• Pictures
  • About
  • Style+FAQ's
  • Blog
  • Session Types
  • Pricing
  • Contact
Holli Pool Photography

Photographer + Filmographer: Stuarts Draft, Augusta County, Staunton, Waynesboro, Harrisonburg VA

  • Pictures
  • About
  • Style+FAQ's
  • Blog
  • Session Types
  • Pricing
  • Contact

December 2017 - Letters to Our Children

*Don't forget to check out Michelle's letter to her kids this month too!

Mase, Ry, and Elle Belle,

November seemed to go by even more quickly than most months.  From a big family night of games at school, to Daddy’s birthday, to a kindergarten Thanksgiving feast, to the Gobbler/Turkey Trot, to a big Thanksgiving day with family, we had a lot of fun things to do.  Grandma and Pap didn’t come to Thanksgiving again this year because of Grandma’s work schedule, but they were able to come visit two days later.  We also went to Pennsylvania for Daddy’s birthday, and the three of you got to go to a fun toy store. 

We decided to get a big artificial Christmas tree this year, because although Daddy and I both love the tradition and experience of going to cut down a real one, neither of us like the hassle of the rest of the real tree scenario.  We’re still planning to go to the Christmas tree farm to get a wreath or something else fun.  We’re about halfway done with our decorations- including a fun wall of lights in the living room.  We’ve also been listening to lots of Christmas music, which we all love. 

Mason- We got to have the first date we’ve had since school started – and it was a Book It! date, which was very tasty and fun.  You even went up to the counter and paid for our meal by yourself; I was so proud of you.  You are still liking school, and in our first parent-teacher meeting, your teacher said you are doing well and that you especially like math.  You had some trouble with a few sight words for a while, but you are doing so great with them now.  You did have one incident in the principal’s office, but I think you learned your lesson there.  Oh and there was also that other incident with the scissors in your room.  You know, when you cut the hair of all of your stuffed animals AND the fur from one of the kitties.  

Rylan- You are still going through a really cute stage.  Daddy regularly comments on how much he’s going to miss you being three.  You make us laugh every day.  I can’t remember how old Mason was when he got rid of his paci, but you are still hanging onto yours.  To make it worse, your current paci is a  pink one that was really supposed to be for Elli.  Anyway, we are trying to wean  you off of it.  You are starting to dress yourself....sort of.  You want to wear a Batman or Superman shirt every day, and you usually want to wear your high top Paw Patrol shoes, which are hard to get on; so I make you do that yourself, and you’re doing well!  You’re also on your way to being potty trained.  You can wear underwear pretty reliably even out to church or stores.  It hasn’t gone quite as seamlessly as Mason’s potty training, but it hasn’t been bad either.  The “candy bucket” with our full candy collection is still a great reward system for going to the potty. 

Elli- You have 5 teeth now!  I just found the 5th one last night and I don’t know how long it’s been there.  This month you’ve also climbed up our entire flight of steps (suddenly; like you just did it one night when you’d never even tried it before- and I haven’t been able to stop you since....we need a gate), climbed out of your cosleeper bed while swaddled (we had to lower it after that), and taken your first steps!  You shake your head no and yes.  You say “please” in sign language a LOT and you sometimes say “more.”  You still scream like a siren, and you still laugh a lot. 


Here are some quotes from this month!  

“*(after being asked if he wanted a tissue)* No thanks. I already sniffed it back into my nose.”
— Rylan
“Well I toot all the time! So I’m a tutor. ”
— Rylan
“I don’t want to clean it up, because it will mess up my coziness and stink me up.”
— Rylan
“This is where my helium goes.”
— Rylan, when putting on his socks, pointing to the heel

I love you, sweet kids.

Mommy

Friday 12.01.17
Posted by Holli Pool
 

November 2017 - Letters to Our Children

Our blog circle is back up this month!  Click here to check out the letter from my friend: the always-entertaining, Evangeline!

Mason, Rylan, and Elli,

This month was full of school, a marathon, vacation, and fall.  We had some kitty cuddles, visiting with Uncle Tony and Janelle, a big family meal, a popcorn party (for filling up the “Mason and Rylan Be Kind to Each Other” jar), and a trip to Chick-fil-A on a day off of school.  Mommy, Rylan, and Elli took a walk around the park after dropping Mason off at school one or two days.  We also celebrated Gabriel’s, Aunt Heidi’s, and Nonni’s birthdays this month.  On Aunt Heidi’s birthday, the adults went to an Escape Room, which was fun (while all the cousins stayed at Nonni’s).

