the age where kids sometimes reach in there and pull out a "surprise" and spread it on everything. I said she hasn't tried that yet...knock on wood. Well, wouldn't you know it, this morning she was standing in her bed calling me and when I went in she held out her hand to me..."Icky poopoo! Icky!" Yup! She had poop on her hand! Thankfully that's the only place it was. I don't know how she managed to not even get it on her jammies, but I'm so glad she didn't. I think she is kind of a neat freak like her mama and was grossed out by the fact that she had poop on her hand, and was just holding it there away from her body and not touching anything with it. She wanted it off! Phew! Maybe that will teach her to not stick her hand in there??? I don't know. But I know that I'm not gonna bother knocking on wood anymore! LOL

What's Growing...

Here is one of the buds on the lilac bush. Spring is coming! I can't wait for the flowers to bloom! I've been so excited that we have lilac bushes in our yard...they are one of my favorite flowers.

Here is one of my rose bushes...this one was transplanted from my parent's yard...all the way from Idaho! I wasn't sure if it was still alive, but was so excited the other day when I was working out in the yard and saw the little leaf buds. And now there are lots of little leaves starting to grow!

Here is my rose patch in the backyard. I have six rose bushes all together, but still have two that I need to transplant back here.

Just wanted to share a few things that are starting to show signs of Spring in our yard. Soon there will be more. I've got a bunch of little bulbs coming up in the front yard that I'm not sure what they are so am looking forward to when they bloom. I will be sure to post pics of them as soon as they are blooming. And soon hopefully we'll be able to start work on the garden. I'm getting so anxious to start planting and growing our own veggies! YUM!

Kids jumping

Here is another video. Hannah is really figuring out the whole jumping concept. It's pretty cute! She LOVES to jump on the trampoline!

Jumping James

James showing off his moves on the trampoline. He would spend all day and night on that thing if we let him! LOL

Mr. Sun came out to play today!

When the sun shines in Oregon it almost feels like we should celebrate...it is a rare occasion! Okay, maybe that's a little bit of an exaggeration, but when you love the sun as much as I do...well, you'd understand. Since the sun was shining today- ALL DAY- we made good use of it and played out as much as we could. This afternoon the kids jumped on the trampoline together. James will jump even when it is raining, but I don't let Hannah do it unless the weather is nice. So she was very excited to go jump today after she got up from her nap. It felt so good to be out in the fresh air and sunshine. I can't wait for warmer weather so we can have windows open all day long and let the fresh air inside!

Hannah doesn't really blink in real life....

I was just watching the video again of Hannah singing and I realized that she was blinking! So I figured I'd better explain. Great Grammy Helen got her a pretty pink princess shirt for Christmas and it lights up and blinks....ALL the time! It is quite cute and Hannah is very fascinated by it. This morning when she was putting her jammies in the hamper she saw her shirt in the bottom, and it was blinking! She was like, "Oh! Shirt! See Shirt!". So funny! Now you know why Hannah was blinking in the video. It is not a normal everyday occurence. LOL Only when she wears her princess shirt. Thank you Grammy for that one! Hannah loves it! :)

Big smile!

I couldn't resist sharing this picture. She has the biggest smile and it just makes my heart melt when I see it! She is such a happy girl and such a blessing! Our life would be dull without our little sunshine.

ABC Song

Here is Hannah singing her ABC's...soooooooooooooo cute!!! I can't believe she actually did it for the camera!! Usually when I pull it out she will stop whatever cute thing she is doing and want to play with the camera and "see too". I got a little carried away and kept filming for a little bit so it's a little long...about 4 minutes. She was very intent on wiping her hands with her napkin after dinner that I couldn't resist capturing the moment. I tried to get to her to do other cute things like point to body parts, but she totally ingnored me! LOL
I love my girl!

Growing Girl!

Helping Mama get dinner ready! She loves to help!

Snuggling up in the big comfy chair!

Our little girl is growing up! She is 22 months old now. At her doctor visit last week she weighed in at 22 pounds, 15 ounces. And she is 33 1/2 inches tall. She only fell into the tenth percentile for her weight, but the doctor said she looked healthy and not sick or skinny, so she is fine. She's just a little, petite princess.
She is such a smart princess too! (This is the part where I brag a bit! LOL) We have been practicing our alphabet everyday with the kids I am watching and she has been picking it up quickly! She can tell you what almost every letter of the alphabet is when you point to it and is even starting to pick out letters in signs and books! And just this past week she has been walking around singing the ABC song! There is nothing cuter than to hear her sweet little voice singing. She's also "reading" along with me when I read to her sometimes...books that we have read over and over and OVER again she is now recognizing and knows what happens on each page so she says some of the words with me when I read. Oh, yes, Hannah is also starting to use full sentences a lot! We were going to church on Sunday and she looked out the window of the car and said, "I see an airplane"! Clear as a bell! I'm just amazed at how much she is learning!!! It is such a huge blessing to be able to stay home with her all day long so I don't miss anything that she is doing!!!

Yes! More pictures!

The new trim going up around the window...what a project THAT turned out to be! We have a lot to learn!

New outlet...we replaced all the ones in the living room. The rest of the house will happen room by room.

Old, yucky outlet.

Cute little Hannah!

Still more pics!

Paint going up! I LOVE the color we chose!

The kids were so good while we were painting!

More Pictures!

Prepping the wall for the texture.

Everything all covered and ready to go.

It's hard to see, but these are pics of the texture on the walls. You'll just have to come see it for yourself in person someday!

Pictures of the project

The old, icky heater...so glad to have it out of the house!

The wall without drywall...it was sooo gross in there!

New drywall up.

Another pic of the wall without drywall.

Home Improvement!!!

