The Holway Family

Sunday, February 27, 2011

Let's Party Under the Sea Birthday Party Setup

With less than a week to go until Mallory's party, I have pretty much completed everything I can except for the food. Here is a sneak peak:

The Invitation

The map each family will get upon arrival. Each bubble is a different room.

This will be outside (weather permitting).

Pin the coral on Ariel's tiara.

I did not get to finish this room. I'm hoping to get more seaweed hung up and put blue covers over the windows to give it a more "ocean" feel.

I can't this picture to rotate back...so here is the sideways pinata.

I did not get to set this room up because we use the table this will be on everyday. Plus I have to make the slime the day of the party.

Last, will be all the food. I have plans to make the cake, cupcakes, sandwiches in the shape of fish, goldfish, shell pasta salad, and fruits and veggies.

There you have it. I'm sure I've ruined this for some of you attending, but I figured I better do it now so my next post can be pictures of the food and the actual party.

Mallory is so excited. She woke up from her nap and came downstairs and said, "It's so beautiful Mom. I love my party." Thanks Mallory, I'm glad you appreciate it because as soon as Eric gets home I'm guessing I won't get that same appreciation.

Off to Preschool

Mallory has officially started preschool. She has definitely been ready for it and she has been asking about it for over a month. Going to preschool is more than just an actual reading, math,spanish, dance and science curriculum, but it also comes with a new backpack! Mallory was so proud of her backpack.

The teachers say she is doing great and that she is just a little bit shy, but once she gets over it she jumps right in. We are working with her on her lowercase letters now and recognizing numbers.

I also think Mallory has a bit of a crush on a little boy named Cooper. She has been excited for her birthday party for weeks now and she wanted all her friends to come. The other day when we were decorating (yes, I started early), she said, "Mom, I don't want a lot of friends to come. I just want one, Cooper, because I love him." I kind of blew it off, but then on her first day at preschool I asked her about her day and she looked at me and said, "It was fun, and Cooper was in there!"

Once Mallory got home Eric had asked her what her teacher's name was. He told me she said, "some woman." So after I tell the teacher this story, the next day I asked her what her teacher's name was (to make sure she knew it) and she said, "Mrs. Wellman." Eric piped up and said, "oh, why didn't you tell me her name was Mrs. Wellman, that's what she said yesterday when I thought she said some woman." Thanks babe, way to make our child look like she can't remember a name.

Anyway, the bottom line is that Mallory loves being in preschool.

Job Searching

Wow, Eric only has 60 days remaining of law school - and the only reason I know that is because his last day is the same day as the royal wedding, so I have that nice number constantly flashing in front of my face. As excited as I am for this step of our lives to end, it has come with great stress as he searches for job. As many of you know, the law job market is about non-existent. We have branched our options to states beyond Ohio and Colorado and have started looking in West Virginia (in Charleston, and no it's not a bunch of uneducated hillbillies, it is actually in the mountains and really pretty), and Florida (in Orlando). Although I will be sad if we have to leave Dayton because we have family and an awesome school for the kids, I am trying to be open about other possibilities, as I know wherever he gets a job will be for a reason, perhaps one I cannot see at this time.

Please keep us in your thoughts as Eric continues to search for a job. Hopefully something will materialize soon so we can start planning ahead if we do have to move. We will keep you updated!

Family Dance Off

You may have wondered why the blog hasn't been updated in so long...maybe you thought it was due to the fact that I'm taking two classes, working full time, taking care of two kids, laundry, cooking, or shopping. Nope, it's because I only have a certain amount of time each week to blog and for the past 3 weeks it has been filled with my slight obsession, I mean dedication, to trying to make the finals in the Primrose Family Dance Off. Most of you already know what this is, but here is a recap just in case you don't.

You submit a 30 second video of your family dancing and then you vote to make it to the finals. The whole point is to promote childhood obesity awareness and healthy, happy hearts. Once you get to the finals, you are judged on the number of votes in the final voting week (March 20-26 - so get ready!), creativity, originality, and humor. If you are top 3, they donate, $30K, $20K, and $15K to your local children's miracle network. There are also some cash prizes to go along with it, but I'm not sure what those are.

