Growing Up

I know I'm behind on my blogging, but I also knew that I couldn't just skip posting some of these pictures and talking about the kids. They are both growing up so fast and I'm so glad that I get to be with them so much and see all of these things.
While running errands several weeks ago we stopped at All a Dollar and Emily found a hula hoop. She was so excited to buy it with her own money and immediately came home and started trying to learn how to do it. She's done really well and we're very impressed. It's so fun to see her little body move around like that. She is also still loving dance and is doing so well. I can see how much she's learning just in watching her prance around the house all the time. Jacob is still enamored with phones and always curls his hand/arm up with he talks on it. I don't know why kids do that, but it's hilarious.

Emily & Jacob are starting to do more together and play. I love it when I find them laughing at each other and I enjoy watching their relationship develop. I'm so grateful that they have each other. Jacob usually wants to do everything his sister does - which is both good and bad. He is very intrigued whenever Emily has to stand in the corner and in the picture above you can see him trying it out right after Emily had just left it. It always makes me smile to see how much he adores her and wants to be just like her.

We have LOVED having a big window to look out of every day. Jacob and I will watch for Emily after preschool and we'll all watch for daddy when he's coming home from work. The kids will also stand their and wave to Gma & Gpa whenever they leave and I will often find one or both of them just playing on the window seat. I think we'll have plenty of hand prints on the window before Gma & Gpa get back from Russia - and it's going to be hard to give it up when we move.

Jacob is quite the dare devil. He is constantly climbing on things and getting into whatever he can. It is no uncommon thing to find him on the table, bar, or stove. He is frequently pushing chairs or bar stools around the kitchen to reach anything that might be on the counter or using laundry baskets turned over to reach anything in the bedrooms - including all of my jewelry on my dresser. We've realized that nothing is safe from him unless it's behind a closed door... which I don't think is going to last too much longer. One of his favorite past times is being thrown on the love sac - from across the room - and diving off of couches or chairs. Fortunately Gma, Gpa, daddy or the love sac have always been there to catch him, and hopefully always will be. If he ever sees open arms he will go for you - whether you're ready or capable of catching him.

Jacob wanted more corn so of course daddy obliged - by just giving him the whole can.

I'd been debating for a while on what to do about cutting Jacob's hair - I just love the curls in the back. But when we came home from church on Sunday Jeff said it was time to cut it since it looked like a comb-over. I realized that if Jeff was noticing how bad it was, it was time to cut it. So the next day, 2/28, Aunt Stacy came over and gave Jacob his first haircut. He was very good and held still through most of it. I wasn't quite ready to get rid of the curls just yet, so we trimmed up the font and top and left the curls in the back. But even just doing that made him look more grown up.

Jacob wanting to be grown up like daddy

I've Been Chastened

We had dinner with my family last night and my mom happened to bring up my lack of posting. "When am I going to see something new on your blog?" She asked.

Oops. I guess people actually do read this thing.

Tucanos

We took the kids on another date to Tucanos on the 26th. When I took Emily to dish up all she wanted was Pao de Queijo (cheese rolls) and bananas fritas (fried bananas). We finally convinced her to have a little bit of pasta but then she got her fill of the meat. She was very brave and tried everything - loving the pork and garlic tenderloin and discovering that she actually likes salmon. As usual Jacob just had a plate full of fruit and tomatoes and an occasional roll. After completely stuffing ourselves we took the kids to Build a Bear to get their bears stitched up. Then they gave them baths and we headed home.

Family & Tigers & Valentines, Oh My!

We arrived back from Albuquerque and pretty much went straight to my parents house. Lisa & Spencer had arrived in town the night before for a quick visit so we had dinner and celebrated Lisa's & Lucy's birthday.Jeff had taken the next day off so we decided to spend the morning at the Zoo. Lisa decided to join us so she could spend more time with the kids. It was a touch cold, but not too bad. It seemed like even the animals new it was Valentine's Day since we found a lot of them cuddling together.

Then that night we had our annual Valentine's Dinner. We used china, had red punch, opened Valentine's presents, and read the notes we'd written each other the previous weeks.

