Lots of Firsts!

Well, to recap the last half of the month of December and January a lot has happened. Our family has also been struggling to keep the cold bug out of our house. But thanks to some really good friends, we have been well cared for. Holden has had a little illness the past week or so he's trying to get over. He had a high temperature for a few days, then a rash. So, he is just feeling better today actually so that is a good thing! We have also had a lot of "firsts" as well. Maybe not firsts for me and Josh, but for Holden. I think he's been overwhelmed by everything going on- in a good way! He's still trying to recover from all of the festivities. I have to say how much fun it was to go through the holiday season with our first child. Everything is new and exciting again for us and we were able to start some fun family traditions!
This first pic is our new favorite of Holden. I don't know what it is, but it just captures his little personality perfectly. He is such a happy boy with such a light and sparkle in his eyes. I think this picture shows all of that joy perfectly.

Our trip to Abravanel Hall for the Lollipops Concert where Santa made an appearance. Josh and I have a pic in front of this beautiful sculpture when we were first married. So it was fun to add our little Holden to it this year!
One day Josh came home and decided to start a really fun tradition for our family. He had gone and bought chocolate and chocolate molds of the nativity! It was so fun. We melted the chocolate and made each piece. Then we colored some of the white chocolate and painted each one. I think it turned out sooo awesome. I think our kids will love this- hey, I do! Also, it also gives us some chocolate to eat after the holidays are done. Except we still haven't eaten the baby Jesus- it just seems a little weird! lol :) Every night when Holden would go to bed we would say goodnight to Baby Jesus and the lamby and the donkey and he would just laugh and get so excited!

Holden's Christmas Jammies! 2007
These pics are of Christmas Eve. We dressed up and did the nativity. The first pic is of Holden and his Uncle Christian whom(?) he absolutely adores! We also did a little dinner of loaves and fishes talking about the Savior's life. Later we opened our Christmas jammies and then everyone went to their own homes. When we got home that night, we read some Christmas stories, watched the nativity and Mr. Krueger's Christmas. Christmas Eve morning was a big day for Holden as it was his first little haircut. Okay, it was really just a trim, but it was a big deal for me! I saved some of his hair for his memory book and Josh thought it was absolutely disgusting! hehe Unfortunately he still needs a haircut. I'm thinkin' on his first B-day! The cutest thing was that Josh "helped" Holden write his first letter to Santa. It said, "Dear Santa, My name is Holden and this will be my first Christmas! I look forward to working with your over the years and I hope we can get off on the right foot. Here are some yummy cookies to show you what a good boy I am. :) Drive safely and thanks in advance for the wonderful presents! Sincerely, Holden Mercer" Josh even helped him sign it! lol I thought it was so funny and cute. Josh gets so giddy and excited to do all this with Holden- it's darling! Christmas was wonderful and Holden was absolutely spoiled this year by his grandmas, grandpas, aunts, uncles and cousins!

Moving on to New Year's Eve. We spent it playing games, eating, chatting, drinking Martinellis and doing fireworks. It was also fun having our counsins- Matt and Jeanette and their kids in from New York with us! This is Holden's first sip of the good stuff! He loved it! :) However, he wasn't too happy about the fireworks and the poppers we had. lol I think it scared him a little. But- nothing that a little...or a lot of Martinellis couldn't fix! hehe

Now for some really exciting news! Holden took his REAL first steps the other day. He did it a couple of times from the same spot then he got tired. He hasn't done it since, except for little ones here and there, but I'm excited that this is the start of our little toddler toddling! lol He also is starting to ...well..okay, not exactly feed himself, but if I get the food on the spoon, he can put it in his mouth and eat it. So, one more step to independence!

These last pics are Holden's face after eating spaghetti...it got EVERYWHERE! I love it- stained, but happy face! Also, this is how I clean out his ears! lol Multi-tasking by cleaning out ears and brushing our teeth! I was just messin' around playing with Q-tips. I showed Holden in the mirror and he just started to laugh! Man mommy's such a weirdo! Whatever I can do to entertain myself-but hey, if I can entertain Holden at the same time- MAJOR BONUS! :)