hazel is growing up

will someone please tell me what has happened to my little baby?

she's gone

i can't believe it

suddenly i have a couple of toddlers

not to say hazel is walking

she's not

but she just seems so old lately

maybe it's her new big girl shoes

that she climbs on everything

or that her hair is getting so long

i'm not sure

either way, i am in total shock

hazel is not a baby anymore

sure could use....

*a coke slurpee

*a quick trip to ikea for lampshades

*a target for no particular reason except i am getting really sick of walmart

*a visit from my family

*the ergobaby carrier we lost in seattle

*a real mall that doesn't include a joannes or winco

*more thrift stores

WSU, why do you have to be in the middle of nowhere?

bus ride, please

it's no wonder when our friends drove past us

waiting near the bus stop

they asked if our car was broken

we didn't look too happy

waiting for the bus in the heat

but really we were happy

and our car isn't broken

we were on our way to WSU for an EE ice cream social

i love my new $7 yellow peep toes

and michael's shadow

the bus ride was the highlight of our outing

turns out the ice cream social was pretty lame

a big birthday thank you

today included

a yummy breakfast surprise

roses

presents

phone calls

tetris attack

rummy

finishing a good book

ice cream cake

a surprise party

a lunch out

shopping

................

thank you

all of you

who made my birthday so special

it's my....

birthday!!!

the big 2-4

woo hoo

noah's room

quality

daddy daughter time

she's not coming yet..

so guess who's drinking who's bubblegum jones soda

my sister's coming my sister's coming

today we went to spokane for noah's follow up appointment

his teeth are holding on strong

though the one "good tooth" is discoloring slightly

but they're looking really good

and still intact

as much as they can be

so we go back for another follow up in 4 weeks

what a blessing

i keep dreading his teeth being ripped out

but for now he's keeping them

yay

while we were in spokane we were supposed to pick my sister up from the airport

but stand by is proving a little tricky

so we're hoping to get her tomorrow

after all this i'm not sure i'm going to send her back

ever

can't wait to see her

and watch lots of silly movies

and eat candy

and stay up late

and swim

i hope she likes hot weather...

and wheat fields..

a few more pictures

from our trip

these were taken at ediz hook

in port angeles

miss hazel's room

a few photos

a view from her door way

her room currently holds the couch and ottoman

we recently redid

i love what a grown up feminine touch they add

and she got the pom poms that were in the kids' room

here's a close up of what sits on her dresser

the room isn't overly done up

but i really really like it

it's no italy, but...

we planned on going on a big vacation this summer

but decided to save our money for more important things

instead

we had a mini vacation

here's how we started

noah's lookin' cool ready to go

we went to my sister monica's house and had fun with her family

then we slept at michael's aunt debbie's house

and headed to see my grandma the next day

on our way to my parent's house

a picture of not so happy hazel with her great grandma jordan

noah was too afraid of a tractor ride this time

so hazel got her first ride with grandpa all by herself

we did lots of fun things with my parents

including a 9 mile bike ride to a really nice park

and playing on the coast throwing rocks

and they watched the kids so we could go see

the time traveler's wife

then we stopped to see michael's parents

on our way to seattle

and we took the ferry which was really fun

and

a little windy

we stayed at a swanky hotel in seattle

called the Hyatt Olive 8

here's a before of our beds

our yummy ordered dinner

and an after of our beds

we had a lot of fun swimming at our hotel

and we shopped around seattle

and of course enjoyed pike place

and a healthy dose of ikea

it's no italy

but it was a really fun family vacation

meow

we got a cat

accidentally

it shows up outside our door sometimes

and yesterday michael suggested feeding it

reluctantly, of course

but he suggested it

and i couldn't think about a poor hungry cat needing food

probably abandoned

and us ignoring it

so we fed it

and then we fed it a little more

then it slept outside our door

for a few hours

we never really wanted a cat....

oops

at least he's an outdoor cat

for now..

i know, i know

it's been a couple weeks and i'm a total slacker

i haven't even posted our new apt yet

but tomorrow we get internet officially

so i'll stop borrowing our neighbor's wireless

and start using our actual computer that has the pictures

so check back tomorrow to see how the place is lookin'

sweet hazel

the other morning

before breakfast

we were asking noah to fold his arms

for the prayer

which he was reluctant to do

because he was hungry and food was in front of him

but little hazel did folded her arms

for the first time

with out any prompting or real instruction

it was precious

silverwood

was super fun

we especially enjoyed the roller coasters

how cute is this picture of the kids with grandma and grandpa olson?

not sure why noah was crying

bottom line, i didn't get very many pictures

our batteries died

noah loved the antique cars ride where he got to drive

and of course

we enjoyed some ice cream

other highlights of the olson family vacation included:

go karts

miniture golf

bowling

michael and i went on a date to see a movie

some cool parks

and a really fun barbecue

silverwood

tomorrow we leave for silverwood

we're excited for some relaxation and fun with family

we'll take lots of pictures

pictures of noah's teeth

these were all taken yesterday

they didn't look as bad as they did monday when it happened

but they're looking better than this today

so...we're making progress

maybe you've noticed...

we deleted the blog for a few days

now it's private

reason being

sometimes it weirds me out that anyone can read this

i've been feeling like i spend WAY too much time on here

and on all of your awesome blogs

i need to get my priorities straight

so here goes nothing

private blog or bust

yay...sort of

we went to spokane to the world's coolest dental office for kids

equiped with video games, kids movies and otter pops

noah did really well

but of course doesn't really prefer people in his mouth right now

they decided to leave them for now

apparently that's the latest approach

he has some prescribed antibiotics

and motrin

so hopefully his teeth won't get infected

and we go back in 2 weeks

but until then we just leave his teeth

i'm so glad he's not toothless yet

but if he has to be

it'll be fine

another one bites the dust

noah hurt his teeth yesterday

really bad

he fell onto the lanolium face first

and bumped his two front teeth out of place

we took him to the ER

(second time in 8 days)

and they told us to go to the dentist today

so we did

and his tooth broke from the root

and both need to be removed

so we're leaving for Spokane in a couple minutes

so he can get them pulled

we're really sad

we wish this hadn't happened

he'll be toothless until his adult teeth grow in

which could be 3-7 years away

poor boy

he's handling things like a champ

we'll need to buy him lots of soft foods

maybe a new movie

and give him lots of love

we made it

We've moved into the new place and we really love it. Luckily our friend Daniel came with his van and Garrett and Miriam came with their truck to help and we all made it fit into their vehicles and a small u-haul truck we rented. It is so nice we have friends here already and that they are so willing to help us. Noah and Hazel seem to be enjoying their own rooms. Noah doesn't have to go to bed as early because we let him stay up and play and Hazel doesn't get woken up so...life is great. And to top it off Michael is on a 3 week break from school. YAY! Later this week we're going to Silverwood with Michael's family so that'll be really fun too.

New resolution: Spend way less time online. Spend way more time interacting with the kids. Cook meals. Clean more. I can't wait.