Winter brings....

...sickness in the Holt household.  Anyone else have the same problem??
Florida's weather can't make up it's mind this year.  One day, it is in the 70s and then the next day it drops to the 40s.
We got a good report for Aiden this past visit to his allergist and his lungs are back up to almost normal functioning range.  It only took us most of spring and all of summer to get them back to normal but hey... we got there.

He likes to find all of the different inhalers he has used.  I find this kind of sad.

Izzy on the other hand, has been sick for over a month and is now on her 2nd round of antibiotics.  She just can't seem to kick the germs out of her system.  She was so kind to share her germs with me so I just finished up my round of antibiotics.

Doesn't she look pitiful?!?

Talking a selfie while waiting to see the doctor.

Since Izzy got me sick, she delivered my dinner to the couch.  Some cuties from my cutie.

Brother... did I get you sick too??

These two love each other so much!

When Daddy leaves for work, Izzy is not happy.  One Saturday, she stood at her gate and cried until she was worn out.  So sad!

My litle Rudolph...

Snoring for the Lord in church.

One last treatment before bed.

Izzy is feeling much better now and I think -fingers crossed- that we are all feeling well right now.  Just in time for the holidays.

He's back...

Ollie the Elf has come back for a visit this year during the holiday season.  Last year, Mommy was lazy so Ollie stayed at the North Pole to help Santa prepare for Christmas.  This year, I thought about doing the same but again I was lazy and didn't pack Ollie away properly 2 years ago so the boys found him in my nightstand.  I will be the first to admit that I won't be winning the Mommy of the year award any time soon.
Sometimes I wonder how/why I got sucked into the Elf on the Shelf but I did and the boys love trying to find him each morning.  Izzy... not so much but give her some time and Sister will be sucked in as well.  The boys are starting to question Santa and his existence (thank you nice friends who like to spoil it for my kids and tell them Santa is really your parents...) but for some reason... Ollie- they believe.  We don't follow all the rules for the elf on the shelf but mainly just wake up to find what Ollie might have gotten himself into.
A few years ago, we traded the original Elf in for a new, creepier looking elf.  Did you think that was even possible? 
Ollie arrived at the house on Saturday while the boys were at a sleepover.  He tried to block them out of the house and ate some of the parade candy.  That will teach them to leave on the night that he arrives.  I would have loved to get their reaction but let's be honest... I wasn't getting out of the bed that early.

Next, Ollie wanted to measure himself on their board to see if he might have a growth spurt during the holiday season.  I ended up hanging him from the top of the board for the night for safe keeping.  Milo might get hungry and think Ollie is his snack.  He does like the taste of cotton and everything else for that matter.

Where will Ollie end up next?? 

Potty time

It is time to get this "Potty" started.
Izzy goes back and forth on whether or not she is ready to start potty training.  A few Saturdays ago, we decided to stay home and give it a try.  Nope... she wasn't ready that day.  The whole thing turned into a big game.  First, she kicked me out.  I guess Sister needed her privacy.  Then, she started playing with the door.  She is totally a door girl-  if one is open, she will close it (but not before you goes in and destroys whatever is behind said door).

 Next, she would open the door and yell out - " Potty, Da".  Yep, she is still not calling me Mom/Mommy/Mama.  I am not bitter or anything. 

 Last, she finally opened the door and said some gibberish I couldn't understand and then yelled for Papa. 

So... Papa, we need you to come over to the house and potty train Izzy.  It was her request!

Our night

Having to do this....

Makes us all feel like this at the end of the night...

Any one else having trouble keeping up with their kid's homework?  They sure are teaching things differently now from when I was in school.  I can come up with the correct answer but the steps aren't correct.  I think I have found a few new gray hairs and my kids are still only in Elementary school.  We still have a long ways to go.  I better go get another box of color to cover my grays!

Meet Alexander Graham Bell...

