The Holdgate's

Olivia Marie Holdgate

2011-12-01T13:48:00.000-05:00

Our sweet little baby girl! Although this 2 1/2 year old isn't so baby anymore. She's mostly into size 3's if the 2 is cut small. She wears size 7 and loves pink. Purple is a close second. She loves skirts, dresses and shoes. Still not crazy about tights or footed Pj's.
She is into princesses, ponies, and baby dolls!! She is constantly carrying around a baby doll on her hip, talking to her, feeding her, making her go potty, pushing her in a stroller.
She also got into those Littlest Pet Shop toys, squinkies and zoobles while at her cousins house.
As much as this little one enjoys the girl stuff, she is pretty tough and holds her own with her brothers.

Ryan Francis Holdgate

2011-12-01T13:41:00.000-05:00

My Sweet Ryan. One of the sweetest boys yet so passionate, energetic and sometimes, my parenting nemesis. He is the most photogenic and it's a lot of fun hearing the stories he makes up. One of my favorite things that he does is a mish mash of songs. He'll combine Jesus Loves Me, with the Itsy Bitsy spider and Hello Mr Turkey, all into one song.

Ryan is built very athletic and reminds me of a soccer player. We put him in soccer this fall, but he wasn't very interested.

He loves superheros, especially spiderman. He loves to dress up in a cape, or his spiderman outfit or any other costume he can find.

He wears a size 4 but can still wear some size 3 pants. He LOVES pajamas!!!

He's just starting to get into legos, but still has a hard time following the directions, but he's getting there.

Great is Thy Faithfulness!

2011-10-26T14:33:00.000-04:00

This is the song that came to mind today:

The Steadfast Love of the Lord never ceases
His mercies shall never come to an end
They are new every morning
New every morning
Great is thy Faithfulness O Lord!
Great is thy Faithfulness!

How have you seen God's faithfulness lately?

This might be my favorite time to blog

2011-10-25T14:22:00.000-04:00

When I get to talk about my children. I always said I would never be that mom who could only talk about her kids. But when I start thinking of funny things, of hard things with children, I just can't close the flood gates.

As has become tradition for my sister and now myself, we write Christmas posts for each child.

I'll start with my first: James Alexander Holdgate

Going on 7 years of marriage, we have seen alot of ups and many many downs. However, these children are a major part of the ups, and I guess downs, too. However, I am continually amazed with watching my children grown. I couldn't find a picture of our little butterball turkey so here are 2 pictures that show a bit of who this blessing is.

Is is not uncommon to find James, like this picture shows, hands deep in a project. This happens to be a lego set he purchased when he decided he wanted to make some money to buy a toy. So, we gave him a few extra chores and paid him for it.

James is super smart and his mind is a sponge. He absorbs all the information at school and we are only privvy to a portion of that. Every now and then we'll have a conversation with him and realize just how much his little brain is working.
He loves school. Did I say that already, well, He LOVES school!! He loves to do his homework, he loves to draw and make his own paper books with his drawings. He loves to build. He loves to explain things to a point where we have to ask him to stop talking and give someone else a chance.

He is growing out of size 5 and wears size 11 shoes. He prefers his crocs but will wear tennis shoes when needed. He, like his dad, would be happy if all I ever bought him were polos and khakis. Yup.

He hates tight clothing and tight shoes. He does not like to wear clothes around the house, but we are working on it. He does not prefer fruit but has discovered he does like cantalope. He eats a peanut butter sandwich for lunch, EVERY DAY. He loves to eat cereal in the morning with his dad.

So, what would be a good gift for James? Any sort of new project or tool; any sort of new coloring supply, puzzles, legos and cool t-shirts.

No energy to write

2011-10-04T16:39:00.002-04:00

Or cool stories to tell. It's hard to remember all that happens during the day as well as make time to write about it. I do pretty well at recounting a few stories to Alex in the evening, after my glass of wine. But this story is about God's plan.

You see, Alex and I both have a desire to give. Sometimes we give and it makes people uncomfortable. Sometimes we're not able to give because, well, sometimes that's just how it is. I do find it quite healthy and freeing to give away clothes, toys, kitchen appliances, etc.

