how did i get so lucky?!

christmas rush and jingle bell run

me, stephanie, and ashley before the Christmas Rush 5k

and after... it was SOOOO cold! (but we all beat our previous 5k times!)

Kaitlyn and I at the Jingle Bell run, we try to do this every year (one year we even brought blake and blaine in strollers and dressed them up as santa and mrs. clause, see pic below)... but this is the first year we dressed up, and compared to other people this was NOTHING!

Jingle Bell Run 2007 (Blaine & Blake)

before the race....don't you love our dorky headbands!

during the race...

yep, i ran with my camera.... there are SO many people it's hard to really RUN, it's mostly to dress up, have fun, and donate to a great cause (at least that's why WE do it)!

and after... in all our red faced glory!

ps. the matching shirts were $5 at Target... that's why we ALL have the same one!

new top ten

(again... from my parenting magazine)

top ten things not to feel guilty about....

1. having the impulse, after discovering your kid has used your $20 lipstick to draw a giant plum-colored pig on your dining room wall, to call up Brad and Angelina and ask them if they'd like to take in one more

2. returning the fancy but useless baby gift to the department store and spending the credit on shoes for yourself

3. suspecting that those stars who got their prebaby bodies back in two weeks are on drugs

4. feeling secretly glad when you catch your neighbor's 'perfect' child in a nuclear meltdown

5. introducing your sister's kid - little miss organic only- to her very first twinkie

6. setting up playdates just with kids whose mothers you like

7. calling your jiggly belly your 'mummy tummy' ten years after childbirth

8. noticing the hot dad at dropoff (hey, you're just lookin'!)

9. insisting on grown-up music in the car

10. knowing, really knowing, with every fiber of your being, that your kid is the cutest one in his class picture

Top Ten

(i found this in my Parenting magazine and thought i should share...)

Top Ten Ways Your Life Is Not Like a Reality Show:

1. your morning weigh-ins are mercifully private

2. no hope of trading up to a millionaire, housecleaning husband who lives to give foot rubs in wacky wife-swap episode

3. you drive a ford, shop at target, and drink diet coke all the live-long day, but no one gives you a dime for product placement

4. you endure hours of grueling photo shoots- but they're all at Sears and come out in wallet size with a faux-nature background

5. the only Extreme Home Makeover you're getting is courtesy of a 2-year-old with markers

6. you'd like to see Top Chef make three different dishes (one kid food, one vegan for your tween, and one that actually tastes good for you) every single night

7. you really did marry your big fat obnoxious fiance (and what's worse, no one paid you!)

8. you never get voted off- even if you beg

9. you're surrounded by 'real' housewives-but like you, they haven't shaved their legs in days

10. you know What Not to Wear, but nothing else fits since you had kids

family pictures

about a month ago... or more, we went with some friends of ours to Dash Point State Park and took some family pictures of eachother, some of them turned out pretty cute. enjoy.

trunk or treat

2 trunk or treats + lots of candy= one hyper lightning mcqueen

and one happy bat!

the great pumpkin

PUMPKIN CARVING AT THE HOLMANS
(as interpreted by blake)

"what the heck are my parents doing?"

"if dad can do it, so can i"

"ummm... this is disgusting"

"YES!... i LOVE to color"

"i'll let dad do the hard part and try to figure out what i drew"

"i guess mom wants to join the fun too"

"adam is too little to carve pumpkins, only big boys like me get to"

"isn't my pumpkin AWESOME!?"

"this is mom's.... it's ok, i guess... but she cheated and used a stencil!"

("we got to go to pa and grandma's house and carve some more pumpkins... mom and grandma did all the work though, while us guys just sat around and watched, man are they suckers!")

"my mom did the mariner moose... my FAVORITE!"

"and grandma did this one... i still can't figure out what crabs have to do with halloween..."

HAPPY HALLOWEEN FROM THE HOLMANS!

six months old!

yep that's right, adam is 6 months old (well, actually 6 1/2, but we just went to the dr. today)!

a little bit about adam:
weight: 16lbs (10-25%)
height: 26.5in (>25%)
head: 44.75cm (50-75%)

*the doc was very impressed with how well he's sitting up
*he said he wouldn't be surprised if he was an early walker.... skipping crawling all together (because he HATES HATES HATES to be on his tummy)
*he is a total mama's boy
*he's going to give blake a run for his money when he starts walking, he's already a toy stealer!
*he has the cutest laugh and giggle
*he's a major flirt
*he's my little surfer dude with bright blue eyes and blonde hair
*he has a very sweet and fun personality, it is so exciting to see it come out more and more as he interacts with us and his brother.


