Lucky, Lucky Us, Indeed!

It's St Patty's Day and we are feeling so lucky around here...

...Raise

The

Roof...

...cause I have some

BIG 

news to share... 

Yep, it's really true...

The C*K*J's will soon be

{plus two}

eta: 10.11.12

{is that a cool due date or what?}

We are thrilled beyond belief (although a little overwhelmed and a LOT surprised) 

We have been dying to spill the beans for the last nearly 2 months and we finally figured that today was the perfect day to go and spread a little happy, lucky cheer to our loved ones! 

It's so fun to have happy news to share and it never hurts to include tasty baked goods either!

***

This littlemiss has absolutely no idea what is about to hit her, but she loved today for reasons all her own. I think it may have had something to with the fact that green smoothies and cupcakes were on the dinner menu. 

It was that good of a day!

Happy St Patrick's Day!!

Love, 

the growing 

C*K*J's

pina coladas and getting caught in the rain...

{Better late than never, right? I don't know why I have been so un-motivated to blog lately, but although not many people read this anymore, it's still important to me. It's how I document our lives in pictures and remembrances. So.... while I know many are abandoning their blogs these days, I don't intend to be one of them. I'm just a little slow these days}

Ahhh.... Mexico! 

Oh how we love thee!

Seeing how we hadn't really done a big trip since before Leah was born, we decided it was time and we were ready. We decided to splurge and go back to one of our favorite places on earth to celebrate our 5th wedding anniversary. Seriously... I cannot recommend this hotel highly enough if you like small, quiet, out of the way and family friendly. It was our 2nd stay of what I anticipate to be many in the years to come.

I know that a lot of people thought that we were crazy to take Leah on our anniversary trip, but there was never even a question. We've done lots of travelling before she came along and the thought of leaving her never crossed our minds. She is the stage of life we are in and I wouldn't have it any other way.

Our First "Family Foot Foto" now that we've grown by 2 feet!

 The Hotel spoiled us rotten as returning guests, and knowing that we were celebrating a milestone anniversary!

We arrived after a long day of travelling to a table full of delicious treats, hot herbal tea...

....and the most amazing bath ever!!

Albeit, not as romantic as it should have been with a toddler in tow, but Leah pretty much loved her first rose petal bath.

Spoiled Girl!!

***

I took hundreds of pictures during our 11 day escape, but it's funny how as I look back at them... they are all pretty much the same pictures over and over. I guess that's what you get when you do the same exact thing every day for 10+ days....

We played in the sand and built dozens and sandcastles. Leah filled up her bucket and dumped it back out over and over again.

 Leah loved the beach, loved the sand and couldn't get enough of it.

We searched for seashells and examined them all carefully...

...and we spent plenty of time getting wet and dipping our toes in the beautiful, warm ocean!

We ate copious amounts of insanely delicious food all day every day. Whether it was wood fired pizzas brought right to our beach chairs, breakfast served on our balcony, multiple courses of dinner brought right to the comfort our room or evenings out in beautiful restaurants enjoying lobster, steak and everything in between... we enjoyed every single bit of it. I'm especially still dreaming about the amazing fish tacos and the incredibly delicious creme brulee. Devilishly Delicious!

And of course, it all tastes better when you wash it down with a pina colada!

 We spent several evenings at the fabulous sushi bar (new since our last visit) and suprisingly Leah couldn't get enough! Although we never let her eat anything too adventurous, she loved and devoured roll after roll.

That's my girl!!!

 We spent nearly every afternoon at the pool, both swimming and just relaxing....

...something Littlemiss caught onto really quickly!!

She was honestly so good and would sit or lay in between us with her toys and books and just lounge, relax and people watch! She was such a good sport and an awesome little travelling buddy!

This was my view every afternoon for 10 days from my favorite pool bed. The perfect amount of sun, 

easy access to the swim-up bar and right near our favorite lunch spot. Heaven!

 We never left the resort even once and after 10 days of doing nothing but relaxing... I still wasn't bored. Turns out that R&R and having people wait on you day and night just never gets old!
Although we had a couple of afternoons that we really did get caught in the rain... it was still a near perfect vacation in every way!

{she may hate me someday...but I love this picture!}

 This little chick kept it pretty interesting too!! Having fun is hard work!

                       

CJ and I spent the day of our actual anniversary taking turns at the spa, which was perfect and amazing and awesome. I did a spa day on our last visit, but it was Chris's first time and I think it's safe to say that he loved it and was sufficiently ahh'ed at how worth the $ it was. It is not only a beautiful place, but the treatments and staff are unbelievable.

 5 amazing years!

How did I ever get so lucky?!

An amazing trip to a beautiful place with the two people that I love most in the world. 

I don't think it gets any better than that!

It's been a little hard to come home with nothing to look forward to....

but somehow, I think we'll come up with something!

Stay tuned!

the end of the hiatus:

Wow... nearly two whole months have gone by. It was a much needed break from all things blogging... but we certainly haven't taken a break from life. In fact.... we've been having more fun than ever! 

My little baby is hardly a baby anymore. It seems that she takes new steps towards full-fledged toddlerdom on a daily basis. As imagined, it's all very bittersweet for me. I struggle every day and often have to ask myself if I am enjoying her enough and taking advantage of the moment enough... she is changing and growing so quickly.

A little bit about what we've all been up to...

Weaning. As imagined it was much, much harder on mama than it was on her. But after 15 1/2 months, we finally weaned this last month. I am so proud that we made it that long and although it's nice to have my body back(ish), I miss it much more than I thought I would.

