Hannah's four months old!

Our sweet baby is growing so fast! She's cheery and chatty and blows some great drool bubbles.
Did I mention cheery? We love this grin and Hannah's not stingy with it!
The real baby has SO much personality!
And Hannah's way ahead of "Rosie" and "Stephanie" - she can stand up!
Love those little feet!

Hannah went down for a nap after pictures, and Abigail asked if I'd take pictures of her. Of course! =) (She really has done well with the jealousy issue.) So, we had some more fun and I took pictures of my beautiful big girl with her curls and bubbles and dandelions.

Growing-up girls

While Mommy and Daddy were unpacking the van after the Gatlinburg trip, Abigail decided to read Hannah a book and to teach her colors. What a great big sister!
And Hannah paid pretty close attention - she adores Abigail.
Abigail loves to hold Hannah.
Hannah's getting more difficult to hold these days. . .she arches her back and starts sliding away. Of course Abigail squeals.
So big Hannah - she loves standing up!
Our happy baby!

Gatlinburg May 09

Near the end of May, we enjoyed three days at a cabin with Mom and Dad Mee and Nathan, Andrew and Karen (several other family members had been through earlier in the week). It was a great change of pace and time with family. Thanks Mom and Dad! Ice cream downtown, a hike (easy - since we had a toddler and a baby!), a bear siting (yep, in our front yard), the hot tub (Abigail's personal pool), and a real nap (thank you GramMee for babysitting!) rank in the favorite memories listing. Check out the slideshows below for a full review. =)Four month old Hannah - "standing" in her new swimsuit
With the family in Gatlinburg

Hike

Black bear

Of baskets, birds and eggs

On Mother's Day, Dad and Mom Garner's church in Georgia gave me this hanging basket (a prize for being the youngest mother present). When we returned home after Hannah's final hearing, we hung it outside our front door. A few days later, we noticed a bird building a nest in it! And a few days after that, we found three little eggs tucked inside.
Four days later there were more!
Now for the wait. Abigail is one excited little girl. What a fun science lesson!

Strawberry picking

May 20 the girls and I picked strawberries with our friends Bekah, David and Will (two years in a row, except that Will and Hannah hadn't been born last year!). It was a happy reunion for David and Abigail especially (I haven't been keeping David and Will since Hannah's arrival), and the strawberries, though small this year, were delicious! Ask Will. Abigail did a very good job this year of picking only the red strawberries - and of putting and leaving them in her basket! She didn't eat nearly as many this time. . . probably because she and David were so busy having adventures!

Hannah's formal dedication

Sunday May 17 we dedicated Hannah to our Lord publicly. We pray that God will pursue the heart of our little girl so that she might seek Him all her days. Pastor Sipe (our pastor of evangelism) held Hannah during the baby dedication while Pastor Brooks prayed for Hannah and Elyssa (the seven-month-old daughter of our friends Adam and Danielle, also dedicated the same day). Having GramMee and Grandpa present was an extra blessing. Immediately afterwards Grandpa took pictures of our family and of Danielle and I with our baby girls. (We weren't able to get pictures with the pastors after the morning service. During the afternoon's lunch with GramMee, Grandpa and Jennie Lue, Abigail managed a significant collision with the corner of a wall in our house, so the poor girl had a large bruise and lump on her forehead for pictures that evening. Now, two weeks later, the colors are nearly gone. Grateful God makes children so resilient!)