The Holway Family

Thursday, March 4, 2010

Oh Boy!

In the midst of the move, on February 26th, we went for my 20 week apt and ultrasound. Everything looked great and we found out it was a boy! We are both very excited, and if anyone has some boy clothes they want to hand down we are taking donations. :) We don't have any names yet, that we agree upon, but hopefully by the time he is born we come up with something. At the ultrasound he weighed in at 15 oz, his heart rate was 140, and he was measuring at 20weeks 5days (Mallory at this point measured in at 19weeks 1day, so I'm hoping he just hit a growth spurt sooner and that I am not going to birth a gigantic baby) . We convinced the doctor to change my due date on his official paperwork to July 11th based on his size for the sole purpose of giving us more time to be able to deliver in the area of the hospital we want (since you have to be 38 weeks, and with Mallory I went at 36.5). So the earliest he can come now is June 27th...so I'm keeping my legs crossed at least until then. His heart rate was 140 and he was just squirming around. Here are two pics of him:

He definitely wasn't shy, and I made the US tech go back and show us it with the umbilical cord in the same shot so there wasn't any mistake.

I like this one because I think it shows his personality. It's a profile pic (with his head on the right and belly on the left). If you look close his thumb is on his nose and he is waving his fingers.

Sunday, February 14, 2010

Attempted Potty Training

Today we thought we'd try pull-ups for Mallory to see if she'd have any interest in using the potty. We know she is capable because she tells us before she goes, she just refuses to go on the potty. I thought maybe it was because the old toilet we got her was not soft, so we got her a pretty pink potty with a soft seat on it today.

It started out with her sitting on the potty in her Valentine's Day pajamas.

The she had to sit on it, in the middle of the room.

In the new big girl pants.

Then it just became something to play on.

And to end the day, we had no success. Lots of sitting on the potty, but she would ask for the diaper to be put back on so she could go.

This picture was after 12 hours of no nap today. Not looking too tired.

Build-A-Bear

It has become a tradition that every year my mom takes Mallory to Build-A-Bear. This year she was a little skeptical about the whole thing, but she did step pick out a heart and put it inside the bear, picked out a sound to put in it's arm, and she stepped on the pedal to fill it with fluff.

She gave it a de-fuzz bath. I love that she sticks out her tongue when she concentrates.

She liked the glasses more for her.

The end product (well past her nap time at this point).

Bear in her Valentines outfit.

2009 Bear and 2010 Bear.

Playing at the Mall

This weekend my mom was in town and we went shopping. On the way to Build-A-Bear we stopped at the playground in the mall. She had a great time but would get really mad when kids would go up the slide instead of going down. It was right around nap time, so putting our shoes back on and leaving was a bit dramatic.

18 weeks!

I am now 18 weeks! Only 12 more days and we get to find out the gender of our little bambino. I have been getting some very strong kicks from this little one on the lower left side. It's always in the same spot, and it's the same spot they have found the heartbeat. With Mallory I never felt kicks this early, only flutters and movement. Nobody at work has said anything yet, but I think they must be too afraid to say something because I think it is painfully obvious. I have definitely moved into maternity clothes...more so I'm just in that awkward stage in between regular clothes and maternity clothes.

Happy Valentines Day!

Mallory made her first Valentines for all her friends at school. I wasn't planning on doing them and then I got a letter from school saying they were going to be passing them out at their party. We made 20 of them -each with Mallory's signature on the back. Her favorite part was the sticker. She got bored after about 13, so the last 7 were a stretch.

Signing her name.

A closeup.

The front.

Monday, February 8, 2010

17 weeks!

It's been a couple of weeks since I've updated, but we've been busy finding a place to live (yes, we are moving on the 26th of this month). I guess that's what I get for putting in my Christmas card that we'd be at the same house next Christmas. The good news is we are just moving down the street and we have lots of help.

I don't have any belly pic updates, but I do feel like I'm quickly expanding, so I'll make sure I get an 18 week pic. I have gained 4.5lbs to date. The other morning Eric and I were laying in bed and he got to feel the baby kick. I must have been in just the right position because we definitely did not get to experience that special moment with Mallory until much later. I'm still feeling sick sometimes during the day, but the mornings and nights are still the worst.

Mallory is now 23 months - only one more month and she will be 2! She is 33.5lbs and 36 inches. That falls in the 96th percentile for both! She is definitely testing lots of boundaries and lots of my patience, but she is so loving and gives lots of hugs and kisses and makes us laugh a lot! She had a blast dancing to the half time show during the Superbowl.

She still loves walking Roscoe around the house.

She loves sitting in Roscoe's bed.

Some of her latest art work.

Sunday, January 24, 2010

Mallory

One of Mallory's new favorite things to do is ride this car around the house, and open it's seat and hide things in it. She is very good at running it right over my toes.

She has also become overly excited about pockets.

She loves mixing things in her blender.

And pouring them into her cup.

And her favorite part about laundry is getting in the basket - and she can never get out.

3 Year Anniversary

Most of the fruit was eaten at this point.

