Little Lady at 9 months!

A few weeks ago when I visited my mom for her birthday, I got to visit my best friend from high school. It just so happens that Ashley had a baby about 3 weeks after Hannah was born.

I remember the day that I told her I was pregnant. My sister in-law had her bridal shower at my house and Ashley came. After the shower, I told Ashley I wanted to show her something. I took her to my bathroom and showed her the positive sign. Then she said, "Rachel, I have something to tell you too. I'm pregnant." We laughed. I cried. I jumped and squealed. (Ashley, is way to calm to do that.) That little baby of Ashley's had been prayed for a long time and I was so glad that sweet baby was on her way. Madeline is a precious little girl.

I look forward to more visits with her and Ashley as our sweet little babies grow up. Ashley, is also a budding photographer. She took a couple of impromptu pictures with Hannah. This is the link www.ashleyannphotos.blogspot.com/2011/08/rachel-and-hannah.html . The pictures are so cute and a big thanks to Ashley. I just wish she had been in something cuter, not a crusty onesie. At least I had a bow in her hair. But, Ashley inspired me to dress my baby up and take a million pictures of her for her 9 month birthday and hope a couple turn out well. So obviously they are not as good as Ashley's but these aren't so bad.
It's amazing to me how she grew in to that from this so quickly.

These past 9 months have been wonderful! Stephen and I just laugh because it is so much fun to watch her. She'll crawl to the window, pull herself up and look out start banging on the window and bounce a little bit. Then she'll crawl under the chair onto the fireplace to her books and proceed to pull every book out of her basket without even looking at the cover. Then she'll crawl over to the toy chest pull herself up and see what she can see then plops down and heads for the couch. She pulls herself up and walks herself along side it. She has a great time and talks to herself the entire time.

This past month has been my favorite month. She is

starting to crawl

pulling herself up

got her first tooth

SUPER cuddly

talking to herself

a self entertainer
putting everything in her mouth

enjoys things that light up, make a sound or flashes

(that means cameras, phones, TVs and computers)

she loves to eat green beans, and leaves

and her favorite places to be are outside or in mommy's arms.

I saw a sign recently (adapted for Hannah) She is the beat of my heart. The pulse in my veins and the energy of my soul. She is my child.

Papaw Pants and other funnies

All of these pictures that I have ***meant*** to blog about. Hannah just keeps me on my toes, so not all my ***mean to's*** happen. I always think that an image can speak a thousand words. I hope that you enjoy the adventures of Hannah Cate the Great.Yes, so sweet, sleeping baby on daddy's shoulder. But, if you're a NeSmith, you might recognize a family trait. Papaw had a "look", the pull your britches up to your armpits look. Helping me sort the laundry.

Trying to push through. She can make it through.

Spit up on the forehead.

Going for a walk

Oral hygiene is very important.

This is a fairly common look in our house. I just hope she hasn't swallowed any.

My all time favorite. Helping Mom with the tomatoes.

So do you remember when???

Just last week I said that Hannah could use a girl cousin.

Well Natalie took that message to heart and quickly got to work. She grew a 9 week old fetus in just one night! What can I say, she loves me!

And according to the prophet Jackson he will be getting a baby sister come March.

Hannah can't wait to play tea parties and princess!!!We can't wait for Barnes number 3!

(This is Sam when he was born)

Sunbathing Beauty

Life is just hard sometimes, especially when you're a 6 month old. I'm so glad Hannah took a time out from her busy hectic life of sleeping, eating, pooping and playing to catch some rays with the fam. Of course because she is always the star of the show, she decided to do her own thing and go back to sleep. It was nice of her to allow us to catch a swim.
Shh.... Don't wake the beauty!!!

Buck up and Do it!!!

The Barnes Boys! While at the beach, Hannah got to spend some quality time with her Tennessee cousins. She LOVED them. I had never seen her so entertained. Here are just a few pictures from the week. Just as a reminder, it's like pulling teeth to get 3 kids picture perfect. So after about 10 shots of the same thing, these were the best.

Jackson was great with Hannah. I asked him to play with her so I could get something down with out her. Like a champ, he goes over and beyond what I needed. He gets out every toy I brought (and just like first mom style, I had brought no less than a gagillion) and dumps them in her lap.

Yeah, that's all 26 letters of the alphabet on her lap among other toys.

Can't you just hear him. "Hannah needs to have the letter 'N'" I love that kid!

Hannah is so lucky to have so many cool cousins. She has requested that the next time a beach trip comes around, she wants a girl cousin to talk about the latest fashion trends from Carters, Janie and Jack and Crewcuts. Hint Hint!

Si, Hablo espanol!

Ok, so maybe not.

BUT, maybe in a year I'll be fluent. I have ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS wanted to learn Spanish.

Proof (In case my word wasn't enough):
1.) I was the first kid in my family to learn Spanish high school. (umm.... I mean TAKE Spanish)
2.) When I went on my mission, I hoped and prayed I'd go Spanish speaking. (didn't happen)
3.) When I got my call to Temple Square, it said in the letter that your mission president could change what language you serve in. So I was immediately excited for a little glimmer of hope that the Lord might call me to be a Spanish missionary when I got there. (didn't happen)
4.) When I went to the Tucson mission the door was cracked open again!!! One temple square sister would go with the English speaker companion, the other with the Spanish speaker. (Alas, the Aussie went with the Spanish speaker. I guess that I just MUST have amazing English communication skills)
5.) Took a Spanish class with my mom at the local community college where she fell in love with our teacher from Spain.
6.) Spanish speaker was on my "The qualities of the man I'm going to marry" list.
7.) I'm bummed that Lance or Katie doesn't speak Spanish. Because if one of them did, then all 5 kids could go on a monster vacation to central America and there would be an interpreter for every family. (Matt's family is Robyn. Garrett would be his, Natalie would be hers. Stephen would be ours and Lance would be left out. Poor guy.)
So you might be asking yourself why are you going to learn it this time? How is this time truly different.

Motivation my friends, Motivation and a calling.

Stephen and I were called to be the Spanish sacrament meeting coordinators. (Okay, really I was called as the assistant.)

We are so EXCITED. I'm so excited. So excited!

(I better get a move on. I'm going to need to bear my testimony on Sunday. There was 12 of us last week. So you know what that means!!!)

Counting Our Many Blessings!

So this is Stephen's dad, Steve NeSmith. He is a kind, thoughtful, wonderful man. He is the type of guy that you continually are learning about. He is an attorney by day, bishop by night, father of 4 by birth. But really, he is attorney, bishop all the time and father to so many more. He always supplies the blonde brownies, chocolate chip cookies and usually whatever other sweet thing there is in Stephens parents house. We are so grateful that tonight we are going to go to a Biscuits game with him. We would be happy to do that any time but last Friday would have been different. Last week he was in a terrible car accident. He was on his way home when an 18 wheeler wrecker truck ran a red light and hit his truck. The force of the hit flipped his truck over 1 1/2 times and spun him around at the same time. He got hit right behind his door barely missing him. Thankfully, he nor the other driver was hurt.

He also hit a pole causing the roof to cave in except over the drivers side.

We are so grateful for our blessings! We love this guy!