Holland 9 Months

Sweet Holland at nine months old! I want to have this baby forever, but I guess I know that one of the reasons she seems so special is because I know how quickly this time passes.

Still not crawling, but she sure is active on her tummy. I love when she high-centers like this--lifting up her arms and legs like a superman. She also gets on her hands and knees, rocking back and forth. I love it when she gets on her hands and toes in a plank position. The kids call it push-up position. Little sweethearts.

Her hair is getting so long! Miriam probably had this much hair at age two! Here is Miriam on the tricycle we got her for her second birthday. Holly got the hair growing genes--Miri did not. Poor thing. We love her curly red hair though!

Miriam at 2 years old

At her 9-month checkup she weighed 16 lbs 12.5 oz, which is the 22%! I can't believe she is so big! She is 28 1/4 inches tall which is the 66%. Her head circumference was 18 inches, which is the 90%.  I have my doubts about how accurate those measurements are though, except the weight. 

Holland's big accomplishment this month is learning how to sit up independently! She went from being a little baby to a big baby in one move. She loves sitting and for a while really hated being on her tummy. (By 10 months she had tipped over enough that she was used to being on her tummy a lot again.) 

She also figured out how to make noise with her nose. She scrunches up her face and sniffs as a game. It is adorable! It is one of the few things (like smiling) that if we do it to her, she knows how to do it back at us.

She also says da-da, drools a lot, and demands playing with toys. We love our Holland-girl!!

Torturing my baby

I finally decided I was emotionally ready to admit that my baby is big enough to have solid food. So we tried her on some rice cereal. She hates it. Really hates it. Poor thing. It is a daily torture session. She fights it getting put in her mouth and then will either thrust it back out with her tongue or let her mouth hang open and let it drool out. Oh man. We are failing so far.

She has eaten a few cheerios without losing her mind. Maybe we can just have her survive on cold cereal...

Eliza is Seven!

My baby girl is seven years old! How does life happen so fast? Eliza is a delightful girl who loves life. She really is so positive about almost everything. She is always conscience of people's feelings and won't intentionally do anything to make anyone feel bad. I can't tell you the number of times I have heard her exclaim this is the best day (weekend, trip, night, etc.) ever! 

Eliza had been looking forward to her birthday since her last birthday and had picked out what she wanted to have as her birthday treat since about six months ago--crepes! My sweet girl didn't consider what she would like as a present or what she wanted to do special that day, but she just had her eye of the prize of crepes. :)

This was our first kid birthday in our house and so we had the balloon carwash at the bottom of the stairs. Grandpa (I mean the jungle gym!) came over for a visit too.

Of course we did make her crepes. She is getting bigger but still loves to help me in the kitchen, when I can pry her away from her books. 

For dinner she picked out mashed potatoes and steamed broccoli. I added chicken, cantaloupe, and salad to the menu. :)

I just love her enthusiasm about everything! She loves school. She loves being home. She loves playing. Okay, she does not love working, especially Saturday cleaning. It seems like every week she has to shed a few tears and 'get over' having to do the cleaning. Bless her heart. I have heard, "Kids are happy to do any given chore until they have the capability to do it well, then they don't want to do it anymore." This could describe Eliza.

Eliza still makes a big deal about not liking chocolate, but she will eat almost anything else, so I can't complain. At her 7-year checkup she weighed 41.8 lbs which put her in the 9th percentile. She was 46 3/4 inches tall which put her in the 30%. She does like to eat though, so she must have inherited her daddy's metabolism.

Oh I love her! She just suggested to me that for her next birthday treat she might like muffins made with all-purpose flour and lots of sugar and blueberries, but no walnuts. Oh what a character!

Eliza with her birthday crepes.

This was the other thing she was truly thrilled about. Receiving presents. Grandma Lucas gave her The Secret Garden which she read three times in the next couple of days. We also gave her a disco ball and had a little dance party, but the girls bonked heads pretty bad, so we had to stop and get some band-aids. Grandpa Deru gave her a rainbow loom. We gave her a new bike and some new gear to hopefully learn how to ride without training wheels.

Eliza has been writing a lot of stories recently. She calls them her Miracle Series. She types them herself on the computer. Here is the one she wrote most recently. 

Miracle: Raspberry Bush Wishing

Once there was a raspberry bush named Eliza. Her owner wanted to make a raspberry pie and she wanted to help. But Eliza only had 10 raspberries and her owner needed 15. She looked around and spotted 3 more raspberries! She wished she had 2 more. What she didn't know was that she had wishing buds. Whatever you wished for would appear in their place. That instant, Eliza had 2 more raspberries. So she had 15.

