Kirk's new truck

We finally got Kirk's new truck today!  We are so excited to have it!  He had been driving a Ford Ranger for years now and with two kids, he had to have more room.  He also had to be able to work and tow a load of cattle.  We got a 2010 Ford F150 Lariat 4X4 with a 5.4L V8 engine.  It is the Fuel Flex model with all the bells and whistles.  It has cooled and heated leather seats, reverse sensing system with backup camera, and has the towing package with towing hitches in the front.  It even has 1st and 2nd driver memory seat settings.  As soon as I get in the drivers seat, it moves forward and up to the perfect setting for me.  So awesome!  We all love it!  Even Holland couldn't wait to go for a ride and loved feeding cattle in it. 

Merry Christmas!

Christmas morning was so wonderful!  Britton actually slept from 11pm to 4am, so she slept through her 2am feeding.  It was so nice to have a little sleep.  We got up with Holland around 7:30 and opened our gifts and Santa gifts.  Holland made out like a bandit!  She got a lot of Leap Frog things:  ClickStart (TV/computer system), My First Computer, and Tag Junior.  Holland got a lot of clothes, games, and other toys.  Britton got clothes and some toys.  She pretty much slept through gift opening.  Kirk got his pistol gun safe, clothes, and gift cards. I got a new camera lens, clothes, and garage door opener!  I'm so happy!  I've been wanting one for years and I guess with two kids now, Santa felt pity for me. :) 

We got Britton in her "Baby's First Christmas" outfit and actually got a picture with both girls looking at the camera at the same time!  What a surprise!

After we open our gifts here at our house, we go over to Mom's to open gifts there.  Mom got Holland a wooden kitchen.  Holland LOVED it!  She played with it all morning.  Kirk and I got a very, very nice stainless steel cookware set with a dutch oven, gift cards, and Wii games.  Thanks Mom!!!  You rock!!!  This year was especially exciting since Kate was home with her fiance, Matt, and we had baby Britton.  Our little family grew by 2 people this year and that makes the holidays even more fun.  After eating brunch, we played some of our new Wii games.  So much fun!  I'm just thankful no pictures were taken of me trying to Just Dance 2.  :D

The whole family meets at Mommer's for Christmas supper.  Tons of food, family, and fun (crazy chaos). :)  It was so nice that the whole family was home.  It makes for good times and good memories.  

I guess it's too much to ask to have another photo with the girls looking at the camera with any interest.  I had to try, since Britton had another Christmas outfit on with her Baby's First Christmas Santa hat and Baby's First Christmas shoes. 

Christmas Eve

We went over to Mom's for Christmas Eve.  She hosted a party for our family and close friends.  We had all kinds of finger foods and tons of Christmas candy to eat.  We had a really good time. 

After stuffing ourselves full of food, we went home to prepare for Santa.  Holland was excited that Santa was coming to visit, but she was really excited about putting baby Jesus on her Advent calendar.  She has been so great at pulling out each Nativity scene item for her Advent calendar.  But, she has been really excited about pulling out baby Jesus for the final spot.  We can ask what Christmas is, and she will say, "Jesus's birthday!"

1 month old

Britton turned 1 month old on Sunday.  She's growing so much and is such a joy.  Even though she has acid reflux, she smiles and is such a good baby.  We are very blessed!  At her 1 month appointment, Britton was 21.5 inches which is a growth of 1 inch since birth.  She weighed 9 pounds 13 ounces which means she gained 1 pound and 10 ounces since birth.  We had Britton's 1 month portraits with Dixie and here is one picture I took.

Christmas candy day

Every year, our family gets together to make Christmas candy.  Normally it's on or close to Mommer's birthday.  We have so much fun.  Everyone brings out their recipes and supplies and makes their candy.  Then we all share what we make.  I look forward to this day every year. 

WCS Christmas Party

Holland's School Christmas Party was Wednesday, December 15th.  Holland couldn't wait to get to school for her party.  The kids had a ton of goodies to eat, made Christmas ornaments, and had a great time. 

Christmas pictures

Dixie does it again!  She is so great to us and is a wonderful photographer.  Dixie took our first official family portrait/Christmas portrait last week.  And, the portraits turned out great!  Holland and Britton were so cute in matching dresses and hair bows.  We take Britton back to Dixie this week for her baby portraits.  I can't wait!

Britton's Baptism

Britton was baptized today and it was a beautiful service.  Her baptism sponsors are Aunt Kate, Cousin Catherine and Danny.  It was really cool that Britton wore the same baptism dress that Holland wore.  Mom hosted a luncheon for the congregation after church service.  It was a great day even though it was very cold. 

Christmas fun

Kirk and I took Holland to River Bend's ElectriCritters and MSU's Fantasy of Lights Saturday night.  She had a blast!  It was very cold, but she enjoyed looking at all the lights.  When it was time to head home, Holland asked, "where is baby Britton?"  We said, "she's at Gaga's house."  Then Holland replied, "we have to go get baby Britton at Gaga's."  Holland missed Britton and couldn't wait to go pick her up.

2 week appt

Britton had her 2 week appointment on Wednesday.  She weighed in at 8 pounds and 2 ounces and was 20.5 inches long.  Britton has been a little fussy from pain and spitting up, so we told Dr. A about that and he confirmed what we thought it might be, acid reflux.  We are going to monitor how she is doing and in 2 weeks decide whether or not to start medicine. 

