Baby Sullivan | Week Twenty Six (6 months!)

I should have posted this blog days ago but this week has been a crazy one. I cannot quite fathom that it's already Saturday and the week starts over already tomorrow. Sunday will come swiftly, of that I am sure. This past week was the beginning of a new year. New goals, new dreams, new hopes. I am a true sucker for resolutions or goal making. I'll be posting a One Little Word for 2018 sometime soon as soon as I solidly land on my word for the new year. 

At work, we always take the last Sunday of the year off. I am so grateful for that time to just breathe, refocus, and rest. We spent quite a few days in our pajamas, slowly taking down Christmas decorations and trying to put our house back to some sort of normal. 

Wednesday was my first official work day back in the office. I actually had to put make up on and look somewhat presentable. Wednesday was also the day that Sully turned 6 months old. 6 months! We are half way through his first year and I feel like in the past few days, he has grown leaps and bounds. We started to slowly introduce solids with some purees and some baby lead weaning finger foods. I was only doing this once a day or so but lately he is so into it and seems hungry so we have been experimenting with some different foods lately. Little dude is getting so big, so fast! He loves food so far just as much as he has loved breastfeeding. I am super thankful for that and hope to carry on through this year with a good eater. 

Sullivan has his 6 month appointment on Monday and as always, I'm curious about how much he weighs. I know he's still growing but he seems to be leaning out a bit and growing taller. He's still larger for his age and I love it. 

Marin goes back to preschool next week and our lives will continue as usual. I started the Whole30 again a few days ago and as long as I plan and prep well, it isn't super difficult. I'm working on my goals and word for the year. I'm ready to get our house in order once more and go through every closet and cranny. I love the fresh start of a new year. I love where we are at with Sully and how everyday is so new and fun. 

Marin hated this nutcracker but now won't let me put it away. Goober. 

Week Twenty Six. 

Here's Marin at Week Twenty Six. 

Hollen Holidays | Christmas Decor 2017

I always love this time of year and I say that every year. Decorating for Christmas is always something that I love doing, no matter what season we are living through in our lives. This is the season of a baby and preschooler at home. That being said, a lot of our set up is similar to years past. I added a few new ornaments and some new twinkle lights. We also have a new front door wreath that I didn't take a picture of. It lights ups and the lights are battery operated on a timer. Pretty neat. 

Most of my shopping was done weeks ago for Christmas but until a few days ago, the boxes sat in our spare room. I kept trying to get to it during afternoon nap times but the kiddo's naps and quiet time were all over the place. I finally finished them on Saturday. It is nice to actually have gifts under our tree now. We only get to enjoy them for a week, but oh well. 

I was going to move all of the baby stuff out of the living room before taking pictures but decided that this is our real lives. All of the baby gear is part of our lives at this moment in time and I wanted to document it. I will be glad though when I can sell all of this stuff and not trip over it constantly. 

Marin is very excited about her hanging Christmas tree, the snowflakes on the window, and her ginger bread house. I love all of these things too because it feels like home to me. Don't get me wrong, I do love a perfectly set decorating theme but as long as we have small children, this is how things will be. 

Blink-o always finds his place on our kitchen counter as well. He's a family tradition on the Hollen side and I always like getting him out every year. 

Here's a look at the Christmas decorations of our past, at least far enough back as what's on the blog. I love being able to look back to see how much our home has changed over the past few years. 

2016

2015

2014

2013

2012

2011

2010

2009

Baby Sullivan | Week Twenty Four

Week Twenty Four....We have hit a few milestones this week and I feel like Sullivan will be a teenager eating us out of house and home by next Tuesday. Slow down, kiddo. In a few weeks, he will be 6 months old and I can hardly believe that we will be half way through the first year of having Sullivan in our little family. Time passes so quickly lately and I feel like I was just pregnant or laying in a hospital bed with a newborn in my arms wondering how we were going to do this family of four thing. 

