Party Of 4

Dear Hazel,
Tonight is your last night as an only child. We spent the night playing and snuggling.  I can't help but get a little teary-eyed and nostalgic when I think about how much your life is going to change and how hard it's going to be for you to adjust. 

Please know that when we had you, we always knew that we wanted you to have a brother or sister.  It's not that you weren't enough for our family.  It's that we love you so much we wanted you to have a sibling.  And we loved that sibling so much (even before we met them) that we knew the best gift we could give her was an older sister like you. 

In short, the two of you will complete our family.  We will soon be a family of four.  And you will soon be a Big Sister.  With all of the responsibilities that come with being the oldest.  Yea... I'm sorry about THAT part.  I know all too well what it's like to be the oldest... what it's like to be the guinea pig.  But, I think that you've got the character to handle it. 

I hope that this change in your world doesn't cause too much stress for you.  And I hope that you love your little sister as much as we love you.  And I hope that the two of you will be best friends and that our little family will be as happy with two as we are with just you! 

Thank you for being such a sweet little girl that we decided we wanted to risk our sanity and have another one. 

Please never forget that we love you and always will. 

Our last night as a family of three.

February 20, 2011

Love, 

Mama

Hazel Basil - Months 15 &16

Oh Hazel,
So many things have happened in the last few weeks and months.  You have become such a little personality that I feel like to do you justice, I should be filming you 24/7... just so everyone has the chance to see just how freaking amazing you are.

You've been particularly happy and are still growing like a weed.  I recently had to buy you some new shoes... you're a 6.5 now.  And oh my!  Do you love shoes!  You like to put your feet in Daddy's shoes and attempt to walk in them.  And you bring your shoes over to me so I can put them on for you.  Of course, you think that means that we're immediately going to go outside and play.  Which we normally do.. unless it turns out that it's snowing and you're sick.  Which is the perfect storm we ran into today. 

It's actually been a relatively mild winter so we've been able to take advantage of it.  And you have, in fact, discovered that you HEART the wind.  The other day, you ran up the sidewalk with the wind blowing in your face and the look of joy you had took my breath away.

You still enjoy taking baths... especially in your new bathtub, the kitchen sink.

You still love to read and you're still a great sleeper.

You've become quite the little helper.  In fact, today you actually took your dish over to the sink and put it in.  WHAT?  Yea... I'm sure that in a few years, I'll be thinking back to this particular moment and wondering where in the world we went wrong since you'll refuse to do such things.  You also like to throw things away... and you even took your own diaper to the garbage and put it in for us.  And trust me, at 9 months pregnant, that REALLY helps out Mommy.

So, I'm hoping that when we bring your little sister home this week, you'll continue to be a great help.

You love to run around and screech in happiness.  You still love your Playhouse Box that we scored when we got a new microwave.

We've started to try you at the kitchen table for eating.  You seem to do well there, but I'm not sure that I'm ready for you to make the transition... you know, where you can leave the table unassisted.  Luckily for us, you still LOVE to eat.

And it doesn't really matter if you've already eaten... if Mommy or Daddy makes the mistake of eating in front of you, you immediately run over to us, unhinge your jaw and demand to be fed whatever it is we're eating.  I suspect the only way to cure you of this is for one of us to take one for the team and eat some peas... as it appears you are OVAH peas.  

You have turned into quite the Daddy's girl these days.  You love you some Daddy.  Part of this, I suspect, is because Daddy's had to take a bigger role since I'm less mobile that before.  And my goodness, you want to be wherever he is.  No matter when. No matter where.

You've also become super lovey in general.  You will give kisses and will snuggle with your favorite stuffed animals... and any animals you see in a book.  You're also all about smelling flowers you see in a book... I can't wait for spring so you can smell some flowers in the garden.  And I can't wait to plant the garden with you!

You're currently teething about 4 teeth... which has unfortunately made you a leetle bit grumpy.  Awesome.  Just in time for a new baby.

You've also taken to playing... hard.  Meaning, you have started to hit while you're playing.  This is no good, baby girl and we've had to come down hard on you a couple of times and remind you to play soft.  It doesn't help that Grandma Paskins taught you how to hit yourself and other people in the head with the drumstick of the set you got for Christmas.  You picked up on THAT pretty quick.  We expect a few notes from day care about it this week.  And we're gonna have to have a discussion about this with Grandma Paskins.