BUT..the best news of all is that I finally made it to the finals last night so now I can go back to blogging!!! Woo hoo! However, get prepared to help me out come March 20th. If you haven't noticed I am not a quitter.

You can check out our video here.

Ah, it feels good to be back to blogging. I didn't realize how much it affected me not to.

Little Eaters

Jared is still not on board to eating, but he loves when I put food in this little contraption for him to munch on.

Here is what I found after I opened a bag of apples for Mallory to eat. She didn't want the peels. Don't worry, I peeled them and had her eat the rest.

Pre-Birthday Trial

Next weekend is Mallory's birthday party so this weekend I thought I'd let Mallory do the activities as an example to set on the table. She had a blast. Here is a little preview:

Painting her crab.

Painting her fish.

Final product.

So proud of her art - as she should be!

Mixing up the sea slime.

Again, so proud of her creation.

More to come on her party!

I Guess Squirrels Need to Eat Too

I couldn't figure out how we were going through bird seed so fast....well, the culprit is squirrels. They even figured out how to open the sides and get the suet out. I guess they need to eat too...but we will be moving our bird feeder as soon as we can!

Newport Aquarium

Since Eric is going to be gone on my birthday, we used this Saturday to celebrate. The plan was for him to make me breakfast in bed, but Jared woke up extra early so we just made it together. Then we took the kids down to the Newport Aquarium in Kentucky. Mallory really enjoyed seeing all the fish, jelly fish, turtles, and dolphins. She was not a big fan of the sharks. Before we even got there she wanted to be held so the sharks didn't get her.

It was cold while we were waiting in line.

View of Cincinnati

Picture I got while Eric was waiting in line for tickets.

So I have noticed in trying to get Jared to smile I move the camera and cut off his face. Oh well, he's still cute!

Puffer fish!

Starfish you could touch.

Mallory was not on board for touching anything.

Sharks!

A really bad picture of Mighty Mike the Alligator (which I'm pretty sure we saw at a different zoo, maybe Omaha?)

Eric petting the shark.

Unfortunately we did not get any family pictures (or pictures of me). We had a good time but we had to leave about half way through to get lunch, and then the kids were too tired to go back so we just headed home. Fortunately we got an annual pass so we plan to go back to see the frogs and penguin exhibits at a later time. With that said, for as big of a deal as people made about the aquarium, I didn't really think it was any better than the Omaha Zoo which also had every other type of exhibit beyond aquariums. We were definitely spoiled there! Thanks babe for planning such a wonderful day.

Saturday, February 26, 2011

Chocolate Mousse Pie

While Eric was out of town, Lisa and Natalie came to keep us company. Lisa had found this gluten-free vegan chocolate Mousse pie recipe so we went on quest of the ingredients and gave it a try. How can you make a mousse pie without dairy??? Apparently, the secret is avocados. I was VERY skeptical at first, but I will tell you it was AMAZING. Consistency was awesome, taste was awesome, crust was awesome.

Need I say more?

Disclaimer: You have to like the dark chocolate taste to like this pie.

Because it was so awesome, here is the recipe for you to enjoy! (compliments of Lillianskitchen.com)

Gluten Free Pie Crust Ingredients

1 1/2 C blanched almond flour
1/4 tsp celtic sea salt
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 C grapeseed oil
1 Tbsp agave nectar
1 tsp vanilla extract

Filling Ingredients
4 ripe avocados, pealed and pitted
1 C organic cocoa powder
1 C agave nectar
1 Tbsp vanilla extract
1 to 2 C thinly sliced strawberries

Gluten Free Pie Crust Directions

1. In a medium bowl, combine almond flour, salt and baking soda.
2. In a small bowl, combine grapeseed oil, 2 Tbsp agave and 1 tsp vanilla.
3. Stir wet ingredients into dry.
4. Pat dough into a 9 1/2” pie dish.
5. Bake at 325˚ for 10-15 minutes, until golden brown. (Mine took 13 minutes)
6. Let this cool completely before putting the filling in.

