Ohhhhh, Hazel.
I owe you an apology. I vowed that three kids would not make me a slacker...at least when it came to documenting the first year. I'm not so sure it's the number of kids, but the craziness of our lives the past year few months that, indeed, have me slacking in documenting much of anything of our lives these days (with the exception of snapshots on my iPhone - my Instagram feed is quite active!)
First thing - you are growing up way way way way way too fast! You went from baby to toddler, it seems, overnight!
-you don't eat baby food, and haven't for quite some time. you like big people food. some of your favorite foods these days are: banana, mango, watermelon, avocado, peas, carrots, cheese, salmon, mama's homemade whole yogurt, mac n cheese - and pretty much anything else the family is eating for dinner.
-you may not eat baby food, but you still LOVE to nurse! I know I've said it before, but I love the special bond nursing brings, because Mama's milk is so much more than nutrients. There is a comfort in nursing that no one can replicate with a bottle. A few weeks ago you fell and got hurt, and the only thing that would comfort and calm you was to nurse you for a few minutes. At that moment I was so happy I could offer that kind of comfort to you. I think sometimes I forget how lucky I am that nursing has been so easy and natural for me and all my babies. It is a time I truly treasure. I don't see you stopping nursing anytime in the very near future, and I'm totally okay with that :)
-oh, and TEETH! Those top four took forever, but finally all broke through. good-bye (tear) gummy grin. Hello toothy grin! And while we're at it, hello toddler mullet! It's getting longer in the back...longer than in front or on top - I'm not sure what to do? I buzzed your bros hair by this age, and your sis had curls to cover up the akward stage...I think we'll just roll with it, or maybe try some pigtails? You're cute no matter what!
-a month or so ago, you took your first steps. But these days, you are walking EVERYWHERE! You are in a hurry, girly! Daddy says that by your birthday - which is next weekend!!!! - you'll be running to get your piece of cake. I don't doubt it. And...
-climbing the chairs and table to get to the cake, as well. You are our first climber! I've always kind of had it easy because your older brother and sister were generally cautious and I didn't have to worry a lot about them doing something too crazy and getting hurt - but you, littlest sis! Wow! You keep me on lifeguard duty all day long :) You scale anything you can, and if there's a plug, you go for it (so first thing we did before moving in was baby proof the house with gates on the stairs and plug covers, and little locks on the cupboards etc.) AND if there's a tiny piece of even lint on the floor, you find it and try to eat it. Sawyer says "I love Hazel - she's our crazy silly baby!" It's true. You are a silly sweet girl and I have a hunch you'll have a great sense of humor!
-you're so easy going. Perhaps because your whole first year you've made so many adaptations to the changes we've had - or your personality, who knows. But it's great. You're always happy, and I love it.
-you are a total water baby!
-you love it when we sit in your new cozy rocking chair and read books. you also love it when I sing to you.
-you love trying to keep up with your brother and sister. you always want to be where they are. you have taken a great interest in legos (the bigger duplo kind) and you also love playing with the WOW cars we have (they are friction operated little race cars, well, not that little - big enough for you to hold and push around, it's so cute. Your brother and sister picked one out for you to have your very own for your upcoming birthday!)
-since moving into our new house, you've become a champion napper! It's crazy! In our apartment you were constantly being woke up by your brother and sister, who would go in our room to "check" on you and wake you up. Or maybe the fact that the table where they sat eating or doing art projects, was right on the opposite wall of where you were sleeping and their laughter would wake you. Plus, I did drag you around in the baby backpack/ergo/stroller a lot so you napped there. BUT I couldn't count on your naps, it was just a lucky day when you got two naps at home. Since moving into your own room, your own space - on a different floor than the dining/art table...you take TWO AMAZING naps EVERY day! (why do you think I'm doing this post right now? because you've been napping for an hour and will probably continue right until lunch time!) Maybe you're making up for months of sleep deprivation, or maybe all that walking and running around is tiring your little body out. Or maybe it's just much more quiet in your own room. I'm not sure what it is, but I'll take it.
