Babies & Bulldogs

Lazy

2011-01-27T18:19:00.001-08:00

I haven’t really been lazy lately (I wish there were time for that!), on the contrary- life gets busier by the day. The title is for this post. In October, we went to visit Joel’s wonderful sister, Caroline, and company and she did several posts on her blog about our trip. So, rather that attempt to recreate her posts, I will just post the links on mine. Lazy, I know! But hers are are better than mine would have been anyway! Crocketts have probably seen these already but for the rest of you- enjoy!

http://lifeatthebrocks.blogspot.com/2010/12/joelster-jandi-and-company.html

http://lifeatthebrocks.blogspot.com/2010/12/priceless.html

http://lifeatthebrocks.blogspot.com/2010/12/anderson-adventures.html

http://lifeatthebrocks.blogspot.com/2010/12/soaking-in-vibe.html

http://lifeatthebrocks.blogspot.com/2010/12/there-is-more-seriously.html

Three

2010-11-16T17:03:00.001-08:00

Dear Norah,

Happy Birthday sunshine girl! That is what I call you because the sun seems to follow you wherever you go. You have a light inside you that is easy to see and makes all who know you smile. You are full of life. It is my prayer that your light will continue to grow as you age and never dim.

You have grown a lot this year and I am amazed at all of the little things you say and do. From the “guys” you draw to your ability on that little red tricycle- you learn so quickly! It is a pleasure to be your mother and have a front row seat to it all.

You love many things right now. Namely, princesses, but there are other things too: playing with friends, your brother, babies, your daddy, parks, your tricycle, your cousins, your grandparents, tea parties, dressing up, family night, laughing, screaming, running, chasing, and playing… to name a few.

You are loved Norah, by many people.

Happy Birthday.

Love,

Mom

Norah… in the latest Juney Band Ad!

2010-11-13T17:10:00.001-08:00

Still deciding which one to use… smiling or serious. Either way, I think this will be the newest trend.

Walked out of the bathroom one morning to find this little cutie who could barely open her eyes because she had so many headbands on!

Hall-O-ween

2010-11-05T16:15:00.001-07:00

Introducing:

CINDERELLA and her sidekick GUS GUS the mouse…

Halloween this year could not have been more fun. Ohio just won “best place for trick-or-treating” in our book. People come out of their homes and line their driveways with chairs, fire pits and all, to hand out candy. Who wants to go knock on doors anyway? You can get twice the amount of candy doing it this way! There were haunted houses inside garages, scary things in bushes, tractors transporting kids up and down the street, spooky creatures handing out candy and hundreds of kids eating it up- ours included!

Goin Home.

2010-10-04T19:33:00.001-07:00

The kids and I were overjoyed to be able to take a trip to Utah in August. It was filled with lots of fun family time, a birthday party, a baby shower and, of course, sickness! It was a great trip nonetheless. Here are some of the highlights:

Getting to meet the newest addition,

Audrey Eva Turner

Isn’t she adorable?!

Lots of trips to Thanksgiving Point…

A Mountain BBQ with the Englands!

Ezra’s First Birthday Party!

The Hungry Caterpillar Cake

My Wonderful Parents

Cousins!

We didn’t get pictures with the Crockett cousins but are so happy we got to see them.

Whew! Lots of pictures, I know, but at the rate that I have been blogging I figured if I didn’t do it all at once I would never get them all in.

We love you all and are so grateful for your love and support. As usual, we didn’t get to see everyone we wanted to or spend as much time as we would have liked with some of you. You always have a place to stay in Dayton, OH!

First

2010-08-24T12:59:00.001-07:00

Ezra turned ONE on August 18th! Somehow it goes by so much faster with your second. Here is his first year in review…

EZRA SANDERS CROCKETT, Age1

Favorite foods- watermelon! You and your daddy can finish off an entire one by yourselves in one sitting! Beans of all kinds, cheese, fruit, fruit, fruit.

Lover of stairs (too bad you can’t go down them by yourself yet!)

One legged crawler (hilarious)

Words he (attempts to) can say: ba-ba (vacuum), ba (ball), cckkkaaa (clock), be be (baby), ba ba (bye-bye, a subtle difference between his ba ba for vacuum!), da da, wuff wuff (dog).

Animal sounds he can make (these are the cutest): oooooo (wolf), ah-ah (monkey), bababa (chicken), ba (sheep), owww (cat), cack cack (duck), fish lips, bop-bop (bunny), raaaar (lion) and of course wuff, wuff for dogs.

