Ms. ONE-derful!

Hazel is ONE year old! I don't think I'm the first mom to say, "It's flown by!" Honestly, it did not fly by in the beginning. It was probably because Hazel and I hung out at home most of the day with feedings every few hours and days and nights all confused. Now that I look back at her monthly photos, I realize how quickly she's grown... and it makes me sad. Although each stage gets better it seems and it's so fun to watch her grow, I still always want her to stay my baby. I'd be happy if we could freeze time at this point. 1 year olds are the best. She just learned to walk a few weeks before her birthday (and she tests her balance by carrying balls or by drinking water on the go); she speaks the cutest baby jibberish, she says "ball" about 500 times a day, she loves "num, num" (food) - any kind, anytime, anywhere; she loves water, she loves her freedom and refuses to be forced to do anything (uh oh - I can't even get her to hold my hand), she has a pretty good dinosaur screech/squeal; she has always disliked her car seat (again, she can't stand to be restrained, but facing forward has helped); she's never been much of a sleeper (she sleeps 11 hours at night and one 2 hour nap on a good day); she loves her paci; she doesn't like real milk... yet; she has the best baby hair ever (she likes to play with her own and likes to yank mine); she has James's body type and his turned out feet (belly not included); she squeals every time she sees an opening for the stairs; she has 6 big, hilarious teeth; she has the best laugh, and she's ticklish everywhere; she still has the cutest rolls and little badonkadonk; she is fascinated with animals; she has the best sense of humor and gets my silliness; she'd still rather be held all day even though she can walk; she uses her crib as a baby trampoline; she's strong and smart; she knows exactly what she wants (which is weird since she came from 2 indecisive parents); she loves the library and books (as long as they're fast paced); she speed reads (she likes flipping pages back and forth, over and over); she always has an opinion when I give her choices for things; she loves music, but she does not like if I practice the piano; she charms everyone at the store; she points at everything (I must point a lot...); she loves other little munchkins like herself; and she loves Mommy and Daddy (the best thing ever)!
I feel so blessed to have Hazel as my daughter. That's an understatement. It's cliche, but it's true - she's the best thing that's ever happened to us. I couldn't ever imagine what it was going to be like to be a mom. It didn't seem real until we took her home from the hospital, and even then, I was skeptical. I felt and still feel so overwhelmed by the responsibility to raise this little angel. I just hope and pray everyday that I can be the mom she needs and deserves. The poor girl has to deal with James and me as new parents, trying everything for the first time. But hopefully she'll at least grow up knowing that we love her like crazy. I look at her several times a day and think, "Wow, she's my little girl." I love how Elder Jeffrey Holland refers to motherhood as "an eternal partnership with God." Thank goodness I'm not doing it on my own.
On Hazel's actual birthday, October 20th, I took her to her 12 month appointment, and it wasn't the best start of the day... note to self: never do that again. I don't know for whom is was more traumatizing though. After that, we went to the grocery store and got a birthday balloon! When she spotted the cage of balls, she about jumped out of the cart, so I let her pick out her favorite - a plain, lime green ball.

Later that day, we went to a park with no wood chips, but she was completely satisfied with the small rocks. Luckily she doesn't just eat anything she picks up anymore. What's funny is this girl would rather dig in the wood chips or rocks instead of swing.

After dinner, we put a candle in her banana yogurt (a favorite of hers) and sang her the birthday song!

We waited a week and a half for her birthday party because my side of the family was going to be in town for the BYU game at the Cowboys stadium. It was perfect weather for a party at the park! We took some pictures of our lil Hazel pumpkin a couple weeks before, so we went with a lil pumpkin theme for her party.

I can't decide which one's better... that one... or this one...

Poor little Hazel. Most of the pictures were like the latter. If only someone could've seen the jig I was doing behind the camera to try to get a smile. It also doesn't show the part where she got stuck the first time and we had to pry her out and cut bigger leg holes as well as the back of the pumpkin so she could slide in. Anyway, it was hard work but totally worth it!!

When I saw these glasses at the Party Store, I just had to get them for Hazel... especially since she kept them on her cute little face while shopping. Same thing at her party. Awesome. It's like she knew she was the star of the party and needed her rock star party glasses on.

I made a pumpkin flavored pumpkin cake for the big day. It could've looked less messy, but I left the icing of it until the last minute. It seems no one cared because there was no cake left over. As much as Hazel loves food, I expected her to devour her piece of cake. Apparently, she was more interested in the texture of it on her hands. She finally dug in after awhile.


We planned to decorate pumpkins, but the weather was so nice that we didn't get to it. The adults chit-chatted, the kids played on the playground, the guys played football, and everyone ate snacks here and there. We had apples and caramel dip, carrots, veggie chips, apple cinnamon sticks, and a fall chex mix for the party favors.

It was so great to have lots of family and friends there to celebrate Hazel's birthday. She's one loved little girl!

HAPPY 1st BIRTHDAY, SWEET HAZEL!