Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow.....

... but please stop sometime soon - considering weather has already cancelled TWO holiday celebrations for us already this year. Today we were supposed to go down to Grandma Diane's (Chris's mom - in Monticello) but with this weather warning we figured it wasn't worth the risk of getting down there and not being able to get back. But it has been rescheduled .... so now our holiday celebrations are lumped together: Xmas Eve (Wed) we head to Gma Bonnie and Gpa Dean's (Hoglund). Then Xmas Day we will spend with my side of the family (Gma Chris, Gpa Gary, Terri, Uncle Dennis.... AND, I am excited to say that MY Uncle Denny and Aunt Sandy and cousin Chris MacKay will be joining us this year (Shannon's family). YAY.... Christmas just isn't the same without those guys there. Then Friday we will head to Monticello for the day to celebrate our rescheduled Xmas with Gma Diane and family. Saturday we will have a day off - to which I have already asked Gma Chris to watch the boys for us so Chris and I can get out for either some sushi (I'll only eat the cooked stuff everyone - see later for explanation) or a movie. Then Sunday we will head back up to Brainerd but stop in Monticello again for the rescheduled extended Hoglund Family Xmas at Great Gma Hoglund's place. Should be a busy, but fun filled few days there.

And though this snow is prohibiting our travel, we didn't let it get the best of us..... we decided to take advantage of it and get the boys all dudded up in their snow gear and play in the snow for their first time. MacKay immediately took to it and started crawling all around and playing it in. Oscar did not know what to think and just stood there. He fell down a couple of times and got pretty upset about it... but he was a trooper and cooperated for a few good "First Romp in the Snow" pictures for us. We'll have to get them out there again so they get more used to it - tho I don't know that I will EVER be able to talk Daddy into it considering the "dressing" part of it pretty much wiped him out. :)

Some other news..... I did my (our) first Xmas cards this year. I spent forever trying to get the "perfect" picture to put on it, but then ended up accepting that I was never going to get that perfect picture. We have MORE than enough to choose from so we ordered those up and most of them are already shipped out. For those of you we weren't able to send to - I pasted an image of our xmas card below.

The boys are still doing really well. It is hard to believe that it took MacKay 2 extra months to start walking at this point... he has gotten so good at it so fast. Oscar still is more sure on his feet, but MacKay is a fast learner. Grandpa Gary and Terri stopped by this last Tuesday to see the boys now that they are back from AZ for a month... and Gpa Gary was AMAZED at how big the boys had gotten and all the new things they have learned since last he saw them 2+ months ago. They love to play with our big bouncy ball too.... I catch them laughing and giggling and throwing that thing all over the place and chasing it down. They also were playing their own version of hide and seek or peek-a-boo behind furniture the other day. They play SO well together - which will help in the months to come (again, must continue to read for an explanation of this). MacKay LOVES to play with their cell phone that they got from the Hehir's for their birthday too. He does a REAL good impression of Mommy on the phone with that and just yammers into the thing. They both love that toy and even love talking to Gma Chris on the REAL phone when they can sit still long enough for that. And just this morning Oscar apparently figured out how to use the water dispenser on our fridge. Chris did the breakfast shift with them this morning and had given them some Kix cereal to eat and was talking with family on the phone (about the weather and having to cancel our celebration today)... and all of a sudden heard thunderous giggling from the boys and looked over to find Oscar pressing the lever much to his and MacKay's delight. By the time Chris had realized this, Oscar already had a 3ft puddle of water on the floor. Nice. Must remember NOT to have their high chairs right next to the fridge. They get into everything lately.

Well.... I'll finally get to the news I keep hinting about. Many of you already know this as we have shared this information with close family and friends.... but over a week ago Chris and I found out that we will be adding another to our little clan. Needless to say, we were shocked. I'm not shy and can admit it..... I was sort of banking on the fact that I was SUPPOSED to be infertile and couldn't get pregnant. BUT... I also have to admit, the doctors (fertility and OB) both told me that pregnancy alone, let alone the hormone treatments I did for IVF, could easilly alter my body chemistry enough to "fix" the issue we had before. I just didn't believe them. It was a shock and hard to take at first.... but we're getting excited about the notion of adding another to the ranks. I should say I am getting excited - Chris jumped on that bandwagon pretty quickly, it took me longer to come around - then again, this IS happening to ME and MY body again :) No really though, it is a blessing. Guess someone in control up there wanted us to have another one whether we were ready or not... so we'll take it as a sign that this is the right course for us. We have an appt with the OB on Monday Dec 29th so we'll know more then - due date, validate there is just ONE in there this time - hee hee. I must say I am excited to get to see my OB again. He's just adorable, funny and SO wonderful - couldn't ask for a better person to get me through this again.

