Miller. Good Call.

Catching up!

2012-01-26T15:37:00.000-08:00

This week we have been playing a bit of catch up. We have been busy with Community Group, laundry, work and trying to get back to normal. Last week, you see, threw us for a big loop! It all started on Saturday, Januray 14th. We were so excited to have a 3 day weekend all to ourselves. I had been missing the boys like crazy and was so happy to have an extra full day with them. Saturday we decided to adventure up to REI Seattle. Drew and I love looking around and Drew was on the hunt for a new jacket. Crosby loves that store too because he can run around, climb (fake) rocks and play in the kids play area. Jack was a trooper and happily went along for the trip. After naps we decided that even though the predicted snow storm seemed unlikely to us, we should probably do our grocery shopping that night. Just in case.

And it's a good thing too! Saturday night it started snowing. And all day Sunday and Monday it snowed and snowed and snowed. These first couple of days of "snowmaggedon" or "snowpocalypse" were incredibly enjoyable! We baked cinnamon rolls and cookies, watched movies, played in the snow, simply enjoyed being together and watching the magic happen outside. Crosby was enthralled with the snow. He reported if it was coming down or not and if it was coming down "BIG BIG!" He wanted to be out in the snow and touching it - so when we were too cold to be out or it was coming down too hard, Drew would go scoop some into a big bowl for Crosby to play with inside - he loved it!

The snow stopped on Monday and the roads were mostly clear Tuesday morning. We went to work like normal and the sun shined all day long. That night the snow started again and I was giddy over another snow day at home. But after Wednesday it started getting ugly. The snow turned to ice and icy rain and between the ice and the wind everything went down hill fast. We lost power Thursday morning and didn't get it back until Saturday afternoon. ICK! Thankfully we were taken in by my family - Andy and Hilary welcomed us into their house on Thursday for the night and then my parents power was restored Friday and we headed up to take over their place (they were on vacation). I have never missed being home so much! I realized how much I take the simple things for granted....and it was SO nice to return to home on Saturday! Thankfully the weather has calmed, but man, what a week!

Jack had his 4 month well-child visit during that time and he is 95% for weight (16.7 pounds) and head size and 75% for height (just shy of 26 inches). He is our little Moose!

Peas in a pod...

2012-01-14T12:27:00.000-08:00

There are some things I LOVE about having two boys. Granted my house will probably always be a disaster, I'll forever be stepping on legos or matchbox cars, but I also get to watch my boys go through life TOGETHER. And I'm praying that they do so as best friends. Crosby is so loving towards Jackson, giving him hugs and kisses, bringing him toys, comforting him when he's upset...today on the way home in the car Jack wasn't very happy and Crosby said "It's okay Jack, we're almost home, it's okay." So cute.

We talk a lot about being brothers, about what being a good brother means, and Crosby gets a kick out of any time they can do something together. "Two brothers in the bath!" "Both brothers on the bed!" "Both boys on Mommy's lap!" are things we hear exclaimed...so it's no surprise that when we brought out matching jammies that Crosby was SO excited that he took pictures with glee (not a normal occurrence) and insisted that Jack wanted to continue to sit by him even after the pictures were done.

Both brothers in matching jammies. Love it, love them!

The haps

2012-01-11T16:14:00.000-08:00

We are 11 days into the New Year and life is so much different! I went back to work on January 3rd after a wonderful long weekend and I feel like life has been flying by me since. The transition back to work has NOT been an easy one. I miss my boys terribly and they had some adjusting to do getting used to not being home everyday. Thankfully Cindy (Nana) takes amazing care of them during the day and they love being at her house. It's been an emotional few weeks but we are just trusting in God's provision and timing and praying there would be an opportunity for me to work less in our future!

Here is what has been going on these days (via iphone photos...)

We have been full of smiles.

Getting lots of snuggles.

We've been splashing and having bathtime fun.

Hanging out and rooting for the Pens.

There has been a great deal of slobbering going on, but we don't mind too much.

And we've even been doing some jumping and playing.

And Crosby has been up to his usual antics....

Merry Christmas to all, and to all, a good night!

2011-12-26T16:36:00.000-08:00

We have had a whirlwind holiday weekend here and we have loved every second! We got to spend most of Christmas Eve and Christmas day with my parents as well as some time with Greg, Amanda, Isaiah and Brielle and we so enjoyed being with family.

Christmas Eve we got to hang out and open some presents (we didn't want to overload Crosby with ALL the gifts in one day!), have lots of play time with Grammie and Papa, and finish our advent calendars (chocolate and non) before heading to Christmas Eve service. Afterwards the whole family came over for Mexican food and dessert before we started our traditions. Drew read the boys "The Night Before Christmas", we wrote a note to Santa and left out cookies and milk, and then we tucked the little ones to bed in their new Christmas jammies.

Crosby woke up on Christmas and didn't really remember what the day was, he first got in bed with Drew and watched Chuggington while I finished showering and he asked me if I wanted to lay down too, I replied, "Well, I thought maybe we'd go out and open presents, what do you think?" and boy oh boy did his eyes get big! He was an excellent gift opener, and very kindly opened Jack's presents for him too! Crosby's favorite gift by far was the garbage truck and trash cans that Santa left him. I have a feeling I'm going to be finding small pieces of trash around the house for months!

After we opened all of our gifts at home we headed over to Grammie and Papa's for more presents, playing and lots of yummy food! It was such a great holiday, and so much fun to spend with Crosby now that he is old enough to really get into books, music, activities and movies about the season. We took down the tree today and Crosby kept asking, "Why is the tree going away?" "Will Christmas come back again?" I have a feeling this boy is going to go through some holiday withdrawals!

3 months, nearing 3 and 35 years

2011-12-19T17:42:00.000-08:00

The ages of my boys. Drew turns the big 3-5 on 12/20 and we are soooo grateful for our resident old man. Drew is such a wonderful daddy and loving husband! He and Crosby are the best of friends, I love seeing him love our boys so well. So Happy Birthday Drew! May your day be eggnog-licious and may there be many more years to come!

Crosby will be 3 in just a few months and I can't wrap my head around that. He was just a baby! And now he is all personality. He is a singing, dancing, laughing, mischievous boy and I am having SO much fun with him. His latest phrase is "You wanna piece of meat?!" when he is trying to be intimidating, thinking that he's mimicking his papa when he says "You want a piece of me?" I'm so lucky to kiss these cheeks everyday.

Speaking of kissable cheeks, Jackson turned 3 months old on the 15th....whoa is time flying! He is getting huge, and waaaaay faster than Crosby did! He is in 3-6 or 6 month clothing now and he is so long! He is still (much to my dismay) on a 2-2.5 hour schedule during the day of eating, awake time and sleeping. His awake time is getting longer, but unfortunately instead of stretching out his feeding times he seems to just be napping less...and we were only working with 45 minute naps to begin with! He definitely keeps me on my toes! Other than that he is full of smiles and curiosity. He is giggling a LOT, especially when tickled (armpits in particular) or when you blow raspberries at him. He is constantly trying to sit himself up (seriously, he can nearly do it from his bouncy seat too) or stand up (he is pushing up all the time now) and he can roll from his back to his side (but thankfully not all the way over yet!). He goes to bed sometime between 9-10pm and is up for the day between 6:30-7am. He usually wakes up once during that time, usually sometime between 2:30-4. Jack is still in our room, but we going to try to get him in his crib this week...wish us luck!!

Ho ho ho....

2011-12-12T13:43:00.000-08:00

I can't believe we are already in mid-Decemeber! We are having a blast here in the Miller household with all things holly jolly. We are enjoying Christmas movies and popcorn, our lighted tree, gazing at neighbors decorations, eating our advent candy and reading Christmas books. I think we are going to have some withdrawals once the season is over!

Brielle and Jack in their penguin hats, courtesy of Grammie.

This last weekend we got to do a mini-Christmas celebration with my family because Andy and Hilary will be in China for the holidays, it was a blast! Andy even dressed up as a fake Santa, so we got Jack in on the picture action - Crosby wasn't interested in posing, mostly just in disrobing Andy!

And, in true Crosby fashion, the party ended in the bathtub...he and Isaiah had a grand time splashing in Grammie's big tub!

Thankful

2011-11-28T14:48:00.000-08:00

Just before Thanksgiving we got to spend over a week with Drew's brother Cory and his family. We had a blast! Hayden is just one year older than Crosby and the two of them ruled the roost here and had so much fun together. Crosby is still taking about the visit! Unfortunately they had to leave early on Thanksgiving, but we got to spend the rest of the day at Grammie and Papa's with my side of the family.

I am so thankful for my boys, my amazing husband and our wonderful families. We are truly blessed!

Then this past Saturday we all went back to Grammie and Papa's for our new tradition of gingerbread house decorating. Crosby only lasted for a few sides of the house, but Daddy was more than happy to help finish it! What a fine looking house!

And there goes November...

2011-11-28T14:09:00.000-08:00

Well November completely whizzed by! We've had a great month! Jackson is growing like a weed, smiling up a storm, starting to giggle and cooing...basically he is ADORABLE. Crosby, despite some colds/flus has been his usual curious, energetic and imaginative self.

Here is a comparison of the boys.... both around 8 weeks with Papa in the same outfit.

Crosby

Jackson

Halloween!

2011-11-01T09:38:00.000-07:00

The days are shorter, the colds seem to last longer, and the candy is in abundance...that means one thing....Halloween! We continued our tradition this year of having all the Nelsons over that could come for chili, cornbread, and to watch the parade of kids in our neighborhood. Let me tell you, we live in a happening spot! We even ran out of candy this year (2 big Costco bags!) - but that might have something to do with the fact that Crosby liked to hand out fist-fulls of candy.

We got all 4 kids dressed up and took the boys to a few of our neighbors to trick-or-treat. Crosby was delighted to see more candy (despite the fact that he won't eat most of it) and Isaiah loved trying to run into the houses of the neighbors we went to. Overall it was a very fun night!

Pictures!

2011-10-22T17:18:00.000-07:00

We had some pictures taken when Jackson was just 12 days old and we just got to see them. Unfortunately we didn't love any of the family shots (seeing as how I was 12 days postpartum, can you blame me?). But there was definitely some cute ones of the boys. Here are some of my favorites:

We've had a pretty low key week - Jack had a plugged eye duct that got infected (yuck) so we've been hanging out at home a lot. We did venture (Crosby included) to the Tacoma Holiday Food and Gift Festival with Grammie on Friday...it was a blast to see Crosby around all of the decorations, he had a blast sampling all of the foods too!

