The Holway Family

Friday, April 22, 2011

Caboodle

I didn't realize these things still existed. I used to have one when I was younger and after having an out of control drawer full of Mallory's bows and pony tails, I thought it was time to contain the madness. Mallory loved it. She especially loves the mirror in it. Don't you just love her new hair style?

Packaging Gone Wrong

I don't know who thought this was a good idea, and obviously I was dumb enough to buy it thinking it was a good idea, but baby food in packaging like this is awful. It's a mess to get out, hard to close, doesn't stack/store well, and all in all just not a good idea. Am I missing something here?

I just had to throw this in with this post because I laugh every time I see the bag. It's sounds like some risque movie or something.

Why do they call this infant when it's ages 2-3 down at the bottom?

Cookie Decorating at Panera

After the Grand Opening, we headed to Panera for lunch and cookie decorating.

Mallory was so excited and proud of her cookie. She couldn't wait to take it home to show and share with Daddy.

Unfortunately, we rushed to get on the road to head to West Virginia for the rest of the weekend and left it at home...

Primrose School on Yankee Grand Opening

The wonderful owners of our current Primrose school had the grand opening of their new school. There was a bounce house, cookies, crafts, balloon artists, food, and so much more. Mallory had a blast. Unfortunately it rained and she didn't get to use the bounce house as much as she would like, but it was still a lot of fun. This was also exciting for me, as I was living vicariously through them this day. Hopefully one day I will be able to do the same.

Congratulations Hollie and Jason!

This was the only picture I got. No offense to the guy who drew this, and I will give him the benefit of the doubt because my kids don't sit still, but they look like alien children. Maybe the caricature was meant to be alien children, but if not, I don't see the resemblance. I know Jared has a big head....but is it really that big???

Blowing Raspberries and Pulling Up

For a couple of months now, one of Jared's favorite things to do while we are laying in bed at night is to blow raspberries on my belly. He just laughs and laughs and laughs. I didn't get the best video, but you'll get the point. He even stops to wave at the camera at the end.

Last post Jared was getting close to crawling, but he is getting a little fancier by pulling himself up on things, and even does his balancing act to make sure he gets his wave in.

9 months and 37months

I apologize in advanced for the long post, but there is just so much going on lately that blogging has taken a backseat. I try to do my best to capture everything, but since Eric's philosophy is one of which involves only mental memories, I do what I can.

First I'll start with Mallory. I love thinking over the past month to see how much they've changed. It's so easy to get caught up with the daily life you don't really notice how quickly things change. Mallory is so independent these days from picking out and putting on her clothes, to brushing her teeth, buttoning, showering, you name it. She has also become quite the little negotiator (I have no idea where she got that from!), however, unfortunate for her, she got my logic. While I do have logic, it doesn't always have factual backing which doesn't work for Eric.

Again, I am not surprised because it seems to be this way with everything, but Mallory had her magic switch button with dance this month. All of sudden she is doing all the moves and having so much fun, which is a step up from the hesitation and nail biting. Don't get me wrong, she is not perfect at it, but she definitely has the routine down and has a blast.

Mallory weighed in at 40lbs and was 40 inches tall. Both above the 95th percentile. I really wonder how tall she will get. We got her her first golf set - four clubs and a little bag. Eric got a good deal at a golf expo and we got them in red so both kids could use them. Mallory has so much fun at the driving range. Her face just lights up when the ball goes flying.

Last, the latest thing I've been bribing her with...wait for it...vitamins. Does that make me an awful parent? She has become obsessed with her "vitamin in the fridge." It's actually a chewable fish oil tab (which I can't imagine tastes that great - but she must think it does), so I'm not sure why it's so great, but she now knows she cannot have it in the morning until she is ready to walk out the door. If we accidentally forget it, she will realize it as soon as we get to school and it's a very traumatic realization. I guess I'm just glad it's that and not something else.

We got her a new electric princess toothbrush. For the longest time she could not figure out how to turn it off. The day she figured it out, it was non-stop, "watch me Mom" as she turned it on and turned it off. Here is a little video. You can see in her face the sense of accomplishment.

