This Baby Girl

What a sweet blessing Hazel is to our family! We are crazy about this precious, adorable gift from GOD! Our boys are proud, wonderful brothers. I had a blast doing this little photo shoot! The hat and diaper cover, my sister Natasha's BEAUTIFUL work!! Hazel has received several beautiful handmade gifts. It has been fun dressing up a little girl!

Vance won't be home tonight, he has meetings. So I am eating pumpkin cream cheese bars for dinner while my boys have granola bars and string cheese and yeah, a pumpkin cream cheese bar or two. Also, I am decorating for Christmas! I bought soo many fun, festive things at thrift stores last year. Hauling all of this stuff out is a TREAT!  But our home is in disarray.
Oh and I have to share more Thanksgiving pictures!

Me and my siblings!! We are in order, oldest to youngest.

Will and Hazel

Cousins, Amara and Hazel

My Grandma Alma and Hazel

Case and Natasha

Willem helping Papa Stan hang Christmas lights

Grandma Adie and Hazel

Case and Hazel

Jackson (cousin's baby) Case (sister's baby) and Hazel Jane

We introduced Hazel to Vance's sister Mindy and family on a freeway exit! They were leaving Eastern WA, heading home to Lynden and we were driving from Lynden back home~! These kids have a ball together... more fun at Christmas Mellema gang!!

Our Thanksgiving in Lynden

What a MEMORABLE, fun Thanksgiving weekend!!! We introduced our baby girl to her aunts, uncles, cousins, Grandpa Jim, our dear friends Lissa, Travis and girls, great grandmas... it was wonderful. I loved sharing Hazel Jane with our family and close friends.
Thanksgiving dinner at my dad's went so well and was delicious. I am so thankful for FAMILY!!

Seven years ago, Merit Henry was a newborn baby. My dad's first grandchild. Now my dad has EIGHT grandchildren!! These cousins are BUDDIES and it is fun to watch them play!!

Me and my sisters and all our kids plus our Grandma Alma (mom's mom)

SISTERS

My sisters and I got to shop and visit the day after Thanksgiving. It was great to be together!  Vance stayed back at his mom's with the boys and Grandma Adie helped with the kids and  cuddled Hazel.MY NEPHEW CASE!!! We got to meet this sweet, chubby baby over Thanksgiving!! My sister Natasha, her husband Reese and their two boys flew up from San Diego.

MORE pictures later this week!!

Toothpicks?

I feel I may need toothpicks to keep my eyes open today. I am oh so tired. Hazel Jane has been a good sleeper overall -- I am so grateful for this! But last night she stirred and fussed and just needed some soothing from about 3:30 am on... I asked Vance yesterday to PLEASE wake me early this morning so I could go to the 8:00 service at church. I haven't wanted to take Hazel to church... yet... being it's flu season and all. Vance woke me and I went... but with tired eyes. The message was wonderful, made me want to dive into the book of James this week and it put things into perspective for me with Thanksgiving right around the corner.
Hazel has been in our arms pretty much all morning and yesterday was the same way... she cries and sounds so sad and then we pick her up and "awww... relief" This IS what I signed on for and I will take it all... even the occasional long nights and sometimes fussy days.

MY MOM
This Thanksgiving I am very thankful for my mom. Often over the holidays and her birthday... and also through the month of March, the month she passed away, I feel sad. I am lonesome for her. I want to share my kids with her and I so wish my kids could know her! But this November I am grateful for WHO she was, for the values she taught me, for being a friend, a role model, a Christian parent and a patient, kind woman. God did great things through her during her 45 years of life on earth.
I want to be the mother to my daughter that my mom was to me.
Today I feel so blessed to have three wonderful children.
I am also sooo thankful that my parents had five children. I TREASURE my relationships with my siblings. They are friends for life, people I laugh with every time I am around them and DEAR to my heart.
I can't remember the last time I spent Thanksgiving with my dad and siblings... maybe once in the nine years since my mom passed away. This Thanksgiving I get to spend it with them. And I will do so with a grateful heart.

From her button nose, to her tiny toes... Thank God for Hazel Jane.

Both of our boys are proud, responsible big brothers. Yesterday I captured this sweet shot of Merit and Hazel.

card winner, fun with our three at home!

There are sooo many things I want to blog about! Numerous pictures of this darling baby girl, fun pics of her big bros! And some craft project pictures as well! But, I will get to just a few today...

The boys have been playing store. Merit's theme for his store is usually football -- in the summer it was NASCAR but now that we are deep into football season, he has a NFL store. :) Sometimes the boys open shop together, other times they each have their own. I love to shop at their store. Vance loves it when I shop at their stores too, compared to "real" shopping. Spending play money and buying items that are already in your house is something the hubby's really appreciate. :)

Every day we soak up Hazel Jane's sweetness!!! Oh this baby is a dream! A blogging friend, Tami, sent her this sweet blankie!! Thank you Tami! Hazel has some "fruit" fashions that will go perfectly with this blanket. :)

The lucky card give away winner is MINDY!!! A seasoned stamper herself, I think she will like these handmade goodies! Congrats Mindy! Please choose between these three sets. JUST FYI to my blogging friends, the sets Mindy doesn't pick are for sale... for $5.

set 1

set 2

set 3

More soon!! Love, Michele

give away and more ...

We are soaking up Hazel Jane's sweetness. She is a doll and such a sweet blessing and addition to our family!! At home, Hazel is mostly content. Out and about this is not the case. She cries sooo hard while in her carseat! She can't seem to stand that thing! I have grocery shopped with her twice - both times I held her in one arm and tried to push the cart with the other! Oh my. She calms down in my arms, but once back in her carseat she begins to wail.

Today she has been content and when awake, very alert. I love how she studies our faces and gazes into our

eyes!

sound asleep, sweet baby girl

Card Making Fun!!!

When Merit is at school and Hazel is asleep, I have a very fun cardmaking buddy -- it's WILLEM!!! I love to make cards with him!

so it is give away time! Comment on this post and I will choose a winner on Wednesday... the winner will receive three fun cards and envelopes and a Christmas gift tag!!! In the post, tell me about your favorite place to shop for a baby or your favorite baby gadget!

Me and My Girl

Feeling so incredibly blessed.