Good bye Arizona!

It's been fun, but I believe our time here is through.  Last Friday Bruce found out he will be working on a job in Southern California.  He needs to be there Monday.  We will be completely moved in 2.5 weeks.  It's crazy how fast things can change.  We are very fortunate that Bruce has a job with awesome benefits and that it is allowing us to move to another part of the country.  The best part is:  I don't have to pack up my house!  That's right, we have a moving company at our disposal.  I just have the joys of unpacking everything when we get there!  Our house is up for sale, so if you know anyone who wants to buy in Arizona, let me know!

a few sibling pictures...and one of Dominik

Dom loves the remote and refused to let it go for the pic

eating an apple.  This is his "cheese" face

sibling tummy time

Brooklyn is 4 months!

I can't believe how the time flies!!!  Little Miss B is soooo happy still.  She will give the biggest grins ever.  She also loves laughing and it's a deep belly laugh and comes out so cute!  She is also still growling.  We think she may have a sexy/raspy voice. 

Brooklyn had her 4 month appointment today.  She is 14 lbs, 1 oz and 24.5 inches long.  She is in the 75th percentile for everything, including head size.  Yay-smaller than Dominik!  She did get 2 shots and a rotavirus drink.  She chugged the rotavirus like a champ because she was getting hungry.  She didn't cry for too long and was almost asleep by the time we got to the car.

Brooklyn has also become semi-mobile.  She has figured out how to roll in all directions.  She occassional does a little scoot and can reach for items placed in front or to the sides of her.  She enjoys looking at her big brother and laughing at everything he does.  She is finally over he tummy time woes and enjoys it a lot.  We have been trying to increase her time in the bumbo so she can sit on her own.  We have been sitting her high chair a lot and she seems to enjoy it.  Well that's it for now!

5k's here I come!

Well I am all registered for two 5k's within a month of each other.  I'm so proud of myself for focusing on something and being able to finish it. 

The first race is next weekend in Tempe.  It's a Retro Race.  We get to dress up in 80's attire and run.  I'm just a teensy bit excited to get to be running in costume!  My friend Megan is also running with me!

The 2nd race is in Goodyear in February.  It's the Heart and Sole run.  My mom and I did it last year and hope to finish a lot faster this year!  Megan and her mom will also be joining us for this 5k!

A Christmas Miracle!

Forgive me for being late, I've been working on this post for a week, but I figured it would be worth it!

So, if you haven't heard, the Applegate Christmas Miracle took place between December 21 and Jan 1.  Who knew we could bring joy to pretty much everyone in our families??

It started out with a drive to Canyon, TX to visit Bruce's brother Ben and his family.  They just recently moved there and we figured it would be a good stopping point on our journey.  This leg of the trip was only supposed to take 11 hours, max.  Well, I-40 was closed due to a snow storm, so we had to find a different route.  Thank goodness we knew this before we left!  We ended up driving south through Tucson, over through Las Cruces, and then up into Canyon.  Total trip length:  14 hours.  The kids were pretty good as we drove the majority of it at night, and by "we" I mean Bruce.  haha.  Once we got there, we slept of course and had a great time hanging out with Mullen and Logan, even if it was only for a day!  That night we went to a restaurant that had a food challenge.  Bruce decided to do it. It was a 24 oz Country fried steak, 1 lb of fries, 1 lb of gravy, 1 lb of green beans, 1 roll, and 1 salad. I thought he could, but he just couldn't quite get everything down. 

We also celebrated Christmas with them.  It was nice to get to exchange gifts in person, rather than mail them!

After leaving Texas, we made our way up to Topeka, KS.  Bruce has an aunt and 4 cousins (plus their families) that live there.  We were able to swing in and have dinner with them and hang our for a couple of hours.  We hadn't seen them since our wedding, they are a fun group, especially since we are all fairly close in age.  They really enjoyed meeting the kiddos and Dominik had fun playing with his cousin Harper who is just 2 weeks older than him.