Autumn

2011-10-17T09:00:00.000-07:00

We've embraced the fact that it's now Autumn and that means a few things around here...

1.) Pumpkins! On Saturday we headed to the pumpkin patch with Grammie to pick our pumpkins. Crosby was in hog heaven and started throwing pumpkins and gourds in our wheelbarrow the moment we arrived. He LOVED getting pushed around the bumpy paths in the wheelbarrow as well! Jackson slept through his first pumpkin patch outing, but Crosby lovingly picked out a Jackson sized pumpkin for him.

2.) Colds. Jackson has his first cold, and I am not a fan! I shouldn't be surprised since a lot of family members have had the sniffles lately, but hearing my little bean stuffed up is no fun! He's been sleeping in the swing a lot lately (which makes for fun nights on the couch for me!) but otherwise has been handling it like a trooper. I'm praying this winter is kind to us in the cold/flu department!

3.) Jackson is a month old! I can hardly believe how fast a month has flown by! He is having more and more awake time, he's getting close to social smiles, and he loves to just look around and take in everything! He still only sleeps for about a max of 3 - 3.5 hour stretches at night (and even less with this cold...boo!) but he is starting to have a bit of a daytime pattern of eating, being awake for a bit, then sleeping - this cycle ranges from 2 - 3 hours between feedings. We are all in love with this little guy!

Oregon Coast

2011-10-11T15:54:00.000-07:00

Every year (with the exception of last year due to a trip to Maui) my family ventures down to the Oregon Coast for a long weekend. The feel of those vacations has changed drastically in the past several years as grandkids have been hatched and now doubled - our pace is a little slower and our evenings end a little earlier, but we have a wonderful time and it's a chance for the Nelson clan to be together in one place and enjoy each others company.

This year I'd have to say that Crosby and Isaiah probably had the BEST time of anyone - they had their run of a huge 3 story house, a doting Grammie, plenty of snacks and TONS of toys and things to play with. They were in hog heaven!

We ventured down to Tillamook one morning to the cheese factory (a Nelson MUST - I mean, we are from Wisconsin) and introduced the boys to ice cream and tons of cheese samples. Lets just say that Crosby was a fan!

We even took the boys into the Seaside arcade - Crosby was obsessed with Skee ball (though a modified version where he walked up the ramp to deposit the ball!). Drew won Crosby a ton of tickets playing the Nelson favorite - Fascination, so CJ got to pick his plunder and chose mostly cars, a football and lots of smarties and tootsie roll pops.

However, Crosby's favorite part of "the vacation house" (as he calls it) was the beach...the beach with Grammie. Shoveling, digging, and chasing waves....this boy was dirty and SO HAPPY.

Jackson did great with the trip - though I fear he is now not a huge fan of getting back into his car seat for all of the traveling we made him do! He was weighed today at an appointment and at not quite 4 weeks he weighs about 10 pounds 11 ounces - Crosby weighed less than that at 8 weeks! EEK!!

Overall it was a WONDERFUL weekend!

3 weeks

2011-10-06T11:55:00.000-07:00

It's been three weeks since Jackson was born, a fact that seems a tad impossible...time is flying! This week was my first full week home alone - the days when both boys are home are BUSY but fun! It's a bit harder to get Jackson to sleep with a VERY talkative (and LOUD) 2.5 year old in the house, but Crosby brings a lot of laughter and life to the house and it seems quite empty on days he has gone to Nana's.
Jackson is starting to show more and more of his personality. He has definite preferences and he is not at all shy about letting you know what those are. He can rev himself up from calm to screaming in less than 5 seconds flat. Not sure what this is going to mean for us when he is a toddler, but I'm bracing myself now! He is starting to have more awake time, which is wonderful, but means that getting him to sleep has become a bit harder. The exercise ball for bouncing has been brought out again! We have noticed some more gassy/fussiness coming out -especially in the evening when he also likes to cluster feed. It makes for more interesting evenings but we also have enough experience to know that it is just a phase. He still only sleeps about 2-3.5 hours at a time during the night between feedings, but we are sure hoping for a longer stretch in the coming weeks. I have transitioned him this past week to spending the whole night in the bassinet (as opposed to ON me) and he has done a great job with that - something I didn't accomplish with Crosby until he was nearly 3 months old!
Crosby has been a champ through this all. He has moments where you can tell he is frustrated with being patient and sharing us, but those moments are few and far between. He has been incredibly loving and caring towards Jack and patient and easy going with us as we figure this whole 2 kids business out. He is definitely growing up and LOVES to follow Drew around and do whatever Daddy does. It's incredibly sweet to watch!
I haven't been good about breaking out the real camera, so here are some cell phone pictures for you to snack on from the past 3 weeks.

Baby Love

2011-09-28T15:49:00.000-07:00

It's now been nearly two weeks and we are up to our necks here in sweet baby cheeks, dirty diapers, continuous feedings, and loving life as a family of four. It's crazy to think how much our world has changed in such a short period of time and how we already can't picture our lives without Jackson in it!

Drew returns to work tomorrow, so the honeymoon period will be over and real life will settle in - I'm a bit nervous about being tag-teamed by the boys, I think we'll all have to learn a bit more about patience and sharing!

Here is the good stuff though, some pictures:

The boys together - Crosby loves to give Jack hugs and kisses. For the first several days when Jack was home, whenever Jack would cry Crosby would look at us and say "I don't like that sound"...he seems to have gotten a bit more used to it now!

The Miller Men....

With Cousin Brielle - who is 4 months older than Jackson.

Brielle loves to eat her feet, and apparently she is really good at sharing!

These pictures sort of remind me of this.... Isaiah was less than a month old and Crosby was about 5 months old...

Seriously...this kid is so stinking adorable.

And then there were four...

2011-09-23T14:15:00.000-07:00

The lead up... We spent the first few weeks of September soaking up the late summer sunshine and spending as much time together as we could. We knew our days as a family of 3 were numbered, so we ventured out as much as possible and spent a lot of time loving our little man. We even went to the zoo and Crosby and Drew got to spend a lot of time at their favorite exhibit, the penguins.

And now the story of how we became a family of 4...
If you don't like labor stories, you can skip this section, but I've been asked a lot about how the day went, so I figured I might as well blog about it! Minus too many details!
Around the 8th of September I started getting some pretty steady contractions...days of steady contractions. We were pretty sure that we'd have a baby the weekend of the 10th/11th, but our little man decided that it wasn't quite his time...so we continued our normal routine a bit longer. We got to celebrate my 30th birthday on the 13th together - not really an exciting birthday when you are THAT pregnant, but sweet to spend it together none-the-less.

On the 14th I started having contractions ALL day. 5 minutes or less apart. Literally, all day. By the afternoon I called my mid-wife and told her what was going on, though the contractions were slightly uncomfortable, they were nothing bad, but the frequency was interesting so they sent me into Labor and Delivery just to see what was going on. A quick visit later confirmed what we thought - still only dilated to a 3 and not really going anywhere. Disappointed, but not surprised we went home. That night while reading books with Crosby he looked at my tummy and said "I push Jackson out for you mommy" and "I take you to the hospital". I went to bed convinced it would be days, if not weeks before we'd meet our little man...apparently Crosby knew something we didn't!

I woke up at 5:45am as usual, and hopped in the shower. I noticed I was still having contractions, but that wasn't surprising given that I'd have them for a week. But as I showered I noticed that these contractions were a bit different. They started to hurt. I didn't quite know what to do, I didn't want to go into L&D again to be sent home, so I just thought we'd go about our morning like usual. Well, that changed when I stepped out of the shower and was drying off. Suddenly I felt "IT" and yup, my water broke...no turning back now! Drew and I got ready, called my mom to come over to watch CJ and made our way to the hospital. That was the longest 15 minute drive of my life! We arrived around 7:15 and I was in PAIN... Now you should know that with Crosby my water broke sending me into the hospital, but that when I arrived my contractions were mild and I didn't make much progress - after hours they gave me pitocin and an epidural to kick start labor...so I never had really felt a REAL contraction before. They checked me in and we went up to the intake area of L&D and the first nurse that checked me out thought that I was only dilated to a 4, not effaced much and that the baby might be breech....WHAT?!? I was very disappointed....all this pain and I'm a 4?! And breech?! The mid-wife finally came in, did an ultrasound and checked me out herself and proclaimed, nope, that's at least a 6, 90% effaced and head down low...you aren't going to last long! And, blessedly, Drew chimed in as I was breathing through the overlapping contractions "I think she's going to want an epidural"...the most brilliant words he has ever uttered. They moved us to our room and the anesthesiologist was there waiting for us. 10 minutes later I was in heaven...no more pain!! They checked me again and I was already a 9. Wait, what?! Not too long after that I was pushing and in less than a half hour Jackson Drew Miller was born at 11:31am. He was 9 pounds 5 ounces and 20.5 inches long. We were visited in the hospital that evening by Grammie, Papa, Big Brother Crosby, Uncle Andy, Aunt Hilary, Uncle Greg, Aunt Amanda, Isaiah and Brielle. Crosby was very shy at first and just wanted to be held by Drew or I, but got curious about the baby all wrapped up before long.

It's hard to believe it's already been a week since we came home - we are enjoying our time all home together and starting to find a bit of rhythm to our days. Oh course that will all change again once Drew goes back to work next week! Crosby and Daddy have been the best of buddies this past week while I've needed to tend more to Jackson...so sweet to watch all my boys!

Hot summer days....

2011-08-30T18:44:00.000-07:00

Our "summer" this year came very late, but finally hot weather arrived and Crosby prefers to spend these days outside and often WET. We've been playing in pools, sprinklers, with hoses - sometimes in clothing, sometimes in swimsuits, sometimes naked....if he's wet, he's happy.

This past weekend we spent our Saturday hanging out as a family. We took what was supposed to be a brief trip to Toys R Us/Babies R Us but ended up lasting ALL morning. We needed some last minute things to prepare for baby's arrival (less than 3 weeks away!) and Crosby ended up exploring the store for hours. Well, Crosby and Drew. Those boys were fascinated in the aisles of that store and only the lure of lunch could eventually pry them away.

Sunday we all headed to my parents for the annual Nelson fantasy football draft and play time. Crosby enjoyed riding in style and then several water toys including Isaiah's water rocket and Crosby's new clearanced sprinkler. Post water works he proceeded to run around naked on the pickleball court treating the racket/balls like a hockey stick and puck yelling "He shoots and scores!" Quite the adorable sight to see.

