geaux saints

It's been a long 2 weeks.  Ryan has been gone on the road and I have been alone. with 2 kids. the entire time. 

Needless to say it's been rough at times!  In those 2 weeks, we've had a field trip, a very slight stomach bug, rsv sickness (again!), and a trip to sesame street live!  BUT daddy is coming home tonight and we are SO excited!  We're also so excited to be going to the game this weekend--the first of the season that we've all been able to make!

And they're playing the STEELERS!!  Do you know that my husband is from close to Pittsburgh, and up until 20 months ago :) was a HUGE Steelers fan??!--Porter even dressed up as Troy Palamalu for Halloween 2 years ago! 

 The rest of the Hollern family might be pulling for that OTHER black & gold team this Sunday night, but this Hollern family is Saints all the way (the REAL black & gold!)

Today was also the Saints Ladies Luncheon--I missed last year because I couldn't get a sitter for Porter, but had heard how great it was so I knew I had to go this year!  It definitely did NOT disappoint!  

I LOVE free stuff (doesn't everyone?!) :)  And after kids, it's not like I get a whole lot of "presents" anymore, so it was like Christmas coming home and going through our HUGE bag of goodies:

There was seriously everything in the world in the bag, from gift certificates, sephora goodies, food, coupons, beer!, laundry detergent (how sad is it that this made me the most happy!), chocolates, sarah ott jewelry, candles, and my favorite: a $250 Friend and Co gift certificate!

Speaking of which, I've already picked out what I want--hint hint Ryan--you can use my gift certificate and buy me this :)

Trust me, had I won the $2500 Friend and Company gift certificate that was in the raffle, I would have headed straight there!! 

I may not have won that (or the $1500 one, the diamond earrings, the 2 fendi bags, or the big screen tv---all of which I had my eye on! ha!) but I did win this beautiful frame--that will be perfect for Bennett's room! 

I had the BEST time!  It was much needed after the past 2 weeks--which have been trying to say the least!

my new baby...

Here SHE is!

I finally bit the bullet and got THE BIG ONE!  Not that I don't love my little one, but I was becoming very busy, and I was about to go insane--AND the fact that a deal pretty much too good to be true fell in my lap!  This is going to make "work" a whole lot faster and easier! 

Honestly I was so overwhelmed when I got it home yesterday that I didn't think I'd ever be able to use it!  But it's pretty much the same brand (babylock vs brother) as my other embroidery/sewing machine(s), so after finally figuring out how to thread it, it wasn't too bad!  I've already done several things on it so far (I finally monogrammed Bennett's diaper bag!!  I was afraid to do any customer orders on it first!)

For right now it's kind of stuck in my living room!  My neighbor helped me get it out of my car and into my house, and I just happened to have an extra table that we've been meaning to put in storage in our living room.  So that's where it will stay until Ryan gets home Friday and we can get it moved on the stand--which took me HOURS to put together this afternoon!  Luckily it's a heavy duty table, so I could use it :)  I would be going crazy if I had to wait til he got home to actually sew on it!

sesame street live

2 tickets (half price) to opening night of sesame st live: $40

pre show mexican dinner date: $27

XL bag of cotton candy: $8

an RC cola (seriously NO arena??! Not even Pepsi?): $4

some elmo 'noculars (aka binoculars): $12

an elmo balloon at intermission halftime where they make kids want overpriced junk: $10

parking at the superdome (which made porter want to go to football instead): $10

seeing this face when elmo & co. came out singing: priceless!

We (aka ME) decided at the last minute to go to Sesame St Live last night.  I literally bought the tickets online right before picking up Porter from school, and then rushed home to get all three of us ready (since Daddy is on the road!) so we could go eat before the show at 7.  

It was a little difficult with Porter AND Bennett by myself but we managed--I will say I quickly and easily gave in to Porter's wish list of souvenirs as to not have any meltdowns when I was alone and without back up :)

Let's hope Porter doesn't realize this (who am I kidding, I am SURE he already knows that they have me outnumbered!)

