Fish Tank, Baby Signing Time, and other random stuff

I never posted about Hazel's birthday present from us. Mike convinced me that Hazel would LOVE a fish tank because at Walmart she likes to look at the fish. I saw his plan for what it really was (a plot to get the fish tank he wanted) but agreed anyways. Here's the tank we got Hazel....
Maybe it wasn't a plot after all because she really does love it. She sits on the bench next to it every morning when we feed them. Sometimes she walks past and signs "fish" while saying "ishe! ishe!" It's adorable how much she loves her fish:)

Baby Signing Time is the only thing Hazel likes to watch on TV but boy does she love it! Every morning while I shower she gets to watch it. Usually right after she wakes up she starts signing "baby" and walking over to the TV. Here's an adorable picture of her watching it one morning.


Now for some random other stuff. Hazel's hair is now long enough for good bed head:)She also is quite the clothing designer. Check out this outfit she put together this morning....
Her pj's (which she had on) plus a wild pair of my socks and her sandals. Too cute!

Halloween Preview....

It's gonna be fun!

Surprise Date

Friday night Mike and I got to go on a surprise date..... to the ER. Mike will be coaching club volleyball and left at 7 for a meeting. At 8:30 I got a call saying I needed to come pick him up because he cut his hand setting up metal bleachers and couldn't drive. So I carried sleeping Hazel from her crib to the car to go get Mike. When I got there it was obvious that he would need medical attention that night so we called some wonderful friends who said they would watch Hazel (thank you so much Jason and Katie!) We dropped Hazel off with them and Jason gave Mike a quick blessing before we headed off.

We tried to go to Urgent care, but they had just closed so we had no choice but to go the ER. Let me tell you, the ER is a strange place on a Friday night. It was busy and several ambulances arrived with emergencies so we ended up waiting five hours. Luckily, when we finally saw the doctor, he was very, very nice. He was amused that I wanted to watch him stitch Mike up:) Eight stitches and an antibiotic later Mike is almost as good as new. He was very fortunate that he missed any tendons or nerves because the cut was very deep.

It was an adventure and it made me thankful for several things. One, that it was Mike not Hazel who needed a trip to the ER and that the reason for the trip was fairly minor. Two, that we know amazing people who are willing to take Hazel at a moment's notice without batting an eye. Three, that Heavenly Father was looking out for Mike's hand and that the injury cause any serious harm.

Warning: The pictures are bloody so look at your own risk.....

This picture doesn't do the cut justice, but was was about a centimeter deep and 3 inches long.

Tiny Town

While we were up in Denver this weekend for the Temple, my Dad decided that Hazel needed to experience Tiny Town. It's this adorable miniature town with different kinds of houses and a miniature train that runs through the village. I remember going there as a kid so it was really fun to take Hazel there (Mike had to go to the temple early to help a deaf boy through baptisms so he couldn't come)

Hazel and I relaxing. She loved having everything her size!

Inside the church.

This was her favorite building because there was a little bench in each corner. She had a blast running from one corner to the other getting on and off the benches.

In Jail. Luckily she didn't like it in there and left this building fast:)

The highlight of the day for my Dad was riding the train. My Dad LOVES trains and this on is a real steam locomotive.

Hazel with Gram and Grandpa

Just a side note, the battle of the binkie has been won! Hazel is officially rid weaned off her binkie and doing much better. We had a few rocky patches after the last post, but now that she's figured out how to soothe herself without we're doing well. Yay!

Battle of the Binkie

So I decided to use my four day weekend to take Hazel's pacifier away. I'm such a mean mommy. Haha, I knew it would be much harder once she could ask for it, and with the rate she's learning signing I knew that would be soon.

