Belts, Backs, and Boxes. Oh, My!

This whole Geoff's bad back thing is KILLING ME! Five pounds is not very much, which means I have to do all the heavy, and not so heavy lifting. He can't even lift Hazel!! Yeah, yeah, he is in pain but no one ever talks about the other victims of industrial accidents, the family! I guess this is where my work's ad campaign came from, it is basically kids telling their parents to be careful out there. Blah blah blah. It sucks.

But, enough whining...

Since Geoff is laid up, Hazel has to find ways to entertain herself. Such as pumping the sink full of soap and water and making bubbles.

Sometimes being so clean makes Hazel angry. Or something. I don't know what she is doing in the is picture.
Hazel has always been independently minded. She likes what she likes and doesn't want to be told differently. This is especially true when it comes to clothes. As long as she is dressed appropriately for the weather, and I don't have anything going on where I need her to look nice, I just let her be. This makes for some rather "interesting" outfits.

Here we have the infamous "belt" that is actually a headband. Also, she is in a tent made out of two dining chairs and a sheet. In front of the heat vent. She gets that from her dad. The complete blocking of a heat vent. Just a little self-congratulations, I love the pom-poms on this dress. I think they really make the outfit. I wish I had done the bodice longer so I could have had a level surface on which to sew the ribbon but other than that, I really think this is a cute dress.
Here is an even fancier outfit. We bought her a new swimsuit (seen in the soap picture over jammies), and she has been wearing it pretty much constantly. Hazel and I even went swimming today, and she wore her new swimsuit. It is way too big. I guess I didn't notice earlier because she has been wearing it over all her other clothes. Notice the face. She did not want her picture taken. In fact, she took off when I was trying to take a picture of her outfit. It is like she knows I will pull it out later in life... Plus, the action in this shot is fabulous.
Another outfit. I actually let her out of the house in this. I think we were going to the grocery store. So we have tights, leg warmers, shorts (from Japan) and then up top there is a long sleeve shirt, the matching Japan shirt and the fancy hooded sweater/jacket. Oh, and pink sparkly shoes. None of these are weird alone, but you get it all together and...well, let's just say you can tell she dresses herself. We tried to get a head-on shot but again she pulled the "no tam-er-a" stunt. (translation: No Camera, i.e. I don't want you to take my picture)
People always say that when you buy a kid a toy they would rather just play with the box. Well, you don't even have to buy them a toy. Hazel is just as happy playing with the box that my new filing cabinet came in. She made a house. Geoff cut this window. I cut one like an 'I' with a big top and bottom so it opens like shutters. Probably because I have a good back. She has also decorate and furnished the house. It is pretty full in there. But, she really likes her little house.

Notice the old filing cabinet in the background? If you want it, it is yours, just let me know. Two-drawer lateral filing cabinet. Fits letter or legal. We just don't have that much stuff to file and now that I am spending more time in the dungeon, I mean basement, I trying to get it cleaned out and organized. Which is all the more difficult since Geoff is an invalid and can't move anything.

Also, we have two CRT monitors (i.e. not flat-panel) if anyone wants them. Free to a good (or bad) home.

A couple of stories

Well, not so much stories as sentences.

1- Hazel has a headband, it is green with a big flower on it, I think it came from Tayvia. Anyway, she never really like to wear it as a headband but she LOVES to wear it as a belt. All the time. As in, she slept with it on last night. And the other day she was wearing pants that were too big and didn't have elastic in the waist (!!!) and I wanted her to wear a real belt, but she said "No!" because she already had a belt.

2- She only wears jammies. Seriously, it is a fight to get her to wear anything else. I know jammies are comfortable but it is not like she has to wear a suit, her clothes are pretty close to jammies. She used to wear clothes all day, then she decided she needed to wear jammies to nap, now she is in them pretty much all day. I do make her get dressed if we leave the house, however.

