Graduation

I can't believe it, Cailyn has graduated from Nursery today. She is officially a little girl and not a baby. Those of you who have been through this before know the feeling, and understand that there are no words to describe it.

"She is growing up" her mother said with a tear.

I almost want her to stay little, but I love seeing her personality develop(most of the time;).

Her day was actually quite difficult. She went to nursery just fine, just like every other Sunday, but during the last hour I heard her screaming out in the hall. I went out to check it out only to find Jason already taking care of the situation(naturally). The teacher told me that she had been hurt twice by 2 different kids. She didn't want to go back to nursery, so she came to Primary with me(they were coming in soon anyway for the graduation ceremony). However, she wanted to be held the entire time. That would have been alright except that our pianist didn't show up today and I had to play the piano and be chorister at the same time, while tending a fussy 3-year old. We survived.

You see, Cailyn did not sleep on the way to church today, which she needed, but being hurt triggered her fuss. She could not get happy the rest of the time. So, we had to get pictures later of our little girl in her cap. They also received a certificate when they walked up front to stand in line with all the other graduates. If I hadn't been so frustrated with the situation, I probably would have cried(no big surprises for those of you who know me well--I am a cry baby).

We finally got the cap to fit right. Kids are so funny, I love them. Congratulations Cailyn and welcome to Primary!

We love you!

FIRST TOOTH!!

It is official, Jessica is now cutting teeth. Thursday, December 27(by the way, Happy Anniversary Mom and Dad Holloway), Jason came home from work and for reasons beyond me he put his finger in Jessica's mouth(he washed his hands before-I think!) and there was a tooth already cut in there. She had been a little fussy, but nothing really bad, but that would definitely explain the fuss.

However, almost immediately she started running a fever, crying constantly and demanding I hold her for her naps. Not to mention the never-ending stream of drool coming from her mouth. That is just not my Jessica. She is usually all smiles and giggles, but not the past couple of days. I think there are more teeth on the way and they are making her miserable(which means we all are-for her of course). Pretty soon it will be completely dangerous for anyone(including Jessica) to put his or her finger in her mouth. Maybe we should post a sign--WARNING! NEW SHARP TEETH READY TO BITE!

My Princess

I am so blessed to have received a visit from Cinderella today. She is more beautiful than any picture I have seen of her. I took a few, but remember that pictures don't do her justice.

Hawaii!!!!

My parents went to Hawaii over Thanksgiving week and thoroughly enjoyed themselves. I am so glad that they were able to go, what an experience!

While there, they made sure to get everyone souvenirs. The girls and Jason got t-shirts, I got a pair of 'roaches'(a pair of brown sandals, I love them!) and knowing that Jason was musically inclined they got him an Ukulele. It is beautiful and we are excited for Jason to learn to play it well. I wear my 'roaches' almost everyday, they are so comfortable. Thank you Mom and Dad for remembering us while on your trip to Paradise! We love you both!!!

After spending time with my sister-in-law, I am now interested in making our pictures more beautiful, and these were my first shot at it. I hope you enjoy them, and pray they continually get better. Thank you for your patience!

Christmas with Meme and Da!

Since my parents(Meme and Da--for those of you who didn't know already) were traveling to Idaho for Christmas we went to exchange gifts with them on December 15th. It is times like these that I wish I could have Rachel around just to take pictures of our family moments(she is really good at capturing the beauty of everything), because looking back I realize that I didn't get very many, and the ones I did get weren't the best.

I am not sure if you can see, but we got them a frame with the mat spelling out the word "Grandkids", and of course filled it with pictures of our beautiful girls.

Every year, Mom gets the girls a new kitchen trinket. This year we got a pie server and a can strainer. Thank you Mom, I have already used the pie server. It is great! All the gifts were wonderful. Cailyn and Jessica got some books, movies, puzzles and a fun new game. We always enjoy reading new books. Our family got the music version of Catch Phrase. We have already tried this one and it was much harder than I expected. Maybe I just have a bad memory.

We had a great time at Meme and Da's house and hope that they are having a fun trip to Idaho and pray they travel home safely.

Pure Bliss!

