Post by Scott T. Holland.
Tuesday, December 24, 2013
Saturday, December 21, 2013
A Christmas e-letter
Sorry friends, no real letter this year, either. And though none of this is news if you're reading the blog regularly, I still wanted to put together some thoughts on the year that was. Love to all.
December 2013
Greetings, friends and family!
I would have started this letter earlier, but I had a baby in my lap. And that pretty much sums up 2013 for the Hollands!
All right, that’s a bit too concise. But when the year started we did not know we’d be having our fourth baby in early October. But that’s what ended up happening, and the day we first set eyes on Isaac Evert Holland was the day our family felt complete.
But the new guy represents just 25 percent of the boys living in our house. What about the other three?
Jack turned 9 in April and now is in fourth grade, which in our district means a new building. He’s having by far his best year ever. His teachers love having him in class, and they even say he’s helpful to them — whether inventing an attendance system and quiz games for his classroom or troubleshooting problems on their iPhones, they have made it clear he’s a great student. He also loves to help work in the video recording room at church and still has a good time with many Cub Scouts activities. Also he is quite fond of Minecraft, which is a momentous understatement.
Max turned 5 in March started kindergarten in August. Afternoons only, but he rides the big yellow bus and could not have more fun. That’s not a huge surprise given how much he loved preschool, but it’s great to see him get off to such a good start. He played park district soccer in the fall (somehow dad got asked to help coach) and also is doing the choir at church. And I lost track of how many birthday parties we attended.
Charlie turned 2 in February. He continues to be a little chatterbox and is quite proud of his counting skills. He’s got zero interest in potty training but remains the world’s greatest hugger, plus his kissing technique has improved such that he hardly ever leaves slobber on cheeks. He started the Bible Time for Toddlers and Sunday school programs at church this fall and delights in the classroom environment. Maybe that’s because of the snacks and art projects, but we’re not complaining!
And back to Isaac, who has only been with us a couple of months. He weighed 8 pounds, 12 ounces at birth (a new record for us) and has been growing steadily since. Shortly after we got home from the hospital we went right back because he spiked a pretty high fever, but it all cleared up in good time and life got back to normal. He’s now a smiling little nugget who actually slept through the night four or five days in a row earlier this month before deciding he couldn’t bear to go that many hours without seeing our living faces.
With Isaac due in early October, Kristie and I didn’t join the church bell choirs when they started in September. That was a good plan, seeing as that’s right about the time we had a sewer problem and some serious house damage as a result. Everything is almost entirely put back together — finally. Kristie also recently completed the process of closing her home-based cloth diaper store, which means in the next few weeks we can bring stuff back into the basement and free up our playroom and garage.
Not much change for me with regards to work and writing on the side, but it will be nice to try to get back to something of a regular schedule when Isaac gets a bit older and more predictable. Kristie and I both spend a fair amount of time driving the kids hither and yon, plus running errands and doing chores around the house. The water meter keeps spinning with all the laundry, dishes and baths, but it’s a blessing for us all to be able to spend so much time together.
One highlight of the year was a July trip to Nashville, Tenn., with my parents and siblings, where we met up with some of my mom’s family from North Carolina. It was a lot of time in the minivan, but a great few days in a new city and a wonderful way to celebrate my mom’s 60th birthday. And the boys (especially Jack and Max) got to spend some good time in Fulton with Kristie’s parents throughout the year. Hopefully there will be even more of that as travel with the little guy gets easier.
We also enjoyed a snowy visit to a largely empty Shedd Aquarium for Max’s birthday in March and a few trips to the Lake Michigan shore to skip rocks and fly kites. Plus, this was the year Kristie’s family pooled together to get us season passes to Six Flags for Christmas, so we spent many summer days and nights riding coasters, eating fried stuff and rocking out to the laser-light, pyrotechnic song-and-dance show at the end of the night. The boys must have had a blast because they were more than ready to sign up to do it all again next summer.
Next March we’ll mark five years in our Gurnee home — three cheers for stability! — and in the fall Max will start first grade and Charlie will be in preschool a few days a week… so even as things stay the same life continues to change as the boys get older. We might think things are a bit hectic now with a newborn, but by this time next year he should be up and running around, making just as much noise as the rest of them. What do I want for Christmas? A nap.
