Happy Holidays!!!

I've been meaning to write, really I have, but I've been busy.  So busy.  It's the holidays and I have fully embraced them!  My decorations are out, my shopping is done, and I have been doing nothing but enjoying Christmas time in the city, er - suburbs...and peeking at my gifts.  I'm a Master Peeker!!! Most of the time, I even discover what St. Nick has in store for me.  I've had St. Nick wrapped around my finger since 1982 and he's even on my speed dial.  Speaking of Santa Claus...
 

We celebrated my dad's birthday last weekend with some football and some fabulous food.  We ate, and ate, and ate some more.  I was slightly consoled by delicious food - my alma mater lost to my husband's.  It's okay though, because next year we'll beat them...badly.  Watch out Sooners!



Oh, also I also have a 16-month-old.  How in the world did that happen?  Mallory is growing so fast - she learns at least 20 new things everyday. Our big thing right now is sorting things out into groups and taking things apart and putting them back together.  She's also starting to be fairly demanding - or bossy, if you want to be rude about it.  Pearl barks and she points then sternly says, "stop, Peawl". We've been working on table manners and our behavior in public.  In fact, she ate at Chef Tim Love's restaurant with us and a stranger complimented us on her behavior.  He told us to enjoy our gem of a child because the experience could be going a lot different.  Score. You're exactly right, mister.  Mallory Craig is a gem! We still have our moments though, usually around our Aunt Amy...it's okay though because she's a bad influence on everyone.  ;)
 
Preparing a sixteen-month-old for Christmas is quite fun.  The trees look silly because only the top halves are decorated.  The stockings get pulled off the mantle every now and then.  The used roll of wrapping papers make for really fun megaphones of telescopes. Our presents are on top of furniture so that we can not prematurely open them (like mommy), or pull them down and dance on top of them. We are looking forward to "Shanta Caws".  I'm not sure Mallory knows exactly what Santa Claus does...but she knows what he looks like and she knows he's coming to town, and we can pick him out in a line-up.  We'll be visiting Shanta Caw tomorrow and I am anxious to see if she will be scared or if she will pull off his beard like last year.  Most importantly we listen to our advent ornament every night and learn about the true meaning of Christmas.  Mal Mal looks at the nativity scene.  She'll pick up the animals and say which sound they make.  Mallory rocks the baby Jesus while he's still in his manager.  It's pretty impressive actually.  Her eyes are always beautiful, but they are especially pretty this time of year when there is so much to learn and take in.  They are a little bluer, a little more bright and extra twinkly.

I hope your Christmas season is extra twinkly this year, too!

Give Thanks!

I will have to admit that I am one of those people that completely glazes over Thanksgiving and heads straight to Christmas.  I get the Christmas spirit some time around mid-June and begin pleading with Sammy Weiners to let me decorate for Christmas sometime around early October.  I am not the biggest Halloween fan.  I probably have my mother to thank for that, however I am pretty sure that there is something to be said for taking a day to give thanks.

This week has shown me how important the upcoming holiday is as I have received and get to take part in several moments to rejoice. 

Tuesday afternoon I got word from my friend that allowed me to rejoice. I won't say too much, because she is a private person.  I had been fervently praying for a scary, sad, and heart breaking situation that she had been dealing with to result in the very best outcome.  On Tuesday, I realized that it would.  Although her life is not going to be completely "normal" for some time, one day it will.  The news also gave her the ability to enjoy this holiday season fear free with some answers and a game-plan to an otherwise scary situation. 

Again, Sam and I will get to celebrate with one of his close friends as he gets married on Saturday in McKinney, TX.  Although I am not big on weddings, marriage is a blessing and something to celebrate and hold dear to your heart.  Likewise, I will be giving thanks for my own fresh marriage and asking God to continue to bless it and enrich it and asking God to guide us as we travel down a very long road together. 

Finally, we had some family pictures taken and while the images were lovely, I couldn't help but be totally critical of my appearance in them.  I looked too fat in one for my taste, and my smile was awkward in another, and my shoulders were really broad in another. Then I realized that the outfit I chose was not "my color" and I cursed myself for having red hair, fair skin, and freckles and not matching my two blonde-haired, blue-eyed loves. I have such a rough life...not. I hate doing that to myself.  What I should really be thankful for, is that my small family is able to be captured while having a fun time.  This will be something that will hopefully be around long after any of us. A frozen moment in time where we were just happy to be together. Something that future generations can look back on and put a name to the face.  I so enjoy doing that.  Knowing that there was a long line of "Conroy" noses exactly like mine before I was even a thought.  Or knowing that Mallory's eyes are shaped like her great-grandmother's and her other Cherokee ancestors but the blue color comes from her Conroy and Craig genes. 

