Oops

It's been a year. But now that I have an iPhone and this awesome app, maybe I'll post some more!

Hi

I should update my blog...

More pictures of Hazel

So I spent most of my time "blogging" fixing up my blog and making sure I had everyone's blog addresses correct. Some people went to private blogs and I still need to move them to the Private Blog section, but then I decided I should scrapbook Hazel's 13 and 14 month old pages.

Every month since she's been born, I have taken a picture on or around the 19th. If all I do is scrapbook those pictures on one 4x6 page, I feel successful. Lindsay has caught up on her 2009 scrapbook (except for one event). I think I am still in February or March and here it is August 2010. Oops. Anyway, I print the pictures out at home on our printer and put them in a photo album. I think it will be so fun to look through it and see how she changes over the years. I hope to do this with all of my kids.

Well, here they are:

Isn't she freaking adorable?? Well, I think so. And so does her Daddy. Brody is oh, so proud of her for now signing Daddy. She will only sign Mommy on my face. Silly girl.

The other fun thing that happened this last week was my 9th annual piano recital. NINTH!! I didn't do a recital the first year I was teaching and I started teaching again in February of 2000, so I have been teaching for over a decade! Way to make me feel old... Oh, well. They did a fabulous job, as they always do and are so brave to conquer their fears and stage fright and perform for everyone. I haven't scrapbooked a page for them yet, but I will. For now, here are the students who performed, minus one who showed up after everyone left, one who was out of town and one who is an adult and doesn't like to do recitals. She's the ONLY one I let slide on learning a song and performing. :o)

Babies, Babies Everywhere!

I really want another baby. Heck, I always want babies. Lucky for me (since we are not pregnant and not planning on being anytime soon), other people have had or will soon have a baby for me to hold and cuddle. Much to my husband's dismay, holding other babies does not squelch my baby fever - it just feeds into it. However, I know that now is not the right time. So...


Congratulations to my cousin, Shanna, who had a little boy on July 21st. Jackson is so adorable. There were some scary moments in the delivery, but baby and mom are okay so that is such a blessing. He was only an ounce bigger than my little monkey and holding him makes me miss my tiny newborn. I got to spend a couple of days at Shanna's trying to help her out. She wouldn't go take a nap while I watched the kids, but she did get a few other things done. Most of all, it was nice to visit with her and spend a couple of relaxing days hanging out.


Congratulations to my sister-in-law who finally had her baby boys on August 6th. Jen and Jeff spent a looooooong time (and a lot of money) to get those boys here. We are grateful that Jeff is healthy and Jen made it through her pregnancy. The boys are so tiny and had a couple of problems, but went home at six days old. I am so excited to be their Friday sitter when Jen goes back to work.


I have so many other friends and family who are pregnant. Let's see if I can remember them all: Jess & Austin, JuliAnn & Jumbo, Linda & David, Becky & Mike, Chelsea & Jordan, Janae & Tyler, Kelly (from Bunco) & her husband (sorry, I forgot his name)... Yeah. Hopefully I didn't miss anyone.


I have been trying to get back into scrapbooking. I have a few projects in the works. My most recent finished project was a book Lindsay and I made for our parents for Mother's and Father's Day. It was fun and they loved it. I can't divulge some of my projects right now, but I will when they're finished. Lindsay and I have decided that we will have an SSS (Sister Scrapbooking Session) once a month. Kaeli is our adopted sister if our schedules allow us all to "get together" on our computers and gmail and talk and scrapbook together.


Hazel is just as cute as ever. She is also busy, busy, busy! She has started giving us dirty looks sometimes. We just laugh cuz it's funny. She loves her grandparents and we are so lucky to have all of them here in Vegas. It's always great when my parents stop by and Hazel just wants them. It gives me a chance to do a few things without being interrupted. Usually we just have her help us do whatever we're doing (vacuuming, taking out the trash, picking up toys or shoes, etc), but it takes three times as long. She's still a happy little snot and she's making lots of friends at church.


Brody is excited to be the Priest Advisor in Young Mens. We had dinner with all of the YM leaders and their wives on Friday and it was great getting to know people. Brody wants to take his truck and go camping! He is very anxious to get the campouts started.


