Christmas Recap

The Hollis Family

Hudson throwing his new football at Maw Maw. :-/ We've since had a serious talk about throwing balls indoors.

Hudson and his great grandmother

Taking a break

Daddy got a new chainsaw. Hooray. Guess I'm about to have a lot less trees in the yard.

Hudson got his first "real" golf clubs which he nearly killed us with.

Playing with his new drill.

I'm ready to build something!

Emma, Lantis and me

Eating some fudge.

Me and my little love bug.

Daddy and Hudson

Lantis Hudson and Bebe.

Santa came and left us lots of great goodies!

Hudson fresh from bed Christmas morning, drinking his milk and trying out his new Pottery Barn chair. (which I ran out of time to monogram and have to take it back to have his name put on it.)

Trying out his new airplane.

What's in here?

I love my chair!

Driving his plane. He loves it!

Christmas day at my parents. Santa left a work bench for all Hudson's new tools. He's ready to work!

Hudson and his cousins--Grayson and Bailey.

We had a wonderful Christmas!! I hope everyone else did too. Unlike some folks, we dont have a thousand places to visit for the holidays so ours are usually laid back and I'm thankful for it. Christmas Eve we had Christmas with Lantis' family and Christmas day was spent with mine. Here are a few pics of the events.

I bring you good news

"...I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger." Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel praising God and saying, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests." Luke 2:10-14

Christmas gathering #1 of 2009

We had a fun little family gathering with my mother-in-law's side of the family this past weekend. I always love opportunities to show off my little man. Here are a few photos from the party.

The Hollis' and Santa

Hudson was very excited about his gift from Santa. Christmas morning should be lots of fun!

I went up with Hudson to see Santa. Check out Hudson's expression! Haha!!

I just loved the way little Eady looked at Santa--such an innocent child-like gleam in her eye.

Santa came to our party! (aka Uncle John--a member of the real bearded Santa association)

Cousin Katie led us in Christmas carols while waiting on Santa to arrive.

Hudson enjoying a candy cane in Auntie Em's lap.

Four Generations--Maw Maw, Becky, Lantis and Hudson-working on a candy cane. Hehe!

The Reaves siblings with their mom and our sweet Maw Maw

My little sis in law, Emma, and her man, Nick. I nearly died when I realized Em was old enough to bring a boyfriend to the family gathering. She was 7 years old when Lantis and I started dating! My how the time flies. Our little Em is growing up.

Let the grazing begin

Hudson found the cupcakes, of course.

Aunt Cherry and Josie

Aunt Nancy preparing the ham. (Lantis sneaking into something-probably chocolate-in the background)

The beautiful Parks girls

Last minute gift

The presents are wrapped and under the tree, the groceries are bought, the stockings are hung--I guess we're just waiting on Ol' St Nick to arrive. Except....for that ONE STINKING PRESENT I have left to buy! I'm not looking forward to being out in the hustle and bustle later today. I ordered my niece's present online from American Girl. I realized several days after it should have arrived at our house that it was no where to be found. I go to the UPS website and track it and it says it was delivered last Wednesday at 4:27 pm to our front door. I'm a frequent online shopper and I've never had a problem with UPS or FedEx. If our UPS guy says he scanned it and left on our doorstep, I believe him. Plus the UPS/FedEx delivery system is pretty fool proof. I have no idea what could have happened to the package!? I'm completely baffled. I cannot imagine someone walking up the big hill to our house to steal a package off the front porch. We live in a nice trustworthy neighborhood. American Girl is hot stuff right now, but my sis says when she's ordered stuff from them there's no indication on the outside box as to what it is. That means they would have been taking a gamble as to what they were stealing. Also, my neighbor probably would have noticed someone making the treck up our driveway and up the front porch steps. If someone didn't take it, what in the world could have happened to it? Lantis and I both have things shipped to the house frequently--especially at the holidays--so we are very accustomed to having boxes around the house and checking to make sure they are empty before disposing of them. Neither one of us picked up a package off the front porch in the time frame that it was supposedly delivered. We have turned the house upside down looking for it just in case we "forgot" that we picked it up or mistook it for another online purchase. We even went out in the yard and looked in the bushes and all around the driveway and garage thinking maybe it was somehow blown off the front porch or the UPS guy put it somewhere else. No luck. So, where ever Bailey's intended gift is right now, I hope its with someone who needs it more than we do. Unfortunately at this late hour I can no longer get a gift for Bailey's American Girl doll unless I want to drive to Atlanta so I'm on to plan B. What is plan B you ask? Hell if I know! I'm going to go on an emergency shopping trip to several stores with bare shelves most likely. Wish me luck, friends!

