A New Year

A new year is quickly upon us again!  It is hard to believe that another year of life has passed by so quickly, but with so many wonderful memories, blessings, and a few heartaches. 

This past year saw many celebrations from first birthday parties to 60th birthdays to 40 years of marriage and so much more.  Two beautiful ladies were celebrated as they entered their heavenly home in the spring. 

I have never been one to make resolutions as I don't want to set myself up for failure.  I simply try to find the positive in each day or the changes placed upon us, but it isn't always easy.  Over the past year my heart has grown by leaps and bounds as I have been able to share time and memories with my daughter and husband, grow in my faith, and cherish my family and friends. 

With the new year I don't want to make a resolution to lose weight, or run a marathon.  This year I am resolving to simply be the best mother, wife, daughter, and sister and to be do as well as I can with all the hats I wear.  I do have a small list of things I want to strive to do this year.

1.  Make a nice dinner for my daughter and husband at least once a week (more often God willing).

2.  Spend a time each day with my heavenly Father and to grow in my faith.

3.  Keep my closest clean :)

4.  Not go to bed every night of the week at 8:00 so that my husband doesn't think I am a complete dud.

5.  Live a healthier lifestyle with more fruits, veggies, and home cooked food.

6.  Turn off the outside noise and spend time playing and soaking up memories with my little lady, Matney.

7.  Have a monthly lunch date with my sister so we can spend quality time talking about what we want to talk about and not being interupted.

8.  Go one more dates with my husband.

I thank God for all the blessings and memories throughout 2011 and cannot wait to see what He has in store for us in 2012!

Happy New Year!

Silly Girl, Silly Papa

My dad has always had a soft spot in his heart for his babies, and with Matney he is no different. Papa G often shows up in the evenings when Nannie B is working and he never disappoints his little Matney with his silly antics during his visits. Recently she spent the night at Nannie and Papa’s and they started this little game of lying on their backs with their feet in the arm.  When Papa came over last week, he and Matney thought it would be fun to show Brandon and me their new game. Though my dad is almost 62, he doesn’t let a little hard wood floor get him down so they plopped right down on the floor and started showing off!

After their little game, Matney found Papa’s boots and as this girl loves her some shoes, she tried them on for size. She has some big feet to fill in her Papa’s boots, but I can already see she is well on her way with her serious, independent side and her silly, goofball side that often comes out. Papa has really grabbed his granddaughters heart and they are best buddies. I love that they are so close as I too was very close to my Grandpa and some very wonderful memories live in my heart thanks to Grandpa Curt and always will.

 



Christmas Christmas Time Is Here (Finale)

Our last Christmas for 2011 was celebrated at Brandon's parents house (Grampy and Granny's).

Matney made out like a little bandit at their house with an art desk, beautiful wooden toy box full of toys, clothes, and shoes.  Brandon and I did pretty well too with a No*K, Brad Paisley tickets, and shoes among other things.

Grampy and Granny put a lot of thought and effort in to the presents they bought and though it appears they spoiled Matney rotten, their love for her is greater!

Christmas afternoon was filled with long naps and taking in all the new gifts!

Though the holidays were filled with food and gifts, we didn't forget the Reason for the Season and are truly blessed and humbled by all the gifts He giveves us each and every day.

Christmas Christmas Time Is Here (Part 3)

Christmas morning at our house didn't dawn quite as early as it used to when I was a kid.  I was up before anyone, filled with anticipation of how Matney would react to the presents under the tree.  When she woke at 7:30 and I went to get her, she knew something was up.  As we got further down the hall and she saw her kitchen and the presents she started to do this cute little hyper dance on my hip.

From her reaction, she was in love from the first moment she saw her kitchen and started to take it all in.  Santa (and Momma and Daddy) brought Matney some clothes, books, and coloring books to play with. 

Once Matney had a little time to digest her gifts, we got out the dishes that Auntie Abby got her and the apron that Nannie and Papa got her for Christmas.  We have had a lot of offfiee (coffee) and pie since Sunday morning! 

Brandon was very good to me and got me a new Ke*rig coffee pot, which I am loving!  He got clothes and a fish fryer!

All in all, Santa was pretty darn good to us, but the true present and joy was seeing Christmas morning through our little M's eyes.

Christmas Christmas Time Is Here (Part 2)

Our second Christmas was at Mama and Pampa Crawford's house on Christmas Eve.  Mama made a wonderful dinner for all of us and then we enjoyed watching the 3 great grandkids play together with all of their presents. 