Well as always the pictures..... Enjoy.

Pictures of the boys with one of their best buds..... Angus. Angus is SO good and patient with these boys. They crawl all over him, poke him, invade his space... and Angus just tollerates it.

MacKay and Oscar got dressed up in the Henley shirts that Gpa Gary and Terri got for them for their birthday this year. They came with matching pants too, but the pants don't quite fit them yet. When are the kids clothes companies going to get this right anyway? :) But they were very playful and enjoyed their visit. They also brought gifts for the boys from my cousin Sarah (Greg and Claudia's daughter) - a snowman and reindeer Ty plush toy and snowman and reindeer books to go with them. They LOVED them (especially the Ty tags).... thanks Sarah. Great gift. And Grandpa amazingly (cuz this rarely ever happens for us as well) got both the boys to sit still while he read "The Roly Poly Spider" to them - what a cute classic picture of the boys with their Buppa.

MacKay and Oscar's First Romp in the Snow (12/20/2008)

Just a couple of up close pictures. Susie Commers (susieknits.blogspot.com) made adorable hats to go with their winter coats this year... but we also go these hilarious hats for the longer periods outside (ear flaps and chin latch).

MacKay loved crawling around in the snow and pushing it around and even ventured to try climb the little mound we had off of our patio. He dove right in and got white washed quite a few times.

Oscar was much more cautious and just stood there taking it all in. Eventually he would lose his balance (I'm reminded of the classic image of the child that falls down in their snow suit and can't get up and can't help but chuckle) and fall down or back... and as you can see didn't enjoy that too much

We finally just plopped them on a snow mound and got some pretty cute pictures. I think MacKay was actually trying to eat the snow off of his mittens.

And lastly just an image we would like to share of our 2008 Christmas card. If you didn't get one, it's more than likely cuz we didn't have an address for you.... so get us that and we'll put you on the list for next year :)

Will post more after the holiday celebrations and after our doctor appt to fill you all in. Have a WONDERFUL Christmas everyone. Miss you.

BTW for those of you on Facebook.com - come find me as Jill Kamp Hoglund

More Hoglund Holiday Fun

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Some Hoglund Holiday Fun

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Lots of Pictures... and News...

Hello again from the Hoglund family (me, the author, mainly). Not too much going on here lately other than the boys running the household and walking all over the place. They are getting into everything and making quite a mess. I'm trying to work with them on putting things AWAY as well as taking things OUT to play with. I'm hoping it is a "stage" or developmental thing that they aren't quite grasping that concept yet.... all they want to do is EMPTY everything and scatter it as far as they can.

MacKay has recently started doing the sharing/showing thing that Oscar has been doing for a while. Holding things up for us to see and bringing them to us (with the full expectation that they get them RIGHT back, or else). Oscar has been walking around the house saying "bay-bay" lately - wonder what that is all about :) But they are talking up a storm lately and mimicking a lot of the sounds we make... and even the WAY we say them. I say this cuz every once in a while MacKay will start "shouting" or "bitching" as we say it. Wondering if he is getting that from us when we are scolding him or trying to stop him from doing something. Either way, it is funny to see him do his impression of us - maybe we need to watch ourselves more now. :)

The boys have been trying some different foods lately too - they are so hit or miss these days on if they will like something. One will like something, the other will not. One will like something one day, then refuse to eat it another day. I guess that is to be expected. But they have tried beets (liked the first day, won't touch em now), Gma Bonnie's beef/corn/ramen hotdish (they loved it - thanks for the recipe Bon), jello, waffles, corn bread, yogurt melts, mixed steamed veggies, Teddy Grahams etc. Having an issue getting them to eat meat (REALLY wondering if these are our kids now...) but we're getting around it. But these boys LOVE their veggies - we can always count on that.