-there's so much more I could say. The reason I remembered to even do this post is because I was trying on the dress I want you to wear on your birthday. It's a sweet white dress that your Aunt Tia brought back to you from her trip to Norway. It's like 9 months sized, but is still big on you. You are a petite little powerhouse of a girl. Future dancer or gymnast, perhaps? You are cute and sweet and we love you bunches and bunches.
-I'm so glad I chose you over Kauai. That's a bit of a story...Daddy and I were looking ahead. We were going to celebrate our 5th wedding anniversary, and we had thoughts of taking the family to Kauai and having a little time to frolic in the Hawaiian Islands with our little family before we moved on (we knew changes were coming). But, instead, I told Daddy I wanted to have YOU. We couldn't afford to do both the vacation and have another baby, so I chose YOU. We probably could've gone on two luxurious Hawaiian vacations for how much it cost to have a baby...but luckily Daddy didn't mind :) Who knows if we'll ever make it to Kauai. But we know we have you and will love you forever. You're even better!
-I love you more than you'll ever know. But I hope that as you grow up you will always know I love you. We love you. You've captured our hearts, little wonderful baby girl!
And now, I must sign off because - yikes! Time to finish planning your first birthday! A week from tomorrow!!!!
Another month just flew by. FAST. How does this keep happening? Where is the time going? For reals! I suppose maybe it's US who needs to slow down, because time sure won't oblige!
This has been another crazy CRAZY busy BUSY month for our family. One day things will slow down a bit (or so I keep telling myself...yet at the same time with a growing and busy family I am not sure things will ever slow down the way I sometimes envision).
The biggest event: We moved into our new house!
Everything has been a whirlwind, and even though kids generally are great about rolling with things and are resilient - change can shake anyone's world a bit. Kids just process and show it in different ways. I've been sensitive to this lately, because our kids have sure had a lot happen in the past year. A new baby in the family, a big big move from the north end of the country to the south end of the country. Temporary living in a small apartment. Missing old friends. Making new ones. Then having to pack it all up again and say goodbye to new friends. Move to new big house (bigger than any of us are used to!), and start making new friends again. It's no secret Sawyer and Aspen are best friends, but I think having to stick together and be extra tough the past few months has made them even closer. Sawyer is beyond excited to run and play in our yard (they both are, but there really is something hard wired differently in little boys!) As you can see (above) one afternoon we were watering the lawn and he made himself a little mudhole, where he pretended to be a little hippo. It was awesome :)
I will be honest, Sawyer is our child most sensitive to all these changes (or so it seems) and he's been acting out a bit, which is frustrating but also just makes me sad that he's having a hard time. I had a little heart to heart talk with him about his recent behavior and he said "Mama, I'm just having a hard time because we're not settled yet". So...who's room have I been working on getting together first? The one he and Aspen share, of course. Each day gets a little bit better...but it is certainly a process to get unpacked and organized. Hang in there, Sawyer boy! Life WILL calm down a bit, I promise!
I finally finished the kitchen cabinets a few days before we moved in. Jacob got the drill out and helped me put the hardware on. It's looking pretty good! Progress is being made! In the next week or so we will be getting a new sink, faucet, and garbage disposal installed. I would've loved to put the money towards a new sofa (ours is old and gross...but hey, it is still really comfy!) but instead, I get a new sink. I pretty awesome one, at that, but still. Being a homeowner is expensive and keeps you busy, for sure! And it always seems like just when you get everything fixed up the way you like, it's time to move! Hopefully, we'll be here a long time! At least 5+ years - time to enjoy the work we put into this place and calm things down a tad (or am I fooling myself with wishful thinking!?!)
