Ladybug Party

Hazel had a wonderful Ladybug Birthday Party over the weekend. Due to the size of our house we could only invite a few of the cousins, so sorry to those who didn't get an invite. Winter birthdays are hard because it totally limits what you can do. Thank you to those who did come & cram into our little house - we had a blast! Here are a couple of pics of the kids showing off their ladybug antenna's...

Here are the ladybug cakes I made for the party. The little one is Hazel's personal cake to dig into and I made the cupcakes for the kids that attended. I figured they would each like their own personal ladybug to eat rather than a slice of cake. I am happy to say that they were a hit!

Happy Birthday to you.....
The picture below is Hazel checking out the face of the ladybug...

She is so girly & dainty - she pretty much just ate frosting off of her pointer fingers...
This super sad face was caused when Daddy took the cake away to slice her a peice after she had eaten most of the frosting off - obviously you should never take cake from a baby, especially on her birthday...
But after she ate a little of the cake Daddy cut for her it all turned out happy agian...

Happy Birthday baby! I can't believe you are already ONE!!!

Happy Happy Birthday!

My baby is 1 today!! Happy Birthday Hazel!! I seriously cannot believe it - the last year has flown by. I am so grateful to have been blessed with Hazel in my life. She really is such a good baby. She is almost always smiling, easts almost anything, has a wonderful personality, always falls fast asleep when put in her crib, and many many more wonderful things. Some of you may think that she is a shy & quiet baby - but when we are at home her personality blossoms. She loves to scream, talk, play with the cat & try to copy anything her big brother does. I am loving her age right now, but at the same time missing the infant stage. Here is a picture of her at about 3 weeks old. Oh so tiny!!!! This is how I constantly see her nowadays. She is always attached to my legs & walks around the kitchen with me as I am making dinner (or whatever). Yes, sometimes it is VERY annoying, but at the same time I love that she always likes to be near me.

A Mouthful

2 1/2 weeks ago I posted a picture of Hazels first top tooth. Well, she has been teething like crazy and she now has 4 top teeth that have broken through and she has almost broken through 2 more on the bottom (making a grand total of 8). I think Lincoln only had 2, or at the most 4, teeth when he was one year old. I think her teeth make her look even older than she is.With Hazel's birthday coming up it has made me a little reminiscent of Lincoln's younger years. Below is a picture of Lincoln when he was one. Wasn't he a cutie?

More of Lincoln...

So Lincoln has been such a cute head lately. I have to share two other conversations we had this weekend that put a smile on my face.

Since we didn't have a date planned this weekend, Tommy & I decided to take the kids out to dinner with us on Friday night. On our way downtown I guess it was taking too long because Linc said

"Geez, you think we were driving to China!"

Tommy & I were laughing of course, & when I asked him where he learned that saying he said

"I made it up myself because I am a big boy and I can."

Then on Saturday I was just having "one of those days" and when we sat down for dinner Linc said

"Mom (pause) Dad (pause)...... I love you guys"

It totally put a smile on my face and turned my day around.

What is your name anyway?

When I picked Lincoln up from school on Wednesday his teacher asked me how you pronounce our last name because they are teaching the kids to say their full name. (and it is really amazing how many people mispronounce our last name.) On the drive home I talked to Lincoln about this and our conversation went something like this:

me: Your teacher told me they are teaching you your first & last names at school. What is your name?
Linc: Big boy Zittin'. But some people call me Lincoln!?! (this last sentence was not said as a statement, it was more in the context of "can you believe they would call me that!")
me: But Lincoln is your name
Linc: But mom, you call me big boy!
me: Who calls you Lincoln?
Linc: my teachers

He gave himself the name Big Boy after Hazel was born. She was a baby so he was a big boy. And yes, sometimes when he won't answer to the name Lincoln I will say Big Boy and this will get his attention. He has introduced himself many times to new friends, coaches, etc as Big Boy Zittin'. Hopefully one day he will accept his given name and use it.

Preschool Pictures are in!

Okay, I am not really good at scanning so sorry about the lines that show up in this picture, but I just HAD to share it. I knew his smile was going to be cheesy, but when I first looked at this picture today I was laughing so hard at his cute scrunchy face! I did bribe him with a Rolo candy if he smiled nicely for his picture - and this is the result. It will be so fun years down the road when we look back on pictures & see how much of his personality really does show. He is such a funny kid.

Top Tooth

Hazel sprouted her first top tooth last week. This makes tooth #3. It looks so HUGE to me!! Both of my sisters told me I said the same thing when Lincoln got his too. Hazel is getting so big. She is now trying to walk from one piece of furniture to the next without holding on. I really cannot believe she turns 1 this month!