Ready, Set, Eat!

Renee is approaching 5 months old (on Thursday!!) and we have started the solids. Rice cereal was first and she took to it immediately, opened her mouth wide and ate a HUGE bowl! It took her a few tries to figure out what to do with her tongue and how to push the food to the back of her mouth but she got it pretty quick and thankfully, the mess was minimal (except for when she sneezed one spoonful back at me).

Last night, she had a taste of her first veggie...sweet potatoes! She seemed to swish it around in her mouth for a bit and then decided she liked it. Another huge bowl was eaten and Mommy and Daddy were very happy (we have high hopes...err...maybe high expectations that she will not be a picky eater like her older siblings). Again, there really wasn't much mess...maybe after the two other kids, I have mastered the art of spoon feeding...or maybe it's because I haven't gotten lazy yet!

Monday Memories

Some sweet moments from Christmas 2006

Her hero!

A very proud boy!

Well, that was easy

As some of you know, my least favorite thing about parenting is potty training. I stressed about it so much last summer with Zach that I finally just stopped trying to make him...and then he seemed to immediately want to do it and he has been a champ ever since. Well, you would think I would have learned the same lesson when it came to Ava. She has been showing signs for a year now ( I thought she was going to end up being trained before Zach!) and would occasionally want to use the potty, but overall, she rather enjoyed her diapers and all that went with it! Only two weeks ago, she declared that she LIKED going potty in her diaper and did NOT want to be a big girl! Then, about 8 days ago, it's like something just switched inside her head and she decided she was done with diapers, she wanted to wear her big girl panties and use the potty ALL the time! And since then, she's only had one minor accident (she was trying to make it inside from playing outside) and has only used pullups for nap and bedtime! I mean, it was that easy! I haven't had to do a thing except assist on certain occasions. She can do everything herself and boy is it nice! That means back to only one in diapers!!!! I have learned that kids are going to do it only when THEY want to...so now I know not to stress about Renee when that time comes. Soooo, maybe potty training isn't my least favorite part of parenting, maybe it's trying to get the pickiest kids in the world to eat something healthy!!!!

Just like Daddy...

Zach is on a big kick lately about being just like daddy... same shoes, same clothes, etc. So daddy busted out the clippers the other night and really made him look like daddy. Then we both succumbed to our "Calvin and Hobbes" side when trying to get a good picture to post...

Book of the Week

The favorite book of the moment at the Holton house is Caps for Sale by Esphyr Slobodkina. This really is a cute story and the kids have even started acting out the part of the peddler when he wakes up to find his hats missing...they shake their fingers, stamp their feet and yell "You monkeys you! You give me back my caps!" This has been a nightly read for about two weeks now. It's definitely a favorite (even Mommy and Daddy enjoy it...thank goodness!).

Our resident princess...

...I am sure she will have some stiff competition in the future if Renee has anything to say about it! :)

Monday Memories

We bought these big blue buckets from Walmart to try and contain some of the toy explosion in our house...and it was only a matter of time before they became toys themselves!

September 2005

December 2006

Spring=Pollen=Lots of Laundry

Thankfully warm weather is here and we were finally able to get out and stroll through the neighborhood. The kids wanted to go to the playground so we loaded up the big kids in the wagon and the littlest one in her stroller and headed on down the street. The slides are yellow so it was hard to see the thick dusting of pollen until we got up close. Jeff got out the baby wipes (after three kids, we come prepared) to see what kind of cleanup he could do, but as we all know, pollen is everywhere and you really can't clean it up!! After three wipes, he gave up and we just let them have fun...and it immediately became bath night! The kids did have fun going down the slides but a pesky little bumblebee got in their way most of the time and they just spent their time either running away from it or searching all over to see where it went.

Look at her hair!

Soon, I will get to play too!!There's Mr. Bumblebee!

One of my favorite snaps of Ava

Zachy

I will say, they just don't make slides like they used to....I do miss the metal slides back in the day...yes, they got hot as fire but boy were they fast! These days, its more like skidding down than sliding, but the kids still had a good time.

Remember the Alamo...

Zach busted out his construction skills last night and built himself a pretty elaborate fort for his toy soldiers to play on. He kept asking me to help him put his "army guys" around the wall of the fort, but everytime I placed one, he told me, "Daddy, that guy actually goes over here". The big structure in the middle was the "fort sailboat"... and the fort was filled with water. But he did say that when he sat down in the middle of the fort that the water went away, and it came back when he got out... I guess he didn't want to get his pants wet. After I told him that no... we couldn't leave the fort there so that Mommy and Daddy could play with it later, he decided he was a giant bear and smashed it to pieces. He pointed out that one of the army guys looked just like Uncle Jason while were setting up the fort. Then 15 minutes later while we were cleaning up, I asked him were the Uncle Jason army guy went... and he dug through the pile and picked out the exact same guy. Uncle Jason, you'll be proud to know he said the guy holding the biggest machine gun was you.

Monday Memories

May 2007-I love the moments between Zach and Ava when they are sweet and loving to each other...although I know all siblings argue and fuss, somedays it seems like that's all they do. So, when they have tender moments with each other and play sweet with each other, I savor it. Here are two such moments about a year ago when they were posing for pictures for me (on two different occasions) when Zach just put his arm around Ava and gave her a big brotherly hug. I love that I got those moments on camera!

Welcome baby Haylie!

Our friends Jamie and Stephanie had their first child on Monday, a sweet baby GIRL! Congratulations guys, we can't wait to meet her!

Haylie Grace Crunkleton
April 7, 2008
8 lbs, 7oz, 20 3/4 in

Momma's got a brand new 'do

Well, after many years of being a blonde (real and fake...well, more like enhanced), I decided to take the plunge and dye my hair to match my roots. Although the hairdresser tried to talk me into taking slow steps to dark hair, I insisted on going all the way. Half way through the process, I did feel a twinge of regret but there was no turning back after the color was saturating my hair and burning my scalp! As they were blowdrying it, I felt a little sick inside because it was SO dark compared to what I was used to! Of course, they styled it up nice (which I can never duplicate) which made it a little easier but I can't say I was elated as I left the salon. I am still not sure if I like it but I am stuck with it for now...I asked for dark and I got it! Jeff loves it which makes me feel better but it will probably be a long time before I am completely comfortable as a brunette. At least no more blonde jokes but time will tell if blondes truly do have more fun...I'll let you know!




Here are the kid's reactions when they saw their new (and improved???) Mommy:

Ava-"you look different", "you look pretty", "you look cool"

Zach-"you look like a ballerina", "you look like a princess", "you look like Aunt Kara"

Hooray Renee!

Yesterday, Renee reached a milestone...she rolled from her belly to her back! I put her down in her crib on her belly and went back to check on her and there she was, on her back and sucking her thumb! She then proceeded to do it several times yesterday (except, of course, when I tried to videotape her doing it!) and was so proud of herself! She then tried to roll from her back to her belly but just couldn't do it...but I am sure she will do it soon. Yay girl!

Monday Memories

April 2006- Ava's first trip to the Varsity! The kids had fun playing with the hats and eating french fries!

Another Rockband party...

Our friends Eric and Rachel (and Anna and Cara) came over not too long ago for dinner, and as usual... we couldn't go long without turning on the video games. In fact, Rachel made a video game themed dessert (that's a Mario-Mushroom cake for those of you not familiar with America's greatest pasttime).