We also had a month of sickness.  Elli had another ear infection before we left for vacation.  Then Rylan started to get a fever right before we left.  Ry, you stayed sick throughout a lot of the vacation (although it never seemed to bother you unless the fever got high), and it started to get scary how long you had a fever.  It eventually went away though.  Daddy also had a cold/virus that ended up scaring him into the hospital with chest pain.  He worked that day and worked the day after, but that night was pretty scary.  After the urgent care office sent him to the ER, he had a CT scan, EKG, and blood work to make sure he was ok.  The doctor came into the room after all of that and said, “I think you’re healthy!”  

Mommy and Daddy had big personal accomplishment months in October.  Daddy was 10th (or 11th – the results have been confusing) overall in his marathon in Chattanooga.  And I should also mention that the course was measured wrong, and it was about a mile too long!  Daddy, Uncle Ian, and Poppy all still did well considering the craziness of that race.  Then a couple weeks later, Mommy found out that one of her pictures was a finalist in the Voice Competition, and the picture will be printed in a magazine in a few days! 

Our vacation was the main highlight of the month.  We left on Friday (Mason we picked you up after lunch from school) and went to Chattanooga.  Our family, Nonni, Poppy, Tony, and Janelle all stayed at one house, and Aunt Heidi’s family stayed in another house about half an hour away. 

We got to go to the Apple Barn on Saturday morning and we also drove around the campus at Bryan.  We left Chattanooga on Sunday afternoon, after the race was over.  The race ended at Coolidge Park, which was fun.  Mason played in the fountains there, but Ry, you were feeling too sick with your fever to play.  

We drove to Destin and got there that evening.  Our house was close to the beach and even had a golf cart to drive over whenever we wanted. 

That week we played games, ate yummy food, swam in 2 different pools, played at the beach, had a quick visit to the 30A places, drove go-carts on a cool track, and played miniature golf. 

Tony and Janelle flew out on Saturday morning, and the rest of us drove halfway home to Knoxville on Saturday night, before driving in heavy traffic home on Sunday.  It was a long, but fun vacation. 

Mason you had your first field trip this month, where you went to the pumpkin patch.  I think you loved it; as you seem to love everything about school still.   You know almost all of your letters, are learning word families, and are working on some math concepts.  Unfortunately, Mommy has failed on having Mommy-Mason dates for the past two months, but Daddy has gotten a little one in both times.  It’s a lot harder when you’re at school so much!  Recently, you and Rylan have been getting along better together when you’re home from school except when you’re overly tired.

Rylan, you are still hilariously cute, and you went through a phase this month of love.  You would tell Mommy and Daddy at least 10 times a day how you loved us and would give us a hug at the same time.  You stopped doing that as much, but you still say, “Mommy, I love EVERYBODY!!” in a really sweet voice. When you go to bed, you’ve decided that you don’t want me to do anything with you; you only want Daddy.  When you are saying a number, you say, "Is it this many?" while holding up lots of fingers slowly and carefully.  Also, when you make certain words plural like “knife,” you say “knife-iss.” 

Elli, it seems like you spend most of your time being really happy or really mad.  You laugh (and fake laugh) a LOT, but then you also growl and scream like a siren a lot.  You have 4 teeth now, and they’re super cute when you smile.  You're still not really standing alone, and you don't seem super close to walking, but I'm sure it will happen sooner than it seems.  Your hair is long and crazy; I hate to cut your bangs, because it seems like the one easy time in your life to grow out your bangs instead of having to deal with them, but your hair is often in your eyes.  It's still difficult to go by a stranger without them commenting on how cute you are.


Here are the quote winners from October....they're pretty good.  You guys are funny.  

“I only have one cash. But you have 70 hundred cash.”
— Rylan, while holding his birthday money in his hand
“Mommy, I wish our van had smokestacks so we could watch smoke come out of them.”
— Rylan
“Look! A cantaloupe!!”
— Mason, pointing to an antelope on a coaster
“Mommy, why do some people cal you “llama” cause they don’t know your name?”
— Rylan (....what????)
“Look!! I see Steven Curtis Chapman!! ”
— Rylan, pointing to Andrew Jackson on a $20 bill
“I wish our van had wings. That way we could fly to Africa and we wouldn’t have to walk.”
— Rylan
“I willn’t look good while running!!!”
— Mason, crying hysterically in the morning, talking about the jeans he was wearing
“Meow! I can definitely do burnouts with my paws!”
— Rylan, talking in a high squeaky voice pretending to be a kitty
“Did Jesus have a skid mark?”
— Ry, asking Daddy, during a dirty diaper change

I love you, little cuties.  Until next month....

