Bailey Says...

When Sam was opening the blinds up one morning he accidentally popped the wand off. After a few attempts to get it back on he couldn't and expressed his disdain with a dang it.

Bails: Nice try, Dad!

Whenever I do anything these days...fix a broken toy, make dinner, go pee in the potty (since I definitely don't get to do that by myself anymore)....

Bails: (a huge gasp) Good Job, Mom.

After pulling into a parking spot at the hospital to visit Sam at school I opened Bails door for her to hop out. Her eyes were immediately drawn to a crayon and dum dum sucker that had been left dropped in the parking spot next to us.
Bails: Mom, Mom, look! Someone dropped their sucker.
Mom: Oh Yeah!
Bails: I think it was me!
Mom: Nice try. Don't touch it.

After taking forever to settle into her spot she finally got comfortable and was ready for me to read her book to her.
Bails: Ok Mom. Go for it!

Pioneer Day

Oh Utah and its crazy holidays! We were overjoyed that Sam's rotation actually gave him the day off. I never would have guessed, but I have actually kind of loved the last few weeks of gynecology. We spent the morning in Provo moving Connie and Brando into their brand new, gorgeous and very huge house. Bails said it perfect after her self guided tour of the whole place, "Mom, I love this house." I do too, Bails. We will just not be able to live in anything close to it for like twenty more years, most likely after you leave for college.

The evening was spent with the bbq and fireworks. After the fourth Bails decided that she in fact loves fireworks; a long way from the crying girl at Disneyland. We started the evening with the little poppers. Both girls that it was hilarious to throw them on the ground. The process basically went with Hazel throwing the popper not quite hard enough and Bails retrieving it, and taking the next 3-4 throws to actually make it pop. 

 Next up was some sparklers. Robby started the party off right.

 The girls were all a little tentative at first...

 But they quickly got into it...

 They were both so into it. Both girls kept gasping and cheering after each set and Bails exclaimed about ten different times how much she was loving it.

 And then the sparkler burned Bails arm a little bit and she wanted nothing to do with them the rest of the night. She was happy to watch everyone else, but refused to hold one again.

 Hazel on the other hand just got braver and braver.

And of course we ended the last of them with some cheers. Good job to Sam for not starting a fire or blowing off any limbs. Fireworks kind of scare me. I was more than happy to see them get over safely.

 

Happy Pioneer Day! Hooray for days off and relaxing with my favorite little family. 

Princess Camp

After 3 years of just being stuck at home with me day in and day out I finally decided to start looking for a dance class and pre-school for Bails. Before she even had a dance class she would talk about her 'dance class' all the time, and how it was just like Aunt Rachel's. We got a hot tip for Miss Julie's dance class which starts in September, but decided to join her summer Princess camp last minute. Bails had the time of her life. There was a trampoline, sprinklers, princess costumes, pizza and ice cream. And the last day of class was her first performance ever!

 While all the girls were in the studio getting ready, Hazel was busy trying to squirm out of my arms and join the group of girls. She was devastated when I wouldn't let her down so she could dress up and dance in the recital too. It is tough being the younger sister.

 I am pretty sure Bails was the youngest girl by far in the class...

She also had no idea what a boa was and what exactly she was supposed to do with it so it basically just got dragged behind her.

 The girls did their dance twice. Bails was a little distracted looking around at all the parent's and girls the first go around and so she was a little behind on all the dance moves...

 However, the second time around she was ready to go and on top of it...

 As soon as it was over she came running to me with a big smile and huge hug. And then she demanded that I take a picture of her swinging on the rope swing.

 And one quick picture with the infamous Ms Julie. Bails loves her.

The group celebrated with ice cream and yummy toppings, but since we had to do a Costco run we passed on the ice cream and filled our bowls up with skittles instead. The girls were more than happy with that.

Food Thieves...

Today for lunch I made them a peanut butter and jelly sandwich (half each), cheese stick and apple slices. They both ran to the table and happily scarfed it down while I got to work on my lunch. A grilled cheese sandwich. I returned to the table with it and Hazel grabbed half of it for herself and started munching away. I ate my half then got back up to microwave some yakisoba noodles. After a few minutes I returned with my warm noodles and both girls demanded some on their plates. I think I ended up with maybe two bites??? 

I then proceeded back to the kitchen to make a final grilled cheese sandwich. While it was cooking I snacked on apples and peanut butter to satisfy the hunger pains. The girls had finished up and were off playing with puzzles and princesses. When I was about to start eating my sandwich this time (hidden in the kitchen where I thought I would be safe) the little stinkers sixth sense kicked in and they wandered in. "Mom, what you eating" a very common Bailey question. And once again, I ended up turning over approximately half of my sandwich. I feel like I am raising teenage boys in these petite little girl bodies.

