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?