The Hart Connection

Sweet

2012-02-12T18:01:00.000-08:00

This morning when Miranda and I were getting breakfast, she put in her order, "I will have a bagel and Isaac will have milk."

Also, a few weeks ago, Miranda climbed onto my bed and told me, "there's a B in climb, b-b-b-climb!"

Creative Girl

2012-02-11T12:39:00.000-08:00

Miranda received some Valentine's stickers from her ZsaZsa (Zane's Mom) in the mail yesterday. Today, she asked to take them to bed with her during her nap. Instead of sleeping, she created this work of art.

Relief!

2012-02-11T12:34:00.000-08:00

The past 6ish weeks have been tough ones for us. Isaac has been very fussy and has not slept well at all. During the day, he barely let me set him down without screaming, and his naps were sporadic and short. At night, he was waking about four times throughout the night. Yes, that's about every 2-3 hours! They say "when mama ain't happy, ain't nobody happy." But let me tell you I've learned that "when baby ain't happy, ain't nobody happy." Well, this week we received some much anticipated and prayed for relief! I took Isaac to the allergist on Monday, and he is allergic to dairy, eggs and peanuts - all things I was eating! No wonder he was fussy, his sweet little tummy hurt. After cutting those things from my diet, Isaac is doing much, much better. We are all, in fact, doing much, much better! Every day since I cut out these allergens, Isaac has slept better and in general has been more content. The past two days have especially been great! Just look at that happy face!

NOOOOOOO!

2012-02-06T15:28:00.000-08:00

While making dinner tonight, I left Isaac on his back in the middle of his blanket. Five minutes later, I came back to find this situation:

We immediately had a long conversation during which I informed Isaac that if he insists on doing advanced things for his age, he should try that big boy activity called sleeping through the night. He said that sounded boring, but rolling all around the room was much more fun so I'd better start baby proofing again.

Dance Party

2012-01-19T16:56:00.000-08:00

This week we have all been sick and incredibly sleep deprived. It's just been a long, hard week. This afternoon, we needed to liven things up around our house. When you have a preschool girl, how else do you liven things up but with a ball? If you listen carefully at the end, Miranda is asking Isaac to be the prince and dance with her.

Some Days

2012-01-12T15:54:00.000-08:00

Some days are harder than others in our home. And some days Miranda and Isaac are fussier than usual. And some days I'm more impatient than I should be. And some days those things all happen at once. I'd like to say these days are few and far between, but that's not true. Today was one of them, but this post is not about today. It's about one of those days a few weeks ago. By late morning, I was already counting down the hours to bed time. By the afternoon, we were all just done for the day, and daddy wasn't going to be home to reinvigorate us for another long hour. We all needed a break so I put on a video for Miranda and laid Isaac down on a blanket with a toy. I went into the kitchen to clean up a little bit. When I came back to the living room to check on Miranda and Isaac, Miranda was lying on the floor next to Isaac. They were holding hands and quietly watching their video. It was just so cute, and a gentle reminder that these days when Isaac and Miranda are little are precious. Even though on days like today time seems to stand still, there will come a day when I will miss Miranda and Isaac being so small.

Holiday Bonus

2012-01-05T18:49:00.000-08:00

You know that sad, empty feeling when Christmas and New Years' are over? When you realize the holiday fun is over and won't come again for another year? It usually hits the first week of January. Well, this year, instead of those post-holiday blues, we got a post-holiday bonus. Aunt Keira and Uncle Rodrigo came to visit this week! We had a great week of playing games, watching movies, making yummy food, exploring St. Louis and just enjoying each other.

Here's Aunt Keira and Isaac in their matching outfits.

We taught Isaac how to play Settlers of Catan.

We also spent a day at St. Louis' City Museum.

Keira taught Miranda and Zane how to plank.

Keira and Zane being their goofy selves.

Normally, Miranda won't explore new places. But on this, her first trip to the City Museum, Miranda climbed through a tree (and into Uncle Rodrigo's arms!). She also rode a train all by herself. I think that her fun Aunt Keira inspired Miranda to be brave.

First Snow

2011-12-30T21:24:00.001-08:00

On the morning that my parents left to drive back to Virginia, we had our first snow of the winter. Unfortunately, it wasn't enough snow to delay their trip. Isaac slept in, but Zane, Miranda and I bundled up in our snow clothes to wave good-bye and then play for a while. After making a snowman, we went inside for a cup of hot chocolate and a board game!

Bribe

2011-12-30T21:22:00.000-08:00

I have to admit that one of the strangest but funniest things about being a parent is seeing my own parents do things with Miranda and Isaac that they would have NEVER done when I was little! For example, when she visits, my mom gives Miranda coffee with ice cream in it for breakfast. I grew up on "good-for-you" cereal that tasted like cardboard (poor me). Honestly, it doesn't bother me because I think it's a privilege that makes grandparents special.

Well, the last night of my parents' visit, it was time for Miranda to go to bed, but I first wanted to get a picture of Nana, Granddaddy, Miranda and Isaac all together. For whatever reason, probably because she was overtired, Miranda pitched a fit at this idea. She did not want to sit in Nana's lap. She did not want to sit in Granddaddy's lap. She did not want to smile for a picture. After several minutes of trying to get her to cooperate, my mom said to Miranda, "if I give you some change from my purse, would you sit on my lap and take a picture?" Miranda's mood changed on a dime (pun intended). Miranda immediately climbed on the sofa and into Nana's lap. She smiled and laughed for the camera. We got several nice pictures of all four of them together, and it only cost about 60 cents.

Dewey's and Wild Lights

2011-12-27T06:53:00.000-08:00

Wow! I don't know where to begin about our Christmas this year. We have so much to tell! It might take me a while to post everything so I'm going to blog a little at a time.

My parents spent Christmas weekend with us, and we had a fabulous time. On Friday night, we hit the town...well, as much as you can when you have a two-and-a-half year-old and a three-month-old. Even though we ate dinner at 4:30 and were home by 8pm, we still had a fun night out. First stop was Dewey's pizza (our very favorite!)Granddaddy took Miranda to watch the baker's make our pizza. She was enthralled.

After our yummy meal, we headed to the zoo! Every December, the zoo decorates for Christmas and is open at night. They call it Wild Lights. We went last year and loved it so much that seeing the Wild Lights has become a Christmas tradition. The zoo is so beautiful all lit up. Even Isaac had a good time looking at all the lights. I carried him in our baby bjorn carrier. At first he was face-to-face with me. But after a few minutes at the zoo, he was pushing against me and turning around to see the lights. I switched him so he faced outward. His eyes were so big the whole time we walked around. As you can see from the pictures, Miranda had a great time too.