He loves:

balls.

sand.

music and dancing.

taking things out and putting them back in.

pushing and walking.

his sister (most of the time!)

smiling and laughing.

the bath.

We are so incredibly blessed to have you in our family little boy. You light up our home with your sweet spirit. You are calm yet feisty when you really care about something. You make all of us smile everyday. You are adorable. You couldn’t be more loved. Happy Birthday Ezra!

Pirate Face and Mommy Shoes

2010-07-25T17:30:00.001-07:00

This is what we call the Pirate Face. Ezra makes this face after something occurs that he’s not too sure about. It is typically after something Norah does. For example, when she grabs his hands and swings them back and forth as hard as she can while singing “twinkle, twinkle” at the top of her lungs, he will look up at me with Pirate Face. Or after she tries to ride him like a horse, Pirate Face. Or after she takes both arms and tries to drag him across the floor, Pirate Face. You get the picture. I couldn’t decide on just one so below are a whole slew of faces that I get to look at each day. Aaaaargh.

Norah still loves shoes. Today, after church, she put these on and wouldn’t take them off for a good hour…

About time.

2010-07-24T05:39:00.001-07:00

I know. Over a month and no posts. I know I need to post about the move, the house, Ohio, etc. I just need to summon the energy. For now, here are some pictures we took at the St. Louis Temple a week or so before we moved.

Finally…

2010-05-30T18:46:00.001-07:00

The Crockett clan has already seen most of these but for the rest of you, we finally got our picture taken as a family. It helps that we have an amazing photographer in the family but it’s hard when she lives 2000 miles away. Thanks Mandi, (yes we are both named Mandi Crockett) these are perfect!

Good Night Ezra

2010-05-18T19:31:00.001-07:00

This is one of Norah's favorite games to play with Ezra. She reads or tells him a story, lays him down on a pillow, puts a blanket on him, tells him "Good Night" and walks out of the room. Then she comes back in, lifts him up and starts all over.
In this scene, she begins by reading him a story. She puts on a "comfy blanket" and leaves the room. On the second round she wakes him up with "good morning", tells him a "princess Noh-nohs story" (part of our nightly bedtime routine) complete with a castle and a walk through the forest. Ezra (sometimes) loves the attention!
p.s.- please ignore the mess

I heart spring.

2010-05-01T18:35:00.001-07:00

Here are a few recent shots of the kids. Some are from the Missouri Botanical Gardens- one of my favorites places in St. Louis- it’s all azalea-ed right now. And some are from right in our own backyard. Spring this year has been amazing- very mild, lovely, love it.

They are both at the cutest ages right now, (I think I’ve said that at every age) but seriously, they are. I just want to eat them up!

hop, hop…

2010-04-28T20:20:00.001-07:00

I know, I am behind. Here are shots of some of our Easter festivities:

We took the kids to the Oakland House in Affton. It was pretty classic. There were old ladies in dresses straight out of “Gone With the Wind” who led the kids around the house to various stops. First it was an Easter puppet show, followed by a live bunny petting. After that they got to make an Easter craft and finally, they got to see the Easter bunny himself….

The entire house was decorated with bunnies, chicks and eggs- no shortage of Easter paraphernalia.

The Oakland House was followed by an Easter Egg Hunt with about 30 kids from the ward- it was madness- but fun!

And finally, Easter morning, after the Easter Bunny had hopped by.

We listened to General Conference and had some good friends over for dinner that evening. It was a great day!

Norah

2010-04-05T14:09:00.001-07:00

Oh the joys of having a two-year-old. Norah is at the cutest age right now. I constantly find myself having to discipline her while trying not to laugh. Here are a few of the latest examples:

The other morning I walked into the dining area and Norah had just finished eating her cereal. She was dunking Cinderella in her milk.

Me: “Norah, let’s don’t put Cinderella in the milk because it makes her all sticky.”

Norah: “Mom, she’s getting baptized.”

What do you say to that?!

Last Sunday we were driving home from church and I was talking to her about not pushing kids in nursery and being kind to them like Jesus is. I asked:

“Do you want to be like Jesus, Norah?”

She replies, “No, I’m Noh-Nohs” (what she calls herself)

Well okay then…

Today, as I was trying to get ready to take us all to a doctors appt, I walked out of my room and found this:

Dog tattoo? Couldn’t keep a straight face as I was telling her “no!” on this one! Poor Higgs.

