Baby Daddy

I love my baby's daddy. He is the cutest new dad you've ever seen. He adores his little girl, and she could do no wrong in his eyes. That's how it should be. Sometimes I have to ask James, "Where's MY kiss?" when he comes home from work because he just loves to come in and give Hazel a big smooch. Well, that only happened once actually because I let him know it wasn't acceptable. =) It's adorable to see those two beam at each other at the end of the day.

Here he was as a brand new dad:

I never knew how James would be as a father because I never really saw him with kids. He's not the type to wrestle around with other people's kids or anything like that, so I wondered if it'd be different with his own. At first, it was hard for him to do much of anything because newborns are so fragile and new moms are crazy and think the dads can't do things correctly. =) But now that Hazel is so much more interactive, I see James getting closer and closer with her. I love it! Of course, she's a girl, so there will be no wrestling... just cuddling and things like that. He's so gentle with her; it's so cute. My favorite things James does as a daddy are he helps with her baths, empties the smelly diaper pail, plays with her on his lap, rocks her to sleep, and takes care of her during the 2 hours on Sunday when I play the piano in Primary. I think the last one is the most challenging for him because she always gets tired during that time, but it's also a great bonding time for them. The only things James doesn't like to do are change poopy diapers and feed her when it gets really messy. =) I'm okay with that. He's the perfect daddy for Hazel, and I can tell she just thinks he's the greatest thing since the Bumbo. She's right! Look how cute they are. They melt my heart.

HAPPY 1ST FATHER'S DAY, JAMES!

YES.WE.DID.

So I'm a little late in posting about this, but we're still just as excited about it! So are all the people in Dallas! MAVS WIN! We couldn't believe it. I've been a fan of several different NBA teams in the past and a few NBA players (although I'm not allowed to mention their names because we may have played against 2 of them in the finals. Now they are "villians"), but I can honestly say my heart has been stolen by the Mavs. What a great team...not just individual players, but a team of hard working players who deserved to win. It was even sweeter to beat the Miami Heat (which James had to fill me in on the past playoffs with them because I wasn't a fan at the time), and I'm so glad we did. We dished them up a few slices of humble pie--yes we did!

So the shirt James ordered online has this logo on it:

This phrase was behind LeBron James, Dwayne Wade, and Chris Bosh when the Heat fans were celebrating having these 3 all stars on their team at the beginning of the season. HA! The only problem is... they did NOT. So, James just had to get this t-shirt. I think it's awesome.

So I think one of the reasons we won was because Hazel brought them good luck. In the hospital, James and I took a few laps around and spotted a Dallas Mavericks door. It was a sign.

James actually got to go to one of the playoff games (not the finals), thanks to his older sister Tami. He brought home the blow up noise makers, and they've been great toys for Hazel. She cheered them on for a lot of the games unless they were past her bedtime! What a cute little cheerleader.

Whatever the reason, we're just glad they pulled it out! It made for a very happy husband. =)

May Days

We had a wonderful month of May! Here's what we've been up to:

We had a fun baby shower for the lovely mother to be, Bri! She's due July 4th and she's having a little GIRL! Hazel is so excited to meet her new little friend!

We went to lots of parks to try out all the baby swings within a few miles. She loved them all!

When we didn't make it to a park, Hazel got some jumping in at home:



We went on lots of walks and played outside since we know the weather will get ridiculously hot soon. Hazel's face will tell you how she feels about the upcoming summer...

We had quite a few Mavs celebrations... come ooon Dirk! I think it's our year!


We spent some quality time with Grandma and Grandpa Palmer!


We made lots of different food for Hazel, and she seems to love anything I put on a spoon, although I think she prefers vegetables to fruit (except banana, of course). I still haven't fed her to the point where she's stopped opening her mouth for more. I hope she continues to be a good eater! So far she's only allergic to rice cereal, and I hope it stays that way!

Sometimes she prefers her toes.

And sometimes she has a hard time after she eats. Poor girl...



Hazel mostly wants to sit up all day, but a few times she has pulled up on her knees. I hope we have a little longer before she starts crawling! I think we do because it seems to be hard for her to hold up her body for very long. =)

We also went to Six Flags, which was a lot of fun! I brought my sweet niece Aubrey with us to help with Hazel so I could have some fun too! It was so fun to go on rollercoasters with James! Hazel got pretty hot in her stroller, so I hung out in front of some misters for awhile and she seemed to love it! She loves her cousin Aubrey too... sometimes she confuses Aubrey for me when she walks by and cries when she leaves the room. Cute!

Hot and sweaty, but the new Texas Giant was soo fun!

For Memorial Day Hazel and I jumped in my brother's 12 passenger van and headed down to B-town! James would've had a shorter weekend, and he also wanted to stay for his dad's birthday that we've missed the past couple of years, so we went without him this time. It was hot enough to swim down there, so we had our first swim of the season and Hazel's first swim ever! She loved the water. She also loved the constant entertainment from her cousins!

Faith and Hazel:

Her first watermelon:

Her sweet float... who wouldn't like swimming in that?

Hang time! Matt said she was in the NBBA (National Baby Bball Association)

Dad had Hazel do the Hula:



Hazel made a new friend too -- Diesel.



Here's how Hazel felt about leaving all the fun:

It could've partly been her teeth too... she has 1 tooth that you can see pretty well and another one next to it that's peeking through!

These next photos don't need explanation; they speak for themselves: