Funny Girl

Dear Elizabeth,

This weekend we were at a restaurant with a bunch of people. I was standing up, holding you on my hip, talking to someone. You were so happy and excited. I never want to forget how you placed a chubby little hand on each side of my face and pulled my face close to yours til we were nose to nose. You opened your eyes and mouth wide and let out a huge scream/cackle/laugh. You and I do this high-pitched funny scream at each other. We take turns. And then we absolutely bust out laughing. Your daddy says it won’t be cute for much longer, but oh little girl, I love it. You have such a sense of humor. You did it again tonight at home and I laughed so hard at you that my belly ached. I never want you to forget how much we laughed throughout your childhood. Or how I whispered in your ear, “I love you more than there are stars in the sky or fishies in the ocean.” Or how I taught you to say, “God has given me a cheerful spirit, and I will rejoice in Him.”

I love you, funny girl.

Mama

Will Work For Free

I’m “dipping my toe in”, as they say. Maybe it’ll just be lots of fun and good practice for me, and some pretty pictures for you. Maybe it’ll turn into something more. Who knows? Here’s my limited-time offer:

Give me your kiddo and an hour of your time. I’ll take nonstop photos for an hour. I’ll edit them in Photoshop. I’ll burn the best images onto a CD for you- you can print them wherever you want, and put them on your blog or on Facebook. You don’t have to pay me a dime.

No matter how beautiful Elizabeth is, it’d be nice to have some variety! If you’re interested, email me at sarahelizabethcraig@gmail.com, and we’ll set something up.

Happy Almost Spring!

Here are some lovely little photos of El that I took yesterday in our backyard (after our zoo trip). The weather was the perfect temperature for being outside, and I'm pretty sure this is the first time baby girl has ever gotten to hold a leaf in her hand. She was mesmerized. Which made it super hard on mama to get shots of her looking up at me, but forced me to get a little creative. These might be my favorite photos I've ever taken. They make me feel like spring is just around the corner. Hallelujah. Y'all know how I feel about January.

Happy Almost Spring to you!

Zoo

Well, hello there, y'all. It's been a whole week since my last blog post. Feels like forever...I missed you. El & I were out of state visiting family (more pics to come on that subject). First, let's discuss today. My friend Ally & I took our kiddos to the zoo. I was positively giddy about taking El for the first time. And she loved it!

Here we are on the train ride. This was at the end of our zoo trip, and I woke her up to get on the train. She's pretty sleepy here, but once the train got movin', she perked right up.

Our favorite animal of the day was the cheetah. It was interesting to watch Elizabeth's reactions to the animals. She loved anything that was cat-like or monkey- like, smaller animals that moved quickly. They really caught her eye and she'd get so excited! Animals that were not such a hit were big, slow moving ones- like elephants and giraffes.

This is my friend Ally and her son Micah on the train ride. Like all nearly 2 year old boys, he's absolutely bananas about trains.

Since the Houston zoo is super close to all things medical here in town, you hear plenty of ambulances while you're walking through looking at animals. In this pic Micah is asking Elizabeth if she hears the ambulance. He's got quite a vocabulary. And excellent hearing, apparently.

Micah and Elizabeth's first kiss

I know I always say this, but I think there is nothing more precious in the world than watching babies interact with each other.

my future son-in-law

OW OW

Sometimes El is so engrossed in playing with her toys that I cannot for the life of me get a shot of her looking at me. I used to make these crazy high pitched "OW OW" noises to get her attention. She'd look up at me like, "What was THAT?" *sigh* Those days are gone. Now when I make them, she just totally ignores me. I'm on the living room floor squawking and meowing and in general just sounding like a crazy person, and Elizabeth? She's like, "Oh, mom's being crazy again. Maybe if I don't make eye contact with her, she'll quit those stupid noises. Oooooo, I wonder if I can fit this whole cup in my mouth?"

And EVERYTHING goes in her mouth these days.

three hundred and sixty something days

Dear Elizabeth,

One year ago you were floating around inside my body, and I felt you move for the first time. We didn't yet know if you were a boy or a girl, so I was convinced you were a boy. I'd been on the lookout for movement from you for weeks. Last January you were this teeny tiny little mystery; and this January you are laughing and clapping and eating and talking. Time flies when you're having fun. It's hard to believe that you've been inside of my body longer than you've been outside of it. And it's hard to remember what life was like without you. I absolutely adore you.