Or is he Santa?!? 
Aiden has to do a presentation at school today on Alexander Graham Bell and his invention of the telephone.  He initially requested a tuxedo and I told him I would get right on that.  Yeah right!!  He got a bow tie and we called it a day.  He then wanted a gray wig and beard.  Well... it would have been nice if he mentioned that around Halloween because I am pretty sure the wigs were everywhere. 
One of his friends Mom's posted a picture of her creation and I tried to copy it.  I never claimed to be crafty so this is what he ended up with.
This kind of stuff just stresses me out!  Oh my poor children. 

My little helper

This is Izzy's way of helping Mommy with the laundry...

Really?!?  I have a lot of teaching to do to get this little girl ready for house work.

Reunited

Reunited and it feels so good....

                

After a weekend away with the hubby, it was so good to come home to my little kiddos.  Even if as I was holding Izzy she kept yelling Da Da... I just squeezed a little tighter.  She will say my name again one day.
(you can thank me later for getting that song stuck in your head- Reunited and it feels so good!)

First haircut...

This weekend, Izzy got a little hair trim.  Ryan and I were out of town so Nana took some pictures for us.
She didn't need an actual cut but just to even up the ends.  I am actually surprised and how well she did.  I figure that the magic touch was that her Papa was the one cutting her hair.

 She is Papa's little girl so he can get her to do anything...

 Who knew getting a hair cut could be this much fun?!?

Pretty girl!!

It's that time again... Izzy update!

I am super proud of the Shimiz (aka Izzy/Isabelle) these days.  I mean... I am always proud of her but she is being a rock star these last few weeks. 
We now have a full-time walker on our hands.  She has semi-retired the scoot and has finally figured out that walking is much faster. 
She is into everything and while I said it won't get old... it has!  What is it with kids and tupperware?!?

My house rarely looks clean thanks to Izzy.  When she thinks that I am not looking, she takes everyting back out and throws it.

 But seriously... it is hard to stay mad at this cute little face!  We have started time out recently.  She has been sent to time out a few times already and will even put herself in her chair but now that she has figured out how to get out of the chair, time out is not nearly as easy.

Recently, Izzy went to see an Endocrinolgist (thyroid).  Her annual testing came back high on one of the levels so we tested again 6 months later.  Then, both levels came back high which left our doctor scratching his head.  So off we went to meet a new doctor.
Turns out that Izzy doesn't really have any symptoms at this point but we will monitor and have her checked again in 6 months.  Yay for no thyroid issues up to this point!

Izzy loves to play Mommy (not say Mommy- still) and take care of her babies, Milo, her brothers or really any thing that might by laying within her reach.

Taking care of her brother since he decided to do an all nighter at a sleepover.  He slept right through her sitting on him, covering his face and kisses.  He was tired!!

She makes it very difficult for the boys to get their homework done. 

But sometimes, even a Mommy needs her rest...

She loves taking selfies.  I think I created a monster...

 This was Halloween night.  She still won't admit how much candy she actually ate...

Mommy and Izzy being silly.  She loves to imitate!

 She loves to draw and "do homework". 

 Here she is grading some of Aunt Amy's papers. 

Since our car accident, Izzy insists on a daily basis (approx 50x a day) that she has a boo boo.  We have searched her from head to toe and  there is no boo boo to be found but that doesn't stop us from kissing it though. 

 Sister loves to eat.  I am not judging though.  She takes after her Mommy.

 Here she stole her Aunt's food.

And then she will let us know when she is full.  So lady like...

This is the look I get when I ask Izzy who I am or can you say Mommy/Mama/M (I am not picky at this point!)

I am loving all her little curls and I must admit... I am a little jealous.

 We love her chessey grin when she sees the camera.

She loves kicking Milo out of his kennel and crawling in there and chill for a while.  She is a smart cookie and has learned how to unlock the kennel.

Izzy also thinks it is hilarious to steal our spots and the remote.  She starts pressing buttons and you will either find yourself covering your ears or watching a completely different show than before.

She is getting pretty good a self dressing but sometimes she gets confused with what goes where.

She is doing great with therapy.  She works so hard and we can really see the results.

Sometimes she does get tired of practicing.  This is what she thought about the tape her PT left for her.  She tried really hard to remove it but Mommy won out and the tape is still there.