Big Girl Bed and Florida!

 Grace is turning 5 in a couple of weeks- hard to believe!  For her birthday, we decided it was time to move her into a big girl bed! She slept in her big girl bed for the first time on Feb. 12th!   She has this big beautiful bed now and believe it or not, she wants to sleep on the floor.  She says she doesn't want her babies to fall out (and has nightmares that they do- boo)  Her crib converted to a toddler bed and now to a double bed.  That's the way to buy baby furniture these days- Holtz has the exact same set!  

 Cabin Fever set in probably back in January so we were trying to figure out a way to head to Florida to visit Bob and Sharon (and Uncle Andy and Aggie).  Holtz still hates being in the car so we decided that Evan would fly Holtz down to FL and Grace and I would drive.  It worked out marvelously!  Grace was such a great traveler!  Grace and I left on March 10th and met Evan and Holtz in Orlando on the 11th.  We stayed until March 21st and had a perfect time!

 Grace and I drove all day the first day and stayed the night in Savannah, GA.  On our second day of driving, Grace and I went to the Jacksonville Zoo.  It was cold but we had a super time nonetheless.  Here we are on the train to show us around the zoo.

 After the zoo we still had time to burn since Evan's plane was delayed an hour now arriving after 10pm.  So, we found a beach and played a bit.

 Grace is such a polite well behaved little girl.  People comment on it all the time and we couldn't be more proud of her.  We are still working on getting her to eat new things (major challenge)!  Grace has started taking an interest in Evan and his job.  She understands now that he has to work to earn money so we can have and do nice things.  Such a concept for a little one.  She also said last week that she can't wait to be big like me.  When I asked her why, she said that she couldn't wait to vacuum and dust.  (smile)

 We're in FL!  Here we are heading to the pool down the street from the house.  Don't let the stroller fool you.  Holtz is now running and climbing!  Yes, climbing!  Oh my, we found him on Grace's art table standing up the other day.  Mr. Trouble is still Mr. Trouble but is also called Pig-Pen. He's into everything and loves to get messy!  He waves hello and good bye (and even says bye).  He says Cack (Quack) when he sees ducks, baaa when he sees sheep and pretty much calls everything else gog (for dog). He now shakes his head yes too (he's been shaking his head no for some time now)!

 Funny guy...keep those swim trunks on!  Holtz is learning more and more every day.  He now can identify his head, ears, eyes, mouth, tongue, hands and feet.  He also helps with the dressing process.  We've still been working on his sign language.  He knows (not quite 100% consistency) more, no more, milk, down, thank you and please. 

 Grace is so much better in the water now- what fun!  Did I tell you Grace can put her own hair in a pony tail now?  Incredible!  Oh, and we don't have her take naps anymore either- just an hour of quiet time in her room every day.  She's certainly growing up quickly.  She said the other day after noticing a tiny bump on her face, "I think I'm starting to get pimples at this age." 

 Playing on the beach- there's not much better than this!

 Both kids loved the ocean this year!  Grace went out up to her chest (with help) and Holtz didn't want to get out.  We went to several really great beaches this year.  The best was Bathtub beach which is a shallow low tide lagoon made by a coral reef close to the shore.  When the tide went out around 2 the water was so low that both kids could walk way out and there were little sand islands.

 Back at Bob and Sharon's- Grace reading to Holtz in her bed.  Reading is still their favorite past time.

 One of the neatest things that we did in Florida was to go to The Lion Country Safari.  This place was AMAZING!  You drive through the zoo and the animals just roam free.  I've never been so close to giraffes, zebras, rhino's, etc.  The only animals that were in a fence were the lions- probably a good idea!

 After you drive through the safari part of the zoo, you then park and go to the other part of the zoo that has a regular zoo and rides/ water play area for kiddos.  Here Grace is riding the dumbo ride all by herself.  She decided she was old enough to ride it by herself this year- wow!

 Holtz on the carousel (on a monkey- he he).  This is his first carousel ride.

 Grace and Mimi-

 And here is the water area.  Grace is covering up one of the squirt holes with her foot-

 Notice the big kids behind her-

 Boo (tear) waahhh!  Florida is over and Grace and I head back to Lexington.  Not without a stop at Uncle Mikey's place in Atlanta.  We were able to stay the night with him (thanks Mike).  When we woke up he and Grace made homemade blueberry pancakes- yum!

