It's December already?!

I'm not even going to try and fill everyone in on what has been going on in that last 5 months, lol. I'll try and do a short recap though.

Everything is great!! Allie is amazing and Aiden is as awesome as ever!

Aiden is ahead of the class in Kindergarten, and his teacher is absolutely amazing! I really really like her and couldn't speak more highly of her. She told us that she's going to sit with Aiden while the other students work, and go over more advanced things with him. A lot of teacher's wouldn't take the time to do that, and it just makes me happy to hear how much she cares about her students!

He's doing great with Allie - even though she's at that stage where everything is HERS and if he tries to tell her otherwise, he gets a slap, pinch, or bite from Ms. Attitude. We're working on it though, and I couldn't ask him to tolerate it better than he does. He's being very patient with her like I talked to him about, which is awesome!

Allie is getting bigger and bigger and I love it!! I love chasing her around and playing with her! She's such a delight! She's finally putting herself to sleep now! She just needs her little seahorse and a cup of warm water to cuddle with. Yes, she cuddles with her cup, lmao. Crazy kid!
 She's saying new things all of the time, but it takes me a few times to realize what she's saying. It's so cute!
She understands everything though! I can ask/tell her anything, and she'll do it. My favorite is when she'll take her empty bowl to the kitchen and put it in the sink w/out me asking her. Or watching her run the DVD player. It's just absolutely hilarious to watch a little person doing those thing! She loves matching her shoes up and won't put on a pair unless she has the match to it. She's a shoe princess and she loves getting new clothes! This is very bad for me, LOL.

But, even with her princess side, comes some crazy wildness! This girl is a monkey! She's climbs on EVERYTHING! Up chairs, on tables, the entertainment center, the DVD cabinet (it's built into the wall, so no worries:) ), drawers in the kitchen, etc. The best is when she's trying to get into the utensil drawer. She'll pull it open part way, let it catch on the fridge door handle, and then pull herself up with her arms, while putting one foot on the cabinet below and the other on the fridge. I walked into her doing that one day and about died, lol.


So yes, things are fabulous, funny, and happy here at home! :)


On the flip-side, I would like to ask those of you out there to say a quick prayer for my baby cousin. He was just diagnosed with Leukemia a few weeks ago. He's not even 2 yet. He's go A LOT of people pulling and praying for him, but more prayers will never hurt!

 Allie at 15 months

and of course, it is still difficult as ever to get Aiden to let me take his picture. He's kind of coming around though, so keeping fingers crossed that I can start adding lots and lots of pictures of his crazy little self! :)

Not slow enough!!

So much for my hoping of a slow month! Allie's 1stbirthday is Wednesday and Cameron's 2nd birthday/angelversary is a week from tomorrow. I just can't believe it!!

It's hard planning for both days and only having one of them here. But, it's something I need to get used to.


The party planning is going great so far! My big fret was the birthday cake. In all of my organic/natural -loving glory, I just couldn't bring myself to buy her a cake from the store. Or even make one for her for that matter. I know, I know, it's her birthday and one time isn't going to hurt her, but when you know what's in those things, and you know specifically what they do and how they shouldn't be in our diets (thanks to my older bro, who's about as big of a health nut as I am, for letting me in on that stuff. I'm being somewhat sarcastic here, lol. Life was just a little bit easier when I didn't know those things!), it's HARD, LOL!!! The hubby was making fun of me, but I was bound and determined to find a way to do this.

How how easy it was!!! I never thought that our regular grocery store would have natural cake and frosting mix. Holla! (that's a signature Hollie thing...don't ask, lol)

I was a little leery about it, but O.M.G. is it tasty!! However, I'm just not so sure I'm crafty enough to make cakes, with fondant, to feed 50+ people!! Sooo, a friend of mine came to the rescue! She's opening her own bakery and offered to do both cakes (which will look like two big flip-flops...we're doing a baby luau) and Allie's smash cake for $60!!! So excited!!

I've got most of the decorations bought, just have to order a few more things from my most favorite place - Oriental Trading!! I found so much stuff for super low prices!!

Now I just have to figure out what Hawaiian type foods we're going to do!



