Daddy and his "mini"

Daddy and Crew. I've had lots of fun watching these two become buddies the last few months. Eriks schedule has been pretty relaxed, so Crew and I have been spoiled with lots of "daddy" time. Crew's a mama's boy, but he definitely goes crazy for his "da-da." It's so fun watching this special bond between these two grow stronger everyday:) We sure are going to miss him when he actually has to "work" next year as a resident;)

Fun with old friends in Jersey

Yesterday, we woke up to a winder wonderland! Of course, we haven't had any snow since right before Halloween and the one day we had planned to take a drive to New Jersey to visit some old friends, the roads are all snowy. It truly is such a beautiful sight when you haven't seen it in a while, but I tend to get all freaked out driving in it! Luckily for me, New York has had a very mild winter so far;) I just want to curl up on the couch under a blanket and watch movies all day! I don't know what my deal is, like Erik says..."Lex, you grew up in the snow...did life just stop when the weather was like this?" Guess it's just getting older....you get a little more paranoid about stuff! I do, anyways.

We decided to play it by ear. Erik headed out to see how the roads were and went to register Costa for little league. He came back just as the snow was stopping and said he thought it would be fine. They only live about an hour and a half away in New Jersey. Alrighty then, we packed up real quick and we were off!
It was a quick easy drive, even with the weather being yucky and I was so happy my husband called the ball and we went! It's so cool to have my old friend, Brianna and her husband Curt live close. I'm so happy we've kept in touch through the years and have got a chance to catch up. They don't have any kids yet, so they were super brave to have us and our three kids! It's kind of a lot! They recently got a new puppy, Paisley. A weimarainer! Aaahhh, made us think of our old girl Dulce:) The kids loved her and had a blast playing with her.


We just went for the night, so it was a super quick trip. We had a fun saturday afternoon catching up over margaritas and appetizers at one of their favorite mexican restuarants. It was nice to actually have some decent mexican food! That night, Brianna made us a delicious lasagne dinner and we spent more time talking and drinking wine. Erik was in heaven with all the cool beers Curt kept bringing out for him to try. Fun times!




The next morning the kids were eager to get out and play in the snow before it was all melted away. Even Crew had some fun in the snow, his first time! The kids had fun throwing the ball for Paisley and making snow angels.






Halle's snow angel


After awhile, we headed out to get some lunch and then decided we should get on the road to get back home. It was such a fun 24 hours! Thanks Brianna and Curt for a fun time in Jersey!

American Girl, New York Library & Jekyll and Hyde

It was a chilly saturday, but we decided to bundle everybody up and head into the city. Aunt Lynz and Uncle Mark got Halle the same gift Santa brought her, so she's been patiently waiting to go to the American Girl Store and do her exchange. She decided on a look alike doll and the one she picked really does look just like her! She wanted our help with picking out a name so we told her the story of the name Bella and how it was one of the names daddy liked when she was born. Mommy and daddy had an agreement that if Halle came out looking like daddy, we would name her Bella....and if she came out looking like me, we would name her Halle. You wouldn't believe it now, but she really did resemble me more when she was born! Halle was cute, and said she thought Bella would be perfect for her new doll. Bella Rose. I think I've been anticipating this visit to the American Girl store just as much as Halle! One of the joys of having a little girl. So fun!

We warmed up with a coffee and had fun taking her out of the box and getting to know her!
While we were in the city, our friend Adam met up with us and took us on a tour of the New York City Library. It was amazing!




Lion made out of legos!



Last stop, the famous Jekyll and Hyde restaurant


Sour face!
Thanks for a fun day Adam!

Crew's one!

It's official.....my baby is one! December 30th 2011 he turned one year old....so crazy. Where does the time go? I'm such an emotional roller coaster and super sad with this one walking already and drinking out of sippie cups. He's growing up too fast already! Can't I just freeze time for just a little while? I just want him to stay my squishy baby with the chubby cheeks as long as possible. I have truly treasured each moment of this last year with him. Even the ones where he's touching everything and getting into stuff he's not supposed to;) Driving me crazy. There's been LOTS of "no no's" around here! He especially likes the Wii and TV remotes and takes off quick if he can grab one. Such an explorer, this one. I know they all are at this age, but compared to my other two he's just a little bit more adventurous. Those cheeks...I just can't get enough. And the wet, open mouth kisses are the best. I just love him so much I'm always squeezing him. Watching this little guy do new things and slowly blend perfectly with our family. It's so much fun. His most recent big thing was he said "Uh-Oh" a few days ago.....now we are obsessed with hearing him say it and "aaaahhh, so cute" every time he does. Love it. Crew is truly a blessing God gave to our family and we are so thankful. It's so fun to see Halle and Costa's reaction to him doing new things! They truly love him and are a great big sister and brother. Halle's always saying things to me like..."Mom, I just can't believe how cute Crew is." In her cute, exaggerated high pitched voice. Adorable. We are all pretty in love and excited to see what the next year brings and all the fun things he will do.

