Birthday week

The last week of July is always very busy for my family. We have my birthday, Kate's birthday, Clayton's (my cousin) birthday, and Claytons daughter's birthday. It is party central in our family. To kick off the week, our good friends, Doug and Jan, came in for the weekend before my birthday. We had Bill's Catfish Friday night, Saturday was Parkway Grill and the casinos, then Sunday was Church, Pioneer, and a nap. It was great to see them and have so much fun with them. My birthday was Monday and the girls at work surprised me with lunch, cupcakes, and ice cream. Then, I go to Mom's to pick up Holland and Mom and Kate had cooked one of my favorite meals for me. They even busted out the china. It was such a surprise! I am so thankful for my wonderful family and friends! Kate's birthday was Friday so Kate, Holland, and I met Jan and went shopping in Dallas. We ate at The Cheesecake Factory. Can't beat having your birthday on National Cheesecake Day! :) We shopped in Frisco and Allen and had so much fun. Holland did so great with her pottying, she didn't have a single accident the whole day we were in Dallas, which was 12 hours! Today was my cousins daughter's birthday party. It was a luau theme and was so cute! Needless to say, I am partied out! Here is Kate and Holland at the hospital visiting Mommer.

Iowa Park Spray Park

Friday morning we took Holland out to the Iowa Park Spray Park. She loved it! Of course, when we said, "you're going swimming." She asked, "with Molly?" Molly is the girl Holland did swim lessons with. Unfortunately, Molly and her parents, Sara and Bill, weren't able to meet us there, but by surprise, Sara/Molly's cousins were there! They were also in our swim lessons. We did so good putting sunscreen on Holland that I forgot about putting any on me. So, I did get a good sunburn on my shoulders and back. Holland had a blast sliding down the slides, playing in the water, and checking out all the creatures. It's cheap and so much fun at the spray park. I hope we go back soon!

22 weeks along

I had my 22 week OB (almost done with 5th month) appt this past week. Everything looks good. Gaining weight and growing on target. Heartbeat was around 155. We have a sonogram on August 3rd, but we won't find out the gender of the baby. Now that Holland is sleeping in her new bed, I will begin working on the nursery. Time is flying by!

Sleeping in big girl bed!

Thursday night, Holland asked to sleep in her big girl bed. Kirk and I were so shocked and excited! We both were there to tuck her in and kiss her goodnight. I said, "oh, I need to take a picture." Holland says, "go get the camera." lol I took a few pictures. Holland looked so happy and excited. We turned off the light and left the room. She got up one time to run into our bedroom, then Kirk took her back to bed. Kirk and I watched a movie and Kirk went back to check on her, and she was asleep on the couch! He carried her back to bed and then when I woke up at 4:00am, she was sound asleep in her big bed. At 7:15am, she came running into our bedroom to get in bed with us. She laid down between us and said, "get comfy." Too cute! That's what I tell her when she and I would lay down for a nap. I remember when I was young and Kate and I would run and get in bed with Mom. I loved those days. And, I'm so happy Holland is now able to run and jump in bed with us. Holland, Kirk, and I laid there and watched an episode of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. Holland loved it!

Friday night was awesome. She got up one time to tell me she needed to go potty and went back to bed and slept the whole night. She loves her big girl bed!!!

25 months old: potty training, naptime, self feeding, etc

We have been potty training for a couple of weeks now and it's going pretty good. Holland wears panties during the day and a pull up/diaper during nap time and night time. We still have to ask her if she needs to go potty, but she's getting a lot better at telling us when she needs to go. Overall, it's going really good and I'm saving money on diapers! :)

Holland started taking naps in her new bedroom last weekend. It went well, she climbed up on the bed and laid there with all her animals. It took awhile for her to finally go to sleep, but she did sleep good and rarely moved at all.

