You're Breaking My Heart...

Ok, the following story is ultimately my own fault and I am well aware of this. It still doesn't diminish the dramatic impact on us all.

A little background...once upon a time I had a clean home. Clara Grace would pick up the toy(s) she was playing with before pulling out something else. It was nice. I was on top of things, making sure everything was tidy.

Then I became a slacker. Lately, CG's toys have been oozing all over the house. She leaves little items in our bedroom, in the dining room, in the living room, in her bathroom, and any little nook or cranny she can stash something. She is "never" finished playing with anything. We've done some rather thorough cleaning and organizing in her room recently but it still didn't cause my child to keep a clean room. (Please keep in mind that I do give her instructions, etc and that I'm not just expecting my 4-year-old to keep it all clean.)

Soooo, the ultimatum was issued. She was told that any items left out would be boxed up and only returned as she began following directions about cleaning her room. This evening she was given plenty of time to put her toys away. After I finished washing the dishes and getting her ready for bed, we began our journey (if Chuck is home he is required to give her a ride on his back up to her room) upstairs. The clutter blocking the entrance was the first clue that she had completely disregarded my earlier instructions.

I went back downstairs, returned with a shopping bag and began picking up all toys left on the floor. Oh my word! She began sobbing and screaming. At one point she said, "You're breaking my heart!" It was pitiful. And well, heartbreaking. However, I should have done it long ago. She was required to explain why it happened and the plan for the toys to be returned. Some might say it was harsh or that I should stand over her while she cleans, but the child knew better and assumed she would continue to get away with not being tidy. Trust me, she had the opportunity and guidance needed to get the job done.

Hopefully it made a big enough impact that we do not create such an ugly scene again (or at least any time soon or over the same issue). Believe it or not, it was probably a five minute ordeal and she was totally happy as we tucked her in right after this happened...but geez! I'm also going to have to make sure I'm enforcing all of the rules at all times. I knew better.

All in all, I guess I'm saying that my resolution for the new year is to get back to the organization I once had in place. It will certainly be needed as we prepare for yet another child to join in the fun at the Hollowell home!

Coppelia

Clara Grace's ballet studio has sent out the information about the June performance. They will put on the ballet Copellia. I am completely ignorant of this ballet so will make it a point to learn more and prepare Clara Grace. She will be performing as a prima doll in Act II. I am so excited for her! I'll fill you in more as it nears. All I know right now is that there are two performances, June 20th and June 21st (CG's 5th birthday).

I just love this studio though. I'm impressed with the advance planning and keeping the parents informed.

Shoes

To begin with, I do not need anyone to comment that I have issues. I am well aware that I deliberate many things far more than others although certainly I cannot be alone in the amount of time I ponder most aspects of parenting. Also, brace yourself because this post is a lot of rambling with little substance so you might want to spare yourself now.

On to the issue, Clara Grace is growing. Not surprisingly. Of course she is growing. Anyone that knows us might recall how long she spent in certain outfits, how we got TWO seasons out of summer wear and the fact that we couldn't even buy her actual walking shoes when she started to walk because Stride Rite didn't make the walkers small enough. That is right...at one year of age she was sized at a 2 and had to settle for the "cruising" type of shoe they made. Here is a picture of her wearing said shoes on July 31, 2005 which puts her at 13 months old. And if I recall correctly that outfit was a size 3-6 month outfit. Isn't she a cutie?!?

Fast forward to 4.5 years of age. Now. I have noticed how some of her casual and dress shoes were getting snug so we sort of abandoned wearing them knowing we needed to replace them. Here lately she has been wearing her sneakers mostly. Although she hasn't complained, I noticed that her sneakers weren't sliding on quite as easily anymore so printed off the size chart from striderite.com. Her sneakers were a size 7 and she appeared to be a size 9. Uh oh! Talk about feeling bad.

So yesterday after church we headed out to the mall. In my defense, when she was sized in the store she measured at an 8 so a small amount of my guilt slipped away. Now that we were finally seeing to the issue, we then had to determine which shoe(s) to buy. Stride Rite now offers a multitude of brands and CG is now getting to an age where we can venture out (to date mainly Stride Rite and Buster Browns have been on her feet). Before she was sized, Charles walked over to the toddler section while I scoped out the girls' section (Oh my!). I saw a pair of Saucony sneakers that looked adorable and was a well-made shoe. I carried it over to Charles to see what he thought and he turned around holding the exact same sneaker from the toddler section. So she was sized and fitted and came away with a size 8.5. Oh, and these have laces! The last couple of pairs of sneakers have had velcro and I much prefer laces so this was awesome.In addition to buying non-Stride Rite sneakers, we crossed another line. We bought Clara Grace her first pair of Crocs. I was opposed to these shoes for a long time due to the look and safety concerns. Over the past years the look has grown on me, and I'm thinking we'll keep her off the escalator...certainly she'll be wearing sneakers on the playground anyway. Last spring I bought her a knock-off pair from Target that caused blisters after one day of walking in Washington D.C. Although cute, it made a believer out of me to spend the extra money and get a pair of actual Crocs since I repeatedly hear fantastic reports of how stellar the shoes are. I have to admit, I think the mammoth Crocs are precious! There is a picture of the shoes we selected below. I did a lot of pondering and decided to go for it...so now she has her first pair. We'll see how it works out and if I regret the decision later.

