Nine Months

I know...Hazel was nine months almost a month ago. How did she get so big? This seems to be the question that is perpetually asked by parents. Time flies! Somedays, I forget to enjoy each day, and I start looking ahead to a less busy time in our lives, or to a time when we are not potty training, or not doing whatever the difficult thing is that day. But the reality is, despite screaming, and meltdowns, and exhaustion, these are the best days. These are the days that William and Hazel are learning important things about discipline, respect, love, God, and themselves. I pray I will take advantage of these sweet days to teach them the right things and to enjoy their precious selves.

Here are the stats on the Haze:

Weight 17.4

Height 27

She is seriously all over the place...but even though she is as or more active as William at this age, she is more cautious. She can stand on her own, but she will just slowly lower herself down to sit if you let go of her hands. She is happy, but fiesty. She has a funky crawl using one foot and one leg (so she can still crawl while wearing a dress). She eats pretty much anything we will give her (don't know how she stays so skinny). She can clap, but her hands don't actually come all the way together, so she looks like a seal. She says mama, dada, baba, hiiiiii....but she doesn't know what they mean yet :) She loves her brother; he can make her laugh like noone else!

On another note, we started potty training with the Will man on July 4th weekend. It has been a process! He caught on fairly quickly to the pee-pee (except for a few accidents here and there at school), but we just have just gotten #2 down over the last couple weeks.

I think a polo and Thomas undies make a perfect fashion statement.

Reality

There's been no blogging in a while due to excessive busyness. We have had weddings, dedications,
potty training, work trips, presentations, etc. that could all be blogged about (and hopefully will). But, I will just put up this photo of my Wild Child...this girl is never still! I thought girls were supposed to be calmer than boys!

Oh, and I just have to add this, too.

Conversation with William after HJ hurt his toe, and William was doctoring it.

William: Mommy, I cut Daddy's toe off.

Me: Oh, really. Where did you put it?

William (totally serious): In the pile with all the uddy (other) men's toes.

A little change...

It's amazing what a little paint can do. We have been doing a bit of renovating around here. And by renovating, I mean we hire someone else to paint and build things the way and colors that we wanted. We have been debating painting the fireplace since we moved into this house, and finally took the dive. We don't regret it, yet. We also went back and forth on the outside, too, but I think it turned out well. And, we now have a rail around our porch, so William cannot run off the side again.

Happy Tuesday

Hazel had her first ear infection this week...she has been a little down in the dumps about it. Yesterday, she had to stay home from daycare, so I thought I would get a few pictures of her during naptime. She is a very good but very light sleeper. Even at night, if you go in to check on her she will open her eyes and look up at you like she's been wide awake the whole time. These two pictures are just moments apart...

Sleeping Beauty

Oh, hello there

And this, my friends, is how you eat Mexican food- double-fisted, head back so as to keep as much as possible in the mouth.

Yes, he ate that entire plate by himself.

A few more...

Here are a few more photos from our beach trip. My brother took some for us, too...Thanks, Daniel!

Vacation

We have been on a much needed and long awaited vacation! It was such a nice break to spend a whole week on the beach...with our wide brim hats and sunscreen, of course! William loved the sand, the waves, the boats, the pool...ok, he loved it all. And, the Haze was a trooper. She was happy to sleep on a towel or in someone's arms, and she loved the pool! She turned 7 months old yesterday. She has learned to sit herself up, but she is not completely sturdy once sitting. She tends to fall backwards and hit her head. She is scooting and getting up on her hands and feet like a little spider...not crawling yet, but it won't be long. Here are the pictures:

"I'm in a boat"

William is into boats for some reason right now. He gets in this little boat in his tub and uses his shovel as an oar. This just makes me laugh so much...

And, I didn't want Hazel to feel left out, so here are a few pictures of our gal...she is on the move these days!

Happy Wednesday everyone!