So last week, Alex told me about this guy who was working for him. He has 2 little boys, 2 and 11 months and his girlfriend. They were evicted 2 weekends ago, had their car impounded and are living in a very much less than desirable hotel room; where even the landlord told Danielle and Andy to stay inside all day. So, as a mother of young children, I couldn't even bear to think of what it would be like to be cooped up in a hotel room with 2 young ones and not even be able to spend time outside. Actually, I can understand and I know it would drive me CRAZY!

A day after that, Alex calls me from work and asks if we should offer them our guest room. At least they wouldn't have to stay inside all day and then Alex could take Andy to work. They agreed and they arrived late Wednesday night.

You know that feeling when something is just right? Well, we have it. So, Danielle helps out around the house, watches the kids if I need to run out and is very happy to be out of that hotel. I am happy to have some other little kids to distract my kids and have an adult to talk to. Alex was happy to have someone help him clean up our backyard.

So today, I was putting some stuff together for Danielle, out of my vast supply of coupon deals and started filling up one of my 31 cosmetic bags for her. This particular bag, I had bought back from a customer ( a year ago) because she didn't like the color of the monogramming on it. So, I look down and see that the monogramming is DC. Her name is Danielle Crabtree. I couldn't believe it so when I gave her the bag, I couldn't help but say that there is a reason God has them here. She says that she knows, she prayed to get out of that hotel.

All of this to say that God does have a plan and he sometimes gives us very concrete, visible signs. What's next for our friends? I don't know. They paid to get their car out of impound, and now it doesn't work. So, they're looking for a car so at least, Andy can drive to work. Alex has enough work for a few weeks for him but we don't know about after that. Then they'll consider moving back to where Danielle will be closer to family and can get some help. I think they'd like to come back to Charleston eventually, once they can get a cushion to fall back on.

So, I'm continuing to pray for their sweet family and sweet little boys. I'm so glad God brought them here and I hope that they will see what God has planned for them too.

Random

2011-06-16T15:56:00.000-04:00

I haven't been posting but I have been thinking. I've been concentrating on cleaning up my house (flylady.net), focusing more on respecting my husband (Love & respect) and reading through Grudem's Systematic Theology (1/2 off at the local christian bookstore).

House Cleaning: No, it doesn't come natural. My theory, you either get the cleaning or cooking gene, I got cooking. Can I get an AMEN!! Okay, so this Flylady Kelly lady tells you certain things to do on certain days. This might come natural to some but not to me! I want a clean house, I just don't know how to do it. So, I've been motivated to go minimal with our stuff and hoping to make some big improvement this summer.

Respect: Turns out, I need to work on showing my respect for my husband. Need I say more? I'm looking forward to listening to Love & Respect.

Systematic Theology: After going to a Holy Ghost sunday school I got inspired to get this book. AND it happened to be half off....I'll be posting more as I read more...

That's what's been going on.

Paper Mache

2011-06-16T15:50:00.000-04:00

Ryan told me one day that he wanted to do paper mache. He didn't announce it appropriately and I'm not sure how he knew how to do it, but he wanted a pinata. So, he found wrapping paper, lined paper, water and a spatula. I ended the project soon after this picture because I couldn't handle the wads of water drenched paper all over the kitchen.

New and Happening

2011-06-16T15:47:00.000-04:00

Here it is Jamey. I have one picture to share. She turned 2. That should say it all. Meanwhile, she should be sleeping, but our cat, Gerdy got locked in her room and no nap was taken. Olivia is upstairs yelling to Gerdy " Gerdy!" "Stop!". Yes, she's TWO!!!

And she likes shoes and she likes certain outfits. This skirt, for example, had to be left on at night under her unicorn pj's. The boots did come off though. Have I mentioned how confused I am by her hair. It falls forward, is fine, and curly in the back. Alex cut a few of her bangs....Can you tell?

But this was a cute picture I thought my sister would enjoy.

Lip vs. Comode

2011-04-02T20:18:00.000-04:00

I hope that's how you spell that word. No, I don't blog much because I'm finding it really difficult to think in straight lines anymore. My blogs sort of end up being random run-on's and partial thoughts. But this one has a central theme.

