Christmas Eve with the Bourke gang

We headed up to River Forest, IL with my parents on Christmas Eve to my Aunt Mary's house. We picked up Uncle Eric (my brother) on the way. My dad's family is huge...thank goodness Aunt Mary's house is spacious because we take up a lot of room! This isn't even all of us, but it's who was around at the time of the group picture. My dad is one of 6 kids, and 4 of them have kids of their own. There were also some of his cousins and our second cousins there, plus my grandma. Holden is the first great grandchild.

Had to zoom in on this one because it cracks me up. Do you see why??

Holden, being the only child there, was spoiled rotten. Here he is with his Great Uncle Dave...

...and Great Uncle Joe...

...and Uncle Eric!

My little man enjoying the sights and sounds of Christmas. He had so much fun with all of his new toys, plus just exploring his Great Aunt Mary's house, which was thoroughly decked out for Christmas. There were a few times I actually lost him in the house! Guess that's why God gave us a small, cozy one. :)

I find this picture hysterical! He was sitting in the living room, enjoying his goldfish. My aunt is an artist and has huge paintings, both her own and others' pieces, hanging everywhere. He had just noticed a big painting with a person wearing a pretty scary mask. He pointed and said, "I don't LIKE dat picture, Mommy!" Guess he isn't quite up to appreciating fine art yet. :)

Some of the faces of my extended family. It was so good to see everyone! Check out Aunt Mary's apron. :)

These pictures are so precious to me. Holden took great delight in bringing his Great Grandma Bourke all of her gifts and helping her open them. We don't get to see her nearly as often as I'd like, and he just warmed right up to her anyway and let her love on him. Grandma does not like getting her picture taken but she was so happy to enjoy Holden that I didn't hear one complaint, and got a genuine smile out of her. :)

Jay and me enjoying a rare quiet moment. (Holden was busy getting spoiled by the uncles.) :)

See what I mean? This was a game with his Great Uncle Bob that involved throwing couch pillows and lots of giggling.

What you DON'T see in this picture is that Great Uncle Joe and Great Uncle Bob are swinging Holden directly over a lit candle!! I heard my mom gasp and realized why after taking this shot!! We quickly re-routed this little game after that discovery! Ha! Those Bourke boys just love to live on the wild side.

Love this picture of the three of us!

Holden adored Aunt Mary's little maltese, "Jackie." Do you see how she is winking at me here?

Mary's beautiful tree. We had a wonderful time with all of our Bourke family members!

Christmas Eve with Grammy and Papa

My parents came over on Christmas Eve so that we could exchange gifts before driving up to River Forest together to visit my dad's family. Holden was excited to open gifts with Grammy and Papa!

He was excited about the chapstick taped to the first gift; he loves the stuff! Had to stop everything and have Grammy open it so he could us some. :) He also received a Dr.'s kit, fun car ramp, and a little garbage truck. Thanks, Grammy and Papa! He loved all of it.

I love the pictures of him "doctoring" Papa. He thought it was hilarious to give him a shot and watch my dad grimace. :) I also like how he listens to my dad's "heart" through his arm. Perhaps he is thinking of a wrist pulse?? My parents also got me a cute little Chicago Bears tin to use in Hunter's nursery, and two Bears onesies for him to wear next fall/winter. So cute!

I made both my parents and Jay's parents hardback photo books through Walgreens with pictures of them with Holden the past two years. Holden knew about them and was really excited to show them and point out all the pictures of himself. :) It's cute that he is starting to understand the joy of giving. He almost always tells you what's in your package BEFORE you open it! Ha! Can't keep a secret.

Of course we had to do the usual group picture with the camera timer. This one is a little fuzzy due to the time of day and brightness in the window; Holden insisted we do one in the window because it's the only time he's allowed to climb up there and he thinks it's so cool! :)

Tiggy the kitty enjoyed the wrapping paper and ribbons.

We wish you a merry Christmas!

Winter playdate!

Our friend, Kim, and her daughter, Lauren (who just turned 2) invited several of us over for a playdate the other day since all of the Mommies teach and are on Christmas break. The kids had a great time playing and messing up Kim's house, and the adults loved being able to carry on some conversation! :)

Here is Holden with Lauren. He just loves her and talks about her frequently, even though they don't see each other all that often. The last time was at the pumpkin patch! Evidently, she leaves an impression on him. I love that they are both so teeny tiny.

Besides Holden, Lauren also invited Colin and Cade Cunningham, Natalie Scott, and sweet Baby Ava Cunningham. (No relation to the boys, although her mommy teaches at Northpoint and people often think the two mommies are related!) :)

Holden and the Cunningham boys doing some hardcore sippy cup action! They are all facing the same way: progress!

Love this picture of the group! So cute! I've decided Holden needs some longer pants...Lol!

Lauren is potty training (hmmm...yes, Holden, she is younger than you!!!!) :) and Holden decided to hold her hand and dance with her while she was sporting her undies. Crack me up! The kids enjoyed snacking and stealing each other's fruit snacks and seeing how far they could pull Baby Ava in her little seat before she was rescued!

A cute video of all the kids playing "Ring Around The Rosy"

Thanks for having us over, Lauren and Kim!

Holden's Christmas with the girlfriends!

Holden loves his little "girlfriends," Natalie Marie and Corinne Paige! I haven't had a post with the three of them in awhile so thought I'd remedy that with loads of pictures of their Christmas gift exchange at Natalie's house! :)

Girlfriend #1: Natalie Marie Scott, age 1 and a half

Lover of tutus, skirts, pink, "Yo, Gabba Gabba," and cookies.

