2 Weeks in Review - Haircut, Work Travel, Crawling, Spring Fling, Baseball

Wowzers! It has been a crazy last 2 weeks. 2 weeks ago, I had to travel to Chattanooga for work. A huge thank you to my mom for watching Hollon & to Robbie's dad for picking up Jake each day from school. 

I missed my 2 little munchkins while I was gone.

I got back Thursday night and was greeted by this little stinker. Eating her bib & trying to get her foot to her mouth to eat it too.

 Saturday night, we cooked for the Bush's to thank them for their help.

Mimi & Hollon

Jake showing us his exercising

Hollon is not so sure of some of the stuff brother does

  The following week was Robbie's turn to be out of town for work. 

Jake was showing Hollon one of his school games on the computer. 

We had batting practice

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

As I was leaving the neighborhood, I noticed the trees lining the road had bloomed. These trees are so beautiful when they bloom the little white flowers. Unfortunately, they only stay this way for about 2 weeks. Then all of the little white blooms fall off and make a huge mess. 

Little miss is trying to figure out how to crawl

She usually sits & plays in her bouncer while I shower & get ready.

Now though she tries to figure out how to get out.

She has thrown most of her toys on the floor

"Am I not supposed to be doing this?"

On Wednesday, Jake had a haircut scheduled. Robbie & I have different opinions on how Jake's hair should be cut. Robbie likes it shorter and I like it longer. For the most part, Robbie has let me win. But like most things, he finally had to have an intervention and tell me Jake was too old for that haircut. Plus it is about to be summer, Jake gets so hot, his baseball hat won't fit on his head, blah, blah, blah.... So I agreed, and they cut his hair off. 

His precious blonde hair on the floor

 After!

I don't particularly love cooking with Jake. (I have a hard enough time understanding the recipe myself, so trying to explain it to a 6 year old is hard for me. Plus, can we talk about the mess that is always made?)  But Jake loves to help cook. So I try to find recipes for him that we can make together. We made corndog muffins from the Weelicious cookbook one night.

 I could watch this little precious one sleep all night. (But I don't, because she is a light sleeper and more times than not, I end up waking her up.)

 Now you've woken me up

After my discovery of the horrible inside of squirt toys (see here for the gross recap), Hollon gets a solo cup to play with for bath time.

 Friday night, Jake's school had their spring fling.

Ready to go get brother and meet daddy

Jake had such a good time

Saturday started early with baseball pictures, opening ceremony & our first 2 games.

2015 Pelham Cubs

Opening ceremony 

He was complaining the whole time I was making him take these pictures

Jake was supposed to go to a birthday party Saturday afternoon, but the baseball games ran long so we missed the party. Robbie & I had grand plans to get our yard into shape, but after being at the ballpark most of the day, we decided to just come home & hang out on the patio. 

Hollon adores Jake and anything he does makes her laugh.

Showing her his Star Wars ships

 On Sunday, after we got home from church, I tried to get a few pictures of Hollon. (Jake is usually halfway out of his church clothes before we even pull in the driveway.)

This is Hollon's crawl...

...she gets up on her hands & toes....

...and then just lies on her tummy and wiggles to what she wants to get to.

I love those long eyelashes and chubby cheeks & fingers

The End!

Week in Review - Weekend in Atlanta

On Monday (3/2) Hollon had her first food besides rice cereal. She had sweet potatoes. Initially I had them too thick, and she wasn't sure what to think. I added some water and she enjoyed them a lot more.  

She also drank (sort of) out of her first sippy cup. She does more chewing on the spout than drinking the water, but she is slowly getting the hang of it.

She & brother hanging out in his room watching Star Wars.

Her hair cracks me up. It is an upside down backwards mullet. Business in the back, party on top.

She loves to sit up and play on the activity mat. She sat in her room for the longest time while I cleaned the downstairs, washed clothes, etc... I would pop my head in and she'd just be playing away.

We had to take my car to get the oil changed. Initially she was awake and entertaining the waiting room. Then she feel asleep.

