OH MY GOSH. My sweet, sassy, funny, spunky girl is two years old! I CANNOT believe it! She already looks SO grown up compared to her 18 month portraits!

She has been through so much in her short two years of life and has taught me so much.

She showed me early on in her life that she is flexible!

-When my daddy got in his motorcycle accident and almost lost his life we spent DAYS and MONTHS living at the hospital as he recovered and we learned what his new life would be like. She was such a trooper! She withstood being held by people she didn’t know while Zach was at work and I was visiting with my daddy in between having to nurse her. She slept like a champ during the car rides to and from Parkland during rush hour traffic each day.

-Shortly after that, she adjusted to life at daycare as I went back to work. She did a great job of switching from breast to bottle and back to breast at night. She then transitioned easily into baby food and then real food! Although now she’s not so flexible now living solely on mac and cheese and “squeezie pouches”.

-Not long after that we decided to make the crazy decision to sell our house and build a new one, so we packed up and moved twice, once to my parents house while our house was being built, and then again a few months later to our new home. Living in 3 different homes would be difficult on a newborn, but she handled it all like a trooper!

-Her first year of life she battled all kinds of respiratory issues as we discovered she would need to get her adenoids removed. So at 18 months she had her first surgery.

My goodness. Writing all of the things she has been through in her short two years of life reminds me of all the good that God is. He has planned every single thing and put us exactly where we needed to be in life. Had we not had Hazel, I would not have been off of work for so long and been able to be there for my family in the aftermath of my dad’s accident. We may not have moved to our new home and made all the amazing relationships with our great neighbors. I shudder to think of how much more dull our life would have been.

I can already tell that my daughter is a well rounded kid with a TON of personality!

-She talks SO much and SO well. And she uses her words to be bossy and demanding. At least I can have confidence that she will know what she wants in life and speak up for herself!

-She’s hilarious! She LOVES to sneak attack us! She thinks it is SO funny-and it is! But mostly because of how funny SHE thinks it is! She loves to joke around with us. When you ask if Mommy or Daddy is her favorite, she’ll tell you Granddaddy!

-She’s smart! She gets this from my dad or Zach’s side of the family. His sister and mom are wicked smart and so is my dad. I mean, I know she’s not REALLY reading, but she has already memorized her first book and “reads it” word for word. Hopefully she’ll get herself a full scholarship somewhere with her smarts so she isn’t facing ridiculous student debt like we do!

-She’s SWEET-finally! For the longest time she was very independent (at least at home), but recently she LOVES to give kisses, hugs, and I can even get her to cuddle on the couch with me for a few minutes at a time! We are working on cuddling for the duration of a whole movie! 😉

-She’s sassy! I can’t believe I am dealing with such a big attitude so early in life. On the way home one day when I told her she could not watch Sing on my phone, she responded with “Oh my gosh. PLEASE!” A week or two later when she would NOT lay down for me to change her diaper, I told her she was going to be put in time out. She responded with, “so?” She also frequently has to be put in her place because she likes to tell me with an authoritative voice, “Mommy, sit down!”.

-She’s STUBBORN! My gosh, she’s so stubborn. But I’m more stubborn. 🙂 And thankfully, she isn’t TOO stubborn with other people, just with me and Zach, so that’s good! Plus, I think stubbornness is needed to meet your goals in life!

-She’s a copy cat-just like me. I copy all my friends and their decisions. My friend buys a record player, I buy a record player. My friend buys a new comfy couch, I buy a new comfy couch. My friend buys a new home, I copy them and buy the same exact house with an adjoining fence. My friend buys new shoes, I buy the same new shoes. I promise that sometimes I have ideas of my own, but mostly, I just copy my friends (shoutout to Kelsey, Kristin, and Kayla who I frequently copy 😉 ). Hazel loves to copy her friends and family. If her cousin Lexi runs in the bathroom and screams, so does she. If her friend Caroline jumps up and down and spins in circles, so does she. I better really vet her friends when she gets to high school to ensure she stays out of trouble.

This is getting long, and everyone thinks their kids are great, so I’ll stop. But Hazel, I am SO proud of the little person you are. Even the annoying parts about you (such as your stubbornness, bossiness, and whining) can be used for good and help you be successful one day! I pray that you grow up to be someone who will use your smarts and personality to touch the lives around you in a positive way that brings others to Christ!

Our Time Together

BLOOPERS

This is an actual progression of me trying to get her to look at the camera.

Someone, please meme these shots. I’ve got a few awesome side by sides for a couple of these!

So excited to watch you grow and learn this next year of life! We love you Hazel Mikay Holden!