!!CiRcUs!!

CIRCUS? Sure! The fact that I'd never been to one, I was really excited to go!!! Last Tuesday, the Carson & Barnes circus came to the Shawnee Expo Center, and Nana treated Corban and I to the circus! :O) First, we started off with a pre-show snack...


Then, we enjoyed what we payed for! :O)


Wow!! This guy was balancing on 5 cylinders...Nana and I decided that he probably has some pretty nice abs...!


And...of course, a trip to the circus is NEVER complete without an elephant ride!!


This elephant ride was quite a big deal. If you know Corban, then you are probably aware that he DOES NOT like larger animals(ie. cows, horses, big dogs, pigs...)!!! So, with a little bit of coaxing, he decided he would ride this gigantic pachyderm...with mommy, of course! :o)

Cruz's 1st BIRTHDAY BASH!

I cannot believe that my baby boy is already 1 year old! Time goes by way too fast with kiddos around! Cruz celebrated his 1st birthday, Dr. Seuss style :O)


Everything about it was precious...from the kid, to the cake, to the decorations! I have NEVER seen a kid destroy a birthday as much as he did!


Mmmmm...that was yummy :O) Can I please have more?!


Cruz had prior practice unwrapping presents the week before...thanks to his big brother!! Now, Cruz is a pro :O)




Cruz's Nana, the art teacher, made him this wonderful Dr. Seuss desk! She painted everything and she did an outstanding job!




He loves to crawl through it!




HAPPY HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BABY BOY! DADDY, MOMMY, AND CORBAN LOVE YOU TO PIECES! YOU COMPLETE OUR LIVES :o) THERE'S NEVER A SECOND IN THE DAY THAT GOES BY WITHOUT A SMILE ON YOUR SWEET FACE!



Some of your FAVORITES:
1.) Big Brother, Corban!
2.) Eating!
3.) Playing with/tearing up brother's toys!
4.) Eating
5.) Tickles on your back :O) You get that from mommy! We both love our backs and arms tickled:O)
6.) Eating!
7.) Making a charge for the hallway when you notice the baby gate isn't up!
8.) And, of course, mommy kisses ;o)

Your MILESTONES:
1.) "Cruzing"...not walking yet...I'm totally fine with that! Take your time, please;O)
2.) 4 teeth
3.) Gasp! 24.3 lbs & 32 inches?!?!!!!
4.) You can say:
*mama
*dada
*bubba
*buh-bye
*nana
*uhhhhh-ooooooooo...that's your most favorite of all! You repeatedly drop things, just so you can say uhhhh-oooooooo :O)

Your NICKNAMES:
(or what mommy calls you all the time!)
1.) Sweet face
2.) Preciousness
3.) Tiny Hiney
4.) Lil love bug
5.) Honey bunny
And yes, I will still call you all of these when you're full grown and married :O)

Your STATS:
Birth date: September 30, 2009
Weight: 7 lbs 7oz
Length: 19.5 inches
Time: 11:37 am(thanks to your rapid descent, mommy got to eat a cheeseburger shortly after! That will always be our little joke!)

Why did mommy & daddy decide to name you 'Cruz'?? Well...it was a lengthy process coming up with your name, little man! At first, mommy wanted 'Chett' because it had a nice ring to it when combined with your last name. But, big brother couldn't pronounce it quite right...! Therefore, 2 months before you were born, we decided on Cruz or Coby. We liked them both...we really did! It wasn't until after you were born, that we finally decided on 'Cruz.' You rapidly descended(causing mommy to dilate from 7cm to 10cm in 10 minutes), causing slight bruising on your sweet face. We thought you were "Cruzin' for a bruisin!" And that's how you got your name :O)

WE LOVE YOU CRUZ! HAPPY 1ST BIRTHDAY!

**a special thanks to Tabitha Steward who made his lovely Dr. Seuss cake, and to Ashaley Crawford who generously took these wonderful pics!

1st SOCCER game!

It's official...I'm a soccer mom!! All I need now is a minivan:O) Corban is on a YMCA soccer league with a couple of his friends and they all have so much fun together! There's nothing better than watching 3 & 4 year olds running wild on a soccer field trying to play "as a team" because, of course, they ALL want the ball...! Corban's team, The Wizards, had their first soccer game on Saturday and it was a blast!!! All the moms and dads were cheering for their children and screaming "No! Run the other way!" Haha!! I think the score ended up being -1 to 8...good thing it's non-competitive:O)

Here are some action shots!



I think I must be that annoying mom that keeps cheering & cheering & cheering...so Corban must have been annoyed by my constant, "Go Corban!! Kick it in the goal!", that he just decided to pick it up and run with it to the goal ;O)


Cruz is already practicing his soccer sliding skills:O)

Thomas the Train

They're two, they're four, they're six, they're eight
Shunting trucks and hauling freight
Red and green and brown and blue
They're the really useful crew....

This song has been stuck in my head for 2 days!! Why you ask? Welllllllllll...

Thomas the Train made a visit to Oklahoma City...and guess who wanted to see him?!?!! Corban!! So, we decided to make it a family of 4 trip and headed to the Oklahoma Railway Museum :O)




Poor Cruz...he's such a good natured little baby!!



Corban loooooooved it!! He had tons of fun playing with all of the Thomas toys provided :O)



All aboard! After lots of playing, it was finally our turn to board Thomas!