Then she played peek-a-boo for the first time (3/6). Sometimes she forgets to hold the blanket in her hands. She'll just raise her arms and drop them and wait for you to say peek-a-boooooooooooooo. Preferably in the highest pitch voice possible.

Our nephew Gaines was supposed to have his 1st Birthday party in Atlanta on Saturday morning. Jake had baseball practice, so Robbie stayed back in Birmingham with him, while Hollon & I went to Atlanta. My sister-in-law is a nurse and had to work, so she & my brother couldn't go. So Hollon & I and my nieces Maddox & Marrell all hijacked a ride and rode to Atlanta with my parents. We get into town Friday night, and about 10 minutes from my sister's house, she called to let us know that Gaines was throwing up and she was scared he had a stomach virus. So our carload just went straight to the hotel (Hollon & I were supposed to stay at my sister's). Poor Gaines got worse as the evening wore on, so my mom went over to keep Woody while Lindsey & Brooks took Gaines to the ER. Hollon & I just bunked with the rest of our crew in their hotel room.

I love traveling with built in baby-sitters

Hollon ADORES Maddox & Marrell

Hollon & I ended up sharing a bed with Marrell

Poor Lindsey, Brooks & Gaines. They finally got home with Gaines in the middle of the night. They gave him some medicine to help with the sickness. They ended up cancelling the party. My sister had everything decorated so cute. My heart hurt for Gaines, because I hate to see a baby sick and my heart hurt for Lindsey because I know how hard she worked to make everything for Gaines first birthday perfect. And then my heart really hurt for her because she later got sick. Thankfully, their household is on the mend. Since there was no birthday party to attend anymore, but we were not going to waste a trip to Atlanta, we went shopping.

Marrell picking out the stuff she would want at Ikea

Robbie took Jake to baseball practice Saturday morning. Our closest friends from last year's baseball team had to move up to the next age bracket, but Robbie & the dads & sons all met up after the practices. They had lunch and then all came over to our house. 

Playing by the waterfalls

Week in Review

(From 2 weeks ago)

Early in the week, we ran errands.

Excuse the drool all over the pants
We are in full drool mode here

 On Thursday, Hollon had her 6 month checkup

She also celebrated her half birthday!

 Rob was out of town Thursday through Sunday, so it was just the kids and me. I was finishing up some work and Jake was playing on his computer. Hollon wanted to help him.

Just let me grab this real quick

Of course Jake pushed her away

They eventually compromised

 Saturday morning while I was getting ready, Jake built a "nest" for him & Hollon.

Jake had his first baseball practice Saturday morning. I meant to take a picture before we left, but of course we were running late. After that, I had several errands around town. We were gone for about 6 hours just the kids & me. I was so proud of how well they did. (It didn't hurt that one of the errands was taking Jake to Toys R Us to spend some birthday gift certificates.) We ended at Mimi & Granddad's house for dinner and to hang out. 

Hollon Elizabeth - 6 Months

6 Months Old Recap:

Likes: She still loves people to hold her, look at her & talk to her. She likes to be the center of attention. She has moved on from loving to hold your fingers, she now loves to touch your face. It is sweet when she rubs or pats it. It is not sweet when she digs her claws into it. She loves to be sung to.

Dislikes: The time period from 4:00-6:00 PM. It's the time period between getting home from picking Jake up from school until Robbie get home. It is not fun. She'll take a little 15 minute nap in the car. So when we get home, she has slept enough that she doesn't think she needs to take another nap, but she hasn't slept enough to not be cranky. She is moody, cranky, unable to please and mad. It's a fun time. She is in the worst mood and then as soon as Robbie walks in the door, she is all smiles and laughter. Therefore she gets thrown in his arms. 

Milestones: She is sitting up unassisted! Before we left for Disney, she was kind of sitting up, but you dare didn't leave her and she would fall over about 10 seconds later. We got back from Disney and she was sitting up fine with no help. My mom said it almost happened over night. I still don't feel comfortable to leave her sitting alone on a blanket on the hardwood floor, but I will in her room & the bonus room since they both have carpet. 

