Our first weekend away

Hi everyone, it feels like it’s been ages since I last blogged!!!

We realized that we only have 12 weekends left in Kansas. Two of them will be house hunting in Washington; one will be a military ball and international food evening, so that leaves us with 9 weekends. There is so much I still have to do while here.

This past weekend we went on a marriage retreat that is given to us military folk by the army. It is 100% free, and included child care. The child care is amazing the child youth service on post has great daycare/hourly care, with such incredible woman, yes I said incredible. They look after the children like they are their own. I LOVE THEM!!! (This is from someone who won’t leave her children with just anyone, if anyone)

They are brought to the hotel to set up a daycare in a few conference rooms for the whole weekend. That leaves us parent’s time to be together, do class on marriage, just relax, and go on a date. I felt like we had been on holiday for a week. Kai and Devin were so tired they both slept through the night and I got my first 8 hours solid night sleep…… heaven!

People bad mouth the army/military, but I would like to know if there are any companies out there that do this for the people who work for them. Yes they ask more of the families than a ‘normal’ company would, but the good they try do is often over looked. I feel very supported as a military spouse. There are tools that are available if you choose to use them.

In other news, Deric is writing his thesis, so Kai, Dev and I out and about all day long. This week we have a picnic planned, we are going to a massive place that only has inflatable toys to climb on, then we have a few play dates, Deric and I have a date night on Friday (those fab ladies at CDC have parents night out once a month) OH and BIG BIG STUFF ON SATURDAY….. Kai is getting her very first bike and helmet! Then we have a new tradition, on Sundays we go for Sundae’s – or frozen custard, yum!!!!

We are a bunch of proud Aunts, Uncles, and Cousins

We are very excited to announce the newest member of the family, who was born today 6 March, on Deric’s birthday!

Bristol Lyn Holbrook-Bowman

Welcome little one, we are so excited to have you…… can’t wait to meet you

Congratulations to Dawn, Bill, Lexy and Justice – I think we should just keep multiplying!!!!

I love Kiwi's, Ballet, Greece and a good night sleep

I thought Tanya would like this…. Here is a T-Shirt she bought for Kailey – today it was warm enough to wear it !!! Very cool. There are some Kiwi moms in our playgroup who have boys, so next week I am going to let Kai wear this – it will be very funny!!!


Then Deric’s mom made this ballet skirt for Kai – she loves it so much and dances with it all the time. Her friend Madeline and her played with it the other day so much they had to take turns to who danced in it!!!


On Saturday we had the neighbors over for our monthly international night (we choose a new country each month and have to cook a meal of that country) This month was Greek and it was great fun. I had to show you this picture of Deric and our neighbor Ziggi who are both men’s men holding their kids and having a beer…… shows how much things have changed!



We have only 3 months left in Kansas, I really don’t want to leave so soon, I am having such fun here. It’s going to fly as we have so much booked over the next few months. I have 2 cooking classes this weekend, we have a marriage retreat next weekend, and then we are off to Washington to buy a house. That’s not mentioning the Disney on ice, the St. Barbra’s ball, St. Patrick ’s Day parties , my Dad coming to visit us, and much much more…… to much fun! To think we have to start all over again. I have made so many great friends here.

On other Holbrook news… tonight we have a legitimate system in place with getting the two kids off to bed. It felt very nice to be in the next phase of having a new baby!

Can you tell who is who??????

I found these pictures of Kailey and Devin, at the same age ..... I don't need to say much more, you judge for youself!

A Funny Thing Happend

Funny thing happened today I could not resist telling…..

Kailey’s playroom is down stairs but she loves to play upstairs. Today she found a box, put the toys she wanted in it and brought it upstairs. In the box were 2 Mr. Incredible dolls that Deric and I had even before we had kids (used for friends who came over with kids). She has never paid any attention to them before and today she was sitting looking at them and then shouted out to me….

‘Mummy, mummy…. Daddy’ pointing to the doll. I was laughing so hard while she started speaking to the doll saying ‘ Bye bye Daddy’, ‘Daddy wash the car’, ‘Daddy go to park’ and everything that she does with Daddy.

