Can't time just stop for a minute?

My oldest baby is 5 years old today (as of 3:34 AM..Oy, I was sleepy :P). Five! She is a half-decade old. That sounds a like a lot putting it that way. :) I remember my own 5th birthday, so it throws me for a loop that I am actually grown up now with children of my own! Hannah has been one of the biggest life changing blessings ever (along with me accepting the Lord as my Savior and getting married--those are pretty life changing, too ;D), and I almost can't remember my life was like before she was born. She is sweet, funny, and she calls everyone her friend even if she has not met them yet. She loves books, bears, dinosaurs, and my sparkly lip gloss. She loves watching Team Umizoomi and asks for Golden Grahams for breakfast almost every morning. Her favorite toy in the world is a big pink stuffed bear named Kracker Bear which must be in her bed every night.

Today we are having a party for Hannah's friends from school, and tomorrow we are having a party for family and close friends. The parties are a panda bear theme. Supplies for such a thing are scarce but I managed with making a bear cake and black, white, and pink decorations.

I wish I could post pictures from each birthday we have celebrated thus far, but we lost at least two years worth of pictures when our computer crashed a while back. I'm sure my mom has plenty of pics saved on her computer, but she's running the Music City Half Marathon today. I'm sure she couldn't be bothered with such thing right now. :) I can at least write out a chronology of what was going on in Hannah's life for the past five years.

2005 - Hannah Jo Caulfield was born weighing 7 lbs 13 oz, 20 inches. She was pretty from the start! Ryan was currently deployed to Iraq and was able to come home on R&R for her birth. He went back to Iraq when Hannah was 5 days old and came home when she was 9 months.

2006 - First birthday! We had a Strawberry Shortcake theme (which was also my first birthday!). Hannah was not one to truly enjoy her smash cake but it was a nice party nonetheless. Ryan ETSed out of the Army for a taste of civilian living. Long story short, civilian life did not pan out for us very well so we went back to active duty which suited everyone just fine.

2007 - By the 2nd birthday, we had just moved to Fort Riley, KS, after Ryan went back into the Army. We had not met many people so we just had a small celebration at home with cake and presents. This is right around the time a major obsession with the Backyardigans begins.

2008 - We are still living in KS for the 3rd birthday. I was currently about halfway through my pregnancy with Autumn, but at the time we didn't know if Hannah would have a little brother or sister. We have a party at our house with friends from church. We have, what else, a Backyardigans theme! Hannah cried when everyone sang happy birthday to her. She comes by it honestly unfortunately, since that's what I did when I was little as well. I have no idea why.

2009 - We are now living in Hinesville, GA, and family comes to see us for Hannah's 4th birthday. The theme is SpongeBob, which suits me fine since there are plenty of supplies at every local retailer! Hannah's "Unkie" was unable to attend because he was away at basic training and her "Tookie" could not come because she had just started a new job and couldn't take the time off. Even though we were disappointed not everyone could come we still had a great time since Hannah now has her little sister and little cousin to play with! Hannah still cried when we sang happy birthday, and my mom said she felt like she went back in time to 1985. Very funny.

2010 - I think by this year Hannah has gotten over crying being sung to. She had cupcakes with her class and she was excited telling me they sang happy birthday to her. I have high hopes. One thing that makes me sad about Hannah turning this age is that she no longer considered a toddler. She is slowly growing into the clothes in the "little girls" section, and she is asking for toys such as Barbies and play make up (much to her daddy's horror).

Time has gone by so quickly, and I sometimes feel like I can't keep up. I know I'm going to blink and she'll be 15, so I better enjoy it all before it's gone!

Hannah's Songbook, Parts II and III

Hannah shows off more of her singing/song knowledge skills. She really likes the song about the "monkeys swinging in a tree, teasing Mr. Alligator can't catch me!" but she sings plenty of other songs as well, hand movements included. :)

"Transforming" to 27

Today is actually Ryan's birthday, but yesterday we had a small party for him...Transformer theme to be exact! Isn't this how all 27-year old guys ring in the big day? All this was my idea. Ryan acted like he was annoyed with it, but I know he secretly liked it. ;) I could have gone to some crazy extent but all I did was order a cake and buy the plates and cups. My mom and her best friend even got him "kids'" birthday cards, and Jonna got him a Bumblebee matchbox car (which Autumn was really quick to steal). Ryan has threatened to give me a Titanic-themed party for my birthday in July and my response was "Please! I would love that!" :D If there was Titanic birthday stuff out there anyway. I'm sure he will think of something special for me when I turned the big 2-8.

