Summer Water Fight

We pretty much had the longest, most awful winter ever. It wasn't necessarily colder or stormier than other winters in the past, but we had zero spring, and it went on FOREVER. I'm talking well into June, people. When the temperature finally tipped the scales at a whopping 75 degrees, we whipped out the shorts and t-shirts, and started going to the pool whenever possible. One of the last days of May there was a peek of nice weather, and when I was at work, the grandkids and grandma decided to have a water fight. This involved many sprinklers, changing the direction of the heads, and hoses, and the kids had a BLAST! I am so happy that Hazen has such fun grandparents that are willing to get messy and have fun at a moment's notice. He talked about the water fight for weeks!

Like Son, Like Father?

Jason's parents were here for a day a few weeks ago, and they were able to attend the PG Fireman's Breakfast. One of the things that Jason really wanted was to see his dad dress up in his turnouts. It was so fun to see how giddy Jason was about the whole ordeal!

He Showers!

Anyone who knows Hazen know that he has a lot of really wonderful, strong qualities. They also know that bravery is not among them. He really is darling, but truth be told, the kid is a LITTLE bit of a wuss. Up until very recently, taking showers fell under the category of things that made him nervous. One day though, I brought him in with me, and he LOVED IT. In fact, he loved it so much that he decided that he wanted to stay in there while I got ready for the day. When we were in Disneyland, the kid wanted to shower like 4 times a day. I can't say I really blame him because it was so cold, but the showers are NOT short. I'm just glad that my little buddy is getting braver and bigger in certain aspects of life. As long as he stays my baby forever, I don't really care what he does. :)

NICU Reunion 2011

So, unfortunately, we missed last year's NICU reunion, so we made a special plan to go this year. Instead of having it at the hospital like they have in years past, they held it at a park not too far away. The weather was lovely, which was nice, because Utah pretty much had a 9 month winter. When we pulled up, it was a huge ordeal! There were bounce houses, and tons of tents set up with games and prizes, so they definitely went out of their way to make things nice. The disappointing thing? The lack of NICU staff that were present. Now, I don't mean to sound rude, but if I'm going to go hang out somewhere for the afternoon, I'm not going to see other families who have had preemie babies, I want to see the wonderful people who made my little darling the healthy little buddy he is today. So, I was bummed because we didn't see one nurse or Dr that we know.

However, as I'm apt to do, it was a great opportunity for me to reflect on my little boy who has overcome so many odds. There is literally not a day that goes by when I don't stop and stare at him and seriously marvel at how grateful I am to have him. I love my Hazen more than anything in the entire planet, and I would and will do anything for him forever. I hope he has even a smidgen of understanding of how much I love him, because if he does, then he will realize that I truly believe he can be, do and accomplish anything he sets his mind to. It's been so much fun watching him grow up so much the past few months. He's such a big boy, and I can't believe how much time has flown. In only a few months, my baby will be 4! I always ask him if he will stay my little tiny baby forever, to which he responds, "No, I not. I'm bigger and bigger. But not big like Daddy. But I still wub you, Mom".

Hazen boy, you keep on growing bigger and bigger. And you better not ever get big like Daddy, or else it will be awfully hard to hold you. Mama loves you big much, bigger than the ocean, and bigger than all the trees. And of course, bigger than all the giraffes at the zoo.

California: Part Five

May 7- This morning, we all loaded in the car, and decided instead of going to the beach, we would just drive straight to Vegas. Luckily, this car ride was really painless as well. I think, in hindsight, nothing could ever be so bad as the first long ride, so everything else looked great! We got to Vegas and took the kids to the pool for a little bit, but it was WINDY. Since Hazen pretty much was obsessed with Wade's kids, we decided to let Devon babysit again, and ordered them pizza while we went to the Paris buffet for dinner. I mean, let's be honest, do we really need to pay $15/kid for them to not even really eat what was offered? Heck no! The adults had a great time. It was really nice to have Devon there with us, because he could give us some adult time so it didn't feel like we were just entertaining little kids for a week straight.

