Hazel Highlights

Now that Hazel can sit so well she got to have a bath in the big bathtub rather then her baby bath tub. She thought the big bathtub was quite the improvement.

If you want to know how the whole bath went, then just put the video below on repeat for a bit. 😄

Look what Hazel found under the coffee table, Daddy's hat that he couldn't find this morning!!!

The story of how Hazel got behind the couch: 

Over the last few days Hazel has really enjoyed playing under and around her highchair which is beside the couch, I often sit on the couch beside her highchair so it is also a place to play nice and close to Mommy. Once or twice I managed to catch Hazel's feet before she went too far behind the couch... this time I wasn't quite so on the ball and she was half way down the couch when I got there!!! 

So I let her crawl into the corner where it was a little easier to get her out. 

This is one of Hazel's new sounds, which I personally think is adorable!!! This video was surprising hard to get as just about every time I pulled out my phone to take a video of it she would stop or only babble for about 3 seconds... (Video below)

I was looking through the blog today and realized that I only have videos of Hazel just learning to crawl, she has come quite a long ways since the last video. She is crawling all over the house and has been coming to find me if I am in one of the bedrooms. (Video below)

As you can see in the video above Hazel has got the army crawl down pat! Now for the next stage... getting into more things, the basket in the kitchen was the perfect target. 

Knee Deep? Nope, Deeper...

 I believe we have officially reached the "a lot of snow" mark! Just in the last 2 days we went from - 23/-30 to 3/-5 temperatures so we were actually able to go out and enjoy the snow! 

We now have a ramp to our front door rather then steps... the ramp in easier to maintain...

I love how the snow just hangs off the roofs!

You may remember from spring pictures that there is a whole trailer frame hiding in this picture...

I have no idea how much snow we actually have, but you can kind of see half of a coffee table for some perspective. 

Nova likes chasing snow balls

Starting to make a trail around the fenced backyard.

We got about 1/4 way around the property when the snow got about mid thigh deep on me and we took a break!

Lounging in the snow. 

1/2 way!

And the snow is quite a bit deeper then Nova 😄

The yard looks so nice and flat when its all snowed over! But don't be deceived there is still a little dirt bike track hidden in there!

The next day I took Hazel for a sled ride as she was napping when we made the trail. 

She seems to be enjoying the ride! 😊

Baby in a Basket

Hazel is 8 months old already! Time sure seems to go by so fast! She seems so grown up lately as she is crawling around and happily feeding herself solid food.  This photo shot was a bit tricky then others as she doesn't just stay in one spot anyone... so I thought if I stuck her in a basket then she would stay in one spot for pictures... It didn't work out quite as well as I hoped as trying to get out of the basket seemed to be quite the fun game!

This is Hazel's grin, rather then a smile, she squints her eyes and grins really big!

It turned out that just sitting on the floor with one fun toy was the best way to snag some pictures. 

This is me trying to get some Hazel and snow pictures without going outside into the snow... 

Hazel quite enjoyed her little perch on the window sill and keep turning from side to side to touch the window.  

So far the easiest way to get a happy Hazel in when she is in the highchair with food! (Video below, sound on 😊)

Moving Forward

 Hazel is moving forward into the new year! It all started on Sunday Dec 26 when we were at church, the church is nicely carpeted so it had a lot more traction, but she was going forward! Once we were at home we tried it again.

Dec 26 (Video below)

It is amazing how much progress she makes day to day! That plastic lid that Jared is holding is her favorite toy so far... so it was pretty good motivation. 

Dec 28 (Video Below)

 On Dec 29 the baby gates around the wood stove got tested out and Hazel found me in the kitchen while I was making dinner! When she crawls around to find me my Mommy heart just melts! 💗

(Video Below)

As fun as it is to crawl around, it is sure tiring!!!💤

The Toy Box

Hazel has been loving her new play area and toy box. I have been putting all the toys away in the box, Hazel tips over the box and entertains herself for quite a while pulling a bunch of the toys out, and then we repeat the process...

(Video Below)

Hazel also just got a new toy to add to her toy box. This is a very special toy, according to Nana it was Mom's favorite toy when she was this age. 

Hazel seemed to think it was a pretty great toy too! I was actually quite surprised how touched I was that Hazel likes the same toy  that I did 😊

PG Christmas

A few months ago I told Jared that I felt like we needed to stay in Prince George for Christmas. How can we really become part of this community if we keep leaving when people typically would be getting together? As hard as it was to see pictures of our family getting together on Christmas and getting stuck in the snow, we really enjoyed our church family up in PG this year. 

On Christmas Eve I organized a Christmas Program which went really well and was enjoyed by all, we even had some visitors that came from previous outreach efforts, which was really neat to see! After the program we had some appetizers and desserts potluck style. 

If anyone is interested the Christmas program was recorded. Click here if you would like to watch/listen to it. 

 On Christmas Day the majority of us went to the Sinclair's for dinner. (The Sinclair's are the newest members of the congregation who moved up from Tsawwassen). This dinner truly had a family feel to it, craziness and all, as there was about 11 kids and 3 babies! We had a much more traditional dinner, it was neat to have everyone bring one of their own Christmas favorites or traditional meals to the table.

We have also been getting a true taste of a northern winter, with the record amount of snow fall in a 24 hour period! About 35 cm! For more details click here

In addition to all the snow we have also been reaching record cold for this time for the year, around -38 to -40, for more details click here

I would say we have been pretty broken in so far... but we will see what the rest of winter brings!

Even with the crazy snow and cold weather I have been enjoying winter so far. I love finding icicles...

I like the way the snow looks on the roofs... I like being inside our small cozy house with the fire and Christmas lights on!

Overall we all had a very nice Christmas and felt very much at home, we still missed our families a lot, phone calls and video calls make up for a lot, but not everything... Looking forward to seeing our families again in March! 

 

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Figured I could just send a "Christmas card" this way!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from the JT Flokstra family!

And here is a little Hazel giggle to share on Christmas Day! (Video below)

She's getting pretty good at spinning around in circles, she found it quite funny that Mommy kept showing up on the other side! Maybe the first thing on Hazel's New Year bucket list is crawling...we will just have to wait and see!

May the Lord be with you all in the year to come!