Christmas #1

We had a great Christmas at the Brining's house the weekend before Christmas. The Hamilton family had a bit of a crazy drive up to Huron County with the bad weather and we are so thankful they made it safely. Everyone had a wonderful time opening gifts, eating lots of delicious food, winning some money during the box game :), and the girls had a blast playing all evening. Thanks for another great Christmas Grammy and Papa!

All the granddaughters!  They have so much fun together!

Doc McStuffins puzzle!

I love how all the other girls are just sitting in anticipation for Hazel to climb into her chair!

Kissin' the baby

Emma and Norah with their new dolls

We exchanged names for the girls this year and so each cousin had to buy for another one of their cousins.  Emma had Norah and got her a HUGE Doc McStuffins coloring book, stickers and crayons.  Norah loved it!

Blowing off a little steam outside after gifts!

Snow Happy!

Norah is at the age now where she is so much more independent, which is nice because when she wants to go out and play in the snow Mommy and Daddy can stay inside and stay warm! :) Poor Hazel, however, gets stuck inside with us, but she has so much fun watching her big Sissy out the back door. Norah is so good about entertaining her by the window too!

FINALLY!

I cannot believe I have been away from my blog for this long. I don't think I have EVER been away from my blog this long. I just can't seem to find time to keep up, so here I am at 11:00pm, watching MSU basketball (losing to N. Carolina :( ), and trying to catch up on my blog (and yes, this was a couple days ago because I got too tired that night to finish this loooonnggg post!). I was so sad when I looked at the top of my blog and realized I didn't even take time during the month of November to change my header, it just stayed on October. Life has proven to be very busy lately and I guess if something had to give it was the blog. But......WE ARE BACK! At least for one post!!! :) We have had so much go on since October, so I think I will just caption under each picture below so I don't have a gigantic paragraph for everyone to read. Enjoy catching up with the Brining household!

The weekend before Halloween we headed to the Detroit Zoo for their Zoo Boo with Uncle Jimmy, Aunt Erin, and Thatcher.  It was a little bit of a chilly day, but everyone had a great time.  We had never been before, so I didn't know what to expect.  The kids walk through the zoo and basically go trick-or-treating.  Every so often there would be a 'treat station' you would walk through and get your candy.  Norah was so cute because after we had called them treat stations a few times she said, "No Mama, it's called a gas station." 

Hazel, I mean our Very Hungry Caterpillar, all snuggled up and ready for the Zoo Boo!

Our little butterfly posing with the pumpkin flamingos!

Halloween night ended up being a really yucky night, just like last year.  We made our way out to Grammy and Papa's house first and loaded up with goodies.  

I feel like the worst mother ever because the picture above is literally the only picture (once again) that I got of Hazel on Halloween.  Last year I didn't get any pictures of her.  What is wrong with me?  We dropped her off at my parent's house so we could take Norah on the wet, soggy walk to go trick-or-treating.  Hopefully next year I will finally get smart and take a picture as soon as we get to my parent's.  :(  Anyway, I LOVE this picture of Drew and Norah.  Too precious!

Trick-or-Treat Great Grandpa Baird!

She's such a poser!

I wanted to get some pictures of a typical night in our house after we get home from work and daycare.  We usually get home around 5:00pm and it is go, go, go until bedtime.  Both girls are generally starving when they get home, so Hazel gets right in her highchair and Norah sits up at the bar or table for a snack.  Once snack is over we play for a little bit, or Norah gets some down time with the iPad while Hazey plays and we get things unpacked from the day and dinner ready.  Hazel loves rocking in this chair in her bedroom. 

All the necessary things for happy girls...iPad, rocking chair, books, paci

Hazel just observing.  She wouldn't dare try to touch it while her sister is on it!

This girl loves her lambie!

Ever since Halloween the butterfly wings continue to be a necessity for dress up!  Even when we are outside kicking around the soccer ball.

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving at the Brining house this year.  It was so great to have everyone home and we are so glad we got another family picture.  The last time we had one taken can be seen here.  Norah was only a little over one, so there was no Hazey.  It is amazing to see how all of the girls have grown!  

Papa, Grammy and all seven girls!  All seven girls had a sleepover on Thursday night at Grammy and Papa's.  I just love all the memories they get to make together!  

