Our little pumpkin turns two.

We had so much fun celebrating Hollin's second birthday at the pumpkin patch! A definite bonus of having an October birthday. The weather was perfect and the kids had a great time! They played in the pumpkin patch and were able to pick a pumpkin, saw animals, went on a hay ride, and (the definite favorite) played in the corn pit.

Once again Uncle Bob and GiGi did not disappoint with the birthday cake! How fabulous is this owl cake?! And it was as yummy as it was pretty.

So thankful for our friends and families that came to help us celebrate. Even little Sam, at ten days old, came!

This sweet big brother wanted to pick out a gift for his sister. He chose a Dora guitar!

 

Happy birthday, Hollin Bell! You are one spunky, expressive, articulate, beautiful two year old!

 

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a superhero turns four.

As Zane was getting ready to take a nap on his birthday, he said, "While I'm sleeping you go decorate for my party. I want games, balloons, party hats, and those party things that you blow." This was a big deal for two reasons.

1. A few weeks before Zane's birthday, I asked him if he wanted to help me pick out his party supplies. He gave me the ole stink eye. "Mama. You are NOT 'uh-pposed' (supposed) to tell people about their birthdays. It's uh-pposed to be 'uh-prize' (surprise). Ooookay.

2. I forgot all of his party decorations (that I made sure to buy in secret) in Conway. My little hometown of 1500 people is not known for its shopping opportunities. But, with a little improvising with goodies from The Dollar General and another fabulous cake made by my brother, we were good to go!

Seriously. Uncle Bob and Aunt Gigi made this. Zane is one lucky boy. You can see the other cakes he made for Zaney's 2nd and 3rd birthdays by clicking the links. Always a hit. Never any leftovers. Thank you, Uncle Bob!

He had the biggest smile while we sang to him. And then he closed his eyes really tight and made a wish. Favorite wish ever.

"I wish all presents were all mine for all life. AMEN." I'm sure one day he'll make a selfless wish like, "I wish all kids had toys and food and a mommy and daddy." Right? But the way he ended it with "Amen" was just too precious.

Different party, same wish. Love the way he's looking at Lindsey in this one.

Superhero cupcakes. Joint effort by practically the entire Bell family. Delish.

Sweet birthday boy. He was so excited!

 

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one year.

Yep.

It happened.

I think all of my monthly posts about Hollin start with how sweet she is. But she is! That's the first word that comes to mind when I think of Ha Bear. Oh, and happy! Honestly, she is happy 99% of the time.

Zane was a hard baby. Think colic, crying, never sleeping, more crying. I remember someone told me that all moms thought their babies were "high maintenance". False. Hollin is low maintenance. Low, low maintenance. I've even heard, "She's the best baby I've ever seen." Now, she'll probably sass talk me, and tell me "You just don't understand!", and give me gray hair and wrinkles when she's 13. And I'll forgive her a few extra times just because she was such a good baby.

At one year:

*Hollin still eats everything! We went to the Mexican restaurant in Hampton (yes, Hampton has a Mexican restaurant) and she ate a whole bowl of guacamole, refried beans, rice, tortillas, and cheese dip. She takes three bottles a day (morning nap, afternoon nap, bedtime). We followed the rules with Zane and gave him his last bottle the night before he turned one. We switched him to whole milk in a sippy cup. And then he fell off of the growth chart. So we're doing this gradually with Hollin. We are mixing whole milk and formula. I think we'll cut out the afternoon bottle soon.

*She has four top teeth, two bottom teeth, and two more breaking through on the bottom.

* She is crawling everywhere, but has no interest in walking. She does cruise around on the furniture.

* She goes to bed at about 730 or 8pm and sleeps until about 730am. Sometimes she wakes up in the night, but it's nothing that the paci can't fix! Sometimes she still takes a morning nap and an afternoon nap, but I think they are starting to merge into one.

* I think the only new word that she has added this month is 'bite'.

* She is wearing 12 month clothes, some 12-18 month clothes. Size 3 diapers.

* She patty cakes and now 'rolls it up'. Gives lots of kisses. She has started crawling up in our laps, laying her head on our shoulder, and giving us kisses. What a sweetheart.

Here are Zane and Hollin, each at one year.

 

 

 

Hollin's 1st birthday: her sweet party

Our little

Cupcake

turns

ONE

tomorrow!

What better way to celebrate the sweetest little girl I have ever met, than to have a cupcake-themed birthday party? How about having two parties?!

This is a combination of pictures from her party at my parents' house and at Matt's parents' house.

There was no shortage of people to love on this sweet girl!

And lots of sweets to eat!

She loved eating her cake!

Zane (aka batman) was concerned that she wouldn't wear her birthday hat.

She got SO many great gifts! She was so funny on this car. Her big toes barely touched the floor and she just kind of sat there in amazement, but would scream every time we took her off of it.

It's just crazy to me that we're already celebrating one year with Hollin Elizabeth. I'm so thankful for this little blessing. She and Zane keep me so busy, but honestly I'm not sure how I would've survived the past year in Wisconsin without them. I love them so much! And their sweet daddy!

A special thank you to Nana and DeeDee for helping with the parties. It's hard to travel 800 miles and plan two birthday parties!

my three year old

 

                                 Newborn baby boy                               One year old                              Two years old                              Three years old!

My three year old. Everyone talks about the ‘terrible twos’. I would label Zane’s past year as the ‘terrific twos’. But I fear that we are seeing a bit of the terrible threes.This past year I was blessed with the best two year old I know! He finally started talking around 26 months and now he never stops. He seriously sounds like a teenager most of the time. He’s funny and sweet and has a really tender heart. He loves his baby sister. I mean, we really rocked this kid’s world this year and he survived. I think he’s actually going to make it without any permanent damage! We moved him from the only home he’s ever known. Moved him from Arkansas to Wisconsin. He had always stayed with family (mostly our moms) and is now going to an in-home daycare. And then the big one: a sibling. And he handled it all really well. Especially, the sister part. He has NEVER been ugly to her. He just wants to hold her, kiss her, talk to her. When we ask him if she can go home with some else he always says, “Noooooo!”I think I can finally say (without jinxing anything) that he’s officially potty-trained! He’s been in big boy undies exclusively for about two weeks now with no accidents! He has even woken us up a few times at night because he needs to teetee. His biggest hold-up was (I think) a fear of pooping in the potty. Once he got over that (read: bribed with MANY toys), he’s become a pooping machine! And still asks, “What I get for pooping in the potty?”

Just a few things that he currently says/does that I want to remember:

*Matt usually does bath time and every time Matt washes his hair he says, “Noooo, don’t do it!” in a really high-pitched voice.

*When Hollin wakes up he says, “Her taked a pretty good nap?” and talks baby-talk to her, including “hey baby ha-yin, you a pretty sweet guhl”

*Calls Matt “Dada Matt Bell” or “Dada Matt Schnell” and has started calling me “mommy” instead of mama.

*“I make you funny?” means ‘did i make you laugh?’

*He says that we live in ‘Missconsin’. And I think we’ve really confused him in the sports department. He’ll say, “Go Bad-guhs. Pig Sooie.”

*I mentioned the terrible threes….well, he’s started throwing some really big tantrums lately and he does this thing where he growls during the fits. Matt and I say he’s ‘getting his demons out’.

*When we ask him to hug us he does (very briefly) and then says, “I let you neck go now.”

We are so thankful for a healthy, happy, funny, energetic (wild), sweet three year old.