No Place Like Home...

It's been a lot of fun bringing Brinley home this week. Yes, it's been a little crazy... but that's the way we like it!

First, we wanted to capture and share what the back seat of our car looks like now... what a beautiful sight! This is so awesome... I remember when Justin and I were dating in VA (8 plus years ago), we'd be out driving somewhere, and I'd jokingly (right in the middle of our conversation) turn around and say to the back seat, "Quiet down, kids... your dad and I can hardly hear each other! Ok, Honey... you were saying."

I'm CRAZY, right?? But luckily it wasn't enough to make Justin run in the other direction, (thank goodness!), and look what that positive thinking brought in our case:



OH, Baby Brinley. I thought she looked SO cute in this big car seat. This picture says it all about her personality... :) She was awake for one, and happy, waving her arms in the air, ("waving them like she just don't care." LOL) CAITLIN is IN-LOVE with Brinley. Every second of the day she's is right there singing and talking to her... wanting to hold and snuggle her. I love to watch them interact. What an amazing big sister! She's also really into making goofy faces right now... love her! Will...Oh... What can I say? He has his own way of bringing life to the party. He's a tender and sweet little man, and every once in a while, he'll walk up to Brinley and say, "Aww. How cute!" and then walk away.My thoughts exactly... "Aww. How cute!"




A fine example of Caitlin tending to Brinley!


In attempt to wake Sleeping Beauty for her dinner, I unwrapped her; and I just had to take a picture, though it doesn't do much justice. Somehow they are always cuter in person. It's so fun to have a little baby in the house again and funny when I suddenly notice the time, it's easy to spend an hour and a half just holding and snuggling... soaking up all the 'new baby sweetness!'

I'm still in AWE that my baby has a full head of hair! The other two had NOTHIN' until they hit 2 years of age. Here are our two girls--Caitlin is a natural at baby-holding!


And Will is understandably new to it... but he's SO full of love, just like Caitlin, and he'll get there as far as holding technique goes--we have no doubt! :)


And I finally stopped hogging Brinley for 5 minutes to let Justin hold her... He's the most AMAZING Daddy in the world! He was so stuck in the moment of having her just snuggle up to him that he asked me to quickly grab the camera, knowing that with a picture he'd remember this very moment and his feelings always.

And... after coming home Saturday we'd thought we'd celebrate by having a little party. After all, now we get to recognize two birthdays at the beginning of May!

True Story:

Justin took Caitlin to the grocery store last week to get some things. Caitlin saw this piñata and begged Justin to get it for Will's brithday... (guess the $2.00 spider piñata we got her for her birthday left a lasting impression). At first, Justin tried to divert her attention elsewhere, but then it dawned on him... if he did buy it, he'd get the pleasure of watching his kids take turns hitting that little freak "who lives in a pineapple under the sea" over and over with a stick! Best $6 he's spent this year, as he said it.

We had fun sitting on the back porch watching the kids take hits... Go Will, Go! He laughed every time he hit the piñata! What fun.

Caitlin with her piñata poker face. Look at the sheer determination... this Bob is comin' down!

Spounge-Bob NO PANTS...

Well, that pretty well sums up the joyful weekend of bringing home our sweet number 3! Bring on the craziness!! I think we are up for it. :)

More pics of Baby B!

Sorry to promise lots of pics of Brinley and be slow to deliver. It's been crazy busy! I finally took time to upload a bunch through Picasa. Here's a link to them (click on the picture below)! :)

- The Proud Father

Baby B!

...Happy Birthday Will...

William, Will, Wilbur and Willie...

No, we've never gone as far to call you Billy,

WoW, 3 years old today,

we sure do love to watch you play.

Thomas the Train and Legos, too;

You are always busy with something to do.

Our favorite is when you cuddle and hug,

and when you play so nicely with your sister, Bug.

Soon you will be a BIG BROTHER!

We're so blessed to be your father and mother.

Happy Birthday,

All our love and more...

May 2006

July 2006

May 2007
May 2008

May 2009

Will is SO excisted to be a big brother!

She's here!

Announcing our safe arrival...

Our baby Brinley was born just moments ago... Here are the stats & a pic:

Time: Born @ 12:43 p.m.

Weight: 6 lbs. 6 ozs.

Length: 19"

Mom and daughter are healthy! Thanks for your love and prayers!

Love,

Justin & Amanda

Here's a pic! (Attached) More to come on our blog shortly (http://thecracrofts.blogspot.com/)

Create...

I saw this on Justin's Cousin's blog! We share the same due date and are having a race to the finish line... :) haha. She'll probably win... I feel like this baby will never come!

So, it couldn't have been a better time for me to see this small video clip with an awesome and appropriate message to lift my spirits!! Thank you for sharing Katie... It applies to all, not just those who are expecting... check it out!

Click HERE to view it on YouTube... (below show's only half the screen. Sorry.)




PS... I'm a huge fan of these Mormon Messages! LOVE IT!

Dear Baby,

Feel free to come anytime now.

Today, if possible.

We are ready for you!

Much love and excitement,

Mom and Dad

Coo-Coo for... What?

After watching morning cartoons for about 30 minutes one morning, Caitlin came running to me... this was our conversation that just made me laugh.

Caitlin: "Mommy! I saw cereal on the TV... and it was Chocolate!"
Me: "Oh yeah? Was it called Coco Puffs?"
Caitlin: YES! We need to go to the store and get some when Daddy gets home! OK?"

**************

So, a week later. 7:30 am. looken' for some breakfast, I open the pantry... "sure... why not" I pore myself a bowl of Coco Puffs... (no one else will eat them.) I sit down... start to eat.

