Chloe & Elizabeth

Just 1 year & 3 months apart,

Chloe is Elizabeth's cousin who is closest to her age.

Chloe adores Elizabeth. She wanted to hold her,

and let us know by reaching for her and saying,

"Hold it".

"Elizabeth" is quite a mouthful for a one year old,

so she just says "Baby" over and over again.

Math

+

=

One minute, I swear she looks just like Ryan.

The next, I swear she looks just like me.

But most of the time, as my sister-in-law Amanda says,

I think she looks just like her own little person.

And what a cute little person she is.

A Wedding Story

Dear Elizabeth,

One very hot summer day, when you were just 6 weeks old, we loaded up our Longhorn-lovin’ selves and headed to College Station to see your Uncle Turf & Aunt Paige get married. Your daddy and all his friends were groomsmen,

so you rode to the wedding with momma and the girls. Did I mention that this was an outdoor wedding? Here’s a picture your Aunt Kelly took on the way to the wedding:

The wedding site was absolutely gorgeous, like something out of a magazine.


But your momma doesn’t like to sweat, so I used you as an excuse to sit in the air-conditioned reception area (and we snuck Heather in with us!). From our cool spot, we could look through the windows and watch the whole wedding. Paige was absolutely gorgeous, and we loved everything about her dress and veil.


By “we” I mean “Heather & I”, because you slept through the whole thing. In fact, you slept through the entire reception as well. I dressed you in the prettiest little dress- the one Sarah sent us. Sarah is the one that set your daddy and I up on that blind date all those years ago. I am sad to say I do not even have a good picture of you in your dress to show her.

And when I say “you slept” I mean… you SLEPT. You slept straight through Def Leppard’s “Pour Some Sugar on Me”. You slept straight through Justin Timberlake bringing sexy back. Sweetie, that music was cranked up and you snoozed right through it. I didn’t know whether to be worried about you or downright proud. You even slept straight through Uncle Mitch’s dancing, which I assure you, is a sad thing to miss.

There you are in the background, completely oblivious to all the fun you are missing. Oh well. At least we have pictures to show you.

Love, Momma

Rehearsal Dinner

Mitch, Jason, Ryan, Corbin, & Woody

These guys have been best friends since kindergarten.

Whitney (belongs to Woody), Heather (belongs to Corbin),

E & I (belong to Ryan),

Kelly (belongs to Mitch), & Janel (belongs to Jason)

E in the car on the way home from the dinner

We experienced a flat out miracle Friday night.

I fed E & changed her diaper at 7pm. The girls rode with me

to the rehearsal dinner where we met up with the guys.

We got back to the hotel about 11:30pm. E had only woken up

to open her eyes a few times to look around at the dinner.

Back at the hotel we left her in her car seat, still asleep, &

figured she'd have to wake up soon for a bottle & diaper change.

Homegirl did not wake up again til 7am.

Yes, you read that right. She went for 12 hours without waking up

for a bottle or diaper change. Are you kidding me?

Seriously, who is this kid?

Aggieland

Our good friends Turf & Paige got married this weekend

in College Station, so we loaded up our tiny Longhorn for

her first out-of-town trip.

Tiny baby on a big ole bed

nap time for baby

a daddy & his baby girl

the perfect traveler

I just adore that little face.

There will be more pictures to post, once my girlfriends email

me some. I murdered my camera a few weeks ago by drowning

it in baby formula inside the diaper bag. Since my brother,

the photographer extraordinaire, is living with us, I've been using

his camera to take pictures. His camera = amazing.

His camera also = $1000.

Soooooo, how to find a camera as awesome as his for oh, say,

$900 cheaper? I'm still working on that. If you have suggestions,

feel free to clue me in. I want one where I can adjust things like

aperture and shutter speed, is not as big as my diaper bag, and is

as cheap as possible. Meanwhile, my only camera is the one on

my iPhone, which I have to say, is pretty impressive for what it is.

TGIF

T(rust) G(ratitude) I(inspiration) F(riday) is Brene Brown’s genius, not mine.

