A little bit' o Christmas...

This is what Christmas looked like at the Sears house.
A bunch of toys for Zane under the tree.

His first reaction to Kota the Dinosaur...

His second reaction...And we finally got him to ride on the thing :)
He loves to go around the wall between the kitchen and the living room on this little fire truck. I will soon have a path marked on the carpet!
Zane and daddy playing on a sugar high...He so rarely has sugar, that half of a peppermint sucker kept him running and screaming for a couple hours lol.
The new slide! He, of course, loves it.
All the nieces loved it as well. It kept the kids plenty entertained. The older ones crashing into the younger ones, etc.
Zanes new chair. He calls it 'rawr'.And finally, Zane's after christmas haircut. I kept it long for the grandmas who thought the shaggy do was 'sooo cute', but mom and dad like it buzzed. Not sure how long the mow-hawk will stay, I like it for now.

All in all we had a really great christmas. Zane got more than his share of toys (not pictured above, a TON of blocks, Elmo Live, a bbq bubble blower, a truck that sings cotton eyed joe, books, elmo movies, blah blah blah...). Eric and I got a couple small gifts, things we wanted, but mostly it was just nice to get together with family.

So these first couple of pictures are from Abby's Birthday.
Zane shoving a cupcake in his mouth. He is all covered in marker because he was helping to color the cardboard playhouse (and the walls) with the girls.

This is the birthday girl! Abby is now a year old!

Now for some really cute pictures of Zane!
This is him in his new hoodie. Of course it only stayed on long enough to get a picture.

This is one of my favorite pictures. I gave him a baggie full of sliced apple and he immediatly ran outside with it. I looked out the window to see where he went and I didn't see him, so I peeked outside. There he was sitting on this little ledge in his overalls eating his 'bapples'. Of course I thought it was the most adorable thing ever!

There are no thanksgiving pictures because this year we did not really celebrate. I was really sick and we didn't get to go up to Heber with the rest of the family.
Eric did try to make it feel like thanksgiving by warming up some turkey lunchmeat and pouring gravy over it. He also whipped up some instant mashed potatos and stuffing.
The meal was good, just not the same.
Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays, and I was sad to miss it.
We also weren't able to go to my Nana's for a good home cooked meal because she ditched out on us. Ugh, I'm so tired of all the family drama.

I am feeling Great now! Ready for Christmas. I got the camera ready for lots of pics of my little guy.
Everyone is coming over here the Saturday after Christmas to celebrate and exchange gifts. It is nice to be in a house and be able to host Christmas.

Next Christmas will be hard to beat though. We will be in Heber, hopefully haveing a
White Christmas.

Halloween/Eric's birthday

Okay, so I went a little out of order, but there should be enough pics to keep everyone happy for another month or so.. Grandma Bell took us out to Famous Daves for some BBQ for Eric's 30th (gasp) birthday. Zane LOVED the Sweet and Zesty bbq sauce the best. I didn't get a 'messy pic' but I did have to ask for extra wet wipes.

Eric and Grandma posing for a picture *cheese*

Awe, he kinda looks like his daddy...

Or does he look more like his mommy???

He loves to give mommy kisses... I think daddy is a lil jealous...

This is on Sunday just before we left to go meet Brandi and Caleb for lunch, then go to the museum for youth, and the az museum of natural history. Everyone loves free first sundays! He actually kept the sunglasses on for the entire car ride!! BTW, this is my favorite shirt.

Big cheesy grin, with the biggest 'kids burrito' I've ever seen.

This was at the AZ museum for Youth, this little area is called 'Artville'. They have a ton of things for kids to do (4 and under) from books, to the slide, to the little play cafe and cars. It really is a neat area for toddlers. Inside the museum part, they had 'recycled art' , art made from trash really, but I thought it was really cool, and imaginative. They also had a Dia de los muertos art on display, that was my favorite. Of course Zane could care less about the art. And, honestly, Eric could too.

This was after the museums when we stopped at Carver's to satisfy a ice cream craving Eric had. Zane however, was infatuated with my pumpkin spice shake. Of course after this he had a extreme sugar rush and was SCREAMING and Laughing in the next store. He was so loud that people were staring and the sales ppl were asking us if he was okay. Of course he was, he was jumping there with a huge smile on his face. Eric and I were laughing so hard that we were crying and could barely breath enough to answer them.

