The Wizard

Scene - Just landed in Chicago - sitting, waiting to get off of the plane:

Whitney - "Avery, you have to be really careful and hold onto my hand because we don't have a jet bridge like we normally do - you have to walk down the stairs and then outside."

Avery - "Why isn't the jet bridge working, Mommy? Maybe it is because of the Wizard!"

Whitney - "The Wizard??" (thinking - wow! My child has gotten to be so creative - she thinks that a wizard took the jet bridge!)

Avery - "Oh, I meant, the LIZARD!"

Whitney - "The Lizard??" (thinking - OK, this is getting a bit more weird than creative at this point)

Avery (clearly thinking very hard) - "You know, Mom - all of the snow!"

Whitney - "Oh! You mean, the BLIZZARD???"

More Christmas stories to follow....

Testing Limits

Ok, so I kind of thought that it was funny and cute when Alex received a time out for the first time the other day....until I was the one who he hit and consequently had to be the one to issue the timeouts.

We are clearly going through a "testing our limits" phase here.

The problem is, the first couple of times this happened, I put him in time out and told him (sternly - some may even call it "yelling") that he can't do that, yadda, yadda, yadda and he then started to cry. This is good. This means that he gets it and that he feels badly about it. Recently? He just sits there and slowly looks the other way. As if to say, " I can't hear you, Mom. This isn't sinking in. I'm about to hit you again for making me sit here." So, now I'm at a loss! I mean, what more can you do to a 17 month old boy to make him realize that he can't hit people? Why can't he be this happy, smiley kid every day???

Daycare Moments

Avery: "Miss Anne, you can come over to my house whenever you want to for dinner."

Miss Ann: "Oh really? Thanks! What will you be serving?"

Avery: "Well, because you are an adult - you have a choice of what you want to drink. You can either have fizzy water or a gin and tonic."



And, then there's Al....

Al decked a girl yesterday at daycare and received his first ever time out.

Tis the Season!

Holiday festivities have officially begun in the Holland household. December started off with a great birthday party for one of Avery’s friends from daycare. They rented out the top level of an Italian restaurant in Bristol and all of the kids got to make their own pizzas. After all of her practice in TX, Avery was a pro (and happened to be one of the only ones at the table to finish nearly all of her pizza – that’s my girl!).

That Sunday, we went to get our Christmas tree. Santa happened to be visiting the tree farm that day. One of my children had no qualms about sitting on his lap



But, clearly had qualms with our idea of putting the tree in the back of the truck vs. tying it to the roof of the car




the other child? Refused to even come within 5 feet of the building that Santa was in.

Later that afternoon, Avery and I went to Grammy and Grampy’s club to see a shortened version of the Nutcracker. She was thrilled that she got to wear her Christmas dress for the first time (and, that it is VERY spinny!)

Avery was mesmerized by the entire performance. However, afterwards, I asked her if she wanted to do ballet some day. Her response? “Yes, but I don’t want to do it with a mouse and a nutcracker. “ I had to explain to her that ballet didn’t always include a mouse and a nutcracker. She didn’t seem impressed. I think that we’ll stick with soccer for a while…

Last weekend, we went to a “Drive-In Movie” night at Lindsey’s house. Lindsey made a bunch of little cars out of cardboard boxes –equipped with side trays and all – and then served the kids hot dogs, carrot sticks, French fries, popcorn, and M&M’s while they watched the Grinch Who Stole Christmas and Rudolph (it was a double feature night).

Meanwhile, the adults hung out in the other room and snacked on apps and wine. I must say, it is a good thing that Avery has Asher as a friend because her mom will just never be this crafty...

Sunday (I wasn’t kidding when I said that the holiday festivities had officially begun), we started the day off with baking Christmas cookies, which clearly required a lot of flour...

and then went to brunch with Santa and Grammy and Grampy’s. Once again, one child? No problem sitting on Santa’s lap.

The other? Didn’t even want to look at him. However, I will say that when I was explaining to her that Santa is a nice man and that he makes her presents, so she should be nice to him, she responded with, “ok, Mommy. I’m not going to talk to him or look at him when he is there, but I’ll say ‘bye’ really nicely when he leaves.” And, she did! I think that I even heard a “Happy Holidays!” come out of her mouth. However, this was only when she was convinced he was making his way towards the door.

