Great News!

I FEEL SO MUCH BETTER!  I've been waiting for this fresh feeling for months and it is finally here...let's just hope it sticks!  The food preferences are still there but I don't feel quite so exhausted and I'm motivated to start doing laundry and cleaning again.  I want to get out and do things with Holland (too bad it just snowed) and I wake up feeling refreshed!  Wahoo!!!  Believe it or not, I have to give some credit to the time change.  When we took Hollands bottle away a few months ago she began getting up for the day between 6:30 and 7:00am.  This was exhausting for me especially being pregnant and wanting 12 hours of sleep and only getting 7.  I was really nervous for the time change because that would mean that my already early 6:30 mornings would become 5:30 mornings!!! Ahhhh!!!  Jaret and I decided to just try to throw her into the time change instead of easing her into it.  So, Sunday night we put her down at her usual 8pm bedtime and sure enough 5:30 came and she cried. We sat listening in our beds until she fell back asleep and woke up at 6:15. She cried, we listened, she fell back to sleep.  7am came and she woke up and we got up!  The first night was the hardest.  I feel so sad to let her cry so hard for so long but the time change gave me the guts to finally let her get used to sleeping in a bit more. I think she's even a happier baby with the extra hour she's getting.  I have had a little concern about Hollands sleeping habits because it seems like she gets less sleep than other kids her age.  I now feel like a better mom because my little girl is getting at least 11 hours of sleep at night!  Today she didn't wake up until we got up and made noise at 7:30!!!  I feel soooo rested.  I love this!

I can't believe what a little girl Holland is growing into.  She's definitely past the baby stage and moving onto crazier and bigger things.  She's saying a few more words on top of the usual Mama and Daddy.  She says uh oh, no, uh huh, buy, ba buy, and she's even starting to try and say thank you.  She understand what we ask so much better and can take her diaper to the garbage when asked.  She's a pretty happy little girl overall.  Often throughout the day she will just look at me and smile her big cheesy grin.  She gets excited about nothing while she's sitting in her car seat.  She can drink out of a cup with out spilling it (she can also do a fantastic job of dumping it on herself too).  She loves to give any kid who will let her hugs and kisses.  She and her little friend Annie hang out a lot and they're like two peas in a pod.  They are always running around jumping on the couches and playing the piano together.  The cutest is when they give hugs and kisses and hold hands.  They held hands at church the other day and walked up and down the hall together.  It makes my heart melt because it's so cute :)