Recent Hollis Pictures

It is funny how fast they change! Seems like overnight that your sweet little newborn transforms into a baby and their personality takes shape! She has only been here for two and a half month, but already Miss Hollis has settled right into the Fahring family.

Hollis is such a happy baby. She has a smile that can melt your heart. She is content and very go with the flow... except of course now, she is screaming because I will not hold her and put her to sleep. Her one flaw... she is a snuggler and wants to be held when she sleeps. Totally cool when they are newborns, but I cannot come to college with her and rock her to sleep so I guess now is as good as time ever to break her habit!

I took some sweet pictures of her this afternoon, so I thought I would let everyone see how much she is changing. Literally, I think she grows everyday!

Oh yeah... she is already a sleep! I guess it not too bad falling asleep all on your own!

Thankful

Of course it is Thanksgiving time which means it is the one day of 365 days that we are supposed to stop and count our blessings. Something about this the crisp air or the warmth of our home reminds me to think of all the things we are grateful for. I am, however, more disappointed that I cannot think to be this thankful all year round. Our family is blessed beyond imagination! I am convinced that I certainly do not deserve the blessings I receive every second of everyday. Instead of getting hung up on New Year's resolutions I am making a personal resolution now to be more grateful for the wonderful blessings we have been given.

I think I can speak for all when I say there are several times throughout the week or even the day when we get stressed and overwhelmed. Instead of getting mad or upset, I am trying to remember that today is the only day when the girls will be at this stage. Tomorrow they will change and be doing something new. If I choose to feel stressed then I have chosen to miss out on a day I can never get back. If I really put things in perspective, there is going to be a day when I look back and miss how small they were. I am going to miss their little fits because they are sleepy or because it has been two hours since the last feeding and we are about to die of starvation!

Aside from the girls, We are thankful for our family. We are glad they are always just a phone call away and can be such a great part of live. By family, I also mean friends. We cannot believe the wonderful people who have chosen to surround us with their love. They have fallen in love with our children as if they were true relatives. It has brought us such joy to watch both of them look at our friends and family with admiration, love and the occasional crush... Brett Carey!

If you are reading this, then you are one of the people we are truly thankful for. You have taken time from your day to check in on us and see what we are up to. While it might only be a minute of your time it means the world to us that you care what wonderful blessings the Fahring Family has received lately!

Have a very Happy Thanksgiving... Eat up and get stuffed!

Go Dawgs!

I am on a posting roll! Two in one day... simmer down now!

On Monday night, we drove to Athens to meet Todd who was at a conference for work. We spent the night at the Georgia Center and then spent all of Tuesday in Athens.

It was great being back in Athens. I love being up there! I think a part of my heart will always be in Athens. As were driving around I would reminded of what a wonderful town it is, and I was flooded with memories from my four years there!

Anyhow, this was the first time Allyn has been to UGA. As we drove into campus on Monday night she could see all the campus transit buses. Each one she saw she said, "Mommy, Go Dawgs bus!" It was hilarious! We have been working with her on when she sees the Georgia logo to say Go Dawgs. Well you can imagine being on campus she was saying Go Dawgs constantly! I am sure Gus and Juice could not be more proud than they are right now! NOT!!

Todd and I would ask her if she like college and she said Ya! We should start with baby steps first and conquer pre-school before we tackle college!! Here are some pictures of her at East-West getting her first taste of sweet potato chips (which she loved), and chasing squirrels on North Campus! Oh yeah, and one picture of Hollis enjoying college life also!

We County Folk Like'em Big!

On Monday we had Hollis' 2 month appointment and Allyn's 2 year check-up. Allyn weighed in at a whooping 23.5 pounds. She made a HUGE gain in her percentiles... from 0% to 6%. Watch out!! (insert sarcasm now)

On a heavier, (play on words)Hollis was 11 lbs and 5 oz. This puts her in the 65% for weight! I guess she is just trying to get accustomed to country life. Should we tell her we do not have horses to feed and hay to carry? Nah... she is too cute with her little fat rolls.

Hollis is a spitting image of Todd. He said he was concerned that he would not be a pretty girl, but now seeing Hollis he is convinced she is super cute! Hollis absolutely adores Allyn. She stares at her all the time. She smiles when she is being silly. You can tell Hollis is taking in everything Allyn is doing. Allyn still loves her so much. Sometimes we have to hold her back because she is suffocating Hollis when she is kissing all over her!

Other than feeding two growing girls we are doing great! The days fly by and are filled with non-stop excitement! I would not trade places with anyone!

Lastly, I said I would never do it, but I did. I dressed the girls alike. How can you resist when they are both so cute?! Allyn loved being dressed like Hollis. She kept running over to Hollis and telling her they had on the same shirt! I am sure Hollis knew exactly what she was saying! Haha! I tried to get some pictures of them, but of course Allyn was being a goof!

Just for fun, what is something you find yourself doing that you swore you never would?