I'm looking forward to Sully's first Christmas this year. I'm sure he won't remember it but it's still fun to wrap up some presents for him and have him experience all of the festivities. I've been singing Christmas songs to him all week at the top of my lungs. He appreciates my singing but Marin tells me to stop. Nope, kid. Not stopping. 

I brought the high chair up from the depths of our spare room in the basement. This Ikea highchair got us through Marin and now Sully gets to use it. It's super cheap and super awesome. You can just hose it down when it gets too messy. I like the look of it and it will find its home at the end of our kitchen table. Our table has two drop down sides and we drop one and put the high chair there. I like it because it feels like an extension of the table and he gets to be up close and personal with all of us. The highchair was the first milestone that this past week presented to us. 

Now milestone two....we have a tooth! It's just starting to bust through the surface of his gums, but it's there! Marin didn't get teeth until almost 44 weeks old! She was really late in the teeth game. Now I do have an explanation for the added fussiness we've experienced this week with Sully. Poor little guy was working on that tooth! He's normally a very happy, chill baby. Teething is proving to be super fun. 

In the next few days, I plan on starting to introduce some food purees to Sully. We usually are in the camp of "food for fun 'til one." I bought some new bibs and bowls. The high chair is in the kitchen. Sullivan watches your every move when you eat already and I'm sure he's ready to dive right in. I'm sure it will be a fun mess. 

Here's Marin at Week Twenty Four. 

Baby Sullivan | Week Twenty Three

This week has been a good one. We are finally all feeling a lot better than we have been in the past. Marin has just a little cough that comes and goes. But, we are finally pretty healthy. I'm just praying it stays that way through Christmas. Growing up, my sister and I always seemed to be sick at Christmas and that is no fun. 

We've been doing lots of Christmas-y things around here. As my previous post mentioned, we met Santa Claus and traumatized Marin forever. I will cherish those photographs forever and just pray that she does better next year. She just keeps saying, "I was trying to be brave, but that Santa was kind of scary." Better luck next year. 

Saturday night we went with the Hollen clan to Spring Creek Gardens to see their light display. It was very cool. Tons and tons of lights, carolers, Santa Claus. There was no way we were standing in line to see Santa again though and I'm sure Marin was totally fine with that. We are getting a lot of use out of our double stroller these days and I'm very glad we found it when we did. 

Monday we went out to dinner in Loveland with my parents and the kiddos. Afterwards we went to a sculpture park with another light show there. We went and watched the ice skaters at the rink and Marin is totally enthralled with ice skating now. She thinks it's pretty cool. 

I'm certain Sully is nearing the 20lb mark and I can hardly carry him in his carseat anymore. That's going to have to change soon. I can't keep paying for the chiropractor because my kiddo is such a beast. But, he's adorable and we love him. There's just a lot of him to love. I've been having a lot of aches and pains lately and I'd really like for them to go away. 

He's been waking up at least once per night, anytime between 2:30am-4:30am. Mama is getting pretty tired. I think he just wakes up and thinks he needs little snack. I need to research night weaning. I don't think he needs to be fed at that point anymore but he also soaks a diaper at night and I think that wakes him up. I would like to get a little more sleep. Lately if it's close to 4am, I just get up. Granted, I get some uninterrupted mommy time after I feed him, but it's still freaking early. 

Week Twenty Three. 

Here's Marin at Week Twenty Three. 

Baby Sullivan | Week Twenty-Two

I feel like we are all finally slowly on the mend with all of the sickness that has been going around. Our coughs still remain a bit but we have actually been able to leave the house and go out in public without the fear of getting everyone around us sick as well. Both kiddos went to church on Sunday for the first time in weeks. Marin finally went back to school today. She has missed three classes now in the past two weeks. I'm feeling way better than I was a few days ago and I'm hoping we all stay well through the New Year. Fingers crossed and prayers lifted up. Having sick kids is no joke. Being sick while your kids are also sick is one of my least favorite things, especially when the kind of sick you are isn't enough to warrant you staying in bed all day but you just kind of walk around like a zombie, sniffling and coughing you way through the day. I also can't take super intense medicine to kick it to the curb because I'm still breastfeeding. 

