Hazel is 4 months old!

At 4 months old, here is what Hazel is up to!

• She weighs 12 lbs. 15 oz. (21st %) and is 24 inches long (28th%)
• She is in size 2 diapers.
• She is in 3-6 month clothes.
• She is sleeping through the night, if she is in her rock 'n play and swaddled up tight. But, I really need to get her out of the rock 'n play! And, she still surprises me with waking sometimes for a snack. We definitely do not have a schedule!
• She finished up her first cold, with antibiotics. Hopefully we can keep her well for awhile!
• She is still snuggly, but still following her routine of being nursed, walked, swaddled and then once asleep, I can rock her as long as I want. 
• She still loves her baths and it is one of the more special times for me, if we are alone, to just look at her sweet little skin and talk to her and watch her look at me and look at us in the mirror. Other times, thought still sweet, baths include her siblings wanting to help bathe her too. Everly is the funniest though: she gets a stool and just wants to talk to her!
• She still does not like a paci.
• She does not like a bottle; although it might be the taste of formula she doesn't like. But, I have not pumped in a couple of months so I should probably try that if I want her to take a bottle. Mostly, I don't mind that we are 100% nursing though. 
• I have not had any more pain nursing. And, I love to nurse. Everyone has their stage they love and while there are sweet spots in every stage, I just love the sweet nursing stage. It just warms my heart so much to look down and see my sweet, warm baby happily nursing away. Oh my heart!
• She loves to hang out in her rocker. And she has just started to kick the toys that hang above it!
• She LOVES her hands and there is nothing cuter than watching her find them and get them into her mouth to chew on them. She is also in that stage now, where she wants to have my fingers or knuckles in her mouth to chew on. I know it is gross and there is lots of drool, but I think it is the sweetest thing! But, fingers are her life!
• She does not love tummy time, but will hang out on her back for a little while.
• I can prop her up better, lately, for photos, but she still crashes to the side of the chair after a little while.
• She is starting to hang out in her bumbo, but doesn't hold herself up great. And when she's in it, she really just wants to find those fingers again.
• Everly likes to tell me "Hazel SO CUTE-EE!" over and over.
• In fact, the kids all love her and she loves them! She will smile when they are talking to her.
• She is pretty quite and doesn't make much noise. She just kicks and smiles when she is the happiest.
• Also, I can't get enough of her baby neck. I kiss it all the time and usually, that is what will give her tiny giggles, if she gives any at all. In return, she will gum my face - like open her mouth as wide as possible and go after my chin or cheek and it's the sweetest! I call it her giving me kisses! But, it's slimy and drool-y and I love it! 
• This past month, Hazel attended her first Thanksgiving in Sanger and accompanied Vic and I on our 11th anniversary trip.
• Hazel has also hit a "stranger danger" stage and does not love for others to hold her and love on her. She will for a little bit, but then wants her mama back.
• She is just leaving that tiny baby stage more and more everyday and it makes me so sad, but we are looking forward to all of the new things she will be doing soon!

How am I doing?

I am doing good! I am not getting much sleep, but that is not uncommon with a newborn. And, it's hard to find any kind of routine or schedule when we are working around everyone else's schedules. This was the same situation we were in with Everly, so I'm hoping Hazel will learn to be easy and flexible just like Everly has been. Also, with her first cold, it took us away from any kind of sleep training. So, mostly for me, it's the ups and downs of no sleep that makes things the hardest. But, I feel like I am doing good otherwise!

Grace's Christmas Dance Performance & Meeting Santa

Grace's Mini Pom dance class performed at Christmas in the Park this year. Grace was timid at first, but enjoyed it and of course, thought she did so great! Then, we roamed around the park with Hazel and Everly while Atticus and Grace went off with Luc and Ellie. Everly LOVED the lights and was too cute in the petting zoo and eating her little bag of chips while she walked through the big Christmas Tree light display. Then, I decided we would wait in line to see Santa (FOR FREE) because it looked short. Well, it only looked short. It wound around this entire building and once you got inside, you still had to wind through hallways to get to Santa. Vic was very over it, but I kept thinking "we are almost there". Hazel was done, needed a diaper change (where I actually had a stranger help me change her while standing up because there was no changing table in the bathroom), and Vic was ready to go home. But, we made it to Santa because I really wanted Everly to meet him. She was the cutest thing and really enjoyed it. I have a video below. Also, it was great weather and Vic and I were pretty proud that we kept up with all 4 kids for the entire night! It really was a fun evening!

I have zero photos of her onstage and have a video, but it wasn't great because Everly kept moving on the bleachers and I kept thinking she would fall so I would look away from the camera screen and it was a mess! ha! But, it was great! However, here is the dance, but in her weekly class:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jJf6eiafZj4&feature=youtu.be

 

 Here's my video of Everly meeting Santa! https://youtu.be/N8AZoV1XtzI

Decades Day

These two had Decades Day at School! Atticus did not want to dress up, until the night before and thankfully we could pull together an outfit for a boy from the 40's. And Grace was the cutest 50's girl you ever did see! When I asked them what their favorite part from their day was (where they learn all about their decade during their school work all day), they told me:

Atticus: learning about WW2
Grace: eating ice cream during snack (aka Root Beer Floats minus the root beer for Grace)

November Memories

November was such a busy month, but here are few more pictures of some memories!

