The Hollands in Texas

2009-11-21T17:17:00.001-06:00

At the park

Welcome

2009-10-14T18:52:00.001-05:00

Ariel Katherine

Still waiting. Alison is passing

2009-10-14T15:16:00.001-05:00

Still waiting. Alison is passing the time eating purple popsicles, watching hgtv, & hanging out with family.

getting settled in at the

2009-10-14T08:35:00.001-05:00

getting settled in at the hospital.

2009-09-05T19:09:00.001-05:00

Hanging out with graham

Catching Up

2008-12-20T16:15:00.021-06:00

We haven't posted on the blog for a while, primarily because we've been posting pictures to facebook instead because it's more private. However, here's an update for all of you non-facebookers. Since we last updated the blog, we've celebrated two holidays, taken a trip to NY/NJ, and we've also enjoyed watching Graham as he learns to walk.

Playing in the front yard

Celebrating a birthday

Not sure what to think about Santa

Local Christmas lights

(these were featured on

Good Morning America)

Being cute

Thanksgiving with Grandpa J

With Grandpa H

With Mama D and Papa D

With Great Grandma and Grandpa J

A friend's wedding in NJ

Halloween

Yoga

10 days

2008-10-25T06:45:00.003-05:00

With only 10 days to go before what will be an historic election (no matter what the outcome), we wanted to post a friendly reminder to everyone to cast an informed vote. Here are a few resources that we believe to be nonpartisan. The best guides to your local races are the local voters guides such as those produced by local newspapers and the League of Women Voters.

Dallas Morning News voters guide: http://z5.thevoterguide.org/a-dallas/?sfr
Dallas League of Women Voters Guide: http://www.lwvdallas.org/files/2008_VG.pdf
National League of Women Voters: www.lwv.org
Politifact.com: http://www.politifact.com/
Concord Coalition: http://www.concordcoalition.org/
Peter G. Peterson Foundation: http://www.pgpf.org/

One of our favorites is also Selectsmart.com's Presidential Preference Test:
http://www.selectsmart.com/president/2008.html, We can't vouch for it's overall accuracy, but it does seem to give us accurate results (and it's short!).

Graham Enjoys Fall

2008-10-22T19:38:00.021-05:00

Molly, Michael, Graham, and I spent a

glorious afternoon at the Dallas Arboretum

Graham and his friend watch me feed a goat

at the Big Orange Pumpkin Patch in Celina, TX

They pose on a pile of pumkins

Graham surveys the pumpkins

Graham's Actual Birthday Weekend

2008-10-10T09:25:00.027-05:00

We Spent the Weekend in New Jersey for a Wedding

Graham in the Dallas airport playground

Arriving at the hotel after a long day

Graham finally naps (in an
uncomfortable-looking position)

Getting ready for bed

Jason and Michelle at Chris

and Joanne's Wedding

Graham rests during the ceremony

Making a friend at the reception

Michael, Jason, and Chris

Graham's exhausted

Graham hangs out with passenger

pilots on the trip back home

Graham's First Birthday

2008-09-28T14:17:00.016-05:00

We celebrated Graham's first birthday yesterday with friends and family. His due date was one year ago today -- one week before he was actually born. Thank you to everyone who came out to celebrate with us. A few pictures and videos of the celebration follow.

Center of Attention

Birthday Cake
Happy Birthday!

Let Him Eat Cake!

Yummy!

The Aftermath

Cleaned up

Playing With Some Gifts

Sugar High!

Graham's Fun Weekend

2008-09-23T11:07:00.033-05:00

On Saturday, we went to a

neighborhood playground.

On Sunday, Graham met

his second cousin.

Then and Now

2008-09-23T10:32:00.007-05:00

Graham laughing with Mommy at 4 mo.

Graham laughing with Daddy at 11 mo.