Here it is... the picture you have all been waiting for...

Zane's Halloween costume. He was the cutest, most adorable lion cub in the world! As if he wasnt the best kid already, he kept his hat on the whole time. I had to take him to the store in the costume, and he didn't take his hat off once. I'm so proud. Eric didn't take any pics of him out trick or treating, but you can picture him riding in his red rider wagon. :)

These are just cute extras. These were taken before we went to Uncle Colin's engagement party. I believe he was the only little boy there. Well, I guess is doesnt help when he has 4 girl cousins (with one more girl cousin to arrive in a week or so).

My boys, gosh they're cute!

This, is Zane before bedtime, sitting in the most comfortable chair in the world, with is 2 best friends, Tiger and Quack Quack. Wrapped up in a super soft fleece blanket. Suns colors not intentional. He won't go to sleep without either of those stuffed animals. And I wouldn't change it for the world!

Disc Golf Tournament

The weekend of the 11th and 12th Eric was in a disc golf tournament. It was at a park in Scottsdale and it was a beautiful weekend except for the wind. Eric didn't place in the tournament, but got a goodie bag that almost made up for it. Zane and I went down to the park to watch for a little while, and play on the playground. He LOVES to swing.

This is Eric 'teeing off'



Zane was running around yelling 'bisbee'. He wanted to play sooo bad. He kept trying to take frisbees out of other players bags.


Playing at the park . Again, he loves to swing. He also went down the slide a couple times. He was a little afraid of it though.


He climbed up the stairs all by his self. And then he climbed down, and up again, and down...

It was a great day/weekend. We all had a lot of fun.

Breanna's Birthday

This Saturday was Breanna's 2nd birthday party. Its always fun when all the family gets together. All the cousins have so much fun playing together. We didn't get to many pictures (I didnt bring my camera, so I grabbed the pics off my moms) but there are some candid moments caught. Like Ava attempting to steal a cupcake... and Breanna and her friends eating cake and mickey mouse shaped ice cream!

Jadyn and Grandpa hanging out on the couch.And this is Abby, in case you haven't met her before. She looks just like her daddy, with those big blue eyes.

The party was a lot of fun, there was a lot of toys to play with and a lot of sugar! I think Zane was a little intimidated by all the girls there, and the only other boy was about 8 yrs old. All the rest of the friends and family had little girls, go figure.

On Sunday we mostly hung out

around the house. Zane sat in his chair in his favorite hat!

Then we bbq'd some chicken, which has kind of become a Sunday ritual. Eric practiced his putting while Zane played in the backyard, and I cooked the mac and cheese inside.

Just to get you caught up

So, we are officially in a house now. We did not purchase, we are renting, but we LOVE the extra space we have. Zane has a ton of more room to run around in and we even have a small backyard with a charcoal grill. Which is were Eric spends most of his time. He likes to practice his disc putting while grilling some meat. We are not completely moved in yet, so we are still unpacking and deciding where to put things. For us, this could take a good 6 months. Unless grandma Bell starts to charge us for storing our boxes at her house.

We went up to Heber a week or so ago and thoroughly enjoyed the cool weather. Its soo nice to sleep with the windows open, and breathe the fresh air. Zane got his first ride on the gator.

and is first time on the 50 cent ride in front of the dollar store. Which, I think, scared him a little. Though I'm sure there will come a time where I won't have enough quarters for him to ride as long as he wants to. I can't wait until it snows and we can go up and play in it!

Zane went to the Dr. the other day and only got one shot! He is now 18mo old, 25.8 lbs and 32' tall. It feels like he adds a new word to his vocabulary everyday. He's got at least 20 words and phrases he uses on a regular basis, like "let's Go!" and "I'm ready". Grandma Bell has taught him to say "me, me, me" when asked "who's the cutest?". Its amazing to watch him grow.

Other than that, our weeks have been full with work and errands. For those of you that don't know I'm back to full time, so when Zane naps, mommy naps! Lately our weekends have been full of moving, Heber, unpacking, birthday parties, disc golf tournaments, and dinners with Grandma Bell.

I am hoping to update this once a week or so to keep everyone updated and get out pictures that everyone asks for. Hope you enjoy it!