Lots of time with dada. Due to holiday weekends, vacations and early church it seems that we've had daddy around a lot more than usual and it's been heaven. This girl loves her dada (and so do I). It is without a doubt my favorite word that she says. She has the most endearing tone and she can't say dada without smiling. It makes my heart so happy. She still only says "mama" when she's grumpy or needs something... and it's not nearly as endearing. Every morning when Chris leaves, she gives him big kisses and she's usually waiting to greet him the same way when he gets home.

Leah is learning new things every day. She knows most of her body parts, loves to sing and dance, play peek-a-boo, knows several animal sounds and still jabbers tons of nonsense. She is all girl and is already obsessed with jewelry, dressing up and rummaging through my make-up bag. Nearly all of my chapsticks and lipsticks have little finger gauges out of them. She always wants to have a necklace on and uses dishtowels and whatever else she can find to drape over her or put on.

I love watching her personality develop. She is starting to develop compassion and awareness of others. In church, anytime she hears a baby cry.... she gets such a concerned and sad look on her face and just wants me to make it better. She loves her baby doll and her stuffed animals and is constantly smothering them with loves and kisses. She has really expressive eyes and eyebrows and makes some of the funniest facial expressions. I love how freely she shares her emotions.

Littlemiss has been taking baths in the big tub for the last month or so and she pretty much thinks it's the best thing since crackers shaped like animals came into her life...

She still loves music and especially any toy that plays music, especially her pink teddy bear and she is especially obsessed with the mini organ at Grandpa and Grandma's house. (I've already told Chris that we might have to start saving for a piano and piano lessons)

SwimBabies. Leah and her best buddy Sawyer started swimming lessons a few weeks ago. I think she is still a little unsure about the whole getting dunked under the water thing, but she seems to be coming around.

Books. Books. Books. She is becoming more obsessed with books all the time. He loves to sit all by herself in the rocking chair and read them by herself. She likes to pick the books she wants to read now, is starting to want to read them "again" and has even been going through a phase where she like to take books to bed with her.

Along with her new found independence, she also wants to feed herself. She still isn't very good at the "scooping" part, but she's pretty good and getting the loaded spoon right to her mouth! Self-feeding has been one of the stages that I have been looking forward to the very least!

This past month LJ got her very first passport, and got her very first stamp...

as well celebrated our 5th wedding anniversary at one of our very favorite destinations... 

{more details posted soon} 

We played with cousins and had a fun girls day as we helped with Kadence's special project again this year. We love any time spent with all of our favorite girls especially when we are helping with something so worthwhile and honoring someone so special!

Littlemiss and I made Daddy a special Valentine's Dinner and finished the night with chocolate covered strawberries, which Leah inhaled. Some might think we're crazy, but I love that she's a part of all of our special date nights. :)

We also took our very first trip to the Aquarium last week and Leah loved it. She was mesmerized by all of the fish and was especially enamored by a silly little otter than swam endless circles right in front of her. She laughed and thought it was so funny. Unfortunately, I left my camera in the car.... so we're already planning another trip again soon.

Occasionally CJ and I do get a little alone time and special date nights. We scored great tickets to the Jazz game recently and loved every minute of it. Leah even got to have a sleepover with G&G and Aunt JoJo and also loved every minute of it. It was a nice little break.... but man were we happy to see this little squirt again!

It's been a great start to 2012 for the C*K*J's and I have a feeling that it's just gonna keep getting better!!

A Big Welcome to 2012...

We had a blast bidding adieu to 2011...never mind that we did it about 5 hours early. We figured it was midnight somewhere and being that we aren't big night owls to begin with and especially during this season of our lives {living with a toddler and all}... we did our celebrating a bit early this year!

Nothing says celebration like a plateful of appetizers, homemade naan, saffron rice, tikka masala and the ones we hold most dear!

And, of course, some fancy beverages to enjoy and "cheers" with. 

That was without a doubt Leah's favorite part of the party:

2011 was a really good year for us, it's the year that we really learned how to be a family of three. As we look back on all that we've learned, the milestones we've passed, the adventures we've shared and the love that we've felt.... we are incredibly humbled at how lucky we are and totally ecstatic to see what 2012 brings our way.

Happy New Year!

2011 Holiday Bucket Listing :: Recap

We (meaning I) pretty much loved having a checklist to guide us, ensuring that these holidays were the C*K*J's very best yet. (CJ may or may not have felt that it was a little intense... and too closely resembled a honey-do list) Regardless.... it was a great holiday season and we made the most of it!!

A few last favorites highlighting all of our bucket-listing glory...

Holiday Baking:: I love having an assistant in the kitchen and made sure to include her in baking some of our favorites this year!

She's a pretty good taste-tester and if she approves... they must be good!

Our first annual Bethlehem Dinner::

Neither Chris or Leah knew quite what to think of this night at first, but it turned out to be so fun! We donned our best Bethlehem apparel, dimmed the lights, created a special playlist of songs about our Saviour's life, lit candles, and ate a simple delicious dinner on the floor with our little family. We enjoyed homemade flatbread, goat cheese stuffed peppers, hummus, olive tapenade, grapes and feta cheese crumbles drizzled with olive oil and cracked black pepper. We drank grape juice, sang hymns and enjoyed every single minute of it! A new C*K*J tradition for sure!

Holiday Centered Date Nights and Family Home Evenings::

There is nothing better time with my two favorite dates, especially when it involves pretty clothes, twinkling lights, sparkles or chocolate of any kind. We had a few nights this month that included several of these things and I loved it!

Leah even managed a few dates of her own this month::

Can you even stand how adorable these two are?!? 

Just 4 days apart, they are best buddies. I LOVE watching them together and how excited they get when they see each other. Such a cute sweet little friendship!

***

Although we didn't quite check off every last item on our list, we came awfully close (hard to make snowballs with no snow, eh) and had such a fun time doing it! 

All in all... the 2011 Holiday Bucket List was a smashing success. (And even CJ agrees)