Overachievers.

When departing MSP International Airport for international travel, they request you check-in two hours ahead of your flight time. We're such overachievers that we ended up checking in five hours ahead of our flight, without even trying.

Let me back up. In a fashion unheard of for us, Josh and I made fantastic time this morning. Dropped off the kids, stopped at Target, and got to my friend's house for our airport ride 20 minutes ahead of schedule. A quick ride to the airport later, we were checked in just after 10:30 - three hours ahead of our 1:25 flight to JFK.

We had a nice lunch at TGI Fridays before heading to our gate. The plane boarded quickly and smoothly, and I debated exactly how many life-size Easter Island heads I could order from Sky Mall for Jeff and Diane's garden.

Right on cue: "Ladies and Gentlemen, this is your captain speaking, we have a problem with an engine, and we're not sure if we can fly this plane or not, but we may be switching to another or fixing it. Either way we're looking at a delay of at least an hour."

Our time between flights at JFK was an hour and a half.

Two minutes later, we were informed that an engine was out and "this bird isn't gonna fly." (yes, that is a direct quote). The flight crew instructed us to return to the airport gate and await further news.

A Delta service representative assisted us in getting set up on a new flight - first a non-stop to London that left at 9:45 pm. Despite our overwhelming joy at the thought of sitting at MSP terminal 1 for another 8 hours, when they gave us the option to take a flight to JFK at 3:25 with a flight to London at 9:00 pm, we took that option.

We'll land in London tomorrow at 9:30 am instead of 7:00 am, which will work in our favor avoiding rush hour on the London subway system.

Haley at Four Months!

Haley's four-month check up was this afternoon! She is 25 inches tall (75th percentile) and weighs 14 pounds 4 ounces (70th percentile). Her pediatrician still calls her "the dream baby."

Her shots made her cry, but once we got in the car she fell right to sleep, and has spent much of the rest of the day sleeping.

Two Month Check Up

Haley had a slightly belated two-month check up today. She actually turned two months back on March 16 but due to some scheduling conflicts, we couldn't get her in until this week.

She is now 22 1/2 inches tall and weighs 11 pounds, 15 ounces. This places her in the 50th percentile for both height and weight for her age. She is 100 percent healthy and absolutely perfect!

Haley also had her first round of vaccinations today, which left her poor little legs very sore afterward.

One Month Stats

Haley had her one-month doctor appointment on Thursday. Her doctor called told us we had "the dream baby" (we knew that already of course).

Height: 22 1/4 inches (90th percentile)
Weight: 9 lbs 5 oz (75th percentile)

She's growing super fast, and sweet as ever. She smiles a lot too now :)

One Month

As of today, Haley Clare is officially one month old. She has been an amazing baby so far, and Ridley has been an amazing big brother. 

Tomorrow we will go to the doctor for her one month check-up. I am excited to see how big she is! Hopefully the infection in her right ear will have cleared up too. 

In this picture, Haley is sleeping in her new bouncy chair. She had been using the same one we had from when Ridley was a baby, but I thought it would be nice to get her a new one for downstairs. The old one we are keeping upstairs now, so I don't have to keep carrying it up and down the stairs all the time! (having a coupon for 20% off a new one didn't hurt either... How I love Target).

Baby furniture building directions always seem to confuse me, and this one was no exception. It may have taken three tries, but I did get it together on my own!

February 16, 2011

ears, noses, and tummies

There has been an evil bug going around our household this week. It started last Tuesday, when Ridley woke up from his nap clearly not feeling well. His eyes were puffy and his nose was running. It seemed the minor cold that had plagued him most of November and December was back. Then on Wednesday, he got worse. I took him to the Target Minute Clinic and he was diagnosed with his first ear infection - a double ear infection no less.

Yucky feeling Ridley

We started him on amoxicillin and even the next day we could tell he was starting to feel much better. He continued to improve over the weekend, during which time I was dealing with some sort of bug, but mostly better by Sunday.

Ridley feeling much better

Since she was born, Haley has had some minor congestion, which is fairly common, and it was never bad enough to bother her. But Sunday evening it seemed to be getting worse, so I called our pediatric urgent care office, who advised us to run a humidifier in her room at night (check), take her in the bathroom and run the shower on high heat so she could breathe in the steam (check), and to do some saline irrigation in her nose (check, after they explained how to do it). Well, all those things didn't do much in the way of helping, and I spent almost all night up with Haley as her congestion got worse - to the point that she was having difficulty eating.

