Big Girls

We have a couple of big girls on our hands. Norah did something very 'big girl' last weekend. She gave up her paci!!!! We prepared her the whole week before and told her how she is a big girl now, not a baby like Hazel, and she didn't need her paci anymore. I had gotten the idea from my sister-in-law to pack up Norah's paci's and take them to the store to trade them for a toy. I told her all week we were going to take them to the store and she could pick out an extra special toy and trade her paci's for a toy. The big day finally rolled around, so after her nap we packed up all of her paci's (yes, I kept one just in case of a major catastrophe ;) ), put them in a ziploc baggie and headed to the store. Everything went exactly as planned. She picked out a Rapunzel doll with color changing hair. We put her in the cart and headed to the checkout! I whispered to the clerk, "Please just play along with us!". Luckily, she was a mom herself and totally understood what was going on. Norah handed over her paci's to purchase the doll, we paid for some diapers and we were on our way. That was it! She has happily been brushing Rapunzel's hair since and has only asked for her paci twice maybe. We just remind her she traded them at the store and the nice lady was going to give them to the next baby that came and needed them....and that seems to distract her enough and on we go! She is still sleeping great without them and everything! Such a big girl! Our other big girl news is that Hazel has been sleeping in her big girl crib for the past few nights!!! We finally decided to move her out of the bedroom because I am going back to work soon and Hazel seems to be one that likes a little more peace and quiet, so we figured she would love her crib. And boy does she! The first night she slept from 11pm to 7am with no wake ups. The next night she slept from 9pm to 3:30am, ate and went back to bed until about 8:30am. Now, don't let me fool you, she is still going through her fussy periods at night, but not nearly as bad as the first 6 weeks (knock on wood)! We are proud of both of our girls!!

Had to share these glow stick pictures!  This is our new 'thing'.  Glow sticks in the bathtub.  I don't know who likes it more, Norah or Mommy!

Good thing she can't read yet!  Some day she will though....boy, am I gonna be in trouble! :)

Big girl ready to head to the store!

This is the best 'after the paci trade off' picture I could get with Rapunzel.  She was too busy changing her hair color with the magic wand!

Hazel waking up in her big girl bed!  Happy girl!  Click here to see a picture of Norah when she woke up one morning at 8:30am in her big girl bed!

Trick or Treat

We had a wonderful Halloween this year! We just wish the weather would have cooperated a little more, but we still had fun!

A couple days before Halloween we spent the day baking goodies for Norah's daycare party.  She did a fantastic job helping unwrap the Hershey Kisses for our witches' hats.

What a great helper!

Pretty sure this is the only reason she was so enthusiastic about helping out.  Unwrap one Hershey Kiss, eat one Hershey Kiss, unwrap a Hershey Kiss, eat a Hershey Kiss....you get the idea!

I didn't want Norah to wear her Peacock costume to daycare because I was worried her feathers would get ruined.  So, we had the perfect solution!  She wore her little ballerina outfit instead!!!!!  And what a cute Ballerina she made!

Here are a few more snapshots of our evening.  Here is the one thing I realized after all this.  See that picture with Hazel and my Grandpa up above?  That is the only picture I got of Hazel this Halloween.  How horrible am I?  I was so caught up in the excitement of Norah and her actually being able to go house to house this year that I forgot to snap a couple pics of Hazel.  She was inside most of the night anyway because of the weather and I got those pics of her about two weeks ago in her costume, so those will have to do.  I promise Hazel, Mommy won't forget about you during the next holiday!  We hope everyone had a safe and fun Halloween!

Happy Halloween

Fall Fun

We have been enjoying the mild fall weather so far and have taken full advantage of being outside. We painted some pumpkins this year, instead of carving them! We also headed outside to jump and play in the leaves. One of Norah's favorite books right now is a Clifford book where his friends, Cleo and T-Bone, and him gather leaves and jump into the piles. Norah thought this was pretty cool that she got to do the same thing as her favorite characters! This nice weather is supposed to stick around for a little bit longer, so hopefully we can get in a few more fun fall activities before the snow starts to fly!

This year we used painter's tape and made the girls' initials on the pumpkins!  Then, Norah painted the pumpkins, we removed the tape, and voila....pumpkins with an 'N' and an 'H'. 

Taking the plunge!

Sisterly love!!!

Hazel's first leaf pile experience!

Our precious girls!
Happy Fall Everyone!!!

First Photo Shoot

Hazel's first photo shoot. There are a few more I took, but those are being saved for her birth announcement! And I am sure this is only the first of many photo shoots! Now my goal is to have a little shoot with Hazel and big sis, Norah!

Hazel Gloria is here!!!!

Sorry this update has taken so long. Life has seemed to become a little more hectic all of a sudden!!! In a good way!!! Hazel Gloria made her big arrival on September 26th at 4:19 in the afternoon. We arrived at the hospital at 6:30am that morning because I was scheduled to be induced. Hazel was five days overdue, so our Dr. felt it was time to help her out! I started Petocin at about 8:00am, my water was broke at 12:30pm, and Hazel arrived after two pushes (that's right, two pushes....believe me, we couldn't believe it either) at 4:19pm. We feel so extremely blessed to have another beautiful daughter. We know Norah and Hazel are going to be the best of friends! Thank you also to everyone who visited us in the hospital, at home and provided us with food and gifts. We are so blessed to have all of you in our lives and our girls are lucky to have all of you surrounding them!

Last night as an only child......tomorrow she becomes a big sister!!!!

Hazel Gloria
Born at 4:19pm, 8 lbs. 13oz., 21in. long

Norah opening her gift from Hazel and Hazel getting her first bubba!

Daddy and his girls

Such a proud big sissy!

My view from the couch

Feeding time!

Norah doing what she does best.....reading!  Now she has a partner in crime to read with!