Two!

Happy 2nd birthday, Hazel!!


How can my wee baby be two already? Where does the time go? I want to push pause and keep her this sweet, happy, snuggly, innocent thing for as long as possible.

She sincerely is a joy. She's like Mary Poppins...practically perfect in every way. She even unloads the dishwasher. Yes, you heard me right. She unloads the dishwasher. And puts her toys away while singing, "Clean up, clean up. Everybody do your share." And she snuggles me. Oh, I wish I could keep her in this stage for just a little while longer.

We started the birthday off right...with a partay in the morning! Crepes for breakfast...

...and a pile of presents!

Look at the excitement and intrigue on her face!

It's a lovely necklace from her GreatPapa Sperry. Thank you, Papa.

More excitement. She really knew how to respond when opening her presents. It was so cute.

All dolled up! She loves this dress.

These two cute little girlies are Hazel's favorite pals. They were born within ten days of each other. We had a really simple birthday party and invited these girls, along with their moms and siblings.

Cupcakes! Hazel anticipated her birthday with balloons, cupcakes, and a party with her friends. A side note, see the tablecloth on the table? It is my mom's. She had it on our table for all of our birthdays growing up. I love that tablecloth. I love that it's a real linen rather than a plastic cloth. And I love the continuity found in having it at all our family's birthdays over the years. I made a banner to match it. I love that little banner. I had fun making it and hope it will have the same effect as the tablecloth, linking family members together through our birthday traditions.

We finished off the night with a dinner party at Red Robin!

She got shy when the servers sang to her. She snuggled in to me and hid her face...peaking out every now and then. She liked the whipped cream!

Just for fun, Daddy's boots. I thought it was so funny when she wanted to put these on. She couldn't step into them herself so I helped her out. Once she got them on, she felt pretty proud to be in Daddy's boots.

Embroiderer, anyone??

Hey local friends,

I'm making Hazel's Christmas stocking and need to have her name embroidered on it. Do any of you have an embroidery machine or know where I can have it embroidered??

Thanks!

Meow, woof, purr!

The dog catcher was about to snatch up these cute little cats and dog, but I, the benevolent veterinarian that I am, rescued them and took them into my home forever.

We had lots of fun brainstorming ideas and then making our costumes this year. Lily and Hazy were perfect little cats and Carter was a ferocious dog.

Lily chose 11 sparkly jewels to adorn her collar. And she loved wearing makeup for the big night.

Carter is scared to death of real dogs but made a fabulous one himself! His little face was so cute all painted up!

What can I say, this little darling is adorable! When I painted her face she thought I was trying to feed her. She kept trying to eat the brush!

We had lots of fun at our church Halloween party, a friends' party, and then trick-or-treating on Halloween night. We have way too much candy. I've got to find a way to get rid of some (a lot!) of it without the kids knowing. If you have any sneaky tips you'd like to share, let me know!

It's done!

Hazy's blessing dress is done! I've been working like a mad woman on it all week. I enjoy making a blessing outfit for each of my children. It's a special event in their lives and it means a lot to me to create an outfit uniquely for them. It's done and I love it!!

We will bless her tomorrow in Sacrament meeting. Three of her cousins will be blessed the same day: one in Texas, one in Idaho, and one in Wyoming.

All aboard...to the North Pole!!

We took a magical ride on the Polar Express to see Santa Claus. It was so magical!

Carter adores trains so this was amazing for him. In the days leading up to our train ride he would ask me if we could go now. "Pleeeeeease?" He was so patient.

Looking out the window.

Kids can wear their jammies on the trainride like the boy did in the story. We usually give the kids a new pair of jammies on Christmas Eve, but they got them early this year. I made these jammy pants from adorable cowboy and cowgirl fabric I found last year. I finally got them made!

We ate cookies and drank hot chocolate on the train. Beforehand we talked about the cookies and wondered if they would be yummy. The chefs on the train announced that the cookies were made by Mrs. Claus herself. Lily excitedly said, "They'll be delicious because they're homemade!" She was right. They were good...homemade is always the best! Aaron's cookie disappeared really quickly!

This was such a magical evening! As we read the book on the ride to the North Pole (we went through a magical tunnel that put us out close to the Pole), we wondered if we were in the same places the boy in the story was. Lily's eyes got big as we said, "Maybe we're going through a forest and wolves are watching our train speed by, " and "Maybe we're on a mountain too!"
I love this picture of Lily peering out the window at the North Pole. She was in awe.

Santa came onto the train at the North Pole!!! He gave each child a bell. I must say, those are the best jingle bells I've ever heard ring!

We had such a wonderful time together! The evening was just as magical for me as it was for the kids. I loved watching them enjoy the magic of Christmas!

Yes, if you didn't know, I'm pregnant and this photo makes my tummy look huge! I guess it is, but I've still got 9 weeks to go!

Halloween spookables!

My mom and dad came to visit for Halloween! We're so happy to have them here!


We made our yummy sugar cookies. Grandpa got pretty fancy with the frosting.

Carving pumpkins was a lot of fun. Lily drew the cutest face with star eyes. Carter requested moon-shaped eyes.

Left to right: Carter & Jill's, Lily's, Grandpa's, Aaron's.

Lily dressed up as Tinkerbell when she was born. If you have a little girl, you probably know that Tink was not born an infant.

Ah! A witchy and a princess! That's the sweetest witch I know! Lily designed this costume for me. As I was hurriedly finishing sewing the kids' trick-or-treat bags, she came to me with this outfit and said it was my princess costume. It ended up winning the "cutest adult costume" at our church's trunk-or-treat activity. Way to go, Lily!

Our un-traditional Halloween dinner. I used to make pumpkin stew. But seeing as how Aaron and the kids don't like it, I've quite making it.

Look at those Halloween spookables! Carter did not like Grandpa's costume one bit. He didn't want to go anywhere near him. Hence, the crying. Lily wasn't too impressed with his costume either! I can't understand why.

Tinkerbell and Peter Pan! Carter loved being Peter Pan. After his bedtime bath he insisted on wearing his Peter Pan costume to bed. He was the cutest little Peter Pan!

Boo!

New skills!

Yesterday Lily asked to learn how to sew a button onto fabric. I was so excited that she wanted to learn this fantastic skill. We set to work choosing felt and a button from her button jar. She learned to pinch the thread at the eye of the needle so the needle doesn't slide off the thread. We had fun together. She did a great job. I am so proud of her!

Little dolls

Lily and I made little dolls for our church to send to children in need around the world. They were fun to make. We stitched, stuffed, and drew on the heads by hand. It was more time consuming than I had anticipated. However, it felt rewarding to know that our efforts would bless a few children who need some comfort and love.

This was a good opportunity to teach Lily to serve others. I also appreciated that it exposed her to sewing. It's a great sewing start for her!