Just for fun, this picture is from our visit last year in front of the same tree :)

Fancy

2011-12-20T11:48:00.000-08:00

Miranda went to a Fancy Nancy themed birthday party this past Saturday. For those of you who do not know who Fancy Nancy is, you can learn more about her here. If you have little girls in your life, you probably already know about Fancy Nancy and how to prepare for a Fancy Nancy birthday party. But just in case you don't know, here's how it works. Miranda wore her fanciest dress with her fanciest shoes. She got to wear mommy's make-up (not really...we pretended but shhhh, don't tell Miranda) and jewelry. We took fancy pictures of Miranda in her fancy clothes. Then, Miranda took a purse (with a cookie monster book in it)with her to the party. At the party, she wore a crown and all the girls participated in a fashion walk. The best part of such a fancy party? Miranda took a 2 hour fancy nap after!!!!

Happy Faces

2011-12-12T18:49:00.000-08:00

Isaac

2011-12-06T11:33:00.001-08:00

Our good friend Katrina took pictures of Isaac for us when he was just two days old. She did a wonderful job, and I wanted to share our favorites. If you live in the St. Louis area, we highly recommend her work!

Also, we took Isaac in for his two month check up this morning. He is 13 pounds 7 ounces and 25 inches long. When the nurse put Isaac's length into the computer, it told her that 25 inches is "longer than the acceptable range" for a two month old baby. Ha! She actually had to override the message to get his growth percentages.

Thankful

2011-11-24T08:11:00.001-08:00

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! This blog isn't for airing our dirty laundry, so I won't go into any details. But it's enough to say this year has been hard for us. Even with everything that has happened, we are overwhelmed with gratitude for so many wonderful blessings. Isaac came into this world with several unexpected complications that could have been disastrous, but God protected him and me. We are so thankful for him. Miranda continues to grow, learn and light up our life in ways we could have never imaged. We are so thankful for her. Next month, Zane and I will celebrate our fifth wedding anniversary. Throughout these hard times, we have grown closer together when stress and worry could have easily put a wedge between us. We are so thankful for each other. This year brought big challenges to our lives, but it also brought big gifts. God is the giver of all good gifts, and so we ultimately thank him for his provision, protection and love.

Also, here's our most recent family picture. It was the best we could do :)

Hide-And-Seek

2011-11-22T16:32:00.001-08:00

Miranda loves, loves, loves to play hide-and-seek. Here's how a typical game goes. First, she counts to ten, with her eyes closed...one, three, four eight, nine ten...or something like that.

Then, she starts to look for Daddy. Daddy is the best hide-and-seek player ever. Is he in the closet? No!

Is he in her bed? No!

Oh there he is, behind the sofa!

She found him!

It's Miranda's turn to hide. Where could she be?

Now, that's a good hiding spot.

Zoo Again!

2011-11-20T10:24:00.001-08:00

We made another trip to the zoo this Saturday because Miranda, Isaac and I have just been dying to get out of the house. It's definitely been harder to do that these days. We had a great time, and it was probably our best zoo trip yet. Last time we went to the zoo, the elephant and hippopotamus scared Miranda, but yesterday, she went right up to see them. However, the butterflies terrified her! Isaac wasn't scared at all. In fact, he wore his new frog hat for the occasion.

Funny Book, part 2

2011-11-14T13:08:00.001-08:00

Miranda just came out of her room from her nap time (during which she did not sleep), and told me "I was reading my facebooks."

Funny Book

2011-11-14T11:30:00.001-08:00

My brother and sister-in-law keep a "funny book" where they write down funny things that their kids say. Zane and I need to start one, because Miranda has given us some gems this week.

One morning, through her monitor, we heard Miranda sneeze and then tell herself, "I sorry...I forgive you."

We were at the grocery store this week when Miranda LOUDLY proclaimed, "Mommy, when I grow up, I will go to school and be a weatherman!" She has been watching a video from the library about a kid who goes to school and learns how to be a weatherman. The name of the show is "Sid the Science Kid," and she also told me, "Mommy, I am a tientist (scientist). I can sleep like a tientist."

Several times throughout the past few days Miranda has told me, "You be Snow White. I will be Cinderella." Then she usually follows up by adding, "You wear the big crown, and I will wear the little crown." Unfortunately, for me we only have a little crown. Although, being Snow White is better than when she asked me, "Mommy, will you be the prince?" I obliged.

This is an old one, but about a week after we brought Isaac home from the hospital, Miranda observed "babies cry a lot." Yep, they sure do.

Working Saturday

2011-11-12T19:10:00.001-08:00

We had a really nice day today and even got a lot done in the process. In the morning, we worked outside. I raked leaves. Zane cleaned out our gutters. Miranda entertained us with song and dance. Isaac slept through it all, slacker.

On a completely unrelated note, Isaac has been smiling a lot more the past few days. The only problem is that this little stinker only smiles for Zane. Yep, this is him not smiling for me.

Five Weeks

2011-11-03T15:07:00.000-07:00

Today marks five weeks since Isaac's birth. We've learned a lot about this little man in the past five weeks. He loves his pacifiers (and so do we!). He also likes tummy time.

He gives us smiles every now and then. Usually, he smiles for us right after he has eaten. Isaac definitely belongs to us because he loves to eat.

Isaac sleeps well too. He goes at least four hours in between feedings at night and sometimes longer!

He's also a big boy. For the past week or so, Isaac has been wearing 6 month clothing. I've already washed and put away his 3 month clothes. We just love our little moose.

Lately

2011-10-31T18:28:00.000-07:00

Here's a quick peek at what we've been up to lately...

We've been wearing jammies with frogs on them.

ZsaZsa and Grandpa Joe visited, and we had a great time with them.

We sneak naps (and cuddles) whenever we can.

And we've been to the park several times to enjoy our gorgeous fall weather.

We've even had an adult conversation or two.

Miranda rode a purple dinosaur...

And the carousel.

Zane and Miranda carved a pumpkin and then made a scarecrow.

Miranda and Isaac went trick-or-treating. Miranda raked in the candy, and we met a lot of our neighbors.

Yesterday, Miranda told me, "Mommy, you are Beth. Daddy is Zane. I am Miranda Joy Hart, and Isaac is sweetheart." That brings the grand total of sweethearts in our family up to two. Life is very full for now, and we are so thankful for every minute with our little kiddos!

Play Time!

2011-10-16T18:00:00.000-07:00

Isaac and Miranda love playing together. Miranda especially loves crawling into Isaac's floor gym and bouncer seat. Isaac doesn't mind too much. Who is that handsome guy? Oh yeah, that's me!!!

Miranda wanted to see too.

Sibling giggles!

He's Here!

2011-10-11T09:27:00.000-07:00

Isaac Sloan Hart was born September 29, 2011, and we are so glad that he is here! He weighed in at a whopping 9 lbs 10 oz and 21.5 inches. I had a much harder delivery with Isaac than I had with Miranda. I might post the whole story sometime, but the short story is that he was delivered by an emergency c-section and is now safe and healthy! My recovery has been hard and slow, which is why I am a few weeks late posting pictures. But here are some pictures from Isaac's first two weeks with us. He is a good baby who eats and sleeps well. We are so thankful!

Daddy and Isaac got acquainted while I was recovering from surgery.

After I got cleaned up, I couldn't take my eyes off of this little man.

A volunteer made this hat for all the babies in the nursery. I love it!

Miranda and Isaac are already good friends. It's so fun to see these siblings love each other.

