Day at the Museum

We finally broke down and bought a pass to the family museum in Bettendorf. I can already tell that it was a great investment! We went yesterday with Hannah, and I am pretty sure that she could have spent all day there. All of the exhibits are completely interactive, and even Russ and I had a blast. They also have story and song hours that they do every week, and I am so excited to go to those. It will be so nice to have something new and different for Hannah and I to do, especially now that Russ will be getting more and more busy with school. The best part about our pass is that we can use it at museums all across the nation. There are a couple in Chicago that we can't wait to check out!
We have started our countdown to Florida, and we can't wait to get out of this stinkin weather. I think Hannah asks us about eight times a day if it's time to go to "Minnie WorWorWorld" yet. She has been before, but this is the first time when I think she will actually enjoy everything, and I can't wait to see her reaction. It must be the mom in me, or maybe it's the pregnancy thing, but I get emotional just thinking about seeing her face when she sees the castle, or the fireworks, or any of her favorite characters. Grandpa and Grandma W. are getting her a Cinderella dress to wear down there as well so I'm sure that will just add to me being a big emotional baby! Can't wait!
i wanted to mention one more pretty neat thing that happened to use this week. Russ and I were at work and Paster G. approached us and started to tell us how grateful he is for all that we do at this church, and how underappreciated we are. He went on for a few minutes and then handed us a personal check with a pretty decent amount on it. He said he wanted to show his personal gratitude to us. Of course I cried, and Russ and I just sat there in shock. It came at such a crucial time for us, and was a wonderful surprise. We have been amazed by the people here, and how generous and sweet they are. I was really apprehensive coming into this job, and for the most part I have found it to be a great experience, and it has really blessed our lives. So, basically I just am feeling all kinds of gratitude this week for kind people.

These lights were pretty cool. They each made a different sound when you jumped on them.

Two Thumbs Up!

Well, technically only one thumb up. As you can tell from the pictures she hasn't quite mastered the thumbs up yet, not for lack of trying. It's pretty funny to see the look of concentration on her face as she tries to do this, and I Love the smile she gets after she finally convinces her "tum" to go up. She has decided that her thumb is actually called a tum. We try and tell her it's a thumb but she looks at us like we're crazy!
We're having a really nice, pretty uneventful break. Russ and I got to go on a date today, and it was fantastic. We went and saw Vantage Point, and I recommend it! It kept our interest the whole time and was easy to follow. I was worried that it was going to be too chaotic for my taste. Hannah has loved all of the play dates she has already gone on, and hopefully she will get in a few more before the week is up.
We are getting more and more anxious for this summer because EVERYBODY is coming to see us. Well, not everybody but a huge portion of both of our families. We love to have people come and see us. It has only happened twice since we moved out here, but we always look forward to it.
And one last exciting thing...it has only snowed once this week!!

Twenty Degrees and Rising

Russ and I got to watch a couple of Hannah's friends today and she had a blast. They are really good kids, and Hannah always has so much fun with them. But what was even more exciting today is that Hannah went straight to sleep for her nap! No playing, no crying, just sleep. I couldn't believe it when all I heard from her room was silence. This is the first time since getting her new bed that she has done that for her naps!! It is a happy day in the Terry house.
Also exciting is that the temp got up into the 20's today. It pretty much felt like springtime. Hannah even got to go outside and help Russ salt the church grounds, and attempt to dig up some of the ice. She was so happy to get outside, and happy to be a "big helper."
Everything else is going great. We are enjoying Russell's break, and are excited to get to go to the temple next week. It's a little too cold to do much sight seeing in Nauvoo, but we are excited for the trip.

Here are a few pics from Hannah's fun day with her friends!

They decided it would be fun to play copy cat...

Baby E doesn't look too thrilled about this hug

Three Down, Seven To Go

There is a celebration at our house today...Russ has finished his third tri here at Palmer. We are so excited! He aced all of his classes, and now we can party! He is ready to move on to 4th tri because it now gets a lot more hands on and interactive. The last year has just been a lot of book work...not his favorite. I am so proud of him, and of how well he has done out here. I also can't believe that he has now finished his first year of chiropractic school. I think that's a pretty big accomplishment. We now get to enjoy a week and a half of having him hang out with us. Hannah and I are thrilled. She has become such a daddy's girl. I love it. You can tell the days that he is never around because she turns into zombie Hannah. I'm pretty sure she understands what it means when I tell her why dad isn't at home to play with her, but that doesn't stop her from asking me about every three minutes.

Speaking of Hannah, did I mention how much she is growing up every day. Russ and I are amazed at how smart she is getting, and her huge personality. Her new favorite thing to do is to say "watch this" then she proceeds to perform whatever new trick she has thought up. My favorite is how she closes her eyes and sways her head Stevie Wonder style, to sing along with whatever song we have playing at the time. Ok, one last thing that makes my heart melt...When I go into her bedroom to get her out of bed in the morning the conversation usually goes like this
Mom: Good morning Hannah
Hannah: I woke up!
Mom: I'm so glad
Hannah: Mom, I missed you too much!
Toys, I missed you too much!
Ok, I want some leche.

I can never be mad at how early she wakes up when I am greeted each morning like this. I love my two year old!
On last thing. I have to give credit to my wonderful SIL Kyla for designing my cute blog page. She does an amazing job, and I am so excited about it. Thank you so much Kyla!

Hannah loves to mix, mix, mix

She loves to lick the beaters, which for some reason she calls candy canes...

I gave in!

Well, after almost a year of my SIL's trying to convince me to do this I have finally given in. This is much to Russ's despair! I have put it off for so long because I never feel like I have anything witty, or clever to say...Then I decided that this would be the best way to let our families (who all live too far away), know what's going on in our lives. So for those of you who are here looking for a good laugh, or some deep thinking, this is not the place for you! (Ok, I do promise the ocassional laugh courtesy of Hannah).

So, to start off I'll hit on the highlights of the last little while. Hannah just celebrated her 2nd birthday and in true Hannah style, she found a way to turn it into a week long event. We started on her actual bday by taking her to Build-A-Bear to get her present from Grandpa and Grandma W. She absolutely loved it, and can't stop carrying around her new "I love you" bear. The rest of the week was busy planning her first official party, and listening to the non-stop two year old jabber about her party, her presents, her friend invite list, and her cake! The party was a lot fun and went off so smoothly! I was just a little stressed (ok really stressed) considering I don't deal well with huge groups of people at one time. And the party was in our tiny little apartment. We had a blast though and I am so grateful for great friends and an incredibly patient husband who put up with all of my ridiculous worries and frustrations! The week ended with the arrival of her "big girl" bed, and saying good-bye to her binkie. She is in love with her bed, not so in love with no more binkie. It's a good thing Russ is so strong willed because I have been incredibly tempted to give it back to her at times. We have been pleasantly surprsied at how well she is coping with all of it though. She lasts all night in bed, but has figured out at nap time that she now has free reign to her room. You can't get too upset when you hear giggles from her bedroom and walk in to find her reading books in her princess tent. But, we're down to it only taking an hour to get her to sleep at nap time!! We really just wanted to get her used to her new bed before her baby sister gets her. The crib is still in her room, and we love that she now tells us that it is her baby sister emma's crib. Pretty cute!
Ok, that was a pretty long post, and I promise that not all of our weeks are that action packed. I hope the family enjoys this, and we'll fill you in next time something exciting happens!! We love you!
Her new "I love you" bear

The hamper is her new fave place to hang out! All hail the queen!
Enjoying her cupcake cones at her party