Love,

Mama

From Fish Lips with Love

Karen wanted to know, "What makes you different?"

I answered, "When I was little, kids used to make fun of my lips. They called me fish lips."

I had butterflies in my stomach. Unnecessary ones. Karen Walrond is everything you’d think she’d be after reading her blog for many months. She is warm and kind and real and funny and absolutely lovely. I liked her immediately. It’s a little weird to meet someone in real life that you’ve been stalking on the internet for months. I’ve never met a celebrity (unless you count that time I locked eyes with Harvey Keitel in Tiffany in NYC and then spent the next 3 years trying to figure out who he was and what movie he was in because I KNEW he was famous but couldn’t really place him), but I think it might feel a little like that. I’m an outgoing, extroverted kind of girl, but found myself feeling a little off kilter. Tongue-tied? Star struck? I have two very sweet friends who have described themselves to me lately as “socially awkward” and I was like- WHAT? YOU ARE THE LEAST SOCIALLY AWKWARD PERSON I KNOW! I so felt like that person yesterday.

And yet...what a lovely experience. It was nice to shower (ha!), put makeup on, and spend 10 minutes having a person you just met tell you how great your face is! And my portrait- I can honestly say I do not have one single picture of me like it. I love it and think Karen's work is so beautiful. I was so worried beforehand about the fact that I couldn't remember the last brow wax I had, or the many, MANY months it had been since my last haircut.. We've discussed on here before the...um...extra space I am taking up in the world right now. I walked into the sculpture garden at the Museum of Fine Arts consciously aware of my body- how my shoulders curved inward and my feet sort of shuffled. Feeling shy and insecure. Ten minutes later I walked out with my shoulders back. I felt beautiful. And when I looked at the portrait Karen emailed me I just thought- how perfect. I don't look "fat". My eyebrows look just fine and there's not a soul that could tell you the last time I had a haircut. The focus is on my face. My very unique and beautiful face.

Why do we convince ourselves that we are anything but beautiful? Why do we believe the lie that the extra pounds or the missed haircuts or the lines on our face somehow cancel out our beauty? It's so ridiculous.

To see Karen's blog post about HER experience photographing 30 beautiful and unique faces (as well as seeing some of them)...click here.

You, friend or stranger, are beautiful.

This is what a rockstar looks like.

my mama finished her 2nd half marathon in under 3 hours.

my friend becky is the most vivacious cheerleader you've ever seen.

my friend allison ran 26.2 miles today for the first time ever.

mama at mile 8

allison at mile 22

my friend chris (aka El's biggest fan)

my fabulous saturday

Saturday is going to be sublime. I blog stalk Karen Walrond of Chookooloonks. I have for a while. She's a friend of a friend of a friend. Long story short- she lives in Houston and is a writing a book called, "The Beauty of Different". On her blog last week she asked for volunteers- the 1st 30 people who emailed her that they would be available Saturday, January 16th for a quick portrait session with her. Um, hello? My portrait may or may not be included in the book, but HELLO. A chance to meet the fabulous Karen Walrond in real life? And for her to TAKE MY PICTURE? ARE YOU KIDDING ME? She was all, "Unfortunately, I can't afford to pay you" (um, yes, Karen, I am quite disappointed by that), "but I'll be happy to give you a high resolution jpeg image of your portrait". Dude, I don't even care if I make the book (published in fall of 2010). I am PUMPED for the experience! I also have to come up with the answer to this question by the time I see her tomorrow at noon: "What makes you different?" She said she just wants a quick answer, "don't overthink it", she says. Which of course has made me overthink it and now I'm just stumped. *sigh* Hopefully something brilliant will come to me in the morning.

You know why else Saturday is going to be sublime? Because I'm taking down the Christmas tree. Oh yes. Bring it. AND we're eating Stouffer's Lasagna for dinner tomorrow night. YOU SO WISH YOU WERE ME RIGHT NOW, DON'T YOU?