As usual, we hope this letter finds you happy and healthy, reflecting on a good year and looking forward to another. Grace and peace to you and yours.
December 2013
Greetings, friends and family!
I would have started this letter earlier, but I had a baby in my lap. And that pretty much sums up 2013 for the Hollands!
All right, that’s a bit too concise. But when the year started we did not know we’d be having our fourth baby in early October. But that’s what ended up happening, and the day we first set eyes on Isaac Evert Holland was the day our family felt complete.
But the new guy represents just 25 percent of the boys living in our house. What about the other three?
Jack turned 9 in April and now is in fourth grade, which in our district means a new building. He’s having by far his best year ever. His teachers love having him in class, and they even say he’s helpful to them — whether inventing an attendance system and quiz games for his classroom or troubleshooting problems on their iPhones, they have made it clear he’s a great student. He also loves to help work in the video recording room at church and still has a good time with many Cub Scouts activities. Also he is quite fond of Minecraft, which is a momentous understatement.
Max turned 5 in March started kindergarten in August. Afternoons only, but he rides the big yellow bus and could not have more fun. That’s not a huge surprise given how much he loved preschool, but it’s great to see him get off to such a good start. He played park district soccer in the fall (somehow dad got asked to help coach) and also is doing the choir at church. And I lost track of how many birthday parties we attended.
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| Merry Christmas from the Hollands — all six of us! |
And back to Isaac, who has only been with us a couple of months. He weighed 8 pounds, 12 ounces at birth (a new record for us) and has been growing steadily since. Shortly after we got home from the hospital we went right back because he spiked a pretty high fever, but it all cleared up in good time and life got back to normal. He’s now a smiling little nugget who actually slept through the night four or five days in a row earlier this month before deciding he couldn’t bear to go that many hours without seeing our living faces.
With Isaac due in early October, Kristie and I didn’t join the church bell choirs when they started in September. That was a good plan, seeing as that’s right about the time we had a sewer problem and some serious house damage as a result. Everything is almost entirely put back together — finally. Kristie also recently completed the process of closing her home-based cloth diaper store, which means in the next few weeks we can bring stuff back into the basement and free up our playroom and garage.
Not much change for me with regards to work and writing on the side, but it will be nice to try to get back to something of a regular schedule when Isaac gets a bit older and more predictable. Kristie and I both spend a fair amount of time driving the kids hither and yon, plus running errands and doing chores around the house. The water meter keeps spinning with all the laundry, dishes and baths, but it’s a blessing for us all to be able to spend so much time together.
One highlight of the year was a July trip to Nashville, Tenn., with my parents and siblings, where we met up with some of my mom’s family from North Carolina. It was a lot of time in the minivan, but a great few days in a new city and a wonderful way to celebrate my mom’s 60th birthday. And the boys (especially Jack and Max) got to spend some good time in Fulton with Kristie’s parents throughout the year. Hopefully there will be even more of that as travel with the little guy gets easier.
We also enjoyed a snowy visit to a largely empty Shedd Aquarium for Max’s birthday in March and a few trips to the Lake Michigan shore to skip rocks and fly kites. Plus, this was the year Kristie’s family pooled together to get us season passes to Six Flags for Christmas, so we spent many summer days and nights riding coasters, eating fried stuff and rocking out to the laser-light, pyrotechnic song-and-dance show at the end of the night. The boys must have had a blast because they were more than ready to sign up to do it all again next summer.
Next March we’ll mark five years in our Gurnee home — three cheers for stability! — and in the fall Max will start first grade and Charlie will be in preschool a few days a week… so even as things stay the same life continues to change as the boys get older. We might think things are a bit hectic now with a newborn, but by this time next year he should be up and running around, making just as much noise as the rest of them. What do I want for Christmas? A nap.
As usual, we hope this letter finds you happy and healthy, reflecting on a good year and looking forward to another. Grace and peace to you and yours.
