Ho Ho Ho!

Holden had a ball on his first Christmas. The festivities began on Christmas Eve with our traditional seafood feast (yum) and a special overnight visit from Grammy and Ernie. We all got up around 9am and started opening presents then pigged out on bubble bread - a perfect morning! In the afternoon we headed over to Uncle David and Aunt Susan's house for Christmas dinner with cousins Annika, Olivia, and Colin plus Susan's family including their 4 cousins. Quiet would not be the word to describe the day but fun definitely would. We had a delicious dinner, even more delicious desserts and a very lively Christmas sing-a-long at the piano courtesy of their talented neighbors. The girls also played a few tunes and we were very impressed with how good they've become. Holden tried to catch a few ZZZs throughout the day but didn't want to be left out of the fun for very long. He was a trooper and enjoyed every minute of it.

Holden would like to thank everyone, including Santa, for the very generous Christmas presents!!

Either a very overdressed Holden, or a very underdressed Daddy delivering Christmas goodies to our neighbors on Christmas Eve (his 3 month/13 week birthday)

Daddy explaining that next year he'll be able to sit at the table, but the bouncey seat on the floor will have to do for now.

Holden sad to realize he's bigger than the crableg. We wanted to match the picture of cousin Lindsey and the ginormous crableg of '04

First gift on Christmas morning

Unwrapping...a new skill

Happy Santa paid a visit

Oooohhh, shiny ribbon

Surrounded by all his loot yet the shiny ribbon is still getting all his attention
Holden, Daddy, and a goofy hat at David & Susan's

Olivia (with Annika and friend Caroline) treating us to a piano recital

The sing-a-long in full swing. 9 kids + 13 adults + a talented piano player = a very fun time! We hope to make it an annual event although we'd have to pass out earplugs to all the neighbors.

Sitting in the bumbo sporting a new outfit (size 6 months!) and cute sneaker socks on the day after Christmas

And the award for cutest baby goes to...HOLDEN!

Breakfast with Santa

Holden had his first visit with the big guy on Saturday. He tends to take after his mom and isn't much of a morning person but he did well. He fell asleep while Grammy was holding him in line. He opened his eyes for a split second to check out Santa when we placed him on his lap then dozed back off to dreamland. We figure he'll be scared out of his mind next year so we were glad to get a bunch of cute peaceful pictures this year.

Afterwards we came home to get ready for the visit from the Berriens'. We had a fun pizza party, watched Christmas specials, and "Uncle Rob" rocked out on Grace's Hannah Montana guitar. A good time was had by all. We hope they can visit again soon!

What you talkin' 'bout, Willis?

Grammy, sleepy Holden, and Rudolph

The family (the matching sweaters were a pure coincidence...I swear)

Kisses for my sweet boy

Oh Happy Day!

The day I've been waiting for has finally come...today I quit my job to stay home with Holden. I feel incredibly fortunate but also incredibly proud that we can do this. It's always been our plan for me to stay home once we had kids but, as we all know, life can throw us curve balls and our plans don't always work out. Well, we've certainly had our curve ball but we've stuck to our plan and here I am...an official stay-at-home mom with sweet little Holden. Oh happy day!

In other news...this weekend Holden took his first road trip to Harrisburg, PA for Emily's baby shower. Baby Jack is due in the beginning of February and we're so excited for a new little cousin. Speaking of new little cousins...we want to formally congratulate Aunt Karen (Rob's sister) who is due with her first baby in early June. We are so happy for you!

As we near the 3 month mark, Holden has really started showing us his personality and we think we've got a pretty funny kid on our hands. He's discovered his voice and loves "talking" to us. He's also discovered his hands and is batting at the ball on his activity gym - he's got a great left jab. He lifted his head and chest up with his arms while on his tummy for the first time, much to my delight since he's always hated his tummy time and wasn't appearing to get anything out of it. He continues to sleep well usually going for a 6 hr stretch, up for a quick feed, down for another 3-4 hr stretch, eating again and then sleeping for another 2 hrs or so. He also figured out that moving his arms and legs in the bathtub makes for some cool splashes and a big mess.

