Giving Thanks

Thanksgiving was a great day with family and friends. Kevan's mom, Anna, came into town and we all enjoyed spending some quality time with her (especially her spoiled grandson!). Ezekiel even learned to say "Nana" while she was here, which was so darn cute. He kept saying her name over and over. One of Kevan's buddies from work joined us, too. We always love that. Seems like every Thanksgiving we have someone new brave enough to be part of the family for the day - and it always makes the day more special. We continued the Holbrook family tradition and logged what each of us our thankful for in our "Thankfulness journal". Such a neat thing to look back on over the years!

BUT, I have to confess, there was a big hole in my heart on Thanksgiving as we missed Matthew's family, Andrew's family, and Rebekah this year. They were spread all over the globe, and it was hard not to share the day with them. CAN'T WAIT FOR CHRISTMAS all the more... only 22 days until Rebekah comes home!!!

I especially missed Beckah as I attempted to take pictures - she always takes the best family pictures. So, here are a few measily attempts to capture the day! (We took like 87 pics of our little family of 3... and the one above is as good as it gets!) =)




Helping Dad give directions - one more friend coming to play!


Ezekiel at the "kid table"


Lots of story time with Grandma and Papa Mark


Saying a sleepy goodbye to Nana at the end of a fun weekend!

Sheepish

I'm back! I'm back! I am embarrassed by how long it's been since I've posted anything adorable or funny about my son. I guess we have been busy... but a good kind of busy. Lots of new babies coming in our world so we've been celebrating with baby showers for our dear friends. I was also able to go on a women's retreat last weekend with my church, which was wonderful! My friends Jen and Heidi (and their husbands) watched Ezekiel while I was gone since Kevan had to work. I know he had a great time, and it was really good for me to relinquish control for a couple days. I am getting better and better about leaving him (I promise!). But he is just so darn fun to be with!

Ezekiel is also keeping us busy these days. He is into EVERYTHING. As exhausting as it can be to keep up with him sometimes, I LOVE this stage and love watching him discover. He can play with things for endless amounts of time, fascinated by the littlest details. One of his favorite discoveries is the lid on our kitchen trash can. If I'm missing anything, the first place I look is the trash because he'll sneak anything he can in there. Today I found 5 baby blocks and a pair of my shoes!

What's really sweet is when he invites you to play with him. He'll come toddling up to us holding out a book and saying "mama?" or "dada?" How could we not read to him? He also loves his hair brushed so he finds his little comb and brings it to us and stands there with the most peaceful look on his face while we comb his hair.

One thing I am sure of about this season of life: I am not missing anything. I am enjoying and savoring every moment with my little family and with our amazing son. I am soaking it in. Life is about to change in just a few short weeks, but we enjoying the sweetness of this moment.

Some fun pictures to bring you up to date (sorry it's taken so long to get you pics of Ezekiel's cute little costume!):

Our little lion learned to roar just in time for Halloween!

"Mom, I am too hot in my costume!!"

He loves to hang out with his dad!

Boo is Back!

Boo Fest was a success! What a great time we had... especially watching all the kids enjoy themselves! We watched Charlie Brown's Pumpkin movie, ate yummy chili, and carved pumpkins. This is always such a great time... we already can't wait for next year!

My creative husband's handiwork:

Our first guest!


Pumpkin carving fun!

Just 3 of the many pregnant guests!

So cute... enjoying the Charlie Brown movie

Gloomy Pumpkins

In an effort to keep up with tradition (2 whole years running!), Heidi and I were determined to take the kids to the pumpkin patch for a photo shoot. But the fires and the icky heat made for a pretty gross day - and some pretty funny wilted pumpkins! We only stayed a bit because the kids were getting really hot, but we made the most of it! Here are the best pictures we could get!




Our little walker!


Is this heat bothering you, my love?


We'll be okay, dear.

What really matters...

It's been said before, but it sure is easy to get caught up in the trivial stuff. The past two weeks have brought some not-so-fun challenges our way - like Kevan's car needing a new engine, Ezekiel's first fever, and our dryer deciding not to work anymore. I am constantly being challenged with the question: What are truly "needs" and what are simply luxuries that we have become used to expecting? And, whenever I find myself stressing about those luxuries, I am reminded of the things that are most important in life: people, shelter, food, fellowship... and I realize how rich we truly are. God has always provided for us, and He always will- and sometimes these little hurdles are opportunities to thank Him for His provisions. We have much to be thankful for! Just a few for tonight:

• Today Kevan took Ezekiel out for a few hours while I worked on making the "girl" wall in his room. I painted and pulled out all the sweet little decorations I've been collecting. It will soon be ready to bring sister home to!
• Our little girl is kicking and rolling like crazy - such an awesome reminder to me that she is growing stronger every day.
• So many opportunities lately to be thankful for the partnership I share with my husband. He is the best teammate when it comes to parenting and life. I love that we are in this together and that we work so well as a team.
• Every week I am so thankful for my mom and her willingness (and joy!) to watch Ezekiel while I work from her house. It is such an ideal situation and she makes working so much easier because I know my son is in the best of hands.
• All of us in good health again!

And here are some fun pictures from our family day at the pumpkin patch:

How could we ask for anything more?!

Capturing the cuteness

I am too tired to post much tonight, but I just had to share some of the cute things Ezekiel is doing lately. Kevan and I say to each other at least 5 times a day "don't we have the best little boy?" or "isn't our son so amazing?" We are so in awe of this precious gift God has given us.

