Happy 4th of July!

I love you, Soldier.

Also, I love America. This morning I sang "American the Beautiful" and "The Star-Spangled Banner" to Hazel. She smiled. I'm going to instill a deep patriotism in her heart like my dad did for me. That's exciting for me to think about.

When I was teaching kindergarten in California, we had a four-week unit about patriotism. During that month, every day I would have my students stand up, face the flag, put their hands on their hearts, and I would sing the National Anthem to them. By the end of the month, they were all singing along with me. Every single time I sang it, I would cry. And someone would ask, "Why are you crying, Mrs. Bonner?" And I would say, "Because I love America so much, and I'm so thankful to live here." Before too many days had passed, I'd have a kid or two announce at the end of the song that they were crying, too, because they loved America. I hope I really did instill a love of our great country in some of those sweet five-year-old hearts.

Hazel's New Lovey

Hazel grabbed the almost-empty toothpaste tube out of my hands about a week ago and hasn't parted with it since. It goes with us upstairs, downstairs, and in the car. She adores it. What the-?

Here is the song I made up today:

Free feet
Free feet
Hazel's got free feet!

June 30th. I've been counting down to this day for three months. Today means freedom. Today was the happiest day of my life. (Okay, not really, but it was pretty darn awesome!)

We made a jaunt over to this miraculous place:

Shriner's Hospital

where the doctor said Hazel's feet looked fantastic and she could start only wearing the brace at bedtime. Not even naps, people! This is a bonus that I only dreamed about!!!

The entire rest of the day I couldn't stop staring at, tickling, kissing, and otherwise making a private spectacle of Hazel's darling little baby feet. I am overjoyed.

Now she gets to learn how to do all her tricks barefoot. She had a challenge with this one:

As she held on to the couch and took steps, her feet kept getting farther and f a r t h e r away from each other until she was practically doing the splits. She basically freaked out. We've got a bit of a learning curve here, but I think she'll get the hang of it pretty fast. She did get her father's genius genes, after all.

I took her outside for a quick, celebratory photo shoot. I decided I should take ALL my pictures outside in the shade. The lighting and colors were perfect! I could end up with some serious framers if I would just go in the yard whenever I feel camera-happy. This was news to me. All of you probably already figured that out. Ha ha!
Anyway, I'm feeling delightfully joyful and wanted to share the news!

Confessions of a Shopaholic

I swear I'm not a shopper. I rarely spend money on anything other than groceries. I groan at the sight of the mall. I purposely buy basic clothes instead of trendy ones so they'll last longer and I won't have to go out and buy anything for a while. When I do shop, it takes a lot of persuasion to get me to spend more than ten bucks on an item of clothing. Ask Todd. He'll vouch for me.

But I've found my weakness - the Carter's outlet in Park City.

This is today's loot:
Imagine a pile just that big and just as costly coming home with me a few weeks ago.

Because it did.

Shrug. My kid's gotta be cute, right? And babies fit into clothes a lot better than I do. Hence the ease with which I whipped out my credit card and swiped it without so much as a blink of the eye. In fact, I praised myself for spending enough to qualify for the 20% off coupon.

If only there was a Carter's for grownups.

Time to Childproof for Reals

Let the games begin!

She's Got Timing, That One

Good grief, that's a gorgeous grin!

When I was talking with Todd today, he wanted to know if Hazel had figured out how to crawl forwards yet. Nope, I said.

Less than an hour later, this is what I caught on video:

I had to post it so Todd doesn't have to wait a month for me to mail him the June video clips. Forgive me the indulgence: this is a big deal to us!

Tick, Tock, Tick, Tock, BRRRRIIIIINNNGGG!!!

Yawn.

Hazel loves to wake up at 6:20. On the dot. Occasionally it'll be 5:20 instead (oh, the horror!) and every once in a while she sleeps in until blessed 7:20. Always 20 after the hour. Very punctual.

I've got this ideal picture of her waking up between 7 and 8 each morning. I've been trying to train her to that end. Most of the time she spends the time from 6:20 to 6:58 alone in her crib, as I lie in my bed hoping she'll go back to sleep - trying to teach her that we get up at 7:00.

Occasionally she does go back to sleep.

Most of the time, not so much.

Yesterday she didn't even go back to sleep when she woke up at 5:20. I went in there after 20 minutes and kissed her, told her it was still nighttime, and even turned on her naptime music to try to hypnotize her back to sleep. Not successful. Protested off and on until I got her out at 6:35. (Am I a bad mom?) She took a nap at 8:00 am. Ridiculous.

What can I do? Ideas, please!

When the Cat's Away. . .

My mom, my sister Kathryn, and I have been planning a girl's day where we all get our hair cut together by the fabulous Krista (a favorite Young Women's leader when I was a Laurel). Krista never gets it wrong. She cuts my hair better than anyone.

Krista

We've got some sweet before and after pics for your pleasure and enjoyment.

Kathryn before

Kathryn after

Mom before
Mom after (with Hazel, whose new trick is to stick her tongue out for hours at a time)

Me before (man, my hair was getting so long and scraggly!)

Me after - is Todd going to freak out about how short it is? Cast your vote on the sidebar.

I always want to do something dramatic to my hair when I cut it. And for years (possibly since childhood) I've jealously eyed the chin-length look, always admiring it but too chicken to try it out. Part of what's held me back the last few cuts is that I've consulted Todd beforehand, and he always balks at how short I want to try it. Anyway, I decided now is the ideal time to give it a shot. If it turns out badly, my man's not even here to have to live with it. And there's 4 1/2 months for it to grow back before he comes home if he hates it. So, what's a girl got to lose? (besides 8 inches of mane!)

Dream Job

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to be a mailman? There are a lot of careers out there that sound like fun, but I must admit, I've never really thought delivering mail could be a dream job.

Until last week.

I spotted the mailman through the front window the other day, and watched to see if he put anything in my box. Much to my amusement, he spent five minutes flipping through a magazine, cover to cover a couple of times. As he slipped it into the neighbor's mailbox, I caught a glimpse of the cover: a woman in a red dress. Perhaps it was People, Redbook, O Magazine. . . Definitely a woman's magazine. Too funny.

And then, only a few days later, I was at a neighbor's yardsale, and they said, "I wonder when the mailman's coming back." They pointed to three big bags in the back of their garage. Apparently, when the mailman passed their house delivering mail, he stopped for a little shopping spree. He bought a bunch of stuff and then asked my neighbors to hold the items for him until he was off work and could come pick it up in his own car.

What a life! Imagine it - such a life of leisure. Perusing other people's mail, catching all the best deals at yardsales, parking under the shade of a big tree to take a catnap, listening to your iPod all day long, not to mention being the only driver on the road seated on the right side of the vehicle... Those delivery trucks are practically jeeps, with the doors off. Aah, feel that breeze on your face as you demurely drive from house to house!

Have you caught your mailman in a humorous act? I'm sure there must be tons of great stories out there! Please share.

Hallalujah!

Have you guys been praying for me or something?

Hazel's started taking great naps. She's been solid on sleeping at least an hour and a half in the morning and at least 45 minutes in the afternoon for a week straight now. Sometimes more.
Aah, freedom.

As we speak, she's been napping for two hours and five minutes. While she's slept, I worked out, showered, dressed, read emails and blogs, and made business phone calls. Now I'm blogging. What the heck?! I'm used to that being just about all I can accomplish in an entire DAY. It's not even 11:00 yet.

What a wonderful life.