Zach Attack

This is one of my favorite photos of Zachary. He wore this shirt everyday for about a month. He took it out of the dirty clothes hamper every morning as soon as he got out of bed if I forgot to sneak it out and wash it after he went to bed. It has strangely disappeared... Anyway, one day Zach put on this pair of my socks, trying to be a pirate, and put a dandelion behind his ear before he climbed our tree. I'm glad he stayed there long enough for Andy to grab the camera!


Zach being his usual self at our family photo shoot. Zach keeps things lively at our house. What would we do without him?



We go to the hot air balloon competition every year on the 4th of July. 6:00 a.m. is worth it.

Waiting for the Freedom Festival Children's Parade to begin. Zach, Eliza and Caleb.

Zach got to go camping with his dad and his cousins. City of Rocks!

Zach and his friend Ethan enjoy a snack at the Soldier Hollow Mt Bike race they went to with their dads.

It had been a long day.... and a long night the night before.

Our fabulous neighbors organize an Easter Egg hunt every year, a little wet this year but of course Zach loved it. Hazel and I were home staying warm and dry.

Zach was eating the Napkin with his Ice cream cone so I told him it was definitely time to throw it away and his reply was, "It's a pretty good napkin."

Zach holding Hazel a few hours after she was born. He is still so sweet with her.


So Zach did indeed have a birthday this year. But since he turned 3 just 4 days before Hazel was born I never got pics of the party etc posted.

Evolution of a Baby

I admit that I love to dress Hazel up. I am sad she is growing out of this dress. I bought it on my first shopping trip after I found out we were having a girl.
Hazel discovered her thumb on the 4th of July. She hasn't removed it from her mouth since... and she sure has been sleeping well!
Hazel was happy to be 3 months old (unbelievable!!) in this picture. And yes, she is flipping off the camera. We noticed she does that...

Zachary is learning to take pictures...He took this of Hazel at 2 1/2 months.

Hazel is showing us her usual happy face at her baby blessing. Two months old already!

Oh, poor Hazel. She had the worste baby acne at six weeks. Didn't take too many pictures for a couple of weeks while she cleared up.

Hazel is having some daddy-daughter bonding time with her dad at 4 weeks.

This picture is Hazel at 10 days, on Easter. She was "due" the day after Easter.This is Hazel a few minutes after she was born. She had chubby cheeks from the beginning!

Hazel Charlotte Aston

Hazel is here! She was born at home on April 1, 2009 at 3:10 p.m. She was 7 lbs 7 ounces and was 20 and a half inches long. We love her dark head of hair, we'll see if she keeps it. It was amazing and enjoyable to have her born at home. She is an angel. Zach is a very loving brother.



What's in a name? I have always loved the name Hazel, probably from growing up with stories about Aunt Hazel. My Grandpa recently said his Aunt Hazel was the superstar of the miracle their extended family was after his mom died when he was a kid. His Aunt Hazel moved in permanently and helped raise them. Zach was going to be Hazel (his original due date was even her birthday) until we found out he was a boy. I think he will thank us for saving the name for his sister.



Charlotte is a special name in Andy's family. The name is his sisters first name, his mothers middle name, his Omi's (German grandmother) first name. I don't know if it goes back further, I guess I better find out. I think it is a beautiful name and was the only contender with Hazel for a first name. The owner's of that name in Andy's family are amazing women and we are glad to have them as examples for our daughter.

So the countdown is on with the arrival of our baby so we decided we better get out of town. Thanks to the Whitakers for letting us visit them in Vegas and taking us hiking at Red Rocks State park. We of course walked down the strip and on Valentine's Day we got babysitters and went to dinner and a movie. It was a great little trip.
Zach got to have a Valentine party at Grandma's with his cousins, he is still talking about his trip to Grammy and Papa's. He is a Mr. Fix-it guy with the tools he got for Christmas. He loves to "help" Andy fix things. He will put on his tool belt and bring in his tool box and say, "Hi, I came to your house today to fix things. Do you have anything for me to fix?" He has fixed the kitchen chairs, the dishwasher and the fridge. One day after he had finished his 'work' he said, "You have some nice toys in that bedroom, can I play with them?" He pretended he was a repair man visiting my house most of the day.

Remember December?

So here are a few pics of our trip to Cali (we went to Monterrey Bay Aquarium) and a couple of pics of Zach helping me shovel snow...