The Rowland Family

Hattie's 6 Month Stats

2012-01-30T11:24:00.001-08:00

Height: 26 1/2 in 50 - 75th percentile

Weight: 15 lbs 10 oz 25 - 50th percentile

Head: 41 cm 10th percentile

Hattie is scooting around everywhere now. I always seem to forget how fast she can get around when she sees something she wants. She loves to eat paper, especially my magazines. I have a basket of magazines in the living room that I keep forgetting to put up when she is in there, and she has eaten my January Ensign cover and my Martha Stewart Food cover. I bought a new phone charger the other day, and it stopped working after one use. I was looking for the receipt to take it back, but Hattie had already gotten to it.

Hattie started eating solid foods just a little while ago, but usually likes to spit most of the food out. She loves Hazel, even though Hazel isn't always the nicest to her, and likes it when she rolls around and plays with her. Hattie likes company. If she is playing with her toys just fine and you leave the room she will start to cry. She continues to be a happy and sweet baby!

Hazel update

2012-01-30T11:24:00.000-08:00

Hazel always has the funniest things to say.

Hazel was sitting at the table eating breakfast with Brendan, and I heard her ask, "What's wrong with your hair Dad?" I think Brendan asked what and Hazel said, "You look disgusting." I went in the room and saw that Brendan had some hair sticking out on the side of his head.

Growing up, we would ask our parents for money, but Hazel is asking for our debit cards. She gets into our wallets and takes them, and we will find her playing house using it. She will tell Brendan he can buy something from her for $300.

Hazel LOVES to sing. At Christmas time she would sing full Christmas songs. We would randomly hear her singing God Rest Ye Merry Gentleman. When we were driving in the car one day singing songs with her, Brendan and I sang the wrong words, and she was sure to correct us. We were singing the Farmer in the Dell and when we got to the mouse we said the mouse takes the flea. Hazel said, "No, the mouse doesn't take the flea, the mouse takes the cheese."

Hattie got some shots for the first time the other day and Brendan watched Hazel while we were gone. When we came back and Hazel saw the cute band-aids on Hattie's legs she wanted some shots too. She asked if she could come with us next time to get her own shots and band-aids even after I explained that they hurt. It reminded me of the story Madeline.

Hazel knows how to work the iphone quite well. We have to watch her carefully if she takes it to play a game. She knows how to get into youtube and watch clips of snow white and lots of other things. One day I saw her watching the Charlie bit me video and I asked Brendan if he put that on for her. He said she must have put it on herself because it was a top played video. She watched it a few times. Later in the day, I was sitting with Hattie in my lap at the computer and I noticed Hazel had her finger in Hattie's mouth and I was disgusted and told her to get it out. Hazel responded, "Hattie bit me." I then realized she was trying to imitate the Charlie video from earlier, but of course Hattie doesn't even have teeth yet.

Hazel likes to play hid and seek but calls it hide and sink. She also likes to play soccer, and when she scores she says GOLD! I tried to correct her with goal and she told me that Dad says gold.

Hazel at Christmas time.

Hazel caught red handed with my lip gloss. One day I told her not to get into my make up without me helping her, and I found her with it. Later that day she was by my drawers in the bathroom and I went in to blow dry my hair and Hazel said, "Mom can you blow dry your hair in the kitchen? Oh, and you look pretty." I of course knew she was just wanted to get in my make up without me seeing, and she had to kiss up by saying I looked pretty. Kids are sneaky and smart.

Hazel's three babies. The one in the front is Hattie, the cabbage patch is Gabriella (I don't know where she came up with that long name), and the one with the hat, well her name is always changing. Hazel is always using Hattie's toys for her babies. Hattie will be in her jumper and Hazel will say that Hattie has a few more minutes and then it's her babies turn.

Hazel and Hattie wrestling on the floor in the morning.

I took this picture and gave it to both our parents for Christmas.

Petersen Family

2012-01-17T12:45:00.000-08:00

My good friend, Jenilyn, had me take some pictures of her beautiful family on Saturday. Since it's cold and dead outside, she suggested we take the pictures inside up on BYU campus. I wasn't sure how they would turn out, but there was plenty of light in the JFSB. We just took them in the halls, and I think we got some cute ones.

BYU Basketball Game

2012-01-14T22:51:00.000-08:00

We went to the BYU basketball game tonight with the kids. We have front row tickets, and during a time-out one of the refs asked if Hazel wanted to hold the ball and get a picture. We were also on the big screen for the flex cam. They tell everyone to flex and pick people out with the camera. Hazel and Hattie were flexing. It was a good game, with BYU beating Santa Clara 95-78.

Birthday Wishes

2012-01-12T10:58:00.000-08:00

Growing up we would always ask my mom what she wanted for her birthday or Mother's Day or Christmas, and she would say, "A clean house and good kids." I always hated that answer, because I wanted to buy her something. I only have two kids and a small house, but yesterday I was wishing for the same thing. Although I didn't quite get that, it was a good day. My brother Bruce watched the kids, while Brendan took me out to dinner. When we got back, we had cake and ice cream with family. Whitney and her roommate, Haley, made me a cute and delicious chocolate cake with chocolate whipped cream covered with small chocolate morsels. After cake, Brendan's mom watched the kids while we all went bowling. It was a fun 30th birthday!

(the cake makers)

California Part 3

2012-01-05T23:49:00.000-08:00

Brendan, Brad, Paige, Lewis, Sage, Bruce, Hazel, Jessica, and Zander.

My sister Paige lives just a little north of San Diego in Fallbrook, the avocado capital of the world. She has a beautiful backyard with lots of fruits, flowers, and herbs. When you drive up to her house you can smell all the wonderful plants. They have lemon, lime, orange, pomegranate, kumquats, and almond trees. They have several herbs like lemon verbena, bay leaves, sage, rosemary, thyme, lavender, and many others I can't remember. They also have chickens, a wandering turtle, a trampoline, and a playground in their yard. Hazel had a blast playing with her cousins!

We went to the Mormon Battalion in Old Town San Diego. I had never been there before and I guess they recently remodeled it. I really enjoyed it and would highly recommend it if you are in the area. Bruce's old roommate plays a part in the movie they show, so that was kind of fun to see. They make it really fun for kids with the movies and activities.

In Old Town we went to Fiesta de Reyes and ate some delicious Mexican food. It is a complex full of shops and restaurants.

On the way home we broke up our drive by staying at a hotel in Vegas. This is Hazel posing from our room on the 27th floor. (Some of the last photos were taken with a phone so they are not as clear.)

California Part 2

2012-01-05T23:12:00.000-08:00

After visiting with Brendan's relatives for the first part of the week, we then visited mine. My sister Brook lives in San Diego with her five kids. Hazel loved playing with all of them. On New Year's Eve we all went to the San Diego Zoo for Jungle Bells before heading back to the house for our family party.

Rivers, Hazel, Bennett, Luke, Denali, and Porter on the Hippo.

The Hippos are one of my favorites to see. You can view them from both the top and bottom.

My brother Bruce and his fiance Jessica were also visiting California and came with us to the zoo.

Rivers and Hazel viewing the monkeys.

My sister Brook and her husband John.

Brendan snapped a shot of one of the pandas with his phone. There are only three other places in the United States you can see Pandas.

Not the best photo of us, but Hattie is happy.

California Part 1

2012-01-05T21:46:00.000-08:00

We only had one of Hazel's flip flops so we went to Payless and these were the only water shoes that had backs on them in her size. They are boy shoes, but they were a steal at $4. Hazel calls them her ocean shoes.

Two day after Christmas, we drove to Southern California to spend time with family. We first stayed with Brendan's uncle Mark in Orange County and enjoyed our time with him. We also hung out with Brendan's cousin Lexie. We had lots of good food and good shopping. Unfortunately we didn't get any pictures with them. Mark lives close to Laguna Beach, so we spent some time enjoying ourselves on the beach. The weather was in the 70's, but it was foggy.

After Orange County, we headed to Carlsbad to spend time with Brendan's aunt Lahna and her family. We also had a relaxing time, but no pictures.

Christmas morning

2012-01-05T21:40:00.000-08:00

We had church at 9:30 on Christmas morning, so we opened presents after church. Hazel's big gift this year was a tricycle, and she loved it. She is getting better at pedaling by herself. Another gift she liked was her ukulele. After opening gifts and hanging out at our house, we went up to Brendan's parent's house for more gifts and a delicious prime rib Christmas meal made by Brendan's dad.

(Taken with Brendan's phone)

Brendan's 30th Birthday / Christmas Party

2012-01-05T18:27:00.001-08:00

Brendan turned 30 on Christmas day, so I threw him a party at the beginning of the month. It was a lot of fun, but also a lot of work. I made all of the food and baked goods except the Dutch caramel wafers and the cakebites, which were from the Sweet Tooth Fairy (Yum!). I luckily had Bruce and Whitney to help me set everything up and help with the kids. Thanks to everyone who came and celebrated with us!

