A FATHER'S DREAM
NOV 5 2011
There's really nothing else to say.
THE FOUR NORSEMEN
OCT 31 2011
Happy Halloween!
Hi everyone, time for some big news! Heather is expecting baby #2. She's due in
March, so we're approaching the halfway mark already. She's doing great, but thinks
the little one is coming VERY quickly, and I have to agree. It won't be long before
we're moving Beck down to his big boy bedroom, and breaking out all the baby stuff
again. The kids will be almost exactly two years apart. Beck already "knows" that
there is a baby in mommy's belly, but I think he may be a bit surprised in a few
months. He'll have to live it up this winter and enjoy all that one on one attention!
Our plan to spend our thirties knee deep in diapers and baby formula is almost complete!
We may or may not know some details about this one, but you'll have to talk to the boss before I go public with any of that. It's not really a secret; remember I married the girl that gives me Christmas presents on Dec. 22 because she can't keep it a surprise any longer.
ALLEN
OCT 24 2011
We lost an amazing guy last week; our great friend Allen Feld passed away. Our heart goes out to his wonderful family, some of the kindest people you'll ever meet. I'm not sure that it has fully hit me yet; it's hard to imagine that Al isn't out there somewhere, making people laugh and just being a guy you're happy to be around. Facebook is an awkward place when you're grieving, but I was blown away by how many people out there knew him, loved him, and saw exactly the same great things that made him "Big Al" that we did. Just proves even more that Allen was Allen, and he always seemed to be himself. Someone mentioned that he was one of the most loyal people they'd ever met, and I think that's exactly right. He was the guy that was always there for you, never seemed to need anything in return, and you knew that if you hadn't seen him in awhile, you'd end up right back in the old friendship two minutes in. All I can do is remember some of our best times...and there were many.
Allen was part of my life since I can even remember. Him being the "farm kid" and me the "town kid", it was always an adventure when I went to his house. I have vivid memories of staying up all night playing Atari in his basement. He had the ultimate barn full of hay we would spent hours playing in, and of course his three wheeler, with which he often dumped me off the back as we ripped through the fields. I think it was his subtle way of reminding me that I was just a tourist out here in the country.. but I loved every minute of it. Actually, the memories are flooding back now that I write this. Once, he dropped one of the farm kittens over a four foot high door, into the barn where the hogs were. In less than a second, the cat came flying back out over that door, landing with all four paws on Al's face. Rarely do you witness a two pound cat knock down and bloody a teenager, but this one was probably well deserved.
We spent so many nights together in high school they all kind of blend into one big happy memory, and it didn't take long for us to meet back up in college. I'm overwhelmed right now thinking how many stories of my life involve Al, John and the gang. It was a happy, friendly group I was lucky to be part of. Allen was also my partner in crime on our move to San Diego after college. We had planned to leave at sunrise with two cars when I got a call that morning that his signature car had finally burnt out. Classic Allen, he just dumped a bunch of stuff out, threw the rest in my car and off we went. No sweat; he was never too concerned about life's little challenges.
I wasn't able to make it back to RC for the services, and I'm sick that I couldn't be part of it all, see his family and the old classmates. Al, we miss you my friend and I know you're out there watching over us, loyal as ever.
Actually, I'm tossing one more image up here.. stole this from his Facebook page, it's exactly the kind of humor that'll make me always think of him. Love you buddy.
DAYS OF SUMMER
AUG 28 2011
Just a quick post today... I posted some more pics of our adventures over the last couple of weeks... zoos, bike trails, and Beck's new obsession, his John Deere tractor. He spends a lot of time driving up and down the block, and is getting pretty good at it. We've had a nice summer and are excited for the Hawks to kick off on Saturday! Fall is finally here...
POPSICLES
AUG 1 2011
Someone explain how we can have a record for July rain, but also +90 temps every
day? Does sweat count as precipitation now? The Holstads have officially conceded
the summer of 2011 and are looking forward to September football and a return to
an Earth-like climate.
On the homefront, Beck has turned into a little boy. He's thinning out a bit and starting to cover a lot of ground. He talks a lot and is a happy little fella with a grin on his face. We spend a lot of time chasing each other around the living room, wrestling in the basement and doing some tackling drills. At this point whenever he hears a "hut hut" sound he either runs to "tackle" me or laughs and hurries over to hide behind mom. The wrestling is especially funny because he's only into it if I'm doing WWF-style color commentary at the same time. Without that he's more interested in his toys, so I end up inventing names for my awesome moves on the fly. You really haven't lived as a 16 month old until you've survived my "corn on the cob" or "steamroller" takedowns. Of course my finishing move is the "RTP", which I invented in the Potter era ("rotisserie potter")... It transfers nicely onto a 30 pound toddler, in case you were wondering. I'm living my dad/son dream, at least until he's big enough to hurt me. Judging by the 3 hot dogs he took down at dinner, we're looking at about age 4.