Ryan's 2nd ER visit. Remember the first one where he was 'stung' by a pussmoth? Well, Ryan was playing in the living room when he got that look in his eye and ran to bathroom shouting " I have to pee!". That was followed by a very loud thwump which I thought was the sink or the toilet. I ran into the bathroom after I heard the very loud painful cry to find my sweet little boy holding a very bloody lip. While still screaming, we managed to look at the lip and the huge chunk that was bit by his very sharp teeth. It looked really deep and had a sideways hook design. We were concerned that it was really deep and it did cross down into the chin area.

So, the pediatrician recommended the ER so we rushed him off again. We have a friend who is in plastics so we asked him to stop by to check it out. The options:
1. take him home, put on neosporin and keep him from bonking his mouth. There would be a little scar but nothing too bad.
2. Wait till 11 to get sedated (while eating no food), put in 1 stitch and still have a scar.

Our decision was easy; we opted for neosporin which was free cuz they gave us samples.

We had a great experience there and I even saw one of our nurses today at the fabric store. We chatted for a bit and I feel like going back to have some coffee with the girls.

Picture is on facebook.

Running from the Po-Po!

2011-02-28T14:02:00.000-05:00

Yes, I know it's their job, but really?! How many times do I have to have my plates run while sitting at a stop light. I've become so paranoid that when I see a cop behind me, I make the next turn so he won't have time to run my plates. I"m waiting to get pulled over and have him say" Ma'am, you were yelling too loud at your kids".

It happens in the same general vicinity, but it's not as though I can avoid ALL police areas. So, my tags expired because I didn't change the address on my license and didn't get the bill. No big deal, I just have to go to the farthest DMV to pay them and then go to court to show the officer. He scheduled me for the week we'll be in Texas, so I had to fax in a letter explaining why I should get a continuance. I am so scared that they'll say NO, that I faxed them my flight itinerary. Just in case they feel as though I'm fleeing my duty to pay car taxes....

So, today on the way to Ryan's school (we were already running late), I saw the flashing blue and had to pull over. I quickly grabbed my license and previous citations to give to him. I had some sort of excuse about sick kids and no babysitter and he said " I understand. My kid is home with a double ear infection." Yea, so let's see if his wife pays her taxes :) Anyways, I'm wondering how many more times I"ll get pulled over. My kids are used to it now that it's fun. I had some donuts in the car so Ryan thought I should give one to the cop. I didn't.

?

2011-02-10T15:16:00.000-05:00

Me: Ryan, don't hit your sister's bottom
Ryan: Okay, I'll Booty Knock
Me: ???!!
**Booty Knocking - 2 people bonk booty's. Or 1 person walks their booty into another's

Either way, it's been classified as a new fun game. This might also be known as a 'bee sting' if you get some momentum going and can knock the other person over.

Is this the definition of Insanity?

2011-02-09T16:45:00.000-05:00

So....I pride myself on a few things and I know I shouldn't. I'm not that strict when it comes to certain parenting, but after having 3 kids, I thought I'd be able to handle things much more smoothly. I've never had major sleeping or napping or eating issues with the kids. So, when something comes up that I've never encountered before, I have a rolodex of ideas and plans to go through. One of those has got to work, right?! Well, I'm used to sleeping my 7 hours at night. I'd prefer 8, but going to bed before 10 is almost impossible. And sleeping past 6 is almost impossible too.

So, when a child of mine has interruptions in their sleep schedule, MY sleep schedule is interrupted. I'm not so gracious after day 2 of interruptions, so this time I reached out to my Facebook family for ideas.

Sweet little Olivia. She takes 1 nap in the afternoon, generally around 1 to 1:30. The past few months, she'll randomly not nap. That is, she'll go down screaming, be quiet for up to 45 minutes then start yelling for me. This past weekend, she did that both Saturday and Sunday. And Monday. And Tuesday. I am at the end of my rope because she's been clingy, screamy and just hard to handle. If she was in good spirits, then I could deal with no nap and an early bedtime.

Is it the light? Is it sugar? Is it not enough playtime? Did the doorbell wake her up? Is it teeth? Is it an ear infection?

I just could not do anything to get her to go to sleep. She's too young to understand the 'stay in bed with your eyes closed' idea but I will try that eventually.

Today, I gave her lunch and let her run around till 2 o'clock. Then we read a book and I put her to bed. It's 445 and I'll probably have to wake her up for dinner. Dare I let her sleep through the night? No, I'm too afraid she'll wake up at 2 or 3 in the morning.

