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!

Life is good, even in Utah . . . who knew?!!!

Well, we are super duper behind.  Although my life is pretty basic, having a busy 7 1/2 month old who loves to type on the computer and does not like to nap makes it a bit tricky to update the blog.  The last two months have gone by in a whirlwind.  We packed up our little apartment in Hawaii, flew to Cali,

packed a few belongings in the dump trailer, drove to Utah, unpacked, and started back to BYU!

      First I will give you my update because it is the fastest and the most boring!  I work out everyday, eat healthy, play with baby, and clean.  The usual mom stuff, I LOVE it!
      Chad has had quite the two months.  The first few days he had a good attitude and then it all came crashing down.  He realized that he had been away from school for awhile and that BYU was not going to be a walk in the park.  The students are 1/2 his age and three of his professors are younger than he is.  He was frustrated to say the least.  In a matter of just a couple of months all that has changed! I am soooo proud of him!  Not only did I get a hard worker for a husband, but he is a smarty pants!!!  His teachers love him, his fellow students love him.  This week, for example, he got the results back from an extremely hard test, he was the only A in the class!  The teacher contacted Chad to tell that he had recieved the highest score ever (including past years) on the test and that he would strongly recomend that Chad go to grad school.  Not only is he scoring high on tsets but on his papers too.  Tonight we are going out to celebrate!
     Holland Rose is a gem!  She makes us laugh every day, all day!  When did my baby get so big!!!  In the last two weeks alone she learned how to crawl on her hands and knees from army crawl and to pull herself to standing.  She thinks that she is pretty hot stuff, and we have to agree with her.  She now refuses to sit or hold still.  Ready, set, here we GO!  Just as I thought that we had conquered the nap time, she now takes that time to practice her standing.  It took five attempts and five hours today before her first nap happened.  She now says Dada, although it is not mama it is pretty darn cute.  She is an amazing baby, she is observant, she is sweet, she is smart, and she is strong.  She hates being by herself, she hates being left out, and she hates any form of baby food (she wants the big kids food).  She still loves her bath time, she loves when we sing, she loves when Chad plays rock and roll and sings to her, she smiles 90% of the time (except when she is teething), she tolerates her car seat, she loves being home, she loves her parents total attention, she loves other kids, she hates getting dressed, she loves peek a boo.  I love it when I will be in another room and her little face will poke around the corner with a giant grin.  She looks at me like she is so sneaky and hilarious.  I love hearing her laugh, it is the best sound in the entire world!  And right now she is doing this cute little thing where she raises her hand over her head.  I don't understand it, but if you saw her raising her hand with that smirk on her face, you'd think it was cute too.  She's always pulling out these quirky little behaviors.  A month or so ago, when Jessiann was here, every time Holland looked at her, Holland would open her mouth like a codfish.  It was so odd, but adorable.  She's so funny!  In fact, right now she's pushing (with her head) a giant box of Huggies across the family room.  She loves having a body and always seems to be pushing herself to do the next thing.
     We have loved being so close to Thurman, Rosemarie, and Grant!  They have been so kind and supportive.  Talk about a giant blessing to have them close by.  We are with them several times a week, we would be so lonely without them!!! It is also been so exciting for me to have my family a few hours away!  I have not lived near them in nearly ten years!  I have gone to Idaho twice, and part of my family came here last weekend.  I have loved every second with them.
     Here several pictures to show our lives here in Utah:

Chad's future biking partner

Holland loves Nana Puggy

We bought this hat for $3 at the swiss day festival, I can not stop laughing at how funny it is

Definantly one of a kind

Congrats Grant!

Congrats Rosemarie and Thurman #5

In her toy box

Thomas the fix it man working in the casual (underpants)

Thomas and Holland loved to wrestle

Four generations: Greatgrandma O, Grand Mary, Me, and Holland Rose

Grandma O and Holland have the same squinty smile

Sadie and her boys with grandmas

I am crawling!

Grant took these pictures for us with my camera and they turned out great!  Thanks Grant!

Holland loves this trick, HOT STUFF

We set Holland in the middle of a pile of leaves, she dislikes it, she held her hands up so she would not have to touch them

     

Holland Loppity Lop - five months old

Our Holland Lop

So this is Chad blogging in case you were wondering.  So its gonna be Chad-style.  Whatever that means.

So let me tell you a bit about how my little Lop is growing up. 

She's rad.  She's over five months now.

At the WINDY Pali Look-out with Auntie Hannah

She can scoot around a bit now, but she kinda only has one gear -- reverse.  When a toy is out of her reach and its in front of her, she honks at me or Jenn to move it to her.  But if its behind her . . . no sweat, . . . can.

She's sitting up a little now too.  But if she leans too far to the left or right . . . timber!  So make sure there is padding. 

She's a smiler.  She is amused by everything and everyone.  She has this sort of half-smile as she sits and watches people.  She loves things like balloons and palm trees fluttering in the wind.  Totally gets her giggling.  She loves her little cousins.  The ones that are sweet to her.  But she doesn't know how she feels about Uncle Kelii.  He's a bit intense for her I think.  She's used to her boring dad. 