Halloween

Our Halloween was great! This was a great year because Allyn is finally getting old enough to actually get trick-o-treating. It took her a few houses to get the idea, but once she did she was hooked!

Her good friend Genevieve, or "Jesse" as she calls her, came to our house to go trick-o-treating. Genevieve was a black cat and Allyn was a monkey. They were so cute! I would say cutest in the neigborhood by far!!

We only made it to about 15 houses and that took about an hour and a half! Once we got home both girls came straight into the living room dumped out their bags and dug in. It was like they knew exactly what to do! We just let them eat and eat... why not!!

Hollis was a little ghost. She thought Halloween was great... well great for napping that is!

Here are some pictures:

Make an on-line slideshow at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Oh yeah, the pictures of Allyn as a Ballerina are from Gymboree. We tried it out the day before Halloween and it was costume day.

Ode to Maci and Kristy... old running buddies!

Since the weather has been so wonderful and I deperately need to try and get back into some shape I decided to go for a run yesterday afternoon. I was great. I was by myself and happily ran through the neighborhood jamming to my favorite tunes. I was about half way through my run when I began a small trip down memory lane. Most of you remember that about two months before I got pregnant with Allyn me and Kristy Masterson ran in the Thanksgiving Day Half Marathon. I started to think about how completely insane we were. If it was 19 degrees we were running, if it was pouring down rain we were running, if was a heat advisory and no one should be doing physical activity we were running, if we had strep throat we were running. Who is that crazy? We were so decidicated. We would get up on Saturday morning before the sun was even up and embark on our 13 mile trek around Suwanee.

As I was struggling to even complete thirty minutes of continuous running, I could not believe that we could run for a continous two hours and really not feel so bad when we were done. Granted we spent our fair share in ice baths after our runs and went throw several boxes of band-aids to cover our blisters... but isn't that what running is all about?

Running is fun, but I do not think I ever want to be that crazy again! On the final stretch of my run yesterday, I had a small memorial service in my head for the old Maci and Kristy running team... may we never be that insane again!!!

Kristy is such a dear and wonderful friend of mine and it is funny how we both look back at that time and just laugh. We laugh at how we even did it and how it completely consumed our lives. I think we will both just stick to the light jog around the park on warm sunny days!

Love you Kristy!!

Pictures of Hollis

Our dear sweet friend Christie Carey took picture of Hollis. She does such an amazing job. There were so many more that I could post, but I had to control myself. There are not many of Hollis and Allyn because Allyn took a nap during our little photo shoot. Christie is going to come back and do several pictures of just the girls and then some of all four of us. Please check out her website at 3cexpressions.com.

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Happy 2nd Birthday Allyn Marie!!!

Happy Birthday! We cannot believe that our first little munchkin is now two. Where does the time go? It seems like just yesterday she was as small as Hollis. Now she is our fiesty, sassy, precious toddler!!

Todd, being such a wonderful dad, took the day off from work and we went to Uncle Shucks Pumpkin Patch to pick out our pumpkins! Our great day ended with a lunch at Chick-fil-A and Home Depot to pick out new flowers for the yard.

Here are some pictures from today.

Mary Hollis is here!!

Mary Hollis entered into our lives Tuesday evening around 5:30pm. She was 6 lbs 15 oz. She is absolutely wonderful! Labor and delivery were relatively smooth. I had the balloon catheter put in Monday and to everyone's surprise, including Dr. Freeman, went into labor shortly after. I had pretty painful contractions all evening Monday and did not sleep at all Monday night. Early in the morning Tuesday I woke up Todd and said it is time to GO!! We arrived at the hospital around 6:30 and were admitted and in a room getting an epidural around 9:30. I was very surprised to find out that I was 5 centimeters dialated before getting drugs. I could not believe I had done that much labor without medicine... very painful! Labor progressed very well throughout the day and a little before 4 pm I was 10 centimeters and at a +2. All we had to wait on was for Dr. Freeman to finish a surgery and some paperwork. He got to our room about 5 and I guess I only pushed for a little bit and then she was born! It was crazy how pain free the delivery was. In between pushes Todd, Dr. Freeman and I were just talking about this and that. So crazy!!!

Big sister Allyn Marie thinks Hollis is wonderful. I am still not sure she understands that Hollis is never leaving because every morning she wakes up and is still shocked to she her here. She hugs her and kisses her constantly and does not like for her to cry. She wants to hold her a lot. It is very sweet. We are hoping it continues... me especially since Todd returns to work soon!

So far Hollis is a great baby. There are definite differences between her and Allyn. Allyn hated to be swaddled and wear hats. The tighter you can swaddle Hollis the better and she sleeps great when she wears a hat. Crazy.

Thank you so much to everyone for their calls and prayers. We are slowly but surely trying to get caught up on our phone calls and e-mails, but as you can understand... sleep comes first!!

Here are some pictures of Hollis and our new family!

Same song different verse!