If you can ignore the hair in her eyes, here is Mallory playing the piano. My favorite part is that she is humming along.

Now onto Jared. I think 9 months must be the time when they start getting to be more of a little person that interacts. He has given up on the baby food and will only eat finger food. He loves avocado, carrots, cauliflower, you name it. Anything he can pick up on his own he wants. He also gets mad if you are eating and he is not. I knew he would come around to it.

Jared had his 9 month appointment and he is doing great. He weighed in at 21lbs and 28-7/8 inches tall. Both are just above the 50th percentile. His head was 19 and 3/4 which is still above the 95th percentile. Most wouldn't think anything of this, but we have had to stick with mainly button down shirts because if you get clothes in his size, the hole for the head isn't big enough. Finding hats is also difficult because when you buy the 2-3 year old hats, they don't have straps that keep them on. Sometimes it would be so nice if all kids were the same shape and size.

Jared is getting so close to crawling. The picture below shows his new skills. The bucket in the back is also his favorite thing to play with. He loves dumping toys out of buckets. It's nice because Mallory likes putting them back in, of course after telling him it wasn't a good choice to make such a mess. Entertainment for both of them.

Jared also likes pulling himself up on the table and grinding his teeth.

I do realize all babies do these things, but I love how accomplished they look. Here is Jared giving his wave. He will stop anything he's doing to wave at someone. Don't mind the food all over his face. Life skills can't always be captured when they are picture perfect.

This last picture shows Jared's first bonked noggin. First he hit it on the giraffe at school, then leaned forward at the table to get something he dropped and hit it on the edge, and then tumbled forward onto the tile while attempting to crawl. Poor kiddo. Maybe gravity just pulls his head down since it so big :)

Sunday, March 27, 2011

King Bed

It is amazing how two small people can manage to completely mess up the sheets and take up an entire King bed. Notice neither one of them are asleep in the attached crib. I guess that extra inch away from us is too much.

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Mickey Mouse

Mallory made a Mickey Mouse out of her sea slime. Is that what your first thought was, it sure wasnt mine!

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A spraybrush, a comb, and a bow.

For the past 4 days Mallory has been doing my hair with her bristle blocks. As she "sprays" my hair she makes the chsch chsch spray sounds. Then she proceeds to comb my hair with the comb block, pushing all my hair into my face while telling me it is going to be ok. Then she will continue to tangle my hair until she can get the bow block to stay. My favorite part is when she is done and she tells me , "Great job Mom", followed by a look at my hair and then a comment about how my hair is a little crazy.

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Sunday, March 20, 2011

Poopy-Head

I am at a loss with the name calling. What do other parent's do? All I've heard lately is poopy-head...poopy-butt...oooh, I said poop....poop da poop da poop...no more poopies jumping on the bed. Seriously, what is the obsession??? They must be having the same problem at school because when we ask her not to say it she says, "I know! We say BM (bowel movement) instead." When I was talking about Winnie the Pooh earlier she said, "We don't say that mom!" and now insists we call him "Winnie the BM."

I've threatened to not give her sweets, I've explained why we don't say those words, we've tried time-outs, and nothing works! What is the secret? I guess on the brighter side we haven't heard the word "damnit" in a while...

Saturday, March 19, 2011

Bristle Blocks

Mallory and I created a house and car with her new blocks.

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National Family Dance-off Against Childhood Obesity Press Release

Two Dayton Families Named Two of 14 Finalists in

National Dance-off Against Childhood Obesity

Families need votes to win $30,000 for the Children’s Medical Center of Dayton

DAYTON (March 14, 2011) – The Froehlich family of Xenia and the Holway family of Bellbrook are rocking and rolling in Primrose Schools’ national Family Dance-off to fight childhood obesity and benefit Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals. Their moves have landed them both as two of the 14 finalists nationwide in the second annual Family Dance-off, where a grand-prize win for our own dancing stars would include a donation of $30,000 to the Children’s Medical Center of Dayton and a $5,000 cash prize for the family. Second prize wins $3,000 and a $20,000 donation to Children’s, while third prize wins $1,500 and a $15,000 donation.