Love, Mommy

Wednesday 11.01.17
Posted by Holli Pool
 

October 2017 - Letters to Our Children

This month there's no blog circle; it's just me!  But hopefully I'll have some more friends writing with me again next month!

My cute kiddos,

Here’s what our month of September looked like:

-trip to West Virginia with Nonni and Poppy for the Italian Festival

 

     

-Italian family reunion in West Virginia

 

       

-visit with Aunt Jean

 

    

-church Labor Day picnic

 

    

-Elli’s birthday party

 

    

-Elli’s FIRST birthday!!

 

    

-the start of Awana

 

    

-tractor trailer show in Pennsylvania

 

       

-Baby Carson’s birthday party

 

     

-getting antique tags for the Z and washing it

 

     

-Mason being the Star Student in Kindergarten

 

 

-a few playdates for Rylan and Elli

-got a new mower that’s much faster and should save us a lot of time

 

Mason, you have been doing an awesome job at school so far.  You love it, you’re making friends, and you are having fun.  It’s really strange to spend so much of our days without you here, and we miss you.  I feel like I barely see you some days, so I try to ask you lots of questions when you get home from school.  (Thankfully that doesn't seem to annoy you.)  You’ve only had your clip moved a few times off of green, and it sounds like it’s usually been when you were trying to make your friends laugh.  You like your teacher, and you like all of your “specials” (music, art, p.e., computers, library).  Nonni said you’re doing well in art and you’re already making some cute things!  The schedule is working out so much better than I anticipated with getting you to and from school thanks to help from Mrs. Doty and Nonni.  You’re still adjusting to the routine of school and we’re trying to figure out how you can get enough sleep.  By the time you come home, you’re often exhausted, which usually results in bad behavior and fighting.  Hopefully we will figure that out better soon.  You also love Sparks.  You say you like it even more than school!

 

Rylan, you keep us entertained every day with the cute things that you say and do.  You like it when Elli is awake, since Mason isn’t here during the day, but she’s starting to be at the stage where she knocks down the things that you make, and that makes you mad.  We’ve been playing in the play room more lately, and you’ve been enjoying legos a lot.  You’re having fun in Cubbies, and so far you seem to be doing well in there. 

Elli, you have sadly gotten two more ear infections this month.  When we went for your one year checkup, you had no fever, but you had a double ear infection.  We went back to check on it again (it’s coinciding with teething, so you’re super fussy, but I wasn’t sure which thing was the cause) and you already have another little ear infection starting.  Hopefully this antibiotic will kick it for a long time, because otherwise we may be talking about tubes.  But I hate how hard the antibiotics are on your belly.  Aside from that, you’re getting bigger (literally- weight and everything!) all the time!  You have sort of stood on your own a couple times, but it’s usually not on purpose.  You also walk while holding onto furniture.  That’s about as close as you are to walking.  Your two top teeth just finally poked through on Thursday, although you still can’t see them, so now you have four!  You are still saying the same words- mostly just “dada” with occasional “mama” and “nah-nah”’s thrown in.  You love to laugh, and you dance whenever you hear music.  Your brothers, Daddy, Mommy, and the kitties all make you very happy. 


Here are this month’s quotes:

“I’m talking sixty per hours mile!!”
— Rylan
“I would cry so bad if my hair was in a ponytail.”
— Rylan
“You know the funniest part of “Chloe”? It’s “Fry.” That’s the funniest part!!”
— Rylan
“She’s my teacher’s son. —You mean daughter?— Yeah. But she’s not full grown like her; she’s a little kid.”
— Mason, explaining who his teacher's daughter was
“You know the nickname I have for it? ‘Sugar.’ The real name is ‘powder sugar.’”
— Rylan, cracking up while telling me his nickname for cinnamon sugar
“I said, ‘no way’ cause I couldn’t believe how tasty that chocolate cereal was!”
— Rylan
“I forget...what happens when you drink too much catalog?”
— Rylan, trying to remember the definition I gave him when he asked what an alcoholic was
“Mommy!! Yellow!!! That’s the color of the sun that’s at OUR house!!”
— Rylan, when seeing something yellow colored

Ok, I think that’s it for the month!  I love you so much!

I love you, Mommy

 

 

 

Saturday 09.30.17
Posted by Holli Pool
 
Newer / Older

Powered by Squarespace.