Better Late then Never

Finally getting around to posting a few photos from Christmas time. There were some family festivities, which I don't have pictures of, but I do have some pictures from the month, and our quiet little Christmas morning. 

H at 8 months:
         Favorite food: Hazel hasn't taken a particular liking to any certain food, although if you hand her a pickle it will keep her occupied for a while, and if you try to take it away you WILL hear about it. Her very favorite thing to eat isn't food at all. It is any sort of paper she can get a hold of, whether it's a receipt from the store, a tag hanging from a new stuffed animal, a piece of cardboard, or a magazine.

        Favorite toy: I would have to say her green "squishy fish". A bath toy that she LOVES to chew on. It must feel really good on all the many teeth that have appeared in the last few weeks. She is also pretty fond of her felt food that her grandpa mike got her for Christmas, and wooden spoons.

         Milestones: She is so close to crawling, but still just not quite there. I think in the next few weeks though, I'll be chasing her around the house. That is exciting, and terrifying at the same time. Like I said, she has been getting so many teeth. She has four, going on eight! Every time I look in that mouth there is a new little white tooth popping through. She probably wakes up once or twice a night, but falls right back to sleep, and she takes about three naps a day.

         Very Favorite thing: Being outside. She loves it outside, and doesn't mind the cold at all. If she is even a little fussy all I have to do is take her outside and she will chill right out.

          Least favorite thing: Undoubtedly the car. She HATES the car, and the car seat with all of her might. It takes everything I have sometimes to get where we are going. I have to leave early, just in case I have to stop and comfort her because she is screaming and crying so hard. It gets pretty overwhelming at times, and has probably been the hardest thing for me since becoming a mom. Hazel is spoiled and most of the time I don't let her cry for too long, so listening to her incessant screaming in the backseat of the car breaks my heart, and has pretty nearly brought on anxiety attacks. When I do stop, and pull her out she is all sweaty from crying so hard, and sometimes shaking. Have I mentioned how much i hate this? If I time things just right, she will be either tired enough to fall asleep, or in a good enough mood to play back there, but generally after five o'clock, I know I'm screwed. I am crossing my fingers that this behavior will change soon.



         

Thanksgiving @ the Everett's

 

 We had a little Thanksgiving get together the Monday after thanksgiving with my mom, her boyfriend Joel, my brothers, and sister. Unfortunately Brant couldn't make it. It's so fun to see these two little babies growing together. They are just a few days apart, and its fun to see the similarities in their development.

I'm making some progress on this advent calendar of ours. Maybe we will get to use it next year

My baby is getting so big!

Giving Thanks

A husband who works hard all day, only to come home to a messy house, and make me dinner. AND do the dishes.

A friend who lives just a canyon over, a few miles away, instead of an hour away. 

A Mom who lives right outside my front door (for the winter) and spends her days off working on MY projects around MY house and for MY baby, instead of all the many projects she needs to complete. she keeps me sane.

Siblings. I can't imagine not having grown up with them, and each of them are so special to me.

A dad who is always there to talk to, who drives an hour just to visit me, and bring me lunch.

And a little girl, to whom my mistakes and shortcomings mean nothing. Who at the end of the day wants nothing more that to cuddle up with me and fall to sleep.

More phone photos + new shoes!!!

 pretty sure my baby owns the most badass pair of little hand made mukluks on the planet.

yeah.

Load of pictures....and MORE of my crazy ideas.

I've been a little more than absent on here lately. I don't really have a reason.

Here are some pictures to make up for it:

When did my baby get big enough to sit in that high chair? I don't know how many times I will say this, but KIDS GROW TOO FAST.

Also- how did I happen to get THE cutest baby in the world?

I have been thinking a lot lately about the fact that soon enough, this little girl is gonna watch every tiny thing I do-and want to do it too. There are so many thing I do that I don't want to pass on to her. One of them is how often I use the Internet and computer. I really don't believe that this sort of technology will help kids in any way shape or form. I think it easy easy to use, and easy to learn-so they can learn it later in life. I need to get away from it, so that I can focus more on the natural things around us, and use them to teach her.

Phones too- Hazel isn't going to be one of those five-year-olds with a cell phone.

And I am going to home school her. NO, her social life wont suffer. I think that my education was extremely overshadowed by my Oh-So-Important Social Life. The things kids are exposed to in school, and the quality of the schools themselves have only gone down hill since I was in school. Standardized testing in Kindergarten, let alone the first-sixth grade is heinous- and I think that the one-size fits all method of teaching in school is equally outrageous. In fact, I think that school is made boring, and if you want a kind to learn the best thing to do is keep them interested.

A healthy social life is not fostered in a school. There are many more productive social settings, that don't distract from learning, or the things that are most important. If she has plenty of time to find herself- unhindered by the overwhelming peer and media influences found in elementary, and junior High. then by the time she is subjected to them she will already know WHO she is, and what she stands for. She will be able to observe those things, and form her very own opinions about them. Not my opinion. Not the cheerleader's opinion. Her very own, unfaltering, confident opinions. That is what I hope for her.

We want to give her the BEST role models a kid could have. A firefighting grandpa who is always there to serve. A do-it-all grandma who doesn't let her gender hold her back from fixing cars, building houses, and climbing mountains. Strong women who work hard, and play hard, and know what is important. People with real skills- knitting, to make your own clothes. Gardening, to grown your own food. We want her to learn far more that Math, English, Science, and History. We want her to learn carpentry, music, beekeeping, photography. We want her to learn that life and learning can be fun and exciting. Instead of reading about Native American rituals and traditions in books, we can GO and EXPERIENCE them in real life. We want to give her real life tools to do real life things, instead of sending her through school and telling her she can "do ANYTHING" only to have her graduate and realize she has no real skills. That getting an A on a math test probably wont get you a career that you love. (unless of course you love teaching kids to pass math tests)

I know I think a lot of things- and I feel very strongly about them. We are doing things differently here in the Everett household-and different is okay.