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!