Christmas morning!

When we woke up on Christmas morning, there were huge white footprints all over the floor, starting at our fireplace downstairs, coming up the stairs, and ending at the tree! Clearly Santa left them, because the snow was not cold and would not melt. Magic! (It kinda reminded me of flour.) ;)

We were up EARLY on Christmas morning (5:15am-ugh!) so that Daddy could open presents with us before going to work. Guess deputies are still needed even on the holiday. Wish everyone could just behave themselves! ;) You can see how tired and out of it poor Hunter was after being woken up. Holden was a lot easier to get up this year now that he understands what's going on.

Inspecting the footprints.

Opening presents/stockings.

Santa brought Holden the train and giant firetruck he asked for, as well as a cool sports set for both him and Hunter to enjoy as they grow. He also got several other fun gifts from Mommy and Daddy. Besides his train, he was most excited about "Hungry, Hungry Hippos," and (of all things) the bubbles that were in his stocking.

Hunter got two gifts: a mailbox from Santa, and a little sports center from us. He also got several goodies in his stocking. Everything went straight to his mouth, and the wrapping paper and bows were far more exciting to him. He also really likes the toy food set that Holden got.

A little later in the morning, we had some visitors. Papa, Grammy, and Uncle Eric came by. Papa and Uncle Eric were a big help putting things together. I don't know what I would have done without them! They got Holden's train running in the basement, put together the sports center (in the kitchen but I made them move it downstairs!) :) brought the bike pump to blow up the new Spiderman bouncy thing, etc. I owe you guys! My Granny and her friend, Walter, joined us for awhile as well. It was great to visit with them! I got one not so clear shot of them with Hunter because he is so wild and mobile that Granny couldn't hold him very long.

Speaking of the wild guy, here is the shiner he gave himself trying to climb up on Holden's fire truck and instead connecting his eye/head with it. This was right after he literally choked on wrapping paper and I had to put my finger down his throat to get it out. Oh my....this little boy is my wild child.

Wish the lighting was better, but here's our group picture. The boys and I have a hard and fast rule of not getting out of our pj's on Christmas. (I do shower eventually but put on fresh jammies!) ;) It's so nice to stay warm and comfy all day! We stay home and let everyone come to us-love it!

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve day was as to be expected in Illinois; cold and snowy. The boys and I went on a little outdoors adventure in the morning to deliver Christmas cards to the neighbors. I bundled them both up and stuck them in our big bike stroller. They thought this was great and giggled half time time we were out. :) I think we should take wintery walks more often; exersize for me and a way to get fresh air and keep my sanity after being cooped up. I put down the mesh screen but snowflakes still filtered in. Holden was trying to catch them on his tongue, and Hunter just squealed and laughed and looked super cute with them decorating his long eyelashes.

My little Santa baby. We did a mini photo shoot with Holden's Santa hat while he was busy shoveling with Daddy after work.

Cannot get enough of his cuteness!

Eating some puffs in his cute sweater. I bought it at Children's Place on clearance last spring while I was still pregnant for $3.00. So glad it fits him!

Family pictures before Christmas Eve church service.

Memaw and Holden had a tickle war before church.

The boys ready for Santa to come in their matching Santa rocket pj's. One of the first things I looked forward to when I found out I was having another boy was being able to dress them in matching outfits for occasions like this. ;)

I made reindeer food with my first-graders and brought a bag home for Holden. After Hunter was in bed, we had fun going out in his pj's and coat to sprinkle it on the snow.

Bedtime/Christmas Eve rituals: reading a bedtime story, ("How Do Dinosaurs Say Goodnight?"-one of his favorites) setting out cookies and milk for Santa, and watching out the window for Santa's sleigh. At one point Daddy swore he saw reindeer!

Christmas #2: Bourke Family

My parents came over on the Thursday night before Christmas to exchange gifts. We got yummy Longhorn Smokehouse for dinner and just had a relaxing evening with them. Eric surpised us by showing up earlier than expected from Chicago! We were so happy he was able to be there with us.

Below are the attempted pics of Grammy, Papa, and the boys. I am finding it is much harder to get TWO of them looking/smiling at the same time! All three pictures make me laugh.

