Hazel Phelps

Even though she is still so little we are starting to figure out Hazel has some favorites. One is music and the other is definitely water. She really seems to enjoy her bath time and only gets upset when it is time for her to get out of the water. Since she likes the water so much I was excited to see how she would like her first opportunity to go swimming at Aunt Patty's on Wednesday. The first step was trying on her swimsuit:



Now we needed to add a hat to shield from the hot Fresno sun:




Then we were off to the pool! At first she wasn't too sure but it didn't take long to realize she was back in her beloved water and she really seemed to enjoy herself!



Of course, all of that swimming can be exhausting! Thanks to Aunt Patty for a wonderful reprieve from all of the heat!

More Pictures!

I posted updates to our pictures from Month 1 and Marshall's Graduation and also added a new folder of our iPhone photos and a folder of pics for Month 2, which includes the most recent visit from Grandma and Grandpa Berzins. Click here to see the pictures. Some of my favorites are from the iPhone collection as I have captured some great spur of the moment photos of Hazel where I didn't have our camera handy.

We had a wonderful week here with my parents in the sweltering Fresno heat. Late July is the hottest time of the year and right now we are in the thick of it (it was 112 yesterday). I am getting a bit of cabin fever as Hazel really needs to stay indoors where it is cool, but we are having fun nonetheless (I broke out the finger puppets today - a gift from Uncle Maris and Aunt Diana - which I think was more amusing to me than to Hazel).

We now have two offers out on homes as with these short sales it seems best to put offers on all of the ones that we like and see which one goes through first. We are still hoping to close on a home by 12/1/09 in order to get the first time homebuyer's credit. It is exciting but I will feel a bit more relieved once Marshall starts his new job sometime in early September.

Meet Ollie

So there's a new "man" in Hazel's life. His name is Ollie the Octopus and he's a sailor. He's a handsome little fellow, check him out:




For some reason, Ollie's charm has elicited quite a few smiles from Hazel which has provided us with some fantastic photo ops (sorry the second one is a bit blurry but it just goes to show she uses her whole body to squeal with delight at him).






This morning I was getting ready to meet some friends for lunch and I set Hazel down in her Boppy with Ollie by her feet since she was asleep. When I came back into the room I couldn't believe my eyes! Somehow Ollie had managed to creep up to sleep by Hazel.




When I got a closer look it became clear that she had indeed managed to pull her little friend up by her side so they could snooze together.




She even rested her tiny hand on his head. So adorable!

What a year...

This Friday (7/17) Marshall and I will be celebrating our fifth wedding anniversary. It is amazing to think back over these five years and see just where we have been and all that we have been through together - Moving to Fresno, getting our dog Marlee, Marshall getting his doctorate, me getting my CPA, various trips and of course HAZEL! I was looking through some of our old pictures this year and came across some from our trip to Hawaii for our anniversary just last year. Amazing to think that Hazel wasn't even a figment of our imagination back then and now just one short year later here we are in our apartment up to our ears in baby toys, sleep deprived and happier than ever. It has been an incredible journey with an amazing man who I love so much and I am so excited to embark on this latest chapter with our little family!

Here's a synopsis of the last five years in pictures:


2004: Our Wedding Day (Seattle, WA) - We are so "fresh faced"!


2005: Here we are in our apartment with Marlee. We went to Angels Camp, CA for our anniversary but apparently didn't take any pictures of us together.


2006: Here we are in LA with Casey. No big trips for our anniversary that year. Marshall was in the thick of graduate school...


2007: Celebrating our anniversary in Orlando! Here we are at Disneyworld in the incredible humidity


2008: We celebrated our anniversary with a week in Hawaii. Here we are in Kona on the Big Island and after that we went to beautiful Kauai.


2009: Our family up at King's Canyon just days before our anniversary. What a journey!

Two Months Already!?!

Our baby is definitely growing up and getting bigger! I know that she must be growing if even I am noticing it! Hazel had her two month checkup on Wednesday and everything is going great. Her stats were as follows:

Weight - 11 lbs 4 oz
Length - 22.5 inches
Head Circumference - 38 cm

She also had more of her shots on Wednesday and did really well with them. Before the doctor actually saw her (she was all wrapped up in a blanket in her carseat) we were discussing her sleeping/eating schedule and when I told her that Hazel slept for a good 5-6 hour stretch at night she had a look of concern flash across her face. However, after I pulled Hazel out and she got a look at how big she was the doctor said that it was just fine and that she was growing beautifully! Just to show how much she has changed, here is a photo of Hazel in her sweetheart t-shirt at one month and at two months - what a difference!

One Month


Two Months



In other news Hazel made her first trip to Los Angeles to visit with her Uncle and Aunties for the Fourth of July weekend. We had a blast and enjoyed the break from the hot weather here in Fresno. Also, for all of those that watch the TV show 24, Hazel met Tony Almeida (aka Carlos Bernard) at a party in LA. I was sitting by the pool and kept looking over at him wondering why he looked so familiar when finally my brother said "Do you watch the show 24?" and it clicked. It's clear I am not from LA since never in a million years would I have thought he was "familiar" from TV. Not long after that "Tony" asked Marshall if he could hold Hazel and they snuggled and spent some time together poolside while Hazel snoozed. See, I told you she's getting big, she's already "sleeping" with celebrities! Ha ha...


Hazel & Tony