I went to Dr. Freeman today for my 38 week check up and it appears I am a good oven! Just like with Allyn there has been no change and Dr. Freeman's comment was "Now are you due on Thanksgiving or Christmas?" I was not laughing. He jokingly said that if Mary Hollis is not born by the Tennessee/Georgia game he would induce labor! Haha! That date is October the 11th!!!! He said he likes to tell patients of his it could be any day now, but with me he told me to pray that my water breaks! Anyhow, I go back next Wednesday. I guess we will see if anything is happening then. My guess will be no... I will keep everyone posted!

Help! I've fallen in a box and I can't get out!

We made it through moving day and we are all still alive!!
So long apartment... hello new house!
We love our new home. Todd and I spent the night here on Friday night, mom had Allyn, and we kept commenting on how quiet it was. It was almost too quiet. On Saturday the movers came and brought all our furniture from storage. So Saturday night was our first night back in our real bed with a headboard and foot board. When we woke up on Sunday we were stiff because we had both slept so hard that we never even moved! It was the best sleep we have had in five months!

We had so many wonderful friends and family that helped us over the weekend there was no way we could have done it without them. We owe everyone big time!

The big surprise over the weekend was that Tyler Helms my dear great friend in the whole world had a day in a half lay over in Atlanta. He was able to come and hang out on Saturday at our house. It was so wonderful to see him. It was a welcomed break. For about 3 hours or so we just laughed and caught up. For just a moment we were all able to take a moving break and just enjoy his company. I hate that we do not see each other very often, but we could be in real trouble if we were able to hang out all the time.

So, now the real fun begins... unpacking! I really do not know how we ended up with this much stuff. I am sure my 4 1/2 month close proximity to Pottery Barn did not help, but I do not remember putting this much stuff in storage. No wonders we were outgrowing our other house!
It has been fun pulling out things we have not seen in a while and finding a new home for everything. Our house is starting to look more like civilized people live here. One box at a time.

Allyn and I are completely home bound for the next week or so just because we have so much unpacking to do. If anyone wants to come up I would love to have you. I promise I will not make you work. I would just appreciate the company!

Thanks to everyone also who has called to check up on us and make sure I have not overdone it. I have been pretty good about trying to take it easy, but you know that is a relative term in my dictionary.

Off to unpack some more!!!

We have sod!

I looked at my calendar today and we have 18 more days until we move in! Which means only two more weekends stuck in the apartment after this weekend. Several people always ask to see pictures of our house and unfortunately I never have anything to show them, so I thought I would post some updated pictures!

Here is our kitchen... not the greatest picture, but you get the idea of our cabinets and backsplash.

Here is our family room with our fireplace!

This is the finished outside our of our house! We cannot wait to move!

I have more pictures as you can imagine, but do not really want to bore everyone. I figured this was just enough to wet peoples' appetites. Now you all will have to come visit once we move in to get the full tour!!

I love school supplies!

As Allyn is taking her nap right now, I am getting the TV to myself which means no Finding Nemo at least for this hour. It is great because I can actually watch HGTV, but now I am constantly being teased by back to school commericals.

I really cannot believe that it is almost time for school to start again. When I was teaching I absolutely dreaded this part of the summer. It is like you are cling to every free moment that you have because you know that in two weeks it is back to the nitty gritty. The only thing that made it somewhat enjoyable was knowing that I could go school supply shopping. If you know me, you know that I have a pen addiction. This addiction is only fueled further by boredom, emotions and stress. Some people are emotional eaters; I am an emotional pen buyer. A bad day can be completely reversed when you purchase some good pens!

As you can imagine, my pen buying cravings are getting stronger. The problem... I have no reason to buy pens! It is horribly tempting every time I am in Wal-mart to swing through the back to school section. Of course if I even go down the aisle I will see some pens that I just cannot live without and have to buy them. It is like the story of "If You Give a Pig a Pancake".

Oh well! I guess I will just stick to watching Finding Nemo, so that the commericals influence all my other pen buying buddies! But, if you come across some pens that are great... let me know! :)

Am I crazy or just bored??

So, I swore up and down that I would never, ever, ever create a blog... but I guess boredom has gotten the best of me! Also, I read so many of my friends' blogs and love seeing what they are up to and figured you might like to see what is new with us!

We are 21 days away from moving into our new house and trust me... I cannot wait! I think the walls of this apartment must be painted with lead paint because we are all going crazy! Additionally, all my nesting instincts have taken control and I cannot stand the clutter of this place any longer. I find myself cleaning random things just to feel better!

Hollis is coming in just a month and a half! We are getting very excited! Allyn still does not really understand. She loves babies and I think she will be ok. The biggest thing is that she does not like to share. So, as long as Hollis does not come out wanting to wear her beloved crocs I think we will be fine!!

Well, I am not making any promises that I will keep this up because I can hardly remember to log onto facebook and get back to people! I guess we'll see!