The Fourth of July

I am having a hard time keeping up to date on blogger this year. I think it is partially because I am insanely busy with 2 kids...but the other reason is definitely facebook. Has anyone else noticed how delightfully easy it is to upload pictures onto your facebook page. I hold down the control key and click as many pictures as I want...and voila...I'm done. What is wrong with blogger? Do they not have the technology to make uploading a bit easier. Only 4 pics at a time...and you have to select each picture seperately...ugh! Needless to say, I would post more pictures, but it just takes too long! Anyhow...enough about that...I'll get off my soapbox. Sorry!

So...we had a great 4th of July weekend! Robert's brother and his family were in town from North Carolina and we had a big Holmes get together on the 3rd and then on the 4th we went to the Hixson's for delicious bbq and parade gazing. Good eats...good times...GREAT country! I love this place!

Haven, Kate & Nora

Thomas & Mere playing in the water

Cousin lovin' (Kari, Emily, Jody, Julie & Maren)

Gerald, Kim & kids

More Cousin lovin' (Savannah, Clark, Chad, Tanner, Maren & Kate)

Wouldn't be the 4th without sparklers...thanks, Phillip!

Daddy & girls at the Hixson's

can we say...SUGAR!!!

Mama & girls (Mere would NOT put down that giant pixie stix...she was in heaven!)

Happy Birthday, Baby Nora!

My little baby just turned 1! I can honestly say that I can't believe how quickly this past year has flown by. When Meredith turned 1, I felt like I was ready for it. For some reason, I don't feel the same way about Nora. She is still supposed to be my baby!! I can still remember bringing her home from the hospital and welcoming her into our home like it was yesterday. She was such a sweet little newborn and she is still as sweet as ever. Happy birthday, Nora! We love you so much!

Here are some of my favorite things about my baby girl: her big blue eyes and her long curly lashes, her cute little gap in between her two front teeth, her soft skin, the way she throws her head back and laughs, the little coy glances she likes to give, the way she says mom (not mama or mommy), the way she whispers "wasat" (what's that), how she loves to hold our hands and walk around the house like a big girl, the way her hands and feet start going around in circles when she gets excited or anxious, watching her play with her favorite toy (musical blocks), watching her bob her head up and down every time she hears music, listening to her laugh at Meredith, watching her splash like crazy every time she takes a bath, the way she points at all the pictures in books and wants me to tell her about each thing, the way she squeezes her curious george stuffed animal when she grabs him and how she snuggles with him during every nap and each night while she sleeps. Oh, how I love my baby!

Ode to Meredith

Meredith has now been 3 years old for almost 5 months. So far the "3's" have not exactly been my favorite age. I know they always talk about the terrible 2's...but in our house...the 2's were great, it is the terrible 3's that are killing us! In the past 4.75 months we have experienced a lot of attitude, a lot of selective hearing, lack of cooperation, lack of respect and a lot of tears from Meredith. Plus, a few tears (okay, maybe a lot of tears) of frustration on my part as well! It has been a trying time, but through all of this, I am still reminded daily that my little 3 year old monster has a really sweet heart. How can a little girl be so sweet, so thoughtful and so insightful...yet still so much trouble? I swear all of the attitude and everything else is an act! It is like she is the star of her very own play...every day she wakes up and decides what kind-of a character she would like to be and how she wants the story to go...and off we go. I love my little manipulative turkey. Especially when her sweet side comes out for a moment and we have conversations like this:

Meredith: mom...you're a special mommy
me: thanks, sweetie. why do you say that?
Meredith: because you always take care of everyone

Or she'll say things like:
mom...you're so cute, I just want to eat you up!

Or this:
mom! you're all ready? you look really pretty!

Or this:
mom! you adore me!...and daddy adores me!...and baby nora adores me!...and i adore you, too.

Or she'll just look at me with her huge blue eyes and say with a big smile...I love you, mommy!

Amazing how just a few sweet moments can make up for almost 5 months of turmoil. :)

Meredith, I love you! I love everything about you! I love your big blue eyes. I love your spit-fire spirit. I love watching you dance around and wiggle your cute little bum. I love that you want to do everything by yourself because you are a "big girl". I love how sweet you can be with little Nora and how you always say that you and baby are best friends. I love how you will still lay down and snuggle with me at night. I love how you put your arms around my neck and play with my hair as you fall asleep. I love how you want me to tell you that it sounds like rain when you use the potty. I love that you won't touch the toilet or wipe yourself when using the potty, so that you don't have to wash your hands. I love how much you love to play hide and seek and I love that you hide in the same places over and over. I love how you lay down on my bed and take a nap every afternoon while watching a "nite-nite" movie. I love how you adore anything that moves and I love that you aren't scared to hold or touch slugs, snails, rollie-pollies, etc. I love to watch you collect everything and anything. I love how you always stop and pick every dandelion that you see. I love that you still want me to love you like a baby when you get hurt. I love that you want to sit by me when we eat. I love the sound of your sweet, rolling laugh and I love that I hear it often! I love you more than I could ever imagine. Life is hard, but seriously so sweet. Thank you, Meredith, for making it all worth it. I love you, my sweet baby girl!

HB Fun...

Our good friends came into town last week. It was so much fun to see them and it was a great excuse to do some fun hb activities. Here are some pics from the Hoagland's visit:

I love Kauai!

Thanks to our dear friends...we just got back from spending a week in Kauai! Such a great trip! It was so nice to finally see our good friends, the Thurstons! We haven't seen them since I was pregnant with Meredith and it had been way too long. We had so much fun catching up...hopefully we'll see them again sooner than later. After spending a whole week with them in relatively tight quarters...I realize how well we actually get along! We miss you guys...especially you, Clayton! :) We both had babies with us, which made for a less-adventurous trip, but still an amazing week! Kauai is seriously probably one of the most beautiful places I have ever been...I definitely understand why they call it the "garden island". I don't know if I've ever so many different shades of green (and blue!) in the same place! I know people always talk about getting "island fever" if they are stuck on an island too long...but I'm not sure if that would ever happen to me?!? I love the laid-back atmosphere and the small-town/small-island feel. I think I would actually really enjoy living somewhere like that. Can't imagine that ever happening, though. Oh well. I can dream, right?

Here are part 1 of our pics...I'll post the 2nd half of our pics soon!

Where I've been...

Just thought I'd let you know what I was up to this past week...ahhh...

Silly kids

Meredith had some friends over yesterday and they were having fun making some crazy silly faces. I asked if they wanted to take some pictures of their silly faces and they were game...so I got to capture a little fun during playtime. Of course, once the camera actually came out...they weren't as excited about the idea, but I still was able to grab a couple of funny faces.

Our 9 month old cutie...

I finally got Nora's "official" 9 month old pics taken care of...here are a few of my favorties. Oh, how I love this girl!!