In My Daughter's Eyes

I was thinking of going garage sale-ing today to look for outside toys like a swing, slide, and ride-on toys. The Hannah alarm woke us up a little before six o'clock. Guess she wanted to go! We called Nana, and she was game. Hannah and I had pancakes and bananas for breakfast with Nana and Grandpa, and then hit the streets.

Unfortunately, we didn't do so well. I was looking for something pretty specific that others would be likely to snatch up quickly. I saw two plastic swing and slide combos between 8-9am, but they had already been sold! Darn. Hannah did get an outside play tent for $5 that will also serve as a sunshade and a bee costume that she won't fit into for a few more years. Nana found some children's books. Hannah got pretty fussy getting in and out of the carseat, so she was dropped off for Grandpa to babysit.

Back at home after her nap, Hannah threw a huge fit and wanted only me to hold her. It turned into an hour long power struggle with Mama and Daddy laying down the law. I'm determined that she won't get what she wants when she throws a fit. We're just waiting for her to stop, and then she'll be rewarded. After half an hour of screaming inside, we decided to go outside on a blanket and let her scream outside so we could enjoy the beautiful weather while waiting for the fit to end. It took another half an hour for her to calm down. We ended up spending a wonderful afternoon together playing on a blanket in the backyard as a family. We got out the baby pool, talked to Kevin's parents via web-cam, and enjoyed ice cream. Hannah decided that the lush April grass wasn't so bad after all, and she crawled around in it for the first time.

I talked with Hannah and we looked at each other in the eyes for very long periods of time. She thought it was the funniest thing to put her pacifier into my mouth today, and she laughed great big belly laughs when I made sucking sounds with the pacifier. She understands what we say so much more every week. It's amazing. We're working very hard to use "nice words" all the time at home to avoid having a toddler with a potty mouth. When she looks deep into my eyes and touches my mouth, it makes me want to be the best person I can be.

The photos from today are below, and there's a little music to go with the photos. Little ones watch and mimic everything that we do. It's so hard to be the person that we want them to grow up to be.

Music Playlist at MixPod.com

Lyrics to "In My Daughter's Eyes" by Martina McBride:

In my daughter's eyes I am a hero
I am strong and wise and I know no fear
But the truth is plain to see
She was sent to rescue me
I see who I wanna be
In my daughter's eyes

In my daughter's eyes everyone is equal
Darkness turns to light and the
world is at peace
This miracle God gave to me
gives me strength when I am weak
I find reason to believe
In my daughter's eyes

And when she wraps her hand
around my finger
It puts a smile in my heart
Everything becomes a little clearer
I realize what life is all about

It's hangin' on when your heart
has had enough
It's giving more when you feel like giving up
I've seen the light
It's in my daughter's eyes

In my daughter's eyes I can see the future
A reflection of who I am and what will be
Though she'll grow and someday leave
Maybe raise a family
When I'm gone I hope you see how happy
she made me
For I'll be there
In my daughter's eyes

I see who I wanna be in my daughter's eyes.


This miracle God gave to me gives me strength when I am weak.


She put this dandelion in her mouth five seconds later.
I can't think of any song lyrics to go with Hannah eating dandelions. :)


She's able to eat so much better now that she has some top teeth.
We don't get to see the top ones much, yet.


Talking with her grandparents via web-cam.


Exploring the grass.




Our little bird loves ice cream.
Her dog likes the leftovers even more.

Sniff sniff. Enough happy crying for tonight. :)