Graham having fun at dinner last Sat. night

Roots, Pt III

2008-09-18T19:35:00.002-05:00

As we continue to dig through ancestry.com, we find the following birth locations associated with Graham's great great grandparents. In this update, Alabama takes the lead.

25% Alabama
18.75% Texas
18.75% North Carolina
12.5% Poland
12.5% Russia
6.25% Georgia (U.S.)
6.25% Ohio

We'll keep posting more information as we learn more, but don't be surprised to see at least a small percentage attributed to "unknown" in the next generation.

Spending time with Daddy

2008-09-08T20:18:00.012-05:00

On a lazy Saturday afternoon

Graham at 4 months

On a cold winter nightGraham at 4 months

On the phone to DC

Graham at 6 months

On a relaxing weekday evening

Graham at 9 months

Musical Baby

2008-09-08T17:59:00.012-05:00

As Graham approaches his first birthday (October 5th), we will be posting cute photos and videos of him from earlier months that we never got around to sharing on this blog. He's 7 months in the video directly below, and 8.5 in the next one.

Graham rocks out to The Clash

Graham has a jam session at the piano

*Go to the blog to view these if you're receiving this via e-mail.

Roots, Pt II

2008-09-06T10:16:00.004-05:00

After our visit to Florida, we've been doing some work on Ancestry.com to learn more about where we all came from. So far, based on where Graham's great grandparents were born, he's:

25% Texan
12.5% Polish
12.5% Russian
12.5% Alabamian
12.5% Floridian
12.5% North Carolinian
12.5% Mississippi (Mississippian?)

We'll keep going back in time and let you know more as we discover more. Also, any relatives who want to contribute to the family tree or review it to verify any info can email Michael.

A few people who might be relatives are listed below. Of course, if you go back far enough, everyone is probably related in one way or another. Also keep in mind that the accuracy of some links might be questionable.

Edward I, King of England - Great, great, great, great, great, great, etc... grandfather.
Oliver Wendell Holmes - 7th cousin, 6 times removed
Isaac Newton - 5th cousin, 12 times removed
George W. Bush - 11th cousin, 1 time removed
John F. Kennedy - 10th cousin 4 times removed
George Orwell - 12th cousin, 3 times removed
Alfred, Lord Tennyson - 12th cousin, 3 times removed
Alexandre Dumas - 12th cousin, 6 times removed

Roots

2008-08-28T18:07:00.030-05:00

We visited Florida a couple weeks ago to introduce Graham to more of the family. Here are a few pictures:

Florida

2008-08-19T09:42:00.002-05:00

We just returned from vacationing with Graham's great grandparents in Florida. We'll post more pictures soon.

Standing up

2008-08-08T11:04:00.003-05:00

As of this week, Graham can pull himself up into a standing position.

Happy Birthday (and new videos)

2008-08-06T20:20:00.006-05:00

Happy Birthday Alison!

Graham celebrates by dropping one french fry for each year...

Graham Laughing

Summer Fun

2008-07-20T18:49:00.005-05:00

Preparing for the great outdoors

Swimming!

Another First For Graham

2008-06-26T20:04:00.004-05:00

Something special happened on Wednesday evening (6/25). See the videos below.

Part One

Part Two

Graham's First Trip

2008-06-21T09:01:00.030-05:00

Practing for his gig at the

Kennedy Center

Dining at the Straits of Malaya
(mmm... jicama)

Hanging out with C. and G.

These guys are fun

Relaxing with a shot of milk

At the National Zoo

Meeting Tai Shan

(a.k.a. butterstick)

(click here for more on the Pandas and a link to

the Zoo's PandaCam)

All this excitement makes me thirsty
(mmm... lemonade)

Thanks for the Panda!