DAY 1


DAY 30


DAY 60

DAY 90

DAY 120

DAY 150

DAY 180

HAPPY HALF BIRTHDAY ADAM!

blake went swimming today in the bathtub because some dummy left the water running while she checked her email, blog, facebook, etc.... nice huh?! mom of the year for sure!

until next year.....

we went to our last mariner game of the season a couple weeks ago.... we had a great time, but it was a little sad too. not only is it the end of baseball until april (at least for the mariners), but probably Griffey's last season. anyone that knows me and my family, we are HUGE Griffey fans and have been since he started playing in 1989! it was so exciting to have him back in seattle this year and get to see him play one more year... he was an amazing player. he also happened to hit his last home run of the season (probably his career) the night we were there!! we made it to over 10 games this year, and blake is already asking to go back.... he is just like his mommy! ;o)

did i mention that it was one of the coldest nights we've had so far... and the wind was blowing like crazy! poor kid, his hands were freezing... but he didn't care!

my dad and mom surprised us with the tickets and we all went together... good thing, i finally got a picture of us all together!

checking out the trains one last time... blake loves the trains!

what a cute picture huh!? i know he's only 6 months, but adam loves going too!

his last home run!! LOVE this guy!

blake sat with grandma and grandpa most the time... they had the blanket!

adam was all bundled up (keeping daddy warm too), most of the game all you could see were his little eyes and nose poking out of the blanket.

we're already looking forward to next season!!

the puyallup x3

i know the fair was almost a month ago now... oops, but we've been so busy i've had no time to share all of our fun adventures! so i'm going to try and catch up! wish me luck!

i've gone to the puyallup fair every year since i can remember, and i was not about to break that streak this year! however, i did not plan to go 3 times.....

DAY 1

my friend mariah and i wanted to take our boys to the fair, but neither of our husbands wanted to go... so we decided to go together! our boys have a lot of fun playing together, and the fair was no exception, we all had a great time! (of course i took 2 pictures and realized my memory card was full... so thanks mariah for taking pictures!)

we even went to see 'the brain' in 3D... but after a few minutes blake was crying and begging me to take him home.... it was pretty loud, and i think a little startling to have things coming out of the screen at him!

then it was on to the rides, which they both LOVED, here they are in the helicopter

we of course spent a lot of time looking at the animals, they also had a little 'petting zoo' which was pretty fun for the kids!

i also got a caricature (basically a cartoon profile, in case you didn't know) of the boys ... my parents had them done for my sister and i every year, so i wanted to continue the tradition with my boys... blake already has 3 of them! and believe it or not, the SAME guy that did ours as a kid is still there doing them!

of course we ended the day with a delicious elephant ear! (which is probably my favorite part!)

DAY 2

trevor and kaitlyn came to visit us and had free passes to the fair.... how do you say no to that! the best part of this day (besides the great company, and yet another elephant ear) was the mutton busting! it's basically bull riding for 6 year olds! it was hilarious... these kids get all padded up with helmets and everything.... they're put on the back of a sheep and hold on for dear life! the kid that holds on the longest gets the gold buckle! i can totally see some of my nieces and nephews doing this!

DAY 3

my parents were headed to the fair one day and had to stop by our house on the way... and somehow we ended up there yet again! :o) this day was spent mostly taking blake on rides, looking at some of the 4h stuff (love you mom), and just wandering around.

this was the first ride.... the picture doesn't do it justice, blake hated it. i really don't blame him, that thing was whipping us around like rag dolls, it really wasn't fun at all, i was worried he wouldn't go on anything else after this....

....but we found this one that was much more tame, he went on it a couple times

and the horses a couple times (pa and blake)

and one of his favorites... the TRAIN! (grandma and blake)

thanks pa and grandma for a really fun day!

ps. good thing the fair is only once a year, otherwise i would weigh 500 lbs from those dang elephant ears!