How Hazel Kate got her name.

I've been meaning to post how Hazel got her name. So now is as good a time as any...right when I should be getting dinner ready.  Well it all started Thanksgiving weekend, a couple short days after we found out we were having a girl.  Out of the three children we have, we had the hardest time deciding on her name.  Mitchell came from a very short list we had compiled, and we liked his name best.  Obviously.  Luke was the only name we ever talked about...and it went something like this...(1) ultrasound appointment finding out the gender (2) Todd calls me up a couple hours later and says, "I like the name Lucas, what do you think? (3) I respond, "ohhh, I LOVE the name Luke.  That's it!" (4) Todd says, "great!"

So, we're sitting on the couch at my sister-in-law's house, and Todd and I are coming up with several names for the list.  Keep in mind, this is not the first time we had talked about names, but it was the first major "pow-wow" regarding names. There were a few that rose to the top of the list- names like Lydia, or Claire, or Katherine.  As we're going to bed that night, Todd says, "what about Hazel?" Now, you may think this is simply another name to add to the list, per my approval. It was that, but this name was like no other on the list.  This name had some significant meaning. Now it's time in the story for some background information:

Everyone in my family gets a nickname from my Grandpa Hunter. Some of them are pretty ridiculous.  Some are pretty tame.  Jon is Gustav Adolf. Kenna is Bubba. Clark is Per Olaf, or C-lark. My nickname didn't actually come from my Grandpa.  My dad came up with it, and that's what stuck for everyone.  My nickname is Hazel May. Or as Jon likes to call me, Mazel Hay. I've had this nickname for as long as I remember.  People in my family still call me Hazel more than Haley.  I respond to Hazel like it's my name...well, cuz it is.

When Todd brought that name to the list, I wasn't quite on board with it to begin with.  I had to let it "soak in" for a little while before I really started to like it.  I hope it's not too arrogant to name your own child after yourself, but that's not really what our motivation was.  We love that her name has a special meaning behind it, but we also love the name Hazel.  It is old-fashioned, but many old-fashioned names are making a big comeback.  I hope that she grows up liking her name, and thinking it's neat to be named after her mom's affectionate nickname.

Now, for her middle name, Kate. We are completely in love with the name Kate.  We think it pairs well with Hazel. Doesn't Hazel Kate sound great? We think it does.  Up until her birth, both Todd and I had debated if her first name should be Kate, and her middle name Hazel.  We really love both names so much, it was quite difficult for us to really pinpoint which should be which. Additionally, I have a good friend named Kate whom I know from our time in California.  She is an amazing person, an amazing mother, a loyal friend, and I miss her all the time, wishing we lived close once again.  Since we love the name Kate, and I love the person Kate, it was pretty easy to go with Kate as Hazel's middle name. 

So, there ya have it.  Hazel Kate it is. 

Hazel Kate

It's Todd's turn to blog again which means....yep, you guessed it, we had another baby! Our first baby girl, Hazel Kate Reeder, was born April 11 at 8:02am. She weighs 8 lb 6 oz and is 19 inches long. I'm not sure what the circumference of her head is, but honestly, who even considers that stat anymore? Her head, beautiful as it is, appears to be normal size to me. As I am writing this blog post, Haley just told me that someone wrote that she is 20.5 inches long on a card that is in her "crib". So, all we know for sure is that she is 8 lb 6 oz. I even have photographic evidence of that....see?

The (beat up) scale used to weigh Hazel. At least one stat is known for sure!

Alright, enough pictures of equipment, what you really want to see are pictures of Hazel. Well, you're just gonna have to wait because this post of mine, aside from the teaser picture above, goes in chronological order!

So, we arrived at Ogden Regional Hospital around 5:30am. After a couple hours of check-in, spousal abuse questioning, etc., we were in the operating room. By the way, the hospital staff were all awesome. For anyone unfamiliar with a Caesarian section (hereafter called C-section for simplicity), they placed a partition below Haley's head that makes it so she can't see (and, perhaps, protects against bodily fluids splashing on her as well). Well, I was sitting next to Haley and I couldn't see either. When I asked the anesthesiologist (whose name was Rock...) if I could stand and watch, he was like "absolutely! Yeah, stand up and watch the show!" I was actually very surprised because the anesthesiologist at Luke's birth was very adamant that I remain seated; if I stood up and watched, they were afraid I would fall over and faint right there in the operating room. So, I got to watch Hazel get pulled out of Haley by way of C-section and it was awesome! I saw them cut all the layers, all the way to the uterus and then I saw this beautiful angel get pulled out.