On Sunday, Sully turned 5 months old! Sully is currently closing in on the 20 pound mark. He's going to outgrow his carseat any day now and we will have to figure out the next option. I'm thinking of using the convertible car seats that Marin sits in for him now and get her a little less expensive toddler convertible seat. None of them are cheap, at least the good ones. I'm going to miss having just the one carseat that just clips into the bases in our cars. Now we need multiple seats for multiple vehicles, including the grandparent's cars. I'm in the process of researching what our best options are. He will still be rear facing for a long time, but little dude isn't so little anymore. 

I went and got adjusted at the chiropractor last week because I've been having a lot of pain in my wrist, all the way up my arm, and to my back. I hadn't been in since right before I had Sullivan. Ouch.  Lugging around our huge baby is giving me great arm muscles but my body sure is taking a beating. I need to get in more often and really watch how I carry Sullivan around. He's just an adorable lug right now. 

I believe he also starting to teethe. As you will notice in most of these photos, the bibs have arrived. I get so sick and tired of changing his outfit every few hours because he drools all over himself. These bibs are super cute and stylish though and I love them. Now he can drool away in style. I have a feeling he will get teeth a lot earlier than Marin but we will see. Now we wait and I just pray that he isn't a biter.

The next few weeks are going to be filled with a lot of fun Christmas stuff with the kids and I am loving it. Experiencing this season through the eyes of a child is one of my very favorite things. This Friday, Marin's preschool gets to see Santa and his reindeer. Saturday evening, we are going to a Christmas light show at a local garden area. We are going to a light thing at a sculpture park next week. I plan on drinking lots of hot chocolate and bundling everyone up to see Santa and soak it all in. I also love that we get to do all of these things with our families. 

Week Twenty Two. 

Here's Marin at week twenty two. 

Baby Sullivan | Week Twenty-One

Well, I am a tad behind in getting this blog posted, but here we are. I cannot quite believe that it has already been a week since Thanksgiving and good pie but it's already Thursday yet again. I usually try to get these posts written on Monday or Tuesday but this week has been a doozy. Most of our little family has been sick. I'm so over this sickness. It has been hanging around far too long and I'm very much ready for everyone to be healthy once more. I mean come on! It's been weeks. Once one of us starts feeling okay, the next one is sick. It's been a vicious cycle of germs for a while now. I'm ready to be done with it all. 

Marin has been sick yet again and I'm just waiting for her little immune system to catch up. I'm certain that being in preschool has added to the germ filled opportunities to catch something. She's had a cough and runny nose for a while now. It has gotten super fun lately because she coughs so hard and so much that she ends up throwing up. Poor kiddo. Throwing up in your bed is no fun either. I've washed a lot of bed sheets over the past few days. Once she falls asleep, she is alright but up until that point, she coughs and coughs. 

Friday night, Ryan and I were watching TV downstairs and both kiddos were in bed. All of a sudden in the baby monitor, I hear this barking sound coming from Sullivan's room. Little man has finally gotten sick with croup. We've never had a kid with croup, so that's been an interesting experience. Luckily, his case hasn't been as bad as some I've heard of where the baby can't hardly breathe and is rushed to the ER. His cough is loosening quite a bit over the last few days and he is in good spirits. 

In my opinion, there's nothing worse than feeling helpless as parent. There's only so much you can do for you kid when they are sick. You can only suck out their nose boogers and wipe their noses. You can't help them cough out all of the crud in their chests or blow their noses well.

I'm hoping we are at the tail end of all of this. We took them both to the doctor last night just to double check there wasn't anything else that we should be doing. Marin has a virus. Sully has croup. Here we are. Pray for healing, quick healing. I'm ready to go into the holidays healthy and whole.