I knew it would be important to get the kids as settled as possible right away, and even though my husband at times thinks I'm crazy (he may have a point!), I went ahead and dragged the kids over to the house and let them run wild (kind of) while I painted their rooms. I actually ended up painting Hazel's room TWICE because I wanted it to be just the perfect color, and the first try was just a little off from how I had envisioned it. Now, though, both rooms are painted and looking awesome!
In the midst of all of our chaos, Mother's Day came around. We don't usually do much in the way of gifts on these types of occasions, and we had planned not to even do much celebrating because of the craziness - we had leftovers instead of any kind of special dinner. SO, it came as a total surprise when out of my custom-designed Mother's Day card at the breakfast table (they did make me a nice breakfast!) fell this little card into my lap. The kids and Jacob told me to pick out a new BIKE! I'm really excited! A few years back I traded in my bike so we could upgrade Jacob's bike, as he commuted every day on his bike in Seattle, and I rarely rode mine. But now that I have people to ride with, I had mentioned a few months back how it would be fun to get a bike someday - so I could get a little trailer to pull some babies along, and then have Sawyer and Aspen ride along side me - I could bike with the kids to drop them off at elementary school or we could all go for family bike rides in the evenings or on weekends. I thought it would be a long way off. But, to my pleasant surprise - it's going to be soon. Thanks, my loves!
Theses guys are my greatest gifts. Love them SO SO much!
We moved on a Saturday morning. That evening, we were invited to a big party in celebration of Jacob's employers ten year anniversary. It was a family friendly event and while it was a big day and we initially kind of hesitated at attending...we decided it would be the best thing for the littles (and us, too!) to have a break from all the chaos and just go relax and have some fun. Soooo glad we did! They had a bounce house, art station, little barrel train rides, BBQ, CAKE, live music and dancing (you better believe we made an appearance on the dance floor!) and when we sat in the grass, we saw FIREFLIES! Lightning Bugs. Whatever you want to call them - they were MAGICAL.
I laugh a little every day, because you know the saying "You can Never Say Never"...it's so true! At one time in my life I said I'd NEVER live in Texas - but here I am LOVING every minute of it! It really is an amazing place! It's like summer almost every day, and the weather isn't the only thing that's warm - the people are, too. Some of the nicest people I've met! And such a family friendly place! I laugh a little, and then I just enjoy it. I love Texas :)
Here's a cute little video of Sawyer and Aspen dancing the night away...I can't quite tell who's leading...but I think Sawyer is trying to lead like a gentleman. (sorry for my yelling in the video - it was loud and he couldn't hear me until I got closer)...
Two Steppin from
Tysha on
Vimeo.
Part of the craziness has been non-stop errands - paint stores, home improvement stores, ikea runs etc. Sawyer says Ikea is his favorite store! Good thing, because we went twice last week! Aspen cracked me up the other day, when I asked "do you want to go to Target with me?" (She says Target is her favorite store). She said, very seriously with her cute little voice, "Mom, it's not Target. It's SUPER TARGET!!!!" (the one by our new house is a Super Target, so I suppose she's right!)
I know blogs can be deceiving a lot of the time, because we focus in on one little person or spot of our home - and it maybe looks close to perfect. But no one is perfect and no one's home is perfect all the time - especially with little people living there! Above is an accurate reflection of our kitchen last week. I was feeling pretty overwhelmed trying to unpack boxes yet pay attention to the kids, and then all the swatches of colors I painted all over our walls are a constant reminder (and motivator!) of all the work I have left to do. Every day, we'll get a little closer. But I'm trying really hard to just relax and enjoy the time RIGHT NOW. We haven't hesitated in taking a day off our taking a break to join up with new friends at the pool, or go check out our new neighborhood pool (which is a couple of blocks from our house - we can walk there - it's awesome!) Yes, the good-bye to the green walls will happen soon enough. The new sink will be in soon (with a functioning garbage disposal - that will be SO nice!) the subway tile will be up before we know it, the board and batten and new tall baseboards will get done before summer is over, painting will happen, etc. but I gotta constantly remind myself that the joy is in the journey. Because, truly, it is!