We were very blessed again to make quite a haul from the Crawford's!  Matney got a princess play house, bears, clothes, and a sleeping bag. 



All of the Crawford family minus Angela who was working.



Christmas Christmas Time Is Here (Part 1)

Christmas came a few days early this year as Mom had to work all weekend, so we started on Friday night the 23rd with birthday party and Christmas festivities.

The night was filled with lots of play, wonderful food and lots of presents for all!



They really do like each other!






Kennon (19 1/2 mo.), Brian, Abby, Grayson (3), Brayden (6), Dad, Mom, Brandon, Ashley, and Matney (20 1/2 mo.)





Cesear salad that Brandon actually admitted to Abby that he liked





Prime Rib!  Yummy!!



Happy 60th Birthday, Mom!

60 years ago today, my wonderful mother was born!  She is and always has been a very supportive, kind, and loving Mom who does for others more often than for herself.  She has taught Abby and I many life lessons and how to be strong, independent women while loving our families unconditionally each and every day.  I hope that I can be as wonderful of mother and friend to Matney throughout her life.

Happy Birthday, Mom! 

Elfie

I have to say that jumping on the band wagon this one time was a pretty good decision for the Crawford Family.  We decided to jump on the Elf on the Shelf wagon and see what magic it might bring to our home and to our daughter.  I barely had the elf out of the box before Matney had him named, Elfie. 



Yes, we know we aren't supposed to hold him, but we had to document
how old Matney was when Elfie arrived at our home for the first time!



Elfie has been quite the hit in our house over the last few weeks even if Matney is still a little young to understand his purpose.  Every morning one of the first things she says is, “Elfie, find Elfie?”  and off she goes to look for him.  One morning I forgot to move him, I mean, he forgot to change spots when he came back for the day and M was not happy.  Daddy and I told her that Elfie must have really liked that spot! 

Though she doesn’t understand fully that Elfie watches and reports to Santa about her behavior, it has been fun to see her eyes light up when she finds him and then report to everyone who comes in the house where Elfie is resting for the day.   I can’t wait to see how her eyes light up on Christmas morning!  This season has been so enjoyable with her and I look forward to all the Christmas’ to come.  

Braids

My little lady had her first braids a few weeks ago.  I am not sure how Ms. Sue gets her to sit still for so long, but she always comes home with her hair in ponytails and looking extra cute! 

I think the braids were making her extra ornery that evening! 

Happy 3rd Anniversary

Last Tuesday, Brandon and I celebrated 3 years of marriage.  The last 3 years haven't always been easy, but I know I have a best friend and a partner for life in him!  I love him more and more each day for all that he does for Matney and me and for how he loves us unconditionally.  He is a far better father than I could have ever dreamed of (besides my own) and he doesn't treat me too bad either!

Thanks to Nannie B and Papa G we were able to enjoy a wonderful dinner as they were so kind to watch Matney overnight.  We missed our little lady but it was so nice to have the evening to just focus on us as we often put our relationship to the side these days in order to focus on our beautiful daughter. 

I thank God every day for blessing me with my wonderful husband and I look forward to all our years to come.  Happy Anniversary, love!

Making Memories

Matney loves her Auntie Abby and called her Momma a few times that night!

Last Saturday we decided to take advantage of discount tickets to SDC and make the trip with Abby and Brian, Mom and Dad and the boys.  As I hadn't been in over 10 years, I was excited to see the lights and for Matney to experience SDC for the first time. 

It was rainy and grey the entire way there and when we pulled in to the parking lot we didn't imagine it would be full.  We debated for 10 minutes in the parking lot if we wanted to brave the weather or not, but decided that we were already there and we needed to make the most of it.  We spent a few hours in the park and enjoyed a few rides, popcorn and salt-water taffey.  We didn't get to see the lighting of the tree for the night as it was raining pretty hard so it was postponed along with the parade.  The kids were all very well behaved and we had a great time.

Kennon and Matney loved the ball house.



One last look at the tree before leaving.



Silly Saturday

Matney has started playing hide and seek with us recently and the other day she thought she would try hiding in the cabinet.  It is so cute when she hears daddy come home or when she is hiding, because she will whisper "ide, ide, ide" which completely gives her hiding spot away.

We love this little lady so much!!  It is hard to believe that in less than 4 months she will be 2!!