The book of 1 Thessalonians talks about being thankful for what we have.  This is something that I definitely need to stop and pause and reflect on in my personal life, not just one day a year. I have a lot to be thankful for this Thanksgiving - being surrounded by family, and love, and being able to pursue my dreams while staying at home to raise my baby so that I can see her learn, and grow, and progress.  A warm bed, a husband with a warm heart, two spunky dogs, and a plethora of other incredible blessings.  Happy Thanksgiving, y'all!

Update

Greetings from The Woodlands!!!!
We are settling in and absolutely LOVING life back in Texas.  The Woodlands is such a nice place with tons to do.  We are trying to experience as much as possible.  Sammy Weiners is enjoying his new job as well. We were so excited to start our life in a new place and now that we are here, it's evident that life is going to be just peachy.
 I have been quite the busy little bee since we arrived. 
We hadn't been here for more than two days, when I left and made a road-trip to Fayetville, AR to celebrate the marriage of my college buddy Jessica and her now husband Chris.  Their nuptials were beautiful with a lot of vintage touches, that only Jessica could totally own.  Chris and Jessica are such a sweet, fun, and quirky couple I just know that they are going to have a life full of happiness and blessings.

In the day time Mallory have enjoyed exploring the gorgeous walking trails around our home and playing with her new puppy Otto.  Otto and Mallory just love each other.  She lets him know he's her puppy by stopping in the middle of playtime to bend down and give him a sweet kiss.  They are definitely best friends.

I took Mallory to the pumpkin patch last week and she was quite the busy body.  I got a ton of action shots with her and some pumpkins but none sitting still...what do you expect from an almost 15 month old?  Girl is on the GO!  Anyone that has met Mallory comments on how loving she is and this just showed when she was at the pumpkin patch.  She kept running up and giving kisses to the other children.  I explained that not everyone WANTS to be kissed.  Mallory doesn't care though.  She knows no strangers, only new friends.

We also visited a new church this past Sunday and really enjoyed our time there.  Perhaps it will be our new church home?!?!  Of course, Mal got a glowing report card from the nursery.  She played well with others, and had happy, talkative, busy, and cooperative checked of on her sweet report card.  I couldn't be prouder of her.

Life is not all easy though as we have entered the world of temper tantrums.  She knows what she wants when she wants it.  I wonder where she got that strong will from?  However, they don't last more than a minute and she is easy to entertain again.  Life is tough when you don't know all the words or signs to express your emotions and feelings, no?

This weekend, we'll be traveling to Mt. Pleasant to watch one of my dear friends tie the knot and Mallory will get to spend time with Gina and O.  I am sure a lot of ice-cream and spoiling is in my little ones very very near future. 
Until next time-
Jill

14 Months

It's been hectic around our house.
Last weekend Sammy Weiners and I drove to The Woodlands to find a place to live.  It was a successful trip!
Mallory enjoyed staying with O and Gina.  She even made her first trip to the Titus County Fair.  She spent time in the petting zoo and Johnny O reported back that the goat was her favorite.  She even says goat now.

Mallory turned 14 months yesterday.  Another month of life is under her belt, and she's added more substance to her bag of tricks.
Mallory loves playing hide and seek, Monkey See, Monkey Do, we can march, and stand on one leg with the other in coupe' or devlope'.  She also really loves turning around and around and around in circles until she is so dizzy she can't walk straight.  Mallory is obsessed with reading.  She will either "read to herself" or grab a book and hop in our lap and as "re re me", which of course is READ TO ME!  She's turned our living room furniture into her own personal trampoline and jungle gym.  She also loves when Sam and I hide behind a corner and jump out and say "Boo".

She will eat anything you give to her but really still loves fish of any kind, and lettuce (weirdo), and carrot chips dipped in hummus, and avocado, and rolls.  She LOVES rolls!

