Cruz Family

August 30, 2010......almost a year later!

2010-08-30T20:25:00.000-07:00

WOW!!! It's been almost a year since I have updated this. OOPS!! I'm really going to try and keep this updated and keep things off my facebook as there are a bunch of weirdos out there and it's freaking me out. I know Nikolas' pictures are out there in cyber space and I can't change that but I'm going to minimize what is put on there from now on.

*Mom, you can still post pictures. I'm not saying everything 100% is off limits :) I will do my best to send you new pictures via email or update this more often.*

Anyways, I hope this finds everyone happy and healthy. As the new 2010-2011 school year begins (September 1) changes happen for me. I am now the director of the infant/toddler center with the same company, ChildCare Plus. I will be working next to the high school with teen moms. As most of you know, I do not approve of teen parenting but I'm happy to be part of a team that is willing to help them out so they will finish school and better themselves instead of dropping out and giving bad examples to their children. With this change, I will now be able to have Nikolas with me. I am very excited to finally have him with me. It's gotten easier to drop him off at daycare but it still breaks my heart. I'm the type that the minute I'm off work, I go and get him because I would just rather have him with me. Also, once the new baby is born, I will take 4 weeks off and then I will go back work with both my children in hand. That will be the greatest feeling ever!

Duane is still in charge of recruiters over in Seattle. He has tossed around the idea of changing fields in the National Guard but until something opens up that he is 100% excited about, he is going to stay where he is and work hard.

As most of you, if not all of you know, Duane and I did not get to see the older 3 kids this summer. It's been a hard year not seeing them but we are trying to make the best of it and get things worked out so we can see them soon. They started school September 30 (today for us, yesterday for them) in Korea for the second year. We have not talked to them yet to see how their first days have gone but I'm sure they went well. They have all grown a lot. All 3 are still playing soccer and are rocking in it. If I ever (by chance) get photos of them, I'll be sure to post them but unfortunately, pictures are VERY few and far between.

Then there is the little rascal, Nikolas. Boy has he grown. Nik started walking 3 days before he turned 10 months.....soooo I believe that makes it April 4th. It was so much fun to watch him learn and get better at walking. Now, of course, I'm asking myself "what the hell was I thinking." :) He has mastered the art of running and climbing up and down the stairs. He is working on jumping (so cute!). I'll have to get a video of him trying it. Nik says a few words that we can understand but everything else is in a foreign language. I'm ready for him to know how to talk so I know what he wants instead of playing the guessing game. The words he knows now are: No, Mom, Dad, Dog, Hot, More, Hi......he also blows kisses and waves. Oh, and the most important, he dances (yes everyone, just like daddy). If Nik is cranky in the car, we just put techno on and he is happy and dancing all over the place in his car seat. Super cute! He will be a break dancer in no time. So with all the talk of how well he has been doing, he has also been a little turkey! I purchased a "time out" stool a month or so ago because I'm having problems with him biting me, hitting us, and throwing fits. We are just trying to get a hold of the problem now so when it gets worse (yes, I'm facing the fact that I will have a child just as difficult as I used to be) he will know that there will be discipline to follow. So far, it has worked. He knows that when he is put on the stool, he is in trouble. I swear, it's the only time he listens :).

Well, before this becomes a book, I want to add quickly that I am currently 5 months pregnant. I have a doctors appointment September 1st and hopefully we find out the sex of the baby on September 14th. We are very excited to find out. We are still trying to tell Nikolas what is going on but of course, he doesn't understand :) It's been a pretty easy pregnancy like it was with Nik but has been a little different than the first. I never had "morning sickness" but was more nauseated than I was with Nik. We shall see if we are blessed with a boy or a girl!

Once again, I hope this finds everyone healthy. We love you all and can't wait to keep you all updated on our lives!

Love,
Cruz family

2009-10-26T15:43:00.000-07:00

MORE PHOTOS

Okay, these are Nikolas' 4 month pictures that I wanted to share since I am finally on here making updates. ENJOY!!!