Us, Part Two

So, maybe I'm a little addicted to taking our photo in the mirror. It's pretty hard to get a good one, so I keep snapping away and assume one will turn out alright. She's such a wiggle worm, and quite the curious little kitten. She wants to grab my camera, my hair, my necklace, my nose. She wants to laugh hysterically. Click, click, click goes the camera. I don't ever want to forget these sweet days with her- my firstborn. There are so few photos of El & I together, I think I might keep this up. By the way, doesn't her hair just crack you up? She gets a bath at night. After we towel dry her hair and she sleeps on it- well, let's just say it's fun every morning to see what it has done during the night! PS- I took a shower today and put on makeup. Felt real, real good. And I've lost 3 pounds in 4 days. I think 2010 is off to a pretty good start.

Blocks

Us

This is what The Pioneer Woman calls SOOC (straight out of the camera). No photoshop. No strategic cropping. This is me and Elizabeth this afternoon. I've been feeling a bit..."under the weather" about my appearance lately. I've gained a lot of weight. I'm now a full-time stay-at-home mom, which means: the only people who know I'm not showering on a daily basis are Ryan and Elizabeth. And now you. Don't judge me. I look like holy hell. Both the blessing & the curse of being a SAHM is that you can stay in your pajama pants all day long. So, of course I've watched the makeovers on Oprah this week and was MAJORLY convicted. And then I read on some blog somewhere about how as a mother you take a million pictures of your child, but you are never in the picture. So, I mish-mashed all that together this afternoon and took several "self-portraits" while El was napping (which I do not have the self-esteem to show you). Suffice it say, those were a wake up call. Then I took several of El and I in the bathroom mirror. I looked at every single picture and thought: "UGH. I look AWFUL! When is the last time I showered? I do own makeup, right? Bobbi Brown makeup? I have, for most of my adult life, weighed around 115 pounds? That was, what? 45 pounds ago? I used to look in the mirror and think I was quite cute. What the HELL happened to that girl?" And then I saw this picture. And I laughed out loud. Because that's what that little girl makes me do. She is just the most joyful little person. I LOVE getting to spend so much time with her. I waited, prayed, and begged God for her for 3 years. I am so grateful for her. AND I find myself wanting to be worthy of the gift. I want to look my best, feel my best, be my best. Because she deserves it. And, damn it, so do I.

Blue Eyes Cryin' in the Rain

Mama said there'd be days like this...

Don't you love it when you think you have Mother's Day Out on Tuesdays, so you spend an hour and half getting your kid ready- packing the diaper bag, putting on those ridiculous shoes she has to wear, driving to the church- only to discover that you're a complete idiot. You don't have Mother's Day Out on Tuesdays. Yup. Gonna be one of those days.

Bathtime for Baby

"Best Face Photo" Challenge at I Heart Faces

I stumbled across a new site today, I Heart Faces. They have a weekly photo challenge, and I thought I'd submit this one of Elizabeth. Because hers is the best face ever!

summer in my mind

I'm pretty sure I've posted this pic before but...I did not have Photoshop then. It's one of my favorites and I played around with it a bit in PS tonight. And I was looking back through my beach pictures from Labor Day weekend. I am still sorely missing summer... it is hard to keep my spirits up in January- when I'm so sick of the cold, the static in my hair, the dry skin, and the holidays are over. Always about this time of year it hits me I don't really have the clothes for this nonsense, but I live in Texas for crying out loud, so I'm not going to go blow money on winter clothes because that would be STUPID. For instance. I wish you could have seen the shoes I was wearing today at church. Oh goodness...I will have to stage a reenactment tomorrow and snap a pic. I don't think they were really meant to be worn with socks, but I did it anyway. Nearly every single one of my ancestors is from Scotland, so you would think some of that hardy Scottish blood would have made its way into my veins and kept me from being such a cry-baby, but NO. By the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, I am a southern girl and I utterly despise the cold. And do y'all know how cold it's been in Houston lately? Ridiculous cold. Like in the thirties, people. I know if only The Pioneer Woman and her cows could read this they would completely laugh in my face. But I'm cold. And sick of it. Until warmer weather comes my way, I will keep an eye out for my beloved purple tree. But for tonight, before I head to bed I'll make myself a cup of hot chocolate and curl up with the book Everyone is Beautiful (which I must say- is a lovely read for anyone with a...ahem...post-baby body). Nighty-night, loves!

