Crewser is THREE!!!

Mon. Dec. 19th was Crew's third birthday.  He started the day by opening his first present--the shirt he is wearing.  (He is a little obsessed with Lightening McQueen lately as you can tell.)  

Crew got to spend the day playing with his cousin Davis all day long!!  (I was baby-sitting him.)  These two are the very best of friends and call each other "Buddy Davis" and "Buddy Crew".  It is too cute!

Crew has been telling me for MONTHS now that he wanted a Lightening McQueen cake for his birthday and I kept thinking, how am I ever going to do that one??  But thanks to my sis-in-law, Kynda, for teaching me a nifty trick, I think it turned out pretty great and it's very simple and easy to do!  He loved it and kept looking at it all day long and showing it to everyone.

When Crew was born I was kind of sad that he had a b-day in Dec. just because there is SO much already going on that month, however I think I take it all back.  BECAUSE his b-day is in Dec. (and therefore people have breaks for school/work, etc.) we were able to have so many family members there with us to celebrate!  Two of Caleb's brothers came with their families, my sister and her husband were there and my parents came from Idaho!  

Make a wish, Crewser!

Match and match, Mom!

I love this handsome boy so much.

Crew and my dad have a special bond.  He was so happy that my parents were there.

My sister Chalise and Crew

Ever since Caysja went to school in Sept. Crew has been wanting a backpack "just like Kiki's" so he got his wish!  It is also Lightening McQueen as well but you can't tell.

Cousins Andy, Crew, Jack

Lightening McQueen rug!

Crew didn't want to take his backpack off the whole night.

Thanks for coming, everyone!

Fun Facts about Crew:

• He LOVES the movie "Cars" as well as motorcycles, trains, trucks, etc.
• His favorite foods are pears, oranges, PJ&J, mac 'n cheese, homemade choc. chip cookies
• He still takes good naps but then won't go to bed at a decent hour
• Loves playing whatever Caysja is playing--including "prince and princess" (Usually Eric and Ariel) and dress up
• Can name all the motorcycle brands and their associated colors.  His favorite is Suzuki because that's what his dad has
• He is very much a mamma's boy and prefers mom to dad every time
• Totally potty trained!!!
• Starts going to Sunbeams on Jan. 1, 2012!
• Can ride a bike with training wheels
• Loves jumping on the tramp with Caysja
• Enjoys teasing Capri 
• Loves to cuddle and be held (by mom)
• Likes to cry--knows how to throw a good fit
• favorite color--yellow like daddy's "cycle cycle"

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year...

...and the busiest, thus my lack of posts-sorry!  I love Christmas for so many reasons.  It brings people together--family, friends, neighbors, etc. and everyone is kinder and more full of love.

These pictures were taken Dec. 1st at our ward's Christmas party
Love that smile!

Our feeble attempt at getting a pic with all three kids on Santa's lap...you can see how well that worked out!  Capri took one look at his face and started screaming!

Last week Caleb's brother and his family came to visit and we went to Temple Square to see the lights.  They are so amazing!

family shot while waiting to ride the train

cousin shot

 (Isaac, Crew, Mariah, Caysja)

group shot under the famous "red tree"

Dads and kids

Moms and girls

Hope you're all having a wonderful Christmas season too!

My SUPER BIG boy is just about Potty Trained!!!

It felt like it took FOREVER to potty train Caysja.  I started right after she turned two.  I wasn't sure she was ready, but I wanted her to be, so I made her.  It took nearly a year of having accidents everywhere we went (literally--the park, the library, church, the mall, the grocery store...) for her to finally be dry all the time.  I told people that I was the one getting potty trained, not her, because if I forgot to remind her to go, then she would have an accident!  I felt like such a failure (she probably did too) and it holds some bad memories for me.  I was DREADING potty training Crew and I told myself and I would WAIT until he was really ready--and I was ready too!  He hadn't really shown any signs yet (and everyone I talked to told me that boys are a lot harder than girls) so I figured I would wait until he turned three (in Dec.)  before I would even start trying.  Well, the weekend before Thanksgiving we baby-sat his cousin Davis who is the same age as Crew and just recently became potty trained.  Crew saw Davis go potty many, many times in those three days and then he wanted to go too!  After Davis left, he kept ON wanting to go and he informed me he wanted to wear "train underwear like Buddy Davis" so we went and bought some.   I can not begin to say what a different experience this whole thing has been.  Crew had a few accidents the first several days but then he went three days in a row without ANY accidents at ALL--he told me he had to go every single time!!  (He was even waking up from his naps dry!)  This Tues. it will be two weeks since we started this whole process and he has very few accidents at all anymore.  Today we took him to church and he did GREAT!  I guess the key is to make sure they are really and truly ready.  Lesson learned!

  

So Very Thankful

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving 2011.  Hope you all did too.  We were able to go to Idaho Falls and visit Caleb's brother Jacob and their family.  Our kids are the same age so they love to play together.

Here is Caysja after her Thanksgiving party at school.  She is wearing her Indian headdress.  She had to "earn" each feather by passing off certain things (colors, numbers, memorizing her address and phone number, etc.)  She did great and earned every single feather!

The kid's table

The delicious FOOD table

The adult's table
(L-R Caleb, me, Jacob, Marisa)

After dinner we tried to get Capri to walk...and she did take some steps!

Our semi-successful attempt at a family picture

The next day we were able to go to Jacob and Marisa's cabin in Island Park with them.  Capri found this stuffed bear that she loved!  She is really into soft things.

Marisa, had these fun crafts for us to make

On Sat. we went to Green Canyon Hot Springs.  We had a great time!

This is a wonderful time of year and reminds me of all the many, many blessings I have been given.  Most of all I'm grateful for my family.  What a privilege it is to be a mother.  I love my kids so much.  I'm also so grateful to be close to home and be able to visit often.  Thanks so much, J&M, for a great weekend.

Odds and Ends

This post is comprised of a bunch of pictures of various events from the past couple months that I've forgotten to post about.  It's rather eclectic-sorry!

On Columbus Day Caleb had the day off so we hiked to the top of Ensign Peak.

The view is amazing!  (Caysja is being her goofy self!)

Caysja with Gracie and Millie, the girls I baby-sit every week.  

We love these girls!

Crewser and Aunt Chalise 

We love it when she comes to visit!

The Bountiful Library put on a fire safety day and we got to take a tour of the fire truck.

Here is Serah (the other little girl I baby-sit) with Caysja and Crew posing in their new hats.

This is Capri's new "cheesy" smile.  I just love that she knows how to pose for the camera now!

Caysja's good friend from AZ, Halle, came to visit and we had so much fun with them.

Caleb celebrated his 29th Birthday on October 22nd!

We were able to go home for a quick visit at the end of October.  

While we were there Uncle Jacob helped us make scarecrows.  

Here we are at the park stuffing them full of leaves.

The finished product

(ha, ha...do you think the necks are a little out of proportion maybe?)

The main purpose of our trip home was so that Caysja and Mariah could go on a special daddy-daughter motorcycle ride (an all day event). 

They had a great time!  Such brave, adventurous girls!

Caleb and I were able to go on a triple date with two of his brothers and their wives.  We went and walked around the newly remodeled grounds of the IF temple.

Standing by the beautiful new fountain

Caysja loves her two cousins Mariah and Nelah so much and it's always a sad day to leave them.