We've officially added "kitty cat", "goat", "Rats"- (what replaced uh-oh when we drop something...thanks, Johnny O), "baby", and "GO, GO, GO" to our vocabulary.

Mallory has 14 teeth officially grown in with her two top canines halfway grown - so we are almost to 16.  She is 20 lbs, which means we got to turn her car seat to face forward!  She loves it.  And we are 31 inches.  She's my tall baby.  My fun baby.  My inquisitive baby.  My full of life baby.  My baby that loves to give kisses, and high fives, and blow kisses, and give hugs freely or when you ask for one.  She's my loving baby.  My happy baby.  MY BABY!

Tiny Boxes

I dislike moving a lot.  To say that this Craig home is a "mess" is the understatement of the year. In just three short weeks we will have a new place to call "home".  Somewhere, that we are planning to plan roots.  I always found it odd that my life could basically be packed into tiny little boxes and shipped across the country, for a cost, of course.  With moving comes a certain amount of nostalgia.  I boxed up many things that were "mine".  They came from a time before "I" became a "We".  I moved through our kitchen which mostly contains gifts of love that were given when Sam and I decided to marry.  I never knew I could be so sentimental over a knife.

Packing up Mallory's things was particularly sad.  The tiny newborn clothes she wore for only three months that Sam and I are holding onto in case our next blessing is another girl.  They were already sorted into containers ready for storage.  Now they will make a long journey with us.

I know that these are al just "things" and of course they are not where all my value is placed, but these things provide such great memories of a time of chaos, surprise, blessings, shock, utter happiness, a feeling of i have no idea what I am doing, and most importantly love.  These things get to come along with us for a whole new very big adventure.  An adventure that is a great and happy step for our family, but is also bittersweet as we are leaving behind a home full of memories, a church that we love, a campus corner that my sister and I spent late nights bonding, and family members that have loved and  supported us through our scariest and happiest times.  My love affair with Norman has been short in the grand scheme of things, but at the same time, very very sweet.

I Remember

9/11.
This day eleven years ago I was sleeping in my bed, skipping my first class of the day because it was an 8 am class and I had stayed up in the wee hours of the morning socializing (sorry, mom).  My roommate, Kristin woke me up by coming into our room and saying, "dude, turn on the tv.  Someone flew into the World Trade Center".  Sleepy shock came over me.  By that time, it was pretty apparent that it wasn't an accident.

Disbelief set in as I watched horrifying news reports and learned of Flights 77 and 93, respectively.  To someone from my generation, like me, who basically believed that our nation was an invincible superpower, the realization that we were, in fact, vulnerable quickly emerged.

It was a sad day, an angry day, and in weeks that followed pride soon set in at the way a country that was divided, banded together.  Pain has a pretty powerful way of uniting people who would not normally come together.  Love surely is stronger, but I think, that pain unites people with a common bond that is not easily broken.  You suddenly become a member of a pain club.  It was definitely pain that brought Americans together after 9/11.  In the after affects, I think that we all learned that we need each other to make this place great, that together we can overcome any obstacle, that together we can rebuild.  Together we can hope, dream, mourn, thrive, succeed.  The biggest lesson, I learned from 9/11 is that no matter how polarized we are, we need each other.  Hugging my family extra tight today.

God Bless The U.S.A.

Tejas

It has been a while since I have blogged.  It was mostly intentional, as Sam and I have been waiting for some fantastic news to be confirmed and official.

No, I am not pregnant...or at least I don't think I am.

First things first, Mallory spent a few days with my mommy over Labor Day Weekend while Sam went dove hunting with Johnny O.  It was also my mom's birthday and Mallory and I cherished a weekend alone with just us girls.  We went shopping, and dining, and Mallory and I got to visit FBC MP which is always a good time.


The really good, great, fantastic news is that Sam, Mallory, and I will officially be residents of...
wait for it...

TEXAS!!!!!  That's right, Sam accepted a job in The Woodlands and we will be there by the end of October.  Everything is still new so we don't have all the details planned out just yet (i.e. we don't have a place to live).  BUT we are so excited to be moving to Texas and the Houston area as we have some family and tons of friends there including Sam's college roommate and one of my college roommates.
Do not fret though, I refuse to root for any of their sports teams.  I am forever a Cowboys/Rangers/Mavericks girl.  So unless Andy Dalton becomes the QB for the Oilers...er...Texans, I won't be cheering for them one bit.
Of course our family is still in Norman and OKC and we will miss them tremendously, but hey, that's what planes are for and I have a ton of frequent flyer miles.

