One month Hazel

March 3, 2014

Dear Hazel,

  You are one month! This past month has been a cold, busy, tiring, fun, joyful month. The weather has been interesting. We have had a few “polar vortex” that are cold (negative temps) and have had so much snow. It has been a good month to have a lot of snow I guess—if you are going to be stuck inside with a newborn, might as well get the cold weather over with while you are snuggling a baby!!

  At one month old, you are now wearing size 1 diapers (a little big still, but newborn size is too small). You are in size 0-3month clothing now.

   You are a sweet little girl.. but do have times of fussiness in the evening. Some nights you sleep pretty well, but other nights it takes awhile to get you to settle back down. Your schedule is pretty consistent—you nurse about every 3 hours or so. Sometimes in the evening it’s every 2 hours.

We love you so much! Love, Mama

So many firsts

Our sweet baby Hazel Lynden decided to join us on Jan. 27, 2014... exactly three weeks early. I want to write a little recap of her birth for my memory's sake, but this evening is not the time-- this evening is about remembering the firsts.
*The first time I held my daughter, so surreal. I didn't even know what to say or do and it did not seem real.
*The first time I changed her diaper, I almost laughed.. everything looks so different after changing little boy diapers for almost 5 years now.
*Hazel had her first trip to a friends house-- to our friends Z and R for the Superbowl!
*Her first outing was to Target-- and I'm almost 100% positive both of the boys first outings were to Target as well :)
*Her bellybutton fell off on day 8-- Feb 4.
*I gave her a "real" bath today for the first time. They are so slippery at this age! She did not like it when I took her clothes off, but once she was in the water, she settled right down and just was looking around-- at her brothers that were standing over the tub looking over her.

*Her first dress! She wore this cute outfit home from the hospital.

*First snowstorm... she was born in the middle of a stretch of about a week of tons of snow and cold weather. Hope had off school Friday, Monday,Tuesday, and Wednesday. (Hazel was born on the Monday.) We had to put her down in the snow to show how much snow came while she was born!

 

We love all the first that we are (and she is) experiencing!

33 weeks pregnant with Hazel

Well, I am now 33 weeks pregnant with our little miss. We now have the crib up, a new carseat/stroller (the old one is expired and got very yucky while hanging out in our basement!), clothes mostly washed and in drawers. We obviously hope she hangs out in there a little longer, but I am giddy when I think about holding her.

At this point in pregnancy:
*I have sciatic pain which is worse when sitting for a long time or laying.
*My belly is huge and I make the kids pick up stuff off the floor for me!
*Hazel moves quite a bit but her movements are not hard or painful like both of the boys were. She is more of a roller and just likes to let us know she is in there.
*I have gained 25lbs
*No problems at all at this point, which is a huge relief since I was on bedrest in August. My doctor continues to be a little concerned that I might have Hazel early because of the issue I was having before, but she is staying snug for now!
*I am not quite sure how to juggle 4 kids and just pray that Hazel is even more laid back as a baby than Ezra was!
*I do not sleep well at all. Some nights I see every hour on the clock. Most nights I'm "only" awake 3-4 times.
*My maternity jeans do not stay up well. I am always pulling them into place. The only shirts that fit well are true maternity shirts.
*We are sick of being inside from the cold/snow/ice, and I hope a newborn helps with that : )
*I have been trying to clean and nest like crazy but it's hard to do when the kids are running around. I have a huge trash bag of things ready to go to goodwill, though!
*I have not made any freezer meals and need to get on it!
*I have, however, stocked up on newborn and size 1 diapers! Hoping we are good for at least a few weeks!
*The kids like to feel her move, and get excited if she kicks them. Ezra likes to lay his head on my stomach and likes to pat her and smooch her.

New Years Eve- AB style!

For New Years Eve, we met up with 2 of our closest couple friends/cousins. The 5 little boys (and one baby girl) there made for a loud, crazy time. We are loving that they are actually starting to play and interact more with each other. We got there around 530p, ordered some pizza, put jammies on, watched Planes, ate popcorn, and got the kids in bed. They slept in one bedroom on 3 mattresses pushed together. They finally fell asleep at 10pm, and were awake by 5a!! The daddies took one for the team and laid by/watched the kids till the mamas got up.

 

 

The next morning, we had a yummy breakfast of pancakes, bacon, eggs, toast, and juice. It was nice just hanging out and waking up together. Hope got to sleep over at grandpa and grandmas-- we asked if she would rather come with us or go to their house, and she said a sleep over with them!

 

                     A bit different to not be dressing up and going out on NYE, but still a great night!

winter happenings

Our little family is still plugging along and living life. Although these past few months have been trying in ways, they have been great, too.

Ezra is getting so big-- starting to wear undies instead of diapers (not consistently, but enough to feel like there is hope of potty training soon!). He is getting to be such a good listener and helper. Tonight I made risotto for dinner which required a lot of stirring. He got a chair and a spoon and helped me stir and taste and measure. I swear this boy is going to be a chef. He loves food and will eat pretty much anything-- it is awesome!

He has been even more hilarious than usual lately. He sings "how are you today, very well I 'ank you." and has been inserting the word booty into it, "very well I booty..." He also has been calling candy canes "zucchini".

