Halloween

This year we decided to attend the community halloween party, and are very glad we did. We saw several families we know, played games, and Clara Grace was far too much into character as she barked at people. You'll notice that one little girl and CG were practically inseperable. This little girl started AWANA this year and calls me "Teacher". Cute! You cannot tell from the pictures, but there were quite a few kids there.

Clara Grace had a bone painted on her face!

Clara Grace and a couple of her friends, KC and JC.

Here they are looking through their bags of loot.

Here the kids were picking pumpkins filled with candy.

The little Mickey Mouse is the son of another friend.

Clara Grace and Emily

Clara Grace striking a pose as the pink poodle.

My first craving...

To begin with, there have been things I have wanted to eat but would not classify them as an actual craving. I consider a craving to be something that you just HAVE to get your hands on. I came close to that today.

I really wanted a sweet tea from McDonald's. The original plan was to whip in and get one on the way to taking Clara Grace to ballet class today. Of course we were cutting it too close so I drove right past the golden arches. After ballet class, we stopped at my favorite children's consignment shop where I found an adorable red velvet dress for CG's Christmas pics and the Nutcracker trip.

Finally McDonald's is in sight, but the traffic is so heavy that after waiting for quite a while I could not make a left turn there, even though there is a traffic light. I finally feel too guilty for holding up my lane and decide I want one so badly I'll drive across town to the other McD's (to be fair, it isn't that far but I'm being dramatic here). As I pull up to the drive thru, I am asked if she can help me. I place my order. She again asks if she can help me. I repeat my order for a sweet tea without lemon. I drive around, pay for it and continue to the next window where I am asked if that was no lemon or no ice. No lemon. I take my tea and drive off.

Once I am on the road I work the straw out of the paper and take a biiiiig sip of the much anticipated sweet tea to discover it is UNsweet tea!

Oh well. It is amazing how much unsweetened tea can turn the stomach, but at least my craving is over for the moment.

Big news today...

We found out that our little bundle of joy is a boy!

We have several pictures of him, however none of them are very good. This is the best. I'm not sure if you can tell, but he is basically facing us. The whole process went very well. The heartbeat was 137. We have some cute pics of his feet but I'll spare you.

Now, although this story is embarrassing to me, it is HILARIOUS. After I left the ultrasound place in Providence, I made it just in time to pick up Clara Grace from school. We stopped at Subway for lunch to go, stopped at the house to let Jackson have a few minutes out of his crate and on we went to the place to have the state auto inspection done. We ate in the car since we didn't really have time to settle at the house.

When we were done there, we climbed in the car and I thought it would be a good time to tell Clara Grace she was going to have a little brother. I pulled out the BlackBerry to record the special moment. I noticed she had a slightly distracted look on her face from the beginning but she still managed to answer my questions and smile about the announcement. She said it was "good" that it was a boy and then she said, "Why are your teeth yucky?"

Ok, the recording stopped and I looked in the rearview mirror to discover I had a HUNK of lettuce covering a canine tooth! Of course I was soooo embarrassed and wondered what on earth the guy must have thought of me while we handled our transaction, but then I sat there and laughed and laughed. Later, I showed chuck the video and we just laughed because knowing where it is going you can definitely tell that the entire time she was more concerned with my green tooth than the big news.

18.5 weeks down...21.5 to go

While talking to some, it has been suggested that I post pictures periodically to show you my progress in expanding. I must admit that I look much smaller in these picture compared to the reflection in the mirror. That being said, it must be obvious. While I was buckling Clara Grace in her carseat this morning she asked me how much I weigh. My response was "a lot". (Who needs their 4-year-old announcing such details in the middle of the grocery store later on). She then asked if I would go back to my normal size once the baby was out of my stomach.

Isn't Clara Grace such a sweet girl? Look at that face!

This certainly wasn't the case, but I find myself slightly humored by looking at CG's arm span. It is almost as if she is hinting that "My mommy is going to get thiiiiissss big!"

Weekend at a Glance

Happy Monday Morning!

We had a nice weekend, however it certainly seems jam packed in retrospect. Saturday morning began early for us as Charles had to go to work while Clara Grace and I met a friend and her family at a school yard sale in the hopes of finding some office furniture for the church office that we are currently redecorating...for fun. Anyway, who knew a yard sale could be so much fun. Clara Grace has a blast playing with Sue's kids and the playground was nice. After we scored, we ran through McDonald's drive thru for a bit of breakfast and on to the church to dismantle the current desks and replace them with our finds. That took a little bit longer than I expected, but check out what the kids did to occupy their time while they waited. Not bad, eh?

Yesterday we had a great breakfast at the Cracker Barrel, then hit the mall and some shops. We stumbled upon a "Jedi Training Class" that was fairly cute. We watched for a few minutes before moving on. Oh, the Batmobile was off to the side. I'm not sure of the connection, but Charles enjoyed the sight.

