Powdered Donuts and Benson

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Last night Ben gave Benson a powdered donut and the boy loved it. We didn't know how much until bath time. Ben was singing, and Benson was non-stop dancing for about 10 minutes. Taking breaks in between to shovel water through his legs while standing, and then to hold on the the bar in the tub to do a stomp dance. It was some of the best entrainment I've ever witnessed. Crying to the point of tears and I even got it on video. Can't show it to the public though because it contains a little nudity :) And then today, he put on his helmet, and instantly wanted to ride is tricycle. I love that he pairs the two together. That little brain of his is ticking away with smartness. instax-scans

Happiness is...

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Being with my family.  Last night we were hanging out with Benson showing him the Albums of Benson at my parents house.  Looking back on all of those photos of BB as a newborn up until now was such a blessing.  It makes us really excited for the years to come with our little fella.

Here are some snap shots of Benson when he was 6 months old that are some of my favorites.

Happy New Year friends.img_3732img_3507img_3431img_34241

Benson at Christmas

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Benson LOVES all of his new toys. He got about 50 presents and more are still coming from other family members. I tell ya what, this boy is loved :) A funny thing he did on Christmas day was he brought his plush chair up to the table and put it on the dining room chair. Then he got his toy laptop, and put it up at the table. Then, he climbed up in his chair ON the dining room chair and played with his new laptop. I mean, how cute is that!

Danichka.Etsy Store

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Hey etsy lovers. If you are still looking for gifts to give your kids, nieces and nephews you should check out Danichka on Etsy. She has knitted some of the cutest hats, ornaments and now leg warmers. Theres nothing like Christmas shopping on line and Danica has free shipping right now. Benson has the "Benson" hat and he looks adorable wearing it.  Go see, go see!http://www.etsy.com/shop/danichkadanichkaetsy

Dreams do come true...

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We closed on our house TODAY!! I'm sorry I don't have an updated picture of our house, but I will soon. I just wanted to let you know I'll be out of pocket for a little bit the rest of this week with moving in to our new home. I also have a session tomorrow afternoon in Clovis, and then one in Hereford, Tx on Friday. Thankfully our parents have offered to take care of Benson while we do all of this, but we are missing him like crazy and can't wait to get him back on Saturday.If you have sent me an email or called I will get back to you, but it may be a few days.

Thanks for your patience and for your excitement in this fun time of our lives.

Blessings, Cristy

Ben is 30!!

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We are celebrating something wonderful today and that is Ben's birthday!! He is 30 you guys!! It is so hard for us to believe it. We had lunch today with some of his co-workers and celebrated. One of his birthday presents was the vintage bow tie I got off Etsy.com. Don't worry folks, he was only wearing the tie combo just to see what the bow tie looked like. The wedding industry has brought the bow tie back, and I'm hoping Ben will help bring it back in his work place. It looks really snazzy :)The rest of the celebrating will come after we are in our house. As for now, we will be packing up and moving in THIS Thursday! Can't wait!

Happy birthday Ben-my best friend and sweetest husband ever!! img_6922cblog

Women In Business

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This Sunday our local newspaper featured Women In Business in Clovis and Portales, NM. I felt so grown up when I got a call asking if I'd like to be apart of it. If you received the newpaper this Sunday make sure and look for the WIB insert and I'm on page four. You will recognize Carrie and Barrett as well as Jourdyn.Also take a look at Kathy Elliott on page 15.  I took her headshot and I think she looks gorgeous :)cristycrossphotowib09-copyblog

Here is the written portion enlarged below so you won't have to squint your eyes trying to read it above...

wordsblog

Our NEW house

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I am officially announcing we are moving! We are staying in Clovis, but moving to a brand new home for our family. This picture was taken back in the summer and the house looks nothing like it does now, but when I get a good picture of that I'll post it and let you see. This house came about all out of no where. We weren't planning on moving or looking for a house, but our friend showed Ben this house and then Ben showed me and Benson the house and our brain starting thinking. We thought maybe this could be our house. Just maybe. We prayed diligently for God's wisdom on this and asked for him to show us a sign if the house wasn't for us and if it was for us to bless it and keep things in his control. As the summer went on and we were picking paint color, cabinets and flooring things just kept moving right along. In the end God has blessed us with this new house that we were able to customize for our family and we weren't even looking. This house would not be ours if it weren't for God. He has blessed us and we will forever be grateful. Building a house has challenged us to be patient and faithful in Him. We watched this "baby" (the house) grow from the beginning and now it is going to hold our family in it. Blessed be the name of the Lord, bless it be His name. img_6221

Night Night

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Benson is 19 months old now. He is learning so much and is super active. He definitely keeps us on our toes. He does many cute things, but one I want to share with you is his "fake" sleeping trick.My mom actually taught him this. She says, "night night Benson" and where ever he is (even if its not his nap time) he lays his head down and waits for you to say, "okay, get up". I did this with him the other day, and this is the sweet face I got looking back at me as he patiently waited for me to say, "okay, get up Benson". img_5177-blogNow who doesn't love a face that cute!