THE  END

We are grateful everyday for this wonderful girl! We are still reading the Narnia books together and about to finish the sixth book with only one to go. She is a phenomenal big sister. She is very responsible for her age. Recently we had parent-teacher conferences with her teacher. Miss Howard started out with, "I just want to let you know first that I don't have any concerns with Eliza academically or socially." Well, of course! I know I am pretty partial, but I think this girl is about as good as it gets! I am constantly surprised by how smart this girl is. She is learning her times tables and she is only in first grade! She reads almost constantly so she often is reciting things that she is learning to us. I love it!

Eliza, I love you so much! I am constantly impressed by your loving nature and thoughtfulness of others. I am so proud of the girl you are becoming. I love how much you love the gospel, singing, reading, and being with your family. It is a joy to be your mother! Recently we decided to estimate how many times I have said 'I love you' to you in your life. We came up approximately 24,510 times of saying 'I love you.' I don't know how accurate that is, but I can tell you this: I couldn't possibly say it enough. You make me want to be a better person, and you are a delight to those around you. Thank you for being such an amazing girl! 

Visitors and V Day!

Out of the blue my sister texted me and said that they wanted to come visit us over President's Day weekend. What an awesome surprise! Of course we were thrilled!

I am embarrassed that we didn't take more photos of when they were here. We mostly hung out at our house. We also went swimming, to the Orange Patch, and we watched their kids while they went to my dad's show. These pictures are of that time while we played at a nearby park. The kids played so nicely at this park! No fighting at all. It was great! The following day was Sunday (also Valentine's day) and we had heart pancakes, went to church, and made necklaces. We had their girls sleep over on Saturday. It was so fun! Although, quite short!

It made quite an impression on my girls. The other day for preschool Miriam had to write about who she admired most. She started to write Mommy because she teaches my things. But she was definitely considering Aunt Kayla or maybe James (her oldest daughter).

On a separate occasion, Eliza had to write her favorite vacation and she asked me if she could write about when Aunt Kayla came. Sure, honey. She *loved* making necklaces with her necklace making kit. (I did too! I am seriously considering getting some tools so I can make real jewelry!)

Haha! My girls still can fit in the same swing!

I loved catching this moment when John and Eliza were just off talking the two of them. It makes my heart melt.

My girls and I are lucky to have such a wonderful Valentine! He got us all presents...whew the work is cut out for him with four important girls in his life! I got a game and the older kids got a special treat. Holland got extra loves. Oh we just love you John! Thank you for being the best husband and father in the world! Even Holland thinks so!

Elizas First Date

Eliza's school has this fun activity in February of doing a father-daughter dance.

I am so lucky to have such a wonderful father for my daughters. John was happy to take her to the dance.

They had a yummy catered pizza dinner, delicious treats (including a chocolate fountain and a cotton candy machine), and a gift bag for the girls. There was dancing, a photo booth, and games. I wish I could have gone too, but I am glad they had a chance to do a fun one-on-one activity. Eliza seemed to be the most excited about the two things of cotton candy she ate.

Purple daisies for the girl who is all about purple these days.

Eliza was thrilled to be with her best friend Ava. Apparently, she ignored John about 1/3 of the time to play with Ava. So it could be worse.

Miriam and I had a fun dinner at home and then watched Sofia the First, so pretty good. Always love Sofia.

Sweet smiles, learning to crawl, and blow outs

Those eyes!! That dimpled chin!! 

Oh my sweet baby! I wish I could capture every moment! She is just a delight to everyone around her, but most particularly her parents and sisters. Her sisters just dote on her. Miriam is really coming along with her reading and can be caught reading to Holland several times a day. It makes my heart happy!

She sure loves toys and standing more and more!

Holland was so close to crawling. She would push up to her knees and toes. The girls called it push up position. I call it a plank. :) Sweet baby! Occasionally she could propel herself forward by pushing up on her toes and then falling down. It looks like a lot of effort for a small amount of forward motion. Mostly she can just push herself backward and roll around. Which puts one in pickles like this (getting stuck in the bathroom). :)

One defining characteristic of Holland is that she likes to poo only every day or two and it always goes everywhere. I have had to take her home from a store in just a diaper on more than occasion. Clearly, I should be better about keeping extra clothes with me.

Look what we made, our family is playdoh sea creatures! Oh I just love my family. One of my goals this year is to make the most of every day. I hope I can carry that through the whole year. Life is too short to be stressed out all the time. I want to make happy memories and stop focusing on my inadequacies. I love this time of my life so much! Need proof? Check out this video of the most adorable children ever!