Until then, know that I am moving on to the next simple decision that I'll undoubtedly over-analyize prior to making a decision. It seems I struggle with each shoe purchase though and wonder if I'll ever be able to just go get the shoes without all the inner-deliberation.

More Christmas Pictures...

Here are the few pictures I managed to get on Christmas morning before the disc became too full.

Change of Plans

Originally we were planning to go to Colt State Park, which is dog-friendly, for a fun family day while Chuck tried out his new radio controlled airplane. The weather just wasn't very cooperative so we decided to go to Walmart armed with some gift cards since my overall goal was to not spend any money (I know gift cards are spending). Clara Grace was able to find a couple of things that peaked her interest and left with a new Go Anywhere Girls pony/truck toy and a Disney Princess scooter. The spouse had a gift card to Best Buy and we stopped over there. He bought Journey to the Center of the Earth on Blu Ray and was super thrilled with the sale price.

So, once we made it home, Charles put the scooter together and we went outside into the gloomy but not raining weather so Clara Grace could try it out and we could wear the dog out with some fetch and a walk. She loves the new scooter but wore out before we began our walk so switched to her bicycle for that. We had a nice time!

After our outdoor time, we watched the new movie. Charles and I had already watched it and determined that CG would enjoy it and not be scared. She LOVED it and thought the 3D aspect was "really cool". We then broke out Monopoly Jr, which I highly recommend. We had so much fun with it and I was really impressed with how simple the game was yet really preparing them for the original game. I was the big loser. Charles was the big winner, but CG was not far behind him. Oh, and it also takes a while to play which definitely prepares them for the real deal.

All in all, it was a wonderful day and we had such a good time as a family.

Zachary Christian

Ok, it seems as though I rarely comment on the baby so thought I'd dedicate a post on just him. I'm becoming accustomed to calling the new baby by his name, but still seem in a bit of a shock to imagine we are having a boy. I'm definitely excited but it just seems like we are in for a whole new type of adventure.

Ironically, I have been much more relaxed about this baby and just have not been doing the planning I did with Clara Grace. Yes, I had done research on products and the nursery furniture is in place along with any clothes we had for CG that is appropriate for a boy and I have even aquired a few additional items (some purchases and some gifted to us)...but just have been preoccupied with what is happening now. Since Christmas has come and gone and I have officially entered the third trimester, the planning has begun!

As for the movement of the baby, oh my word! According to my reading material the baby is somewhere in the ballpark of 2lbs and 15" long. Since CG was such a small baby, I'm thinking this one might be smaller than the average but he is definitely becoming stronger and delivering some powerful kicks and punches.

At some point this coming week I guess I'll go in to the lab for the glucose screening and then have my next dr. appointment on January 9th. The time is just passing so quickly!

Clara Grace is just a marvel and so excited to be a big sister. She is so generous and eager to share with him and teach him all sorts of things. What a sweet girl she is!

Not so Quick Update

Hopefully you all had a wonderful Christmas! Yesterday was spent as a day of recovery after all the fun and today will hopefully be spent taking down all the decorations. It has been great having Charles home with us so much. Clara Grace is really a bit confused on that score, but loving it.

When Charles got home from work on Christmas Eve, we watched White Christmas, ate yummy snacks, read Luke 2:1-20, we each opened a gift and CG went to bed. Christmas morning the little one was amazed that Santa knew she wanted a stuffed Pluto and a big candy cane! We had a great time opening gifts and having a late breakfast. We then did our best to restore the house to some sort of order but it was a truly fruitless effort. I then made a pumpkin pie, went on a battery run, and made mashed potatoes for us to take over to my friend's house for Christmas dinner. We enjoyed their company and Clara Grace was exhausted and ready for bed by the time we came home.

Although we missed our family, we have been very blessed this year and hope that 2009 brings us a little closer to home.

I've included a few pics I took on my phone but will have to mess with my camera soon. I sort of made an error and had a nearly full disc in the camera so didn't get many but did take a few on my phone. I haven't yet reviewed any of it so we'll see what I came up with.

Another fun day...

Today was passed in a fairly pleasant manner. Clara Grace's preschool offered a story time during the Christmas break which I signed CG up to attend. They listened to stories, made a stocking for Jesus, had a snack and sang songs. She was there for an hour and they were singing Jingle Bells when I arrived to pick her up.

This video does not do CG justice as she was really animated when I walked in and was into her singing. After I took the picture above I tried to capture it on video but it was already pretty much over. As you can see she could barely contain herself.

After I picked her up, we ran some errands and did some chores at home. Then we decided to go outside for a little exercise. It is difficult to tell in the picture, but Jackson is pulling the sled. I attached the rope to his harness. I sort of felt like the Grinch when he put antlers on his dog and had him pull the sled, but Jackson and CG seemed to enjoy it.