Although Ethan Froehlich (six months) and Jared Holway (eight months) are in the same infant classroom at Primrose School of Centerville, their parents, Jan and Jim Froehlich and Amanda and Eric Holway, never met. Separately, after learning about the Family Dance-off from their school’s owner Hollie Cambria, each family decided to enter the contest because it provided a chance to give back to their local hospital. Now that they’ve made it to the finals, the two families are meeting for the first time and banding together to see at least one of them bring home a big prize for local children in need.

“With a husband in law school and two children under the age of four, we don’t have many opportunities to give back to our community in such a big way,” said Amanda Holway. “When Jared was 12 days old, he spiked a high fever. It’s not what you expect to deal with in your child’s first few days of life. The team of doctors and nurses at the Children’s Medical Center of Dayton were so wonderful, and we want to win this donation for them.”

The Froehlich family is also eager to help the local hospital win the cash prize.

“The Primrose School of Centerville has instilled the importance of giving back in all four of our children,” said Jim Froehlich. “They told my wife and me about the contest because they were so excited about the idea of helping our community. We really worked hard with the Holways so that we both could make it to the finals. Two finalist families from Dayton mean we double our chances of bringing home the prize.”

In order to win the donation for the Children’s Medical Center of Dayton, the Froehlich and Holway families need votes. Go to FamilyDanceoff.com to vote up to five times a day from March 20-26. Independent judges will select the grand-, second- and third-prize winners based on the number of votes, creativity, originality and humor of the videos. The winning families will be announced the week of March 28.

The Holway family video, “Holway Dance-off,” features three-year-old Mallory dancing around her kitchen and even dancing while brushing her teeth. “Both of my children really respond to music, and dancing is a daily activity in our household,” Amanda laughed. “Dancing gets our heart rates up while also allowing us to enjoy each other’s company. We are excited about the opportunity to make a real difference in our community.”

The Froehlich family video, “You're a Firework,” was the vision of 10-year-old Madeline, seven-year-old Caroline, four-year-old Ben and six-month-old Ethan. Parents Jan and Jim helped add graphics after shooting the video in front of a green wall in their basement. “As a physician, my wife sees so many illnesses related to or caused by obesity, and our children’s enthusiasm for helping the local community was so inspiring that spending a day having fun dancing together to enter this contest was a no-brainer,” said Jim. “You can see my four-year-old trying so hard to follow the choreography at the beginning of the video, but by the end, he is having so much fun he doesn’t care about the steps. Family fun and giving back is what it’s all about.”

The Family Dance-off is part of Primrose’s commitment to happy hearts and healthy bodies in each of its preschools and communities. Childhood obesity and the need for more physical activity are critical issues for young children in America. According to the Centers for Disease Control, the national childhood obesity rate has tripled in the last 30 years, and the American Journal of Health Promotion reports one in three children under two years old is overweight.

“At Children’s Medical Center of Dayton, we are so happy to have two families in the final round of the Primrose Schools Family Dance-off competition,” said Debbie Butner, manager of Children’s Miracle Network at the Children’s Medical Center of Dayton. “This unique campaign provides a great opportunity for us to promote living active, healthy lifestyles to families. As the local Children’s Miracle Network hospital, we hope everyone will log on and vote for the Froehlich and Holway family videos.”

SUPPORT THE FIGHT AGAINST CHILDHOOD OBESITY AND GO VOTE FOR ME!!!!

VOTE HERE!
(Sunday, 3/20 through Saturday, 3/26)
*Remember to vote 5 times a day. You can use your personal email address or login using your facebook account.

Our First Family Picnic

Mallory got a book for her birthday that I read a story out of every night before bed. Last Tuesday, as we were reading she pointed to the picture and said, "They are silly eating outside on the ground." That is when I explained to her what a picnic is. Ever since then, she has been asking to go on a picnic. Today was the day (after laundry, grocery shopping, and a birthday party of course). While she was napping I packed the basket. As you will see, it's not your typical picnic basket because we don't actually own one, if we did, perhaps she would have known what a picnic was before now. So I used an Easter basket. I'm guessing we'll have some confusion come Easter day.