-Tonight as I rocked Ezekiel before bed he started humming before I could start singing to him. It was so cute to hear him try to hum a little tune.
-He has started saying "tickle tickle"... which is just about the cutest thing ever. He says it when we are about to tickle him, and and when he tickles whatever he can get his hands on. "Tickle tickle" blankie. "Tickle tickle" remote control. If you're lucky, he just might "tickle tickle" you. Adorable.
-So, back to our rocking/humming session tonight. While he was humming, he would stop every few seconds and say "tickle tickle" and then get back to the song!
-We watched Kate on Saturday night and Ezekiel would just randomly hug her as they played. He really loves his little friend. Kate would kiss him back and they both would end up knocking each other over. So funny to watch them together!

Of course there's more but that's all for tonight! Sweet dreams.

Walking!

Ezekiel is officially a walker! After much waiting and anticipation, our son finally decided that today was the day. He simply stood up in the middle of the living room and started walking. Just like that! No coaxing, no teaching, no bribes. Just on his own volition. Go figure. And then he fell down and got right back up again and kept on walking. He's been doing it all afternoon and we can hardly believe it! These "firsts" are so much fun - every milestone is more amazing than I could have ever imagined. Kevan and I are like a couple of goons over here taking video and cheering him on. We are so proud!!

I'll try to get some video on my digital camera so I can post it!

PS: By the end of the afternoon, every time he fell after a little walking stint he'd sit there and clap for himself with a big goofy grin before getting up again. So cute.

Beautiful Baby Girl

Through the amazing technology of 4D ultrasound, today we got to meet our baby girl! How fun to see her sweet little chubby cheeks and watch her move around in my belly. I know these pictures can look a little alien-ish, but we think she is beautiful! We also think she looks a bit like her big brother...


Here you see her face, hand, and cord under her chin


All curled up...hands and feet are all up around her face



Her little profile




And, just for fun, here is a picture of big brother while he was waiting to be born. What do you think? See any similariteis?

Uh-Oh

Yeah, that's what I said when I saw my son eat ravioli for the first time. I have to confess, I never thought pictures of kids with food all over their face were very cute. Even now that it's my own son, I still don't think it's very cute. But it's dang funny. Just the whites of his eyes are showing under all that tomato sauce! Gross.

Welcome Fall!

We sure enjoyed the cool weather that blew in this weekend... it actually started to feel like autumn for a few days! So, before I missed the moment, I welcomed the new season with a pumpkin spice latte and an afternoon of decorating. Ezekiel and I had a great time getting the house ready - and who cares if it's back to 80 degrees today?!

By the way, funny thing about fall: I blame my husband entirely for the way I get all excited about this season. I'm pretty sure it's his favorite time of year, for exactly 2 reasons: Football and halloween. Two things I didn't really care about until I met him. And now I get just as giddy as he does (well, almost). For starters, football season is like another holiday in our household. I realized when I married Kevan that the Broncos would forever be a part of our marriage, so I stopped resisting and started making nachos. And every Sunday we celebrate (after church, of course). And halloween... oh my crazy husband and halloween. For the past two years, we have not only handed out candy to every neighbor kid within a 20-mile radius, we have also hosted our annual BOO Fest (watching movies in the backyard) and Kevan and his buddies build a maze in our garage. It is crazy, it is over the top, but it is FUN. Our neighbors always know when fall has arrived: They hear Kevan yelling for the Broncos and see our garage converted into a neighborhood attraction.

Fish out of water

On father's day, our friend Bruce at church gave us two tickets to the Aquarium of the Pacific with instructions to take Ezekiel. So, on one of Kevan's recent days off we had a family outing to this wonderful place. What a great day! Kevan and I kept commenting on how much Ezekiel was really enjoying himself. We spent 4 hours there and I don't think he fussed once - just smiled and enjoyed the animals and people and time on daddy's shoulders. Afterward, I was really in the mood for seafood (is that weird?!) so we had a scrumptious shrimp dinner at Joes Crab Shack. It was the perfect day... thank you, Bruce!


First glimpse of sea life



Can we get in?!



This was Kevan's favorite part of the day... I'm pretty sure Ezekiel is just wondering why there is a bird on his stoller!




Yes!! Seaweed! So cool.

Thankful...

Doesn't my son look so OLD in this picture?!

In the spirit of my friend Carrie's blog, here are a few things I am SO thankful for today:

1.) This adorable picture that Kristen took during her trip to CA last week. We had such a great time together, and such wonderful conversations. I LOVE that we can just pick up where we left off and dig right into the "good stuff" in life even after months apart. (I wish we could have tivo-ed last week and that I could just replay it whenever I miss you, Kris!)

2.) How easy it is to cook for my husband. Every dinner I make he is so impressed and always thanks me, no matter how simple. Plus, he likes to eat almost anything and that makes it SO easy to prepare meals!

3.) That, even though we just dropped a boat load of money into car repairs, my car does not sound like the one I heard in the Target parking lot the other day. I'm telling you, it could always be worse!

4.) The "Stroller Strides" class I went to this morning. It is a workout designed specifically for moms with their babies in tow. So fun and SO HARD. I'm pretty sure I won't be able to walk tomorrow, but at least I feel good about myself. =)

5.) 8 - 10 p.m. My magic hours that I get all to myself. Ezekiel sleeps, Kevan works and I get to do whatever I want until I fall into bed totally exhausted.

Due to stroller strides, I think I will cut my magic hours a bit short and call it an early night.

G'night!

First Haircut

Before!







Well, we finally broke down and cut our little guy's hair. One too many people started to ask if he was a girl, so off came his cute little curls. Grandma took us to Rainbow Kids where Ezekiel got to sit in an airplane chair and have a grand time while he transformed from baby to little boy. I miss his curls sometimes... but he does look pretty darn cute with his new 'do.