We have had some good couple of weeks. We have all had a cough, but doing ok. Here are some pics of the girls:

Carleigh during her bath.

Jillian & Carleigh after Carleighs bath.

Carleigh after her bath.

Jillian & I attempting to make a gingerbread house.

We went down to Brooke & Steves for the Holland Thanksgiving. We had a good time. Jillian ended up cleaning up Xion & Dane's rooms for them. I'm not sure why, but she was so proud of herself for doing it. We hung out there for most of the day. Both girls fell asleep on the way home. Jillian barely woke up even when Chris picked her up, took her potty & put her in bed. I laid with her for a few, but she probably didn't even know I was there. Here are some Thanksgiving Day pictures:

Papaw, Jillian & Carleigh on Thanksgiving.

Jillian "cheesing"

We didn't do anything really on Friday, other than taking some left overs down to my mom & grandmother. I did get up & do the whole Black Friday shopping thing with Ellen & Dana. I got up at 3:30 a.m. & was back home in bed by 6:30. Thankfully, Jillian was so tired she slept til 8:30, so I got 2 more hours of much needed sleep.

Then on Saturday, we got the Christmas tree down. Jillian pretty much put all the ornaments on by herself. I had to let my OCD tendencies go & let her do it. There are some ornaments on the same limb & most are really low, but she was having so much fun opening up each box of ornaments that I couldn't bring myself to tell her how to put them up. I figure they will get better each year.

Jillian decorating the tree.

Jillian decorating the tree all by herself.

Jillian & Carleigh in front of the Christmas tree.

Carleigh sitting in her Bumbo seat.

Jillian smiling at how well she is holding up her head while on her tummy.

Life in the Holland household is a bit broke & a bit crazy, but we are very happy. I can't seem to keep the house clean or get to work on time, but I am loving being a mommy of 2.

Jillian is keeping us on our toes with her whit & attitude. She is 3 going on 13! Her memory amazes me on a daily basis. She remembers things from months ago like they happened yesterday! Or I can read a book to her once & she can almost recite the book the next night. She got upset yesterday when we first woke up because she was on one side of me & Carleigh was on the other & she couldn't cuddle with her. Then she sang Twinkle Twinkle Little Star to her & told her she was her best friend. She is constantly telling me that she loves me too. She definitely makes me feel loved on most days.

Carleigh is a sweetheart. She isn't sleeping through the night which is frustrating daddy, but I know it will eventually end, so I'm trying to take it in stride. Most nights I do a good job at it, but not every night. Chris & I are dragging on most days. She only really cries when she is hungry. She doesn't like being in a room by herself if she is awake. She smiles a lot at everyone especially daddy & Jillian. She "talks" to me often. They said today at school that she was laughing out loud. I'm hoping she is a little more of the laid back one out of the two girls.

Carleigh with a Mohawk (daddy's doing)

Jillian holding Carleigh.

This past weekend, Saturday we went nowhere other than going to Walmart. It was so nice! Chris ran down to my mom's house to help hook up her washer/dryer. While he was gone, Jillian & I made cookies. She, of course, wanted to roll out the dough & did a great job!



I made frosting & Jillian helped add the coloring. Her frosting turned out brown. She frosted a few cookies herself too. Maybe she will be the next Betty Crocker & take care of her mommy & daddy when she is older.

Sunday, the girls & I went to visit Brooke. We stopped by to see Rhianna at work at DQ. She looked cute in her uniform. LOL. I'm very proud of her. She is such a beautiful, sweet, good natured girl (other than normal teenage stuff). When we got down to Brooke's, Dane was so excited to see Carleigh. Steve said every time Dane sees a picture of a baby, he asks if it is Carleigh. Him & Jillian were "fighting" over who was going to hold her. Dane just kept coming up & touching her face. Very sweet.

This week has taken forever to get over. I'm ready for Thanksgiving & spending some time with the in laws. This weekend, I think my family is coming over to make cookies and/or candy. Gotta keep the tradition alive!

Wordless Wednesday

The two pics below are of when Jillian & I were taking pictures of ourselves. She kept making funny faces when I would take a pic. She was cracking me up:

Carleigh hanging out in her swing

Our little reader. She also has a ton of books surrounding her. I just thought it was cute how she fell asleep with a book on her chest.

Carleigh smiling at her mommy.

