April 30 = Picnic Day

Baby update!  Notice I've changed to baby from McKenzie because we've decided to change the name.  Right now we're trying to decide between Emily Austin Holliday and Audrey Austin Holliday.  We may not decide until she's born... but here's how big she is right now:

Well maybe.  I went to the doctor last week and I'm measuring 2 weeks ahead which would line up with what I thought at the beginning so I think they're right.  I go again on Wednesday and we'll see how I'm measuring- if I'm still measuring ahead, they'll schedule a c-section.

Also, 7th company had a picnic today... they had different games for the different squads to see which platoon did the best.  I think I used those words correctly- who knows.  Malia and Zachary had fun playing with a basketball.  Liam had fun going in and out of all of the racquetball courts.

It was a nice outing and when we got home it was time for baths and bed!

April 3 = National Championship Game Day!

Well before I get to the amazing (actually, it was pretty terrible but I'll get to that), I saw this on Facebook and with my love of Grey's Anatomy, had to save it:

I got t-shirts and paint to make Carolina t-shirts for Liam, Malia and me last week but never got around to it- I had to make them this morning in preparation for tonight.

I saw this at some point during a break in the game:

Zachary went and got the kids during the game and here they are holding their arms up for one of the Tar Heels shooting a free-throw.

It was a good game because it was close pretty much the whole time and we ended up winning.  The refs were terrible- they just couldn't stop blowing the whistle... and both teams were super sloppy.  It was a really ugly game but a win is a win and I'll take it!

April 1 = Daddy's Duty Day

We're getting close to meeting baby which means it's getting really difficult for me to do so many things I'm used to being able to do- going up stairs, vacuuming, "running" inside really quick for this one thing I forgot... so today, since Zachary wasn't home, we took it reallllll easy- as in I didn't step outside until after 7pm to take the trash out.  But we had a good day even with missing daddy!

Zachary had his best duty day ever when he got to meet the Red Sox as they were at the Academy for a game against the Nationals.  Here he is with Dustin Pedroia- he was super excited!

After I put the kids down, I had an exciting night watching the Tar Heels win their Final Four game and advance to the championship game which will be Monday night.  It wasn't ideal watching it alone but with the nail-biting ending, it probably was a good thing.  I took a picture of the TV asking me "Are you still watching?"  Of course I'm still watching TV!!

March 26 = Basketball Day

Four random pictures that I won't attempt to blend into one nice blog post.

McKenzie update:

Puppies!

Malia straight chillin':

And the mids that came over for dinner watching the UNC game with me.  Zachary's CC from last year, Mike, likes Carolina and watched the whole game with me- others joined after they finished their pizza.
 

January 22 = 29 Day

I'm 29 today!  I don't have many pictures from today but I do have a McKenzie update:

And I have this video... we still haven't gotten the red marker off of Liam's face.

February 6 = USNA Basketball Game Day

Zachary has some of his midshipmen on the basketball game so we wanted to go support them- he and I went not too long ago and while we were there we thought maybe the kids would be able to tolerate it.  Well our timing was a bit off- Malia fell asleep on the way there...

...and Liam was super close to falling asleep.

So I thought the kids would be miserable during the game but they actually did pretty well.  Thankfully we were able to bring snacks inside- the candy cane went a long way with keeping them happy and of course- the iPad.

January 2 = USNA Basketball Day

Today, we had one of the girls that works at the gym's childcare to come watch the kids so we could go watch a USNA basketball game.  A couple of guys in Zachary's company are on the team and while he's been to a few practices, he hasn't made it to a game.  We got there early enough to get great seats- and for free!

 

We ended up having some extra time between leaving the game and when we told the babysitter we would be back so we did something kinda crazy...

Just kidding, we went grocery shopping. 

And to close- this may be my favorite video of all time:

 

December 12 = Gramps Day!

Gramps got in last night- both kids were still awake to his delight.  Here Liam is playing with Gramps' phone.  He's spoiled!