“I think the beauty of twinkle lights is the perfect metaphor for joy. Joy is not a constant. It comes to us in moments- often ordinary moments. Sometimes we miss out on the bursts of joy because we’re too busy chasing down the extraordinary moments. Other times we’re so afraid of the dark that we don’t dare let ourselves enjoy the light. A joyful life is not a floodlight of joy. That would eventually become unbearable. I believe a joyful life is made up of joyful moments gracefully strung together by trust, gratitude, and inspiration.” -Brene Brown

Who/what are you trusting today?
Who/what are you grateful for today?
Who/what is inspiring you today?

I’m trusting that God is very near to us in the midst of this season of midnight feedings, sleepless nights, and joblessness.
I’m grateful for caffeine and books so good you wanna read them twice.
I’m inspired by all my friends and family who have trained for and participated in marathons and half-marathons before me.

Um...

Every time I get on Baby Center's website to research how

to become the world's best mother, I have this

advertisement staring me in the face.

"From yummy time to tummy time"? Seriously?

Is anybody else weirded out by this ad?

2:00 am

There's nothing like a full tummy and a dry diaper to make you wanna lose your mind with happiness. My daughter and I have been cracking each other up just now. My high pitched crazy baby talk puts a series of great big gummy grins on her face. These new smiles of hers- the ones that make her eyes smile and light up her whole face- had me laughing so hard I was crying. And then I was just crying because I was so overwhelmed with awe at this new development, and with complete and utter joy. Thank you, sweet Jesus.

Psalms 4:8

I will lie down and sleep in peace,

for you alone, O LORD,

make me dwell in safety.

4 generations

Elizabeth with her mother and her mother and her mother

Reconciliation

Remember this?

I think we've made peace with Mr. Monkey.

"What's up, y'all?"

New Body Celebration

“…a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” 2 Corinthians 5:17

There is a product called the Belly Bandit. It promises to “help tighten and shrink your tummy post pregnancy”. If you wear it 24/7 for 6 weeks, you will get “back to your pre-pregnancy hotness faster than ever!” Intriguing…I had to have it! But when I asked my doctor about it at my 2 week check up, she said (and I quote): “Honey, the only thing that’s gonna make you shrink any faster is prayer.” Bless her. I decided to save my money.

My 25 pounds of pregnancy came off pretty quickly…don’t hate. But my body will never be the same. I was already a bit overweight when I got pregnant. Last summer I was this same weight, and didn’t have anything to wear so went out to buy “fat clothes”. The other day I pulled those cute clothes out of the storage bins underneath the bed and nearly cried. For one thing, I can’t get any of the pants buttoned. Or the dresses zipped. And, um…I’m pretty sure my hips are a bit wider than they used to be. I whined, “But these are my FAT CLOTHES!” and “But I’m the exact same weight I was when I BOUGHT these clothes!” That cute little commercial says, “Having a baby changes everything.” People, they are not kidding.

So I’ve got to find SOMETHING to wear to a wedding this weekend, as well as to the rehearsal dinner. And I would like this SOMETHING to make me NOT look pregnant still. I’m having pretty good self-esteem about my body…until I leave my house. I have received several comments from total strangers like, “When is your baby due?” whenever I’m out in public. Last weekend Ryan and I went on a date, and the owner of the restaurant pointed to my belly and to Ryan, laughed, and said, “Did he do that to you?” Um…yes he did. A while ago. I bet he had a heart attack when he saw me chugging down those glasses of wine.

It is a frustrating thing to go through one’s closet at a time like this. Your brain is telling you to “lighten up, you idiot…you just had a BABY for crying out loud!” But that other part of you- the part that didn’t wear sleeveless shirts or shorts in junior high, or a bikini till after you got married- THAT part just feels wounded and raw and vulnerable. And you just really want to cry.

And then you walk past your sleeping baby and it just stops you in your tracks. My body did THAT. It grew a person. An adorable little person who eats and breathes and smiles and smells so sweet you just want to eat her up. And then my body pushed her out. Of my vagina, for crying out loud. And into this great big world where she’ll learn to walk, and go to kindergarden, and laugh, and fall in love.

I’ll strike a compromise with myself. I will not judge myself for wearing a maternity dress to the wedding. But momma and I will go shopping tonight for something to wear to the rehearsal. And possibly some new earrings, because nothing makes me feel prettier than new earrings. My friend Tina calls it a “Hello, New Body” celebration. Tonight I will shop and celebrate the stretch marks and the extra belly and the wider hips. I will be more kind to my body, and more patient. Because it grew a person for me.

