Family Fun

The summer fun began this week with a trip to St. Louis with Mom, Abby, and all the kiddos. We started out early Tuesday morning headed to St. Louis to visit Grant's Farm and to take part in some frivolous grocery shopping. We made it to our destination by 10:15 and the fun began in the scorching heat. All were covered in sweet smelling sunscreen and off we went to see the animals and enjoy a free beer.

I was blessed to have my best friend, Jenny, meet us to enjoy Grant's Farm. We were able to meet her new daughter, Audrey, and to spend time with her adorable little Emma. (They are both in the pictures above in case you wonder who the extra kids are! and there is no picture of Jenny because I knew if I loaded one of the ones I had, she would kill me because of how she looked.)

The kids had so much fun after they warmed up to each other and I loved having a few short hours to sort-of catch up with Jenny after not seeing her for a year. We all quickly found that it is hard to have a long adult conversation between chasing little ones and feeding babies.

Mom found us a nice hotel that had a free "Happy Hour" and free dinner. Nanny likes to conserve her cash for other things; that's part of why we love her so much! We enjoyed a nice dinner of all carbs and some delicious "chicken sticks"; then off to the swimming pool we went. Matney loved the water and just cooed and cooed the entire time, even going under twice.

Wednesday morning was met with 7 refreshed women and children who quickly left on the next adventure for the "frivolous shopping" part of the trip and some major bribing of the big boys. (If they behaved and let the mommies have some fun they would get ice cream--bribery isn't a bad thing--it worked.) We went to two of our favorite stores to buy nothing less than............groceries....what, did I just say groceries? Yes, I sure did and they are wonderful groceries that SW MO does not supply to two girls who love to cook! Viviano's is an adorable little Italian grocery on The Hill in St. Louis that has everything from fresh salami to italian bread crumbs. They have wonderful pasta and oh my goodness, the blue cheese is so yummy. After leaving Viviano's with three boxes of goodies between Mom, Abby, and me, we headed to Trader Joe's. Three full carts later filled with delicious Kona coffee beans, olive oil, fresh bread, super delicious cranberry oatmeal cookies, and wine, wine, and so more wine amongst other things, we were done grocery shopping in the big city and ready to head home after some stratigic packing of the "Burb".

We had a wonderful time on our mini vacay and can't wait for next year as it will be the 3rd year we have gone with everyone, however, we have decided the kids might stay home with the daddies so they mommies keep their sanity.

This is my last week at home so having the outing to St. Louis and our outing this weekend to the Lake is helping to keep my mind off of leaving my baby girl. How quickly 8 weeks has past and changed my heart and soul in a way I never expected. Matney was such a trooper on our trip and I cannot wait for all the countless adventures life will bring us to share as Mother and Daughter.

!Sleepovers!

Brandon and I were blessed to have our nephew Grayson spend the night with us on Friday night and boy did we have fun!!

Brandon, Matney, and I had a family day running errands and going to lunch in Springfield on Friday, then we went to pick of Grayson. When we arrived he was taking a nap that last all of 5 minutes after we arrived. He woke up full of smiles and chattering away about his Uncle Me'Me'. He was so excited to come home with us (Abby said we were all he talked about all morning).

Our afternoon was filled with fixing the lawn mower, helping me in the yard and sweeping out the garage. There were many trips on the mower around the drive way (no the blades were not on). We ate Oreo's and drank Dr. Pepper for a snack and revealed in the glory of the sunny, warm afternoon.

Grayson is very much an outdoors boy and is 200% boy. A slip on the mower and a fall out of the kitchen chair did not phase him. He just kept going and going and going. He kept saying he was done with dinner and would jump down, only to run back to the table, jump in his chair and scarf down more mashed potatoes. Throughout the afternoon, evening, and the next morning we heard mostly, "Papa" and "Nak, Nak" as he went to the cabinet in the kitchen and pointed up.

We had so much fun with little Gray and can't wait for him to come back. Having him overnight taught us a few "child proofing" techniques and that we will wait a while to have a second child, as it was all we could do to keep up with both Grayson and Matney.

My favorite girl!

Just a few recent shots of my favorite little girl. She sure loves her Daddy!

She has started smiling at us a lot more this week, which makes my heart melt every time she does.

Babies

Here are a few shots of the last few weeks with all the Crawford/Bigger babies!

Matney and Kennon playing footsie!

Look how big she is compared to him and they are only a month apart.

Grayson is wondering why he is being overtaken by babies.

She is giving us a look very similar to those of her Daddy.

Abby and her three little men. She is such a good Mommy and so patient. God Bless her!

Abby and Grandma Leota with Baby Kennon.

