The Holway Family: April 2012

Friday, April 27, 2012

Baby Fever - 3rd child debate

I have been thinking about writing this post for about 2 months now but am just now getting around to it. I have never officially decided we would stop with two kids (with the exception of just after childbirth which is not when you are in your best decision making mind).

I have always thought I would have 3 kids, so I have really being struggling with the decision (Eric says he's done, but then again, he said he was done after one child, so he is of no help). I have two great perfect children so I don't need another one, but I 1) am not ready to accept that my last baby isn't a baby anymore, and 2) that I will not have any more kids.

Part of the problem is that when you've always pictured yourself with 3 kids, it's weird to start picturing yourself with only two kids. If I could guarantee myself my first pregnancy with Jared's temperament, then this would be a no brainer. However, our luck would be the opposite!

The downsides are that by having another child, we are subjecting ourselves to more years of kids in the bed, which I don't mind, but seems to be an area of contention for Eric. Additionally, kids can be stressful so I don't know if we could handle 3 (although nobody would be in school, in finals, or starting a new job and we wouldn't be moving).

I'm sure every family goes through this whether it be to have 1, 2, 3, 4, or no kids at all. How do you make this decision??? This has been weighing heavily on my mind because I don't want our kids more than 3 years apart - which means the decision has to be made soon!! Thoughts???

Monday, April 16, 2012

Breastmilk Icecream!

Some of you will find this totally repulsing and should stop reading now, but for the rest of you that find this intriguing, continue on. As some of you may remember, I attempted to make yogurt out of breast milk back when Jared was younger, but I think it wasn't fatty enough to do it- so to say the least it failed.

The other day I got the idea with it being so hot out to make breast milk ice cream since I was thinking of how awful it must be to drink warm breast milk when it's hot outside. Anyway, I found this recipe online and it was super easy, super fast (only 15 minutes) and actually really good (yes, I tried it! and actually I found out that they sell it at an ice cream shop in London, so I'm not the only crazy one).

For those of you interested, here is the recipe.

1/2 cup breast milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon sugar
4 cups crushed ice
4 tablespoons salt
2 quart freezer bag
1 gallon freezer bag
Hand towel or gloves (to protect your fingers)

I first put the breast milk, vanilla, and sugar into the quart bag. I only did 1 tsp of sugar and it turned out fine

Then I put the breast milk bag inside another quart bag just to protect it, and filled the gallon bag with the ice and salt.

Then I put the breast milk bag inside the ice bag and shook it for 8 minutes (although 10-12 minutes probably would have been ideal.

Then I took the quart bag out, cut the corner of the bag and squeezed it into the bowl.

I forgot to take a picture before it melted, but as you can see, there was ice cream, and it was good! Anytime I have had a little bit of breast milk get on my hand I could never lick it off because I hated the taste so much, but this does not taste like breast milk at all. It tastes like ice cream (only a little less creamy since it's not as fatty).

For those of you completely grossed out right now, you can actually use this same method using regular milk, so in the case you find yourself really wanting ice cream and don't have any at home, you can just whip some right up using these same steps! Enjoy!

Sunday, April 8, 2012

I love Spring!

The reason I love Spring is because that means a lot of playing outdoors, and we are so fortunate to have so many kids in our neighborhood that there is always someone outside to play with the kids.

See what happens when you play too much indoors?? Mallory dresses Jared up as the "Mommy going to work" in heals. This is Jared's "smile" face by the way :)

Can you guess what she drew?

Answer: A hot air balloon.

Mallory is the only little girl on our street, and there are 7 boys. This means a lot of bike riding, ant killing, and basketball.

Does this make any one else nervous? because it about gave me a heart attack!

This has nothing to do with spring, but Eric and I were downstairs and the kids were asleep in our bed. I came upstairs and Roscoe was guarding them and the ball for us. So protective...

Have a great week! 5 more weeks of of spring classes!!! I can do it! (and then hopefully I will have somewhat of a life back!).

Potty Training Jared

For a couple of months now, Jared has been telling us about 70% of the time before he has to go potty and wants to sit on the potty. Sometimes I will start to change his diaper and realize he hasn’t gone yet, and instead of putting a diaper back on, I will put him on the potty so he can go.

Maybe this will come across like I’m a terrible parent, but I have NO interest in potty training right now. They say the kid has to be ready, but doesn’t the parent have to be ready too??? In case you are wondering why I'm not ready, well first of all, pull-ups are a pain, and second of all, I am not ready to have to find the first bathroom every time I walk into a store just so I can bolt to it every 5 minutes when I hear, “I have to go potty.”

I’m not sure what the big hype about potty training is - - don't get me wrong, if we aer around the house and he is askin to sit on it, sure, I'll put him on it, but I didn't start potty training Mallory until she was 2.5 and it only took a couple weeks because she was so far past ready, so why not wait another year to start Jared and hope it goes the same??? I would love to hear your thoughts on potty training!

Easter Festivities 2012!

Our neighborhood put on a fabulous Easter party at the clubhouse.

Mallory waiting to pin the cotton ball on the bunny's tail. These events are always hard when you have a shy child - it takes her a long time to warm up. She really wants to do things but is so reserved about trying something new. I feel so bad because people just think she is acting out, but it really is her just her introverted personality.

Hot potato, which ended in a disaster as some of the boys were getting too rough and tossing the egg over her. She was so upset that she couldn't pull it together enough to finish the game.

Unfortunately we were standing in line for the Easter Bunny and some kids decided to start the egg hunt on their own, so by the time we realized this, we went out to find eggs and they were all gone. Then when we went back inside, the Easter Bunny had left. Luckily, I was able to find some extra eggs and hid them for Mallory before we left - good things kids are consoled easily. Both of them had so much fun and we are so thankful for such a great neighborhood to live in.

In addition to the neighborhood party, the preschool and daycare also had Easter parties - so there was no lack of celebration there.

With school being so hectic this year and with visitors almost every weekend, we chose to stay back for Easter this year. It's really hard not being close to family, and the holidays remind you of that! We got up and the kids found the eggs and their Easter baskets. Then we went and had a nice Easter breakfast at Bob Evans (how is that for WV style??). I did homework the rest of the afternoon and we finished our day with Qdoba and grocery shopping - nothing how we have every spent Easter before, but I guess you have to do what you have to do. Next year I'm sure it will be different since I wont' be in school! Here are some pictures from our morning:

What better way to end Easter Sunday than with an ice cream cone...

Happy Easter Everyone!!! P.S. Next year I'm going to make these eggs, because, seriously, how cute are they???? I wanted to this year but had nowhere to go :(

Friday, April 6, 2012

Kanawha State Park

Uncle Ryan and Aunt Sandra came to visit for the weekend and they wanted to make an impromptu visit to the state park on our way home. We didn't get to stay long, but it was nice to get out and the kids had fun playing at the park. I'd like to go back and hike sometime or take some family pictures.

Auto Show

I think Mallory has the same interest as Eric: CARS! I stayed home with Jared and Eric took Mallory to the car show. She wanted to sit in every car. She talks about cars non-stop on the road and loves to point out when she sees one like Eric's. Eric said they were standing next to a black Ferrari (about $400,000) and Mallory loudly announced, "Daddy, this is just like yours." Eric said everyone around just turned and looked. Had that been me, I would have said, "yeah, similar but mine is the next model up." Instead, Eric said, "The only thing that is like my car is the color."