2012 Year in Review

well i think Facebook does a pretty good job of highlighting my 2012 year in review.... but here is my version!

January: brought hazel back to Utah on her first plane ride at 2 weeks old. begun my last semester of nursing school!!
February: went to CA and miss Hazel was given a baby blessing by her daddy.
March: Spent spring break in CA.
April: Jason officially 'walked' and graduated BYU!!
May: I graduated nursing school and took and passed my NCLEX and became an official RN. We moved to California for summer
June: Jason and I ran in the TEAM WAGNER relay around Lake Tahoe. we each ran 10.5 miles!
July: We had a Wagner family reunion at ASPEN GROVE. we moved to NEBRASKA
August: Jason started his FIRST semester of DENTAL school. and we painted and worked on the house a lot. Jason turned 26. Hazel and I took a trip to Arizona
September: Hazel and I took a trip to Chicago. I turned 24!
October: Hazel and I took a trip to CA for JARED and CAITLIN'S nuptials! I finally got my first real RN job. Night pediatric home nurse.
November: Happy Thanksgiving! we celebrated turkey day in Kansas City, MO with The Pickett and Donahoe families.
December: we found out Jason was accepted for the Air Force scholarship!! Jason passed all his classes and finished his first semester of Dental school. We visited CA for 2 weeks and HAZEL turned ONE!

What a blessed year we have had and it is crazy to think hazel has been with us for the entire 2012!!!! Hope everyone is having a happy and safe New Years and maybe ill make some New Years resolutions and post em up here!!

The Big FIRST Birthday party

first off- I have always felt this societal pressure to throw a HUGE first birthday party for my child, (of course i wanted to, but she will never remember right?!) well i'm the mom who does not have it all together, I sent EVITES, some more last minute than others, i made the treats, was a stressed mess, yelled at my husband (poor jason always feels my stress!!) but i was able to creates a last minute decent first birthday party on a tight budget (at least i think so and if you feel otherwise you can keep it to yourself ;)) thanks to pinterest i had a million Pinned ideas, yet none of which i got to. someday i will have more time?? I don't know how all you moms out there have everything so together! well here is a picture overload of Hazel's First Birthday party! and special thanks to my sisters, mom and jason for helping SO much with all the food, decorations... and the outfits and photographer!!!

 She ate every bit of frosting she could, she had little interest in the actual cake part ;)

All photographs copyright Joanna Waechtler Timeless Moments

Happy birthday Hazel

Dear hazel,
Today you turned one years old. Today you had your first maple bar, first egg, first cupcake and first swig of cows milk. We threw you a pink birthday bash which included your family and closest friends. You loved the balloons the most, and enjoyed running around with all the kids playing. You were gifted some amazing things and are very spoiled and loved!
I absolutely love being your mom and have loved watching you grow an change every single day! It amazes me the smart little girl you are growing into. I love you with all my heart and can't wait to see you grow up even more! Love your biggest fan!! Xoxoxoxoxoxoxxoxoxoxoxo
(Tomorrow I will post sticky bellies with 12 month milestones!!)

One year ago

It may and probably does only mean so much to me (and I know my family is sick of me talking about it!) but a year ago today my water broke at 930 pm. And after that I was at the hospital waiting for labor to start and waiting to meet my pretty little baby girl. I have cried a few times already today while thinking about the past year. It makes me sad to see the time slip away. I love being a mom to my Hazel pop and am excited for a day filled of celebration for her first birthday!!!! Get ready for post overload after the celebrations!!

One week.

It's hard to believe that my little love bug baby girl will be O N E in one week. It is bittersweet watching them grow but more sweet. I have learned so much from this tiny daughter of God and her sweet spirit in a year than possibly my entire life-time. Who knew?! watching her grow up makes me more and more excited to have another ity bity baby someday (no NOT a pregnancy announcement although wouldn't that be fun!!) but i already miss HER as a newborn, thats the bitter part.

On another note- we tried to get family pictures done yesterday but 5 minutes into them Hazel was NOT having it.. not matter what we did.. sounds about right for picture day... so we shall try again later today.