Sam, Mallory, Pearl, and I are just really very very excited.  Thanks to everyone that knew about this and prayed or closed their eyes and wished real hard for us.  It really is a dream come true and we are just so excited to be Texans living in Texas again.  Oh yeah, did i mention we are excited?

Sammy Weiners is 29

Today is my husband's day of birth.  Nothing like a birthday to make you realize how much you love the person that God picked out specifically for you.  We are very different, but somewhat similar.  Sam is such a nice compliment to my very rough edges.  He is meticulous, focusing on each and every single little detail, while I see the grand scheme of things.  I am to the point, I try to explain everything in one sentence or less.  He gives detailed explanations, making sure to explain everything fully.  I am an ENTJ, he is an INTP.  Sam is cautious and anxious, I am reckless and careless.  He takes his time in all he does, I like to get things over with as soon as possible.  He is sweet, I can come across as mean-spirited. He can enjoy the moment, I am always looking around the corner.  He is trusting, when I judge. He follows policy and procedure, I question it at every turn. He is traditional, I am not.  You can see where this is going.

However, we do see eye-to-eye on many things, politics, God, raising our child(ren)- I am still trying to convince him to have 12, by the way- saving for the future, the need to explore the world, and our love for each other.  We have fun together, we question each other, push each other, laugh together everyday, we are each others confidante, best friend, and coach.  He does a lot for our sweet family and is the most loving father.  I was not aware of this until I realized  that he WANTS to do things that most fathers would never do, and he does it willingly and without complaint. Mallory and I spent the week in MP without him last week, we had a nice time, but life was just not the same, it was not as easy. He makes me feel special, and needed, and smart, and most of all loved. I am blessed.  Mallory is blessed.

This birthday is a little bit sweeter, as we know some good news is being finalized (no, I am not pregnant) although we are not ready to announce it juuuust yet.  I will say that Sam deserves this sweet birthday, an nice contrast to last year's that we spent in the ER.  I hope all of his birthday dreams are coming true.  I love him more than words.  I have found the one my heart loves - Song of Solomon 3:4.

Mallory is One!

Happy Birthday, Mallory!
Today is much less hectic that it was one year ago.  Hectic did not seem to bother you though.  You can into this world calm, cool, and collected.  You checked out everything with your left eye and preferred to keep your right eye closed.  You also loved to be swaddled, but only from the waist down. You preferred to have your hands free so that you could grab and explore anything that came your direction with your tiny, perfect hands.  You loved sleeping with your legs straight up in the air, much like Pearl when she is having a really, really great dream.

To my delight and my dismay you enjoyed doing things a little bit earlier than most children your age.  Please do not be in such a hurry to grow up, sweet babe.  Right now, you enjoy running to everywhere you go.  You've found that running gets you to things you love to do just a little bit quicker.  You also love to explore, especially in the kitchen.  And you love to share.  I love that I can hear the pitter patter of your sweet little feet bringing me a plastic cookie cutter or a whisk after you've been exploring in your drawer in the kitchen.  You are also pretty good about saying please and thank you.  Those are not the exact words that come out of course, but I know what you mean.

You are a friendly, and happy little girl.  You wave and say hi to everyone with a huge grin on your face.  Strangers may not always understand exactly what you are saying but they love to converse with you, Mallory. You also love to give hugs.  My wish is that you will be this friendly, kind and sweet throughout your life.  You are a tenacious worker, Mallory.  You always get back up when you fall down.  You are also one smart cookie.  While you can not say your colors yet, you can pick red, blue, green, yellow, orange, and TCU purple out of any line-up.  You also have no trouble showing me your hair, ears, eyes, nose, and mouth.

You are a talented dancer, you understand the beat of music and bounce up and down according to speed. You have surprisingly good balance.  A feat that makes your mom and of course your Aunt Sunny proud.  Your Aunt Amy recently taught you how to jump, well more like bounce, on beds.  You seem to enjoy this new play activity as you must bounce for a few minutes before nap time or bed time. Water is still something you love, rather it is bath time or swimming, you are having a ball. While you do not watch much tv (you would rather be outside exploring), you do seem to enjoy Bubble Guppies, Little Einsteins, and Mickey's Playhouse.

