SHE LOVES US LIKE A ROCK
APR 24 2012
Happy Birthday babe! My wonderful wife celebrates her big day today. Heather, the boys and I want you to know how much we love you, and how lucky we are that you are around to take such good care of us. You are a wonderful wife and the boys couldn't possibly ask for a better mother. Most of all, thank you for not killing us when the man-fest of footballs, soccer balls, wiffle balls, cars, choo choos, GI Joes, wrestling matches, mud, spills, dirty shoes and abandoned laundry seems overwhelming. You're the glue that holds this whole show together; we couldn't do it without you. We love you.
REED SETTLES IN
APR 23 2012
Hi all. Reed is just over seven weeks old now, and the kid may be the most content baby around. He puts up with a LOT of activity & noise and takes it all in stride. He's starting to smile often now, and loves giving mom some snuggles. I'm starting to connect with him too, especially during our 8pm-midnight hockey playoff hangouts. Heather and I have just emerged from the newborn dark ages, and are finding our stride. We're close to being ready to interact with society again, just in time for the weather to warm up. It should be a fun summer of backyard BBQs while we watch the boys grow up together. And don't worry Hawkeye fans of 2032, Reed is in the 98th percentile for height... the Holstad defensive lineman factory continues to produce!
A big thanks to everyone that has wished us well and/or sent cards & presents. We appreciate it! My mom was able to come stay for a weekend last month, and my dad is coming in May. Gene and Patti are helpful as always and the boys love heading over to their place on the weekends. So nice to have all this family involved, thanks all.
We don't have much energy left at the end of these days, so I'm sorry for the lack of posts. Need an example? I had to open up the calculator app just now to add 20 years to 2012. I'm not kidding.
BECK TURNS TWO
MAR 9 2012
Happy Birthday Beck! The big man turns two today. As i write this I'm watching the Big East basketball tournament in the dark, with a sleeping baby nearby. It seems like a minute ago I was in this exact same position in 2010, watching out for our first little guy and hoping mom can get some sleep. What an amazing two years it has been. Beck's such a happy and smart kid, it's the highlight of my day to walk in the door and start goofing around with him. Something happened in the last few months; he's gone from Toddler to full-on Boy. He loves to sing songs, has plenty of opinions to share with us, and is my favorite person in the world to spend time with in the basement or the back yard.
Beck is starting a soccer group next Saturday, and I think the family has set him up for athletic disaster early on. The day Heather went into labor with Reed, we had a small birthday party for Beck with Heather's family. One of the gifts I gave him was a soccer ball, goal and orange field cones. Of course, when the time came, all of the men put the cones on our heads and sang him Happy Birthday. Beck is now 100% convinced that this is the only approved use for those cones, and I have a feeling that he's not going to light it up next Saturday in practice #1. When the number one video on YouTube next month is our son standing on a soccer field, orange cone on his head, singing "Happy Dappy to Be-aahhhck!" you'll know the real cause. Everyone else is just going to think I should probably buy him a trumpet.
We love you buddy, Happy Birthday. - Mom & Dad
REED STEVEN HOLSTAD
MAR 4 2012
Reed is here! Heather went into labor on Saturday night; we were settled into the
hospital room around 2am, and the little guy arrived around 10:30am Sunday morning.
Everything went really well, and as usual Heather was a child-producing rockstar.
Reed was 7 lbs, 14 oz and 21.5 inches long, which is smaller but taller than Beck
was. Sometimes I think the boys look alike, other times they look completely different.
I think he's a handsome little fella. He seems to be a snuggly, happy guy so far,
and isn't giving us much trouble. The real challenge is keeping both a newborn and
a two year old happy, fed and entertained. I realize now how busy this house just
became, and it's going to be crazy here for a while. But now that everyone is home
from the hospital and we're settling in, Heather and I are feeling very lucky to
have a healthy baby boy join our family. We've been blessed.
We can't wait to watch the boys grow up together. Beck spent the first twelve hours completely ignoring the baby, opting instead to check out the hospital room shower every four minutes. It has to be quite a shock to realize there is someone else around now, and we were curious to see how he would handle it. but that all changed the first night home, he started asking to hold Reed, and gives him a ton of hugs & kisses whenever he gets a chance. Beck's a great kid; he's going to be a wonderful big brother.
I posted all of the pictures here.
Welcome to family, Reed. We are so happy you're finally here.
NEST PREP V2
JAN 19 2012
Hi gang. Maybe it's triggered by Heather flipping between shows on the Oprah Network and "Teen Mom 2", but I find myself feeling very lucky these days. We've been spending most weekends moving our house projects along, painting and carpeting so we can use the back porch area and the 2nd floor... areas that had basically been ignored since we moved in. The world's squeakiest floor was solved by a few hundred deck screws and new carpet, giving us a big chunk of house back. These are supposed to be Beck's new bedroom and dad's new office, but so far they are known as "Dance Party" and "Big Empty Baseball Toss" rooms. Success! We spend almost every night running around up there with real and plastic guitars, singing about Elmo and strawberries. We're not strong in the lyrics department.
Of course all of this is in preparation for our second baby boy, coming in early March. Heather is doing great, she's amazing with being pregnant and still raising an active little Beckster... they're a lot alike, it is impossible to get them to sit still (or watch football, wha?). Funny how different it feels for us this time around. Last time everything seemed very abstract. Now, when the baby drives a foot through her ribcage, we know just how real he really is. We can't wait to meet him, and the home projects have reminded us just how soon he'll be here.
More to come this week. Yep, these pictures are from October, but c'mon... the cuteness overcomes the lateness, doesn't it?