The Compound

Well, it all really happened. The compound was finished and we have tons of snowboardy things in our backyard for boys to get hurt on. Here are some pics from before it snowed of Holdyn and Cory having a freaking blast!

And here's my noise with dirt on it!

These might be my favorite videos of all time! You can't tell because the videos are so small, but Holdyn has the biggest grin on his face, even while receiving whip-lash!

When it snowed, Cory decided to sit Holdyn on his snowboard and send him down the ramp. This is what happens when Mom is sick and stuck inside watching the boys play.

So far, we have made it through the winter without any serious injuries.

We've had fun having our "rail jams" and midnight BBQs. I like watching the boys from my nice warm kitchen :) And it keeps Cory pretty happy!

Holdyn's Faces

Sometimes I look at Holdyn and see him make the exact faces his dad makes! These pics are from my mom's camera from babysitting a couple weeks ago and all of these faces were made within a 10 minute time period!

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!!

One year ago today...

Holdyn had his first

celery stick :)

These are some of my favorite pics ever of him!

Happy New Year!!

Happy 2009!!!

Holdyn - I love you and had a blast playing with you this year :) You are an angel. You are my sunshine and I have loved watching you grow from this

to this...

Cory - I love you. Thanks for growing with me this last year. We learned some great lessons and for the most part, stuck right be each other's sides through it. 2009 will be even better, and we'll stick by each other's side even more. I'm so proud of your for sticking to your running. You look amazing :) You have been a wonderful daddy this year. All Holdyn ever wants is his Dada. Thank you for all of the meals you feed him, baths you give him, mornings you let me sleep in, hours you play with him. I know you're the dad and "it's your job," but there are lots of dads out there who don't do as much as you do and I hope you know he and I both appreciate it. I still get butterflies when I'm with you. Date nights get me just as excited now as they did 9 years ago. Your arms are the only thing that can make everything go away. And I love you even when you make this face...

2009 Resolution

I have never really made New Year's Resolutions before, but because of this last year... it feels like an important thing for me to do. Mostly because this last year has been rough. Cory, Holdyn and I had to face some tough stuff in 2008. For the most part, we persevered through and it made us stronger. I am a big believer in Karma, but I think this last year karma got lost! I think if we know better and do better, our lives are better. The key part of that is DO BETTER. I know many people, including myself, who know better, but don't always do better. I don't want to group myself in with those people anymore. I want to rise above, and I don't mean be superior, I want to genuinely do better so I can feel better. I think that's the first step to bringing better Karma into our lives. I want to live each day knowing I felt and acted the best I could, because if you are the best mom, wife, employee, loved one, and friend you can be... you really KNOW you've done the best you can. I have a hard time having a pity party for myself and the shitty things that have happened this year. It's not that I think we deserved them, but I think I let a lot of negativity in when I should have let it pass me right by. I have never in my life had so much conflict as I've had this year and I can't believe I've let it get to me. So... I have 1 major resolution for 2009... LET IT GO. Let the negativity float on past me. I will not let the things other people do affect me. I won't go home and stew about something that hurts my heart because I have no control over it. I will figure out a healthy way to process it and get it out of my brain. If I can just do that in 2009, I will be happy. But, there are some other goals I would like to get accomplished. BUY A NEW HOUSE or be ready by the end of the year to buy a new house. I am so not looking forward to this. We need a new house because we are on a busy road and only have one spare bedroom upstairs. We would like to have a new addition in the next year or so and Holdyn is not nearly old enough to move into one of the basement rooms. So as much as I do not want to go through the stressful process of purchasing a new home, moving, etc... It needs to be done and I'd like to get it out of the way. PAY OFF DEBTS - We have been working on this since June of this year and have done a pretty good job, if I do say so myself. We could easily pay off most of our debt by the end of 2009, but wouldn't it be fantastic if we could pay off all of it!! It would be difficult, but a goal I will strive for.

I need to write these things down so that next December I can read this and pat myself on the back and make some new, hopefully not so life changing, resolutions and feel good about 2009. I'm excited to begin this year. I have a great feeling about where we'll be by the end of 2009 :) Here we go...

Handsome Boy

Holdyn's hair is a curly, crazy mess. And although it's darling...

Sometimes it turns into a mixed up version of an afro so we had to do something about it. We took him to Cookie Cutters last night and it was so stinking funny!

Holdyn did really well, other than being totally annoyed that this strange lady was touching his head. But as long as we kept him distracted, he did great!

He looks so much older now! But even more handsome than before :)

After his haircut, he got to play on the slide and I have never seen him more excited! He was giggling and shaking, he was having so much fun :)