Holden was thrilled with his big tractor that makes sounds and lights up, his "Macky Joe truck," (something he and my dad started on our trip to St. Louis last summer; all semi trucks are Macky Joe now) :), his dump truck, and all of the accessories that came with them. He also loved his pitching machine from Uncle Eric, which Eric insisted on setting up right away in our basement and turning on! Eric is well-known for buying loud and obnoxious gifts for the kids. I think it is his mission in life. As a result,I pray daily that he marries and has children so that I can repay his favors. :)

In typical baby fashion, Hunter was far more interested in the wrapping paper, ribbons, bows, and boxes than his presents. He is so funny with the paper because he looks like he is trying to swim in it as he flails his arms and legs. I know he will enjoy playing with his cute little lights and sounds kitchen, and someday he will appreciate his "Baby's First Christmas Keepsake Ornament" as much as I do.

Jay and I both got gift cards that we can't wait to use, and also our annual Miller Park Zoo pass, which is such a great gift for our family. We love the zoo! Mom got gift cards to places she wanted to shop, and in true Christmas spirit, Dad got a big collection of war DVD's... :) I also made them a calendar with pictures of the family. Eric got cash, which is his favorite kind of gift. I think Mom and Dad took him to pick some things out at the mall, too. My favorite gift was having my whole family together.

My brother is known for his great cards for all events. He has told me he doesn't wait until the holidays to buy them; he actually picks them up year round as he sees ones that are fitting for people. I always look forward to them. This year he walked in with all of our presents taped with black electrical tape, because that's what he happened to have on hand. I made a whole collage just of funny Eric items and comments. His writing for Hunter also cracked me up.

Hunter was a little crabby as he usually gets in the evenings, but he was thrilled with bath time and made us all laugh with his wild hair. He was also happy anytime Papa was entertaining him. Now that he had his four teeth, he just makes me laugh with his expressions and big grins. He reminds me of some kind of (cute) little animal. Especially with the little gap between his top teeth. Half the time he looks like he just wants to take a bite out of something. Which is probably accurate, as he has more teeth coming in!

Group picture with the timer! We really enjoyed our evening with my family.

Christmas #1: Kerber Family

On Dec. 18th we celebrated with Jay's mom's side of the family, the Kerbers. We started by meeting up with the cousins for a carriage ride in Uptown Normal. We thought it would make a good Christmas picture for Grandma Kerber. Here are all of the kiddos minus Hunter (staying warm in the van until the carriage arrived) :) and Kyle, who couldn't make it. I think Holden will be very in touch with his feminine side as he grows, considering he is surrounded! He loves all of his girl cousins.

It was a cooooold day with temps in the teens, and the carriage was 45 minutes late! We were about to leave when it showed up. The kids had fun though and we got some great pics so I'm glad it worked out! Holden told me that he likes the carriage rides in St. Louis better though, "because I can ride in my shorts." ;) From left: Aunt Allie, Hunter, Kelsey, Morgan, Tiffany, Holden, Chelsey, and Emma.

Afterwards we headed to Aunt Jennifer and Uncle AJ's house to warm up. Lots of good food, fun toys, and special people. Hunter had a great time at his first Christmas get-together. He loves people, and there were plenty to entertain him.

Holden loves playing with his cousins! This year was really fun because Holden, Morgan, Emma, and Kyle are all old enough to play together well with minimal supevision. Whenever I peeked in at them, they were busy with imaginary play. At one point the girls were "doctoring" Holden on the bed. Crack me up!

All of the kiddos. What a difference a year makes with Kyle! Last year he had just had his heart surgery, and nobody could hold him besides his parents and grandma. This year he was all over the place! :)

The "grown ups;" at least in age! Ha! (With a few random little ones thrown in.)

Our family. Crack me up at the attempted shots of the four of us! Not our most photogenic evening. Holden looks majorly constipated in the big picture!

Holden takes gift opening VERY seriously this year! He has to get every last bit of paper pulled off and then wants the item out of the box right away. With the Kerber side, we draw a name for each child. Morgan and Emma drew Holden and Hunter. Holden got a cool John Deere tractor that shakes and lights up, and Toy Stoy Memory. He loved his gifts!

Gift opening

Hunter was exhausted by the time we opened gifts. The phrase, "It's his party (insert Christmas instead) and he'll cry if he wants to" comes to mind. Poor guy but the pictures are hliarious! He got a really cute little tractor with a farmer and animals that makes animal sounds and plays music, and a "Cars" themed bath mat. He really does enjoy them...just needed a nap at the time. :)

Sweet, tired baby and playtime for the othe kids. Holden was very tolerant of all the Barbie and baby doll playing. At one point I had to laugh when I heard him say, "Won't ANYONE play soccer for awhile? It's really fun, I promise!" Needless to say, none of the girls took him up on it.

