Duck

Hazel's new duck from Grandma.

Their battle rages on.

Fight...

There is no doubt that Bailey loves her little sister. Whenever she makes a peep Bails stops in her tracks and runs to wherever she is. She is also very friendly. She is constantly giving her hugs and kisses and wanting to hold her. During one diaper changing party in California I scooted Hazel further up on the bed and laid Bails down for her new diaper. Hazel was close enough to grab and pull Bailey's hair. Bailey was not a fan and in order to get her stop she just grabbed Hazel's hand and held it. I scooted Hazel further away, a perfect distance for her feet to kick Bails in the head. Once again Bails just held onto her feet, but never once tried to hit her back.

Today Bails did her normal lay on Hazel to love on her and do their best to break the bouncer...
Only this time Hazel decided to do a Grandma pinch.
The saddest part? Bails eyes started to tear up as she tried her best to sit up and escape. She then came running over to me crying. I guess Hazel has her defense mechanism down should she ever need it.

Welcome Home...

We returned home from our trip and Sam managed to get a special surprise for Bailey. She walked in and ran over giggling. A perfect little present for the son he doesn't have...

He said it's so she will grow up playing basketball because of course everyone loves watching women's basketball.
I am positive that this present was more for himself and Robby so they can have something to play with while they sit out there and watch television.

Favorite

My favorite picture from the trip...

A sympathy frown from Hazel for her crying big sister.

Good OleThousand Oaks...

Saturday night we all finally found a little time to sit down and play a game. We became obsessed with Monopoly Deal after the Izatt's introduced us to it, so we broke out our new set and taught it to the family. The supposedly twenty minute game took an eternity so unfortunately we only got to play one round; especially for Sam who said he would sit out the first game so he could eat some pie. I am also sad to report that my perfect winning streak was ruined because Robby had a 'just say no card' when I was about to win and then Connie just handed Janet the game a little bit later. Such a shame.

Sunday the majority of the group moved back on with their lives. Sam flew back to Utah so he could study for his test on Monday and get back into school mode. Robby and I stayed with the little girls till Thursday. It was the first time Sam and I have been apart since we got married almost five years ago. He sent me multiple text messages, almost all of them complaining that he was starving without me there to make his food. I laughed when he finally sent me a picture of the scale showing he had lost 4 pounds in the 4 days we were apart. How he is still alive? I have no idea.

Bailey managed to pass on her stomach plague to my Mom, Dad and Rachel. They spent the better part of 3 days barfing up a storm. We tried to take over the walking Rex detail. Apparently adding a dog to our two little girls walk was much harder than I anticipated. Good thing my Dad showed up towards the end of it to save me.

Of course we got our chicken salad deli sandwich, toppers pizza, and akios sushi fix; it wouldn't be a true trip home if we hadn't. And then in a blink of an eye we were headed back to the airport to return home to our Sam. Bailey was once again an angel on the flight. She stole a few jelly beans from the guy sitting next to her. Good to know she will take candy from a stranger. We will have to work on that. Hazel on the other hand had the biggest crying fit of her life. I tried to calm her down and for five minutes I had the hardest time soothing her. After she let out the biggest burp (it shocked the lady sitting next to me) she was calm enough to feed. She ate a full feeding and as soon as I sat her up she burped it all up - over me. Then she fell fast asleep, didn't make a peep the rest of the flight, and woke up as happy as a clam as soon as the plane landed. Sitting in a lot of baby spit up for two hours with no room to clean it up is not fun, but mostly worth it if the baby stops crying.

We haven't been home long at all and I am already counting the days until we can go back. Thank you so much for letting us come Mom and Dad. It was great seeing you. We love you so much. And sorry we got you sick.

Great Grandparents

My Dad's parent's were in town for the wedding and were also able to be there for Hazel's blessing.

It was their first time meeting her and she did not disappoint. She smiled, cooed and was overall adorable of course. It would have been flawless except for that blow out that occurred a few minutes after this pictures was snapped. Hopefully a little poop on my Grandma's sweater doesn't hurt anyone? My Grandpa told me about a million times my kids were so cute because of the Portuguese. You know, all 1/8 percent of that Portuguese blood pumping through them. I guess they have to get their cuteness from somewhere.
Bailey on the other hand was quite frightened by Great Grandpa. But she was also terrified of Rex (the dog) and about a million other things this trip so I guess that is not saying much.

Hazel's Blessing Day!

While we were in California around so much family we decided to squeeze Hazel's baby blessing into the weekend. Dana and David came back to the house to open presents and Great Grandma and Grandpa Galeria came over from their hotel so we gathered in the family room to bless her.