Caitlin looks over at me and says, "Mom, that cereal is just for kids!"

Update: Weekend Projects, Easter, Sharp Hubby, Spring beauty and WOW, 36 weeks!

Sand Box Transplant:

Last summer Justin made this awesome sandbox for the kids! However, we just happened to put it in the wrong place, totally my doing... i think too hard about these things.

The problem is that the box doesn't get any sun, which is why we put it there in the first place. (strange sounding, I know, but I didn't want the kids getting sun burned, but I put sun block on them every day anyway, so i don't know what i was thinking. eeh.)

Anyway, because it was in the shade I was worried that could lead to mold and other gross stuff like cold and wet sand; which then leads to having the kids not even wanting to be in the sandbox...AND digging in other places in the yard like my flower beds and garden like they've been doing. Not cool!

So, we decided to move it here...in the corner of the yard. (Where the concrete pad originally was and where the garden was last year.) This was a smart move because it gets used every day... (unless it's snowing or raining.) I also like this spot better because I can see the kids from the patio! Good stuff.

Now, if they will only stop dumping sand on the driveway...

I thought I'd throw in a picture of the concrete pad, just so you can see what this used to be. I still can't believe that Justin removed all this! But because he did we were able to finish the fence to keep our little ones safe... That was a hot day to remove 6 inch deep concrete!

Old location of sandbox:

(and future location for play house!! Daddy's summer project 2009!)

Grass Transplant:

Nice job Hun-A!

My very own Secret Garden:

This first picture was taken last year. The problem here and inspiration behind the garden was that this little area of grass was such a hassle to mow... The lawn mower didn't fit through this little gate, and poor Justin was getting attacked by the rose bushes. So, we removed the grass and the rubber tire stuff and turned this area into a flower garden...

Before:

Here is a picture of the removed grass and tire stuff. It was a wet day on Saturday...but that didn't stop Justin and Caitlin!

In fact, Caitlin was in her princess dress... in the dirt. This was me telling her she needed to come in the house and change... She was trying to convince me that she could pull her dress up and tuck it in between her legs and 'not get dirty'... (Yeah, right! Since when does a 4 year old not get dirty?)

Rain boots, bucket and watering can, this girl is on a mission: Worms!

Justin hard a work and Caitlin hunting for worms. (Will calls them "snakes!" and runs away. HA.)
Here are a few of the plants we got at the nursery... we are still waiting for the arrival of their annuals... so the garden is not completely done. We'll also add bulbs in the fall.

PS. look at Pepper in her cute sweater! Aww! Here is Justin fixing the PetSafty wire for Pepper.

Finished Garden (well, almost...)

Can't wait for it to grow and be beautiful!!

After:

Spring Beauty:

So here I am (again) taking pictures of my neighbor's flowers... (is their grass actually greener than mine?) haha.

These pictures were taken through the fence! I'm in love with this plant/flower. Does anyone know what it's called? Lauren? I must have some of it on my side of the fence! My absolute favorite flower color with the green... it's just beautiful!

That is one good looken' man...

New Suite!! What a stud! Easter Lovers:
Will and Caitlin:

Let the battle for the candy-filled-eggs begin...

Will's Easter Vest:

I should have taken pictures before dinner... Will manages to drool or get food on everything he wears! Here's his Easter vest! Still... a handsome little guy.

Caitlin's Easter Dress:

What a cutie!

Caitlin, sharing her Easter findings with Nana Great!

Belly Pic:

And...Happy 36 Weeks today! To celebrate, I thought I'd share a self portrait... sorry, quality is not very good, reflection and all... but there it is: the belly!

I'm totally sucking in, can you tell? Ha! No, I don't think that's even possible at this point!

AND...

As if my weekend wasn't already perfect... to top it off Justin took me to see WICKED! We had a great time and this musical remains one of our favorites... and Salt Lake totally delivered... it was just as good when we saw it in New York! See it if you can... sell your cat... or old clothes or something... have a bake sale! It's totally worth it!

Love it!

Projects of old long time ago...

Cupcake Steve:
I made this back in early February for my niece Ada, she was turning 1 and I wanted to do something special for her. I used the "Three Faces of Steve" pattern from the Denyse Schmidt, 30 colorful quilt and patchwork projects book. I was so excited when I found this cute cupcake fabric... I ran home and whipped up this little guy almost faster than you can make actual cupcakes!

Because I made this for a one year old, I decided to stay away from the button eyes... I used felt (I think it's called, or flannel?... you get it at craft stores in 8x10 sheets... anyway, it worked really well) and I was really pleased with how the face turned out...

I added cupcake paws

cupcake belly

I branded him with a cupcake patch on the bum... (Look I even remembered the tail! Inside joke: I forgot to put a tail on Green Steve, for my Bro. who later said, "I like that you forgot the tail, it reminds me of you..." not sure really want that means... but I thought it was cute. )

Cupcake Steve has a spunky personality that just makes everyone want to hang out with him! Here's Caitlin enjoying a little Steve time...

Will shared his cheese crackers at snack time...

And here's the Birthday Girl, Ada cruzen' with Steve in her little car!

Bag for Heather:

My Cuz Heather sent me this fabric and I made her this bag. Many of you have asked what patter I've used....Amy Butler's The Swing Bag... it's a good bag for beginners. I am IN LOVE with the fabric combo she picked out... Nice!

Bag for Anna:

My sisters friend Anna stalks me... haha, no, no I'm just kidding. She just knows a good blog when she sees one (and I'm flattered) Anyway, She also sent me this fabric in the mail (all the way from PA!) and I really enjoyed making this one too! Cute, Cute, Cute colors together.

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