You are a blessing to our family, Mallory and you came along at just the right time.  I can not wait to see what this next year brings, and find out the ways that you will bless and enrich the lives of everyone around you.  Keep smiling baby girl.

EEEEEEKKKK

Potentially exciting news for this Craig household.  I can't say much.  I can't say anything really.  However, I want to ask you to pray for God's will for our family.  If you don't pray, please send us good thoughts, positive karma, or cross your fingers for us.  Thanks in advance.  :)

Smile

What a week!  What a weekend!  I am actually pretty excited this week is going to start tomorrow as it will be the last weekend of my boring, dreadful, no good class.  It also means that in a week I will begin taking a behavioral finance class.  I looove behavioral finance. This will be my sixth class on the subject matter.   It just makes so much sense.  It's a new theory and basically studies why market participants make systematic errors.  

Anyways, that is probably pretty boring talk to the 3 people reading this so I'll get to something you all care about -Mallory.  She is a little under two weeks away from being a one-year-old.  This year flew by. Whoooosh- hear that?  That was her first year of life flying by.  This weekend the mister and I walked around campus corner picking out small birthday gifts for his little sister and one of my close friends, Sunny.  Mallory happily waved and chatted with all of the merchants as well as some adorable incoming freshman girls and very cute, but not as cute as my husband, incoming freshman young men. Mallory does not know the meaning of Stranger Danger these days which I think is mostly a good thing , but also a little concerning.  I'll just have to stress no candy from strangers.  

I do have to say it is pretty heart warming watching her smile and wave and sometimes even hug complete strangers.  It's pretty neat to watch the world through my child's eyes as she knows that EVERYONE deserves to benefit from her cheerful disposition.  Her smiles seem to brighten even the grumpiest of strangers' days.  I do honestly TRY to exude her joy... however sometimes life just gets in the way.  I get tired, stressed, exhausted, and sometimes even angered, and tragedies occur and I forget the power of a friendly smile.  The fact that I get so caught up in my own world is actually pretty arrogant of me, I'm just a girl that likes to see results, and be in control, and know and understand the plan, Stan.  And sometimes, when I can't see, or guess, or know exactly what God's plan is I get so frustrated.  When in all honesty, it is absolutely none of my business what God's plans are, or what my boss or friends think about me.  

Our reverend actually said something pretty powerful (at least I thought so) about a week ago.  I am paraphrasing but he basically said that God created man in his image, and ever since then we have been returning the favor. Meaning that we give human characteristics to God.  Which of course is totally not what we are supposed to be doing.  God is too perfect to be human or possess any human characteristics.  We often times use him to cloak our conquests for something that they are not.  Or to blame when tragedy occurs or when things do not go our way.  Or to neglect and then pray whole-heartedly to when we need healing or understanding.  All i have to say to that is Thank God that He forgives.  

Be sure to smile at strangers or someone you dislike tomorrow.  It may be the start of a slightly more cheerful world.  

.  

Twenty Two

We're baaaack.  The Craig family took a splendid 9 day vacation away from real life and traveled all the way to east Texas for a little family fun time and small town life.  Oh life in a small town.  Growing up in Mt. Pleasant, I hated it and vowed to never return.  It's not so bad though.  The really horrible thing about small towns is that everyone knows your business.  But, the really great thing is also that everyone knows your business.  Yes, people gossip (people gossip EVERYWHERE, it's just more noticeable in small towns),  but, the same people are also willing to help out or offer a prayer during your down times.  (I am not going through a down time, this was just an observation while I was visiting my old stomping ground).  Overall, everything is still pleasant in Mt. Pleasant.

We spent July 4th at lovely Lake Cypress Springs eating, popping fireworks, eating, fishing, eating, and doing other very American things, like eating.  Also, since my parents will be in Russia (those stinkin' stinkers) for Mallory's birthday, Johnny O, or "O" as Mallory calls him insisted she open her birthday present. When he brought it out I was pretty perplexed at what could possibly be in the long, skinny package.  My mind quickly began thinking it was something I would need to assemble or some other completely normal gift for a one-year-old girl.