First trip to the park as a family!

My mom came September 28 and left this morning. We are so very thankful for her help! My recovery would have been much slower if she had not been here. She also kept Miranda for our five day stay in the hospital. Miranda did so well with her Nana while we were in the hospital.

Isaac loves his little football, especially while sitting in his sister's pink chair.

Zoo Trip

2011-09-17T11:16:00.000-07:00

Occasionally, Miranda will play in our cars, pretending to drive somewhere. This week while she was playing, I asked her where she was driving me, and she replied "we are going to the zoo!" Zane and I took the hint and took her to the zoo this morning. On the way, Miranda said she wanted to see "Flumbingos, the hippopotamus, and giraffeses." Thankfully, the flamingos, hippopotamus and giraffes are in completely different parts of the St. Louis zoo, so we got our work out in too.

Miranda called them "flumbingos." When we first saw them, Miranda asked "are they eating the water?" Once Zane explained that they are eating the bugs in the water, she replied "we are not swimming in the pond because we are not wearing our swimming suits."

And the giraffes...

Miranda was scared of the hippopotamus, which is why she is hiding behind Zane and me in these pictures.

Taste of Fall

2011-09-07T07:22:00.000-07:00

After weeks and weeks of weather in the 90s and 100s, our weather turned this week. We've been enjoying mornings in the 50s and afternoons in the low 70s all week. To celebrate the cooler weather, Miranda and I had to make our first apple pie of the fall. Miranda "helped" by stirring and eating the dough. She also nibbled on an apple and watched closely as I peeled and cut the apples. She is an eager helper!

Sound of Music Medley

2011-08-25T17:41:00.000-07:00

Guess what we've been doing a lot of lately!

Potty Training

2011-07-02T17:16:00.000-07:00

Last week, Miranda has been potty training. Here's a video of what she learned to do on the potty this week.

Yes, we gave up on day four, after we realized she just wasn't ready. But we are hoping to try again in August...or whenever.

Ready for the Day

2011-06-15T10:02:00.000-07:00

Cute outfit? Check. Flip flops? Check. Pony tail? Check. Ski goggles? Check. We are ready for the day.

Also, a few days ago, Miranda drew this, and then said, "Look Mommy! A helicopter!"

The Zone 2011

2011-06-14T06:56:00.000-07:00

Last week, Zane and I spent a week at summer camp with the middle school kids in our youth group. The camp is called The Zone, and it is a collaboration of eight churches in the St. Louis area. We had a great week! This spring has been difficult for us, but this week, God kindly reminded us why we do what we do. Zane and I were encouraged and excited to see how some of our kids matured throughout the week and how their relationships with each other grew.

While we were glad to go, we were also glad to be home, mostly because we missed this little cutie so much. Miranda stayed with two different families in our church while we were gone. Since middle school camp isn't the safest place for a 2-year-old, she had a great time doing fun, age-appropriate things instead. Also, we are exhausted. Being 5.5 months pregnant while at summer camp isn't easy. Plus, we got back from camp on Friday afternoon. Then, Zane worked Saturday and Sunday. So we spent most of Monday just relaxing and recovering. Hopefully we will be 100% soon.

Splash Park

2011-06-04T09:36:00.000-07:00

St. Louis' weather turned very hot this week. We've had highs in the 90s with heat indexes in the 100s. With this hot weather, the splash parks in St. Louis opened for the summer. Miranda's first trip to a splash park was on Memorial Day. She loved the fountains, so we will be spending a lot of time there this summer!

This is obviously not a picture of Miranda at the water park. This week, Miranda has been enjoying the left over cupcakes from her birthday party. I think she really liked having a birthday. The day after her party, she woke up and said to me, "Mommy, more presents please." Sorry honey, but life doesn't work like that :)

Miranda's 2nd Birthday Party

2011-05-28T20:04:00.000-07:00

Miranda turns two tomorrow. We can't believe our baby girl is not a baby anymore. We had a super fun Elmo party for her today with some of her friends. She is such a sweet little girl. Everyday she does things that melt our hearts or says things that make us laugh. We are so thankful for her. Happy birthday sweet girl!

Bed head and Babies

2011-04-06T11:27:00.000-07:00

Miranda's hair is finally coming in. We are so proud that she has enough hair to get bed head. Honestly, there have been more than a few mornings recently when Zane and I would have rather stayed in bed than face the day. But waking up to a little girl whose hair looks like this brings a much needed chuckle to our lives.

With little Babykins on his or her way, Zane and I have been talking to Miranda a lot about babies. We point them out to her when we are in public and tell her that Babykins is going to live with us when he/she grows a little bit bigger. While she is still clueless about how her world will be rocked this fall, she is starting to pick up on some of this baby talk. A few days ago, I put raspberries in her oatmeal, and she talked all morning about eating "raspbabies" for breakfast. Miranda was recently given a new-to-us bathing suit to wear this summer. She immediately requested to wear her "baby suit" and proudly ran around the house the rest of the day in her "baby suit." And every bird we see outside is a "baby bird," every tree a "baby tree," every flower a "baby flower." You get the point.

Speaking Up

2011-03-20T18:10:00.000-07:00

Today at the park, Zane was climbing up the jungle gym, and Miranda shouted at him, "careful Daddy!" Then at bedtime, she was jumping on her bed and I told her to "sit on her bottom." (We have this conversation on an hourly basis) She immediately turned to her stuffed monkey and said, "monkey, sit on bottom."

Update

2011-03-17T11:28:00.000-07:00

The past few weeks have been pretty tough ones for us. I have been feeling very sick with this pregnancy. In the long term, I know nausea and sickness are signs of a healthy pregnancy. In the short-term, I've done my fair share of whining and complaining. Miranda has also been fighting an ear infection. We went back to the doctor this week and started our second round of antibiotics. Hopefully this stronger antibiotic will clear up the infection. Unlike her mother, Miranda is an ideal sick patient. She has still been her happy, cheerful self. Zane has been an all-star, caring for two sick girls the past six weeks!

Since I haven't updated the blog in such a long time, here are a few things we have been up to recently. First, a cultural revolution is on its way in our home. Many of you know that Miranda loves Elmo with all her heart. Elmo used to be a shoe-in for Miranda's afternoon video. But in the past few weeks, Clifford the Big Red Dog has contended for that #1 spot in Miranda's life. Right now, Clifford and Elmo are in hot competition.

Miranda also loves cameras. She notices every time we take her picture now and wants to see herself on the camera. She also wants to take pictures. But greasy hands and a camera lens don't mix very well so Miranda has learned to improvise. Here, she's taking pictures with her sock.

Miranda is really into building towers too. She had a lot of fun with Daddy this morning building this big tower. When she put the last block on top, she shouted, "it's so big!"

Big News!

2011-02-25T08:14:00.000-08:00

We are having a baby! When I was pregnant with Miranda, we called her "Baby Hart." We've decided to call this baby, "Babykins." Babykins is due October 6, 2011. We're all very excited.