I hope you all have a fabulous weekend and go do something nice for someone!
Oh and here are some pictures so you can reminisce on this past year with me. this week last year i looked like this:

and my feet looked like this: (embarrassing... but more UGLY and UNCOMFORTABLE....)

i can breathe...

With this semester coming to a close, I can finally breathe and relax. I still have some assignments to finish up by this weekend, but I took my hardest final today and i PASSED! haha. thats all that matters right. I mean pathophysiology completely online was not the easiest course but it's done and JASON finishes up finals TODAY!!! Today at 1 pm is his hardest and last final of his first semester or freshman year of Dental school. I don't think i've really talked with him for like a week or two now- he has just been in his own little studying world (and he has a bad cold on top of that!!) well maybe we will celebrate tonight. Yes, yes we should! and we will both get to spend more time with this little princess and back to CA on SUNDAY!

blondie

well this one time I had an ombre (which i did enjoy..) but i missed my blonde the entire time so one month after I got my Ombre... it was gone. i feel like i'm meant to be blonde...it's good to be back.

The Gingerbread house

Hazel, Livi, Diana and I decided to decorate our gingerbread house while the men studied for finals.  

Hazel went for the cookies as soon as we opened the kit

Messy frosting hands

mmm.. im loving this gingerbread cookie (what age can babies eat cookies?? haha, she didn't eat that much..)

She wanted to pick off every piece of candy!

Livi was the best decorater.. interior designer in her future??

Ear infection

Yes the dreaded ear infection. Well miss hazel had her first one a couple weeks ago like said in my previous post- anyways- took her to the drs this AM and her ear infection is either still there or has returned. Poor baby- so we started on some stronger antibiotics. Here is the pic I just received while at work I'm sorry Jason that you are up all night with her..


And another pic same exact place I took earlier today. The only way she stops screaming :(
notice no one looks too happy in these pics...

sick baby

how awful to be a mom with a sick baby. Why didn't anyone ever warn me that I would be this constantly worried about my tiny human love bug!? oh wait they all probably did, just like everyone warns you about everything and adds their two cents but you can't understand until it's happening to you  About two weeks ago she was super fussy.. like WOULD not sleep not just wake up every couple hours like would scream bloody murder, but then was happy as can be in the day time. she had no fever no pulling at her ears.. anyways finally after a couple days we took her in, and I felt so embarrassed because i thought nothing would be wrong, it was probably just teeth... anyways she had an ear infection, then i felt awful because i should have known... so here we are 10 days later after all her antibiotics and we have a screaming baby again... she was happy happy girl for a good week in there.. she has had a fever on and off for the past three days, the highest it ever was was 101.5, well it's gone today and this time i am really thinking it is teeth.. i think all 4 top ones are coming in at the same time i don't blame her for screaming! if we do have another bad night i will take her in, i just don't want to be the paranoid mom who takes her kid in at a little cough or drip of the nose! so i couldn't do my #DKC yesterday, unless i can count all the things i did for Jason (make his lunch, cook him dinner, clean up...) but today, i was leaving target parking lot and there was a guy with a sign. You know, the ones you see on every corner these day and you are hesitant because they may be faking it but you want to believe the best in people, well he was talking to himself, so i really believed him, and i handed him all the cash i had which was only $2. but it still made me happy- and he said 'thank you sweet angel.' go out and do something! Merry Christmas!

December Kindness Challenge

Getting in the holiday spirit, starting off December right, watching ELF, and blogging about my day 1 of  #DKC

Linking up with My {Not so} Glamorous life and  ALL MY LOVE for ALL MY DAYS for #DKC  december kindness challenge. Everyday i will challenge myself to do something kind for someone around me, not just the Hubs- but strangers ;)

Successful Day 1: Drove through mcdonalds to get my beloved diet coke, and paid for the person behind me :) i tried to drive away really fast before she knew but they didn't give me my drink quick enough and then she yelled out her window 'THANK YOU' it's the little things that make your day that much better. So i am challenging all of you to take this challenge or do one of your own!! xoxo MERRY CHRISTMAS 