We had a pretty low key day- Zachary had duty yesterday so we were expecting him to get home this morning around 8 or so but he didn't get home until after 9:30 because the person taking his spot overslept.  So we tried to let Zachary get some rest- he didn't go to bed until 1:00am and then had to wake up before 4:00am to get the mids on the bus for the Army v. Navy game (which Navy won!).  So we went grocery shopping and went for a walk to give him quiet in the house.  Daisy didn't cooperate though so he didn't get a lot of sleep- oops.  But we watched that game and also the Carolina game- which didn't end in our favor.  But it was a fun day- any day that the kids get to hang out with their Gramps is a good day for them!

December 3 = Basketball Day

So last night Zachary actually didn't have a game because they won on Monday and Tuesday so they got last night off!  So tonight's game was the championship game and I decided it would be fun for us all to go and support him!  Zachary told me there was walking track above the gym so we could go up there and be out of the way and Liam could walk around and be happy.  Well Liam did enjoy the walking track, but he enjoyed it just a bit too much.  Here he grabbed Malia's hand but for the most part, he was running ahead of us and looking back and laughing.  It made me a bit nervous because I felt like I couldn't keep up with both of them at the same time.

So we went to this area right outside the basketball court- they show a movie in a little theater there every Thursday night so they had popcorn out there for whoever wanted any.  Malia liked it.  And then she decided to drop the container and popcorn went everywhere.

So we headed out to the car and I let the kids walk around the van which entertained them for about 45 minutes.  At that point I thought the game must be almost over so I thought we could handle the last few minutes.  I put Malia in the baby carrier and headed in.  Zachary's team was up by a lot so he was on the bench giving some other people a chance to play- he's so good!  So we didn't get to see him play but we did get to see his team win!

June 7 = NBA Finals Day

Zachary loves the NBA season finals.  And I love making a big deal out of everything.  So I thought it would be fun to have a fun dinner to make us excited for the game.  A fun dinner almost always means nachos or pizza.  I decided to do a Mexican theme for the night so I also thought it would be fun to get some margaritas to drink after the kids went to bed.  I got the wine yesterday- I don't drink alone so the wine was calling my name but for the sake of a theme dinner, I sacrificed and went for margaritas- he really had to twist my arm.  Especially since he doesn't care that much for margaritas and went with Long Island iced tea instead.  But that would come later in the day.

 Here's an update on my zucchini and green beans!

 So we had nachos.  Remember how I said fun dinner nights are almost always nachos or pizza.  I should have said nachos and/or pizza because this night, Zachary ordered pizza hours after we had dinner.  We had put Liam to bed at 8 but this child has a sixth sense when it comes to pizza and 5 minutes before it came, he woke up and was adamant that he was not happy about being in his room.  We brought him down just in time for the pizza delivery guy to get there and he started yelling "Izza!  Izza"

March 9 = Daddy's Girl Day

We got our Easter baskets today!  In case you can't read it, the pink one says Malia Mae... it's kind of hard to see in the picture but not in person.  I love that lots of people on facebook call her Malia Mae instead of just Malia.  I call her so many things- mainly Lia Lia which is what Liam used to call her- he doesn't really call her anything now... so Lia Lia and Missy Mae.  Because having a Liam and a Lia Lia isn't confusing at all.  I may have specified this before but I want to reiterate- this was not planned.  We knew we wanted to name any boy we had William and I knew I wanted to name any girl I had Malia.  William and Malia wouldn't be that bad.  But the boy came first and we decided instead of Will, a name which I do love, we would call our William Liam.  Because- get this- we thought it was unique.  As the Grinch says in my favorite part of his movie- Wrongo!  Anyway- so we had our Liam and then we find out we're having a girl.  Well the name is already chosen- Malia.  It took me a few weeks to realize having a Liam and Malia was going to be very confusing.  So many people think we did this on purpose- why anyone would choose to have their childrens' names so similar is beyond me.  But I love each of their names and they fit them perfectly so ... Liam and Malia it is. 

