Christmas at the Kerbers

We had our first Christmas on Saturday, at Jay's grandparents' house. It was great to hang out with everyone and watch the kids play. Good food and family time.

Here is Holden wearing his Santa hat on the way there. He was so excited to see his cousins.

Some pictures of Holden and his cousins. Morgan and Emma are 3 and 2. The three of them were a constant blur of motion as they raced around the basement together, getting out all of Great Grandma's toys! Chelsey is 9 this year. She is so good with the younger kids and they all adore her. Baby Kyle is the newest addition to our family. He is 5 months old this month. Love the bib he is sporting! I am sure it's what he was probably thinking! Ha!

More family shots. I love how Holden has tractors with a doll in a pink dress riding them! Emma turned 2 on Saturday so we also celebrated her bday with her! The older girls allowed me one picture each of them. :) Kelsey is waiting to open her present, and Tiffany and Allison posed together.

Kyle is our little Christmas miracle baby. He was born with holes in his heart that did not close on their own as we had hoped. 4 weeks ago, he had open heart surgery to repair them. We have not been able to see him since he can't be around germs and needs to heal. It was wonderful to have him join us for Christmas! He has grown so much, is filling out, and is such a smiley, happy baby. He is a true answer to prayers! Below he is with his Mommy and Daddy (Jay's cousin, Tim, and his wife), and his Grandma Teresa who he loves to play "pat a cake" with.

Emma Jo celebrating her 2nd bday! Love the big grin with her little tongue! She was so cute, singing loudly to herself as we sang to her, and making a big effort to blow out her candles. Her Mommy had to step in and help her a little bit.

Morgan and Holden thoroughly enjoyed Emma's Dora cake. I love how they shared a chair! Holden was very excited about the little rings that came on top of the cake. He got to keep "Boots" and used it to dip into the frosting like a utensil.

I always love watching everyone open presents in Great Grandma Kerber's living room. There is so much commotion!

Just some shots of my favorite little guy enjoying the evening. The pictures to the left...keep in mind he has a LOT of girl cousins!!! Ha! He loves backpacks and doesn't discern boy/girl styles yet. He was also quite taken with Morgan's new vanity set, much to Daddy's dismay and Cousin Tim's glee! :)

The "biggest kids" of the group. I don't refer to any of us as adults because well, we just have too much fun! :)

We are blessed to have so many wonderful loved ones to share the holidays with. Looking forward to heading to Chicago on Thursday to see my Dad's side of the family, then Christmas day at home, lunch at our neighbors across the street, and the evening with Jay's parents. Then I just need to fit in my Granny (Mom's mom) sometime before break is over. Whew! Busy but fun times.

Church dancing, Jesus' birthday, and Christmas elves

Holden loves going to church each week. He looks forward to having Memaw (Jay's mom) join us, seeing Grammy and Papa, (my parents) and playing with his friends in the toddler room. But his most favorite part is the music! He comes in to the beginning of each service for the music and worship portion. He has loved music since the day he was born, and recently he has started dancing when the singing starts up. He is such a "white boy" dancer; arms up and down over his head and a little bob/bounce in his step. :) I snapped a few pictures the other morning when he was dancing in the doorway to the sanctuary, "helping" Papa pass out the programs. The lead singer told me that she actually got off beat a few times because she was having so much fun watching him! I also had a man stop me after church and tell me that Holden's dancing "made his morning," and that we all need to be that joyful at this time of year. :)

Recently we went to our church's evening children's Christmas program. Holden will participate in this next year when he is 3. We brought him along to watch and he loved it, as I knew he would. We had a yummy catered dinner, sang Christmas carols, and then watched the little ones perform.

Sitting with Grammy and Papa

Holden, Mommy, Grammy, and Papa

Mommy, Daddy, and Holden...our last Christmas as a family of three!

I don't even know this little girl's name, but she sat at the table behind us and took a liking to Holden. It was hilarious watching them! They were dancing to the caroling music, and she kept putting her arm around him. At one point, it was kind of a choke hold and her grandma had to tell her to "back off" a bit! :) He is already making the ladies crazy.

More dancing! This was while the kids were singing. :)

The last song they sang was "Happy Birthday" to Jesus. Holden knows Christmas is Jesus' birthday, even if he doesn't quite understand all that entails just yet. On the way to church that night, he sang "Happy Birthday, Dear Jesus!" at the top of his lungs. :) He was SO excited that we got to eat cake in celebration. He thoroughly enjoyed it...all he does is eat every last drop of frosting off the top.

I came downstairs the other night to this adorable sight. Holden and Daddy were waiting for Memaw to come down the street. They put hats on and watched out the front door.

Great Grandpa Schulz brought Holden a little Santa lantern. It is so cute! Holden loves to wear his Santa hat and carry his lantern around.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

I have been a negligent blog poster the past few weeks. The holiday season is upon us, and between all of the special projects with my first graders, getting our house decorated, fun evening and weekend events, and trying to finish my shopping list, the time has flown by!!! I did post our Thanksgiving below this one before moving on to Christmas. :) Things are very merry in the Hobson household this year. Holden at age 2 and a half loves Santa, lights, and all things related to the holiday. He knows it is Jesus' birthday and will sing the happy birthday song to Jesus at the top of his lungs. He insists on wearing his Santa hat in leiu of his winter hat, and loves all of his Christmasy shirts. I love the pure, unadulterated joy that he lives and radiates each and every day. Below are some pictures of him in his little "elf" pajamas. He is such a skinny minny in them; it cracks me up!