Sisters, Sisters

Holland loves her baby sister and really wants to be a big help.  She will go get things for us, wants to help change Britton's diaper, etc.  When we lay Britton down on the floor for a few minutes, Holland loves to lay down beside her and sing to her.  So far, Holland has sung "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" and "Jesus Loves Me" to Britton.  It's awesome to watch them both smile and laugh with each other. 

Aunt Kate, I thought you might get a kick out of the blog title since you love for us to sing that every Christmas.  Maybe Holland and Britton will enjoy the movie "White Christmas" like Kate and I did! :)

What's in a name?

Some people have asked where we found the name Britton.  Well........ Mom is in to genealogy and since retirement she has done a lot of research on ancestry.com.  She gave us a 17 page list of names from our family and Kirk's family lines.  Kirk and I went through all 17 pages to find several names that we liked, but nothing we loved until one day.  Kirk called me and said, "what do you think about Britton?"  I said, "I love it!"  We knew right then, Britton was the name for our second child.  Britton comes from my side of the family and was traced back to 1782 to a Britton Holland in North Carolina.  Mom did more research and traced some of his ancestors back to a Philemon Holland (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philemon_Holland) in England.  Britton's middle name, Abigail, also comes from my side of the family.  Had Britton been a boy, his name would have been Britton Reece, with Reece coming from Kirk's side of the family.  Kirk and I both like the idea of a non-gender specific first name that we could use for a boy or girl since we don't find out the baby's gender.  We did the same with Holland's name. 

It's a Girl!!!

Thursday, November 18, 2010 at 10:17 am, we welcomed Britton Abigail into our family.  She weighed in at 8 pounds and 3 ounces and was 20.5 inches long.  She is beautiful and healthy! 

Happy Halloween!

Today was a very busy day.  We went to church and Holland was blinged out!  She wanted to accessorize with every piece of jewelry she has.  Too cute!  She loved her outfit and bow. 

After church, Holland went home with Gaga while Kirk and I went to eat lunch with Cousin Catherine and her family at Olive Garden.  It was great to catch up with them.  After lunch, Kirk and I went through the tour of the Labor and Delivery wing at the hospital.  After the tour, we picked up Holland and got her dressed in her Ladybug costume.  We first went to Mommer's and then to church for Trunk or Treat.  Holland loved wearing her costume, asked to put on her wings and headband and asked to carry her Halloween pail.  She did really good with saying "trick or treat" and "thank you" to everyone.  Holland also loved her new Halloween pail we ordered with her name on it.  She had so much fun and we were both exhausted from the day. 

36 weeks

Wednesday was 36 weeks.  Everything is looking good and really close.  Progress has already started and OB said I wouldn't make it to 39 weeks.  So, no turkey baby for us.  Holland seems to be more happy and excited about her upcoming sibling.

WCS Harvest Party

Holland's class had their Harvest Party today to celebrate Halloween.  The kids had a ton of food to eat and had a really good time.  I made cupcakes and cookies, and all the other parents brought supplies and stuff for the party.  Earlier in the day, Holland and her class carved a pumpkin.  Holland's teacher said all the kids were grossed out and even Holland wouldn't touch the pumpkin when she started carving on it. 

Halloween Fun

Friday night was River Bend's Not-So-Scary Halloween.  Holland and I invited Sara and Molly to go with us.  The girls seemed to have fun, except when it was time for Holland to take pictures.  I think they will enjoy it more next year.  There was a pumpkin patch, pumpkin decorating, live bats, various activities, food and smores, etc.  Molly is so cute as a bee and Holland is a ladybug. 

Saturday was a bust for all of our Halloween fun.  But, the rain was wonderful and needed.  Kirk, Holland, and I met Cousin Clayton and his family at Qdoba's for lunch.  It was our first time there, and the food was very good.  We had planned on taking Holland to the pumpkin patch, but with the rain, we did some errands, shopping, and went to Starbucks instead.  Holland got her first Starbucks!  She got a vanilla bean frap and she loved it!

Holland turns 28 months old

Holland is 2 years and 4 months old today.  Kirk and I are very proud of Holland and how she is growing and changing every day.  Holland can count to 25 in English and count to 10 in Spanish, knows the majority of the alphabet letters, all the colors, all shapes, and even knows left and right.  Holland is doing great in school.  She goes into school without crying or having any tantrums.  She has received only green marks (great behavior) each day at school.  She is potty trained to the point of only wearing a pullup at night in case of accidents.  Holland seems to be excited about about the baby.  She will come up to me to kiss and hug my belly and tells me, "I have to kiss and hug the baby."  She is so sweet and wants to help set up the nursery.  She is such a darling at night.  When she goes to bed, she will say, "night night, sweet dreams, love you."  I truly love mornings because she will come get in bed with us and she loves to snuggle.  It's so sweet because she gets so close and wants to be held.  When Holland blows kisses or gives us kisses, it just melts my heart.  She is very affectionate and wants to hug every person she meets.  Right now, Holland's favorite things are anything Hello Kitty or Dora the Explorer.  Now, Holland is in the "terrible 2's" and she will throw fits.  But overall it isn't terrible and a little verbal discipline works.

Here is Holland's first official school picture.  Overall, she posed well but someone else fixed her hair.  :)

Petrolia Festival

Kirk, Holland, and I went to Petrolia's Motorcycle and Fun Run Festival on Saturday.  It was very nice to see the town come out and help support the Fire Department, Senior Citizens, and the Petrolia Curb Appeal.  There were lots of booths set up, a petting zoo, little train ride, and food.  It was great running into family and friends.  Holland had a blast and didn't want to leave.