As for Cameron's little get together, we're doing the traditional balloon release with friends and family, and Aiden and Allie will make cupcakes! I love that they get to do something themselves! My mother in law said she's going to get a blueberry bush for us to plant in his garden (that still needs to be done). I've wanted some type of fruitful/flowering plant or tree since we lost him. I thought it would be a special way to sort of "take care of him"...


Such a busy busy time of the month! I hope everything goes super smooth!

This month better go by slowwww

First off, here are a couple pics of my big girl! Aiden took this first on of her as we were leaving my parent's house.

I took some photos of Ellie last week, and was able to snap this one real quick of the two of them. Allie kept trying to poke Ellie in the butt cheek, lol (you can see her getting her finger ready in the pic). I just think it's kind of special to have a picture of our two girls - our rainbow babies - together!

My little girl is 11 months old now! I cannot believe I'm going to be throwing her a birthday party in less than a month! This last year has flown by!

She's growing like a weed and is doing something new every day!

She got two new teeth on the top, and it looks as if another will be coming in next to them shortly. If that one does come in, she'll have 5 teeth total! She's getting better and better at walking, but still prefers to crawl most of the time.

This girl is in to EVERYTHING, and I mean EVERYTHING! But, it keeps her content and happy, so who am I to discourage her? lol. It's bad! Sometimes when I'm cooking dinner, I will let her sit there with the fridge door open, playing in there, pulling stuff out, putting stuff back, etc. just so I can get stuff done, lol.

She's such a mommy's girl and I love it - well, 95% of the time anyway. Most of the time, she's happy playing, but it's like the minute she sees me, a switch goes off in her head saying, "Start crying. Crawl to mom. Make her pick me up." And I always give in.

The funniest thing she does is when she gets caught getting into something she knows she's not supposed to be in to. I'll walk in and say, "Allie! What are you doing little missy?". And she'll get all wide-eyes, hold up whatever it is that she has, and make this cute little noise - almost like she's saying, "Here mommy, you play too!". I can't help but smile every time!

Her and Aiden are little hellians around here! They both know just what to do to push the other one's buttons. Obviously, Allie isn't doing it on purpose, but I think she just likes the reaction she gets. Aiden just does it to hear her scream. I just about go nuts on a weekly basis, lol.

We bought her, her new big girl carseat a few weeks ago!! I'm so glad we did! She looks so much more comfortable in it, and doesn't cry nearly as much as she did in her infant seat. We got the Graco Myride65. The pink and brown one. We're doing extended rear facing. I didn't know anything about it before really, and kind of blew it off when I read about other women doing it. Then I read a pretty lengthy (and somewhat heated) discussion about it on my BBC, and it completely changed my mind about the whole idea!

We took her and Aiden to the Toledo zoo yesterday! They both loved it!! Allie went nuts over the aquarium! She was trying to grab the fish through the tank walls. It was so cute to watch her! We all had a great time!

9 month appointment

Allie had her 9 month appointment and it went great!!! We met with an awesome D.O. and had the best appointment we've had in a long time! She was very respectful of our decisions and was absolutely wonderful with Allie! I had heard that D.O. we're more open to a natural approach to things, so I went ahead and made her appointment with one. I'm so glad we did! Now I don't have to worry about switching peds! :)

Allie is doing wonderful!! She's 19lbs 11oz and 27.5" long. She's right where she should be with everything! The Dr. was surprised that does the pincer grasp and drinks throught a straw. Aiden drank through a straw early as well. I just introduce it early. As for her pincer grasp, she's been doing that since about 5 or 6 months. I think that's why she was a little later than Aiden with crawling - because she was focusing on smaller things like that. I asked about her foot turning outwards and she said that, at this point, it's hard to tell if it's just a balance thing or if it's an actual gate issue. She just said to keep an eye on it, and if it gets worse, we'll look into more. I guess once they start walking, it's easier to tell what the actual issue is.

She has also mastered the stairs, as I found out yesterday. UGH! Before she could only barely get up the first one. Last night, I followed her all the way to the top.

I just love her personality! While she can seem rather bossy at times, she so very funny and sweet! We've got a 13month old here that I've been watching since yesterday, and Allie rules over her. Not in a mean way, but you can tell she thinks she's gotta be in control of everything. I'm gonna have fun with her once she gets older. Note the sarcasm, lol.

