Memorial Day!

So the last few days have been busy with us preparing for our annual camping/river rafting trip to the King's River for Memorial Day. We are really looking forward to it, especially since we missed out on going last year due to the fact that Hazel was only 2 weeks old. We are also SOOOO excited to see our friends Ryan and Loralyn & their precious daughter Aurora who was born just three days before Hazel last year. We have kept in contact a lot via the computer for our pregnancies and the first year of our daughters' lives, so it will be great to hang out in person. It has been a bit nerve wracking to try and plan for all the things Hazel might need (since we will not be just a drive away from any stores in case we forget anything) but we really sat down and made a comprehensive list so I feel a bit better. Regardless, I keep reminding myself that at any point if I whine too much about having to chase a one year old around the campground that at the trip next year I will have a 2 year old AND an 8 month old and I will be looking back wondering what in the world I was complaining about!

Other than that it is hard to believe that when we get back from our trip it will already be June and this baby boy's arrival just keeps getting closer and closer. Right before we leave for the Memorial Day trip on Thursday I have my regular checkup scheduled as well as an ultrasound to check for growth and amniotic fluid levels. We are doing this solely because of what happened with Hazel last time around (so there is not yet any indication that anything is wrong) but it still leaves me a bit anxious since it brings up all the feelings I had with what happened at the end with Hazel. I am hoping that everything looks great and am looking forward to getting another peek at our little guy!

What a year...

I'm not even sure where to begin with this post as I can't believe our sweet baby girl is one. This past year has been so amazing and I honestly can't believe that Hazel has only been a part of our lives for such a relatively short amount of time. We are so in love with her and her beautiful spirit. Each day I get to see her laugh and learn new things brings such joy and meaning to my life. Each day I see her with her daddy and get to experience life as a family I am so grateful.

Hazel's party on Saturday went great! Lots of friends and family showed up and it was so nice to share in the celebration with them. I posted the pics here. My parents flew in from Seattle, Lili drove up from LA and the entire Hermann clan came from Los Altos as well, so we had a wonderful time catching up with everyone. I had planned Hazel's party for 11 because we had a wedding to go to that night (Marshall was a groomsman, so he had to leave at 1:30) and it didn't even dawn on me that it would be right smack in the middle of Hazel's naptime. She didn't seem much like herself and wasn't even interested in eating her cake! Once we got home she was still out of sorts and only when I was about 10 minutes from heading out for the wedding did we decide to take her temperature and see that it was 103.9!!! Whoa, no wonder baby girl wasn't all laughs! Luckily our family took great care of her with Motrin and lukewarm baths and her temp came down pretty quickly, although she had a low grade fever the whole weekend.

Mother's day was wonderful as well! Of course the best gift I could ever ask for would be my sweet baby! We all went out to brunch and Marshall & Hazel got me a gift certificate to the spa :)

Hazel also had her one year checkup this week and is 27 pounds 6 ounces and 31 inches (!!!!). She is still at the top of the charts but the doctor said that she was doing great and is not "obese" by any means. I got really tearful as we walked back to the exam room as my memory of that same walk just one year ago was so vivid - holding Hazel (all 6 pounds 2 ounces of her) and now here she was, cute as can be, marching herself down to the room herself.

Overall, we had a great weekend but it was busy & exhausting so I am happy to be back to "normal" life. Normal that is until August gets here... :)