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-25T11:54:00.000-08:00

I didn't manage to get Christmas cards out this year, so this cute picture will have to do. I didn't want to take a family picture with my braces on, so I thought I would just send one out with Hazel and Hattie, but taking pictures of them together is hard. This was the best one I could get. Hattie isn't looking at the camera, Hazel has her two teeth sticking out, and you can't really see their cute Christmas dresses, but I still love it.

Hattie's 4 Month Stats

2011-11-21T14:00:00.001-08:00

Height: 25 1/4 inches 75-90th percentile

Weight: 13 lbs 14 oz 50-75th percentile

Head: 39.1 cm 10th percentile

I guess Hattie has a pretty small head, or maybe it's just a normal size in proportion to her body. Usually babies have big heads.

Hattie can now roll over both ways. She can also get on her knees and scoot a little bit, so I'm sure she will be moving around soon. She continues to be a good baby that likes to smile a lot. I just can't wait for her spitting up to be over with. Somedays are worse than others. Hazel and Hattie both have colds right now, but they should hopefully be over them soon.

Hazel and Hattie are usually pretty happy and cute in the morning (if Hazel got enough sleep).

Halloween

2011-11-01T20:56:00.000-07:00

We snapped a few pictures in our yard before heading to Brendan's parent's house for dinner. I wasn't going to dress up, but Brendan wanted us too, so a cowboy and cowgirl are outfits you can put together in a few minutes with clothes on hand. After dinner, Hazel went trick or treating for the first time and loved it. She would say trick or treat quite a few times before the person even opened the door. The weather was perfect, so we didn't even need jackets. Hazel received several full sized candy bars. I remember only getting one or two each year as a kid and being pretty excited about it. We know which houses to hit up next year.

Homemade Ravioli with Ricotta and Spinach

2011-10-28T22:29:00.000-07:00

This is my second time making homemade ravioli, but I haven't been that impressed with the outcome. I even bought a special ravioli rolling pin, but I don't really like how small it made them so I didn't end up using it this time. Last time I made them I put too much filling in and it was coming out the sides. This time I made them my own size, but they were uneven and didn't have enough filling because I was worried about last time. I also think it was a lot of work and not worth it. The filling was good though. I got the filling recipe from Pioneer Woman, and I made up the sauce on my own. Maybe I just need to look at a few more blogs to find an easier way to do it, and give it one more try. Anyone had success with ravioli?

Four Cheese Crustless Quiche with Spinach and Mushrooms

2011-10-28T22:20:00.000-07:00

I like breakfast food and this is a great dish to also have for dinner. A lady on my mission gave me this recipe and I make it often.

Four Cheese Quiche

In bowl combine: In skillet:

1/2 c Bisquick * Saute 10 oz pkg mushrooms

4 oz cream cheese 1 small onion

1/2 c cottage cheese 2 T butter

1/2 c cream

4 eggs

1 c grated swiss cheese

1/2 c grated Parmesan cheese

salt, pepper, pinch of nutmeg

1 pkg 10 oz frozen spinach

defrosted and drained

Add skillet ingredients to bowl and mix. Put in pie pan and bake 45-60 minutes at 350 degrees F.

*Bisquick has hydrogenated oil which I don't like to use, but I had some on hand. I found some recipes online where you can make your own homemade Bisquick without shortening, but I haven't tried them yet. Next time I make this I will try it out.

Within the last year I read the book In Defense of Food and really liked it. It has changed my eating and made me more aware of ingredients in food. I like to make lots of stuff homemade now because it won't have high fructose corn syrup, hydrogenated oils, preservatives, and a ton of ingredients I can't even pronounce. The less processing, the better. I highly recommend the book.

Pumpkin Waffles and Buttermilk Syrup

2011-10-28T15:44:00.000-07:00

I had some left over pumpkin puree in the fridge from making gelato and decided to use it up. My friend gave me this recipe years ago, and I hadn't made it in a long time. They're great on a nice fall morning.

Pumpkin Waffles

Batter

2 c flour

2 T baking powder

2 T cinnamon

1 T sugar

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1/4 tsp salt

Mix ingredients together, then add:

4 egg yolks (save whites)

1 c pumpkin

1 T vanilla

1 1/2 c milk

3/4 c melted butter

Then beat 4 egg whiles until stiff peaks form and fold them into the batter.

Cook in waffle iron.

Buttermilk Syrup

1/2 cube butter (not margarine)

1/2 c buttermilk (or substitute 1 T lemon juice + 1/2 c milk)

1 c sugar

1 tsp light corn syrup

Bring to a boil and take off heat. Add 1 tsp baking soda and 1 tsp vanilla. It will bubble up quite a bit, so make sure your pan is large enough. Stir until it settles.

Serve warm over pumpkin waffles!

Pumpkin Spice Gelato and Chocolate Coconut Almond Ice Cream (Vegan)

2011-10-28T15:35:00.000-07:00

I bought this book back in June and have made a few recipes from it that were delicious. I just tried out the pumpkin spice gelato, and it tastes just like pumpkin pie. Next time I want to add little bits of pie crust to it. I bought some cute little pint containers and gave it to my visiting teachees for a treat. I also made chocolate coconut almond ice cream. Back in June when we were in California we went to the well known Bi-Rite Creamery in San Francisco. The two flavors we tried were salted caramel ice cream and chocolate coconut ice cream (vegan). They were both delicious. I tried making salted caramel a while back, but I still need to perfect it. I looked at some recipes for chocolate coconut and they all mainly have coconut milk, cocoa powder, and some sweetener, but I changed the measurements and added some ingredients of my own. The chocolate coconut tastes just like regular ice cream. You would never know it was vegan unless someone told you. I'm not on a vegan diet or anything, but it is a little lower in fat. Here are the two recipes below. The gelato takes a bit longer to make, but the chocolate is easy and fast.

Pumpkin Spice Gelato

Plain Base (see below)

1 c pure pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie mix), chilled

1/4 c sugar

1/4 tsp pure vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Pinch of ground cloves

Make the plain base and chill as directed.

Place the pumpkin, sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, and cloves in a blender and add half of the base. Blend until smooth, then whisk into the remaining base. Pour the mixture into the container of an ice cream machine and churn according to the manufacturer's instructions. Transfer to an airtight container and freeze for at least 2 hours before serving.

Plain Base

2 c whole milk

1 c heavy cream

4 large egg yolks

2/3 c sugar

In a heavy-bottom saucepan, combine the milk and cream. Place over medium-low heat and cook, stirring occasionally so a skin doesn't form, until tiny bubbles start to form around the edges and the mixture reaches a temperature of 170 degrees F.

Meanwhile, in a medium heat-proof bowl, whisk the egg yolks until smooth. Gradually whisk in the sugar until it is well incorporated and the mixture is thick and pale yellow. Temper the egg yolks by very slowly pouring in the hot milk mixture while whisking continuously. Return the custard to the saucepan and place over low heat. Cook, stirring frequently with a wooden spoon, until the custard is thick enough to coat the back of the spoon and it reaches a temperature of 185 degrees F. Do not bring to a boil.

Pour the mixture through a fine-mesh strainer into a clean bowl and let cool to room temperature, stirring every 5 minutes or so. To cool the custard quickly, make an ice bath by filling a large bowl with ice and water and placing the bowl with the custard in it; stir the custard until cooled. Once completely cooled, cover and refrigerate until very cold, at least 4 hours or overnight.

Chocolate Coconut Almond Ice Cream

3 c coconut milk (Not low fat. I used Thai Kitchen organic coconut milk, about 2 cans. I refrigerated my coconut milk, but I'm not sure it's necessary)

6 T cocoa powder

10 T sugar

1 tsp vanilla

1/4 c shredded coconut (Mine were kind of long pieces so I chopped them a little bit)

1/4 c chopped almonds

Blend the first 4 ingredients in a blender until smooth. Freeze in your ice cream maker. Add the shredded coconut and almonds the last five minutes. Eat right away or transfer to an airtight container and freeze.

While I was looking in my viewfinder, I saw Hazel's hand come into the picture. She couldn't wait any longer to get her share.

Bath Time

2011-10-23T22:13:00.000-07:00

Hattie is just a little over 3 months now, and is such a good baby. She smiles so much and loves to coo. She still sleeps through all 3 hours of church from nine to noon, which makes it nice for me. My visiting teachers came over and Hattie was awake and playful and they said it was the first time they had seen her because she was always in her car seat sleeping. I would say she was the perfect baby except for her spit up problem, but I'm hoping that will go away soon. Yesterday we had over an older man from my home ward visiting from California. He was playing with Hattie while someone else was holding her, and he said he would hold her except that he had seen the two previous people holding her get spit up all over their clothes.