Two Thumbs Up

I have read some pretty crappy books lately. The Bright Side of Disaster is not one of them. I loved it because the characters are adorably and painfully flawed. And remind me of people I know (and possibly parts of myself). I loved it because I’m a new mom, and so enjoyed reading about those things once foreign that are now familiar. I loved it because life doesn’t go according to plan…and your birth plan ESPECIALLY doesn’t go according to plan. I just loved it. Two thumbs up, Mrs. Center.

Baby Owl

This is the face we in the Craig house lovingly refer to as:

"The Baby Owl".

We have tried in vain for 5 weeks to capture it on film.

Today we reign victorious.

Not Gas

It's not gas.

It is a real live honest to God great big grin for momma.

The Very Picture of Zen

My mom decided E needed a new bathtub. It's quite fancy and has a

mesh insert, and a showerhead thingie. But we didn't use anything

but the plain ole tub. E was totally zen. She was having flashbacks

to the womb. She seemed to like having me cradle her in the water

instead of reclining on that hard plastic like in the old tub. With

this one she's also submerged more in the water, and can float her

little legs around much better, which she loved.

Seriously, you should have seen her. Totally blissed out.

The Bath from Hell

I was soooooo excited when the umbilical cord finally fell off.

I just knew she would love finally getting to take a real bath.

I was wrong. So wrong.

I'm not sure I've ever heard my sweet baby scream so loud.

I totally felt like I must be doing something wrong.

Ryan was so sweet- he got up from the other room to come

stand by me and tell me I was doing a great job.

I sure didn't feel like I was.

After I scooped her out of the tub and bundled her up in her

towel, she just looked up into my eyes- and BREAK MY HEART-

had real tears in her eyes. That has never happened before.

Whenever she has cried up to this point- it's just screaming,

no actual tears. She looked at me like,

"Mom, WHY did you just do that to me?"

I seriously thought I would cry.

Who knew a bath could be so traumatic?

Thank Jesus my momma is coming back out to see us tomorrow.

I think I need some help with the next bath.

Date Night

I love that my husband places such an importance on our marriage,

and on keeping Date Night alive, even though we have a 1 month old.

I'm also ridiculously grateful for the fact that my brother is living

with us right now, and is so willing to babysit our child.

Our friends Brooke and Nate recommended Just Dinner,

and I am so glad they did. It is tiny and in a little bitty house.

The food is wonderful, and it's BYOB of wine.

TOTALLY our kind of place...2 thumbs up.

TGIF

I don’t know Brene Brown personally. She’s a friend of my sister-in-law and I read her blog. And I love it. She’s got loads of good stuff on there that you should totally check out. Every Friday on her blog she posts a TGIF (Trust, Gratitude, Inspiration Friday) post. She says:

“I think the beauty of twinkle lights is the perfect metaphor for joy. Joy is not a constant. It comes to us in moments- often ordinary moments. Sometimes we miss out on the bursts of joy because we’re too busy chasing down the extraordinary moments. Other times we’re so afraid of the dark that we don’t dare let ourselves enjoy the light. A joyful life is not a floodlight of joy. That would eventually become unbearable. I believe a joyful life is made up of joyful moments gracefully strung together by trust, gratitude, and inspiration.”

Every Friday after she posts this beautiful quote, she asks and answers 3 questions:
Who/what are you trusting today?
Who/what are you grateful for today?
Who/what is inspiring you today?

I am trusting in God’s protection. Ryan often does job search kind of work up at his Dad’s office. This week, he randomly stayed home one morning instead of going in. That was the morning an elderly woman drove her car straight into the glass windows of the office. Chances are very good that Ryan would have been seriously injured had he been there. I worry way too much about Ryan’s safety when he is out on the road, or hunting, etc. This week I received a very real reminder that God holds my husband in His hand.

I am grateful for Elizabeth’s sweet baby smell, and for all the little smiles her tiny one-month old self is trying to give us.

I am inspired by Kelly Rae Roberts. She makes art look like ridiculous amounts of fun, and inspires me to just jump right in and get super messy with paint!

What the...?

Guess who just lost their mind and signed up for a half-marathon?

If my momma can do it, so can I!

The Loser Craigs

Tonight we hosted our small group from Sunday School

at our house. Except nobody showed.

It wouldn't be so bad,

if this wasn't the SECOND time this has happened.