I bet you'll never guess what she was most excited about...yep, passing out the plates and napkins. I'm seeing a trend. Perhaps that will be my new bribing technique.

We didn't go far, just out to the front yard.

Isn't he just the cutest little boy ever?

Charleston, WV

I have been putting off this post for a while because I wanted to make sure it was official before I announced it. Now that the time has come, I can officially say, we are moving to Charleston, WV in August. Eric got a great job offer and it's with a firm that seems to fit him really well. He's researched, interviewed, and met with many firms and I have never heard him more excited (even before he got the offer) about a firm than he was when he came home from interviewing with this one.

I know what you are all thinking, WV?? Well, believe it or not, it's not a bunch of toothless, twangy, hillbillies as I'm sure was some of your first thoughts. Last weekend we made a trip there to check out some areas, childcare, the town, etc. Jared hates the carseat, so the 3 hour drive was, to say the least, not fun for me trying to entertain him, but we made it. The kids were both troopers the whole weekend.

Here are my thoughts from the trip.

First, there is ALOT more civilization than some led me to believe. Sure, it is small, with a population under 100,000 including surrounding areas, but they do have normal stores, restaurants, a mall, target, panera, best buy, olive garden, Kroger, etc. They even have a health food store and pretty neat farmer's market. My only sad moment regarding stores was when I realized there was not a Qdoba. For those of you who know how much I eat Qdoba, you will realize the impact this will have on my staple dinner idea.

We also found some really nice areas to live in, the problem comes with that we can't afford it! (what's new, right? only I didn't think this would be a problem in Charleston). There is not a whole of new there, and there seems to be a big gap between low income and high income and not a whole lot in between (like us). So to get into good schools it's going to be tricky - but I have no doubt we will figure it out. I was at least reassured knowing there are nice areas and not just trailer parks to live in (like some also led me to believe).

The people there are also very friendly. It reminded me of a smaller Nebraska in regards to people. They love their sports and they are genuinely nice. They are all very warm and inviting, and as far as people are concerned I got a good feel for the town.

I know you are waiting for it, my last reservation about Charleston is the childcare. I don't know how else to describe this, but we have been VERY fortunate with the childcare here in Dayton. Our current school has aesthetics, a great curriculum, awesome staff, and the best owner's you could ask for. We have been to many daycares and toured many more, and I can't express how difficult leaving their school here will be. It really is a great community. Let's just say that something like this does not exist in Charleston. It's looking like we will have to go the nanny route. I don't always trust nanny's, but since I'll be working from home I am much more on board with the idea.

Seeing as we have moved alot, I know that it will be hard to leave, but I also know that we have been sad to leave every place we've moved. I really can't see this being any different. The most important thing to me is that Eric enjoys his job, because that makes a world of difference in the time he's with us.

So there, it's official, we are moving to Charleston. Be prepared for the sappy moving posts as we approach moving day.

3 years and 8 months

I saved the sappy "oh my goodness Mallory is already 3" post for her actual birthday post. I can't believe how fast time goes and how quickly they learn. I feel like I'm going to be outsmarted by the time she is five (if I'm not already!) at the rate she's going. Mallory is definitely our entertainment. Like I've said before, she just has a spirit about her. Her thoughts, her energy, her excitement for learning, all make up for the times when she throws tantrums if things don't go her way. It's moments like those that make you appreciate them while they are sleeping, watching their belly move up and down with every breath. I can only hope that she uses every ounce of energy and spice for life to do great things with her life. Here is to another great year of learning and excitement! Happy Birthday Mallory.

Here is Mallory, our little princess, wearing my tiara from our wedding.