I call the middle shot his "Home Alone" pose. :)

We put up his own little tree in his room. He was so excited and proud! He really gets mad at Tiggy, one of his kitties, when she chews on it.

Below are a few pictures of our decorated living room, Holden and his beloved reindeer antlers, playing in the Christmas tree box, and one of him in his room. Ummm....a cooking spatula and his (thankfully plastic!) snowglobes? Only Holden.

Thanksgiving '09

We have so much to be thankful for in the Hobson household. A happy, healthy, on-the-go little boy, a healthy baby boy on the way, family, friends, and faith are just a few of the things that top my list. This year we had Thanksgiving at our house. My parents, brother, Eric, Jay's parents, his sister, Allison, and his grandpa all joined us. It was a really nice, laid-back day. We had dinner in the evening since Jay had to work until 3:00. I think we are planning to do it at our house again next year. A lot of the food was prepared in advance, Holden had his normal nap schedule, and we weren't running around to different houses. I loved it!

One of the things I am most thankful for in the world is my little turkey, Holden. :)

You may remember his outfit from last year...new pants, but the same onesie still fit! He's such a string bean. At least we got a lot of use out of it!

We walked down to Memaw's in the morning, and Holden thoroughly enjoyed watching the Macy's Thanksgiving parade on the big screen. He waved at people, oohed and ahhed at the balloons, and screeched with excitement. Every time there was a commercial break he'd say, "OH NO! The balloons are GONE!" The child is very used to the DVR. :)

Jay and me with the turkey. I was so proud it turned out fine! Even though his mom came down and did all of the work getting it ready. I just provided the oven. :)

My dad has always been the resident turkey carver, and relishes his role.

Some snapshots of the family. Memaw and Grammy were eyeing the black Friday ads!

Holden had a blast sliding down the stairs with Memaw, and playing "swing and slide" on the kitchen floor with her and Pepaw. :)

I had to post a picture of Holden's Thanksgiving dinner: Cheetos, chicken fries, and peanuts. Notice the lovely orange/brown color palette. The kid doesn't know what he's missing!

Family picture. Hope everyone else had a very happy Thanksgiving!

Festival of Trees

Papa, Grammy, and Memaw accompanied Holden and me to the Festival of Trees this past weekend. It is put on by the Baby Fold, which helps foster children. There are tons of beautiful trees which are auctioned off to raise money for the Baby Fold. There is a gingerbread lane full of elaborately decorated gingerbread houses and buildings, and then there is "Jingle Bell Junction," which is an area just for kids. It was a fun day for a great cause!

Holden was excited to see all of the trees and lights. He chose to wear his Polar Express shirt for the occasion. :)

Santa was there! Holden waited in line and hopped right up on his lap to tell him he wants "Diggers" (his version for all trucks) for Christmas.

There was a little train for the kids to ride. Holden rode 4 times, and would have gone continuously if I would have let him! It was really fast, and I loved watching him laugh as he whipped around the corners.

I love these pictures! There was a life-size nativity complete with shepherd outfits for kids to try on. I think Holden makes a pretty cute little shepherd boy!

Admiring the huge tree and scaring Mommy by playing with the breakable ornaments!!

Look how tiny he is at the bottom of the tree!

We ended the day with a mutual favorite; frosted sugar cookies! Holden ate all the frosting first, then the cookie. :)

Wishing everyone a wonderful Thanksgiving! I am cooking at my place for our parents and siblings. (My brother joked that he will have Pizza Hut on speed-dial! Ha!) If I can just get the turkey figured out, I think it will be a special day. I am sure there will be plenty of new pictures to post soon! We have so much to be thankful for.>

Look who we saw today!

SANTA!!!! What a difference a year makes. Holden was petrified last year...this year he loves him and couldn't wait to see him and ask for "trucks and diggers." He kept mentioning to me that Santa must have come with his reindeer. I think he was wondering where they were. :)

Downtown Normal has had a major face lift in the past few years, and was just recently completed. Its new name is "Uptown Normal," and it has cute little sidewalk shops, new restaurants and cafes, a beautiful hotel, and of course Holden's beloved Discovery Museum. They had a holiday grand opening this weekend with Santa walking around the area, horse-drawn carriage rides, and carolers. The weather was balmy in the upper 60's, and we didn't even need coats! Holden wanted to "look nice" for Santa. I let him choose from some cute Christmas shirts, and he picked his fancy vest and button down shirt and let me dress him without complaint. :)

Holden, Memaw, and Santa

Memaw, Papa, and Grammy rode on the carriage ride with us. Holden enjoyed it, but was busy trying to spot Santa the whole time. :)

I snapped these in the van while we were in a McDonald's drive-through. I love how he sits like Mr. Suave with his hands behind his head. He was being goofy and kicking my seat and I would turn around and pretend I was mad. I love his little giggly face!

I just thought the following pictures were cute in his little Christmas outfit. He is such a typical boy, pushing his trucks along the walkway on our way back to the van. (He conned them out of Memaw at the museum gift shop.) :)

'Tis the season!! It starts early around here. I have never minded because I LOVE the holidays so much. They are extra fun with an excited little boy around!