Trademark of the day: When Bridget was changing her diaper, she held out her hands to me and said, "SAVE ME!" Ha!!!

Girlfriend #2: Corinne Paige Thompson, age 8 months (9 mos on New Year's Day!)

Lover of wrapping paper, boxes, toys that play music and light up, and her Mommy.

Trademark of the day: May have digested tissue paper, displayed her fabulous new crawling skills, and sported one of Natalie's tutus! (I think she was playing hard to get when Holden tried to kiss her: "Talk to the hand!")

The three amigos in front of the tree! They are so cute.

Umm...sorry about your living room, Bridget! (Holden got the girls matching hats. I love how they are sitting there wearing them and playing together! Of course Holden only had eyes for his trucks at that point.)

Opening presents and playing together...or at least side by side!

Cutie patooties

Three best friends with our three kiddos: Corinne with Kara, Holden and me, and Natalie with Bridget

We eventually headed upstairs to play in Natalie's bedroom and the playroom. Holden is fascinated with her crib and always wants to play in there. Natalie gets mad because she thinks its nap time! :) Corinne got some love from Zoe the dog.

Lastly, we FINALLY got a picture of our babies in their Halloween costumes! Albeit in front of the Christmas tree! We just didn't get a chance to do it sooner between illnesses and busy schedules. Don't they look adorable! I love that Bridget's hand is in the shot, trying to contain Natalie, and Holden is looking at Corinne in the second shot; he thought she was the cutest ducky and I'd have to agree! Here are our Scooby, dalmation, and ducky. :)

"Aunt Cyndee," "Uncle Dave," and Muffy Lou!

Two special people in Holden's life are his "Aunt Cyndee" and "Uncle Dave." And of course we can't leave out their sweet little dog, "Muffy Lou!" Growing up, Jay was good friends with the Hardins' son, James. He was one of our groomsmen. Cyndee and Dave were like extra parents to Jay, and he has remained close with them through the years. They adore Holden and treat him like a nephew. Dave will spoil him with all the sweets and treats he can get in him when we visit, and Cyndee loves to shop for him. They stopped by for dinner the other night and brought Holden a neat firetruck book for Christmas, and a super soft, satin edged blanket with Hunter's name monogrammed on it. Muffy Lou always joins them, and Holden loves showing her all of his toys and getting her to play with him. Holden is blessed to have so many loving family and friends in his life!

Walkin' in a winter wonderland!

I am slowly but surely catching up on posts! We have had so many fun days lately, which of course means pictures galore for me. :) Be prepared: I just couldn't narrow our snowy day pictures down well, so there are a lot of them! There's something about little kids all bundled up in their snow gear that is just so adorable! Holden always reminds me of "Ralphie" from "A Christmas Story." We had our first dusting of snow the other night, and when Holden woke from his nap, we went out to play even though it was already pretty dark. His buddy, Brady, was outside as well, and they had fun playing together.

Some action shots of my little Eskimo. I have no idea where he learned to do snow angels, or if it was just some innate thing he figured out! :) I've never taught him because he was too little last year. He loves books, so I am guessing maybe there was a snow angel scene in one of them?

Brady's baby sister, Kylie (Holden calls her "Ky Ky") watched the action with rapt attention from the front door. I love the reflection of the Christmas lights!

We really didn't get much snow, but the boys are so little that it was thrilling to them!

Brady's daddy, Mike, and Jay are old friends dating back to the Jr. High days. It is so fun having them right down the street from us. Mike's wife, Kam, babysits for Holden three days a week during the school year. As you can see, Mike and Jay still seem to think they are IN Jr. High...ha! They are like two little kids together.

Here are some pictures of the next day. We took Holden down to the end of our street, where there is a detention basin. It was the perfect place to sled!

Getting some mitten assistance. I love their footprint trail in the snow!

My snow baby.

Sledding with Daddy. He LOVED it, but realized pretty quickly that once you sled down, you have to climb back up! The hill was tedious for him, but he wanted to do it on his own. He ended up crawling up the hill. :) They also had some snowball fights.

Sledding with Mommy! Do you like my makeshift snow pants? I pulled Jay's thick fleece pants over my own sweats. They came all the way up to my chest! Lol! Jay had a field day about my likeness to Urkle, but I was toasty warm!

Walking with Daddy

Back home, Holden did not want to go inside. Jay went in to get some things done, and Holden and I spent another good hour playing out front. He's so like me when I was little; my brother and I would be out the entire day and only come in for meals or when Mom said it was time to warm up. His little nose was red as a cherry!

Driving lessons?? We took the van down to the detention basin since it was slick to walk down the street. Holden decided to try out the driver's seat.

The back suits him better! He thinks it is so cool when we drive down the street and he doesn't have to sit in his car seat.

Holden and our inflatable "Frosty."

The snow was not good for packing, but I was determined to make a little snowman.

Jay discovered I had used rocks from the landscaping for the face and buttons. He promptly and gleefully pulled them all off, saying he'd mow over them in the spring. Scrooge!

So Holden and I resorted to plan B: Spice drops! :) I think they are more colorful, anyway.

This picture just cracks me up. He was SO tired and really annoyed that he couldn't get the snow pants off himself!!

Finally, two video clips from "The Adventures of Holden and Brady in the Snow." :)