At Least

At least one of us is working out.

The Cabin

There are many luxuries in this life I can surely pass up and then make fun of because that is how I cope.    One luxury I have had the fortune to bum off other people are cabins.  I LOVE cabins.  There is something about the fresh air and pine needles that scream my name.  These past couple days I was able to venture to Munds Park with my bud Gina and mooch off of her fortune which is her parents own a cabin.  It was SUPER nice to get out of the heat for a bit and it was my first road trip with Cru.  I was a little freaked-not gonna lie-but I felt way reassured to be traveling with a pediatric nurse.  Cru traveled like a champion and it was good practice for Gina since she will have her second chow in about a month.  Solid.

This is basically the same picture that was taken before our Thatcher trip except my second chin is bigger.  DANG!  I even took another picture because the first one was alllllll chin.  Notice how I tried so desperately to avoid it but alas, it was mostly in vain so instead I look like I have a major underbite.  

This is Ella who is not looking at Cru but is passed out.  It made me giggle.  Ella is hilarious and enjoyed helping me out with Cru.  She was quite fascinated with breast feeding-another good practice session for when she has a baby brother.  She got my hooter hider and fed her baby bear and even burped it.

Here are the two goo's hanging out.  It was way fun to be up there mixing up our daily routine which is eat, sleep, stare, repeat.  Highlights of the trip were the infamous bathroom stop for Ella, stroller walk in the wind, Mormon Lake, wild flowers, movie night, fresh air in the windows, fab food, Ella eating a flat of strawberries, crazy stories, Cru being totally entertained by the celling fan and many more.

Before we moved to AZ I was looking at a map to see if there were any lakes near by.  I found Mormon Lake and thought "Sweet-it doesn't look to far away from Scottsdale, I'm a Mormon so it's gotta be a good lake, and I hope someone has a boat-yet another luxury I must mooch."  We headed on over since it is not very far away and I was so excited to see a sweet mountain lake.  As we approached with a sign that said "Welcome to the Village of Mormon Lake" I looked around thinking I would see boats, fishermen, and jet skis when instead I saw this.

No kidding.  This is Mormon Lake.  Also called Mormon pond.  If you notice the vast meadow in the background you are looking at what use to be Mormon Lake.  It has dried up for a reason unknown to me.  I guess it was recent because Gina remembers it being an actual lake when she was younger.  TRAJIC!  However-the lodge has a stellar restaurant and we had lunch there so that made me happy.

Kick-in-the-pants.

The dog is snoring right now

I didn't know what to title this post.  He really is snoring right now and it is OUT of control.

I swear it isn't just gas anymore.  Hooray!

I Have Been Attacked

My days are pretty predictable.  I am not complaining-just stating the obvious.  The other morning I did the usual morning junk and got to the point that I realized Jaitz probably needed to relieve himself. After packing the stroller down the stairs, walking back up to get Cru, Jaitz, poop bag, leash, blanket, pacifier, and burp cloth, we were off on our morning walk.  We live in a complex that isn't very big so on our walks I go a street over and walk down the street so I can get some of Jaitz' wiggles out.  We all know he loves a good wiggle.  To get to the street, I need to walk through our complex.  Just as I am getting close to the main street outside of our complex, I notice that Jaitz is rearing up and walking on two legs...he pretty much resembled a T-rex.  Obviously this is his way of pointing.  No wonder Boston Terriers aren't hunting dogs.  I look to see what he is "pointing" at and spot a bird that is flying relatively close to us.  I ignore it and continue walking when I hear a flutter of wings.  I turn quickly and see the sucker flying right at us.  Once I turned around and puffed up my chest, it of course altered direction and flew into a near by tree.  He (I am assuming it is a he bird) is close.  A little too close.  In fact he is eye level with me and staring his beady bird eye right into my beady human eye and Jaitz's bugged out eye.  Not daring to take my eye off of him, I two step it out of there thinking he is probably protecting a nest or a pile of worms.  He proceeds to bounce from tree to tree until we make it to the main sidewalk and then he leaves. I duly note not to go through that part of the complex on the way back from our walk.

As we are flip flopping our way back to the complex after a nice jaunt, I avoid the said region and decide to walk on the drive way back to our apartment-FAR away from the he bird incident.  It is about this moment as I am smiling subtly and breathing a fresh breath of morning air and noticing the sky is a pristine blue that something is in my hair.  And it is moving.  And it is big.  And I hear wings.  The little fetcher flew right into my head!  I think I shrieked and immediately began to run with one arm on the stroller and the leash while the other is waving wildly around my head.  Have any of you tried to run with one hand on a stroller?  Not the easiest thing to do since the wheels immediately decide to turn sideways and shoot the stroller in any direction other than straight.  Now imagine that you are running with your one handed stroller, concerned that you might be scalped by a bird, and a T-rex positioned dog is wanting to go anywhere but away from the bird.  This is what is happening.  The drive way of our complex is right next to a costume shop, and as I realize that I am probably looking like a crazed person, a costume customer is walking into the store and staring at me.  I hope she saw the bird.  The scariest thing of all is that the bird has been silent this whole time.  Not a chirp or a squawk, simple silence.  We got away without a scratch but the bird kept dive bombing us.  I told Jatiz to 'git it' and I think the he bird got the point...although Jaitz would probably just wiggle or lick the bird.