Labor Day Weekend

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Labor day weekend was family and friend time. Danica and Maren are some of my best friends whom I also consider as sisters. I don't have sisters of my own and these girls are the best. The Cross family hung out with Danica and her family and Maren and her family and Benson loves them. I think he even has a crush on baby Marlys.img_3696blog

Maren and one of her sweet boysimg_3689blog

Danica and Benson's crushimg_3662-cropblog

The two beautiful familiesimg_3649danicacristymarenblog

sisters :)img_3704blog

and us (Danica took this for us)

My little Batman

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batmanandsunglasses I can just hear him laughing in excitement when he pulled the glasses from his sweet brownish, grayish, bluish eyes.

Benson loves his sunglasses his grandma pepmeyer gave him and loves to play peek-a-boo with them.  The thing I love about this little guy is he is so playful full of laughter and smiles and is compassionate and sensitive.  He is all of these things and still has a boys side.  He loves to throw things, anything he can get his hands on.  The ball, golf clubs, shoes, water bottles...whatever.  When he plays with kids his age, he pushes them to say, "lets go play."  I have to remind him to be gentle and not push over the sweet little girls.  He is a rough player, but a sweet little lover.  I love his slobbery kisses and how he pokes my eyes out and picks my nose and gives wet willies to my ear as he learns about different body parts.  Our little guys brain is growing and learning so much all the time and it makes our hearts smile and laugh in excitement.  We want him to grow and learn, and then again we want him to stay our little 18 month old boy.  He is now 30 lbs people!! Did you read that as the big 3-0!! Ya I think I pulled a muscle in my back this week actually.  He is almost three feet tall too.   Benson is spending this weekend in Lubbock with my parents, so that we can do a wedding here in Clovis.  I don't know what to do with myself.  I find that I have free time to do what ever I want, but I somehow can't seem to get Benson out of my head.  So after I did some headshots for Women's Medical Center, and prepwork for Christina and Jeff's wedding  I edited pictures I took of BB yesterday.  But I think tonight Ben and I might go to a movie! Whoo hoo!

My cup overflows

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I have many images I love from this wedding. I want to post every single one. Here is another round of Haleigh and Caleb. One word sums up Caleb: Fun-tastic.He is entertaining and most of all makes Haleigh laugh. I've spent most of my time with Haleigh through out our journey as photog/client relationship and I can tell you she is head over hills for him. That's the way it should be. More eye candy for you to enjoy.

New York at a Glance

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Ben and I headed to NY last week and enjoyed lots of fun times, just the two of us. When I get a chance to post more, and tell you some of the fun places we ventured to I will. Benson is about to wake up and we are gonna go play in the sand.Enjoy :)

Accepting Our Imperfections

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My quiet time this morning was about acknowledging your weaknesses/Imperctions and giving them to God.   His power works best in weakness (2 Corinthians 12:9-10).  When I give him my weakness and accept humility and become humbled rather than prideful, I will allow God to do his work. So I thought I would list some of my imperfections here.  What better place to really let it out and if anyone wants to join me, we can keep each other accountable to giving our imperfections to God.

Cristy's Imperfections:

I'm just going to say it...I have a muffin top

My nose is big

I don't tan

I think the correct word, but say the opposite (does that make since)

I'm messy (but organized in my own way)

I get so mad at myself when I mess up, even on the smallest things

I have big feet (not quite like Peggy Hill though hahha)

Sometimes when I look in the mirror I feel like my belly looks like I'm pregnant.  And I'm not.

I wish I would have started doing ab workouts soon after having Benson to deflate my tummy

I have gray hairs already

It takes me a while to forgive

As I'm writing all of these things, I'm realizing they may be imperfections to me, but to God they are not (except for the forgiving part).  I already feel better about myself after writing this list, because I'm giving my weaknesses to God.  Take them and have them, because I don't want them anymore.

I am going to be like Paul this week and not try and appear perfect.  I am going to admit my weaknesses and not care about my "flaws".  Through this I know humility will grow, but out of humility I will receive the grace the Lord has for me and I will trust him instead of myself.  When we are weak, he is strong, and we are strong in him.

All of this was gathered from "The One Year Women's Friendship Devotional, " byCheri Heath Fuller and Sandra Aldrich