Sleepy baby

More sleeping
What's in here? Time for a snack?Back home

Eat your veggies (video)

2008-06-08T12:36:00.002-05:00

Recent Pics

2008-06-08T12:27:00.007-05:00

Playing with a friend

Mother's day brunch

Enjoying a meal

Hanging out

Saving for College

2008-05-25T09:55:00.002-05:00

By some estimates, in state tuition plus expenses at state colleges will cost between $30-40k per year by the year 2025. At private colleges, these estimates are as high as $100k+ per year. With this in mind, we're planning to start a 529 college savings plan for the little guy. If anyone out there has any suggestions based on your own experiences, let us know. We'll post some of your ideas at a later date.

2 Videos

2008-05-13T11:58:00.007-05:00

Graham's "antipacifier"

Why Graham's shirt was wet in the above video

7 Months

2008-05-04T09:10:00.011-05:00

Graham will be 7 months old on Monday, 5.5. Here are a few more recent pictures:

Graham at 6 Months

2008-04-13T16:28:00.009-05:00

Graham hit the 1/2 year mark on April 5. Here are a few recent pictures:

In his bear outfit
(he also likes to growl like a bear)

Sleeping

First Solid Food

Reading Lounging Around

Easter 2008

2008-03-23T18:18:00.013-05:00

Graham celebrated his first Easter by feeding himself, hanging out in the backyard, and watching the rest of us eat a delicious Easter meal.

Tasty Lemonade

2008-03-10T20:24:00.004-05:00

Graham hasn't yet learned to drink from a glass.

Graham's Dedication and a New Movie

2008-03-03T19:40:00.011-06:00

Graham was dedicated, along with a few other children, at our church on Sunday, 3/2.

Here's a video of Graham testing his vocal chords. His favorite things these days seem to be making noises, playing with his feet, and dancing to upbeat music. We'll try to post videos of these last two things sometime soon.

In other news, we took our first outing without Graham on Saturday. We went to the Studio Movie Grill and enjoyed lunch while watching Juno. What a great movie.

Finally, of course, for all of our friends and family who live in Texas, don't forget to vote on Tuesday! The Dallas Morning News seems to have a good guide to the state and local candidates for anyone who needs to do last minute research.

Graham at 4 Months

2008-02-09T15:39:00.000-06:00

Lunching at a Mexican Restaurant

Tummy Time

Reading the Sunday Times

Belly Laughs

We're doing it for Graham

2008-01-26T09:58:00.000-06:00

On Tuesday, February 5, many of you will have the opportunity to vote in the presidential primaries. Based on who has told us that they are visiting this blog, those of you in Alabama, California, Colorado, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, and New York will each have decisions to make on February 5. Those of you in DC, Maryland, and Virginia will vote on February 12, and Texas will make its voice heard on March 4.

Based on discussions with friends and family, its clear that not everyone plans to vote in the primaries (or the general election). You're not alone. Based on data found online at George Mason University, turnout in presidential turnout is very low. Nationally, based on the GMU numbers, it looks like about 10 percent of eligible voters participated in the primaries in 2004. 90 percent of eligible voters didn't participate. With a population of about 203 million eligible voters in the U.S., that means that only about 20 million people participated in selecting George Bush and John Kerry as the major party presidential nominees in 2004. One source says that 61 million votes were cast in the most recent American Idol finale.

Your vote counts. And your vote matters.

There are lots of big issues facing our country. In addition to what you see on the news every night, we are facing fundamental choices with respect to how the federal government is going to continue to afford the increasing costs of Medicare, Social Security, and Medicaid as baby boomers continue to retire. (more on that here) Moreover, each president chooses members of the Supreme Court, appoints thousands of people to important roles in our government (including judges), issues numerous executive orders, and makes many other decisions. Each decision has an impact on our country and our future.

If you don't know which of the candidates set of beliefs most closely resembles your own, check out the Select Smart 2008 Presidential Candidate Selector (click here). I can't vouch for its accuracy, but based on what we know it did a good job of identifying the candidates that most closely resembled our views of the world. You can also check out www.PolitiFact.com, which is trying to keep everyone honest. We've found to be a useful resource.