That was a BIG mistake.  I've known my dad for my entire life and heard stories about him before I was born and I honestly don't know why I assumed he would start acting normal now.  So my father, Johnny Oscar Conroy the only, got my baby GIRL a .22. He even had our dear friend engrave it.  I'm not sure that Mallory knows exactly what purpose her gift serves, but her sweet face lit up when she saw it.  She is definitely half Conroy and half Craig.
 I am not even mad, I mean, it's a pretty awesome gift.  I was just really surprised. This is the first time I have ever been surprised by a gift...and it wasn't even mine.  I hope he realizes he has to top this gift every year.  I also hope that he realizes that my birthday is October 26th and that I want an equally awesome present.  Anything on THIS page will work, Johnny O.

Blue Sky Laws

I am not sure how I can get through this class.  I've had a negative attitude about it since the very first day and I have six more weeks to go.  Nothing but Blue Sky Laws for a full six weeks.  Lame.  This has nothing to do with Willie Nelson, I would be more interested if it did.  To learn more about Blue Sky Laws, click here. 

I think that the only thing that is keeping me from potentially drowning myself in Mallory's kiddie pool from boredom is the upcoming 4th of July holiday.  Ahhhhh July 4th.  I met my husband on July 4th many moons ago. I am not sure if he was blinded by the fireworks, or my overwhelming, jaw-dropping beauty.

Oh the Fourth of July.  A day that is all about watermelon, fireworks, apple pie, hot-dogs, and spending time at the lake getting as sunburned as possible with family family friends.  Or maybe not.
You see, waaaay way back when, shortly after my father was born in 1776 (JK, Johnny O)...
Let's start over.  July 2nd 1776 the Continental Congress voted in favor of independence (WAHOO!) and two days later on July 4th, its delegates adopted the Declaration of Independence.  As we all know Thomas Jefferson penned this little diddy that has been amended, ratified, examined, exploited, and interpreted or mis-interpreted many, many, many, many, MANY times...with many more to come, I am sure.

America! Heck yeah!  I am not sure that America is exactly the way Thomas Jefferson envisioned it when he penned The Constitution. I'm actually pretty sure it's not considering he basically penned the number for white males, hence all the amendments.  Thomas Jefferson has probably rolled over in his grave several times, actually. This country has changed a lot since then.  Some great changes and some not so great changes.  Lots of progression.  Lots of regression. Good presidents, bad presidents, dead presidents, infamous presidents, presidents that no one really cares to remember.  Andrew Jackson is my favorite president ever, but that's a different post for a different day.

America! Heck yeah! America! My point in this whole blog is to remind you and me, that while we are out having a  blasty-blast on this Fourth of July Wednesday, let's all take just a moment to remember how our young little country came to be and let's all contemplate how to make it just a little bit better.  Then when we quickly come to disagreements all you right-wingers put on a red shirt, and  all you left-wingers put on a blue shirt and let's all have a paint ball war.  Because really, while no one will be fatally hurt sometimes it feels good to ding the crap out of your opposition with a neon orange colored paint ball traveling 50 mph.  That's got to leave a mark.

When I got home from my girls weekend I totally expected to be greeted with open arms from my sweet husband and baby.  I was not ready for my little girl to have turned into a monkey over the weekend.  Seems Miss Mallory has learned how to climb...on top of the sofa, the chairs, anything in her way really.  She  definitely understands the concepts of over, under, and on top of.  Needless to say I am definitely busier now than I was a week ago. :)
That is totally okay though because I was refreshed and ready to get back to the real world after a fabulous and fun filled girls weekend with some of the very best friends a girl could ask for.  For the most part we were well-behaved and we even met a new "friend" named Florence - Flo for short- but my SIL calls her LaFawnduh.  Very appropriate, I think. Florence was the only thing inappropriate about the weekend LaFawnduh had a lot of interesting stories, most of them were ficticious, I decided.  And she surrounded herself with people named Juisebox (that is not a misspelling, it's juice box, but with and "s" which I think is Klassy - with a K).  I will let you make your own assumptions or judgements about the character of Flo.
Anyways, while meeting her it really, I mean REALLY, made me thankful for the people that I actually chose to surround myself with that weekend. You couldn't ask for a better group of gals.  I miss them all terribly but it is so great that we actually keep in touch as much as we do and can always pick up right where we left off.
When I got home I was also pretty thankful for the very best husband a girl can ask for.  I abandoned him on his first Father's Day and he managed to cook. clean, and keep our baby happy, healthy, and alive. Sam is such a kind and caring person as well as hard-working, intelligent and handsome.  VERY HANDSOME.  I do not tell him enough but I am most thankful for the very talented man that God decided to put in my like.  Good friends, beautiful baby, handsome husband - Yep, I'm a lucky lucky girl.