In other Crosby news, he loves answering questions with the answer "for". Example: "Crosby, why are you opening the refrigerator?" Crosby: "For." Drew decided to try to combat this by telling Crosby "For is not an answer buddy." So sometimes now when we ask Crosby why he is doing something his new response is "For is not an answer." :) I also loves that he calls his pepper shaker in his kitchen his "pepperoni". Crosby's indoor favorite past times include wrestling, flying airplanes with Drew and taking care of his baby doll - specifically telling me the baby pooped and needs to be changed. He is now officially 2 and a half and we are enjoying every minute with our little man. We are savoring these days of just being with him because we know it's not long before our family will change forever. I, personally, am hoping this change will happen SOON as I am quite ready to be done being pregnant!

Good Old Days

2011-08-17T07:18:00.000-07:00

This week has flown by - we've been trying to start our preparations for baby Miller #2 (buying a crib, putting together his dresser, etc) and between that and keeping up with Crosby we've been lucky to come up for air. Our days seem quick, but boy is it fun!

This Saturday, when our original plans were cancelled, we decided we'd take a bite out of small town Americana...we attended the Good Old Days Festival in "downtown" Auburn. It was a blast! Crosby made a killing in freebies from booths, he had bags and bags of treasures, including some mighty handsome new sunglasses. He got to see ponies and square dancing and do lots of amusing people watching. But the very best part was the parade. I had no idea if he would like it or not so I figured starting with a small scale parade was best - but boy was he hooked. The marching bands, fire trucks, old cars, cheerleaders, and people constantly giving him candy or "papers, mommy!" were almost too much for him to stand! To top it all off he got to even partake in Kettlecorn...his love of this food is I think part of Nelson DNA. He'd creep as close to the action as we'd let him and got SO excited to see whatever was coming down the road next. We knew he had a great time when we left and he said his famous "I LIKED THAT" words..."I try it again sometimes?"

My Dad was thinking about signing up to ride on this float next year...

Bavarian Delight

2011-08-08T17:56:00.000-07:00

We just (literally) got back from a wonderful long weekend mini-vacation in Leavenworth. My parents were gracious enough to bring us with them and Andy and Hilary even got to join us for a couple of the days. We had an amazing time playing, swimming, shopping, eating and just hanging out together. We thought it would be a nice way to end the era of Crosby being "the BIG deal" in this Miller household before the baby comes and he has to share some of the attention. And I can tell you that Crosby had a BLAST. His favorite activities included play-doh (which he roped everyone into playing at some point or another), swimming (including bringing dishes with him into the kiddie pool or roaming the big pool with Daddy) and shopping (which basically meant touching EVERYTHING in the stores and nearly giving me a heart attack whenever we'd look in a store with breakables).

We also had our first family co-sleeping experience. Crosby has NEVER been a baby who slept with us. He is wiggly, wily and loud at night, and aside from a few times in the first year of his life, we've always had him in a separate room, let alone a separate bed. He did wonderfully sleeping in our room in his pack and play, and then the second night he discovered that the giant king bed in our room could accommodate him as well and it was all over. He wiggled, he snored and snorted and even ended up upside down a few times, but it was pretty sweet to wake up with his chubby cheeks pressed up to mine!

He has already started asking when we can go to the "vacation house" again!

July....oh wait, it's August!?

2011-08-04T08:31:00.000-07:00

July seemed to disappear before our eyes. We have an a full, fun and busy month! I have been meaning to post but time seems scarce and precious these days and it just doesn't happen.

This month has been full of fun events:
*Celebrating lots of family birthdays, and going to a friends birthday party for Crosby
*Drew's company BBQ - where Crosby first discovered water balloons and the joy that is an open buffet table stocked with cookies
*A visit with Drew's side of the family, complete with Crosby meeting some of his step-cousins for the first time. He and Kambree, who is a year older than him, hit it off and had a blast together. Crosby also took his first boat ride with Uncle Don - and he even got to drive!
*Drew and I celebrated our 4 year anniversary - Crosby spent the night at Grammie and Papa's and had a BLAST. We enjoyed an evening and day together, such a treat!
*A week of Crosby being spoiled. Our daycare was closed for a week so that Cindy could take her grandkids on a vacation - which meant Crosby got individual days with me, Drew and Grammie with lots of fun activities. He especially loved Drew taking him to pick out his very own lawn mower so he could mow like Daddy.
*Lots of kiddie pool time...Crosby is a fish and LOVES the pool.
*Painting the baby's room and trying to start getting things organized - only 6ish weeks left!
*Lots of BBQing, enjoying our backyard and playing outside.
*Drew introduced Crosby to the old GI Joe cartoon and now the 2 watch an episode together almost everyday. Crosby likes to relax with Daddy and watch "Go Joe!"

Overall it has been a fantastic month. We've been spending lots of time together and making memories of our little family of 3 before we grow more. We are anxious for our baby boy's arrival but loving this time with just Crosby before the chaos of the newborn days hit. Crosby, I think, senses that time is running out and has been wanting a ton of snuggles and has been clingier with me than normal. I can't complain though, I will take extra hugs and kisses for any reason!

Here are some iphone pictures and video curtesy of Drew.

Crosby on the boat and driving the boat, what a big boy!

Crosby in the pool at Grammie's with Isaiah followed by Crosby and Kambree playing in Uncle Don and Aunt Kathy's Lake house loft.

Independence Day

2011-07-05T17:52:00.000-07:00

We had a great 4th of July weekend in the Miller household! Much of Saturday and Sunday was spent running errands (like to Ikea for a dresser for the baby's room) and on household chores (hours of pressure washing our driveway/walkway for Drew and installing new lighting fixtures in both of the boy's rooms) and just hanging out as a family. We took Crosby to a local Mexican restaurant for the first time on Sunday evening (when in my pregnant it's-too-hot mind I simply decided cooking was not an option) and he did great! We usually don't go to many sit down restaurants simply to avoid the inevitable waiting for the food to arrive scenario, but Crosby had a great time coloring, soaking in the sights and eating fresh tortilla chips (which nearly gave me a heart attacked at the thought of choking but Crosby proved he could chew the pants of those chips so I relented). He enjoyed his time so much that after the server came to ask if there was anything we needed and Drew replied "No, we're good, thank you!" Crosby yelled after the server "Thank you SO MUCH!"
Monday was our total fun day. We met up with Greg, Amanda, Isaiah and Brielle at Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium and had quite a fun time exploring the sites for the morning. The boys were ecstatic to see each other and ran around speaking jibberish for the first half hour. Crosby discovered Penguins, much to Drew's delight, and insisted on staying at that exhibit for at least 15 minutes. We watched as all of the penguins lined up to jump in the water but then none of them were brave enough to take the plunge. All of the people watching starting cheering the penguins on and Crosby joined them in full force yelling, "take a bath!!" He also enjoyed the seals, the elephants and the monkeys. Afterwards we went out to lunch together and then home for some much needed naps! After our rest the whole crew (minus Grammie who was in DC for a conference) came over for a 4th of July BBQ. We had lots of good food, Greg and Amanda brought over their bouncy house, and plenty of sunshine for a wonderful night! Complete with rootbeer floats for desert. Overall it was a wonderful weekend!

The little things...

2011-06-28T10:19:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since I shared about the the little things that make our boy tick. So here is what Crosby James is up to.

At 28 months, Crosby James is hardly "little" anymore. He is over 3 feet tall, wears size 8.5 shoes and most of his clothing is 3T.
He can say just about anything, and will try to repeat anything he hears. If he finds something interesting (like a song) he will have you sing it to him over and over until he thinks he's mastered it.
He is endlessly curious...we hear "I try it too?" "I touch it?" "I do it?" "I pick" many many times each day.
Crosby is the king of independence right now...he wants to prove he is a big boy and wants to do things himself...which sometimes results in "it's too heaby (heavy)." "It's hard mommy" and I'm all too happy to have my baby still need me. He also likes to pick things out - his clothing, his diaper pattern, his vitamin color, etc...
He sometimes is quite typically 2. He thinks most things are "mine!" and "no" is still a word of choice. These phrases have now expanded to "no, uh uh", "Don't touch mommy", "Leave my (insert toy) alone".
His best friend is Daddy, or so he told me last night. He and Drew have had lots of bonding lately, and it's so cute to see them as such great buds. As for people his own age his favorite buddy by far is his cousin Isaiah, or "Ice" as he calls him. Isaiah, appropriately, refers to Crosby as "Frosby" which sometimes sounds like Frosty. Frosty and Ice, they go well together :) Crosby also has taken a recent interest in his new cousin Brielle who is just 7 weeks old. He calls her B-elle and loves to give her tickles and look at how tiny her toes are...I hope he is as excited about our boy that will be arriving in September!
Thankfully, he still is a cuddler. He lets me endlessly ask for kisses and usually complies. He loves to give eskimo kisses though occasionally he gets so into it that you knock noggins. He still lets me rock him some at night, he tickles his baby brother by poking my belly button, and he still likes to cuddle on our laps at night or in the morning.
He loudly declares his love for us, which seriously melts me. Every night before Drew leaves the room Crosby has to tell him "I love you Daddy", to which Drew replies "I love you too buddy". Crosby then turns to me and says "Mommy, say it!" So I tell Drew I love him and he tells me he loves me. Crosby is not appeased until we complete this process. One night (when the doorbell rang and Drew left CJ's room) we forgot this ritual and Crosby started crying on my lap saying "I need say it, I need say it!" and I finally figured out what he was referring to and Drew came in the room so they could exchange their kisses and I love yous. When I lay Crosby down and tell him I love him, he will say it back to me (sometimes multiple times) but then every night after I close his door and walk down the hall Crosby will shout after me "I love you Mommy!" and I'll holler back, "I love you too Crosby!"
We pray every night before bedtime - sometimes Crosby participates (holds our hands, occasionally asks to pray and will repeat what we say for him), sometimes he just listens as we pray. Last week when I was rocking and talking to him he suddenly sat bold upright and said "I want pray!" and got down on his knees and leaned onto the ottoman. I asked him "what do you want to say?" He said "Dear Jesus". I asked him what else and he repeated that again. I asked him if he wanted to say thank you for the fun day and he prayed "Thank you for fun day". I asked him if he wanted to pray for good sleep and he dutifully repeated "good sleep". I then asked if he wanted to thank God for Daddy and without further prompting Crosby prayed "Thank you for Daddy, and thank you for Mommy, and thank you for Grammie, and thank you for Papa, and thank you for Nan,a and thank you for Papa, AMEN!" So adorable!
He loves to hide, though mostly to him this means running away, standing somewhere incredibly obvious and pretending you can't see him. Or simply closing his eyes and thinking that he's disappeared.
He's become quite a shopper, but not in a great way. He likes to pick things out and put them in the cart declaring "I take this home"...adorable, but not cost effective :)
He loves to sing, sometimes it's a song, sometimes it's just jabbering. He has his own renditions of Itsy Bitsy Spider, Row Row Row Your Boat, ABCs, Rockabye Baby, etc...and he loves to sing a song off of a CD my mom has that says "Shake your leg, it's a new do dance, shake your leg". He even sings himself a clean up song as he picks up toys.
He loves "marching band" and Drew and I both fear we might have a drummer on our hands.