Hazel didn't make a peep and Sam gave her such beautiful blessing.
We were so grateful to have so much family there and for Dana and David to let us steal a little bit of their weekend.
Here is Hazel with all the boys that were in the circle. She is a lucky lady to have such good men who honor their priesthood in her life.
Hazel, always remember that your Mom, Dad and family love you more than you will ever know.
Hazel with Grandma.
We are so grateful to our Heavenly Father for blessing us with another beautiful little girl. Hazel is my little medical school miracle. She is such a perfect baby and we love her so much.

Double D's Wedding

The wedding day started nice and early for us thanks to Bailey and all her barf at 3 am. We were pretty much up as she continued to barf every hour or so and roam my parents house while I cleaned it up. A few of her adventures consisted of screaming as loud as she possibly could, playing the piano, looking for Rex and then running away because she was scared of him, and then finding more things to eat and drink for more fuel to throw up. It was a fun way to wake up the entire house super early and make a busy day even longer.

Despite being up so early we still managed to be the last ones to leave for the temple and barely made it on time because of terrible traffic and more barfing in the car. We also thought it would be ironic if the mercedes decided to break down on us since it did that to us on the way home from our sealing, but the car managed to run smoothly. We left the girls with Janet and Rachel with strict instructions of no food or water and the ipad and then hoped for the best. Their sealing was perfect and it is crazy that my little sister is now married.
After the ceremony we rushed out to the car hoping to find everyone still alive and luckily they were. Rachel and Bails were playing games and Janet was holding Hazel. We loaded up our stuff and then walked over to the visitors center to milk the baby and get the little girls dressed in their outfits. Then we headed over to greet the new couple. Dana's dress was so beautiful.
I loved it. Probably even more than I loved my own.
Then of course it was picture time. Some of the family standing around waiting for our turn to be in the pictures.
And of course Robby and Sam up to some of their shenanigans. Picking your nose is cool.
We had Robby snap a picture of us while we waited. This was towards the beginning of picture time, before the cold, tired and sick melt downs occurred.
I found a bouncy ball in the diaper bag for Bailey to play with. Of course the second I handed it to her she turned and chucked it into the bushes behind us and then points at it begging for me to get it. I am a sucker and went digging around for it, and yes I did eventually find it.
This is a picture of all my sisters and yes I am the fattest one. Apparently the 'look good for the wedding picture' memo didn't make it to me. Oh well. I'll work on it for the next one.
Bailey was not having this picture at all. Hazel did okay for the most part until Bailey's screaming got to her. Way to be offspring.
Mom and Rachel standing in the corner trying to stay out of the wind.
This was about our breaking point. They graciously did all the bridesmaid pictures first so when we finished the little girls and I left with my Mom and Dad to head back home to get ready for the luncheon while Sam stayed to finish up the groomsmen pictures.
Then it was naps and eating until the reception. At this point Bailey managed to keep a little bit of food down and she got a decent nap in. She was still clingy, but on her way to being regular old curious Bailey. Hazel managed to spit up all over me and then took a decent nap in my arms during dinner. She then was transferred over to my Dad, Mom, Uncle Robby and almost everyone else in a Hazel potato fashion.
Bailey roamed the party room trying to get her grubbies on some Mt. Dew (which she has never had before it just happened to be the brightest color), the fire extinguisher, the kitchen, and eventually the dance floor.
The stain on her shirt appeared when she decided to poke the bbq sauce from my tri-tip and then promptly wipe it on her shirt. Really child? I gave up at the point.
And here she is busting her moves off the dance floor. She learned everything she knows from Sam (and possibly Elmo).
It was such a fun day. Thanks for getting married Dana and David so we had an excuse to come to California, eat delicious food and bread basket cake, and see everyone. Love you guys.

Airplane...

On our walks the last few days Bailey will look up in the sky when she hears a plane, find it, point at it, then start giggling and making airplane noises while she spins in circles with her arms spread out. I have no idea where she learned it.

She however could care less that she actually got to ride in one for the first time. The ipad was her and Sam's best friend. Jet blue made us sit on opposite sides of the plane because apparently two lap infants are not allowed in the same row. (You know, because if the plane crashes that could cause problems? Oh wait, after a plane crash that would probably be the least of our worries.) So Hazel and I just sat and smiled at one another while Bailey and Sam ate cadbury eggs, played some games, and watched a few movies. It was a success and a million times better than driving.
Welcome to California little Hazel!

