We're still here!

Sorry for the lack of posts and pictures lately. Life has been so busy over the last few weeks and I haven't had a chance to sit down and blog. I promise there will be a few new posts to come...and lots of new pictures since I got a new camera for Christmas!!!

Stay tuned...

Missing!

I have lost my patience! I'm not sure what is wrong with me lately, but I have NO patience at all.  Just the littlest thing sets me off and I get very upset.  Perhaps it's stress, but I don't think that is a very good excuse.  There have been several times this past week where I've snapped at Hannah for doing things any normal toddler would do.  It makes me feel like such a bad mom when I don't keep my cool.

Tonight when we put Hannah to bed and said our prayers, we said an extra prayer for Mommy to find her patience again!  Hopefully this next week will be better!

When it rains...

...it POURS!  I feel like we've replaced every piece of electronic equipment we own over the past month.  Our TV was on the fritz, our personal laptop got a fatal virus TWICE, my digital camera died, and my work laptop no longer allows me to work remotely from home.  We took advantage of Circuit City's misfortune and got a great deal on a new TV and we decided to get a macbook instead of a PC in hopes that we won't have problems with viruses in the future.  I'm keeping my fingers crossed that Santa Mark brings me a new camera next week!!  There will be no pictures on this blog until I get a new one.  Let's just say we won't be spending any money for a long time after this binge...

And the worst of all...I've had to drive into the office everyday this week for work.  My employer has ordered me a new laptop, but it will take 15 days to arrive.  So until then, I'm faced with the horrendous commute from Jefferson to Alpharetta everyday.  It also just so happens that this is Mark's week to work the night rotation.  So, getting Hannah from daycare has added to my commute time.  I've spent 3 1/2 hours a day in the car.  I'm so worn out and all I want to do is SLEEP!

We are really looking forward to having some time off over the next couple weeks and spending it with our families!

Hannah Meets Santa

On Saturday, along with my mom and dad, I took Hannah to see Santa at the Mall of Georgia. I really thought it could go either way - she would tolerate sitting on Santa's lap or totall flip out. Well, she TOTALLY flipped out. She didn't just cry, she was terrified! The only pictures I have are courtesty of Mom & Dad. I was not about to pay $25 per sheet for pictures of my screaming child. I know that there will be many Christmases to come when she'll be excited to Santa. The pictures below are a little blurry...but you'll clearly see that it did not go well.

As soon as we got up, Hannah was very quick to say "bye-bye" about 15 times and wave to Santa. As soon as she was safe in Nana's arms, everything was okay!

We'll try again next year!

Christmas Trivia

So I'm reliving my younger days when we used to do these silly surveys...does anyone else remember doing these when we were in middle school?

Here's some info about Christmastime from MY perspective...I'm sure Mark would answer differently!

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? Wrapping paper.
2. Real tree or Artificial? We have one of each.
3. When do you put up the tree? The day after Thanksgiving.
4. When do you take the tree down? Between Christmas and New Years
5. Do you like eggnog? Not really.
6. Favorite gift received as a child? A boombox when I was in 6th grade, boy did I think I was cool!
7. Hardest person to buy for? My brother in law Jim
8. Easiest person to buy for? My mom and sister
9. Do you have a nativity scene? Yes, we have one carved from an olive tree that my father-in-law brought back from Bethlehem.
10. Mail or email Christmas cards? Snail mail, always! Who sends Christmas cards by email anyways?!?
11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? I'm not even going to go there...but I'm pretty sure my mom and Katherine can figure it out!
12. Favorite Christmas Movie? The Grinch (the original), it reminds me of my childhood
13. When do you start Christmas shopping? October
14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? Yes, hasn't everyone?
15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? Anything my mom makes, especially her cookies!
16. Hot chocolate or hot apple cider? Hot chocolate.
17. Lights on the tree? Um, doesn’t everyone put lights on the tree?
18. Favorite Christmas song? O Holy Night (the Josh Groban version)
19. Which do you prefer, giving or receiving? I love giving gifts, but I’d be lying if I didn’t say I also like to receive.
20. Stockings before or after presents? Before
21. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer? Yes
22. Angel or star on top of the tree? Star
23. Open presents Christmas Eve or in the morning? Christmas morning.
24. Most annoying thing about this time of the year? Crazy drivers and rude people in a hurry, but those things annoy me year-round.
25. Can you ice skate? Yes, but it’s not pretty.
26. Carolers? As long as I'm not one of them.
27. What do you want for Christmas this year? I'm really hoping that Santa Mark brings me a new camera!
28. Favorite memory about Christmas time? Sneaking down stairs with my sister before everyone woke up on Christmas day to check out the loot in our stockings. And making Christmas cookies with my mom.
29. Favorite part about winter? Not having to shave my legs so much!
30. What is your favorite Christmas book or story? 'Twas the Night Before Christmas.

