Bits and Pieces

I've been meaning to post a blog for a while, but what can I say, the Olympics have been on and I've been glued to the TV. I hardly ever watch TV and I never voluntarily watch sports, but there's something about the Olympics that I love.

Anyways, life around here has been chugging along. Mike is super busy with his 18 credits for school. He has some pretty hard classes; luckily he has a good Biology tutor (aka me). I'm busy at work, but I love what I do. I finished my last class towards my BCABA and now I'm getting my mentored hours done before I can apply to take the test. I need to log 1000 hours so it will be a while yet before I'm ready to test.

Hazel gets bigger, cuter, and more fun everyday. Here are just some highlights....

Hazel in her bath towel. She likes to make scrunchy faces now.

Hazel is so close to crawling. She sometimes is able to make it about 5 feet forwards, but other times she's stuck going backward and gets frustrated.

Hazel's latest thing is escaping from her PJs at night. I don't know how she does it, but I often find her like this in the morning.

Just being cute:)

Her hair is long enough now for a Pebbles ponytail:)

Kiara and Hazel are becoming better friends, mostly because of this.....

Kiara's no dummy - she loves the hands that feed her!

So Tired....

Here are more adorable pictures of Hazel. With her two little teeth she just looks so cute! I finally got a picture where you can see them. (You'll notice the sweet potatoes all over her face, haha. Teeth are for eating, right?)
She's also starting to pose for pictures. This morning I pulled out the camera to take a picture of her playing with the toy she got from Grandma and Grandpa Ballard for Christmas and look what she did......


Love this girl!

Yep, I'm cute!

6 Months Old!

Hazel turned 6 months old last week! I can't believe how fast the time has gone. At her well-baby checkup on Wednesday she was a petite 14.5 pounds and 26 1/4 inches. She's very strong though.

It's so fun to watch Hazel as her personality develops. Already she is a very opinionated girl. For example, she sleeps with her pacifier and this giraffe toy. Well, if she decides she doesn't want to sleep at that moment, she will throw her giraffe then throw her binkie! I think we are going to have our hands full when she's 2.

Hazel cut her first two teeth this week. She was amazingly good for cutting two teeth at the same time. Mostly she just babbled in a very loud voice all day (Mike said she was very "bossy")

Hazel eats several foods now and loves to feed herself graham crackers. Unfortunately she decided that there is simply not enough time in her busy schedule to sit down and nurse for more than a minute or two. To her bottles are not only much easier but also much more fun because she can see the world. So, I'm in the process of weaning her. It makes me sad, but I must say it's very nice not to spend my lunch break in the furnace room at work pumping.

Hazel is starting to understand signs. It is so funny - sometimes she "talks" by moving her mouth but without making any noise. I'm not sure if all babies do this or if she just does it because she understands we sometimes talk without making any sound. Either way, it's adorable.

We love having this cute little thing around!

I was really hoping to put this off for at least a few more months.....

Skiing!

On New Years Eve we went skiing with my family (well Mike snowboarded and the rest of us skied). Gabby was nice enough to stay home and watch Hazel, though if it were up to my Dad she would have come with us.




Sorry Hazel, no skiing for you until you are at least as tall as your skis!

Short Trip to Utah

The Monday after Christmas Mike, Hazel, and I flew to Utah to see his family. Mike's parents and sisters were in Utah so for our Christmas present from them, they flew us out to visit. Hazel was an angel on both flights! She laughed the whole way there and slept the whole way back.
While we were there, Mike's younger sister Alicia received her endowments in the Salt Lake Temple. All of Mike's siblings are now endowed - it was great to go to the temple as a family. While we were on temple square we ran in to Mike's cousin Erin who is serving her mission there. What are the odds? Alicia leaves for her mission the end of this month to Atlanta, Georgia. She will be an great missionary!Mike insisted that we go to In-n-Out while we were there. He even gave Hazel a french fry. He was in heaven:) We stayed with Mike's grandma (Hazel's great-grandma). In her house Mike found an old suit from the 70's. I am so glad they don't make clothes like this any more!!!!

It was a great trip overall. Thanks Teri and Tony for flying us out!

Christmas!

For Christmas, we headed up to Denver. Christmas Eve my parents hosted their traditional taco bar party. My dad make's the best green chili and it's a tradition in our family to have it on Christmas Eve. This year he bought some tamales to go with it - yummmmy! Harrison, Gabby and Jake were all out from Utah. It was great to see them.

Christmas day we opened presents. Hazel mostly got things she needed like cups, baby food, and such. Not that it mattered much - she would have been perfectly content just eating the wrapping paper. She also got some peek-a-boo balls that she loves! My parents got her a beautiful Christmas dress. When I was growing up my Grandma bought us a new dress every year at Christmas and Easter. My mom decided she wanted to keep that tradition going. Hazel is obviously very pleased with her dress this year:)

More than anything, it was wonderful to have a break and relax with family while remembered the true reason for the season - the birth of our Savior.

Catching up the Blog

December has been a great month so far. Hazel was in her very first ballet! Well maybe her second. Last year I danced the Sugar Plum Fairy in Nutcracker while I was 8 weeks pregnant with Hazel. Well, this year the directors of the studio I danced with decided it would be fun if she was in the show too. I was Clara's mom and Hazel was her "baby sister." She came out during the party scene in her cute dress. She was really good for all 3 performances! My dad was also in the show with us as one of the party parents. Three generations in one show!

Hazel looking darling in her dress!

Playing with the mirrors in the dressing room!

On December 9th we celebrated Mike's 27th birthday! Mike has been asking for a pair of Rainbow flip flops forever so he was super excited when he got them. He has now decided it's shorts and flip flops weather here in Colorado (nevermind the fact it was about 10 degrees on his birthday, haha) Hazel and I are glad he had a good day. He had just finished all his classes and so now he is enjoying a nice break between semesters. He is taking care of Hazel full time since he's not in class and he's so good with her! Thanks for being the best honey. I love you!



Hazel has also been fighting an ear infection on and off since Thanksgiving. They put her on antibiotics that seemed to help and she was better for about a week, but then the infection came back. Now she's on a different antibiotic. Hopefully it will clear it up this time. Even with an ear infection she's still a sweet happy girl. She started eating some solids and she loves it. Also, today she sat up alone for 10 minutes during church. She's growing up so fast!

Hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas! I'm looking forward to a short week and then a week off!