Seattle with the Girls

Billie, Jessie, Lisa, Amy, and Donna


Lisa, Billie, Amy, Donna, and Jessie

We drank a LOT of wine, talked, walked, shopped, ate, talked, and ate some more. It rained the first two days, but it wasn't too cold (except for Lisa, the Southern California girl), and didn't pour continuously. On the third day, the sun came out just in time for us to enjoy Pike Place Market, and the new Olympic Sculpture Park. The trees were flowering, and the city was grand. But the best part by far was the time spent with my friends. Love you guys!

Drama Queen

"Miss Holly is positively operatic in her tragic faces!"


"She does not do emotions by halves!"


I loved Sadie's comment on my last post. While browsing through some recent pics, I realized how true it is...

Days Like This

They are fewer and further between, but still once in a while, usually around feeding time, the depression and stress and PMS combine to create another meltdown moment.

I had one of those last week, the day before I left on my girls' trip to Seattle. It was a vacation that I sorely needed. I had a fabulous time, and missed my sweet, adorable girlies like crazy. I was so happy to come home, and they were equally glad to see me. Now they are sick, but I have pulled myself together, and am feeling much more able to handle it. Until the next time...

Before I Go

Look Mom, no headband!

We have tried a few times to get Eden to wear her CI processor without the headband, but she won't have a thing to do with it. She automatically pulls it off and yells at us. Funny, she doesn't complain at all about wearing the headband. The only thing I don't like about the headband is that it is causing the front of her hair to break off. Oh well. The least of my worries really. But doesn't she look super cute without her headband???

This is Holland "laughing". I love how she covers her mouth and bends over. Makes me feel like the funniest person EVER!

Look at Eden pretending to play Playstation with Daddy. So cute. Mommy is TOTALLY not a video games person, so Daddy will have to teach his girls how to play. If he's lucky they'll take after him.

This is Holland talking to her little people. She LOVES the Little People, and knows all of their names. I love hearing her refer to "Sonya Lee" and "Farmer Jed." Lately she has been following us around the house with either Little People or a stuffed animal, saying "Maggie (or insert other character) talka Hanen." She wants us to make her toys talk to her. Constantly. It's mostly super cute, but can get old after the 100th time!

Eden LOVES ice cream. Especially from a cone. She also enjoys sharing, and holds her mouth WIDE OPEN with her tongue out to give Daddy a bite. Do you think she'd gain weight if we gave her ice cream every day? For every meal? Would that be healthy? Do we care? It has fat and calcium, right?

More Little People play. Holly plays really good by herself for about 5 minutes each day. The rest of the time she follows me around and wants me to play with her. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE to play, but I do enjoy that 5 minutes of peace.

There you go! I am leaving for my trip tomorrow morning, and will post again when I get back. In the meantime you should go to Ryn Tales and read this post. It is very thoughtful and well written, and touches on many of the topics I have been thinking about lately.

The issue of inclusion, and preschool, has come up as we approach the girls THIRD birthday, and I have a lot to say about my thoughts on the issue. I'll start working on a post on this topic when I get home from Seattle!

Finally, we still need a lot of help if we are going to reach our WalkAmerica goal! Please visit www.walkamerica.org/HollandEden to make your donations in honor of Holland and Eden.

Partied Out

St. Patty's Day Ramblings

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

The girls are dressed in the green garb, and ready for tonight's party. They're looking forward to meeting a couple of little girl friends, Shilo and Cecilia, who we haven't had a chance to meet before. Holland and Eden are always up for a good party. The more people, the better, in their eyes! They absolutely love playing with other kids.

I just got done writing out the bills. We are still paying through the nose for Holland and Eden's orthotics. You seriously wouldn't believe how much they cost. Holland's ONE orthotic is costing us over $600.00, and it doesn't even fit her anymore. We paid $100 for a pair of JumpStarts, and they work better for her anyway. Ugh. I can't believe how piss poor our orthotics coverage is.

On the bright side, I checked into our coverage for Durable Medical Equipment, and it is great. We are in the process of ordering Eden her very own Pony Walker, and it's going to be covered 100%. Pam, our PT, told us this week that she needs the borrowed Pony back. I started panicking because there is no way we can even go ONE day without it. Eden would be so upset.

Hmmmm... What else??? Oh, today Holland has already said "I don't want to" three times. What? Really? How old is she anyway?


I'm leaving for Seattle on Friday morning for our first annual Girl's Weekend. I am meeting four of my best ever junior high school girlfriends there. Jessie lives in Alaska, Lisa in LA, and Donna in exotic Lansing, MI. Amy lives about 6 miles from me and I don't see her as often as I'd like to either. I am very excited. These girls are my "hair posse" and I miss them like crazy all the time!

I am bummed that Lizzie can't go, but it's my fault cause I sent her all the info on email and she didn't get it on time. Now she has to work. Next year I will call, but you all know how much I HATE talking on the phone. I avoid it at all costs. Email is so much cooler, and you're much more likely to get a return email than a phone call:) Of course, don't tell that to all the people I haven't gotten around to returning their email lately. I am a terrible procrastinator at most things, but especially so when it involves making phone calls!

And finally, another shout out for support in our WalkAmerica efforts. Please visit our donation page at www.walkamerica.org/HollandEden to make your contribution. Holland and Eden would not be here today if it weren't for the efforts of the March of Dimes, but more research is needed to help us understand the causes of prematurity, and to improve the quality of care that preemies in the NICU receive. Maybe future efforts and research will lead to a reduction in the life altering disabilities that so many premature infants face. I hope and believe that it will.

WalkAmerica 2007: Team Holland and Eden!

It's that time of year again!


We're gearing up for the big day once again, preparing to join the efforts of the March of Dimes to raise awareness about prematurity, and to raise money to fund research targeted at preventing prematurity, and lessening the negative impact that it has on so many lives.

We were overwhelmed by the generosity of others across the country, and internationally, who supported our efforts last year. We set our initial goal at $1,000, and were able to MORE THAN DOUBLE it to raise $2,613.00 in honor of Holland and Eden. I'd love to be able to raise even more this year.

We will be walking on Saturday, April 28, 9:00am at Hines Park in Westland, MI. We had an incredible team of about 30 walkers last year, and would love to have you all back, as well as anyone else who wants to join us.

Please visit our WalkAmerica site at http://www.walkamerica.org/HollandEden to donate in honor of Holland and Eden, to sign up as a walker for our team, or just to monitor how much money we have raised.

Thank you in advance for your support in helping us reach our goal!


And gosh, can you believe how much they have grown and changed in the last year???

It's all fun and games...

...until your sister steals your toy!

Happy 31st Birthday Daddy! Hope you enjoyed your night out and getting to sleep ALL DAY today. We love you.