Christmas...

I gotta say the magic of Christmas is definitely bigger with kids! Cyrus was so in to Santa this year. We saw him 3 times at the mall. He began by telling him he wanted toys (as a parent I LOVE that answer!), then the week of Christmas he was so upset after we went to buy Bryker's birthday present (a nerf gun) and Cyrus decided he needed on for Christmas and Santa didn't know. So because it was almost Christmas he got to call Santa and tell him what he wanted. Thanks Spence, we owe you bigtime!

Christmas Eve we went to Hogle Zoo with my brother and sisters and had a ball. There weren't many people there and the animals were so excited to see the kids. The gorillas were doing fun tricks, and when the trainer came out she was having them do even more. She asked Cyrus to put his hand up on the glass so the gorilla would play and put his next to it, and he said, "No I'm not a monkey!" We had so much fun.

Bent spent most of the time in the stroller like this, or being held. It was pretty cold for a little one, and her plastic helmet gets really cold, but she was a trooper.

My sis Liz with her boys...

Us...

Amy, Brian, Jaron, and the soon to be baby girl.

Ben and Johanna and their kids

Bentley's Surgery

Our sweet Bentley went in for her surgery on Friday. This is before the surgery...
And this is after. Poor thing. :(
But even by the next day she was feeling better and SMILING! Her first real smiles were the day after her surgery. It's hard to imagine anyone smiling after all she went through, but I think she still just felt so much better without all the pressure in her head.

She wasn't able to keep her food down well so we were in there 4 days and 3 nights. Long and tiring nights sharing a room with a sad 2-year-old.

But now, a week post surgery, she's feeling so much better. She's much more aware, her eyes are no longer wonky, and you can just tell she's healthier. Who would have guessed a surgery would have changed so much in our little one.

Cyrus loves trying to make her smile now.

Here's our happy girl! We are so blessed.

Here's a bit about her surgery for those who want to keep reading...

The surgery lasted about 2 times as long as we had anticipated. Luckily I had my parents, and Trav and his mom to try and keep me distracted. They cut out the bone from the bridge of her nose to the crown of her head. There was so much pressure that the derma of the brain was pinched in her skull so they had to stitch it together (sounds like the neurologist did an awesome job) and her bone was so thick there it took awhile to shave it down so it will grow correctly. Her hemoglobin was low so she did have to have a transfusion, but we were expecting that. But the surgeons did an amazing job and we were lucky they were able to do it endoscopically so she has a smaller scar and can heal better. I was so happy when I was finally able to go into recovery and see her, and we definitely spoiled her while in the hospital. I don't think she was in her bed except to sleep at night.

We are so thankful for everyone's thoughts and prayers and glad the surgery is over and she can start healing. :)

Our Latest Addition... and the blessing

Yep that's right. The boys ganged up on me and decided they needed a puppy. We named her Clover and she's an English setter. She's a really good puppy and I have to admit she is fun to have in our family.

This was the morning we surprised Cyrus and brought her home. He was so excited! She was his favorite puppy of the litter, and she absolutely adores Cyrus.

Bentley was blessed this last Sunday, and she looked absolutely adorable. I had so much fun dressing her up and putting her outfit together.

Here is the Hobbs family...

The Hobbs kids...

The Kunzler girls...

And our little family...

And I just had to stick this picture in. I love Cyrus's evil face while she's screaming. It's probably a good thing he doesn't want to hold her all the time. :)

Halloween at the Hobbs

Halloween was fun this year, it's so much better when you have kids to dress up and take trick-or-treating! Cyrus was a spider and Bentley was little miss muffet.

We carved pumpkins for the first time together this year and it was lots of fun. I think it will become one of our new family traditions! Travis and Tom's favorite was definitely blowing them up afterward. :)

And as always, this is how our big nights seem to end with Cyrus zonked out in his carseat. He loved halloween this year!