Let's pray that she takes one tomorrow too!

My Favorite Things

2011-01-20T19:33:00.000-05:00

So, I thought I should put into writing some of my favorite things. Here I go in no particular order.

1. Yoga / Pilates -- I hit my year mark on my gym membership and while I started off with step, weights and zumba, I became a consistent attender to the yoga / pilates class. I've been able to do more and more of the moves and now pay more attention to myself and make sure I"m doing it right. Alex tried to do a few moves with me and some weren't as easy as they looked. My next step....running.

2. Arbonne - After child #3, I had a horrible time trying to keep my face from looking like a pubescent teenager. For about a year, my current skin care was NOT working. Nothing like being tired and looking in the mirror and not being able to fix those unsightly bumps. I met a new friend who sold Arbonne and who let me try out their skincare for a few days. Nobody gives samples of their skincare line so it's really hard to tell what will work. So, after 2 months, my skin finally cleared up. My early thirty fine lines have appeared, but my FAVORITE item is the eye corrective cream. Somehow it just smooths out that area under the eye and gives a more youthful, less I didn't get enough sleep last night look. P.S. I can sell these products, just FYI

3. Bare Minerals - refer to #2. I tried this make up years ago and it just didn't work for me. I couldn't use it a few months ago because of the condition of my skin.Now, however, I was able to buy Bare Minerals on sale and use a coupon (which is really uncommon for Bare Minerals). And now, it goes on the list as one of my favorite things. Why? It's easy to use, light and looks nice :)

4. J.Crew - I do hate to admit this. However, this past holiday season and the one the prior year, I was able to buy $7 jeans and many, many sale/clearance items that have proved to be a staple in my closet.

5. Bed, Bath & Beyond - They do returns with no receipt, you can use multiple coupons, they're helpful and friendly

6. Crocs - A brand I have come to really love. I buy these for my kids and here's what sets them apart from similar shoes...they don't stink. They do wear down and get dirty, but they don't stink. None have fallen apart and my kids wear them religiously. I recently bought a pair at 1/2 price and I love them. Super comfy and they feel superb!!

7. TV Shows - Justified, The Closer, Men of a Certain Age, Blue Bloods, Leverage, Rizzoli & Isles and White Collar.

8. Webcam - I love being able to call up my brother or parents and see them whenever I want.

9. Thirty - One - I've only been a consult for 8 months but I did manage to get a recruit. I'm not ready to give up but I'm still trying to figure how I fit into the whole direct selling thing. I'm not a natural seller so I'm trying to get there. But, it's been a challenge and a lot of fun getting to know new people. I did have 1 huge party which had party sales of $1500 so that made me super happy!!

10. My Family - It's a contented feeling knowing that we only have 1 in diapers and 3 incredible, enthusiastic sweet children. I do love my husband also. 6 years and although we have our struggles, I wouldn't want to struggle with anyone else.

11. Wine.

Nothing goes unnoticed

2011-01-20T16:42:00.000-05:00

I know that's not really true. There are plenty of things that go unnoticed and sometimes I feel like that 'thing' is me. That's all I'm gonna say about that (no pity party here). But, the point of this post.

Today was the first day back to my Fall bible study and I couldn't wait!! It's been 2 long months and I was super excited to get there today. So, I drop off Ryan and Olivia in their respective classrooms and head to meet my friends, Hillary and English.

Afterwards, I go to pick up Ryan and his teacher came to me and told me how polite Ryan was today and how sweet he was. I was very excited to hear this, although I also know that that was true. He is a very sweet boy.

Ryan: Mom, Can I have a present?
Me: Why?
Ryan: Because I listened to my teacher today.

Hmmmm. He got some gummy worms. I still don't know whether or not he encouraged his teacher to tell me those goods things or not.

One Proud Mama

2011-01-20T16:38:00.000-05:00

So, I attended James' first real parent/teacher conference. It was just routine and a way to connect with the teacher. We love his teacher, Mrs. Trotter. She speaks fluent Spanish and there is a large population of spanish speaking kids in the class, so we're hoping for some bilingual understanding. Anyways, I went in to the meeting expecting to hear things like "We like James. He's sweet and smart and his speech has really improved". All of which, is true.

