Cora's First Christmas

Christmas was really nice this year. Cora slept in until about 8am, and we all made our way to the living room where Mike and I settle in with a cup of coffee and let Cora open her first Christmas Presents. I love this shot of her opening up her first gift.

Who wants to read a book when you can eat it? She decided her Little People book was a better snack than it was educational material.

Mike was on his A-Game for Christmas this year. He actually bought the dogs gifts too. They were pretty excited, as they sniffed the packaging.
Because Cora received a Tickle Me Elmo doll for Christmas we decided to let Cassius have her old Elmo doll that was a hand me down from someone else. This Elmo doll originally came with a cup and potty that he would ask for when you pressed his hand and then you would place him on the potty. But since we didn't have either the potty or the cup, he would just say, "Elmo has to go potty, Elmo has to go potty. Oh no, accidents happen." Mike jokingly said, "Well he keeps pissing all over the house, so I guess Cassius gets him." And so Elmo's fate was sealed.
Cora tried saving Elmo from the wrath of Cassius, but she was too late.

Elmo was bound for certain death :) Elmo is now a carcass that is still well loved by Cassius and Beck, but at least he isn't having accidents in the house anymore.

Twin Falls Christmas Visit

Back on the road again, we headed for our Christmas Visit in Twin Falls. Most of Mike's Family lives in the area around Twin Falls Idaho. We headed out early in the morning and made a few stops in town before settling in at his sister Christy's house. Cora was so excited to see all of her cousins and it was great because they all took over and entertained her. I guess there is one benefit of having a baby later than everyone else everyone needs a baby fix when you come over and the older cousins thinks babies are fun to entertain.
This is a cute shot of Cora and her cousin Meghan. Cora though the large stuffed tiger and lion were pretty cool.
Although, the stockings were even cooler. I had to hit Target's after Christmas Sale to pick up a teddy bear stocking because Cora couldn't get enough of the thing. She would snuggle it and just laugh out loud when she saw the stocking.

Later that day all of Mike's family, minus one sister who lives in Wyoming, arrived at Christy's house. This is a great shot of Cora with Mike's Dad, Bill, and his wife, Lou. Cora loves her grandpa Bill and spent a good amount of time happy as ever sitting on his lap. Here is Cora opening up her first present ever. She really was more interested in eating the paper than whatever was inside of the gift.

Here is a funny shot of us with some of the nieces and nephews. L-R: Peyton, Morgan, Ryan, D, Mike, Cora, & Tyler.

Cora showing off in a Santa Hat.

We spent a couple of days in Twin, just hanging out with family. It was a nice visit as usual and it was really great for Cora to be able to interact with all of her cousins. A huge thank you to Christy for letting us stay at her house, and to all of Cora's cousins, aunts, uncles, and grandparents for giving her so much attention and for entertaining her.

Seattle December 10th-14th 2010

December 10th part of The Holley Pack boarded a plane bound for Seattle to visit my parents. We rarely travel over the holidays because it just isn't worth the headache, unless we are going to DisneyWorld, so we try and visit friends and family either before or after the peak holiday travel days. This visit was a little different because my parents had moved from their hour in Snoqualmie into a cute condo in downtown Bellevue. It was really great to be able to walk everywhere and explore downtown Bellevue with all of it's holiday decorations.

Cora was a fan of my parent's kitchen sink. Here is a cute shot of her getting an evening bath.

One evening after we had walked around the mall, which was SO crowded, we needed a little decompression. On our walk back to my parent's house we stopped in at a little pizza place for a drink while we waited for our pizza to take home. Cora was so entertained by one of the water glasses. She had us laughing out loud. She would grab the glass and make all sorts of funny sounds into it and her mushed up face was pretty cute too.

Before we left for Seattle I told Mike, "I don't care what happens, the most important thing on this trip for me is for Cora to visit Santa for the first time at the Downtown Nordstrom." So we made it happen. We got up and motored to downtown Seattle early in the morning in hopes of beating the lines for Santa. We kept her in street clothes until we were in the Santa building and then switched her into her "special" Christmas outfit. The whole time we were waiting in line I was crossing my fingers just hoping that she would cooperate and be happy to see Santa. On the other hand I would have been ok had she decided that Santa = scary and her first Santa photo would have been the classic kid screaming kind. But, thankfully the stars aligned and she fully cooperated. It was our turn and so I picked up Cora out of her stroller, walked toward Santa, bent down so she was at eye level with him, and she started kicking her legs and getting all sorts of excited. She ESPECIALLY liked his beard, so much so that when I went to get her back from Santa he whispered to me, "She has a really good hold of my beard." I think what he was trying to say was, make sure to pry her hand out of my beard before you whisk her away so you don't spoil the whole thing for the rest of the kids in line :)

We were able to grab a quick family shot for our Christmas Card which was so nice. It isn't often that we are all smiling and looking in the same direction, well at least in nice clothing.

