Superman Shirt

Kathy, Shawn's mom, sent me this photo of Shawn and Leigh when Shawn was around 4 years old. She had seen a post I had of Cruz in a very similar Superman Shirt a few weeks back. Cruz loves his Superman Shirt! It looks a lot like Shawn's, but Cruz's is the Old Navy version instead of the Underoo version Shawn had!

Alegra is really liking her tongue these days. Today at church for about an hour she would stick it out and then back in. Whoever was looking at her was doing the same back to her. It was pretty funny! She is also into waving her hands up in the air. Her little personality is so cute!

hurt lip

Cruz was trying to "do a flip" on the kitchen floor when I heard a major scream and blood. Cruz banged his chin and mouth on the kitchen floor and got a bloody lip. He was very upset over it. After putting cold clothes on it he finally agreed to eat a popsicle and that seemed to make things a little better. Shawn and I are still unclear what he means by "doing a flip" on the kitchen floor, but he knows what he means because he says that to everyone when they ask him about his lip!



Alegra just being cute and trying to make Cruz feel better!

photo session in playroom!

I had fun taking some pictures of the kiddos this morning in the playroom. Cruz starts preschool in 2 weeks, Thursday September 9th. He will go to school on Tues. and Thurs. from 9:15 to 11:30 in the morning. We are having fun just hanging out and playing together right now!

Alegra is 9 months old today

I can't believe our little lady is 9 months old today. She has been such a great baby. She is usually very happy, she loves to babble, she likes people to look at her so she likes to do lots of little noises so people will look, and she loves her big brother. She is nursing about 5 times a day now and I am starting her on formula during some of those feedings....I am teetering with the idea of weening her. She doesn't love formula but if I make the bottle with warm water, she does better. She is eating baby food 3 times a day and I have started her on the more chunky version of baby food. She is getting better with not choking so I have started her on puffs. I have been a little nervous to do little pieces of food because she would choke so bad, I got scared. Slowly but surely! She is taking a morning and afternoon nap and they range in time from 1 hour to 2 hours. Today though, each nap was 30 minutes! She likes to go to bed at 7:30 p.m. and she does pretty well at going to bed on her own. She definitely likes her pacifiers. Lets see, what else, she has 2 little teeth on the bottom and when she smiles I love to see those 2 little guys poking out. We love to call her "little lady", "sweet pea", "legs", and Shawn and Cruz like to call her "fuzzy" (due to her hair being kinda crazy sometimes). She has not started crawling yet, if she wants to go somewhere she kind of wiggles and rolls. She likes to stand, she likes to wave, and she is learning "so big"! Another thing she has started doing is kind of rocking out. Sometimes when I am nursing her or sometimes when I am just holding her she kind of rocks her body and gets so happy, it is pretty funny! We have been so blessed to have Alegra in our lives these past 9 months and we are enjoying every minute of her. We love you Alegra!

Norah Jones at Red Butte

Grammy, the kids, and I drove home from Las Vegas Friday morning/afternoon. We got home about 4 and I quickly unpacked and got organized and left the kids with Maddie Osborne (a neighbor girl) for the night. My moms birthday is this coming Wednesday the 25th. For her birthday she wanted to go to Norah Jones who was playing at Red Butte Gardens. I scrambled to find tickets but I was able to find 4 before we left for Las Vegas. Ali, Rebecca, mom, and I had a ladies night out at Red Butte. It was so fun. None of us had ever been there before. Red Butte is located up by the University of Utah. They have an outdoor amphitheater. We brought a picnic in and sat an enjoyed the music of Corinne Bailey Rae (who opened up for Norah) and Norah Jones. Both performers were amazing, the temperature was great, the company was wonderful, and the music was just fun to sit and listen to.