We went through the Brainerd Sertoma Winter Wonderland this Wednesday. It is an outdoor lights display put on by area businesses where you stay in your car and ride through the route... at the end in the Winter Village you can go in and get treats and visit Santa - which was the main reason we went there. Chris was CONVINCED that the Santa at this would be much better than any Santa they would have at the mall (since that attempt bombed on us a couple weeks earlier). Well.... we walked in to see a 16 year old (with blazing thick black eye brows) dressed up in fake beard and Santa outfit sitting there. We had a good laugh over that one. And surely the boys freaked out the minute we put them on his lap (they were already clinging to us before we even got there cuz of all the chaos)..... and Mr. Young Buck Santa wasn't really prepared and MacKay even started slipping off of his lap (see picture). BUT... we got a couple pictures of Santa now. Nothing good enough to use in a Xmas card, so I'm still looking for that perfect picture....

Last night we went to one of Chris's coworkers for their company Xmas party. Was so great to get out and see everyone again. The boys were good - tho MacKay reverted back to his "separation anxiety" tactics again, so that made it a little difficult here and there. But MacKay DID recognize (out of everyone there) his Auntie Jolene and reached out for her when I was holding him - so that was nice to see. I think it made Jolene feel pretty special... (which it should)

This morning we got the boys fed (and us too) and rushed out of the house to get their hair cut. Now this was a first for Oscar in many ways. A first hair cut entirely (other than just slight trims above the ears before pictures) as well as his first haircut at a salon - this time we went to Great Clips. They even grabbed a bunch of Oscar's hair and threw it in an envelope for us so we can put it in his baby book. MacKay has been there and done that a few times now. Amazing that Oscar hasn't needed a haircut til now..... but he definitely needed it now. MacKay sat down first and freaked out cuz Mommy wasn't right there with him... so I rushed over and he did fine after that. Oscar was a trooper though.... not a peep out of him. Now both the boys look fantastic and have swanky new haircuts just in time for Xmas.

We're a little bummed out, cuz this Sunday (tomorrow) we were supposed to head down to Monticello for the Hoglund family Xmas at Grandma Hoglund's... but a woman in her complex came down with whooping cough (very contagious) and with the inclement weather they keep talking about later this weekend, they decided just to cancel it. We haven't seen Bernice (Gma Hoglund) since the 4th of July... and were looking forward to seeing her. Hopefully we'll get to see her on Xmas Eve at Dean and Bonnie's though. And my Dad and Terri are back from AZ for the holidays and are planning to run down and see us and the boys for a day early next week. Will all depend on this dreaded weather... but excited to see them. And I KNOW they are anxious to see both the boys walking around - last they saw them was in September so much has changed since. Then next weekend is Xmas at Gma Diane's - excited to hang with that crew again and kick off the holidays.

Well..... as always, the pictures. You know - I am thinking I should just throw some really juicy hot updates in the middle of these posts sometime to see if anyone actually really reads the actual post or if they just go for the pictures.... hmmmm. Might just need to try that to see if anyone is paying attention out there..... or maybe I already did - huh? ;)

MacKay and Oscar at bath time. Here's what MacKay does when he has full roam of the house. Even with Daddy standing right there he just HAS to dig in our cupboards under the sink cuz he knows that is where the bath toys are. And look how he even got our baby proofing latch off - man those are so useless. Meanwhile..... Oscar is enjoying his bath as always. He has the most lovable smile....

Had to throw in some pictures (proof) of MacKay walking. He still looks a bit like Frankenstein... tho he seems to have mastered walking at a much faster pace than Oscar did... so we never got any REAL Frankenstein pictures of MacKay walking

Adorable. Everyone must go out to susieknits.blogspot.com and check out the amazing hats that she makes. Her girls hats are definitely her forte and best sellers. Susie is a good friend of mine, and is the one that made those adorable striped hats for the boys when they were first born, which I have included below (classic picture taken by Auntie Jolene - I love that look on MacKay's face like "What are you crying about?"). Recently she made some hats to go with their winter jackets for us. I strongly suggest you visit the site and if you are interested in ordering a hat from her, hit her up... or let me know and I can get you in touch with her. Heck - I even ordered up one for myself. She just makes some of the cutest things. Love ya Sus.... I'll try get better pictures of them in their hats for your blog.

