Christmas through the eyes of a toddler!

"Ho, ho, ho!"

"What are these goofy things on my head?"

"Peek a boo!"

Nothin' like a little nude tree trimming!

I am aware he will despise me for this shot one day. I don't care. =o)

"Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow.."

I know, I have been blogging like crazy this weekend! But I had so many great photo opportunities! It will be hard to head back to school tomorrow. Illinois got hit with our first big snow today! We woke up to the fluffy stuff all over the ground and still pouring out of the sky, and it has continued on and off throughout the day. We're supposed to get 3-5 more inches tonight...so like any good teacher, I am hoping for a SNOW DAY! =o) This is the first year Holden is big enough to actually walk in the snow. He LOVED it! He kept saying, "Snow!" and "COLD!" His little snowsuit from LAST year still fits him, which cracks me up. It was a bit big last year. He needs real snow boots, and he refused to keep his mittens on, but it didn't seem to deter him. We only stayed out for a little while due to his cough/ear infection, but I figured a little fresh air never hurt. Plus he was bundled up like Ralphie so if anything, he was probably hot!

My little reindeer

As you can see, I did finally find a set of tree lights that worked! Holden loves his new reindeer antlers. I think I am going to use the big picture for our Christmas card.

Family, exersize, and the manger!

I can only post 4 collages at a time (wouldn't be a problem for most people, just the camera Nazi!) so here are the leftovers from my parents' house. I set the timer and our group shot turned out great! All smiles and Mom even has her eyes open! Ha! One of my parents' presents to Holden was the Fisher Price nativity set. He really enjoys it even though he doesn't quite "get it" yet. He points out the "baby," carries the animals around, and loves to push the angel so it plays "Away in a Manger" and lights up the star. He dances every time he does it! He also loves mom's exersize machine and thinks he is really cool since he can climb on it now.

Thanksgiving #2

After a much-needed nap for Holden (I think I needed one too, but I was busy cooking for the next meal!) we headed down the street to Jay's parents' house. We had dinner with his sister, Allison, Grandma and Grandpa Schulz, and of course Memaw and Pepaw. I somehow managed to shovel in another heaping plate (okay, maybe two!) of food. I felt bad because Holden was a bit grumpy when we got there. I chalked it up to it being a big day; we found out the next day that he had bronchiolitis (not contagious but dangerous to him; fluid on the lungs) and an ear infection! Just another reason I will not be winning Mommy of the Year 2008.

The classic group shot. It cracks me up for so many reasons; Grandma's eyes are closed and she looks pained, both Pepaw and Grandpa are looking at me like I'm a moron, Allison has her "grin and bear it" smile on (I am pretty sure Jay was doing something to her since I can't see his other arm!), and of course there's the HAPPY Holden and Memaw with those big eyes and that cheesy grin on her face thinking, "Why did I get stuck holding him?" Lastly, the strategic placement of her finger makes this one so appealing. I am still laughing when I look at it!

Happy times did prevail again as Holden warmed up to his surroundings. He is in love with water bottles right now which is what Tami is giving him in her picture. Paul is a member of the clean plate club, and Jay found new ways to annoy his sister and continue their love/hate relationship. I even got one of the two of us and Jay is not making a goofy face, which doesn't happen often.

A few more fun shots of the night. Allison and Holden spent quite a bit of time in the empty bathtub and both seemed to find it pretty amusing! Thanks, Aunt Allie! The dogs were shut in their pens during dinner, and afterwards Angel (what a great name for her!) decided to see if any of the plates needed extra scraping before the dishwasher was closed. Holden had fun with the kitchen and feeding the baby, much to Jay's delight....I mean dismay....=o) And of course I got a more realistic shot of my mature husband and myself. I mean, who were we kidding with the first one?!

Macy's Parade and Thanksgiving #1

Seriously, I took so many pictures of Thanksgiving I even shocked myself. But Holden was just so much fun this year! He loved the Macy's Parade, had a blast with all of his relatives, and even ate a few things throughout the day. (Picky eaters have more variety to choose from on Thanksgiving....although he mainly resorted to popcorn chicken, crackers, and apple slices, so no different from any other day!) Here are the first round of pictures.

Watching the Macy's Parade has always been a tradition since my childhood. I had it on in the background this year and as soon as it started, Holden ran up to the TV and started pointing and dancing! Personally, I watch for the balloons, but he loved the bands, singing, and dancing. He got very giggly as you can see! Jay had to work so I tried to get some pictures of my buddy and me...I thought they turned out pretty cute!

We ate lunch at my parents' house. Jay stopped by and was able to gobble a plate down before he had an accident call to head to. My Granny was there, and so was my brother, Eric. We ate...and ate...and ate...and couldn't decide who was more entertaining; Holden's usual antics, or my dad carving the turkey!

Had to post a few pictures of the little guy and my dad. Holden just loves his "Papa!" Dad will tickle him with his beard and he giggles and giggles with the anticipation of it. They are quite the pair, and my dad loves every minute of it.

Clowning around with Uncle Eric! They were supposed to be watching football together; I don't think Eric got much viewing time in. =o) I love that Holden knows who he is now, and will point him out in pictures and get excited when he knows he's going to see him.

BAH HUMBUG!!!!!

I have loads of cute Thanksgiving pictures to peruse through and figure out how to blog. We had a great time at BOTH meals that we went to, and I was stuffed as a turkey...and still kept finding ways to cram more food in! Just had to vent tonight on my Christmas light crisis. So everyone knows that I LOVE Christmas,and can't wait to get started decorating, playing music, shopping for just the right gifts, etc. (My classroom is already fully decorated, including a tree and lights under the blackboard, as of Wednesday before I left, and I have been playing Christmas music in the van since the beginning of November.) While Holden napped today, I spent close to THREE HOURS rearranging the living room to accomodate the tree, putting up the tree, and stringing millions of white lights all over it. I did not mind because I love decorating. Even though I could have caught up on Grey's Anatomy, ER, Lipstick Jungle, and all of the other shows I am behind on. Or taken my own nap. The tree looked awesome when I was done, and Holden's face when I brought him downstairs was priceless. He was SO excited! My goal was to put the ornaments on with him tonight. WELL......after a little excursion to Toys R' Us (during which time we bought all of Holden's gifts right in front of him while he played in the aisles; love this age!) we come home and ONLY THE BOTTOM ROW of lights is working. Two cats are sitting under the tree staring at me with wide-eyed innocence. I will never know if they played a role in it or not. It took (a laughing) Jay (I didn't see the humor) and me 20 minutes to get them off. (I wrap well, people!) Then it took me another 30 minutes, complaining all the way, to get two thirds of the tree lit with backup lights I had in the basement. At that point, THE BACKUP LIGHTS WENT OUT. Jay is rolling on the couch laughing. Holden is yelling, "Yites! Yites!" And I yank them off the tree and storm out of the room. I realize this is a funny story. If you are not the one who wasted the WHOLE DAY on lights! So it's off to Walmart tomorrow to buy new ones. Next year we are getting a pre-lit tree. Mark my words.