Deric’s family and I have always thought if he were a cartoon he would be Mr. Incredible – obviously she agrees. Now Deric wants her to watch the movie, I think it’s so his baby girl grows to think her Daddy's a superhero!

Keeping it real

There is no doubt that having children is the biggest changing event in your life, but the thing that they don’t tell you is it’s a continuous changing event. Just when you get relaxed in one part of parenthood – it changes.

As a parent you have to take on so many roles, most of them obvious, but the new one I have just discovered is a trickster. To be a good parent you have to play tricks on your kids all day long.

For example, DISTRACTION: If they are doing something you don’t want them to do and are tired of saying no all day – you distract them.

Mom: Kai stop emptying the clothes basket, Kai, Kai, HEY KAI STOP!!!!
Kai : Ignore and carry on
Mom: Kai go get your baby so we can feed her
Kai: GONE
Distraction, love it.

Then there is the getting them to realize its nap time.
Mom: Kai its nap time
Kai: NOOOOOooooooo – (throw self on floor, kick legs and start to cry)
Mom: But Kai, Devin’s going to sleep, mommy’s going to sleep and kittie is going to sleep. You’ll be all on your own.
Kai: Ni – night mommy, ni-night baby, ni-night kittie – (and walks off to bed)

But best of all is the trick that makes moms look like the good guy, and elements look like the bad guy

Allow me to explain…….

Kai went through a 'no clothes' phase. She would not wear them or let me put them on. She would run around as naked as the day she was born. I would have to catch her pin her down and put clothes on her. This was a long procedure and I was tired of it. So one day, tired of running after her and begging her to dress, I put her shoes on, (no socks) and a hat with nothing else on, and marched her outside into 14 degree weather (-10 Celsius) and said 'Ok Kai into the car we are going out, she was so cold she looked at me like I was insane and said 'mommy clothes?' so we went back inside and she let me dress her without a problem. Not had a problem since.

Then yesterday she kept taking her shoes off in the car and would not let me put them back on, so I said 'Ok, out the car let's go in the shop' and took her out the car without shoes. She realized how cold the tar was.... you guessed it, she wanted her shoes on.

Problem solved and I am not the bad guy!!!

A little bit of everything

I must warn you that there are imperfections to this blog, but I am too tired to fix it!! Figure it out!



Well the crazy time of the year is over…. From thanksgiving to Kailey’s birthday it's been nonstop.

My birthday was very nice, Deric gave me cooking lessons at a culinary school in Kansas City.
http://www.kcculinary.com
I have one lesson a month till we leave. There are so many classes I might have to squeeze in 2 a month!!!

I went to my first class on Thursday – Crockpot class. My sister-in-law Dawnele bought me a Crockpot years ago and I just made stews in it. I had no idea how to use it. Well now I do and I am making Crockpot meals every night. They even taught us how to make cheese cake and bread in it….. Awesome – Thanks Dawnele! (and Deric)

Kai’s birthday was sweet – we opened presents in the morning then Deric made pink pancakes, eggs and sausage (Kaileys favorite) We then went to a Kids museum (which was closed) so we landed up at a shopping mall that has a theme of trains…. She had a blast, even got lunch served to her on a train! And of course she had happy birthday sung to her all day long.

I signed up at a gym today – it feels like a big step, I did not work out during my pregnancy so I am so out of shape. I will start tomorrow, SLOWLY!

Devin is doing well – he is just a sweetie pie!

Not much else going on – we will find out in February where we are moving in June. We are hoping for Washington State, but we will be 100% sure soon. We will keep you updated!

Some pic's for you....

Kai's 'best friend' Ela on a playdate



The kitchen Aunty Dawnele got for Kai for Christmas






Kai's birthday present





Here is a good picture to see how long Devin is compared to Kailey





Oh and here is what Devin has to put up with for most of the day

Naptime Stories for Devin

Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing

The many faces of Devin

Reality Hits......

This is how Deric sometimes has to study!