Counting And More Silliness

2011-02-20T14:46:00.000-08:00

Miranda has started counting, much to my delight. Ever since she was a little baby, I would count toys in her playroom, butterflies in her bedroom, and rocks that we picked out of the garden. She's never really paid much attention to me. I always thought it was one of those things that I did to make myself feel better, like I'm being a "real" mom because I'm teaching my baby (whatever that means). The best part about how she counts is that she almost never gets it right. Today, a friend of ours asked Miranda how many fingers she has. She replied, "four, five, six, seven, eight." When she does count in order, she almost never counts to the right amount. If there are three birds in a book we are counting, she counts to ten. If there are eight, she counts to ten. If there are two, she counts to ten. She makes me laugh every time.

Also in my last post, I mentioned that Miranda now sleeps in a big girl bed. I definitely miss being able to put her in her crib (aka cage). But the transition is still going well, considering Miranda is a very active little girl. We put her in the twin bed on Sunday and by Monday she had figured how to open closed doors. We are not very excited about this new skill. Every night and nap time, she always gets out of bed 5-20 times before she settles down. When she gets up, Zane and I always take her straight back to bed and tell her, "it's night time. Stay in your bed and go to sleep." Well, even as a 20 month old, the night time excuses have begun! As a toddler who still wears diapers, my favorite excuse so far is that she wanted to sit on the potty. Yes, on Friday night, I was putting her back into bed when she said to me, "sit on potty, please." Oh, if only she truly meant it!

Big Girl Bed

2011-02-13T15:30:00.000-08:00

We moved Miranda to a twin bed today. She has been crawling out of her crib recently. Thankfully, she has never hurt herself, but she has fallen and scared herself and us. She did a great job at nap time and slept through her usual nap time. Hopefully bed time will go just as well. It's cliche, but we can't believe that our little girl is growing up so fast! It's just weird to walk into her room and see a twin bed instead of her crib :)

Silly Girl

2011-01-30T17:46:00.000-08:00

Last week, I was folding laundry, and Miranda took a pair of underpants from the pile of clean clothes. She put them on herself and then ran around the house yelling, "peepee and poopy in the potty!"

Also, whenever Zane and I help Miranda, she insists we also help one of her stuffed animals. So recently, we have been giving her monkey juice, changing her doggie's poopy diapers and feeding her bear cheese. Tonight, I was changing Miranda's diaper, and she informed me that her foot had a poopy diaper. Yes, her foot had a poopy diaper. So what did I do? I changed the diaper on her foot :)

Snow Day

2011-01-27T09:16:00.000-08:00

Last Thursday, we ended up with a foot of snow! Once it stopped snowing Zane, Uncle Mike, Anna Elanor, Miranda and I had a lot of fun sledding. Aunt Emily, Lucy and Matilda decided to stay inside where it was warm and dry. Miranda joined them before long because she's still not a big fan of cold weather. We ended our day with homemade pizza and a movie. Here are the pictures from our fun day.

Fun, Fun, Fun

2011-01-20T07:37:00.000-08:00

A big snow storm +

cousins +

waffles =

a really, really fun day at the Hart home. We're at 8 inches of snow and counting! Being snowed in with people you love is great!

Riding A Horsey

2011-01-18T18:02:00.000-08:00

Miranda loves riding her "horses." Almost every evening in between dinner and bedtime, Miranda asks Mommy and Daddy to become horses so she can go for a ride. We all look forward to this time of day because it is full of giggles and hugs and kisses.

Tonight, Miranda was having so much fun that she decided to share the experience with her doggie.

As you can see, I'm not sure if doggie or Miranda liked this arrangement more.

Because she loves doggie so much, Miranda just had to give doggie a ride too. Mount up!

And they're off!

Tuckered Out

2011-01-10T12:38:00.000-08:00

Normally when I put videos on for Miranda, she runs around and plays while she watches. Never a still moment in her life! But we had a different and crazy week last week. Friday afternoon, I put a video on for her, and she laid down to watch it. I joined her for some snuggles a few minutes later. We both needed the rest.

Christmas!

2011-01-05T07:13:00.000-08:00

We had a wonderful white Christmas this year! It snowed all day on Christmas Eve. Zane, Miranda and I enjoyed each other, Christmas movies and a warm breakfast all morning. We were having such a nice day, I decided to give Zane his Christmas present a day early...

...a new sled. We had to test drive it immediately!

Miranda and Daddy enjoyed the snow. Miranda really liked the snow this year, but she did not want to play too long. She had a hard time walking in the snow with her little legs. After a while, she ran to our front porch and enjoyed the snow from our clean porch bench.

Our poor snowman only lasted an hour. The day after Christmas, we drove to my parent's house in Virginia. Driving 30 mph through snowy West Virginia and a 16 hour car ride were worth it because we spent a week doing fun things like...

...playing "Ring Around the Rosie" with cousins.

...opening presents with aunts and uncles!

...making waffles!

...dressing up and putting on dance shows!

...and Grandpa Joe, Zsa Zsa, Aunt Keira and Uncle Rodrigo came to see us one day!

Merry Christmas Eve!

2010-12-24T08:54:00.000-08:00

Christmas at the Zoo

2010-12-22T05:20:00.000-08:00

Since Thanksgiving, we have hardly had an evening together as a family. We've been busy with fun things like Christmas parties, shopping, youth group events and visiting with friends. We've also been fighting Miranda's double ear infection and high fevers. Thankfully, Miranda is nearly 100% recovered. Last night was the first time in a long time we've had an evening for us. So, we went to the Wild Lights exhibit at the Zoo. We'd never been before, but Zane and I both agree that Christmas at the zoo has to become one of our Christmas traditions. Here are some of the things we saw.

It's hard to see, but Miranda is sitting on the nose of a beetle statue. We saw some older kids sitting there with their parents taking pictures of them and thought it looked cute...oops.

As we were leaving Santa, Miranda turned around, waved and said, "bye-bye, Santa." A group of ladies was walking by right when she did this, and they laughed so hard and started waving bye-bye to Santa too.

Daddy and Miranda with the light penguins. We saw real penguins too!

Throughout the zoo, they had these magnificent trees. The pictures don't capture them well. But they were beautiful.

Special Treats

2010-12-15T09:31:00.000-08:00

Miranda does not eat a lot of sweet things, mostly because Zane and I have tried to keep sugar away from her. But during Christmas, we have relented and let her enjoy many special treats. This picture is the first time she has had chocolate. I love how satisfied she looks.

My Sweater

2010-12-12T14:15:00.000-08:00

Today was our first snow of the winter, and it is bitter cold outside. We dressed Miranda in her warmest sweater. This sweater is also one that I wore when I was her age (the initials are mine, Elizabeth Anne Sloan). My mom saved it and gave it to me when Miranda was born. It also has a cute matching hat. Miranda loves pointing to the sheep and saying, "a sheep, baaah." Doesn't she look cute?

Flexible Pianist

2010-12-05T14:52:00.001-08:00

A few weeks ago, we were at our friends' house for dinner, and Miranda serenaded us with lovely melodies from their piano.