Overall Crosby James is a serious delight. We laugh a lot, and we are so in love with this little munchkin. We are getting very excited to see what Miller Boy #2 will be like! I am 28.5 weeks now, so it's less than 3 months until we'll meet our new dude! We are all starting to get excited but also really taking time to enjoy being a family of 3!

And because a cell phone picture is about as good as it gets these days...here you go!

Father's Day weekend

2011-06-21T17:06:00.000-07:00

We had a wonderful weekend together and a busy, busy week preceding it! Last week was marked by lots of dinner guests, lots of laughter and even a little bit of sunshine.
On Saturday we took a little trip up to Pike's Place Market. We thought that the drizzly weather would mean fewer market-goers, we were wrong! The place was swamped! We did enjoy a nice lunch, a stroll through the market and lots of people watching though. Crosby highly approved of Beecher's Macaroni and Cheese and a delicious snickerdoodle cookie that we all shared. Sunday we spent the day with my family - playing in Greg and Amanda's bouncy house, riding Crosby's truck and generally just being silly with family. Crosby and Isaiah had such a great time chasing each other around and giggling - they are two peas in a pod despite having completely different personalities.
Yesterday was also a chance for me to reflect on how lucky I am to have amazing Fathers in my life. I am, of course, speaking of my own dad Larry Nelson and Drew. I am so blessed to have been raised by such an incredible man who still makes his family a priority, even if we are all grown up - he is a constant source of wisdom, encouragement, laughter and help. And I feel such relief knowing that my boys have such an outstanding Daddy as well. Drew loves Crosby soooo much and I love watching their relationship continue to grow deeper and evolve. Crosby thinks Drew is a super hero and I love seeing that adoration and love. Warms this Mommy's heart!

Here are some pictures of Drew and Crosby on Father's Day.

Oh May, where did you go?

2011-05-30T18:58:00.000-07:00

This month has evaporated before our eyes. We've packed in a ton of fun, lots of work and waaaaay too many rainy days. We (and I use that term loosely, because I'm very little help) with the assistance of my parents have shoveled gravel out of our back "yard", put down 5 yards of top soil in the back and front and hope to next weekend put in sod. Grass!!!!! In OUR back "yard"!!! Miracles can happen. So that has made for busy, dirty, muddy weekend. Crosby has been in hog heaven and has gone through more clothes in a day from being wet or dirty than I could have ever imagined. We just did some more planting of new azaleas and potted plants tonight and that boy accumulates dirt like no one's business. But he has a GREAT time doing it!

We've also fit in time for some slides, parks, legos, trains and general little boy shenanigans. And we have braced ourselves for more of this is the future as we found out that baby Miller #2 is indeed another BOY. Oh the testosterone! We are very excited for all of the wrestling, mud, cars and general destruction that is to come in a house of 2 little dudes. It shall be an adventure!

This morning we took Crosby up to Top Pot Doughnuts in Seattle for a holiday treat. CJ waited patiently in line and when we got up to the counter and saw the huge display of doughnuts I asked Crosby which one he wanted. He surveyed the spread in front of him and then proclaimed "mac n cheese!" Is it that obvious that we don't do donuts much? His favorite ended up being a frosted one with sprinkles, and when he was no longer hungry he'd still ask for more so he could pick the sprinkles off and eat them. He is such a hoot! Then we got to spend the afternoon at Grammie and Papa's with the family. Greg and Amanda bought a bouncy house and brought it over for the boys to try out together....I'd say they had a LOT of fun!!

The recent happenings...

2011-05-03T17:17:00.000-07:00

We had a quite a productive weekend in the Miller household. This included Drew, Dad and Andy shoveling gravel out of our backyard (in hopes that we will eventually have GRASS back there! GASP!) We got to spend lots of time outside though, and during the course of the weekend we had plenty of opportunities for sliding, biking, walking, playing in Crosby's house and dandelion picking. Crosby was in hog heaven.

Sunday we even had the added delight of our newest Niece being born. What a great May Day! Greg and Amanda dropped Isaiah off at Grammie and Grandpa's just before 4 and the boys obliviously played together as Amanda was hard at work. Just over 4 short hours later, Brielle Ruth was born at 8:28pm.

The only downfall is that we are yet to meet the only Nelson girl grandbaby so far. We were supposed to head over to meet her tonight but Crosby came down with a tummy bug and we have all been quarantined at home today. We are hoping to heal quick and get over there soon!!

So there is your update, and as Crosby would say "bye bye, see ya!"

Easter!

2011-04-26T20:23:00.000-07:00

We had a wonderful Easter! We woke up and got to check out Crosby's Easter basket. This included a Mr. Potato-head (HUGE hit), some animal crackers, some mini-marshmallows and bubbles. To our 2 year old that is some exciting and sugar-laden loot. He got to check it all out in his jammies before cleaning up for church.
After church we headed to Grammie and Grandpa's for a second Easter basket! We had a great afternoon with Uncle Andy and Aunt Hilary, a delicious meal and then some play time later with Isaiah, Uncle Greg and Aunt Amanda. It was a fun, full and wonderful day!

April showers bring May....uh....dandelions?

2011-04-26T20:06:00.000-07:00

Lately Crosby has some new obsessions. These include picking "flowers", sliding and general playground shenanigans, and pretending to sleep/wanting anyone with him to pretend to sleep. A very random lot. So, we've been doing lots of fake "sleeping" (usually followed by jumping or wrestling when 2.5 seconds later Crosby says "all done sleeping"). We've also been trying to enjoy the outdoors for any sunny bits that we get. A couple of weekends ago provided just such a time for our little dandelion hoarder. Don't worry, when he decided to go for a drive in his truck, he stowed the flowers safely in back.

Spring Break

2011-04-08T17:13:00.001-07:00

Crosby James has had himself quite a week. His daycare provider took Spring Break week off for a much deserved vacation so Crosby has had fun-filled days with Daddy, Mommy and Grammie. These days included trips to toy stores, malls, the Flight Museum, to visit Daddy at work, to visit Papa at work, to take Mommy to lunch and much more fun. He has been a giggling, smiling, and at the end of the day - worn out little boy. I think we are all going to have a hard time adjusting to "normal" life next week!

Here are a few pictures from Drew and Crosby's trip to the Museum of Flight.

NHL and Central Florida Millers

2011-04-04T19:22:00.000-07:00

On Wednesday last week (3/30) I had the opportunity to fly to Central Florida to stay with my brother and his family. After experiencing a really fun (turbulent) flight that included staying in a holding pattern for about 50 minutes before landing, I got to experience a full force thunderstorm in Florida! But seeing family for the first time in a year was worth it.

It only got better on Thursday morning, with high winds, heavy rain, and tornado sirens (sense the sarcasm yet?). Eventually it actually did get better allowing us to go eat at Firehouse Subs and then into Tampa for some family fun. Since my brother is a ticket pack holder for the Tampa Bay Lightning, he was able to get an extra seat at the Lighting / Pittsburgh Penguins (which is my favorite team) so I could watch my first live NHL (more importantly Penguins) game. It was actually pretty crazy how many Pens fans were there, so I didn't feel too out of place.

We got there early so I could see some of my favorite players on ice in person, and I got some really good pictures of them too.

Unfortunately, I didn't get to see the Pens win, but it was still an awesome experience! Now if I can only get Stacy to let me travel to more games... :)

Friday, the clouds finally disappeared and we were able to see Tampa in all of it's full beauty, or at least the vicinity around the University of Tampa:

Friday night we were able to see a Tampa Bay Storm game as well, which is the arena football league team there, and took some photos there too. The one of the jumbotron is Casey, who was a contestant on Big Brother a few seasons ago, but he was known as DJ Mingle Mixx at the game:

In all, I had a really great time with my family, and I want to thank them for their hospitality, and I want to thank Stacy for letting me go. I truly do have the best wife on the planet!

Firetrucks and family fun.

2011-03-28T09:55:00.000-07:00

We had a fun-filled weekend! Saturday (after an all-to-early wake up call for Drew to come into work at 5am) we headed up to Stanwood for my Grandpa's 93rd Birthday! It was so fun to see family and hang out together. We had a great lunch and lots of fun playing around his retirement community. Crosby was obsessed with the balloons on sticks that were in the centerpieces of the tables and had a blast hitting himself in the head with them :) He also got some new dinosaur toys from Grammie that he loved playing with.

Grandpa with his kids. My dad, Aunt Diane, Aunt Lois and Uncle Phil

After lunch my Cousin Neil had a special treat in store for us. He is a firefighter in Camano and they recently opened a new firestation. He gave us all a tour complete with pulling out a firetruck, turning on the lights/siren, and letting us sit in the truck, ambulance and even the fire boat! Crosby was a little timid with the motors running and all the lights flashing, but was enamored with the place. He especially loved "driving" the fire boat. Such a fun treat! After our trip to the firestation we got to spend some time at my Aunt Diane's for fun with the family, lots of GREAT food, and some games. Such a great day!

My cousin does not normally sport a handlebar mustache...something about the manly month of March or Moustache March or something ridiculous. We made sure to tease him mercilessly.

Life is a Highway....

2011-03-25T11:26:00.000-07:00

Well, we've been motoring along here in the Miller household. We've really been enjoying the bits of sunshine we've been having and can't wait for Spring to fully arrive! Last weekend we had fun hanging out with a lot of family...Friday night Andy and Hilary joined us for pizza, the Husky game and some cranium. We had a blast, but I think Crosby had the best time of all, uncle Andy joined Crosby in drumming on nearly every surface in our house - including a drum circle comprised of paper towels!