2009-10-26T15:28:00.000-07:00

5 MONTH PICTURES/HALLOWEEN PICTURES
OCTOBER 2009

Hello Everyone!

It's been forever since I have updated this. SORRY!!!

Nikolas has grown so much since August (which I believe is the last time I updated). Last month we started Nik on baby food. It was a challenge at first because he didn't know what we were doing so we always had to trick him into opening his mouth. Now, he understands and opens his mouth when he sees the spoon. We have upgraded him to the number 2 foods so he gets chicken and turkey now instead of just veggies and fruit. He has mastered sitting on his own (as you can see in his pictures below). Nikolas knows how to go up into the crawling postition but doesn't have it figured out quite yet that he will move faster if he crawls. He goes up on his knees and throws his body forward on his tummy so he can get anywhere. Either that or he rolls to get anywhere. Nik has done very well staying on the carpet area but last week he rolled himself out into the hallway on the woodfloor. He wasn't sure what to think of it :) The little man is started to explore and starting to get into things he shouldn't be. Here comes the fun!!! :)

I hope you enjoy the photos. Grandma Cyndi made Nikolas' halloween costume!! We have gotten a million compliments on it. GOOD JOB GRANDMA!!

2009-08-06T09:38:00.000-07:00

TUMMY/SLEEP TIME
AUGUST 6, 2009

Nikolas at 9:25am wide awake during tummy time........

Nikolas at 9:35am knocked out with fingers in mouth.

I couldn't resist this because he has never done that before. He was getting frustrated on his tummy and turned a little bit but then laid his head down and went to sleep. Usually during the day he will only sleep in his swing. GO NIKOLAS!!

2009-08-04T17:54:00.000-07:00

3 MONTHS
AUGUST 4, 2009

I know I'm a few days early on the 3 months but I was excited to get the pictures out for everyone to see. I'll be sending some out once I get them from the lab which will be in a couple weeks.

Since the last post....Not a whole lot has changed. Nikolas and I are for sure going to South Dakota to see Grandma and Grandpa and all the relatives. We are very excited. I'm a little nervous because it's Nik's first time on a plane and it's only going to be he and I. Duane will be going to Alaska for some training for work.

I hope you all enjoy the pictures. Love to all!

2009-07-29T12:59:00.000-07:00

CRUZ UPDATE
JULY 29, 2009

Last week and now this week have been VERY hot for WA. After a long, hot day driving home from Portland, OR and washing all clothes at the laundry mat, the little man finally crashes. He fell asleep and we didn't want to disturb him so his bib even stayed on. Must say he looks pretty darn cute.

We went to Portland for a conference with our Amway business. While down there, we discovered the kids had lice......not fun. We traced it back to what we think was their aunts house. This happens every time they go over there so that's why we assume it this time. So, we instantly got in the car and started researching on the best things to do for lice. Ended up calling the military hospital and got some shampoo from then which was nice because it was FREE. Of course when we got home we put EVERYTHING into trash bags and off we went to the laundry mat. Fast and easy but not cheap.

Other than that, we have been keeping busy. We had Nikolas' baptism July 12Th. My mom, dad, brother, and sister-in-law all came out for it. It was wonderful! I'll have pictures of the BEAUTIFUL baptismal outfit that Grandma Frailing made for him in a few weeks. I'll be taking him to Sears to get his 3 month pictures.

The 3 older kids leave tomorrow back to their mother in Korea. This is a new adventure for them which they are excited about. We will miss them but we are told that with military flights, we should be able to see them more often. Hopefully that is true. We will get them back again for Christmas and will be heading out to South Dakota to be with the Nelson crew. We are all excited about that and the 3 kids are very excited. They love hanging out with Grandma Cyndi and Grandpa Brian.

Nikolas is now 2 1/2 months old and counting...He has mastered the rolling over both ways. I will put him down on his back, walk away for a minute and when I come back he will be on his tummy and half way across the room. I'm in trouble already :) We love getting him to smile and giggle because it is more frequent these days. It's awesome hearing him try and talk as well.