I just realized that it has been 14 days since my last blog. That is unacceptable! So much has gone one since then that I can't even remember enough to post it. What a shame.
I think that I will start with one memory from these past 2 weeks that should never be forgotten.
Jason, the girls and I went to Waco to visit my parents on the 15th of December. We went for the purpose of exchanging gifts(my parents were traveling to Idaho for Christmas and we needed to have Christmas with them early). When we were planning this, my parents told us that they had some massages planned that day, so we wouldn't have the entire day to celebrate. Some stuff happened and it turned out that they had an extra spot for me to get one also. I have never had a full body massage, but have always wanted one. So, Jason stayed with the girls while my parents and I went to receive a 90 minute massage.
The Austin School of Massage has a branch in Waco and the students have to get a certain number of hours of experience. My parents have had massages from them before and loved them, so I definitely wasn't going to pass up this opportunity.
The weirdest part of the entire thing was that everyone was in the same room. The women go in first and get ready(remove clothes to your level of comfort, then lie down on table face down with sheet over you), then the men come in and do the same thing. My mom reassured me that it was nothing strange, but I felt a tinge of uneasiness while all of this was going on. We get the massage(my student was female; I was more comfortable that way) and the same process backwards afterwards(the men get dressed and leave the room and then the ladies get dressed and leave).
During the massage they have the lights down low, turn on some tranquil music, and press all of the tension and stress out of your muscles. All I can say is WOW! It was definitely 90 minutes of Pure Bliss! The only bad part was when they told us it was over(with the exception of the getting dressed in a room full of strangers, of course). I would definitely do it again though.
Thank you Mom and Dad for sharing that with me!

Texas style snow

We got a package in the mail with a gift that we had ordered in it. It had all those packaging peanuts in it and Cailyn thought that it would be cool to throw it in the air. So, we had our own little snow fall in my bedroom, Texas style of course. Thought you might enjoy the video.

Future Blogger

Jessica is so sweet. She loves to sit in one of our computer chairs and watch me blog. I have decided that she is going to blog when she gets older. I just thought that I would show how cute she is already learning to blog.

We have a company come check our heating and cooling system 2 times a year and our winter visit was Monday. The guy was here for about 30 minutes when he told me we needed to replace our Air conditioner/heater. He used this really cool camera to show me there were parts falling apart on the system and he was getting traces of Carbon Monoxide coming through our vents(luckily Jason and I aren't bothered by the cold and we had only used the system twice all year). He looked at his records and found that our system was 22 years old. That is basically ancient for air conditioners. Well, I don't feel comfortable making decisions like that alone, so I called Jason and he made sure he was home early from work to talk to the salesperson. Over $9,000 later, we had an appointment for the workers to come install our new heating/cooling system. It is in and it works beautifully(however we are trying to figure out how to pay for it). But, the girls and I are very comfortable inside, while it is wet and cold outside.

Some of you might be thinking that it is not a necessity, but you would probably be the people who have never lived through a Texas summer. Winter, yes we could handle without it, but when Summer comes around, it is absolutely a necessity.

Stinky

I need help. No not mental help!(well, maybe) My 3-year old won't go #2 in the potty. She refuses to do it. She is bothered by wearing a diaper at night, but if I let her wear panties she holds her "poop" for days and then it hurts. She doesn't wet through the night, so the diaper is really only for her bowel movements. Can anyone give me some advice?

Sleep Button

For the past few nights Jessica hasn't been sleeping very well. I take that back. She sleeps well for 2-3 hours while we are still awake, but as soon as we go to sleep she starts to fuss and cry every hour. I have come to the conclusion that it is my "sleep button".

You see, every Mommy and Daddy come equipped with a "sleep button." This button alerts the child in the crib/cradle that he or she has gone to bed. The job of that child then is to start to cry enough to get them to get out of bed. If a little bit of fusses doesn't work, then wailing and holding of breath is a must.

Some "sleep buttons" are on the parents' bottom, but I know for a fact that mine is on the back of my head. This information has come to me because I am asleep within the first minute my head hits the pillow(a blessing I definitely take advantage of). So it was absolutely necessary for the button to be on the back of the head on my model.

Up until now, Jessica has not activated the "Sleep Buttons", but they are fully functioning now. Jason and I are in the process of deactivating our buttons. As soon as we figure it out, we plan to paton our work and the necessary steps and distribute it to parents around the world for a nominal fee. How much would you pay for a good nights rest? Of course the laws of supply and demand deam parents will pay out the wazoo for this information. Family and friends will, of course, receive a discount.