Hattie is very strong and loves to stand up and look around. Her eyes always get big when she's excited. When she's laying on her back, she is usually kicking her legs and swinging her arms. Whenever Hazel is doing something to Hattie I usually tell her to stop attacking Hattie. The other day while Hattie was doing her kicking and swinging on the bed with Hazel next to her, Hazel said to me, "Mom Hattie is attacking me." I couldn't help but laugh. :)

Rigatoni with sun dried tomatoes and goat cheese

2011-10-23T21:56:00.000-07:00

I recently joined facebook mainly so I could sign up for pinterest. I found this recipe on there and decided to try it. I changed it a little though. I used organic whole wheat pasta with homemade wheat bread crumbs and put them in cute individual ramekins (which I just purchased at Winco for a great deal.) It was a tasty entree.

Pass of all Passes

2011-10-23T21:44:00.000-07:00

We recently renewed our Pass of all Passes, and it now includes the Seven Peaks Ice Arena. For our Family Home Evening activity we took Hazel ice skating for the first time, and she had a lot of fun. We went with Brendan's family. Brendan's parents were nice and watched Hattie on the side and Christopher and Brianna switched off skating with Hazel. She liked cruising with the cart, but it hurt our backs after a while to do it with her. We will definitely be going again.

Barnyard Boo

2011-10-23T21:22:00.000-07:00

Last Week we went to Thanksgiving Point's Barnyard Boo. It is located inside the farm, and they have lots of little Halloween activities for kids. We met up with Tabitha and Sawyer for a good time.

Fall Break

2011-10-23T21:01:00.000-07:00

Brendan has Fall break at the U, and I really like it. This year we decided to take a trip to visit his biological grandpa, Clell, in Cody, WY. It's kind of a long story, but Brendan met him for the first time 15 years ago and then saw him once right after his mission. Clell is getting old and wanted to see us. We decided to make it a fun trip on the way up. The first night we drove to Rexburg and had dinner over at our friend's house. We also went out to ice cream at G's. It was delicious. We stayed the night in Rexburg and drove to Jackson Hole the next day. We stayed a night in Jackson Hole and then drove up through Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks on our way to Cody. We stayed two nights in Cody. It ended up being a fun little road trip and a good time with relatives.

Jackson Hole

Grand Teton

The leaves were beautiful!

We spotted a moose around Jenny Lake.

Yellowstone

A buffalo by the road.

It was so nice to go in the Fall. Usually the roads are so packed with people stopping along the road, but there was no one around.

Cody, WY

Brendan, Hattie, Hazel, Bernadine (Clell's sister), Toula (Clell's wife), and Clell.

Brendan driving Clell's old Scout. He also had to buy a nice cowboy hat to fit in around town.

Snow White or Sleeping Beauty?

2011-10-23T14:30:00.000-07:00

Hazel is going to be Snow White for Halloween and was so excited when her costume came in the mail. She would like to wear it everyday if she could. One day Brendan was babysitting Hazel, and he turned on the Lion King for her to watch. He said she was sitting up straight and tall and very attentive to the first 2 minutes of the movie when he went into the kitchen to get a drink. When he came back she was sound asleep on the floor.

BYU Homecoming Parade

2011-10-23T14:16:00.000-07:00

The parade goes right past our house, so all we had to do was walk out front.

Hazel loved collecting all of the parade candy in her pumpkin bucket. She actually got a lot of candy, but most of it was salt water taffy. I think each group needs to switch up a little next year.

Of course Hattie had a great time too.

Sesame Street Music Videos

2011-10-03T11:42:00.000-07:00

Brendan emailed these videos to me a while back, and I think they are cute. Hazel likes to dance to them. The artists change their songs for Sesame Street. Here are two I like.

Key Lime Tart

2011-10-03T08:46:00.000-07:00

Tastespotting is a great website to find delicious recipes, and browsing at all of the pictures gets me excited to cook or bake something. I needed to bring a dessert to dinner yesterday, and I found this key lime tart recipe on there. It was super easy, and turned out just like the picture. I used Betty Crocker's filling recipe though, which is just slightly different. I used 3 eggs instead of egg yolks and added a teaspoon of lime zest. I served it with whipped cream on top. I will definitely be making this again.

She makes me laugh and cry

2011-09-28T14:39:00.000-07:00

Hazel is getting smarter all the time, and she copies what we say and do constantly. She comes up with the funniest things. She can also be very difficult.

Some of Hazel's new phrases are one night and all the time. Here are some examples: "I saw that man walking one night." "Did you buyed that frame one night?"

Hazel was with Whitney and Whitney was pointing to dragonflies and Hazel said, "I see dragon flies all the time" as if it's no big deal. I saw her dancing in the room and she said to me, "I dance with Dad all the time." It's even cuter if you know her little voice and how she says it.

The first month after Hattie was born was kind of rough for me and I had a few meltdowns, and Hazel let me know all about it. We were sitting on the lawn on a blanket and she was running around and playing and then she would come over to the blanket and put her hands on her head and put her head down on the blanket pretending to pout and say, "I can't take this" then she would get up and play and do it over. I couldn't help but laugh.

Hazel was getting better with Hattie for a few weeks where I felt comfortable leaving them in the same room, but now I'm not so sure. I heard a thump in the room the other day and then screaming. I went in the room to find Hattie on the ground. I think Hazel tried to pick her up and she fell off the bed. Luckily Hattie was fine. Last night I heard Hattie coughing in her bouncer, and I went in the room to find Hazel putting a triscuit down her throat. Recently, Hazel has had a biting problem. She bit me on the arm, and I have a huge bruise that is finally going away. Brendan caught her with Hattie's fingers in her mouth the other day and she bit them.

Hazel has a nickname for Hattie. She calls her Patty. It's weird because she knows how to say h's. When we have her slow down she can say it, so sometimes you will hear her say Hat - tie.

When Hattie is crying, Hazel will sometimes say, "Mom, the baby is grumpy."

Two weeks ago we took a family bike ride up to BYU. Brendan and I were on the tandem with Hazel in the front seat and Hattie in her car seat in the bike trailer. We were going down the hill by the Clyde building when our brakes went out. Brendan turned onto the grass which is lined with metal poles and rope to keep people off. The rope caught a hold of our bike and ripped out a few poles until we came to a stop. Unfortunately the rope caught a hold of Hazel's leg and gave her rope burn. It took off quite a bit of skin and she was screaming. We felt bad because she was the only one that got hurt, and we were fine.

Brendan was telling what happened to his grandpa, and he was saying how he had to make a decision whether to keep speeding down the hill and crash or turn into the poles. A few days later I was taking the kids on a walk up to campus to visit Whitney and we walked by the poles and Hazel said, "Dad had to make a cision over here. Then for Family Home Evening we watched the movie The Pioneer Miracle (which Hazel wanted to watch 4 times) and the girl says that she had to make a decision and she made the wrong one. During that part Hazel kept saying, "The girl made a cision. Dad taught me that."

Apple Pie

2011-09-28T13:21:00.000-07:00

Whitney thought an apple pie sounded good the other day, so I decided to make one. I used an all butter crust recipe from Smitten Kitchen and thought it turned out really well. I don't usually make pies, because I hate making the crust, but it wasn't all that hard. I have a pastry frame my sister gave me, and I love it. The dough doesn't stick, and it makes it easy to see what size you need to roll it out. For the filling, I just used a recipe from my Betty Crocker cookbook. It was great with ice cream! I made it on Sunday and probably needed two more apples, but couldn't run to the store, so next time it would be piled a little higher.

Hattie's 2 Month Stats

2011-09-27T10:43:00.000-07:00

Height: 23 inches 75th percentile

Weight: 11 lbs 10 oz 90th percentile

Head: 38 cm 50-75th percentile

Hattie continues to be a great baby. As you an see she has spit up in the corners of her mouth. She was spitting up as I was taking these pictures, but other than that she is great. She started sleeping a full 8 hours at night in her bassinet! Hazel still doesn't sleep that long at night. She usually wakes up around 4:30 am and comes to our room. Hattie has been mistaken for a boy 3 times when she wasn't wearing a bow on her head, so I try to keep her looking girly.

The New Cupcake?

2011-09-24T20:25:00.000-07:00

Cupcakes have been popular for quite a while now (and I still love them), but from what I've heard french macarons are the new cupcake. They've been around for a while, but I just discovered them about a year ago, but not many local places sold them. I've recently seen them popping up in more bakeries around here, and at farmer's markets. They are made from a meringue shell with a buttercream filling, and they just melt in your mouth. They come in many colors and flavors. Salted caramel and key lime are some of my favorites.

I've heard they are hard to make and kind of finicky, so I bought the book i love macarons and decided to try them out. I just wanted to see if they turned out, so I didn't try anything fancy, just vanilla on vanilla. My sister Whitney came over and helped, and we had a good time. There are a lot of steps, including grinding almonds into flour (much cheaper than buying it), but they turned out great.