Thomas will be giving more rides next weekend at the Oklahoma Railway Museum! Go here to get your tickets:
http://oklahomarailwaymuseum.org/

Happy 4th Birthday, Corban!

Corban,

Mommy & Daddy cannot even begin to tell you what a joy you are to us. You've enriched our lives in so many ways in these sweet, perfect 4 years!! You bring so much joy, laughter, happiness and animation(I could really go on forever with adjectives!)into our everyday life :O) I can't imagine going a day without fart talks, watching your "favorite movie of the week" 5 times/day, telling you a million times a day to stop calling your Elephant "Boobies"...since his real name is "Boo Boo", watching you run around the house saying "here comes Bullet", or holding you down and giving you kisses until you've had enough or squirm out of my arms(whichever comes first!)!!! These are the days I live for! These are your silly, little quirks and that's what makes you perfect in every way :O) I don't know how God decides to make kids and their personalities, but when he made you...he went to extraordinary measures to make you flawless and impeccable...and then I'm sure he had to have a day of rest...;O) We love you SO much! Happy Birthday, buddy! Here are some of your favorites:

Favorite song: Eyes Wise Open(aka Your Love is a Song)by Switchfoot.

Favorite drinks: Chocolate milk and sweet tea.

Favorite food: Anything that comes with a toy :O)

Favorite movies: Cars, Toy Story, How to Train Your Dragon, Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl, and Lion King.

Favorite books: Bible, Little Boy, I'm a Big Brother, Big Book of Animals, Goodnight Goon, and Dr. Seuss.


Since you couldn't make up your mind about what kind of birthday party you wanted, you got all 3...Cars, Toy Story, and How to Train Your Dragon! What a great birthday party it was!


Your cake...half Cars, half Toy Story...


Your cupcakes! They're supposed to look like Viking helmets for How to Train Your Dragon!


Your party favors...a dragon mask complete with a Piston Cup :O)



HAPPY 4TH BIRTHDAY, CORBAN!!

Date of birth: September 17, 2006
Time: 6:28am
Weight: 6 lbs, 12 oz
Length: 19 inches

Cowboy Up!

Boots and hats & orange and black! Yes...those are the best types of Cowboys :O) The county fair came as fast as it went, but not before some special boys' took part in the annual pee wee tractor pull! I don't know who had more fun...the pee wee tractor pullers or myself watching them! Those kids are so cute! I didn't think this night could get any better until.................................................the Hawkins family showed up! Caleb Hawkins and Corban are very good friends, to say the least :O) Caleb and Corban's little brothers(Tyson & Cruz) wanted in on the action, too!


My little COWBOYS...


So proud of these boys! Out of 15 contestants, Caleb placed 2nd and Corban placed 3rd! They had the pedal to the metal...


Tried & true, die hard cowboys...

AND...let's not forget about those OSU COWBOYS!

I would say that Corban's a fairly seasoned OSU football fan! He's been attending the games for half of his (almost) 4 year life :O) He looooooooves watching Bullet and Pistol Pete and the baby dancers(cheerleaders)! However, he is not "Corban" at the games. He tranforms into Brandon Weeden! "No, I'm not Corban...I'm Brandon Weeden!" Haha! He insists on orange hair, OSU tattoos on at least one cheek(face cheek, that is....), and his OSU shoes! Well, we can't have Cruz slackin' on us, so he's a BIG fan as well...!

It's really hard work being Brandon Weeden...

P.U.S.H

PUSH

{pray until something happens}

As I sit here at home, instead of being at my weekly Wednesday Bible study(thanks to strep throat), I have found myself embracing my current read. I love everything about this book and, in my opinion, it's a book everyone should read!

REASONS I LOVE THIS BOOK:

1.) It's written by Craig Groeshel, who is the pastor of LifeChurch.tv in Edmond. When Caleb and I started dating, we attended the LifeChurch campus in Stillwater every Sunday(well, almost every Sunday)! This was waaaaayyyy before they built their nice, new, awesome building in Stillwater! We ARE OLD! We attended LifeChurch when it was held in a school cafeteria!

2.) Reality check! It's amazing how many of us are Christian athesists...myself included. I kinda just "mentally" rolled my eyes when I heard the title of this book. I thought "this can't be me, I'm a great Christian." I thought I'd give it a try and boy, was I WRONG! This book really delves into the root of all of our everyday issues and uncertainties; whether it be worry, faith, forgiving the past, or giving.

3.) Many of my new favorite quotes and inspirational sayings came from the book :O)

4.) And did I mention Craig's an Okie...more inspiration to read it! Cool!

Some of my FAVORITES:

"God is interested not only in our actions but also in our hearts-in particular, our attitude toward him."

"PUSH. pray until something happens." I had never heard of this acronym before until I read this book. I just love it! I think I'll stick random post its in my house to remind me of this! We need to keep praying, no matter what. "God is far more patient than we are. He has eternity, so he's in no hurry. When we don't see immediate results to prayers, our tendency is to take back what we gave to God."

"When we live by faith, we believe that God has everything under control. But if we start to worry, how we live says the opposite."

"Worry is the result of trying to carry a burden that never belonged on our shoulders."

"Fear doesn't come from God. It's a tool the evil one uses to distract us from our true purpose here."

"Don't worry about anything; instead, pray about everything." Philippians 4:6-7

I still have 4 more chapters to read, so I'm sure I'll be updating this...stay tuned...! :O)