My baby is growing up!

Piggy-tails!

 All of a sudden Holland has taken off.  While I was on the phone with Chad on Jan 3rd, Holland walked across the room.  I screamed, "Holland just walked!!!" We were so excited, we spent the entire evening watching her walk, sending her from one parent to the other.  If you think that Chad and I were excited, Holland was even more proud of herself.  She was so excited that she would not nap and woke up in the middle of the night wanting to practice/show off.  It is the most amazing experience to be a parent!  She has grown up so much since Christmas, she now loves her blanket, her hair has grown enough for me to play with, and she can walk.  Getting Holland to fall asleep has been hard the last several months.  Ever since we got back from all of our Christmas traveling, she has been a gem. We say prayers, sing her a couple of songs, she tries to sing along, we say goodnight and give her kisses, we shut the door, she plays with her doll and a few other soft animal toys for awhile (you can hear her talking and grunting to them) and before you know it, she is asleep.  Melts my heart everytime! 

Cute.

Our little round-faced girl.

The last few days she has started some quirky little things like rocking herself on the ground (like those neglected kids in the orphanages/even though she is the center of attention 99% of the time) and grunting.  Don't really understand it, but it makes me laugh.  Along with her heavy breathing when she crawls, at least you know where she is, or you can tell by the trail of opened drawers with rags, pot lids, wooden spoons, ect. all over the floor. Our friend Dori has been staying with us this week while her knee replacement heals.  Holland has loved having the extra attention (again Not Neglected).  Dori said today, "that you are so lucky little one that your parents got you a Dori."  Holland really does think that Dori is her new toy and best friend and she can have Dori do whatever she would like her to do.  It will be a sad day when Dori leaves us.  We sure love our little Lop and are sure proud of all the things she is learning! 

2011 you were so good to us!

I admit that I am not good  at updating my blog. 

There are a few memories that I want to have written down for little Holland.

Her first Christmas, Thanksgiving, and Halloween, were great!

Halloween was spent at In-n-Out and then we went to Rosemarie and Thurmans to show off the costume.  I was so excited for her costume, but I began to realize that she is not old enough to go trick or treating and that only a few of us would really get to see her all dressed up.  I was kind of disappointed, but she still was the cutest baby watermelon I have ever seen.

Thanksgiving was also low key.  I went home to Rexburg a few days before Thanksgiving to visit family while Chad lived in the library.  I also wanted to go visit my mom who had just had shoulder surgery.  Poor GrandMary has had quite an adventure trying to get her shoulder to move since her horse accident in August. Dori and Baird also came into town over the Holidays so that Dori could get a knee replacement.  Not the ideal circumstances for Dori, but we sure loved having them close for so long.  On Thanksgiving day, Rosemarie made an amazing dinner. You thought that she was cooking for the troops, even though it was just 6 of us and 5 of us eating.  Chad and I got away for the afternoon to go to the movies.  I think that was the 3rd or 4th time we had left Holland.  I know, I know, I am such a mess.  I am a first time mom, what can I say.  The Muppet movie was a fun get-away though!

December was a crazy busy month.  Chad was hard at work living in the library.  Which paid off, he got a 4.0 and was accepted to do student teaching during winter semester to 9th graders.  All I have to say is good luck, and all prayers on his behalf are welcome!  I found a crib for Holland and got her room put together.  I had so much fun!  I also got our house decorated and ready for the Holidays.  I dragged Miss Holland (as Thomas likes to call her) out and about to do our shopping and also to get Jr's brother, Matah, ready for his mission.  Jr is our friend from Hawaii who stayed with us back in September.  Matah and Jr. flew in on a Saturday so our little family headed to Salt Lake to pick them up.  Matah flew in before Jr so we took this small island boy to temple square.  I loved watching him experience everything.  The cold, the beautiful buildings, the browness of Utah, the Christmas lights, etc... Jr and I had only one day to get everything for Matah.  He came with very little, but we did it with time to spare. 

As soon as Chad was done with finals we were off to Tri-Cities.  Adam and Amy had just bought a new house,  they gutted most of it, but were needing help to get it put back together.  We took a couple of days to drive to Washington and found our new favorite hotel in Boise.  Chad worked extra hard while we were there and I got to enjoy Amy and the kids.  It was a quick trip, but always good to see family.  Chad and I were wanting to spend Christmas at our own house, so we came back to Utah for Christmas Eve.  We had Christmas Eve dinner at Rosemarie and Thurman's house, again Rosemarie went all out.  Before we had dinner, we thought it would be a great idea to visit Grant at the movie theater and see a show.  Probably not going to take Holland to the movies again for a couple of years, I spent most of the time out in the hall.  Grant did take the opportunity to use Holland as bait for the cute girls at work.  He is smart and smooth! Christmas day we went to church, then to Richfield to see great grandparents gravesite, and then opened presents in the evening.  Holland got a doll, some books, and a walker.  I got some new black boots, a cuckoo clock, a ring, and Chad got a new back pack, and hat.  I could not get the video camara to work, but was able to shoot a couple of photos. We loved our fresh little tree that was still potted, and Holland got into it only a couple of times.

At the end of the month, we went to Rexburg.  The weather was amazing, it was warm in Rexburg.  Chad got to experience Green Canyon.  The hole in the wall hot springs with green moss growing all over the floor.  I will spare you all the details.  We had a great night in Rexburg where Chad and I made Hawaiian musubis with spam and seaweed, and my mom and dad went all out with chicken and rolls.  We then made everyone watch my new favorite movie PROM.  I enjoy watching those that are still in the dating world watch this movie.  This was the second time in a week that Chad and I had watched the movie, we torturted Grant ealier in the week!  Where I learned of Thurman's desire to grow out his hair and ride a motorcycle.  It has been a GREAT Holiday season, we are sad to see it end.  Especially Chad, since his next semester is going to be super hard.  I know he can do it!!!

 Holland is almost walking, she can stand without holding onto anything, she crawls up the stairs, she loves chicken noodle soup and yogurt, she loves when we sing to her, she loves "if you're happy and you know it," she claps her hands, she makes a cute little serious face before she smiles, she loves people, she loves Brady and Brady's yoyo, she is a vacuum and eats things off the ground, she naps pretty well, she still wakes up two or three times a night, she can drink through a straw, if she is over tired she arches her back and starts a little tantrum, she loved it when Ty would hold her and they would chase Brady around, she loves black licorice and tomatoes, she loves her books and wants me to look at them with her over and over, she hates to shop, still hates being held down, her hair is starting to grow, she is a little hesitant with strangers and then warms right up, we are afraid that she will be super hard to wean. She has the tiniest little bottom teeth, but her top teeth are so big, she now does this thing where she hugs you and you can hum into her ear and she will hum back, she loves "holland sandwiches" where mom and dad hug her at the same time, she loves it when we put her in a blanket a swing her back and forth (baby burrito), she hates having her diaper changed or having to wear clothes/ doing those things is a work out for chad and I, she loves to say dadada, she loves music(especially rock and roll) it brings a proud smile to Chad's face when she gets excited about rock and roll, she loves to pull your glasses off, she has the greatest smile and laugh, when we are at grandma puggy's house she pulls all the books and movies to the ground, she is getting pretty good at playing by herself as long as I am in the same room, she loves to help me load and unload the dish washer, she just ripped off all of the pages in her new book, she loves being at home, she loves our cell phones and knows how to unlock the screen, she is a wearwolf (happy from 6am to 10 pm, and then loses her mind in the the middle of the night), I love it when she talks to herself and laughs at herself while she is playing, if only I could know what she is thinking!