Wow...How Times Flies!

For some reason the pictures of Alex's 2nd birthday are at the bottom of this post, so after our update will be the pictures from his party.

Now don't get me wrong...I am fully aware that our blog is totally out of date...I just never upload our pictures onto the computer for posting. But wait no longer. I decided for times sake to just post several pictures and give you a brief discription of each to get you caught up to what has been going on in our lives...ENJOY!

Here is the fast forward version of our 2009 so far...or what has happened when a camera has been present!

This is what a bath looks like on most nights for Alex...a couple toys, laying on the belly with water dripping onto his feet! The water dripping is essential!

Alex loves taking baths (aka: "bafs") and this time Murphy decided to join him for most of it...and A-man loved it!

Our first "whole" apple...check out the next picture to see the damage!
Not too bad, ugh?!! Mommy was so proud of him for eating this much of the apple that now Alex thinks we can grab an apple out of the fridge, take a couple of bits and then be "All done!" Oh well.

Easter 2009

Alex with our wonderful neighbors Alli, Christen and Gracen on his very first Easter egg hunt. He loved it! And Aunt Tiff came with us too. He wasn't too excited about picking the eggs up at first, but once he knew he could put them in his basket...he was lovin' it!

Alex and the Wooden Gang after the hunt! They all love each other so much!! After hunting Easter eggs, Alex of course had to drag Aunt Tiff and Mommy to play at the park, even though it was pretty chili.Finally we got Big A loaded in the car so we could eat after the egg hunt...look at that chili red nose!
Alex opening his Easter baskets. Of course he loved his Thomas the Train book!

Nana and Aunt Tiff bought Al Peep Glasses....Aunt Tiff's dog chuck thought he looked pretty good!

It snowed right before Easter this year so Papa and Alex built a snowman, and Alex loved every minute of it...even if his hands were all red! But...building a snowman wasn't the only thing Alex helped Papa built.......
he also helped Papa, Dad, and Uncle Derek build the new sun porch for the hot tub.

And he takes his building seriously. Chad helped him climb the ladder...this was only the first of about 500 trips up th ladder. Alex loves his tools and helping Daddy and Papa build!

Chad & Mia on the left and Uncle Brian & Aunt Tiff on the right....crashed after the awesome Easter turkey feast prepared by Nana!

The whole Kruse family! From left to right Mr. Alex, Maria, Chad, Sarah, Derek, Tiffany, Brian, Mary & Cary. We are quit the group....this was taken right after Easter Day Mass. What a blessing it was to have everyone together for such a wonderful holiday.

Just Playing Around!

Just another lazy Sunday spent with the Wewel's! Alex and Thaden are reading books together...who would have thought that the two of them together could sit this long - they are always on the go and love each others company...for the most part!

Alex lovin' life in his sand box...mom was even nice enough to let him have a little bit of water. For those of you who know Alex well...you know he LOVES water!

This would be Alex saying "Please, can I have more water for my sandbox!!????!"

This would be Alex "who isn't tired" laying under our end table.

Alex has two loves in his life. He loves tools and he loves....

CLEANING! And this particular time he wanted to "vac" in Mom's flip flops I guess.

Our good friend ANG (aka Angie who now lives in Wisconsin...we are so sad...we love and miss you ANG!) Anyway, ANG loves Runza (which they don't have in WI) and so she picked up some chicken strips on the way to our house. As she was eating them, Alex decided she needed some help eating the french fries and since ANG was dipping her chicken he needed to walk over and dip his fries. Well as you can see from the picture...the honey mustard spilt right on his head and Alex was not to trilled about it - but took it like a champ. ANG and I were laughing and crying so hard, I am lucky I got this picture taken.

A Break for Mommy and Daddy!

Chad and I celebrated our 5th wedding anniversary this May and the sweet husband he is surprised me with a trip to Kansas City to stay in a suite in the plaza. Nana, Papa, Uncle Derek and Aunt Tiff took Alex to Randolph for the weekend to watch him and brought him back just in time for his birthday party. Chad and I hung in the plaza and meet up with some of our great friend from KC. We even managed to sneak down to the new Power and Light District for a couple of drink. What a cool area! This was the view as Chad and I threw back a couple sitting on the couches looking at the big screen at the Power and Light District. We totally enjoyed ourselves on our little trip away. It was definately needed for the both of us!

The ZOO!!
Alex wasn't too concerned about the animals at the zoo...but he was loving the WATER!!

Alex is 2!

May 25, 2009 -- Alex Turned 2 Today!

The birthday boy next to his Thomas cake!

Alex's good friend Caleb. Caleb too loves Thomas so really I think he thought this cake was for him.

Luke, Brady, Tiff holding Adrienne, Caleb and Derek holding Alex while A-Man tastes his Choo-Choo cake. He took one hand full all the way up the side. He too knows how good Mary Ann cakes are!

Our wonderful friend Nicole playing with Alex.