Now I get to brag. Mrs. T said he is the highest intellectually out of all the kids and she had some stories to prove it. For example, she gave all the kids a plastic baggy with an ice cube in it. They were then told to take the ice cube to where they thought it would melt the fastest. All the kids took theirs outside, but James put his near the space heater. Unfortunately for James, it was the warmest day all season and the ones outside melted first.

I tried not to be the parent to just gush all over my kids, but I did contribute a few stories of how James wanted us to make an ice castle at home, or how many envelopes of cut of paper he brings home and how he asks us 3x a day if he has school tomorrow.

There were a few more stories, but I don't want to be one of 'those' moms, so I just want you to know that I AM a proud mama. I was so proud that I wanted to reward James for working so hard at school. So, I got him a little gift yesterday. That won't happen all the time. We'll probably reward with milkshakes or something

First Haircut

2010-12-18T13:39:00.000-05:00

I always promised myself that I would take good care to make sure my little girl had a nice girly haircut. Due to a few mishap haircuts by a certain sister of mine (I know she had good intentions), I've become a bit sensitive to short boy haircuts. Well, Olivia has this hair that I have no clue how to manage.

It was getting long in the front and the back and beginning to resemble a mullet. The only thing I could do what pull the long hair back into a pony tail, but it looked kind of silly. So, we went in to pay $10 for 5 minutes of cutting :(.

Doesn't look too crazy here, but it was a low humidity day.

This is how it looked brushed out.

This is how it looked right after the cut. I know, it looks like a boy cut but it smoothed out and looks good. It's a bit of a bowl cut, but its growing in nicely. It's curling under in the back but the top is still straight. I'm still not sure what to do, but I think it's in the right direction.

The Mini-Union

2010-12-18T13:34:00.000-05:00

We all took a trip up to VA to visit my sister. It was a nice little trip where we would get to meet our new little niece, Moriah Katherine Jackson. So, with all 14 kids, the house was a bit packed. Thank goodness it did not rain. We had a good time visiting and made a few park outings to tire out the kids. I handed Alex the camera and asked him to take some photos. This is all he took :)

The Halloween Party

2010-12-14T19:02:00.000-05:00

So, my sister in law had a halloween birthday party, since her birthday's the first week in November. We all dressed up as best we could and here's what the little guys went as. James as Ironman, Ryan, all of his spiderman accessories and little ballerina.

I tried to be Little Bo Peep. My pig tails were a bit droopy.

Alex was half and half man. Have business, half lumberjack.

Trying to be strong

2010-11-05T16:06:00.000-04:00

James and haircuts...not fun. He did alright the first few times, but since then, well, Remember the scene from Steel Magnolias where Julia Roberts has a diabetic fit while getting her hair done. Yep, that's about right. So, we tried to buzz it at home, but it was so frustrating that we decided it was worth paying for someone else to deal with it.

Nothing worked to keep him calm, not even bribes. So, it was time for a school picture haircut. It was getting really crazy around his neck and ears, so off we went. We went as a family this time because Ryan needed a cut also. Alex told James that if he didn't cry or scream he could pick something out from Target...

So, he sat in the chair and they started cutting. I looked at his face and almost starting crying because he was physically trying to not scream. He was trying so hard that I just wanted to hug him and tell him that it was okay and he could scream. He made it through and he picked out some cotton candy from the dollar bin. WHEW! I thought it was really gonna cost us.

Fair Time Again?!

2010-11-05T14:20:00.000-04:00

Where has the year gone? It seems like just yesterday we were driving towards the fairgrounds and looking at all the World's Shortest Lady and the World's Smallest Horse. I must say that this was the first really enjoyable time we've had. We have gone with newborns and crawlers and this time, I actually had fun. Ryan is finally tall enough to ride some rides and James likes to play the games. Olivia stayed in her stroller, mostly against her will, but was let out to pet the goats and sheep. She REALLY loves animals and gets super excited anytime she sees a dog, cat, bird, squirrel or any other creature.

We met up with Mom Mom and Pop Pop Kalman. Turns out the flannel twins had a great time on some rides too :)

The evening started off rough when we couldn't find our advance purchase tickets, but I was able to sell those on Craigslist once we found them :)

And that was it. More pictures will be posted on Facebook.

