Cold Snap

Finally cold enough to go skating but still "warm" enough to actually be outside for a bit! Got my first outside skate in since we moved up! Other times it just didn't work out or I was pregnant and not comfortable trying to skate as I haven't done it in ages! We got to spend our family day with our small family, some extended family and friends!

Used the rain cover as a wind block for Hazel, I think it worked quite well!

Us girls skated around the rink a few times while the boys played hockey, and then when back to a nice warm house while they finished up their game. 

One-Hundred!!!

 It's been a year since we have arrived in snowy Prince George! Just over a year since I started blogging and I have officially reached post 100! 

Even though it's neat to reflect on the year gone by and its MANY changes, I'm really looking forward to the year ahead as in theory there is not as much new. We are more or less used to the weather in PG and what seasons and work types go together. We have established good connections in our church to build on and we have a weekly routine to work with, which includes Jared's firehall practice on Thursday evenings and women's bible study every other Tuesday evening. It feels normal to have a baby in the house, though with Hazel's ever changing abilities, normal keeps changing as well. I'm not really looking for a "normal" year this year as that doesn't seem to exist, but "steady" would sure be nice! 

Hazel in a Minute

 9 Months already! I feel like 6 to 9 months went really fast!

So, what I want to do with this photo shoot was to take pictures of Hazel with the blocks.... as you can see there is no pictures of Hazel with the blocks as things didn't go quite as planned. I know I've said this before but these photo shoots aren't getting any easier... but they sure are getting quicker! Just out of curiosity I checked the time stamp on the first and last picture, it only took a minute, literality!

Picture taken at 11:27 AM

Picture taken at 11:28 AM as Hazel leaves the scene

Hazel can reach the couch seat while on her knees now, and she is slowly exploring with her reach more and more. 

Occasionally when a toy or object that she wants isn't to far away she will crawl for it on her hands rather then her regular arm crawl. If the distance is to long she tend to give up and goes to her faster crawl.  (Video Below)

I think that's it for updates on Hazel, she is working on and improving a lot of the skills she has already learned, she is teething off and on, getting a little more smiley and giggly, but you have to work for it. Overall she is still our little bundle of joy. 

Into, onto and up onto Everything

I'm sure this is only stage one of Hazel getting into everything, but still a significant change from just crawling around!

Hazel figured out how to tip over the book box and take out all the books.

This video is why I spend most of my day sitting on the couch watching Hazel and trying not to have mommy heart failure when she would start to climb onto things. I found it a bit nerve racking to watch her climb to her knees holding on to the bottom of the stool and then take turns taking one hand off and then the other, then almost hit her head, and then try and reach higher...once she did it a few times I managed to settle down a bit more... (Video Below)

She also learned how to reach the top of the coffee table that day... the table wasn't quite so forgiving as the stool and she did end up bonking her nose pretty good when she was climbing on the bottom shelf of the table.

The oven has a handy little hand hold that a Hazel can reach...

And if she reaches a bit higher the tea towels are fun to play with too!

But the best thing in the kitchen is the dishwasher or the open fridge if she can get to it fast enough. It is a perfect height to climb on to and if mommy isn't watching she kind find all sorts of neat things...

Caught red handed...

Even with all the new climbing Hazel has been doing she is still army crawling everywhere. But if you only watch her crawling from the front you are only getting half of the picture, so I took a video of her crawling away to find Daddy who is hiding behind the corner. 

Another thing to climb on!!!

The first time she has pulled herself to her feet on her own!

I'm sure many more adventures await!

Nova and Hazel Part 2

Oops... I forgot to post this one... These pictures were from a while ago, December 2 to be exact...

Every once and a while I try to get Nova and Hazel to spend some time together, most of the time I have to do this when Jared is not around because Nova is always more energetic when Jared is home. After getting all her face licks in Nova did settle down and play nice with Hazel for a little while. 

As cute as all these pictures are they are not exactly realistic... they are pics of what happened in a second...not a minute... there was lot of me intervening, holding Nova back, Hazel not really caring that Nova is there... I would love for Hazel to be super excited about Nova, but in general she actually doesn't pay Nova much attention at all, which is a little tricky as Nova thinks Hazel is the most interesting person ever...

Not so sure why I need to put Nova behind the gate, likely she started thinking that Hazel's feet were nice chew toys... even though I'm sure Nova is not happy to be behind the gate I just love how she poked her nose through it, so cute!😍

 

Living Room Updates

Wohooo!!! The new blinds finally got installed! The blinds were suppose to be our anniversary present to ourselves, which was a while ago...But Home Depot didn't have the ones we liked in stock and it took a while to find a different place to order blinds from and then all the highways got closed.... So happy to be finally able to close out the night! We were also able to get a ceiling fan with the Christmas present money we received (Thank you!😀). Besides having to return the first one we installed, it has been working great and really helps to move the heat around the house! The light that was there was quite nice and dimmable so it got moved to our bedroom, and the extra lights from our bedroom got moved into the lamp in Hazel's room. An overall win for everyone! 😄

Switching Things Up

With Hazel's new abilities comes a new play space. I thought I would give it a try after I was working on the new nursery at church, as I put her in a Playpen with a bunch of toys while I was there and she was surprisingly happy in it for quite a while. When I tried it out at home it seemed to have similar results.

As I was setting this up, and sorting the toys and books I realized that just about everything in this picture, including all the toys and books in the baskets are gifts from our family and friends. Once I realized that it just seemed to make this picture that much more special. A big thank you to everyone for still being involved in our lives even though we live far away.