Hiatus....

Well this is certainly awkward....it's been approximately 5 months maybe since I've posted anything and I didn't really say good bye or give a heads up, so if anyone at all reads this.......I'm so glad to see you again! I could give lists and lists of reasons why I didn't make the time to update in so long, including Harrison was at home and not at daycare during the summer so any spare moment I had was trying to catch up his trail of debris...or that every time I even get close to the computer, a little voice is badgering me to watch the dump truck video...or that naps have become oh so much more needed the past few months with a growing belly...or that our internet is from the stone age...  Yes, so many reasons, but I'm putting those aside right now to get some photos together and then hopefully stay on top of things for a while.

So here's the fastest 5 month/summer recap in history.

1. Of course! Our little Hazelbadger turned ONE in June!  Nevermind that now, a mere 3 months later, she is solidly fitting into 2T clothing.  Hazel is a woman of few words, but don't think she can't get her point across regardless.  If daycare has taught her anything lately, it's that a periodic dose of self defense (i.e. biting) to put a healthy fear in your playmates (i.e. brother) goes a long way.  She worked hard for those teeth and they aren't going to waste!

Teeth are also used for eating....everything....and LOTS OF IT! She is the only kid at daycare that eats without a shirt on because apparently it's always just a mess at the end....she also ate two crayons on Friday...

I wish I had more pictures of her actual day of birth, but in August, I lost my phone with all of them stored on there (of COURSE, not backed up, that's just foolish), and although it's since been retrieved from the hallowed depths of our basement couch, it's usually in the hands of a toddler taking selfies.  Hazel, those pics will hopefully be printed for an ACTUAL scrapbook, but for now, imagine pink frosting....everywhere....

2. Adam and I celebrated our 4 year anniversary in June! Hip Hip Hooray! 2.5 kids, a few moves, plenty of remodeling, countless boxes of red wine (unfortunately I've been knocked up for over 2 years of said 4, so Adam's tally of wine is a little longer than mine....).  We are definitely in the thick of those long days/short years time frame and hopefully when our little mongooses are packing up their belongings for college/trade school/world travel, we can look back at all of these memories I so diligently and lovingly compiled in various mediums,  and we'll smile and laugh and say, "sh*t, I don't even remember half of that, we were so sleep deprived! But how lucky we have been thus far.  Now let's retire and take naps every day!"  

Now back to our actually anniversary.............how bad is that, I can't even remember what we did!!! Probably brought take out dinner home and went to sleep early with Harrison laying in between us...ahhh the romance is still VERY much alive.

3. Many a summer weekend was spent balancing time between enjoying the multiple heat waves (like, I'm talking DAYS of 100+) from the comfort of our air conditioned home and planning/slowing gnawing away at our home to-do list. We are currently in the throws of a master shower and bathroom remodel.  Hopefully just a few more weekends until that monster is complete and I can show the finished product! Who knew Adam was such a handyman?  Plumbing, demo-ing, tiling (TBD), this guy is good....

4. Harrison celebrated his THIRD birthday on the 11th, which included basically a full weekend of parties, parades, toys, sugar.....so much fun stuff!

Paw Patrol EVERYTHING this year!  I now know all of the characters and their personal catch phrases. "Rubble! On the double!" 

Always pumped until he has to show off the candle blowing skills he's been touting for weeks.  Then it's all shyness. 

No need to wait for utensils, Harrison....that red frosting surely won't stain....

At 3, Harrison has his moments of defiance and stubbornness, but he is a sweetheart to his sister and helps to hold her hand when walking to the car. When we tell him things aren't funny, he tells us "Well, they are kinda funny....." He's also been known to repeat questions back to us until we answer them and he responds with, "Yes, that's right."  Oh, he's clever...

Favorite activities at three are playing on the playset and in the dirt pile.  He absolutely loves animals and is friendly to them all, especially his Buddy and Gracie (who patiently wait for walks and only get maybe one a week.....don't worry, fat puggles! We won't forget you!).

Well, that may be the majority of our summer fun...no vacations, no pool time, just hanging as our family of four and enjoying each others company.

Now that we are full fledged into fall and football season, the clock is ticking to get as much done before our third (and final??) Hill offspring joins the family in December.  The list is long, so let's hope the nesting instinct kicks in soon! I have a quilt to finish, as well as some other little cratfy-type projects to get caught up on so wish us luck!

Easter!

Easter this year was a chilly one, but that didn't stop Harrison, the PRO Easter egg hunter!

After church, Harrison participated in the Easter Egg Hunt at Holy Family and brought home a few pieces of candy. SCORE!

Then, the real fun began at home!

Keeping an eye on the the competitors....

Once Harrison figured out what we were doing outside in the cold, he was all over it! Running around, looking up and down...he made out like a bandit.  Hazel was napping during this whole experience, so unfortunately, she did not have her own photo shoot like this little man did.







