Quick Update

We are in the Netherlands and have adjusted to the time change. Hazel is enjoying saying Hoi Hoi to all of the locals and we are having a blast. Turns out strollers don’t work so well on cobblestone so we’ve been doing a lot of babywearing (thank goodness for the Moby!). Tomorrow we leave for Hindeloopen where our vacation really begins. I am presenting in half an hour and after that is over I’ll feel like I can really relax!

Just thought I’d send a quick update while we have access to free internet. Cute pictures coming soon (maybe in two weeks)

Europe, here we come!

We leave today on a two-week vacation to the Netherlands and Germany. I am excited and a little anxious about the trip- excited for all the obvious reasons and anxious mainly about having Hazel cooped up in a plane for almost 10 hours today. We leave this afternoon at 2 pm and arrive in Amsterdam tomorrow morning at 8 am local time (2 am here)- so our total travel time is just about 12 hours. We’re all packed and are spending the morning letting Hazel get all her energy out. We’ve got a short layover in Atlanta, but we plan to let Hazel out to run around the gates before we get on the big plane. Fortunately we are flying in the evening so we are hoping that Hazel will follow her usual 7 pm snooze routine. We’ve packed pajamas, mama and blankie, so hopefully those three things will ensure at least a few hours of sleep on the plane!

Our trip begins in Amsterdam where we will pick up our rental car and drive to the nearby city of Utrecht. We are staying in Utrecht for 4 days and 3 nights and I will be presenting my dissertation research at the Association for Moral Education conference. After a short stay in Utrecht we are heading up to Hindeloopen, a small fishing village known for its paintings. We will be staying there for two nights in an apartment. Jered and I went to Hindeloopen twice when we were growing up and we’re excited to go back with Hazel and explore the area again.

From there it’s off to Siegelsum, a town in Northern Germany where we will be visiting my mom’s cousin and her family. They have a working dairy farm and we can’t wait to show Hazel all of the cows and other animals. We plan to stay with them 2 nights before driving down to Oma’s house in Hanau, Germany where we will spend the remainder of our trip. So, as you can see we have a busy two weeks ahead of us! At some point while we are staying at Oma’s we plan to make the drive down to Heidelberg, the city where we met. We have so many good memories of Heidelberg and I can’t wait to take Hazel back to where it all began for us!

We will be taking as many pictures and short videos as possible, but we most likely won’t be posting them until we return in mid-July. We will be back late on the evening of July 14th, so later that week you can probably expect some picture-heavy posts! We hope everyone enjoys their 4th of July holiday weekend- see you in two weeks!

12-month Checkup Stats

Hazel’s 1 year pediatrician’s appointment went very well. She is meeting all of her developmental milestones (and then some!) and she handled her three shots very well. She didn’t even seem phased by them after the initial sting.
Her weight has really tapered off- she is now only in the 30th percentile at 20 pounds 3.8 oz- nearly the same weight as she was at her 9 month appointment. She is a tall girl, though, and is still in the 75th percentile at 29 and a half inches, which tells us that she is steadily growing, just becoming long and lean. Her head is still gigantic. At first the reading was off the charts and the doctor had to re-measure to be sure Hazel wasn’t, in fact, turning into a bobble head. When she measured again her head was at 18 and a quarter inches, the 85th percentile. She’s got a lot of brain in that there noggin’.

Last night the weather was gorgeous so we decided to take Hazel down to Yorktown beach for a little sun, sand and a picnic dinner. Here are a few videos from our weeknight trip to the beach.

Sand! from esther benoit on Vimeo.

More fun at the beach from esther benoit on Vimeo.

Water! from esther benoit on Vimeo.

Feet in the water from esther benoit on Vimeo.

Fearless from esther benoit on Vimeo.

Birthday Videos!

We managed to take some videos of Hazel’s 1st Birthday (and another one just this morning) and thought we’d share them this Monday morning. Hazel goes to the pediatrician for her 1 year check up today- I’m not looking forward to the shots! We’ll update later in the week with her latest stats from the pediatrician- we may even be moving her into the face-forward position in the car this week depending on how much she weighs at today’s appointment.

TuTu Cute! from esther benoit on Vimeo.

Happy Birthday to You! from esther benoit on Vimeo.

Untitled from esther benoit on Vimeo.

June 15 from esther benoit on Vimeo.

Hazel’s First Birthday!

Today was a big day for us. Hazel turned one and we had a fantastic birthday- she had friends over at Omi’s house, and got to play, dance, run and eat cake and icecream all afternoon. Our girl was fantastic today- she had to get up early to go to campus with us where she got to spend the morning in the clinic while I defended my dissertation (successfully!!).

Here I am with my committee after getting the good news!

After that we all headed to lunch at Sal’s (the same restaurant where we celebrated our rehearsal dinner four years ago).