Deric and Kai making pancakes




My sweet boy!!


So the past 6 weeks have been busy, hectic, fun and do –able! My mom got here before Thanksgiving and we got to have two weeks of fun, and sightseeing before Devin arrived. Then there was the whole ‘just had a baby thing’ which was fine, since I had Deric and Mom to help out…. And that was truly a great support!!!
Then Mom left and Deric and I got to do it solo, which was still fine and do-able!
Then Monday hit……… and I was alone for the first time with Kai, Devin and a house hold of chores and errands!

Now, it’s not that I think it’s impossible, I just don’t have any systems in place – and I need my systems! So I have been trying to set up some sort of plan.
Monday went well – we went to Target and even had some fun, the system was set. All in all it was a good day.

Tuesday morning was not as good, and was mainly because of a very bad night with Devin. Kailey started to crave the attention she had when Daddy and Ninny was here. I was just not filling her attention need. When I feed Devin she starts acting up trying to get me to react to her. Something I did not see coming. She cried most of the day and so did Devin. When Deric got home from school that night at 9pm, I was DONE! I could not hear a cry for one more second.

But Devin surprised me that night and gave me 2 sets of 3 hour blocks of sleep…… AAAHHHHHHhhhhhh. Then my friend came over with her baby, and we both got to yap, complain, vent and just breathe!!!!!

Our little man had his one month check up this week and is now an astounding 13 pounds. Please remember he is five and a half weeks! This puts him at the 97 percentile of babies his age. The doctor says I make cream not milk! So he is doing well and healthy.

Kai is DEVINE, DEVINE, DEVINE……… she has me laughing all day long at her funny ways and passion for life. She is a social butterfly who just loves an outing. It does not matter where to, just as long as she is in the car and looking for things on the road (trucks, busses, cars, geese, birds, cow, horses) anything!

She likes to decide what everyone wears in the morning, Devin always must wear ‘puppies’ I have to wear anything colorful, and she just wants to wear trucks or ballerinas! She is very good at packing the car too, she lists all we need – ‘shoooos, (shoes) saks (socks) hati (hat) and the list goes on.

Her words are flowing lately, and if you ask her about any amount of anything it’s always two! If you ask her what she wants to do next the answer is always ‘cookies’, she wants to make cookies. She is a little book worm, she reads all day long and then shows you the new things she has found in the books. She has also taken to ‘reading’ to Devin. Very cute and I will post a video of that on the blog soon.

Her number one thing to do at the moment is to help with Devin’s bath. She even goes and fetches the bath, the soap and the cotton. She stands on a chair and pours water over Devin’s body, her big job is to wash his belly button! She takes this very seriously.

So as you see we are all adjusting to being a family of four.
I am grateful everyday for my kids and husband…. I am very lucky!


Here is some pic's we forgot about - Devins Christening......

This is Deric teaching Kai how to behave appropriately in a church

3 years since our wedding

On the 30th December Deric and I celebrate our third year wedding anniversary. We got to thinking about how much we have done since we met each other five years ago….. Also to try understand why we are both so tired!!!! So please indulge me while I list what has happened in our lives in the past five years. It will explain why I have been saying that I want to stay in one place this year, no holidays, no crazy excitement.

We have had……
• 3 deployments – Iraq, Afghanistan, Columbia (Deric)
• 1 wedding – Johannesburg, South Africa
• 1 marriage – Las Vegas, USA
• Had 3 jobs – London (Producer) North Carolina (Sponsorship) and Dance teacher (Jo)
• Moved to 4 countries – England, Germany, USA, South Africa (Jo)
• Completed 1 BA Degree (Jo)
• Started a masters (Deric)
• Lived in 2 states – NC, KS
• Had 2 kids
• Had 78 weeks of pregnancy
• 1 cat

• Holidays in USA
o New York
o Las Vegas x2
o Virginia x7
o Maryland x2
o Miami x2
o North Carolina
o South Carolina
Key West

• Holidays in Europe:
o England
o Ireland
o Spain
o Scotland
o Greece (and islands)
o Italy
o Denmark
o Germany
o Austria

• Holidays in South Africa:
o Johannesburg
o Cape town
o Jefferies bay
o Pilansburg x2
o Sun city
o Tsitsikama forest

• Bought 1 house
• Rented same house out 3 years later
And....met so many wonderful friends!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And now getting ready to move again in the next 6 months ..... We still no idea where we are going!
One thing for sure, it's not going to be a boring life!!!!!