Schedule: Still on a schedule up until 4:00 PM. After 4:00 PM until 9:00 PM, it is every man for himself and just survive. 

Sleep: Hollon goes to bed between 8:00-9:00 at night. I'm trying to move it up earlier, but it just hasn't happened so far. She sleeps until between 4:00-5:00 in the morning. When she wakes up, I give her a quick 2 minute feeding and then she sleeps another hour or two with me in our bed. Yes, I could probably make her stay in her bed, but I enjoy the extra sleep and extra snuggles. She takes a nap at 8:00 & at 11:00. Sometimes she sleeps for 30 minutes, sometimes 2 hours. If one of those naps is short, the other will be long.  But it always ends up being about 2 hours total. Afternoon nap? Wah-wah. See above Schedule & Milestones. She eventually takes a nap, you just don't know when or for how long. I'd be completely open to suggestions on how to improve this!!

Eat: She is killing the cereal. She loves it. I made her a batch of carrots, but then I second guessed myself and didn't think they were good & threw them out. (Robbie was out of town & I wanted a 2nd opinion on if they were okay to feed to Hollon.) Yes, I'm 36 years old and felt like I messed up smashing steamed carrots for my child. I have no confidence in the kitchen. Other than the cereal, she is still completely on breastmilk. She eats every 3 hours (7:00, 10:00, 1:00, 4:00), has cereal at 7:00 and then one last feeding before bed. 

Appearance: Her hair is starting to come in! Right now, it is a blackish-brown. It is longest on top. Her eyes are blue. She has rolls, but they are not as big as Jake's were. She has the loveliest round little belly that is perfect for tickling. 

Size: She is in a size 3 diaper. She is wearing 6-12 month clothing.   

Hollon's 6 Month Checkup

On Thursday (2/26) Hollon had her 6 month checkup.

Weight: 18 lbs 6 oz (80th percentile)

Height: 26 in (60th percentile)

She hit all her milestones she was supposed to (I think failing 2 out of the 3 last time embarrassed her). She got a clean bill of health. 

Week in Review

This post is actually from 2 weeks ago. I've been slammed with work since getting back from Disney and a certain little lady can be high maintenance sometimes. When Hollon is good, she is soooooooooooooooo good. But when she wants to be held but is not, she is soooooooooooooooo not good. My day (as every mom's day!) is a balancing act. Sometimes I get it right, sometimes I get it wrong & sometimes the blog just doesn't get updated. But hopefully I get it caught up this week. Hey, I can't leave my 3 readers hanging!  

Also, please excuse the quality of photos. Our regular camera lens has a tiny cracked piece that connects it to the camera. I'm scared to use it without causing more damage, so until we get it fixed, my options for taking pictures are with my iPhone or our long lens. 

Back to our week in review. Thankfully while we were in Disney, my mom kept Hollon on her normal schedule (she had our permission to break schedule if needed for survival). Tuesday & Wednesday we had pretty good days. (Thursday & Friday were not too desirable.) 

I missed this smiling little face

Proudly showing her 2 little teeth

Jake had fun looking through his Valentine's cards since he missed
the class party while at Disney

Usually we are upstairs when Robbie gets home from work. We can hear the garage door opening and Jake loves to hide. This time, he took a partner in crime to hide with him.

He usually hides between the wall & side of the sofa with a blanket over him.
I never said he was a great hider.

Cousins Woody & Gaines sent Jake his birthday gift since they couldn't come to his party. It was a Lego RV. Jake was so excited and insisted they immediately put it together. 

Isn't the quality of my iPhone photo taking amazing?

This is one of Hollon's favorite positions in the exersaucer.

Sweet girl is so good at sitting up!
(I still keep a ton of pillows around her though)

So also loves to roll over to the bookcase & pull out catalogs

Hanging out in her crib while I work on her closet

Over the weekend, we had some friends in town from Atlanta that were in Birmingham for a concert. We met them for a little while downtown. While we were out Mimi & Granddad watched Jake & Hollon.

They sent us this photo
(Jake is watching a movie)