Holland is doing really good at self feeding (thank you Gaga!). She used a fork for some time now and she's getting a lot better at using spoons. Tonight we had spaghetti and key lime pie. Holland apparently loves key lime pie. :) She took the spoon and fed herself without spilling a drop. :)

Holland is doing great! She's learning new words every day, carrying on conversations, loves to help with chores, and is becoming more independent every day. She pats my tummy and says, "baby" all the time now. Holland stays with Gaga two days a week now that Mom retired and is learning so much. Gaga is teaching her how to read individual words and she is learning fast. We started buying Holland's school supplies last week, including her Hello Kitty backpack. It's so much fun and Holland is so excited about starting school!

July 4th

Our family all met up at Mommer's for the 4th of July. While we waited for the sun to go down, we ate, watched a little TV and relaxed, and the kids played. We had tons of great food like hot dogs, BBQ, cheesecake, and homemade Big Red ice cream!!! We saw a huge old turtle on the front lawn and the annual July 4th tarantula. We popped fireworks out on the front lawn and hung out. Normally I light fireworks, but this year just didn't work out for me. The night before, my big toe on my right foot got cut open and the morning of the 4th, I jammed my left foot pinkie toe on the couch. I could barely walk, let alone, light fireworks. Holland did great, though! She didn't get scared except for the 60 count missiles and all she did was run to someones lap. We had watched Star Wars on TV earlier in the day, so when the fireworks would go off, she would yell out "Star Wars." :) We had a really good time and it brings back so many memories for me. I can remember being very little and popping fireworks out at Mommer's house every year.

1st Dentist appointment

Holland fell the other day in the kitchen and chipped one of her front teeth. I freaked out and was so worried about her tooth. We took her in to a pediatric dentist our family dentist recommended and he was great. He checked out her tooth, smoothed it down, and made me feel a little better. A couple of weeks later, we noticed her chipped tooth was not as white as it used to be. We took her back to the dentist and got her first official teeth cleaning done and he checked out the chipped tooth again. Hopefully she won't have any more problems with it, but when she fell she did damage some nerves in the tooth and gums. Luckily it's just a baby tooth and I won't have to see it forever. :) I couldn't get any pictures with her seeing the dentist because we sat with her when she was reclined in the chair and I didn't have time to get out the camera. Here is a picture of her waiting to see the dentist.

Arbuckle Wilderness

Our second attempt to go to Arbuckle Wilderness was successful. We got up Friday morning and drove up there for the day. The weather was great. Cloudy and not too warm. We first drove through the drive through park. There are all kinds of animals out to eat. Camels, donkeys, buffalo, giraffes, goats, different kinds of deer, zebras, rhinos, llamas, emus, ostriches, wolves and more. The majority of the animals had babies and they were all so cute! After going through the park, we went in to walk through the little park. There are porcupines, different types of birds, geese walking around, lemurs, snakes, etc. They also have go-carts, paddle boats, and other things for people to do. We picked up a souvenir camel for Holland. She loves it!Watch out for the camels! This one stole my whole cup of food. He bit on to the cup and fought me for a second and walked off with the whole cup of food. The next camel wasn't so lucky. I fought the next one with both hands and he only tore my cup, but I still had my food left.
Leah 1 - Camels 1.I don't know which one looked more like a deer in the headlights! LOL

The ostriches will come running to you and even chase your car as you drive on. Kirk got a little weirded out by the ostriches and would roll our windows up. :)Even the turtles come out to eat! LOL

After having a great time at Arbuckle Wilderness, we went to eat in Ardmore, and then headed home. It was a great day and we look forward to going back.

Swimming lessons

We signed Holland up for swimming lessons at the YMCA. They met four nights a week for two weeks. A coworker/friend of mine, Sara, signed her daughter, Molly, up for the same lessons. It was great knowing someone else there. Us Moms took Mon and Tues nights, and the Dads swam on Wed and Thurs nights. Here are the girls in matching swim suits, and no, we didn't plan it. :)