To end our little monthly recap, this weekend it downpoured. It reminded me of Seattle when the clouds covered the sky and made it gray. Only it rains a lot harder in Texas than in Seattle. And rain is something NOT taken for granted. It is something we pray for. And it's warm when it rains, so actually, it's just fun! I was thinking how things can change so quickly in life: just a year ago I was praying for the rain to GO AWAY! Let the sun shine, darn it! And now, we welcome and pray for rain to be a healing balm to the drought that has been going on here for some time. We dance and puddle jump in the rain. (but we still don't take the sunny days for granted! I hope that never changes!)
Last night, the kids hopped on their bikes and we strolled/rode a couple of blocks to the neighborhood playground. I marveled that they had this beautiful wide, tree-lined, manicured sidewalk to ride on. I didn't have to worry about it being a crazy busy city street. It was nice and warm, with a soft gentle breeze. Jacob turned into Captain Hook and all my babies turned into Pirates, who were all trying to capture me, the Mermaid, and put me in jail. This lasted all the way home and didn't end when they were tucked snugly in bed. When we walked home, I stared at this beautiful house that is now ours. Walked up the long driveway, looked at the rose bushes. We've worked so hard to get here. Made a lot of sacrifices. Last night, as I walked through the front door with Hazel in my arms, I thought "Wow, we're finally home." It sure feels good. I don't always believe the grass is greener elsewhere, but having a home and a situation that fits your situation in life does make it a little easier to breathe. No more (questions we've had to think about and wonder about for the past several years), "what's next? we know we can't stay here forever, we know we will have to move on?" because, now, we're here. Where we want to be. Where God most certainly guided us. Amongst the many challenges have been many blessings. Maybe our home isn't anything super spectacular to certain crowds, and yet to some, it may be a mansion that could house several families - all in all, though, it's just a house in a suburban neighborhood in Central Texas. BUT it's our home. And it's so nice to finally feel like we're not just in a house, but we are truly in our home. I am grateful!
Well, we must be having a TON of FUN, because time is sure flying by at mach 10 lately! I am a bad Mama, haven't taken a monthly portrait of my baby yet this month - I've got just a few days left before she turns 11 months old! Can you believe it? She's rounding the corner to her first birthday, already!?! She stands independently and takes a few steps before falling to her knees because she's lightening fast at crawling and it gets her there faster. It's cute to see her just stand right up in the middle of the room, put her hands high in the air (soooo big!) and then toddle a few steps. It won't be long before she's tearing around the house at full speed! She sure is a sweetheart. She's had a rough go the past couple weeks with all FOUR of her top teeth trying to break through the gums - they're almost there. It makes for some uncomfortable nights for the poor dear. My baby is slowly, yet quickly, disappearing and before I know it she'll be a toddler! With 6 teeth! I'm excited to celebrate her first birthday in June. But like most Mamas, it's a little bit sad to say goodbye to that first amazing whirlwind of a year where they start sooooo tiny and helpless and end up running into your arms with a huuuge smile that shows of their few little teeth. Crazy! Makes me want to just keep on having babies...I really hope I will have a strong feeling when our family is "complete" because right now I'm not sure I'll ever feel that way?
Since she's good at balancing and taking a few steps, the kids decided to "hand down" or give Hazel their old little bike. Hazel was THRILLED to feel like such a big girl, riding a bike! It was so cute! Sawyer and Aspen were equally thrilled watching her and cheering her on!
The warm spring days are even warmer than the warmest summer days in Seattle. Everyone keeps warning us about how HOT summer will be, but in the meantime, we've really enjoyed the weather here. Immensely! Walks to the park, playing in the sand, spray and splash pads, pool, picnics, bbqs - it's my kind of life. The smell of sunscreen and dinner on the grill. A splash in the pool to start or end the day - I LOVE it! And of course, so do the kids!
