Halloween and Half-marathons

We have been working hard on learning how to pump ourselves on the swings. We live around 2 blocks from Hazel's (future) elementary school so on the weekends, we often walk over and use their playground to burn off some extra energy.

new shades

Self sufficient!

 As luck would have it, Tom and Margie's neighbor's in Huntsville have a son that is OUR neighbor in Nashville. We hang out with Chris and Emma Everett on the occasional weekend and Hazel and their kids Iris and Sarah have a blast! It's even better when we get to leave the mess at their place :)
We went trick or treating at their place -- meaning, a bunch of families met up, ate dinner, and then the parents lugged their kids around the neighborhood for about 45 minutes. It was fantastic! We brought a red wagon, brought some roadies for ourselves and walked up and down the street. There was very little traffic so we have the streets to ourselves and Hazel flew from house to house.  I think this is Hazel's new favorite holiday.

Sean ran a half-marathon in Huntsville. He ran super fast and Hazel was pumped to see him run by us.... and then she got distracted with a peanut butter sandwich.

Hazel turned 3 and the solar eclipse

Hazel turned 3! We have so many friends over at our place for a pretty casual but super fun backyard BBQ with cupcakes, face painting, water balloons, and sand creatures!

mom gets facepainted

Birthday tiger!

having fun at day care

There was a solar eclipse on August 21st 2017 and Nashville TN was pretty darn close to the epicenter -- meaning, it was about 2 minutes of 'total coverage.' Eclipse viewing parties were happening everywhere, but we decided to hang out on our front lawn. We took work off and hung out with YiaYia, TP, and the rest of us. It got so dark that the street lights came on... it was pretty neat. Hazel was mainly concerned with her goldfish supply running out.

Timelapse of solar eclipse in Nashville

Hazel the assistant brownie batter taster

 Hazel goes to daycare with a friend whose parents/grandparents really go ALLLL out and bring in costumes for ALL the kids, treats, music, purses, etc. Hazel loves her Minnie Mouse outfit and sometimes hops into it on weekends.

minnie mouse outfit for friend's birthday

 Hazel was also been REALLLY into Peppa Pig lately. Well.... really, for the last 6 months. If we have a 'good' day at daycare, we get to watch 1 episode of Peppa Pig.
So, luckily, Peppa Pig came to the Nashville Opry so we went to see it. Hazel wasn't really sure what was going on (partially because we sat sooo far away it was hard to see the character faces), but she got the idea. It was pretty fun Mommy-Daughter time.

Spring in Nashville, Huntsville, Indiana

The Pfalzer's have been busy since March -- when we closed and moved into our first home. We closed on March 28th 2017, but didn't move in until the first week of May so we could get some work done. We were fortunate enough to get a family friend, Kenny Arnold, to help us really transform the house into our home. It's been amazing.

Meanwhile, Hazel has been doing alot of living. She's been growing up so fast and accompanying me on some of my outings with friends.  Here's Hazel getting her toes painted. I originally wanted her to just sit on my lap while I got my nails painted, but nope, Hazel wanted her own chair and even enjoyed the massage part of the chair. 

pedicure with mommy and Jordyn

special treat on mother-daughter day

 We drove up to Indiana to hang out with Papaw, Warren, YiaYia, Ro Ro, Ellie, Uncle Mark and Aunt Jill. We had water balloon fights, ate some delicious food, went on Uncle Mark's boat and swam in Lake Monroe.

snuggling with papaw

swimming in lake monroe

 Meanwhile, in our new house, Hazel has really enjoyed her new room, with big girl bunk beds, and as you can see in the picture -- she has her own chalkboard wall. She uses this pretty often while we make dinner.

hair braids!

Christmas in Nashville

Our first Christmas in Nashville was an awesome one. Well. We weren't technically IN Nashville over the holidays, rather, living in Nashville, is awesome. We drove up to Indiana to spend time with the Moseman's who all managed to drive well before the 25th. Thanks to Aunt Annie, the little girls had their annual matching Christmas jammies, and judging from those grins, I think they approve! We also take advantage of YiaYia's big tub to bathe all the girls at once and they enjoy splashing around with each other. Afterwards, we'd put on some holiday movie and the girls would sit and watch in front of the fire. I dare say there were bouts of peace in the house... amid the chaos.

The annual Moseman Beer Mile (2016) took place on the 28th in the afternoon and it was nippy but not too bad. This year's champion, Alex, was well ahead the rest of the pack and this year's MVP was YiaYia, who braved the weather and her drinking abilities and participated for the first time this year. 

Even the pups are feeling the holiday spirit: BR and Izzy

Then after a few days in Bloomington, we drove straight to Huntsville, Alabama to spend a few days (including NYE) with the Pfalzer's. To say that Hazel loves her cousins is an understatement. Hazel LOVES her cousins and she constantly asks about when she gets to see Avery and Miles.

snowmen with Miles

snuggles with avery

drawing at Grandma's

 We have developed quite a habit of driving down to Huntsville, leaving our child and disappearing for minutes, hours and days. This past weekend Sean went to Biloxi, MS with his Grinnell buddies and I got to hang out in Nashville with my friend Stephanie from Boston. We dropped Hazel off at Grandma and Grandpa's and had 4 amazing days with our friends. We are super super super duper grateful for having family so close by and awesome grandparents willing to watch Hazel.  

new shoes!

MLK parade 2017