You are a big fan of slides these days and we've spent a couple of days at the duck pond where you fed the ducks before hitting the playground.

A friend of mine sent you a cute little shirt and a matching onesie for your little sister.  I can't wait to have both of you dressed up in them. And look!  Mommy put something in your hair for once! 
UNPRECEDENTED!

Some big changes are about to rock your world, sweetie.  I hope you know that we love you so much that giving you a little sister is the best gift we could give you.  

Love,
Mama

Where Are You???

Dear Squirt,
It's February 20.

You were due... yesterday.

And..... yep... you're still not here yet.  Despite my best efforts to get you to come into this world sooner rather than later.  Yep. Let's recap the last couple of weeks for you so you can see that yes... Mommy is trying to squeeze as much living into her last days of freedom for a while... while also hoping that all the activity will encourage your arrival.

Last Wednesday, I went with my girlfriend Kaylene to the musical Hairspray.  I figured that with my luck, I would go into labor in the middle of it and be THAT chick.  But, no... no baby.  But, a really fun play where we got to see some of our friends perform.  I got home that night at about 11 p.m. and was still so exhausted by the next morning, that your Daddy had to get Hazel ready and drop her off at day care, while I slept in.  When I woke up, I seriously debated sitting around the house for the rest of the day (sans pants) simply because I didn't feel like getting ready for work.  But, I went in anyway... something that makes my immediate supervisor happy.  Just because he likes seeing me uncomfortable.  And has made that clear to me.  Often.

That Friday, your Daddy and I headed downtown to a free Ice Cube concert on 25th street.  Yea.  That may not have been our brightest move given the fact that there were close to 10,000 people there.  And an untold amount of weed.  And a 9 month pregnant belly?  Didn't really fit in well with the crowd.  After an hour of standing in the street, squished like sardines... we had to make a break for it right before Ice Cube took the stage... by scrambling under a table and pushing our way through a mass of high concert goers.  We HAD had a really good view of the stage prior to bailing and had we stayed and risked our lives, we would have actually gotten to see the man... but as much as we wanted to be able to tell you that the night you were born we had been at an Ice Cube concert... we thought that risking our safety and your safety was going a bit overboard.

We ended up going to the back of the crowd where there was a little more room to breathe... but then it wasn't like the air we were breathing was good for you or me, so after about three songs (in which I enjoyed several flashbacks to college) we left and headed home.  By 10 p.m., we were showered and in bed.  Because that's how we roll these days.

But, you KNOW we had to do a bump pic at the concert...

Week 39!

That Sunday, we headed up to Snowbasin to watch the Super Pipe of the Dew Tour.  Which meant some "hiking" for me.  We hoped that the change in elevation and the physical exertion would do the trick.  It. Did. Not.

But, we still had a good time and your big sister got to enjoy one last weekend being the center of our world.

We went to the doctor for our finally appointment last week and it turns out that while you're ready to make an appearance (and we know this because your cute little head is nestled securely on a nerve that makes my special place cry out in pain all day long) Mother Nature isn't really moving things along the way we would hope she would.  So, all of that planning to just wait until you're ready to make your big entrance into this world?  Well, those plans got tossed out the window because, quite frankly, I'm kinda over the pregnancy.  I want to get on with things, you know?  I want to be mobile again.  Your Daddy REALLY wants me to be mobile again.  I want to be able to lift up Hazel without pain and I really, really, REALLY want to get out of my maternity clothes.

But most of all, I want to meet you.  I want to meet the little girl who causes me to pee five times a night and who gets the hiccups multiple times a day.  I can't wait to see what you look like and discover your personality.  I can't wait for Hazel to meet you and I look forward to the two of you being best friends.  I can't wait for the Nadolski's to be a family of four.  I can't wait to see if I have learned anything from all of the mistakes I made with your sister... or if it's true, that I can't be taught.

So, we're inducing tomorrow morning.  We were a bit surprised that the doctor suggested it... normally, she likes to wait five days after your due date to start an induction, but decided that the pain was enough to warrant only waiting two days.  

We are so looking forward to you making our family complete, baby girl.  We knew when we had your sister that we were OF COURSE going to have you.  It was a given.  We decided that the very best gift we could give Hazel is a little sister.  And the very best gift we could give you, is an older sister.  The very best gift we could give ourselves?  The two of you.  It may have happened sooner than we expected, but oh my... we wouldn't have it any other way.

See you soon, baby girl! Our family is waiting to meet you!

Love,
Mama