We've been limiting it to naps and bedtime since her birthday, but I was still really worried. So far though it's been much easier than expected. Friday morning I made her leave it in her crib when I got her up. She kept asking me for milk (but really wanting the paci) but was fine after a few minutes. We spent the morning running errands and she fell asleep in the car about 11:30 so the first nap without it was a breeze:)

When I went to put her down for bed she starting screaming "the scream." The one when she's dropped her binkie or lovie out of the crib. The one I was dreading, because there's no way she'll sleep until you get her stuff when she's screaming "the scream." So, I cut the tip off of one of her binkies and went in and gave it to her. She immediately popped it in her mouth, then pulled it out with the most confused expression:) She tried a few more times before giving up. I left the room and she cried her "falling asleep cry" about 15 minutes before falling asleep! Not nearly as bad as I expected.

This morning she woke up and showed me the "broken binkie" from last night but didn't even try to take it out of the crib with her or put it in her mouth. So far today has been going great! Again we were running errands so she fell asleep in the car. We'll see how tonight goes, but I think she'll do great.

I'm so glad this has been much, much easier than I thought it would be. I'm also very glad we did it now too instead of waiting.

Alpine Golf Tournament

A bit of background info on this post.... The company I work for is a non-profit business and school. A little confusing, I know. Anyways, they host an annual golf tournament fundraiser. It includes a dinner with a silent auction.

On Monday night Mike and I went to the dinner and auction. It was such a nice evening and a real date for us! The event is held at the Country Club of Colorado. It's have the most beautiful location right off a small lake (probably man made, but beautiful none the less). We enjoyed a wonderful dinner catered by PF Changs, socializing with my co-workers and parents of my clients, and rubbing elbows with the upper class:) We even won something from the auction! (In the past the rich people always way out bid me, haha). We won dinner for 2 at the Flying W Ranch here in Colorado Springs. It's a chuck wagon dinner and show that's supposed to be a blast. We've been wanting to go since we moved here. Now we'll actually do it!

Here are some of the pictures of the gorgeous sunset over the lake.

Signing Monster

Hazel is signing so much now! It's amazing how quickly they pick it up. At her first birthday Hazel pretty much only signed "milk" consistently. And then milk meant pretty much anything to eat.

Now she has about 11 signs and she uses them all appropriately. She signs milk, more, dog, all done, bath, phone, please, eat, cracker, diaper, and baby. She also asks to watch "Baby, Signing Time" by signing baby and walking to the TV.

It's so nice to know what she wants. Plus, it's about the cutest thing I've ever seen:) If anyone is thinking about using sign language with their baby I would very highly recommend it.

Here she is signing eat.....

Great Day

Nursery!

Nope, Hazel's not old enough for nursery yet. But she still gets to hang out there on Sundays. Why? Well, I just got released as the Relief Society secretary and called as a nursery leader. Although I will miss my old calling tremendously, it's a fun switch. Plus, Hazel loves coming to play with the other kids in nursery.

It's amazing how the Lord knows to put us in the right place at the right time. I loved my calling in RS. The RS president is amazing and she taught me so much about how to love the women and serve them. I will be forever thankful for her example to me. But at the same time, it was a very hard calling for me. For one thing, I was constantly trying to juggle Hazel on Sundays while I attempted to take roll, make copies, welcome new sisters, etc. Also, with working full time I was never able to make visits to sisters like I wanted to. But then the Lord saw fit to switch me to a new calling where I get to play with Hazel and the other sweet little ones. The strong spirits children possess never cease to amaze me. I'm so excited to work with this darling kids, especially this one......

Hazel's Room

I said I would post pictures of the new apartment but a month and a half later there are still no pictures. Sorry. I've been holding off because I've been trying to get crafty and do some very cheap redecorating of the new apartment. We have mis-matched furniture and picture frames, but I'm determined it make it all more cohesive. We got $100 from Rent.com because we used them for find this place so that is my budget for the remodel. It will be exciting to see how far it takes me:)

Hazel's room was my first project because it was so easy to think of fun things for her:)

Budget breakdown:
- Polk-a-Dot removable wall adhesives - $9.99
- Decorative letters x5 - $7.50 (on sale at Hobby Lobby - love that store!)
- Paint for letters and picture frames - $0.88
Total: $18.37

We already had everything else. Here's the end result. It's not going to make a Pottery Barn catalog or anything, but I'm pretty proud of it!