I heard the most famous macaron shop, Laduree, just opened its first location in the U.S in New York a few weeks ago. Their stores are eye candy. Check them out online.

I was informed by Brendan and Whitney that they've heard pie is the new cupcake. After googling it, it seems to be cupcakes are dead and pie is hot for 2011, but just in March the Today show was calling the macaron the new cupcake so who knows. I like cupcakes, macarons, and pie.

Fruits of our Labor

2011-09-24T20:22:00.000-07:00

This year we were able to plant a nice garden in our backyard. It already had a perfect spot. Brendan prepared the soil, and I planted all of the plants. That's about all I did, but Brendan watered and took care of it. It has done really well. We have had lots of zucchini, and after a while we stopped picking them and they grew to be enormous. My sister, Dawn, gave me a great zucchini lasagna recipe. I didn't get a chance to take a photo, but it is delicious. Try it. We also grew beets, cucumbers, green beans, peppers, rosemary, basil, pineapple sage, yellow squash, and tomatoes. We planted lots of different kinds of tomatoes, and they are delicious.

Recently we've been eating lots of tomatoes. We've been having BLT's, bruschetta, and marinara sauce. I made my own sauce with fresh tomatoes and basil from the garden and let it simmer for a few hours. I also made my own whole wheat pasta. I even ground the wheat into flour. I have a Kitchenaid attachment for pasta, and I love it.

Zucchini Lasagna

2 tbsp olive or vegetable oil
1 large onion
1 clove garlic
1 tsp Italian seasoning
4 cups zucchini, sliced
1 egg
2 cups Swiss cheese, shredded
1 can Cream of Celery soup
1 32 oz spaghetti sauce
2 tbsp vinegar
9 lasagna noodles
3 cups mozzarella cheese, shredded

Cook lasagna noodles and set aside. Saute onion and garlic in olive or vegetable oil. Add Italian seasoning. Add zucchini and cook until tender. Add egg, Swiss cheese, and cream of celery soup to vegetable mixture. Set aside. Combine spaghetti sauce with vinegar. Place 1/2 of spaghetti sauce mixture on bottom of 9x13 pan. Next place a layer of 3 noodles on top of sauce. Place 1/2 of vegetable mixture on top of noodles. Sprinkle with 1 cup of mozzarella cheese. Repeat with noodles, vegetable mixtures and 1 cup of mozzarella cheese. Top with remaining noodles and cover with remaining sauce. Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes. Cover with remaining mozzarella cheese and bake for an additional five minutes. Let sit for fifteen minutes before serving.

Hattie's Blessing

2011-09-23T22:17:00.000-07:00

Over Labor Day weekend we blessed Hattie, and all of my family was able to come except for my brother who is on a mission. That's 10 out of 11 kids, and all had to travel from out of state except Bruce and Whitney of course. It was a fun filled weekend!

On Saturday we went up Spanish Fork Canyon to Brendan's family cabin for swimming and a BBQ. It started to get chilly in the evening and they always have warm attire in the closets, so it kind of became dress up. I'm not quite sure what the pirate face is all about.

Our new place has a nice backyard that we have been enjoying all summer. It was a perfect place for our luncheon after the blessing, and the weather was beautiful.

Not only was my immediate family able to come, but I had some local cousins and Brendan's relatives also. We were blessed to have so much family with us.

Pictures from left to right. 1. All of the sisters in order from youngest to oldest. 2. My two oldest sisters, Brook and Dawn. (Dawn is the oldest.) 3. My mom and Ivy (the youngest sister.) 4. All of the married sisters are sitting with their husbands, and all of the single sisters are standing. We were going to take pictures of the brothers, but Bruce had already left to go to church, and Blake is on his mission so it left just Bill.

Hazel was picking up grass and putting it on Hattie's head saying she needed some more hair, and then Hattie happened to spit up which is very typical. Hattie and I both have to change our outfits a few times a day with all of the spit up, but it is getting better now.

Nieces and Nephews enjoying the hammock. I thought it was going to break with all of the jumping on it, but luckily it held up.

By foot, strollers, single and tandem bikes, a bike trailer, scooters, a skateboard, and a golf cart, we all took a walk on BYU's new trail. It is a nice cobblestone trail with a creek and waterfalls. (I had to throw the picture in of my dad on the skateboard. I don't know how many years it's been since he has been on one, but it made me laugh.)

The Protector

2011-08-25T13:13:00.000-07:00

That's what I am these days. Hazel attacks Hattie several times a day. I can't tell you how many times she had been kicked or hit by Hazel. Sometimes it's on purpose, but most of the time she just doesn't know how to be gentle. I always tell her to kiss the baby on the head, but Hazel prefers the lips. She knows she is not supposed to, so she does it when she thinks I'm not looking. She even kisses her with her runny nose. It's a miracle Hattie isn't sick yet. The other day I asked Hazel to get a tissue for her nose, and instead she grabbed Hattie's blanket and wiped her nose.

If I'm not holding Hattie, I either have to have Hazel locked up or Hattie. I left Hattie on my bed one day while I went to switch the laundry and when I came back Hazel was pulling Hattie off the bed by her feet and I barely saved her before the big fall. I left Hattie in the bassinet while I went to the bathroom, and I forgot to shut the door of the room and when I came back Hazel was climbing in with Hattie.

We finally bought a double stroller and Hazel is really excited there are two seats, but I'm a little worried having them sitting so close to each other. I know they will both be strapped in, but Hazel always finds a way to create some trouble. We had their car seats next to each other, but that was a problem and we had to separate them.

Hazel has tried brushing Hattie's hair with her hard bristled brush and like I said before, she doesn't know how to be gentle. She tries to play with her sister and says, "Give me 5" and then slaps Hattie's closed fist. She tries to lay right next to her, and as she is scooting in close she bangs her head on Hattie's. When Hazel is eating a snack, she wants to share with Hattie. I've explained to her she can only have milk, but Hazel is usually persistent and tries to shove the food in Hattie's mouth. I know she likes her new sister, but it can be very frustrating sometimes. Hopefully Hazel will learn to be more gentle soon.

Maegan & Carter

2011-08-18T08:29:00.000-07:00

Two weeks ago Brendan's cousin, Maegan, was in town from Canada for a few days and wanted me to take some engagement photos. Here are a few I liked.

Hattie's Photo Shoot

2011-07-29T10:57:00.000-07:00

I did some one on one mentoring with Stephanie Gardner from GiovannaLou Photography back in February, and after mentoring with her she lets you rent out her studio with the use of all of her props and backgrounds. I was excited to do Hattie's newborn shoot, but it ended up being a lot harder than I thought. The newborns always look so peaceful, but it was difficult to get Hattie to stay asleep, and bringing Hazel was probably the worst part. I thought I would take some pictures of Hazel as a 2 year old photo shoot, and get a few cute shots of them together, but as you can see below that didn't happen. While Brendan and I were working with the baby, Hazel was into all of the props and hats. She had taken off her shirt, messed up her hair, and had some carnival hat around her neck and that ridiculous hat with the flower. She was then more than willing to take pictures in her chosen attire. Although she looks very happy in these photos, don't let her fool you. She was throwing a fit half the time we were there.

Catch Up

2011-07-27T21:03:00.003-07:00

I just recently got the internet a few weeks ago after not having it for two and a half months. We used to split it with our downstairs neighbors and when they moved to Florida for the summer they discontinued the service. We were moving in a few weeks and it wasn't worth it to have it set up again until we moved to our new place (only a block away from our old place.) In the process of moving we went on two trips, and the internet people kept putting us off for a month. So I've finally caught up on a few posts.

California - Funderland

2011-07-27T21:03:00.002-07:00

While we were in California, we spent one day in downtown Sacramento at Funderland. It is a small theme park for kids 2-12. It was a little chilly and rained on and off throughout the day, but we all had a great time.

Hazel loved the rides, but also loved spending time with her cousin Jon.

Since I was pregnant I couldn't go on the rides with Hazel, but Brendan sure had a blast. Hazel is shown at the beginning of the roller coaster with her hands up, but as soon as it took off she was frightened.

My dad, Hazel. my sister Paige, and her son Lewis.

California - Pool Party

2011-07-27T21:03:00.001-07:00

For my Grandpa Hollingsworth's 80th birthday, my aunt Holly had a BBQ and pool party. My whole family came into town, except for Blake, who is on a mission. It was a fun get together with lots of wonderful food. My aunt Roxanne also came from Oregon, and it was great to see her.

Hazel enjoyed the water, especially the slide. The bottom left corner is my mom and sisters except one. The top right is my mom and nephew.

We had some great canon ball and diving contests.

The top left is my dad with his two sisters and his parents. The top right is my sister Brook and her daughter Rivers. The bottom left is my niece and nephew, and the bottom right is my aunt Holly with my youngest sisters Holly and Ivy.

