Happy Birthday Sweet Girl!

I can't believe that two years ago you looked like this....

The time has flown by and you've grown up so fast. Mommy and Daddy love you sweet little Hazel! Happy 2nd Birthday!

Camping, 9 months pregnant style

Who knows why but there's some sick tradition in our family that we going camping when I'm very, very pregnant. We went over the 4th of July when I was pregnant with Hazel then she was born on the 8th.

Well true to form we went camping on Friday night. Part of the reason we decided to go was simply this was the only weekend we could go and we really wanted to take Hazel before Eliza was born. So, we packed up and went camping up near Rampart Reservoir (about 30 mins from our house). I love that the mountains are so close! We met friends from our ward and their two kids which made it even better for Hazel.

The weather was wonderful and we had a great time! We couldn't have a fire due to burning restrictions, but we made it by without one. Friday night the kids played in the dirt until they were brown from head to toe.

Hazel actually slept really well but was up at 5:15am! Crazy girl. After breakfast we went to Rampart Reservoir. We had never been and it was so beautiful! See Pike's Peak in the background? We will definately be coming up here more.

At first Hazel was a bit hesitant about the water. She started out like this...
then moved to this...
but by the end she was sitting in the water fully clothed haha...
Kiara was in heaven too because she was able to swim! She swam so hard and has been sleeping ever since, haha.

After the lake we packed up camp and headed in to Woodland Park for lunch before coming home. When we got home on Saturday I got it in to my head to try and start my labor.... I had been having some irregular contractions in the evenings on both Thursday and Friday so Saturday I decided I would put away all the camping stuff, do all the laundry, and clean the house until it was spotless to keep those contractions coming. It sort of worked because I did start having regular contractions (at one point they were about 5-8 mins apart and were starting to hurt. I even called my mom to let her know she might need to come down soon). Then after about 2 1/2 total hours of contractions, out of no where they slowed down. Boo! I've had a few more on and off all night and some this morning too so hopefully Eliza will be coming soon. We'll see....

This morning Hazel was talking about how "Gram and Grandpa come Hazel's house today!" so I asked her who else was coming (expecting her to say my sister Gabby and her husband from Utah). But, she said "Baby Eliza!" Maybe she knows something I don't:)

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!

Big Girl Bed

Well Hazel is now sleeping in a big girl bed. She's growing up too fast! Originally I hadn't planned to move her to the big girl bed until after the baby was born because I still thought she was too young. We did want to put it in her room though just so she could get used to having it around. Knowing Hazel we should have realized she would want to move to her big girl bed immediately:) That's just her personality.

Here she is modeling her new bed in her room the first day we set it up.
And here she is that night...

My parents had a toddler bed that was my dads then all three of us used it. My sweet mom got it all cleaned up and painted it brown to match Hazel's room. Hazel kept saying "Gram make it big girl bed!" We got it home and she immediately wanted to try it out. For the first week and a half she would ask to go to bed so she could sleep in her big girl bed! Haha. Now the novelty is wearing off a bit, but she's never gotten out more than once in a night. We've told her that if she does she will go back to the crib (and she would hate that so she's listened).Once again I'm amazed by Hazel and how well she's handles transitions. Now if only I could convince her that sleeping past 6am is fun:) She's just an early riser and always has been.

On that note, I wanted to share a story about one of those "tender mercies" from the Lord that bless our lives in small but deeply impactful ways. The week before my test was a crazy time around here. I was attempting to study from the minute Hazel went to bed until I had to get to bed every night so I wasn't getting anything else done. Guess who slept in until 7am every day that week? Hazel honestly NEVER sleeps that late. EVER. It was a huge blessing so I could wake up, read my scriptures, and do some of the other things I needed to get done before work. After my test was over she went right back to waking up between 6 and 6:15. Coincidence? I know it wasn't. Just a blessing from Heavenly Father to help keep me sane during a very stressful week. He truly knows our needs and gives us the ability to meet them. I am so thankful!

One more picture, Hazel with her new blanket that Gram made her.

50 Days and Counting!

Believe it or not, little Eliza is due in just 50 days! In some ways this pregnancy has just flown by, but it others it feels like it will never end. I'm getting to that uncomfortably large stage of pregnancy where I have a hard time sitting up, can only eat a tiny little bit but end up starving an hour later, etc, etc. I will be glad when I can hold her instead of just lugging her around:)

For the most part I have had an easy pregnancy. I did have the stomach flu this past week which was pretty miserable, but luckily it only lasted about a day. Also, thankfully she is positioned differently than Hazel was at this stage. Hazel's feet were right up in my ribs on the right side. I once had one of my right ribs dislocated while partnering for ballet and ever since it dislocates again easily. Well, Hazel LOVED kicking it out of place and it hurt so bad every time she did. I'm glad Eliza hasn't caught on it this one yet (and praying she doesn't figure it out!)

We think Hazel is getting excited to see Eliza. She will play a peek-a-boo type game with my tummy where she says "Where baby Liza? I don't know." Then lifts my shirt over my tummy "There she is!" She has also calls things "baby Liza's ____" when she sees the baby things out ("baby Liza's bath" "baby Liza's crib" etc). I hope that she does well to the adjustment and likes her little sister. They will be so close in age that I think they will quite enjoy each other's company when Eliza's a bit older. I sure hope so!

My tummy has also become a hot topic of conversation among the kids at my work. They have all definitely noticed; even some of the kids with more severe autism seem to notice the difference. One little girl just stood looking at it one day, then came up and said "touch your belly?" Another boy asked me, "Why is your belly getting so big?" My personal favorite was a boy who asked: "Your tummy is big. Why?" Me: "There's a baby growing inside. I'm going to have a baby girl." Boy: "Really! Is your baby going to hatch today!?!" It's cute to see them try and wrap their little minds around a concept that is hard for them to understand and to see them so excited.

Mike keeps complaining that I have barely taken any pictures this pregnancy. After your first the novelty of your growing stomach just wears off and all your left is less than flattering pictures. At least that's how I feel. I did take this one a few weeks ago because I was amazed how much tummy looked like a watermelon....

I'm getting so excited for her to come. I have to keep stopping myself from starting to wash clothes and pack my bag haha. It's still a bit soon for that:)

Free at Last!

My test is finally over and I'm free!!!!

It was a long haul trying to fit in studying between work, Hazel, house work, callings, and everything else, but I'm done! Mike was wonderful this past week. I seriously did not touch one dish, pick up anything, or do any laundry because he helped out so I could study as much as possible. Thanks honey!

To be honest, by Friday night I still felt like I wasn't as prepared as I wanted to be. I kept finding random things I didn't know enough about. Thankfully, those tiny things weren't that important and I feel like the test went well! It was a lot of choose the BEST answer, or which would be MOST appropriate so it's hard to say how I did. But, I felt good while I was taking it which was a huge relief. I won't know if I passed until the beginning of July, but I don't care. I'm just thrilled it's over!

Now I can move on to more important things like getting everything ready for little Eliza to come join our family! By the way, that's the baby's name.... Eliza Rosalyn Ballard. We can't wait to meet her.

Look for lots of blog updates this week since I have stuff all the way back to Easter to post (sad I know).