Big smiles the whole morning!

Stay out of this kid's way!  This is serious.

Proud of his treats! SO MUCH CANDY!!!!

He had such a great time with his cousins and played and played until he literally crashed into bed. We had a fun time visiting with Adam's family in town.  Luckily, illnesses cooperated (which wasn't the case earlier in my spring break....ahem, looking at you Hazel!) and everyone enjoyed themselves.

Speaking of spring break plans that don't happen, I had planned to get lots done around the house last week so it would free up some of our weekends once the weather gets nicer. Some outside gardening, painting, cleaning, etc....well Hazel had other ideas and she ended up staying home 4/5 days last week with a fever, rash, and ear infection! Never fails....but I won't complain TOO much about some afternoon and morning naps with that little snuggle bug. I tell you, that girl learns from the best (me!) on relax time! ;)

And now we continue on with the never ending projects and hopefully get some outside time in during the next few months! HAPPY SPRING!!! :)

A Little Boy's Version of Heaven

Have you ever wondered what Harrison would consider his version of Heaven?  Well, let me tell you...we witnessed it today...in the form of DOZER DAY!

It began the night before with a gift basket made especially for a lucky Dozer Day attendee.  I won it and it had tickets to get in early!!  We jumped at that opportunity (which I know...why WOULDN'T we want to stand in longer lines with an antsy toddler or run through crowds of people after him??? Strange, I know...)

The gift basket had a few toy dozers and a construction hat! SCORE!

The day of the big event, we hyped up Harrison has much as we could, talking about tractors and dump trucks and  playing in the dirt.

We would not be disappointed.....

First attempt at battling the giant dirt pile, complete with diggers and scoopers and tractors!!

A lot to accomplish on the job site this morning.  

There was absolutely NO hesitation on Harrison's part to jump right in and start digging! Pretty sure there wasn't even a look back to see if Mom and Dad were following him.

Of course, dressing for the occasion is always important...

After the dirt pile, we started wandering around checking out all of the activities.  First up, some back hoes!

Again, Harrison climbed right in and declined any assistance from Mommy in the dozer.  He was totally in awe at all the dirt moving and pushing!

Dumping dirt!!!

"Is this love, what I'm feeeeelin'?"

Next up, emergency vehicles!!!!  Now, it wasn't too long ago that Harrison had an intense love of all types of emergency vehicles....fire trucks, ambulances, police cars...in fact, he still points out every one on the road and actually knows the way to daycare that goes by the fire trucks.  "That way! That way!" is something we hear most mornings....

Up close and personal with the fire truck!

Patiently waiting his turn for a peek out of the armored car.

COULD THIS DAY GET ANY BETTER?!?

We couldn't get a picture of Harrison in the ambulance because he took it on as his own personal challenge to see how many times he could hop up through the back and jump out the side door.  I think he made it all the way through about 4 times.  Nice work!!

And finally....the event that he dressed for.....

TRACTORS!  Again, he hopped right up like he'd done it a million times.  

Just surveying the land....this crop ain't gonna harvest itself, people!

After that excitement, we decided to end on the big ole dirt pile.  This time there were a little kids to play with and Harrison had a blast!

And because I love a good photobomb....

Oh hey Adam and Hazel.

Wait a second......

Do they ever grow up??? My guess is no....and that's ok :)  I think I found our Christmas card picture, though.

We followed up this day of fun with a trip to dump and Harrison followed that with this....

As Adam mentioned, this kid's sleep number is 0....or 100....either way, he's not above wood floor napping :)

I'm gonna say that's a successful 1st Year Dozer Day in the books.  We'll be working on a mini construction site for the kid to play in this summer while I act as site supervisor with a good book and mojito in my hand. Get to work!! :)

Here we go again.....

Leave it to me to write in the last post so naive and all, "she wants to crawl, but hasn't quite figured it out yet," and what do you know? The very next day....

That will teach me....

So yeah, Hazel is on the move and no one better get in this girl's way!

In exciting weather news, we are loving this wonderful spring weather and I'm definitely looking forward to the summer and some higher temps!

This kid is loving more outside time and his new shades aren't too shabby either! Hazel has pink ones, although those just mostly have baby slobber on them at this point...

Harrison's outside time mostly consists of playing construction site after his big Dozer Day experience (pictures and blog coming SOON!).  All he wants to do is dig with his tractors.  I've even gone so far as to entice him inside with the offer of Mac & Cheese and all I got was "No! I play in dirt!!" .........oooookaaaay.

This little plot will hopefully soon be a flourishing veggie garden, so the job site will have to move.  I'll put him to work tilling up the new soil, I suppose!