More WWF wrestling at the Hoglund household. This is their nightly routine with Daddy. Much laughing (and some grunting) had by all. And Here is MacKay with his best buddy, Angus. Just so you know - Angus doesn't let ANYONE touch his feet. And here MacKay is sitting here playing with them... Angus is so much more tollerant when it comes to MacKay and Oscar.

MacKay and Oscar's first REAL tub bath. After hours of toiling and scrubbing our shower, we decided to finally move the boys into the real bath tub. They had a blast. MacKay wouldn't stop splashing everywhere and trying to dump water out of the tub... and Oscar sat there contently chewing on his rubber ducky and laughing at MacKay. The last picture is of MacKay modelling his robe that he obviously outgrew (or it shrunk in the wash) cuz it is supposed to fit up to 2 years. This was a gift from Chris's office - they have the boys' names stitched into them.

More pictures of MacKay walking - he's so proud - and so are we.

Daddy reading MacKay's favorite book (The Rolly Polly Spider) to MacKay and Oscar.

Messy faces. Here's MacKay after his first encounter with beets - man do those stain. And Oscar loves to get messy when it comes to chocolate pudding. No matter how precise we are with the spoon, he always manages to look like this.

Just some recent pictures of the boys getting cuddly and playing together. They actually hug and lie by each other when there is a pillow or blanket on the ground... so cute.

Oscar's first haircut (at Great Clips). I didn't get "after shots" as once we got home we had to feed them and put them down for their nap... but will post some later so you can see their debonaire new looks.

Our holiday picture attempts..... (unnnghh). The first two are from the Sertoma Winter Wonderland (check out the lame Santa)... and the last is a picture taken last night at the Xmas party. Couldn't seem to get them to settle down for a picture. I'm not giving up though.

Take care everyone...... and check back again.

Thanksgiving Down..... Here Comes Xmas

Well the boys are now 13 months now and have had their first real Thanksgiving celebration (I say "real" cuz last year we didn't do anything for Tgiving). We celebrated over at the Hehir's (Chris's sister and family) and had a blast. The boys were in the BEST of moods and were so giggly and playful. Jolene had them in stitches when she offered Fruit Loops (which they love) for them to munch on.. and accidentally dropped one while trying to hand it to MacKay, which for some reason struck him as utterly hysterical. He was in a fit of laughter for the longest time over that. We also got to see some old home movies of theirs..... the hightlight when Brandon (at about 2 years old) answered his mom's question of "How much do you love me" with "THREE INCHES". Classic.

Both of our lil dudes are loving crawling on things.... especially the couch if we are sitting on it. Oscar now has also learned how to get on the coffee table (something MacKay mastered a couple weeks ago but was told "No" so many times I think we scarred him for life)... and he just watches your reaction every time. And if you say "No" and head in his direction as if to remove him he VERY quickly scoots backwards and slides off before you get to him. He knows better.... but still tries to get away with it. Even tumbling face first off of it didn't seem to deter him.

They're little eating machines too - although they are starting to get their own "tastes" and getting picky. One day they will like something new that they have tried, and then the next (and the days that follow) you can't get them to eat it. And they are smart too - they KNOW what it is before they even get it in their mouth. MacKay tried and loved real oatmeal the first few times and now he won't even try it. Same with peaches - you have to trick him (but he's getting smarter and smarter). Oscar still loves to put stuff (I should say CRAM) in his mouth.. but then after sucking all the taste out of it (ham especially) he spits it out. Oscar is also known for spitting out whatever is in his mouth when he sees you bring out something else to eat that he would rather have. Doesn't quite realize it doesn't have to be one or the other. They crack me up. They love jam sandwiches, grapes, and nilla wafers though... and KIX. Boy do they love Kix. Kuddos to Daddy for picking that up on our last grocery run. He thought they might like them and he was right. They giggle the entire time and RARELY do we ever see a Kix on the floor (like most of the other food).

