One on One Time

My goal everyday is to get the girls down for nap right around the same time. It give me a good hour and a half of uninterrupted time to get chores done, read scriptures, work from home, etc. Plus, it also keeps me sane.

So today when Hazel woke Eliza up after only a half hour I was slightly annoyed. Hazel ended up finally falling asleep but Eliza was wide awake and smiley. Her sweet little smile can melt anyone's heart and instantly I my annoyance was gone.

I ended up having the most wonderful afternoon with Eliza. We snuggled, played, laughed, and hung out while Hazel finished up her nap. It's not often I get much alone time with Eliza. I get time alone with Hazel everyday when Eliza naps in the mornings plus throughout the day when she demands my attention. Even when Eliza needs my attention to eat, have her diaper changed, etc I'm constantly conversing with Hazel. I didn't get anything I planned on done, but my one on one time with Little E was a much better way to spend nap time!

A quick update on the Little E... Tuesday she had a checkup for her helmet and her head is looking great! We have a follow up in 3 weeks but her orthostist is 99% sure she will be done after that day! Hooray! With as slowly as she's been gaining weight I was worried her head wasn't growing very much and she'd be in that thing forever.

She also had her very first tooth break through this morning! She's had teething pains on and off for weeks now but no signs of any teeth. But today when a tooth actually cut through she wasn't grumpy at all:)

Eliza has started saying "hi." You will walk up to her and say "Hi Eliza!" and she will respond with the cutest little "hi" right back to you. I love you Little E! Thanks for the fun afternoon!

Eliza LOVES the Sing-a-Majig that Grandma got her for Easter.

Feel Free to Giggle Along...

I caught these two playing last night. I love how they are becoming friends!

Eliza at 9 months

 

Little E was an excellent nick name for this sweet girl because she definitely is little. She has now officially fallen off the growth charts for her weight. At her 9 month appointment she was a petite 25 3/4" tall (10th percentile) and weighed only 13 lbs 10 oz (below the 5th percentile aka off the chart). I feel like she eats the same amount if not more than Hazel did at this age, but just grows slowly. She is growing though so the doctor isn't worried at all saying she's just petite. 

I would be much more worried about her tiny stature if she wasn't doing amazingly well with everything else. She is now crawling all over the place and pulling up on anything and everything. While we worked for months and months to get her to roll over, she is now a pro and can even push herself up to sitting. This means we often her giggles of two girls playing instead of sleeping at bedtime and find Eliza asleep like this in her crib.  Haha, so doesn't look comfortable to me!

She started signing about a month ago. Her first sign? Daddy! Not milk or more, Daddy. We might have a Daddy's girl on our hands:) She even says "dada" as she signs it. So cute! 

Her little personality become clearer every day. She is much more of a tender heart than Hazel. Little things upset her and she is always very concerned if other people look sad or get hurt. Eliza also has a cute, playful side to her. She plays the "pacifier game" with us often by pulling her pacifier out and attempting to sick it in our mouths but pulling away or taking it back from you and laughing. We love it.

She is such a wonderful addition to our family. It's almost like she's the ying to Hazel's yang. I love the cute little friendship they are developing too. The other day Hazel said (quoting Dora) "Hola, Soy Hazel and this is my best friend Eliza." Melts my heart!

Easter

 We had a wonderful Easter this year! Friday we headed up to Salt Lake for an Easter brunch with my family. My parents hid candy for the girls to find then we dyed eggs. Saturday I took both of the girls to Provo's egg hunt in Pioneer Park. It was a zoo but they loved it! Then Sunday we enjoyed a nice relaxing, spiritually uplifting day of church and of course one last egg hunt from the Easter bunny:)

This was the first year Hazel was quick with the egg hunts. She zoomed around looking for eggs and loved it. Of course, she had to pause and ward off Swiper the Fox because he was trying to swipe her eggs and her giraffe. "Swiper, no swiping!" Can you tell she's on a Dora kick right now?

 Eliza wasn't too excited about the eggs until Grandpa gave her a taste of chocolate. Then she was all about trying to eat the eggs and crying every time we took a basket away from her. At the city egg hunt she heard a little boy yelling "Yay, yay, yay!" and soon she was imitating him. She then said "Yay! Yay!" through the entire egg hunt. It was adorable!

My sweet mom treated the girls to new Easter outfits. They looked adorable! 

I had to sneak Eliza's helmet off to get at least a few "normal" looking pictures:)

I'm so thankful for our nice weekend of enjoying the beautiful weather and remembering the sacrifice and resurrection of our Savior. Here is a wonderful short video that Hazel was enthralled with watching (http://www.lds.org/bible-videos/videos/he-is-risen?lang=eng)

Super Party!