Last but not least, Nikolas and I might fly out to SD to visit mom and dad in a couple weeks. We are still unsure as we don't know when I need to go back to work. Duane will be gone most of August so why stay here in the heat with no A/C??? :)

I hope everyone is doing well and hopefully next time it wont take me as long to finally update this thing :)

Love to all!!!

2009-07-07T16:43:00.000-07:00

2 MONTH CHECKUP
JULY 7, 2009

Well, Nikolas is now exactly 2 months old. Amazing how the time just flies by. He measured in at 22 3/4 in long and 11lbs 5.7oz. He is doing good and very healthy. He had his first 3 shots today and that was extremely hard for me. Duane had to be the one to hold him down because I was a big wimp. Hopefully I can drag him along for all the appointments because I might be a wimp again next time :)
Nikolas has been sleeping all day but seems to be doing ok after his shots.

This Sunday is Nikolas' baptism. I'm hoping everything comes together easily and without complications. I'll be sure to post pictures when we get them. It will be Grandpa Brian, Uncle Andrew, and Aunt Aniela's first time seeing Nik and Grandma Cyndi's second time. They are excited and so am I.

2009-07-07T16:34:00.000-07:00

4TH OF JULY/ANNIVERSARY WEEKEND
JULY 3-5, 2009

The Family took a trip to Seattle for the weekend with another family and had a lot of fun. It was Nikolas' first time swimming and he did GREAT! I have more pictures on our video camera but I wanted to get a couple up for now and the rest will come later.

2009-06-24T11:34:00.001-07:00

FAMILY TRIPS
JUNE 24, 2009

The 4 kids at Huricane Ridge.

The family at the Tacoma Narrows overlook on the way back from the zoo.

Duane thought it would be cute to get a picture of Nikolas with the Budgies. But since he couldn't go in the cage where they were with the older kids, this is the best we could do :) Kinda cute if you ask me.

Devvin, Adiyana, and Abrielle holding the sticks out with bird food on it waiting for Budgies to land and eat them. They had fun.

2009-06-11T11:39:00.000-07:00

BOTTLE FEEDING
June 11, 2009

Yesterday I started using the breast pump that mom got me. I have to admit that at first, it was a very, very weird experience. Now, it's not to bad, still kinda out there, but I'm thinking I like it better than sitting for 45 minutes feeding Nikolas. I wasn't ready to change Nik to a bottle yesterday so I waited until today to work on the transition.

For Nik's first "day" feeding, we used the bottle. The poor guy was soooo hungry and had no idea what mommy was giving him. It was a battle at first. I had to walk with him around the house while he SLOWLY drank some milk. I thought the 1.5oz I was trying to give him would last forever. He finally drank .5oz and fell asleep for a while and when he woke up, we tried again. After about an hour from starting this process, he got the hang of it. Nik sucked down the last ounce and wanted more. Before he was happy he had drank 3oz of milk. I'm so proud of him and how fast he picked up on it.

I'm going to continue using the bottle today because Duane has a softball game and I'm trying to get a stockpile of milk for other days. It's going to take a while but that's ok.

2009-06-03T12:47:00.000-07:00

RANDOM PICTURES
JUNE 3, 2009

These pictures were all taken at random times but thought they were cute and wanted to share them. I hope everyone is enjoying all the pictures :)

SFC Nikolas Duane Cruz....This has got to be one of my favorite pictures.

Duane and Nik at Mt Rainier....of course this was taken in the bathroom. We had to change a "blowout" diaper so we used the Family Restroom.

Nikolas is almost out of the stage of curling up and sleeping :( I loved this about him but he still loves to lay right next to us or on our stomachs.

2009-06-02T09:28:00.000-07:00

DOCTOR'S APPOINTMENT
JUNE 2, 2009

Nikolas and I went to the doctor today to get his hearing checked. As hoped, he passed everything and is good to go. We don't have a scheduled appointment for his 2 months just yet but hopefully in the next day or two we will. Also, my 6 week appointment is coming up and I still have to schedule that as well :) I'm a slacker sometimes. But, as you can tell from pictures, Nikolas is growing fast and doing well and I am feeling great. Don't even feel like I had a baby 4 weeks ago.