So first thing this morning, Haley and I were off to see her pediatrician. Turns out, Haley has her first ear infection (just in her right ear though). Her doctor says that in 15 years of practice, she can count on one hand the number of babies under six weeks old who have had ear infections. So now we have her started on amoxicillin as well, and her congestion seems to be improving. She is finally getting some sleep too.

Now hopefully between these two sick kids (and a sick husband) I can get a little sleep too.

Weight Check

I took Haley in for her weight check on Monday, January 24. Her weight was up to 7 pounds 12 ounces - a gain of six ounces in only four days!

After the weight check, Haley and I stopped in at Punch to visit daddy at work before going to pick up Ridley. Haley slept through the whole visit :)

First Pediatric Check and a Sweet Big Brother

On Thursday, January 20, I took Haley in for her first pediatric check-up. She was again declared beautiful and perfect. She weighed 7 pounds, 6 ounces and they measured her at 20 and 1/2 inches. According to the doctor's office, that places her in the 50th percentile for weight and the 90th for height. She takes after her mom, dad, and brother. We will be going back to the pediatrician's office in a few days just to chck her weight so that they can make sure it is going back up. (It is normal for babies to lose some of their body weight after they are born). 

Ridley LOVES his sister!

Now that we have had both kids home for a few days, it is easy to see that Ridley adores his little sister. He has asked to hold her a couple times, which he does with help from mommy, and he also kisses her head. He has been very gentle with her. He seems so big now in comparison though!

Holding Haley with help from mommy

We are all doing well, and feeling grateful that other than her first night at home, Haley seems to be a pretty good sleeper! We are so lucky to have such wonderful kids :)

Haley Clare Holland

Our daughter, Haley Clare Holland, was born Sunday, January 16, at 8:48 p.m. She weighs 7 pounds, 15 ounces and is 20 and 1/4 inches tall.

She was born at St. John's Hospital in Maplewood, MN, with help from Dr. Kohls (of Partners OB/GYN), daddy, Auntie Leann, and a fabulous team of nurses. Josh's cousin Brett (who is a family practice resident at St. Johns) came to see her the morning of January 17 to do her initial pediatric check. She is perfectly healthy and beautiful.

photo by Stefany Janish

Haley had several visitors to see her in the hospital. Uncle Robin and Aunt Nora were in town from St. Louis, so they got to see Haley the night she was born before they left the morning of January 17. Grandpa Jeff and Nana also came to see Haley the night of her birth, as did Auntie Stacey, Grandma Heidi and Grandpa Steve.

The next day (Monday) we had visits from both sets of Grandparents, the Janish family, Leann and Lara, Steph Salek, and Josh's Aunt Jenny. Tuesday morning Haley and I got clearance from our respective doctors and got to go home! Ridley was out in Stillwater with Grandpa Jeff and Nana for the day, so we had some time to settle in before Ridley met his sister for the first time. He did very well when he got home and met her, and we hope that will continue!

Two Years Old

Ridley Dexter turned two on Friday! I can't believe how quickly the last two years have gone by, and how time has turned my perfect tiny baby into an adorable and silly toddler. Ridley had first celebrated his birthday a week prior with my mom and her husband while they were in town, and then Josh and a had a party for him on his actual birthday with Grandma Heidi, Grandpa Steve, Auntie Stacey, Uncley Scott, Auntie Char, Grandpa Jeff and Nana! Josh made juicy Lucy's, and we had ice cream cake for dessert. Ridley loves ice cream cake. Here are some pictures from his party.

Ice cream cake - there were no leftovers.

Mommy (and baby), Uncley Scott, Grandpa Steve and Grandma Heidi enjoying dinner.

Auntie Char enjoying cake.

Ridley and Nana sharing ice cream cake - yes, it's all over his face!

Learning to slam dunk with help from Grandpa Jeff!

Halloween Party!

On Saturday October 30, Ridley went to a Halloween party! It was at Josh's cousin's house, and since Josh didn't have to work until 5 p.m. that day, he was able to join us for a while.

