The Zelly Zone

Another new look for Hazel

Hazel now sports the sophisticated bi-focal look

Hazel the Brownie and her best friend, Walter

Hazel the Brownie

With her best friend, Walter

Is Walter helping with that computer game?

Or is he just looking for love?

dualling guitars

Hazel got a guitar from her Auntie Auntie Linnie for her birthday. On New Year's Eve, we entertained the family. Eventually, we'll even be able to play songs together.

Junior Couch Potato

Hazel, looking fashionable and relaxed.

self-portrait October 2007

Hazel drew this picture of herself a few days ago. Note the 'jazzy' pants and the fashionable shirt and belt.

Hazel's new Look

Hazel could go trick or treating as a Hallowe'en punkin this year

That's tooth number three, for those keeping score.

First Grade Picture

Here's our girl Hazel, looking every bit the happy first grader.

Member of F.R.S.o.A?

Or, Future Rocket Scientists of America. Here's a rocket Hazel engineered the other day. It's hard to see it, but the seat swings... very nice for those long trips where boredom is a problem.

Kinder-Pic

Here's our kindergartener half-way through the school year.

The whole morning kindergarten gang with the incomparable Mrs. Spohn.

Wacky Doings in March

The kindergarteners recently celebrated "Wacky Wednesday", a little known holiday enthusiastically celebrated by those who celebrate it. Here we see Wacky Zelly:

I like how her eyes match her skirt and boot in this one.

The weather has also been a bit wacky up here in Lower Middle Cascadia. We had snow a couple of times in early March, a rare occurrence to be sure.

Zelly is always ready to play in the snow, no matter how little there is. During this morning snowfall, she ran all over the yard with her tongue out, hoping to catch random snowflakes.

Have we mentioned before what a goofball she is?

This one looks like 'Zelly Dances with Nuclear Fallout', but it's really just snow.

Happy Birthday, Big Girl

Happy Birthday to you, you goofy 6 year old. Your family and friends wish you a very happy Year Six, complete with tons of love and kisses and hugs and a very big helping of health, friendship and great memories.

You're our Princess Hazel forever.

Zelly's Playground

Zelly's rendition of a very colorful playground

Another Big Milestone

She's a kindergartener now.

Can you tell she's a little excited?

Hazel gets friendly with the Piano Snake.

Mrs. Spohn leads Hazel's kindergarten orientation group through an activity. Meanwhile, the parents got to sit in tiny chairs and fill out paperwork... and then we had to unbend our knees and stand up again.

A few days ago Zelly expressed some nervousness about starting school. She was worried because she didn't know how to write very well, didn't know how to spell words or read. She was also worried that she wouldn't know anyone and no one would want to play with her. We reassured her that Mrs. Spohn would teach her the things she didn't know. We reminded her that everytime she went to the playground, she had friends within minutes, why should kindergarten be any different? Since that discussion, she hasn't said a thing about being nervous. Today her face shone with excitement and she seemed ready to take on the world.

You go, girl!

Zelly Bunny

Here's Zelly, doing her best Easter Bunny impression. As a bit of insight into her personality, here's a snippet of conversation between her and I.

Her Mama and a friend were talking at the dining room table, hushing her interruptions. She drifted over to me, in the living room and said, "Mommy, I'm bored."

"Hmmmm?"

"I get bored when people don't pay attention to me."

As if that wasn't obvious already. She is a perfectly pint-sized drama queen. Lately she's been quoting from her favorite movies (including the latest, a Mary Kate and Ashley video) and walking about with a dramatic air reminiscent of an aging film star.

She is, indeed, ready for her close up.

Strange Beasties are About

Be vewwy, vewwy quiet.... we are stalking a rare and whily creature, one whose existence has never been verified on camera. Be cautious as we approach this odd little purple creature.

It doesn't look like much yet. But as soon as we get a little closer, it will probably move and reveal a bit more of itself. There! Look closely!

It appears to be bipedal, with an interesting striped fur on it's feet and legs. Quick, get a shot of it moving!

Ahhh-ha! The mystery is solved! This really is an exotic creature, the rare and beautiful...... ZellyTurtle!

Cookies!!!