As for me, I still haven't started all of the projects I had hoped to finish before school started again. Where the heck did the summer go?? We have had fun. Lots of swimming and tv and hanging out with our families. And lots of work around the house! Somehow I have to continue to get all of these things done while starting up at the middle school accompanying for the choirs. But I have a super cute, helpful husband at my house to help me and put up with me, so I am definitely one lucky girl.


It is a few hours past my bedtime and the fact that I haven't been taking advantage of Hazel not only sleeping through the night, but sleeping in quite late into the morning is really quite puzzling to me. Oh, well. I can now cross the last important thing off my list for the week and get ready to tackle my new list!


Good night.

Pictures!

I don't have a lot of time and I was supposed to do this yesterday, but I got tired and lazy. So sue me! Just kidding. Don't. Because if you do, you won't get anything. Seriously.

I found the last post where I put a picture up of Hazelbum and it was her 2 month picture! So starting at 3 months, here are the latest pictures I've done of Hazel every month...

I love her. The end.

Did you miss me?

I know, I know... It's been a while. I've been such a slacker. This summer has been a cross between relaxing and sleeping because I have time and trying to get the house cleaned and organized because I don't have much time till school starts and I'll be working like crazy again! Summer is half over and I finally feel like I'm starting to catch up.

Just to update a little... Our beautiful daughter, Hazelbum, turned one on June 19th and is walking and talking and still as cute and smart as ever. It has been so much fun going through all the different stages in her short life thus far. Brody and I have enjoyed every moment.

Brody has been out of work for 4 months. It has been a difficult transition, but a good one. We have learned to do without a lot, which also helps us spend more time together. Occasionally Brody gets an invite to go golfing with his step-dad or friend and they are generous enough to foot the bill. Brody has been able to spend a lot of time with Hazel and he is just wonderful with her.

Even though she loves doing things with her daddy, Hazel is still a tad clingy to her mother. That's ok because I really, really like her. I am still teaching piano and loving it. My annual recital is coming up next month and that is always exciting for me. It is a reminder that I am actually making a difference and helping my students learn music. I am trying to keep up with being organized as well as catch up on some other things. Once Brody goes back to work, it will still be just as hectic since we'll have to drop Hazel off and pick her. Although I am glad she has been able to spend so much time with her dad, I'd rather have my husband be the main breadwinner of the family. I know he misses working, especially when I find things for him to do around the house.

We recently met some friends on Twitter through a mutual friend we share. Last night we went to see Love Shack at the Suncoast and danced and danced. It was a fun date (thanks Andrew for taking care of your niece!), although we didn't get home until after one. It is always nice to meet new people who are as awesome as we are. Haha. I enjoyed seeing my husband get down on the dance floor. For someone who doesn't like dancing (and has a bad back to boot), he really loves me because he danced until he was dripping sweat.

Speaking of his bad back... Brody is going in for his 5th epidural on Thursday. We are really hoping that this last longer than the last one. He is so amazing and tries to be happy and helpful even though he's in a lot of pain most of the time. I couldn't have married anyone better.

Well, that's all for now. I'm kind of rambling. If there is something you want updated on, let me know. Otherwise you're just going to get what goes through my mind when I sit down to blog. My goal is every Sunday. If I do it, I can cross it off my weekly list. And I LOVE crossing things off my list!

At least once a month

Is that a good goal? I should at least get on here once a month and give an update so you know we're still hanging in there, especially with a little monkey who is growing so fast and has hit so many milestones. If I was as good as Stacey, I would be updating all the time. I am jealous of her ability to post so much and get so much done and now have books to pass on as a legacy of her family! One day I will be as amazing as she!

Back to my monkey... She will be 9 months old next week! My little Hazelbum. She is still such a joy to be around. Don't yell at me. I'm on the laptop and don't have any pictures on here. We are also "getting" a new computer. By "getting" I mean, "fixing up the old one so it works right and we have more room." It's taking a while, but it will be a sigh of relief when it is done and I can get back to scrapbooking.