Month of Thanks

While this month is coming to an end... Here is the wrap of of my Thankfuls... And these are not all but only my 30 for the month ;)
Thankful day 23: diet coke and popcorn to keep me awake while on my night shift
Thankful day 24: prayer- lately I have been saying my prayers in the car, talking out loud -other drivers probably think I am nuts, or I have blue tooth, anyways I have never said more sincere prayers while saying them out loud- I recommend it to everyone!
Thankful day 25: temples- the work that is done there is so amazing and sacred and it's heaven on earth, a timeout from the world!
Thankful day 26: sleep... Enough said.. Especially from a mom who works night shift
Thankful day 27: flash cards- how do you study without them
Thankful day 28: water bottles- I love water and water bottles... Even if I constantly misplace them. Sorry jas
Thankful day 29: spin class- kicked my butt this morning- such a great feeling after working out
Thankful day 30: last but not least my trials, every single one of them! They have helped me become who I am and constantly teach me new things! I saw this super cool quote on Pinterest and I hope to someday think just like this:

Air Force

Last year when we  Jason got accepted to dental school we talked about him applying for a branch of the military to receive the HPSP (health profession scholarship program). because Dental school debt, especially with a family, is KILLER. like hundreds of thousands.. We originally talked about him only applying for a 4-year scholarship through the Air Force, but after contacting them we found out they only give 7-8, 4 year scholarships and we were kind of late in the game. So Jason decided he would contact the Navy recruiter to see if a 4-year scholarship was an option through them. He got all his paperwork, physical, letters of recommendation and so much stuff in, and then he found out he was an alternate. Which we were bummed at the time, but I do believe it was a blessing in disguise. When we got out to Nebraska, we met a guy who informed us to use the Nebraska Air Force recruiter and he would get us in. Thank you for the excellent advice! Jason contacted the Air Force recruiter out here in Nebraska, they worked together for a while, got all his paper work in, he told Jason he thought he had a pretty good chance, and this past Wednesday we received a letter informing us that Jason had been chosen to receive a three-year Air Force scholarship. What does this mean? This means that they will be paying for the last three years of Jason's schooling, tuition, fees, books, and anything else required for school. We will also receive a monthly living stipend in return for 3 years of service to the Air Force as a Dentist. We have heard nothing but great things from fellow Air Forcers and also have heard they have great oral surgery schooling (which is what Jason is wanted to do). We are thankful for this opportunity and excited to see where our lives go from here, or what cool places we may get to live!! Congrats to my smarty hubs!

11 MONTHS!!

Happy ELEVEN months miss Hazel! (only a few days late ;) My baby girl will be a year next month- too crazy! This has been an eventful month. She is growing and changing so much it is unbelievable.

normally we would not have gotten a weight for Hazel at 11 months, but since she had her first ear infection last week we took her in and they weighed her so at 11 months Hazel weighs 19 lbs 1 oz. 

*walking full time since about 10.5 months

* no longer likes to crawl up the stairs because she tries to walk up them and 

when she can't she turns around and finds something better to do.

*fell down our basement stairs -15 stairs :( cried for a few minutes and was fine (Jason and I weren't!)

*had her first ear infection

*says, "mom" "dad" "ya" and some other crazy stuff but is constantly talking. seriously i got the Signing Time DVD from the library and played it for her, but she would mimic the sounds, not the signs. haha

*plays peak-a-boo, waves, claps, and starting to give kisses

*has 4 teeth now (just cut another bottom yesterday) so 4 BOTTOM. no top yet

*been extra clingy to mommy

*LOVES when daddy chases her

*Still exclusively breast fed (thanks to fenugreek)

*gets so excited when i ask her if she wants 'milky' 

*eats three solid meals a day + snacks a lot.

*loves meat

*eats everything (no milk, nuts, peanut butter, eggs or honey yet though!)

*practicing non-straw sippys. (her straw sippys leak WAY too much) 

anyone have any good sippy cup recommendations?

*ticklish 

*plays/splashes in tub, hates getting water in her eyes
*likes to shut and open things and look behind things, like when she comes in the bathroom with me and ill be sitting and she will try to shut the toilet lid on me ;)
*enjoys playing in the measuring cup drawer

*LOVES flipping through books.