We got out of there but on the rest of the walk back to our place I kept seeing shadows of birds swooping around.  I probably looked like I had some sort of tick the way I was scanning the sky.  The next day I walked by the place where we first saw the bird and he was sitting on the ground in the middle of the sidewalk, like he was some kind of guard or ninja.  We decided to take a different route.  I didn't get a picture but if I did I bet Cru would have looked like this...

Ghost Punched

I am quite spoiled. Quite. Not only did I get both my mom and mother in law to visit me but some of my best friends made the jaunt down here too! They cooked and cleaned and most important-canoodled with me. We pretty much hung out at my place and giggled and chortled a whole bunch. We also laid out by the pool at the resort they stayed at too. We pretty much were the hottest ones there. Mostly because everyone else there were considered "geriatrics" or "Jerrys" so we had a leg up on them.

Me, Kristen, Chelsea, and Kristie. We like to have the browns on the right (because we're better obviously) and blonds on the left because they are just a little 'off'. You know, like when you were in kindergarten and you somehow kept getting the left handed scissors and tried to make them work but they just bent the paper rather than cut it. Exactly.

Thus brings me to the title of this post: Ghost Punch. Chelsea has a real talent. Seriously. You can check it out here but don't say that I didn't tell you so. She is quite the photographer and whilst here brought her skills. We had a photo shoot with the little guy which was a kick in the pants and then decided to take pictures of ourselves. There is this real fun thing you can do where you relax all the muscles in your face and shake your head real fast. The result is a pretty distorted picture and will leave your side in stitches. Here is an example (I think Chelsea is the best looking one and we all know why.) However, I do like that Kristen is staring right at the camera.

So we are doing this when I spy one of Chelsea's pictures that seriously looked like she got punched. Since there was no fist in her face, it was an obvious ghost punch. Then we thought what a great idea this would be to post pictures of us getting ghost punched on the interweb. So I says to Kristie type in www.ghostpunched.com and she did after asking "punch or punched. Like e-d?" And I say "yes....ghost punched." When to our wonderment and amazement this is the site we found (click on the link...I dare you). Kristie kept saying how she couldn't believe that there were people as creepy as us out there and Chelsea almost peed her pants. Obviously someone beat us to the punch....or rather beat us to the ghost punch.

Needless to say, we had a pretty good time being together. I really miss those boys with all my heart and I am so thankful for them. What a bunch of gents traveling all the way to AZ to visit me and my chow.

Grace! The Blessing....

April 11th has been a sad day in our family but now can be thought of as a happy day. Zac was able to bless our baby Cru this last Sunday. Peggy was able to fly down here to AZ for the blessing and it is a good thing or that kid would've been in a white onesie. Instead, check out this outfit.....

Oh yes, that is a mini bow tie-and Peggy hand made it for him! It has been SOOO nice to have Peggy here with us and we feel so spoiled. She has been cooking delicious meals and baking way too many cookies and candies. She has eaten up Cru and won't put him down which has been just fine. Zac and I are so lucky to have such good mothers in our life (and mother-in-laws!)

I love this picture of Cru and his Baba.

We are so blessed.

I am going to miss Baba when she leaves and I hope there is a visit planned to come back and see us soon.

My Mom

Oh man what a treat I got. My mom was able to book a flight to AZ right after the little wipper was born. Cru came on a Saturday and my mom was at the hospital the next day. We had to stay an extra day in ye old hospital because Cru wouldn't poop. My mom stayed at our place until we were released. When we got home, my mom came bustling down the stairs to help carry Cru in all equipped in her apron-first sign that my mom the cleaning lady had arrived. To my surprise upon entering my abode I smelt the amazing fragrance of applesauce cookies being baked in the oven. OH MAN! And she also had a batch of chicken noodle roar marinating in the crock pot too. Needless to say this kept up for the rest of the week along with my laundry getting done, my bathroom rugs getting washed, and Sunday dinner every night of the week. My mom is the model of how I hope to be! (both in attitude and looks...what a fox!)

Here we are! Cru has his dad's wild eyes.

Grandma Kathy with grandkid #9. She made him feel like #1 to me!

This picture was too priceless not to put in. We were trying to coral Jaitz into getting a picture taken and you can tell by the ears, he thought mom was trying to wrestle him.

This is all quite bizzar. I love this little guy and can't believe he is my son. What? I do miss my mom already and not just because she made mad dinners and what not. I am so glad she got to come!!