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!!

Thankful day 4

Today I am thankful for a beautiful daughter. This past week her sleeping has been so rough! I seriously don't know what's going on!? But last night... She truly tested my patience she WOULD not fall asleep until 11:30! It was a nightmare trying to get her to bed. Whatever is going on - I could not be more thankful to have a beautiful, healthy, happy, perfect, daughter of god to call my own and raise! She has the sweetest spirit and constantly humbles me! I am so thankful we are sealed together as a family forever! I love my hazey pop!

Thankful Day 3

Thankful Day 3

Today I am especially Thankful for my eternal companion, my wonderful, smart, gorgeous, best friend, my Jason. He takes such great care of hazel and I. He is everything i ever dreamed of.

Thankful day 2

November 2nd
Thankful day 2

Today I am thankful for a healthy body. What I have seen my body go through in the past year and a half amazes me and shows me Gods amazing work. To be able to be healthy, get pregnant, grow a perfect little girl, feed her nothing but breast milk for 6 months, to see her grow, and to see my body return to normal (well... Almost haha) is such a miracle. I am thankful for my body and the amazing things we can do as women! Now I just need to be nicer to my body and remember to eat healthier and exercise often.

Thankful Day 1

So every year I see fellow bloggers do a blog post about what they are Thankful for during the month of November. There aren't enough days for all the things I am thankful for but I am excited to start my month of THANKS!

november 1st
Day 1:
Today I am especially thankful for my opportunity to go to school. Yes school is long and hard work but it has great rewards and will provide a nice future for my family (hubs school and my school). Oh and I got this letter today:

If you didn't figure that out.. I have been accepted into BYU-Idaho's online RN to BSN program to start this January. I will graduate next december with my bachelors in Nursing. oh and 'Conditionally accepted" meaning if i pass the drug screening and submit my acceptance form :) Being a bachelors nurse versus an associate nurse makes a more desirable nurse. and lets me consider getting my master's in nursing.. or maybe my NP? only time will tell...