Happy Brithday to You!

On Saturday we had Hazel's birthday party. I really didn't want to risk having to cancel it if I was in labor so we planned it early. Hazel didn't mind:) She has been singing happy birthday to herself for weeks now and couldn't wait for her party.

There were three things she REALLY wanted at her party. 1) an Elmo cake, 2) party hats, and 3) balloons. I'm glad to oblige such easy requests.

I made the cake and I must say I'm super proud of the way it turned out. It had a whipped cream frosting which made it taste amazing too...

The morning of her party Mike and I let Hazel open a few presents from us. One of her gifts was a sleeping bag which she LOVES. We plan to go camping this weekend (provided I'm not in labor) and she is so excited to sleep in her sleeping bag in the tent.
Gram and Grandpa came down for the celebration. Hazel got a ton of clothes from Gram and some play-doh which she is obsessed with.
I love how hard she's trying to make play-doh noodles:)
We had the party in the park near our church with just a few friends. It was perfect weather! I loved that we kept things simple because it was just right for a group of two years olds.

The birthday girl!

Party Hat!

Hazel and her friend Gianna.

Blowing out her candle. She talked about this all week. "Hazel blow out my candle!"

Mylee, Hazel, and Gianna enjoying their drinks.

After cake we were off to the playground!

It really was a great party. Low stress and the kids had a blast. If only all future parties would be so easy:)

It's beginning to look a lot like a newborn lives in our house again. I've been nesting like crazy the past week. The bassinet is set up in our room, all of the baby clothes have been washed, folded, and put away, the baby swing is set up, the car seat is installed, etc, etc. I'm still in the process of deep cleaning the apartment, but I only have a few more places left. I also haven't packed my hospital bag yet, but we're almost ready:)

Physically, I'm super ready for this little one to join us. She's getting big and bending over to pick anything up is a major chore now. Thankfully, we're having a rather cool summer so far so I'm not always roasting. Now we play the waiting game.... If this little girl follows Hazel's pattern of being born 11 days early, I really only have about 2 weeks left. I still have a TON of stuff to finish up at work to prepare for my maternity leave though. We'll see what I'm able to get in.

I've been trying to prepare Hazel for Eliza's arrival a bit.

One second she's doing awesome...

And the next she's poking her eyes and tossing her aside....

Haha, oh well. I think she will have an adjustment period no matter what, but I do think she's excited.

Oh and the last bit of exciting news.... I passed my test!!!!!!!!!!! It is such a relief to know I'm done with it and I don't have to worry about trying to re-take it in September. Yay!

In Honor of my Dad.... Trains, Trains, and more Trains!

This post is a tribute to my sweet Dad and an account of some of Hazel's journeys recently. My Dad has always loved trains. I remember one Saturday when we were kids he loaded us all up in the car and we drove to what seemed like almost the Kansas boarder. We parked by the train tracks and waited, and waited, and waited. Then some special locomotive drove past shaking the ground as it went. After that we packed up and went home. My Dad was thrilled and I remember thinking "that's it?" haha.

Well in the past few months my Dad has taken it upon himself to pass his love of trains on to Hazel (maybe he hopes that by starting early she won't . Pretty much every time they've seen each other in the past month and a half my dad has had a new train to take her to. They have a blast and Hazel loves the trains!

Train Museum:
Their first train excursion was to the train museum one Saturday while Mike and I were at the temple. There was a special full sized steam locomotive that day. They rode on the train then looked around the museum. That's about all I know about that trip except that Hazel came home asking to see "more baby trains" over and over. (The baby trains were the model railroads she saw in the museum after riding the full sized train)

Hazel on the train

Tiny Town Train:
A few weeks later (the day of my test) my parents and Mike took Hazel up to Tiny Town. It's always a blast to go see the tiny houses and ride the train (our trip last year is here). Tiny Town has a 15 gauge steam locomotive (I hope I got that right) which drives you around the town. This was Mike's first time at Tiny Town so he definitely enjoyed the trip.

