Cruise!

Talk about going on a cruise with the Sutton clan had been in the works for a while and it finally happened! I was kind of an emotional wreck before we left because we weren't taking Nix with us and I have never been away from him that long. Though he was going to be in the best hands with my momma and pops, I was still anxious and super nervous about leaving (the fact that we wouldn't have cell phone service most of the time didn't help either). Though I missed the kid like crazy, (and looked through all my pictures of him in my phone at least once a day) I am proud to say that I didn't have one melt down while we were gone.

Honestly, I didn't realize how much I needed this vacation until we were actually gone. I don't remember the last time I didn't have to worry about anyone else but myself. It was nice to be out past 9 o-clock. It was nice to be able to hold my husband's hand for longer than 3 seconds at a time before chasing after a toddler. It was nice to have multiple conversations with actual adults daily. It was nice to sleep in! And it was just nice to RELAX!!

We boarded our cruise ship in New Orleans so we took a super early flight out of SLC and spent the day there. This is the most humid, hot, dirty and interesting place I have ever been to with the BEST food ever. We boarded the ship the next day and were off!

Our first two days were spent at sea so there wasn't much to do other than eat. So we did just that. Our first stop was Jamaica. We arranged to take a tour to "Dunn's Falls" which was about an hour and a half away. On our way there, we saw two other cruise ships and i'm pretty sure every person on all 3 cruise ships ported at Jamaica was there. It was crazy. It was pretty fun walking up the water falls but there was honestly just too many people. After we were done we headed back to the ship because you have a certain time you have to be back or they will leave you. While we were there we hit a major traffic jam caused by a couple of robbers shooting a killing a bus driver so we made it back to the ship with only a few minutes to spare. Though Jamaica was beautiful, I can't say I really ever want to go back. People just hound you there and practically force you to give them money. Kinda scary.

First Formal Night on the cruise ship.

Our second stop was definitely my favorite. The Cayman Islands are sooooo pretty and you feel safe wandering around the city. We took a little boat tour out to Stingray City and got to feed, pet & kiss the stingrays. It must have been their gross slimy bodies swimming all around you and the fact that they could stab you at any second that kind of freaked me out. It was really cool but I just could not relax at all while we were in the water with them. After the stingrays our ship took us to a little place we could swim around and snorkel. It was so much fun. After our tour was done we still had a couple hours so we wandered around the city a little bit and got some lunch. I will definitely be going back and will stay longer because it truly was one of the prettiest places ever. Never seen bluer water in my life.

 Our final stop was Cozumel. Here we decided to rent a bunch of scooters and drive around the island. We made a stop at this small beach and hung out there for a while then kept on driving. It was pretty fun and only had 1 out of our 10(ish) scooters break down along the way. Pretty much the whole drive we had our own little scooter path that we could follow which didn't allow cars at all. About the last mile or two was pure city. After having a girl in our group almost get completely ran over we made it back to the ship safely.

 We made it back to New Orleans and had to spend the whole day there because our flight didn't leave till later. We decided to take the trolly around town and see all the big old houses. It was pretty amazing. We finally made it home after a 2 hour flight delay and made it back into Nix's arms safely :) I don't think the kid even noticed we were gone.

California!

Ready for a picture overload??

My momma and I decided to take a spur of the moment trip to California to visit my brother and his family and let me tell ya... this couldn't have come at a more perfect time. I was going CRAZY with this stupid Utah weather and just needed to get out somewhere other than the mall or Target. I was a little nervous because I havn't gone on a long road trip with a toddler and didn't know how well Nix would do. He was amazing! I don't know how I got so lucky with such a good little traveler.

The first day we were in California we just took it easy. Went to the park with all the kids and then took a little trip to Cal Poly University (such a gorgeous campus!) where the kids got to pet and feed all the farm animals. Nix was in heaven. He even let the cow eat out of his hand.

 

The second day we packed up the whole clan and headed to Knott's Berry Farm for the day. It had been years since I had been there and was super excited to take Nix. I love theme parks and would probably live at one if that was allowed. I didn't know how Nix would react to the rides since it usually takes him a while to get comfortable with new things (ugh... don't even get me started with nursery. NIGHTMARE!!) but he loved it and it was so fun watching him experience them for the first time.