Injury Update

We took Hudson to the doctor yesterday to have his foot checked. After his tumble from the steps he wouldn't walk or put any weight on his right foot. He would crawl and scoot around the house to get where he needed to go. Otherwise he just wanted to be held. Hudson is a VERY busy little guy and is not a "hold me" kind of kid. If he's spending time in your lap or in your arms, there's a problem. He's got too much to do--no time for loving. Anyway, they did some x-rays and determined that there were no broken bones or fracutres so he must have bruised it badly. Last night he started standing on it and putting a little weight on it. This morning he was walking on it with a limp. It looks like we will be back in action in time for Santa! Yay!

Is that DHR calling?

We had a fun family filled weekend. Hope everyone else did too. I managed to get some things accomplished around the house that I've been putting off for way too long--like scrubbing toilets and dusting. Hudson was a huge little helper. I gave him a dust rag and a swiffer duster and he went to town. He dusted everything within his reach. He would walk over every 5 minutes and have me spray a little Pledge on his rag. It was way too cute. I'm just wondering at what point DHR is going to show up at my house for violating child labor laws. I've had him vacuuming the floors for awhile now. He loves the dust buster. He vacuums underneath his chair after every meal and when he's done there, he'll carry it around the house vacuuming everything until it runs out of power.

Just before dinner he took a little tumble off the bottom step and since then he will not put any pressure or weight on his right foot. He scoots and crawls around the house and he cries anytime he stands up. We're making a visit to the doc this afternoon to have it checked on and get x-rays. Say a little prayer for us that we will not be spending Christmas in a cast and DHR will not carry me away to the big house.

Merry Christmas!

Our family Christmas card by me...or Lens Envy. :) Merry Christmas from me to you!

Reviews

I have been in a TV and movie-watching mood lately. I haven't had any good books to read so late in the evening when I'm winding down I've been finding something to watch On Demand. I love being able to rent movies from the comfort of my sofa while wearing pj's. :) Technology is wonderful.

Four Christmases: Hilarious. I love Reese Witherspoon and Vince Vaughn in the majority of their movies. It gets four stars.

The Ugly Truth: OMG Beyond Funny!!!! I laughed uncontrollably through most of the movie. It earns two thumbs up for sure.

Angels and Demons: Good movie, but not as good as Divinci Code. I'll give it three stars. It is worth seeing.

Last night I watched the National Lampoons Christmas Vacation. Goodness, that movie never fails to brighten my mood. Too funny! It needs no rating because surely you've all seen it.

I also recently caught up on the entire first season of Gossip Girl. That show has taken the place of Grey's Anatomy and Sex and the City in my heart. If you haven't seen it--it reminds me a lot of Sex and the City. They live in Manhattan and obsess over designer clothes and swap boyfriends. Its a lot of drama and it totally cracks me up the way these characters live on this show. I've just gotten into it this season so now I'm catching up on the past seasons. Love it. Watch it, friends!

Hudson update

While I have some free time, here is a little Hudson update:

I couldn't ever find time to take him to a studio and get a good photo with Santa so a couple of weeks ago while we were out running errands we stopped by the Bass Pro Shop which is practically in our back yard and took him to see Santa. I just wanted a cheesy Santa picture to look back on and laugh at in a few years and I certainly got one! Maybe next year I will get in the Christmas spirit earlier and will hire a good Santa.




One afternoon he was being silly and playing in the driveway and I thought, "hmm...I might have the cutest little boy ever." hehe! I do love this handsome little guy. Hudson+converse and button down shirts=melt my heart!!!