So, anyway... Back to Hazelbum. You will just have to imagine how cute she has become until I can get some pictures up. She is getting her 9 month pictures taken next week and as soon as I get them, I will have to post some. Of course, if you are friends with me on facebook, you will see some of them there.

Hazel is crawling all over the place and pulling herself up to a stand. She is still the happiest baby I have ever known and adapts to pretty much any situation. She sleeps anywhere if she's tired. She lets me know when she's hungry or ready for a nap or wants something. She loves loves loves to talk (wonder where she got that from since neither one of her parents is a chatterbox...) and her favorite toy is one of the little monkeys her Nana got her.

She loves to go for rides in her stroller and giggles when we go really fast. She loves her dogs and chases them around the house. Her latest discovery is the doorstops that make a silly noise when she pulls on them. She has her two bottom teeth (which has made nursing interesting again). Her mother is pretty anal about what she eats so she's still on breastmilk and Gerber 2nd foods. She also gets puffs and the occasional (very occasional) taste of soft serve yogurt.

She is excited to go shopping for a fancy dress to wear as Audrey's flower girl in May. It would be great if she could walk around, but we'll see if she hits that milestone by 11 months. Either way, she will be rocking a beautiful flower on her head. She has hair, but not much. I still "glue" a bow on her head, but we are transitioning to the latest fashion - crocheted headbands with big flowers. So cute.

Any other questions? I am tired and can't think of anything else to share. So ask and ye (might) receive.

I should have been in bed at 905, five minutes after Hazel decided she was tired. Sometimes she's up till 10 or 11, but she didn't get to spend a lot of time napping today so she was plum tuckered out. Why I didn't take advantage of the fact that she went to bed early is beyond me. Sigh. I did get the office/piano section of the big room vacuumed today and the dishwasher unloaded. That's a big feat these days seeing as how I don't really get anything done after work. By the time I get home, I get to spend a few minutes with my hubby and baby and then I'm ready for bed. I am really going to pay for this tomorrow.

Oh, well. Kaeli, you better be happy I updated. Finally. One day I won't be so lame at this.

:o)

For. E. Ver.

Soooo much has happened in the last two months since I blogged last. I always have such lofty goals of catching up and letting everyone know about EVERYTHING that's happened. Then I get to the point I am at now - I give up. I'll just do a couple of things. Haha. So here's a couple of the highlights.

Here is Hazel Rebekah's two month picture for her baby calendar. That's not a crotch shot, by the way. If you look closely, you can see her Tweety band-aids from her shots. She was a trooper. That outfit was one her Daddy picked out so I put it on her for her two month birthday.

Here is the latest and greatest - my favorite so far. Her three month pictures. Thanks to our friend and awesome photographer, Louie Traub (louietraub.com) for taking such beautiful pictures of our daughter. I swear she gets more adorable every day. If you look closely at these pictures, you can see we pierced her ears. For all those who think we are oh, so cruel, just know she was more upset at being stabbed in her legs with a needle for her vaccines.

This is a picture of us as a family who would only be together for the time here on earth. San Diego is one of my favorite temples and since we got married civilly, I wanted to go here to get sealed. We got sealed on our monkey's 3 month birthday and she got to wear her blessing dress again. She filled it out much better this time.

This is our first picture as a forever family. We went back to the temple grounds the next day and there was a cute old couple serving their mission. The Elder offered to take some pictures for us. A huge weight has been lifted off of my shoulders now that we have made this important step in our lives. It was a long wait which we knew would happen since we chose to get married civilly, but it finally happened and we couldn't be happier.

I'm so blessed to have such an awesome husband who works so hard to provide for his family and is the most amazing father ever. He never complains about spending time with his daughter and was my saving grace many times when he told me he would take Bekki (as he calls her) for the night to let me sleep. He's changed lots of diapers and is introducing her to the world of sports by watching football with her. He has taken her many times on some of his errands and though I feel left out, I just tell myself to get over it and try to get as much accomplished as possible in their absence.

