The Holdaway Family

She did it! The unthinkable!

2008-07-11T11:52:00.000-07:00

My sweet Tess! I have told others that one of the things I love about Tess is that she is such a good eater, unlike her sister. Of course, this also keeps me on my toes because she really will eat ANYTHING! My floors have never been cleaner, but yet she still finds things to put in her mouth and try. After she eats dinner, I take her to the other room and run into the kitchen to clean the floor because here she comes. She is already at my side eating her leftovers from the floor. Child, didn't you just eat!

A couple of weeks ago now, Shane was out-of-town for a week. One day that week, I was vacuuming our rug and the floor. Tess was standing at the base of our stairs where a shoe basket was playing with them. I saw a big piece of fuzz by her. I put something down, walked over to get the fuzz before she ate it. Too late, so I went to scoop it out of her mouth. When my figure come out of her mouth, it was not the fuzz I was anticipating, it was......green! I took a sniff, looked at the shoe she had munched on and gaged!

My daughter ate poop! I smelled the bottom of my running shoe, and sure enough, it was the same! I picked her up, found the wipes, and wiped out her mouth. Then I had her drink a gallon of water. Then I wiped her mouth out again. Then I found an old toothbrush and bushed her mouth. Then had her drink a gallon of water. Brushed her mouth. Wiped her mouth. Called Shane. Called my mom. Wiped her mouth.

Well, what would you have done?

Snuggles

2008-07-11T11:47:00.000-07:00

Any moment I can, I try to snuggle with my kids. Luckily for me, they are pretty snugly themselves. I savor it because I know one day they will give me that look, and I will then have to resort to sneaking it in when I can.

Let it go!

2008-07-11T11:36:00.000-07:00

Sometimes you have just need to let it go and let them play at night in their clothes in the pool! I say this mostly to myself because I tend to be one to structure my (our) day.

Happy Father's Day Weekend!

2008-07-11T11:05:00.001-07:00

It just did not seem like one day would do to celebrate how great of a dad Shane is....So it was a weekend long celebration. We started it off "Callie style" on Friday when he come home from work. We greeted him with baseball party hats on while singing "I am so Glad when Daddy Comes Home"! We had Shane's favorite Mac and Cheese with cookies for dessert.

Saturday was great, too. Both Shane and I were able to have a great run that morning. Everyone took a nap. Then we headed to watch Richmond's baseball minor league team. Our seats were great, but Shane and I had to take turns keeping our eye on the batter because we had the perfect seats for foul balls. When the foul balls hit empty seats, they can really go anywhere! It was extremely muggy, so we treated all of us to snow cones! They loved them.

Sunday, Shane went to Louisa Branch while we attended our ward, which is normally what happens. However, that morning in our breakfast prayer, she asked, "Mommy, Callie and Tess to go to church, and Daddy go to his other church." One day we will need to explain to her that it is the same church. It was just a relaxing day.

Shane is such a wonderful dad. The girls light-up every time Shane walks through the door. He gets down and immediately starts to play with them until bed time. It is no wonder why hours before Shane is supposed to be home Callie is at the window looking for him saying, "I need my Daddy." We love you so much.

Weekend with Jeff, Heather and Baby Derrick

2008-07-11T10:55:00.000-07:00

Jeff and Heather, thank you for making the trip down to see us. It was such a joy to have you. We love you guys and quickly got used to having your company. We can not wait to see the whole family in August!

WOW!

2008-06-03T18:42:00.000-07:00

Has it really been 2 months since the last post! I think about posting, but by the time the girls are down, my list of things to do have trumped blogging. Even if sometimes the thing on the list was to do nothing. Sometimes that is very much needed. In the past 2 months, a lot has happened. One of the things that happened was we (well, we did not do it) install hardwood and ceramic tiles on the first floor. I have yet to take pictures, but I promise I will and the other changes we have done for my friends and family that have been asking me. That will be the next blog!

We learned to play baseball.

Fed a giraffe.

My sister graduated from BYU, so her and her husband came to visit us afterwards!

Of course, Callie loves parties, so we had to have one for my sister. The theme was princess graduation. Callie came up with the theme. She is also the one that made us all wear hats. Even though it was Aubrey's party, we had to sing "happy birthday" to Callie and have her blow out candle. Crazy girl!

Took my sister to fed a giraffe and went to the Virginia Beach aquarium. We both love animals so much!

A little trip to Virginia Beach.

The girls are doing great! Callie still loves her trains, airplanes, and rockets, but she now loves Cinderella and Prince. She loves wearing her " so beautiful dress". In our dinner prayer the other night, she said she was thankful for Prince, Cinderella and Lucifer...the cat from Cinderella! Her favorite song right now is "Praise to the Man". I love hearing her sing the big words in it. Tess is all over the place. A couple of weeks ago, Shane was watching the girls while I was working out, and he had only turned his back on her for a second, when she had crawled up the stairs half way! She has such a sweet personality and does not want to be left out of anything. Even if she has no idea what we are doing. Today, she was holding on a chair and scooting it across the floor while she walked! The child needs to stop growing so quickly!