Carleigh at 3 months

Jillian

Let me start by explaining how Jillian's daycare works. She has 6 or so chances to get stickers for being good. If she is bad, she doesn't get a sticker & the teacher writes a little note on what she did to not get a sticker. If she doesn't get all of her stickers, then her punishment at home is to not get to watch TV for the night. Which means, she also goes to bed at 7:30, which is a half hour earlier than normal,(but since she can't tell time, she has no clue of that little artifact). She didn't get all her stickers at daycare of Monday because she was coloring on the cots at nap time (because another little girl was doing the same thing she said). Yesterday she didn't get all her stickers because she wasn't listening during nap time (she got in trouble last week for telling other kids to wake up during nap time, we obviously have a nap time problem). So, when I picked her up & saw her paper, I told her she knew there was no TV that night. The teacher told me that she wakes up at nap time & starts playing with other kids & doing what the other kids are doing. When I looked at Jillian to see her response, I noticed she had bags under her eyes!! Poor thing (is what I was thinking for a split second) She wasn't overly happy about no TV, but knows that is her punishment, so she didn't get too upset. Then we went into the infant room to get Carleigh...she kept trying to open the door before I was ready & wasn't listening to me, so I knew we were going to have a problem. Then she wanted to take Carleigh back into the gym area to show her off to her teacher & to her boyfriend. I had to get to Weight Watchers & I'm sure neither one of them really cared if they saw Carleigh. Well, that just trhew Jillian into a tizzy! She starts growling at me and whining & hitting herself in the leg with her fist. I got her into the car & she started kicking the back of my seat. Well, one of her shoes fell off & she wanted it. I told her it was an accident, so I would give it to her. Well, the next thing I knew her shoe came flying by my head & landed in the seat next to me. I told her I couldn't believe she had done that & BOOM, the other shoe was flying by my head. I tried very hard not to laugh because it was kinda funny. I told her she would now be getting a time out & would be going to bed even earlier than what she was going to originally. She flipped out! But by the time we got home, she had actually calmed down. Chris came out to get her & she sat in her time out very quietly. Then she went to bed at 7:00 and Chris said she was asleep by 7:30! She woke up at 6:30 and was a little cranky at first, but snapped out of it pretty quickly. We laid in bed & cuddled with Carleigh for a little bit. Then while I was getting ready she came & got me & told me to come look at this Walmart catalog. she said "Mommy come look at this. It is so adorable. And when you see it, you have to say 'Oh my' ". So I did. Then when it was time to leave to go to school, she said "Can we watch another Mickey Mouse?" I told her no, that we needed to leave for school. She said "That is not acceptable." OMG, she is 3 years old! She just comes up with the funniest things. She told Chris the other night that he did a great job cleaning up the garage. She also told me that I was a good pee-er & I did a good job pouring cat food into the bowl. LOL. So full of compliments. I love that little stinker!!

Jillian & Carleigh on pajama day at school. I love these girls!!!!

We have been so busy especially on the weekends. A couple of weeks ago, Chris & I went out to dinner & then a haunted house with Dana/Danny & Dani/PJ. It was nice having a date night. Rhianna watched the girls & did a great job.

The next day, the girls & I went down to Darcy's to make apple pies. We had a nice time. Jillian enjoyed playing with Oscar & Rhianna & helping make the pies. Ashley (one of Darcy's step daughters) and Rhianna played with Carleigh too. The pies were delicious.

Darcy showing off her skills.

Jillian helping stir the apples.

Rhianna & Jillian. Two beautiful girls!

Jillian standing in front of Darcy's house.

Then we went down to Brooke & Steve's for Danes birthday party. We had a good time. It is always nice hanging out with the Holland side of the family. We stayed til around 9:00. Chris stayed to play cards with Steve. Boy did that upset Jillian. She howled "daddy" half of the way home & said she didn't like the moon, her favorite color pink or the pretty lights at the cemetery because she was "so upset" (her words, not mine). She finally fell asleep as did Carleigh, both girls slept the rest of the night!

The next day was when Darcy & I drove to Illinois (read previous blog).

This weekend was a little less busy, but we still ran around alot. Friday night, I took Jillian to a "trunk or treat" at a church down the street from us. Saturday, the girls & I went to a 31 party at Brooke's house. Then we, with Chris, went to Mooresville for a trick or treat "hike.". Jillian's personality has definitely come out recently. She had me roll down the window at Starbucks so she could ask the lady what her name was & proceeded to tell her we were going to Aunt Darcy's. She talked to two women at Walmart the other day. And when we went trick or treating in Mooresville, there was a guy laying in a coffin passing out Tootsie Rolls. Instead of being scared, Jillian went up to him & said "what are you doing in there?". She had quiet a few people on the "hike" laughing because she had sooo much personality.
Jillian loves Carleigh so much. It doesn't surprise me anymore when I hear Jillian telling Carleigh that she loves her. The infant teacher told Chris the other night that every time Jillian sees her, she asks how Carleigh is doing. AW WWW.
Carleigh has been smiling more & sleeping in her crib more too. She isn't sleeping consistently through the night, but it is better than every 3 hours.

Following are just some pictures of our lives the last couple of weeks. Carleigh getting some "tummy" time.

Jillian painting her pumpkin (she didn't want to carve it)

Carleigh at 12 weeks.

One of my favorite pictures. Chris loves sleeping with her & she just snuggles down with him & sleeps so well.
Jillian & Carleigh before trick or treating on Saturday.