Norah and Emma were the official 'cranberry, jello-thingy, sugar rollers'.  I think that is what you would call them.  Anyway, they were pros at it! :)

Crafting....making Christmas Trees 

On Saturday afternoon Norah and I headed to Longshot Lanes for Bryn's birthday.  We were able to bowl and entire 10 frames.  This was Norah's first time bowling.  She had a great time and I have to say, bowling shoes have never looked so cute!

Love this picture of the birthday girl!  Just waiting patiently for her ball to get to the end!

Bryn and Norah!  I am always so thankful when they get to see each other.  With Flanagans living in Florida, I never take for granted the times they come back to Michigan.  It always gives us Mommies a chance to visit too!

Finally, we had our Baird Thanksgiving on Sunday evening.  Norah and Thatcher had fun playing with the Clydesdale horses at Grandpa and Gramma's!   

They even got in a few hugs!
What a great holiday week we had!  We did have two very exhausted girls after all of this activity and I have to say, dinner on Monday night was quite comical!  Two screaming girls who just simply couldn't take anymore.  They were both in bed and sleeping by 7:15pm.  Much needed!
Now on to Christmas!

Birthday Party

Hazel had her first birthday party a couple weekends ago and we had a blast. We ended up having her party at a restaurant instead of our house just because we figured it would be more comfortable with more space and we weren't sure what the weather was going to do, so we didn't want to rely on that and plan an outdoor party. We are so glad everyone was able to join us to celebrate this big day. We are still just amazed that an entire year has passed already. We have Hazel's one year checkup this Friday, so I will update you with stats after that, but for now here are a few things about Hazel at age ONE:

• she loves food; all food......well, most food.  She still isn't in to chicken very much, but she loves casseroles, squeeze applesauce, drinkable yogurt, mandarin oranges, cheerios, raisins, mac and cheese, cheese, cheese and more cheese, and she has gotten several tastes of ice cream now and I think she is in love.  We even handed her a Popsicle the other day and let her go to town.  She LOVED it!  However, my pet peeve of hers when she is in her high chair is she loves to throw everything on the floor.....ggrrrrrrr!  The mess mat is always down or her high chair is on the kitchen floor so it is easier to clean up.  We usually end up having to do bath night every night too, because someone insists on running her fingers through her hair after she has food all over her hands.  Stinker!
• she is movin' and groovin' now; she can walk behind her shopping cart or behind any other push toy.  Her ankles are rolling in (pronating) like Norah's did, but not quite as bad, so we will see if we are on the road to braces or just supportive shoes and arch supports for her shoes
• when you say, "I love you" she leans in for a kiss.....an open mouth kiss!  She is such a snuggle bug.  She likes snuggling before bed and she snuggles in the morning when she wakes up.  
• she is completely done with bottles.  I was a little worried the first couple of weeks after she turned one because that was always my goal, to be done with bottles at one.  We were done with Norah at one and so I wanted to be done with Hazel at one.  It took her a couple of weeks, but she quickly realized she was going to get the same drink out of a sippy cup and so now we are bubba free!  My counter is so bare without the drying rack and bottle pieces all over the place!
• one of her favorite things to say is "uh-oh"!
• she loves her lambie and froggie; she usually only gets these in her crib, but sometimes lambie finds himself in the living room in the morning if we are having a sleepy morning.
• she is really good at climbing stairs.......we found this out in a hurry!!!!!

We love our little Hazey!!!!!

Uncle Jimmy, Aunt Erin, Thatcher and Norah checking out the kids' craft table

All the girls working on their Very Hungry Caterpillar necklaces

Grandma, Hazel and Grammy

Lilly, Audrey and Norah
Notice Norah's outfit in this picture?  In the next few pictures you will notice an outfit change.  Norah decided to make Hazel's party the place where she threw up for the first time!  It sure did make things interesting for a minute, but I think with all the excitement and the caterpillar food ~aka~ candy she ate, it made her tummy a little upset.  Good thing I brought a change of clothes (which were originally in case we had a tinkle accident ;) ).  All was good after that and she was back to her sweet self the rest of the party!

PRESENTS!

Sissy helping blow out the candle!

"Ummmm.....guys....I'm pretty sure I spotted some cake over there!"

Big Helper

Happy birthday sweet Hazey Bug!  We love you so much!!!!!