Senior Pictures

I took my brothers Senior pictures last weekend.  My parents live on 5 acres with an array of old...stuff, and lots of trees.  They didn't turn out too bad - for someone with no experience ;)  Ben was actually a very good poser.  I really didn't need to tell him much.  Before I knew it, he was looking away from the camera and tilting every which way.  Things were going great like that until his best friend showed up to pose with Ben's car.  I'll be nice and not post the pics in which he was making goofy faces for his buddy.  The goofy faces started right when we were getting to the really good backgrounds...but I was lucky to get him to last that long, we took pictures for close to 2 hours!  These pics aren't edited yet.  I'm hoping to figure out how to do some neat things to them to spice them up a little.

Here comes the sillines...

These two dorks wanted to make sure the side of the car that had the dent was in the picture...special memories they said...hmmm, sounds similar to my high school experience ;)

Chubby Baby

We have a chunker on our hands!  At Cruz's 2 month appointment today he weighed 13.3 pounds, which is in the 90th percentile.  We're not used to chunky ones around here...Bo was always below the 50th percentile for weight.  We're loving it and eating up all the chubbiness while we can :)

Did I mention the poor guy had to get shots too?  Yeah...not happy about those!

Pumpkin Picking

Wow!  Fall is here! Or wait, should I say winter?  Good lord it's COLD outside!  Hopefully it will warm up a bit for a few more weeks before we are trapped indoors for wintertime. 

This past weekend we did a little pumpkin picking with Kelly's parents.  This was not a normal pumpkin patch.  The fellow that owns this field sells his pumpkins to big companies, such as Dillons.  There were pumpkins as far as the eye could see.  If it wouldn't have been 33 degrees and drizzling, we could have spent all day outside picking a variety of assorted pumpkins.  And let me tell you, they had a variety.  It was very cool.  We loaded up our jeep and brought a ton of pumpkins (and other strange looking things that grew on vines) home.  Our front porch looks like...I don't know, pumpkinland!  We'll definitely have to move a few so the trick-or-treaters can make it up the steps on Halloween. 

Here are a few pictures from our picking adventure.

Like I said, it was a frigid day, so the little guy stayed warm and toasty in the jeep with the heater running.

Last Days of Summer

Eventhough the temperatures have cooled down, these boys still know how to enjoy the outdoors.

I have a feeling that we'll be bundling up a lot this winter to continue and enjoy the outdoors. Or maybe just to prevent mama from going crazy ;)

On the other hand, Cruz and mama know exactly where to stay to be nice and warm and cozy.

My 3 Year Old

Bo turned 3 years old last week.  It's strange having a newborn and being able to look at him and think, "Gosh, it seems like yesterday Bo was your size."  Oh how far we've come...
Since Bo is our first, everything is new and we're not quite sure what to expect.  With Cruz, things seem to be a cinch.  Maybe that's why people always say that your second child is so different/easier than the first.  Not because the child is actually better, but because the parents somewhat know what to expect and how to handle it.  Or hmmm...maybe I'm thinking this just because I don't have the added stress of going to work.  Which I still am not missing one bit.

Anyways, Bo turned 3 last week.  We had a big party with the whole family and a few neighbor kids.  The anticipation was at an all time high...I think next year we may not tell Bo that we're having his birthday party until the day before or maybe even the day of.  You know, just to prevent the repeated party questions...

Since our house isn't the hugest we wanted to have the party in the backyard, but the Kansas winds weren't allowing it.  We rented a Spongebob inflatable bouncy for the kids.  It was a hit!

One of Bo's favorite gifts was this four wheeler.  He was the only kid in the neighborhood that didn't have a "ride" like this.  He was pumped when daddy carried it in.  He happily gave rides all day. Even mama and Cruz got a ride.

Here's the whole clan of kids...looking pretty serious.

Okay, now that's better...

Can't forget baby boy Cruz.  Here is chillin with mama and daddy.

Here's a few more pics from the day.

And I believe this may have been the best part of the whole day for the kiddos...

saying goodbye to Spongebob.

Best Buds

Aren't cousins great?

Holding My Baby

I've found that is difficult and time consuming to try and type and hold my new baby at the same time. Therefore, the typing has been placed on the back burner. We have not slowed down a bit over the past month, but the majority of my time has been spent holding my new baby boy. It is so sad to think that he already turns 4 weeks old this week. I love these first few weeks with a new baby, they are so cuddly and will fall asleep in your arms so easily. Bo's first few months flew by and weren't exactly spent cuddling. That child was a sweetheart, but from about 2 weeks to 10 weeks my husband and I spent our time bouncing, swaying, rocking....anything to soothe Bo's cries. And let me tell ya - nothing worked. After we made it through that period, Bo was on the move by about 4 months, pulling himself up by 5 months, crawling before 6 months, then walking by 8 1/2 months! We missed his whole babyhood! He didn't want to be held or sat next to for several months. No cuddling with that boy. I remember the first time he actually let me sit by him on the couch with my arm around him, it was after he was a year old, we had introduced him to Mickey Mouse Clubhouse (our savior). Kelly walked in and immediately noticed Bo and I sitting together and was shocked. He's a mama's boy now and loves to cuddle, although we can't quite shake the Mickey habit.
Cruz has been a great baby. He sleeps anywhere and everywhere and rarely cries. He loves to cuddle. The poor guy has already endured a bad cold when he was about a week old, so Kelly and I have found ourselves becoming huge germophobes. It doesn't help that all you hear on the news these days is about swine flu and how bad this winter will be with illnesses overtaking the country. Ugh. How do you nicely say, "Please don't touch my baby!" to complete strangers?!?

Despite the illnesses, we have been out and about. Cruz has already been to the zoo, the state fair, out west to our farm, and was baptized with his cousin Josie yesterday. Here are a few pics.

I can't say how happy I am to be able to stay home with my boys...I couldn't be happier!