Hazel turned 2

2011-07-27T21:03:00.000-07:00

We came back from Canada the day of Hazel's birthday, so we had to celebrate it a few days later. I made a layered vanilla cake with lemon curd and strawberries and a pink whipped cream frosting.

Hazel was ready to open her gifts and we told her to wait a minute while Brendan got the video camera, and she stopped and folded her arms.

Canada

2011-07-27T21:02:00.000-07:00

In May Brendan's brother, Christopher, got married in the Cardston temple. We took a two week trip to attend the wedding and spend time with family. Unfortunately the weather was really cold. It rained almost everyday, except the day of the wedding, and even snowed one day. After the wedding festivities were over, we headed to Banff National Park for 5 days. We couldn't really enjoy the outdoors because of the in between weather. It wasn't the middle of winter with all of the snow activities, and it wasn't nice and sunny to take a hike and have a picnic. Most of the time we drove in the car and got out just to take pictures. It was nice to come back to the states where everything is so much cheaper. Gas was $5 a gallon, and I couldn't believe the price of groceries. A container of Breyers ice cream was $8.

(I'm not looking my best in the photos. Being 7 months pregnant with braces is not the best combination.)

Two days before the wedding, we spent some time with Brendan's grandpa and Christopher in Waterton Lakes National Park.

At the wedding dinner with Hazel.

I was a bridesmaid along with Brianna's sisters and Brendan's sister Taryn. I made my maternity skirt myself with a little help from my friend Diana.

The reception was at Brianna's parent's high rise condo in downtown Calgary. The view was beautiful.

Brendan and Hazel are in front of the Banff Springs Hotel.

I didn't get a good photo of the hotel myself, but here is one. The hotel is very old, but beautiful inside. Photo from here

We are in front of Lake Louise, but as you can see it is still really icy.

Here is a picture of The Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise in the summer. Picture from here

2011-07-26T10:20:00.000-07:00

Hattie Joy

Baby Rowland #2

2011-07-21T16:21:00.000-07:00

Baby Rowland was born on July 15th at 9:10 a.m. She weighed 6 lbs 11 oz and is 20 1/4 inches long. She doesn't have a name yet because Brendan is having a hard time deciding. I've given him lots of options, but he has some kind of association with every name. I've been waiting for her to have a name before I posted pictures, but everyone keeps asking what she looks like. I'm not sure who she looks like, and she doesn't have nearly as much hair as Hazel did, but of course we think she's cute. I'll be sure to give an update when Brendan has decided on a name.

Happy Easter

2011-04-27T21:04:00.000-07:00

We did a little Easter egg hunt for Hazel up at Brendan's parent's house before dinner. Brendan's brother, Christopher, and his fiancée were there, along with Bruce and Whitney. Brendan's dad made a nice lamb dinner that we all enjoyed. I was hoping to get a picture of Brendan and I, and not just Hazel, but it didn't end up happening. Maybe another time.

When I asked Hazel to smile for me this is what I got.

Toddler Trouble

2011-04-13T18:37:00.000-07:00

(Hazel loves to watch the birds on the side of our house, but they always fly away from her. She of course will then proceed to climb up the steep hill, which usually results in her rolling down in the dirt. She also enjoys collecting rocks in her bucket.)

As cute as she can be, Hazel is wearing me out lately. Her personality and independence are really starting to show through. She doesn't like to put on clothes I pick out, unless they are new, and then she gets excited. She always wants to wear sandals when it's snowing, or crazy pants that don't match.

Just a few weeks ago she loved baths. She hates baths and me brushing her hair. Her hair always has a big rats nest in the morning, and she is constantly getting food and sticky stuff in her hair, but I can't brush it unless I somehow distract her.

Getting out of the house before noon looking decent, is a difficult task to accomplish. It takes a lot of time and planning.

Her favorite phrases these days are "I want this" or "I need this."

The weather has warmed up and I've been taking her on walks or to the park, but as soon as something doesn't go her way or we have to leave she is throwing the most embarrassing fit.

Hazel used to bring us a diaper and wipes when she needed to be changed, but lately she is taking the diaper off herself, which can be very disastrous. One day she even managed to take her diaper off while wearing a onesie, and the onesie was still snapped up with skid marks on the back.

Naps and bedtime are the worst. The past two days I've had her skip her naps and we were able to put her to bed by 9 p.m. which was better than 12 a.m.

Everything seems to be a battle with her all day long, except for food. I have to say she is an excellent eater. She will eat anything. So far the only thing she says no to are apples.

Of course she isn't trouble all day long. This morning she was pretending to leave in her play car and she yelled, "Bye, see you yater" and then she came over and gave me a kiss and said, "I wuv you."

As troublesome as she can be, we still love her!

Christopher + Brianna

2011-04-07T23:06:00.000-07:00

Brendan's brother, Christopher, is getting married in Canada in May and asked me to take their engagement photos. We went to Utah lake and also Wheeler's Farm in Salt Lake. It was a lot of fun, and I think they look great together!

Visiting Cousins

2011-03-27T16:20:00.000-07:00

My sister and her family are moving back to Boise from Sandpoint, ID. Hazel and I flew up to help babysit for a few days while my sister and her husband flew down to Boise to look for a house to rent. The weather was still really cold up there, so we were in the house most of the time, but one day we went out and took some pictures.

I didn't bring a rain jacket or boots for Hazel, and all of her pants happened to be dirty when they wanted to go outside. Luckily they had extra boots and a jacket, and they put some of John's sweatpants on her. As crazy as her outfit looks, she had a good time with the kids. Hazel loved having four playmates all the time, even though they were all older than her. Now that they are moving closer, we can hopefully see them a lot more often!

Bishop Family Photos

2011-03-27T16:19:00.000-07:00

My friend, Tabitha, asked me to take her family's photos, because they were coming into town from California for a wedding. I've only taken pictures of little kids, so posing a large group was new to me. It's was kind of an ugly time, because everything was brown, so we decided to go to downtown Provo for the pictures. I had a fun time, and I think the pictures turned out well. Here are a few from the shoot.

Valentine's Day

2011-02-14T11:43:00.000-08:00

Hazel loves to dress up, especially in her pink pettiskirt. She puts it on everyday over her regular clothes. I love girly outfits and bows, so it's great we're having another baby girl. My due date is July 26th, and we're super excited!

The Photographer

2011-02-08T18:15:00.000-08:00

Brendan used his headlamp the other night for something and left it out, and Hazel got a hold of it. I just thought she liked it because she knew it was a light. Today I found her with it again around her neck. I was reading a book not really paying attention and looked over to see her lay down her doll and act like she was taking a picture of it. She even pressed the button on the top and made a noise. It's funny to see what she comes up with everyday.

Hazel's Dance Moves

2011-02-08T18:14:00.000-08:00

Hazel likes to dance, but she also loves to look at herself in the mirror. We have photo booth on our computer where she can see herself as it films, and she loves it. I couldn't stop laughing on the first video because it looks like she is trying to follow a workout video or something with her arms. I like in the second video how she starts to twirl but doesn't want to stop looking at herself. The chair she is on is a spinning chair so she has to try and keep her balance too. You probably won't think these are as funny as I did, but that's probably because she's my child.

Favorite Toy

2011-02-07T15:24:00.001-08:00

For Christmas, we had a custom built kitchen made for Hazel. I had seen this cute kitchen on a blog and loved it. It had do-it-yourself instructions, so Brendan and I were going to build it ourselves. We kind of ran out of time, and Brendan's dad suggested we have their cabinet builder build it. It was nice because we just showed him a few pictures of how we wanted it to look and gave him our own dimensions. I wanted it be a little taller than most kitchens, so older kids could use it too. Brendan painted it, and we put the handles, knobs, sink, faucet, and burners on ourselves. I finally got around to sewing the curtain and hand towel this past week. I received a sewing machine for Christmas, and this was my first project. I liked how this kitchen had rounded edges and shelves on the end, and I liked the color and knobs of this kitchen from Blue Eyed Yonder who makes and sells them in her etsy shop. If you go to this site you can see lots of other cute kitchens.

Hazel plays with this all day long. It's funny to see her mimic me. I watched her pretend to wash her hands in the sink and then dry her hands off. Instead of using the hand towel, she just wipes them on the curtain. Just today I saw her sticking her play food and pans in the oven and shutting the door and then she would sit and watch the food through the glass. It's funny because that's what Brendan usually does with her when we put something like cookies in the oven. They will sit with the oven light on and watch them bake.

Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

2011-02-07T15:24:00.000-08:00

A few weeks ago I was looking for a new chocolate chip cookie recipe, and I found this recipe on a blog. I love how big they are, and they are soft and chewy. The recipe calls for 2 cups of chocolate chips, but I only put in 1 1/2 cups and that is plenty. This last time I made them I didn't have any semi sweet chocolate chips, so I used extra dark 63% cacao and they are delicious if you love chocolate. Try them out!