Hump Day Hi-jinks

Even though it is now the
weekend, I still want to share a great time I had this past week that was a great change to the normal hum drum routine. Right smack in the middle of the week I decide to invite my sister and niece out to eat at Chick Fila just to hang out and let the kids play for a bit. While pretty much everyone likes to save outings such as this for the weekends, it was nice to throw it in the middle of the week. Despite living in Clarksville now, I still only see my niece, Emma (left, in the green shirt), once a week at the most. I suppose it is better than once every six months like before. :p The girls love playing with their cousin and the three of them always act like they haven't seen each other in years! Crazy kids! After sucking down chicken tenders, chocolate milk, and Autumn smearing ketchup all over her (long-sleeved) shirt, the girls scurried to the play room. Emma and Hannah were climbing up to the highest level faster than Meagan and I could get in there. Even though Emma is a mere 15 days older than Autumn, she has the sturdiness and endurance of a 4-year old--climbing and running every which where as if she has been doing it since the beginning of time. Autumn on the other hand, while at perfect development for her age, is a bit more cautious simply watching her cousin and big sister while also making a good attempt at climbing up. My little ginger is a bit on the short side. :) All good things must come to an end and the girls did not want to leave, of course. I definitely enjoyed throwing this wrench into the works. I really hope to do it more often!

An Afternoon Stroll

Today was 70 degrees and sunny which was absolutely perfect! After I picked up Hannah from school we went out for a wagon ride. The girls love the ride and I could always use the exercise. :) Hannah has recently taken to pulling her little sister, but I think she underestimates her own strength, so please don't mind my scolding her. I hated to ruin a lovely day with a smashed face or runaway wagon. I'm looking forward to several more rides throughout the spring and summer. I am feeling certain the bitter cold days are behind us!

My Song Bird

Sometimes I wonder if Hannah does anything else at school but sing. :) I'm not at all against that, but I'm just surprised by all the songs she's learned in the short time she's been at her new school. The first songs Hannah ever learned was "Jesus Loves Me", "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star", and "You are My Sunshine". I guess all the hand movements that go along with the songs are a big help in remembering. Maybe Hannah will be a famous interpretive dancer. Don't know if there's any way of making a living through that. :P American Idol will still be around probably by the time she's 18 or so. I guess we'll see. ;)

Rediscovering a Classic

Remember that big (or little depending on your city) building in almost every city in the country where you could read and study as long you wanted and even take books for free for a certain amount of time? If you haven't yet guessed, I am referring to the library. When I was a kid, I remember very distinctly going to the library very often. Since graduating college, the novelty of the library had faded...until I discovered the children's library. The children's library here in Clarksville is quite charming with various landmarks in city painted on the wall, a big play area for kids of various ages, and stuffed characters from various children's books lining the shelves (Hannah was glad to see Mama Bear, Sister Bear, and Brother Bear during our last visit). I guess I should mention the hundreds of books that fill those shelves. :) Don't forget about the fact services are free...did I mention that? Since moving back to Clarksville, we have made it a point to go to the library at least once a week. The girls play for a while and we wrap up our visit with the girls selecting a few books (or 12, as with our last visit). The girls will grab books off the shelf at random which has been great since we have made some wonderful discoveries--new stories and characters. Somehow Hannah ended up with 3 different books about monkeys. Must be a popular subject among children's authors. We also ended up with two different books from a series about a little opossum named Gilbert who is always in the process of learning valuable life lessons (think of the Arthur books, more or less the same except it's a different animal). The book pictured here shows the importance of telling the truth, which has been great since Hannah has been testing the waters of lying lately. We're trying to nip that in the bud by giving the illusion that me and her daddy are much more clever than we really are, but that is whole different series of blog posts I'm sure.