Catching up!

I am typing in GREEN for March! I always breathe a sigh of relief when March hits. To me, it symbolizes the end of the long winter, my imminent spring break from school, and the beginning of spring and new life. Holden will be three in March, and Hunter will be joining us very soon. I am due April 5th, but Holden was a month early, so I'm prepared this time and ready to go whenever. (Which now means by Murphy's Law that this one will probably arrive on time!) I have been woefully (for me!) behind in blogging. I have had a great pregnancy, but my body is really slowing down and starting to get tired. I have also had horrible heartburn; much worse than with Holden. I think God is trying to prepare me for being awake with a newborn again, because I haven't been sleeping much. I am very excited to meet my new little man, but also starting to get nervous about how it will all go and how Holden will react to the big changes in our household. We had a lot of fun events in February; check out the updated posts below.

Darius Rucker/Rascal Flatts concert!

Last Thursday, I got to go to a Darius Rucker/Rascal Flatts concert in Peoria with Jay's cousin's wife, who is also named Katie. Jay's mom had won tickets and offered them to Tim and Katie, who love country music. Tim was working and apparently isn't a huge fan of Rascal Flatts, so he said I could take his place. I owe him one, because I LOVE them!!! Katie and I had a great time. The show was awesome! I would see them again in a heartbeat. I think Hunter enjoyed the concert, too; he was kicking up a storm the entire time. It was plenty loud enough for him to hear it! :) We had really close seats so I got some good pictures.

Valentine's Day '10!

Warning: obnoxious amount of pictures included in this post! I am just very biased and happen to think my son is pretty adorable. :) And clearly have some type of picture taking disease.

Holden was excited to pick out Handy Manny valentines this year and decorate them for the people he loves. Instead of tearing them out, I left them in the big strips out of the box and let him go to town on them. He was very meticulous about his work, and dictated which ones he wanted each person to receive.

My mom started a tradition when my brother and I were a child of leaving a trail of hearts for us to follow on Valentine's Day morning. There were always little gifts at the end. I love continuing this for Holden, and have told him that Cupid visited. The first year, he crawled along and tried to eat the hearts. Last year, he wanted to throw them in the trash right away, as if they were litter. This year, he called them "footprints," and really got the concept. So much fun! Cupid brought him some Moon Sand, the Stuart Little DVD, and a Chipmunks book. Here are some pictures of Cupid's work while Holden was sound asleep.

Following his trail...

Getting excited...

Staring at his presents...

Checking out his loot...

Very excited about his Chipmunks book...

And ready to play with his Moon Sand!

The many giggling faces of my favorite little Valentine taking a soak in the tub after his Moon Sand experience. I just love this little boy!

Rocking it in his Valentine's Day shirt: "The Ladies Love Me."

Who can resist this mug?

Jay had to work on V-Day, so I spent the day with my little boy. We played a lot of trucks...

and some Peek-A-Boo...

and set the timer for some Mommy/Holden shots!

Happy V-Day, Holden! Mommy loves you!!!

Kids' Expo

Bridget and Natalie joined Jay, Holden, and I for a fun Kids' Exposition out at the Interstate Center on a recent Saturday. Jay had a rare Saturday off and it was nice to get out of the house and do something as Illinois' winter continues to drag on.

There was a little McDonald's all set up like a real restaurant with cash registers, food, and a drive-thru. It was Holden and Natalie's favorite exhibit of the day, and we went back numerous times to play in it.

Natty and her mommy.

How hysterical is Holden's expression here?? He wasn't sure about the foamy stuff we were playing with!

What a difference a few months makes: Holden now ADORES characters! Woo hoo! Disney is in our future...I was getting worried for awhile there. :) This is "Corny," the mascot for our town's new baseball team coming this summer. Holden loved his kush-ball nose, and giving him high-fives.

There was a kids' excersize equipment expo set up. Holden thought it was so cool that everything was just his size! We spent a lot of time there.