You have the power to influence the process. Corporations, political action committees, and people with lots of money (along with lots of people who contribute small amounts of money) influence the process, but corporations and political action committees don't vote. Only people vote. And every vote impacts our future. Even if your candidate doesn't win, your vote registers your opinion and impacts the process.

Do it for yourself. Do it for your family. Do it for your neighbors. Do it for your country.

We're going to do it for Graham.

On the lighter side check out thie funny video on voting (All Hail Salazar!) :

Note: If you receive this via email, you might need to visit http://www.thehollandsintx.blogspot.com/ to view the above video.

One more thing: Negative campaigning reduces voter turnout, which allows politicians to focus their efforts on the people who are most likely to show up -- their most ardent supporters. We all know this, but we can't let it impact what we do on election day. Even if you have to hold your nose while you do it, vote. Your voice matters.

Assorted Pictures from January

2008-01-21T17:12:00.000-06:00

Having fun in his swing

Reading with Mom

New Year's Eve at Grandma and Grandpa Jacobs

Hanging out with Mommy

Not sure what to think

Already a Cowboys Fan

2008-01-21T15:31:00.000-06:00

Graham watching the Cowboys vs. the Giants. He wasn't happy with the final outcome, but since his mom is from Boston, he probably won't be disappointed with the results of the Super Bowl.

Note: If you are receiving this via email, visit www.thehollandsintx.blogspot.com to view the video.

Graham discovers his feet.

2008-01-21T15:22:00.000-06:00

Graham notices his feet for the first time and seems to like what he sees.

Christmas 2007 (and more)

2008-01-04T06:08:00.000-06:00

A few pictures from before, during, and after Christmas follow:

Ice Cream! Making A New Friend

Hanging Out

Christmas photos

Napping in his sleep bag
(Which originally belonged to Alison)
Reading with daddy

Merry Christmas!

2007-12-26T08:59:00.000-06:00

We hope everyone is enjoying the holidays. Our Christmas day started with Graham showing us his new belly laugh.

We'll post more pictures of Christmas this coming weekend.

Note: If you receive this blog via email, you will need to go to www.thehollandsinx.blogspot.com to view the video.

The big three zero

2007-12-16T08:55:00.000-06:00

A fortnight of firsts

2007-12-09T10:51:00.000-06:00

Graham experienced a number of firsts since our last post. The most exciting first, rolling over, is one that we haven't yet captured on video. Here are pictures of a few others:

Learning to suck his thumb

First time meeting his cousins

First bath in the bathtup
A few other pics

Happy Thanksgiving!

2007-11-23T13:15:00.000-06:00

Here are a few picures from our Thanksgiving Day celebration:

Two videos and a movie

2007-11-17T13:26:00.000-06:00

Tummy Time

Graham Waking Up

In other news, Chantel's movie is coming to a theater near you. Click here for your local theaters. Click here for a preview. The movie debuted March 11 at SXSW in Austin, opened Nov. 16 in NYC, and it opens Nov. 21 in LA, Nov. 23 in SF, Nov. 30 in Chicago and Minneapolis, and Dec. 7 in Dallas.

Graham at one month

2007-11-04T07:59:00.001-06:00

Graham had a busy week this week. His parents took him to McKinney to have lunch and shop for antiques, he met his great-grandparents, visited his grandma, and started helping with household chores.

Graham and Alison in McKinney

Graham meets his great-grandparents

Graham visits the country

Four generations

Graham and Judy
Graham helps with the laundry
Future boxer?

Graham at 3 weeks

2007-10-25T14:30:00.000-05:00

Graham will be three weeks old on Friday, Oct. 26. See below for a few updated pictures.

Hanging out in his swing

Graham and Mom

Happy (?) Graham

Napping on the couch
Napping with dad

Spending time with grandpa
Visiting with the neighbors

Thank you! (and a few pictures)

2007-10-17T11:42:00.001-05:00

We wanted to thank a few people who helped us throughout the pregnancy, delivery, and beyond. First, we want to thank Robin, who provided advice throughout Alison's pregnancy and also helped during Graham's delivery.