9 months!!

I'll get some pictures up as soon as I get them loaded onto my computer. The other day was the first time I had picked my camera up in weeks! I just needed a break! Things were going way too fast for me, and I didn't feel I was ready for where it was taking me. People were asking me left and right to do family pictures, baby pictures, birthday pictures - and while I love that they love my photos, *I'M* not where I want to be yet, and I don't want to give anything to anyone that I'm not happy with myself.
So, I'm starting over. I'm learning my camera from top to bottom - not just the inbetween stuff. And then, hopefully, by the end of the year, I will be where I want to be and will be on my way to getting an upgrade! :)

Ok, enough about that - on to Miss Allie!

She's doing wonderful and learning something new every day! She understands more words now. If I say something or ask her where something is she will get it/go towards it/look at it/etc. She's been pulling up for awhile now, but she is now letting go for about 5-10 seconds. She falls, but her balance is getting better and better, and I can just tell she's itching to walk! I have a feeling it'll be late May - mid June before she starts walking. She's getting the hang of waiving hi and bye and it's oh-so-adorable!! She figures things out very quick as well - like how to put tops back on things, how to stack 2 or 3 blocks (and how to knock them down of course, lol!!), how to open and close stuff...you know, that sort of stuff.
She's babbling like crazy, but hasn't said any actual words, aside from your typical "mama", "dada", "baba" stuff. Sometimes I think I hear her say, "Hi" and "yeah", but who knows!

Aiden's getting excited because she actually plays with him now. She loves to copy him and he thinks it's just the funniest thing in the world! She, on the other hand, just loves to crawl all over him and bang stuff on his head! Oh, how I love these two!


We're planning a trip to the Toledo zoo in June and I cannot wait!! Aiden's never been, so he'll love it! I used to go all the time when I was little and we were visiting my grandparents. I remember the gorillas the most! I especially remember one, whom I believed was named Max, who used to escape all of the time, lol. Allie is going to go crazy! This girl loves her animals! She squeels and claps whenever any animal is around. Heck, she even gets excited over the sight of stuffed animals. I really want to take her to Binder Park Zoo as well. ONLY because they have an awesome giraffe exhibit, where you get on this platform and the giraffes walk right up to you and you can feed them! I can only imagine how excited she would be! Other than that, I don't care much for that zoo. It's a semi-rip off for what they offer. But, the kids always have a good time, so I won't complain! :)

I just really wish Summer would kick in to gear and bring us some nice, warm, weather that actually sticks around! Oh, and the fact that little Ellie will be here in just about 4wks!!! :) :) :)

I can't do it!

CIO attempt = epic fail.

Never in my life will I do that again, lol.

Allie has been having issues at night, and needless to say, I AM TIRED!!! I tried CIO last night, but only lasted a mere 8-10min. Poor thing was so exhausted from crying. I walked in there and she was standing up, half slumped over the railing, with her head lying on the side. She probably would have fallen asleep like that if I had left her!! I scooped her up and wrapped her in a blanket and just cuddled and rocked her. She was out within 20 seconds.

I felt awful! While she was falling asleep in my arms, she was still wimpering! I just kept giving her kisses and rocking her.

I know she was fine and all - she had been fed and changed. She just wanted her mama. And when I think about it, there is nothing wrong with that. She's a baby. She will eventually go to sleep on her own and sleep through the night. While I may be tired, I do like rocking her and watching her drift off to sleep in my arms. I'm going to miss it when she's done with all of that, so I guess I just have to suck it up, go to bed earlier and try to enjoy the one-on-one time I have with her.

Full Speed Ahead! And a bit of a rant...

Our little Allie is crawling like a champ now! She officially started on April 5! She's everywhere and loves it! I, on the other hand, somewhat miss her completely immobile stage. Then again, it's so much fun to see them learn new things! What else?? She's waving hi and bye, she claps and "dances" when she's excited, she's pulling up on everything and cruising along the furniture when she gets the chance.

We just started cloth diapering, and so far I love it! They are adorable and oh-so-soft!! It's a slow process, so we still have sposies around, but I'm hoping to be 100% cloth by Summer time!