chillin with dada

One Little Word

I hate making New Years Resolutions. I know that by February I’ll just have a long list of reasons to be disappointed in myself. So a week ago I thought- I’ll just make one. Lose weight. Duh. Have y’all SEEN me lately? There’s a reason I only post pics of Elizabeth up on this blog. I’m HUGE, and don’t you say I’m not, ‘cause me and Jesus both know you’re lyin’.

Well, I fully intend to keep that resolution. I’ve signed up for Weight Watchers, a new gym, and a personal trainer. Bring it.

But my one resolution didn’t seem like enough. It felt like something was missing. Then while traipsing along through blogworld, I stumbled across this concept of “One Little Word”. I’ve now seen it on several blogs, but I first found out about it here and here.

If I had to pick one single word that sums up what I want for myself in 2010, what would it be? One word to focus on throughout the year…

Well, I pondered it a while and kept coming back to the same one over and over: GROW. More than anything in 2010, I want to grow: spiritually, emotionally, creatively, as a mother, as a wife, as a friend. I’m discovering lately that there are a lot of areas in my life in which I am still, at the age of 30, very childish. I did not say “childlike”, because I think we should all be childlike. But “childish” should have ended a long time ago. There are a lot of areas in my life in which I need to grow the hell up.

So, what is your one little word? Leave it in the comments, y’all!

What do we do now?

El has just started waking up on a regular basis with various limbs outside of the crib. I'm sorta afraid she's gonna end up breaking something. When I was still preggers I read all this research about how bumpers are sooooooo dangerous. So, she's never had one. But, um, isn't this ALSO kind of dangerous? Suggestions?

And the winner is...

First things first: Elizabeth would like to thank you for your vote.

Now then. The final tally: Giraffe- 25, Horse- 5

While in the middle of a meal, Elizabeth will frequently turn her head and stare at the giraffe. Yes, I voted GIRAFFE. Sometimes she likes to give him kisses and smear sweet potatoes all over him.

And then I say: “Aww, Elizabeth, that is so sweet to give your friend the giraffe such precious kisses.”

Ryan says: “Elizabeth, don’t listen to your mother. That is clearly a horse.”

Me: “Are you kidding me? A horse?”

Ryan: “Yes, it’s a horse! It’s OBVIOUSLY a horse.”

Me: “Elizabeth, don’t listen to Daddy. He is clearly delusional, because why on earth would there be a monkey and a HORSE on here?”

Ryan: “Because it’s not a giraffe!”

Me: “It’s like at the zoo- these are zoo animals. When you go to the zoo, do you see monkeys and HORSES? No, you see monkeys and GIRAFFES! You know what they have in Africa? MONKEYS AND GIRAFFES!"

Ryan: “When is the last time you were at the zoo?”

Me: “Um…”

Ryan: “EXACTLY. They could have horses there now and you’d never know it.”

Me: “I doubt VERY SERIOUSLY that they have horses at the zoo."

Ryan: “Well, they definitely have horses in Africa.”

Now, I will say, in defense of those of you who voted horse- that is the goofiest dang giraffe I’ve ever seen in my life.

But it’s still a giraffe.

Rock the Vote

Dearest Most Beloved Blog Stalkers,

Would you be so kind as to participate in a little poll for us today?

The Hubs and I continue to have disagreements conversations about what this particular animal is:

Today is the day, dear stalkers, that you come out of hiding and make your voice heard. I'm not even going to make this a multiple choice thing, because I do not want to sway you in any particular direction. Please leave a comment and tell us:

What is that animal on the left?

Thank you very much for your time.

And yes, that is our daughter's highchair we're obsessing over.

Love,

The Craigs

BFF

Sweet baby Jemma came over to our house for a playdate today. Is there anything more adorable than seeing little babies interact with each other?

Don't you love their matching shirts?

It says "good hair day".

I'm not sure Jemma agrees.

friends for life

I miss summer.

I miss summer. Don't you?