He's really gotten into wearing hats. He loves wearing them and will keep them on for extended periods of time. This hat is his favorite. He's such a charmer.



He and I went on a picture taking adventure a few weekends ago on a pretty Saturday and I got a few sweet pictures of him.

Hudson and Bear Bear

He will be 21 months old this week. He survived his first and only ear infection over Thanksgiving holiday.

He loves going to school. He sings his own sweet little version of the abc's, "a, c, eee, iiiiii, zzzzz!"

He has a bear that Lantis made for him at the Build a Bear in Boston when I was pregnant. Hudson named him Bear-Bear. He has lately been carrying Bear Bear around everywhere.

He LOVES our dog Buddy, but he says "Duddy". He shouts orders at the poor dog constantly and the dog is so patient. "NO Duddy, sit Duddy, eat Duddy". Hudson loves being in charge of something. He never lets the dog out of his sight and if the dog tries to escape for one peaceful minute, Hudson runs around the house saying "Duddy!? Where Duddy go?" He feeds Duddy every night at 5:30 like clockwork even without us telling him to do it. You could set your clock by that kid's routine.

He loves to dance, play the drums, and sing in the car to the radio or whatever I'm jamming to on my iPod. He loves Lady Antebellum and anything sounding remotely like rap or hip hop. When a song comes on that he can dance to he puts his hands on his head and starts bouncing that little booty.

He talks constantly. Really. He never stops, but it is the sweetest background noise I've ever heard. He says the funniest things!!

He loves the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and the hot dog song that they sing. He calls it the hot dog mouse. He doesn't understand why Hot Dog Mouse isn't on TV all the time. He also gets into the Imagination Movers these days. Hopefully Santa will bring a few of those DVD's. ;)

When we're in public he never fails to wave and say hello to girls. Particularly blondes. I caught Lantis the other day trying to teach him to say, "Hello ladies!" Geeze.

He loves the Christmas tree and is stressed if the lights aren't on. They MUST be on at all times! Ha!

He does something new everyday as those of you with kids know. They change daily and grow up way too fast. Needless to say, we have a blast with him.

SCROOGE!

Yes, I am in fact still alive. Can you say busy and preoccupied!? I can't because I don't have time. Ha! I have so much and nothing to report. We've had lots and lots going on in the Hollis house the last few weeks. I've been in denial about the arrival of the Christmas season. I typically have my Christmas decorations up after Halloween and my shopping completed by Thanksgiving. This year Thanksgiving came and went and I haven't put up my tree or even made a Christmas list much less started checking it off. I just dont feel the holly jolly spirit this year and frankly the season snuck up on me somehow.

I really debated putting up no decorations this year which is completely out of character for me. Those of you who have seen my house at Christmas know that I have garland draped over everything that stands still, at least two trees, and a nutcracker collection that would make the Smithsonian jealous. I decided last week that I would be the most horrible mom in the world if I didn't at least put up a tree for my son. I put up our smallest Christmas tree, a wreath on the front porch and hung the stockings on the mantel. After the tree was up for several days I realized that the holidays are inevitable whether I'm ready or not so I'd better start buying some gifts. After a couple of trips to the mall and a several online purchases I'm now finished with my Christmas shopping. I feel extremely relieved and now I just have to sit back and wait for the celebrations to begin.

I had a super fun interior design event this past Wednesday night. It was held at Workplay and the band was phenomenal!! They were a Beatles tribute band. I'm a Beatles fan so I thoroughly enjoyed it. Even those who weren't Beatles fans said they loved the music and were surprised by how many tunes they knew but had no idea the Beatles sang. They started out with a rocking performance of "Come Together". When the bass started booming through the theater and the lead singer started "shoop"-ing into the mic I knew a great night was ahead. We had a blast! We were all thankful for the vendors who threw this fun bash.

Christi (my co-worker), Denise (my boss), and me

The band

Some former co-workers of mine--Jennifer, Alesha, me and Lori

One of my best friends--Alesha--and me