Giving Thanks

2010-11-30T14:19:00.000-08:00

We had a great Thanksgiving in Northern Virginia spending time with Zane's side of the family. Here are some of the fun things we did.

We toured the Normal Rockwell exhibit at the Smithsonian's American Art Museum. Miranda took in the sights from Mommy's shoulders.

Zane and Mom before we went into the exhibit. You can see Miranda walking on the bench in the background.

Miranda fell asleep in the movie about Norman Rockwell.

Thanksgiving Day: Miranda's pajamas said, "Everyone Is Thankful For Me." It's true.

Miranda loves cats, and enjoyed playing with Zsa Zsa's, Aunt Keira's and Cousin Erica's cats. Here she is throwing a ball to Buggy, Erica's cat.

Miranda was on our shoulders a lot because we didn't bring a stroller. She didn't mind. Look how happy she is on top of Daddy's shoulders.

FSU beat Florida for the first time in six years. Why the turn around for FSU football? Their new cheerleader, of course, inspired them onto victory.

Our last day, we saw an ice sculpture exhibit of the Christmas classic, How The Grinch Stole Christmas by Dr. Seuss. It was so neat. The main scenes from the book were all recreated in ice. It was 8 degrees in the exhibit, which is why we were wearing the blue parkas. We had a blast.

You're a mean one, Mr. Grinch...

At the end of the exhibit, there was a Christmas tree made of Peeps (the marshmallow candy shaped like little animals).

Photo Shoot Failure

2010-11-21T10:55:00.001-08:00

Last week, the leaves were at their peak color and the weather was in the 70s. I took advantage of such perfect conditions to take some fall pictures of Miranda, hoping for a photo worthy of a Christmas card or picture frame. Instead, the photo shoot was a complete failure. I got two smiling pictures and the rest are her pouting or running away from me. Nevertheless, I am tempted to frame one of the pictures. This picture is one of my all time favorites of Miranda. It's not very flattering. Instead, it captures a part of her personality that Zane and I don't usually put on display for admiration. But it is still Miranda. It's just Miranda at a moment where she was tired and frustrated (I quit after this one). As we are learning to parent a toddler who is throwing tantrums and starting the "terrible twos," Zane and I are falling more and more in love with our little girl. Yes, we guide and correct when Miranda throws a fit. But when she's not looking, we laugh at how cute she is when she's frustrated. We mimic her pouty face and whining voice because she's charming and beautiful and lovable even when she's not. This picture is a sweet reminder that Miranda is not perfect. But Zane and I are called to love her as she is because we're not perfect either.

Christmas Present

2010-11-14T15:35:00.000-08:00

Miranda is getting a bike for Christmas, but there is just one problem. We already gave it to her. We couldn't help ourselves. She loves bikes so much. Every time we go for a walk, she points out the bikes and then talks about them for hours. Every time she is close enough to touch a bike, she insists upon riding it, even though she does not know how to ride a bike and even though most of the bikes she has seen are way too big for her. Joy floods her face when she just sits on a bike's seat, dangling her little legs toward the pedals. Since we gave it to her, she has woken up asking, "outside bike please." Giving her a Christmas present six weeks early was probably not our smartest parenting move, but we don't care. It's been worth every afternoon this week, sitting watching Miranda scoot around on her bike. So this is our plan. While the weather has been nice, we are going to let her ride the bike. While we are with family for Thanksgiving, we are going to hide the bike and hope that she forgets about it. Then, three weeks later on Christmas morning, we will give her the bike again.

Earning Her Keep

2010-11-12T07:36:00.001-08:00

Hats and Play Time

2010-11-09T12:15:00.000-08:00

Today as I was doing dishes, Miranda walked into the kitchen with her swimming shorts on her head. She proudly announced to me "it's a hat." She's been wearing her new hat all day.

I took these a few days ago while Zane and Miranda were playing. They were so happy I had to share.

Elmo

2010-11-04T06:45:00.001-07:00

Miranda was Elmo for Halloween this year. She loves Elmo (or as she would say, "Melmo"). And she loved dressing up as Elmo. She wore her costume all week. Isn't she cute?

Elmo with her friends Lydia the Cupcake and Angel Hannah

Mommy (Christmas Present), Daddy (Geico Gecko), and Elmo

ROCKYOURFACEOFF2010

2010-10-24T14:56:00.000-07:00

This weekend was our annual fall youth retreat, ROCKYOURFACEOFF. Our church teamed up with Covenant Presbyterian Church in St. Louis for a weekend that rocked our faces off. We had 16 middle and high school students and five adults come from our church. With all the volunteers and kids from both churches, our group was about 75. It was a fun retreat with silly games, skits about croquet, a costume dance party, lots of candy and an epic game of war ball. But it was also a wonderful time for our kids to hear about God's love for them and how it transforms our lives. We had a lot of fun bonding with the kids who came.

Our gang

The whole group: Grace Presbyterian Church and Covenant Presbyterian Church

field games: "predators" had to drag their victims across a line in the field

getting ready for the costume party

Zane and me at the costume party

Rachel, one of the leaders from Covenant and me. We told everyone we were twins separated at birthday.

Miranda stayed with our friends Dan and Ruthann. She had a great time and was well loved while we were gone.

Letters!

2010-10-11T19:50:00.000-07:00

Miranda has been learning her letters, thanks to a little video from the library called Letter Factory. In this dvd, a little frog goes through the factory learning the sound that each letter makes. She loves this video and asks to watch her "deedee" (DVD) a lot. Now, she recognizes letters on our t-shirts or in her books. She will point them out and make their sounds.

Our Little Dancer

2010-10-04T20:15:00.000-07:00

Miranda loves to dance. Here is a little montage of some of her best dance moves. I'm pretty sure of all the videos we have posted of her so far, this will probably be the one she will hate us for when she's 14. But it's so worth it!

Sleepy Miranda

2010-10-04T14:18:00.000-07:00

This is a funny conversation I had with Miranda at lunch today.

Miranda Says

2010-10-01T05:50:00.001-07:00

Miranda talks a lot. I mean a lot, and everyday I can understand more and more of what she says. She is still not quite clear enough for others to understand most of what she says, but it won't take long before that happens. She is already saying funny things too. She doesn't know they are funny. But she regularly cracks me and Zane up. Here are a few funny things she has said recently.

On Tuesday, I was keeping my friend's 5-month-old son for the day. When he arrived, I put him in our exersaucer. Miranda almost burst with the double excitement of seeing her old exersaucer and having a baby visit us. One of the toys on our exersaucer is a ball that has two frogs in it and spins around. In the midst of Miranda's hyper-excitement, she got right in Nathan's face, pointed to this toy and said with much enthusiasm, "it's a ball!!!!" Ok, so it was more like "issa ball!!!!" But still, that is her first sentence, teaching baby Nathan about her exersaucer. She's a sweet girl.

Also, on Wednesday night, I picked her up from the nursery at church after youth group. The man in charge of nursery that night asked if she could say "bed." I told him that she could. And he said that for the last half an hour, she had been wandering around the nursery saying "bed? bed? bed?...."