The rest of the week I was able to see Lisa several times. We tried as often as we could to get together since we're not sure when we'll see each other again. We concluded the weeks festivities with a girls lunch where we also gave Jenny some baby gifts. It was fun to be together with just us girls and no kids. I sure love it when Lisa's in town and can't wait till Spencer finishes his residency and they can move back home.

Albacookie

We decided to take a quick weekend tour of the lovely desert the beginning of February. When we told Emily's dance teacher we were going to be gone she thought Emily had said we were going to Albacookie instead of Albuquerque. Actually, the trip was gather all of Jeff's family one last time before his parents leave on their mission. And since Brad's residency schedule is the hardest to work with, we all gathered at their place in New Mexico. Mike & Niki rode down with us and Dave & Arline and Stan & Mel all flew in. We spent 3 days touring a few sights, swimming, playing in the snow, laughing, chasing kids, eating, and snapping pictures. It had been almost a year since we'd all been in the same city and it was fun to finally be together again.

The drive down

Playing with Gma & all of Ella & Maggie's toys Hiking the Petroglyph's

Mexican dinner at old town Albuquerque home

Swimming @ the hotel

New Mexico Temple; Riding the tram

Sandia Peak

Hiking the volcanoes

Taking Family Pictures

Birthday Dinner @ Dion's Pizza

We had lots of fun just hanging out. Of course it's always a blast with Brad -he comes up with some great games to do with the kids.

Driving home - Monticello Temple; Our wonderful Utah Mountains!

Headbands

My sister has a good friend that makes and sells headbands. I've been to a couple parties and have lhad a hard time decided which one to buy. So I decided the best thing to do was throw my own party. A big thanks to those who came and supported me. It was fun to visit, snack on yummy food, and get some new accessories. Emily and I have both loved the new headbands we got. Here are just a few samples of what Amanda does.

Weekly Whirlwinds

I think I began this post two weeks ago. It's been a hectic, fun-filled month (creating plenty of things to blog about) but I just haven't had the time for witty writing and photo editing. I spent a little bit of time on Sunday afternoon (yeah for 9:00 church!) working on things, but ran out of time before I had to start on dinner. Then I had another crazy week that was filled to the brim only to bring another Sunday afternoon that was filled with spending time with family and a feverish little boy. The next two days found me lounging on the couch with my own gunky sickness and still attempting to take care of a sick baby. I am just now - while Emily is at preschool and Jacob is supposedly napping - finally sitting down to finish what was started so long ago. I guess we'll see how I fare. Hopefully this won't turn into a January AND February posting. Boy, that really would be a marathon post. So, without further ado, here is an update on how the Holbrook's have spent 2011 so far.

New Year's day we spent with the Wall's. We enjoyed dinner and visiting and the kids had a blast playing together. It was so fun to see their new home, chat about Cary's recovery from heart surgery, and just try and catch up. We ended up bathing the kids there and both of my kids were thrilled to have new and different toys to play with.

On the 2nd we had Sunday dinner with Jeff's family. And since Jeff's brothers both live out of state and his sister couldn't come, it was just us and his parents. Which is, well, not all that different from any other night since we live together. The kids had fun playing with Gma & Gpa, as usual and Emily insisted on Gma & Gpa sitting down with both of the kids for a picture. She was so excited about it and kept telling me what a good idea she had. Then a couple of days later we drove Gma & Gpa to the airport for their 3 week cruise in Antarctica. It took Jacob a few days to adjust to no one showing up at the bottom of the stairs when he stood at the top and called, but over all we've adjusted ok to having the house to ourselves. It's been a good trial run for what it'll be like in March when they leave for their mission.

After purchasing our van last November it looked like we were always having a party at our place. We had 6 cars between the 4 drivers. In the past 6 weeks or so Dave has donated his truck, put their smart car up for sale, and we've sold our Altima. We are now down to just 4 cars and hopefully we'll only have two by the end of April. The decision to sell our Altima was quick and unexpected. It was our first car together and we both loved it. It was a very good one and had treated us well. After waiting a few weeks after making our decision, Jeff finally broke down and posted it on KSL. We were anxious to get some cars sold and clear up our driveway, but were surprised when it had sold in less than 2 days. It was bittersweet when we handed the keys off and the new owners drove away. We're grateful for the years we had together and will miss our car, but we're excited to see what's in store for us in the future.