Holden was thrilled to spot Elmo towards the end of our visit! He sat right in his lap and I think would have stayed there all day if I had let him. Natalie liked seeing Elmo, but freaked out at the prospect of sitting on his lap. Bridget said she had her in a death grip! :)

Nothin' like some grape soda out of the can.

"I'll take some french fries, please."

Goofing around on the way home. Jay will hold his hand out for a high five, and then pull it away and say, "Too slow!" Holden was doing this to me with a dollar bill and thought it was quite amusing. "Too slow, Mommy!"

My little speed skater

Holden is very into the Olympics right now, and speed skating is his favorite sport to watch. He has a new activity that has become an evening ritual; speed skating in the living room. It is hilarious!! He takes these long strides in circles around the room, then pretends to slip on the ice and will bounce off the couches just like the skaters bounce off the walls! We have tried to explain that it's not a goal to fall; it just happens, but it seems to be a big part of the activity to him. He involves us, too, but somehow he always ends up with the gold medal.

Breakfast with friends!

My best friends, Bridget and Kara, and I had Presidents' Day off of school. We decided to take our kiddos to breakfast at CJ's, a restaurant out at the airport. Jay tagged along, too, since he has Mondays off. It was fun to get together, and my fluffy pancakes topped with strawberries and whipped cream sure did make my morning!

Holden and his "girlfriends," Corinne (left) and Natalie.

Such cute girls! Holden is a lucky boy. He and Natalie enjoyed watching "Yo Gabba Gabba" (only the most obnoxious show EVER!) on Bridget's I-Phone. Natalie was very patient; Holden has a litlte issue with SHARING at times! Ha!

My two best friends and me. They brought us an adorable diaper bag that I need to take a picture of. It is brown with turqoise and green circles on it; so cute and trendy! I love it! It comes with a nice changing pad inside, plus they filled it with all kinds of goodies; diapers, wipes, a little paci holder, paci wipes, and pacis to name a few. They also brought Holden a book about being a big brother which he loves. We had to read it three times just in the van on the way home. :) Thanks, girls, you rock!

There isn't much cuter than little ones all bundles up like Eskimos! We enjoyed our breakfast date!

Hide and Seek!

Lately, Holden is really into "hide and seek." He is into both Dora and Diego right now, and thinks it is funny to mimic Swiper the fox. He will say, "You can't catch me, HA HA HA!" and cackle like Swiper does on TV. His hiding spots just crack me up because they are so random and OBVIOUS!!! He is still in that stage where he thinks if he can't see you, then you must not be able to see him. He is so gleeful about it as I walk around the room saying, "Holden, where are you??" and pretending I can't find him. Eventually he'll yell out, "I'm over here under the table!" or wherever he may be. Subtle, he is not. Here are some pictures of recent "hiding spots." (Yes, he put a t-shirt on over his pajamas.)

The one between his bed and baseball glove chair is actually a good one! Of course he was singing the whole time he hid there, so it wasn't hard to find him.

Such a funny little guy!

Superbowl Sunday!

We spent Super Bowl Sunday evening at the Cunningham's house. Which means the men sat and watched the game downstairs, the kids ran amok, and the women stayed near the kitchen so we could watch the babies, talk, and catch a few commercials. :)

Caroline Engle and Ava Cunningham becoming acquainted...how adorable are they with their bows??

The boys...Colin and Cade were cracking me up with their "chef hats" by their kitchen set! They whipped me up some fake pizza. Holden was a little under the weather and ended up with full-blown asthma issues the following day, so he was a bit subdued that night. But that didn't prevent him from getting into every single vehicle known to mankind! I love the picture of the three of them on the couch getting ready to watch a movie.

Hilarious little Cade has such personality. He is currently a "pacifier hoarder." Annie couldn't find any of his and I had actually given her a two-pack that we never used. Right after that, she found his "lair" of hidden pacis! He carries them in his pockets until they are bulging. The picture with his feet is on the couch when he dropped a bunch out of his pockets! He cracks me up.

Didn't get any pictures of the adults...oh well, the kids are cuter anyway!