Saturday night Crosby got to spend the evening with Grammie and Grandpa while Drew and I ventured south to Olympia. We met up with his Aunt Ida, Uncle Lowell and cousins for dinner and then we had the pleasure of visiting Drew's high school (Timberline) that has been newly remodeled for a special ceremony honoring his uncle (and other honorees) as they were inducted into the Athletics Hall of Fame. It was a fun night and great to see family!

Then on Sunday we got to go over to Grammie and Grandpa's after church and even see Greg, Amanda and Isaiah for a bit, the boys had a great time! Crosby loves all of our old toys that my mom saved, one of his favorites being this Fisher Price town with cars. Too cute!

Just like Daddy...

2011-03-24T11:29:00.000-07:00

Crosby James loves his Daddy. He gets a big smile whenever I tell him that he is such a big boy, just like Daddy. Today he declared Drew's Penguin's hat "my hat!" and put it on himself before we left this morning. Such a big boy, and Drew is such a great Daddy!

Lucky

2011-03-17T09:10:00.000-07:00

Happy St. Patrick's Day! We hope your day is filled with shamrocks, green apparel and maybe even some Irish fare. But I have to say that it's not just the "luck of the Irish" today, because I feel pretty lucky and there is no green in my blood that I am aware of. Maybe lucky isn't the right word, but blessed sure is! I feel blessed to have my two boys and blessed to have had a wonderful past few weeks.

It's also on this day that the Millers remember another blessing, Janet Miller, Drew's mom. Her time here was cut short when 5 years ago today she went to be with the Lord. But today we are blessed by the legacy that she has left and the woman she chose to be. Drew is blessed with amazing memories of a wonderful mother, teacher and friend. Today we celebrate the life that she lived, though it's still difficult to not have her with us. We love you Grandma Miller!

Buddies

2011-03-06T18:15:00.000-08:00

We have had a pretty fun couple of weeks. From birthday celebrations to just hanging out as a family, we've had lots of time together and a lot of laughs. We even got to take Crosby to his first live hockey game last weekend. He had a BLAST! He yelled "go! go! go!" and "get it, hockey, get it!" over and over and would clap like it was his job whenever something happened. Unfortunately Drew and his friend also taught him how to clap and yell when a fight broke out as well. Such a fun experience though, and definitely one that we will repeat!

Crosby also finally finished his antibiotics for his ear infection and we are praying that Spring comes quickly with warmer weather and fewer colds! Today we got to spend the day with the Nelson family, playing games, hanging out and watching two little buddies have a ton of fun together. There was jumping on beds, rolling around of the floor, chasing, hiding in tents and lots of outdoor fun. These two love each other and start giggling when they even see the other one!

Crosby James is "Two"dles.

2011-02-22T21:22:00.000-08:00

Tomorrow, February 23rd, my baby turns 2. I am sort of in a state of disbelief, so instead of talking about how big he is and how old he's getting, I will talk about his birthday party. This weekend we had a "Hot dog, hot dog, hot diggity dog" party for our little man. Crosby really likes Mickey Mouse and he especially loves to dance to the "hot dog" dance, so we thought it was appropriate to fill the day with his favorites. His favorite foods: hot dogs, macaroni and cheese, jello and grapes (and some more adult food too!) and invite his favorite people over...family! We had a great time celebrating our little guy and he did so well. He's not a big fan of crowds but he was very engaged, loved having his buddy Isaiah there and even said "thank you!" to each person after he opened a gift. Such a fun day!

Unfortunately the rest of the weekend was not AS fun, as Crosby's cold started taking a turn for the worse. Last night was the culmination with a fever, little sleep, a midnight call to the nurse's line and lots of coughing. This morning we took him in and discovered an ear infection. Simply not the gift he was hoping to get on his birthday eve. Hopefully the antibiotics will have our bean on feeling great again soon!

Here are some pictures from his party:

Cheeseheads

2011-02-08T09:52:00.000-08:00

The Superbowl was this past weekend and the Nelson clan decided to live it up, Packers style. We had a really fun day hanging out together with family, eating cheese, and of course - watching the big game. I thought my Aunt Diane might have a heart attack late in the game when the scores were close, thankfully we pulled through in the end and there was no need to seek medical treatment! Crosby and Isaiah had a great time running around together and playing for the afternoon. Crosby would clap and say "go! go! go!" whenever we all cheered for a play. They even managed to stay up past their bedtimes to see the MVP award being handed out and get in a family photo.

The past few weeks have been a lot of fun. We all have had a cold that we shared, but otherwise we've had some great family time and lots of laughs at our little comedian. Drew and I even escaped (thanks Mom and Dad!) for a night to see a Seattle Thunderbirds game which was a ton of fun! Crosby has been talking up a storm, repeating everything we say and often we hear his favorite word... "MINE!"...which sounds like mine-na! Oh the joys of toddlerhood! It does balance out when we often hear "love you" (uv ew) and get lots of kisses.

Stop growing.

2011-01-20T21:16:00.000-08:00

That's right, I'm ordering Crosby to stop growing up. He is getting far too old, too fast! He is picking up on everything, saying everything we say, has a memory that's like an endless vault and he is just growing up too fast!

Crosby's newest ploy is seeing how many bowls/cups/spoons he can put on the dinner table and get away with. Most nights it looks like he's dining at a buffet. He is starting to string words together into makeshift sentences, my favorite being "love you" although more often I hear "Mommy sit!". He is quite independent and will tell us which jacket is he going to wear and often refuses to let us help him with things. And the craziest of all things? He's turning two next month! Seriously, that can't be right!

We had a fun week this week...mostly just low key. Last weekend we watched a lot of football (go Pack!), hung out with cousin Isaiah lots and then Crosby and I had a very relaxing and fun day together on Monday. Life is so full right now, but in a non-busy sort of way. Just what we ordered for January after such a hectic holiday season!

And, here is the bug...

2011

2011-01-10T16:42:00.000-08:00

I can't believe it's already 10 days into 2011. Time is flying! We had a great New Year's weekend complete with seeing both sides of our family. It was a treat to be surrounded by so many loved ones! Crosby was a trooper with car rides, crowds of people and shorter naps, but I think we are all glad for a little bit of calm now.

Unfortunately the calm came with a price - flu for me. Ick. I hope you all are spared it! Crosby has had a few upset tummy symptoms this weekend too, but we are praying that it leaves his little system soon without too much discomfort!

So with the craziness, and the crazy sickness, we haven't been up to much this past week except for hibernating and rejuvenating. Here's to staying well the REST of the new year!

And, because I know I can't blog without Crosby pictures...

Playing with cousin "Ice"

I love these cheeks!

Holly Jolly

2010-12-26T20:37:00.000-08:00

Well, a very merry Boxing Day to you and yours! We hope you had a wonderful Christmas! This past week has gone by so quickly, it's hard to even remember all that we did! We had an excellent Christmas Eve - complete with going to church and then out to eat with everyone. Crosby and Isaiah decided that the best meal EVER was french fries dipped in apple sauce....those two are hilarious to watch together!

Christmas morning we woke up, opened a few gifts and then headed over to Grammie and Grandpa's...both of the boys were on a bit of a Christmas high and ran around like wild animals, but it was a very fun day. We've had a lot of great time together and lots of fun playing with all of our new toys!

Here are some pictures of our Christmas morning:

The tale of a wedding, a birthday, and the rapid approach of Christmas.

2010-12-22T12:01:00.000-08:00

It has been a week. A busy week. A week full of fun, laughter, and a little bit of craziness. On Saturday the 18th, Andy and Hilary were wed. Prior to that we had the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner, family in town and a little boy with a cough. Crosby was a champ through it all. He was up WAY past his bed time both Friday and Saturday, but managed to still be a smiley, lively, dancing fool. He mastered the art of saying "cheese" in photos, thought that anytime people clapped it was for him, and spent nearly the whole reception dancing like a maniac and running around with the other little boys. After a day with no nap, and his toddler inability to actually sit through the ceremony, both Crosby AND Mommy were ready for bed that night!

Sunday we had the chance to lay low and simply hang out with family. My Aunt Laura and Uncle Steve were still in town so we got to play cards, relax and unwind from the busyness that had been leading up to the wedding. And to put the cherry on top of a great weekend, Drew and I got to spend the day together on Monday in celebration of his Birthday. We saw the movie Tron (which, surprisingly, I enjoyed) and ate out at the Crab Pot on the waterfront in Seattle. Very delicious! And Drew's meal of King Crab was very deserved. He works hard, both at home and on the job....and we are so grateful for all that he does. Both Crosby and I are quite enamored with our resident "old man". We love you Drew, thank you for being a wonderful husband and "Dada"!

An now, somehow, it's Wednesday. And Christmas is just a few days away, I can't believe it! We having been trying to watch some Christmas movies (Crosby actually watched a decent portion of Rudolph the other night!) and making some Christmas treats. We can't wait for a fun-filled weekend with lots of family time!

Parties, parties, parties...

2010-12-12T22:21:00.000-08:00

That last post scored me 50 free cards from Shutterfly! There was a promotion for mommy bloggers and since free IS my favorite amount, I couldn't pass up the chance.

This weekend we had a lot of fun! Despite a lingering cold for Crosby and I, we managed to party it up this weekend. Saturday we went to the Super Jump Zone for Maddie's birthday. Crosby loved seeing some of his friends from daycare, but he refused to actually go in the jump toys....so we hung out by the coupe car and skeeball machine for most of the time. After that Drew headed out for Andy's bachelor party...I can't believe Andy & Hilary are getting married next weekend! It came so fast!

And today we had a party at my parents for Drew's birthday and a mini-Christmas celebration with my side of the family. Andy & Hilary will still be on their honeymoon on Christmas, so we got to exchange our presents early with them. Crosby and Isaiah had such a fun time playing together and it was just a wonderful day being together. It's hard to imagine that Christmas is just around the corner! Crosby has been loving the lights, the music and even our neighbor's blow up Santa (or "tata" as Crosby calls him).

Christmas picture outtakes...

Oh, to find a photo....

2010-12-08T16:23:00.000-08:00

We've officially started receiving Christmas cards...a fact that has me in a tizzy. I haven't even started to THINK about Christmas cards. Oops. Small oversight. And mostly due to one fact.....we don't have a single good family photo from this past year. Yup, you heard that....not ONE! I think it's mostly because at least one of us is always behind the camera actually taking the pictures. Or that we just aren't "lets capture this moment with a commemorative family photo" type people....but I'm thinking we need to become that. Then we'll have tons of pictures to choose from this year.

