Christmas and Happy Birthday

Hollis' merry-go-round cake

I'm so happy to be one!

Hmmmmmm, this tastes pretty good.....

Am I really supposed to be eating this?!

Merry Christmas! 

Happy Hollis Design

I've started a little side business selling t-shirts and onesies. I love making them, and they make great gifts for others or your own kids! 

Botanical Gardens

My nana and I went to the Botanical Gardens in Bellevue last week. It was really fun, and beautiful. There were so many lights. It's definitely a must see. It's free, but I think you have to pay $5 for parking. Hollis liked it too. She was pretty quiet looking at all the lights. It was cute. 

Hawaii

We went to the big island with the Mitchell-side of the family over Thanksgiving. It was so much fun. Hollis LOOOOOOVES swimming, and she was so good traveling, playing, and being flexible. She truly is a joy, and I love being her mom. 

More pics

Costume Party

Hollis' friends Clara and Jack hosted a very fun costume party today. Hollis went as a 'garden fairy' and looked amazingly cute. 

The Clapper

During football games I've been showing Hollis how to clap. (Recently, there has been a lot to clap for!) She's never done it on her own until this morning in her highchair she began applauding her breakfast. 

Pink Chair

A friend gave Hollis a pink reading chair before she was born. I let her play on and around it today, and it was a hit! Anything is a hit when she gets to chew on her sparkly toothbrush also. 

Hollis loves Koa

Hollis has loved Koa since she first laid eyes on her (at like 3 months old)...recently she has taken an even greater liking to her, because now she can actually get to Koa on her own. I'm not sure if Koa loves Hollis as much as Hollis loves Koa. Hollis will approach Koa, the dog's tail will wag, she will let Hollis hit her in the face a few times, Koa will suddenly move, and Hollis will fall and hit her head on the floor. It happened a few times like that tonight, and it will be nice when Hollis and Koa both understand the word "gentle".

Honey's New Trick

Thanks Sierra!

Hollis' friend Sierra gave her some new cool, purple boots. They are a little big at the moment, but that didn't stop us trying them on and modeling them. Thanks Sierra!

Happy Fall!

I love fall. Here are my favorite things:

1) Spiced cider and mulling spices simmering on the stove

2) Cooler temperatures so that you have to wear a cozy sweater or sweatshirt

3) Crazy weather that makes you stay inside or bundling up to enjoy it outside

4) Pumpkin patches 

5) Football

Here is my recent fall project made with my best friend Sarah. I adore white pumpkins!

Hollis Loves Her Daddy

We made a quick trip to Whistler, and Hollis just loves her Dad.

Another trip to DC

Hollis gets to ride on her Grand Daddy's shoulders, and meets her Great Grandpa for the first time. Go Redskins!

Busy Day

Hollis and I had a busy day. She began crawling, held and drank from a sippy cup, and started waving 'bye-bye' today. Phew! While she was resting from all the activity, I painted our family room and kitchen. It need a face lift. There was a butter-cream yellow on the walls, and Neal and I were both sick of it. We chose two rich, warm shades of grey. I'm in love with it. It's such an improvement over the yellow. It adds so much dimension to the room. Good job mommy, good job Hollis. 

Ice Cream

I'm sure Hollis isn't supposed to have ice cream. It WAS McDonalds "non-dairy" ice cream, but honestly it's coming from McDonalds, so that's a little suspect to me. Anyways, Neal doesn't obey "baby food rules" so Hollis got her first tastes of ice cream. She love, love, loved it, and it had no adverse affect on her...other than the desire for more.

Design Fever

I have an addiction problem to my computer, design blogs, furniture websites and paint websites. I have the itch to redo our family room (whole house). Problem(s): 1) money: it'd be sweet to have $100,000 to just go out and buy everything I wanted immediately, but it's never going to happen 2) husband: Neal and I don't share the same flare for design. I want my house to look like the cover of Elle Decor or Domino, Neal wants our house to look like the cover of Hunter's World or Functional, but Not Cute (ok, lame title for a made-up magazine). 3) time: the process is FUN for me--being creative on how to have cute pieces on a dime, Neal sees any kind of process as a bother and wants the job done immediately. I take a long time, he takes 5 minutes. 

I don't know how to rectify my problems, but turning OFF the computer would be a start...

Trip to DC

Hollis and I went to DC to visit! We got to go to a training camp practice.

Here is where my dad does his press conferences each day (check out Redskins.com). The black all-purpose carpet just got replaced because my dad was frustrated at the leftover cake residue from that guy who got the cake in his face.

The four chairs are the chairs for the owners and other important people. They like to watch practice on most days. Jason Taylor is the player standing there talking to them. He was dancing for them. Oh wait, no he wasn't.

In the limo on the way to the game. 

Hollis wore such a pretty dress to the game. 

Hail to the Redskins!

We are so proud of my dad and the whole team for doing such a great job at the Hall of Fame game tonight! Yahoo! Hollis had a costume change at half time. She started the first half in her pink jersey/onesie and finished in her cheerleader outfit. What a diva.

Summer at the beach

In the evening Hollis gets cranky, so to distract her we like to go on walks. The other night I was having hot flashes because it was so stuffy in our house, so we tried to cool down by sitting at our beach park for a while. Neal took some cute pics.

More adventures with food

It seems like the best pictures come from Hollis eating. This is my favorite.