Abigail's First Communion

Today, April 24th,  Abigail had her first communion. She requested to come to big church, so we grabbed two books from the library, (and the silly little kid pack with next to nothing in it) and ended up in the very last row of the balcony. Coincidentally, Mrs. Pam Koban, (4 year old Sunday school teacher) had talked about the last supper today in Sunday school and actually showed them a little communion cup and piece of bread. Kelly Christie of our small group served us. What a treat! And just like I did when I was a kid, after her careful, deliberately small sips until she became comfortable, she stuck her tongue in the cup and wiggled it around to make sure she got every last drop!!

First Piggy Bank Purchase!

Saturday, April 23, 2016, after our long trek home from Caroline's 5 year old Art Birthday Party, my sweet girl had her first piggy bank purchase! At Bed Bath and Beyond of all places... We sat on the floor and counted out pennies, nickels, dimes, and quarters and she had saved enough for the purple pastry brush! She saw this item months ago and it never left her mind. Such a memorable experience for her first finance lesson. 😊 I don't think I'll ever know quite why she got stuck on this pink pastry brush one random day we went on in Bed Bath & Beyond. I never go there and hardly ever take her out shopping with me, so it is all so funny! She spotted this item and I told her she could save her money because I wasn't going to purchase this item on an impulse buy. (We use this little brush to spread olive oil and sauce on the pizza crust). I just think it was so good for her to deal with money, saving, figuring out what she wants and how to get it and having her mama there to help teach. It was all so wonderful! 

Hearing screening

Day three Elliott aced his hearing screening. He passed in five minutes - the fastest of any baby that day! (according to the audiologist). He weighed 7lbs 15oz on day 3, working back up to his birth weight. I think he looks adorable getting his ears checked!

Elliott's First Bath

One of my mom's favorite memories is Elliott's first bath at the hospital by nurse Kimmy. She washed him in his hospital basinette, which I thought was pretty impressive. Here is is all wrapped up in a towel getting his hair washed. He seems to be enjoying it!

Elliott Owen is here!

 Elliott Owen Crim was born May 23, 2014 at 8:07 AM. Water broke at 1:00AM, but contractions weren't bad, so mommy had time to shower AND wash and dry her hair, AND finish packing her bags before heading to the hospital. 4cm upon arrival, then quickly 6cm, then a few hours later baby boy was here!

 8lbs 8 (.2) oz, 20.75 inches long

 All of his assessments were done right with me in bed. 

They never took him to the nursery which made me a very happy mama. 

 Mommy is immediately in love with her baby boy. 

This daddy has tears of joy in his eyes!

 Welcome to the world Elliott Owen! Happy Birthday! We love you!!

We've moved! May 2013

What a dream it has been all along the way. There may have been a few stressful moments here and there, but overall, I was completely amazed with the entire process. We happened to actually find what I truly believe was the perfect "window", which I so adamantly did not want to miss, where we got the house we wanted with the lowest interest rate on record, and sold our house before it listed! Our realtor let us know that she had a couple who was interested and whenever we were ready, we would let them do a walk through. We cleaned up a bit, but ended up not needing to make nearly the repairs and fix ups that we thought, had two showings (same couple), and boom. SOLD! We actually put a bid on one house that we both felt was the one, but ended up getting out bid. In the end it feels like a blessing in disguise. The house that we finally ended up in seems to be a much better fit. I remember looking at pictures of our current house on line. It was a for sale by owner and the pics were not that great. The picture of the kitchen looked so funny, the picture seemed curved. I thought, I know this was a distorted picture, but that "curved" kitchen looked huge! I knew I had to see this one. I walked in and . . . wow. I think as soon as he walked in I knew this had to be the one. So much more space, huge kitchen open to main room, office, downstairs master with huge bathroom, walk in closet, double vanity, shower, and Jacuzzi tub, three bed rooms upstairs, plus a bonus room! We were in heaven! The backyard came with a swing set, patio gazebo, and garden, front and back lawns with built in sprinkler system and beautiful plantings out front. The neighborhood has more than we could have asked for as well. Even when we were just looking at the house, we would always see little kids playing all over the neighborhood, riding their bikes on the sidewalks, or people walking their dogs, running, or riding their bikes along the thoroughfare that leads up to the playground and pool. When we moved in, our neighbors brought us dinner the first and second nights, and filled us in on neighborhood news, nearby schools, garbage pick up, recycling, etc., and introduced us to neighbors. One neighbor brews his own beer and makes his own wine (even has hops growing in his back yard!), and handed us a bottle of homemade Malbec!

We'll take it!

Mowing the lawn no longer takes half the day on Saturday. Rich is loving the smaller yard. 

Memphis Zoo September 2013

September 2013 Abigail is 2&1/2

We rode camels this weekend! Thanks Memphis zoo for active animals in good moods! It seemed like everywhere we went, the animals were showing off for us. The lions were stoic and posed for us very close to the rail. The polar bear splashed around and swam for us in her little pool. The sea lion swam back and forth. The monkey's hooted and hollered and ran across their play area, and climbed on their playground as we watched with delight. The hippo was just hilarious with it's huge self and we just sat in amazement at the huge mass of blubber! We later learned that a hippo can weight up to 8,000 pounds!! Even the cranes were performing. Our trip concluded with the grand finale of the dualing Grizzlies. We sat in amazement for nearly five minutes watching what we think must have been two males wrestling or playing. We watched these two furry bears rustle and tumbled about from up above them on a waterfall overpass. Truly a sight to see.

Austin City Limits - Gump's Wedding and Trinity Girls Reunion

We had an amazing time visiting friends and celebrating Gump's wedding this June. 

It was so good to see my Trinity Girls!!

We loved the very nice W hotel. 

The wedding was at Austin City Limits

We snuck in a little pool time before getting our hair done. . .

At the salon. . . before the do

Getting our hair "did"

After!

What a fine looking bunch!

The bride and groom beneath the peacock chandelier.

Michael Jackson flash mob!!!

The boys latenight

The girls latenight!

What a blast! I love my Trinity Girls and will always treasure any opportunity to get together with these girls. Congratulations to Gump!

"What is my empty name?"

Abigail asked, "What is my empty name?". We responded, "Well, Abigail, I'm not sure, what do you mean?" She asked again, "What is my empty name?"

. . .

Then we got it! She knows her opposites so well, she just switched the two.

She meant to say, What is my FULL name. . .yes of course!!!


Such a smart girl.

(29 months)

Easter Sailor!

I wasn't sure about wearing "pants" to church on Easter Sunday, much less an outfit that looked a little bit nautical, but it turned out better than I could have imagined! And she kept her hat on all day long! We got Abigail dressed and ready to go, then she pranced and posed for us like she has never done before.

I am so pleased with these Easter morning shots!