Sunday, July 28, 2013

July 4, 2013

I figured I should blog about Independence day before July slips away between my fingers.

The day itself was pretty relaxed.
Scratch that.
It was actually a busy day.
Parade with the Burt's in the early hours [okay, I guess 9 am isn't "early"]
Weeding at Grandma's
J-dawgs with the Paulson's in Grandma's backyard
Speeding home to get the Vincey Babe a nap
Working the night shift and running around like crazy to get everything done before the fireworks
Mini fireworks show for the residents
Charting Galore
And, finally, sleep sometime after midnight
Happy Independence Day!





P.S. Can you believe how much can change in a year:


Friday, July 26, 2013

New Adventures for the Hannibal Family.

Following graduation I thought life would consist of Paul getting a new job, moving, buying a house and being a stay-at-home mom. Well, I was wrong on almost all accounts.

Once I finished school Paul started applying for jobs across the entire country. He had a few interviews but the fit wasn't right. We decided to stick around in Provo so Paul could get more experience at his current job. I was feeling antsy about not leaving P-town and was stubbornly determined to have some sort of change in life... thus began the house hunting. My time was quickly devoured by scouring the internet for details on just about every single house on the Provo/Orem market. A number of houses later, we found one the we really liked. We prayed about it, went to the Temple and both got the same answer: Paul should go back to school.

What?! Back up. Are you serious? This wasn't even on our radar. Nevertheless, the fact that we both had the same feeling and came to the same conclusion was hard to ignore-- School it was!

Paul moved at pedal-to-the-metal speeds to study, take the GRE and apply to BYU-- all in about one month. You could safely say that I was impressed with his dedication and commitment to the Lord's instruction for our little family. Though I was skeptical that he would get accepted for Fall 2013 on such short notice, we were happily surprised to receive an acceptance letter in the mail a few weeks later.

It was obvious for us to see the hand of the Lord as each piece fell into place. For us this experience has shown us that blessings come from heeding the Lord's guidance without question.

However, the story doesn't stop here. More pieces fell into place a few weeks later when my good friend Joslyn told me about an open PRN nursing position at Stonehenge of Orem. At the time I was certain that I would never, ever work as a nurse. My heart was set on being a completely full-time momma. I had considered working PRN [as needed/pick your shifts] but Utah is highly saturated with nurses, making sweet jobs like that almost impossible to find. I was so confident I would never work that I won an "award" from my nursing class stating I'd never use my degree:


 It was just as big of shock for me as it was for all of my close friends to hear that I was applying for a job and started working one short week later. Although it was unexpected, it has been a blessing to be able to use my nursing degree. I view my college education as a sort of life insurance, should anything happen to Paul. Acquiring experience makes me marketable, especially because most positions require prior experience. It gives me peace of mind that I would be more capable of getting a full-time job should the need ever arise.

And wait til you hear the kicker-- they have a six hour shift from 6pm til midnight. That is unheard of. I get to spend all day at home with Vincent, eat dinner with my boys, take off for work and STILL have a good night full of sleep so I'm not exhausted the next day. Talk about a dream come true. I don't have to sacrifice an entire day of family time to get experience.

Not to mention the fact that I get to work with two of my college mommy classmates. It's like therapy... and don't we all need a little bit of that?

Saturday, July 20, 2013

Hair Cut #2

A couple weeks ago Vince was walking around in a diaper and I thought to myself, "He looks like a girl..." That's when I knew that it was time for yet another hair cut. This boy has had long, thick hair since day one, so perhaps I shouldn't be surprised that it was time for his second hair cut.

A lot of people ask me if I cut it myself. I'm always slightly embarrassed for myself, yet proud of my husband when I tell them that Paul is the hairdresser. Paul has been cutting his own hair since he was 16 or 17, giving him a lot more confidence when it comes to Vince's hair. I tried cutting Vince's hair the first time around, but it did not go well. I was timid and didn't take enough off. Paul followed up and fixed it for me. This time I didn't even give it a shot. Paul took the reins and did a fabulous job. Hooray for not paying for hair cuts! ...and for little boys that don't look like girls!


Friday, July 12, 2013

14 months

Every month I talk about how this is my favorite age. But I am serious this time. 14 months has been my absolute favorite stage with Mr. Vincent. He mimics, communicates with his sweet baby language, climbs, laughs at everything, opens and shuts every door/cupboard/drawer, colors, stacks cups and blocks, sits down to actually read books, runs away in giddy delight when you try to get him, feeds himself, gives hugs and kisses on demand and everything else that could possibly be cute.

Obviously his has his moments of extreme terror, but we try to forget about those as quickly as we can. Along with all of his new milestones have come new reasons for outings. We go to toddler time at the library, walk to the park where he now climbs on the playground and speeds down the slides with a grin of pure delight, jog around the neighborhood to see flowers, cars and watch the construction vehicles lift and smash. He is interested in so many things that going out is no longer a burden for him.

Since he has become such a busy body, we have had to go to extreme measures to keep him out of the cupboards, see below for documentation. Vince also notices little things now, like sunlight coming through the blinds. FYI: It's cuter to see a kid playing with sunlight than to watch a cat run after a flashlight.






Monday, July 8, 2013

The Duprees.

Although I hate the Summer heat, I love the family visits! Just days before we moved we were pleasured with a visit from The Dupree family. They packed up their life to move from Texas to the Northwest and stopped by in Provo on their way. I have particularly enjoyed the visits from Paul's family because I feel like I don't know them as much as I would like to. That's why I'm so excited for August-- I get to make memories with almost his entire family at Brynna's wedding!


Isn't that last shot to die for? Chubby bellies, cheesy smiles and lots of love. Keep the family coming, cause it's what keeps me going each Summer!