*laughs at everything (books, cookie monster on her diapers, she put her foot in her snack jar the other day then started cracking up)

*she will sit and watch TV for hours if we let her, her two favorite shows

Jake and the neverland pirates and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse

*we have our first disneyland trip planned for march!

*wears size 3 diapers still
*wearing mostly 12 months clothes, some 9 mo. jammies still,
 and even wearing some bigger 18 mo clothes
*unpredictable sleep pattern, maybe just from ear infections and teething because
we can get a solid 10-11 hours without waking up from her for a couple nights and then shes up every couple hours! haha who knows! she also takes 2 Longer (1.5-2.5hr) naps or
3 shorter 1-1.5 hours naps a day usually depending on how early she wakes up
*she has been loving her medication and wants more
*being a mom is hard a times but the BEST things in the world
*we call her franken-hazey because she looks like Frankenstein when she walks sometimes
*other nicknames include: hazey,  hazey-pop
*it is getting SO hard to get her to sit still for a monthly picture!! especially put the sticker on without her knowing otherwise she is trying to peel it off.

Happy Thanksgiving

Today is Thanksgiving and I have more to be thankful for than a post could cover- luckily you can read several posts as to what I am thankful for. As I start this thanksgiving realizing it is Hazel's very first thanksgiving and last year I was 36 weeks preggo at thanksgiving and today she is 11 months. I am thankful for my healthy perfect daughter and my wonderful husband!! here is pictures of our last 4 thanksgiving's together, just us two.. now holidays are much more exciting,  and more pictures will be taken. I love my sweet growing family. 

Our first married thanksgiving 2008

thanksgiving 2009

thanksgiving 2010

Last Thanksgiving

Thankful catch-up

Thankful day 15
I am thankful for reliable transportation. We are fortunate to have two great cars with no car payments. Someday we will get nicer, family cars, but our cars are great for now.
Thankful day 16
I am thankful for airplanes. Seriously I travel a lot, and i wouldn't be able to go like anywhere without southwest airlines :)
Thankful day 17
I am thankful for bug spray. Yes i really am! i was sweeping my basement and swept up tons of dead bugs, including a ginormous dead spider. Thanks hubs for spraying bug killer so often.
Thankful day 18
I am thankful for my ability to do hair. It has been such a huge part of my life, and a huge blessing. Not only financially, but it has allowed me to develop my creative side of life.
Thankful day 19
I am thankful for iPhones and facetime. It is so much fun to be able to facetime with familiy members all over the country. It makes being far much less painful.
Thankful day 20
I am thankful for my breast pump. It has allowed me to continue to breastfed my sweet hazey while in nursing school and working!
Thankful day 21
I am thankful for food. maybe a little too much.

mmm...yogurt.

Hazey is pretty much a pro at eating any food she can either 1. pick up or 2. suck out of those sweet pouches. (those are gone in 2 seconds i swear!) but we need to work on our self-spoon feeding skills. here was our first attempt.... she's my favorite

** oh and don't think i'm not thankful anymore i have just decided to clump my days into fewer posts. so more thankful posts to come!!!

Hazel videos

She is seriously getting so big and so much fun!! heres some new videos, 1st one is walking the halls at church with daddy and the second one she is just laughing hysterically!

Thankful day 14

Today I am thankful for prayer. I feel as if I am constantly praying because I constantly am in need of help from my Heavenly Father. I've been feeling down for the past few days and I feel like no one is understanding me, but I know he always will. He knows my heart and knows what I need. Once a wise missionary wrote me and said "get on your knees and pray and if you don't feel like praying, pray until you do feel like praying."

Thankful day 13

Today I am thankful for my new ibaby monitor. Seriously I love it! I can sneak peaks of my sleeping baby while at work or while she naps I can keep an eye on her while next door- it's my new favorite thing!

Thankful day 12

Thankful day 12

I am thankful for sleep. Before hazel was born I would easily sleep 10-12 hours a night. Now I may only sleep 5-8 but lately I have been taking naps to catch up on sleep and fight off bugs and sleep does wonders. I think it can cure anything!! 😴😴😴💤💤💤💤

Thankful day 11

Today I am thankful for my wonderful church. I belong to the church of Jesus Christ of latter-day saints. "Im a Mormon, I know, I live it, I love it" I'm not sure where I would be today without it but am so thankful I have a firm foundation and a testimony of my savior Jesus Christ and the atonement I am thankful for the emphasis our church places on the family unit and am thankful for a faithful husband and father and our precious daughter.