May 8- As all things must, this trip had to come to an end. It was Mother's Day, so my only real request was to go to Hash House A-Go-go for breakfast. I knew that it would be the type of place that Jason would LOVE! The wait was about 30 minutes, but that's better than the hour and a half wait that it was by the time we left. I didn't get any pictures, unfortunately, but know this; the food rocked. After that, it was time to get in the car and drive home. As we drove more north, the weather proceeded to get crappier and crappier, so we were happy to have had several days of beautiful weather! So, what did I learn from this trip? Vacations with anyone other than just you and your spouse are HARD WORK. There requires a lot of planning, and flexibility, but in the end it is SO worth it. We've been home for almost 2 months, and Hazen still asks us on a daily basis if we can go on vacation again. He talks about it all the time, and knowing how much he loved it makes it even more worth it. The Olsens were the PERFECT vacation buddies, because they are super chill, and I love the kids. There was never a time when I thought, "Crap, I wish we would have gone on the trip by ourselves....". It was seriously great. 10 days was a little long, but I think it's mainly because I thrive on a schedule, and by the end I was actually really anxious to get back to work and NOT eating out! Jason and I are actively saving for our next vacation, which involves a little car trip to go see a girl that I might not ACTUALLY be related to, but is still my sister....(hint, hint, Ashley....)

All in all, a great time, a great trip, and a great success! I can't wait for our next trip!

California: Part Four

May 5- I am a firm believer that Day 2 of anything is always the hardest day. Day 2 of a diet sucks, Day 2 of 3 working is always hard, and Day 2 of Disneyland wasn't exactly the easiest thing in the world. To be fair, for the most part, everything was great, and the kids were doing awesome until about 3 pm, when we realized that we hadn't fed Hazen an actual lunch. Most of us were doing just fine, because we had so many snacks, but little buddy wasn't exactly chomping on the snacks like the rest of us were. So, needless to say, both of our blood sugars tanked at about the same time, and let me tell you, it was a match made in heaven. After we got him fed with some "real" food (yogurt, cheese, apple slices), life was grand again. We were ready to hit the park for the rest of the night until closing. After the park closed, my friend Cheryl, who I went to Nauvoo with, drove down to Anaheim with her cute husband, Kyle. The 5 of us went
to The Cheesecake Factory. My poor, sweet baby was so tired, he didn't know what to do with himself, so he did what any other cute kid would do; he slept. He full on sprawled out on the booth that we had with his head in Jason's lap, and his legs in mine, and snoozed the entire time we were eating. After we had enjoyed our meal, I went to pick him up, wherein I learned that he was sleeping so soundly that he had wet his pants! Needless to say, I held him the drive back to the hotel instead of putting him on Cheryl and Kyle's new car seat! After a quick bath back at the hotel, he was out again for the night.

May 6- Our third day at Disneyland! We decided to hit up our favorite rides one last time, as by this time we had been to and seen almost everything. We went for a few hours in the morning and early afternoon, and then headed back to the hotel to take a much needed nap for a few hours before going back to close the park down. For dinner we all went to Outback, which was delish, as per usual. I'd have to say that the last night in the park was hands down my favorite park of the entire vacation. We went to some rides together, and then decided to split up so Wade, Jenny and the kids could go on some of the bigger rides while we let Haz choose whatever ride he so desired. We watched the Fireworks together, and then we went on the carousel, Small World, and the Dumbo ride. I don't know that I've ever seen Hazen so happy! It was truly a magical experience just having him hold my hand and give me frequent hugs because he was just so ecstatic, and he didn't know how else to express it. As the park was closing, we told him that he could pick out any toy that he wanted. Knowing that stuffed animals are his love language, we went to a store that had an ample array of stuffed animals, and he immediately saw a Mickey that he fell in love with. He was so happy, and couldn't stop hugging and kissing his new Mickey. Being the sucker that I am, I told him he could pick out another toy if he wanted, to which he responded, "No Mommy. I just want Mickey to take him home. I love him so much!" After we paid for his toy, he couldn't stop giggling, and looking up at me and saying, "Thank you so much for taking me to Disneywand, Mommy. I just wuv it so much!" The entire tram ride back to the car, he couldn't stop laughing and giggling, and giving me hugs because he was so excited. It definitely made every hour worked in order to afford the trip worthwhile.