Brilliant Idea

You have to watch this video that my friend Marta posted. It's fantastic. I only wish I had done something like it at my wedding. (My wedding party would have been pretty perfect for it)! As the bride, I probably would have come in after the song, with my dad, but other than that, I love it! If you are engaged, take note of this video!!!

Super Random Post!!!

Over the past 6 months I've come to observe that if a guy wants to hold Hazel he will simply ask, but girls seem to wait for an invitation or something. Here's the deal, I'm not gonna ask if you want to hold Hazel, because to me, that's kinda forcing her on you. (How are you supposed to say no to that)? Soooooo, if you want to hold her by all means, just ask. I LOVE it when others want to hold her. I hold her all day, everyday. I enjoy seeing others hold her and it's nice to give my arms a wee break. I have no problem with other people holding my baby, (assuming you're not sick and your hands are relatively clean)! So there you have it, my random observation and rule of thumb...Just Ask!

I'm not ready...

Hazel has starting "crawling"...well it looks more like a caterpillar move. This changes everything! She's only 6 1/2 months, I thought I had at least another 2 months. Here's the video we sent the family this morning as proof.

In other news, on Saturday we celebrated Dan's grandparents 60th Wedding Anniversary!

Here's Uncle Craig

Aunt Rebecca with her baby Grace

Good Week, Good Weekend

Dan and I had a great week and weekend. On Wednesday we had a date night and dropped Hazel off at Grandpa Dale and Nana's. We went to Ray's Cafe for a delicious dinner of Clam Chowder, Crab and Shrimp Cakes for Dan, and Linguine with Clams for me. It was so delicious. Then we headed to Cupcake Royale for some coffee and chocolate cupcakes. (Triple Threat for Dan and Peppermint Party for me)! We had such a fantastic time just being together and looking back on the past 6 months.

Then the weekend came. Friday night my brother Peter and his wife Sarah and their kiddos, Stephanie, Grant, and Lexi came over for dinner and games. We taught them Bohnanza and they liked! (But really, I've never met a soul who didn't like this game).


Saturday we had a chill morning, and then headed out to my cousin Jessie's wedding in Edmonds that afternoon. It was a gorgeous day on the water.


Then we went to Bridget's art Debut, also in Edmonds, for a quick pop in. However, we ended up staying for a hour and a half. We had a delightful time chatting with Beau and Bridget, but this delay our schedule, making us miss a BBQ we were supposed to attend in Seattle, (so sorry Marta). Our drive home was lovely, the setting sun was absolutely spectacular.

On Sunday, Pete and Sarah came over again for Lunch and games. This time we added Ticket to Ride to the mix. I can't say it enough, I love hanging out with my brothers and their families. They are so dear to me.

This is Hazel's weekly bear shot...I love how she's holding bear's hand! And the cute outfit is from our dear friends Andy & Julie in Scotland!

6 Months and Counting

Hazel turned 6 Months old on Sunday. It's hard to believe it's already been half a year! We love her dearly and enjoy being a family of three. She's still about 30th percentile in weight (almost 15 pounds) and 75th-90th percentile in height (26 3/4 inches). She's not crawling, but I would consider her quite mobile. She rolls and spins and pushes forward a bit with her legs. She is eating sweet potatoes pretty well and has been sleeping from 8pm to about 6am, feeds and then sleeps again til about 9am. She's also starting to take two naps instead of three, staying up longer during the day.


Today we went to Gymboree Play and Music for her first class. We both had fun, I think. She wasn't laughing and smiling huge, but she was taking it all in and mesmerized by everything, (including Erin, her teacher/Auntie).

Dan and I have a date night tomorrow. We're dropping Hazie off at Grandpa Dale and Nana's for the evening while we go to Ray's Cafe for dinner. (It's our first dinner date in six months, but we've been able to go out a lot with Hazel cause she does so well). We're hoping to have another date night this month to go see a movie, (also something we haven't done in six months. Last movie we saw was The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, 3 days before I went into labor. I don't recommend sitting through a movie in the theater while being that pregnant)!

Oh the 4th!

We had another great day on Saturday. Hazel again slept in, we had a casual morning, then headed to Snoqualmie Falls and hiked down to the bottom. There were a million people there and it was a million degrees, (both of those are approximations to the best I could tell), but we had a fun time.


