The Holway Family: November 2010

Monday, November 29, 2010

Birthday Poll - Please Vote

Tonight I mentioned to Eric that I thought it would be a neat idea to have every kid bring a gift to Mallory's birthday party and then have them exchange their presents and everyone leaves with one. His response "this is a give and take world and you can't even the playing field on her day because they will all get gifts on their day." I'm not really sure where he is going, I guess I should just assume it has something to do with being deprived of gifts when he was younger?

Anyway, I wanted to see what you thought. Please vote in the upper right corner for one of the following:

1) Party with no presents from invited friends, but have her open gifts from family
2) Gift Exchange
3) Screw it, it's her birthday, let her get a bunch of gifts she doesn't need (after all, birthday presents are not about getting what you need).

Tough Week for Sleep

This past week was tough as Jared decided to wake up from 1-3, 2-4, or 3-5 every single night. We don't know if he was teething, sick, or cold, but it brought back way too many memories of being up all night with Mallory. He wasn't upset, he just wanted to play. I have no idea how we did that every night for the first 15 months of Mallory's life. How can you get mad when you see this smiley face (which is an awful angle, but it's hard to get him to smile when he is intently looking at the camera).

If you smell his feet and say "PU Stinky feet" he will all out giggle. It's really cute. Hopefully I can get it on video here soon. Have a great week!

On Top of the Fridge

I feel like I can never catch up on blogging. I try and jot things down so I remember, but often I find myself blogging by the pictures I find on the camera. Here are few randoms I have from the past week.

Mallory and Natalie doing "art."

Jared smiling at Uncle Dan. Also, he just LOVES that giraffe.

Intense studying of the exersaucer (which he maybe lasts 3 minutes a day in - but do you know how much you can get done in 3 minutes???)

Apparently the top of the fridge is no longer a safe hiding place. I thought they didn't get this smart until they were mid-3's. I guess it start at 2 and a half.

I guess we have a mover. I have yet to witness it, but when I start my shower, Jared's head is up in the green hood, and when I get out he is always like this. I try and peek on him but I can't catch him doing it. Mallory decided she needed to be in the picture so she hopped out of the tub.

I also took Mallory back to Bounce U on Sunday, and I can't believe how much fun she had. She was climbing all the obstacles and going down the big slides by herself. All the other parents were helping their little ones, but I had Jared so she was going full steam ahead all by herself. I can't believe how much she has physically matured in the past few months.

Last, a funny thing Mallory said this week, I guess I could start calling them Malloryism's, was when she woke up in the morning and said her nose hurt. Thinking she hit it in her sleep, scratched it, or had to sneeze, we asked her why it hurt. She said because she smelled poop. There wasn't any poop, turns out she was smelling her own breath (which I can assure you did not smell that bad).

Mallory's new crocs which she absolutely loves. When Eric pulled them out of the bag he said, "BEST Dad EVER."

Last, this is what happens when you turn your back to put the fries in the oven. Mallory loves cucumbers.

Thanksgiving Festivities

I had great intentions of doing the standard blog post of what I'm thankful for...but, the time has passed and now it's more about recapping the festivity than it is about writing an emotional post of how many things I am truly thankful for.

Dan, Lisa, and Natalie came down for Thanksgiving dinner and Ryan and Sandra made it over for a late dessert. It was nice to have a laid back, small Thanksgiving. It made the day enjoyable and not as stressful as the larger gatherings can be.

Here is our table. The flowers were $2, the ribbon was $1, and the leaves and pumpkins were free. Everything else we had. I was very pleased with how it turned out.

Our feast. It was soy, dairy, corn, wheat, and egg free. Nobody knew the difference!

Mallory giving her "cheesy" smile.

Mallory drinking her "special" juice (sparkling cider).

Here are the napkin ring holders I made. I think Jared's turned out the cutest.

Dan, Lisa, and Natalie

Ryan and Sandra

All in all, everything turned out for our first year of hosting Thanksgiving. We truly are thankful for our great friends and family - we appreciate everything you do to help us out and support us.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Saturday, November 20, 2010

Eric Doesn't think He is Dramatic....

