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5 Months!

So much has changed from 4 to 5 months! Including some serious life savers for this poor momma! In the past month we can now go for a short car ride without screaming the whole way there! This is seriously the most amazing that has ever happened to me. I no longer dread going out of the house! Thank you baby girl! :)

She now enjoys tummy time and is pushing up on her arms and kicking her legs... I fear mobility is near for her! :S

She sleeps in her crib for the most part of the 24 hours of a day... (due to her mothers lack of a sleep schedule as a newborn it has taken awhile)

She laughs all the time. :D

She LOVES Justin Bieber Never Say Never. (Its the funniest thing! If I turn it on she almost always stops crying and stares for what seems like forever!)

But the reason I am even writing this post is because she has found her feet! And I cant get enough of it! It is just the cutest thing in the gosh darn world!

Also.. She had her first real solid(ish) food!

We are sitting pretty here at 5 months!

(I couldnt help but post this picture of my two wierdos. :)

-L

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Christmas!

Who doesnt have a Christmas post?.. Am I riding the bandwagon... maybe.. why are you judging ;) But when it comes down to it you can always count on a post in Januaryish.

We had a wild ride for Christmas this year. About a week before Christmas we decided to go to Florida for two weeks over the Christmas/New Years break! I would like to tell you because we were dreaming of beaches and warmth.. o wait I was. :) In all honesty we decided we were sick of waiting around for the flight hours Mr. Hammer needs and we were going buy them! YAY... not! So we spent all our savings and with some help from the bank we left for our Florida flight time buliding trip on a red eye Christmas Eve night.

AnnaCate's first Christmas was spent traveling.. good thing she was only 3 months and wont remember anyway! That pretty much sums up Christmas day. ha

Over the next two weeks Tyler spent all day flying and AnnaCate and I chilling in the hotel. Sounds fun right??? :) I had planned on spending every day on the beach but the wind on the beach was too much for my young youngster and the flight school Tyler was flying at was in the ghetto.... enough said. Aside from that we took a couple of days and played tourist! I mean how could we be in Orlando and not take our little girl to Disney!?!.. and surrounding fun.

We started with Universal Studios. We had a blast! AnnaCate did good with on the go feedings and naps... considering they were on the go. :) They even had a Macy's Day Parade which was a fun end to the day! We bought THING 1 THING 2 and THING 3! T-shirts and onies... picture to follow. :) The only let down with Universal is it isnt very lap baby friendly. We watched shows and ate and roamed but there were not rides we could take her on.

That night we ate at the largest Hard Rock Cafe in the world. (yes be jealous ;) While roamed the city walk after Hard Rock we came upon these NBA players had prints in basketballs... yes that is Tylers hand... CRAZY!

The next week we went to DISNEY! :) I think I was way more excited to take AnnaCate to Disney then I was to go as a child. It just feels like a parents right to take thier kids to Disney (even if they are 3 months old and wont remember). Word to the wise Magic Kindom at Disney is the way to go with an infant. We were able to ride almost all the rides and they had a baby care station with kitchen, nursing, changing, play and feeding rooms. SMART people those disney folk!

We dined with the Crystal Palace with Whinne the Pooh and Tigger too. Plus so so much more!

p.s. We would like to take this time to thank our good friend Essie for providing the sun shading equiment for this day!

The next day we had it out at Hollywood studios at Disney.. Followed the next day with a visit to Kennedy Space Center where, yes folks, we bought NASA sweatpants... I know. Keep drooling.

p.s. sorry about the over exposure in this pic. Mr. Hammer hates pictures and sometimes he only gives me one shot.

That night we left the ghetto to stay close to the airport and got a place for the night somewhere fancy (for us). P.S. dont mind the mess of the suitcases.. we were trying to gett he weight right... not that easy peole! Then left for home the next day with hopes that this trip will bring us a future in aviation! YAY!

Now I just need someone to remind me why I dont live where it is 80 degrees for Christmas EVERY year?!?!

