Last weekend, the girls & I went down to my mom & grandma's apartment to celebrate my mom's birthday. Jillian picked out a cake that had a Strawberry Shortcake decoration on it & Dora plates/napkins/party blowers for her. She was so excited to have a party. We had a good time. Rhianna had a double date to go on & the boy picked her up at the apartment. My mom & I made her bring him in so we could meet him. He seemed like a nice kid. Rhianna is such a sweet girl. I had to throw my 2 cents in before he picked her up to make sure she knows "how babies are made." I don't think we really did anything on Sunday, that I can remember.
On Wednesday morning, Carleigh threw up like a fountain while I was feeding her at 6:00 am. She had just done that to her teacher a couple of weeks ago, so I didn't think anything about it. I got a call from her teacher after lunch that she had a fever. So, I went & picked her up. She has to be fever free 24 hrs before she can go back, so that meant no school on Thursday. She then had a fever on Thursday, so that ruled out Friday. Her fever never got over 100.7, but she did throw up on Thursday before I took Jillian to school. I think it may just be teething, but there is some nasty stuff going around school, so who knows. I enjoyed spending 2 days with just her. Thankfully I have my vaca/sick days back, so it really wasn't a big deal. Grandma Lana was going to take care of her on Friday, but we go a lot of snow on Thursday & I didn't want to have to chance Lana either coming up here or Chris taking Carleigh down there. So, darn it, I had to stay home another day. LOL
Saturday, Chris went to Walmart for me (Love him!!!). Then we went to BW3's with Chris's family for his birthday. Afterwards, we went down to Brooke & Steve's so Chris & Steve could play cards together. We had a good time. I love the fact that Jillian has a cousin her age to play with. They get along most of the time. When they aren't it is just because they are 3 year olds. Brooke & Dane fell asleep in the chair & Jillian & I fell asleep on the couch close to 11:00. We left shortly afterwards.
Today, is Chris's 42nd birthday. I know, I am married to an old man. LOL. We haven't really done anything. I made Chili & that was about the highlight of the day. Woo hoo.
I have a very busy weekend planned next weekend. Tastefully simple party on Friday, baby shower on Saturday & picking up Granny in Effingham on Sunday. Hopefully I will have some time to blog. Jillian says things on a daily basis that makes me laugh & want to kill her, so I need to blog about her. I have some pictures below of just misc things.

Carleigh playing with her toys.

Jillian watching Dora on her laptop while relaxing on her Dora couch in her bedroom.

Carleigh in her first big girl bath!

Jillian & Carleigh in the bathtub.

The girls & I hanging out in bed last Sunday.

Jillian picked out her own outfit. And was pretending to be a mommy.

We had a great weekend. Thursday night, Chris went down to Brooke & Steve's to play "Magic" after Jillian went to bed. And had some good wholesome nerd time. LOL. Friday, we got up, went to Kohl's & Walmart. I had bought Chris shoes at Kohl's for Christmas, but they were too small. So, we returned those & bought some other things. There wasn't a cart readily available, so Jillian just walked...boy was that a mistake! She was all over the place! Definitely felt like a mom who had no control of her child. She was barely listening to Chris either. UGH!! Then we
went to Walmart, without much incident (Jillian was in the cart). We did our grocery shopping & then went home. After nap time, we got ready & drove down to Franklin. We ate at Bob Evans. Then we dropped the girls off at Brooke & Steve's. We ran back home so Chris could take a shower & get ready to go to Mark & Annie's :

Me and Chris on New Years Eve.

Mark on New Years Eve at their house.

Annie on New Years Eve at their house.

Chris at Mark & Annie's New Years Eve party.

We had a good time from what we can remember. Haha. I took Jager punch (5th of Jager & 2 liters of Hawaiian Punch). And boy did it have a punch! It hit me very hard & very quickly. I ended up on their bathroom floor before midnight:

Annie was nice enough to cover me up with a blanket. Mark thinks it was a table cloth, but it was a blanket. I eventually made my way to their spare bedroom & laid down on the bed. Chris came up at some point & laid with me until 5:00 a.m. When we woke up, he kept saying how he had lost 5 hours of his life because he didn't remember coming up & laying with me. It was quite funny! I was sober by that time (helps when you throw up & pass out for 5 hrs), so we came home. And slept for a few hours.

Chris on New Years Day.

I then got up & went & picked up the girls. They were both good at Brooke & Steve's. So glad Jillian & the boys get along well. On our way home, I stopped by to see my mom, Granny & Aunt Sally. We had a nice visit. Then we just hung out at home that night. I went & rented some movies & after Jillian went to bed we watched "Going the Distance." It was pretty funny. On Sunday, we finished taking down the tree & cleaned up a little. Chris made chili & we watched the Colts. So, like I said, we had a good weekend. As a family and as a couple.

I included this picture of Carleigh because she was too cute. And it was one of the first times in her excersaucer.

Wooh,it took forever to download these pictures. And there are plenty of them, so I'm not going to write much. We had a great Christmas though! Hoping to have a great New year too. Will try to get better at writing.

Carleigh. Looking so very cute!

Jillian & Carleigh in front of the tree.

In her little sister pj's.

Jillian in her big sister pjs

Cousins at Greensburg Christmas.
Super wedge! Our daughter is goofy.
Me & Jillian down at Greensburg.
Tara holding or looking like she is going to drop Carleigh.
Jillian & Sarah in her new Molly the Monkey tent.