We couldn't have been blessed with a better baby. Our little monkey is so good and hasn't had any real problems. We know we are so lucky to have gotten pregnant so quickly and then continue through the pregnancy, labor and delivery with no serious complications. She has been a perfectly healthy and happy baby. She's a good sleeper and a good eater and has the sweetest disposition. She has her moments when she's overly tired, but I'll take those moments too. She is very active and loves to babble and tell stories. She smiles so much - I love her smile! We are finally getting comments on how she's starting to look like me, but I still think she looks more like her daddy. She's beautiful either way.

Our dogs continue to be amazing. Sometimes they bark too loudly when they shouldn't and wake Hazel up. Most of the time, they make us chuckle as they play together and get excited for a cookie or treat. They are great with the baby and will probably become some of her best friends.

Baby Calendar Update

I know I've been a slacker about posting on my blog (thanks for the reminder, Tiffany) so I figured that I would continue slacking on my household chores that need to be done oh-so badly and stay on the computer a little longer. This morning I slept in and cuddled with Hazel and then, while she slept some more, I made some pictures to go in her calendar. Yesterday my monkey and I went to Mesquite to hang out with Shanna and get our fill of the Golden Girls and Dairy Queen, so I took her calendar and filled it in with all her exciting activities and "firsts" that are happening to her. The picture spots have been left blank and I figured I needed to also keep up with those so I don't have an empty calendar on her first birthday. I've been known to do things like that...


The first spot for a picture of her Birth Day. This is my absolute favorite. She's so beautiful and looks very content.



Her birth announcement with a picture of her when she was one week old. Can she really be 8 weeks old already!? There wasn't a spot for her baby announcement, but I put it on here anyway. :o)



I have two little frames hanging on the wall with her handprint and footprint on it. There is also spot for them on her calendar. I was lucky enough to get a very good handprint and footprint before she turned one (haha) and couldn't remember how tiny she was. I love how tiny she was. She's now the size of a newborn and I can't imagine having to birth a baby her size out of me! I got lucky.


For her one month picture, I decided to incorporate the family pictures we had taken. She, of course, is the focal point of this one, and definitely the focal point in our lives. She continues to be such a good baby and I love, love, love her smiles! She sticks her tongue out and if you do it back to her, she will smile and try to talk.

I heart her.

Happy One Month Birthday, Hazel!

I can't believe that my little monkey is one month old! It has gone by so fast. She gets more beautiful every day and I am still in awe that I finally have a baby. Heck, I'm still in awe that I have a husband. He's such a good dad, by the way, and loves his little girl. He helps out a lot, even when I don't ask him to. He's changed lots of diapers and there have been quite a few nights he has taken her and stayed up all night so I can sleep.

Last night was the first night I felt like I didn't get enough sleep. She has been such a good sleeper - she even slept for 6 hours straight on two different nights! But last night it was as if she had an alarm set for every three hours - on the dot! She must be going through a growth spurt. She got so fussy tonight that I went ahead and fed her after only two hours, which I haven't done before. First I gave her a bath and a little massage to calm her down, then she ate like I've never fed her before. Haha. As I type this, she is making little noises in her sleep - but she is sleeping, so that's good. I should be sleeping too!

She loves to be wrapped up like a burrito so she's toasty warm. She does NOT like to be cold, but she'll struggle and struggle to get her hands out so she can put them by her face. Then she wakes up and cries cuz she's cold. When she's ready to be awake and happy, she loves loves loves to stretch and stretch. And stretch. She grunts when she stretches and pulls the funniest faces. Sometimes it takes her at least five minutes before she's done stretching and waking up. One of these days I'm going to get the video camera out and capture those cute faces.

I can't wait for her to give me the smile that will tell me she recognizes me for sure. She smiles a lot, but most of the time it's as she's waking up or falling asleep and they are twitches that are happening at the same time her eyes are rolling in the back of her head. She has a big, beautiful smile.

I love being a mom and I'm having lots of fun. I love my little monkey.

Hazel Rebekah welcomes her new best friend, Izzy!

Hazel is happy to have her best friend here - finally! Miss Elizabeth Jo was born on Monday, July 6 at 6:28 pm, weighing 9 pounds, 14 ounces, and was 22 inches long.