Speaking of gardening, I've started the little seedlings in our laundry room so come May, we'll hopefully have a plan on where we'd like to put these little guys.  Everything from cucumbers to pumpkins, to catnip!  We'll have our own little farm stand on the side of the road before too long!  I'll let Harrison set the prices.... I'm guess somewhere around "one two three four seven" will probably be the set rate on everything. But I suppose if you gave him a few pennies (monies), he'd be willing to make a deal.

And since I know everyone just LOVED the first installment of Harrison's iphone gallery, he's been working on a follow up....  Here are a few I can share :)

He really gets a wide variety of subjects in one 2 minute photo shoot...every family member and possible angle.

Ahh the foot, a classic!  And the blur just adds to the emotion, wouldn't you agree?

I remember him telling me to say "Cheese, Mommy!" but obviously I didn't follow directions....could be the bright white flash the phone was shooting in my direction......

Adam follows instructions much better.  

Can't forget Winston Kitty!

And to end, a selfie.  So much focus and determination!

 More updates to come on our little garden and some big home projects! Spring will be busy for us (what's new??), but we are hoping to have a relaxing summer after we get this stuff done in the next few months!

Happy 9 months Hazel!

So, I'll be the first to admit...my blogging updates have been less than stellar this year thus far.  Future Hazel, sorry you haven't had the monthly updates you deserve, girl!  To try and make up for this lack of documentation, I'll dedicate this post to our one and only, big girl Hazel. :)

She turned 9 months on March 10th.  As 9 month olds go, I'd say she's preeeeety solid and to put it lightly (or not so much, in her case), my arms are getting a daily work out! She doesn't have the Michelan Man rolls that some babies have at this age, but this girl loves to eat and before we know it, she's gonna give Harrison a run for his money!

Ready to see this little baby cherub??

Whatchu lookin' at?! (and photo bomb courtesy of Winston the kitty) 

Seriously, this girl has personality like nobody's business.  She wants to crawl but hasn't quite figured it out yet...but that doesn't stop her.  She somehow manages to make it to wherever she wants to go...a combination of lay down-push up-bottom scoot-turn and before you know it, she's 3 feet from where you sat her down.

She thinks her antics are HILARIOUS! "Can't catch me, mom!!"

Hazel is eating pretty much everything.  Her latest favorite has been teriyaki chicken, YUM!  Apparently she's been eyeing other kids' food at daycare, so I make sure she has plenty of variety to keep her satisfied all day long.

She loves bath time and is seriously happy and content about 95% of the time.  We finally got an 11 hour stretch of sleep from her a few nights ago, but she's pretty easy during the night most nights.  In fact, she usually sleeps in the latest of anyone in the family!  We have to wake her up more often than not in the mornings to get ready to leave!

Hazel's newest party trick is the shaking of her head back and forth and then looking at us amused like, "yeah I know what this means and I'm not afraid to use it!"  She's also got 6 teeth in and knows how to use those quite well, also.  Brushing her teeth has become quite an ordeal as I have to try and do it when she's laughing and just pray that she forgets to chomp down for 3 seconds.  

Harrison has been such a good and protective big brother.  He makes sure all of his friends at daycare know, "This is MY Hazel!"  We always go together to her room and he runs full speed while asking, "Where's my Hazel??" until he finds her and gives her a hug and then goes off and plays with all the toys he hasn't played with in 2 years.  

Such sweet kiddos :) I promise, she actually does love him.....

Happy 9 months, Hazel!!! :) Let's hope it's not another 9 before I post again!! :)

Harrison's Iphone Gallery : Exhibit A

Well it seems that the apple hasn't fallen far from the tree this time!

The past few weeks months (because I blog SO often), Harrison has managed to figure out the camera function on my iphone.  We try to balance his screen time as much as possible (i.e. he watches actual marching band performances on youtube in the mornings when we are trying to get ready for work, but in the evenings, very minimal screen time and much more PLAYING!).  Anyways....he's figured it out and every so often when I leave my phone unattended, he's grabbed it and began taking pictures.

Afterwards, it's actually quite entertaining to see what Harrison has deemed worthy of a photograph (or 20).

Please enjoy the first installment of Harrisons Iphone Gallery.  No flash photography while in the gallery.

First up, the infamous selfie.

Next, I call this "Toys and Half of a Sister".  I remember as he was taking these photos, he kept saying "Hazel! Baby Hazel!" So I think he was trying to get her to look at him while taking the photo...thus the offset angle.

Ahhh yes, the light switch.  I think we are leaning more towards minimalism from this photo, but was really able to show the texture and color pigment of the wall.  Such incredible composition....

Harrison truly enjoys using Hazel as his subject, and I think she's quite entertained by it as well....

My personal favorite is below.  The view point of a toddler.  "Wrestling" toes, as Adam's sister so eloquently put it are in the lower portion of the photo and above, toys....so many toys.  Must document.  Also, Adam cooking breakfast.  

And last but not least, pictures of Mom and Dad.

You guys, this kid is really going places.  More to come, I'm sure!