OK- on from the sappy stuff. I made dirt cups for Mallory's school. Trying to cater to any food allergy, they were dairy, soy, corn, dye, egg, nut, and wheat free. Most of the time I am successful at this, but I do have to say, they weren't bad, but just not what you expect to bite into for a dirt cup. Really it was just the dairy free pudding that had an off taste from using rice milk. Almond milk doesn't taste bad but I couldn't use nut products, so it is what it is. At least presentation is equally as important so I only failed about 25% (the worms and cookies tasted fine). Mallory liked it so I guess that's the most important.

On to Jared. Jared is liking food a little bit more now, but I am not. I still pack him some for school, but I get too frustrated to feed him the food because his interest isn't very high and he likes to swat at the spoon - which NEVER ends well. So, if they are successful at school, he can it eat it there, but I will wait until finger foods at home. Jared weighed in at 20.5 lbs, around the 75% percentile. Unfortunately he hates sitting still or being layed down so I can't get an accurate height. Jared's latest trick is sitting and bringing his foot up to his mouth to chew on it. How he doesn't topple backwards I have no idea. He still doesn't have an interest in crawling - which I am perfectly OK with! As mentioned earlier with the food, Jared likes to swat. Mallory does not like this. She is constantly telling him to, "please respect my space." How cute. She also likes to boss him around and tell him about all the "not good choices" he is making. Not so cute. I love watching the two of them grow together. Nothing makes Jared smile more than Mallory!

So this is the closest picture I have to showing you how he eats his foot, but normally his whole foot is in is mouth, and he is sitting up by himself...

Pony's Haircut

While I was cleaning up from Mallory's party, I came across this....

The poor pony Cooper got her didn't even make it one hour without a haircut! Note to self, it's time to hide the scissors.

Sneaky One

Apparently we don't have any self control when it comes to food in our house. I can't really get mad at her because I am probably who Mallory gets it from. If something is in front of me I can't help but eat it, even if I've already made myself sick. The other night I couldn't figure out why she kept laying her down like this:

I thought maybe she wasn't feeling well. Nope, turns out she was eating gummy bears and didn't want me to see. So she'd get one out, put it in her mouth and put her head down to chew. Oh Mallory, let's hope you I gave you my lack of self control and metabolism! The bigger question I have from the whole thing is why she felt the need to sneak them??? It's not like she asked and I said no...

Family of the Month

As part of making it to the finals for the Family Dance Off National Obesity Awareness contest, we, along with the other family from our school that made it, were named Family of the Month (I guess dual-family this month). Mallory got a free t-shirt and primrose camping chair that she loves!

Check her out in her new Primrose gear!

Mallory's Party

I have delayed in writing this post because I wanted to cool off a little bit and remember the good from the party and not the insensitive comments and unnecessary stress that appeared during the preparation process. I do realize that my stress tolerance is higher than most people's,but there is nothing more stressful to me than someone else getting stressed out thinking about the stress they think I'm feeling when I'm not. I do this for fun - it's a creative outlet for me that I don't get to do often. Note to all - please please please don't go to a 3 year old's birthday party if you expect it to be calm and stress free.

Now that I have that off my chest, here are the highlights.

This was part of the food and the rest was on the back counter. We had sea scum (guac), scuttle treats (cheese and crackers), Da Shrimp, turtle eggs (deviled eggs), pb&j fish shaped sandwiches, goldfish, and Swedish fish... mmm, I'm getting hungry looking at it.

Here are the napkins. This was surprisingly the only meltdown we had of the whole party. Mallory had been talking for weeks about how she was going to pass out the plates and napkins. I just assumed she would do this for the cake, but as soon as someone came into one of the rooms with a plate of food she lost it. Who knew that the whole party revolved around passing out plates and napkins?

All of the cakes and cupcakes were homemade and the icing was made with natural food coloring. The cake was white and the cupcakes were pumpkin and chocolate.

My masterpiece of and Ariel cake - OK, so it's not the best out there but pretty darn good for a non-experienced cake maker.

Morgan and Rowan painting.

Natalie with the sea slime.

This room was the hit of the party. As you can see, this is where most of the chaos took place.