Okay blogging friends, if you are so inclined, copy and paste and share your Christmas traditions! 'Tis the season!

Family Pictures

We had family pictures taken this weekend. Hannah did NOT want to smile for the camera. Thankfully, we were still able to get a few good shots.

Here is our favorite picture. Doesn't she look like an angel? Mark says she looks like Cindy Lou Who from The Grinch!

Here are a few of our other favorites.

Turkey Day Fun!

Mark, Hannah, and I celebrated Thanksgiving with both sides of Mark's family. On Thursday we celebrated with Mark's mom's side of the family and we spent time visiting with his grandparents.

All the great-grandchildren playing Aunt Lain's piano

Visiting with Granny

The whole crew

Isn't this the sweetest picture of Granny & Papa?

On Friday we had Turkey Day #2 with Mark's dad's side of the family. Hannah had a blast playing with her cousins!

Here's a video clip of Hannah going crazy on the horse. You'll have to turn your head (or computer)...I couldn't figure out how to switch the direction of the video.

Hannah completely wore herself out and slept nearly the whole 2 1/2 hour drive home.

We hope everyone had a wonderful and blessed Thanksgiving!

Thoughts on Thanksgiving...

We are excited to be celebrating Thanksgiving with ALL of Mark's family this week! It should be a good time with family and I know the food will be great!

Last Thanksgiving as we sat down to dinner and went around the table saying what we were thankful for, I remember saying "I'm thankful that Hannah is here and part of our family." It was her first Thanksgiving. As I reflect upon the events of the past year, the things I'm thankful for haven't changed. Not a day goes by that I don't thank God for Hannah's recovery. We are VERY lucky that she is with us today.

My PersonalDNA

I found this fun website called PersonalDNA. It's a unique personality test that assesses many different characteristics...wow was it accurate!


I'm an encouraging architect, which means:
1. logical and detail-oriented
2. self-reliant and confident
3. not afraid to let emotion guide me
4. prefer planning over spontaneity
5. loyal friend and good listener
6. trusting of others

And it says I need to work on the following areas:
1. try moving beyond the things that are comfortable; be open to new experiences
2. question what I know about things by imagining other possibilities
3. in the course of being encouraging, try not to be judgmental

I thought this was pretty interesting! Give it a try if you have 10 minutes!

Fall Art by Hannah

I just wanted to share some of Hannah's recent "masterpieces". Of course, I love everything she brings home from school. I nearly cried when I had to throw away this pumpkin she painted, but once it started growing "stuff" on it, I figured it was time to let go...

And isn't this just the cutest spider you've ever seen?!?

Hannah's "Vacation"

Hannah has spent the past few days with my mom and dad at their house. I've REALLY missed her and can't wait for her to come home tomorrow! Here are a couple pics of her adventures with Nana and Granddaddy...

Checking out Granddaddy's boat

Checking email

And hanging out with Nana

Puzzle Time!