 Grace and Daddy had another hot date night.  This time they went to Disney on Ice with our neighbors Chris, Dana and Savannah.  Grace wanted to look just like a princess so we dressed her in her fanciest dress and I curled her hair.  She even has the slightest bit of pale pink eye shadow on!  If you click on the picture, maybe you can see it-

 Savannah and Grace-  They are so cute!

 After Grace's last pottery class, we went to McDonalds with her friend Megan.  Special girl time!

 Here's Grace and Savannah on Sav's 4 wheeler- whoa...watch out for these two!

 Grace back together with Owen.  Boy do we miss our little Owen!  Owen and his family relocated to Ohio and this is the first time we've seen them since.  The kids seemed to catch right up.  We went to BW3's for the UK game-  Go Cats!

 Holtz has been dealing with separation anxiety.  He's always been a fussy guy but now he is throwing crazy temper tantrums.  He is a head banger like Grace (gets mad and drops to the floor and yes, bangs his head on the floor).  I've been trying to push him to play by himself since we got back from Florida with a little luck.  I thought maybe he would be ready for his first movie (Baby Einstein Series).  As soon as I left the room he didn't give a darn about the movie.  We'll keep working on it!

 Last but not least I have to mention my NCAA bracket.  I have UK going all the way!  I'm not bragging but I'm in awe of how well it's gone.  Out of 5 1/2 million people, I am ranked 1,926.  C-A-T-S Cats Cats Cats!

 I know this video is sideways but still a great shot from the beach.  As of today, Grace is officially on Spring Break- woo hoo!  Now, we just have to figure out what to do...nothing can beat our trip to FL this year! Maybe head back to FL (hint hint daddy)...  Hope everyone enjoyed the post-  That's all for now!

Holtz's First Birthday

Happy Birthday Holtz!  Holtz turned 1 on January 18th.  Most of this blog post will be about Holtz because he is doing so many new things so quickly...and I like to include his achievements so I can remember them (I love to look back).  I wish I would've started this blog when Grace was born.  It's amazing looking back at pictures of her- she was 18 months old! 

Now that Holtz is one, he is almost solely on cow milk (drunk from a sippy).  He still gets one bottle of mommy milk right before bed and will continue until I finish pumping (backing off gradually- down to two pumps a day) and then after my frozen supply is gone.  We had a hard time with the switch to whole milk because Holtz was not a fan.  We decided mixing it was the best way to introduce it so we started with 3/4 mommy milk, 1/4 cow milk and gradually increased the cow milk until whala- now he'll drink 100% cow milk! 

Here is video of Holtz looking through one of his books.  He loves books- looking through them and being read to.  We read a lot!  He especially likes books that are interactive (pop-ups, flaps, music, etc.).  It's really something because I'll be looking for Holtz and he'll be sitting behind my rocking chair by himself reading- ha ha.  I think he's going to be one smart cookie!

Evan really wanted Holtz to have a jello cake for his first birthday so that's what we did.  I made strawberry jello and covered it with Cool Whip.  Yum!  At his one year doctor's appt. he weighed in at 20 lbs. 15 oz.  He hasn't gained much since his 9 month appt. but considering he was teething at the time (didn't have much of an appetite- but now has 12 teeth) and was walking (burning more calories) the doctor wasn't worried.  His weight is in the 22nd percentile (meaning 88% of kids his age weigh more than him).  His length is another story.  Mr. Trouble is Mr. Tall!  He grew 2 1/2 inches in 3 months and is now 31 1/2 inches long.  This is in the 92nd percentile (only 8% of kids are taller than him).  I think we may have a hard time finding clothes for him...still very much long and lean!

 Holtz thought the Cool Whip was ok but wouldn't touch the strawberry jello- seems strange to me!

 Yes- I even made Grace her very own little jello cake!

 This is a ball pit we bought for Holtz from Debenhams in London.  Now, that was an expensive experience (since we had to call them 3 times to figure out where our package was).  He (and Grace) like it, so that's all that matters.  The next picture is another present (this one from Grace).  She was so proud of herself picking it out!

