Emily Grace Half a Year Old!

It's so hard to believe my baby girl is 6 months old already!!! only about 180 days until her big birthday bash! ( Which im already planning...i see pink. LOTS of PINK!) It seems like yesterday Erik was turning 3 and we were wishing for 2 pink lines. After 2 years of heart ache. 2 miscarriages. We finally had 2 pink lines. Those two pink lines lead to one pink baby. Emily Grace Hollister. WHo has blessed us so incredibly with her smiles and her laughs. Her energetic gibber gabber at 6am. THe hairbows and tutus. drool and blankies. Life with a baby girl is just that much more FUN! I don't know what life was like 186 days ago. But it was a lot less Pink.  Happy Six Months Emily Grace. Mommy Loves you!

Another Sunday Success!

This morning we ALL got up and dressed and ready for church. It was the first time we have ever gone to church as a family of 4. Today was Barry's first time at Desert Vinyard and he enjoyed it. He signed up for the blood drive next sunday. Today was Erik's first day in the big boy room. Now that he is 4 and potty trained he moved up classes. He seemed to really enjoy it as well!

We all came home, rested up and then headed to the park for Family Night. A tradition that we will be starting once a week. Dinner and Bocci Ball at the park. Tonight we picked up some Albertsons chicken and sides on the way, ate and played 18 rounds of Bocci Ball. Dad won 7, Mom won 7 and Erik won 4. Emily watched and cheered us all on.

Then I took advantage of the perfect lighting, and my kids looking especially adorable and snapped a few photos of the kiddos. Then Erik played on the playgroud for a bit until some other little kid started chasing him and punching him...it was clearly time to go.

Best sunday ever!

Some serious Recon

Not so serious. lol

Handsome.

Mom trying not to think of all the

groseness in the sand he's touching.....eewww

Sissy is trying so hard to crawl

Melts my heart

Father's Day Continued....

Daddy came home from his TDY around 3pm

We all loved on him for a bit then got dressed to go out to El Torito

for dinner.

(stood and waited for our table for about 45 mins)

(the boys being silly)

(my handsome man and his clone)

After Dinner Erik had a self proclaimed "GREAT IDEA!"

"We should have a father's day firecamp!"

so we did.

we made smores.

I took a picture of Barry and Emily, and somehow

I got the heat captured in the image.

prettty cool!

Erik really enjoyed his smores

Emily was feeling very left out

Eating in front of her is like

sending pictures of a buffet to

children in Haiti...

she makes you feel VERY guilty

so she got a graham cracker

and ate the whole thing...

mind you she has no teeth.

SO dad was covered in drooly graham mush.

And so was sissy's face. lol, and hands, and dress....

and hair...you get the point.

It was soon bed time for Erik and Emily had a quick bath

and then played some Battlefield with daddy

before she hit the hay too.

Over all a GREAT fathers day if you ask me!

Happy Father's Day!

Getting these photo's was nothing short of an

ADVENTURE!

I saw the idea on a friends facebook

and thought I HAVE TO TRY!

.....

Her youngest is 18 months old...

not 5 months. lol.

I attempted it once, it didnt work because emily

didnt want to sit still

so i tried putting post it notes on them...

Emily ATE hers....note to self,

check the non-toxcicity of the marker....hmmmm

I tried putting the notes on their backs...

but Emily didnt feel like sitting up by herself, and brothers arm

kept covering her post it.

SO ....determined

I tried the feet again....

don't judge my handwritting...

have YOU ever tried to WRITE on the bottom

of a 4 year olds foot???

BUt we got 2 shots that worked.

Happy Father's DAY!

Ladiez Nite!

I hosted a Ladies Night

complete with PINK snacks and drinks

and a PHOTO BOOTH!

SO much fun!

There's nothing like hanging out and

chatting with a great group of gals.

I wear a lot of hats,

And people call me a lot of things,

but tonight, as I lay my head down

the only thing I can be called is

BLESSED.

Change is Good

Felt ambitious and rearranged Emily's room today.

If you've never seen it in person, it might not

seem at all different. lol. But its a change, and i think i like it...

for now anyway.

Oh My Toes!

Emily LOVES to play with her feet,

and ....ewww...eat her toes.

lol.

Today she was stretching it out

in her new ballerina shirt that

she picked out at ross...seriously we were

walking down the isle of baby clothes
(because I can't go to a store

without at least looking at baby clothes)

and she stright up snatched this one

at such a perfect angle that it

came right off the rack hanger

and all so she pulled it to

herself in the cart and looked at

me and smiled...

so OF COARSE I bought it for her.

There will be way too many times

in her life where I will have to

tell her to "put it back".

I'm not ready to do that yet.



SIbling Love

I absolutely love how much my kids love each other!

It warms my heart to see them have such a close relationship.

I am going to do everything I can to foster that love.

SUmmer 2012

5 Year Wedding Anniversary

Dinner at BJ's

Bocci Ball at the park! THe Hollisters

new Friday night tradition

Being the family of a soldier isn't always easy

Daddy has missed Birthdays, anniversaries,

lots of holidays

but we are greatful for his service and will

always be here waiting for him to come home

and take his boots off

On Daddys Boots

Daddy is going TDY again. Thankfully we just heard today that it has been shorted and he will only be gone a little over a week this time! We all sure do miss daddy when he's gone. Such is life, as a military child and wife.

And So it Begins!

   Thank you for coming along on our journey! Im going to do my very best to post somewhere between daily and weekly. If you ever find yourself thinking, ' i wonder what the Hollisters are up to?' Stop on by and ill try to have something interesting or informational to read!  Feel free to comment on anything you read.
   A lot of people are curious as to my motives for the seemingly abrupt discontinuance in participation of facebook. Here's the skinny. Id rather have 10 close friends who genuinely care about what's going on in our lives and who will be there to share our highs and lows, than 500 'friends' who don't even know my children's names. I figure as a society we need to somewhat get back to the basics. Who can honestly say they dont smile when they get a letter or card in the mail saying they are thought of and loved? I can't change society. But I can change me. I vow to try to commit to my friendships and relationships and really reach out and strengthen the bonds I have formed. And create new ones as well.
   If you're reading this you obviously made the first step. So I promise, if ever you need a friend or family member, im here. I will do whatever i can to prove my love.
  My home is always open, and the coffee is always warm. Here we go on a new journey! Welcome to the Hollisters Handbook for Hooligans!