Mother's Day

Today is my 3rd Mother's Day as a mom, and I was again reminded of God's grace and provision in giving me these precious kiddo's. And, HJ and I were reminded of how grateful we are for our mothers...thank you, Gigi and Gran, for loving us and our kids. You are the best moms and grandmoms ever! We love you!

Here are some pics especially for the grandmoms:

Learning to sit up

Finally got a bow to stay in her fuzz


Planting

In his boat fishing...he set this up himself

P.S. Here are Hazel's stats from her 6 months appt, so I won't forget to add them later: weight 14.7 lbs (23%), length 26.5 (79%). William was the same length and 2 lbs heavier at this age...remember these cheeks?

Happy 1/2 of a Year!

This little gal is 6 months old today, and what a joy she is. We are so thankful for our sweet "Crazy Hazey"...she loves to be upright, and she is watching William all the time now. She even started scooting a little today. She does NOT like the pacie or being strapped into her carseat or the stroller. She is still working the mullet in the back, but has some decidedly blond hair coming in, too. William said she need a "birthday" (a cake), but we decided to hold off on that for now!

TGIT

Thursday again! I've fallen behind on the blogging of late. Here are a few photos of Easter weekend. We had a beautiful weekend celebrating Christ's death and resurrection and being reminded of the great hope we have in Him!

Guess where I've been?

Vegas, baby!

And even though I saw this...

and this (the water show at the Bellagio)

and even this (yep, that's a Kardashian)

What I was most excited about was coming home to this... and this!

hello.

We've been lying low this weekend. I finished my practice boards on Thursday, and I am enjoying not studying! William had an allergic reaction to something (pollen, antibiotics?) on Wednesday night/Thursday morning and woke up Thursday morning with his left eye swollen shut. So, before my test we made a trip to the pediatrician. The bottom left picture is him before we left for the doctor- he decided to wear his hood up which added to his already pitiful look. He charmed the ladies at the pharmacy by saying "This is the phaaaaarmacy" (lots of southern twang there). Then they asked him what his name was and he said, "Wilma Badrow Jones, the foeth (William Woodrow Jones, the fourth). He still calls himself Wilma...HJ tried to teach him to say William, but I'm glad he hasn't figured it out quite yet. Hazel is growing, growing...William fed her some of her cereal when I stepped out of the room a few days ago (top right pic)- that ended in quite a mess. In other very unexciting news for you readers, but fun for me, we got some new red chairs from IKEA. As William would say, I lub it.

Happy Sunday, Ya'll

I don't have much to report today. The house is messier than when the weekend started, there is more laundry to do than when the weekend started, and the dishes need to be washed. But, all that aside, we had a beautiful, warm weekend. Here are a few pics:

My boys watching some b-ball...

This could be major blackmail one day...William was "feeding" one of Hazel's dolls.

My favorite part is that he even got the boppy:)

And the award for biggest blow out goes to...Hazel!


What? I would never do that...

One last pic...the mo-mullet is back!

Four Months

Hazel turned four months old on Friday.

She is 13lbs 4oz and 25 1/2 inches long...long and skinny.

Baby Steps

I am learning to appreciate small accomplishments, especially those that are small steps to a larger goal. Here are a few from this week:
1. William is able to entertain himself for at least a few minutes now (and I don't have to close us all in his room and let him pull out all his toys to feed Hazel when I'm home with them by myself).

2. William likes to read to himself now...he flips through a book and says what he thinks each page should say. In his 3 little pigs book, he says "puff and puff, blooooooow the house down" on each page. When he was flipping through his Bible this weekend, he said "Jesus" on every page. I'm glad he knows the main point of the Bible is Jesus.

3. I really don't even count this as a small accomplishment...Hazel is finally sleeping through the night. Way to go, Hazel!

William got into a little scuffle at school...

Hazel in the carrier...so glad to be outside again!

That's all for tonight. Have a great week!

Don't know where he got this idea...