Here, CG is sliding down the hill to check out the playground.

Visit with Santa

Today we loaded up and headed to Dartmouth for lunch, a little Christmas shopping, a movie and a visit with Santa. Our movie of choice was The Tale of Despereaux. It entertained CG rather well but Charles and I fought to stay awake. We had a great time though and Clara Grace was exhausted by bedtime.

Our First Snow!

The snow started right around 2pm (right before)

and this was how it looked an hour after it started. This was about two hours after it started.

CG making snow angels!

Our snowman!

Ok, I grabbed the items quickly and know they look silly,

but we had fun with it!

After we came in, I made hot cocoa and s'mores.

Clara Grace didn't enjoy them at all as you can tell.

It is still snowing so we'll see what kind of fun we can have tomorrow.

Hopefully I'll catch some on video.

Happy Birthday Jesus! Videos

Here are two videos from the Happy Birthday, Jesus party Clara Grace's school hosted tonight. It was absolutely adorable. There are pictures in the post below this one.

The kids sing Happy Birthday to Jesus.

Clara Grace is the angel in the narrative. Her line is, "A Savior is born!"

I wish I had a close up of her in the angel costume, but I didn't get a chance.

Happy Birthday Jesus! Pictures

The party started out with the kids stuffing one of Dad's socks... and then drawing a face on it and then swaddled the baby Jesus.

I forgot to take a picture when she was done.
Then they did the Clomp, Clomp, Clomp chant that
you can watch CG perform a couple posts back.

Then the 3-year-olds did some individual singing, then set

the stage for the narrative of the birth of Jesus.

Here all the kids line up to sing Joy to the World after the narrative.

Here are a few pictures of the cake and refreshments.

The kids sang Happy Birthday to Jesus.

Clara Grace enjoying her piece of the cake.

Yummy!

My effort at creativity...

I think we all know I'm by far one of the most creatively challenged individuals out there, but I think these turned out rather cute. They are gift bags for the little ones in her class. Clara Grace wrote the name of each classmate in the "to" space and her name in the "from" space. She did a very nice job! She will be handing them out in a couple of hours at the Happy Birthday Jesus party at her school. Hopefully I'll post pictures and possibly video of the event later.

Happy Birthday, Papaw!

Papaw, we miss you and hope that you are having a great birthday! Here is a Clara Grace original just for you. Enjoy...

Steve, we wish you a happy birthday to you too! I hope you have a great day!

Clomp, Clomp, Clomp...

Last night we were in Stop & Shop and Clara Grace began this little chant. I thought it was rather cute so asked her to do it this morning so I could share. She learned this at school and my guess is that they will be performing some of these during their "Happy Birthday Jesus" party next week. Poor thing, I made her do this before breakfast! Oh, and the video is from my phone and seems a bit grainy. Sorry!

Doctor Appointment Update

Yesterday was the 25 week mark for me, and today I had a routine appointment. I have gained 12 lbs so far and again, I am growing "nicely" and measuring exactly as I should. Although I don't know the exact rate, I did get to hear the heartbeat which was steady and strong. My doctor confirmed that I likely experienced Braxton Hicks Contractions last night. I never had them with CG, so that was a new and fun experience (please note the sarcasm). My doctor gave me the lab orders to have my glucose screening and iron level checked within the next few weeks. I go back January 9th, and then after that the appointments will be scheduled every two weeks. It is going by VERY quickly for me!

In other events, it has been raining quite a bit here with lots of wind. I'm ready for it to let up and luckily the forecast calls for sun tomorrow!!!

Making Christmas Ornaments

Clara Grace and I enjoyed making salt dough ornaments today. We had a great time and I think they turned out rather cute. I'm experimenting with adding scrapblogs to the blog so if you want to see pictures of our fun, just scroll down to the bottom of the page and press the play button to watch the scrapblog. Turn up your sound for the music too. I'll have to do some tweaking to figure out how to move it to the top of the page, but one step at a time.

Christmas Fun!

After school today Clara Grace was able to decorate the gingerbread house Nana sent and then we made Christmas cookies. To be honest, I'm not the most creative person so my poor child is at a disadvantage, but we DO try! The cookies are delicious too and we had a lot of fun!

She was VERY proud of the final product!

another angle

and yet a different view

Here are some of the cookies.

Tomorrow we are thinking of making some Christmas ornaments...

Weekend Update

Here is a brief update of our weekend.

First, here is a picture of Clara Grace's big girl dresser. She likes it, but this has been an area that she has struggled the most with in terms of the new baby coming. Go figure. She keeps insisting she already has a dresser she likes. Now that this is in her room, she is happy about it though. You might notice that there is a knob missing on the top drawer. It is in the mail. Charlie wishes to replace these knobs with pewter ones to dress it up a bit. Overall we are pleased.

Sunday morning we woke up to a little bit of snow.

Not much, but enough to dazzle the little one.

Here Clara Grace is bolting to the car to head to church Sunday morning.

Hmmm, should I be concerned that she does this so naturally? She insisted on doing additional poses and that I snap pictures of them. What a hoot!