So assuming I get my act together and get a photo of us taken, or if I break down and just plaster Crosby's adorable face on a card and call it good, I began looking at photo card options. I recently used Shutterfly.com to make a bunch of birthday cards for family and LOVED how they turned out. They were cute, personalized, and ended up being really cheap during a promotion. We recently sent this one to our nephew: http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/5x7-folded-greeting-cards/birthday-candles-blue-birthday-5x7-folded-card?sortType=1&storeNode=93330.

So I wandered on to their site to find a card I liked. Last year, because I didn't like any of the pre-made designs at Costco I ended up designing my own card with was way too time consuming for the output. This seems like an easier route.

If I leave it up to Drew I'm sure he'll choose this card, based on his current obsession with Penguins hockey: http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/cards-stationery/jolly-penguin-holiday-card-5x7-flat?sortType=1&storeNode=93491

I really like the simplicity of this: http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/cards-stationery/red-revamped-christmas-card?sortType=1&storeNode=93496

Or if we should find SEVERAL good photos, then this: http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/cards-stationery/with-love-blue-christmas-5x7-folded-card?sortType=1&storeNode=93496

Now the hard part - getting the picture and deciding what adorable card to get!!

You can find more here:
Holiday cards
Christmas Photo cards
Christmas cards

Thanksgiving

2010-12-01T22:08:00.000-08:00

After our snow days we had the opportunity to spend a lot of time with family, it was such a blessing. Crosby was so ecstatic to see someone other than me all day that he spent the first several hours at Grammie and Grandpa's squealing with delight and running around. It was such a fun day (with lots of amazing food...thanks Mom!) and it was so easy to feel thankful for the many blessing that were sitting in the room with us. The rest of the weekend was filled with some shopping, a flu shot, lots of laughter and on Sunday we all headed up to my Grandpa's nursing home for an extended family celebration. The boys spent nearly the whole time being pushed around by Grammie in a randomly abandoned shopping cart. They were in hog heaven!

I am so thankful for our family (both near and far) and most especially for the two boys who have captured my heart. My amazing and loving husband Drew, and my little bundle of crazed energy Crosby.

Sitting in Grandpa's chair, showing off.

Grandpa threatening to sit on him, Crosby LOVES this little game they play.

Getting into trouble with cousin Isaiah in Grammie's pantry. Please note the Velveeta purchased specifically to make CJ grilled cheese...he is most definitely a Wisconsin descendent.

You'd never tell it by their expressions in this picture (which I stole off of Amanda's blog because I didn't bring my camera...) but the boys LOVED this shopping cart and insisted on riding in it constantly! These are typical faces that greet us when we ask them to smile for a picture....

Snow Days!

2010-11-24T09:54:00.000-08:00

I (Stacy) have gone in to work for about 3.5 hours this week....the rest of the time we've been on snow closures and Crosby and I have been home! We have had a great past few days, and I think both he and I have loved this extra time together that we don't normally get. There has been a great deal of dance parties, building blocks, playing with Christmas decor and snuggling.

Here are some shots of my little R2D2 yesterday.

Oh the colds...

2010-11-12T07:26:00.000-08:00

This week has been a whirlwind of kleenex, medicine and lounging in sweatpants. We've all been a bit under the weather. Crosby ended up with a double ear infection and I (Stacy) got quite the nasty cold. We are hoping that with antibiotics and some extra sleep, we will all be in tip top shape again soon.

Since runny noses don't make for great blogging material, I thought I'd share some pictures of our recent trip up to see Great-Grandpa. We had such a great time visiting him, and the boys adored running around and saying hi to all of the people who walked by.

Here are some pictures (Grammie and Grandpa supplied the matching Packer's outfits...)

Trick or treat!

2010-10-31T22:17:00.000-07:00

Happy Halloween! This year we decided to take Crosby and cousin Isaiah out to a few neighborhood houses to trick or treat for the first time. It was SO much fun! Crosby was a giraffe and Isaiah was a tiger...and they were quite adorable! I didn't get a good photo of them together, so I'll update this if I can get one from someone else!

Crosby quickly got the hang of trick or treating...he'd walk up the stairs to the house, knock on the door or ring the bell, then politely take one candy from their bowl, put it in his bucket, sign thank you and then head for the next house. He LOVED the pumpkins and jack-o-laterns. Especially Drew's creation.

Overall it was a great Halloween hanging out with family, staying up a bit too late, and he didn't even seem to notice that we didn't let him have any candy!

Pumpkin Patch (part 2)

2010-10-23T14:26:00.000-07:00

I had too many adorable pictures of these 2 together to put in the last post. They deserve one of their own. Crosby and Grumpa had quite a good time today, they were definitely best friends.

This also shows the lifecycle of a typical interaction with Crosby....

Pumpkin patch (part 1)

2010-10-23T14:04:00.000-07:00

This morning we ventured to the nearby pumpkin patch with Grammie, Grandpa, Greg, Amanda and Isaiah. Thankfully the weather gave us a break and we had a wonderful time roaming fields searching for our pumpkins. The boys had a blast getting muddy and they were quite adorable in the process.

I think I might actually have to make this multiple posts because I took 160 pictures. Yup, I'm the pumpkin paparazzi.

Looking over the decorative gourds...

Checking out the pumpkins...

Our little pumpkin!

Fun with Daddy!

Trying to get a pumpkin picture with Grammie and Grandpa

Crosby saw us loading our pumpkins and decided to help us. Over and over again....

Detour...

2010-10-20T20:20:00.000-07:00

I was all set to post more about our Hawaiian adventures when I began tinkering at piknik.com. Oops. I love the 1960s effect WAY too much.

Evidence:

Just another day in paradise...

2010-10-17T21:36:00.000-07:00

We got home yesterday from Maui and I'd say that we all feel in love. We had the most wonderful week together! This is the first week-long vacation we've been able to take together since I came off of maternity leave, so we enjoyed not only having such a long period of time together, but also the wonderful location we were in! We joined the rest of the Nelson clan (Grandpa, Grammie, Greg, Amanda, Isaiah, Andy and Hilary) and had a great time exploring Maui.

Now the flights were a slightly different story, but I'm going to dwell on the positive! CJ made a fantastic transition, slept like a champ and had a ball there. He was in heaven....sand, sun, grass to run in, a best buddy to play with and lots of family to clap for him on command! There is no way for me to sum up our time there in just one post, so for now I'll leave you with just a few pictures...

Snuggles and sniffles

2010-10-04T19:12:00.000-07:00

School is in session, and so are colds. Between me working at a university and Crosby going to daycare with some teacher's kids, we are definitely seeing our fair share so far. So we have stocked up on kleenex and done a lot of snuggling and hugging our little munchkin.

Amidst the runny noses we've had a lot of fun though, Crosby is always keeping us on our toes! And sometimes his toes even warm our shoes...

Well...maybe we did it in a gallop...

2010-09-23T18:58:00.000-07:00

Today we ventured to the Puyallup Fair and while we had a great time, we also got POURED on! We ran from building to building but still managed to get soaked in the process. Despite the downpour we looked at a lot of animals (Crosby was obsessed with the little chicks in the petting zoo area), bought Drew some weird food items (Habanero Beef jerky and Jalapeno popcorn...what can I say, we always find things for his ridiculous taste in food at classy places like the fair) and we sampled some of the fair staples. We got some scones, an earthquake burger and even a cow chip! It was a great day together!

Today Crosby also turned 19 months old. I can't believe how old he is getting and everyday he seems to be learning something new. He is currently breaking through 2 of his eye teeth (which are bears) and has 12 teeth solidly in place. He loves to be outside, run around, ride his trike or car and general cause a bit of havoc. He is getting more interested in books, imitating a lot of what we do and say, and really he is just so darn cute.

Earthquake burger on a stick, courtesy of CJ....

Trucks, football and the passing of another year.

2010-09-12T20:30:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow is my (Stacy's) birthday...and this weekend we did a LOT of celebrating! Saturday we ventured to Pierce County's "Touch a Truck" day and met up with some of our good friends. Crosby was a little timid around all of the horns and sirens at first, but ended up having a great time. He drove trucks, jeeps, and even a Zamboni machine! But his favorite part by far was that there were orange cones everywhere and he could touch EVERY SINGLE ONE. This kid LOVES orange safety cones.

After a (way too) brief nap, we then drove the opposite direction up to Qwest Field to watch the CWU vs EWU football game. We weren't that interested in the teams, but we were interested in the suite tickets we had...so Crosby got to view his first live football game. He had a GREAT time...especially when he realized that he had the run of the suite which came complete with plastic silverware and paper bowls, cups and plates. Beside safety cones, the easiest way to Crosby's heart is through dishes. He had a whole kitchen set up within minutes and loved every second. He's stop to clap whenever the crowd cheered and then he'd return to his stirring and running around. He had charmed nearly the whole room by the time we left.

Today we celebrated with my family and boy was I spoiled! Besides a wonderful meal, delicious Angel food cake (my favorite) and lots of time with loved ones, I got some incredible gifts. My family got me the Canon lens I have been dreaming about - a 50mm fixed. I am SO excited! And Drew...oh Drew. He surprised me BIG TIME and got me a Keurig coffee maker. I have been in love with my mom's for some time and I'm sooooo very excited to have my own!!

We had a GREAT weekend...and now we're all a bit tired!

Flamingos and Gorillas and Penguins, Oh My!

2010-09-05T17:02:00.000-07:00

Today we took Crosby to the Zoo for the first time (according to Stacy, we had to take him back to visit where he came from) and he had a BLAST! We ventured up to Woodland Park Zoo this morning, and despite a little bit of a cold start, the day proved to be delightful. Crosby loved being outside, walking around and exploring. But best of all he loved the exhibits that features animals up close. He was a bit young for "see that giraffe's head peaking up over the tree on the right" but man did he love pressing his nose up to the glass with a HUGE gorilla on the other side. His favorites by far were the gorillas, the penguins and the monkeys. Here are our sights from the day...

Time is flying....

2010-08-30T10:52:00.000-07:00

Oh weekend, you went by much to quickly. In fact, you are merely a blur right now and I wonder where that "sleep I was going to get" went, as I obviously was unable to locate it. You did, however, provide us with lots of great family time. Drew smoked some EXCELLENT brisket on Saturday, which combined with a shopping trip + fantasy football drafting + lots of family fun = a wonderful day. We even managed to get Crosby some last minute 18 month pictures, which is a small miracle. After our 12 month ~~judgement lapse~~ ambitious decision to document Crosby's growth via Sears portrait studio we needed a LONG break to recover. This time we ventured to Picture People, which yielded a much more postive experience, though if you wanted much more than a very basic, sparse, one-pose package, would cost you a least one limb. Sunday we had to cancel plans for a picnic when we realized our little tike was not running on a full tank of gas. I think we just wore him out on Saturday because the kid was wiped out on Sunday. We are hoping a long nap today will prove to revive him.

