Six months old!

Patiently awaiting his supper of bananas, his favorite food to date.

 January is the month of half birthday's! Quinn remembers his Mom making treats to take to school to celebrate his half birthday, since he has a July birthday, and was never able to bring treats to celebrate like other kids who didn't have summer birthdays. So, since Sam was 6 months old on the 25th, we decided to start the half birthday celebrations now. Quinn, Sam and Odelia all have half birthday's this month, so all had to wear hats for dinner. Sam's first tooth came in this past week, and it was a lot less problematic than we expected, just an insane amount of drool. However, he has many more to come and I'm sure they won't all be so smooth sailing. 

Out of curiosity, we wonder how many people out there are following these blog posts. So if you are a follower of the, Holub Happenings, we would love to know! And to know that we aren't just posting out into cyber space. Please take a moment to sign in as a follower so we decided if we should continue these posts or not. 

"Faster Daddy, faster, I'm hungry!"

Odelia was less than enthused to be wearing a hat, but participated all the same.

Sam is rolling in all directions and getting on all fours and scooting backwards

I love this picture, he looks very astute and more and more like a big boy, than a baby.
Which is a little sad for me, as I love this baby stage. 

We tried hiking this past weekend with the kid pack instead of the stroller. MUCH easier for those tight spots that we always seem to find ourselves in. It always astounds us where Sam can fall asleep. He slept through the last hour of the hike on Daddy's neck.

This is his new goofy smile. He scrunches up his face and makes pig noises. We, and he, thinks it's hilarious and never tired of his fun and goofy personality!

Extreme Strollering

Forging the waters. We ended up having to just take off our shoes and dive in,
 but Sam stayed nice and dry in his groovy ride. 

 Despite it being Winter, the weather in Texas has been unusually warm and balmy. We really enjoy getting out to hike and be outdoors with Sam, and of course Odelia, who thinks it's puppy day. We've been in the middle of a drought for the last 3 or so years, so we were surprised to find water in this creek. Quinn loves testing the limits of the stroller and seeing just how well the hydraulics work...yes it has hydraulics. After an especially challenging trail, we have decided that it is more than time to invest in a baby hiking pack as the stroller is just not as, "all terrain" as you might have thought. Sam loves being outdoors and surprisingly can fall asleep pretty much anywhere and on any rocky trail. I've included a few additional pictures from our trip home to Kansas that are especially cute. 

Notice Odelia emerging from the water. She loves swimming and playing fetch
in the water. It delights Sam and he is constantly laughing at his little doggie. 

A lunch break with a view. Had to stop for sustenance. 

Believe it or not, he is actually asleep here.  Yup, it's a lot
of hard work enjoying nature from a seated position.

Papa, Quinn and Sam taking a stroll around the farm.

The boys checking out Grandpa's new ride, AKA combine. Pretty fancy!

This little farm kitten took to Quinn and Sam and jumped up on Quinn's shoulder.
We would have loved to take her home, but we have enough
animal rodeos in the house with Reo the cat and Odelia. 

Five Months old and trail blazing with Daddy!

Five months old and going strong! Sam is tipping the scales at 20ish lbs and growing like you wouldn't believe. We've had to clean his clothes drawers out three times already as he out grows his clothes so quickly. Sam is rolling over in all directions and sitting up without assistance. He is also teething like mad and drools and chews on anything he can get into his little mouth, including the cats tail. He is getting to be more and more fun and his little personality is just exploding. He and Quinn love to go on hikes and have done more off roading in the stroller than I'm sure I know abou,t or the stroller has been tested for. Just today, as we were all walking together, I asked Quinn why the straps in the stroller were so tight from their last hike. Quinn just gave me an ornery look and said, "there really wasn't any pavement where we went, and I needed to make sure he stayed put." Yup, that's how they roll. 

Such a big boy and already sitting up! It's so hard to believe. 

"What's up D-O-G!" Odelia loves Sam and is always by his side.

I love the look on his face. Such bright and shining eyes. 

Had to include these happy pictures. We have been very lucky and
Sam is usually laughing, smiling and goofing most of
the time.
 

Note the dog is bungie tied to the front of the stroller.

McKinney Falls. We have decided that Quinn and Sam should be official testers of strollers and their durability. Quinn was telling me his tricks of how to maneuver the stroller in "difficult" places and under fences.

Christmas in Kansas

We successfully made the drive to Kansas and back to Texas safely. We had a wonderful Christmas holiday and were able to visit all the Kansas family, and Samuel got to meet all three of his Great Grandmothers, as well as Great Aunts, Uncles and tons of cousins. We were so lucky to get to bring Verna back to Texas with us, and she stayed for a week long visit and helped bring in the New Year. Quinn was so excited to set off a few fireworks for Sam before he went to bed on New Year's Eve. Sam loved the sparklers and Roman candles and laughed and laughed. But once the the big fireworks came out, the show was over, and Sam was not liking the big booms. So all in all, it was a lovely first holiday with Sam and so many family and friends. 

We love this picture and his look of wonder at the
 giant present from Auntie Ashley and Uncle Jonathan

This highchair is at Grandma on the farms house and is the highchair that I
 and all my siblings and cousins were fed in.
And now I was feeding Sam in it...oh the circle of life. 

Cousins holding cousins. Tyler, Tanner and Trae are
holding their first cousins, Griffin, Phoenix and Samuel. 

Holub family. Quinn, Uncle Dan, Grandma and Sam.
 Enjoying an afternoon of pie eating and coffee drinking.

Grandma Ruby and Samuel had a great
visit with lots of kisses and hugs!

Aunt Ron was so happy to hold Samuel and held him for a very long time and was reluctant to let him go. She was very awake and we were so happy to see her. Cousins Tamara and Heather were there to help with baby holding. 

So after Sam and Uncle Dan disappeared, we got to wondering where they went and found this.
Uncle Dan entertaining Sam in front of the fan. So funny and they were both tickled to bits. 

Four Generations and Grandma Regier's birthday party. 

Christmas morning with Grandma, Phoenix and Griffin in their cutie Christmas outfits.

All sorts of trouble under the Christmas tree.