These are only a few of the things that have been going on around here. I will spare you of all the little details, but hopefully, I am back! I am excited because this weekend Shane's brother and his wife will be here with their little one that we have not meet yet. plus, we have a lot going on this summer!

Here's to no more extremely long catch-up blogs!

It's a Sign!

2008-04-05T07:15:00.000-07:00

We love the start of baseball season...well, Shane does, but we've both grown to relish the Red Sox / Yankees rivalry. Based on the following story, it appears the rivalry is getting off to a vigorous start this season!

"A certain New York Yankee slugger should beware: A student taking a tour of Fenway Park today was attacked by a red-tailed hawk that swooped off its nest, drawing blood from the girl’s scalp.

"Her name: Alexa Rodriguez. Her age: 13, the same jersey number the Yankee third baseman wears...."

Of all the kids at Fenway that day, how did the hawk know to go after little A-Rod? For the full article and photo:
http://www.boston.com/news/local/breaking_news/2008/04/hawk_nest_remov.html

Bumps

2008-04-05T07:13:00.000-07:00

Callie: Mom, I have bumps on my face.

Mom: You have bumps on your face.

Callie: Yeah. I need to shave.

Really?

2008-04-03T19:01:00.000-07:00

The other night Callie woke-up at about 2 in the morning crying. As any father would do, he rushed in to see what was wrong. The problem was that she wanted to wear her "Christmas jammies". What? Well, of course, Shane then fumbled around the dark room and put her Christmas jammies on her.

Was that REALLY the problem? We will never know!

I love...

2008-04-01T19:31:00.001-07:00

my new water heater and granite countertops! I Love being able to take a hot shower that does not go cold on me, and I love my granite countertops! Here are some pictures of the girls outside while they were installing the countertops. I need to take a picture of the beautiful countertops and post it. I am just so excited by them that I had to share the news!

Our Family Easter Egg Hunt

2008-04-01T19:18:00.000-07:00

Our Attempt at Easter Pictures before Church

2008-04-01T19:06:00.000-07:00

One more attempt after church.

Callie was determine not to look at the camera that day! Oh, well. She is still cute.

First Easter Egg Hunt

2008-04-01T18:56:00.000-07:00

For the second year, we have been lucky enough to be invited to the dental student's Easter egg hunt. They do a really cute job, and it was so fun.

Lots to catch-up on!

2008-04-01T18:02:00.000-07:00

A lot has happened in the last 2 weeks (or maybe 3). Let's start at the with the trip to Grandma and Papa Thomas' house! What a blast and yet so relaxing! We really enjoyed ourselves. We went to the Fort Worth Zoo. Shane and I went to watch the Mavs and Lakers play. Mom, Tess and I went to little darling shops that I would never go to with the girls. Papa, Callie and Shane spent a few hours running round at the park trying to grap airplanes out of the sky. One of Callie's new hobbies! We relaxed and just had fun! Thanks for the great time.

Grandma & Callie

My brother and his family came up from Austin for a few of the days! We love our little Ella. You would never guess, but Ella is 2 months older than Tess. What a chunck! Thanks Jared and Amber.

Tess & me

Callie & Papa trying to catch the airplanes in the sky.

Shane & Callie at the park.
At the zoo. Very brave bird.
Grandma & Tess
Callie & Jaxson
Indoor bouncy slide. Callie LOVED it!
Papa & Tess

Tess is 6 months old

2008-03-13T18:32:00.000-07:00

She loves to get up and rock. She can move backwards, and she will be going forward any day now! She has a reach that Shaq would be jealous of. There have been one too many times I have thought that something was out of her reach to turn around and see it in her mouth or all over the floor! She seems so pleased with herself that she met her challenge.

Tess is such a blessing in my life. She has a great balance of serenity and sass. When you are with her, her happiness rubs off on you, but at the same time, she has some spunk!

She is 19 pounds and 1 ounce!

She LOVES Callie and no one can make her laugh like her big sister.

Perfect Picture

2008-03-13T18:23:00.000-07:00

This is SO Callie!

The girl gets upset if her bows fall out of her hair and likes to dress-up, but she loves her trains, helicopter and rockets. The other day at the store, a lady wanted to give Callie a sticker. She said to me that all she could find were ones with trucks on them, but that she was looking for one with some girly glitter. I told her she would be fine with the dump truck.

She asked Callie which sticker she would like. Callie picked the dump truck!

Just so sweet!

2008-03-04T12:04:00.000-08:00

Oops!

2008-03-04T11:51:00.000-08:00

A couple of Sundays ago, we stayed home from church because the girls were sick, and as I was supposed to be taking care of them, I managed to hurt them both. Tess hit her head on a corner, which resulted in an instant bruise. A little bit later after a needed walk, Callie walked up our porch stairs with her hands in her pocket (which I helped her with not but two seconds before) and fell on the stairs chin first. I assumed that she would have taken them out to walk up the stairs. A lot more happened during those 5 hours Shane was gone, but I will spare myself of the embarrassment!