Alex wants to be just like ANG. Since she had her "drink" in a napkin...Alex had wanted that too.

ANG and Mia. Wow...we miss you girl! Can't wait to see you over the 4th!

Alex opening presents with help from Dad, TJ, Caleb and Adrienne.

The after math of the present opening! There were a lot of presents...Alex was so spoiled.

Caleb enjoying his moster piece of Thomas cake.
The last and biggest present was his new TREK bike from Nana and Papa! Papa of course had to help him ride it!

Alex and his tools...inseperable!

Papa taught Alex how to use his measuring tape and measure with a pen. Nicole was helping him with this and so was our next door neighbor Dru.

Alex getting good use out of his new basketball hoop G-ma and G-pa Younkin got him....oh I mean Chris, Derek, Chad and Brady got good use out of it!

Chad and Caleb givin Alex and Adrienne a ride in Alex's wagon that he got for his birthday last year.

Uncle Shives playing with Thaden, Caleb, Luke and Alex in the sand box in our back yard. All the kids love Uncle Shives...he is a great friend to have and we are so glad he and Maria were first friends first way back when!!! haha!

Everyone who was at Alex's 2nd birthday party (except for Angie she already left)
from left to right:
Chris, Nicole, Chad, Derek, Cary, Mary, Tiffany, Maria, Crystal, Steve, Adrienne, Lindsay, Lindsay, Miles, Brady, Luke, John, Thaden, TJ, Caleb and of course Alex on his new bike.

Happy New Year!

This fall we enjoyed a beautiful, yet chilly day in the park with the best photographer in the world...our great friend Lindsay Ernst! Thanks so much for the wonderful shots and all of your hard work you put into your photos! Love ya.

Gotta love that Tongue!

It's a new year and time to update our blog once again. Alex and Mommy (or Mama, according to Alex) absolutely loved their nice time off during Christmas break. Daddy (aka Dada) was also lucky enough to take a whole week off of work too. We went to our friends Chad and Karolina's wedding, traveled to Grandma and Grandpa's Younkin's in Mullen, then on Christmas eve we drove to Nana and Papa's in Randolph. While in Randolph we enjoyed time with Uncle Derek who is finally residing in the states again, and his new fiance, Sarah. Also got to see Uncle Brian and Aunt Tiffany...we always enjoy spending so much time with the two of them. Alex also got to play around with his great-grandparents; Grandma Kruse and Grandma & Grandpa Hoesing.

Alex sayin "cheese" (which is what he does when he knows he is getting his picture taken!) He was lovin' the "real phone" at Gma & Gpa Younkin's house. Sadly, I realized that we didn't get any pictures with Don and MJ. I guess they are going to have to visit soon so we can get some pictures with them!

Christmas morning at Nana & Papa's house with Uncle Derek, Sarah, Aunt Tiff. Uncle Brian was unavaliable because he was tending to the cows (becuase they need love on Christmas too!)

Nana teaching Alex how to play piano!

We came back to Omaha only to have no kitchen sink for eight days. First our pipes were clogged and luckly Papa was here to help fix that. We were able to get new kitchen counter tops and since Papa was here, he help Chad take out our old ones, so then our kitchen sink lived on the floor for four days. Finally we are back to normal ...well as normal as we can get!

Alex was playing Mr. Fix it after watching his Daddy and Papa fix our plumbing and re-installing the sink! Alex is now pretty handy with the wrench. (Good thing Aunt Tiff and Unlce B bought Alex his own tool set, so he can 'safely' fix everything around the house!)


Surprise! I am in the cabninet!

We didn't let the whole "no sink and counter tops" get in our way of hanging out with friends. One day when Maria's friends Angie and Lacey were over, Mommy wasn't paying the closest attention to Alex and he kind of got into her make-up. There is lip stick all over his shirt and the side of his face!




Alex and Maria enjoyed a little play date over break at the Ernst home. The kiddos thought they all needed to play in only their diapers. Isn't this the cutest picture ever?!?



A perfect close to a wonderful Christmas was the baptism of Miles Anthony,the son of our wonderful friends the John and Lindsay Wewel. Chad and Maria are so blessed to be Miles Anthony's God parents. God bless you little baby boy. (sorry the picture is blurry.)



We hope everyone had a great Christmas and enjoyed some time with your family and friends like we did. May God bless you in the new year!

Happy Thanksgiving!

So...you can plan on the Kruse's to only publish a new post around the holiday's. Well a lot has happened since we posted last in June. We have new teeth, first husker football tailgating experience, a trip to the ER, long adventures in the car, first time at a pumpkin patch, strep throat, bumps, bruses, giggles, fits and many, many laughs!

Mommy really misses not being home with Alex now that school has started but she is coping with it all.

It is so fun to watch Alex learn new words, actions, and watch his personality grow every single day. There has been so much that has happened since the last post, so we thought we would just some pictures to catch you up.

May God bless you all. Happy Thanksgving from our family to yours!