They wouldn't let me film or take pictures until she was born, or else I would have posted them here for you. I did take some video within a couple minutes of her being born, but I don't have the cord to transfer the video to the computer so I'll have to post an addendum later. After she had been weighed, measured, and cleaned up, I took her back to Haley.

After Haley was all sewed back together, we headed to her main room where she is staying for a few days. Haley had some nausea and threw up quite a bit, but not nearly as much as she did when Luke was born. Hazel isn't eating as much as she probably should yet, but she's catching on. Here are some more pictures of our beautiful new girl:

Hazel wrapped up and sleeping soon after arriving from the C-section. Her eyes are shiny because of some anti-bacterial ointment they put on them.

Haley holding Hazel after Hazel's first bath. The two most beautiful ladies I've ever seen.

Later in the afternoon, Haley's mom Debbie came by with the boys. Since Luke is still a baby, he didn't get to hold Hazel, but Mitchell did. He kept saying things like, "she's so cute," and "ohhh, such a cut baby." It was fun to see his reactions.

Our first family picture with Hazel! None of the kids, of course, are looking at the camera....

First picture with Grandma A!

Both Haley and Hazel are doing wonderful. The nurses here have all been very helpful, and we've been happy with the whole experience here. As a parent, the only thing I hope and pray for before a child is born is that they will be healthy in every way. Mitchell, Luke, and Hazel all have been very healthy, and beautiful too (which, considering the paternal half of their genes, is a miracle in its own right). It's always amazing how much love I have for a child that is my own. Despite being the third child, there is an equal amount of love in my heart for Hazel as there is for Mitchell and Luke. I am so happy she is here, so grateful she is part of our family, and so excited to see her grow up.

Catching up...just in time.

Warning: very long and somewhat rambly.  This post must be a journaling effort by me because it's long! Scroll to find pics- I know that's what you do anyway. 

Hello hello.  I find myself "catching up" again- although this is a good thing. I made the goal to catch up before the baby is born THIS FRIDAY, and here I am, Tuesday afternoon.  Plenty of time.  I've been working on a couple other projects the last month or so, and blogging just hasn't been one of my goals until now.

I was two years behind with editing our home movies and getting them on DVD.  I told myself completing that project was of paramount importance before the baby was born.  This proved an overwhelming goal at first since I was working with new software, but once I figured it out just good enough- (learned to edit clips and throw them together on a DVD with no frills whatsoever)- it went by fairly fast.  Especially since I don't record as many home movies.  I think both 2012 and 2013 were summed up in about 45 minutes a piece.

Since I finished up this project with a couple weeks before the baby, I decided to take on another project.  I'm crocheting my first blanket.  I found a simple pattern on Etsy, and with my mom's help getting it started, I've been working on this for about a week now.  I have about 6 more inches to go before it'll be a good size baby blanket.  I've really enjoyed this project.  I've learned how to crochet this last year and it feels good to be able to give something handmade to our new baby girl. 

Now I just need to get a few other things checked off the list before Friday, such as washing baby blankets, setting up the baby's sleeping arrangements, update my kids journals and pick up a journal for the baby, squeeze in a last trip to Costco and the grocery store, and I will feel real good come Friday morning at 5:30 when we are to be at the hospital. Since it's a scheduled C-Section, it's been weird to know the date (April 11th).  I didn't get that with either Mitch (6 days late) or Luke (11 days early).  In many ways it's like knowing that D-Day is about to happen rather than being taken by surprise. We're thrilled to have her here, just a bit nervous. 

Nervous mostly because Luke is just 15 months and still such a baby in so many ways. He's still not walking which is going to be tough in some ways.  He knows how to walk holding hands, and he can cruise along furniture. And, he's been waking up about 6:30am (or earlier) for the last few weeks.  Morning time is the time I'm most nervous about with a new baby.  The baby will probably need to eat sometime in that early hour, Luke will be awake and screaming, and I won't want to be awake at all.  Plus, Todd will already have left for work.  Best of luck, right?

Let's catch up on the kids a little bit.  Like I said, Luke is still not walking, and thus, surpassing Mitch's standard at 14 months. However, he could win a race in crawling.  That kid is fast on all fours! He's also a little terrorist, getting into absolutely everything.  His nickname is Demo.  My personal favorite is each morning when I get ready, I have a little buddy right with me, pulling everything he can out of the bathroom cupboards.  He also loves any kitchen drawer and cabinet that we can't lock.  He just had his 15 month appointment today and is in the 95% for weight (27lbs) and 93% for height (33").  He's a fun loving boy and thinks just about anything and everything you do is some kind of game.  He loves my parents and is so excited when they are home.  Since he's been getting up pretty early, he sits outside their door each morning until my mom comes and gets him for a few minutes before she needs to leave.  When he hears the garage door open- indicating my parents or Todd is home- he starts breathing really excitedly and makes a beeline for the door. I've been old news for quite some time now.  He still loves Mitchell so much and definitely knows how to interact with him at times, mostly in a game of chase. Eating is still somewhat of a challenge.  He loves certain foods one day, and hates them the next. And then decides to love them again.  He definitely keeps me on my toes when it comes to eating.  We thought Mitch was a problem- eater.  Oh yeah, he learned to say "Gram-PA" last week.  This is his first word other than "mom" and "dad"- and he won't even really say those, even though he knows how.