Crew's One Year Stats:
24.5 Lbs 75th percentile
31 Inches 90th percentile
BIG guy!
He's walking
He's waving "Bye Bye" and "Hi"
He's saying "MaMa, DaDa, Uh-Oh and Ow"
He eats with his left and right hand
He started sippie cups a few days ago about twice a day and still has 2 bottles a day, he loves whole milk!
He LOVES to eat! Everything! We haven't found anything he doesn't like yet.
He has 5 teeth and a sixth one coming in...kind of a cranky teether, lots of tylenol and highlands teething gel!
Still napping twice a day.....and finally sleeping all night without interruptions until about 6:30! Yeah!
He claps when we say "Yeah!"
Loves to bounce his knees up and down when music comes on, little dancer
Still loves his binki and blanket
Pretty sure the puke days are over! YEAH! That was getting so old!
He loves to watch Mickey Mouse Clubhouse! He will watch the whole show....so when we need a little break we call Mickey in for a back up;)
A TOTAL mama's boy and I love every second of it;)

When we went to his one year appointment last Thursday, the Doctor said he had his first ear infection....a double at that! Poor baby! He has a terrible cough and lots of congestion so hopefully these antibiotics take care of all this yucky stuff! I hate it when my baby's are sick! So no shots at this appointment, total bummer we have to go back for that. Yuck.

For Crew's birthday we were still in Virginia so it was fun to be able to celebrate with some family! We also had some new friends there to celebrate with us....Kennedy, Mackenzie, Caden and their mom Shannon. I made chocolate and vanilla cupcakes and Auntie Nisa made her delicious turkey meatball spaghetti. KK, Halle, Ally, Reece and Co all decorated posters special for Crew. They did such a good job and were so proud of their work! We all sang to him and he devoured a chocolate cupcake! He loved it! Happy 1st Birthday Baby we love you so much!




The morning started off sharing "O's" with Ally
KK and Halle "facetiming" Papa and Grandma so they can sing to Crew too!
Crew loves Uncle Jeff!

Reece and Co showing their Birthday poster
Kennedy and Mackenzie celebrated with us!

Caden, Recce, Co and Ally



Halle, Ally and Kaitlyn's banner for Crew

Christmas in Virginia

This year with all the crazy expenses of living in New York, it was just not happening for us to travel back to arizona for Christmas. Not to mention, the kids only had a week and two days for their break! Luckily for us, the Mersiowsky's decided they would stay home for Christmas this year as well. It would have been pretty sad for us if we would have been here in this apartment without any of our family around to celebrate this special time. After all, being with family for the holidays it's what it's all about. We were all pretty excited to spend Christmas in Virginia! It worked out great with Erik's schedule that we got to extend our stay and ring in 2012 with them as well!

It's always so much fun hanging out with everybody! We have fun just doing nothing;) The kids have so much room to run around and play, we barely even see Halle and Co when we're there! While we were there they had a neighborhood happy hour. We had a bbq and then hung out by a fire sipping on cocktails!

Nise, Me and Shannon



Mackenzie, KK, Kennedy and Hallers
Shooting hoops!


For Christmas Eve, we all went to church and then headed over to Jen and Todd's house for dinner and drinks. They are good friends of Jeff and Nise. They were so nice to accompany all of us!





The kids were begging us to get back and home so they could open one gift! They get so excited! Well, you know how it goes.....one turns into two.....








Halle was so excited to open her present from Costa!
Her first perfume!




Lou and JJ's last night until next year!
Letters to Santa, Lou and JJ
Oh, and can't forget about the reindeer food the kids sprinkled around the yard!

Looks like the big guy left a few things!

And he wrapped this year;)
Christmas morning was .....super fun and CRAZY! Oh my goodness......with six kids, you can only imagine! Paper was flying everywhere, the presents were out of control! We had some pretty spoiled kids;) It was an American Girl Doll Christmas for the girls, Kaitlyn and Ally got dolls and Halle got the baking table set she asked for. They were in doll heaven! Costa was excited he got the beyblades and Wii games he asked for. Reece and Co had lots of fun with the nerf gun set Reece got! Christmas night, Erik made his famous prime rib dinner. It was fabulous! We sipped wine and enjoyed each others company. We were missing the rest of our family but so happy to be with them!








Costa was in love with dads new long board!
New outfit, boots and purse! Looking stylish;)






The rest of the week we just hung out and let the kids play and enjoy their new toys. Nise and I snuck away to Lululemon to exchange her hoodie her hubby got her and I got myself a little gift;) Actually, my hubby was pretty cute after he completely spoiled me for Christmas he told me to go ahead and get myself a Lululemon hoodie! I was feeling pretty spoiled. I wish I would have got a picture of us because we had such a fun day! We were all about the "Lulu."





One day we split up and Erik and I took Halle, Co, Kk and Crew out for some appetizers and drinks at Chart House.




Oh, and a little frozen yogurt!


We didn't know if we were going to be able to ring in the New Year with them, but lucky for us we got to stay! We went from house to house for a "Progressive" party. We started across the street for H'orderves, then went to the next house for salads and the main course, then finished at Nise and Jeff's for dessert. It was super fun! We've never done anything like this and had a great time. Their neighbor, Adam was in town visiting his parents and made the night fun with some silly games! Life savers, hula hoops, Oh boy! Craziness. The kids stayed at Nise and Jeff's with a babysitter, but we made sure they had fun ringing in an early new year! They toasted with some sparkling cider, and had fun spraying each other with silly string.
















The girls woke up at midnight to say "Happy New Year!"