Great-Granny & Carleigh at Darcys for Christmas.

Jillian, Carleigh, me & Granny at Darcys for Christmas

Me, Darcy & Granny

Jillian & Carleigh before we went to the Holland side of Christmas. Daddy picked out Jillians dress.

Jillian scooping out cookie dough for cookies for Santa.

Jillian snuggling up in her sleeping bag.

Jillian playing with her play do

Jillian playing with her Barbie toys.

Carleigh & Daddy hanging out on the couch on christmas day.

Carleigh.

Jillian & Carleigh hanging out on her new Dora couch watching TV.

Our Sugar cookie in the shape of a gingerbread man. Turned out better than our gingerbread house.

We have been so busy. I have pictures to post, but it is late & my computer takes forever to download them.

A couple of weeks ago, Darcy came over & watched the girls while Chris & I went to see Peacetrain & stay at a hotel. What a great gift from Darcy. Chris & I definitely needed to get away for awhile. And by staying at a hotel, we could drink & sleep in, which I never get to do! I actually slept off & on til 10:30 on Sunday morning. Woo hoo. We met up with Paul, Mark & Annie. It is always great seeing Peacetrain & I love those 3 people, so it made the night even better. I did get slightly intoxicated, but thankfully, I didn't have much of a hangover.

We had Christmas in Greensburg on the 18th. We had a nice time. Jillian wasn't actually stuck up my rear like she normally is recently. She wore Britney out though. She still is talking about Britney. She got a pop up Monkey tent & absolutely loved it. She ended up staying up the whole time we were there. She finally fell asleep around 1:00 a.m. on the way home! She slept til 8:30. Then we went down to Darcys for my side of the families Christmas. We had a nice time there too. It was nice to have Granny here at Christmas time. I got Chris tickets to an IU game, so he stayed for awhile & then left to go to the game. He felt bad about leaving, but I told him he should go. He said it was a good game.

This week at work was a little crazy because we got new computers & there are still some bugs to work out. Unfortunately, I'm the one that has to deal with the bugs & I am not enjoying it! We only saw patients on Wed & Thursday, but I was still quite stressed.

Thursday, we went down to Bob & Lana's for the Holland Christmas. As usual, we got lots of gifts & had a great time. Chris & I (w/girls) and Rick & Shelley (w/girls) stayed the night. We all drank quite a bit. Brooke & Steve (w/boys) went home though after awhile because his family was coming over the next day. So Brooke drank, but Steve didn't. We stayed up quite late down there too. I love hanging out with his family. Makes me enjoy this time of year even more. Jillian once again didn't go to sleep until 1:30ish. She was back up around 7:00! I still needed to shop for Chris so I asked her if she wanted to go to Walmart with me about 8:30 & she said no, so I ran out the door. LOL. I even forgot my wallet, had to go back to get it & she still didn't care that I left again! She has had a very snotty nose, so we gave her some medicine. Then we left around 11:30. She was either tired from the medicine or just worn out, but she fell asleep before we even left their neighborhood. We were asking her if she was ok & she was even whispering to us about whether she was ok or not. We got home, she was a little upset for a bit because I wouldn't lay with her & then she was out again for about 4 hours!! She has never slept that long. Then she got up & we made some cookies for Santa. She finally fell asleep around 10:00 so then Santa's helpers had to wrap his presents & put together some of the toys he got Jillian. We were up again til 1:00. She woke up at 8:30, but didn't seem as excited as she was last year. She got a pillow pet & said "look, Santa got me a pillow pet from Walmart." haha. Goofy girl. She played with everything she got at least once. I think she was very happy, but Chris said something just seemed off with her. Who knows! She has so much stuff I don't think she knows what to do with it all. She got a Dora couch & loves it.
I will post pictures of the last few weeks soon. Our house is a mess & it is driving me nuts, so I just need to get it clean before I post again!

Carleigh is 4 months!!

Carleigh turned 4 months on Saturday! I can't believe it. The above isn't the best of pictures, but I took it real fast just so I could post. We went to the doctor yesterday for her 4 month check up. She said everything looked good! Carleigh weighs 15 lb 3.4oz which puts her in the 82%. Her height is 24 3/4 inches which puts her in the 69%. Her head is 16 3/4 which is 87%. She got shots too. I felt so sorry for her because she cried quite a bit. But I guess that is to be expected. When I went to pick up the girls, Jillian actually told me that Carleigh was sick & had been crying all day. So, I was a little anxious to go get her out of the infant room. Carleighs teacher, Ms. Traci, said Carleigh was her normal happy self! I don't know what Jillian was talking about, other than maybe the fact that she knew Carleigh was going to the doctor,s o she thought she was sick. Carleigh had a slight fever last night, but other than that, she has been her normal self! She is actually laying on the couch next to me snoring just a bit! When she sleeps, she turns her head a little to the side like she is cuddling in especially when we are holding her or she is in her glider or swing. And a lot of times she will spit out her pacifier & suck on her bottom lip or tongue. She is doing well with her head control & holds her head up when she is on her belly. She talks a lot & smiles even more. Tonight in her bath she was kicking her legs like crazy. Then she cuddled in my arms while Jillian & I watched Toy Story 2 in our bedroom. She definitely fits into our little family! I couldn't imagine life with another baby before I got pregnant with her & now there is no way I could think of life without her! She brings a lot of joy to all of our lives including Jillian! I think I will "top her off" with a bottle & go to bed! Goodnight!

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!