I have to say, we used to think we were pretty cool,

but we're starting to have our doubts.

We had the games ready.

Homemade chocolate chip cookies and pecan pie

People, I just had a baby.

I do NOT need this many cookies up in my house!

A sad, sad, empty room

Elizabeth was just heartbroken.

I don't know how much more of this our self-esteems can take.

Where is Baby's Belly Button?

She FINALLY lost her umbilical cord!

It only took 4 weeks and 3 days!

Happy Birthday!

Dear Elizabeth,
Happy Birthday, sweet angel! You are one month old today. We waited so very long for you, and the last month has flown past us. You grow by leaps and bounds every day. Just in the last week, your daddy and I have commented on how much bigger you’ve gotten, and how much heavier you seem all of a sudden. Those newborn diapers are getting smaller and smaller on you, and it makes me sad to think you’re about to graduate to the next size. Ridiculous, I know.

I was a notoriously easy baby, but your grandmother looked at me during your second week of life and said, “Even you weren’t THIS good!” You only cry for very specific reasons- you’re hungry, you need a dry diaper, you want to be cuddled. And the minute we figure out which one it is, you settle right down. Some nights you sleep for long stretches, and other nights you wake up every thirty minutes and want SOMETHING! Those are rough nights for mommy. We’ve had a few nights we didn’t fall asleep for good til 5am, but thankfully, this is not an every night occurrence.

If I had to state your temperament based on your first month of life, I’d say you are very calm and laid-back. You smile a lot in your sleep. Twice you’ve even giggled in your sleep. You smiled at me a few days ago for the first time! I know every baby expert on the planet will say that if you’re smiling this early, it’s just gas- but I’m not buying it. I was being really over dramatic with my smiling and with how I was talking to you because I was trying to see if you WOULD smile at me on purpose. You were looking right into my eyes and broke into a big grin. Your Aunt Amanda totally backs me up on my smiling theory. It’s not just gas.

You still have your umbilical cord. I thought those fell off after a week, so I’m glad they warned me in the hospital that it could take three. Then your doctor told me it could take up to 6 weeks, but that that is very rare. But we’re now at over 4 weeks, so maybe you’re going for some kind of record. Unfortunately, because of this you still have not gotten to take a real bath in your baby bathtub. We still have to lay you out on a towel on the countertop to give you a sponge bath. You love having your hair washed, especially when Daddy rinses your hair off with the warm water. But you definitely do not love the rest of the bath. I think once we can immerse you in the water, you will just be in heaven.

You are so beautiful. Everybody thinks you look just like your daddy, but have my lips. You love music and when I sing to you. You do not love spending time on your tummy. You love looking up at our faces and into our eyes for long stretches. Your daddy and I both read to you. Our favorites are “Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?” and “The Very Hungry Caterpillar”. You love your baby swing. You are an excellent sleeper. We’ve taken you to church the last two Sundays. People are so shocked that we’re there with you already, but you sleep straight through Sunday School and the service, so why would we not go?

Elizabeth, you have brought such sweetness and such joy into our lives. We waited and wanted you for three years, and you are worth every minute of that wait. I love being your momma and I am the happiest I’ve ever been in my entire life. You are loved by so many people- grandparents, great-grandparents, cousins, aunts, uncles, and friends. I cannot count for you the number of people who rejoiced at your birth. You are a gift to this world, baby girl, and we are so grateful you are here.

I love you,
Momma

Reminiscing

32 little bitty days ago

My Life

I was getting dressed for church Sunday morning when I realized the black dress pants I'd been planning to wear had paint stains on them. So I opted for the jeans with the spit up on them. I am an art teacher and a mom. This is my life now, and I freaking love it.

A Whale of a Tale

Mark (my brother) took one look at her in her crib tonight and asked:

"HOW big was that fish?"

Happy Bastille Day

"Don't hate me because I'm beautiful."

Seriously, though, doesn't she look so much like Ryan?

Everybody thinks so, but he just doesn't see it.

E is so adored, especially by her cousin Chloe

Chillin' with Uncle Mark

Daddy's Girl

The Blogger and the Phoebe

I love your little face.

"Getting burped is so much fun."

"What are you looking at?"

"Don't I look pretty in mommy's lip gloss?"

(oh calm down. like i would put lip gloss on my 3 week old.

it's just shiny spit up.)

"Word."