2 year appointment and photos

Monday we had Holland's 2 year well baby visit. She did great! Dr. A said she is doing great and growing like a weed. Holland was 37 inches tall and weighed 32.5 pounds. She's going to be a tall girl. Holland received 2 shots and took them like a champ. Dr. A said she looks completely healthy and is learning a lot for her age. We started taking Holland to swim lessons this week. It's been fun! She wears me out, though. Each day she is doing better in the pool and is getting more comfortable. We had Holland's 2 year photos with Dixie today and Holland did so good. She would say, "cheese" for Dixie and smile on command for the pictures. She wore her ladybug dress from her birthday party and another hot pink dress that she just loved. Dixie took some really cute pictures. The pictures are bigger on her blog: wwwdixie.blogspot.com. Thank you Dixie!!!

Holland's 2nd Birthday!!!

Holland turned 2 today!!! She slept in, watched Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, and had a birthday party. Kirk and I took her into her new bedroom for the first time. She loved it and even told us she did. She has a full size bed and more room to play. She has been playing in her new bedroom off and on all day today.
We used a "ladybug, ladybug oh so sweet 2nd birthday" theme and it was so cute. We even found her a ladybug dress and Kate got her a ladybug hair clip. Too cute! Her ladybug cake came from Kathy's Bakery and it was beautiful!

After sandwiches, chips, and finger foods, we had cake. Holland knows to stay away from things that are hot, so when we set the cake in front of her with the candles lit, she stayed back and said, "hot." She loved everyone singing "Happy Birthday to you." She ate her cake and enjoyed it. If you notice the clear trash bags over the dining room chair Holland is sitting in, it's because I'm a neat freak and the dining room chairs are suede. I did not want to try to clean up cake off of the suede. :) Holland opened her gifts and got lots of great stuff. She got lots of clothes, a sit 'n spin, tricycle, four-wheeler for little kids, and money. After opening each gift, she would say "thank you" to whoever got her the gift. She was so sweet! :)
After opening gifts, we went outside for Holland to see her new swing set. All the kids really enjoyed it. We also had a pull string pinata. We all had a good laugh when it took an adult to get the trapdoor to open. :)

Mom's Retirement Party

Mom has finally decided to retire after 37 years in education and 18 years at Region 9. It's a huge decision to retire, but a great one. She will have more time with Mommer, Holland, and the new baby. We are all so excited for Mom! Congrats to Mom and 37 years experience in education!!! Region 9 threw her a retirement party Friday afternoon and it was a very nice party. Lots of friends and family came to celebrate with Mom. We love you and are so proud of you Mom!!!!

Holland's first haircut

We finally took Holland to Kids Hair Safari for her first haircut. I have been trimming her bangs at home, but this was the first overall haircut. Holland had fun checking out all the stuff and she behaved perfectly while her hair was being cut. She loved the girlie car she got to sit in.

We're pregnant!

We are expecting our second baby on November 24th, pretty much a thanksgiving baby. We are very excited! Holland was the first to know and since then she pats my tummy and says, "baby." It's so cute! We told family on Mother's Day when we were about 12 weeks along. This pregnancy has been completely different than being pregnant with Holland. I have had a lot more health problems with this pregnancy. My heart palpitations have been worse, I was sick for the first 13 weeks all day long, and I am very magnesium deficient. My cardiologist found the magnesium deficiency when he had a complete blood work up done on me. I've also had an EKG, Echo, and a heart monitor on. The magnesium supplements are doing really good for me, though. I feel 100% better. As of right now, we aren't going to find out the gender of the baby. I truly do enjoy the excitement of not knowing what we are having until we have the baby. :)

Holland is 23 months old

Holland is doing great. She knows all the colors, numbers 1-10, and ABC! Holland is around 3 feet tall now. I just hope the old wives tale doesn't come true about a child doubling the height they are at 2 years old. Being tall isn't bad, but being 6 foot and a female isn't easy. Holland had her first trip to the ER a couple of weekends ago. She was running over 104 degree fever all day. We called the pediatrician on call and she said to just keep doing what we were, even though we could never get her fever down below 104. Around 10pm we got over 105 degrees so we went to the ER in Henrietta. We walked in and were immediately taken care of. The doctor was in to see Holland in a few minutes to tell us that she had her first ear infection. We had gone 23 months before her first ear infection. It was sad to hear the news, but we have been so lucky to have gone this long without one. We had no idea she had an ear infection. She showed no other symptoms other than the fever. She was playing and talking like nothing was wrong. The nurse gave her antibiotics and we were leaving the ER in less than an hour of being there. Here is a picture in the ER. She was not a fan of having her temp taken by the nurse.

We have been hard at work on Holland's birthday party. We are using a ladybug theme for 2nd birthday. It's so cute! We are also getting her new bedroom ready. She will have a full size bed to sleep in on her 2nd birthday.