Halloween 2012

I had to work Halloween night so Matt was in charge of trick-or-treating. I was off the day before Halloween so Zane and I spent the day making Halloween crafts and goodies for his party at Ms. Jeri's.

Mummy hotdogs and mummy cupcakes

We made ghost paintings with our feet and spider paintings with our hands. And the mummy cupcakes....Zane "helped" make them. We talked about not touching our mouths or noses while making the cupcakes. His main role was placing the eyes. Every.single.time he put one on he got icing on his fingers. Every.single.time he started to lick it off. Every.single.time he would stop himself and say, "No." He started getting really frustrated and said, "I just want to EAT them!" Well, of course I let him eat one, but let's move on to the best part.

The next morning we walk into Ms. Jeri's house, excited for the Halloween party. I'm holding Hollin on one hip and the cupcake carrier in my other hand. She tells Zane that they're going to make cookies and....Zane interrupts. With an excited voice he says, "We don't need cookies!" He points to the cupcake carrier that I'm holding. And flips the latch. And the cupcakes, aaallll of the cupcakes, fall upside down in the floor right in her entryway. Awesome. He looked heartbroken.

Making cookies with his friends

I was informed that the lady bug has wedding plans for her and Zane.

Zane has....how many costumes again? Like a hundred, or something redic. And every time someone asked what he was going to be for Halloween? "I'm gonna be superman in my superman jammies!" (Side note: His superman jammies are size 2T. He's now in 4T. So they hit about mid-calf.) The NIGHT BEFORE Halloween he tells me he's going to be Robin (as in, Batman and Robin) for Halloween. You're thinking he has a Robin costume because he has a zillion. NOPE. Oh, and also, he tells me that "Baby Hollin is going to be a giant baby for Halloween." ??? Again, awesome.

Luckily, I know all about the elements of surprise, newness, and bribery.

I just happened to have this hidden in my closet. And he just happened to get surprised with it on Halloween morning. And loved it. Phew. Robin was a distant memory.

He looks adorable and just like his daddy.

I give Matt all the credit for this little cutie's costume. He picked it out.

And even though Halloween is his least favorite holiday (and because I was at work), he took the kids to the neighbor's house and trick-or-treating.

Here's the cuteness overload:

 

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raising zane.

Never a dull moment.

The most important thing in Zane's life right now?

Superheroes.

Proof.

 

 

 

Ironman, Thor, Wolverine, Hulk, Ninja Turtle, Spider-Man, Batman, Superman, Captain America (not pictured). Totally ridiculous that he has this many costumes. He gets up every morning, asking who he can be today. And after bath, "Which super hero can I be tonight?! Occasionally I tell him he has to be Zane. Like, for church. Other days it's just not a battle I choose to fight. But I did trick him into wearing his batman shirt under a button-up one day. It was his "disguise". I have to give him a 'Superman curl' when he's dressed as Superman.

I've been videoing him a lot lately. His imagination amazes me, and I don't want forget the things he says or the sweet little voice his says them in. He randomly tells me all throughout the day that he loves me. My favorite is when he says, "Mommy, I love you too much. How can I love you so much?" I mean, seriously? Is this real life? I got him on video promising to give me kisses even when he's big and in school and in front of his friends. I'm terrible.

Of course, everything he says isn't sweet. Sometimes it's just weird. Like the morning he woke up with morning-whiny-voice (nails on a chalkboard) and wanted to sing "Nationwide is on your side." Um, ok. Sing it. "But I need the muuuuusic!" You better believe I YouTube'd that as fast as my fingers would type. And then he was fine. Now he sings it every time we ask what his favorite commercial is.

"Oh, pickles!" is his new favorite phrase (instead of oh, darn). He also likes "Oh, puppets!" which has caused me to whip my head around a few times in surprise.

He tells me he has things "all under control". The other day he opened the door to his room and asked for help zipping his jacket. I showed him how to get it started and then he said, "I got it all figured out now. Thanks for your help." And then he closed the door in my face.

He is definitely full of character. He's sweet sweet. My tiny superhero.

 

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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!

Nana & I

My parents, "Nana & I", came to Wisconsin the last week of September. South Arkansas was experiencing weather in the high 80s and 90s, so I'm not sure that they were prepared for the little pop of cold weather that we got right before their arrival! It was 34° and raining the morning we picked them up at the airport.

We stayed pretty busy with activities. We went to the park and played a couple of times. We bundled Hollin in this snowsuit from last year. It was a little too small and wouldn't button between her legs! It kept her warm and cozy though! I love this picture of Hollin and my mom. They are twins!

I know this looks crazy because we are all bundled up and he's got on short sleeves. But this little toot head would NOT put a coat on! He had to "do it MY way!" I guess superheroes don't get cold?

Fun grandparents, huh? Wish we lived closer so that they could play more often. Soon....

The cold weather was the perfect excuse to light the fire pit. We cooked brats (like good little temporary Wisconsin residents) and made s'mores.

And Hollin proved that she looks cute in a hat.

We went to the zoo....

And to Schuster's Playtime Farm. We went last year with Matt's parents when Hollin was just 12 days old.

And then this little cowboy flew home with Nana and I.

 

Little sister wasn't too sure what to think about being an only child. One morning she found a picture of Zane and carried it around with her all day.

Daddy bought her some new outfits and she got some good snuggle time in with him.

Six days later we packed our bags! I think it was kind of obvious by the clothes that I packed that we were headed to Arkansas.

One random airport picture that I took during our trip home.