Beck tried to beat the heat this weekend with his favorite treat, and dad hadn't broken out the camera for awhile, so here are some popsicle pics from the backyard. The two photos below aren't new, but I like them. Heather's an amazing mom, she does such a great job with Beck. He's definitely a mama's boy right now, but who can blame him? The other pic is of him flirting with the neighbor. What can we say, the ladies dig the backwards Yankees hat.
SON OF A SON OF A SHOOTER
JULY 27 2011
A few weeks back I met my dad in Houston for the 2011 National Senior Games. His team from Ben Hill (GA) had qualified to compete at the national level for basketball, so this was an event I couldn't miss. The three of them didn't disappoint, they started strong and finished the first day undefeated. I think my dad had been slipping into "i'm just glad we made it here" mode the night before, so to pick up a couple wins really made the tournament fun for them. The next day they ran into the big boys; the team from Texas appeared to be five slightly older Dirk Nowitzkis. Then the real tourney bracket began, our guys kept playing well and picked up the bronze medal! I was really proud of them, they were outmanned in most games (no subs) but just outworked everybody. It's always fun to see Dad play, he doesn't miss many jumpers and is the smoothest guy out there. One of my favorite moments was the opening practice session, where he put on a shooting display that had the other teams watching... just another day at the office for Gary Bird.
And not to be outdone, my stepmom Marcia qualified in swimming, and it sounds like she did very well! Unfortunately I didn't get to see her compete, I had to fly back and she came in a few days later. If I get some pics of her in action I'll add them.
I admit I wasn't sure what to expect heading down there, but the Senior Games were the real deal; it was a huge production that lasted for at least a couple weeks. We saw 80+ aged men's teams, and 70+ women's teams... and those games were serious business. Way more physical than I could believe, although when you see a 75 year old hit the ground everybody holds their breath for a moment. Dad pointed out that if he plays until he's 84, I could bring a team as well (I'd be 55). I might have to take him up on that.
Congrats Dad & Marcia! That was a great trip. Pics are here. And check your Christmas stockings for a highlight DVD courtesy of Coach Steve.
THE RIDE
MAY 27 2011
Hi gang! Life is good, hope you're all doing great out there.
My Mom and Dave came to town a few weeks back, and we had a great time. I can't believe how fast time goes by since we see them, but they got some quality grandson time here. And I got a garden out of the deal. I'm now dreaming of home-grown BLT sandwiches come July. Thanks Mom.
We spent Mother's Day at the house, with a relaxing morning of yanking out every shrub in front of the house, and then using an axe to chop out the stumps. That's what my lady asked for, so who am I to complain? I was more than happy to hide the Tiffany's box away and grab my work gloves. Please, PLEASE make sure you look at the photos of this effort, mainly to see the Piet girls working on one stump. Look for the picture where heather is doing some sort of Ukrainian Squat Thrust on the shovel while Brie tries to just manhandle it out of the ground. In case you were wondering, Team Steve-O pulled 14 of them while the ladies got 1, but they looked much cuter so we'll call it a draw.
I'm from the ghetto homie / I was raised on bread and bologna
Now, it's come to my attention that we have a Super Fan out west, in the great state of North Dakota! Larae, this one's for you. Also, webholstad can now brag that 6% of an entire state is a loyal reader. I'm also pretty sure that 6% of that state can ride a bull longer than I could, and that saddens me. But as a tribute to our lost country girl, I've included a few of her favorite song lyrics. I know this because she used to yell them in my face at 1am in the bars. A lot. Most of the Iowans probably know the David Allen Coe song. As for the homie-bologna rap, I was pretty sure Larae invented that song to mess with me, but google just proved it exists. It does not sound in any way like I'd been singing it for the last six years.
North Dakota fun fact: I just saw that they tried unsuccessfully to change their name to "Dakota" because "North Dakota" sounded too cold and was scaring away tourists. Yep, it's the name, not the artic butt-freeze that's keeping folks away.
Anyway, Larae, we miss you in the city. Come back and visit soon. WOOT WOOT!