Here are their first photos together. Izzy makes our little monkey look like a midget!

As promised - more pictures!

I am actually coming back to my blog to update - can you believe it? I just thought I'd put some more pictures on of Miss Hazel Rebekah, seeing as how she's so stinking cute!

Here she is on her birthday - June 19, 2009

One week old - June 26, 2009

Two weeks old - July 3, 2009

Another two week picture

Doctor Visit

Today was the two week check up! Little Miss Hazel Rebekah is now a whopping 6 pounds, 8 ounces - guess my boob juice is working! It took a few days, but we stuck together and figured the whole nursing thing out. She has grown to 20 3/4 inches long and her head is 14 inches around. She growing like a week already and getting cuter and cuter every day.

She certainly did not enjoy getting her blood drawn out of her heel and she let us know it! That was the angriest scream she's ever let out so far. I'm sure it won't be the last one, though, with us as her parents...

We've been blessed with a super good baby. She hardly cries, unless she's hungry and then, wow, does she let us know it! I don't have to set an alarm at night to wake her up to eat anymore - she's my alarm now. We enjoy seeing her smile in her sleep and make all sorts of interesting faces. She still looks like her daddy (especially those grumpy faces) and her dad just adores her. She goes with me almost everywhere I go. She's so used to hearing my piano students that she just falls asleep during my lessons.

Last night her daddy stayed up with her (though she did not stay up with him) so I could get some uninterrupted sleep. I'm usually pretty tired so I don't have a problem sleeping, but I love that she has lots of time with her dad. He's very involved and willing to help out. Well, until it comes to diaper duty. Haha. He has changed diapers before, but is more than happy to pass her over to her mom to get changed. I don't mind.

I am having fun playing mom for real and especially love not having to give her back to someone else. We all enjoy our visitors and she gets passed around a lot since everyone wants to hold her. I love sharing her since I get her when no one is around.

We are also excited for her best friend to arrive tonight! Kaeli and Michael are in the hospital right now getting Izzy out into the world. We can't wait to see her and visit with Michael and Kaeli.

Promises, promises

I promise to put more pictures up and tell the birth story soon. Right now our computer is being dumb and I can't put the pictures on it from the camera. I also need to type up the birth story before I forget all the details. Brody is going to type up his version of events. Both should be good reads. But for now, just know that it's on my list of things to do...

Here is the last picture I got of the little monkey that's on the computer. Grandpa Little was holding her and she was all curled up like usual. When she discovered her knee with her mouth, she had no choice but to have a little taste and started sucking on it. :o)

It's a Girl!

Hazel Rebekah Broderdorf
June 19, 2009
8:36 am

6 pounds, 2 ounces
19 1/2 inches

Pretty much perfect

First family picture

The definition of trim is NOT shave...

Brody and I have two beautiful dogs. Well, not anymore. We are not happy with our recent visit to the Petsmart groomers and have no intention of going there again. Below you will see a nice portrait of our dogs taken one day after Emmitt went in to get groomed at the beginning of May. The guy did a pretty good job. Emmitt is a handsome border collie/Australian shepherd mix who is very vain and knows he looks good. We always get compliments on how beautiful he is and how soft is long coat of fur is. He'll prance around with his nose in the air (the little snob) because he thinks he's pretty hot. Bostyn, of course, is cute as a button, but all we have to do is throw her in the bathtub at home and she's in heaven.


This is what Emmitt looks like now...


He is heartbroken and his dad is furious. Brody and I might get into fights now and again, but I know I've never made him this mad. I am certainly glad I am not the one who pissed him off in this situation or I wouldn't have gone home for a few days. They butchered our beautiful dog and made him look like a sick, mangy stray who has gotten in one too many fights. Emmitt's entire demeanor has changed. He hid under the piano the first night he was home and wouldn't even play with his favorite puppet toy he usually goes ballistic for. I miss his beautiful mane most of all.