Liam has always been a little bit more like me than his daddy.  He's uptight, likes things done a certain way and is terribly stubborn.  I've personally worked on all of these things and I think I've made progress but apparently I passed these traits down to my little man.  We are also both very passionate and we don't give up which can be good things.  Malia came along and is very similar to her daddy.  Laid back and only gets upset if she's hungry.  And here she is with a basketball.  In a similar way of Zachary's and my personalities balancing each other out- Liam and Malia balance each other out too!

February 20 = Cleveland Cavaliers Day

We were excited to have Grandma and Pops come up to see us this weekend.  Pops' birthday is tomorrow so Zachary had done some researching and planning a couple of weeks ago trying to create a special weekend to celebrate.  The Cavaliers just happened to being playing in DC so Mo and Zachary coordinated and made sure they could definitely come and got tickets.  I snapped a picture of him receiving his present!

So they headed off to DC- had dinner and then watched the game.  Meanwhile, Malia has had an awful diaper rash for the past few days and the doctor recommended diaper free time.  It sounds simple but it is quite a nightmare.  I put down several towels and had to change them out about every 5 minutes.  I had a lot of laundry throughout the duration of this rash.  But she is just so cute.

After I determined we'd had enough of that, we got in some PJ's and kept Liam company while he ate his dinner.  Malia fell asleep in her high chair.

 

I got some pictures from Zachary from the game too:

February 24 = A Little Early Day

Zachary woke up this Saturday morning thinking Coach K was going for his 1000th win later in the day.  We found out, after I dressed both of my children in Duke fan gear, that that would be happening the next day.  I've always said (actually, I don't think I've ever said this but it works with the story) Duke fans are crazy- here's proof:

Liam has those devil horns in his hair and has no pants on.  So there's that.

January 21 = Snow Day

Liam went to preschool for the second time since the New Year today.  Zachary is pretty frustrated with the way things have been going with preschool.  If the schools are closed- no matter what reason- the preschool is closed and if there is a two hour delay preschool is closed.  You pay the same amount whether they go every Monday and Wednesday or if they don't make it all.  In December, they barely went because the school system's Christmas break is pretty long and so in the last two months, he really hasn't gone very often at all.  But he did go today!  And it's kind of surprising because today we got a lot of snow!

Zachary had class in Washington, DC tonight and I was bit nervous about him driving back when it was dark and cold but it all turned out alright.  Well... Malia was grumpy.

Until Daddy came home and gave her a basketball.

And then Zachary surprised me as I was writing this with a early birthday ice cream cone!

January 7 = Teething Day

Liam is feeling a lot better, Malia is definitely less miserable but today has been the roughest day for me.  Zachary had asked me a few times if I had a fever to which I quickly replied no but when I started shivering today, I checked it and sure enough, 101!  And my temperature is usually low so 101 is pretty bad for me.  So I laid down while he made dinner- Malia has not been sleeping at night and barely any during the day so taking into consideration with just her lack of sleep I'd be exhausted on a good day, I'm extremely exhausted also being sick.  So I was very relieved that dinner was taken care of- I didn't eat very much but it was worth waking up for to get to see this:

Liam never used any teething toys which was disappointing because he had no relief for his teething pain so I'm super excited that Malia does and when a teething toy isn't available, she'll find a way!

After dinner, Zachary took the babies to the gym and I got a little cleaning done around the house.  I checked the mail and there was something from Amazon.  Zachary had told me not to look at recently placed orders on Amazon so I figured it might be an early birthday present.  I waited until he got home and eagerly opened it, hoping it would be Joshua Radin's new CD and it was!!

Speaking of presents, Uncle Matty had gotten Liam and Malia Duke outfits for Christmas and because I'm a good sister-in-law, I put Malia in hers during the Duke v. Wake Forest game.  Even though it wasn't televised she still showed her spirit and it made for a great photo op!