Beni & the Blu's...

In your head I hope you singing..."Benny, Benny, Benny & the Jetts"...? :)

How do you celebrate Valentine's Day with a 15 month old? Normal parents would find a babysitter, but not us...we take the baby with us to celebrate.

We packed up and headed out to Benihana last night. Of course we took 5:30pm reservations and were pleasantly surprised that not just blue hairs occupied the restaurant. We chose Benihana thinking that Cole would be entertained by the flying food and flaming volcano onion that Benhiana offers. Turns out we were right, it was a hit!

Here a few pictures of the evening...

PS...are Cole and I related much?

Little Movie Star

It's been a while since our last post and I wish I had more to report from AZ! I guess no news is good news around here. We continue to slowly look for a home to call our own again. Thought we had found it a couple of weeks ago, but someone else beat us to it. So...we continue to look.

I found this picture of Cole and had to post it. He loves glasses and when he finds them he knows just what to do with them. He found these sunglasses and just kept putting them on and taking them off. I think he looks like a little movie star in the big hollywood shades (check out his big chompers)!

Cole is keeping busy and keeping us very busy! He continues to learn new words and now can say Mama, Dada, Nana (this is banana, or any snack really), Milk (which is pronounced Ma-Mo), Ball, Bubbles, Grandpa (said Ba-Pa), More, Yes and No. He loves to say No and even shakes his head at the same time.

Here is Cole in his bath recently. He just loves to take baths and learned how to splash while he was at his cousin's house last month (thanks, Lukas!). He makes quite a mess most nights.

PS...I have said before, but feel I need to comment again. I SWEAR his hair looks fire engine red in pictures...but not as much in real life. Maybe I am just in denial...

Destination Boise!

We just got home from a 4 day trip to Boise to see Cole's cousins and my sister and Judd. You can reference my post from November, after a 10 day visit, raving about how much I love Boise and was ready to pack my bags and move. Don't get me wrong, I still love it there, but if we ever move there, I might have to keep a "winter" home in AZ. It was COLD! We survived 28 degrees by borrowing lots of down coats, sweaters and blankets from Kristie and Judd. My vest (or Arizona parka as Karla calls it) wasn't going to cut it in those temps.

Cold aside, we had a great visit! I hadn't seen Autumn since the day after she was born (below she is celebrating her 3 month birthday and President Obama's inaguration), so I was thrilled to spend time with her. Cole and Lukas played great together, although Cole is still a bit of a bully. He's gotten very good at giving things back to Lukas after he swipes them from him.

The highlight for Cole was sledding. Judd and Shawn took the boys up to the snow and Cole just loved it. Since mom didn't go, dad let Cole be a daredevil and go sledding by himself. He loved it!

The highlight for me was just spending time with my sister. We don't get to spend enough time together, so 4 days was a great treat.Thanks for hosting us Williams Family! I am sure it's nice to have a bit of order back in your house, not to mention being back in your own bed. We love and miss you guys!

Momma, why can't I have the whole box of Cheerios?

This is why you shouldn't give your 14 month old the whole box of Cheerios to eat. He wanted a snack and loved the box so much I thought, what the heck? How much damage could he do with a box of Cheerios? These pictures don't do the mess justice. The best part was when he stood up after the spill and stomped on them and then drug the crumbs through the house on his socks. Good times.Here he is playing outside after the mess was cleaned up. I just love this photo...he looks like such a Big Boy! He loves to play outside...Shawn always says he is going to remind Cole of this when he is 9 years old and won't peel his buns off the couch from playing video games. :)

Mom, where did my mullet go?

It was months coming...Cole's first hair cut. First he was a darling baby born with auburn colored hair. Then, it all fell out. Slowly over the last 12 months it's grown back until we finally got to the point that we were businessing in the front and partying in the back (and partying on the sides as well). So...off to "Snip-it's" we went on Sunday.

I had major reservations about taking Cole for this hair cut. This is a child who doesn't sit still for 2 minutes, let alone be strapped into a chair while a stranger comes at his little head with scissors. To my surprise, he was a champ! These pictures don't give his hair cut justice. The best description I can give you is Jim Carrey in Dumb & Dumber. I'm talking short and straight across the front. It's hilarious. At least the mullet is gone...and as they say, it will grow back!

A White December 18th!

Hoping the title will catch your attention. So, yes we saw snow last night...okay no, not the real kind. Not like our friends in Washington are getting.

My dad is in town and we decided to take Cole to go see it snow. Every night at 7pm one of the outdoor malls makes it snow for 15 minutes. They have a beautiful tree set up, they play Christmas music and the flakes fall.

Cole was a hit with the crowd running around trying to catch the snow in his hand. It was at that point we realized, wait...this isn't even fake snow. In fact, why are we coughing so much? The snow was some sort of foamy snow, making us cough, made of a cancer causing chemical I am sure. All the same, it was beautiful, festive and we had a great time!

Amazing Chandler Toddler Potty Trains at 1 Year Old!

Not really, this was just the fun tonight before the bath. I know the day will come when I am not allowed (or it's just inappropriate) for me to photograph these buns. Until then, I'll capture them every chance I get!