 4 kids means it's always chaos in this house!

 Atticus loves his baby sister and it is so sweet to see them snuggled up on the floor. 

So, the Sunday before Thanksgiving, and before we went to Sanger, I stayed home from church one morning while Vic took the 3 big kids. They came home and Grace showed me her turkey hat she made. Well, it took all of 2 seconds for Everly to put it on and claim it as her own. Thankfully, Grace didn't mind. But, Everly wore this hat constantly (we know her love for accessories). And, she even took it to Sanger and wore it some there. She is the silliest girl! And I love her pose and hands on her hips in this photo!

 Vic was invited to a Ducks Unlimited banquet by a relative, Warren Seidel. Apparently, Texas A&M has the biggest or one of the biggest Ducks Unlimited chapters or banquets or something. And, on this night, Vic knew there would be dinner and drinks and an auction. He took $20 in case there was a raffle or something he might want to bid on. Well, this kind of event was slightly out of their price range. He came home talking about how people spent thousands of dollars on auction items and trips...at his table alone! He kept his little $20 bill in his pocket and enjoyed the free dinner and beer instead! But, he had a great time!

 We kept going through big sister's previous clothes...this outfit was actually bought for Grace by Kristofer and Katie! It has gotten its wear with 3 little girls!

 Hazel is just hanging out with her big sister, who is wearing tupperware on her head, and probably engrossed in Mickey Mouse. Another day in her life!

 Hazel was having a tough time on this particular day. She was in the middle of her first cold that wasn't going away and we ended up taking her to after hours care to get an antibiotic. I just remember putting her in this outfit that dates back to Atticus and loving this little crab covered sleeper!

 Give me all of the baby snuggles!

 One one of our evenings, she was so stuffy and congested, I made a hot shower for her to stand by to breathe in the steam. I have to laugh because I posted this photo on instagram and people commented on how sweet it was of Vic holding her. And, it WAS sweet! But, I laugh because about a minute into this process of letting her breathe in steam, Vic needed to do something so I took her and stood there myself for another 20 minutes. Mom life is taking the photos, and not getting the credit for those non-photo moments (but also not needing it when you have the memories of the sweet moments!).

 Tickle Tickle!

 At 3 months, Hazel was already growing out of her bassinet. But, we kept her in there anyways!

 Grace was the Dancer of the Month for her dance studio this month!

 Lauren and Miriam were in town this month and we got to meet one another's little girls! Lauren and I go way back to Ag Program Days and this was a good day!

We got school photos of these two this month! Atticus in 2nd and Grace in Kindergarten! I love school photos, but there is something about a Kindergarten picture that is just so innocent and little and shy and I love it!

And, the last of the photos for this month. This sweet girl was just as happy as could be and propped up like a big girl in the chair that I have nursed all of my babies in! And her blanket, crocheted by Melbo, is in the background!

It was a good month in November!

Decorating the Tree

This year, while we were in Sanger for the first half of Thanksgiving Week, Vic was home working during the day and decorating for Christmas at night. I like to do this as a family, but honestly, it was better that he just did it because it is hard to get much done with the kids! However, he did leave the tree for us to decorate. I wasn't even home the night they did it! Ha! But, here's our pictures...

Slobbery Kisses!

The other day, Hazel was giving me kisses. I love when they reach this phase! She opens her mouth to try to get my face into her mouth and it feels just like a special baby kiss!

 Looking cute today!

 And she's got my chin in her sweet little gummy mouth!

 She is not letting go!

 She breaks away and I try to snap a photo, but that little mouth looks ready to kiss again!

But, I snag my kisses first! Oh sweet Hazel - I love you!

Everly's First Cat Experience

So, as you may remember, Melbo had a cat named Bubba for many years. And, Grace, who had a long phase of loving kitty cats (or "titties" as she would often say), LOVED Bubba the Cat. He was not a fan of being loved on, but he was never mean and he always allowed Grace to pet him and mess with him. He would try his hardest to escape but Grace always found him. And she really loved that cat. Well, Everly was not really around Bubba much and has not been around cats. And Everly, being our funny, little girl who is confidant and curious, came across Chloe the Cat at Milly & Bobby's house. Chloe is the perfect cat! Pretty, fat, thick fur and even better....she let Everly do anything she wanted with her, although they were only together a short time. And, I wish I knew that none of our family allergies would be affected so we could get Everly her very own kitten. I think Everly would love to have a cat. Check out the photos below!

Oh Everly! I hope you get to have your very own cat one day!