Last weekend (Feb. 28th and Mar. 1st) we decided to work on some projects around the house since Matt didn't have to work in the afternoon either day. There is so much we want to do to the house, but we decided that the heater in the living room took priority. It was, after all, falling off the wall, it was yucky and bent and just plain old, plus there was a toy melted in it. So that became our project for the weekend. But we actually thought we'd be able to replace the drywall behind it and install the new heater in one day so we'd have another day to work on another project. And we might have been able to do it in one day if we hadn't expanded the project! Since we were replacing the drywall under the window we had to remove the window trim. So we figured since we had that off, that we would put up new trim as part of our project as we were planning on replacing it someday anyway. Then we started looking around and decided that if we were putting up new trim, then we should paint the wall. However, if we were going to paint, then we'd first need to texture the wall...we have flat walls that are old and full of dings and dents and other blemishes. Of course we couldn't stop there! If we were going to do one wall we might as well do atleast one more wall while we're at it! And if we're texturing and painting, then we thought we might as well put up crown moulding too! And that's how our project grew!!! Over a week later we still aren't done. Yes, the walls are textured and painted, the new trim is up around the window, and the new heater is installed. But we still have to paint the trim and install and paint the crown moulding. And we found out doing crown moulding isn't going to be quite the cakewalk we imagined it would be! But that's a whole different story!

Saturday

Yay for the weekend!!! Last night I got to go spend some girl time with a few of the ladies from church. We ate lots of yummy food, played Apples to Apples (one of the BEST games ever!!!) and watched a Chonda Pierce video. We had a wonderful time with each other, and it was nice to have a little time away from kids and hubby. Matt and the kids stayed home and played and watched Dumb and Dumber...soooo glad I wasn't here for that! LOL
Today was wonderful...I didn't have to wake up at 5am!!! Hannah let us sleep till about 7:30. So nice!!! I was so tired!!! Feel much better now!!! We've just been hanging out now since we got up. Eating cinnamon rolls and oranges and watching 321 Penguins and VeggieTales. Pretty soon I suppose we should get dressed, and get a few things done before James' basketball game. After that we'll probably get working on our house projects again. I will be posting pictures soon of what we started last weekend. Saturdays are great!

Ta Da!

Well, here it is...the first post from the Little House in Hillsboro. It is just a regular day. Nothing much happening. But I've been itching to get this blog started, so figured I'd just write about what is going on even if it is mundane and normal. As usual I got up at 5...well, okay 5:10. (I have a bad habit of hitting the snooze button atleast twice when the alarm goes off. I am not sure what I think I am going to accomplish by getting a little extra sleep in 5 minute intervals, but that's beside the point I guess. It is something I'm working on.) I ran off to the bathroom. Being pregnant I'm starting to feel like I spend more time with the toliet than with people. LOL (Okay, maybe that was a little too much info...sorry). Anyway, I proceeded to get my morning cup of tea to help soothe the sore throat that I wake up everymorning with. Sinus drainage is a wonderful thing! I guess that's part of being pregnant too. Stuffy sinuses. It doesn't help that I've had two colds within the last month or so either. Thank heaven for neti pots! Since I can't take any cold medicine or anything to help clear up my nose, my little neti pot has been a life saver. It really helps to clear up my sinuses! Back to my day...I snuggled up in the big leather chair, wrapped up in my blanket and read a chapter from "The Power of a Praying Wife" by Stormie Omartian. I've been reading a chapter everyday now for about 17 days or so. I've been learning a lot about trusting God with my husband and praying like crazy for him! It's been awesome and has really helped me love my hubby more! God is so good! About the time I finished with my reading and praying for my love, the two boys I take care of M-F showed up. They are usually here between 5:15 and 5:30. Atleast they usually go to sleep or watch a movie quietly so I can continue to have a little me time. I check my email and feed my addiction to Facebook. Then it's time to shower and get dressed. After that I usually start fixing breakfast. Today was nice. We had leftover baked oatmeal. Just had to heat it up for them. Right now I'm working on making cinnamon rolls for tomorrow's breakfast. I've got to start making more breakfasts so they don't eat as much sugar cereal. Yes, I know, I could buy cereal that isn't so full of sugar, but then they won't eat it. So I figure it is just easier to make other things for them to eat. I'm not going to have Fruit Loops or Apple Jacks in my house anymore!
Continuing on...I loaded all the kiddos in the car after breakfast and everyone was dressed and teeth brushed and we took the older boy to school. Then back home with the other boy and my sweet princess. When we got home they ran off to play and I got a few things done...finished cleaning up the kitchen after breakfast, checked email again, and visited my friend in the bathroom again. Then I went and played with the kids for a bit. We played with Hannah's kitchen and made food for some of her stuffed animals. We made carrots and peas and chicken and french fries and potatoes. Yummy! Kids are so much fun to play with! Then we cleaned up our mess and pulled out some blocks and built towers as high as we could before they fell over. We did that for a good long while. Then it was time to do our weather report for the day and practice our alphabet and find out on the calendar what day it was. They are learning so much and doing really well with their letters! Hannah isn't even two yet and she knows most of the 26 letters of the alphabet! I am a proud mama! They're playing on their own now again for a little bit while I get the cinnamon rolls going. I think we'll do shaving cream play here in a few minutes and practice making letters...or atleast early writing skills. They'll have fun and never know they're learning!!!
The rest of the day we'll have lunch, story time, nap/quiet time, my little charge will go home, James will come home from school, I need to make cream puffs for Bible study (what did I get myself into!), clean up a little around the house, and whatever else needs to be done before heading out to group tonight. Then we'll spend a few hours fellowshipping with friends and studying God's word, come home and crash...hopefully getting a little bit of rest before starting all over again tomorrow!
That's pretty much what our day looks like today! Better get going and dig out the shaving cream!