How can I describe how much this summer in Arizona meant to us?  I can't.  The re-establishing of relationships, the bonding and strengthening of others, the long conversations, the good shows and movies, the fireplace dance parties, the good learning experiences, the (ahem) lovely dinner discussions, watching three amazing little girls grow up before our eyes, seeing them build new relationships of their own together, the successful job prospects we came out with and a future to look forward to that seems closer than ever....it's all too much.  And pizza.  I will never forget how much pizza I ate this summer.  We will never be able to express our gratitude to Natalie and Ray for opening their home to us for three whole months.  They went from a family of three to a family of SEVEN overnight.  I have to gush for a few sentences- we sure love you Hamblins.  We will always be grateful to you for this summer.  I love you Natalie and I miss you!  And Audrey is basically lost without Hadley.  They will definitely be staying in touch for the rest of their lives.
We saw so much of Andrew's family, especially his parents.  We saw some family that I hadn't met yet, and spent a lot of time re-establishing relationships with his aunts and uncles and cousins.  We were able to go to a few family parties and hang out with cousins at the zoo and other things during the day.  We are sold on Arizona for family if nothing else!  Everyone was so good to us.  Shout out to those cousins and a great big thank you for the welcome you gave us while we were there!
I wish I could make a video or a collage of our summer.  Here is the best I can do- a little summer summary in pictures...of Hadley and Audrey and Hannah.  We didn't really take pictures of anything else the whole time.

first this is when they met feb 2014

our first day there

i finally captured hamlet's scream face!

dance shows on the fireplace

when we didn't feel like filling up with pool

hannah is just hilarious when she wakes up apparently

our last day there audrey fell asleep in my lap while i was singing to her for the first in months

needless to say i was pretty happy.  she's still my baby.

both of them trying to do a somersault.  our last day there :(

(I keep delaying this post till I gather all the pictures I want to put on...but if I keep waiting I'll never post it, so here it is)

Life with two kids is so very different than life with one.  It's much busier but also double the cuteness and double those special little moments that make life happy.  Because of all this I have not kept up on blogging about my dear sweet Hannah girl.  She will be 5 months old (aaggghhhh) on Audrey's birthday!  Her babyhood is seriously flying by and it is so surprising and depressing and fun and exciting all at the same time.  So here are some special things about this little darling that I want to always remember about who she is right now when she's still my tiny little baby:

• Her personality is so very sweet and calm still.  

• She sticks her lip out in a hurry when she’s upset.  Most times she is slow to anger...but when she's mad, she is MAD.  And she lets everyone know it.  More often she seems to be sad rather than mad.  Hence the lip.

• She is SUCH a social smiler.  I’ve seen SO many people politely smile in her direction then double take and suddenly get a huge grin on their face because she just beaming back them.  Then they proceed to play with her as long as they can trying to win that big smile again and again.  And she gives it to them.  She is definitely a day brightener. 

• She recently found her voice- her high-pitched screechy voice.  She also coos and talks and has the sweetest little laugh you ever did hear.

• She likes to be carried around the house as I do things.  She doesn’t seem to care if she’s being talked to or sung to constantly like Audrey did.  She just likes being with everybody.  She hates being in a room by herself.

• She doesn’t mind loud noises.  I think Audrey has trained her well in this aspect with her screaming.

• She gets excited to see her bottle and then so mad when I have to warm it up before giving it to her.  But if I don’t warm it up she wont eat it.

• She has had a clogged tear duct since she was born that has her waking up with eyes glued shut almost every morning.  The doctor said if she doesn’t outgrow by 9 months they’ll give us some medicine for it.

• Hands.  She loves her hands and anyone else’s.  She is content to look at her hands for hours.  Sometimes I give her a toy and a few minutes later see it on the blanket next to her because she was more excited about her hands than the toy.

• When she is tickled she’ll wrap her arms around the hand that’s tickling her and hug it so tight.

• She still loves Audrey and loves to be in a room with her and Hadley as they play.  This has made her a very tough baby, I think.  I'm amazed at how many times she can accidentally get sat on, kicked in the head, or hugged too tight and not get upset!  They love her!

• When Audrey throws a fit Hannah kicks her legs like crazy, startled but almost like she’s excited too.

• Hannah has beat her sister in two ways- she’s already been on a plane, and she’s already been to the Emergency Room.  The plane was when we went to California recently.  The Emergency Room visit was because her acid reflux had gotten out of hand to the point where she wasn't keeping anything down at all and not having any wet diapers.  My poor baby was crying and throwing up acid-y green liquid at the same time.  When we had gone to the doctor they told us some guidelines for when it would be ER-worthy and that was one of the signs.  So Hannah and Daddy spent 16 hours in the ER while I stayed here and snuggled with Audrey all night trying not to wake her up with my sobs.  Natalie and Ray were out of town and I can't drive at night to have taken Hannah by myself, so this was the only option.  My mom comforted me on the phone, saying (among other things) that this is just an experience she will have with her Dad and that that was okay.  It was okay for me to let him be the one there for her, for them to have this time together, him as her one and only caregiver, able to give comfort just as much as mommy.  I think they did bond over this.  He was right there next to her every second of her stay.  He was the one holding her and in some ways he was the only one strong enough to do what was best for her.  They had to take x-rays at one point and even just the description of it....I know I would've just grabbed my baby and ran.  But that wouldn't have been what was best for her.  It was a very scary night of very little sleep for any of us, except Audrey who didn't know what was going on.  But it the end everything turned out fine.  We have some medicine for her reflux and some options to try if anything that bad ever happens again.  

i asked andrew to send me pictures while we were separated

still smiling, even in the hospital

• She loves reaching for things.

• She loves kisses on the lips and being “eaten” on the neck.
• She gives hugs!  She wraps her arms around my next when she's happy to see me and squeezes with her whole body.  This is one of my favorite things about her.  Picture to come.

• I love the way she holds my face in her little hands.

• She has some skinny baby rolls on her legs and arms that I just love to squeeze.
• She works so hard at rolling over, grunting and talking as she tries.  She wants to sit up so badly!  She's always working her abs.

cousins

this is the way she sits in the bumbo

whenever andrews holding her she tends to rest her arm or hand on his face