Wednesday was our 3 year anniversary. It seems like the wedding was just yesterday, but as I look back at everything we have been through over the past 3 years it seem like it has been 10 years! Since I had to work and Eric had school, we met for lunch at the Olive Garden where he surprised me with Lily's, a card, and an amazing fruit tart. That night my baby sickness was really bad and I ended up going to bed really early.

This weekend, Dan, Lisa, and Natalie came down to visit and they watched Mallory so we could enjoy a wonderful dinner at the Melting Pot. I'm pretty sure my stomach doubled in size after that meal!

The things I can't believe we have done in just 3 years:

1) Moved 4 times
2) Bought a house
3) Had the most beautiful baby girl
4) Sold a house
5) Eric completed half of Law School
6) I started a Master's Program
7) Taken many trips with Mallory to see family
8) Created a second being

As I sit here and look around at my family, I can't help but think of how truly blessed I am to be surrounded by so much love and care. I couldn't ask for a more supportive husband and loving daughter. XOXO Here's to another great year.

15 weeks!

Pre-food.

Post-food.

Only five more weeks and we find out what gender the baby is! It seems so close yet so far away. This little one is now the size of a softball. In the morning I wake up and I have a little bump, but it really expands after I eat! Any day now I will have to start telling people at work before it becomes extremely obvious. If anyone has questioned it, they are probably confused because I don't have a belly in the morning but do in the afternoon.

So far, here are the things the baby likes when I am able to eat:

1) Cake donut holes
2) Hamburgers
3) Steak
4) Potatoes
5) Fruit Smoothies/Popsicles
6) Noodles
7) Eggs

And for items 2, 3, 4, and 6, it must have lots and lots and lots of salt! However, it doesn't seem to be having an effect on my blood pressure because last time I went to the doc, my blood pressure was 94/61. I have been feeling the baby moved once or twice every couple of days - and I am ok with that. Mallory was a big time mover and I am not ready to be at that stage of the pregnancy yet. The heartbeat was in the 150's and sounded great. Other than the morning sickness and little bit of faintness in the morning, things are going well.

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

Quick Update

Well, I haven't had a chance to update in a while because Eric started back to school last week and it's already proven to be a much more time intensive semester than the last one. Mallory also came down with a nasty cold/ear infection last week that left us with many sleepless nights of high fevers. Unfortunately it has passed on to both Eric and myself. Here is a pic of Mallory one day when she was home sick - poor thing just sat down with her snack and within seconds she was out.

This weekend I'll be 14 weeks - the baby will be the size of a fist. Everything you read says morning sickness should go away between 12 and 14 weeks - I was hopeful it would go away by now but I'm starting to wonder if I should just give up and expect this to last the rest of the pregnancy. I have an appointment on Friday and we should be able to hear the heartbeat then. I have also felt the baby flutter a few times since last week- and yes I know this is the baby because it is a very distinct feel.

I feel like Mallory has also just been growing so much mentally lately. It seems like her vocabulary doubles every week. Her last school update said she is so helpful, sweet, and extremely bright. I asked if they were sure they were talking about the right kid. Although she is sweet and helpful at home, she also likes to push every button and test every limit. I feel like she is constantly in time out. Her favorite activities lately are sorting by color, Mrs. Potato Head, walking Roscoe on a leash, and most of all coloring. She loves drawing vertical lines and circles and she concentrates really hard while she is doing it. Her teachers also make comments about how much she loves music time. She loves going around the house singing - with her latest ones "row row row your boat" and Jay Sean's song "down". Her most recent obsession is her new footy zip up pajamas. It's surprising because she has never slept with anything on her feet - including blankets. It's a struggle to get them off in the morning and she gets so worked up when we have to put them in the wash machine. I could go on, but I will save some for the next post.

Sunday, January 3, 2010

Happy New Year!

Well, it's been a while since I posted because we are just getting settled from all the company leaving from the holidays. I did not magically wake up without morning sickness on New Years Day, but I am still hopeful that it will dissipate here shortly. My cravings have broadened to grapefruit and hamburgers (but ground beef not so much!) and I haven't had as much day time sickness as previous weeks, so hopefully the end is in sight. I have been extremely tired lately though so I've been doing a lot of napping with Mallory and early bedtimes.

This past week has been rough for Mallory. I have a hard time even posting this picture because shortly after she was changed because she got sick and it was only the beginning of a very long night. We felt horrible because there was nothing we could do for her. Unfortunately, Eric got sick the next which makes me think maybe I just had a bug a couple weeks ago and not food poisoning (at least I'm hoping so I don't have to experience it again).

Mallory had her first play dough experience and she didn't know what to think. She didn't like it getting under her fingernails, but she loved teasing us by pretending to put it in her mouth and she thought it was really funny it got stuck to her finger.

Last night Mallory came down with a fever with what we think is just a cold. She is too cute when she wipes her nose with a tissue because she blows out her mouth to make the "nose blowing" sound. Since she wasn't feeling well we had a pretty laid back day and made some sugar cookies. The set came with a duck cut out but she got bored with that one after a while so we got out the ones from Halloween.

We started with washing our hands (her favorite thing to do).