With love,
Scott, Kristie, Jack, Max, Charlie and Isaac
Thursday, December 19, 2013
December photos
I want to share some really good photos from Isaac's baptism last Sunday, but I also want to maintain chronological order here. In pursuit of that goal, I present a few photos (and a video) from around the house, Dec. 7-Dec. 14.
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| So big! From Hollands at Home 2013 |
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| Hey guys! From Hollands at Home 2013 |
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| Ready to ride. From Hollands at Home 2013 |
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| Excited about the Christmas tree. From Hollands at Home 2013 |
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| Team captain. From Hollands at Home 2013 |
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| Dec. 11: Two months old! From Hollands at Home 2013 |
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| Napp attack. (Seriously.) From Hollands at Home 2013 |
Post by Scott T. Holland.
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| Pre-bath. From Hollands at Home 2013 |
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| A kiss from Mom. From Hollands at Home 2013 |
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| Pre-baptism group bath. From Hollands at Home 2013 |
Saturday, December 07, 2013
A Sunday with Charlie
Three quick photos from last Sunday with Charlie. The first two are from when he heard Kristie wanted to bake some sort of buttermilk bread. He went straight to the fridge so he could help. First, by getting the "butter":
Then he reached for the milk.
Later on, as one might expect... nap attack in his favorite sleeping chair, even though it doesn't really fit him the way he prefers to doze.
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| From Hollands at Home 2013 |
Then he reached for the milk.
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| From Hollands at Home 2013 |
Later on, as one might expect... nap attack in his favorite sleeping chair, even though it doesn't really fit him the way he prefers to doze.
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| From Hollands at Home 2013 |
Thursday, December 05, 2013
Happy birthday, Pops!
On the Saturday of Thanksgiving week we celebrated Pops' birthday. Kristie, Charlie and Isaac headed down in the afternoon while I was on my way to DeKalb to retrieve Thing One and Thing Two. As an added bonus, Uncle Matt was in town briefly between his visit to San Francisco and his return to Champaign. So while we missed Kim and Micah (who shares a birthday with Pops) it was nice to have a somewhat bigger family gathering than our Thursday dinner.
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| Staring deeply into Mom's eyes. From Pops and K's |
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| Everyone loves cake! From Pops and K's |
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| Blow! From Pops and K's |
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| A team effort. From Pops and K's |
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| Not sure what's going on here, but it's cute! From Pops and K's |
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| A post-cake apple for Charlie. From Pops and K's |
Tuesday, December 03, 2013
Thanksgiving
This was, by far, our quietest Thanksgiving since 2003. On Wednesday afternoon I drove Jack and Max to DeKalb, where we met Pop in the IHOP parking lot so he could drive them all the way to Fulton. I came straight home to spend a few days with only two children and to be reminded how much easier it is to care for a newborn when there is always at least one parent to give him complete attention. It's also remarkably easy to tend to a two-and-a-half-year-old when there are no big brothers to change the TV channel or demand to be fed first. And of course Jack and Max can't ever get enough of their time playing at How's House. Since Max narrates his entire life (and rarely forgets anything) I was able to get a pretty good rundown of the events out west, making it almost seem like we were in two places at once.
Thanksgiving Day at Pops & K's was just them and our four. Isaac fell asleep in the car on the way down and proceeded to be passed out for maybe five hours. Charlie crashed before dinner, because he won't ever take a nap earlier in the day. So there we sat, four adults eating a modest meal and having a grown-up conversation about nothing substantially important, but the key part was not being interrupted or having to hold someone on our lap or cut meat or any number of things that constitute daily life. It was weird, but nicely so.
Also, pictures.
Thanksgiving Day at Pops & K's was just them and our four. Isaac fell asleep in the car on the way down and proceeded to be passed out for maybe five hours. Charlie crashed before dinner, because he won't ever take a nap earlier in the day. So there we sat, four adults eating a modest meal and having a grown-up conversation about nothing substantially important, but the key part was not being interrupted or having to hold someone on our lap or cut meat or any number of things that constitute daily life. It was weird, but nicely so.
Also, pictures.