Emily saying goodbye to her car - she actually hugged & kissed it

As previously mentioned in an earlier post, Emily got a new bed. A week before Christmas we packed up her toddler bed and put together a day bed. She was long overdue for a bigger bed we just didn't have much room for one in our other place and hadn't taken the time to get her new one since we've moved. She was so excited for her day bed and has loved sleeping in it. Her 2nd night with it she told me in awe, "Mom! My feet only go to here!" Poor girl. She was so cramped in that toddler bed. Jacob always loved climbing on her old bed and was often found 'messing it up'. We gave each of them a turn saying 'goodbye' to it before we disassembled it for storage. Emily also started dance a couple weeks ago. She does tap and ballet and absolutely loves them both. Miss Julie is all about the girls and just wants them to feel beautiful. Emily wears as much jewelry as I'll let her and a crown every time. She is learning quite a bit and says she likes to be beautiful and wants to be a princess. I got to watch her first lesson and it was so exciting - almost made me want to get up and dance. Miss Julie is a wonderful teacher and I'm so glad Emily is getting this experience. I can't wait to see her recital in June.

Emily is also learning to read right now. She is so good at figuring things out on her own and sounding things out. She is really into spelling things and is always asking us what the string of letters she just said spell. She is getting excited for kindergarten next fall and we can't believe she is already that grown up.

OUR LITTLE MAN IS 13 MONTHS!

Jacob's personality has really started coming out the past few weeks. It is so fun to learn more about him and to see him grow up. He is developing his sense of humor and I just love to hear him laugh and I enjoy finding out the little things that can crack him up - especially when he just appears to be laughing at himself.
Jacob is still very active and has become quite the daredevil. He will climb on anything possible - even if it has wheels. His current joys are walking backwards, spinning in circles, walking with his hands behind his back, throwing things back behind his head, playing with cars - sound effects included, playing with his sister, 'cooking' in the kitchen, looking out our front windows, going on walks, and rubbing his messy hands all over in his hair.
Jacob loves to be big. He wants to do anything and everything his big sister does. He likes to brush his teeth, sit at the table, drink from a straw, feed himself, take his clothes on or off by himself, put shoes on (not just his), and sit at the table or on the couch. He is also understanding a lot more. When the garage is open and his coat is on he'll go right to his side of the van and try to climb in. And he completely understands, "get daddy!" and he says 'mama.'

Jacob is very curious and seems to be constantly getting into something or at least attempting to. For example, the other day he got stuck trying to climb into the lazy susan. He is always going through drawers and cupboards and playing with its contents.

Jacob has cut 3 new teeth - making it a total of 4, with 2 more ready break through any day. He is thoroughly enjoying using them to eat different things and it's fun to watch his excitement. He has gotten better at letting me show them to people and will do the cutest smile when I say, 'show me your teeth.'

We had a special date night on the 14th. Jeff and I doubled with Jacob & Emily and went to Tucanos for dinner. Jacob of course was enthralled with all the fruit and Emily loved everything about it - particularly enjoying the cheese bread. Jeff served his mission in Brazil and is still teaching Emily some Portuguese. So Emily was thrilled to go on a special date to a Brazilian restaurant. We of course all stuffed ourselves and had to practically roll out of the restaurant. We wandered around Gateway for a little bit checking out the fountains and were grateful for the warm fires they had spread throughout. The kids were really cute and it was a fun night.

The next week was pretty busy - just normal everyday life, but I also had two weddings. I was a bit more stressed with the first one for some reason, maybe it was because once it was over I still had so much going on. The second wedding came together really quick and I was really happy with it. I like it when that happens. Emily is of course my right hand man whenever I have flowers to work on - whether I need or want her.
Other than all of the above, the past few weeks we have done a lot of eating, sleeping, shopping, co-oping, emailing, reading, working, cleaning, hugging & kissing, giggling, waiting, planning, hosting, cooking, talking, singing, and learning. Right now I'm hoping for a little bit calmer February.