And the guys had to watch basketball of course.

Attempting to get a picture of Mallory and Cooper.

This was a pull string pinata that could also be used as a hitting pinata. We chose the hitting route. Some kids couldn't wait to hit it and others wanted nothing to do with it.

They all loved getting the candy though.

Getting ready to sing Happy Birthday.

All her presents (that she didn't need but if you read before, I lost that battle).

Happy Birthday Mallory!

Monday, March 7, 2011

Comments about Breastfeeding

Last night Eric and I had a chance to go out to dinner – just the two of us. Ordering at a restaurant is always difficult because they often don’t have ingredient menus and they have to go back and look for each item you are trying to order to see if it contains any ingredients you can’t have. This process has led to some very interesting responses when I say I can’t have certain foods.

The first question is, “So you have an allergy?” If I respond with the correct response, “No, my son does”, only about half the people get it, ok that was an exaggeration, only about an eighth of the people get it, and the others somewhere throughout at the meal finally figure it out. I’m guessing after collaborating with a co-worker they feel ingenious that they have figured it out. Regardless, they always make a point to let me know they have figured it out. Here are some of the quotes I’ve heard:

“I bet you can’t wait to stop breastfeeding! Wow, I did not think of that. I guess it makes sense what you eat gets to them.” (Um, did you just make that realization??? I sure hope people figure that out before drinking or taking drugs…and for the record, I can’t wait for him to outgrow the allergy – not to stop breastfeeding. If it were that much of an inconvenience don’t you think I would have stopped already?)

“Man, no wonder he’s a big baby. All that breast milk and stuff make them so big. You might have to stop nursing him, that’s what my sister had to do because her baby was too big.” (Hmm…actually breastfed babies are usually smaller than formula fed babies but OK?)

“Do they know why he has a reaction; is there something you can do to fix it?” (Um yes, it’s called an intestinal allergy and yes, I can eliminate it from my diet…did you think I just was doing it for fun?)

I have to say the best is when they don’t get it at all and assume that us coming in contact with the food somehow translates to the baby through our breath or something. The reason I know this is because when I make a certain request, if they don’t get it, they assume Eric needs the same accommodations.

So, to any servers out there, what you eat gets passed through to breast milk. Please pass this knowledge on to all your other friends so they can be in the eighth of people that do it get right away, or just don't say anything at all, really that is ok.

Friday, March 4, 2011

The Mourning of Lost Breastmilk

I know not everyone can personally relate to this, especially guys, but this week, something I consider a catastrophe happened. Wednesday night I accidentally left my milk at work, no big deal I thought, I'll just get some from my frozen milk bank in the freezer outside. Thursday morning, I got up, went outside, opened the freezer, grabbed the milk - wait a minute - it wasn't frozen... after a few minutes of processing what had happened, I realized the freezer wasn't working and that my 225 ounces of frozen breastmilk was ruined (since you can't re-freeze thawed breastmilk). I tried to keep it together but eventually ended up melting down. Was I extra emotional? Probably. Was it worth crying over spoiled milk? Yes, and here is why.

First, that milk could have been donated to help out pre-mature babies. Second, with Mallory I never had an extra supply and it's very stressful. Stressful in the sense that if you are having a low supply day, there is nothing to use for backup. Every ounce becomes extremely important and you have to constantly worry about not letting anything go to waste. Third, it takes a lot of energy to produce milk, and although I would have produced it anyway, it takes a lot of time and work to build up that kind of stock.

Needless to say, I have moved on to acceptance of the event that was out of my control and am just thankful that is all we lost, since the deep freezer also went out and we could have lost A LOT of food. Farewell extra breastmilk - and here is to reducing stress to keep my supply up going forward!

Tuesday, March 1, 2011

On Top of Spaghetti

For my birthday, Mallory sang me a little song. I couldn't get the camera out fast enough so I tried to have her re-do it, but she got shy and couldn't remember the words. The first time she sang it though, she knew all of them - it was so cute! Don't mind the awful camera skills; I was holding Jared and he was swatting at the camera.

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