Zelly and the miles and miles of cookies she helped create this weekend. This cookie making event went on for days and days (ok, 3 hours) and the Zellster stayed with it until the end.

woohoo! Hurray for cookies! Hurray for colored sugar!

Merry Ho Ho to you and yours and a Happy Happy New Year!

Zelly's Halloween

2004 marks the first year that Zelly asked to go trick or treating. She and I walked around the neighborhood -- well, I walked, she ran with some neighbor kids. She was a champ at the whole gig, no shyness at all. Here's a picture of Zelly as Belle, with her Beast. Or is it Leia and Jabba?

She also designed a pumpkin for us to carve, complete with freaky eyes.

It's October Already?

I know it's been awhile since we updated this site. It's not as if Zelly hasn't done anything noteworthy, it's more a problem of her moms being so unloving as to let her website get stale.

So here's a little tidbit from the artist herself, something to get you in the holiday spirit.

home made slip n' slide

Here's Zelly enjoying some good old fashioned home-made slip n' slide goodness. Our friend Kathy Jo came up with the simple design of black 3 mil plastic with a sprinkler hose. Hey, anybody can do this, and as these pictures show, it's a hit during the hot weather.

moms in love

Zelly drew this magna-doodle picture in the car the other morning. I asked her what the picture was about and she said, "It's you and Mama in love. You're getting married."

Although she is a very talented artist, we had to ask her who was who. The figure on the right is Wendy, with her hair piled up on her head and wearing a dress. That's me on the left, with short hair and an egg-shaped body suit. The lesson here is, don't use your child's drawings as the basis for your wardrobe.

She's been talking about us getting married a lot lately, and, no, we're not planning anything. It's just a much talked about topic lately. It came up the other day when I was modeling my new clothes, stuff I bought for job interviews. She told me I looked beautiful and further, "Now you can marry Mama." Obviously she feels she has some say in the matter ;-)

Zelly in Blue

This is a new outfit from Zelly's Auntie Auntie Linnie. Thanks, Lins, you've got a great eye for little girl fashion.

p.s. yes, we know that we've fallen terribly behind on the Zelly Zone updates. We have a buncha stuff to upload and we will get to it. Really. We promise.

Zelly the Biker

Zelly is not fazed by freezing temperatures, when she gets the urge to bike, she gets out and does it.

Trimming the Tree

This is Zelly "deconorating" the tree. Last year she used the clumping method of tree trimming, this year she spread it around.

Here's the result of her efforts:

November Snow

The Amorsley family loves snow and we rarely get enough of it living in western Washington. That's why the November snowfall we got this year was such a treat. There was enough of it to play in, rather than the light dusting we usually get.

Here's a picture of our backyard getting a dose of snow.

Zelly and I created this little elfin snow creature on the back steps.

Here is Zelly in her first ever snowball fight with Mommy. Notice the follow-through on her throw, she's giving it her all. This particular snowball, at the apex of its flight, isn't going to hit its target but several of them did over the course of the afternoon.

Does she love the snow? Ohhhh, yes.

Turtles, Punkins and Cookies, Oh My!

Zelly was very snappy in her plush turtle costume. We went to the YMCA for their annual party and the Z would have been happy just to play in the FunZone (one of those child-sized habitrail setups). She did try some of the other activities and ventured into the Hantou House with her moms... but only partway. The scary bag monster ended that adventure prematurely.

Zelly assisted in pumpkin carving.

Can you tell she has her special Halloween socks on?

Along with fun costumes and pumpkin carving, Zelly and Mommy made scary Halloween cookies to share with the other kids at daycare.

She's so good, she can do this with her eyes closed.

Zelly at 3.75

Zelly's closing in on 4 years old and acting every bit the teenager she's going to be 9-10 years from now. Don't get me wrong, she's not asking for the car yet. She has, however, mastered the exasperated sigh. She uses it whenever we can't understand what she's saying. She'll be telling us about her day, for instance, and use some word we don't understand. She'll repeat it and if we still don't get it, she'll repeat it louder -- not that it becomes clearer that way. Finally, she'll give up with a loud sigh and shake of her head. "Parents", she seems to be saying,"How do they get so dumb?"

