Hazel turns 2

Hazel had a birthday yesterday. It was a laid back family affair with a couple presents and a little cake decorating. She is so much fun right now. She is head strong and can throw a tantrum with the best of them but she is also soooo funny, loves to laugh and loves her brother and sisters. She loves to dance and sing and 'play' the piano. We just can't get enough of her.

The cake.

Hazel loading the cake up with sprinkles. She used the whole bottle.

This is what Hazel does when we ask her smile. Love that kid.

Try this recipe.

So easy, so simple, so tasty. I've had it for lunch three times in the last week and once for supper. It isn't helping get the baby weight off but I just don't care while I'm eating it. It's from Smitten Kitchen.

spaghetti with cheese + black pepper

Go make it.

Henri is Awesome

The other morning, as I was heading off to work I noticed a piece of paper on my desk. "VAMPIRE JET" was written on it in brown marker in Henri's unmistakable monospaced printing.

"Are you making a story called Vampire Jet?" I asked him.

"No, that's the game I'm making for you." He said.

"That's a great name." I said.

He responded, "I should have called it Battle Bats, huh?"

[photo by Kiera]

A week old and 36

This week has flown by. Maggie Jane is now a week old and adjusting quite well. All the kids are loving her to death. Hazel is doing much better than I thought she would she just seems a bit more clingy.


In the chaos of the first week of having Maggie home we celebrated (actually, didn't celebrate) Micah's 36th birthday. It was pretty anti-climactic. Sorry Micah.

Micah and his birthday dinner of popcorn and a movie. Who said having four kids would be hard? Nothing to it.

Micah and his three beautiful girls.

Outnumbered 2 to 1

Yesterday, Bess woke up at 5:30 having contractions, after packing and getting the kids dropped off with friends we arrived at the hospital at 8:40. She delivered the baby naturally at 9:25 after pushing twice. It went so fast that the new mother's first words to her newborn daughter were "Are you serious? Shut your face!"

Everyone is doing great. Bess is the happiest I've seen her in months. The baby is 8 lbs 15 ounces and 20 inches long, cute, purple and chubby. It took us all yesterday to finally decide, but her name is Maggie Jane Harvey Bauer (even though I was pushing heavily for Violet, to match her birth color).

This afternoon, I brought Bess home, where we are now easily outnumbered by our children.

Hot Family Pictures

Okay, maybe not really hot, but we did have family pics taken this year! Check out my friend Kiera's blog for some of the results. She got some great portraits of the kids.

Twilight + Mystery Science Theater =

Hi-freaking-larious.




And for more fun check out the reviews and photos on this fantastic Amazon product.

October Upate

Cowbaby


Wordgirl, Sheriff Henri, and Hazel.


Bess' belly.


Bess just finished knitting these for Hazy.


Holy cute.

Birthdays, Baptisms, Blessings and Back to School

Harriett got baptized.

We all stood in front of a tree.

Hazel got blessed.

Henri turned 4.

Hazel was happy.

Harriett started 3rd Grade.

A Donut Eaters Official Public Service Announcement

Bed Bugs




Cute? No.
Imaginary? No.
Make for an adorable goodnight rhyme? Not once you've had them.

Facts About Bed Bugs

• They are not a myth, actually they were nearly eradicated in the 50's and 60's by DDT.
  
• They have increased in number 50 fold in the last five years alone.
• You can get them from a hotel just by putting your luggage on the floor.
• Newly hatched bed bugs are tiny and transparent.
• Bedbugs get their reddish brown color after they feed on blood.
• They inject their hosts with a numbing agent so they don't feel the bite and and anticoagulant to increase the blood flow.
  
• Signs that you have bed bugs include tiny blood spots on your sheets and itchy red dots on your skin (sometimes in rows or clusters).
  
• Females lay up to 12 eggs a day.
• Poisons don't effect them.
• They can hide in a space as thin as a single piece of hair.
  
• IKEA furniture does not repel them (in fact they prefer wood and fabric).
• The only way to kill bed bugs is with heat (boiling water and steam work the best).
• If a hotel room is infested with bed bugs they strip and clean that room as well as the room above, below and on either side of it.
  

In short: Bed bugs are tiny, evil vampires that are practically indestructible. Be warned. We learned the hard way.

8 and Hair

So Harriett turned 8 yesterday. Craziness. We had a small party on Saturday. The kids went somewhere else to play (a bounce house), we bought a cake, bought pizza and she only had three friends. Best party ever.


In other news we shaved Henri's head. He has been wanting to shave his head just like dad for a while now. It was a little sad. Luckily he is still pretty cute.

11 Things I Love about Bess

1. Makes cute chubby kids.
2. No speako Spanishio.
3.
4. Closet Hippie.
5. Beautiful smile.
6. Canadian.
7. Best mom ever.
8. Lacks self control at all the right times.
9. "The Jazz need to start getting some boards."
10. Book obsession.
11. Thinks old men are cute.

Happy 11th Anniversary Bess. Thanks for sticking around.

Thunder Thighs

We've been crap bloggers lately. This chubbiness should make up for it.

Christmas for Bess

My friend Reed came over in a snowstorm, just three days before Christmas and took these shots so that I would have something to give Bess for Christmas. I think they turned out great.

Two Short Stories and One Picture

The other day I went into Harriett's room and she was complaining that her bed was too crowded. Keep in mind that Harriett LIKES tons of stuff on her bed when she's sleeping. So it's interesting to see what she considers "too crowded."

The following is a complete record of the contents of Harriett's top bunk:

1 water cup with lid
1 flashlight
10 stuffed animals (of various sizes)
14 books
1 bean bag
1 cardboard Amazon box with 2 toy train bridges, 1 wooden block, 1 musical Santa toy, 1 Pez dispenser, 2 ring toys, 1 wooden hammer, 1 chopstick, 1 plastic lid, 1 harmonica & 2 Legos
1 bed pillow
1 round pillow
2 throw pillows
1 blue Lego
2 blankets
1 duvet
1 duvet cover (not on the duvet)
3 T-shirts
1 pair of pajama shorts
1 Kleenex box
1 CareBear in a (tiny) sleeping bag

The above picture is Henri, as he calls it, "dressed rock 'n roll."

This is a conversation that he and I had the other day:

Henri: I'm a bad guy.
Henri: (After a moment) Dad, you're a bad guy too.
Dad: Okay.
Henri: Sometimes we try to steal... and we can transformer into crocodiles.

As Requested

Some pics of the kids!

An old flame returns.

I used to knit, and then I stopped, and then I started again. I started knitting again because I wanted to knit Hazel some wool pants. Not only are they cute but by some woolly magic they make a great cover for cloth diapers. (Yes I am doing cloth again).
Here is what I have done in the last couple of months.

Short sleeve tunic for Hazie



Action shot!


Wool pants (these are called longies is cloth diapering jargon)





Loving her toes.



I dyed my own wool with Kool-Aid.


The result. I am not sure what I am going to make with it yet.


And now that I have refound the love I have about a billion things I want to knit.

chopped my hair!

 

I like it. I have no idea what it will look like curly but the stylist said it will look good. We shall see. It doesn't look like me when I look in the mirror but I love how light it feels. And think of all the money I'll save on shampoo.

yes we still have a third child

She has the most infectious smile ever.