Kai and Dev's First Interview

Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing

It sure is Christmas time!

Deric came home early today and we all played in the snow - I think 'ninni' was having the best time of all.....



















Then on Saturday we went to a Chrismas concert and to see Santa











We have just been chilling and keeping Devin out of the cold!!! He is growing so much and has already changed. He is still a dream and hardly makes a sound! Loving that... nights are on and off, he is now eating every hour so my time is pretty much occupied for most of the day!

We are really excited for Christmas... I am crazy about this time of the year.

Devin's First Week!

Well hello everyone, I am back – well sort of, things have changed here in the Holbrook house hold. Who would have ever thought that a new baby would change so much in our lives.

What I must say for all those friends of ours who are having their second – RELAX! It is so much easier than I could have imagined. Now granted I have not yet attacked a few questions about having 2.

1) How do I do grocery shopping and still have space in the cart for food?
2) How do I clean the house when Devin needs to be held?
3) How do I make dinner with a 2 year old and a newborn around me?
4) What I do when I need a shower?

These are just a few of the questions I have. I am sure I am with thousands of woman who are starter off #2 moms. Then I bet there are a couple more thousand moms who have 2 or more kids laughing at how they figured this all out.

But apart from that, this little man is amazing. He is very calm and just chills out and eats most of the day. He is a dream! I have decided never to have a 3rd, I don’t think I could get this lucky again! He has not figured out day and night yet – and at the moment he is sleeping all day and at times in a crib. But at night he wants to eat every hour and will not sleep in the crib! That’s the worst of it and it will be over soon. Thank god my mom is here to help me through this, by morning I have had no sleep and I can just hand him to her so I can get some catch up.

I saw Deric updated the blog when Devin was born, but he forgot a very important part of the ‘birth story’.

On our way to the hospital we were pulled over by a policeman for speeding. I could not believe it. It felt like something in a movie. We then started to tell the policeman (who was very nice by the way) that I was in labour and we were on our way to the hospital……… now how many times do people use this one to get out of a ticket? He looked at us like ??????? Well It’s not like your having contractions all the time when having a baby, most of the time you look pretty normal. So I showed him a book I had with me with all my contraction times in it. I might have thrown in a small, almost fake contraction to prove my point – but that’s still up in the air whether I was faking it or not!!!!! He then got that we weren’t playing and let us go. I sat in silence and in shock that this happened to us! Oh, after I told Deric to slow down!

Kailey is great, she loves the baby and the extra attention she is getting, also by having ‘Nini’ (granny) here. She feels like a real big girl and has the job of handing me the baby’s diapers when changing. She takes this very seriously. She always runs through in the morning looking for the baby and gives him a big kiss. The rest of the day she tries to hold him and kiss him. Today I caught her reading to him. Too cute!

Deric’s class has been feeding us this past week – We are so grateful to everyone who has made sure we are well fed and trust me, we are eating well!! This is the biggest gift you can get when you have a baby, the last thing on your mind is what’s for dinner, cooking, cleaning up and shopping! Thank you to everyone – I promise to pay it forward!

In other news – today I found out that I am officially a legal alien in the USA. I have been on probation for the past 3 years, and now I can apply for my passport! This is such a relief! We did not even have to go in for an interview , which my immigration lawyer says only happens to 10% of all applicants.
Phewwwwwww is all I have to say!

Also to finish my lucky one week birthday – Deric entered me in a competition at the Clarins counter in Macys this weekend, and I won a hamper!
My neighbor said I should go to the shop tonight and get a lottery card!

The latest Devin and Family Photos