From Hannah's Perspective

This past month was full of little adventures!  Grandma came over and we baked cookies for Valentine's Day!  Mom wouldn't let me try them though...Good thing Grandma was there, I think I like cookies!

  

Mom pulled out my Jolly Jumper and I tried it for the first time.  It was so much fun, I think it's my favorite thing to do (well, besides eating).

I also got to go in my exersaucer for the first time!  I'm getting so strong.  

I feel so lucky to have so much family that lives so close to me.  I attended my second cousin, Elizabeth's dedication.

 

Mom, Dad and I have been going on walks every weekend!  This is when we walked the Fort to Fort Trail and stopped in Fort Langley for lunch!

With the sun starting to come out more, Mom thinks I need a pair of sunglasses.  I was so glad she didn't buy my these ones!

One day, when it was raining, Mom was bored so she decided she wanted to use me as a model for a photo shoot.  Luckily the phone rang so the photo shoot didn't last long!  We did manage to get this shot...Am I model material or what?!

Just this past weekend, I got to go on my first ferry ride!  I wasn't sure what to think of being on a boat...  

We went to Gibsons to visit my other second cousin, Esme.  We had our first pajama party!

Then on March 8th, I turned 5 months old!  Mom always like to dress me up and take my picture.  Sometimes I think she's crazy but I just go along with it...

So it was a busy month and I had fun!  Even though I'm growing and learning new things and meeting new people, my favorite thing to do is just hang out with Mom and Dad :)

Time Flys

Time flys and yes, we're having fun!  Let me first catch you up on little Miss Hannah Jae!

As you can see, she's grown!  At her appointment last week she weighed in at 13lbs 15oz which means she has pretty much doubled her birth weight.  Everyday we are so thankful that she is a healthy and happy baby!  Hannah and I have started a "Mom and Me" fitness class once a week.  She usually naps through half the class and then plays on a mat for the rest of the class while I attempt to work off the baby weight.  We have also been going to a Womens Bible Study once a week where we have met a few other Mom's and babes.  We are looking forward to better weather so we can get out for more walks!

Carl is still enjoying his job.  Over the holidays we opted to buy a second vehicle which means I can get out more and Carl gets home from work at a reasonable hour.  I think we all really look forward to weekends when we can all be together.  We've tried to get out of the house the past few weekends, we checked out the Childrens Hospital Lottery homes one weekend, went to Boundry Bay for a walk another weekend and went up Whistler this past weekend.

 

I think it's time this Funk family did something more exciting so I have more to write about :)  For now, I'll leave you with a few of my favorite photos...

Out in the cold!

Sitting in my bumbo for the first time!

Watching the Hockey game!

My favorite animal

Bath Time

Good Riddance Christmas 2012!

When I think of Christmas 2012, this is the face that comes to mind:

Christmas 2012 had so much to live up to.  It was our first year back in town, it was Hannah's first Christmas, it was the first year Carl and I were able to do a traditional Christmas (not in South America or traveling to do our Christmas) and it was the first year we were able to make it to all of our families gatherings...Except we didn't!  "The cold" started around December 14th for me, complete with fever and chills and a whole lot of congestion.  On Carl's first day of 5 days off, Hannah got "the cold", her first cold.  A few days later, Carl came down with "the cold".  We awoke Christmas day and none of us wanted to get out of bed!  I was actually feeling a bit better that morning...Little did I know that by the afternoon I'd be hovering over the toilet with the 24hour stomach flu!  Not wanting to miss our first Christmas, we got out of bed and headed to my parents house...And ended up staying there overnight so they could take care of our sick family!  We missed going to Oma and Opa's, we missed going to Grandpa Joe's, we missed our boxing day brunch, but when it came to going to Whistler, we decided "the cold" had ruined enough, we were going!  Well "the cold" didn't go away and we didn't feel any better after going to Whistler - in fact it felt like my cold got worse again.  By week 3 of "the cold", I had had enough and thankfully we were all starting to feel a bit better.  But it had done what it intended to do, "the cold" ruined Christmas!  