That's not to say she's given up all her little girl ways. She still likes to snuggle with us in the morning and she's become an expert at butterfly kisses. Yesterday, while we were on the couch, she got on the other end and said, "Let's tickle our feet together, Ok?"

She has very definite ideas about fashion these days and loves to wear dresses and tights. She's also at home with outragous color combinations and loves to match flower-patterned pants with differently patterned shirts.

Of course, she's always cool, that's a given.

"Z" is for Zelly Day

Every year, Zelly gets a week off from daycare. This year, Wendy and I are splitting time at home with her. Monday was my day and we had a great time going to the playground.

Step right up and get your stamp. The "Z" is your entrance pass to a great, big, fun filled day with Zelly.

Here's Zelly attempting for the billionth time to blow up a balloon... it kept shooting out of her mouth. Unfortunately, I'm not fast enough to capture that on film.

Sliding is one of Zelly's favorite things to do.

Her hair is afloat with static electricity and excitement.

"I know I can get on this thing...."

"I did it!" Zelly in flight.

Future mountain climber in training.

I forget, which part of the family is the monkey genetics from?

Zelly, as she would look aboard the space shuttle.

Our Fair Zelly

We went to the Thurston County Fair last week. Zelly was looking forward to a pony ride and we were all looking forward to seeing baby pigs and all the other animals. Unfortunately there weren't any baby pigs but there were two nursing calves. Zelly opted out of the pony ride and chose the more colorful and exciting merry-go-round instead.

Zelly rides her mighty charger.

An accidental family portrait.

Zelly puts on the cheese while resting in the FFA landscaping exhibit.

For more about our Fair visit, see this story at Bugsplat.

Zelly's Beach Adventure

Zelly and her moms went to the beach this summer, and she discovered the joys that acres of sand and surf can bring. She also got her first tattoo there, at the ripe old age of 3.5.

You know what's great about the beach? Sand, of course. Zelly spent hours filling buckets and emptying them and filling them again ....

The nearby Twin Rocks are home to all kinds of interesting sea creatures, some of whom came ashore during a particularly extreme high/low tide cycle. Here she's making friends with a very small starfish.

With her friend, Risa, Zelly discovered starfish, hermit crabs, sea snails and little, tiny baby fish.

Zelly does the beach boogie to bury her feet in the mooshie sand.

Zelly was a big girl compared to Lucas, even if he's almost as tall.

What's another fun thing about the beach? The surf, of course. Zelly just couldn't get enough of running through the surf and jumping waves.

Zelly shows her Mama how to play in the waves.

"Oh, she's got the camera out again... I'd better put on my cute look."

"Mommy, I like these bones!" -- having her first barbequed rib dinner.

"I'm trying to see it..."

Zelly's first (henna) tattoo, courtesy of auntie Shannon.

Zelly Loves her Veggies!

This is our child.....

This is our child on fresh vegetables...

sweet

I've come upon a wiley monkey girl fast asleep.

New Shoes!

Zelly got new shoes this week and they've hardly been off her feet since. She's also modeling the lovely blue cardigan her Nana got her for Christmas. She rediscovered it about two weeks ago and pretty much only takes it off for bedtime and for laundry day.

Budding Photographer

No photos, please.

Zelly, having launched a very exciting photographic career, is besieged by paparazzi at her weekend home. She's normally as comfortable in front of a camera as behind it, but she needs down time like the rest of us.

And now for her first photographic exhibit:

Here Zelly explores perspective and lack of focal point in her study of the backyard garden.

Her second shot challenges the viewer's equilibrium and ability to control nausea.

Please stay tuned here for more from this exciting new artist.

Zelly and the Daffodils

See the second page for more pictures by clicking the link below.

Zelly and I took advantage of a break in the March rain to get a closer look at our flowers.

Zelly tries desperately to smell the very non-smelly daffodils.

Zelly gets windblown as the weather threatens again. Moments after we got back inside, the rain returned.

Drawing People

This picture is a detail from a larger work by the young artist. To our knowledge it's her first drawing of a person with appendages. Her style is a little abstract and seems to be from the "Egg People" school of artistic expression. The 'skirt-like' arches at the bottom of the egg are actually its mouth, as this person is mostly face without much body.

