Happy 4th of July

It is hard to believe another 4th of July has come and gone. We celebrated the holiday at the lake this weekend and enjoyed the refreshing water due to the very high temperatures outside. The weekend was filled with good food, friends, family and the celebration of our Independence. We live in a wonderful country and thank all those who have served in one way or another to protect our freedom.

Our little firecracker, Miss M, loved putting on a show for everyone and showing off her pretty dress. She even won "cutest baby" at the Sportsman Club Annual Parade! Matney has changed so much in the last year and we can only imagine what all the future 4th of July's hold.

(Independence Day 2010)

Busy Busy Busy

The last few weeks we have been hanging around home, enjoying our time together as a family and enjoying the summer. We spend our days working and at night we spend a lot of time outside, or "sigh, sigh" as Matney would say.
(First popsicle-June 6, 2011)

Matney has had several firsts in the last few weeks. She loves to eat and have "naks" so we introduced her to her first popsicle. She didn't like it has much as I was expecting because she couldn't figure out how to hold it and she had a meltdown, no pun intended, because she couldn't eat it faster than it was melting.
(First ponytail - June 13, 2011)

Matney's hair has finally gotten long enough to sport a minipony every once in a while. If you don't make a big deal about it, she will actually leave it in. If you point out that it is there, she rips it out in no time; thus, the reason why she never has bows in her hair. However, her Auntie Ab is pretty happy she is started to rock the pony (and so is her Momma)!

(First time in lifejacket - June 19, 2011)

Before heading to the lake for the 4th of July, we decided we better let M try out her life jacket. She rolled around like a beached whale for a while and then found her sea legs and ran all over the place in her jacket. She liked it while she was in the water as well, so hopefully she won't mind it while on the boat.

Hanging out on the table isn't a first in this picture - only just about the 100th time that I have had to get her out of the chair and off the table because she thinks it is so fun to crawl up there and just hang out. This however is the first time I was able to catch her in the act.

She has also learned how to get out of the bathtub this week and come down the hall. I left her for maybe 5 seconds to get something out of another room and the next thing I knew, she was toddling down the hall just laughing and was ohhh so proud of herself!

Summertime is final here...

Summer has begun at the Crawford household. The pool is officially opened and new safety measures have been installed due to all the little people running around. We had a great time on June 4th when we all came together for the first pool party of the summer, a wonderful dinner (Nannie B wasn't there as she was sick) and a great time. We have found the perfect way to wear all the littles out and get a good nights sleep!

Happy 1st Birthday Kennon

Our youngest nephew, Kennon Curtis Biggers, turned 1 on May 4th and celebrated his birthday the following Saturday with a wagon theme and a jumpy house to boot (which had a funny smell due to someone's run in with the cat!). It is hard to believe it has been a year since the little man entered our lives after a lot of pushing on his Momma's part (I think he just wanted to stay where it was warm and cozy). He has been layed back and a Momma's boy every since the beginning. He gets cuter every day and grows a few more curls every night, I think. I know he and Matney are going to be great friends and we are lucky to have him in all of our lives.

Happy Birthday Little K Cup!

Easter Sunshine

We celebrated our second Easter with our beautiful little girl on April 24th. The day was rainy and dreary, but that didn't matter as we were celebrated the resurrection of our Savior. I told Matney many times that day how important the day was and though I know it didn't mean a lot to her this year, I know in the years to come it will mean something to her as she grows in her Christian faith.

We enjoyed a beautiful church service and lunch at Brandon's grandparents. The kids played in an egg pile and collected their eggs. They received several gold dollars and way too much candy!

We hunted eggs in the house at Nannie and Papa G's while celebrating in shifts and continously picking at the ham as Nannie and Papa were watching over Grandma Leota who was not doing well and would soon go to heaven. Grandma Leota was with us for one last Easter and then went to heaven shortly after to live her eternal life. What a celebration of the life that God has given us, to know that our grandmother lived through 87 celebrations of His life and knew where she would go because of his sacrifice and where we all would go to live forever.

You Are My Sunshine

Beautiful Matney had her 1 year appointment on April 12, 2011 (after spending an exciting afternoon with her Aunti Ab in celebration of her auntie's 3? birthday!) Dr. Mai said she couldn't find a think wrong with this pretty little girl and was happy to see how many tricks she had.

Matney is in the lower percentiles, but she doesn't let it get her down! She is growing fast and learning something new every day. The latest tricks up her sleeve include using the sign for "more", "eat" and "done". She knows where the snacks are kept and many times a day wonders to the cabinet, looks up and says "eat, eat, eat". She has learned to say "up" when she wants to be held. I am happy to report she is completely weened from formula, however, this little lady still likes her "ba" at bed time and if she sees it on the counter during the day. She is turning in to quit the little monkey and finds something new to climb on daily. She loves the outdoors, watching the "moos", and riding the Rang*r with her daddy.

1 year stats:

Weight: 19 3/4 lb (30th percentile)

Height: 27 3/4 inches (10th percentile)

Head: 46.2 cm (75th percentile)

We are so happy with the journey God has blessed with us so far with this little lady and we are going to rock all the years to come!

Happy Birthday Little Bug

It is hard to believe a year has come and gone with us sharing our lives with the most wonderful gift in the world - our daughter. She has been such a blessing in our lives in just this one short year and we couldn't wait to celebrate her special day! For several months we have been working with Matney on holding up her fingers to tell us how old she is. She is a pro at showing you her fingers and saying a word that she thinks is one, it sounds more like "unh".

We celebrated her special day with a ladybug theme on April 2nd (I had to leave to go on a business trip on her actual birthday). I came up with the theme based on the fact that we have always called her our little bug. We had a house full of family and friends who helped make Miss Matney's 1st birthday very special!

(Quite the mess, but very worth it!)

(Is it a hug and a kiss, or a take down?)