It's so awesome that because of the wonderful weather, people can have parties outside whenever they please. We attended a birthday party at the park under a huge old oak tree. It was magical! We will have to plan a party outside one of these days...speaking of party planning - we've got TWO birthdays coming up! I don't think they'll be outside this year - but we are planning Sawyer's 5th birthday, which he has requested to be a LEGO party! It's going to be so much fun! And Hazel is going to have a small party with just our family. So fun to have so many reasons to celebrate! We got a head start on party prep and the kids helped me peel a bunch of old crayons and melt them in mold into lego bricks and little lego men (we'll use as party favors). Aren't they cool? I think so!
The big news of the month is that we closed on our new home! Did I mention that we bought a house? We are so so excited! We have a month of overlap between ending our current lease for our apartment so we decided to start on a couple of projects before we move in and have to be in the middle of it all. So, now, we're kind of half way packing and in between and running back and forth -- it's a little crazy. But, it is exciting and it will pass. We'll be moved in soon - the kids are absolutely thrilled!
Someone from our church moved recently, and gave us a ton of boxes to use. The boxes take up 1/3 of our living room in our apartment, or so it seems. They have turned into a climbing wall, ice skating rink, and other various fun things. At first it was fun, and now it's kinda driving me nuts - but hey, just part of the process, right? At least the kids are enjoying it! Even Hazel is amazing at climbing the slippery "wall".
Okay. Call my CRAZY! (because you KNOW I AM!!!) I decided I wanted to start making our house our home, "ours" by starting in the very heart of it - the kitchen! I wanted to paint the cabinets white, add new sparkly hardware, and brighten things up a bit. So, I studied and researched for HOURS and DAYS and WEEKS and came up with a master plan of how that would happen. Let me tell you, it is a TON of work! And it's really hard to do with little children, and a family. And thank GOODNESS we're doing it while living elsewhere. Like most DIY projects, it costs A LOT less to do it yourself. Like under $500 vs. $5,000. So, I'm doing it. Crazy? Definitely! Worth it? I'll let you know once I'm done!
We've also started narrowing down paint selections and putting a few samples up (okay, maybe more than a few) on the walls. We will study them in all sorts of light and live with them for at least a week before we decide on the winners. Although I may go ahead and decide and do Hazel's room because I really want it to be painted so we don't have to rustle her around. She's been in our room, and sleeping with us, up until now, and so I want to only have to make one transition for her. Jacob is also getting me a much-longed for and anticipated super comfortable gliding/swivel rocking chair to put in her room. I'm so excited about it! It will take a long time to get our house all decorated etc. but we're trying to start with the most important things, first. A rocker was pretty high up on the list :)
The kids have been amazing, as always. Wonderful little troopers while I drag them around to lots of errands and attempt to do some things around the new house with them under foot. They are seriously such good sports. And they play SO well together. Sometimes I feel a little bad that we hardly ever do playdates - but we don't really need to, since they're best friends. Something exciting, though, is that I met some of our new neighbors and there is a little girl right next door who is Aspen's age, and a boy across the street who is Sawyer's age. How fun is that?
Last Sunday we took the kids to our new home to have a picnic dinner in the back yard. We knew all along we were buying a home for them, more than for us, but WOW, it's crazy how excited they are to have more room to run and a huge back yard! Aspen decided to start moving some of her special, important stuff (ie toys) over to the house. "Look Mama, I'm stroooong!"
Amidst the craziness and chaos that is our lives the next few weeks as we get ready to move and get settled, I noticed we have a couple of beautiful rose bushes on each side of our house. And they're all blooming. Good reminder - even during times of craziness, it's good to stop and smell the roses. For reals! We are feeling so so very blessed, yet also a bit overwhelmed with all we have to do in the next three weeks. Let the crazy fun begin (well, it already has!)