After our experience at Santa's Village we decided to walk down to Pike's Place Market. Cora was kicking her legs the entire time we were in the market. She was so excited about all the cool things to look at.

We stopped at the famous pig to snap a couple of photos of us with Cora. I think somewhere my mom has a photo of me next to this pig.

We worked up a nice appetite with all the walking and settled on a Pirosky for lunch. I think I was able to eat about 1/2 of mine because the other half ended up in Cora's mouth. She was a huge fan of the Pirosky and what a perfect food for a baby.

Next we walked over to Westlake Center and caught the rickety Seattle Monorail over to the Seattle Center. I just have to say riding this monorail made me miss DisneyWorld even more, although this monorail ride was a little scary compared to the Disney Monorail. I think the Seattle Monorail is really more of a hazard. We strolled around the Center House and decided there wasn't much to do so we boarded the death trap monorail again and headed back to Westlake Center.

My sister Anna worked for Nordstrom for many years and her two most favorite departments were the shoe and handbag departments. We decided that since Auntie is so far away and she was probably missing her favorite department store we would take Cora's photo in the handbag department. Again, Cora got all excited as soon as we pushed her into the department. Look how freaking excited she is to have a L.A.M.B. bag on her lap. I didn't want to risk what she would do with a Prada or Mark Jacobs bag.

We eventually made it to Barnes & Noble where we relaxed and called Auntie Anna to tell her about our adventures in the handbag department and about Cora's visit with Santa. Later in the week we met up with my brother, Boyce, and his wife, Khristy, for dinner. It was really great to see them and for Cora to be able to see her Aunt and Uncle again. Cora really likes her uncle, but then again he is a dork, and babies like silly people. On our last day in Seattle Mike bought me an early Christmas gift. I have been wanting an Ergo Baby Carrier for many months and finally after fiddling with our Moby Wrap for the last time, we decided to suck it up and just buy the Ergo. I was SO happy and Cora immediately loved it. Here is a great shot of Cora and I in SeaTac Airport. The greatest thing about this photo that can't be depicted is that the entire time we were walking around the airport she was saying, "Mama, mama."

The Holley Pack's 1st Shoeshoeing Adventure

Today we decided it was time to use our new snowshoes. We drove about an hour and a half from our house to Herrick Reservoir (we took our trailer there for its maiden voyage, 2009). The weather was perfect, snowing lightly and no wind! Here is Cora all bundled up in the pack. She was so happy to be outside.

Mike carried Cora for the first half of our hike. Here is a cute shot of them in the trees.

We hiked back into the spot where we camped in the summer of 2009. What a great spot to camp. We can't wait to go back this coming summer.

On the way back to the car I carried Cora. What an excellent way to step up the workout. Not only does she add some extra pounds, but carrying a child on your back really forces you to pay attention to your balance. She was such a trooper.

Both the dogs came a long as well. Beck was a total rockstar and loved the snow as usual. Cassius, the poor dog was just not built for Idaho winters. He had his jacket on and was still cold. His paws didn't take well to the snow and he almost had to be carried back to the truck. I think a trip to Cabellas is in my future where I will be purchasing a set of dog booties. I think I am also going to have to sew or buy him some doggie poly pro underwear. At least both the dogs were worn out, only one of them had a good time though.

Big Snow

It started snowing last night and didn't stop until late this afternoon. I think we got over 8 inches when it was all said and done. This is Mike shoveling the driveway after he got home from work. Cassius is such a wimpy dog. He had his coat on and still avoided as much snow as he possibly could. He probably thinks he needs a pair of winter boots to go with his coat.

Beck on the other hand LOVES the snow. She played outside with Mike the entire time he was shoveling, which was a long time. Mike would throw her ball into the deepest patches of snow that he could find, or send her running up and down the street. She was pleasantly worn out when they came in from shoveling.This is Cora's first time really being in the snow. She was watching Mike out the window and was getting pretty excited. I bundled her up and set her down in the snow for a second or two. I don't think she really knew what to think about it but she didn't get upset.

Later in the afternoon Mike, Cora, and I went to the YMCA to workout (well Cora goes to childcare). She was watching the snow fall and was looking up as if she was saying, what the heck is this stuff falling from the sky.

After we worked out I couldn't take it any longer. I bought new telemark skis about a month ago and since I couldn't go up the hill today, I tried out my new skis in the street. I think I will be really happy with them, they are so much shorter and therefore more manageable than my last pair.

