Meeting Santa

The mall was packed the night Santa arrived, so I told Sage that we'd come back during the week to get their picture made. Wasn't she afraid of Santa? So many have asked me. Well let me tell you that this kid is a different person since she's become a big sister. She did actually talk to Santa the night he arrived. We just didn't do pics because Jaggar was falling apart. She climbed in his lap without ME and said that she'd like a bubblegum machine. Then he asked her if she liked surprises (which was precious) and said, "I'm good at surprises." He told her that she could come back because he'd be there a LONG time (no kidding).

So on Monday, that's exactly what we did because I knew there wouldn't be anyone there during school, and I was correct. I didn't really expect to get 2 different poses because they charge an arm and a leg for a camera that is not as good as our's, BUT when I saw how sweet they were, I couldn't resist. Jaggar will almost always smile at anyone and everyone, but he was so taken aback by all the THINGS: nutcrackers, snowmen, snow, lights, trees...that we simply got him to look at the camera. But on that second one...the sweet look at Santa is my favorite. We love Santa! So when I was choosing what I wanted, Santa handed Jaggar to me and said, "Sage, come here, let me show you something." He picked her up, put her hand in his, and started dancing and singing to "walking in a winter wonderland." It was SO precious, and I SO wished I'd had my camera to take a picture of that and the look on her face. I said, "Do you think ANYONE has ever danced with Santa?!" She was pretty sure they hadn't.My favorite

When Daddy Fixes the Hair

Travis has wanted to give Jaggar a mohawk for a LONG time. He took his opportunity on Sunday when I was in the shower. This is what I saw when I got out. Poor baby Cruiz.

O Christmas Tree

We figured that if you can't beat 'em, you may as well join 'em, so we went ahead and put our Christmas tree up this past weekend. We will be traveling next week, so we just gave in and started the decorating process BEFORE Thanksgiving. I do LOVE having the tree up, and for me, the anticipation of Christmas is better than the actual day, so I really don't mind. It's just FINISHING the process of decorating. The tree is up, and that's about it. Even though, he's little, it's still J Cruiz's first Christmas, and it's neat to see how he reacts to it all. Travis took some sweet pictures. He likes the lights.
This is after we put the ornaments on the next day. Sage was VERY into it this year. After all, she's the reason we put up the tree on Saturday.

Cereal Time!

After 6 months of an all liquid diet, Jaggar was finally introduced to solids on Monday: the ever-popular-for-beginners RICE CEREAL. He absolutely LOVED it. He actually screamed (which is a really fun *haha* new thing he's got going on this week) when it was gone. With Sage, I started her at 4 months, so she was a lot less active during meals. It is very difficult and MESSY to feed a baby that thinks that he can "help" with the spoon. So, needless to say, bathtime is inevitably afterward.

Since the cereal is white, you can't really see that it's all over his face, but trust me, it was.I finally gave up and let him hold the spoon for a few.

Santa Claus is Coming to Town

Yes, just 2 weeks after Halloween, Santa makes his debut at the mall. This is our 3rd year awaiting his arrival, and each year is different. This year, I had to laugh. It was definitely not what you'd expect from Santa. Here are the kids waiting. They passed out glow sticks to each kid.Jaggar passed on that and opted for his own toy.
HEEERREE he comes!
Yep, there's St. Nick...on a HARLEY. YEEAH! Guess Rudolph just isn't cutting it these days.

Is he cool or what? I think Travis asked him for his bike for Christmas.

And he makes his way towards his "throne" for a throng of anxious children waiting to pour out their Christmas wishes weeks before Thanksgiving. In spite of that, I still get teary each time I see him for the first time that year knowing that so many kids, including my own, truly believe.

Little Rockstars

How cute are these kids?! Not sure what I'm going to do with this little diva.

Jaggar's Dedication

Last Sunday, November 1st, we had Jaggar dedicated. Because we have so many services and because they want to make it nicer for the families, baby dedications are their own service. It was really beautiful. They had a slide show with the song "My Wish" by Rascal Flatts (which tears me up every time) with pictures of all of the babies and their families. There was a charge to the parents and grandparents to raise our children in the love and knowledge of God, and then Kent brought each family up one by one to recognize them individually.