16 Months

2010-09-29T08:51:00.000-07:00

Today Miranda turns 16 months old. We can't believe she is so big already, and everyday she is doing more and more on her own. Everyday we enjoy her more and more too! A few days ago, she climbed into the driver's seat of the car instead of going to her normal seat. I think she was sick of listening to NPR and wanted to put on some music.

Zoozoozoo

2010-09-27T12:30:00.000-07:00

The weather has been absolutely amazing here with temperatures in the 60s and low 70s. Because fall lasts for about two weeks in the Midwest, we have been taking advantage of this great weather before it turns cold again. Today, we explored the great outdoors at the St. Louis Zoo. Miranda has been to the zoo a few times before and for the most part was unimpressed. But this trip was the first time she was old enough to really enjoy herself.

We rode the carousel too many times to count. Miranda was a little apprehensive during the first ride, but by the end, she was running to pick her next animal to sit on.

At the children's zoo, there was a courtyard with goats in it. Miranda kept saying, "dog, woofwoof." When I told her that they weren't dogs; they were goats and said baah like sheep. She said, "dog, baah."

Miranda only sat on the frog for about a millisecond. She was a little freaked out by it.

Also at the children's zoo, there was a miniature farm for kids to play in. This was probably Miranda's favorite part. The farmhouse had a small door on its side that Miranda would climb through, run out the front door, run around the house to the small door, and climb through again and again and again.

When we were leaving, I took Miranda out of her stroller and set her on a sidewalk so I could open the car door. As soon as her feet hit the ground, she ran back toward the zoo entrance yelling, "zoozoozoo, zoozooozoo." I think that we will have to make another trip to the zoo again soon.

Octoberfest

2010-09-25T10:03:00.001-07:00

Yes, you read that title correctly. Last night, we went to Octoberfest in September. Apparently downtown St. Charles couldn't wait one more weekend to celebrate. We didn't let September spoil our fun. We still ate our bratwurst and had lots of fun listening to live music. Miranda loved running around, dancing to the music and being chased by Daddy.

Fashion Show

2010-09-17T14:10:00.001-07:00

Miranda's grandparents have been spoiling her with cute things lately. ZsaZsa (Zane's mom) sent Miranda this adorable little apron to wear in the kitchen and garden. Thanks ZsaZsa!

Nana (my mom) sent Miranda this sweet little outfit with sparkly hearts and ballet shoes on it. Thanks Nana!

On a completely unrelated note, I have been experimenting with baking my own granola bars. This week, I found a recipe that was just so good I had to share it!

Mix dry ingredient:
1 & 2/3 cup of quick rolled oats
1/2 cup of sugar (I actually used less and it tasted great)
1/3 cup of milled flax seed (you can also use whole wheat flour or oat flour)
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon
2-3 cups of dried fruit and/or nuts (I used dried cherries and walnuts)

Whisk wet ingredients:
1/3 cup of almond or peanut butter
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
6 tablespoons of melted butter
1/4 cup of honey
2 tablespoons of maple syrup
1 tablespoon of water

Combine the wet and dry ingredients. Place mixture into a 8x8x2 pan lined with parchment paper and sprayed lightly. Bake 30-40 minutes at 350. Cool completely then cut into bars.

Go Dukes!

2010-09-12T09:29:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, Zane's beloved but relatively unknown James Madison University pulled off an enormous upset against nationally ranked Virginia Tech. In honor of the victory, the Hart family wore JMU purple! Go Dukes!

Yea Forks!

2010-09-06T05:04:00.000-07:00

For the past few weeks, Miranda has been learning how to feed herself. She can successfully land food into her mouth with a spoon, but it's such a messy process that she inevitably has to take a bath immediately after the meal. The first few times this happened, it was sweet and cute. But having to bathe Miranda every time she wants to feed herself (which is a lot!) has become a little of an inconvenience. My solution? Forks! Miranda has already started to master forking technique, and she is quite cleanly with them too. Look at her focus and determination.

When she cannot get the food directly onto the fork, she picks it up and sticks it on.

What a happy, clean baby!

Also, on Saturday, Zane took Miranda to the park in the morning. It was a chilly morning so we dressed Miranda in some of her fall clothes. It surprised me how much older Miranda looked in her sweater and pants.

And one last thing, Miranda has been showing a lot of enthusiasm lately. When we ask her questions like, do you want to go outside? Or would you like some milk? Her eyes get big and she shouts, "YEA!!!!" It's super adorable.

Miss Independent

2010-08-26T18:00:00.001-07:00

Tonight, Miranda was playing in her room by herself, and I peaked my head through the door to check on her. When she saw me, she stood up, waved and said, "bye-bye." Then she slammed the door in my face. I thought we would be having these issues when she was 15 years old, not 15 months! Actually, I am truly thankful that she likes to play by herself. She was having fun with her blocks and understandably did not want to be disturbed.

Play Room

2010-08-26T09:08:00.000-07:00

My mom came to visit this past week, and while she was here, we put her to work. We never used our office, and in our living room, we were drowning in Miranda's toys. So, we turned the office into her playroom. Mom and I painted a super cute design on the walls, and we reused furniture from around our house to make an organized space where Miranda can play. Most importantly, Miranda loves it. I even caught her blowing kisses to the polka dots. We hope that she will have many years of fun learning and playing in this room. Thanks, Mom for all your help! I could have never done it without you. Here are some before, during and after pictures.

During:

Miranda helped us eat popsicles during work breaks.

After:

Baaah

2010-08-20T16:53:00.000-07:00

Tonight, I was singing to Miranda before bedtime. One of the lines in the hymn I was singing goes, "who would have thought that a lamb could rescue the souls of men?" As soon as I said "lamb," she replied "baaah." Now I know she's listening!

Where is...?

2010-08-19T11:41:00.000-07:00

Hi! Hi! Hi!

2010-08-17T19:10:00.000-07:00

Silly Face

2010-08-17T07:13:00.000-07:00

A few days ago, Miranda started making this face where she would curl her lips under her teeth and make her eyes really big. Then, she would break out into hysterical laughter. We started calling it her silly face, and now whenever we ask to see her silly face, this is what we get!

Technical Difficulties

2010-08-11T09:58:00.000-07:00

I haven't been posting the past month because my computer's photo software stopped working. This was the latest in a string of problems we've had with my old computer. We decide to go ahead and replace my computer (we were going to replace it sometime soon irregardless because I am starting a new editing job and needed a more reliable computer). Now that we are up and running again, let me get you quickly up to date on our lives.

In July, Grandpa Joe came to visit us for a week! He and Zane worked on our basement and framed two rooms that are now ready for sheet rock. As an added bonus, Uncle Rodrigo joined us for Grandpa Joe's last evening here before they flew to Wisconsin.

Miranda is also talking constantly. Although most of it is gibberish, she says several words very clearly like Mommy, Daddy, ball, go, baby, boom, doggie, bird, uh-oh and hi. She can say other words less clearly like shoes, milk, outside, butterfly, all done and car. I especially love it when she tries to repeat what I say to her. Besides talking, some of her other favorite things to do are sit in an adult sized chair and let her legs hang off the edge and swing, point out the pictures of the moon in her books, and play outside.