Filling Directions
1. In a food processor or blender, process the avocados until they are creamy
2. Put in the cocoa powder, agave and vanilla and process until it looks like chocolate pudding.
3. Refrigerate the chocolate mousse for 30 minutes.
4. Line the crust with thinly sliced strawberries
5. Put the mousse into a cooled pie crust.
6. Refrigerate for another hour.
EAT!!!

New Bed

As Mallory is approaching 3 years old, we thought we would try and transition her to her own bed. Up to this point we have had the crib with one side off pushed up against our bed, which she usually starts in, but by the middle of the night is right up against Eric. Eric reached his breaking point, so we have started the transition.

As with any new transition, I thought I'd make it fun by having her pick out the bedding. Off to the store we went to find princess sheets. Well, we only have a queen bed and anything for a child only comes in a double or a twin. Sooo... we settled for some pink bedding. She was so excited about this bedding that we immediately came home and put it on the bed. I was thinking, wow, this might be easier than I thought. As we are making the bed, she looked up at me and said, "Mom, I need some friends to sleep in this bed with me." This of course means one of us. So I told her she was in luck because she had her baby. She replied, "well then I'm going to need two friends." I went downstairs and got her second baby. Nap time rolled around, she crawled into bed, I took Jared into the other room to put him to sleep, and I thought for sure she'd be in within 10 minutes. 3 hours later she woke up from her nap.

As successful as that was, night time has not been so successful. She does great until about 2am and then Eric is usually in there until he gets up for school. I am not one for the cry it out method and i don't want her to be scared, I want her to feel comfortable and excited, so we will continue to take this slow until she is OK with it.

Don't mind the green skirt, I didn't realize I didn't get one, so I'll have to get that next week.

Bike

Last year we did not have success with this bike, so I thought I'd try again this year, no such luck. Something about the pedals being out in front makes it too difficult. She still loved pushing it with her feet though. I guess we'll stick with the other bike for now.

Couple's Retreat

Eric and I had the opportunity to go to a couples retreat at one of the churches in town. It came with childcare, so we thought it would be a good opportunity for us to spend some time together. Although at each of the breakouts for exercises I had to go feed Jared, I think the speakers were very touching and had a lot of words of wisdom to help your relationship stay strong. It wasn't anything we didn't already know, but it's always good to have a reality check reminder to help put some focus back on your relationship. It's so easy with kids to put your relationship on the back burner, but as much as I love my kids, they aren't who I will be spending the rest of my life with, so I have made it a point to help our marriage grow just as much as our relationship with our kids. Although we may not get a date night every week, we can still stay up an hour later to talk no matter how tired we are.

Relationships are about not being self-centered and having an open heart. My hope is that we can grow our relationship as a couple and that our kids continue to get to grow up in an environment of love, rather than just the motions. I hope everyone reading this will make the effort to do the same in their relationships.

Valentine's Day

We don't typically do anything for Valentine's Day because I think you should show your love all year round and I hate how it's so ridiculously overpriced. BUT, since I was sick all night on our anniversary, we decided to go out for lunch. We went to Red Lobster (because I am an awesome wife and went there for Eric so he could get his cheddar bay biscuit kick). Eric brought me some cookies and beautiful flowers that lasted at my desk for almost two weeks.

Mallory also did some stuff for school for Valentine's Day. The first thing we did was make an "act of kindness heart" for them to hang on their tree of love at school.

She also addressed all her Valentine's Day Cards/Stickers. She loved that they were princesses.

Their school also gave us box of cookies (left) and I got Mallory a box of chocolates and a book. I also got Eric some peanut butter cups and big card. I don't typically spend money on cards but they happened to be on sale so I got it for $2. I couldn't resist as I've always wanted to buy one of those big cards. As I was trying to write in it, Mallory started tracing her hands in it, so we all traced our hands as big hugs for Daddy in the card.

All in all, it was a great day filled with love, just as every day should be! I love you Eric, Mallory, and Jared! Happy Valentine's Day!

7 months and 35 months!