She's eating lots more now! She can drink from a sippy, a straw, and a regular cup. I prefer the sippy and straw to the regular cup for clean factor. lol

She still only has two teeth, but she manages food great! I still keep things pretty soft for her though!

She still isn't sleeping through the night!!! It's bad! She's goes to bed around 9:00, wakes up around 2-3am to eat, goes back to sleep, and then wakes up at 5am. I nurse her and she's out within minutes, but the second I lay her in her crib, she's awake and crying. This has led to me being exhausted, which in turn, has led to her sleeping in our bed for the past two nights. I am stopping this now! While I don't necessarily have an issue with co-sleeping at this age, I do believe that mom and dad's bed is for mom and dad. I know people that co slept and ended up having their kids in bed with them until they were 5-6yrs old. Not something I'm interested in, thanks.

She was sleeping through the night up until around 5 months old. Not sure what happened, but I really wish she would revert back to her old ways!!

I've decided I'm going to start her on rice milk when the time comes. I've been drinking it since she was 2wks old, and I cannot go back to regular cow's milk. Aiden drinks it too and likes it, so I see no reason to have two different milks in the house. It's easier on her system and a lot easier to digest for little ones (us as well!). I've felt much better since making the switch too. Not to mention all of the hormones and crap that cows are fed nowadays. I was also reading there are traces of blood and pus in cow's milk. Do I know that to be 100% true? No. But I guess it makes sense - it is breastmilk after all!

RANT ON:

People think it's such a bad thing to not have babies on cow's milk. Really? I'm just not so sure nature intended for humans to be drinking baby cow's milk. We make breastmilk for human babies, cow's make breastmilk for calves. Their milk is made to sustain a baby CALF - to nurture it into a 300lb+ animal within 24months. Makes you go hmmmm! At least I do, lol.

This is just the way I view things. Am I going to scoff at you because you give your kid cow's milk, feed them frozen, boxed, bagged foods, take them to mcdonalds, or vaccinate them? Absolutely not. Your kid, your choice. I respect that. I just ask that people do the same for me.

What DOES annoy me is when I get laughs and eye rolls. To me, that signals that you are insecure with your parenting choices and abilities. Don't out yourself like that. You'll only look like a fool to me, which in turn gives me the right to laugh at you. I won't though - at least not to your face.

I will absolutely not apologize for going against the grain and making sure my kids are healthy and as natural as possible - the way nature intended them to be. So what if I don't do what everyone else is doing! That's not me. I have my opinions and beliefs and I stick with them. If you think differently of me for this, maybe it's time you reevaluate yourself. If you're truly comfortable with the decisions you make as a parent, you won't have an issue with mine.

Random? Maybe. But I've noticed that I've had a few people stop talking to me ever since I have made my parenting decisions a little more known. Online and in real life. Does it bother me? Maybe a little, but nothing I'm losing sleep over. I am 110% confident in the choices I have made as a mother, and I'm damn proud of that. I'm an organic loving, natural practicing, crunchy little mama and I wouldn't have it any other way!!!

RANT OFF

Sorry, got sidetracked there, but it was stuff that was bothering me. And before anyone says anything about how Allie won't get the fat and nutrients that she "needs" from cow's milk - please understand that there are better, healthier ways to get those things. She loves avocodos for instance - those are full of healthy fats! We cook with olive oil, which again, is a healthy fat. Rice milk is enriched with Vit. D and calcium, and even has a bit more of other things than regular milk does. And did you know that 1 measly cup of broccoli juice contains a helluva lot more calcium than milk? Yep, it does. So chillax people, I got this.

Anywho...


Aiden has started tball and loves it!! He's a natural just like his daddy! Chev was really hoping he would love the sport, and it's looking like that's going to be the case. Chev has a lot to teach him, and I can't wait to see them together as he gets older. Chev could have went far with baseball, but had to stop at college because of his hips. He was the best catcher in the this area, but the years of it wore on him bad. I think there is a big part of Chev that would love to see Aiden go far, but he also understands that it might not happen. We're cool with that!

Gotta go! I've got MOUNDS of laundry to fold! More later.