As I stepped out of that Cadillac
I said "Mister, many thanks"
He said "You don't have to call me Mister, Mister.
The whole world called me Hank!
SPRING IS HERE, KIND OF
APR 27 2011
Oh, did you think I meant "tomorrow" for that next post? Silly, trusting reader; of course by that I meant end of April. We just celebrated Easter here, and Heather's birthday fell on the same day. I don't think we did a great job of finding time for both events on the same day but she was a good sport. We did some mini-festivities for her, but let me take this chance to say Happy Birthday babe! She just took some birthday money to lululemon and had a Pretty Woman moment with the nosey sales rep. "Big Mistake. Huge."
I'm literally so shocked that I just pulled a Pretty Woman quote from memory that I've completely forgotten where I was going with this. Apparently it proves that mens' innate sense of movie-quoting overrides any sense of chick-flick anxiety. It must be that, and not that I am a mega wuss. Anyway, Easter was great, we even managed to try out the local church and Beck did pretty well, he lasted about 40 minutes. We were feeling just a little guilty about leaving early until we saw a stream of parents with toddlers leaving all around us. You can see some pictures of Beck's first Easter Egg Hunt in the new photo album, he basically dominated the 12-14 month category, with a 67% pick up rate and an overall +4 on the trip. He hunts even better at home so we'll see how next season fares.
Love you all, Happy Easter and hopefully spring actually shows up soon. I'm cutting this post short because I clearly derailed early. Check back tommorow? :-)
New pics up: AprilEaster2011
BECK'S MONTH OF PARTY
MAR 29, 2011
Gah! I ran out of time tonight, but check back tomorrow and I'll have a new post ready to thrill & entertain you.
For now, you can check out all the pics of March, we had some great visitors, some birthday parties and more!
I also added a new section called "pic of the week". I'll be posting my favorites there as I take them; hopefully this will keep me active in trying to perfect my skills with the new camera... so they'll be my most artsy (fartsy?) attempts... all of our other pictures will still be posted to the usual gallery, so you can still check out Travis in his hot tub shorts. (HEY, WE ARE SAME, BRO-THER!) Don't believe me? Check it out in the latest gallery...
FIRST BIRTHDAY
MAR 9, 2011
Happy Birthday to our little man! Beck's first birthday is here. We are so lucky
to have this sweet, loving kid in our lives... it's been amazing to watch our son
grow from a newborn into the happy, engaging boy he is now. I can't believe it's
already been a year since we were in that hospital room, yet at the same time it
feels like a lifetime ago. Crazy how much life changes in just a few seasons. We're
so excited to see what year two brings for him.
Beck is really mobile now, he just started to walk a little, loves climbing up every stair in the house, and spends most of his time trying to get to the bathtub, so he can hang over the edge and play with the faucet and his basketball hoop. He's also becoming a good little talker: the mamas and dadas are flowing and Heather is teaching him some animal sounds, which he's starting to say back to her. The best is when he has these serious conversations with himself... he sure seems like he knows what he's talking about.
Happy birthday Beckster, you're a wonderful kid and you're very loved.
HOME SWEET HOME
FEB 21 2011
Well, we're finally here! We moved in two weeks ago and it's starting to feel like
home. We love the place, it's going to be a good spot for us. It definitely feels
like the happy end of a chapter for us; to all of you that had to listen to us worry
about the last two years of planning, thanks for being there for us. Now it's time
to sit back, relax, and.. what? you want those shelves hung now? In case you're
wondering I'm now qualified to be a freemason grand master, at least when it comes
to hanging shelves from Home Depot. And the staff in the paint section there now
knows us very well, they even recognized Beck the first time I brought him in alone.
Apparently you develop a reputation when you're the only people crazy enough to
buy a house in February, and struggle to choose between soft blue, light blue and
baby blue. We finally went with... did you guess "lime light blue"? better luck
next time. The pictures below are not great; I'll get some new ones up once daylight
rolls around, and when the plumbing isn't sticking out of the walls. The middle
pic is especially fug-tastic, but you can see the area of the kithen we opened up
in between the kitchen and dining room.
More pics are up in the Feb 2011 album
The neighborhood looks like it's going to be really fun this spring. We've already met quite a few neighbors that have little kids, it's exciting to think that Beck will probably know them for a long time to come.
Once it warms up we'll be having some birthday parties and bbqs, so get ready to come check it out. And as of yesterday, the hot tub is officially open. Life is good.