Oh my goodness!  My little Notre Dame fan!!  I'm getting his name embroidered on the side-  too cool!  Grace says she wants a Notre Dame hat as well for her birthday (I have the greatest kids!)  Other things Holtz is doing now is he can point his finger at things, can say thank you (gay goo), and he knows where his eyes and tongue are.

 Grace got a vanity for Christmas from Santa and she just loves making herself look fancy!  In the first picture she is curling her hair (pretend of course) and then using the flat iron to make her hair smooth and silky!  These days Grace is picking out her own outfits and is pretty good at it.  She's excellent at matching.  The only thing I need to tell her is how warm to dress. 

 And, Grace can now put her hair in a pony tail all by herself.  That's hard to do- she just amazes me!  Here she put it in a pony and then clipped it up- again...all by herself.  Beautiful!

And here is Holtz doing his own hair.  This video is amazing! Holtz now can follow simple instructions (which is very cool!). He's putting a hair brush in his bucket and then brushing his hair- by himself! Huge accomplishment! (Poor guy needs more hair- grin).

 Following are tons of pictures from Holtz's birthday party.  Hopefully you feel like you were here for his party after looking at them.  We did a train theme (to match his invites). 

 Of course I didn't make the streamers or Happy Birthday sign but I did make all of the other decorations.  I was quite proud of myself.

 I used electrical tape and made railroad tracks on the floor- so clever! 

 All of the kids that attended the party got conductor hats and red bandanas to wear for the party and take home. 

 Their gift bags included train whistles for the kids (which I strategically waited until the party was over to hand them out- geesh, I'm a smarty), and then train letters for everyone's first initial.  I thought it would be kind-of neat for every family to have their initials together.

 Here is Holtz in his little red rocking chair before his party.  He's sporting a train shirt- choo choo!

 

 He just discovered the balloons...

 Grace in her conductor gear...and the birthday boy!

 Yes, I made the cake myself!  All aboard!

 The spread-  train sugar cookies, train cake, blue punch, chocolate fountain fondue with rice crispy treats, cookies, crackers, etc. for dipping, and then finger foods for lunch.  I made most of the snacks myself too!

 Holtz getting ready to try his birthday cake.  Will he like it???

 Nope, he didn't like it one bit!

 Evan and our neighbor, Chris, cutting and serving the cake.

 It's present time...

 Poor Holtz was sick for his birthday and birthday party so he was a bit fussy- except when we opened presents!  He was very happy on Daddy's lap.

 The older kids had more fun with his ball popper than him!

 You have got to watch this video!  It is so cute.  Holtz has been walking awhile now and loves to walk with his push toy noise maker (which is out front).  He's still learning to walk with his pull behind toys- he wants to pick them up rather than keep them on the ground.  In this video, he's walking with Grace's hula hoop around him- holding it out front.  You don't have to look hard to see how proud he is of himself!

 Grandpa and Grandma got Grace two games for Christmas (Guess Who and Connect 4).  They say 6 and up but Grammie played with Grace lots after Holtz's party and now Grace is pretty good.  We play games a lot these days (try to play at least one game every night).  I don't know if it's because of Guess Who but Grace is now noticing how people are different.  The other day Grace looked at Evan and said out of nowhere, "Daddy, you're fat."  Yikes!  Really hurt Evan's feelings but he realizes she didn't say it to be mean, she was just making an observation.  Hard to be mad at such an observant little girl.  (by the way, Evan, I think you are one hot poppa).

Here's one more video of Holtz playing peek a boo behind our chair.  He does just great until he notices the plug and then loses interest.  Lastly, there are several more milestones Holtz has mastered.  He is almost running now (watch out world), he can play pat-a-cake and 'If you're happy and you know it clap your hands", he loves to bang two things together, can wave bye-bye, loves music, and is beginning to cooperate a little in getting dressed by sticking up his foot when it's time to put on a sock or helping me push his legs through his pants.  Today we took away his pacifier too (several months back we started to only give it to him during naps and bedtime) and so far a little crying but it is going better than expected.  One day down...pretty cool and ever changing.

That's all for now.  The next post won't be far behind b/c tomorrow we celebrate Evan's 42nd birthday!