I'll let you decide. When talking about what we could do to help Mallory sleep through the night, here were some of his direct quotes (I didn't get them all because I was laughing so hard).

Eric: "We have to do something, I wake up with welts on my back from the corner of the night stand. It hasn't bled yet but there are triangles dug into my skin. She kicks the covers off 50 times in a row and her finger and toe nails scratch me all night, her long hair gets on me, she digs her knees into my back, she can't lay straight - it has to be across me,and I have actually fallen off the bed.

The best part is, I texted these to myself as he was saying them so I wouldn't forget, and I just read this to him and his response was "I didn't say that." Uh-huh.

Springboro Christmas Parade

I won't bore you with another parade post, but I will say Mallory absolutely loves parades. She always asks to go and her favorite part is the marching band. She is so darn cute waiving to everyone in the parade. This was a Christmas parade (I know it's early!) so it was nice to see the same old parade stuff dressed up for the holiday season. It was cold so we were all bundled up.

No matter how many parades you go to, there always seems to be something you haven't seen before. This was a professional baloon business.

They had lots of activities for kids there, but it always seems to fall right in the middle of nap time, so for the 20 minute drive home, all I heard was crying and "I wanted to jump in that (in regards to the bounce house full of older kids). Note to self, avoid festivals before nap time!

Dammit

......is sometimes what you think when something doesn't turn out as planned, for example, these "turkey" cupcakes below.

However, that is not the reason for this post. This has been Mallory's new word lately. We honestly don't know where she learned it from since neither one of us say it - maybe TV? When I ask her who she learned it from she says Daddy and when Eric asks her she says Mommy, which isn't true, so I guess lying is the next thing on our list of lessons. We've tried to get her to say "Oh Man" instead, but now that she knows it's not something she should say, so it is all the more reason for her to say it. She waits to see if we are going to react, so I've tried to start ignoring it. On the topic of things she says, there are so many other things she has said lately that make us laugh, I thought I'd let you have a few laughs too.

Grandma: Alright, flush the toilet.
Mallory: I can't, I'll flush it on Thursday (This was on Friday)..

Me: You can have two gumdrops since you are two.
Mallory: I need two and a half then.

Mallory has not been sleeping well lately so we tried to move the crib back up to extend our bed. She was getting in bed to go to sleep and she said, "I have to sleep here because there isn't room for 5 in the bed (counting her baby).

Me: Mallory, you can get Jared's old clothes out of your room to put on your baby.
Mallory: That room over there?? (is it sad she doesn't know she has a room?)

We have to watch her because she loves fish lips. She is constantly going up to Jared and squeezing his cheeks together saying, "you want fish lips" in a really high voice.

Mallory: Mom, I need a snack.
Me: I don't have a snack, all I have is an Altoid. It will probably burn your mouth but you can try it if you want.
Mallory: mmmm, toothpaste

Me: Give Jared a hug and a kiss goodnight (then she does), give Mommy a hug and a kiss goodnight (then she does), give Daddy a hug and a kiss goodnight...
Mallory: I don't need to, I give him one when I wake up in the middle of the night.

And her latest is..."Seriously Mom?"

Friday, November 19, 2010

The Sleeping Cat

Well, apparently this was not a good week for pets. We lost KC on Wednesday, and then on Saturday, Eric went outside to let Roscoe out and noticed we had a permanently sleeping cat in our yard. I remember seeing a flyer on the stop sign on the way to work, so I walked down to see if that was indeed the missing cat that we found in our yard. Once I got the flyer, I cried the whole way walking back, knowing we had to call this family and let them know we found their cat, and it didn't end well. I had Eric call, because there was no way I could do it, and they only lived 5 houses away so they were there immediately. They said a few people had called but all they found were dead raccoons. I wished this was just a raccoon, but unfortunately there was no mistaking this was the cat in their picture. It actually looked so peaceful just laying curled up - so it is a mystery on how she died because she wasn't bitten or anything. Maybe she got into something poisonous? Anyway, the family removed their cat, but I do have to say, when they picked it up (after it being flattened to the ground), they were petting it and holding it as if she were alive. This really grossed me out, but it was soo sad to me to watch another family lose a pet, just after losing one 3 days earlier. This situation made me ponder so many tings but especially the fact that of all the yards this cat could have died in, why ours?