Inspired by a friend, we have sworn off the practice of ordering pizza and have now moved on to the wonderful world of making our own at home! Here is Clara Grace posing in her apron before we began. Our hands were too messy for pictures and later too busy feeding our faces. So you'll just have to trust me, it was delicious. I was a bit rushed on time, but next week we will be creating our sauce from scratch. Yesterday Chuck added his own flare to some purchased at the store. I'm still a bit reluctant to do my own dough but maybe in a week or two. We cheated and used refrigerated dough from the grocery store. It was still yummy and we did it together!

After we finished eating our pizza, it was time to leave for Awana. It was a wild night, but enjoyable.

Friday Fun

The Jeep needed to have some repairs today, so I decided to keep Clara Grace out of school today just in case it wasn't ready before school let out. Since the dealership is less than a block away from Barnes & Noble and a few blocks from McDonald's, we took off to McD's for a late breakfast and then on to B&N. What luck! I happened to notice there were far more children than usual in the kid's department so realized we must have arrived just on time for story time. And there is more...it was announced that Clifford would be there!

Is it me, or does Clifford not look a little glum?

Here is the funny part...most of the kids had never seen a polaroid before! They took each child's picture with Clifford and gave us a polaroid. The kids were all looking at it strangely and were told the picture would appear like magic. Oh, you should have heard the excitement as each picture began to show! Too cute!

Big Ultrasound!

Ok, they called today and the big ultrasound, the one where they check to make sure the baby is thriving and we will hopefully find out the gender, is now scheduled for October 29!

I'll post an update when I get home that day!

Animal Cruelty?

Poor Jackson! He is such a sport...and comes through for CG when she needs a prince.

My 3rd Dr. Appointment

At this point, appointments are rather routine so there is very little to report. I have gained two pounds this month, for a total of four so far and am definitely growing rounder. We were able to listen to the baby's heartbeat. Since nothing was said about my blood pressure, I'm assuming it was great as usual.

They will be setting up my "big" ultrasound to be between weeks 18-20 so sometime very soon. I'll let you know when they get back to me. As many of you know, if the baby is cooperative we will definitely be finding out the gender.

If I remember correctly, my next appointment is November 14 (four weeks from today).

There isn't much else to report so I'm off.

First Flutters

I completely forgot to mention this, but I THINK I might have felt the first flutters from Baby Hollowell two nights ago, and then again last night. Keep in mind I am likely wrong, but at this point I'm going with it. I have a routine doctor's appointment tomorrow, so hopefully I'll have more to share about the new little one then. As of today, I am 17 weeks along so that means I have 23 more to go.

Here is an excerpt from a website about the baby's current development:

He's adding fat stores that will keep him warm and cozy after he's born. Your baby's weight will increase approximately six times over the next four weeks. Good to know you're not the only one tipping the scale. Also this week:Your baby is hard at work honing his sucking and swallowing reflexes—all the better for eating that 2 AM (and 5 AM, and 8 AM ...) meal in a few months! The finger- and toenails are beginning to grow from their nail beds, which would explain why he'll need them trimmed almost as soon as he's born! Your baby weighs nearly 5 ounces and is a little over 5 inches long—about the size of a baked potato

I seem to be growing at an alarming rate, so I cannot imagine my own size after the next four weeks!

Cooking with Clara Grace

Our Wednesday was nice, but definitely busy. Initially I thought I would be running errands while CG was at school, and then I remembered I had volunteered to help strip wallpaper at the church so obviously my errands were put on hold. After finishing at the church and picking up the little one, we went home for lunch and saw the Pampered Chef orders had arrived...so I checked the inventory and divided the orders up...then decided to deliver some of the orders to get them out of the house. Long story short, I never did make it on my planned errands but we did manage to make the cupcakes with sprinkles CG requested to make.


You can watch the slideshow to the upper left of the blog to see CG in several stages of the process. She did very well but we really need to work on her egg cracking skills!

O is for Octopus

Tomorrow is Clara Grace's first time doing show & tell at school. Their homework assignment is to bring in something that begins with the letter "O" and tell the class about it. I'm not sure how in depth it is to be, but we did look up a few facts about the octopus and then CG practiced a couple of times to get used to telling about the item. She wasn't very thrilled I decided to record it, and was not nearly as animated as she was the first time, but you get the idea. It is sort of like her first oral report!

Earning Her Keep

Ok, the fun times are over and it is now time for Clara Grace to begin earning her keep!

Just kidding!

Seriously, yesterday was the first day in quite a while that we had no scheduled activities or errands so our main goal was to do a bit of cleaning...ok, it was MY main goal. When I pulled out the vacuum, CG asked if she could vacuum and I said certainly. It lasted for all of one minute but I think it was a beautiful thing. It is nice to see her use the tool appropriately instead of pretending it is a microphone for her performances.

Don't worry, no child labor laws were broken nor were any animals hurt during this episode.

Sunday Stroll

Sunday afternoon we took a family stroll to a neighborhood playground while Clara Grace demonstrated her improved skills on the bicycle. In fact, I was a bit humored by Chuck's high stress level as he watched her zip down the sidewalk. CG surprised us by mainly sticking to these bars, swinging and doing various other "tricks". For the past 18 months she hasn't shown any interest in doing such things. Oh, I couldn't manage to capture it, but Jackson actually went up and down the slide and one point. What a goofy pup!

She really got some height while swinging like this. We were most impressed!

