‘that airplane lady’

 

Traveling with an almost three-year old and a nine week old…alone. Scary. But I did it and lived to tell about it. Honestly, it couldn’t have gone any smoother.

We had to leave the house at 4:30am and drive to Milwaukee to catch our 6:55am flight. We cut it close, the security line was slow moving, and I got a little nervous that we weren’t going to make it. Zane could’ve just walked through, but he wanted to take his shoes off, too (of course) and they made him take off his fleece. I had to fold up the stroller to put it through the metal detector, dress/undress Zane, take off/put on my shoes, all while Hollin was attached to me in the Moby wrap. Because she was all wrapped up on me, they required me to have my hands tested (for chemicals?…not sure). Needless to say, these things slowed us down. But we ended up making it to our gate in plenty of time, and for some reason there were only TWENTY people on our flight. This meant we could take up as much space as we wanted.

Zane chose the very first row. Once we sat down he told me he needed help with his seatbelt. I told him I would help him. “NO. I want that airplane lady help me.” He later told her he needed help. She had a three-year old grandson, so she was pretty smitten with Zane. Later he said, “I wanna tell that airplane lady something.” She wasn’t around so I’m not sure what he was gonna tell her. When she asked if he wanted a drink he said, “No, I fine. You have pretzels for me.”

He fell asleep right before we landed (of course) and the flight attendants were SO helpful with getting the stroller and him into it, getting my carry-ons, etc.

Our next flight was really empty, too. Hollin barely made a peep the whole time. And was the cutest little flyer. All that morning traveling required a peaceful afternoon nap underneath the Christmas tree.

Christmas in Madison

 Santa found out that we were going to be in Arkansas during Christmas, so he made an early stop in Madison on the night of December 16th! He not only brought presents….he brought some snow from the North Pole, too! Zane got every Cars 2 character imaginable, an “ipad” (Innotab), and other goodies. Hollin got some boots, leg warmers, hair bands, etc. Santa left a trail of M&Ms from Zane’s room allll the way down the stairs into the living room. Zane chanted, “Fol.low.me!” all the way down.The night before we left Santa some milk and cookies and a note from Zane and a carrot for the reindeer. Zane had ‘snowmen’ ham & cheese for dinner!After all of the ‘Christmas’ morning excitement, we packed our bags. We had to leave at 4:30am on Sunday to catch our flight to Arkansas!

two months

 

Hollin-bear-bear, as she’s known around these parts, turned two months old yesterday. I can honestly say that it’s been a great two months! She is such an easy baby. And I have permission to say that because I know the other end of the spectrum.

I love her predictability. She eats at 9:30pm, I wrap her up in her miracle blanket, insert the ‘haha’ (paci), and she self-soothes herself to sleep. She sleeps a four or five hour stretch (she has slept six hours and seven hours once), then she pretty much eats every three hours the rest of the day. She’s rarely awake longer than two hours, then it’s nap time. “Tummy time” usually results in nap time and her cheeks look so squishy. Oh, those cheeks. Don’t you just want to eat them up? They are sooo kissable! She only cries when she really hungry. Otherwise, she just kind of grunts and occasionally makes a bird-like noise. Today Zane said, “Mama, Ha-yin sound like a cat!”

Most people say she looks like me. It’s probably the cheeks. And her hair looks red in pictures, but not really in person. She’s pretty much the sweetest baby ever.At her appointment yesterday, she weighed 11lb 9oz and was 22.5 inches long. She has really good head control and the cutest grins. Our only concern at the appointment was that her right tear duct seems to have not opened yet. Here’s Zane’s two month pic. I think they look nothing alike. Matt says they do.What else… Oh, yeah. She’s the gassiest baby ever, but I guess that’s good because she’s happy. More room out than in! Although, it’s a little embarrassing when she does it in the Target dressing room. They could honestly rival a grown man.

She’ll be 9 weeks old tomorrow and will be boarding an airplane for the first time. I’m flying to Arkansas with both kids, so wish me luck!

Happy Birthday, Aunt Lindsey!

 

We hope you have a great 29th birthday! Can’t wait to see you in ONE WEEK!

We love you and miss you!

Love,

Zane-O-Tot

and

The red head

11 Degrees

 

Way too cold to get these babies out, so I don’t feel guilty that we stayed in our pj’s all day. Well, Zane and I did. Dad was moonlighting at the VA, and Hollin has too many cute clothes to stay in one outfit for long. So this girl just hung out being cute.This guy “pwayed” a lot, tt’d in the potty, and colored.And we laughed at each other making silly faces.And he loved on little sister. (I promise she doesn’t have lipstick on!) This picture kinda sums up my day: piles of laundry, Zane watching TV, warm slippers & coffee to keep me warm. The funny thing is, we’ve barely had any snow…soon to change, I’m sure! Oh, Wisconsin…why do you have to be so cold?      At least we’re headed south in eight days!Side note: someone made this bow at my shower and it matches her outfit perfectly! I can’t remember who made it…anyone wanna claim it??   

Olbrich Botanical Gardens

 

It’s starting to get really cold here in Wisconsin…the high tomorrow is 20! We’ve been trying to find some fun activities to do because we just all seem to have a better day if we get out of the house. It does Zane good to run around and get out his ‘many energies’ and it does my sanity good to talk to other adults and to have a small break from his very repetitive questions. Today we joined our neighbors, Skye & Siela, at Olbrich Botanical Gardens. Siela is 19 months old, so she has a good time trying to keep up with Zane and she LOVES baby Hollin. And Zane definitely likes going places with a cute little girl!Currently they have the atrium set up for Holiday Express. It’s filled with Christmas trees, poinsettias, bird houses,  and TRAINS! Zane was intrigued! You can see Thomas going by behind Zane and his cute shirt that was made by one of the sweet nurses that Matt works with (and Z’s goofy grin).We also went into the Observatory which is full of exotic plants and flowers, birds, fish, and a waterfall. Bonus…it’s really warm in there!

This little doll was a perfect angel the whole time we were there. I think she really enjoys the sling. And I think she also enjoyed all of the attention from the ladies that worked there.I’m glad we’ve found another fun place to visit this winter. Another bonus: it only cost me $5.50 ($3 to get in and $2.50 for Zane’s ice cream)!

Smiles & Frowns

 

“You mean this guy is gonna bring ME presents?!”

Get ready for picture overload because ohmygoshmybabygirlwasgivingmethebiggestgrinstoday andshe’sthemostpreciousthingeverandI’mOBSESSEDwith her! phew. Seriously, though. She’s cute.    Ok, so while Miss Hollin is all smiles and loving her current role in life (what’s not to love about eating, sleeping, pooping, getting 1000s of kisses a day, and being dressed like a little doll?)….her big brother had a rough morning.

Enter frowns:

Here’s why: We watched The Polar Express last night. And apparently we should have had a talk about when ‘Ho Ho’ delivers presents. This morning I hear Zane jump out of bed and call from the top of the stairs, “HO HO come! HO HO COOOOOME, Mama!”

Um, he did?

Z runs down stairs, looks around, and begins to wail. So I try to explain that Santa comes on Christmas Eve and leaves presents for Christmas morning…in about three weeks. And that he would bring presents to DeeDee’s house and Nana’s house because that’s where we would be at Christmas.

“Ho Ho not come to my NEW house?!?! WHAAAAA!”Looks like I’ll be making a call to the North Pole to ask Santa to make a special delivery to ‘Ane’s new house’ on December 16th.

I think our trip to the children’s museum cheered him up a little. Until it was time to leave, of course.