Lunch was fabulous and we had great company. We headed back to Yorktown to try and give Hazel the chance for a little nap before her big birthday party. She slept on the drive home, but didn’t really nap much all afternoon. Considering that she hardly slept at all today she was an absolute doll!
Hazel had not one, not two, no, not even just three birthday cakes, she had FOUR! Talk about a loved little girl!

Did I mention she wore a birthday tutu?


Four generations!




Let’s eat this cake!

Cake and Cheerios- a winning combination.



We had a GOOD time!




After cake it was time for more fun- this time with no shirt (the cake got a little messy)



Time for presents!


Then Hazel’s new friend fed her icecream. This was possibly the cutest thing I’ve ever seen.





It’s pretty clear a great day was had by all! Thanks for all the well-wishes today!

Who’s that little girl?

She’s almost a year old and we can’t believe it.
I’m in the final crunch, getting ready to defend my dissertation this Friday on Hazel’s first birthday so I have been bad about blogging, but we have managed to capture a few fun moments on video. Take a look!

Whoa! from esther benoit on Vimeo.

Peekaboo! from esther benoit on Vimeo.

Running Around from esther benoit on Vimeo.

I found this baby in a toy chest from esther benoit on Vimeo.

Walking Tall

A few more videos of Hazel taken this afternoon.

From walking to running… from esther benoit on Vimeo.

Reading and Running from esther benoit on Vimeo.

Brace yourselves…

For some serious cuteness… I finished writing my dissertation on Friday so I don’t have many words left in me for now- so I thought I’d post the latest pictures and videos of our girl. She’s walking all over the place now, enjoying fresh berries, talking on the “phone,”, she points at things and says a few words- so far she can say “key,” “tree,” “hi,” “cheese,” “woof woof” and “nose.” It seems like every day she’s up to something new. We hope you enjoy the pictures and video!

Bipedal from esther benoit on Vimeo.

Talking and Walking from esther benoit on Vimeo.

Mmmm Berries from esther benoit on Vimeo.

11 months

I can’t believe we’re just one month from Hazel’s 1st birthday. Has it really already been almost a year? Our girl has brought us so much joy these past 11 months. She has grown so fast and changed so quickly, she’s already taken her first steps, said her first sweet words and developed such a fun, curious and active little personality.

Having just celebrated my first mother’s day, I thought I’d use this post to talk a little bit about how becoming a mom has impacted me. Just a year ago Jered and I were anxiously awaiting the arrival of our little Juni- not knowing if we were having a boy or girl (I always had a feeling we were having a boy, boy was I surprised!).
I honestly don’t know how to describe those first few days, weeks, months with our little girl. They were a blur for me, so amazing, so hard, so sweet, so different from anything I’d ever experienced. I struggled. I really struggled. Having always done relatively well in things I set out to do, motherhood was a puzzle to me. I didn’t know how to do it well. I second guessed myself constantly. How would I know if I was doing okay? Was I giving Hazel what she needed? Was I feeding her enough? Too much? Should we let her cry it out? Was it okay to give her a bottle? Were we putting her to bed too early? Too late? Everyone had advice and I wasn’t used to getting it from so many sources all at once. Everyone’s advice was different. Making sense of all of it was completely overwhelming. For the first time in my life I felt really lost, and it was a terrible, terrible feeling- this was my role as a mom, my relationship with my daughter, my baby that I was struggling to figure out. Wasn’t it supposed to come naturally to me? Was I a bad mom for not coming home from the hospital all sunshine and roses and slipping into motherhood with ease?

Time changes things. As Hazel got a bit older (and a little less fussy!) I started to feel more comfortable in my new role. Having a supportive husband helped tremendously. Come to find out, Hazel is a bit more active than other babies we know. A “bit” might be the understatement of the year. Constantly exploring, moving, learning- Hazel wears us out, but we wouldn’t have it any other way. We still end most days pretty tired, and I still deal with my fare share of self-doubt, but the past 11 months have taught me quite a bit. I am so thrilled to be on this journey with Jered and Hazel (and hopefully another baby or two in the next few years). Here’s to our first year as a family and here’s to Hazel- our funny, beautiful little girl.

Peekaboo!

A quick update from earlier this week, Hazel is feeling much better- her fever came down and it seems she was just under the weather for a few days- she may be getting a new tooth in there somewhere. Hazel practices walking a little more every day and she’s getting really good at it. With all the activity (that word has become synonymous with Hazel’s name) there were bound to be a few bumped noggins. Today while Hazel was at Omi’s house, she fell down and bumped her head pretty hard- it shook everyone up, but she seems to be doing fine. Hazel has had quite the eventful week- we are hoping for a calmer end to the week, and hopefully a low-key weekend, especially since Jered will be watching Hazel in the mornings while I write!

I don’t have the energy to do a lengthy update tonight, but I thought I’d post this video of Hazel playing peekaboo- she loves to put blankets, laundry, even cloth diapers (clean, of course) on her head and “hide.”

Peekaboo! from esther benoit on Vimeo.