Here are some shots of the 18 month pictures. You'll notice his new "smile" for some reason involves trying to mimic a beaver. Gotta love that kid!

So......

2010-08-27T06:56:00.000-07:00

These aren't great pictures. BUT, I hate to post without giving you a glimpse of those chubby cheeks, so they will have to suffice. My subject was just not willing to comply :)
Last night we had CJ's 18 month appointment and confirmed what his future occupation will be. I better brace myself for a lifetime of football injuries now. Crosby was in the 90% for height (this percentage steadily rises every appointment) and 95%+ for weight and head size. Can you say future lineman? He's developmentally right on track, as curious as can be and quite the crack up. The face below is the one he made when I asked him to smile. He will do it to strangers when he's trying to impress them...yup, we're just THAT cool. Crosby is getting more and more independent, more verbal and definitely becoming more trouble....but I find that I love him more each day, so I supposed I'll let the trouble slide!

There have been smiles and sweat.

2010-08-19T20:27:00.000-07:00

We have had a busy last couple of weeks. Mostly it's been busy with trying to beat the crazy northwest heat. We've visited nearly every air-conditioned mall, shopping center or grocery store within a 20 mile radius of our house seeking out air conditioned places to COOL DOWN. These past few cooler nights have been the first time in we've stayed home and let me tell you...I'm loving this weather now! Crosby has had quite the ball eating out and exploring tons of new stores...the kid is endlessly curious, it's quite fun to watch!

In Crosby news, he finally had the last molar break through and we've had a DELIGHTFUL little boy on our hands. He now signs please, thank you and more...though you'd have to have a trained eye to catch them. His please looks more like rubbing his belly, this thank you involves him repeatedly hitting his mouth with an open palm (sometimes accompanied by noise...thanks Grammie!) and his more looks like subdued clapping. Ah well, we'll work on the details later! He insists on eating like a big boy and biting off of things instead of having his food cut up. He is climbing a storm, getting into everything and his favorite game involves treating Drew like a human jungle gym. CJ thinks everything is a game or a chase and SQUEALS with delight if you chase after him. Overall he is busy, he wears us out, but he is a complete JOY and we love every minute of it.

Here are some pictures from tonight of our time at home and our walk to the park. We had so much fun!

Dance, dance, dance....

2010-08-09T06:59:00.000-07:00

We went to my Aunt Diane's wedding this weekend and had a great time! Crosby didn't quite make it through the ceremony, but he did a great job. We need to work on getting him to understand what an "inside voice" is! The reception, though, was Crosby's zone...he danced and danced and danced. He was the first one out on the dance floor besides the bride and groom and did his booty shake for about 20 minutes in his PJs holding onto his blankie. He got into a dancing trance until we finally decided we needed to get him to bed. Here are some pictures from the day....

Crosby TV

2010-07-26T18:44:00.000-07:00

Oops, it's been a while! We've been busy! There have been birthday parties (cousin Isaiah turned 1!), family gathering, proposals (congrats Andy and Hilary!), and much summer fun to be had. Unfortunately, little of the fun included me bringing a camera. Lesson learned.

Crosby turned 17 months last Friday and these pictures are from then. Crosby thinks it's great fun to watch his baby monitor....crazy kid!

At 17 months Crosby is TROUBLE. But the best kind of trouble.
He is an explorer - he loves to look in every cabinet, drawer, nook and cranny.
He is a builder - he loves his big legos.
He is a grammie-trained type-A personality in the making. He likes everything just so and in it's place. He puts things back (sometimes), gets frustrated when things don't fit perfectly and likes to move items from one thing to another and back.
He can ride his trike, but doesn't like riding in his car anymore because he wants to push his car. Alone. If we try to help our hand gets a little nudge from his.
He LOVES food. He will gobble up pretty much anything. His favorites veggies are green beans and peas...he eats one of those two nearly every night. And he gets SUPER excited if I put even a pea-sized amount of ranch on his table. His favorite fruits are bananas and grapes - but this week he's tried and liked mango and kiwi.
He is talking up a storm, though most is just Crosby language, which includes lots of "that" (pronounces "DAT"). His newer words are duck and boat, but he rarely says anything you want on command.
He is definitely starting to be able to throw a tantrum...which is mostly just a loud wail and a pitiful look, and nearly always revolves around not getting more snacks while I'm cooking dinner.
He is going through a shy stage and has to warm up to people for a few minutes before he's himself.
Once he does warm up he wants EVERYONE to pay attention to him. He loves to put on a show and clap and smile and make big in front of a group.
He now has 3 bottom teeth (almost 1 more), 4 top teeth, 2 molars in well and 1 that's just poking through.

Miller time.

2010-07-13T19:48:00.000-07:00

This last weekend we got to spend some much needed time with the Florida Millers. Unfortunately Cory, Drew's brother, couldn't join us...but with 4 kids and 3 adults present, fun times and possibly a little craziness was had by all. We ventured up to Top Pot doughnuts (a FL Miller MUST), down to Olympia for some family time with Drew's aunts & uncles and also to my parents for some pickle ball and outdoor fun. We had a great time and were sad to see them leave! Crosby in particular missed his partner in crime.

At first the boys weren't too sure what to think of each other.

But sharing food seems to break down any barriers. At least in Crosbyland.

It wasn't long before the boys had a TON of fun together!

The land of the free, and the home of tassled cowboy shirts.

2010-07-06T20:07:00.000-07:00

We Millers are all about being CLASSY. We ring in holidays with STYLE and GRACE. So when our 4th was a pretty low-key day, we knew we had to go big at our Nelson Family BBQ on the 5th. And Uncle Andy just so happened to provide some key wardrobe support.

Our 4th of July:

Church, hanging out, relaxing as a family.

Our 5th of July:

Looking AWESOME!

Checklist

2010-06-30T22:15:00.000-07:00

Cute little boy...check!

Household chores done...check!

New deck to play on...check!

Happy family...check! (this is the forced super-cheese smile in action)

Come on in, the water is fine....

2010-06-28T14:11:00.000-07:00

This Saturday, while the boys were busy building our new deck (HOORAY!) Crosby and I decided to adventure to the Federal Way Community Center with Grammie, Aunt Amanda and cousin Isaiah for a little dip in the pool. It was Crosby's first time swimming and he was a little slow to warm up to it. After about 15 minutes though, he decided (as we thought he would) that it was actually rather fun! We plan to take him back soon and hope we can jump right back into him enjoying himself! Once he loosened up there was much splashing, kicking and floating to be had. Our little guy is just a bit tentative about new things...but Isaiah was right there to show him the ropes!

16

2010-06-25T06:48:00.000-07:00

Crosby James turned 16 months old on Wednesday. I can't believe my BABY is a TODDLER! He is growning up SO fast, but it is such a fun ride! Lately Crosby just cracks us up with all of his antics. He is learning new words, discovering new skills and really just exploring right now and it is so great to watch. CJ is also starting to assert some independence, from wanting to hold his own spoon, to getting frustrated when told "no", we are starting to enter the fun phase of discipline and boundaries.

These past few weeks Crosby teethed his 2 left molars (no fun!) and had a bit of a virus two weeks ago that caused for little sleep on my part and one cuddly boy. And now I hear him babbling from his crib that he is done sleeping so I must be off!

Here are some recent pictures of our rugrat.

Life is a battlefield.

2010-06-09T19:31:00.000-07:00

Being a soldier isn't just about looking good in your camo (which you should freshly launder everyday....).

Nope, in this battlefild of life, you have to be tough. Because it's dangerous out there, and you'll get war wounds to prove it.

Somehow this soldier was by himself for about 30 seconds in a hallway when we heard a cry...we rounded to the corner to see CJ standing alone in a hallway, nothing around him, with a swollen lip. How in the world did he manage that?!

Apprenticeships and house-warming.

2010-06-03T19:32:00.000-07:00

Crosby James decided it was time to move out of the nest and start making his way in the world. We knew the time would come eventually, but we didn't think it would be so soon.

First, to help pay the bills, Crosby got an apprenticeship. He explained that if you want to be great at something, you need to learn from the master. And so Crosby, knowing of his success and great wisdom, sought out Grumpa Nelson to teach him. The very important lessons he learned in week 1 included;
the necessity of reading glasses

remote control usage

relaxation

and how to "chill".

Crosby thinks it was a great success and can't wait for more lessons.

Once Crosby began to establish his trade, he thought he better settle down and get a house of his own.

He wants to know if you want a tour, would you like to come in?

Well, make yourself at home.

Would you like something to drink?

Hold on, I have a call....

"Well, I agree Grammie, I really need some furniture. But what's really bugging me is why Dad didn't pull my shirt down, I look like I'm trying to rock and 80's belly shirt!"

Oh dear, there's water in my planter...how unsightly. I better get it out!

TIME TO MAKE A MESS!!!

15!!!

2010-05-24T20:08:00.000-07:00

Well, CJ has his 2nd ear infection. About a week after the egg incident he started acting fussy, not sleeping well and generally just acting like something was amiss. No fever, no illness symptoms, no ear tugging....but we figured that going to the doctor couldn't hurt! And the culprit was an ear infection, and that same day the cold symptoms came in with force! We've been sneezing, congested, coughing....and I say we because Crosby may not be great a sharing toys yet, but he is EXCELLENT at sharing colds. Thankfully his antibiotics already seem to be working and I'm hoping we are on the mend.

Yesterday CJ turned 15 months old. 15!!! A year ago I was gearing up to go back to work. A year ago CJ was in the 10% for weight, wouldn't nap unless I held him and still got up during the night to feed. Today CJ is ON THE MOVE. He walks, he runs (ish), he talks a mile a minute, eats everything in site and loves to prove what a big boy he is. He mostly says "dada" and "duckaduckaducka" (don't ask, we think someone's teaching him another language). But he also says "mama", "ishy" for goldfish crackers, something resembling "hockey" which Drew is very proud of and tonight he was saying "daisy" when playing with our next-door-neighbors dog Daisy. He still takes two naps most days, though sometimes he is down to one. He LOVES to be outside more than anything - and was ECSTATIC when he saw the little house Grammie and Grandpa bought for him and Isaiah to play in. Crosby has been a major Daddy's boy lately. It's so adorable to see my 2 boys together. This morning Crosby had was drinking some milk and just laid back against Drew's chest and I though I'd just die from how precious the scene was. The truth is the our little man is growing up - and everyday I fall more in love with him!