Children of God

Last night, we were going through our nightly routine of bedtime and I decided it was time to show Jason how smart our 3-year old was(really just one of her tricks). So I went to get 4 different types of coins, laid them out on the bed, and asked her which one was a quarter. She knew that one right away(the biggest), then the penny(it is a different color), the dime, and then asked her to name the last one(for those of you who need a little help-it was the nickel). She got them all correct-yay Cailyn!

Then Jason picked up the quarter and asked who the person was on the coin. Cailyn's answer "A Child of God". I try not to laugh at her when she says cute stuff like that(I remember getting very upset when adults laughed at me as a child), but I lost it. She was right of course, but it was hilarious. We tried to explain that George Washington was the first president of this country, then she said, "Gordon B. Hinkley". We decided that she is practicing all of her Primary answers to see if they really do work. Although they were absolutely adorable answers they both had some truth to them. George Washington is a child of God and Gordon B. Hinkley is a President, just not of this country.

I love the way children's minds work. I would never think to say some of the things they say. She makes me giggle and I need that(as all adults do). Again, thank you Cailyn!

Happy Birthday Jason!

Saturday was Jason's 28th birthday. We tried to make it special and great, but as things sometimes happen with little ones, they ruled the day. We decided that we were going to go shopping together, but Cailyn wouldn't listen and stay close so we left early. We tried again after a nap, but it only got worse. Well, if you read my last blog, I got sick that night so Jason had to take care of the girls and clean the kitchen and all the other stuff that has to be done on Saturdays before church. Jason is so patient with us, I certainly don't deserve such a loving man. In the midst of all of that we tried to throw a party. He told me he wanted a cookie cake and that he didn't want me to decorate it(probably because I am not very good at it), but I found a way to decorate it so it would be special for his birthday.

Don't be fooled, it took him 2 times to get them all out!

We were worried the smoke alarm might go off.

Cailyn helped me to decorate the presents.

Jason, we love you!

Happy Birthday!

Lost Lunches

This week has been very interesting. Wednesday night Cailyn woke up and came to sleep in our bed with us. She hardly ever does this, so when she does, we usually let her. All of a sudden she gets out of bed and tells me that she needs to go stinky in her diaper. She does this in the bathroom so she starts walking down the hall and halfway there she throws up twice. Remnants of her dinner are all over the hall and she is screaming and crying. Jason takes her to the bathroom and comforts her and I proceed to clean the hallway(we are blessed to have laminate flooring now). So we change her pajamas and put her in our bed for the night. Then she starts to throw up again. Luckily I stopped it from getting all over the bed. This time most of it ended up on Cailyn and a bit on my pillow. Well, Jason changed the pillow case and helped me get her ready for a bath. I bathed her, found new pajamas(again), and put her back in our bed. I then fell asleep and Jason sat up with a trash can in hand to help her to keep it cleaner next time. Then Jessica woke up to eat and when I came back to get in bed, Jason was asleep and my side of the bed was taken by a beautiful, sick 3 year old. So, I got into Cailyn's bed and about 6:00 that morning I heard Jessica throw-up in her bed. So, I changed her and put her into Cailyn's bed with me. The next day, Jason was exhausted at work and the girls and I took about a 4 hour nap, skipping breakfast and lunch.

The following morning I was up feeding Jessica and as soon as she was done eating, she threw it up all over me. That was about 4:00 am, but not too early for a shower that day. Jessica seemed to feel fine that day, so I thought we were over it. Not so. All day Saturday I felt a little weird, but tried to go about bussiness as usual. That night I got sick as well. All night long I was throwing up. It was about every hour - 2 hours. Today I am feeling some pains in my lower back. Almost like labor pains(for those of you who have delivered a baby).

Needless to say, I did not go to church today. Well, since Jessica is still breast-fed, she stayed home with me. She is having a great time today. She gets all the attention from Mommy and gets to play with some of Cailyn's toys without them being ripped from her hands.

I can tell that I am starting to recover. So I think that it is just a 24-hour bug. Thank goodness!

The Classics

OK, This is important. The other night Mindi and I had a disscussion, but we couldn't come to an agreement, so we decided to put it in YOUR hands. Please see our most recent poll and consider the question carefully. Your vote will determine bragging rights in the Holloway Household for the next month or so, so we ask again that you carefully consider the question and place you vote to the following question: Would you consider the movie "The Goonies" to be a classic?

