The Holway Family

Sunday, August 21, 2011

Special Brownies

OK, so they aren't the special brownies most people think of, but they definitely have some anti-sleep super powers. I decided to make these brownies (with chocolate chunks) the other night and I don't know if they contain a lot of caffienne or what, but I was up all night. Needless to say, I have not eaten them before bed since. They have been a nice pick me up for breakfast though :) For those who have not had them, they are pretty darn amazing. Enjoy!

Bottle Strike!

Just before we left Ohio, Jared moved up to the young toddler classroom. For those of you who don't know, Jared had a strong attachment to his infant teachers, especially Ms. Katie.

I photo shopped the two of them together as part of a going away gift (it was my first photo shop experiencez so the hair got a little messed up).

Anyway, when Jared transitioned, he refused to take his bottle from anyone except Ms. Katie. For the three weeks we were there, Ms. Katie had to go and feed him his bottle.

Now that we have moved, there is no Ms. Katie. I thought maybe with it being a new place he'd suck it up and deal, but no such luck. I tried for a week, but after a lot of wasted breast milk I gave up. Most are probably thinking, wow, must be nice. In actuality, because he isn't drinking anything a school, he wants to nurse NON STOP when we are at home. For those who know how milk supply works, this is not ideal. Since he hasn't given up nursing altogether, I think I will look back into being a donor.

Can we say stubborn though? We miss you Ms. Katie!

Thursday, August 18, 2011

An Attempt to Start Running Again

I got really motivated over the weekend and decided I was going to start running again. This is only the 2nd time I had run in over 6 years. I was running and pushing past the wanting to stop point even though my legs wanted to give out and lungs burned. I ran down to the end of the street both ways and finally had to stop before I collapsed and let Jared go flying in the stroller. I looked down a the clock thinking I had at least done a mile or so, nope, 6 minutes. That's right, a lousy 6 minutes. I think I would have a hard time convincing anyone that I was a competitive runner for 9 years of my life with that lame attempt. The next day you would have thought I ran a marathon with how sore I was. I haven't run since then, but my goal is to get back to where I can at least run long enough to get the runner's high, otherwise it's just not worth it. I thought about finding a local race to register for some motivation, but I'm pretty sure not being able to make it past 6 minutes is motivation enough to push me to get back into shape - and by shape, I just mean being able to go for a legitimate jog, not half a warm up. I'm just thankful I didn't try to go running with someone new in the neighborhood...I can't imagine how that would have went down having to stop 6 minutes in. I will run a marathon someday, but for now I'll just aim for a couple of miles.

Sunday, August 14, 2011

Holway Hotel

The Holway Hotel is up and running and we've already had 3 visitors (Grandma, Uncle Ryan and Aunt Sandra, and Lisa, Dan, and Natalie)

Mallory loving on Ryan while they played Angry Birds.

Mallory getting a manicure from Aunt Sandra.

Mallory will stand with her hands like this for at least an hour after getting her nails painted.

Mallory testing out her new sling shot at Applebee's.

We took lots of trips to the park with Auntie Lisa and Natalie.

He kept getting so mad because he wanted to stand up and walk in the tunnel but he kept hitting his head.

A lot of bike riding.

Mallory loves taking wipes and washing the floor. I laugh every time I see her do it because it reminds me of Cinderella. I'm such a slave mom.

We did art.

We went to the pool.

We had snacks (and as Lisa put it - cousin's don't let cousin's eat hummus and crackers without protective gear).

The best part is, Natalie had her first ice cream cone and she loved it! Guess who did not want to go home?? Well you are welcome anytime!

She loved that she had a mustache.

As for anyone else. The Holway Hotel is back up and running, so make your reservations soon because we get booked quickly. Ok, so not that quickly, but we love visitors and anyone is welcome if you are driving through or want to stay for longer.

The New House

The moment you have all been waiting for has arrived....pictures of the new house. It's not perfect yet, but I won't leave you waiting any longer. We still have to complete our room, hang pictures on the walls, put up window curtains, and decorate Mallory's room, but then we are done, done, done!

We love the counter tops because they don't show dirt...however, I have set papers/phones/etc in stuff that didn't get cleaned up because you couldn't see it. Lesson learned. Also, I love having a gas stove again. However, the gas must come out really quickly because it didn't light right away and I about burned my eyebrows off (no worries though, I already have the pencil to draw them on from when one was partially removed a few weeks ago. If you missed that you can get that story here.)

My new office. I will say that working from home is not all it's cracked up to be. I love that I have food at my disposal, but it gets pretty boring being by yourself all day. I don't get to crack my sarcastic jokes over the cube anymore. I just have to say them over IM and then they have it in writing and sarcasm doesn't come off as easily in writing.

Just like at work, always food at my desk.