Ridley and Daddy dressed as Spock and Captain Kirk. Ridley's costume came with a hat with Spock hair and ears on it, but he REFUSED to wear it Saturday (yes, he wore it Sunday, and pictures will come later of that). He wasn't thrilled about wearing a costume in general at first, but once he got used to having it on he was fine.

Here is Ridley and Mommy with Steph and cousin Kellen. Cousin Kellen is almost seven months old, and he dressed up as a bat!

Ridley's favorite thing at the party was the veggie platter, which had cherry tomatoes. He ate about 15 of them, which ended up making him sick later that night. But he loved them!

Three Day Weekend!

Josh and I had decided a while back to take a three-day weekend together in October to try to accomplish a handful of things. We both took off October 15-17 and had a great weekend.

On Friday morning, we got up early and headed down to Windom, Minnesota to visit my grandparents. It was Ridley's first trip down there and a long car ride for him, but he handled it wonderfully! He had a great time visiting his Great-Grandma and Great-Grandpa Reid. They have a cuckoo clock, which he immediately fell in love with. We also went for a walk to the local park and played on the playground there before having ice cream treats and heading home. We had a smooth drive home and made it back in time to go to Josh's parents' house to watch most of the playoff game before bringing Ridley home for bed.

The next morning we got up and headed out right away to bring Ridley back over to Josh's parents' to hang out with his grandma, grandpa and Auntie Stacey for the morning so Josh and I could go test drive a few cars. With Ridley getting bigger and his little sister due in a few months, it was getting to be time to look into upgrading from Josh's Saturn into something with a little more space. We'd decided to look at crossover SUVs and wanted to check out the Ford Edge and Explorer, Mazda CX-7 and a few others. We just wanted to see what was out there, but we didn't have any intention of buying anything.

Well, funny how things happen.... we bought the first vehicle we test drove at the first (and only) dealership we went to. They had a Volvo CX90 that was in our price range and had everything we were looking for - and more. The picture below is the same color and year as ours, but isn't ours specifically. We love it, and the additional space will be nice not only for the two kids, but also for Josh's work when he needs to bring supplies to and from the different Punch restaurants. It is so much easier to get Ridley in and out of - especially as my belly is rapidly growing! We are also both much more comfortable riding in it.

After buying the car, we spent the rest of the day celebrating birthdays! First we had a late birthday lunch with Jeff and Diane to celebrate both Josh and Jeff's birthdays, which are the 13th and 12th, respectively. We went to the Highland Punch Pizza (Josh's old store), and it was delicious and nice to see several of his former co-workers.

We had a brief break at home, then headed over to Josh's parents' house to celebrate his birthday with his parents, Stacey, Scott and some family friends. Josh's mom and sister made eggrolls and cream cheese wontons and they were delicious!

Sunday was a slightly calmer day. Josh and two of his friends have a semi-annual tradition of taking a day out of October to celebrate the fall with pumpkin pancakes, a trip to the apple orchard, a scary movie and haunted hayride. Ridley and Josh enjoyed a breakfast of pumpkin pancakes at his friend Jake's house (I stayed home as I abhor anything pumpkin flavored or scented), then they came and picked me up and we met up with everyone else at Pine Tree Apple Orchard.

We went through the corn maze... Ridley was insistent on being carried by me almost the entire time....

But he did get down to walk on his own for a little bit.

We also went into the pumpkin patch there...

Ridley enjoyed it much more than the corn maze.

We stocked up on apple rollovers, apple butter, apple cider and a strawberry rhubarb pie at their gift shop area.

After the orchard, Ridley and I headed home so Ridley could take a nap. He took a nice long nap, and we had a little downtime before Josh's friends came over to meet up for dinner. Josh made juicy Lucy's, which turned out great. After dinner, Josh and friends made a trip up to the haunted hayride, which wasn't too busy for the season yet, so he got home not too long after Ridley went to bed.

It was a very busy weekend, but good all around!

Best Target Trip Ever!!

Ridley and I picked up a few groceries this morning at Target. They
were giving out free samples of vanilla ice cream with chocolate
syrup. Ridley sat in the cart (on a package of diapers) and ate his
ice cream through the whole grocery section of the store, and only got
a little bit on his nose!