3- Whenever she has a little "owie", she blames it on the bumblebee. This is from the 'Baby Bumblebee' song. There are not a lot of bumblebees around in January but they still get the blame.

4- If she coughs and I ask her to cough into her elbow, she will fake cough into her elbow. Sometimes she remembers to really cough into her elbow, but either way is pretty funny.

5- Yesterday, Hazel told me, "Hazel no potty, Hazel like poop pants." I think this does not bode well for my desire to get her potty trained.

Oh, and I have officially started studying for my CPA exam. I have the (crazy, expensive but highly effective) review courses on CD, video lectures, and Hazel likes to watch "mommy's movies". They might be entertaining for the 10-seconds she is watching them but after the first three or so hours, the novelty wears off.

Happy Birthday to Hazel!!

Our baby is TWO! For her birthday, Hazel wanted a party. With cake and balloons and kids and party hats. Except for the party hats, she got everything she wanted. I decided we had enough activities and chaos and didn't need to add party hats to the mix. And, frankly, I don't think Hazel missed them.

We had brunch for Hazel's birthday, for the second year in a row. I made eight different quiche, but then didn't get out the camera before serving. Thanks to Anne for remembering the camera, or I possibly would have forgotten in the midst of the party. We also had yogurt parfaits and mini bagels. And cake. Cup-cake.
Hazel and her cupcake.
Mmmmmm.....frosting.
Hazel opening presents, notice the awesome party dress. Yes, I made that. And it is polka-dotty. And she has polka-dotted ribbons in her hair. And polka-dotted balloons. Not in her hair.

And a polka-dotted giraffe. Awesome. Which I didn't make, Amy made it. But, it totally fits the polka-dot theme.

Zoey and her parents came to the party. Zoey picked her own clothes. I understand this completely, as Hazel likes to pick her own clothes.
Gloria and Anthony and their parents came to the party. And Gloria was Grandpa Ray's friend, so we had to take a picture for proof.

Chase, Ashton, Dylan and Sadie came to the party. Chase = grown up.
Orson, Helen and Amy came to the party. Hazel was excited about Orson and had to pull out the matching Care Bear when I told her he was coming.

Anne and Jenni came to the party, but forgot to bring their cheeks.
Jenni and Shauntil were especially happy to come to the party. Oh, and they are crazy.

Jordan and Tayvia and their moms came to the party. And they proceeded to point fingers at each other. The kids, not the moms.
Hazel came to her party, and looked very determined about something.

Helen, Bonnie and Sadie were button-making machines!
More button making.
Zoey loved Hazel's big-girl bed. I am guessing she will get one in the near future, especially because her birthday is in three weeks.

Anthony, Orson and Gloria play with some Pez.

Proof that Gloria is Jenni's friend. Hazel is very finicky and sometimes likes people and sometimes h-a-t-e-s them. Gloria is nice and sweet. Thus, some people like proof of nice babies because they are used to the not-so-nice baby.
All in all, it was a fabulous party. And, it has been a fabulous year. We are looking forward to the, what are the called? Terrific twos? Yeah, I am sure that is what it is called.

Deep Fried New Year's Eve

So, to celebrate the new year, we (Jenni, mostly) decided we should have a Deep Fried New Year's Eve (DFNYE). This is as delicious as it sounds, but deadly.
We had donuts. Covered in sugar.
Also, clockwise, starting from the top. Cream cheese wontons, mini corn dogs, panko covered brie and onion rings.
Also, we deep-fried a Twinkie.
You see how we used whole-wheat flour? It is almost like our batter was "healthy".

We also deep fried: S'mores (which were like 100 times better than the zoo's), ham and swiss rolls, ham and Swiss wontons, pizza rolls, Brussel sprout (only one), my entire kitchen. It is like there is a haze in my house. The brie and the s'mores and the mini corn dogs were the most delicious, in my opinion.

And then we toasted the New Year with mini pigs-in-a-blanket. They were not deep-fried.
Happy New Years!