9 months old

I cannot believe it!!! Hazel is 9 months old today. It seems like she is growing up so much faster than Lincoln did at this age. It is so much fun to watch as her personality continues to show more and more. Tommy has been very happy lately because Hazel is no longer a mama's girl - NO she is definitely a da da's girl now. When he gets home from work she gets so excited she starts to squeal, and if he doesn't immediately pick her up to snuggle her she starts to cry. She is such a sweet heart!
*In just the last week she has said da da alot & ma ma once
*she still army crawls but constantly tries to get up and stay up on her knees
*she can pull herself up to a sitting position in her crib & she can pull up to standing position on stairs and low furniture
*she smiles as soon as she sees the camera
*her favorite places are Lincoln bedroom & anywhere outside
We are so lucky to be blessed with Hazel - I just wish time would slow down so I could enjoy all of her growing moments more fully.

Weekend in the mountains

I have been wanting to go camping forever, but we are so bad at planning camping trips. We finally went this last weekend and we had the best time! We had a couple of hiccups in the beginning, like Lincoln getting carsick up the winding road (yes, it was a little messy) & then we realized Lincoln had jumped in the truck to go without getting his shoes on (oops!). Luckily we were only about 30 min away from home, so after we set up the tent & unloaded Tom ran home real quick to get Linc's shoes. The rest of the weekend went perfect. The kids slept great, we told stories around the campfire, Linc made great friends with the little girl camping next to us & they played together non-stop, and we got in a few fun hikes. Most of all was the great family time & relaxation away from tv, laundry, etc. On Saturday night Tommy's brother Jeff came up with his two boys & they camped with us for the night. Linc was excited to have more friends & Jeff's boys LOVED playing with Hazel. We used to camp quite a bit, but since kids we haven't really gone. I can't wait to go again :)
Lincoln sure loved to get dirty!!!
These daisies were everywhere on one of the hikes we went on...beautiful

Hiking

Okay, so this first picture has nothing to do with hiking. I just loved it and wanted to post it!
Today the kids & I went up the canyon with our neighbor & her friend and we had so much fun! We went on a few small hikes, had lunch & Michelle brought an activity for the kids. She is so cute! She painted the inside of egg cartons with different colors & we had to look for things from nature that matched the colors. In the end we found every color but purple. Isn't that a fun idea?!


The kids are all trying to pull funny faces in this picture (in case you can't tell!)

Family Picture

We are having a big party for my in-laws 50th wedding anniversary in a couple of weeks and we have been asked to bring a family picture for our present. Well, we haven't really had a family picture taken since Lincoln was 1 year old. Most of our pictures we take are just of our kids & once in awhile Tom or I will be in one. Well, yesterday when Tom got home from work the kids & I were hanging out in the backyard since the weather had cooled down & we had been taking silly pictures. Since we were all together & the kids were in good moods we took a few pics of ourselves. They did not turn out fabulous, but I think the one below is going to work for our present. The best part (or I guess it could be the worst part depending on your opinion) of this spur-of-the-moment family pic is that I didn't have to stress over coordinating outfits, make-up, etc. It is just us in our everyday look (although it probably would have turned out better if 3 of us weren't wearing white) Oh well - it's done!!