Hazel's First Birthday

How it happened, I'm not quite sure...

a whole year has gone by since Hazel made her grand debut into this world, and our family.

Yes, somehow a whole year went by...

and now she's ONE!

Here's picture overload from her Carousel Party!

We kept it pretty simple (minus the fancy decorations, ha!) and the only people at the party were the people she loves the most - her mommy, daddy, and big brother and sister.

We made some fancy decorations and yummy treats; her daddy brought her flowers and her sister brought her a big balloon.

And we celebrated...all day long!

The birthday girl, herself. 

Hazel Grace - we love you so!!!!

I guess I haven't mentioned that the little lady started walking well before her birthday. People are often surprised to see such a tiny girl running around! She looks too little (she's very petite) to be walking! But there's no stopping her now!

For her Carousel Party, we thought it only appropriate to take her for her first ride on the Carousel! We went to a local old school amusement park in Austin, just perfect for little kiddos. SO perfect! Our kids were in HEAVEN!!!

I think what I loved the most, was seeing how proud my littles were when they'd look for me and Jacob each time they went around on a ride, and then they'd get the most gigantic grin, and wave. So proud!

Hazel was a tiny bit upset she couldn't go on all the rides...she tried to climb over the fence to have a turn. Otherwise, she could actually go on quite a few of the rides, and she sure had a blast!

Sawyer wanted to be the caboooooose! 

Sometimes putting a very active, squirmy baby in the stroller is easier than having her try to scale the fence to a ride she can't go on...or eat all the rocks, sticks, and other oddities found on the ground of an amusement park. I strapped her in for a few minutes, and as we walked around, I looked down and *gush* I just love little squishy/chubby baby feet/toes/legs. The best!

We had enough tickets that the kids got to go on the rides multiple times. We decided to take a break (per Sawyer's request) and get some cotton candy. You just can't go to the amusement part without some cotton candy!  The birthday girl had her first taste. Talk about sugar overload for the weekend!

Sticky fingers! 

"look, Mama! I have a pink mustache!" -Aspen

Okay, so if you know Sawyer, he can at times be a little shy, or just cautious (which is often a blessing)...he generally shies away from the big animals, even though he really loves them. We were kind of surprised when he insisted he wanted to ride a pony! Aspen decided she was too nervous. But the boy (so proud of him!) was super thrilled and hopped right up for his first pony ride! He's excited to ride Grammie's horses this summer when we go visit her in Oregon!

He loved it!

To end our fun-filled day, everyone went on the Carousel again. I think we went at least five times! Hazel and her Mama. I so so love this girl! 

After the amusement park, we headed to dinner, where we had a most amazing meal and fun times, all around. We had so much fun, and got home so late, that we decided to postpone the cake smash until the following night. 

Wow. Sometimes the first birthday is a little bittersweet - at least for this Mama. It's such a grand way to celebrate all the amazing growth and milestones that happen that first year, and a big "cheers!" and "hooray!" that we all made it through, sleep-deprived and all. Yet it is also a solid good-bye to babyhood. To that tiny little person who is every day more independent, more her own. Every year is special, of course! But there is just something extravagantly magical about that first year.

Oh my goodness, I love my babies!
Happy Birthday, Hazel Grace!