Hannah has really been into puzzles lately. She loves these puzzles by Melissa & Doug. Over the past week she has really surprised me with her ability to match the puzzle piece with the picture on the board. I'm so proud of her! She doesn't even need mommy's help anymore.

Tonight she started rummaging through the drawers in her armoire and pulled out the infant carrier. She started saying "baby, baby" and then proceeded to try and put it on. How she knew that it was for a baby, I have no idea! I haven't used that thing in over a year!

Maybe she's ready for a brother or sister :)

Progress!

I'm thrilled to report that Hannah had a much better "eating" weekend. She actually tried several new foods - eggs, bacon, and rice cakes! She loved the eggs because they had cheese on top and she really enjoyed the rice cake. Guess which flavor that was? Cheese, of course! We're hoping she'll continue to have better days.


Hannah must have know that Mommy wasn't feeling well today. After waking up from her nap, she curled up in my lap and slept for another hour!

These are the sweetest moments that just make your heart overflow!

Final Score: Hannah 1, Mom/Dad 0

This has been a pretty trying week for Mark and I. Hannah has always been a pretty good eater, but lately she's been refusing to eat pretty much everything but cheese. For some reason it really stresses us out! I worry that she's not getting all the vitamins and nutrients that she needs. We've had 3 nights of flat-out, knock-down, hissy fits over dinner. It's not like I'm trying to feed her liver and onions! She won't eat any of her old favorites like bananas, pineapple, etc. She won't even eat the off-brand cheerios for breakfast! If anyone has suggestions for quick kid-friendly and healthy meals, we would love to hear your suggestions!



Here are a few pics from this week.


I've always wondered what our cats do all day long while we're at work...now I know.



And here is Hannah loving on Tigger. She adores Tigger!




Hannah and Daddy playing monkey-see, monkey-do!



Mark has made this Tiramisu the past two weeks and we both really like it. It's not the "real" thing like Maggiano's, but it's a pretty good alternative! I'll never lose those last 5 pounds if he keeps making it every week! Give it a try if you feel the need to give in to your sweet tooth:

1 80z pkg cream cheese, softened
3 cups cold milk
2 3.4oz pkgs vanilla instant pudding
1 8oz tub cool whip, thawed
1 or 2 boxes vanilla wafers
1/2 cup strong brewed coffee (we liked espresso from Starbucks), cooled
2 squares Baker's semi-sweet chocolate, grated

Beat cream cheese with mixer until creamy. Beat in milk and pudding mixes. Stir in 2 cups cool whip. Line 2 1/2 quart bowl with vanilla wafers and drizzle with 1/4 cup coffee/espresso. Top with half each of pudding mixture and grated chocolate. Repeat layers. Top with remaining cool whip and chocolate. Refrigerate 2 hours. ENJOY!

I survived!

A couple people have said to me, "Why did you call this the Malueg Family blog when all you write about is Hannah?" Well, I just figure that stories about Hannah are much more interesting than the mundane day-to-day things Mark and I do (okay so Mark's job isn't mundane, but I work in insurance!). But today I'll stray from the norm and share a little something about me...

...I survived my first commute to Alpharetta! For those that may not know, my office relocated from Duluth over the weekend. Doesn't sound like the commute would be that bad seeing as it's only 10 miles further, right? Actually, it wasn't too bad this morning since I left the house before the cats even woke up, but the drive home was torture! I really shouldn't complain because I feel very fortunate to work for a manager and company that are allowing me to work at home 3 days a week. I feel blessed to be allowed this privilege!

Fortunately, my friend Lara called half way through my drive to share a story, which totally made my day. Our girls go to school (aka daycare) together and are BFF's. She went to pick up her daughter and several of the kids were playing with a toy and doing something they weren't supposed to. Hannah stood in the background telling everyone "No, no. No, no." I just think it is so funny that she was being obedient and trying to keep her friends from getting in trouble!! Either that or she was being a tattletale...