We came home, showered off all the sweat and dirt, and then headed over to the Platter's for dinner. Oh how I love this family! Hazel got to see her first Sparkler!


I headed home to put Hazel to bed, but the gang headed to Lake Boren Park (about a half mile from our place) to watch the firework show. To quote them, they all "forth of juloved it!" I watched a bit from the deck and it seemed to be a good show.


Today we're taking a day of rest. Hazel again slept in, (I think I'm finally getting caught up on sleep), and Dan got us Starbucks to go with our breakfast parfaits! We're headed to church tonight, but perhaps a walk or something this afternoon.

Happy 4th of July weekend everyone! Hope you had a great one!

Hazel is 6 Months Old today!!! More on that tomorrow.


*photos taken by Dan

Hooray for 3 day weekends!

We had the most wonderful day as a family! Hazel slept in a bit, and then we all got ready and headed out to Seattle. We started off at Zoka for coffee and split a scone. Then we headed to the Zoo.

Even though it's blurry, I love this one cause it looks like Hazel is telling Dan a story
Dan showing Hazel his favorite, the Penguins

My favorite, the Hippo

We got Hazel a parasol for her stroller when we were in Scotland. EVERYONE over there had one and they were the cutest thing I'd ever seen. We hooked it up today and not only is it super cute, it's amazing and practical. It keeps the sun off Hazel but still allows her to see out, (unlike the hood of her stroller that only comes down part way, keeping her legs in the sun and blocks her view). I felt so European and chic! Everyone kept commenting on it and asking about it. (This US site sells them too if you're interested: www.shadybaby.com, or you can order them from the store Mamas and Papas where we got ours).


After that we went to Mr. Gyros, our favorite Greek place only to find it closed for the holiday weekend, so we headed to Costas Opa in Fremont, and it was quite delicious...(their hummus had an insane amount of garlic, so we are avoiding others tonight)!

We've just been lounging around this evening at home, and trying to stay cool. Hazel's been sporting the diaper, and Dan and I are sipping Gin and Tonics. We just had such a wonderful time together. It was so nice for Dan to have the day off!

Refreshed!

I had a hard week and a half. I was burned out. Hazel was doing 2 night feeds again, (instead of 0-1) which makes me exhausted, which makes me impatient, which makes me get angry, which makes me feel so bad for the damage my anger does...vicious cycle! We were even on vacation in the most relaxing place, but I had such a lousy attitude. I didn't know how to snap out of it. I'd get wonderful little breaks, but it didn't seem to be enough. (Dan let me sleep in one morning, I got to lay by the pool one afternoon while he watched Hazel, etc.). When Hazel has a hard week, I have a hard week, making Dan have a hard week...again, vicious cycle! She learned how to yell/scream cry and seemed to be so angry all the sudden. It was soooooo draining. Especially in the last 4 hours of the car ride coming home from Montana. Monday night I broke down and repeatedly asked Dan for forgiveness for my horrible attitude, and taking it all out on him. We prayed together and tried to come up with some helpful solutions; (more date nights, getting to church more, etc.). Tuesday and Wednesday were still so hard, but I was able to keep my anger more in check. Hazie was just exhausting, which is quite out of character for her.

Wednesday evening we headed down to Tacoma, and Hazie again was not enjoying the car ride...We got to Jeremy and Deena's and were completely spent. On the way down I told Dan, "I hope Hazel doesn't cry the whole time we're there. And I hope I don't cry either!" I was completely and emotionally drained.

And then...God's wonderful gift of Fellowship! What a delight. We had a delicious dinner, and wonderful conversation, laughter, and games. (There's something healing about talking with another mother and realizing you're not at all alone in this. The fact that Deena, a women I greatly respect as a mother, went through the exact same thing and felt the exact same way, is so encouraging). We came home, and went to bed late, and Hazel slept through the night! This verse has been brought to my mind all morning: Lamentations 3:21-23 "Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: Because of the LORD's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness."


"New every morning" I really feel this today. I'm refreshed, encouraged, uplifted, and full of hope. I wish so badly that I was a laid back mom, but it's not who I am. I will daily struggle with giving it over to God, but I will receive His grace daily as well!


*photo taken by Dan in Hawaii

Sweet Potatoe-licious

So I feed Hazel some Sweet Potatoes and she ate them! No more yucky rice cereal for her. I only wish I'd tried this sooner.