Dr. Bailey

Bailey loves Sam's stethoscope. She is so obsessed with them that whenever we go to the doctor's office she tries to steal the doctor's stethoscopes as well.

And a typical evening for Hazel...
She fell asleep after being left on the bed by herself after her bath.

Spaghetti Drain Fail...

Sammy's attempt at helping with dinner resulted in an epic fail...

I did this about a month ago, but managed to save about half of the pasta before it fell out. After my mess Sam came in and sweetly volunteered to help me drain the pasta from now on because it is heavy and difficult and he didn't want the steam to burn me. Today I let him help and all the pasta fell out. I started laughing. He said this ties us up and I made sure to point out that I lost half of my pasta and he lost all of his. I guess this illustrates who the nice one is in our relationship.

Haircuts...

In preparation for the big wedding we headed down to Lehi to get haircuts from Katelyn; partly because she is the best and partly because we miss living next door and seeing them daily. Bailey was up first and was not a fan. I figured this would be the case considering she screams bloody murder when I attempt pig tails. We usually have to settle with combing and putting in headbands or clips that last maybe five minutes in her hair.

Even after we moved her to my lap she wasn't having it. We managed to semi trim and even out her bangs and overall head and then she was off to play with the kids and the toys while we moved onto this munchkin...
She sat there like an angel and spent the majority of the time trying to lick/eat her cape.
We did our best to try to tame the Utah bump and straighten things out, but mostly we just adored her in her in the little cape.

Grape Juice

This is Bailey's eating chair. She loves it. Three times a day she races over to it and eats her meals like a champ.

Sunday we experienced a new talent. The pitcher of grape juice got left on the table after dinner. We had guests (Dana and David) so we got a special drink during dinner. Bailey loves juice and after everyone had cleared out she decided to return to the table to pour herself another glass. After walking over and seeing the event take place I panicked because our dining room happens to be on carpet. I raced over with my pinterst stain remover pins running through my brain. Miraculously she did not spill. She poured the glass and was so proud of herself she didn't even throw a tantrum when I took everything away. Instead she spent the next five minutes waving her arms in the air and shooting yah! yah! while she Bailey jumped (jumping motions without actually leaving the ground). Crisis barely averted.

Goodbye Yoshi...

A couple weeks ago my Aunt and Uncle drove down from Reno to give Sam their old scooter. I can not even begin to explain how excited he was. He took it on a test drive Sunday afternoon and when he came back he had the biggest smile and in the goofiest voice ever told me he just loved his new scooter. It made me laugh.

He went from yoshi's 50cc to old trusty's 250cc. The only reason I even remotely understand this lingo is from good ole mario kart. He went on the freeway and then got too scared and came right back off. After he told me and I scolded him and told him to never do that again.
Yoshi has now been re-gifted to Uncle Quinn. He came up on Sunday, during a little snow storm, to drive it the 50 miles back to Provo. I was sure he was going to die, but thankfully like 4 1/2 hours later he made it safely home with probably just a little bit of frost bite.

Outside...

After waking up and eating breakfast this one runs straight to her shoes and then begs to go outside the rest of the day.

Too bad she took off her 49ers beanie before I grabbed the camera. She looked exactly like the cat in the hat.

Bird Watchers

In order to entice birds to hang out in the trees in our backyard we often throw out the heel piece of the bread all over our back porch. Bailey gets so excited she usually ends up eating about half of her section while we throw it.

And then we sit back and wait for the birds to arrive. The little buggars usually make their appearance during Bailey's nap time (of course), but that doesn't stop her from perching in her chair and patiently waiting (which sometimes involves yelling and tapping on the glass door. And when one actually comes and eats a piece of her bread, or even flies across the yard low enough for her to see the smile on her face when she turns to look at me is the best thing you will ever see.
Sometimes you give your little sister a kiss to pass the time.
Until you get bored enough that you just leave her alone to go roam the house.

Sticky Mess...

It must be human nature to want your delicious treats to last as long as possible. She used to gobble down her fruit snacks or other special snacks as fast as possible (like literally shove eighteen million things in her tiny mouth all at once). I feel like I was constantly yelling at her to slow down and eat one at a time.

She still tries to shove in as much as possible, but the past few days she saves her last one and sucks on it for as long as possible. Annoying, gross, and sticky? yes to all 3.
And the best part? One day after I asked Sam to clean her hands off I grabbed her hand and walked with her up to 0ur doctor's office and my hand stuck to hers. Apparently his hatred for being sticky is so strong that going at her with a wipe is just not possible. I will get you back Sam.