Actually, upon closer inspection I wonder if this is a human at all... has Zelly been in contact with aliens?

Zelly and her pool

Zelly loves water so much, she must be part fish or maybe part dolphin. This is a shot taken last July, in our back yard. Zelly recently started a new round of swimming classes at the YMCA. She's an Inia now, the last class she will attend with Wendy. After this she'll be ready for the Pike classes and her moms will be relegated to the viewing room.

I was in the viewing room this Saturday, watching as Zelly and Wendy practiced swimming skills and played with water toys. For the first time, Zelly willingly floated on her back and kicked, assisted by a 'noodle' flotation device. She's been resisting the back floating exercises until now, so this was a big breakthrough. She continues to be fearless when jumping from the side of the pool and grins hugely through the whole half hour lesson.

I researched the name "Inia" and will share with you the fruits of my curiosity. The inia geoffrensis, also known as pink river dolphin or boto, is a native of the Amazon River. The name 'inia' was given to it by the Guarayo Indians of Bolivia. This dolphin is the largest river dolphin on earth and is greyish when young, growing lighter and pinker as it gets older.

Now you've had your Zelly update and National Geographic Moment and you still have time for your chores ;-)

Katie and Zelly, July 02

This is a fun shot of Zelly and her cousin, Katie. They're having a blast playing together at Grandma and Boppa Combs' house during July 2002.

Zelly thinks she's 3

Zelly has always been big for her britches. This picture from February 2000 shows the 2 month old trying to convince us that she's 3 years old.

Merry Christmas

Zelly and Cole pose for us on Christmas Day, 2002. The outfit Zelly's wearing is a gift from Auntie Dawn.

Playing the Organ with Nana

Zelly and her Nana (Wendy's mom, Sharon) play lovely organ music to delight us all during Christmas vacation.

Zelly and Cole

These blondies are the best of friends, sharing their own private jokes and big adventures. Here they are spending quality time in our sunny backyard, resting between escapades during a Memorial weekend visit, May 2002.

Happy Birthday, Zelly

Zelly celebrated her third birthday in December with family and friends. She generously shared her cake with the rest of us and is a pro at blowing out candles without spitting.

She had a great time with her special guest, Conner. They took all the new toys out for a test drive but the most popular toy of all was the 'previously loved' Fisher Price grocery checkout stand purchased for $2.50 at a garage sale.

Counter Girl

Zelly hangs out on the counter while helping make dinner.

Downtime with Babies

Zelly enjoys some down time with her babies. When asked if the babies have names, she answered, "No, they're just babies, babies don't have names!"

Thanksgiving 2002

Martha Stewart, you don't have anything on Zelly. Here she models her fancy Thanksgiving hat and animates her Turkey puppet. What's the turkey's name, you ask? Gobble-Gobble, of course!

She Loves to Color

Zelly really loves to color. She seems to be mostly left-handed, but as in this picture, sometimes switches. She can be very precise, staying mostly within the lines and changing colors often.

Big Girl Zelly

Captured in a rare moment of stillness, Zelly poses in one of her favorite outfits. She's a girl who's equally comfortable in dresses or jeans, dancing or playing with worms. Dresses normally bring out the dancer in her, she loves to swirl them around.

Autumn Leaves

Zelly is not intimidated by the sea of leaves, she dives right in.

What good is making a pile of leaves if you can't play in it?

Halloween 2002

In our first picture, we see the unfortunate consequences of leaving children alone with pumpkins. Zelly was only out of our sight for a moment - we swear! - and when we found her again she'd been swallowed whole by this giant pumpkin. Zelly seems strangely happy to be in the tummy of the giant orange beast and her hair still looks great.

Here's Zelly sitting for a picture on a fine autumn day in the Pacific Northwest. Notice that the pumpkins are sneaking up on her, doing their master's bidding. We didn't know at the time that they were keeping her under surveillance until the Great Pumpkin was ready to strike.

Zelly Salutes You

Kids are sponges and you never know what will influence them. We don't know where she got the idea of saluting when she's wearing her sailor cap but it sure is cute.