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| Apple crisp was a team effort. From Pops and K's |
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| Fire building also is a team effort. From Pops and K's |
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| Pre-meal nap attack. From Pops and K's |
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| Finally awake! From Pops and K's |
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| Chilling (briefly) with Pops. From Pops and K's |
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| Strolling witk K. From Pops and K's |
Pre-Thanksgiving
Max had no school for all of Thanksgiving week. Jack had early outs Monday and Tuesday and no school Wednesday. We had Max's parent-teacher conference Monday afternoon and Jack's on Tuesday night. During the days the house was a bit crazier than usual, which is saying something. As such, it shouldn't be much of a surprise when you get to the fourth photo.
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| Still thrilled to be a big brother. From Hollands at Home 2013 |
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| Chef Jack and his (red) scrambled eggs. From Hollands at Home 2013 |
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| Hey dude! From Hollands at Home 2013 |
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| Thanksgiving eve nap attack. From Hollands at Home 2013 |
Sunday, December 01, 2013
MaxSpeak
Scene: In the car, on the way to church today, discussing the months of the year.
Me: Who has the next birthday?
Max: Jesus!
Someone's been paying attention in Sunday school.
Me: Who has the next birthday?
Max: Jesus!
Someone's been paying attention in Sunday school.
Friday, November 29, 2013
November in pictures
I seriously would like to get these pictures posted more than once a month, but for whatever reason I've struggled in November. Perhaps that reason is we have four children and one of them is only seven weeks old. As such, I am hoping you'll cut me a little bit of holiday season slack. After all, I am delivering adorable photos of your favorite children in the entire world.
There you have it. Sorry again for the wait. Took some more cute ones since I got these ones ready to share, so hopefully they'll be up before the holiday weekend ends.
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| Not a fan of bath time. From Hollands at Home 2013 |
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| Unsure about sharing the tub. From Hollands at Home 2013 |
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| Holding a grudge. From Hollands at Home 2013 |
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| Much happier once Isaac calmed down. From Hollands at Home 2013 |
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| Nap attack. From Hollands at Home 2013 |
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| Nap attack. From Hollands at Home 2013 |
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| One month old! From Hollands at Home 2013 |
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| A winning smile. From Hollands at Home 2013 |
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| Keepin his eye on the ceiling. From Hollands at Home 2013 |
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| Brother bonding time. From Hollands at Home 2013 |
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| Our little cherub. From Hollands at Home 2013 |
Post by Scott T. Holland.
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| Mr. Shaggy. From Hollands at Home 2013 |
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| Looking up at Max. From Hollands at Home 2013 |
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| "If it stays that way, you're giving him another bath." From Hollands at Home 2013 |
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| Before haircuts. From Hollands at Home 2013 |
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| Jack, after. From Hollands at Home 2013 |
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| Just Jack. From Hollands at Home 2013 |
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| Charlie, after. From Hollands at Home 2013 |
There you have it. Sorry again for the wait. Took some more cute ones since I got these ones ready to share, so hopefully they'll be up before the holiday weekend ends.
Thursday, November 28, 2013
Sunday, November 17, 2013
Friday, November 15, 2013
Isaac video
Facebook changed the way it issues video embed codes,so we're trying this...
Post by Scott T. Holland.
Thursday, November 14, 2013
Popcorn time
Back on Nov. 4 Isaac had his follow-up appointment with the pediatrician, so I spent the morning at home with Max and Charlie. One of our favorite things to do in this scenario is bust out the popcorn popper. The boys love to watch the kernels spin and pop, they can't believe it when I let them help by shaking the bag to distribute the salt and, when we're done, they quietly and happily leave me alone for a solid 15 to 20 minutes while we all enjoy the fruit of our labor. Plus I usually pop enough to keep us snacking for a few days.
This time, remembering how much fun we had the time before, I had a few moments to grab the camera to try to capture their curiosity and enthusiasm. The results:
This time, remembering how much fun we had the time before, I had a few moments to grab the camera to try to capture their curiosity and enthusiasm. The results:
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| Watching the magic happen. From Hollands at Home 2013 |
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| Shake shake shake! From Hollands at Home 2013 |
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| All done! From Hollands at Home 2013 |
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