Where does the time go? I feel like overnight Mallory has become a little adult. Everything has to be done by herself, she is doing great with her life skills, knows almost all her numbers, talks with an attitude, and has so much energy! I can't say every moment is a good one, but I've learned to accept things are going to be dramatic if she needs sleep, food, or a little extra love. You can now see she is thinking through ideas to figure out how she is going to get her way and spends most of the time testing boundaries. Although they say two's is harder, I think the trying three's are equally as difficult to handle as a parent. There are moments she will try to kick as close as she can to Jared, or nonchalantly walk by him while he's playing on the floor and knock him over, and other times where she is so loving, giving lots of hugs and kisses, and trying to comfort him by saying, "it's OK baby Jared, I know you are upset." So for every trying moment, I take a deep breath and wait for the endearing moment to follow.

Mallory's new favorite thing to do is play games. We bought Candy Land and Don't Spill the Beans. We have played Candy Land every night for the last few weeks. She used to get excited for the people cards she would draw and thought that was the way to win, until she realized she was being sent further back. It took me two weeks to win, and when I did, she was not happy about it! So competitive at such a young age...who did she get that from??

Now onto Jared. Jared has also seemed to transition from the infant to big baby. He is so loving, pointed out by his teachers at school as well. He loves giving kisses and hugs and has even started cuddling more at night. He loves sitting up on the floor and playing and prefers this over the confining high chair. Jared also has the cutest little giggle, especially when you throw him up in the air. I always want to capture it on camera but Eric thinks we just need to enjoy the moment and take a mental video - so although it's great for me, not so much for you. Hopefully I can capture it soon and post it for you.

Jared also got his first tooth today, 7 months and 1 day old. With that tooth has also come biting - not so great for me. The other day it caught me off guard and I raised my voice and said, "Jared! We don't bite." A brief moment later I hear Mallory yell from the other room, "Mom, be nice! He's just a baby!" Would that be considered karma?

Jared's teachers wrote me a note the other day that says they swore he said hi to them...I haven't heard it, but I thought I'd at least mention it. Stranger anxiety has also kicked in big time. If I am not in a 1 foot radius of him, he starts getting worked up and goes into an all out cry that is the saddest cry you have ever heard. He really makes you feel like you have just abandoned him by just walking into the other room. This has made leaving him in the morning difficult, but his teachers are good at distracting so it doesn't last long.

As far as weight and height, I think Jared is about the same. Month six was yet another rough month with both children getting RSV and then double ear infections. This winter has been such a nasty one with everything going around. Hopefully we are on the road to recovery as we approach spring. Mallory was so cute when we went to get her antibiotics. As the pharmacist handed me her medicine she got so excited from the backseat because now she had matching medicine just like Jared. Oh to be excited over such small things. I love you for that excitement Mallory, please never lose your spice for life!

Baby Einstein

This post is strictly just for the record - in case I'm blamed for something later in Jared's life - this is just so he can point back to something as an excuse :)

Jared is not the best little traveler so I have done what every good parent does and resorted to Baby Einstein on the DVD player. Yes, my six month old is watching TV. Well you know what? He will not be dumb for it - the way I see it is that he will actually be smarter. We have to travel in the car, so he'd normally be doing nothing, so why not let him watch some animals run across the screen? Since he's not screaming, it's actually healthy for him because his stress level is lower, right? See the wonderful things you get to worry about as a parent? And well, if it does make him dumber, I'm sure some of the other things I'm doing fall into the making him smarter category, and hopefully he'll balance out smarter rather than dumber.

Sunday, February 6, 2011

Solids

Well this past week we tried to give Jared solid food. Much to my surprise he had absolutely no interest whatsoever in them. I tried whole banana pieces, pureed bananas, sweet potatoes, whole green beans, and avocado, and he wanted nothing to do with any of them. I tried different spoons, I tried sneaking it in, and nothing worked. In fact, he would either clamp his mouth shut or completely gag or choke if something did make it in there. So...I have decided to wait and try again next month. I figure he'll come around to it on his own time and it's not worth both of us getting frustrated and then ending with a mess that wasn't even necessary. Babies don't need solids the first 12 months anyway, and he's still gaining weight (barely because of all his sickness), so why bother?

Here he is with his banana pieces.

And here he is spitting it right back out. I couldn't get it on camera but his little nose scrunch of disgust was pretty darn cute.

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