Fountain-head Zelly

Wow, she's really looking like a little girl here rather than a toddler. She's crossed a threshold this summer, especially in the hair department. She started the year with barely enough hair to cover her neck and now has so much that without intervention it would cover her face.

Come on In...

Zelly welcomes guests to our home in festive style. Rumor has it she wanted a bigger hat, but had to settle for this one. Even with this skimpy head covering, she retains her spirit of adventure, her sense of fun and her desire to dance.

Fun in the Sun

Cole, Ethan and Zelly

Three cousins take a moment to rest during a very busy visit. Most of the time they were a blur of activity, exploring every inch of the backyard. They hunted for bears, dinosaurs, worms and the end of their mothers' patience.

Hugs Altogether

This photo captures our family right after one of our frequent "hugs altogether." This practice was instituted by Zelly as a way to bring the family closer, literally. Now she wants everybody to do "hugs altogether" -- family, friends -- anybody within reach.

Just one more gate...

Zelly strains to see over the last gate between her and freedom.
Beyond the gate lies the back yard, and dirt, and worms, and adventures uncounted!

A musical Prodigy

Scott is awestruck as Zelly demonstrates her advanced finger-picking technique. She loves music and is quick to jump up and dance and loves to sing along. We're going to hold her back though, and not allow her to start her musical career just yet - we don't want Brittany to get too jealous.

Look, Mommy! A Worm!

Zelly is shown here with one of her many pet worms. She enjoys taking them for walks, singing worm songs with them and talking their little wormy ears off (now you know why you don't see any worms with ears).

Silly Zelly

Zelly usually wakes up in a good mood, sometimes in a silly mood. For example, on any given morning she may decide that your toast is actually hers. After taking a few bites, she may decide that her toast is actually a little creature and begin walking it around her plate. Sadly these creatures usually meet with the same fate -- joining their fellow toasties in Zelly's tummy.

All Beaded Up

Wearing her fabulous Harley Davidson dress and sporting Mardi Gras beads,
Zelly is a trend-setter ready to show her daycare pals the latest in fashion.

The Big Cheese

Here she is, Hazel Jeanne Amorsley, aka Zelly. She's two years old and counting, well, she sort of counts ("too, won, tree, fo, fi..") if you count with her. Her vocabulary is growing by the moment, and she knows lots of phrases. Here are some common ones: "I nunno" (her favorite answer to any question), "Mama, 'mon" (as she attempts to drag you from the sofa), "mo ju pee" (holding her sippy cup), "wheh aaaa you? Mama, wheh aaa you", "I won a dattah, pee" (a dattah is a cracker). The other day she astounded us by using not only the correct pronoun but correct verb as well with "I ate dattah, Mom. I ate dattah."

Zelly is quite left handed when it comes to drawing, ambidextrous when eating and playing. She really, really likes to draw. Crayons, markers, pencils, chalk, finger paints and magnidoodle -- she's used them all. Music is another of Zelly's interest. She sings, dances (she's got moves that would make an adult envious), plays her harmonica and various keyboards (thanks to certain aunts and uncles who like to buy 'noisy' toys ;-) ). Her favorite song right now is the alphabet song. She can almost sing the whole thing without help, and her favorite part is "LMNOP"... sometimes she'll loop back so she can do that part again. She likes to sing with others too and usually will join in when we're singing to the radio.

She likes to go outside and help Camey garden. This usually means that she has a little trowel in her hand as she tromps all around the yard. She isn't intimidated by the english ivy jungle in the back, trudging through it to check the perimiter fence and peek in on the neighboring yards.

Her body isn't growing as fast as her vocabulary and hair, but she is growing. At her last check up in February, 2002, she weighed in at 19.7 lbs and stood 32.5 inches tall. We were a little disappointed because we thought for sure she'd broken the 20 pound barrier. She probably has by now, as she's been feeling a lot heavier lately.

Zelly's not what you'd call a big eater, she can go for most of a day eating graham crackers and a waffle with peanut butter. She also likes mac n' cheese, chicken noodle soup and eggs. She eats better at daycare than at home, probably due to the peer pressure from other kids (besides, don't all kids behave better for other people?).

Zelly is a high energy kid in a small package, with a charming smile and lots of flirts and love for everyone. People who meet her tell us that she's something special, funny and cute. Of course, we believe she's the most gifted, beautiful, loving child ever produced by the human race.