Since Momma is normaly behind the camara I figured I better document that I was there too! ...but now that I think about it that could be a mirror anywhere... hmmm

-L

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Wow! There really is no excuse for the lack of blogging... O wait I have a baby. I think that will work. ;)

There is no way to catch you up on everything since March.. sorry.

We have a beautiful baby girl AnnaCathryn (AnnaCate). LOVE LOVE LOVE There is nothing in this world more beautiful than having children of your own. She is the most amazing person!.. even if she is a fussy baby who at 3 months still gets up at least every 3 hours during the night! :) She is growing like crazy and is just ahead of the curb! We are so proud! At two month she was rolling over from her belly to her back and now at 3 months she has rolled from her back to her belly, laughed and sat up on her own (for about 30 seconds:). Freakin rockstar right?! I cant even begin to express in words the amazing father Tyler is! There really is nothing cuter than a daddy and his little girl! He loves his "sweets".

Tyler is so great about letting me dress her and buy her all the cute things. When we found out we were having a girl I told him we will go broke in baby cuteness because I knew I wouldnt be able to stop shopping!

Speaking of shopping... UGH baby weight! Girls! How do you get rid of it?! I gained 55 lbs with this little one. Holy Freakin Cow right?! I have lost 40 lbs but still have 15 baby to go and another 5 for myself. I hear 6 months is when it will start to really shed... we will see! I cant wait... here I come william rast!

before weight :) after :(

In these first 3 months she has done her fair share of traveling. :) When she was 6 weeks we took her on a small plane to San Deigo and went to sea world and such. That was the best she ever did on a trip. I think she likes planes! Which is good news. I see alot of planes in our future! As far as cars go.... its bad news. We usually have to let her scream herself to sleep. Makes for a long 8 hours to Grammy's.

Now its Christmas and I cant wait to have our first Christmas with children! We even did a Christmas card! (that is a big step for me ;)

Anyway we love life with the new LOVE OF OUR LIFE! :)

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So My Mr. Hammer and I have wanted kids since the day we got married. Anyone that is close to Mr. Hammer knows how much he adores children and is almost willing to have them any way possible! ;) I remember the December after we got married (2 months) how I had decided I wanted to have a child now. I was ready! Mr. Hammer was of course on board with this idea... I was just too chicken to actually pull the goalie. We threw around the idea all the time for the next couple months until I did. We pulled the goalie!

Within the month we were pregnant. This of course was a HUGE ego boost for Mr. Hammer. He rocks at getting his girl preggos. TMI! Anyways... we found out on our 1 year anniversary trip and were beyond excited. I dont think you can ever really explain to someone the feelings you feel when you know you are about to go from size 2 to 3. That this was a piece of each of you. This was one of the most wonderful moments of our life!

We got home and things just didnt feel right. I felt all wrong and I knew long before the doc told me. I went striaght home from work, fell the the floor and just cried that I had lost this baby. What had I done? Did I not have what it takes to take care of a child? Let me just tell you how wonderful Mr. Hammer was through all this.

A couple nights later I asked for a blessing. In the blessing I wasnt told I had lost the baby or that I hadnt. But I felt it in my heart... alone with the most comforting peace. All was well.
I went through the horrible misscarriage being positive this wasnt the end and kept focused on the future.

Well it happened! Im pregnant again! Its so wonderful. And scary. It hasnt been the same as last time. I feel alot more cautious and less attached. I have moments of doubt that I will keep this baby and am scared to tell anyone in cause I do. But Im 13 weeks now and am feeling good about it! I am so grateful for another chance and for the miracle it is to have a child.

Through these experiences I have been so thankful for the temple for so many reasons. For forever families. For the peace and comfort it has brought. For the personal revelation. I am so thankful for husbands and the strength they are to their crazy wives.

Anyways. We are SOOO excited. Mr. Hammer is going to be the BEST daddy in the world!

btw.. you should be excited too! :)

-L

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If you have never heard of Melissa Sweet Im very very sad for you. Luckily you have me to share! ;)

Melissa Sweet is my all time favorite wedding gown designer! I would have killed to have one of her dresses for my own wedding. My parents would not have even thought twice about spending the thousands on one.. plus it would of had to be seriously altered to be modest.. anyways..