Father's Day Weekend

...it's not Father's Day, you say...well, it was for this Craig Family.  You see, I will be on a girl's weekend for Sam's first Father's Day (wife of the year, I know), so we decided to celebrate this weekend.  I played a sweet little joke on Sam where I wrapped up a box with nothing in it.  His face was priceless and I was laughing uncontrollably.  Have no fear, I quickly ran to get Sam's real gift...his very own brew kit.  The mister was very happy.  I'll be taking my award now.  :)
After that, we spent a little time hanging out around the pool.  Pool time is so fun for our family, or well anything involving water.  Sam and I both (although I do not tan) love swimming and we were thrilled to find that Mallory loves the water too, although, sorry Mal Pal, you a just as white as your mommy.  Anyways, we followed that up with a quick trip to Target and then an evening of grilling venison steaks, avocados, and onions.  Mmmmm  :)
Then yesterday, we went to church, and lounged around. I even watched the U.S. Women's Gymnastics championships, good stuff.  I love gymnastics and can't wait to watch the Olympic Trials and see who represents the good ol' U.S. of A in London.  Yay.
Anyways, back to the church part.  I found that a very interesting question was posed in Sunday School.  More or less, it asked why the tree was even placed in the garden of Eden.  Or in other words, why even place the temptation of sin in front of a society that was so blissfully happy and unaware of sin in the first place? Hmmm.  Good question.
The  mister and I have different but similar theories on this.  In fact, we are still discussing.  I'd be interested to know what exactly you all thought.  I do not have the answer yet, and perhaps my answer will evolve and change over time.  Right now I am thinking that it has something to do with a reminder of something to strive towards (or run far far away from).
More on this later.  I've got a dentist appointment to attend.

This is horrible

Let me just go ahead and get this out of the way...YES, I am blogging.  No, it will not be ALL about Mallory, but a lot of it will (today's post is).

So, Mallory is officially walking!  She's been taking one or two steps by herself for a month now.  But today it happened.  I came home from a Rotary Meeting and my MIL told me that she posted a picture of Mallory walking on Facebook. She did pretty good in it too...baby girl took like 5 steps all by herself.  Yay! Mallory.  She wasn't done though.  Let me just say that when this girl learns a new skill she loves to practice (practice makes perfect, right !?!).  I've been woken from my slumber on more than one occasion because mommy's little angel wants to show me her new trick.  Clapping at 4 am - we must! 2 am session of crawling in the crib...happened twice.  You get the picture.

Anyways, like I was saying I came home from the Rotary Club and of course Mallory was practicing walking.  I went to grab a drink of water and came back to find my baby, my ten month four day old baby, walking to the front door, only to reach it and turn around to walk back to me.  She clapped for herself and giggled with excitement.  What did I do?  I cried.  There were tears of joy, but mostly tears of sadness.  Of course, I am excited that my baby is developmentally on track.  But...THIS, this means she is not a baby forever.  This means that she's going to grow up to accomplish great things and be the first woman President.  Or she's going to grow up to find a cure for cancer.  This means that in two months Productive Parenting will e-mail me activities for a toddler and not an infant.  THIS is horrible.

I knew this day would come.  Before I had Mallory I dreamed it.  However, I pictured only excitement and joy, I was not prepared for a tinge of sadness to enter every time she reached a new really big milestone.  I was also not prepared to learn so much from a ten month old.  In her ten months of life she has learned to smile, clap, roll over, crawl, walk (sigh). feed herself, say about 8 words (still no mama though), bounce up and down to the beat of music, and do a lot of other really neat stuff that I, for one, take for granted every day.

I have learned or re-learned that this world is a great big place full of excitement and wonder, how to love unconditionally, that God really is everywhere and present in our everyday life, and a lot more that  I can't write about anymore because Mallory just walked over to me and wants to play.  Maybe this isn't so horrible after all.  :)