Last Saturday I planned a super hero themed birthday party for my cousin Matt. He loves anything related to comics so it was perfect for him. I had fun making cute little super hero capes for the girls from old t-shirts and they loved it!

Hazel was a super princess (surprise!). She was only convinced to wear the cape after I told her she would be just like Snow White:)
Eliza was Magneto's daughter. For those of you who are superhero illiterate (like me) Magneto wears a helmet. So, we thought it was the perfect role for her. The omega is his symbol plus the e for "Little E!" (My inner nerd has a bit too much fun with this if you can't tell).
Mike's inner nerd went a bit wild too coming up with his Bruce Wayne costume:) I was of Wonder Women (without the skimpy costume)

It was a fun party and we all enjoyed seeing family. Matt loved every minute of it! I call it a success! Best of all, I got some adorable pictures of the girls.

From 15 down to 5!

Title of this post doesn't make sense? This should help...

September 2011 - 15 degrees
(this is a mirror image - Eliza's right side is on the left)

March 2012 - 5 degrees!

Eliza's scoliosis is resolving! Her appointment at Shriner's was yesterday and they said her back looks wonderful. Those last 5 degrees of curve will straighten out in the next few months as she grows. They don't even need to see her again!!!

Converstation with Hazel

Hazel: "What's my last name?"
Me: "Ballard"
H: "What's your last name?"
M: "Ballard"
H: "What's daddy's last name?"
M: "Ballard"
H: (giggles) "What's Eliza's last name?"
M: "Ballard"
H: (laughing) "What's Alicia's last name?"
M: "Ballard"
H: (laughing her head off) "What's TJ's last name?"
M: "Ballard"
H: (turning red from laughter) "What's Grandpa's last name?"
M: "Which Grandpa?"
H: "Ummmm Grandpa Joseph Smith?"
M: (chuckling) "You mean Grandpa Smith?"
H: "Yeah"
M: "His last name is Smith."
H: (giggling) "No silly!" "What's Gram's last name?"
M: "Smith"
H: (laughing) "No it's not"
M: (Me trying to explain to Hazel about how my last name was Smith before I married Daddy)
H: (interrupting) "Mom, what's my last name???"
M: "Ballard"
H: (laughing her head off) "No it's SMITH!"
Both of us laughed our heads off:)


Wow, crazy girl. I can't believe she's growing up enough to find it funny that we all have the same last name, then figure out that it would be a funny joke if she said her last name was Smith! She sure had me rolling on the floor:)

Caution: The Longer you Stare, the Cuter I Get...

Eliza got her helmet this week and I think she looks adorable! It's not nearly as bulky and awkward as I imagined it would be. At first she was a bit unsure of the whole thing, but she's adjusting quickly and barely seems to notice it now.
The helmet hasn't even stopped her from showing off her new found skill... crawling! That's right, she's on the move. That means we have some serious baby proofing to do around here.

Last night was the first time she had to sleep part of the night in her helmet (they work up to full time wear within the first week) and she did pretty well. She was up more than usual, but I think in another night or two she'll be a pro at sleeping with it on.

Getting Too Big!

My sweet little girls are getting too big! Last Saturday Hazel decided she wanted to have a sleep over with Gram and Grandpa and go to church with them the next day. I made sure she understood that Mommy and Daddy wouldn't be staying. She still insisted that she wanted to stay.

Secretly I think I was hoping to get a call early the next morning about how Hazel woke up in tears asking for Mommy. But, she didn't. In fact, she had a blast and was an angel according to my parents. At church she went to their nursery without a backward glance. She even told my dad she wasn't ready to come back to the Provo House when he told her it was time to leave. I'm glad Hazel is such a big, independent girl, but man she's growing up too fast! I think when it's time for school she will be one of those kids who runs off after a tiny peck on the cheek while I stand there bawling.

Here's my other big girl. While she has been more content to remain a baby than Hazel ever was she's still growing so fast. She helped me make cookies the other day and thoroughly enjoyed eating one. Little E also started crawling last week! That means this place needs some serious baby proofing.

It's so bittersweet to see them grow. Love it and hate it at the same time.

Go Zags!

It's official, Mike is now a Zag! He was accepted in to Gonzaga University for his Masters in Communication and Leadership! The program is online except for one class where he will travel to Washington for a few days. And since they have 8 week "rolling" semesters he starts March 19th. This is so much sooner than we thought he would be starting grad school, but we're thrilled. He's excited that he can just "keep the ball rolling" so to speak since he's already in the habit of going to school.

Can I just tell you how nice it is to have some idea of what our life will look like for the next year to two? The planner in me was going crazy! But, I'm also so thankful. If there's one thing I've learned its that we can plan things which may be good. But, when we allow Heavenly Father to help us plan, things turn out far better.