Las Vegas or as Cruz would say....Lost Begasst

Mommy and Alegra at Circus Circus
Crus at Circus Circus

Shawn was in Irvine California all week working. He left on Sunday afternoon and didn't return until late last night. He was doing an audit in the Irvine office and then at night he was busy working to get a grant submitted that was due by yesterday. To say the least, he was working LONG hours to get everything done he needed to.
Grammy, Kelly, and Alegra. We all had a blast hanging out with Grammy!
Like Father like Son.....Cruz had to go to this motorcycle video game and sit on the motorcycle for like 10 minutes!

My mom got a screaming deal sent to her by the Wynn Hotel and so while Shawn was gone we decided to go to Las Vegas from Tuesday until Friday. We drove down Tuesday afternoon. Part of the deal was 2 tickets to La Reve, the show playing at the Wynn. My mom went to the 7:00 p.m. show and I went to the 9:30 show, that way we could both see the show, but one of us could also be with the kids.The show was amazing and totally worth the drive down. I used to go down to Vegas in college and even when I lived in California a couple times a year, and I have to tell you, Vegas is a lot different with kids. It was still fun but definitely harder. The Wynn Hotel was beautiful and it was nice to stay in a really cool, modern hotel. The pools were pretty and the food was good. We swam at the pools, went shopping a little, and went to Circus Circus (for Cruz). I had never been to Circus Circus and it was crazy. Cruz loved it. They have an indoor adventuredome that had rides and games. Cruz had to play the dart game (where you throw the dart to pop the balloon). He loves that game. He rode the Merry-Go-Round and an airplane ride. After about an hour in that place we were all frazzled though, loud, lots of people, lots of germs, and just kind of chaos. Alegra was so good the whole time. She just went along for the ride. Cruz, well, I have to say, he is definitely 3 and we are having some power struggle issues. I LOVE Cruz to pieces but right now is a hard stage. He could be such a little stinker and then turn around and be so charming and cute! Anyway, I know they all go through it, I just have to remember that.


Grammy holding Alegra....I was probably trying to get Cruz to talk in a quiet voice at the time in the hotel room. That kid has the loudest voice and it seems amplified in a hotel room at 6 in the morning!

I have to say we got lots of attention from everyone at the hotels, etc. as I walked through the casino with my double stroller, everyone thought my kids were so cute, and I have to agree! :)

Bath Time!

Friles and footballs

I asked Cruz to entertain Alegra last night while I was trying to make dinner....as you can tell from Alegra's eyes she was a little tired. When I walked outside, this is what I found. Cruz had given her a football and was off doing his own thing. I will say this, she did seem to like the football and she stopped crying!

Hangin' Out

We had a beautiful day here in SLC today. Low 80's and perfectly clear skies. That makes for a gorgeous night too! The kids and I went and sat out on our front yard and watched daddy take off for his bike ride up Little Cottonwood Canyon. Cruz was really into this toy he has now, a leaf blower. He can be just like dad now!

Friends

My long time friend, Karen, came to visit me with her mom K and kids Ellie, Hudson, and Nielson. I grew up in Northbrook with the Carpenters and K was like my second mom and Karen was essentially my big sister. Karen and her husband Doug live in Virginia and own an Oyster business. They make the trek out west about once a year. It was great to see her and Cruz had a blast playing with Nieslon (2) and Hudson (4).

"mama" and roller

Lately when Alegra has been crying she kind of whimpers and says "mama" I don't know if she really means, mama, or if that is the sound she is just making. It is kind of cute! Also, Alegra is really wanting to move around on the floor. She has not figured out the crawling thing yet, maybe I need to have her watch another baby crawl. She kind of tries to start crawling and then she ends up rolling, but boy, that little lady gets places by rolling all over the floor. It is awesome to see her get to where she wants to go by rolling!

Bye Bye Jaden

Our next door neighbor Jaden is moving to Florida tomorrow. It has been nice to have a neighbor that is very close to Cruz's age this past year. Danielle, Olivia, and Jaden moved in with Danielle's sister this past year while Danielle's husband flew and was fighting in Iraq. They get to be together as a family again in Florida. We will miss Jaden but wish him the best in Florida. Thank you for the fun this year.

Photos of Cruz and Alegra, there are alot so be prepared!