Why am I talking about this today?? Well, I was never fully satisfied with my wedding dress. Dont get me wrong I really loved it but it wasnt one of my favorite Melissa Sweet gowns.. or so I thought.

I was going through a collection of Melissa Sweet the other day and low and behold there is was. MY GOWN. I about died. Straight up died. Dora by Melissa Sweet. It is almost exactly like my wedding dress minus the sleeves. Sweetheart neckline. Drop A line cut w/ built in (small) train. POKA DOT organza covering satin. (Yes, I had a poka dot dress :) And the best part a long poka dot organza sash tied in a bow in the front. Simply Elegant. Underly Overstated. PERFECT.

HOLY CRAP. Yes people I am that good. Unknowly I picked a knock off mormon version Melissa Sweet gown. Like I said I could have died and gone to heaven. Life. is. good.

If you couldnt tell from this post I am a lover of the clothes. I know this doesnt make sense to some of you but like I like my designer jeans you like your sports or books or movies or various hobbies. Now all I need is to not be a poor college town kid any more so I can buy these things... but all in due time. haha :)

-L

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I myself being able to score THE BEST best friend and most wonderful man EVER for a lover....

I thought I might share some love with you also.

HAPPY LOVERS DAY!

-L

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Last year when my brother got married we recieved a pine tree to plant. I had of course all these great ideas for this little guy (the pine tree that is) but the love fern idea took the cake!

Meet "Fern" our love fern (pine tree)!

As you can tell our love is going to last forever just like this (already dead) love fern.

I am and will be forever in denial about the "liveliness" of our fern.

Its eternal. Just like us.

p.s. who knew love ferns (pine trees) were so hard to grow?!

-L

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WARNING: CHRISTMAS/NEW YEARS POST

Enter this waaaaaay too long post about the most joyous time of the year at your own risk. :)

O Chrismukkah, O Chrismukkah

Moses lamb is freezin

...

Tis the season to be jolly

...

There are so many wonderful things about December and I'm not just talking about the the fact that I only worked one Friday this whole month! YEAH! Which of course is a bonus... but more

about the many holidays. the wonderful memories. family and friends. FOOD. Its just as I like to put it... STRAIGHT UP BOMB! :)

First of all here is some pictures of the holidays around the Hammer household. :)

We put the Nativity under the tree this year. Its something my momma told me about and I just love the idea of not putting any presents under the tree until Christmas Eve and until then keep Christ the center by keeping him as our gift under the tree. Also one day I hope our kids will play and recreate the Christmas Story with the Nativity we put under the tree.. We did take a risk though with Charlie. And a few times I had to tell him to drop the "flock". "Charlie we don't chew on the flock!" :)

This picture is for the best secret santa friends EVER. ;) Kristali and Justin.

We spent Christmas in Wyoming again this year with my family. The week leading up to the trip was a little bit of a roller coaster..

Monday: we are flyingto Wyoming

Tuesday: well I think we better drive

Wednesday: screw it we are flying! (as long as the weather holds up)

Thursday: we need to drive :(

Thursday 9pm: We start the adventure driving

Thursday 11pm: Charlie goes potty.

Friday 230am: Why the crap did we drive? I (Tyler) am a freaking pilot!

Friday 630am: arrive.

I of course am WAY too excited to sleep so I'm up at 9am to celebrate! We had the best time. Its sooo fun to have a 2 year old brother. He loves buses and snuggly and dog. And Charlie loved someone to play with!

Here are the highlights. Mr. Hammer got me the best present ever! Something I REALLY wanted and I didnt even have to ask for it! (yeah, thats how cool we are.)

..... a tripod!

And with that tripod we took what I think is an amazing family picture! And other wonderful pictrures...

NEW YEARS!

We met up with some friends (Billy and Lauren) and headed to EVE in SLC. To make this short it was a blast but completly FREEZING. The coldness was unreal!

This picture was taken right after our first New Years Kiss. ;)

All and all it was a GREAT ending to 2010.. Welcome 2011!

-L