Date Night

Eric and I had our third date night since Mallory has been born. Probably sad that we can count them, but after leaving them at daycare all day, I want to see them as much as I can when they aren't there. Plus, I know soon enough they are going to want to go to their friends houses and there will plenty of opportunity for date nights. However, every healthy relationship needs a date night here and there, and since Eric's mom was in town, we took the opportunity to go to a friends house for a few hours without the kids. It was nice being at somebody's house and not having to worry about whether or not something will get broke, or if your children are being a nuisance. Maybe a year from now, we can do it again!

A Tribute to KC

This was a rough week as it contained a call on Wednesday letting me know that the dog I grew up with (KC) had developed diabetes so bad she was deteriorating, as well as a liver that stopped functioning. Due to this, she had lost bladder control and would have been in excruciating pain within a week, so they recommended she be put to sleep. This was devastating to all of us, but especially to my little brother, Chance, who is 10. I'm not sure if the loss of KC, or knowing how he was going to react was harder on me. Let's just say they both were awful. The worst part was that I was half way across the country and couldn't do anything about it. Then, it got me thinking that I'm going to have to go through the same thing with Mallory and Jared when Roscoe finally passes. I feel like parenting should be a college course, it could teach you about how to handle all these situations you don't even think about or have the slightest clue how to go about. Here are some pictures I used to make Chance a card with that she can be remembered by:

This picture just makes me cry!

KC, we will miss you!

Daylight Savings

I remember always looking forward to the "fall back" and extra hour of sleep I was going to get. For all of you without kids, I'm going to let you in on a secret, there is nothing good that comes from daylight savings post kids. Ok, so maybe that is an exaggeration, the first night, they go to bed earlier, so now instead of a 10pm bedtime, both kids are down by 9pm and you find yourself thinking it's pretty great you just got an extra hour to yourself. That perk lasts less than a day when you realize they are up an hour earlier the next morning. Then, as the week goes on, the bedtime moves slowly back to 10pm, and the waking up moves, well nowhere. Then they are getting less sleep, more crabby, and within two weeks you are back to normal. All this so it can get dark out earlier, which adds to the greatness that your two year old thinks they can't go to dance because it's dark outside which must mean it's bedtime, or that when you are driving home from school she "can't see her eyes" (it's too dark), and Jared now screams the 3 minute drive home because he doesn't like the dark. Of the two daylight savings, I definitely prefer this one, because come spring, it's a later bedtime and then not wanting to get up in the morning....so excited!

Tuesday, November 9, 2010

4 Months and 32 Months

Wow! Jared is already 4 months and he is getting quite the personality. He has started giggling more and is starting to have "great" days at school now that he is a little more independent as he plays. I took him in for his four month check up and here are his stats:

Weight:17.5lbs (90th percentile)
Length: 26.75inchs (95th percentile)
Head: 18 inches (above the 95th percentile)

As you can see, he is slowing down on the weight, but he still has a big head. Everything went well and he is doing great. He is awkwardly in between 9 month and 12 month clothes. The 9 months are too tight, but the 12 months are too long in the arms and legs. Hopefully that means we'll get lots of use out of all the 12 month clothes we just bought!

As for Mallory, she is still growing in every way. Here are her stats:
Weight: 38.5lbs (above 95th percentile)
Height: 37 inches (75th percentile)
Head: 20 inches (just above 95th percentile)

Just for kicks, I looked up the average size head for adults to see where our children get their big heads from (which I think we all knew anyway), but for males, it's 22.5 inches, for females it's 21.5inches. Just so we can set the record straight, Eric's head is 24 inches and mine is 21 inches.