Tonight we ventured outside and Crosby immediately saw Daisy next door and took off to greet her. He ADORES Daisy and cried when we had to say "bye bye!"

Can we take a "pass" on that in the future?

2010-05-13T19:35:00.000-07:00

This week has been an adventure! We had a wonderful weekend together last weekend and started this week out like any other. THEN, Tuesday night hit. As did the night time throwing up for Crosby. Our first of that nature. My first time being thrown up on (other than spit up, which doesn't count comparatively). Multiple times. And he broke out in hives. At 1 am. We think the culprit was eggs and we might be dealing with a slight allergy - but either way it was NOT a fun night in the Miller household. (Praise God for Benadryl!)

We ALL stayed home on Wednesday to rest up and make sure our little guy was doing ok - thankfully we haven't had a repeat, and our little man is getting back to normal!

Please, no more photos...

Just in case...

2010-05-10T15:50:00.000-07:00

So Stacy and I thought it might be a good idea to throw out a warning before any of you ever attempt to speak to us on our home phone. We just might get some connection errors:

And just so you know, no, he is not standing on a stool or anything that will boost him up!

Because I said I would....

2010-05-04T19:50:00.000-07:00

My mom made me promise that I would blog more during their vacation so she could "see" Crosby. Well, it's already Tuesday night and I just remembered. Oops! So I tried to snap a few shots right before bedtime...they are dark (and I can't edit them because we have to reinstall everything to switch to Windows 7), but for Grammie, they'll do. :) Crosby has been a riot lately. Talking up a STORM (while really saying nothing), laughing at his own jokes, chasing Daddy around the house...we had such a great weekend together and he has just truly been a delight! Now if only I could get him to slow down so I get some non-blurry pictures...

Diaper party!

2010-05-02T09:01:00.000-07:00

What happens when you mix two diapered babies and a room full of toys? Pure cuteness. Crosby and his cousin Isaiah had a wonderful time playing last night. It's the first time they really interacted and played together and it was so fun to see! We had such a fun time hanging out last night with Greg, Amanda and Isaiah!

Yellow.

2010-04-27T08:49:00.000-07:00

We bought CJ some CAT construction toys at Costco last week, and they have been a HIT! He loves to zoom them around, put things in them, and even use the shovel to "dig". Our boy is getting so big and SO adorable! He is now 14 months old, which is so hard to believe. He is starting to want to climb more things (couches, train tables) and getting into EVERYTHING in sight. CJ is a little comedian, he has such a great sense of humor and LOVES to laugh at himself. This weekend we had family over and Uncle Andy and Crosby had a BLAST together. CJ is just the right age to start appreciating Andy's silly and wacky ways.

Retraction

2010-04-22T06:49:00.000-07:00

Crosby has brought it to our attention that we seem to be making his life out to be full of fun, playing, kisses, snuggles and naps. He is concerned you might get the wrong impression of him and his work ethic, so he wanted us to make sure that you knew.....

CJ works hard for his living.

The other version

2010-04-17T17:57:00.001-07:00

So Stacy presented one way of CJ securing our retirement funding with a music contract, but I present another option (more realistic in my point of view) of I think he was on the phone with a sports agent discussing his upcoming NHL debut!

Of course he does need to grow into the jersey a bit more first, but hey he can start planning now right?

The haps.

2010-04-15T21:34:00.000-07:00

Well, there's not much new in our neck of the woods. Except that I think CJ is having either a bear of a night with allergies or he's getting a cold. Yuck. Let's hope that whatever it is giving our little guy grief, it goes away quickly!

Here are some recent pictures of our little explorer. Lately he has been all about letting his tongue hang out, maybe because he likes dogs so much :)

Crosby has been busy making calls about his new recording contract.

But he likes to stay grounded by playing with mommy...

soaking up the (occasionally) sunny weather...

and getting in lots of tickles with Daddy.

Easter

2010-04-06T09:30:00.000-07:00

We had a lot of fun with family this weekend! Drew had to work on Saturday, but on Sunday we got to spend all day with the Nelson clan...it was a blast!

(The lighting on these photos was lousy, so my apologies...and the subject was a bit squirmy....)

Crosby's Easter, a review.

First things first, hugs from Grammie. (And find a remote.)

Show my cute tush off.

Convince Grammie to push me around the house in an office chair.

Try to take control of the laptop...settle for playing with costers.

Convince Dad to take me to find the goods.

Now take a break for a little drink....ahh, that's better.

And strike a pose!

Now DANCE! Ohh...can I have the iPhone?

Ah, now that's a good day.

What we do.

2010-03-29T21:05:00.000-07:00

These days (the rainy, cold ones) we spend our time indoors exploring.

We do laundry. CJ LOVES the washer and dryer.

We do lots of pointing. And touching.

We open and close doors. Lather, rinse, repeat.

We get really excited when Daddy comes home.

We walk all around.

Crosby obviously doesn't obey traffic rules....

We do lots of cheek kissing...how can you NOT kiss these cheeks?

Then we go to sleep and think about how we can't wait to do it all again tomorrow!

13 months {otherwise known as PLEASE SLOW DOWN!}

2010-03-23T19:25:00.000-07:00

Crosby is 13 months old today and time is flying by a bit too quickly! He started walking last week and now all of the sudden life seems a bit more chaotic (but fun!). He really started to get brave last Wednesday and Thursday nights - he'd let go and walk to another object in the room...but then Friday, his day with Grammie, he really took off! Now he's walking EVERYWHERE and into EVERTHING. No cabinet is safe anymore from this curious cat...he is more independent and he loves it!

For Grammie

2010-03-11T21:48:00.000-08:00

This week I have been a busy guy. I have been cutting a new tooth...

Playing with my new (craigslist find!) train table...

Giving lots of smiles...

And trying to stay happy when I wasn't feeling great...

But mostly I've been waiting to see my Grammie again!

He's bringing chubby back...yeah yeah...

2010-03-04T10:10:00.000-08:00

Crosby went in for his 12 month check up last week and WOW, things have changed! At 6 months Crosby was in the 10% for weight, at 9 months he was in the 25-50%. At 12 months, CJ is in the 95%! Um, when did that happen? He is a TANK! 27 pounds! He is 50% for height and 97% for head size. Sometimes I lament at his weight gain because it's gotten a LOT harder to carry him, but he has the MOST adorable little rolls and chubby cheeks that make it worth it!

CJ was definitely not a fan of the Doctor's office - I think he's too smart for his britches and knows that the Dr = shots. Since his appointment we have switched Crosby to milk - which is great, but he is still getting used to processing it. He is getting closer and closer to walking, but still hasn't made the big leap yet. And we've started to notice more and more of a little stubborn will in our guy (wonder where he got THAT from?!) so I'm thinking that toddler-hood is going to be INTERESTING!

Here are some of his 12 months photos....

Happy 1st Birthday Crosby James!

2010-02-23T10:01:00.000-08:00

Buckle up, this is going to be a long one.

I CAN'T believe my baby boy is 1 today. Where did the time go? All I know is that this has been an amazing year. I can't get enough of those cheeks, and we are having so much fun as he continues to grow, learn and discover right before our eyes.

Here is what Crosby is up to at 12 months:

CJ is pacifier free!
He has taken 4 steps by himself, but prefers to hold 1 hand or cruise along furniture. He often stands by himself when holding toys without even realizing it.
He loves to bounce, still...we've upgraded from the jumperoo to the bounce and spin zebra (Thanks Aunt Amanda and Uncle Greg!).
He sleeps from 7:15pm-ish to 6:45am on weekdays and 7:15-7:30am on weekends.
CJ uses a sippy cup for water only right now, but we will be starting milk later this week!
He has 4 teeth, the two on the bottom are very much in and adorable - the 2 on the top are still working their way in.
Crosby weighs about 27 pounds...he is getting hard to hold and hard to hang onto when he wiggles!
He has started being a SUPER wiggle-bum during diaper changes...it's hard to get it on him before he tries to escape.
Crosby still loves bath time, and usually we are both wet at the end of a bath.
CJ LOVES to eat...favorites being babybell cheese, mac&cheese, baby goldfish (notice a theme....I mean, I AM from Wisconsin...). He has tried a lot of adult food and seems to prefer it, but still can't chew/swallow fruits or veggies well - the skin trips him up and he ends up spitting it out. So for now we still do some baby food to get him his fruits and veggies.
He takes 2 naps, both anywhere from 45 minutes to 1 and a half hours long.
CJ LOVES electronics - remotes, cell phones, tvs, anything that lights up or makes noise but is still adult. He is super curious and he remembers everything. His favorite is typing on the keyboard of our laptop.
He points. At everything. All day long.
Crosby's favorite movie/show is VeggieTales Jonah...he ignores most of the movie except for the singing. Oh how he loves the singing! He points and grunts at the TV in the playroom until we turn Jonah on for him. So in honor of his favorite movie, we decided to have a WHALE birthday for Crosby.

On Saturday, family and a few friends helped us celebrate CJ turning 1 at my parents house. Boy, did we have a WHALE of a good time.

The scene....cupcakes, whale cookies, CJ's smash cake. We had lots of blue decor, tons of great food (Thanks Mom!) and a lot of fun!

CJ had a blast opening gifts...though he was WAY more fascinated with the wrapping and tissue paper!

CJ was a little skeptical of the cake at first. I had to put a little on my finger to get him to try it. I think he might have also been overwhelmed by a whole room full of people staring at him. But he soon got over that. He realizes a good thing when he sees it - and a huge pile of sugar that he is not normally allowed was quickly attacked.

Oh boy.

2010-02-22T14:45:00.000-08:00

We had a FULL weekend! Saturday we threw a 1st birthday party for Mr. Crosby James. It was SO much fun! Lots of family, food and a smiling BIG boy. Sunday CJ was dedicated at church and then we all celebrated my mom's birthday. It was so fun to have a weekend full of family time and SUNSHINE but we are exhausted! CJ was busy accomplishing milestones as well - clapping, waving, walking 4 steps unassisted (a new record!) and drinking out of a waterbottle. I will upload the birthday party pictures soon...but to tide you over, here are some pictures from a recent photoshoot of Isaiah and Crosby for Grammie's birthday present.