Too Cute!

2010-07-17T18:09:00.000-07:00

Miranda has been knocking our socks off with her cuteness lately. For example, tonight while we were making dinner, Miranda was with us in the kitchen, holding her teddy bear and singing to him. Then she put the teddy bear "to bed" in a toy box and walked away so he could sleep. This is exactly how we put Miranda to bed each night, cuddles and singing. Look how happy her teddy bear is, resting in his little crib.

Miranda also begs us to wash her hands. All day long, she comes to us, holding her hands out, saying "ah, ah, ah." (Translation: I really, really want this) She is actually quite accomplished at rubbing her hands together with the soap and then rinsing. In fact, she keeps trying to expand her talents to feet washing and would stand up in the sink if we let her. Her hand-drying skills still need some work, but with a little more practice, she'll get the hang of it. Today, we bought a stool so she could stand and wash her hands by herself. Let's hope she continues to enjoy washing her hands for many years to come!

Water Baby

2010-07-15T06:23:00.000-07:00

Miranda's ZsaZsa and Grandpa Joe gave her an inflatable swimming pool for her birthday. This week was the first chance we have had to break it out, and she loved it! The heat index the past few days has been around 108 degrees so it's been really nice to have a place to play outside that's not too hot. Also, we signed Miranda up for swimming lessons at the YMCA. Her first lesson is a week from today.

First Attempt

2010-06-18T14:52:00.000-07:00

Miranda really wants to feed herself with a spoon, and I have let her practice a little here and there. I would fill the spoon with something sticky, hand her the spoon and let her put the spoon in her mouth. She has done very well with this, and she has been feeding herself finger foods for a while now. This morning, I decided it was time for her first attempt at feeding herself with a spoon. I made her blueberry oatmeal, fed her a few bites, then put the bowl on her high chair and handed over the spoon. She started off well.

Then she got frustrated and ditched the spoon.

But she had a great time and enough oatmeal made it into her mouth to sustain her until lunch!

"Sleep" Over

2010-06-17T17:39:00.000-07:00

On Monday, Zane was supposed to take the high school students camping. But the forecast predicted thunderstorms all night, so we cancelled the camping trip and invited everyone for a sleep over at our house instead. We had a great time. We played all kinds of games, watched a movie, ate hamburgers and hot dogs, but we did not sleep. Actually, about 3 of the kids who came slept (briefly). The rest stayed up all night. The only pictures I took were of Miranda trying on everybody's shoes, her new favorite activity!

The Zone

2010-06-17T17:03:00.000-07:00

Last week Zane, Miranda and I went to summer camp with 13 of our middle school kids. The camp is called The Zone, and it is organized by local churches here in the St. Louis area. Two hundred kids from six difference churches attended, and the youth pastors from those churches along with the camp directors planned the whole week. Zane led worship for the whole camp in the mornings, and Zane and I together taught a seminar on physicality. Three young ladies from our church (two high schoolers and one college student) volunteered to come to the camp as student leaders, so Miranda and I stayed in a separate, private room, while all the girls stayed in two rooms. Zane was the only male leader, so he stayed in two adjoining rooms with 7 middle school boys! We had a great week, and our kids got to experience all the fun of summer camp like being blobbed into the lake (Zane was the official camp blobber) or making slides out of their mattresses. The last night we were there, we processed the time with our kids, and many shared ways that God was working in their hearts throughout the week to draw them closer to himself. That was the goal of the whole camp, so we were thankful! Here are some pictures from the week.

One afternoon, the kids could make their own t-shirts with stencils and a diluted bleach spray. The shirt turned out great!

Drew was the main camp speaker, and out kids really loved to listen to him. He spoke about how we all are a part of God's story and plan to redeem the world.

Ice cream!!!!!! I don't know who from our group won the award for eating the most ice cream, but I am pretty sure whoever it was ate around 15 servings in the four days we were at camp. And no, neither Zane nor I won that distinguished honor.

Our kids loved to play ping pong during free time.

Each day, we had a little time together just as our youth group to play games or talk. Sadly, this was the best picture I could get of our whole crew.

Last but not least, here is a picture of the blob for those of you who do not know what a blob is. I do not have any pictures of our group on the blob so this picture is courtesy of our camp facility's website. But image a line of scrawny middle school kids, all waiting in line for chance to have Zane jump onto the blob and propel them 20 feet into the air before smacking the water.

Birthday Girl

2010-06-13T19:15:00.000-07:00

Surprise!

2010-06-13T18:58:00.000-07:00

We spent the second half of our trip with my family, and this part of the trip was a surprise! My parents celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary on May 26th. My brothers and I all surprised them for Memorial Day weekend. They had no idea we were all coming. But we had a great weekend planned for them! We built a corn hole set and then played a lot of corn hole. We went fishing and took my parents our to a nice dinner at P.F. Chang's. Sadly, I forgot to take pictures most of the time. I did get a shot of Miranda in her cool summer hat and shades. I also captured the huge bass Zane caught when we went fishing.

Virginia Trip

2010-06-13T18:08:00.001-07:00

The end of May, we spent several days in Virginia with our families. Our first stop was at ZsaZsa and Grandpa Joe's house, and we had a blast.

Grandpa Joe taught Miranda how to play golf.

Hanging with Daddy outside in ZsaZsa and Grandpa Joe's garden.

Miranda was so happy to spend time with ZsaZsa.

Miranda taught Aunt Keira all about Canada geese.

Catching Up

2010-06-13T17:06:00.000-07:00

It's been a wild month for us! But we are finally at a place where everything has slowed down enough that I can even post some updates on the blog. To begin with, here are some more pictures from Zane's ordination/birthday weekend that I promised. On Zane's birthday, we went to the zoo.

ZsaZsa took Miranda on her first merry-go-round.

Miranda and her cousins Anna and Matilda in the mouth of a hippo...Miranda was not very happy to be there. She hasn't yet learned that hippos are herbivores.

I made Zane a Settlers of Catan birthday cake out of cupcakes. We were not going to let Miranda have a cupcake until her first birthday...oh well...best made plans right?

Cute babies in baskets, enough said.

Preview

2010-05-10T08:20:00.000-07:00

We had the most amazing weekend ever! Wednesday night, my parents arrived. Thursday morning, Zane's parents arrived. Thursday afternoon, my brother, sister-in-law and four nieces arrived. Friday was Zane's birthday. Saturday was his ordination. Sunday was Mother's Day. PHEW!!!! We packed a lot of fun into four days. We have lots of pictures and videos to share, but for now, here is a little preview of the good times.

Trouble

2010-05-03T18:06:00.001-07:00

Zane and I are in trouble. When Miranda started to crawl, our sofas became the safe place to put things we did not want her to touch. When she learned to pull up to a standing position, that place became the kitchen table. As she grew, we had to move to higher grounds so the kitchen counter tops replaced the kitchen table. But as of this week, the counter tops are no longer safe! Maybe the mantle will work for a while.