Note to self: don’t buy non-washable markers ever again.

Life with a two-year-old is crazy but she sure is making it fun!

California Dreamin

2010-03-28T19:15:00.001-07:00

Joel had a rare week off at the beginning of this month and we took a trip to sunny (sometimes) CA to visit his family and go to the beach. Our good friends, the MacDonalds, joined us for a couple of days. With the exception of a few days of overcast weather, we could not have had a better time! Here are some of the highlights:

The kid’s favorite day was probably this one- spent at Dennis the Menace park…

The following day was at the Aquarium and Cannery Row:

This is a seadragon- not a plant!

Future engagement pictures…haha. These two were so cute together:

Finally, Point Lobos and the beach…

After the beach we went to stay at La Colina where we delighted in spending time with Grandma Vicki and Dr. Papa for a couple of days, had a serious Bandi photo shoot and stayed up way too late hanging with two of our favorite people. Thanks to everyone for making us feel loved.

We’re already dreaming up our next trip…

Hats On

2010-03-24T19:47:00.001-07:00

This was a month or so ago (yes, I am behind) and I forgot to post it… it made me laugh. Norah was rummaging through her closet one day and pulled out a couple of hats that Aunt Caroline had sent to us a while back. She tried several on before deciding on her favorite. She even chose one for Ezra but he wasn’t so jazzed about it. Maybe it was the pink…

Sittin’ around…

2010-03-16T14:37:00.001-07:00

Six months and sitting! A whole new world has opened up… for both of us.

His “I’m so happy I can hardly take it” face

5 months…

2010-02-21T19:05:00.001-08:00

I can’t believe how fast they grow! Ezra just turned six months but I snapped these a few weeks ago and haven’t had time to post them. He still loves his tongue! Does it get any cuter?

Lost of fun…

2010-02-21T18:58:00.001-08:00

To celebrate the final season of Lost, we had a little get together with our friends the Gunn’s- complete with island-themed Dharma food (pulled pork sandwiches from Pappy’s, mango salsa, pineapple and coconut ice cream and macaroons for dessert- so yummy!), tropical decorations (I put every plant in the house in the “viewing” room) and, yes, costumes! Wish I could have captured the moment we all saw each other… it was hilarious!

Can you guess who they are???

Goodbye George…

2010-02-10T12:20:00.001-08:00

George has officially left St. Louis but there was a going away party for him at the Magic House that Norah did not want to miss. Finally got a picture of her and George too… (although not a very good one…she is holding his hand!)

Play Day

2010-02-07T14:47:00.001-08:00

One day last week, the day after the realtor came to look at our house and after I had spent hours upon hours cleaning and organizing and Joel was on call at the hospital, I decided that I was going to have a work-free play day with my kids. We all needed it.

We started the morning off (of course) by making cookies! Norah loves to help and has even advanced to turning on the kitchenaid when the dough is ready to be mixed. After licking a few spoons and plopping the cookies in the oven, Ezra went down for a nap and Norah got her first glimpse into the world of nail polish. She chose pink for her nails, orange for her toes and loved every minute of it.

I am obsessed with her feet!

When Ezra woke up, we piled in the car, delivered some of the cookies to a few neighbors and then headed to the bookstore where Norah got to play with trains and stuffed animals to her heart’s delight. We had a gift card to the store so she even got to choose a book to take home with her- a rare treat!

We got home and had a special “bean soup” lunch- Norah’s favorite. Then the kids napped and I took a little “me” time- also, much needed.

When naps were over we climbed back into the car and drove to the library to get this:

Norah has never seen it (although she has several Ariel toys and books) and it is one of my all-time favorite movies. I still remember seeing it in the theater for the first time when I was a little girl and all the emotions that came with it. My littlest sister watched it so many times when it came out on DVD that I (still) have every line and song memorized.

We both put on our PJs, put Ezra to bed, popped a big bowl of popcorn and snuggled up together in my bed for an evening of mermaids and song! I did have to skip through every scene with Ursula (she is only two) but nonetheless, it was magic. It was one of the most enjoyable days I have had in a long time.

Treasured

2010-01-25T12:46:00.001-08:00

I love this man.

He has always been adorable.

He has always been funny and fun to be with.

He has always been a good friend.

He will always be a great doctor.

He will always be an amazing father.

He will always be my best friend.

Happy 30th Birthday babe. I love you.