Mitchell still lives in an imaginary world of pirates, ninjas, knights, zombies, Lego guys, Super heroes, and ninja turtles.  Absolutely everything is about good guys vs. bad guys- and he usually takes more joy in the bad guys victory.  He truly feels that Todd is his personal playmate each day when he comes home.  Todd has always been a great sport about playing with him for a bit before dinner is ready.  This is a such a blessing, but it sure makes me feel like a chump when I need to get other things taken care of instead of being the preferred playmate! Mitchell is crazy about his friends as well.  He asks several times a day which friend he can play with that day.  I usually try to arrange a friend coming over a couple times a week.  We'll see how this pans out with the new baby.  Also, we're moving to our first home in May up in Cache Valley, so that will be hard for Mitch to start over again making new friends. Mitch has been learning to read and is making great progress with that, knowing how to read simple sentences and stories.  He still loves preschool, and it will be a sad day when graduation comes come mid-May. Mitch has been involved with tumbling this school year and he looks forward to that each Tuesday.  This month, I signed him up for indoor swimming lessons.  I wasn't thrilled with the pool he went to last summer, so I wanted him to be in a pool where he had to put skills to the test.  So far, so good.  I'm not sure when I'll figure out what to involve him with when we move, so I'm grateful he has these activities for now.  He always has a positive attitude with preschool, tumbling, and swimming lessons.  I'm very grateful for this because I know some kids have a lot of anxiety or just don't want to try new and hard things.  He isn't crazy about learning new things either, but somehow, when it comes down to it, he really does have a positive attitude.  He's pretty perfect, but has a couple faults here and there.  He can definitely work on listening- the first time.  And, he still takes FOREVER to eat his food.  It's usually just dinner he takes forever with, but sometimes breakfast and lunch are real trouble as well.  I'm curious when the light bulb will burn bright for him and he'll finally understand the concept- "the faster I eat, the faster I can go back to playing."

Todd has been real busy at work lately.  The end of the fiscal year is next week, and I guess this means that the couple months prior are crazy busy.  He's worked overtime each week for at least 6 weeks now and hasn't taken his off Friday in a long time.  We're looking forward to our "vacation" next week when he gets to stay home with me and the kids and the new baby. 

Well, that's about it as far as catch-up.  As indicated earlier, we did buy our first home recently.  We'll move up to Cache Valley at the end of May.  Quick specs- it's 4 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms.  It's a tri-level, which I've never super loved that lay out, but this one doesn't feel like the usual tri-levels I've been familiar with in the past.  It's not huge, 1760 sq. ft, but it is laid out really well.  The kids bedrooms are big which was a big selling point for me.  It was built in 1999, so there are aspects that are definitely getting outdated.  It's a 1/3 acre, fully fenced and we're thrilled about that! It has a big dog kennel, a storage shed, a good sized garden, and raspberry bushes that line the back fence.  We paid a great price and we're excited to make it ours!

Okay, here are some pics.  Nothing too crazy, just some pics on some regular days. And I apologize- I have not yet learned to do the "collage" thing, and I like my pics big, so sorry to those who don't love that. 

See the belly? This was back in February- so around 30 weeks or so.

Mitch has turned a corner with practicing his letters.  He used to hate it, but now he asks to practice them.

Valentine's treat- chocolate strawberries, molten lava cake that I cooked too long, so not really any lava, and some ice cream.

Day trip to the Hill Air Force Base Museum.  Pretty awesome.  No less than a hundred giant airplanes. 

Todd shaved his beard and kept this lovely creation for 24 hours.

Bathroom demolition time.  Every day.

Tumbling performance. 

Kenna and my mom threw a baby shower for me, which was amazing, and many friends and family were able to make it!

Good buddy, Karter.

Look at that face!

Day at the park, flying the kite, with cousins.

Look at that belly!  I don't grow 'em small, that's for sure!

Brother time.  So cute.

Night at a hockey game.  Mitch was in love with the cotton candy!

Day at the park- a park with swings! Hard to come by around here!