Caelleb was not ready for Mama T to leave. In fact, he tried everything he could think of to go with her! We finally had to explain to him that he didn't have a ticket so he couldn't get on the plane.
My only solace at this point is that God knows. He knows my heart & He knows what I can handle. So, I am just going to praise Him for this beautiful little life that he has entrusted us with & enjoy him while we do have him. 
So, in December of 2000 we were living in Monroe, Louisiana and I went to this craft fair. I saw this little camo outfit. It was so "louisiana." At that time we had only been married a year and a half. We had also been living in Louisiana for a year and a half and were still suffering culture shock! It would crack us up when NUMEROUS people would show up to church on Sunday morning decked out in camo. We never had to guess when deer or duck hunting season had started. . . Anyway, also at that time we had just decided to start "trying." Neither of us planned on living in Louisiana for that long but when I saw this outfit I thought it would be a great memory for where I thought our first child would be born. My idea was that I would use this outfit as a way to "tell" Bryndyn that we were pregnant. I hadn't quite figured out the exact perfect way to tell news of such great proportion but I figured whenever it was time for that it would be cool to have this outfit as part of the surprise. . . Fast forward 6 YEARS and that outfit was still hiding in the back of one of my drawers. I decided it was time. . . I wrapped it up and gave it to Bryndyn for Christmas. It was a big deal to me. I don't know why. I guess it's kind of silly. But I had been saving the outfit for so long. Under the Christmas tree to Bryndyn but for Jamie is definitely not how I had it all planned out six years ago. But it just seemed like the right thing to do. It fit Jamie perfect. I'm not giving up on someday getting pregnant. But in case I don't at least the outfit will have gotten some use. And how cute does he look in it?
He wore it for the first time when we were in Monroe & FIT RIGHT IN! :) The gift meant a lot to Bryndyn as well. Its probably one of those things where only him and I truly get it. But I think what surprised him the most is that I kept a secret from him for SIX YEARS! Actually, that is pretty surprising to me as well! I don't dream too much these days about how i'll "tell" Bryndyn if/when I ever do get pregnant. At this point, if it happens, it will be HUGE enough in itself. . . 
Here are a couple more pictures of Jamie smiling at the ceiling. . .
12/28/06 in Monroe, LA
Isabelle (10 days) & Jamie (7 weeks)
Finally, Uncle Bryndyn (who had been south of New Orleans with the teens from our church on a mission trip for Youth In Action) arrived and at least then it was even (5 adults, 5 kids). Phew. . . The kids were actually great--but still, I think all the adults were ready for a vacation by the end of the week. . . Fun times! :)
Uncle Bryndyn w/Easton & Baby J
I asked Caelleb once (trying to trick him) if Braden was his cousin OR his best friend. His response:
This last trip down south was no exception. Honestly, we hardly saw the two of them. They just played and played like two peas in a pod! So cute. . .
Introducing the newest "Tande" (ok, technically, Bruscato). . . My niece, Isabelle Christine, was born on December 19th, 2006 at 3:39pm to Lori & Scott Bruscato (and big brother's Braden & Easton). She weighed 7lbs, 8oz and was 20.25 inches long! Unfortunately, I wasn't able to be there for her birth (as I was for Easton's--which side note--was amazing), but we made a special trip down south two days after Christmas to meet her! She is adorable & such a sweet baby! Congratulations & welcome to this world, Isabelle! Even before you were born you had a TON of family members that couldn't wait to meet you and already loved you! Just remember that AUNT TAINA is your favorite aunt! :)
Later that evening Tia crashed out while laying w/me on the couch. . . 
Because Santa likes to support education he went w/writing the names in large permanent marker rather than the traditional gift tag. Not because he was lazy (well, ok, partly), but so that Caelleb could get some practice recognizing letters/names. Before they opened any gifts Caelleb went through and separated the presents. It was good practice! :)
Bryn and I recently got mp3 players and Caelleb ALWAYS wants to use ours. Santa looked and looked and LOOKED everywhere for a kid's mp3 player for him, (translation: a CHEAP one) and finally found one at Toys R Us. He loved it! We put the *Ooooh Ahhhh song on there as well as a Mickey Mouse Clubhouse CD that had the "hot dog" song. He was in heaven! I also bought one for Tia that I found at Toys r Us. It was a fisher price one for toddlers. It already had songs programmed on there, it wasn't one where you could program your own. She put the headphones on and said, "Ooooh Aaaah." When I told her that song wasn't on there she was done w/her fisher price mp3 player. . . Too funny!
She did LOVE the kitchen that Santa brought her. Just for the record, Santa would like everyone to know that he worked VERY hard putting this particular kitchen together. Unfortunately, the elves could not put it together ahead of time which meant Santa stayed very late at the Crutcher home--and finally just left it up to daddy to finish up. Daddy ended up being up until 4am--YES, that is 4AM central time, putting this beautiful kitchen together. Santa apologizes to the kids who got their presents LATE while he was working on Tia's kitchen. BUT, his reasoning was that Tia really WAS a good girl this year--so it was worth it to see the joy on her face on Christmas morning!
Another tradition is getting a dvd in your stocking every year. This year Tia got Wiggles and Little Mermaid. Caelleb got Charlotte's Web, 1 & 2 (cartoon version, did you know there is a charlotte's web 2?), and J got Baby Einstein! :) The week before Christmas we took Caelleb to see the new Charlotte's Web that just came out. He LOVED it! In fact, he liked it so much that he made a last minute request to Santa for a spider. Lovely! I informed Caelleb that real spiders were not allowed in our house, but maybe Santa would bring him a pretend spider. Finding a spider proved MUCH harder than Santa would have thought. In fact, Santa did finally find the perfect spider (i'll get a pic up of it later), but not until Dec. 23rd, thanks to walmart. I was all excited to give Caelleb the mp3 player that I found--but what did he ask Santa for? A SPIDER! All boy! Good news is Santa found one for the low price of $1.50!!!! :)
By the way, if this tree looks a little different than the tree in earlier posts that would be because it IS different. . . In the years past we have cut our tree down at this tree farm right around the corner from our house. This year it was too cold & we were lazy so we got one from Walmart. We will NEVER do that again. Mid way through Decemer it was already dying, no matter how much water we gave it. By Dec. 22nd it was a FIRE HAZARD. When we explained this to Caelleb his face just dropped. . . Christmas w/o a tree was just not an option. SO, on Dec. 23rd while Caelleb was sleeping Bryn bought a fake tree and made the switch. We will always have a real tree up for Christmas--but maybe next year we will be in a house w/a basement and this one will be good for a second tree. Caelleb didn't know the difference! As long as there was some sort of tree up he was good! :)
After opening presents, we sang Happy Birthday to Jesus and had a piece of His birthday cookie cake (a tradition we started last year). Then we had a yummy breakfast together and had to take Tia back to her mom's place. It was a great Christmas eve-day up until that point. I think being that it was Christmas I was even more emotional than normal when doing the drop off. . . But, looking back, I am so thankful that we got to spend as much time as we did with her! It was a very Merry Christmas!
All in all it was very weird being in Missouri without extended family around but I had a great time keeping the traditions going and making some new traditions of our own (gingerbread houses). AND I learned something about traditions. Maybe the BEST thing about a tradition is that when it is continued through the years not only does it create wonderful memories but it helps you feel connected to the other people in your life that you have experienced the tradition with--no matter how many miles apart you are! Whether we are in Simi Valley, Newport, Sacramento, Columbia or who knows where. . . here's to many more Christmas Eve's filled w/pj's and ornaments. Maybe eventually we'll be able to throw the movie/candlelight service back in there! :)
