Scott and Stacy are wed :)

Just before Christmas, we had the great honor to stand with my brother Scott and his new wife Stacy as they became their own little family.  I was a bridesmaid, Alex was a groomsman, and Hannah was the flower girl - it was truly a family affair for us too!

Despite some rainy weather, the wedding was a gorgeous event, filled with tons of friends and family who traveled in from all over the country.  We couldn't be more excited for them to start their marriage and we had a blast celebrating the occasion.

Simply stunning.

The bridal party - can you spot us? :)

Our sweet girl looked like such an angel!

Down the aisle after the ceremony - so fun to walk as a family!

The reception was a fantastic party - even Grandpa got out on the dance floor!

My mom and Scott showed off some stellar moves for their Mother/Son dance

Hannah loves her Aunt Stacy!

Hannah got to meet lots of cousins - she was a champ getting passed around to many loving arms :)

Got to have a reunion with one of the handsome ring bearers from our wedding

Hannah is already one of the girls - she and Kate had matching jeggings!

Had to post this little blooper - thankfully those tears cleared up before the ceremony started :)

Girl's got skillz

That's skillz...with a z.  In the last month or so, Hannah has tried some new fun activities and learned a bunch of new tricks.  She is a very busy girl these days, and always on the move!  I'll let the pictures, and video, do the talking :)

This girl LOVES the swing.  And it was warmer outside that day than it looks.  I swear.

We both enjoy to sit on the porch on nice days while Leonidas romps around the yard.

Then she figured out how to stand up in her crib...and now she'd rather do that than sleep in it...

These days, she's quite the speedy crawler, but she wasn't at first!  Here she is, just learning to put one hand in front of the other.  And what motivated her, you might ask?  A coaster.  Not a toy or a snack or her mother's love.  A coaster.


Crawling from Ashley Heacock on Vimeo.

After crawling, cruising wasn't far behind.  This video includes a clip of her learning at first, and then mastering it later.  I think she finds a new piece of furniture to pull up on every day, which means I do a lot of running ahead of her, trying to put things away that are suddenly within her reach!

A quick disclaimer - the booger sucker that appears in this video is not the one I actually use to suck her boogers :)


Cruise from Ashley Heacock on Vimeo.

Must be Santa!

It's a big occasion in any child's life - the chance to sit on Santa's lap!  So of course, for Hannah's first Christmas, we had to start her off right!  I don't think she knew what to make of the jolly old elf, but at least we didn't have any tears :)  We thought for sure she'd make a grab for his beard, but that smart girl knew she didn't want to land on the naughty list.

Definitely on the nice list this year!

I thought for sure he'd read "Twas the night before Christmas"...

Let us give thanks.

For Hannah's first Thanksgiving, we trekked up to PA to celebrate with Alex's family!  We had a lovely break from work and a great time catching up with the whole crew - Hannah Laverne's namesake included!  The bad weather on the drive couldn't dampen our spirits - after all, we brought our our holiday flannel to keep warm :)

We have so much to be thankful for this year and our sweet girl tops the list.  She truly is a blessing from God and we are grateful He chose us to be her parents!

Sadly, Hannah did not enjoy her first bites of Thanksgiving grub - who doesn't like turkey and mashed potatoes??

It's like she's saying, "Who ate all my FOOD?!?!?!"

Hugs from Grandma!

Using Grandpa's hands to clap-clap

Kirsten teaching Hannah how to be a big girl :)

Porter did a great job helping Hannah turn the pages...

And Heidi got to read to her!

We even got some extra time with the original H. Laverne.

I just thought this one was too cute not to post

Showing off their holiday flannel

Oh yeah, and I was there too :)

Leavin' on a jet plane

A few weeks ago, Hannah and I went on a big adventure - we flew back to Chicago!  It was Hannah's first trip on an airplane, and Alex had work commitments wasn't able to join us, so I was making the trip solo.  I was nervous, but the flights were okay, and it was worth it to be home for two big occasions - a work event for me and a bridal shower for my lovely sister-in-law-to-be!!!

We had a wonderful trip - spent lots of time with Nana and Poppop, saw friends and co-workers, and got to celebrate the happy occasion of Stacy joining our family.  We can't wait to see them all again this month for the wedding and Christmas!

We're leavin on a jet plane!

Smile stink-eye, just for Poppop

Nana couldn't wait to give that big girl a squeeze!

New toys = new things to chew

Showing off all her tricks - TOUCHDOWN!

Getting in on the family game action

The (almost) new Mr. and Mrs....or in their case, Dr. and Dr. :)

Can't believe how big our girls have gotten!

'Bout time we put that girl to work!

Guess who found even more toys to chew on at the office...

Look who's nine months old!

So I pretty much took a month off from blogging - not on purpose, but it has been a crazy month for the Heacocks and I didn't even have time to load my pictures.  We bought a house, took a few trips, and poof, it's December already.  But I'm back!  And the lack of blogging did not mean a lack of picture-taking, so the month has been documented and I'll just be posting about it a little late.

In addition to a busy month for our family, it has been an especially busy month for Miss Hannah.  Since I last posted, she has learned to crawl, pull up on furniture, AND cruise around it.  She truly is a girl on the move.  She has her two top teeth and two more coming in, which will make SIX teeth!  And she continues to be a babbler, saying lots of "ba ba" and "da da" and other non-specific noises.  No "ma ma" yet, but we're working on it :)

Also, she had her nine month check up, coming in at 30 inches (100%), 22 lbs 15 oz (97%), and 18.5 inches around her dome (100%).

So without further ado, the good stuff :)

I can't get over how small the bear looks compared to her one month pictures!

Check out those chompers

Her blond locks are getting longer!

I couldn't get her to drop the blanket for a picture...

...except to do "TOUCHDOWN!!!"

Up, up...

...and away she goes!

Those cheeks, that chin...they kill me :)

Girl on a mission!

Look who's eight months old!

This post is incredibly belated - Hannah is closer to nine months than eight - but I did take the pictures when she was just eight months and promptly forgot to post them.  So, it still counts :)

These days she is a baby on the move - rolling around all over the place, holding on to furniture and bouncing, learning to crawl.  She's also turning into a very chatty girl!  She loves to babble and squawk (best word I can come up with for some noises) and click her tongue and explore all the things she can do with her voice.

Every day she becomes more of a kid and less of a baby, which always catches me by surprise.  One day, not too long from now, she'll be a toddler instead of a baby, and I will wonder where the time went.

Clicking that tongue

Clapping those hands

Leonidas made a cameo appearance

Getting ready to crawl

Still has that sweet baby face!

But she looks so big!!

Thought about crawling...

And rolled instead :)

Standing practice - don't worry, I wasn't far away, so I caught her when she toppled