Just for Fun

2011-01-17T17:02:00.001-08:00

For Christmas Brendan bought me some new photography stuff that I finally tried out. I mainly like to use natural light, but there isn't much sunlight these days, so Brendan bought me some supplemental lights to use with natural light. We started a little late and didn't have much natural light at all, so not much turned out, butI Hazel still looked cute!

Snow Fun

2011-01-17T17:02:00.000-08:00

A few days after Christmas, we headed up the canyon with Brendan's family to stay at their cabin for a few days. There wasn't very much snow the first day, but when we woke up the next morning it was a winter wonderland. We had fun sledding and snowmobiling with Hazel.

New Callings

2011-01-17T17:01:00.000-08:00

Brendan and I finished out our calling on the activities committee with our ward Christmas party. We had a nice catered dinner with some entertainment, and Santa even showed up. We did have a few problems with the food being late, and some stereo equipment breaking, but it turned out well in the end.

Brendan has been an Elder's Quorum teacher for a while, but he was just given a second calling as the 11 year old scout leader. My new calling is gospel doctrine teacher. Talk about stressful, especially when I have religion professors in my ward. We have two gospel doctrine classes and some of the other teachers include a professor and temple sealer, a former stake president, and the Bishop's wife who is a lawyer and gives very good lessons. Hopefully I can measure up.

Sawyer is 1!

2010-12-11T13:48:00.000-08:00

Sawyer's long curls are gone, and he looks so grown up. I took some pictures of Sawyer at his house the other day, and it's very hard for me to take indoor photos with natural light. I'm working on it though.

Looks just like his dad in this one.

Thanksgiving in California

2010-12-10T21:10:00.000-08:00

We had planned to go to California to visit my family for Thanksgiving, but we heard of the big blizzard that was coming and decided not to go. Brendan's dad offered us his truck to use, so at the last minute we decided to go and try and beat the storm. It took us 11 hours to get to Reno, and then we stayed in a hotel. The next morning we finished our drive from Reno to Orangevale in 5 hours. It usually only takes 2 hours from Reno, but there was traffic slowing us down, not the snow. We had told my family we weren't coming, so it was quite a surprise when we all showed up.

We stopped in Truckee, and Bruce and Brendan took turns filling the truck with snow. We had a snowball fight when we arrived home.

The day before Thanksgiving, we attended the 24th annual Fox Family Turkey Skate. Every year we rent out a roller rink with all of our relatives. Even my 84 year old Grandpa Haag was skating.

A few of my family members on Thanksgiving day. Four siblings weren't able to make it.

We went to San Francisco the day after Thanksgiving, which is a nightmare for shopping of course. We met up with Brendan's uncle Pete for the lighting of the Macy's Christmas tree in Union Square.

My sisters, Breeze and Holly, came with us for the fun!

Pete took us out to eat at the hotel he works at on Nob Hill. It was delicious food and fun to catch up with Pete.

Smith Family

2010-10-31T22:40:00.000-07:00

I mentioned earlier that Hazel is the only model I have to practice my photography, and I end up taking a lot of pictures of her. My friend, Diana Smith, took me up on my offer to take some photos for her. Her baby Olivia is three months old and kind of at an in between stage. She isn't a newborn, so she doesn't fit in those small baskets asleep, and she can't sit up, but I still managed to get some cute shots of her. Her are just a few.

Towards the end she just wanted to fall asleep. Thanks Diana! It was a lot of fun!

Ward Halloween Party

2010-10-31T21:16:00.000-07:00

Brendan and I are on the activities committee in our ward, and we really enjoy it. On Friday night we had a Halloween party and chili cook off. It looked really nice in the end, but the pictures don't really do it justice. My tripod is broken, so I had to use my flash unfortunately. These are just some pictures while we were setting up, but we had the lights dimmed, with our fog machine going and Brendan had some cool Halloween tunes playing. People also brought their carved pumpkins for the centerpieces and to enter our pumpkin carving contest. We also had a costume parade and contest.

Brendan and I saw the striped and polka dot pumpkins on the Martha Stewart show and decided to give it a try. I thought they kind of turned out cute.

Brendan is setting up the speakers, and Hazel is tagging along.

Brendan and I made the tree by spray painting sticks and a pot. We hung garland and some ghost pops from it. We also made homemade rootbeer with dry ice in the cauldrons.

We downloaded and used this cute invitation from Shauna Younge posted on Twig and Thistle.

Urban Outfitters Sweater Girl

2010-10-25T10:32:00.000-07:00

(Photo taken from Urban Outfitters)

Many of you know that Brendan's family owns Campus Plaza Apartments, and I have the great job of being the pool cleaner. This morning Brendan's cousin called from New York to tell him that Urban Outfitters apparently had a photo shoot there and there were pictures of the Campus Plaza Pool in their catalog and on their website. Go here and here to see more pictures. I guess the photographer is a student at BYU and her clients are Urban Outfitters and Columbia Records. Good thing I've been keeping the pool grounds clean. Who would have thought our pool would get so much publicity?

Costumes

2010-10-22T15:11:00.001-07:00

I had been wanting to take some pictures of Hazel in her Halloween costume, so I invited my friend Tabitha and her son Sawyer to come along. Brendan's sister is also in town, so we invited her to bring Clara and Montgomery to add to the cuteness. It was a lot of fun, but it can be hard to get several kids to look at the camera. We had a strawberry, a monkey, a kangaroo, and Tinkerbell.

Sawyer

2010-10-22T15:11:00.000-07:00

While we were waiting for Brendan to get home from work and help us with the hay for our Halloween shoot, we walked to the duck pond and I snapped some pictures of Sawyer. Such a cutie!

Russian Friends

2010-10-20T00:17:00.000-07:00

Our friends, Daniel and Sasha, came and visited from Russia. Brendan has been friends with Daniel since his mission, and we met Sasha two years ago when Brendan and I visited Russia. Brendan met up with them in Las Vegas and drove them up here to hang out. We visited Sundance and also drove the Alpine loop. Sasha was able to attend his first American football game, and also visited Temple Square. It was a fun weekend!

Farm Fest

2010-10-19T22:34:00.000-07:00

On Saturday we went to a Farm Fest in Payson with Brendan's parents and his sister who is in town with her two kids. Grandma Rowland had some cowboy and cowgirl attire ready for the grandkids. It was kind of a small festival, but I think Hazel had fun riding the pony, feeding the animals, and going on a hayride. I managed to get a few cute pictures of Hazel and Montgomery, but not really any good ones of Clara. I will make sure and snap some more of her on our next outing. Hazel really likes having other kids to play with, so it has been fun having cousins in town.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cupcakes

2010-10-19T22:13:00.000-07:00

I made some pumpkin chocolate chip cupcakes with a maple cream cheese frosting today, and they were delicious. The recipe came from here, but I changed it a little. I added mini chocolate chips to the batter, and also changed the frosting a bit. I found the cute cupcake wrappers and picks at Smiths. If you like pumpkin chocolate chip cookies, then you will love these!

Fall is Here

2010-10-05T21:55:00.000-07:00

It was pretty warm most of September, and it hasn't felt like Fall, that is until yesterday. It felt like a nice crisp Fall day, perfect for walking weather. Brendan and I took Hazel out for a walk and ended up stuck in a storm. It started to pour on us and we found shelter under a small overhang of an apartment complex. We thought it would blow through, but we were under there for around 20 minutes as it became worse. Finally, Brendan had to run home in the rain and go get the car to come and pick us up. Of course it stopped shortly after and the sun came out again.

While Brendan was in Europe, he bought Hazel a few outfits from Zara Baby. They have the cutest baby clothes ever! I wish you could buy them online, but they only started offering online shopping last month for Europe only. With the cooler weather, Hazel was finally able to wear one of her outfits today. We walked up to BYU to visit my sister at work and bring her a treat. While on campus, a student wanted to give Hazel a balloon and she didn't mind.

Watching her balloon fly away.

Hazel loves to visit the duck pond frequently. One day Hazel wasn't throwing the bread fast enough and the ducks snatched them right out of her hands.

Brendan was listening to an audio book on his ipod for school, and Hazel wanted to listen. Brendan turned on some music for her, and she was loving it. Brendan put on some Bob Marley and told her what it was and she said, "Bob" and started to dance. The skeleton pajamas are from Grandma Rowland. They are a little big, but they're cute and they glow in the dark.

Magleby's Chocolate Cake

2010-10-05T21:54:00.000-07:00

I recently purchased a new cake platter, which gave me a good reason to make a cake. I love Magleby's chocolate cake, but have never attempted to make it. I found a copy cat recipe, but I had to double it to make it four layers. The cake turned out very moist and was delicious, but I didn't like the chocolate frosting recipe very much. Does anyone have a really fudgy chocolate buttercream recipe?