Round #3

January 27:
Took a pregnancy test because I 'was sure' I was pregnant and it was false. 

February 2:

Sam pressured me into taking another one even though I was positive I was not pregnant. I had never failed a test when I was actually pregnant before. I almost fell over I was so shocked. It seriously took me a few weeks to convince myself I was really growing a baby.

March 15:

Got the first glimpse of the little gummy bear on the ultra sound machine. My doc also reveals that since Sam will be a third year med student by the due date, he can deliver baby peanut. 

May 13:

Tic Tac Toe - Three in a row!

Another girl is on her way!

July 19:

The Costco lady tells me it's a boy. She claims to have worked at an Ob/gyn office and said her accuracy was better than the ultra sound machines. Her witch doctoring as me wondering enough to let Sam practice his ultra sound skills on me. See, the Ob/gyn rotation does have its perks. We shall see once and for all in August!

October 10:

Baby Braden's ETA. As of now her name is Tinkerbell; Bailey is pretty determined and since Sam and I can't agree...who knows? Now to see how punctual she is.

Eighteen Months

This is super late because of our California trip and my procrastination on calling to actually make the appointments, but nonetheless the girls eventually made it to their check ups and all is well. Hazel is still as petite as can be. We have seen a different resident at the clinic for her past 3 check ups and each one spends a substantial amount of time convincing me that her weight doesn't appear to be a problem because she looks healthy, proportionate and doesn't get sick very often; the reality is they are probably trying to convince themselves since Sam and I have zero concerns with it. Out of the five girls in my family I am the large one so petite is written into her DNA. 

Height: 30.91 inches - 14%

Weight: 19 lbs 9.2 oz - 10%

Head Circumference: 46.8 cm - 59%

This child may have a little bit of short baby syndrome going on. She may be small, but she can definitely be a bully if she needs to be. When Bailey and her get into a fight, Bailey is almost always the one that runs away crying. She will growl at a stranger, both adults and kids, if they even look at her and say hi. The growling increases ten fold if she is eating a treat and she feels threatened at all that they may try to steal some. Needless to say we aren't the best at sharing yet.

She has a few different words in her vocabulary. She says Mom, Dad, Thank You, Please, uh-hu and a few more. They all come out in a very soft, high pitched voice. She is also a champion pointer and is more than capable of making her wishes known. Her comprehension is also impeccable. She understands almost anything that I tell her to do and will usually obey. Unless of course she doesn't want to in which case she will tell you No.

She has developed a few fears. She was terrified of water for awhile and giving her a bath was like trying to bathe a cat. It was horrible. But after a few hours at the water park she was miraculously cured. We were also recently driving down a huge hill on our way to downtown and she started screaming and crying. I turned around to look at her and she was grabbing at her seat and shaking in fear. Apparently big hills are also not her thing.

She is Bailey's little mini me. Anything Bails is playing with, she has to play with too. She follows her around like a little puppy and mimics all of her crazy jumping, running, racing, dancing, and singing antics. It goes just fine until Bails climbs up on the couch and somersaults or jumps off...Poor Hazel. She is getting faster at running, but always loses, which is probably for the best since Hazel hasn't developed that competitive edge yet and Bails usually breaks down in tears at even the thought of losing.

Hazel is still my little treat eater. We just rid the whole house of candy and sweets because she had gotten to be pretty stubborn about holding out for what she wanted to eat. If candy is not in sight however she is a pretty good eater. She will eat almost anything if the timing is right.

As much as she loves to follow Bails around all day, she is also my little independent girl. I will often times find her off in Bails room reading books or doing puzzles by herself. Bailey seems to always be glued to my hip, but Hazel can disappear for an hour or so at a time and just play quietly by herself as long as Bails can leave her alone.

We just love our little Hazel-roo. Sam always calls her my little mini and says she has my personality to a T. She is so funny to watch. When she gets angry at Bails you can see her stewing in the corner while she thinks about her next move. Then she will come charging, take a few swings or steal back the toy she wants and then just take off running to safety. I try hard not to laugh hysterically and parent the situation, but it is as funny as it sounds and hard to keep control.  We just love you Hazel.

Off Roading...

The girls are obsessed with their buzz car. Bailey used to get free reign on it after Hazel climbed the water table and flipped backwards, but she has recently let bygones be bygones and now they have to share. Don't let all those smiles fool you; the entire ten minutes they were riding around all I could hear was Bailey hollering...

"No, no Hazel, turn" 

"Mom hurry come help us" as they ran into every bush, plant and tree

"Oh no we are climbing the mountain" as the car traveled up/got stuck on the small hill in the corner of the yard

"Mom, we are stuck"

 

All of this was going on while Hazel was either giggling up a storm, or making her incessant low toned whine.