Ok – last one. MONDAY – we went to our new annual tradition of “high tea” at a mansion in Bristol.


It really is a cute event. Avery had a great time, but was probably the only little girl there who insisted on tea instead of hot cocoa and the chicken salad finger sandwiches instead of PB&J.



Oh – and, yes, Santa was there, which caused quite the concern when she realized that, in order to get to the bathroom, she had to go by him. I agreed to carry her and she buried her head in my shoulder so as not to see him and then told me that she doesn’t want to see him, but she still wants him to give her presents….

Oh, and right in the middle of all of these fun festivities? Alex took a trip to the hospital after falling and busting his head open on a cubby at daycare. We did avoid stitches and instead, they used glue. I'm just hoping it doesn't scar. Although, surely he could think of a really impressive story for the ladies as to how he got this when he gets older...

This weekend, we’re busy making fudge and then going to a Christmas party on Saturday and then off to Wisconsin on Wednesday. I’ll do my best for more timely posts so as to keep them a bit shorter in the future…

Thanksgiving 2010

So, I’ve come to the conclusion that the key to a nice, relaxing (I use that term lightly, as our lives are never relaxing with a 3.5 year old and a 17 month old) vacation is HEALTHY kids who are SLEEPING. Man! What a difference that makes!

Oh, and a celebrity sighting in the airport to start the trip off is also always a good luck sign. Here is a picture of David Ortiz getting food at the same food court we were at in Logan (for those of you not from the Northeast, Ortiz is a big time Boston Red Sox player). Clearly I didn’t get close enough to get a decent picture, but that is him. I swear.

Our Thanksgiving trip started out in Houston at Lexi and Will’s new house, which is gorgeous (and rather large!) – the kids LOVED running around and getting into their cousin’s toys. Poor Annabel – I’m not sure she was prepared for the Holland kids, as most of the time she just sat in a corner reading her books peacefully and looking at Avery and Alex screaming and running and thinking “who in the hell are these two and why are they SO loud???”

Sunday morning, we got together with Amy, Jessica and the kids again. We got to meet cute baby Oliver who was only a couple of weeks old and the kids got to hang out with each other while we made lunch and attempted to catch up (which wasn’t overly successful, but that was to be expected with 6 kids under the age of 4 running around).

That afternoon, we made the trip down to Opa and Grandma’s. We planned it so that we would leave right at the start of the kids’ nap times. It worked well.

Even a movie couldn’t entertain Avery long enough to stay awake at that point…



Opa and Grandma had PLENTY of activities planned to keep the kids occupied.

We went to 2 different playgrounds

Made cookies with Grandma

Took the ever exciting trip to Walmart (no, I’m not being sarcastic – trips to Walmart are exciting for kids and as a result, the parents)

Made our own pizzas and cooked them in Opa and Grandma’s Pizza Oven

Went to the beach

Note the location of the Holland kids and the Davie child. Holland kids? Up to their ears in sand and running around and screaming (again). Davie child? Well, she didn’t like the feeling of sand on her toes. So, she stayed on the towel the entire time and was perfectly content just taking things out of the diaper bag and handing them to her mother (and, probably still wondering who in the hell these two kids were running around screaming).

And, the highlight of the trip, played in the kiddie pool naked (these are the types of things you can do when you celebrate Thanksgiving in TX where is it 80 and sunny the whole week)

Which, we thought was a brilliant idea until someone (and, I’m not naming any names here)

decided to poop. Not once, but TWICE right smack dab on the deck...

It was actually rather comical (and, unbelievable). At least she noticed it when she did it. Alex? He would just walk around peeing and have no concept of what was going on. Ah....boys. You gotta love 'em.

Overall, it was a great week. The kids were great and it was great spending time with my parents, Lexi and Will as a family. Can't wait to do it all over again in a few weeks for Christmas!

Camping...Holland-style

Thanksgiving post soon (overall - GREAT week!!).

In the mean time, I wanted to post a few photos from our big camping adventure the other night. We had an unseasonably warm night the weekend before we left for Texas, so we decided to go camping Holland-style (a.k.a., walk 5 feet out our backdoor and sit around a fire that we built in a fire pit purchased from Crate and Barrel while drinking wine and eating smores).


