Vacations are...different

We, the Holland family, just completed our very first family of four vacation! 
And boy was it a doooooozy!!!

The four of us headed to Myrtle Beach South Cack-a-lak (as Tim calls it) last Thursday. 
We were blessed to have a free stay at an oceanfront hotel courtesy of Tim's job. 
We were all super excited about what the vacation would be like...but Mommy anxiety took over a little bit for me because I had no idea how my little lover-of-routine baby would handle things.

It started off fine.  We woke the kids up at 5am and took off!  They didn't say anything to each other when we very sleepily put them in their car seats...but they managed an adorable wave to each other...priceless!

A six hour trip only took us eight hours...which I thought was pretty good.

So far so good...

The hotel was amazing.  Right on the beach, and a water park to add to the fun! 

The first night was rough.
We decided against bringing the pak-n-play for Graham because it just takes up too much room!  I don't know why I felt sand toys and an Elmo boom box were more important than my sons sleeping quarters...but I did.  However my reasoning behind it was the hotel would have a crib that we could use...so there!
I didn't know that this "crib" would be more like a metal cage for a small chihuahua!  When we put Graham in it and said goodnight he looked at me and said "yea right" in 17-month old talk. 
So a new adventure of sleeping in a big bed commenced.
We put Lilly and Graham in the same bed that night and had our fingers crossed that it would work.  I was too nervous to sleep in the other room so I slept in the same room with them. 
And thank goodness I did!
Who knew that Graham was an acrobatic sleeper! 
I would hear him stir and I would sit up from my dead sleep to see what was going on.  Then I would see him stand up in his sleep and lunge forward.  Then he would sleep in that position for a while and do it all over again. 
(Now it all makes sense!  When I hear that loud thud at night at home it is probably my son banging his head on the side of his crib practicing his sleep aerobics!)
Twice I caught him diving off the side of the bed.  Thankfully we made it through the night.

The next day was better.  Once Graham learned that the sand was not all bad and the water slides were not out to get him...he had a blast!  It was great watching my babies have fun.
Chalk this one up for a good day!
That night was another adventure.
Tim got food poisoning!  He spent the evening puking in our hotel room.
So night number two was spent in the kid room again.  This time with Graham sleeping on the floor.

Day number three was even better.  The sand monster never came out and Graham even took a nap on the beach!  That night I had my fingers crossed that just maybe I would get to spend the evening with my husband.
Thankfully we did have about half an hour on the balcony before we both passed out from sheer exhaustion from the trip.  I decided I might as well sleep in my usual spot because Graham kept waking up scared since he was in a new place.
All-in-all it was a trip worth blogging about.  We kept laughing at how our life is so different now and how much we love it.  We kept talking about how we will look back at this vacation and remember how hard it was, but how great it was.  We kept saying that this season in our life will pass so quickly, and how much we will miss it when it is gone.
And we kept saying that next time we are bringing the Grandparents!!!

Great Expectations

Today I worked with Lilly on the scientific method.
I am NO scientist, but I remember a little bit about experiments.
We were conducting an experiment on the temperature of the windows.
I would ask her to touch one window and then another one and then we would compare.
I even worked on teaching her about a hypothesis.
At the end of the experiment I had her draw out her conclusion.
I was pretty proud of my teaching method...and even more proud of the way Lilly grasped it all.
However, my pat on the back didn't last long...
when we were all done I said, "wow Lilly you would make an awesome Scientist when you grow up."
To which she replied, "oh mommy, I cannot be a scientist when I grow up.  I'm going to be way to busy being on the show Wipeout!"
Oh well...I can still have high hopes.  =)

A Day Worth Noting

Even though we are still in the middle of unpacking almost 9 years worth of "stuff"...my kiddos can still lighten the mood with something funny...
Here's how today unfolded...

I was getting the kids dressed to go outside and I was talking to Lilly about how she is not responsible for disciplining Graham.  (She has become quite the little mommy)  I said, "Lilly it's Mommy and Daddy's job to discipline Graham...not you."  To which she responded, "no, I think he can listen to me too and obey me."  I sweetly smiled and said, "well do you remember what the Bible says about that?"  And before she could answer me Graham proudly stood up and yelled, "ROARRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!"   Because right now all animals say roar to him...even caterpillars...and he understands almost all of what we say. 
So I guess the Bible is an animal to him!

...Later in the day...