BEARS: DOWN
JAN 31 2011
Here's a fun game: see if you spot our Super Bowl hopes fading as you look at this picture. You can almost hear Heather wondering why Jay Cutler is out of the game. Beck spent most of the day looking under the tv for the defensive line, and I'm counting how many times Urlacher can "slip" while missing a tackle. Oh well, the Bears made January fun, and no one expected us to get this far. Well, one person did: Geno predicted a 10-6 season so gotta give him his due. And the Bears were only 27 yards from pulling off a miracle with the third string QB... so all in all, a great season. Wait, except for the blizzard game vs. the Pats that almost ruined Ike (the game was even worse). To round out a colorful football season, two of the Hawkeye stars starred in "I Almost Got Away With It", including our RB's mom saying that he had only gotten into weed because of his concussions this season. Gotta love moms protecting their kids, but wow. Then just for fun we sent 13 of our players to the hospital for muscle & kidney damage after a single workout.
Beck's doing great, this week he changed from wobbly, stationary baby to mobile
monkey. He's crawling and pulling himself up onto everything, and he helps mom a
lot by cleaning off any flat surface he can reach. "Destructo" is in full force
around here. He's starting to say "mama" a lot, and even slips in a "dada" every
now and then. Two days ago he picked up a ring, held it like a Mario Kart steering
wheel and said "Dada". Might be a sign that my Wii practice sessions have come to
an end.
Getting really close to house time, I subscribed to a newspaper today, basically completing my 32 year journey to adulthood. Now if the midwest can survive the blizzard of the year, we'll be all set. Right now they are predicting 18-24" of snow... so look for Tom Brady to appear and throw for 400 yards.
I added Facebook comments for you because one of my least favorite things about the site is that we don't get much back and forth discussion... so post a comment if you like. They won't appear on your Facebook profile unless you check the "Post comment.." box. I'll wager we can get 5 comments on here before Heather calls me a dork.. ready, go.
A FRESH START
JAN 23 2011
Hi everyone, welcome to the new look webholstad.com. We figured that with so many changes this winter it was fitting to give the site a fresh coat of paint too. I kept it simple and think it’s a bit easier to read; let me know what you think. (Some of the older pictures are missing, I need to dig through some backups to find them.)
We are about to close on our new home in La Grange Park, and will be moving in mid-February. The place is a nice little house in a great neighborhood, and we can see ourselves being happy there for a long time. It has four bedrooms, so we have plenty of room to grow, and a small backyard that should be perfect for entertaining in the summer. I know the hot tub and fire pit will be ready for all of you when sun comes back to us. The basement is also set up for entertaining, but my job #1 will be to remove the existing bar setup as that becomes the kids’ play room. This task might be an emotional one for me. We’re really happy to find a place we love in this neighborhood, the schools are great for Beck all the way through high school, and it feels like we’re ready to end ten years of planning our next move; time to settle in and enjoy our small family.
The move also means we end our short time with the Piets. We’ve enjoyed our time here and appreciate what Gene and Patti have done for us; without their generosity this couldn’t have all happened in just a few months. Beck will definitely think the new house is quiet with just the three of us there. With so many changes going on, it seems ages since we were in the condo, but it was only September. Three houses for Beck in his first year can’t cause lasting commitment issues, right?
The little man is doing great! In the last few weeks he’s made some huge additions to his arsenal: crawling, standing while holding something, feeding himself; it is incredible how fast he’s picking things up. Beck has started to say words like “mama”, “up”, and “ouch”. We’re blessed with a really good kid; he spends most days smiling and laughing. He’s always excited to see dad walk in the door each night, but I’m certain it’s a bigger lift for me. Heather and I had no idea that parenting would be this much fun, and now that he’s interacting with us, I see it only getting better from here.
Apparently the Holstads go through nannies like Piet girls go through cameras. This time, however, the end was planned for a while. Heather is going to become a stay-at-home mom after we make the move. She still has strong ties to her clinic and is going to work some weekends each month and pick up shifts as needed, but we’re excited for her and Beck to get to spend so much time together.
That catches everybody up on all of our changes; hopefully you’re all doing well and surviving this nasty winter. Hang in there; soon we’ll all be at concerts in the park, festivals and baseball games. I’m glad to have this site active again, keep checking back and I’ll update more often as my computer finally awakes from its hibernation in basement storage.
And finally, we have the HUGE Bears vs. Packers game tomorrow, the city is going nuts for a shot at the Super Bowl. Bear Down!