Aunt Nicole

Aunt Nicole came to see us this weekend!!!  We are so grateful that she made an effort to come to the frozen tundra before heading off to sunny Arizona and San Diego for a visit. It was extremely cold while she was here so we stayed cozy in the house.  Giving us the perfect opportunity to show Nicole what it's like to be cooped up with the likes of Cruz (aka. a typical 2 year old).

We also managed to send her off on the rest of her vacation with some kiddo cooties. In true Coop 'n Cruz fashion, they gave the gift that keeps on giving; a lovely cold.  Sorry, Aunt Nicole.

I hope that she remembers all the good when she looks back on her visit.  I know we will.

Nicole & Train Conductor Coop doing some train whistle blowing

Bro and Sis

Nicole and Cruz (aka. The Grump and Cold Giver Man)

And here we go.....Mr. Grump in full action

Family Bonds

It's been  a week since we returned home but it feels like so much longer than that.  I've already calmed down from remembering all the bad and smile as I think about all the good that we had spending time with family.

I hope the boys remember this special time we had with their grandparents.  It's moments like this that over shadow any tantrum or meltdown we may have encountered during our visit.  And I know for a fact that grandparents always think their grand kids are perfect.  Phew, we've got that going for us......

Christmas Good

Here are some pictures of the Christmas Good that I want to remember........

















And a little New Year's Eve too......

















Looking at these pics has already helped me feel better about what I'll remember about The Holidays this year. More importantly, it has reminded me what really matters at the end of the day. Life certainly isn't perfect but it's pretty damn good.

Cheers to all the good!! Happy 2013!

Christmas Grump

I'd like to put together a little post about how magical and Norman Rockwellesque our Christmas was. Because let's be honest here. That's what every mother imagines and that's what every one tries to capture. Well, it certainly didn't happen for us this year.

We made all the preparations, had the perfect gifts, planned all of our shopping and shipping of gifts so we wouldn't have to scramble once we arrived to St. George. Most of all, I was excited about spending Christmas with family (mostly my Dad). I wanted it to be perfect in every way. Wah, wah, waaaaaaah (insert Debbie Downer music).

To sum it up, Cruz was a big Christmas Grump. Let me preface this with the fact that more times than not, he wakes up a big ole grump. Its always been bad but lately it has been down right horrible. Mostly just after nap but sometimes in the morning as well. We have a waking up ritual for him; open his door and allow the natural noises to gradually wake him up. It has to be on his terms. God forbid you just walk in and wake him up. And you better make sure you are happy and jolly when you greet him. I honestly feel like sometimes I need to enter with a dog and pony show wearing a top hat and doing a tap dance with jazz hands. It can be that bad. Mark actually prefers to have me do it. We actually do rock-paper-scissors with our eyes to decide who gets to "go in". Not it!

Can you tell where I'm going with this? We woke him up Christmas morning. Santa came to my parent's house and had everything set up there. The kids knew this because we told them Santa comes where the tree is. And they decorated the tree at my parent's house pretty much all by themselves. Cooper woke us up and the plan was for the boys, Mark, myself and Grandma Mickey to load up in the car and head to my parents house---in our jammies and all.

One would think making the announcement that Santa came would be enough of a dog and pony show for Cruz when Cooper ran in and woke him up but sadly it was not.

I should have known better. Yes, he knows who Santa is. He wears a red suit, has a white beard, all the ho-ho-ho'ing. But any time we asked Cruz what he wanted Santa to bring him he'd answer 'Diego and chips and cheese (aka nachos)'. The kid loves both. He already has an arsenal of Diego toys and he eats chips and cheese quite a bit. I guess he figured what's the rush?

With that said, Cruz was whiny, grumpy and irritable Christmas morning and it really didn't let up until after nap when we made sure to wake him up on his terms. I truly am scared to see how it will be trying to wake this kid up when he is a teenager!!

I look back and laugh at it now (maybe not a full on belly laugh just yet) but I can't tell you how disappointed I was that morning. I really was bummed that our perfect Christmas morning didn't happen. Cruz was so bad that it was hard to remind myself that Coop was still having a great morning. Hopefully I'll look back at the smiling pictures and forget all about it. Looking at the pictures, it looks like we had a great time. I could have left all this Debbie Downer narrative out.

Once again I was reminded that with kids, you really do have to aim low.......

New Year

Happy New Year! Let me quickly regurgitate the past couple of weeks on the ole blog as I welcome 2013.

We are in St.George and have been since the Saturday before Christmas. We drove with the doggies and Grandma Mickey flew in the day after we arrived.

We rented a house again since my parents don't have enough space for all of us to sleep but we've spent most of our days at my folks' place watching football, eating and enjoying each others company (most of the time). The kids haven't been complete angels the entire time (normal 2 & 4yr old stuff) but the good has far outweighed the not so good. Mark and I have noticed that often one kid is having a "moment" while the other is on the little angel end of the spectrum. Why can't we have them both be happy at the same time more often? Maybe it just seems more noticeable since we're with both Grandmas and Grandpa and we want them to be sweet little angels for them the entire time. Luckily, grandparents are far more forgiving than parents. I'll leave it at that.

I'll try to divide up our Holidays into a couple of posts. Let the Holiday Recap begin....

Snow Day

Today was our first official "snow day". Yes, we've had plenty of snow days while living in Estes Park. But we've never had a day when school was cancelled while Coop was actually enrolled in school. When I broke the big news to him first thing this morning. He was very disappointed. He wanted to go to school. I had to explain to him what a big deal having a snow day actually was.

Dude, someday you'll get it. I guarantee.

Coiffed

It had to be mentioned. Our scruffy little dude finally got a hair cut. We (mainly I) had been putting it off forever and eventually his crazy little mop kind of defined him.

Everyone always commented on his crazy do (even strangers) ---not that it meant they liked it but my bias interpreted it that way.

Anytime the subject of Cruzie needing a cut came up, people actually said don't you dare (except for his Grandpa Pat and Grandma Linda).

I also kept telling myself the process would be horrible and he would never sit still. I think I subconsciously used that as an excuse.

Last Saturday Mark had the boys for the day while I took an overnight girls trip to the big city (Denver). He decided to just make things happen. Apparently, Cruz did great and sat still without any problems. (Sorry I doubted you, little buddy).

He looks like a different kid! I'm going to miss his scruffy little mullet but can't deny the fact that he looks pretty spiffy. And so grown up!!!!!!

Before

During

Viola