Cora & The Christmas Tree

For those of you who really know me, this post may shock you so you may want to sit down. Here it goes, I actually set up a Christmas Tree this year. I think the last time I set up a tree or did anything for Christmas in this house was 2006. I guess my little Grinch heart is getting a little bit bigger and making room for some Christmas cheer. Well, I don't know about that, but maybe it has something to do with Cora and wanting her to have happy memories of Christmas. So anyway, here are some cute photos of her checking out the tree.

Thanksgiving Weekend

Thanksgiving this year was so different from previous years. In the past, I was always VERY involved in our Annual Orphan's Thanksgiving Celebration. There are a lot of us here in Boise that don't have family to spend the holidays with so for Thanksgiving we all would get together and bring something to contribute. Well, over the last 10 years it has grown, a lot! Last year I think we hit almost 50 people. I was had always been so involved in the planning or just involved in making a lot of dishes for the event. This year, I had to work the night before and the night of Thanksgiving which robbed me of all motivation to do anything to prepare for the holiday. It still feels weird a couple of days later to not have made a pie. We are so thankful for our friends that invited us to spend Thanksgiving with them. It was so nice not to have to worry about cooking anything when you have been up for over 24 hours.

Regardless of how I felt, I still had to prep Cora for the holiday. Here she is in a cute outfit that her rockin' Aunt Anna bought for her while I was prego. I am so happy it fit her for Thanksgiving. The hat, well she is a Holley and takes after her dad so her noggin is HUGE and the hat was a little small, but still cute.

D & Cora on Thanksgiving (don't mind my looks, I had been up for 24+ hours :) )

Cora in her Thanksgiving Outfit

I went to work Thanksgiving night and Mike worked the day after Thanksgiving. Thank goodness for awesome friends like Christina, who are willing to watch Cora for us during the time between when Mike goes to work and when I get out of work in the morning. I can't thank her enough for what she does for us.

Cora and I spent a lot of Friday napping, I was so thankful for that. Working two nights in a row really wears on me because I really can't sleep much during the day. Later in the afternoon we decided to venture out to see what the big fuss was about regarding "Black Friday". I have never been out shopping the day after Thanksgiving because in all honesty shopping really isn't my thing and I am usually working the day after Thanksgiving. This year, I decided to head out in the afternoon to see if there were really any good deals. Cora and I visited Target and surprisingly the crowds were minimal, but so were the deals. I ended up getting some socks and a jacket for Cora.

Saturday morning Mike got off shift and we were pretty boring most of the day. We decided later in the evening that we had to get out of the house. We ventured to downtown Boise for the Tree Lighting Ceremony in the Grove. We met up with a couple of friends and it was a great way to kick off the holiday season. One could not have asked for a better atmosphere either. There were big fat snowflakes falling from the sky and with all the lights of the city it was just perfect for the lighting of the tree. Something funny though, for those of you who know me, you probably know that I am not really a fan of Christmas, I think I might be part Grinch. Anyway, I don't know if it is having a kid or if I am just getting soft in my old age, but I am actually looking forward to Christmas this year, my little Grinch heart is growing : )

Below are a couple of photos of us at the tree lighting.

D, Cora, & Mike

D & Cora

Well, that is it for now. We have been pretty boring lately. There is snow on the foothills and I can't wait to get out into the mountains for some tele skiing. I have pretty new tele skis to try out this year. My poor legs are in for a wake up call after no skiing last season.

Cora The Explora Does Chores

Mike and are are pretty tough parents. I mean come on, we already are making our 6 month old fold laundry.

Well, ok so we really aren't tough, but look how much fun she is having "helping" with the laundry. She was fighting me for pieces of laundry to fold. She loved being in the basket next to the warm clothes fresh out of the dryer.

I spent a lot of time at my dad's office as a kid filing paperwork for him. Child labor came pretty cheap :) We are getting Cora all ready to do some filing for Grandpa next month when we go and visit him. Gotta toughen up those finger pads to avoid paper cuts.

All that work makes for a tired baby.

Zeitgeist Half Marathon

Six months ago Mike and I welcomed Cora Sneh into The Holley Pack. To celebrate Cora's six month milestone, I decided to run a half marathon, well kind of. I decided to train for a 1/2 marathon at the end of August, thinking it would be a great way to continue to get back to my pre-pregnancy fitness level, and it just so happened that the Zeitgeist Half Marathon fell on the 6 month milestone.
I wish I had some photos to share of the starting line, but Mike and I barely made it to the starting line in time. In fact, we were in line for the bathroom when the race gun went off :) Our friend Sarai was at the finish line and took photos of us. Thank you Sarai for coming out to support us and for sharing your talent by snapping a couple of photos of us.The race was great but made me realize I need to work on running more hills and more strength training, ski season is just around the corner.
I can't believe 6 months has already flown by. I am so happy we have Cora in our pack, she makes every day awesome!