After leaving Topeka, we headed north to Plattsmouth where my parents were anxiously waiting.  Well, kind of.  They were both asleep.  haha.  Friday morning we hung out with my mom and sister.  Friday afternoon we headed to my friend Laura's house for the "6-pack" gift exchange.  This is the first time we had ALL been together in a while and it was nice to hang out and crazy to think that we have been friends since 1st grade.  Dominik had fun trying to get Rylee's shoes on.  Rylee is Laura's daughter.

 Saturday was Christmas Eve and full blown Lucas festivities.  Mom and I went for a run that morning in the freezing cold.  We spent the rest of the day preparing Christmas eve dinner.  Dominik spent the afternoon hanging out with Grandpa on his tractor!

We also attended Christmas eve mass in Plattsmouth and it was fun to see some familiar faces.  After church, we got home and got ready for the Lucas Ugly Sweater Party.  This was the 2nd year we've done it, but the first time we participated.  It was pretty funny to see everyone's sweaters!  We voted and Uncle Mark was the winner!

                        

Christmas day was full of toys and food and relaxing.  Dominik and Brooklyn are definitely spoiled!

The day after Christmas brought friends and extended family to my parent's house to see us all and meet Brooklyn!  It was fun chatting with everyone and I was glad that they were all able to come out, especially since most of the times we are back in Nebraska we only get to see a few people!

Tuesday the 27th we relaxed and then ended the evening at The Crescent Moon.  It is my uncle's bar and I used to work there, and my sister currently does.  You should check it out if you haven't been!  Anyways, my brother and cousin met us there for dinner.  One of Bruce's college friends also came out to have a few drinks.

Wedneday the 28th was MY BIRTHDAY!!  I didn't do a whole lot but sit in a car all day.  We left Omaha but decided to veer off our original plan of driving straight to Arizona.  Bruce had the rest of the week off so we decided to drive up to Cody to visit his parents!  So we embarked on our 13 hour trip to Wyoming.  We totally surprised his parents by showing up on their doorstep at 8:30 that night. 

 We didn't do a whole lot in Cody, just hung out with his family and wandered around downtown.  Dominik and Brooklyn did get to hang out with their cousin Gabriel.  Gabe is only 3 days younger than Dominik so it's always a good time when you get the two of them together.  Dominik also got to play in the snow for the first time.  We woke up to 5 inches on Saturday morning.  What a surprise!  That was the only snow we really saw the whole trip!

Sunday was New Year's day and we left Cody at 3:57 am.  We arrived back in Goodyear at 8:30 pm.  Quite a long day of driving, but the weather was good, and the kids were good, so we didn't go too crazy!

Love Pinterest

So my biggest time suck lately has been Pinterest. I'm slightly addicted to finding cool things. Well today I was able to try one out. I shall call these newspaper nails. I used white polish, once dry I dipped them in vodka and then pressed newspaper on them. Voila! Newspaper nails. I like them, something different than a normal manicure.

Dominik is 25 months!

Well, one month into the "two's" and I'm already scared for what's coming. Tantrum Man has hit our house. And it's not just big things. In fact yesterday he went beserk because I unvelcroed his shoe! That was a 2 minute meltdown. Be afraid, be very afraid.

Dominik is also Mr. Repeater. He will repeat most things that we ask him to (and some things that we don't want him to!) He is also speaking more clearly, which is a bonus for everyone.
His favorite activities are playing with his tool set; he loves fixing stuff around the house, coloring, puzzles, and racing cars on the tile.

Dominik loves playing with his friends Kai, Savannah, Dallas, Matyx, and Roze. Kai is our neighbor, so we see him the most and Dominik will sprint to their front door any time we are outside. We see Roze at the library playgroup and story time twice a week. Those 2 are so funny together. The love to follow each other around and just laugh.

Dominik has also taken an interest in showers. He'll even stand in there by himself for a bit and sing before Bruce gets in too. It's also kind of nice that he'll shower, that means one less task for me to do and one thing daddy can help with at night-hooray!
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