I'm not exactly sure what this move would be called, but I liked it!

She really put some wear on this poor seal!

Weekly Recap

Hmmm, I ran up here to quickly update the blog and saw that I haven't done anything since Tuesday, which made me reflect upon exactly WHAT we have been doing that has kept me from posting. So here goes...

Wednesday, I was scheduled to take Charlie's Jeep in for scheduled maintenance. After dropping CG off at preschool, all of a sudden it kept stalling on me. Luckily I made it home and Charlie came back to the island to make sure I was able to pick up CG and make it to the dealership. Of course, I decided to skip the ladies' coffee break (bible study group) to stay off the road so did some work at home while waiting to pick up CG. Since we were ahead of schedule we all three ate at KFC, then dropped the jeep off. It turns out the jeep had a fuel throttle sensor issue and that is now taken care of. Chuck went back to work while CG and I hung out at Barnes & Noble, Petco, and Michael's while waiting on the jeep. After that we had to drop some stuff off at a friend's house, then back home to let CG have some outdoor time on her bicycle and play, then back inside to cook supper and finish up our evening routine.

Thursday, CG and I met my friend Christine and her two little one's at the zoo. We had a lovely time and the weather cleared up. After the zoo, we skipped on over to Bristol for CG's ballet lesson, then back home for some outdoor playtime, cook supper, and finish up the evening.

Friday, another busy day with CG going to school. I did some much needed chores around the house then brought her home for lunch and we spent a lot of time outside since we are really having some beautiful weather this week. While at the playground, she met a new little neighborhood friend and then later her friends on our street came out to play.




Saturday (today) I cooked a big breakfast (well, big for me) of scrambled eggs, biscuits, country gravy, sausage and pancakes. After cleaning up and doing a few chores, we headed to Escobar's Farm to go through the corn maze and pick out a pumpkin. Luckily they allow dogs on leashes, so we took Jackson and all had a great time. We opted not to do the traditional hay ride since we had Jackson with us, but CG was able to do the "cow ride" which looked like loads of fun. The corn maze is 8 acres, so we were busy for a while. Hopefully we will carve our pumpkin today or tomorrow!

My goal is to not let so much time go by before the next post. I've really been trying to stay on top of it, but sometimes it is hard to squeeze in the time to hop on the computer and get it done, and these days I REALLY have a hard time staying up past CG's bedtime.

Look Mom...No Hands!

Clara Grace had her second cleaning today, and came away with a certificate to verify her teeth are healthy. We really enjoy going to the pediatric dentist and they are so good with CG. She was a bit bummed that they took her straight to the back even though we were a little early as they have an awesome play area in the lobby.

While there, we were told that two of CG's teeth are pitted, that that is how they came through but we will really have to work on those areas to make sure there is no decay. We were told an electric toothbrush with a small head would be helpful so a stop was made at Walmart after we left. The dentist also said that we will wait until CG is five before taking any action to correct her cross bite, so that means we will wait until we get settled at our new duty station.

At the dentist the children leave with a variety of goodies, one item being a 5-foot balloon. No kidding. The one she was given last time lasted three minutes once we made it inside the house. No so lucky this time around. I was really looking forward to taking her picture holding it because it is really something to behold. We stopped at Walmart, the commissary and the library before heading home. Don't ya know it popped while we were getting out of the car to go into the library. Her next appointment is in April, so maybe I'll take a picture before we leave the office.

Clara Grace's certificate

This afternoon we took a stroll down to the playground and I just thought this was too cute to not snap a picture of Jackson trotting along beside CG.

As you can see from the video below, CG is now experimenting with some tricks on her bikes.

My little political activitist

While walking in to pick up Clara Grace from school today, one of the mothers passed me and commented that Clara Grace said the cutest blessing today. Naturally, I was inwardly cringing as I could only imagine what my child had said. Last night at Awana, she said a very extensive prayer thanking God for all of his creation...the animals that swim in the water, the animals the fly in the air, the animals that walk on the earth...you get the picture. When I asked if it was something along those lines, the mother just laughed and said no, "She prayed for more votes for Sarah Palin."

Isn't she a hoot?

Since I was able to get in the comment about Awana, I'll add the picture taken of CG at church last night.

Happy Birthday Dad!

Happy Birthday Dad! We hope you are enjoying your 58th birthday and that you are pleased with Clara Grace's original birthday song in your honor. As you can see she also drew a picture of red balloons to send you warm wishes and...a desert scene for your enjoyment.

Happy Birthday!

Lovely Red Balloons by Clara Grace

A desert scene complete with cacti by Clara Grace




Happy Birthday by Clara Grace

It has been a while...

The past couple of weeks have been rather busy, doing what I don't know. It just seems to have passed in a blur between running Clara Grace to school, to ballet, starting AWANA, having a Pampered Chef party, getting my military ID renewed (what a saga) and a new base decal among other things.

Hopefully things will slow down just a tad, but already seem hectic as October begins. Although it has been busy, I really have little to report. I did sneak a picture of Clara Grace doing bar exercises yesterday at ballet class and the picture above is one she just colored. I thought it was a rather awesome coloring effort for a 4-year-old!