Even though the days fly by, and I never feel like I have enough time to do everything that I should/want/wish to do, I still picked up this little table and chair set at the recent consignment sale with the intention of redoing it. Here's how it turned out.
The vinyl on the chairs (the picture doesn't really show it) was stained and ripped. and the table, although in decent condition, was not that cute. My initial investment was $1 for the chairs and $5 for the table. Not bad.
I used some paint we already had for the table, but I had to get spray paint for the chairs, sealant for the table top, and most expensive, a staple gun to recover the little cushions. I am hoping to be able to use the staple gun again sometime in order to justify buying it. I also had to get a little bit of fabric and batting for the cushions.
We have also been doing other crafts. Christmas trees. Two kinds of handprint ornaments for Holland and a new stocking for Holland. Not to mention some new head bows. Getting my craft on!
I would say that one of Holland's most defining characteristics at 7 months old is that she has taken a huge interest in toys! I guess you could say that mainly she just likes entertainment. She loves toys of all shapes and sizes. She doesn't have complete control over her hands yet though so it is sad when she whacks herself in the face with a rattle or something.
Holland also loves music and the swing. And her big sisters playing with her and getting in her face. Her ideal situation is plenty of milk, being in the swing, music on, sisters playing with her, and a toy in her hand. Oh and being well rested.
That is a painful subject though. She has given us a hard time recently with naps. Hard time is an understatement. She doesn't want to take any naps!! Actually what she wants is to nurse to sleep and for me to just hold her while she sleeps, so if she stirs at all, she can immediately begin sucking. She is quickly going from our easiest baby to our most challenging. Whew! We all still adore her though. How could we not? I mean, come on! Look at that face!
I don't know if it is my imagination, but I swear she already has stranger anxiety. She doesn't like being held by people she doesn't know. This is a problem because at the gym she just cries and cries. Maybe this is because she wants to nap during this time. My exercise schedule has really taken a nose dive. I don't know what to do about it either. I am trying to get her on a schedule, but that often means napping all morning. Like today. She went down for her nap at 8 am and at 11:20 she is still asleep. I hate exercising in the afternoon because there are no classes and I have to be home to get Ellie from school. And of course, exercising in the evening is out of the question. We already feel like our evenings are really packed! Anyway, that $75 a month gym membership might be getting put on hold until Holly makes it more reasonable to go.
Of course she is worth it though. I love her little giggle! She is slowly moving away from the cough laugh to more of a giggle. She sure giggles when she is tickled. It is adorable!
Holland rolled a lot at around six months, but she has kind of given up on the practice. There have been a few times though when she has lifted her tummy and bum off the ground while she was on tummy time. Getting slowly closer to crawling. I love that she is taking her time though! Stay little baby! She has been scooting backwards on her tummy though. She can make some pretty good distance!
I love that she still loves her feet so much. She sucks on her toes occasionally, which I love, but have yet to get a good photo of. She has started to recognize the movement of when we hold our arms out to her to pick her up. She often smiles and gets excited.
Other favorites: holding her ear while she nurses, hearing her sisters sing "I am a Child of God," baths and the sound of water, and a new favorite--being read to. Holland loves the baby faces book. If there is one thing that we could wish for her it is that she would take her pacifier again. Her life would be so much happier! When she is in a pinch though, Daddy's cheek will do. :)
This is the second year of a fun, new tradition. Get my birthday burger at Red Robin and go see the temple lights.
The kids love going out to dinner. Of course. And John and I crave big juicy burgers so it definitely fits the bill! I like that we start this early enough in the day so that it isn't crowded at either the restaurant or when we arrive at sundown at the temple lights.
The one flaw of the plan was that we needed to go to the bathroom and feed Holland as soon as we arrived at the temple, but that was kind of a walk from each other. But it was still beautiful though! And really not too crowded.
A much happier baby after getting some milk.
I think Miriam still has her dinner remnants on her face.
I think it is funny that Miri started out the night with a big, poofy coat on, but by the end of the night she was tired of it. So it came off. Fortunately it was warm enough that it isn't that big of a deal. Just a little uncomfortable without a jacket. Not as uncomfortable as making Miriam do things she doesn't want to do though...like wear a jacket. It is going to be rough when we arrive in frigid Utah for Christmas!
I LOVE the nativities display in the visitor center!! Here is Holland with the nativity from Holland. She could have been more impressed.
See, no coat.
We worked and worked to get a family picture, but the camera wouldn't focus in the dim light. This turned out better than I thought.
They are getting properly introduced! Also, they were bribed with a promise of two servings of ice cream each to learn this song. Nothing quite motivates my kids like the promise of a treat...
I was getting my light settings ready for one of Holland's monthly photo shoots. Miriam was my test subject for the light--and this happened. Oh I just love this girl.
We were hoping to avoid asking our family to take pictures for us over Christmas or hiring a real photographer. So we asked a friend of ours to take some photos for us with her camera. She has a nice Nikon. Surely they would turn out okay. And they did, but I learned some lessons.
We went over to the park near our home and scouted out locations. It was a really fun afternoon activity for the girls. We saw ducks at the duck pond. They kept throw dirt and rocks at the ducks because they wanted to feed them so bad. Good intentions gone wrong...
The day of the photo shoot.
These individual ones I took of my kids.
It was at the end of the shoot so their smiles look a little faded.
Except Holland, who didn't smile in any of the other pictures. So I have to post three of her adorable little smile.
These ones are a little more casual.
The main issue that I had was that my friend kept shooting on auto and cropping us weird. She would physically hold down the flash. I guess you get what you pay for... All the same it was really nice of her to take time out of her schedule to do this for us.
Little sweethearts.
One of the saddest moments for me was when the sprinklers turned on. The back of me is soaked in most of these. At least it wasn't the front!
I still love our outfits though. Maybe Patti will take some of us when we are up there this Christmas??