Robin and Alison at the hospital

Alison, Robin, and Graham on 10/17

Next, we want to thank Melody and Vanessa, who also gave us lots of advice and answered many questions throughout the pregnancy. It's definitely nice to have friends who are midwives.

Alison, Michael, Michael, Melody, and Vanessa

We also want to thank Alison's parents, who have been staying with us these last two weeks preparing meals, cleaning the house, comforting Graham during the middle of the night, and being great company. As some of you know, they are also moving to TX in the near future.

The happy grandparents

Here are a few more recent pictures of Graham:

Graham getting his hair washed

Graham visits the doctor

Sleeping peacefully

More About Graham

2007-10-08T10:18:00.000-05:00

Graham was both at 10:22am on Friday, October 5. He was 20 inches long and weighed 6 pounds, 11 ½ ounces. Alison, Michael, and Graham spent Friday and Saturday nights at the hospital before returning home on Sunday afternoon.

Preparing for delivery

Just a few seconds old Mom and Grandparents Going home Graham

Graham’s middle name has a strong family tie. He joins a long line of Hollands, dating back to at least 1761, when Jacob Holland was born in Anne Arundel County, MD, becoming the first of his line to be born in the United States. Jacob’s parents sailed to the United States from the Netherlands. Jacobs is Alison’s family name and dates back to at least the 1800’s in Poland (as Jakubowicz).

Here are a few more interesting facts about Graham’s ancestors:

His mom’s maternal ancestors were living in North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Germany, and Switzerland as far back as the 17th and 18th century.
His mom’s paternal ancestors are of Jewish descent and came to the U.S. (Ohio) from Poland and Russia in the 1920's.
His dad’s maternal ancestors have lived in Alabama and Florida for several generations. We think that this side of the family is primarily Irish and Native American. His great-grandfather was a long time middle school principal. In 1998, a middle school in Pace, Florida was named after him. Graham was born exactly 11 years after his great-grandfather died.
His dad’s paternal ancestors immigrated to Maryland from the Netherlands in the 18th century. This side of the family fought in the American Revolution, the War of 1812 (with Andrew Jackson), the Civil War, and World War II, and settled portions of East Texas.

Michael is working on a family tree for Graham, so if anyone from the family wants to see what he's done so far and add what they know, send Michael and email.

Note: If you are receiving these updates via email, please let Michael know if you would like to continue to receive email updates whenever the blog is updated. After the next post, anyone who does not indicate that they want to remain on the email list will be removed.

2007-10-07T15:24:00.001-05:00

Going home

2007-10-05T19:21:00.001-05:00

Mom and baby are doing great

2007-10-05T10:44:00.001-05:00

Welcome

Off to the hospital

2007-10-04T20:31:00.000-05:00

We're getting ready to leave for the hospital, where they'll start the induction process tonight. Stay tuned for more updates tomorrow.

The family is about to get a little bigger.

Still waiting...

2007-09-30T14:23:00.000-05:00

Graham was due on Friday, 9.28, but so far there are no signs (other than a few light infrequent and irregular contractions) that he's going to join us soon. We did spend the night in the hospital Thursday night after a false alarm, but on Friday we were told that we would still need to wait for a while. We've been passing the time napping, reading, taking walks, eating spicy food (we discovered an excellent Thai restaurant, which we visited twice this week), spending time with family and friends, and doing anything we can think of to enjoy our last few days together before our family expands. Today, Sunday, we wandered around lower Greenville (visiting Good Records and Gachet--a local coffeeshop--which unfortunately was closed for renovations), explored the SMU bookstore, played Risk, listened to the Cowboys game on the radio until the score was 35-7, and watched Everything Is Illuminated. If Graham doesn't arrive by the end of this week, he's scheduled to be induced on Friday, 10/5.

Not bad for hospital food.

The sun sets on our street, September 28.
Still no Graham.

