Christmas

We had a great Christmas this year. We have had a year full of great blessings and are very excited for what the new year will bring. Joe is done interviewing! What a relief after 13 interviews across the Midwest and man am I happy to have a husband back! He submitted his rank list and we are excited to find out on January 25th where we will be for his urology residency. I believe that everything will work out the way it is supposed to and hopefully that means I will find a job wherever we end up (cross your fingers).

This year for Christmas we came back to Minnesota. I was lucky enough to take Wednesday off and so we headed up on Tuesday night ahead of the snow and ice! Thank goodness! Hannah slept the entire way up and has been an angel the entire weekend. She still isn't sleeping completely through the night, but it has been hard for me to try any of the sleep 'techniques' because it has been just me a lot while Joe has been interviewing and it is way easier to wake up and nurse her than try to let her cry it out, etc. We have been a little slow on the solid foods thing and are just starting to really introduce baby food as part of Hannah's normal diet. Hannah enjoyed scooting around all over the place and playing with her new toys. Thanks to the Grandparents for spoiling her rotten! She thoroughly enjoyed her rocking horse, million blinking lights and playing song toys, and as of recently the teething toys. Joe and I enjoyed an afternoon out while the grandparents watched Hannah, it was sure nice to be childless for just a couple hours and enjoy each other.

I have a short work week again next week as I took more vacation while we go out and do some skiing in Red Lodge and visit relatives out in Montana. We're excited for Hannah's second plane ride and to see more relatives!

Here are the pictures from our Christmas week:

Denver Visit

Joe had an interview Friday at the University of Colorado hospital and so Hannah and I decided to tag along and it also worked out that Grandma and Grandpa Zabell were also able to come along. We stayed with Joe's aunt, Jean and Maryann and had a great time! Hannah got to spend some quality time with her great-grandma Dorothy as well. We went to the Flatirons mall (where Hannah saw Santa), out to eat at Bonefish Grill, walked around Estes Park, and spent some fun time just hanging out and playing. Hannah was a great traveler and was sure loved by all throughout the whole trip. Here is a collage of some candids from the trip:

Visiting Santa

Hannah visited Santa while daddy went to his interview in Denver. More to come soon...

Hannah Chatter

Here's a cute video of Hannah telling a story about her weekend...

Weekend Fun

Friday Joe had his Nebraska interview and today he flies out to Milwaukee from Minneapolis for his Milwaukee interview tomorrow. Yesterday Hannah and I went and met Joe in Des Moines for the night. We did a little shopping, dinner, swimming, and just having fun as a family. Hannah was a little freaked out in the pool because there were a whole bunch of boys playing football stirring up the water. Hannah discovered she can put her feet in her mouth just today, so that was pretty amusing for us! She did great in our travels and slept most the way. Here are some pictures from our weekend.

Happy Halloween!

This is a little delayed .... but here is a synopsis of our Halloween.

Joe was away all weekend because he had an interview at Loyola on Friday and Michigan on Monday, so Hannah and I ventured up to Minnesota for some company. Hannah did great and she even got a little trick or treating in.

Here are some pictures:

Success!

Hannah has been trying a few bites of rice cereal the past couple weeks and yesterday she did pretty well, but tonight was our first attempt at oatmeal and it was a success...she ate the whole bowl! Her chin and bib were covered in it and I never thought such a messy faced baby would define success, but she does tonight! Yay Hannah!

Jumpy, Jumpy...

Joe went to his first interview today for residency at Washington University at St.Louis. Hannah and I spent the day cleaning the house (much needed). She did great at entertaining herself with her various toys. She had a blast in her jumperoo as seen in the picture below... she took a couple nice naps today which helped mom get lots done. Thanks Hannah! Joe really enjoyed the interview and had a great trip. We had a few snuggles before bed and now Hannah's asleep!

Daddy's home!

Here are some pictures from the past couple days:

Hannah is all ready for Halloween

Hannah watching her first snowfall

Hannah tried a few bites of rice cereal...

Not sure if any of it got in her mouth, but it was a first try

Cute Daddy's Angel outfit

Our little angel :)

4 months old!

Hannah is officially 4 months old! Yay! She had her shots on thursday and is doing great.

Update on what she's doing these days:

-rolled over the day before she turned 4 months (back to front)

-growing like a champ (95% for height; 50% for weight)

-not a big napper but sleeps pretty well through the night

-enjoys putting everything in her mouth

-doing great at daycare and her teachers like her

-loves to smile

-reaches out and grabs toys

-loves to blow bubbles

-loves to kick during bath time

Wedding Weekend

We had a great weekend in South Bend, Indiana this past weekend. My brother Bryan got married to Jessie and we had a blast! Hannah did great in the car and was a trooper. Here are a few pictures from our adventure:

Groom's Dinner

At the Wedding

Family Pic

Nearing bedtime for Hannah...but not before a lesson from Aunt Jessie...Diamonds are a girl's best friend!

Go Gophers!

Here's a quick update:

Joe and I went to Minnesota this past Wednesday because I had training Thursday and Friday at the office center. Joe had a week off before the start of a 4 week urology elective at the University of Minnesota to get a look at another program. We had a great weekend with family and even celebrated Grandparents day on Sunday.

Hannah is doing fairly well these days. In the past week we have experienced her first cold and first ear infection. She continues to grow and play more and more each day. She is really reaching for things and tracking people all around. I had a couple rough days week 1 of daycare dropping her off, but we seem to be in a routine and she is thriving. She is such a blessing and she is doing so well! Here are some pictures from the weekend.

3 months old!

Hannah is 3 months old today! She had a great week of Grandma daycare and mommy survived her first week back to work. Hannah will start daycare tomorrow. We are enjoying a great weekend and I thought I'd share a few pictures.