This entry wouldn't be complete without one more story about Hannah. Her baby doll finally has a name! I asked her tonight what her baby doll's name is. At first I thought she said "Amen" but I finally figured out that she was saying "Amy". Amy is her beloved teacher at school. She just adores Amy!

Takin' a break

Mark and I had the opportunity to spend the weekend with some friends in Augusta while Hannah stayed with her Grammy & Pappy.

Hannah started out her stay with a nice long nap in Pappy's recliner.

She had to recharge her batteries so that she could help Pappy with the remodling...

Hannah was feeling a little under the weather today and enjoyed a long nap with Pappy after church. Here is where we found them when we returned home today.

We're hoping Hannah feels better tomorrow. She was such a sweet snuggle bug all day long. Anyone who has spent time around Hannah knows that she rarely sits still. It was actually a treat for us to spend some good quality time just holding her.

At 19 months...

Today Hannah celebrates her 19 month birthday. Is it crazy that I still think of her "birth" day on the 4th of each month?!? I can't help it!

So here's the low-down on Hannah as of today:

The stats: 23 pounds and 31 inches (both 25th percentile)

Favorite words: woof, dog, mama, della, tigger, ella, pappy (ah-pa), Amen

Favorite foods: cheese, bananas, cheese, meat sticks, cheese, raisins, cheese, and did I mention the the child LOVES cheese?!?

Favorite toys: tea set, baby doll & stroller, the TV remote, nesting and stacking toys

Favorite books: any book about babies and animals

Favorite songs: Jesus Loves Me, Itsy-bitsy Spider, Row Row Row your Boat

Favorite activities: playing outside, visiting our neighbor's dog Hooper, saying her "prayers", being silly with daddy

Accomplishments this month: obtaining a vocabulary of about 75 words, cutting teeth #13 and #14, sleeping all night long in a big-girl bed and not getting out in the morning and wondering around the house!

Things she can't live without: her night-night (blankie) and a bow-bow (hairbow), leaving the house without these things will most certainly result in a complete and total meltdown

Here is a pic from one year ago and a current one:

Book Worm!

Here is where I found Hannah this evening after her bath!

She was tucked away in the corner of her room studying her Abe Lincoln book. I must admit, this is one trait that she gets from her mommy. Her daddy isn't much of a reader (unless it's a hunting magazine) and I've tried the past 6 years to turn him into one.

Good night everyone and hugs to all!

Kids say the darndest things!

Just a quick little story to share. Hannah and I were in the car on the way to the grocery store and I was asking her what various animals "say". Then I asked her "What does Mommy say?" She responded with "No, no". Not exactly what I was hoping she would say!

Where did the time go?

So, this past weekend, Hannah and I got together with our friends for a playdate. Hannah enjoyed playing with her friends and I enjoyed some much needed adult interaction! We also dressed up the kids in their Halloween costumes. It was waaaaay past their naptimes, so smiles were few and far between by this point!

Here's a pic from one year ago! I can't believe how much they have changed. Hannah had just started sitting up unassisted that week...and now she's walking, talking, and running! If only there were a "pause" button in life!!!

BRICE!

Hannah has recently become very interested in looking at her newborn baby pictures, although I don't think she truly understands that it is her in the pictures. She's especially fond of the ones with her cousins holding her. Today she proudly proclaimed her cousin's name "BRICE!" when looking at this one:

Gooooo Dawgs!!

Hannah enjoyed watching the Bulldogs stomp LSU this weekend! Here she is cheering them on. She loves the little wooden chair her great-grandfather gave her. She rarely sits still to watch TV, but if she's in this chair she may sit for 10 minutes. We're hoping her attention span improves with time!



Her favorite part of the game is calling the dawgs and barking "woof, woof, woof"!!

Here's the face she made when I told her the game was over and it was time for bed...

Our New Family Blog!

I'm finally jumping on the blogging bandwagon!! We are all so busy these days and often aren't able to spend as much time with family and friends as we'd like. I hope this will help us all stay in touch a little better. Look for new posts with pics and videos each week!!