September 29. We start playing Risk.
We're still playing.
September 30.
Still waiting...

Any day now

2007-09-24T20:43:00.001-05:00

There's a full moon on Wednesday and Graham is due on Friday.

The Choir Throws a Shower

2007-09-08T10:12:00.001-05:00

Alison has been singing in our church's choir since we moved to TX. After practice last week, the choir threw a surprise baby shower. Thank you!

Blasts from the past

2007-08-25T08:35:00.000-05:00

Here are some of Graham's first pictures (in utero), followed by a couple pics that help us envision what he'll look like when he arrives in 5 short weeks:

6 weeks

11 weeks

33 weeks

Michael at birth

Alison at one month old

The Neighbors Throw a Shower

2007-08-19T14:10:00.000-05:00

This weekend, some of our neighbors threw a baby shower. Here are a few pics:

We started with with snacks and punch

Our neighbor makes beautiful (and tasty) cakes

(She can make one for you, too.

click here for more info)

Alison opening one of the gifts

Graham's first bathrobe

"Why does someone so small

need so many baby wipes?"

Thanks again to everyone who threw the shower and attended. It brings us a lot of joy to think about raising our son around such wonderful and friendly people.

Send one of us an email if you would like to see more pictures. ... also, don't forget about the Birthday Blog-mentary. Read the next post for more info.

Birthday Blog-umentary

2007-08-12T14:19:00.000-05:00

We're now about 7 weeks away from our son's birth, and we recently decided to create a blogumentaty of the special occasion. Specifically, we'll post 3-5 updates to this blog the day/night of his birth, along with a few photos. You can either periodically check the blog for updates or have automatic updates sent to your email account each time the blog is updated. If you would like to be emailed whenever the blog is updated, email one of us asking to be added to the list*... this way, you'll be among the first to know when we leave for the hospital, when the baby is born, and how mom and baby are doing afterwards. After we leave the hospital, everyone will be removed from the automatic email list. After that time, you will not be automatically emailed when the blog is updated and you will once again need to periodically check the blog for updates.

*The email list is managed via google groups.

Baby Shower #1

2007-07-30T20:50:00.000-05:00

Last weekend we were in Houston for our first baby shower. It was Alison's first opportunity to meet many of Michael's relatives. We want to say thank you to Melanie, Melissa, Betty, and everyone else who made this happen.

Graham's new teddy bear

More gift opening

Bailey and Leslie

Anna

September and November

The women-folk

The men-folk

(who are clearly outnumbered)

Alison napping after the shower

San Antonio and Austin

2007-07-30T20:35:00.001-05:00

We spent the weekend of 7/21 and 7/22 hanging out with friends in San Antonio and Austin. A few pics follow.

Steve, Shannin, and Alec

Alison and Michael at the Riverwalk

Chris, Kara, Alison, and Michael

Alison at 30 Weeks

2007-07-15T16:37:00.000-05:00

We're now 3/4 of the way through the pregnancy. Here's a pic of Alison in the backyard.

New York

2007-06-29T21:20:00.000-05:00

Here are a few pics fom our recent trip to New York:

Alison and Chantel in the village.
Look for Chantel in the new movie
"What Would Jesus Buy" coming soon...

Chris and Chloe napping in the car
Alison and Barry enjoying a joke

Alison and Barbara in Saratoga
posing in front of our rental car (it's the white one)

At the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in Saratoga, NY

Dueling bellies

Eric, Lauren, Michael, and Alison after brunch in Cherry Valley, NY

Tasting at Ommegang

Fresh brewed on Emma's birthday

Dinner at Sarabeth's with Lenny, Rachael, Judith, and Dennis

The Guggenheim
At the Guggenheim (thanks, Stacey!)

Looking Northwest from Central Park

Michael, Alison, Jason, and Jessica

Creations by Michael

Michael and Jason by the East River

There are more, so send us an email if you want to see the rest...