Hazel Grace - 8 Months

I just had to include these pictures I took of her at my mom's house. They turned out absolutely amazing! The lighting was perfect and they almost look professional!

Charlie absolutely adores Hazel. Any chance he gets he is holding her, playing with her, and loves posing for pictures with her.

Santa 2015...

Hazel's first Christmas. She loved the wrapping paper!

One of the things I love about being at home is that I get to go see my family up in Mount Vernon a lot. Olivia loves going to see her cousins, grandparents and great grandparents. Hazel loves my great grandpa Fox. She smiles at him and stretches her neck out making noises to get his attention. I finally snapped a picture of the girls with my great grandparents...

Hazel Grace - 7 months

I was thinking the other day, and really this paragraph should read "Six Months". Hazel is 7 months today but these things and pictures are all things she's been doing over the last month (when she was 6 months going on 7 months). It's like I really need to wait until a month later to post the pictures and paragraph about what she's doing.

That being said, here is what this little girl has been up to the last month. She continues to love eating food! She's not a picky eater at all and will anything I make her. She has tried a variety of fruits and veggies and loves them all! I began mixing them this month to give her more of a variety. She loves green apple sauce (apples and spinach or kale) and any thing mixed with bananas. One of her favorites was also one of Olivia's favorites. It's like dessert! It's bananas, pineapple, avocado and a little yogurt. My favorite baby cookbook I used with Olivia is by far Tyler Florence's Start Fresh baby cookbook. He has amazing recipes and gives the reasons behind why it's so important to cook for and with your kids! Olivia loves helping make Hazel's food and Hazel loves sitting in her high chair watching!

This last month we also celebrated Hazel's first Thanksgiving. We spent time with the Joneses out at Fidalgo Bay Resort, the Studley Llama Farm with my mom and had Thanksgiving at my great grandpa and grandma Fox's house. Right around Thanksgiving Hazel also began cutting her first tooth. Following in her sister's footsteps, the second one came almost immediately after. Both my girls seem to always cut their teeth in pairs. She also began riding in the big girl part of the shopping cart. She is a rolling machine and rolls all over the place to get where she wants to go!

I'm so glad I have the opportunity to stay at home with the girls! I love everyday with them! We are so lucky to have such amazing, wonderful, happy kids. Olivia continues to be the most amazing big sister and helper. She attends to Hazel's every need, running in her room when she wakes up to greet her, sniffing her bum saying, "Oh no mom! She pooped again. You better go change her!" She feeds her, reads to her, sings her songs, pushes her in the swing, and the list goes on. I can't say enough about how amazing she is with Hazel! I can't wait to watch them grow up together, being the best of friends! There's no better friend than a sister!

Hazel's first teeth...

    
Hazel's first time in the big girl part of the shopping cart...

Hazel Grace 6 Months

At six months this "little" babe is now weighing in at 20 lbs, 8 oz (98th percentile) and is 28 inches long (99th percentile)! She's wearing 12-18 month clothes and just keeps growing! She continues to have the most cheerful disposition and loves her big sister! She watches Olivia's every move and often belly laughs at Olivia's silly voices and faces she makes. We love these two little girls and love how much they already love each other!

Over the past month there have been a lot of firsts for Hazel! She was baptized in the Catholic church, a beautiful ceremony and a beautiful baby! She's started sitting up on her own with little support and began eating some solid foods. She moved from sitting in her rocker at the dinner table to sitting in her high chair at the beginning of the month. She loved being up at the table and part of the family watching us intently as we ate. So mid month we decided to start some food. We started with rice cereal and breast milk and slowly introduced more foods. She loves EVERYTHING. She's had pears, apples, golden beets, sweet potatoes and carrots. This month she also started going in her jumper/entertainer and Bumpo seat. She celebrated her first Halloween, literally busting out of the ladybug costume Olivia had worn and lastly. She started rolling over right at the end of September and I finally caught it on video this month.

Hazel eating for the first time...

Hazel Grace 5 Months

It's so hard to believe this sweet little babe is already five months old. She continues to be the sweetest little baby. Smiling constantly, especially when her big sister is around. She even smiles in her sleep (as you can see in the photo above on the bottom.) She now weighs in over 20 lbs and is wearing 9-12 month clothes and some 12 month clothes. I had to make my first clothing purchase for her this month since Olivia was always so true to size. She wore 12 month clothes at 10-12 months which for Olivia was May-July. When I pulled out the 12 month clothes they were mostly all sun dresses, short sleeved shirts and summer type clothes. I have to admit it was nice to get to buy some new clothes for little miss Hazel. :)

This month Hazel swung in the outdoor, playground swing for the first time and LOVED it! I bundled her all up and just like Olivia used to do, she smiled and smiled and then fell asleep. Olivia used to love the swing and would swing for hours. I have a feeling Hazel is going to follow in her footsteps. 

She also rolled over for the first time last Sunday, September 20. We had been watching her for a few days and knew she was getting ready. She would lie on her back and roll up on her side, but hadn't quite rolled herself over onto her tummy. I was watching closely, got out my phone and started video taping. I got an error message that my memory was full. Of course when I went to delete the videos to create more room so I could keep recording, she rolled over! I was so close to catching it! She's a pretty strong little girl to roll from her back to her tummy. Usually babies roll from their tummies to their backs first since it's easier.

Hazel loves reading books with me and Olivia, listening to us sing songs and watching Olivia dance. Honestly, anything that includes Olivia! It makes me emotional already watching them and knowing what a sister bond is like. Olivia is truly this little girl's favorite person in the whole world. Hazel watches her every move, smiling and laughing hysterically. And Olivia continues to be the most amazing big sister ever! She loves Hazel and is extremely protective over her. She attends to her every need and is there to make her smile anytime she fusses. I know these two girls are going to be the best of friends!

May Celebrations (2013)



We started our May celebrations celebrating my dad's birthday at Anthony's Homeport Restaurant in Anacortes.  This is our family's go to restaurant for special celebrations.  We were VERY fortunate that my mom offered to keep "the littles" at her house for us, so Anne and I actually got to enjoy our food while it was still hot!



The kids enjoyed some time playing in my mom's backyard after we got home from Anthony's...

The next day we met at my sister's house for a special lunch made by Zach and Bryan for Mother's Day. On the menu was scallop linguine, salad, and bread!

All of the moms with their kids!



I got my mom this really cute diaper bag that has cartoon images of the grandkids on it from Thirty-One...  

At the end of the month after we got home from Sun Lakes (posted next), we went to Kidz Bounce for the first time for a birthday party for one of Zach's friends little boys, Mason.  Olivia never ceases to amaze me.  She has absolutely no fear! I think you had to be there to truly appreciate how huge and tall this slide is.  No matter how many times she rolled and flipped down the slide, she still kept climbing to the top and going down...

Yes, that purple blur is her tumbling down the slide...

Baby Shower (May 2013)

My good friend Beth Mohr is pregnant and doesn't have any family in the area, so my other good friend Tiffany and I threw her a baby shower at the beginning of May.  It turned out fabulous!

Olivia wasn't too sure about her first cake pop...

We made onesies with months on them so Beth could take baby Brooklyn's picture each month and decorated headbands...