Merry Christmas Dylan.....

Our Holub Family!

Cheeser Dylan!

Precious, our two little miracles!

Dylan LOVES to read books.

Dylan opening presents with Cassie & Kenzie!

Hey daddy, look at this!

Merry Christmas!

What a wonderful Christmas it was for Dylan this year. He got to celebrate with his new little sister at home! It was priceless this morning when Dylan woke up and came into the living room to see what Santa had brought. He ran over to his new toys and said 'oh what's that' and was pointing to everything! Here is a video of him checking out his new toys, pretty cute!

Christmas Eve we went out for a family dinner at the Olive Garden. It was a great time and both kids were great. Dylan ate a whole kids pizza, 5 pieces! He loved it and got his belly full.

Then we were back home and to bed to get ready for Santa. It was priceless this morning seeing Dylan get into opening gifts this year and really 'knowing' what was going on. He wasn't too much into tearing them open but he would tare open a part and the peek at what was inside. Santa must have thought that he was a pretty good boy this year! Then it was off to Great Grandma Holub's house for a Christmas visit. She was very happy to see the kids and Dylan's 2 cousins were very happy to see him also. Cassie and Kenzie helped him open a few gifts from their family also.

We were back home for an afternoon Christmas dinner. Mommy made a Pork Tenderloin and smoked ham. Dylan wasn't much for the pork tenderloin but he did eat the ham and some green bean casserole. That was all that he was hungry for this Christmas dinner. He sure was pooped out after a long Christmas day. He was a very good boy and loved playing with his new toys and mostly he loved reading his new books. His Thomas book plays 'twinkle little star' and he loved that and his new dog book was very appropriate and telling all about his favorite animal 'puppies'! And then the toys that make noise, the new tool bench and daddy's favorite the non noise maker 'big boy' basketball hoop!

What a memorable Christmas 2008 was. We think back to just 2 years ago when we spend Dylan's first Christmas with him in the University of Iowa NICU. That Christmas was just as memorable as this year but the difference is that now Dylan is able to enjoy his holiday at home and now with his little sister! Dylan had the enjoyment of opening many of Danielle's gifts also. A few he really wanted to keep playing with so the new challenge will be for him to let Danielle play with her toys and she can share with him.

Our family is really taking notice of the true meaning of Christmas more and more every year. The first year when we found out we were pregnant with Dalton we thought we were finding out the true meaning of Christmas then, but the next year having Dylan in the NICU we thought then, last year with our first Christmas with a child at home we thought then, and now this year with two little miracle babies at home we think we have found out the true meaning. What will next year, Christmas 2009 bring for our family? We hope it will bring togetherness thru God's love. What a blessing to be able to spend one of the most important spiritual days of the year together, with our children in our home with the ones we love. We have been thinking as sad as it seems that some people have lost the true meaning of Christmas.....for them we pray, that they find the meaning in their hearts and share it next year with the ones they love. We will try and do the best we can to raise our children in a well rounded home with family traditions and spiritual meanings and we hope this will stay with them for the rest of their lives. Tis' the season for togetherness, Merry Christmas 2008. 'Miracles happen to those who Believe'!~

Dylan's big adventure.....cutting down a Christmas tree!

'Hey this one is just my size!'

This one was the winner! Dylan's trip down the hill, holding on to daddy for dear life!

Say Cheese!

The weekend after Thanksgiving we decided to take advantage of the nice warm weather and continue our family tradition......cutting down a Christmas Tree. We got a sitter for Danielle and took Dylan out to Wickiup Hill Tree Farm for a journey amongst hundreds of tree's. This is a place that Brad and I have gone the past 5 years and we have been very pleased at what they offer.

It was pretty funny this year because last year Dylan was not walking when we took him. This year was a whole another story! This place is very hilly and is a little bit rough terrain. Dylan immediately took off up the hill, and then across the hill, and then he decided he wanted to run down the hill......'not so fast little one'. A tumbling he went, he stopped, got up and laughed, he was having a great time. They do have John Deere Gators there, they will take you up to the top of the hill if you want so it is easier on little feet, but we declined and walked, the little man loved it, about 15 minutes in we found the perfect tree!

So daddy got out the saw and cut it down and slid it down the hill while I held a tight grip on to Dylan's hand trying to avoid another tumble down the hill. Brad and I talked and this year because of all of the toys and baby gear in the living room we were going to get a smaller tree that was slim and not as round and not as tall. Well Brad stood the tree up to see how tall it was and......so much for our nice thoughts we had, we wound up with a 8.5 ft tall tree and when we got it home it was as plump as ever! We looked at each other and laughed considering our ceilings are only 8 ft tall! So we had them place it on the shaker, good thing because there was a birds nest hiding in there, had it netted and we were off on our way back home! It was a wonderful experience carrying on with our family tradition and we can't wait until next year when we will have 2 toddlers to chase up and down the hill trying to find the perfect tree!

Dylan has been picking up new words it seems like every 4-5 days now. It is pretty funny listening to him spit out a new word that we have not heard him say or worked with him on. Last week it was 'Hawkeye' and 'Uh oh, who's that' and 'why', everything now is we ask him to do something or better yet to NOT do something and we get, 'why'. It is very hard not to laugh when we are trying to discipline him and he is asking us 'why'. It is pretty cute and very rewarding listening to your children learn new things! Dylan also last week has started to get a little jealous of his little sister. We started noticing him wanting picked up every time we are in her room. So I started putting him in the crib with her in the mornings when I give her breathing treatments. He loves to sit in there and watch her as she lays in her boppy and he plays with her stuffed animals in her crib. This weekend daddy was deer hunting and mommy had the kids, I noticed him being envious a little more. During nap time he wanted me to hold him while I was holding her, it was a little challenging but it worked and eventually I was able to put them both down after they fell asleep. So Brad and I are just going to continue on working on giving him some extra attention and snuggles and play time in the evenings before he goes to bed and hopefully this will make him feel special! Our sitter has not noticed this at daycare so that is good, but he also has his little friends to play with there to keep him content.

Our little man is just getting so big. We look at Danielle and it is crazy thinking that just a short time ago Dylan was her size and now look how big he is and what a little man he has become! He is such a little character and he keeps our lives busy and keeps us on the move every day. We pray for continued health, happiness and safety now and throughout the New Year.~