Ok, I guess I can't be that much of a downer but I was REALLY disappointed in Christmas 2012.  Being sick for that long was kinda depressing, especially over what is usually a fun holiday!  I had to keep reminding myself that Christmas isn't about being healthy or being with family and friends, although those things are great, Christmas is about the birth of Christ and even when I'm sick, I can still be thankful and celebrate that. 

As I look over our photos of December, it reminds me that not all of it was a bummer, the pictures do bring back happy memories :)

Hanging out With Hannah  

The Balback Christmas

Celebrated before "the cold" hit us!  

Hannah's First Santa Visit

Hannah's Dedication

It meant so much to us, having so many of our family and friends come to support us in this milestone in Hannah's life.  

Hannah Meets Her Aunt, Uncle and Cousin for the First Time!

Sorry Uncle Ryan, guess we missed a photo op with you :(

The Funk Christmas

Limited photos due to illness...I thought I took more?

Here's to a healthy 2013!

"Ohhhh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree"

Carl and I took the time this past weekend to put up our first Christmas tree!  Even though we've been married for 3 years, this was our first time putting up a somewhat normal sized tree (it's only about 5 feet).  The first year we were married we were in South America for Christmas and the past 2 years we were in Kingston and had a mini tree (maybe a foot tall).  We made this year a special affair by putting on the Christmas music and breaking out some hot chocolate!

  

I've been collecting Christmas tree ornaments, well since I was born.  I still have 2 ornaments that say "baby's first Christmas 1983".  For at least the first 10 years of my life (maybe more), my mom would make us each an ornament or 2 for our little trees that my brothers and I each kept in our bedroom.  Carl and I also started the tradition of buying a Christmas tree ornament from the places that we traveled.  It's always nice to have a souvenir from places we've been, but what do you buy that you are are actually going to keep? We figured with a Christmas tree ornament, every year when we hang it on the tree we can reminisce of places we've been and things we've seen and done together.  

Every single ornament on our tree tells a story of where it came from.  It reminds me of the tree my parents put up in their house.  They have a lot more ornaments that we do and again, almost all of them have a story to tell.  I always remember decorating the tree as a family and telling stories about past adventures we're reminded of when we put up a certain ornament, or hearing a story from my parents as we hang up a decoration that they received when they were first married.  Decorating the tree means so much more to me than just putting shiny balls on branches.  

Needless to say, with my current collection and the one Carl and I started, we have already accumulated a lot of ornaments!  I thought for sure a 5 foot tree ($10 Wal Mart special) would be big enough to hold all of our ornaments but alas, it is not!  We may have to upgrade next year! 

We of course made sure that Hannah was involved in the decorating fun and let her hang up her own first two Christmas ornaments!  

Hannah seems to love trees in general - we keep saying that we think she'll be a botanist one day!  Now she has one more tree in the house to look at and my hope is that one day, she to will appreciate the memories hanging on each branch!

Christmas Time is Here...

Yes, I know it's still November but "it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!"  I can't help but begin to get into the Christmas spirit after Halloween has passed.  We haven't decorated or really put on the Christmas music quite yet (more due to lack of time and energy) but we did go check out the Vancouver Christmas Market this past Saturday!

It was colder than I thought so we had to get some hot apple cider and of course, sample some schnitzel and sausage!  

Hannah slept through the entire outing but we think she enjoyed it :) 

Carl was more concerned about dropping Hannah than having his face line up...He has a moustache on his chin...

Hannah has had a few play dates already, her most recent one was with her 2nd cousin Elizabeth and their mutual friend Keaton.  Elizabeth and Keaton are about 2 months older than Hannah and as you can see their neck muscles are a little more developed...But Hannah is getting there!

Hannah had a check up this week and is in top shape!  She weighs over 10 pounds already and is turning into quite the little chubby monkey!  I think Hannah went through her 6 week growth spirt overnight - it's crazy the amount she changes on such a short time.  She is smiling much more and I think we almost got a little laugh out of her the other day!  She is discovering her hands and has started putting them near her mouth as a self soothing technique.  As much as I love seeing Hannah grow and discover new things, it feels like she is growing to fast!  

It's All About Hannah

When Hannah was just 11 days old we had Carl's cousin Christina, come over to take some photos!  For those of you that don't have Facebook, I thought I'd share some of my favorite photos from that day!

 

Thanks to Christina for the great photos!!!