The soon-t0-be parents Matt & Emily
The soon-to-be grandparents Uncle Jack and Aunt Nancy

Uncle Jack - aka World's Greatest Babysitter. Holden is even considering wearing the Eagles onesies in appreciation :)Sweet kisses from JillShowing off his great head/neck control

Family self portrait

Gobble Gobble

Holden had a fun, jam-packed 1st Thanksgiving. We visited with Uncle David, Aunt Christina, and Molly & Lindsey on Wednesday then headed to Grammy's for the feast on Thursday. The turkey weighed 3 pounds more than him. Funny to think next year he'll be chowing down on the real thing. Saturday Great Grandma C and the rest of the crew came for a visit, which included a birthday party for her and Stella - his first one! We wrapped things up on Sunday with some Christmas decorating.

Pilgrim Molly, Lindsey and Holden getting ready to feast

Great Grandma C and her grandbabiesGrammy love
Happy Birthday Grandma!

The whole gang

Before...After!Holden "supervising" the Christmas decorating. Imagine how disappointed he'll be when he realizes our tree comes in pieces out of a box vs. the cute image on his shirt.

2 Months!!

First off, thanks to all the moms for the great advice and words of encouragement regarding Holden's shots. We survived, him much better than me and that's with Grammy being the one actually holding him while they shot him up. I, being the wimp that I am, hid behind her waiting for the scream. To my relief he cried but not nearly as hard as I anticipated. And he recovered very quickly. The rest of the appt went great. He's a whopping 12lbs 4oz (65 %-tile) and 23 inches long (56 %-tile). His next appt will be his 4 month check up at the end of January.

In other big news...Holden spent his first night in his crib in his own room. He's been sleeping in the pack-n-play in our room since he was born. With the Dr.'s encouragement we decided his 2 month birthday was as good a time as ever to make the big move. And he did great. He slept from 9:45pm - 3am, up 15 min. for a quick feed, then slept again until 7am. He did another quick feed at 7 and went back to sleep. He finally woke up for the day around 10:45am. We went grocery shopping, came home and he napped in his crib from 2:30-5:30. Can't ask for much more than that!

We're looking forward to a fun Thanksgiving. Holden will see Aunt Christina, Uncle David and cousins Molly & Lindsey. He will also meet lots of other family including Great Grandma C. We'll post pictures after the holiday.

The amazing spinning baby. This is how I found him this morning after his first night in his crib.

Fun in the tub

Enjoying his first fire

Smiles for Grammy

Our funny little man

Baby It's Cold Outside!

With winter making an appearance this week, we've stayed bundled up at home with the exception of a shopping trip with Daddy, a quick stop at Babies R Us, and a visit to Grammy's. Holden is a true champ on our outtings. He loves his carseat and spends most of the time sleeping or quietly taking in the sights. This week he graduated from the hammock to actually sitting in his bathtub...another activity he loves. We've been doing a bath every night around 9pm followed by feeding then bed. He's been sleeping for 4 hour stretches, sometimes longer - much to my delight. I finally don't feel like I've been hit by a truck. He's also been passing out smiles, something we hope he does lots of for the family visits this week.

With all these great milestones comes another...his 2 month check up and the dreaded shots on Monday. I'm not kidding when I say I'm losing what little sleep I get over this. Despite the fact that I had what my Dr. described as a "really rough birth experience" and lived to tell about it, the thought of even being in the same room with needles still freaks me out. Combine that with the fact that those needles are going into my sweet little baby makes me want to pass out. Do you think they would call Social Services on me if I popped a few percocets left over from the c-section beforehand??

A few pictures...

Still trying for a good smile shotTummy Time

A Family Affair

Holden had a whirlwind of activity over the past few days with fun visits from both sides of the family. We kicked things off Friday afternoon with a visit from Uncle Christopher from SC.Saturday brought the much anticipated visit from Grandma M and Aunt Karen. Grammy and Ernie joined us for dinner.Here's Grandma seeing Holden for the first time...they barely got the car doors open before I started snapping picturesAunt Karen never even had a chance to stretch her legs after driving for 8 hours before facing the "mommy cam"First cuddles with HoldenSunday Uncle David, Aunt Susan and cousins Annika, Olivia and Colin joined in the fun. Here's Annika, aka future babysitter with HoldenThe big kids love Holden's swing as much as he does.Here's the tail end of a one of Holden's sweet first smiles. Still working on getting a good shot.
Riding horsey on Grammy's legPosing with his monogrammed blanket from Brad & Laura


After Grandma and Karen left on Tuesday we went to Mt. Vernon - George Washington's home. Never too early to start learning about American history (really, the trip was work related for Rob and we just tagged along). Based on this picture of me, you wouldn't believe that Holden slept from 10:45pm - 4:00am (his longest stretch yet)...I look like I'm about to fall over which is not far from the truth. But well worth it!