Collection

2010-01-10T11:10:00.001-08:00

Forgot about this…

For about a month after Halloween (when I finally decided to pack up all of the decorations) Norah carried her jack-o-lantern everywhere she went. She picked up things of interest to her and stowed them away in her little bucket of wonders. She kept an inventory of everything in it. For example, if I took out the half-eaten hershey’s bar and put it in the trash, it would somehow end up right back in the pumpkin. If she saw me using the makeup brush she kept in it she would say, “No, Mom!”, take it from me and quickly put it back in her stash.

Here’s what I found one day:

makeup brush
thing you you freeze to keep your breast milk cold (I’m sure these have an actual name)
one shoe
half-eaten Hershey Bar
golf ball
bracelet
empty wrapper
teaspoon
rubber band
toy horse
clothespin

The items would vary on different days as she would lose interest in one thing and be attracted to another. It was always fun to see what made it in the bucket.

Our little collector!

Four months

2010-01-07T18:00:00.001-08:00

Ezra has learned all kinds of things in the past week or so. It’s incredible how fast they learn! He rolled over on his own for the first time last week and I just happened to be taking his picture.

One

Two

Three!

In the last few weeks he has also found his tongue (as you can see), had his first bowl of rice cereal (loved every minute of it), started playing with his feet and is able to hold toys and put anything he can get a hold of in his mouth. It is truly a wonder to watch them grow!

We think he is starting to look a lot like his daddy. What do you think?

December

2010-01-05T19:38:00.001-08:00

Think I’ll just roll the whole month into one post. Whew.

We wanted to make December magical for Norah this year since it the first Christmas she understood what was going on. She immediately fell in love with Santa Claus, lights and Christmas trees. Here are some of the highlights of our month:

She first saw Santa at the mall a few days after Thanksgiving. A group of teenage girls were standing in front of him asking him various questions. (I heard one girl say, “Okay, seriously, you can tell me, are you the real Santa?” Classic.) Norah had no thought for any of the girls. The moment she saw Santa she started running, arms open wide, through a mess of legs, right into Santa’s lap. This Santa was amazing, real white beard, rosy cheeks, plump in the middle and a jolly chuckle. He picked her up, gave her a squeeze, an elf hat and a candy cane. She couldn’t have been more excited.

We went to another (deserted, half-abandoned) mall a few weeks later and found a Santa there who let us take a picture with our camera. This Santa was probably in this thirties but talked like he was still in high school. Norah was a little apprehensive… Note to self: don’t go see Santa in malls that are about to close down, even if there is no line on a Saturday in December.

Some of the other festivities included:

A trip to Santa’s Magical Kingdom. (A campground turned into a Christmas wonderland with lights and characters of all kinds. We drove through it.)
Picking out our Christmas tree. Norah was not happy about this when she realized all it involved was driving to a parking lot filled with boring, undecorated trees and walking through them in the cold rain. She did love getting it home and decorating it though.
Opening packages from our friends and family. One of her favorite times of day was when the mail came.
Making Nativity puppets with mom and watching the Christmas Day puppet show.
Playing and sleeping with Trixie the elf.
Reading stories about baby Jesus.
Driving down Candy Cane Lane. Another Christmas light drive. She LOVED the lights. Any time we were in the car and she would see them she would yell “Ahh! Christmas lights!”
Decorating Christmas cookies.
Christmas Eve with the Reagan’s. Feliz Navidad- yummy mexican food and a piñata!
New Christmas PJs.
And of course, waking on Christmas morning to see that Santa had actually come! Even if our basement did flood on Christmas Eve…

He came! Every night in December she slept with her “baby elf” and “mommy elf”. They have since gone back to the North Pole.

Ezra woke up just as we were finishing up the opening of presents. Happy first Christmas little boy!

Watching the Nativity puppet show put on by mom and dad.

I love December and all that it means. Happy Christmas.

Blessed

2010-01-05T19:37:00.001-08:00

We were fortunate enough to take a trip to Utah this year for Thanksgiving. It felt like we were going to be there awhile but somehow the time flew by and we didn’t get to see everyone we wanted to. We didn’t take very many pictures either. I will refer you here for a bit about our Thanksgiving. Thanks Kristen and Tyler!

We blessed Ezra at my parents house on November 22nd. It was wonderful to have family from both sides attend. Joel, as usual, gave a great blessing.

We are so thankful to have this little one join our family. You can’t tell from these pictures, but he is always smiling and laughing. He likes to cuddle, suck on his fingers, eat, watch his sister run around and he just learned how to roll over!