I'd love to be able to say that we have grand plans to take the kids camping at some point, as I know that those would be great family memories for them to have. But, I'll be honest - this will probably be the extent of it. At this age, Avery was just excited to be able to "stay up late with Mommy and Daddy."

If it makes you feel any better, we were able to hear our local pack of coyotes howling in the distance while we were sitting by the fire and we were still able to hear them as we turned around and walked the 5 feet back to the house to go to sleep in our warm, comfy bed, surrounded by 4 walls that will protect me from said coyotes all night. Now, THAT is my idea of a successful camping adventure right there.

It's Starting Already....

"Hi Avery, I think that you are really cute - wanna go and run the obstacle course with me?"




"Um....I guess. But, only if you promise to take me to a restaurant afterwards..."

Happy Halloween

We had quite the festive weekend. Beginning with going to the pumpkin farm to pick out a pumpkin....

Carving the pumpkin (a.k.a., mom carving, dad taking pictures, kids playing in the sandbox and Deacon eating the pumpkin insides)....

Getting dressed up in our Lady Bug and Peanut costumes...







and, going trick or treating!!!!

Hope everyone had a great Halloween!

WHAT???

Avery - "Mommy, sometimes that new girl, Summer, cries in pre-school because she misses her Mommy."

Whitney - "Oh, really? That's sad."

Avery - "Yeah, I know. I don't miss you, Mommy!"

WHAT???

Whitney - "Well, you should really make sure you help Summer and invite her to play with you and Maggie during the day so that she isn't sad anymore."

Avery - "Well, I can't because I don't like playing with little girls who wear pony tails and have sisters."

WHAT???

Social (and apparently technically challenged) Butterfly

Ok – wow. I’m pretty certain that I haven’t been as social as I have been this month since I was in college. How did I function having so many social activities going on back then? Ok, clearly I know the answer to this and clearly it has to do with a certain 16 month old and a certain 3 year old who seem to need a mom – even when that mom is exhausted. It all started the weekend of our anniversary (which, was great by the way – I never really did provide an update on that) and ever since, we have had something going on every single weekend. Don’t get me wrong – I’ve thoroughly enjoyed every weekend and I loved spending time with everyone who came into town. But, wow. I’m exhausted!

Last weekend, Avery had hockey at the YMCA, which she seemed to enjoy and I had my first experience getting into the pool with Alex (ironically enough, I couldn't find my one piece until the 5th session. :))

After the Y, we rushed home to get ready for a visit from Colleen and her boyfriend, Chris and another friend of ours, Erin. Colleen and Chris were running the half marathon in Newport, so they took advantage of being in the area and came to the house for lunch on their way to Newport on Saturday. We did manage to catch up in between dealing with a chatty toddler and a 16 month old who wanted to be into everything and anything while we were trying to eat and it was a really nice visit. After that, we were off to Caroline and Jake’s house for dinner and then off to the pumpkin festival in Newport. As always, we had a great time. Avery and Max loved looking at all of the pumpkins and Alex enjoyed his snooze in the stroller the entire time. NOTE - no idea why all of these pictures are sideways (they are not on my hard drive) and for some unknown reason, blogger doesn't give you the option to rotate them, so just flip your screen around to look at the next couple.

This last weekend, Auntie Sara came for a visit. On Saturday, we participated in the MS Jet Pull, which was pretty cool. We literally pulled a 727 jet down the runway at TF Green. This is the second year that I’ve done this and it really is a rush.

Alex had a bit of a rough weekend to begin with – he woke up crying on Friday night and I went in to find a pile of puke in his crib (which later ended up in my washing machine, as Josh didn’t do as good of a job as he had thought getting rid of it the night before) and then found out that he had a 103 temp. He didn’t have a temp the next day, but was miserable. I’ve never seen him like that. He finally seemed to get better Saturday night and then was fine yesterday, thank god! I was pretty certain Sara was about to turn around and go home after his display on Saturday! But, she stuck around and we had a very nice rest of the weekend playing with the kids. And, later that weekend Alex more than made up for his horrible mood on Saturday when he started walking all over the house on Saturday night and Sunday! It was very exciting. He had taken his first steps about 4 weeks ago, but hadn’t really walked too too much since then. This weekend, however – he was cruising! It is really exciting. Here he is at Caroline and Jake’s last weekend. So, picture this, but a bit more steady and frequent (and, right side up)!