We had a BLAST!  Hopefully Daddy will be home next time (it's his turn now! ha!)

bennett-october 2010

Bennett-2 months old

Loves: 

mommy (I love this)

her puppy dog lovie

her crib mobile

laying on her quilt in the living room just watching everything

Porter sitting beside her in the car--she starts smiling as soon as we pick him up from school

She is:

12lbs 9oz

23.5" long (both 75-85%)

sleeping through the night 8-9 hours at a time (usually 10p-6/7a then eats, then back down for another couple of hours)

very happy and smiles/laughs all the time

NOT letting RSV keep her down--she loves the breathing treatments and they're very calming to her??  

(along with her big brother) the light of our lives!

I just love her little chubby cheeks--and hopefully her eyelashes will catch up to Porter's and Daddy's :)

porter-october 2010

Porter at 3 1/3 years old:

my brown eyed boy

Still loving his blanket

refuses to take naps until he CRASHES

LOVES school--says his "girlfriend" is Cam :)

favorite toys: cars, trucks, dinosaurs, bath toys--sea animals, his "bike" aka his four wheeler, bounce house, any balls, and any action figures

loves his daddy but he's a mama's boy :)

counts, says ABC's, knows colors, learning letters

has a VERY active imagination

I love that he's at the age now when I ask him about school, he very excitedly tells me everything he did that day!

favorite foods: bananas, apples, OJ, cheese, hotdogs, happy meals :), broccoli, steak (which is also what he calls grilled chicken), jelly beans, yogurt, peanut butter, bread (but not with the PB??), goldfish, carrots, cupcakes :)

doesn't like: things that are cold, mushrooms, spicy foods (is this my child???)

playing in the bathtub with "scuba man" in our green water (thanks smith!)

Yes scuba man's leg is off...

Porter told me the octopus ate it!

Like I stated--VERY active imagination!

I would kill for his eyelashes--glad he got his daddies and not mine!

fair and a visit

Last weekend bong-bong and mushpa came to see us!!  AND the fair was in town!  Porter was out of school on Friday for it, so we all took him that afternoon to the fair.  He had a BLAST!!  We were glad Ryan was in town this year since he missed out last year!

yummy!

we rode the slide a few times..

the bumper cars were also a favorite...

porter with bong bong on the roller coaster:

I think we were all VERY sad to see bong bong and mush pa leave on monday!!  

Porter had a BLAST with them, and Bennett got just a little spoiled ;)  Not to mention, Ryan and I got to go to the movies by OURSELVES while they were here!  So needless to say, we're all missing them!

with THE ring:

RSV :(

Sweet Bennett is 2 months old! Which usually means SHOTS :(  

She had her 2 month well check up today, and this morning when she woke up--an hour early--she seemed a little "stuffy" and congested.

I really didn't think anything of it, since she was very congested as a newborn and the Dr. assured me this was normal. 

So we got to our appointment, and I told the Dr. she was mildly congested and she looked at her ears, nose, and throat and everything looked good...but she could tell she sounded congested so she decided to do a RSV test just to be safe before she would give her her shots, and it came back POSITIVE!!  I was so upset and shocked!  Our Dr. was a little too--she's the first case the entire practice has seen this year and she's considered "low" risk---since she's exclusively breast fed, was a full term baby, and isn't in day care AND even Porter is extremely healthy and does not get sick hardly at all. 

BUT luckily we caught it very early and her pulse ox was great, and she didn't have any other secondary symptoms/problems yet.  Unfortunately since it's a virus there's no "cure" or medicine, but she's already started breathing treatments, and an antibiotic to combat any potential problems that could arise.  

She still feels great, and is just as happy as ever :) and we made it through the first breathing treatment easy!  So say a little prayer for sweet Bennett (and mommy who is without daddy's help this week!) that the next few days aren't so bad!!