Lilly has become too busy to use the bathroom these days.  She is always in the middle of an elaborate plan, or telling me a detailed event.  And if the "urge" hits her she doesn't want to stop for a quick break.
On our way home from dinner tonight she yelled out, "quick I have to go tinkle!" 
We were about three miles from home and told her to hold it. 
She was very quiet.
After about two minutes she said, "wouldn't it be cool if there was a potty with a button on it and when you pushed it the potty would shrink down so it would be small enough to fit in your pants and then you could go tinkle in it and never stop what you are doing!  It would be called the Shrinky Potty!" 
Needless to say we were quite amazed at her imagination.

And those are just two of the sweet things my children said today that made my upside down life seem normal again.

I want...therefore I scream!

Graham is precious...let me just start by saying that...

But lately he has entered a "not-so-precious" phase.
He is now a screamer...
and not just any normal 15 month old scream...
it's blood-curdling...
it's nails-on-a-chalkboard...
it's grab-my-hair-with-two hands!!!
It would be different if he screamed because he was tired or hungry.
Now it's a scream for the fact that his sister is sitting in the exact spot that he wants on the WD-40 cart at Home Depot! 
It's a scream because I chose the wrong side dish on his plate of food!  He wanted the lima beans not the carrots right next to it.
It's a scream because I'm loving on his sister and not on him at that exact moment...
and so on
and so on
IT'S EXHAUSTING!
I'm having a hard time not giving into his every whim just to appease him.  I think it's because I'm so tired right now I'd rather give him what he wants than teach him.
(I will snap out of that in about .5seconds...I promise.)
After he has screamed at me for a few seconds and flung himself on the dryer, or dish washer, or whatever appliance happens to be near by, he then turns around and realizes no one cares (even Lilly just shrugs her shoulders and walks away)...and then he proceeds to snap out of it and turns back into my sweet baby boy.
I keep telling myself..."this too shall pass"
And eventually I will look on this and laugh...just not right now  =)

My two little pot heads

The other night I was cooking and listening to my little ones laugh and play in the living room. 
They have become each others best friend...and I LOVE IT!!!
They both came running into the kitchen, grabbed something out of the cabinet, and ran back into the living room. 
I smiled and continued cooking.
A few minutes later I heard Lilly giggle really loud and say "Ok Graham...now it's your turn to be the pot head!" 
I dropped my spoon into the sauce.
My first thought was "surely Tim hasn't joked around with that statement in front of her?" 
And then I thought "surely Lilly is not smoking something!"
So my curiosity got the best of me and I went to see what they were doing.
Both Lilly and Graham were in the floor with my cooking pots on their heads...laughing hysterically.
High on pot?  No
High on life?  Definitely

Life...as I know it...

So my life is CRAZY right now...to sum it all up.  I noticed that I had not posted a blog since Feb 4, and it feels like I just wrote that one last night!  This is how my month of February has gone:

Became a consultant for Thirty-One

Had 5 parties during the month!!

Discovered the house across the street...and really liked it!

Made an offer on the house...and it was accepted!!

Posted an ad on Craigslist to rent our home and had a response in 5 min from posting!

Going through the application process right now, but it's looking like we are about to be landlords!

I'm out of breath just reading that through.  I'm super excited about the upcoming changes, but I'm nervous too.  My prayer is that my kiddos will adjust to living across the street, and that I will adjust to having stairs in my home for the first time...yikes!  

Stay tuned...

It's Opposite Day!

We have moved on from "You're Fired"
Now the cry out is, "BUT IT'S OPPOSITE DAY!"

Lilly has recently learned the meaning of the word opposite.  She has been dabbling with the word for a few months, but it has now taken on yet another way to give her a feeling of power.

Just yesterday at the breakfast table I said, "Lilly eat your eggs or they will get cold." 
To which she responded, "No, I will not"
As I set my fork down to begin the discipline process she quickly retracted, "BUT IT'S OPPOSITE DAY!  No means yes, yes means no."  (spoken with a sweet smile)
I said, "Ok baby, now eat your eggs."
She responded..."no mama, say Lilly do not eat your eggs, and I will not eat them."
At this point I'm completely confused.
"Ok baby, do not eat your eggs" 
Then she responded with a sly smile, "good, I'm done anyway" 
WHAT!!!!!  She is way too smart for me. 
If this continues...I'm in trouble.