I caught some sweet moments with Great Grandpa Kerber.

After a power nap, Hunter was ready to go again. I realize I take a massive amount of pictures of him. I just can't get enough of his cuteness, drool and all.:)

He was scooting along and managed to roll right under the tree. He just laid there for awhile, staring at the lights and ornaments in awe. So precious! Then he decided to move on to more fun things, like eating the tree skirt.

We enjoyed our evening with family!

Merry Christmas 2010!

Wishing you a very merry Christmas!

Loads and loads of pictures to sort through and post...once I get done wrangling every last toy out of its box and attempting to figure out where they are all going to fit in our house!

For now, here is a preview...the boys in their matching Santa rocket pj's on Christmas Eve. We are so blessed. Happy birthday, Jesus!

Holden Jay-Christmas at age 3.5

I couldn't do a post about my baby (see previous post) without doing one about my first baby. :) Holden is my big helper this Christmas season. He loves to help choose gifts for friends and family, make yummy treats in the kitchen, and decorate the house. We have been reading lots of books about the holidays. He is at a great age to really start understanding Christmas traditions as well as the most important part of the season; baby Jesus' birthday! He keeps his Fisher Price nativity set up year-round in his room because he loves it so much and gets upset if I try to put it away. I decided there's no reason not to remember the manger all year. :) He is also very excited for Santa to come. When he has naughty moments he asks if we think Santa will "give me another chance," or if "he will bring me coal." :)

I really want to get in the habit of teaching him from an early age the fun and importance of giving to others. He has a few friends that we will exchange with, and he had a lot of fun picking out gifts for them. I am still working on getting him to realize that we need to pick gifts that THEY will like best, not gifts HE would like. As in, he wanted to get trucks and other "boy toys"for Natalie and Corinne. I had to convince him that they would really like the Barbie and Dora items instead. Since he is at a high school pre-school program, he has 1 lead teacher and 27 high school student teachers! We decided to bake cookies for all of the high school students since we just couldn't purchase 28 teacher gifts. ;) This was the first time I have baked sugar cookies with him that we actually did from scratch, not a package. He was thrilled with the mixer and helping me dump all the ingredients in. I feel bad I don't do this more often; let's just say I am the OPPOSITE of Betty Crocker! We melted almond bark and dipped double stuffed Oreos and pretzel rods in it. Yummy! Holden's job was to put sprinkles on these. He helped with the cookie cutters on the sugar cookies, and put sprinkles on after I frosted them. My big helper! (He and I also had a GREAT time eating the cookie dough! He may be picky, but he knows the really good things in life, like raw eggs, sugar, and flour. We each kept saying, "Okay, one more bite!" I think we probably ate about 10 cookies' worth of dough. No salmonella yet!)

Love the flour on the butt and on his chair!

Close up! This was one of those wonderful Saturdays that we had nowhere to go, it was blizzard-like conditions out, and we stayed in pj's all day.

Watching the cookies "grow."

This was also one of those wonderful days I didn't do my hair or put makeup on. And Holden's nose was runny. Oh well, it will just remind you that we clean up well in future pictures.

Sprinkle man!

After helping to decorate the first batch of cookies, he decided "Mommy could do the rest," and retreated to the living room to play a little helicopter, tow truck, snowman game. (?!)

We also took some cookies and a gift card to his swim instructor, Miss Betty. Holden adores her. We have moved him to semi-private lessons (He takes them with a little boy, Robert, who we know through preschool as well as swim.) We have seen a tremendous amount of growth in both his skills and his confidence level with the extra one-on-one. Betty is a retired teacher, and has a really good way with him. She encourages and challenges him without pushing too hard. I had a snow day on the last Monday of swim lessons before break, so I got to go with him! I was so excited since I haven't been to lessons since the end of summer. Jay takes him on Monday mornings while I am teaching. I was so impressed with how far he has come. He still has a long ways to go, but he is now going under and jumping in without crying-HUGE from where we started! He was proud to show me all of his new moves. My camera lens kept fogging up because it is like a sauna in there.

Some more pictures from our snow day! Holden loves to shovel with his tractor. When he and Jay come in all cold and red-cheeked from the cold, he and I curl up on the couch under a blanket and watch cartoons. And drink hot chocolate. And talk about how we need snow days at least once a week!