Merry Christmas!!

Merry Christmas Everyone!! (A little late, I know!) We had an amazing Christmas and hope you all did as well. This year was especially fun for us because Holdyn was soaking up every ounce of Christmas! December was filled with gasps and oohs and aahs from Holdyn. Anytime we drove anywhere, Holdyn would point out the lights on every single house and gasp so dramatically, we're lucky he never had anything in his mouth or he would have for sure choked! It all started with getting out Christmas tree the weekend after Thanksgiving...

Holdyn helped carry around the lights for Dad until he was ready for them.

Then he "helped" dad wrap the tree...

Holdyn had so much fun decorating the Christmas tree and has been extremely good about not touching the tree this whole month.

We left his decorations exactly as he put them, hence the sideways ornaments...

Here are my 2 very favorite ornaments...



And here is the finished product...

This season has been so much more magical with Holdyn around. Last year I was pretty emotional during Christmas but I chalked it up to having a 6 month old. Well having an 18 month old isn't any better! As we were helping Santa set up Holdyn's toys, I couldn't stop telling Cory how much fun I was having! It is indescribable how much excitement a parent feels thinking about their child on Christmas morning. I expect that it will only be getting better in the coming years :)

Every year on Christmas Eve, we make the trek out to Alpine to see Cory's dad's family. Holdyn had so much fun playing with all of his cousins! Then we went to my grandma's to open our traditional Christmas Eve Jammies! Holdyn enjoyed opening everyone else's presents just as much as he enjoyed opening his...

I woke up bright and early Christmas morning and waited to hear my alarm clock (my sweet boy singing.) Within 3 minutes of Holdyn waking up, he was toddling down the hall to see what "Ho Ho Ho" brought! He sat down and started playing with his toys immediately. Cool, calm, collected, and super happy!!

It was low key and so much fun. I cherished those couple of hours at home because I knew frenzy was about to begin as we made the grandparent rounds. Holdyn on the other hand, couldn't wait to get out the door to see what else he was getting!!

Our family was very generous. Not only did we lose control on Holdyn's Christmas, but his grandparents went crazy too! He got a motorized motorcycle...a Power Wheels four wheeler, the cutest Elmo Live I have ever seen, and much much more! He is in heaven going from toy to toy to toy! Cory and I got some great stuff too! A new camera, a GPS, and a trip to Mexico to name a few!! I got Cory a new watch, some shirts, a razor and snowboard boots he's been wanting for awhile!!

Cory did really well this year, as always! He gave me a bunch of books I've been wanting to read, a darling Willow Tree figurine to add to my collection, new car mats, a magazine subscription, cute Roxy shoes, and a Forever 21 gift card to buy some cute Mexico clothes! Here was the after math of Christmas morning...

And for my favorite picture from Christmas '08...

Notice the tag still on Cory's pants, even after I brought it to his attention!

And Holdyn's face is priceless as he's looking around to see if anyone can see that he's touching his Daddy's new tool box even though he's not supposed to be! It was a nice little surprise to find this picture on the camera :)

It was a great day and we had tons of fun. Thank you everyone for your generosity, we love you very much! I'm feeling the "Christmas is over" blues :( But I am thrilled to say Peace Out to 2008 and ring in 2009, our best year yet! We have some serious goals to accomplish this year and I'm anxiously excited! Come on 2009, we're ready for you!!