An exciting day

On Thursday, September 2, Josh and I had the 20 week ultrasound for
Baby Holland 2 and found out that we are expecting a baby girl! She is
due January 20 and everything looks great!

On our way to pick up Ridley from Josh's parents' house after the
ultrasound, we could see flashing emergency lights at the end of their
street. The "end of the street" is a sharp turn two houses away from
theirs, so as we pulled up we were very close to the police cars,
firetruck and ambulance that had accumulated there. Josh's dad and
Ridley were sitting in the screened-in garage watching the excitement,
and filled us in on what happened: a car was being chased by several
police vehicles - marked and unmarked - as well as a helicoper. The
driver of the car didn't slow down enough for the bend in the road and
ended up sliding off the road sideways into a large pine tree. We
found out on the news that night that the suspects were being followed
for shoplifting. The link to the story on Channel 5 news in below.

http://kstp.com/news/stories/S1727539.shtml?cat=1

Ridley's Favorite Treat

Ridley has discovered the joy of ice cream. It was only a matter of
time before he picked up on this dietary staple of Grandpa Jeff...

At least he has good taste; that is Ben and Jerry's.

Daddy Joins Us in DC (or, Vacation Part 2)

Josh joined us in DC on Friday morning after taking the train down from New York. Ridley was happy to see his daddy! After having some lunch and letting Josh rest a little bit we left Robin's apartment to go into the city.

My pictures posted in the reverse order that I wanted them to, so here's our afternoon in reverse :)

After lots of walking in the warm weather, we ended the afternoon hanging out by a fountain in the Smithsonian Art Museum's Sculpture Garden. It was dirctly across the street from the National Archives (pictured below).

You could sit on the edge of the fountain and dip your feet in, so I took advantage of that, and it was an exellent way to cool off a little bit. Ridley cooled off by dumping his water cup over his head (accidentally).

We spent a good part of the afternoon wandering through the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum (the one on the Mall, not the one near Dulles Airport). After much searching, we found the Enterprise! (It's in the lower level of the giftshop).

This is the Van Ness-UDC Metro stop. It's the closest one to Robin's apartment, so we were coming and going from here quite frequently.

A Trip to See Uncle Robin and Auntie Nora! (or, Vacation Part One)

In May, we took our first family vacation! Josh headed out to New York on May 11, and the next day, Ridley and I flew out to Washington DC (where Josh would join us two days later) to see Robin and Nora!

Tweakie-cat wanted to come with us and tried to fit in our carry-on bag. He was just a little too fluffy though!

RIdley behaved very well on both our flights (MN to Milwaukee for a brief layover, then Milwaukee to DC) - he slept most of the second flight even!

It was raining as we landed in DC, but as we flew in we saw Watergate, the Kennedy Center, the Washington, Lincoln and Jefferson Memorials, as well as the Capitol. When we landed in DC, Uncle Robin came to meet us at the airport!

We took the Metro to get to Robin and Nora's apartment an spent the evening hanging out with them. Ridley and I both went to bed early - we were tired from all our travels!

The next morning, Ridley, Robin and I went in to Bethesda, MD with Uncle Robin to visit the National Institute of Health (where he works), and to check out the city a little. We checked out a toy store, and a Barnes and Noble, then had some lunch and headed back to DC for the afternoon. Ridley fell asleep on the Metro (surprising to me since they are LOUD!). Then we went to the DC Aquarium. They had alligators and an octopus. Very cool!

After the aquarium, we walked down the street to The White House. We couldn't get too close (obviously - although we were closer when we walked around to the Lafayette Park side). It was fun to see though. After the White House, we went back to Robin and Nora's place and gave Ridley a chance to run around in their building's backyard/courtyard/picnic area. An excellent day in DC!

First Sandbox!

Ridley now has a turtle sandbox at Josh's parejts' house! He likes to
stand by it and use his shovels to move sand around and put it in
buckets, but he isn't too sure about actually climbing in it yet. The
sand feels funny on his feet!

Tweakie Love

Ridley loves both his kitties so much. He loves to snuggle his face in
their fur and give them kisses. He is very gentle and sweet with them
too!

Reminds me of someone else I know...

Ridley, wearing his baseball hat while he sleeps, just like his uncle
Robin used to.