Lop and her Auntie Hannah

Sometimes I come home from work all fired up about some client or thing that happened and over dinner I'm telling a story to Jenn and my voice is louder and Jenn and I are pretty serious and then I look over at Holland sitting there in her little blue bumbo and she's totally smiling at me.  She thinks I'm funny when I get fired up.  I have to ask her, "what's funny about this?!  This isn't funny!" and she just giggles.  Talk about a reality check from our little girl.  We're lucky to have this Lop.

Little Surfer Girl

She's a total momma's girl.  The other night Jenn left her with me while Jenn took Hannah to the PCC Night Show.  It was only for a few hours.  Holland and I were doing great.  She loved dinner time.  I gave her some rice cereal.  Loved it.  I gave her a bath.  She loved it.  I played with her and dressed her for bed and we were doing great.  But when her head and eyelids were heavy and she was ready for bed.  She looked around for mom and was inconsolable.  I tried everything I can think of.  But nothing would console her but mom.  You'd think most kids would wear themselves out crying and fall asleep.  But Holland has never done that.  Not once.  She can really hang in there until she gets what she wants.  She knows exactly what it is too.  No alternative will do.  And you can't distract her.  I prayed for a head-strong girl before she got here . . . and we got one.  She's a tough cookie.  As soon as Jenn picked her up, the tears stopped.  And she smiled.  Like a light switch.  What a girl. 



With Hannah and Mom at the Dole Plantation



She's delightful and smart.  Totally interested in the world around her.  Loves the five toys we have for her.  Loves the ABC book Jenn picked up for her.  She can lie on her tummy and play for a whole 20 minutes sometimes.  Loves her stuffed monkey, Winston.  Loves to sleep with a blanket over her face at night.  That makes Jenn nervous.  Sometimes she sleeps between us on our little bed and she'll reach over and feel for me in the night.  I love it.  She'll bury her head in my armpit, hold on to my shirt, or sometimes my finger and sleep there all night.  In the morning, Jenn will kiss her head and say, "she smells like deodorant."  Sorry.  Better than B.O., right? 



My two girls.



She still loves her bath more than anything.  She loves the water, she's learning how to splash.  She used to just lie there.  Well, those days are over.  Sits up and touches everything and splashes.  And she loves to be sung to.  I sing to her everynight and it really is my favorite thing too.  She listens to me so intensely and smiles.  She loves music.  We play music videos sometimes on YouTube and she loves those too.  She loves the hymns at church and loves music in the car.  I sing to her my own version of "Lida Rose" from the Music Man everynight.  But its "Holland Rose, I'm home again Rose."  I like being a dad.  Its the best.  

She got her immunizations and the doctor isn't worried about the hemangiomas on her tongue and right hand.  We just need to watch it to see if it gets bigger and so far it hasn't.  Doc thinks it'll go away on its own.  

She's in the 96th percentile for her height and 50th percentile for her head size, 70th percentile for her weight.  She's a long, lean baby.  And has a cute round face.  When Jenn took her in to get her shots, she cried when the shots were administered and stopped immediately when Jenn picked her up.  When Jenn got her back to the car, Jenn tried nursing her and she bit Jenn twice, then looked up at Jenn and smiled.  Jenn was fine.  Hannah was there and she started cracking up because Holland is such a firecracker.  

She loved being held up in the wind at the Pali Look-out.

I don't know if two parents could love a child more than we do.  We love her to bits.  She brings us so much joy.  I can't imagine my life without her.  We're so grateful Heavenly Father sent her to us for this time. 

Other news . . .

We're going back to BYU-Provo.  We bought tickets to head back to Sacramento on August 24th.  We'll pack up the truck at Dori's house and then head out across that wonderful Nevada desert that I love so much.  No seriously.  I do love it and Jenn always makes fun of me.  I love Nevada.  Ask me why some time and I'll talk your ear off.  I'm looking forward to the road trip.  I'm trying to convince Jenn to take Highway 50.  I'm excited to go back to school.  We've prayed and prayed about this decision.  We've made a lot of sacrifices up to this point to make this happen and we're really only doing it because it feels like its what the Lord wants us to do.  I only make this note public because I want our friends to know that we are really trying these days to live the gospel in deed and we are excited about the adventure of living by faith.  I know we have received a lot of counsel as to the contrary.  That maybe we should stick with the job and had not sold the house.  Jenn and I know we aren't the most "in-tune" or "confident" people in the world, still, we're trying to be prayerful in our life decisions.  36 years old and heading back to school to study English and writing.  Crazy?  It should be a great story no matter how it turns out.  Thank you to all of you who have been supportive and understanding.  

We want our family members to know that we love and appreciate you all.  Grant was here this last month or so and we loved having him in our lives again.  He's such a gentle and sweet young man.  Obedient and without guile.  Big and strong too.  And handsome.  And has great hair.  The girls better watch out.  Hannah was here too.  She was wonderful company, a delight.  I hope she had fun.  We enjoyed her.  Hannah, you have great hair too. 

Nothing is more important than family and the gospel. 

She wore this outfit to church.  She stuck out like a sore thumb.  A white baby in a Rainbo-Brite outfit among all the brown people in Hauula.  You shoulda seen it.

We will miss Jared's family and Megan's family and David's family when we leave.  We've loved every  minute of our time with them and their children.  But we are also excited to be near our folks and Jenn's family for a year or so while we go to school.   We've loved our summer here in Hawaii and all the friends we've made and all the fun experiences we've had. 



She's rad.