Hazel is officially 3!

It's amazing to me that our kids are this old...especially Hazel. How does it happen so fast? I guess when life goes at full speed...it's bound to happen faster! She is very proud to be 3. our big goal was to have her going potty all by herself...she has been trained for almost a year now but she insisted on people helping her to the potty and being with her while she went. she COULD do it by herself, as she would at other friends' houses, but i guess that is the part of girls want company in the bathroom? i don't know? but for what ever reason turning 3 was the magic day (cuz we had been talking it up) and now she climbs up all by herself and has yet to fall in all by herself! one time this week i did help her get to the toilet quickly as she was getting ready for a bath and had not realized she had to go so bad as she pulled her clothes off...she replied a little frustrated after i sat her down, "what? now i am 2 again?" no no hazel...you are seriously 3!
she brings a lot of joy to our lives and a lot of patience practice. girls are just very different than boys and she keeps us on our toes with more creativity in this journey of parenting. we enjoy her hugs and her soft touches to our faces. her attention to detail. and all her questions and comments! greg loves it when she helps him shave. i like to have someone to do my hair and make-up with. she loves to be held or be in the middle. she takes care of her babies and sings to them when no one is looking. playing dress up and grocery store is a favorite past time...along with picking on her brothers. she knows just how to push their buttons or give them a nudge as she walks by to show them "who is boss"...if we can all just play her game and keep her thinking she is boss...life is grand! paul in turn, loves to put her in her place. she is strong in all her personality strengths and she knows where she is going in life. she is a favorite among her aunts and uncles here in Indonesia...it's great to know she is loved world wide too :D we can't wait to go back to LA so she meet everyone again and speak to them this time :D...the girl doesn't stop talking most of the day...one can even hear her talking to imaginary friends and gavin has the hardest time with this..."why does she do that?" he askes. hazel is a blessing to anyone she is around and we are grateful she is in our family to help us grow and love better. Happy 3rd Birthday Hazel Bazil

Family photos

Martha's Grandpa Emmert...in Italy WWII

Greg and Eric...in Bellflower 2007...enough said

Martha's Dad...Paul taking wheat from a Colorado field in 1981

paul sayings

paul asks a lot of questions.

he asked, "Who made God?"

and he said, "When God makes a turkey, he stuffs it with cheese."

he said, "my dad has the biggest muscles of anybody i know. you can see his bone."

life in 2009

it's great to be able to tell you that we are having another BOY! fun fun fun! hazel seems to be in denial about it though and will insist she is having a "stisster" NOT a "brudder" but i think she will love on the little guy anyway! paul and gavin both said they knew it was boy and it seems we have been calling him a "he" for some time now. (except for hazel) we do have names we like...but we are keeping them on the downlow this time :D but gavin and paul want to name him after their favorite cartoon...

and now for a few of paul's quotes

they kids were climbing around on an old abandoned building and they wanted me to join them. i said i better not cuz i had to protect the baby. paul says, "why?" and i said, "cuz i am the mom and that is what mom's have to do with their kids...keep them safe" and paul says, "why? you think you are having baby Jesus or something?" and i said, "no...." wondering where this was coming from but he went on to ask a lot of questions about Mary being Jesus mom. this christmas we all watched the movie "the nativity" so they really got into it i guess.

another time i was doing laundry and this is always the time paul likes to askes questions. he said "mom, we have to go to america to have this baby so it isn't indonesian right?" and i said, "well, this baby will be a copeland no matter where he is born." and then he clairified..."but if he was born here, he would have brown skin right?"

we were having a particularly hard day with cultural things here and by the end of the day we were both pretty frustrated with what to do. paul came in with a new found catepillar. it was as big as a man's middle finger and bright green...like the hungry little catepillar. his eyes though were the funniest thing and i wish we could download our pictures of it...but it looked like someone had drawn cartoon eyes on him...they were big and droopy and just halarious. i told greg this must be God's way of telling us to just laugh off this cultural stuff and that He sees us....everything's gonna be alright.

hazel and gavin crack us up too. they enjoy picking on each other just as any normal siblings would but i think hazel tends to have the upper hand...and the higher pitched scream. if it weren't for our kids...we wouldn't have near as good a time in life!

gavin has entered into a new stage of life...losing teeth! he lost his first one while eating an apple. it kind of freaked him out a bit but he was pretty happy to wake up and find Rp. 9,000 under his pillow in change. that would be coins in Rp. 100 and 200! so it seems like a gold mine for him but it's acutally about 80 cents!

we are counting down the days till we return to LA... just 42 more days!

i am officially in month 6 now and this little guy likes to sit in my ribs like gavin did. i have to fight him. my sickness has calmed down but not disappeared...and i am exhausted most days but continue to keep moving. we have much to do before we go. life just keeps on the fast track.