Thankful day 10

Ah man I am a day behind but in my defense I have been fighting a bug off and sleeping a lot!

Day 10 I am thankful for top ramen. Silly I know but one of the only things that I could eat yesterday! It's the little things in life.. Now if I could only get an ice cold blue Gatorade....

Thankful Day 9

Thankful Day 9.
Today I am thankful for a job. Being a new grad and living in a new place (not having any outside resources) i am excited that i was able to get a job. I work two nights a week, 16 hours a week, and it is perfect for my family and i!! Yes sometimes its hard to stay awake all night but i get through it and am glad i do!!

Thankful Day 8

Thankful Day 8.
Today (well yesterday) and always I am thankful for great neighbors and a great place to live! i can't tell you what a difference in my life it has made to have the most wonderful neighbors in the best hidden secret in Omaha! Seriously, Village Green, has wonderful people but im pretty sure i lucked out when i got the best next door neighbor! Since working nights i have been able to have a great morning sitter for my hazel. Once hazel wakes up I take her to my neighbor, and then in a few hours when she is ready for a nap she comes and brings hazel to me, i feed her then she takes a nap and i continue to sleep too. oh and did i mention we do crafts like all day long... and she has a pretty stinkin cute daughter :) oh and we run errands together and are over at each others houses for dinner a couple times a week. she has been such a life-saver here in Nebraska. I also have super fun neighbors- even neighbors that drag my butt out of bed to hit the gym at 530 am  (some mornings...) and neighbors that do lunch dates and play outside and zoo dates and mall trips and some of the most amazing people that would drop everything to help you out. I really love where I live and couldn't imagine being anywhere else right now in life.                            she makes these cute booties!! check 'em out!!

some of the kiddos at the ZOO

hazel and Livi

just a couple of crafts we have done

Thankful Day 7

Thankful day 7.
Today I am thankful for great friends! I have friends all over the place and I am thankful for each an everyone of them in my life. Whether we were friends for a minute or have been friends forever, they all have made an impact on me and touched my life forever.

Thankful day 6

Thankful day 6.

Today I am thankful for modern medicine. If you read my blog regularly you know that I had PPD. It wasn't so severe but enough to make daily life a struggle. It was enough to know I was not myself. I did not enjoy motherhood. Luckily I was able to start some medication that made my life 

S O M U C H B E T T E R. 

and i am not afraid to admit it. There is only so much we can control. Sometimes we cannot control the chemicals in our brain, or our postpartum hormones. About a month ago I weaned off my medication. I was terrified. I was worried i would need my medication forever. but here I am a month later, i still LOVE motherhood, i still am feeling great (maybe it's too soon to tell... ill let you know ;) and yes i have my bad days and snap at my husband and cry (which on my medication i didn't cry much, didn't snap much and was SO much more patient.... maybe i do need it haha) besides that modern medicine.. i am thankful for epidurals. 

Thankful Day 5

Thankful Day 5

Today I am thankful for families. My own family, Jason, Hazel and I.. yes.. but more so our families! The Wagner's and Pickett's! Cathy, Mike, Ashley, Ethan, Addie, Cory, Katie, Dean, Brittani, Rich, Ryann, Cara, Erin, Pete, Zach, Madeline. Steve, Patti, Jennifer, Rhyann, Carrigan, Addison, little Fetus,  Jared, Caitlin, and Jamie! that is just immediate family... i can't even begin to go into grandparents on both sides, and aunts uncles and cousins...because there are SO many Wonderful family members and too many to type!!! They have shaped us into who we are today and they are there for us 24/7! I can always count on my family to be there, to call me, to think about me, to pray for me and just Love me! The family structure is different these days but you can Read My Beliefs on The Family here!  and i want each of my families to know that i pray for each and everyone of you by name daily! i am always thinking about you!!