Happy Easter

 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

(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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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!