2009-06-01T12:55:00.000-07:00

MT RAINIER
MAY 30, 2009

Devvin, Adiyana, Abrielle at Mt Rainier Saturday May 30th. It was a beautiful day to be out and about.

Nikolas with Mommy and Daddy at Mt Rainier. This was the first time he used the front carrier. He did very well with it. So well that he fell asleep and was hard to get him back out :)

2009-05-28T18:27:00.000-07:00

FUN FILLED DAY
May 28, 2008

It was our first time in the bathtub today. It was rough at first but then he realized it wasn't so bad and calmed down.

Duane and I....with Nikolas feeding, at the park.

Nikolas and Daddy at the Park. Doesn't he look cute in his hat that Grandma N gave him?? We still can't believe how big he is getting. He is really starting to fill out and get some color (other than red and white) to his skin :)

Today we all went to Seabeck State Park to enjoy the nice warm weather. We took this opportunity to get the first picture of all 4 kids together. This week as been a beautiful week and still more to come. It's supposed to be 80+ degrees all weekend untill Monday. Hopefully we will get a lot of outside time and a lot more pictures taken.

2009-05-16T11:13:00.000-07:00

GOODBYE GRANDMA
May 16, 2009

Nikolas getting the last bit of sleep before we have to get ready to take Grandma back to the airport.

Thank you for everything mom. We all greatly appreciate it and we will be on top of pictures for you :) We love you and can't wait to see you again in July with the rest of the family.

2009-05-15T13:31:00.000-07:00

GROCERY SHOPPING
May 15, 2009

Today was the first time to the grocery store. As you can tell, Nikolas is passed out. I'm still amazed at how well he does when we are out and about. Even at home he is learning that we aren't going to go running to him every time he cries. The bassinet is still a work in progress but has been quiet while in it for about 5 minutes now :) Lets see how long it lasts. It's a lot easier to work on when Daddy is gone because he is the one who saves Nikolas. Me, on the other hand, is trying to make my life easier by letting him be independent. Good luck mommy :)

This is my favorite shirt....and we only bought it yesterday. HAHA! We did buy one that says "I love Daddy" so it was fair but of course, anything with "mommy" is my favorite :)

I think that is all for now. We are trying to get a walk set up for Sunday depending on the weather. If it's bad outside, we will probably be walking around the mall. Daddy has drill so I know I'll be wanting to get out of the house.

2009-05-14T14:05:00.000-07:00

TUMMY TIME
May 14, 2009

Nikolas, Grandma, and I all went to Target today and we got a play gym for the little guy. He now gets to start his "tummy time". He wasn't a big fan of it at first but he will get used to it I'm sure.

Another first today would be that he peed on HIMSELF. I was changing him and he decided he wasn't done. I guess it was bound to happen and why not on the day he turns a week old :) Other than that, everything is going pretty smooth. Nikolas let me get some sleep last night, which was nice. I only had to wake up twice to feed him. Our next mission is to get him used to his bassinet so he isn't sleeping in the bed with us. Maybe that's the weekend project.

I also need to start preparing the house and the rooms for the 3 kids. They get here on Tuesday and we are very excited to see them. I guess I will have a busy weekend. Duane gets out of it since he has drill weekend. Lucky man!

2009-05-13T08:18:00.000-07:00

NIGHT 6 WITH NIKOLAS
May 13, 2009

He may be cute.....but he knows how to wake up the dead :) No, he has been doing really well at night. He only wakes up about 3 times a night to eat and then passes back out.

Nikolas is staying awake more through the day which is fun. Obviously he still doesn't do much but being awake is good for me. We did have our first scare yesterday though. While feeding, Nikolas started choking. Between that and having him scream so much during a diaper change that he forgets to breath, I'm already at my limit. I just hope it gets better instead of worse.

2009-05-12T18:07:00.000-07:00

NIKOLAS DUANE CRUZ
May 7, 2009 11:21am

Duane and I are the proud parents of Nikolas Duane Cruz. His siblings....Devvin, Adiyana, and Abrielle are excited to meet him on May 19th.