Unfortunately, for me and Jaggar, we had already been there since 7:45 that morning, and it was 1 something when it began. He had had ENOUGH of being there, so we spent quite a bit of time in the back or outside in the lobby praying we wouldn't miss our turn. Finally though, it was his turn, and they read the form that I had filled out weeks ago about what his name meant and what HE meant to our family. Then they prayed over him, anointed his head with oil and his lips with honey to symbolize the Word of God always being sweet in his mouth. It was a beautiful service, and I'm glad that our families got to be a part of it.

so sweet

Trick-or-Treat

Even though it was freezing, that didn't stop Sage from setting out across the neighborhood to trick-or-treat. This is a candy-loving kid! Her first plan was that she was going to use 2 halloween bags. I only went with them to 3 houses, and then I took Jaggar home. This was Sage's first year for being such a BIG girl. If you've ever been around her, she has always been painfully shy--until Jaggar was born. At each and every house she said, "Trick-or-treat" followed by a "Thank you!" (PS: What is the deal with Halloween lights?! There were several houses in our neighborhood that had them this year. I just think that's a Christmas thing but whatever.)
Going back to our house with Jaggar.

I went back out with them for a few more houses and then went home to take care of Jaggar and....pass out candy. My mom is always at our house to do that while we take Sage out together. Since I was home, and it's my house, I felt obligated. Wow, what a pain! I was trying to do my checkbook and EVERY TIME I sat down, DING DONG. It took 20 minutes to write one check! For the love of the kids... :)

Look what a big girl she is.
When I went home, it was Sage and Daddy....for about an hour and a half. He called me and told me that a lady had given her a target bag to start filling since her bag was full. Look at that face...
and the ridiculous amount of candy!

Carnival

I had planned on uploading more pictures from the camera for this post, but it appears that's never going to happen. So I figured I'd post what I have before it's Thanksgiving and this is no longer relevant. Our church had their annual Hope Harvest carnival on Halloween. This year they made it into a food drive, so the "price" of admission was one can of food. We raised 6000 lbs of food, which is awesome. Sage looks forward to this each year, as there are tons of rides. Last year the weather was so perfect, but this year was far from it. It was FREEZING and the rain made the part where the carnival was a mud pit. Of course, kids don't mind this; mommies do. We had invited some friends of our's that don't go to our church, so we couldn't NOT go. Of course, they were there for their daughter too. We ended up there for about 2 hours, but hot soup was needed to warm up afterwards.

Obviously, she's not affected by the cold.Did I mention it was still raining when we got there? I had the "family size" umbrella. After hitting several people with it, my friend Jill said that I needed a sign that said, "Get under or get away." Notice Jaggar in his sling. He slept in that the entire time we were there. Had he not, we would have had to leave because of the cold. My shoulder was so sore when we got in the car that I didn't know if I'd be able to move it. He's not a newborn anymore, but he doesn't know that.

Pre-Trick-or-Treating

Before we took the kids to get candy, I wanted a few pictures before it got too dark. These prove the theory that the more people you add to a photo, the more difficult it is to get a good shot. Jaggar MIGHT be looking at the camera in one. Oh well, it's the memory that counts. :)

Sweet Pea

My Little Tiger

His first Halloween debut! To some, he was Tigger. To others, he was an Auburn Tiger. To me, he was just cute, but around here you can't just have an animal. No way! It has to be some kind of mascot or character, but that's okay. He was the cutest I'd ever seen. Due to the fact that it was freezing and he hasn't even eaten food yet, Jaggar only went to about 3 houses, but he still had fun.

My Little Cheerleader

This year for Halloween, Sage decided she wanted to be a cheerleader. She made this decision last Christmas, no kidding. My mom got her a Barbie cheerleader outfit, complete with pom poms, as a gift at Christmas last year. The moment she opened it, she said, "I'm going to be a cheerleader for Halloween!" At the time I was like, "Okay!" thinking there's no way she'll want to by the time Halloween rolls around. Well, ten months later, Sage STILL wanted to be a cheerleader. I think she is the cutest cheerleader I've ever seen! This was Friday, the day of her school Halloween party. It was a beautiful day, so she didn't even have to wear a jacket, which is a lot more than we can say about the day of Halloween, which was a LOT colder.