The "yucky potty" - Hazel's words, not ours haha. This was her first time in an outhouse.

Mike's favorite Tiny Town building.

The train! It's hard to tell from this picture but it really is tiny. Look at the size of the cone compared to the train.

Royal Gorge Train:
For my birthday, my parents drove down to Colorado Springs to make me dinner (which was yummy!) We took a short trip down to Cannon City to ride a train at the Royal Gorge. This train is the same size as the one at Tiny Town but instead of just taking you around in a loop it goes to an overlook of the Royal Gorge. It goes through some beautiful scenery and over some really neat bridges. I must admit I thoroughly enjoyed this train. They even let dogs ride with you:)

Hazel signing train

See Kiara's head in the bottom right? She liked the train.

Royal Gorge

Heritage Square Train:
The most recent train Hazel visited was one at Heritage Square (a small western themed amusement park). It's also a small train (I think the 15 gauge again) that goes in a loop around the park. This train has sentimental value for Mike and I. We had our wedding reception in the Victorian House inside Heritage Square. As part of the reception, Mike and I rode in on the train (guess who worked that part out? my dad of course!) Mike and I were at the temple again while they took this trip so we didn't get to go with Hazel (and I don't have any pictures) but my parents said she had fun.


Needless to say Hazel has become a train expert. She talks about trains, tiny trains (like Tiny Town) and baby trains (model railroads). Some times she will randomly start shouting "All aboard!" She loves riding trains with Grandpa, and he LOVES taking her! I'm sure they will have more train trips before the summer is over.

Hazel's New Pajamas :)

She Talks, and Talks, and Talks...

Hazel is now 23 months and talks non-stop. Seriously - all the time. Maybe she gets it from her Aunt Gabby:) We are always getting comments that she seems so much older because she knows so many words and signs. I would say that for the most part she knows the sign for every word she says and vice versa. She is actually talking much more than signing now, but will sometimes talk/sign at the same time. She knows that when we can't understand what she is saying to sign it too then we usually figure it out. She will even imitate finger spelling things like "park" and people's names. So cute! When she's talking, she routinely uses 3-5 word phrases. She's definitely a smart little thing! Here are some of the things she's said recently that make Mike and I look at eachother like "Where on earth did she learn that?"....

- The other day she told me "Hazel want peach shirt" when we were getting her dressed. Haha even I would have called it orange, but it was in fact peach colored.

- One that shocks other people is when she names different types of sports balls. Hazel loves sports so she knows how to say and sign the names of all the different sports balls - football, baseball, volleyball, soccer ball, etc. She will say things like "I want soccer ball" and "I like it baseball"

- Hazel also loves to sing and has some pretty clear songs. Her favorites are Once there was a Snowman, ABCs, Wheels on the Bus. We frequently hear her singing herself to sleep at night:) (She is also obsessed with the TV show Glee! We have a DVD of just the music which she would watch all day if we let her. Her favorite Glee song - Lady Gaga's "Bad Romance" She sings "mamammamama, gagagagag, ohhhhh" It's cute!)

- The other day we were at the park and Hazel told me she had to go potty. Due to budget cuts in Colorado Springs all of the park bathrooms are closed. I really didn't want her to have an accident so I took her over to the bushes and had her pee there. She did and then informed me "Hazel pee in Kiara's potty!" (Kiara is our dog for those of you who don't know). I almost died laughing:)

- Hazel has learned to tell us when something is "hard" like trying to pick up something heavy or button something. Well, the other day she was trying to move a chair by herself and told me "chair tough!"

Mike and I feel so blessed to have Hazel. She honestly never ceases to amaze us with all that she does (but we also may be a tiny bit biased). More than anythings, she amazes us daily with her sweet spirit. Of course there are times she doesn't want to read scriptures or say prayers because she doesn't want to stop playing. But there have also been numerous times she has reminded us to do these things. We love you Hazel!