Old Friends

Zelly and Harlow enjoy a fun game of catch the toddler's hand.
These two have a long history beginning just after Zelly was brought home.
They even shared accomodations for a while.

Fashion Page #1

Zelly loves her fashions and gets excited when she gets new clothes. This series of pictures takes us from coordinated winter wear (December), to the vivid colors of her striped tights and jumper ensemble (March) to the light-weight summer look of her blue dress and sandles.

Where did my legs go?

Zelly performs an advanced magic trick and makes her legs disappear - she's ready to take the stage in Las Vegas.

Horties!

Zelly is showing off her new outfit. "Momma, dese are horties! weeeheee!!"
Wendy is showing off her long hair.

Prancing Girl

The moment this swim suit came out of the box, Zelly knew it was hers.

"Momma, that mine?"

We had her try it on, but she didn't want to take it off. As soon as she saw the little skirtlet she began to dance around the living room.

To Zelly, any outfit with a skirt is an outfit to dance in.

Tractor Girl

This tractor driving fool doesn't have her driver's permit yet, but she doesn't let that stop her. Always fashionable whether on the tractor or off, this hip, happenin toddler will plow right over you if you aren't careful - and quick!

Fashion Page #2

Zelly models her snazzy '70s look, with comfy green pants and groovy purple top (December). Next up is her Harley Girl look (Jan 02). Zelly is in the pink but shying away from the paparazzi in this picture from December 01.

Christmas Cousins

Zelly celebrated Christmas with cousins from both sides of her family - Katie and Cole. The three are shown in a rare moment of almost stillness.

Dog Pile on Brandon

Zelly and cousin Cole pounce on Uncle Brandon during a holiday visit.

Second Birthday

Zelly seems to be saying,"Don't even think about taking my cake away." The first time she had birthday cake, she didn't really get it... she had a few handfuls of whipped cream topping and went about her business. On her second birthday, she knew what she was doing. She ripped wrapping paper like a pro and enjoyed her cake very much.

Deep Thoughts

This is a classic Zelly look. She's obviously thinking deep thoughts. Don't you wonder what they are?

The Look

There are really no words to describe this, except for - bea-U-tiful.

The artist at a young age

She favors her left hand for drawing, apparently liking the control it gives her as she works her magic with the crayon. Her work tends to feature a lot of rapid back-and-forth strokes of varying intensities and colors. We are already considering the appropriate gallery for her first showing.

Houdini in Training

The sky is truly the limit for Zelly. She is skilled in many things: Dancing, climbing furniture and saying 'Uh-oh' being a few. Here she is practicing her Houdini inspired escapes. So far she's very good at getting into the basket, but is still working on escaping without an assist. I'm worried that she'll take up other famous magic tricks next, and am keeping all the large saws out of her reach for the time being.

Future Rodeo Star

Another of Zelly's blossoming skills is trick riding. I'm not sure whether this will lead to a career in rodeo or the circus but I'm sure we'll get front row seats either way.

2000 Holiday Picture

Here we are posing in our back yard for a holiday pic.
Check out Zelly's Spock-eyebrow.

The Scary Lion

Here's Zelly as a very scary lion for her first Halloween.

The Miss Mini-America Pageant

... And here's Miss Hazel from Washington state in her blue flowered swim suit... and I'm sure we can all agree who wins the swim suit competition this time around.

My, How You've Grown

The first picture is of the three of us on the day Zelly came home from the hospital. Zell weighs 3# 12oz and is 6 weeks old. In the second, she's a big girl of 10 months and around 13#. What a difference 10 months makes!

Now I can Stand

Alright, now I can stand. There are so many new things to see up here. And so many new things to play with, like magazines, phones, remotes and CDs. Where do I start?

Food Issues

Ummm, I know I want to eat, because big people do... the thing is, I have no idea why. This stuff isn't that good and it feels wierd in my mouth. I'd rather chew on my stuffed animals.

Big Enough for the Highchair

Alright, now I'm a big girl. I can sit at the table with moms and read papers and all the big girl stuff. Ok, maybe I'll chew on my papers instead, but I'm still a big girl.

