Winter Garb!

Trying on his new coat, mittens, and hat in preparation for Michigan!

Decorating Day!

Today, we started decorating for Christmas.  Cruz had a good time and was interested in everything, of course.  I just love getting out the ornaments and decorations-it always brings back so many great memories. 

Here we go!

Sweeping Man!

Happy Pumpkin Pie Man!

Cruz's 2nd Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving!  We have so much to be thankful for this year: family, friends, jobs, a roof over our heads, and our sweet little Cruz!  

This Thanksgiving was nice, but not as successful as in years past, food-wise.  This year, I tried something different for Thanksgiving dinner.  I did turkey cutlets and thighs in the Crock-pot.  I put a quartered lemon in the bottom along with the celery and onions, and it made everything taste very lemony, especially the gravy.  It would have been lovely for chicken, but not my ideal taste for a Thanksgiving dinner.  The cutlets were dry, but the thighs were perfect and juicy!

I also had high hopes for Cruz eating all of the big kid food this year, but this was not the case.  We completely spaced on timing dinner, and ended up scrambling to get it finished.  He was over-tired and super hungry, and VERY UNINTERESTED in everything I made.  Okay, he may have eaten a few bites of mashed potatoes and lemon gravy; that was it.  Ben gave him some Cheddar Bunnies, and we sent him off to dreamland.  We tried again with Thanksgiving food at dinner, and once again, he cried and cried.  Cruz had PB and J for dinner tonight, and was as happy as a clam.  I am so paranoid we have a picky eater on our hands.  I hope this is just because he has been sick.   

Here is a picture from the Initial Thanksgiving dinner.  Can you tell he liked it?

We also got a family photo.  It was beautiful out, we and played outside for a bit until the sprinklers came on.  Luckily they started to spout and Cruz ran from the noise off the grass.  It could have been messy!

 

Playing Ball with Mom

Look at Bridgette!  Top Speed!

"Go Cruz, Go!"

Ka-Boom! (He kept heaving himself onto the ground on purpose..and fake whining.)

The Infamous Curl!

Here it is....My favorite part about Cruz's curly hair!  Just look at this curl.  It looks like this no matter what you do to it!  I am excited to finally have gotten a picture of it.

Morning with Mom

I had the pleasure of being home today with this sick and very special boy.  Christmas music was playing and we were having fun!  We played with pipe cleaners, Christmas Mickey, colored with markers, bounced the ball, played with stickers, and Cruz watched mom cut up sweet potatoes for dinner tomorrow.  

We even went on a wild goose chase down the block after Bridgette who escaped when I opened the door to get a package.  Thank goodness for the neighbor girl.  This is the 3rd time the dog has run out like this.  It is very scary.  She just BOLTS down the street toward the park at top speed.  

We completed the morning with a PB and J lunch, and he took a 2 hour nap.  I am looking forward to spending the rest of the week with this cute little guy! 

Good Morning!

Kisses!

He Loves Christmas Mickey!  He even smiled for a picture!!

This kept him busy for awhile...

Sleep Sheep

Poor Cruz is sick AGAIN!  Not a surprise.  He was super stuffed up last night, and it took him two hours to fall asleep.  He did go to daycare today and they said he did well, but I am going to keep him home tomorrow with me.

Here are a few pictures I took this evening with my phone.  I took these simultaneously, but the lighting was extremely different.  I thought it was pretty cool!  He loves cuddling his Sleep Sheep.  I am kind of wondering if the calming sounds prevented him from circling the crib tonight.  That will be an experiment for tomorrow!

18 Month/Christmas Pictures

We took Cruz today to get some pictures done at JCPenney.  We had a Grupon where we got some images on a CD.  It was not as traumatic as the last time we went.  He was very upset at first, but he calmed down after a bit.  I ran and grabbed a stuffed Mickey Mouse to distract him.  It seemed to work.  I was so glad we got him to calm down.  

Here are a few pictures from the CD.  I am not a fan of the family one(he looks terrified), but there are not tons of pictures of the three of us together.  It ended up just being a head-shot because the background we picked was a small one designed just for kids...so we were sitting on our knees.  I told Ben that on Thanksgiving we need to set up the Tripod and get another family shot.

Cuddles with Bridgette

In our house, every time you put a pillow in your lap, Bridgette comes and makes herself at home.  Well, now the pillow trick works for Cruz too.  We were shocked.  I just love these two together!

Fun with Joellie

Here are some pictures Joellie took while we were gone on our trip.  He sure looked like one happy boy!  She is an amazing photographer!  I had so much fun discovering these gems on my camera.

A Trip to Tucson

Today was a very special day for two reasons.  It was Ben's 32nd Birthday and my friend, Lindsey also got married.  We decided it was the perfect opportunity for our first night away from Cruz.  We stayed the night in Tucson and Ben's sister, Joellie, came to stay with Cruz.  It was such a nice evening and so good to get away.  It was so bizarre for me having to only worry about myself and not having to constantly be cleaning or thinking about what has to be done around the house.  It was a much needed break.  Cruz did great with Joellie, so that made us happy too!  We were so lucky to get away!  Thank you, Joellie!

Waiting for the Wedding to Start

Beautiful Location!

Lovely Alice

The Beautiful Bride! (Working on getting another photo.  This one is not the best quality!)

Miss Megan

Happy Birthday, Ben!

Another Daryl....

We could not resist this face and hair this morning.  We still think he has Daryl's hair from the Walking Dead!

A Visit from Kaci

This evening, Kaci, Jack, and Jessie came for a visit!  It was such a treat.  I had such a nice time catching up and meeting her little ones.  It seemed like we just saw each other yesterday!  Kaci lives a couple of hours away in Tucson, but has family up here in Goodyear.  We actually ran into each other years ago at a Diamondbacks Baseball Game and exchanged numbers, but never had gotten together.  I was was super excited when she called saying she was going to be in town for the evening and wanted to meet up.  It was fun seeing the kids play together!  I am so happy we reconnected, and I can't wait to see her again soon!  

The Spooky Book!

They are both so darn cute!

Silly Kiddos!

I  LOVE Jessie's expression in this one!

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