The Hazard Chronicles

Okay, okay, I know I have been a slacker lately. Thankfully, Rachel did our last post and put up a ton of pictures. Suffice it to say that we are doing very well. Maren is working her way into our family and has, so far, managed to survive the affections of our three other children (if only barely). When it comes to taking care of her, Jackson is by far the most interested of the three and he does a very good job of cuddling and soothing her. This is a good thing since he ensures ample opportunity by "pointing out" (aka: gouging) her eyes, nose, tongue, and belly. We have had to step in and rescue our "Little M" on multiple occasions. Once, while I was reading a book, I looked up to see Addy teaching her how to wrestle. Unfortunately, our Addy could probably stand her ground against a grizley bear in a fight, so when it comes to a newborn I'm afraid that Maren stood no chance. Addy was just setting up for a WWF style body slam when I steped in with some timely intervention.

But despite the loving attention from her siblings, Maren remains a pretty mellow baby. In that respect, she reminds me of Evelyn when she was little (Addy and Jack, on the other hand, were more like two little monsters who had taken too much caffeine). Marin is doing crazy well sleeping at night, allowing Rachel to get more sleep than any of our other kids did at this point.

We have also enjoyed having the pleasant company and help from Wendy (Grandma Almond) this past week. It has been fun having her around, and the kids hardly even noticed when Rachel and I escaped a couple of times to go on some short "mini-dates" (for now, Marin's eating schedule prevents us from getting out for very long). Having Grandma around has also helped Rachel to get out of the house a lot more, allowing her to resume a little bit of her active lifestyle after the brief hiatus imposed by Maren's birth.

As for me, I have to say that things don't really seem to have changed much. This is probably because I go to work during the day, and we have had constant visitors at night time and on the weekends ever since Maren was born. With so much other activity going on, it is hard to guage the amount of change, if any, that Maren is having on my day-to-day. I do want to put a little plug in here about my work- I am loving it and I am doing an awesome job (if I do say so myself). Enough said.

One more thing- I like tax returns!

Here are some pictures:

First, the many faces of Maren.

The Dr. Suess Crew! 

Grandma painted Addy's face