Oops!

Happy UN-Birthday to you!

2008-03-04T10:58:00.000-08:00

The other day, we had Callie's friend, Claire, come over to play. I am not sure what started it, but they kept saying "Happy Birthday, Callie" "Happy Birthday, Claire" "Happy Birthday, Tess." So, I decided that I should play along as well, and we had an UNbirthday party! They made signs for themselves. We blew up balloons.

We made cupcakes, and of course, sang the birthday song with a candle and all! It was fun, and they had a blast!

Happy Valentine's Day!

2008-02-14T17:51:00.000-08:00

Callie and Tess made a Valentine for Shane on Wednesday. We made a special delivery at his work with thier crafty gift and lunch. It was fun to see him in the middle of the day! That does not usually happen.

This Past week...

2008-02-11T12:11:00.000-08:00

I have taught Callie a vital lesson in life, and she is very proud of herself everytime! I wonder how long I can jump and clap with excitiment everytime she goes to the bathroom. For now, I will praise her everytime. I have to thank Tess for being so understanding about being a little neglected, tolerating the many trips to the bathroom and the time spent in there reading books. She really was a trooper last week!

Oh- The Harsh Realities of Life

2008-02-11T11:21:00.000-08:00

We have introduced Callie to her first Disney movie, Mary Poppins. She LOVES it, and of cousre with Callie, it is an interctive movie. Every time they sing and dance, we do to. This actually helps me feel less guilty with her watching movies!

Several days ago, we had "watched" Marry Poppins, and naturally, she wanted to get her umbrella out. So, she opened her umbrella, held it up in the air above her head and said, "fly!" She kept repeating this over and over while jumping in the air. She became so upset and said, "Mommy, help. I fly like Mary Poppins!" Oh, Callie.

Well, Shane scooped her up to fly, and they spent the next half hour flying with her umbrella. I hope that we can prolong some of the realities of life for a while ;)

A Great Moment

2008-02-04T10:59:00.000-08:00

The other day, I felt like the best person in the world all becuase of a 2 year old. The other day I was playing with my girls. Callie came up to me, put her arm around my neck and said, "Mom, you are great." Then she patted my back.

I truely felt "great" at that moment. Thank you Callie for making me important and great because of you and Tess. I think that you are great too!

My Stylist

2008-02-04T10:43:00.000-08:00

This is Callie my stylist.

(Winter hat, shirt, jeans, 2 necklaces, Tinkerbell dress, rainboots and

of course, bows in her pigtails.)

Thanks babe!

This picture does not do justice for the rolls on this girl, but the ones you can see are wonderful!

5 Months Old Today!

2008-01-30T17:52:00.000-08:00

Today Tess is 5 months old. In some ways, it seems like the last 5 months have flown by; but in other ways, it's been a long 5 months! Either way, it is so wonderful to have her in our family. She's been smiling since she was 8 weeks old, and she just seems to have a happy soul. She's been really happy lately becuase she can (mostly) sit up by herself now.
Tess loves playing with her sister. Callie is in for another change as Tess becomes more mobile and does more than just roll after "Callie's toys" like she does now!
Life is good!

Beginning and Ending

2008-01-23T18:02:00.000-08:00

When did my day start today? Was it this morning at 3am when Tess woke up? I got her back to sleep and went back to bed at 3:30am. Was it when Callie woke up at 4am? We put her back in her bed, but she joined us again in our bed at 4:30 am. She was wide awake but finally fell asleep around 5:30am, when Tess decided to wake up! So I got up again with Tess. Tess was happy and talking. Callie woke up at 6:30am. Then, Callie's friend came over so I could watch her while her mom went to an appointment at 7:45am.

I am not sure when my day really started, but it actually ended happily. At about 7pm when I was done being a mom, Callie, Tess and I made sugar cookies with sprinkles. Making cookies with the girls had us all smiling and laughing together. I will have to remember that trick!

First Snow!

2008-01-20T16:22:00.001-08:00

On Thusrday we had our first snow fall! Callie has been in love with snowmen for the last serveral months, so when she saw the snow, she couldn't wait to make a snowman come to life with a magic hat! I am not sure how magical our hats were, but Callie seemed to think so.

Tess was just excited to be part of the action...as always.

Recent January Pictures

2008-01-20T16:05:00.000-08:00

Tess sporting her 6-12 month size clothes even though she is only 4 months. By the way, this outfit is not baggy anymore!
This was a LONG Sunday! Alysia was on her own at church (Shane was doing High Council stuff), Callie hurt her arm throwing a tantrum coming out of church (which led to 8 x-rays and a splint) and refused to take a nap that afternoon, we ended up giving Callie ice cream for dinner because...well, it was just one of those days.
Callie and her snowman pjs and rain boots. I have to talk her into getting dressed everyday becuase she would love to wear her pjs all day long! This day I decided not to fight her, plus they fit over her wrapped wrist.
My two favorite girls doing one of my favorite activities.
Tess warming up by the fireplace after playingin the snow. What a sweet girl.