Powerful: Derek + Laura

Warning: This is long and is written in detail as it's meant to be my record of her birth.  Well it's been a long time since I've blogged. Life gets busy and it's hard to keep up. However, I found myself wanting to record the details of Hazel's birth story. She's already 4.5 months old and I am finding that I am starting to forget small things. I want to write them all down before I forget. So here I am, sharing our story, so that I can remember and share it with her someday. Hazel Anne Power joined our family on September 3, 2017 at 8:40 pm weighing 7 lbs 5 oz and 19.5 inches long. She is my smallest baby. She's 6 oz less than Brooklyn and 1 inch shorter. She is just darling and we are so glad she's a part of our family.  So I guess I'll start at the beginning. I found out I was pregnant right after Christmas time and was able to share the news with my family that was in town for the holidays. We return home from our trip and I start bac...

  This is my little Owen and he is the most handsome little boy ever. He brings so much joy to our lives. He is an excellent napper, happy 98% of the time, and a great little brother. He laughs at every thing Brooklyn does and is so patient as she pulls and pokes him while they try and play. Here is a glimpse of Owen James at 6 months old: He sits up and loves to play with anything put in front of him He drools like nothing I've ever seen before Can roll from front to back and back to front but mostly rolls from back to tummy Loves tummy time Is obsessed with Brooklyn and Peek a boo Isn't the best night time sleeper but he is getting better every day. He gave me 6 hrs last night...to bad it was from 6 pm to 12 am instead of 12 am to 6 am. Once he's in a deep sleep he does great but just has a hard time getting to sleep at first Smiles at everyone so he can show off his dimples Blabs mama everyday all day but I don't think he has connected it yet...

This weeks class was Music time. It was so much fun and the best part is the kids were all worn out by the end. Brooklyn is taking a great nap as I write.  Here is how I set it up and what I did: Pick out 15-20 songs that the kids will love. Make sure a lot of them have actions the children can learn to do. I will list all the songs I picked below. E-mail parents and ask them to bring an empty plastic water bottle and some scarves or ribbons. Purchase and blow up one balloon for each child. Set up "What's in My Basket" game. I filled up one easter egg for each child with something different. I used coins, pasta, marshmallows, cereal, rice, beans, etc. Anything I could find in my kitchen that would make noise when you shook the egg.  Each child gets to come pick one egg, shake it, and guess what's inside. Depending on your age group you can have them count how many of the objects are inside the egg. The kids each loved having their own turn. Then start off with...

So it's been a while since I've updated and I really don't like that. I have used this as a place to record the adventures of my family and recently we've had a lot of adventures. I want to catch up on what we've been up to since our move. After going back and forth for a couple of weeks, Derek and I finally decided how we were going to take this giant move. We got a huge Penske truck (22 ft) and towed our car behind. Our goal in moving to Texas was to find a house and become first time home buyers. With that being the case we needed to look for somewhere temporary to stay. We decided to stay in the Extended Stay of America in Arlington because it was the best priced yet still so expensive. We thought we had everything figured out and off we went. Thanks to the help of my family and the movers we hired we were able to pack up the truck really quickly and still have room for Derek's broken scooter. He's not quite ready to say goodbye and is hoping to have t...

So I haven't written recently like I usually do but life is really busy right now and I am not quite sure when it'll slow down. We move NEXT WEEK to Texas where we will be staying in an Extended Stay hotel for a couple of months. During that time I will be house hunting like a mad woman so we can get out of that hotel as soon as possible. It'll be interesting to have Brooklyn in the same room as us again and I just pray it doesn't smell bad. We looked in to temporarily renting an apartment or staying at a Marriott but there were $3,000/month. That's ridiculous. It'll just keep us motivated to find a house, right? ha  So last week my poor girl got the flu. It was heart breaking. She hasn't been sick before so it was really hard. It reminded me a lot of her early days when she had acid reflux except this time it came with a slight fever, a lot more throwing up, and a worn out baby girl. It was so sad to just hold her and comfort her as she couldn't keep...

My goodness life has been busy here trying to get ready for our move to Texas but I still wanted to make time to write down how Brooklyn has changed and grown in the last month. I already feel bad for my future babies...I doubt they'll get records of each month of their 1st year of life. I'll do my best. Anyways... Isn't she cute? Melts my heart everyday. Here are some of the things she's been up to this last month: Reaches out to touch your face and show that she loves you Got her 2nd tooth! Does the funniest thing where she chews on her top gums with her bottom teeth. Her nostrils flare and her nose gets all scrunched up. It's pretty dang adorable. Loves to play sitting up. She can sit up like a champion Slaps her hands down on everything: legs, tables, floor, water in the bath or pool Loves to also play on her tummy and will go from sitting to her knees to flat on her belly While she's on her stomach she'll turn herself around in a circle. Th...