He always wants to pray at lunch time and today I started to pray and he said, "no, the Lord's prayer!" I had him pray after I did, and he pretty much said the entire prayer with no help-- only leaving out a few pieces of it. I can't wrap my mind around the fact that he will be three in April! He still snuggles with us at nap time and falls asleep in my arms. This won't go over well when we have a new baby here, but I am having the hardest time giving it up. I think I will always consider him my baby in a way.

Hope has off of school for a few weeks for Christmas break, and has been staying busy drawing fashion designs, tree house designs, etc. She also got a rainbow loom for Christmas, so she has been making lots of bracelets! (She asked me, "Um.. mom, what's your favorite two colors still? Green and pink?" I told her yes and then she showed me some bracelet charms and asked what my favorite was. I pointed to a flower, and she says, "Oh.. that's my favorite too.." So I ended up with a green and pink bracelet, with no charm! hah :))

Jude is just all busy and rowdy and wants to play all day long. He loves his trucks and got quite a few new ones from family for Christmas. He usually does a great job playing with Ezra-- my heart about breaks from happiness when they are so good to each other. It's one of my biggest hopes that my kids are best friends. He is doing awesome at his responsibilities around the house. He always clears his spot at lunch or dinner and remembers to push his chair in. He helps with folding laundry, and he usually gets the towels, but today he folded quite a few pants and was so proud of himself. I love that he is old enough now to put his own clothes away!

Judah had to sing in our church's Christmas day service, and he really did not want to get up there. He was very unhappy that we made him go up there-- and once up there, he started to cry. I wanted to go get him down! :) He made it through, but didn't do any signing or hand motions!

Hazel is growing and moving! I already feel like she is more laid back than her brothers, and I am really hoping it stays true when she is out here! She does wiggle quite a bit, but it's more rolling than jabbing. We cannot wait for her to get here to snuggle and love on, but are hoping to get a few things done around the house in the next few weeks before she arrives-- like setting up her crib!

The shock and awe of October 1st

Yesterday was our 20 week ultrasound for the babe I'm currently baking. In the past 20 weeks, I have thought about how lovely it would be to have a little girl to round out our family. With 2 little boys, I imagined a third would be a fun little gang....

but a girl...
If i let myself think about it and let my mind wander, I think about the sister that Hope has been wanting for almost 12 years now. I think about the little baby girl I could experience raising with the hubs. Since Hope came to live with us at age 6, it feels like we missed a part of that, even though J had her all the time since she was bitty. I think about the cute little clothes-- at garage sales they are practically new if they are girl clothes, and holey and worn out if boy clothes. I think about the little dresses, the leggings, the bloomers. I almost cry when I think about the pig tails that I used to put on Hope's 6 year old head, and have dreamed about putting on a little 1 year old.

So yes. A boy would be hilarious, a riot, more rough-and-tumble, more sweat and dirt and silly jokes, more secret hide outs and little bowties. I love it all, but I longed to be entrusted with the "other" side of raising a different sort of baby..

and we are.
I could have not be more thrilled. Shocked would be an understatement-- from both J and myself. As we talked about names, I asked him what he thought of a few. I said, "come on, you don't know after 20 weeks?" and he says, "i guess i can start seriously thinking about girl names now.. i just didn't think it would happen before!"

i had the hubs drop me off at the gap and carters outlet after we found out-- he went to pick up some celebration lunch with the boys, and met me back after about a half hour-- I got some cute things for her for next summer.
We are so excited to have her in our family and cannot wait till February to meet her! We love you, Hazel Lynden!

On a different note, Jude had a dentist appointment again today. I have been encouraging the kids to check themselves in at doctors/dentist appointments, and I told him what to say. He walked right up to the desk (with 3 ladies behind it), waited till they stopped talking and looked at him, and said, "Hi, I'm Judah. I have an eight o'clock appointment." They looked at him and just stared and then all started talking at once about how crazy it was that he was able to check himself in-- that he wasn't shy about it. I was so proud of him! He is getting so big and capable of so much! He loves riding his bike and tonight he wanted to ride it down a few steps at a local school. I told him it was ok, and he totally wiped out b/c his bike is so small, when it went down the first step, it got caught on the second. I love his adventurous-- and somewhat cautious (always wear a helmet, mom!)-- spirit!

Ezra is as hilarious as always.. he has been singing old mac donald to himself and although he used to sing it correctly, he now sings, "old mac farm, had a cow...". He is AWESOME on his scooter. I was laughing at him so hard tonight because he was scooting along the sidewalk, and picked up his foot and just coasted for about 2-3 feet and looked like he was so big. He told me the other day for the first time that he loves me without me telling him first. We were laying in bed for naptime and looks at me and says, "I love you mama."

Hope is thrilled to have her sister and doing well. She loves youth group and is wanting more and more freedom. It's scary to have to give up control to her as she gets older, and we probably are more strict than a lot of parents. We just want to keep her our baby! : )

of beds, barns, bikes, buddy bonding, and bedrest

Ezra sleeps in his crib at bedtime, but naptimes he still shares our bed. Loved how J and Ezra had their arms around eachother!!

 

 

This past month, we have have gone camping with friends, visited a local petting barn with animals the kids could feed and pet, learned how to ride a bike, and I have been on bed rest due to some issues with this pregnancy. Thank goodness for family and friends.. We had meals brought to us for over a week, company on boring days, and help with the kids when John needed a break, because mama wasn't allowed to get up off the couch!