Baking with Momma

A few weeks ago I decided to make banana bread after looking at 3 rotting bananas for way too long.  I am trying to lessen the hold I have on my Type A personality that cringes at the thought of an uncontrolled or unnecessary mess, so I decided to let Matney help me.  We had a great time scooping ingredients and pouring them in!  She loved stirring the batter and it didn’t take long for her to figure out the best part was tasting it and then the major messes began.  Strangely enough, I was very patient through the entire project and took great joy in seeing my little girl experience the joys of baking. 

From grumbling to gratefulness

I was reading a blog today that has become part of my morning ritual to read in order to get a fresh, Godly perspective early in the morning to start my day off right (http://www.jillsavage.org/) and I loved her idea of turning grumbling into gratefulness.  As a working wife and mother, I often grumble when I have so many things to do in my life and feel like I cannot put as much effort in to things as I would like.  As I reflect on my past and my future, I have more things to be thankful for then many people and for that I give God all the praise and glory. 

Today and forever I ‘m thankful for:

• Home...whether clean or dirty; my family has a warm home to come to each night.  To gaher with those we love and to raise our family.
• Toys...though I want to scream when I find them in crazy places (makeup drawer, trash can, etc.), I am thankful that I can provide my child with little pleasures to make her happy and to help her learn.
• Paying bills...because it means Brandon and I have good jobs and can provide for our family when others aren't so lucky.
• Matney...because God has given me the best job in the entire world, being a mother!  Mothering can be challenging at times, but with each little kiss or hug or "forry, forry", I am more and more thankful that I have a healthy, beautiful child to call my own and to raise in to a beautiful, talented woman.
• My husband...3 years ago this weekend we were celebrating our last weekend of singleness with our friends at our bachelor and bachelorette parties.  Though we have our own trials and tribulations as all spouses do, we always know the other one is there and no matter what the challenges we are faced with, we will overcome them together with love and understanding.  For richer or poorer, in sickness and health, we are for life!
• Family...they are always there to listen and to love.
• Faith...because it means I have an extended family in Christ and no matter how hard things may seem, being renewed in God's body and blood means I am forgiven of my sins and all things will be provided through Christ, and we will forever live in an eternal home. 

Each and every day I have something to be thankful for and I pray that when I start to grumble about my responsibilities or anything else, that I am instead truly thankful for all my blessings.

Laziness

We are enjoying a lazy weekend!  The weather is cold and windy this weekend so we have been decorating for Christmas and planning our menu for Thanksgiving.

Matney has started taking an interest in watching movies more and was so excited when I put an Elm* movie on.  She sat there for over 30 minutes just watching away.  

Silly Saturday

It is finally Saturday again and I am l-o-v-i-n-g it!!

Saturday's are my favorite day because I get to spend it with this little sweetie while Daddy goes to work.  We spend our Saturday mornings cuddling, watching cartoons, and doing laundry.

Today is a moumental day.  Matney has been working on potty training this week and she pooped in the potty this morning!!  YIPPY!

Today is one of those days were I have a lot of projects I want to do, but don't really know where to start.  Matney is going to her Granny and Grampy's today for a few hours, so I will have some quiet time but not sure that I will know what to do with it.  Maybe I will watch a movie or wrap Christmas presents or take a nap or read a book...all in silence. 

Yeah for Saturdays!

Happy Birthday, my love

My dearest husband is celebrating his 28th birthday today and my sweet little girl is celebrating 19 months!  They are two peas in a pod and love each other so much; it makes my heart swell with pride.

Brandon is the husband and father I always dreamed of for myself and my children.  Though we have our tough times, just like any other couple, that is what makes us grow and love harder and stronger. 

Thank you for being you in all your craziness manliness. Thank you for making me smile when I am sad or for giving me advice when I have a lot on my mind.  Thank you for loving me and my flaws. Thank you for loving our little girl and taking such good care of her.  Thank you for everything you do for us and provide for us, even when I forget to say it.  Thank you for all your hard work each and every day to help provide for us. 

I love you more each and every day and cannot wait to spend all the rest of your birthdays with you. 

Happy Birthday, my love!!

Trick or Treeet

We had a wonderful Halloween and are blessed to have such a great family to spend it with.

Matney had an absolute ball trick or treating last night as the cutest little ladybug ever.  We kept trying to get her to say "trick or treat" but all she would do is yell "treeet!" Once she figured out people were giving her candy willy nilly she was off, bounding from house to house with a very funny evil laugh along the way.    

Our little frog, ladybug, doctor, and the unseen Capt*in Amer*ca (not a single picture of him to be found) were all adorable and made me very proud to call them mine!

Such a cute witch and ladybug! 

Craziness!



Until next year, the ladybug has flown away!