That Innocent Look

Zell works on her coy, innocent look. Look out world, here comes the Bee Charmer!

Sitting Up

What's the big deal? Yeah, I'm sitting up and I can play with all my toys now. What I want to know is, what's next?

Fluffy White Cloud

"Look at me I'm a fluffy white cloud! "

Zelly takes flying lessons from Aunt LuLu.

Zelly and her Cousins

Zelly hangs with cousin Cole, Auntie Dawn's son (top) and checks out cousin Katelyn, Aunt Cyndi and Uncle Joe's daughter (bottom). She's probably trying to figure out why Katie, one week old, already has more hair than she does.

Time to Rest

Even an action girl like Zelly has to rest sometimes and mommy's shoulder is a good place to rest and prepare for the next adventure.

Zelly and Piglet watch TV

"Oh, Piglet, do you know when the Telly Tubbies are on? Have you seen the remote?"

... this is one of those shots where you can see how much bigger she is. This was taken when she was about 4 months old. Compare that to the original Zelly and Piglet picture, taken when she was still in the hospital.

Bathing Beauty

Ahhhh, this is definitely a picture I'll keep in mind when her high school's annual committee comes around for photos. Notice that I've covered her so that she won't be too embarassed.

... Can her eyes get any bigger?

Gecko Baby

The determined little gecko baby climbs the mommy mountain. What is she searching for?

Smiling Buddha Baby

Is she smiling or passing gas?

Velcro?

Is Zelly defying gravity or have we just velcroed her to a padded wall? Back then that sleeper was so big we had to roll up the sleeves. Now it barely fits. She looks kinda suspicious, like she wonders what trick we're going to make her do next.

Adoption Day

Here we are on the day Wendy's cross-adoption of Zelly became official. (left to right) Wendy, Camey, Judge Paula Casey holding Zelly, Grandpa David Combs behind her, and Grandma Kathy Combs.

Zelly & Harlow

Harlow likes to watch over Zelly while the two of them snuggle in the bassinet. Harlow is very dedicated but even she gets tired of Zelly's kicking and screaming and will then seek the relative peace and quiet of the back of the couch.

The Changing Chair

Having a small house and a small baby, a changing table simply wasn't necessary for us. Instead we're using a 1930s chair, how many people can say that? We have an even smaller chair to sit on while we do the changing.

Here Zelly shows how strong and cute her legs are.

Coming Home!

we finally get to bring our little girl home -- 6 weeks after she's born. She's a whopping 3 lbs 12 oz.

Big Yawn

... Really, she's not crying, she's yawning.

Zelly and her Friend

Zelly naps with her buddy, Piglet. Her grandpa gave her Piglet while she was at Swedish in Seattle. Piglet watched over her isolette and inspired her to make grunting noises.

The Angry Mushroom Baby

Camey cheeses while Zelly gets mad because she'd rather eat than pose for more pictures.

The Puffy Hat

Wendy cheeses while Zelly poses in her stylin puffy pink cap.

41 Hours Old

Here they are, the day after her big debut. Zelly's sucking on her fingers.
Camey's looking great in her hospital gown.

Zelly's First Day

Zelly meets her Mama and it's love at first sight.

Zelly's not quite 2 hours old here.

We're pleased to present, Zelly, our magical, miraculous baby girl. Zelly (Hazel Jeanne Amorsley) was born 12/20/99 -- 9 weeks before her due date of 2/19/00. It wasn't that she was impatient for the outside world, she was born early because her mother (Camey) became ill with pre-eclampsia. After only 4 days of bedrest, Camey was rushed to Swedish Medical Center in Seattle for an emergency c-section. Out popped Zelly, underweight for a 31-weeker at 2 lbs 3 oz. She stayed at the Special Care Nursery at Swedish for three weeks before being transferred down to the SCN at Providence St. Peter in Olympia. After another three weeks, Zelly was discharged to go home with her mothers Camey and Wendy to their home in Olympia, Washington.

Zelly was born healthy and never needed assistance breathing. Her only problem was that she was small. She has been overcoming that with her big appetite, gaining weight steadily. At the time of her due date, she weighed 4 lbs 12.5 oz.