 

The third day we spend a few hours at Newport Beach. Although the water was freezing it was still warm enough to enjoy the sand and even get a little tan. Nix absolutely hated the sand at first and it took me a good 5 minutes to remove his clinging arms from my body. Once he realized the sand wouldn't hurt him he really liked it. He also loved chasing all the birds but would freak out if the water got anywhere near him.  I took one of the videos below of him running near the water chasing the birds and all of the sudden he stopped and yelled "cheese!" cause he thought I was taking a picture (he's obsessed with taking pictures). I thought it was hilarious but it's probably only because i'm his mother and think every little thing the kid does is adorable.

This is what the first 5 minutes of the beach looked like.

 

 It was so much fun and this trip made me even more excited for summer to get here!! Hopefully we will be back soon :)

Father & Son

There is a special bond that Colby and Nix have and it really is the sweetest thing for a mother to witness. I don't mean to get all mushy here but I truly feel so blessed to have these 2 boys in my life. There is no one that can make Nix laugh more than his daddy. Their endless wrestling matches never get old. Those moments when Colby walks through the door and Nix says, "Hi, Dad!" (in a cute baby voice kind of way) is so darn cute. I could go on and on but I seriously can't wait for the future and to see this father and son bond grow even stronger.

Christmas!

We sure were spoiled this Christmas! Santa may have also gone a little overboard on presents for Nix. I can't believe what a difference one year makes. Last year Nix was sitting quietly in our arms, most likely sleeping, while we opened and gave gifts. This year he was all over. I was surprised by how quickly he got the whole opening presents thing down. First he loved ripping the paper and tearing it to pieces but once he realized there were actually toys underneath all the paper he couldn't rip it open fast enough. He got more than enough toys and Colby and I were pretty spoiled too.

We spent the first half of the day with my family where my mom threw her annual Christmas morning brunch for her whole family. Those breakfast casseroles could possibly be the death of me. SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO GOOD! We then went to the Sutton's where we exchanged gifts, played games and had dinner.

We are so lucky to have both families close by because it makes for perfect Holidays.

These pictures are not from Christmas but I thought they were cute. Nix loves being outside. Even if it's -30 degrees. During the last snow storm we went to my parents house and my dad decided to take Nix with him on his snow plowing adventures around the neighbor hood. He said that there was a point where the snow a flipping up and hitting Nix so he tried shielding his face with his hand but Nix would get mad and push his hand out of the way because he wanted to see everything.

Tubing & 4-Wheeling!

Over the weekend we drove to Kamas with the Sutton's (and a few more friends from their ward) and spent the day four wheeling and tubing in the snow in a huge field! It was so much fun and Nix, surprisingly, loved it and did so well in the below freezing weather. The boy loved the four wheelers. Anytime Colby or I would get on a four wheeler he would get upset because he wasn't on it with us. Colby even managed to get him on a snowboard for the first time! (no picture. Lame.)

Nixon Robert's 1st Birthday Bash

... Yes I am a blogging tard and don't keep up very well on events going on in this house hold but I figured I must take time and blog about Nix's first birthday. Birthday planning is so much fun (especially when your young one is still too young to choose themes, colors, cakes, food, decor, etc... himself) but I think this will be the first and last birthday party I go all out on for Nix (I say that now but we will see how I feel in a year). Reasons being:

A. $$$

B. I was too stressed and busy the whole day trying to get everything together and organized that we didn't have any time to actually spend his Birthday together. Fail.

We started things off with a pizza party with just family. Then everyone else came over afterwards for gifts and cake. All in all it was a success. We had most everyone we invited show up and this boy was sure spoiled. He got way more gifts than he can handle! I wish I would have taken more pictures (or a video of him eating his smash cake!! fail again.) but I was running around like a chicken with its head cut off most of the night. 

This little boy brings more and more happiness into this mama's life everyday and he is growing up and learning things so fast. It breaks my heart but I sure love this little man.