Daddy/Uncle Me'Me' loves his babies.

Kennon has some funny facial expressions just like his cousin Matney, but he is so cute!

Matney loves it outside!

All the little ones are such a joy and blessing and we are loving every minute with them.

Mother's Day

We never know the love of a parent until we become parents ourselves ~Henry Ward Beecher~

Mothers hold their childrens hands for a short while, but their hearts forever ~Unknown~

5 weeks ago I became a first time mother and throughout the proceeding 9 months I prayed for the child growing inside of me to be healthy, strong, and to do wonderful things throughout his or her life. I fell deeper in love with each passing day and when we found out that we would become parents to a little girl , I fell a little deeper. Preparing for her each day made my heart grow and love more than I ever thought possible at the time; little did I know that it was just the beginning. From the moment I heard her first cry and saw her gooey little body, I knew I would never be the same and there was so much love in my heart that I might burst.

For 26 years I was my own woman. I cared for my family and my husband in the best way possible, or so I thought. Now that I am a mother I care for them all so much more for the life they allowed me to have, lessons taught, and things they have given me. Being a mother opened my heart more for all those around me as I now understand the sacrafices that my parents, grandparents, and family made and the love they have always had for me.

In the last 5 weeks I have found more joy spending every moment with my daughter. Learning every little detail about her from the folds of her skin to the meaning of her cries has opened my mind and a heart. I know that I have been dependent on my mother for 26 years for little things like bringing me a drink of water before bed time to giving me advice at 4:30 in the morning while in labor. I knew that she cared for me unconditionally, but didn't know the meaning of her love until I had a daughter of my own to love. She taught me to be the woman I am today and how to love my own daughter unconditionally; for that I am ever greatful.

Matney is the most precious gift I could ever ask for. I thank God every day for His plan to have Brandon and I raise this little one and to shape her and teach her to be an amazing woman. I have always been a Christian woman but knowing that I am responsible for such a little bundle of joy has made me realize how much more my faith means to me. Without His guidance and love, I fear I might not make it, but knowing that He is giving me the wisdom to raise her makes me believe that much more.

I sometimes think someone needs to pinch me to make sure I am not dreaming and that I am now a mother. I have so many wonderful examples of strong, loving mothers in my life that I hope I can be as wonderful as all of them. Sitting here now, holding this beautiful life on my chest as I type makes me wonder what life was ever like before her and if life is worth living with out the love of a child who depends on me for everything and loves me (at least I hope) all the days of her life.

Another set of blue...

Tuesday, May 4th dawned beautiful and sunny. The day ended brighter than it began as the Biggers family met their newest addition. After a long day of waiting and waiting some more, my beautiful big sister gave birth to my 3rd nephew, Kennon Curtis Biggers.

We have to preface that the waiting was not because she was in active labor all day with no progress, it was because Abby has a heart of gold and gave her husband her blessing to take care of some very important patients who needed his powerful, surgical hands to heal them and once that was complete she would proceed with the delivery of Kennon. After a day filled with memories shared amongst everyone, bets on how long it would take her and how high her pitocin was as well as many "boys don't touch that or calm down" it was time for Kennon to arrive. We were ushered out of the room about 4 pm and waited in the hall for what felt like forever. Mom and I had our ears up to the door most of the time listening to the pushing and intermittent laughing on the other side of the door. After about an hour we became concerned and were discussing knocking on the door until someone came to it and gave us an update. About that time, Brian stuck his head out and told us she was still pushing, but all was okay. At 5:30 pm we heard the first screams of a beautiful new born taking his first breathes in the world. Little did he know at that time that he had 2 big brothers and family on the other side of the door waiting to get our first peek and dreaming of all the memories we would make with him.

I can't say who Kennon looks like at this time, but I can say he has the sweetest disposition and is so cuddley. I have a feeling he and Matney are going to be great friends. We have already figured out that both of them are going to give us a run for our money and might break us with diapers as they both have very powerful bellys and make some funny noises.

We cannot wait to see what God has in store for the newest little Biggers boy. May he be tough, independent, healthy, and strong throughout his blessed life.

Matney Paige 1 Month

Here are some recent photos of our little Matney. She was 4 weeks old this weekend. It is so hard to believe that she is already 4 weeks. I am very happy that I have 4 more weeks with her before I have to return to work. I love being with my little angel baby every day and seeing her change. She is truly a blessing.

Aunti Abby is spoiling Matney with wonderful bows and hats!

She is in awe for Granny Kem.

Thank you to Grampy Rick for taking so many pictures of our little angel. We will treasure the pictures forever so as to always have a memory of her at each stage of her wonderful, blessed life.