Hear Ye! Hear Ye! Hannah turns 5!!

It is so hard to describe the whirlwind my life has become in the five years since our darling girl came into our lives. It is difficult to describe the emotions that a parent encounters as they journey through life raising their children. With Hannah, the journey thus far has been truly a breathtaking experience. From the moment she arrived all scrunchy faced and purple we have been completely in awe of her. She melted her Daddy's heart the instant he held her. The amazed look in his eyes as he watched me pushing and grunting her into this world was worth far more than any expression to pass his upon his face since. In that moment, all of our lives changed. I had my baby girl to pamper with frills and lace. Gary had a baby sister to protect and adore and Joel had his first child, his little angel to spoil and dote upon.

Each day with Hannah is an adventure and it has all raced by so quickly it is hard to imagine how only yesterday she was struggling so desperately to roll over and then she was wobbling across the living room on precariously unpredictable legs, and today she was climbing a rock wall and running through a children's museum trilling with her friends and laughing with joy.

Each moment I spend with her I am enraptured. Her smile and laughter are intoxicating. The light in her eyes as she mischeviously teases or plays with us fills both of us with the greatest delight. She is strong, and independent. She will triumphantly march into a room to announce her latest success at the potty or to display a work of art. She is fearless which most times causes me great fear in this scary world we live.

Hannah is a brilliant light in the world. She is spirited and wild, expressive and unique. She has a sense of style that would rival some of Hollywood's divas. She loves to primp and polish and wear dresses and wild colors. She will create her own sense of style by mixing and matching her wardrobe to suit her moods and nuances. She loves to look pretty, cute and most importantly "sharp". This is her newest target in the fashion world, to look sharp.

Each day I grow more enamoured by our little diva. As she has celebrated this milestone of a birthday, she is so grown up now. She is eloquent when dialoguing with grown ups or chatting with her girlfriends. One moment she is innocently still a toddler and the next she is sarcastically demanding like a teen. You never know which Hannah you will get, but you can be sure that whichever one she is being, she is being true to herself and her own feelings.

I am so proud of this little firecracker of a girl as she turns five. She impresses me greatly with her affectionate nature and her infinite desire to learn and appreciate. Today, we had a birthday party for her and a few friends at the Discovery Museum www.discoverymuseum.com. This is a wonderful place for kids of all ages. Gary and Jessica even had a real blast. There are dozens of activities for kids to do. Hannah had her name written in Korean since they are having a Korean appreciation exihibit and put on a show of Korean music and dancing. The costumes were gorgeous with vibrant, hot pinks, yellows, reds, blues, greens, and oranges. We could see the dancers and hear the music during our time in our birthday room where we had pizza and birthday cake and juice. Hannah also got to pretend she was a news anchor for Action News and her picture was on the TV in the restaurant out front thanks to the help of a fellow toddler camera man. Then they got to play on a blue screen where with a push of a button, they were riding a pretend motorcycle down the highway, or were in the ocean waves, or under the sea swimming with the sharks or at the zoo in the lion's cage. They have Diner where the kids can pretend to cook, clean and wait tables it is very fifties style complete with an old VW beetle that kids can sit in and pretend to drive. They have a Courier Post news room where computer stations can help kids create a news paper complete with their own picture and byline in a matter of minutes. They have a huge Bob the Builder area with legos and hard hats, and a bulldozer bed. There were snakes and tarantulas, boats and fishing, sand pits with dinosaur bones, and a big bubble maker that will make a bubble around your kid. Hannah's favorite part was the elastic band spider web that kids can walk through.

It has been three fun filled days of birthday party. First Thursday was her real birthday so we had a little family party and she opened presents from Mommy, Daddy and Gary. Then Friday, Aunt Terrie was here so we sang Happy Birthday again and she helped make smiley face cookies and caramel apples for favors for her friends. We made gigantic chocolate chip cookies with M&M faces on them and Caramel apples drizzled with chocolate and dipped in peanut butter M&M's. She loves to help. Then today was her kid party. Mommy's tired, Hannah's playing and Daddy is giving away left over cake. What a great day we had.