Selective Hearing

So we are driving to a meeting in Weatherford the other day listening to Christmas music on the radio. "Jingle Bells" comes on and Cailyn excitedly says, "I like this song." Then she proceeds to sing along: "Tinker Bell, Tinker Bell. . . " Just thought that was hilarious. Everything is about Tinker Bell and fairies right now.

Life is only as good as the memories we make

Let it Snow! Let it Snow! Let it Snow!

In all of my years in Texas I don't think that it has ever snowed on Thanksgiving. There is a first for everything. It was so nice. We had to come and set up our Christmas tree and get out our Christmas CDs and movies. It finally feels like the Holidays to me. Now I have this incredible urge to bake.

I love Christmas!

Service

Lately I have been emotionally down. I don't know why, I don't have a reason to be sad or depressed, yet I have been. I thought that I needed to be alone, but that didn't work. I then thought that I needed to have adult interaction, so I invited a friend to come visit with her children, but she cancelled.

Then, a sister I visit teach with invited me and the girls over for hot cocoa and cookies while we help her to decorate her Christmas tree. She has some physical ailments and needed assistance preparing the cocoa and cookies to serve to her guests. Some youth in our ward came over to help(as is tradition for these particular youth) and there was my answer. All I needed was to spend some time serving someone else, you know, take the energy I was using to feel depressed and spend it helping someone else.

I have been taught my entire life that service is important, and I am obviously still learning this aspect of the Gospel. It seems so simple, however it takes many repititions of the same lesson to sink in(for me anyway). I guess in my mind I have always thought that service is for the person you are serving, but really it helps me just as much, if not more. It is like when you teach something you learn it better. I am sure that those of you that are reading this are probably thinking "Duh", but for me it was an answer to my prayer that I couldn't figure out on my own. I am so glad that I had the opportunity to help that wonderful sister and be lifted by her at the same time. I truly believe that she helped me more than I could ever help her.

Cailyn and Jessica had a great time playing with Dillon, the sister's grandson.

Cailyn had to keep putting the ornaments on because she kept pulling them off the tree. She had a great time and was excited to start working on our tree at home.

Cookie Cutter Kids

We consider ourselves very fortunate to have beautiful children, but sometimes, as we go through photos we find it difficult to distinguish between the two. What do you think; can you tell who is who?

Just in this week

Jessica is finally sitting on her own. She doesn't roll over on a regular basis, but she is sitting up all by herself. Of course, she falls when she is distracted(usually by her sister, but sometimes while trying to gnaw on something).

Again, I can't believe how fast they grow. It seems like just yesterday she was born(that might be because I am still carrying baby weight though), and now she is already sitting up to watch the comings and goings.

Jessica has now reached one of my favorite stages. She is doing that adorable belly laugh regularly now, chews on her toes constantly and is beginning to carry on full conversations with herself. I don't think that it is possible to kiss or hug her enough.

Babies are so cute!

My Cute Husband

For anyone who knows Jason well, you know that he does really good back flips. AND, When he gets the urge to do them, you had better watch out.

ISN'T HE CUTE!!

Keep in mind that he had not done a back flip in quite some time, so doing one off an elevated surface only seemed logical at the time.

A walk in the desert of Texas

One of Mineral Wells many claims to fame is the training post for helicopter pilots. Every pilot who flew a helicopter in Vietnam first came to Mineral Wells for some training(while trying to adjust to the heat). Just recently, in honor of the many veterans who came through Mineral Wells, the state created a Memorial Park. This memorial park meets up with the trail that connects to the State park.

Jason had the day off for Veteran's Day so we decided to go exploring as a family. We had never been on the trail and so we called it a hike until we got there. The trail wasn't very difficult and will be much prettier in the Spring, however we enjoyed our time together. We saw several signs of wildlife and heard an occasional rustling in the brush. We were somewhat intimidated by all the snake tracks, but we decided to press forward.

It always amazes me how hot it can be in the middle of November-for example today felt like an Idaho summer day. I can't believe that Thanksgiving is a week and a half away and we are already hearing Christmas music on the radio; it is still 80 or 90 degrees outside! I guess that growing up in Texas I should be used to it, but I am ready to wear sweaters and jackets. Winter, Come on Down!

As you can see, some of us were having fun, while others had their moments of crabbiness.