Happy Birthday to Hazel!

NOW

THEN

I still can't believe it has been 2 years since I first laid eyes on our beautiful baby girl and became a mother for the first time. As crazy, sleep deprived and life changing as motherhood has been, overall it has still been the most amazing experience of my life and I wouldn't trade one second of it for anything else!

Hazel's party went wonderfully and plenty of family and friends joined us for the celebration, which was great. Her birthday is usually a beautiful day as springtime in Fresno is awesome with temperatures ranging from the mid-70's to the mid-80's (while I do whine about the heat 2 1/2 months of the year, our remaining 9 1/2 months are usually gorgeous!). I think the most shocking part of the day was that Hazel didn't nap & ran herself crazy BUT did not have any kind of meltdown until minutes before she fell asleep for the night. Last year she had a serious no-nap meltdown and a 104 degree fever so this was a big improvement. We did end up renting a bouncehouse for the day which was an AWESOME decision - both kids and adults alike really enjoyed it for hours and hours.

Hazel had her two year checkup on Monday and she came in at 35 lbs 14 oz and 37 inches. This puts her in the "120th" percentile (if there even is such a thing!). Our pediatrician continually tells us that she is just fine proportionately and not obese (i.e. she is the size of a "normal" three year old) so we just keep doing what we are doing. She learns more and more words every day and I just can't wait until things really unlock and she can pronounce things more clearly and string sentences together.

Hazel Rai, you are my precious baby girl and the light of my life. Thank you for your sweet kisses, adventurous spirit and hilarity that makes your daddy and I laugh until tears are streaming out of our eyes. WE LOVE YOU!!!!