Do you see those little fingers on the counter top? Trouble. Pure trouble.

Of Course

2010-05-01T15:47:00.000-07:00

Miranda spent most of this winter trying to pull her hat off of her head. Of course, now that it is warm, she wants to wear her hat! I have to admit, she looks pretty cute in it even though it is 80 degrees outside. Also, Zane taught Miranda how to play 52 Card Pick Up. She loved it.

Aunt Keira and Uncle Rodrigo

2010-04-27T10:27:00.000-07:00

Zane's sister and brother-in-law came to visit us last weekend. Sadly, after weeks of gorgeous weather here in St. Charles, it rained all weekend! But that didn't spoil our fun. We played many, many games of Settlers of Catan, and as a special treat, Keira gave us an early birthday present, The Office Clue. Thus we also spent several hours trying to figure out who killed Toby Flenderson, with what weapon and where.

Saturday, the rain cleared long enough for us to visit a winery about 30 minutes from our house. We packed a picnic lunch and enjoyed the beautiful scenery. I posted some of the pictures below. The weather picked up right as we headed home, and Keira and Rodrigo experienced their very first mid-west tornado siren warning. Thankfully, the sirens only went off for about 10 minutes, but there was some tornado damage about 15 minutes from our house. Saturday night we went to our favorite pizza place, Dewey's and then a barn dance at our church. Sorry but we forgot the camera so no pictures.

Pastor Zane

2010-04-22T06:38:00.000-07:00

On Tuesday, Zane officially completed all the requirements to become an ordained pastor in our denomination. This is quite an accomplishment! Zane first had to complete four years of seminary study. Then, he started studying for his ordination tests. Since early February, he has take grueling tests on Bible content, theology, church history, sacraments and the book of church order. These tests took him anywhere from 6-11 hours each. Zane also wrote a 10 page theology paper, gave a sermon and polished a 16 page Hebrew language paper he wrote in seminary. Then, he went before a committee of five local pastors. They examined Zane for over 2 hours on any subject they wanted. Finally, last Tuesday, he went before all the local pastors in our denomination, and they could also ask him any question they wanted. After all of these efforts, the pastors voted for Zane to become the newest pastor in the Presbyterian Church in America! We are so thankful that God has sustained Zane throughout this long process. Although it has been a stressful few months for our family, Zane's ordination has given us the encouragement that God truly has called us to work with youth in the church.

Now all that is left to do is celebrate! Zane will have an official ordination service on May 8th here in St. Charles, MO. Everyone is welcome to come.

Watch Out World

2010-04-06T19:50:00.000-07:00

For the past month or so, Miranda has been taking steps here and there. But for the most part, she has preferred to crawl or hold someone's hand instead of walk on her own. Tonight, she boldly decided to step out on her own, and she liked the feeling of freedom. Watch out world, Miranda Joy Hart is unleashed.

Zoomania

2010-04-06T19:49:00.001-07:00

We took Miranda to the zoo yesterday for the first time. Here is a little recap of our time.

PLEASE!

2010-04-06T19:44:00.000-07:00

Miranda is learning how to say "please" in sign language. She is having a few technical difficulties, but we're confident that she will catch on soon.

Look at ALL that beautiful, curly hair

2010-03-30T14:50:00.000-07:00

Today, Miranda and I were grocery shopping when one of our fellow shoppers noticed Miranda and said, "look at all that beautiful, curly hair she has." I looked around to see if there was another baby close by who had lots of curly hair, and then I looked at my watch to make sure it was not yet April 1st. The only thing left to do was say, "thank you." Here's a recent picture so that you too can admire ALL of Miranda's BEAUTIFUL, CURLY HAIR!

Busy Weekend

2010-03-28T19:25:00.000-07:00

Friday night, we had a game night for all the middle school girls in our youth group. It was a lot of fun having the girls over for an evening. Poor Miranda did not want to go to bed because she was having so much fun. Zane put her to bed, and she kept pointing at the door and trying to escape!

Then on Saturday, Miranda and I got all dressed up to go to a good friend's baby shower.

Sunday was the first sunny day in a while. We took advantage of the situation to introduce Miranda to bubbles and hang our new bird feeder.

Snuggle Puppy

2010-03-28T19:18:00.000-07:00

Zane took this picture a few weeks ago, and it is one of my favorites. Miranda is such a sweet little girl. This picture only captures a taste of that sweetness.

Shrubbery

2010-03-15T19:08:00.000-07:00

When we moved into our house, there were a lot of boxwoods in our front garden. As you can see below, there were only boxwoods in our front garden actually.

All of that changed as of today. We cleared a spot in the middle of the garden for flowers. One of the boxwoods was unhealthy so we removed it completely. Two more were healthy but way too big. We trimmed them back. Here are some updated pictures. In two months, we hope to have another update with some beautiful flowers.

What Happened to My Baby?

2010-03-15T18:43:00.001-07:00

I have been asking myself this question A LOT lately. Especially since Miranda has started doing things like wearing shoes...

and brushing her teeth.

OK, just a few more because they are so cute :)

Little Friends

2010-03-12T12:33:00.000-08:00

These are Miranda's first friends, Hannah and Maggie. They are sisters who live near us and attend our church. Over the past few months, their mom and I have become good friends. This picture is from earlier in the week. The weather was gorgeous and we met at a park. Miranda absolutely loves Hannah and Maggie! Sadly for us, they moved to Atlanta yesterday because their dad has a new job. We will miss them so much but are excited about this new opportunity for their family!

30.5

2010-03-01T08:09:00.000-08:00

Miranda had her 9 month check up this morning, and she is 30.5 inches long. She was 22 inches when she was born. It's amazing to me that she has grown almost a full inch for every month since her birth. She weighs 19 pounds and is doing great overall. We are soooo thankful for our healthy, happy little girl!

Clapping

2010-02-28T13:55:00.001-08:00

This week has been a big one for Miranda. Not only did she take her first steps but she also started clapping. Her little claps are so sweet. They don't even make noise yet. But you can see it for yourself!

We Have A Walker

2010-02-25T07:08:00.000-08:00

Yes, that is right. Miranda took a few steps on her own this morning. She has stumbled a couple times this week toward Zane or me. But her steps this morning were solid, by herself steps! Hopefully video proof will come soon.

Fashion Statement

2010-02-22T14:18:00.000-08:00

Yesterday morning, it was my turn to wake up early with Miranda, feed her and play with her until her morning nap. However, I was very tired. When our Miranda alarm clock went off around 6AM, Zane graciously offered to get up with her. I enjoyed my extra hour of sleep, and when Zane had to leave for church, I woke up to find Miranda dressed like this...

She had a onesie on backward (and unbuttoned), a dress, a pair of bright blue corduroys and only one sock on. I'm not exactly sure what statement she was trying to make, but I'm pretty sure it was something along the lines of "my Daddy's the best!"

Uncle John

2010-02-22T14:16:00.001-08:00

The past two weekends, my brother John has visited with us. He is working nearby in Illinois, and had the weekends free to stay with us. It's been really fun to have him around.