I wrote a very detailed letter explaining what had happened and printed out a lot of before and after pictures and took into Petsmart. Long story short: they refunded our money (which we were also overcharged by a lot and without so much as a phone call asking our permission), but the store manager tried to blame my instructions as part of the problem in the same breath that she said her groomers didn't handle the situation right. When I said "general trim," I did not give the idiot groomer permission to shave five inches of long, silky hair off of our dog.

Girls: How would you feel if you went in for a trim of your nice long hair and they cut your hair up above your ears? And left patches of long parts and other patches of shaved sections? NOT HAPPY, I tell you!

The next step is the regional manager of Petsmart. This happened on Tuesday. It's Thursday and we're still upset, especially since the store manager handled it the way she did. The Petsmart grooming salon has lost our business as well as some of our friends' business. They better hope Emmitt's shiny coat grows back. Time will tell. But we want the regional manager to know how poorly the situation was handled and Brody wants nothing more than to have the groomer fired.

On a happier note, at least we're going to have a baby soon! That'll pretty much be awesome.

Updates? What's an update?

Ya... I've been slacking quite a bit on my blog. Oops. Sorry! I know you have all been waiting in anticipation, checking your computers five times a day and wondering what the heck we've been up to... right? Haha. I'll just tell myself that.

A lot has happened since my last post, or even the post before! Last time I posted anything that actually happened with our lives, I was halfway through my pregnancy. Well, I'm getting ready to pop soon. Less than three weeks! I can't believe it. I've made it to full term (37 weeks) and am getting excited for the baby to get here. Not as excited for HOW the baby needs to get here, but it's a little late to back out of that one.

I'm going to make this post very short, just so I can say I've posted something! I'll update more later. Hopefully not much later.

Here's my latest picture that you can compare to my 20 week picture a couple of posts down. 17 weeks makes a big difference!

Seriously...

...we have a lot of friends. How awesome is that? If I don't check for updates almost every day I have to spend an hour trying to catch up on everyone's awesome lives! I love reading what everyone is up to, especially when I don't get to see everyone.

Blogging is fun.

And I will update mine soon with more fun pictures of my growing belly...

Hitting the Halfway Mark!

We've made it halfway! Woot woot!

I was 20 weeks today and had the BIG ultrasound appointment. Even though I told Brody I was going to keep it a secret from everyone, including him, I didn't want him to miss out on such a big occasion so I told him when it was so he could come with me. I'm glad he was there; after all, he IS my baby's daddy, no matter how many times he tells people we don't know who the father is.

We have a lot of awesome pictures of our little alien baby, but it is late and I will have to scan and post them another day. We also were able to take video of the first part of the ultrasound, which I will also post later.

My favorite thing was seeing how much the baby was moving and watching him (for all intents and purposes, I will refer to the baby as "he" rather than "it" because Brody is hoping for a boy, but we did NOT find out what it was) yawn and stick his tongue out at us. That was pretty much awesome. I know he's part of my side of the family if he stuck his tongue out at the camera! Haha.

The technician was nice enough to do a gender check (while Brody and I closed our eyes) and took a picture, which she then sealed up in an envelope just so we could have it. I asked Brody if he was secretly mad at me for not wanting to find out and he said yes, so it's really not much of a secret anymore. I know his family is mad at me as well. My family doesn't care. I think my parents are just glad they are still getting more grandkids! I am just excited for more motivation to get this kid out of me when the time comes. I told my sister I would have to think back to this day when I was having contractions and remember how excited I was to see our baby's cute little nose in a profile. You'll get to see it soon enough, but for now, it is time for bed.

I love my baby.

And my baby's daddy.

IT'S A BOY!

Haha. Tricked you. I don't know what's in my belly, but I know what's finally out of my sister's belly! After 60 1/2 hours of labor and finally going in for a c-section, Cooper Joseph Driscoll came into this world! I'm too impatient to wait for my sister to update her blog (oh, and she's kind of still in the hospital and dang tired), so I'm updating mine to tell everyone I'm an aunt for the 5th time. Tyler, Emily, Trey, Ryan, and now baby Cooper. All nephews and one niece.

Fun times.

Cooper Joseph Driscoll
January 23, 2009
9:32 am
8 pounds, 1 ounce
22 inches long