I also included a picture of my flowers. My brother is taking a floral design class at BYU right now, and the lab where he makes his flower arrangements is across the street from me. He delivered these to me with a nice note. I always wanted to take that class, but it was always full or didn't work with my schedule.

More of Hazel

2010-09-06T20:28:00.000-07:00

I found some cool colorful buildings in south Provo, so I went and took some pictures of Hazel. I know there are so many pictures of Hazel on my blog, but she is always with me and I'm trying to practice my photography. Anyone want some pictures taken?

Labor Day Weekend

2010-09-06T20:24:00.000-07:00

On Saturday we went up hiking on the Timpanogos trail, but didn't go to the top. We thought it would be a little too difficult with Hazel. She was fine for a while, but wanted to get out and walk a lot so we had to take a lot of breaks. It was a really pretty hike though.

After the hike, we made it home in time to shower and get ready for the game. Hazel didn't do very well in the stadium, because it was too tight of a space for her to hang out in. I spent most of the game outside on the grass chasing her around. On our ride home from the game, she fell sound asleep in her bike seat.

Today we went to Oktoberfest up at Snowbird resort. We ate a German meal and walked around to the booths. It was a beautiful day up there.

Brendan is Back!

2010-09-06T19:10:00.000-07:00

After three long weeks, Brendan returned from Europe.

He will post pictures soon.

Can't Wait

2010-09-02T19:08:00.000-07:00

The Art Weekend

Salt Lake City October 7-9

I'm attending this year! I heard about this last year, but I wasn't able to attend because of Hazel. I'm signed up for the tabletop photography class, the Illustrator 101 Basics, and Illustrator: Pretty Paper Products. Click here to find out all of the classes offered and the schedule. There are several other classes I would like to attend, but I can only leave Hazel with a sitter for so long. I would love to have someone come with me. Anyone interested?

Dad's Garden

2010-08-28T18:31:00.000-07:00

Since Brendan has been gone, I've been in charge of watering our little garden and our lawn and it has been hard work. Our fresh herbs, zucchini, and yellow squash have been doing very well, but our tomatoes aren't in abundance as I would like. As I was watering, I was thinking about my dad's wonderful garden back at home that he maintains year round. A month ago when I went home to visit, I took some pictures of my dad's garden and forgot to post them.

My dad has been growing a garden since all eleven of us kids can remember. Our grandpa also grows a garden and we always thought that was why our dad started, but we all just found out last month that my dad helped my grandpa get into gardening. When my dad was eighteen, a coworker introduced him to gardening and he has been doing it ever since. I'm not sure how it started, but my dad has been collecting little garden "knick knacks" I guess you would call them. He has been getting them as gifts for Father's Day, his birthday, and Christmas for a long time now. In fact, the black bird below was given to him by Brendan and I a few years ago. Going back to the tomatoes, I think this is the most I have ever seen growing in his garden. His tomato plants were nine feet high when I was home, but I've heard they've grown to eleven feet! He has rows of lots of different varieties. I'm not sure of everything he has growing now, but growing up he would grow potatoes, strawberries, carrots, peppers, zucchini, yellow squash, tomatoes, cucumbers, string beans, pumpkins, ochre, spinach, lettuce, sunflowers, broccoli, and cauliflower. I hope I can have a garden like that someday.

Sandpoint Fun

2010-08-28T14:12:00.000-07:00

Brendan is still away on his three week trip to Europe, but he will return on Monday. I decided to break up the three weeks by planning a week long trip in the middle up to my sister Dawn's house. She lives in Northern Idaho near Washington. Sandpoint, Idaho is a beautiful resort town with cool weather in the summer, so it was a refresher from the heat in Utah. Whitney came too.

My sister has four kids with a big playroom, so Hazel loved it! With all of the toys you would think Hazel and John (my two year old nephew) wouldn't have a problem finding their own toy to play with. Whatever toy Hazel had John had to have it too. A toy Hazel really liked was a cute little grocery cart. One day John not only took it from her, but he ran her over with it too. I wasn't there to witness it because I fell ill one day, but I was informed Whitney had never laughed so hard at the sight of it. One toy I might have to purchase for Hazel is the Little Tikes Coupe. She couldn't get enough of it, even though she can only walk backwards in it to get it to move.

Some activities we enjoyed during the week were: swimming and playing in the sand at the neighborhood beach, wakeboarding and wake surfing, a stop downtown to the Hey Cupcake shop to get huckleberry ice cream, blueberry picking, canning and jam making, and a bow holder project (pics coming soon.) Thanks Dawn! We had a great week!

Heartshop

2010-08-13T10:00:00.000-07:00

Back in June, friends of ours from yanphoto.com invited us to be models for their photography workshop called heartshop. There were about 20 photographers from all over the country who attended the workshop. We were photographed in a really cool natural light studio which was in downtown Provo. Here are just a few pictures from the shoot, and these pictures were done by Melissa Fullmer from Dallas, Texas. I actually broke the bed while jumping in the second shot, but I was told to jump. I kind of felt bad. It was fun to do, and I was able to pick up on a lot of photography tips while I was there.

Farewell

2010-08-11T23:21:00.000-07:00

My brother Blake entered the MTC today. These days you just drop the missionary off at the curb and drive away. It's pretty fast and painless. I'm sure I would have cried if we would have gone in and watched the regular movie. Everyone knows at the end they have the missionaries leave through the other door as you part your ways. Missions are great, but they can also be rough. I guess I better send him some same day mail tomorrow. I remember mail was always the best part of the day!

Family Reunion

2010-08-11T18:00:00.000-07:00

We went to Island Park, Idaho for Brendan's family reunion and just returned on Monday. Island Park is only 30 minutes from West Yellowstone Park. The cabins we stayed in were really nice, and the weather was perfect. It was a great place for a reunion.

Breakfast

2010-08-10T22:02:00.001-07:00

We had oatmeal for breakfast this morning. I usually feed Hazel myself if it requires a spoon, because I don't like messes, but Hazel kept trying to take the spoon from me. I finally gave in and let her go at it. Of course there was oatmeal everywhere, but she had a good time.

Sisters

2010-08-10T22:02:00.000-07:00

After spending a few days in California with my family, my sisters Breeze and Holly

drove back with us to Utah. We had a fun filled week. Our fun included:

mini golf

indie cars

xd theater

picnic up the canyon

alpine slide rides

shopping in park city

bowling

gelato

temple square

homemade lasagna noodles

swimming in the pool

sailing at the lake

movies

spoon it up frozen yogurt

magleby's at travani

homemade apricot jam

Humboldt, Nevada

2010-08-10T22:01:00.000-07:00

We drove to California a few weeks ago for my brother Blake's missionary farewell. On our drive out there, I just had to stop at this "special" spot and take a few pictures. When Brendan and I were dating, we drove out to San Francisco to meet up with a friend of Brendan's who was in town from Russia. We were also going to stop and visit my family in Sacramento on our way out there. This was Brendan's first time driving to Northern California from Utah. Brendan pretended to have some car trouble in the middle of nowhere and pulled off at this Humboldt exit on the side of the road. To make a long story short, he had me get out of the car to check some things out and proposed to me. I did say yes, but was a little shocked at his location for such a proposal. Anyone who knows Brendan knows he's pretty creative and romantic, so it wasn't exactly what I had expected. Especially since it was the day after Valentine's day and we were headed to a pretty romantic city the next day. Later, when I asked why he chose such a spot he told me that in the future whenever we would drive out to visit my family we could tell the kids that's where Dad and Mom got engaged.

So on our drive out to visit my family I just had to stop and show Hazel where Mom and Dad got engaged.

Ice Cream Cake and Cupcakes

2010-07-22T13:39:00.000-07:00

I mentioned in an earlier post that my family grew up having Baskin Robbins ice cream cakes for our birthdays. Last week was my brother Bruce's birthday, so I decided to make a homemade oreo fudge ice cream cake. I was surprised at how easy it was, and it tasted great.

Speaking of Bruce, he had to do a process paper for his English class and decided to do strawberry cupcakes. I photographed the process for him and he made a book. It was a lot of fun to practice taking pictures, and the book turned out great. I think it was an A project for sure. Here are some photos I liked.

We couldn't leave Hazel out of the book. She was Part 4: Enjoy!

And this was just a cute picture I took at Bruce's house of Hazel that I really liked.

Family Pictures

2010-07-12T10:05:00.000-07:00

Last week we had pictures taken. They were supposed to be around Hazel's birthday for her one year old pictures, but we decided to wait so our friend Katie, who lives in Ohio, would be able to be in town to take them. She is an excellent photographer and did a great job. I'll post some later, but for now you can view some of them on her blog.

Deer Creek

2010-07-12T09:58:00.000-07:00

On Saturday we went sailing at Deer Creek with Whitney, Bruce, and his roommate Andy. Hazel loved the water and kept walking down to the beach to get in even though it was a little cold. I'll have to remember to bring her sand toys next time, because she kept trying to take the other kids shovels and buckets. With the weather continuing to be so hot, we'll have to go back again soon.