Where are my...?

2010-11-02T15:04:00.001-04:00

Ryan: Where's my hand-slappers?

Me: Your what?!

Ryan: My Hand Slappers!!!

Hand Slappers = Hand Cwaps = Hand cuffs. From the plastic police toys they got from the Fair.

A few new pics

2010-10-25T16:38:00.000-04:00

Uncle Nick and Aunt Kristy brought these very cute knit hats from Iowa. They are pumpkin hats but you can't see the green top.

And here's a cute one of Olivia. She's getting a stronger personality and does NOT like to be left out. Don't even think about not including her. She can hold her own and we will have our hands full with her too. BUT she definately has daddy wrapped around her finger.

Alex's 34th Birthday!

2010-10-25T16:35:00.000-04:00

So, it was Alex's birthday, again. This year I was inspired to have a birthday week for him. That included special treats and special dinners and ended with a special meal with friends and family. This is the cake I did for him. It was the first time in a while that I had done a cake, but I thought it tasted good. It was vanilla with homemade raspberry buttercream filling and regular buttercream frosting.

This is how I celebrated his birthday, on Sunday. Sunday was his real birthday but we celebrated on saturday. Alex thought it was funny that James fell asleep also with a bag of chips in his lap. All my kids like to snack like I do.

Anyways, another birthday come and gone. He's a few pounds lighter than last birthday but a lot more wise :)

The Holiday Round Up

2010-10-06T13:38:00.001-04:00

This might be a little early, but I'm getting things done earlier this season. This is my post on kids sizes, etc for those family members interested.

James - will be 5 in November and is developing his own tastes and styles. He is growing out of 4T so I only buy 5T items. He is into fish (real ones), movies and books. He is very creative and loves to draw and put things together. He is just the right age for legos or things like that. He loves to have his own drawing books and bookbags. He recently told me to look for a box with "james" on it, filled with trucks and transformers and bakugans.

Ryan - He also is developing some tastes and styles aside from James. He now loves to dress up as spiderman, batman or Iron Man. Basically, he's into action figures. He loves clothes and puts on 3 outfits every day. He is still wearing 2T for pants and can get away with 3T in shirts.

Olivia - Our little girl. It's hard to tell what toys she would enjoy but she does like bags/purses. I bought some barbies and my little ponies recently but she hasn't shown much interest in them. If there was a box full of little treasures than I'm sure she would just love that. I wouldn't buy antyhing smaller than a 24 month / 2T and she looks good in brown, seafoam green and bright colors.

Alex - He's a hard one. However, he has become quite the baker so some nice baking tools/supplies would be good. He's lost a lot of weight, but I wouldn't recommend buying him clothes. He doesn't particularly care for that :) I'll try to think of more but he's a hard one. OH! I just remembered. He has expressed an interest in those new Ipod Touch Nano's. He's been riding his bike and running more. If he doesn't get one for his birthday I"m hoping to save up enough rebate $$ to get it......We'll see :)

Me - Well, I like just about anything. I like gift cards, jewelry, clothes, books.....I haven't picked up any hobbies yet but if you happen upon a Groupon to a Charleston Spa for a massage for pedicure/manicure, I wouldn't complain. Easy, yet probably hard. Or if you want to encourage Alex to take me out, that would be great too :)

Anyways, that's that. Happy Holidays!

Groupon Rocks!

2010-10-06T12:13:00.000-04:00

So, this picture has no relation to this post. I love Groupon!! If you haven't signed up, do so. It's a daily deal that they email to you based on your location. However, you can buy the deal from any other city offered. I am praying and praying that the perfect deal will pop up that I can use as Christmas presents. I can't tell you everything I got due to certain readers of this blog (it would spoil the surprise) but I did just get 4 movie tickets for free. Yes, it included the IMAX!! Now Alex has no excuse to not take me out:) Today's deal was a $180 gift certificate to The Sanctuary Spa in San Diego for only $45. I don't like in SD but I have family that does. So maybe they'll get some use out of that one.

Anyways, this is the beginning of the holiday coupons. What I learned from last year is, get the deals while they're hot!! They don't come back. So, I"m hoping to have all my shopping done by mid November. I'm right on track and I think I'll do just fine this year.