Oscar is quite the little stomper around here too. He practically runs. Very sure on his feet. MacKay is getting better and is initiating walking more and more. Still crawls here and there but he's seeming to tend toward walking as a first attempt to get somewhere. Lots of giggling too. It's so nice to have my boys back and not have them feeling under the weather. They are SO much fun when they are in these good moods and playful.

Saturday we took the boys out Xmas shopping. I would venture to say we are about 90% done with our shopping now. Just a few little odds and ends we still need, and I must say it feels WONDERFUL to be done this early this year. We also noticed that the Brainerd Mall (which is pathetic to say the least) has a Santa available for pictures. The boys weren't really dressed too nice for our outing yesterday so we decided we would get them spiffed up and bring them back on Sunday instead. Was very excited to see how they did with him. Unfortunately, there was some miscommunication between Santa and the mall staff on what time he was supposed to be there today though. Everyone else (and all schedules and signs) said noon.... but he and the photographer weren't planning on being there til 1:00pm. We didn't find this out til we had already been there waiting for over 30 minutes though. Normally the kids are fed and down for naps by that time so we couldn't wait any longer. UNNNNGH. I have NO patience for things like that, so that totally ruined my day. BUT... we decided to take the boys and sit them in his GIGANTIC chair and take a few pictures since we had already made the trip. We'll have to see if we can catch Santa another time......

Well, as always....... (drum roll please).... the pictures:

First off - I just had to put this out here cuz I saw this in a Target ad the other week..... can you believe there is a book out there called Ozzie and Mack? Seriously.... what are the odds?

MacKay and Oscar love to crawl over and on top of us when we are on the ground with them..... Here they are wrestling Chris

And speaking of wrestling..... yep, they still do that a ton too. Usually MacKay attacking Oscar. Here Oscar had laid down to take a breather and MacKay pretty much pounced right on him. It's all in good fun.... tho sometimes Oscar gets a little sick of having his face rubbed into the carpet and calls for help.

MacKay LOVES pillows. If you throw one down on the ground he B-Lines it over there and just throws himself on it. Here he was just sitting there so he handed it to him and he just grabbed it and hugged it tight. So cute. And the other picture is a new "trick" the boys have learned where they fool mom into thinking they are drinking their milk... but then spit it out and let it drain right down the front of them. Unnnghh. :)

They guys are always playing with our bar chairs... pushing them around, crawling around between the legs, swivelling the seats and crashing them into the granite countertops..... so I thought we would sit them in them to see what they would do. MacKay loved the new view, Oscar was more in awe and shock.

Like I said - the boys, LOVE to crawl up on the couch if that is where we are. Here's Chris trying to juggle the two of them at the same time, and both of them peering over the back of the couch looking for me (hide n go seek is always a crowd pleaser with them).

Oscar caught in the act of crawling up on the coffee table.... at the point this picture was taken he was in the process of getting down (cuz Chris was coming after him)... tho Chris stopped halfway when he saw that Oscar was getting down, which Oscar also noticed and just hung on there like that for a while to see if Chris was really going to come get him. Man, they test us. And MacKay loves digging around in our mouths and playing with our teeth.... here he is playing a game of "speed" with Chris to see if he can avoid getting his fingers chomped.

Some Thanksgiving Pictures:

Here are MacKay and Oscar eating their Fruit Loops...... we had MacKay laughing for so long just by dropping Fruit Loops when we tried to hand them to him. (Note Oscar's hair, we tried a new "do" for him that day - somewhat of a "faux hawk"... tho his hair is too long and the faux hawk just sort of curled - still cute though)

MacKay and Oscar enjoying their first Thanksgiving sitting at the table. We even gave them some mashed potatoes and stuffing (both with gravy) and they LOVED them both.

Oscar loved playing with Jolene's make shift drums (ice cream buckets) and utensils...... but really his favorite was walking around with John's water bottle. Earlier in the night they were entertained playing with a six pack of bottled water. Again - why do we get toys? And our naked (semi) little MacKay, walking around prior to getting his jammies on and heading home.

Lastly, our picture of MacKay and Oscar with Santa...... errr... ummm, I mean.... MacKay and Oscar sitting on Santa's chair.

I'm bound and determined to get a picture with Santa..... so stay tuned.