Independence Day Weekend

2010-07-08T09:18:00.000-07:00

Saturday: Woke up really early to run the Freedom

Half Marathon in Salt Lake and made my goal

of running it in under 2 hours, took a nap,

attended the Stadium of Fire.

Sunday: Went to church, had a family BBQ with

great food, attended a non-secular patriotic

observance at the Scera Shell.

Monday: Rode to the Grand Parade on our patriotic

tandem, walked around the Freedom Festival

and met up with my sister and her five kids,

took a nap, went sailing.

4th of July Dessert

2010-07-01T20:28:00.000-07:00

My sister needs a 4th of July dessert on Sunday, so I

was practicing with these mini cheesecakes. I thought they turned out really

well, and they were super easy to make. I got the idea

from this website, but I altered the

cheesecake recipe.

New Lens

2010-06-30T13:15:00.000-07:00

For our anniversary Brendan bought me a new lens. It's the Canon EF24 - 70MM F/2.8L. I've been enjoying photography, but there is a lot to learn. With my new lens you are supposed to be able to get crystal clear images, but I'm still working on that. Any tips from photographers would be appreciated.

Hazel's hair has been getting longer, so I put her hair in pigtails for the first time yesterday. I remembered seeing some pretty places to take pictures on my run up the canyon the other day, so I took Hazel over to practice using my lens. She looks so grown up. As Hazel was wandering the halls at church on Sunday, two people asked me when she was going into nursery. She still has another five months.

Best Yet

2010-06-30T13:05:00.000-07:00

I know we've only had three, but this was the best anniversary yet. I love gerber daisies, so Brendan gave me three gerber daisies for three years. Last year he gave me two, so I'm assuming he'll continue this through the years. Look at the cute flower on top of my present. Brendan made it, and I was pretty impressed with how creative he was. He even sewed those buttons on top.

Brendan and I stayed at the Marriott Mountainside at the Park City Resort from Wednesday to Friday. On Thursday Brendan's mom came up and stayed in our hotel room (which was as big as our house) with Hazel while we went and played. We got all day passes to the park which included the zip line, alpine coaster, and alpine slides. I think the alpine coaster was my favorite. Here is a video of us on the zip line. You soar up to 45 mph.

3 Years

2010-06-23T09:03:00.000-07:00

Las Vegas, Cedar City, and Provo

2010-06-23T09:02:00.000-07:00

My niece was baptized this past weekend in Cedar City. Brendan and I decided to make it into a weekend trip and went down earlier. We drove to Las Vegas on Thursday morning and went shopping and out to eat. My mom and four siblings drove down from Sacramento and met up with us in Vegas. On Friday we went to Hoover Dam and took a tour. It was my first time there, and I thought it was pretty cool. Saturday after the baptism, we all drove back to Provo. On Sunday after church my family drove back to Sacramento. It was a pretty exhausting weekend, but it was fun to be with family.

My family in front of the new bridge at Hoover Dam.

We stayed at a resort in Las Vegas that had some really nice pools, including a lazy river, but we only got to enjoy them briefly in the evenings. We were hoping to get some nice tans, but we were just too busy.

We all went up to the Y mountain.

I Scream, You Scream, We all Scream for Ice Cream!

2010-06-15T15:20:00.002-07:00

We threw a birthday party for Hazel at the park with friends and family. It was on the same day as my sister Whitney's birthday, so we had a celebration for both. We had a BBQ and ice cream sundae bar, and played lawn games like ladder ball and badminton. (Sorry the last two photos are not very clear, but I wanted to include some of the guests.)

Happy 1st Birthday Hazel!

2010-06-15T15:20:00.001-07:00

Hazel turned one on May 29th! We were supposed to have her birthday party that day, but the weather was cold and rainy so we rescheduled it a week later. The day of her birthday we threw a little family party. Brendan's parents gave her some cute gifts including the cute wooden rocking moose in the first picture. She loved it! She also had a Baskin Robbins ice cream cake. It is kind of a tradition in my family to get an ice cream cake. I actually made her a cute pink cake a few days before as practice for her cake smash at her party, but I didn't get any pictures of it.

12 Month Stats

2010-06-15T15:20:00.000-07:00

Hazel had her doctor's appointment and is doing well. I guess she is tall and thin with a normal head.

Height: 31 inches 95th percentile
Weight: 19 lbs. 17 oz. 25th percentile
Head: 45 cm 50th percentile

Spring

2010-05-25T23:57:00.000-07:00

In comparison to yesterdays Spring snow storm, the weather was really nice today. While Hazel and I were waiting for Brendan to come home, we went out front and took some pictures in the BYU terraced garden. Hazel really wanted to wear my necklace.

Summer Riding

2010-04-28T17:07:00.000-07:00

Almost four years ago while Brendan and I were dating, he purchased a tandem bike for us. We love it and have gotten a lot of use out of it, but last summer we were not able to use it with Hazel. This year we replaced the front basket for a baby seat, and are now ready for lots of summer riding.

These pictures were taken before we started our bike ride where Hazel was so happy she was clapping. She hadn't had a nap and became super tired in the middle of our ride. She fell asleep with her heavy helmet bobbing, and I had to stop and take her out and walk her home in my arms asleep.

The Nanny is Moving Out

2010-04-28T16:19:00.000-07:00

My sister Whitney recently returned from her mission and moved out here to Utah. After five weeks of staying with us, she has now moved out and started her Spring semester classes. It was a lot of fun to have her with us, and Hazel loved her. Hazel is very selective with people she meets, so it was wonderful that Hazel and Whitney got along so well. We usually can't leave her, but we were able to go run errands and leave her with Whit. If anyone has ever been to our small house you are probably wondering where Whit stayed. She occupied a corner of our living room and was given a closet for her clothes, but of course that wasn't much space. Whitney's corner became Hazel's playground. A few of her favorite items were Whitney's stationary, necklaces, shoes, and her toothbrush that she used as a hairbrush.

Hazel looking innocent after breaking some of Whitney's necklaces.

A little excited when she was caught brushing her hair.

Spring Break

2010-03-30T11:36:00.000-07:00

Brendan had Spring break last week, so we went to Moab with his family to enjoy some warm weather. Unfortunately the weather was not warm. It was very windy, and it rained a lot in town. We were staying at a cabin 13 miles from town in the La Sal mountains, so we had snow. The 13 mile road that led to the cabin was a dirt road with a lot of mud. We had to park our cars and all pile into Brendan's parent's truck in order to make it to the cabin, and even then it was a very rough ride. When the weather cleared up we were able to go out hiking.

Brendan and I at Dead Horse Point.

We hiked in Arches National Park.

Hazel and I in Wild Horse Canyon.

We bought a backpack carrier for Hazel, and she loved it! She was so tired in this picture that she fell asleep shortly after.

Brendan's uncle Pete with Hazel in Goblin Valley. Before this trip Hazel only liked two males, Brendan and my brother Bruce. She now likes Pete too.

The cabin that we stayed in after most of the snow had melted.

9 Month Stats

2010-03-30T11:19:00.000-07:00

Hazel is now 10 months old, so Im a little late on her update.

Height: 29 1/8 inches 90th Percentile

Weight: 18 lbs. 3 0z. 50th Percentile

Head: 44 cm. 50th Percentile

California

2010-03-30T10:51:00.001-07:00

My sister Whitney came home from her mission in February, so Hazel and I flew home to be there when she got off the plane. We were in town for two weeks and had a lot of fun.

Whit at the airport with our nieces and nephews.

I took my younger siblings to San Francisco for a day, and the weather was cold and rainy. We went to Ghirardelli Square for ice cream sundaes. We also drove to Half Moon Bay and the sun started to come out. It was a very pretty drive.

I like this picture because Whit is the only one in the air. Every time we tried to get a picture with everyone jumping in the air together, Whit was always a little behind.

We drove over the Golden Gate Bridge and it was pouring, but we decided it would be fun to get a picture. Poor Hazel was soaked.

Hazel's Photoshoot

2010-02-14T18:20:00.000-08:00

Orange County

2010-01-10T23:05:00.000-08:00

We drove up to Orange County from San Diego. Brendan's uncle and cousin live in Aliso Viejo, and we stayed with them for two days. We went to Laguna Beach to eat, and we went shopping at Irvine Spectrum.

We went out to eat and Hazel loved sucking on this pickle. She also liked sucking on lemons without even making a sour face.

Shopping with Brendan's cousin Lexie.

La Jolla

2010-01-10T20:55:00.000-08:00

While in San Diego, the weather was in the mid 70's most of the time and even hit 80 one day. We even had to use the air conditioning. It was a nice getaway considering the weather in Provo had been below freezing. With such warm weather we had to hit the beach.