Hollen Holidays | Christmas 2017

Christmas has already come and gone this year and I'm left with a bunch of boxes sitting under the tree that still need to be cleaned up. But, boy...was it a good one. So good, that I hardly took any photos this year. I've decided that is a good sign of how the day went. I hate being so attached to my phone all of the time and I'm truly trying to work on putting it down and living our lives. Yes, I like to document many things but constantly having my phone in my family's face really doesn't help anyone. Anyways...

Marin and I did get some of our Christmas baking in this year. We made reindeer chow again, the same as last year. We were planning on making cookies as well but didn't quite get to those. Now I have a ton of Hersey kisses sitting in my pantry. Darn. That's a such a bad problem to have, right? Marin loves baking only if she can sneak chocolate chips and help me stir the contents of the bowl. She also likes being able to accessorize with a cute apron. I also have been trying all season to get her to watch Elf and she finally said that she wanted to. I love that movie. We've watched it too many times now, but at least she was down for it this year. 

Christmas Eve was a blur and both of us had to work. Marin had a slumber party at the grandparents house the night before. Working for a church, I had a long day ahead of me that started at about 6:30am and didn't really end until about 7:00pm that night. I had a little break in the middle there to go home, try and eat something, and head right back to work. Ryan also worked all day but was able to make it to the evening service. Since Christmas Eve landed on a Sunday, we have 3 services. Two in the morning and a Christmas Eve service at night. Everything went smoothly and the day really wasn't as tiring as I had expected. I did hit almost 20,000 steps that day. Ouch feet. 

The next morning started nice and early thanks to Marin waking early. We opened gifts from each other and the ones that we bought for the kiddos. Marin's biggest wish was a Barbie House, which she didn't get from us. She kept asking about it like..."I did ask Santa for it...so where is it?!" Oh, kiddo. That's not always how it works. But, don't worry, her day ended with a Barbie House. 

After we got ready for the day, we headed to Loveland to have Christmas morning with my side of the family. The morning was filled with lots of kids, food, and opening presents. I soaked it all in and enjoyed it so much. Christmas with a bunch of kiddos around is so much better. 

That afternoon, we headed to Ryan's brother's home for chili, cinnamon rolls, and more gift unwrapping. Marin finally got her Barbie House. It was the last gift she opened that day and I thought she was going to explode with anticipation. She made it though, to the very end. 

The day was a good one. I love that all of our family is near and that we can spend our holidays with them. We ate way too much, got way too many amazing gifts, and the kids both fell asleep on the drive back to our home. Our kids have enough toys to last them through a few years at this point. So many toys. Marin is in heaven. Sully is a little to young to realize that he got a bunch of cool stuff, but Big Sis is making sure his toys also get played with. 

Merry Christmas to you and yours. Until next year...

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 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

We took a stroller ride so Mommy & Daddy could get some wine and beer. 

Holy cow, week twenty. It dawned on me today that in a few short weeks, our little dude will be 5 months old. Somehow we are already almost half way through our first year with Sullivan James. As I write this, he is on his play mat in the kitchen. He's screeching and making dinosaur sounds. He's becoming very aware of his surroundings lately and doesn't want to miss a thing. Marin is eating chicken nuggets and grapes like a boss. She could eat chicken nuggets every night for dinner and not blink an eye. We are waiting for Daddy to come home from work after what I am sure is a super crazy day because he works at a grocery store and it's only a few days before Thanksgiving. 

We are all slowly getting healthy around here. Sully had a rough night two nights ago and was up a lot. He was also running a little fever. Now though, he's back to his adorable, little, happy and content self. I was up at 2am this morning because I couldn't stop coughing. You know how when you get sick and the cough settles in for a while, then you get that gnarly tickle in your throat that seems to present itself at the least opportune times? That's where I reside currently. In an effort to not wake my sleeping husband, I went downstairs, made some tea with honey and watched some television until Sully woke up to eat in the early hours of the morning. Needless to say, I'm pretty tired today but I feel like I'm slowly getting over it. I have to sing a lot at church the next two weeks so I'm trying to take better care of myself. 

I'm pretty sure Sullivan is already teething because he has been a slobbery mess lately and gnaws on everything he can get his hands on. Marin was super late getting teeth...almost one year old. I never had to nurse her with teeth. I believe that Sullivan will get them earlier than that and he will probably be a little biter. So much fun is to be had. Oh boy! I think we are going to wait a little while to start introducing solids and take more of the baby-weaning approach verses the rice cereal and baby purees. He's already super interested in food and watches you like a hawk whenever you are eating pretty much anything. I have no doubt in my mind that he will be a great eater. He already is which is probably why he is such a big dude. 

Marin loves her little Christmas tree in her room. 

We started setting up Christmas decorations on Monday when we were all off from work. I know....I know. It's not even Thanksgiving yet but I don't care one bit. I want those twinkly lights glowing in my living room for as long as I can before I start getting into crazy Christmas lady territory. We are making plans to see the Zoo Lights in Denver and meet Santa Claus. I also want to go look at Christmas lights and drink hot chocolate and drive around in the new mom mobile, which I am loving. Seriously, I almost hate to admit how much I love the mom van again. It feels right at this season in our lives. Just like our little home does too. I just feel the need to put roots down where we are for a while lately. This season always causes me to feel that way. 

That bouncer is pretty much the only way I ever got ready for the day or went to the bathroom with Marin. It has returned. 

I'm looking forward to Thanksgiving and spending time with family. We are starting a new tradition of cinnamon rolls and bacon for breakfast on Thanksgiving. Then, we are heading to the Hollen's for lots of yummy food and time spent with family. I want to soak it all in, as best I can. 

Week Twenty. 

Marin at Week Twenty.