HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Thanksgiving dinner!

McCrea's First Thanksgiving!

We celebrated Thanksgiving day with a traditional Turkey dinner prepared by the our friendly neighborhood grocery store. Of course, we made our favorite side dishes to go a long with it all, but we were happy that the cooking was mostly done by someone else. Hooray! We had a relaxing day. Chad watched football, I looked through all the ads for Black Friday and marked out my plans for the early morning frenzie. Lorelei and McCrea just hung out, played with toys and watched movies. We all took the famous "stuff our selves until we're sick and fall over dead" naps. We also went over to the park where we played baseball and football and then off to the playground for awhile too. It was a nice relaxing day.

LEARNING TO GRAB MY TOES!

Look at me! I can grab my toes!
Hey! Where did they go?I want my toes back!

McCrea has discovered his toes. He is so excited about it. It is so fun to see what makes him happy and upset. He was definitely discouraged after his toes went missing. Luckily, he has practiced this over and over and now is a pro at finding them again.

RUB A DUB, DUB, TWO SIBLINGS IN THE TUB!

Bathtime!

McCrea enjoying his big bath experience!

McCrea loves his baths!

Playing Mermaids and Merbaby!

Splish, Splash we are taking a bath!
McCrea helping Lorelei wash her hair! He loves hair!


Lorelei was thrilled when I finally let McCrea take a bath with her. She loves having a play mate to play with in the bath. She immediately turned him into a "MerBaby." She moved him from side to side pretending to make him swim back and forth in the ocean. She was a mermaid and he was the merbaby. She has been begging for bathtime with McCrea everyday since. This was McCrea's first time in the big tub. He truly enjoyed it, especially when he tried to help Lorelei wash her hair. It is fun to watch our two peas in a pod!

FOUR MONTHS OLD!

McCrea at four months old! He is such a big boy! We went for his 4 month check up and he is now weighing in at 16lbs and 26 1/4 inches long. He is 90% for height and weight. He's not as big as Lorelei was, but he is still very solid. We are enjoying all the cute laughs, giggles, talking and games he plays with us. We started the "stand up, sit down game," something we did with Lorelei. He loves this game, as we say, "And the baby stands up," he pushes up into a standing position, then we say "And the baby sits down," then he plops himself down on our laps. He loves this new game and gets so excited when we play it. We are just so amazed that he understands this game and knows exactly what to do.

McCrea also started grabbing his feet, he holds on to his feet and rocks back and forth. He has even gotten his little toes up to his mouth for him to suck on. He loves to suck on everything, his hands, toes, arms, fingers, toys, and anything he can get his hands on.

McCrea has even rolled over a couple times, however, we haven't witnessed this precious event. We just know we have placed him on his back and when we come back he is on his stomach. Hopefully, we'll capture it on camera.

McCrea is a very needy baby. Not only has he been very sick and colicky the last couple months, but he also wants to be held non-stop. He will cry and cry until someone picks him up. As soon as you pick him up he immediately stops and is content. He also gets bored with things easily. He likes his swing, ultrasaucer, bouncy, play mat, etc, but he only likes it for about 5 minutes at a time. He is already picky about certain things. We may be in for it.

We sure adore our baby boy. He has given us so much joy. We love his cute, gumless, smile, his giggles and laughs, his talking and cooing, he loves to mimic us and he has started this really low voice, it almost sounds demonic, but it is too cute. We are noticing that his eyes are changing from a very light blue to possibly hazel, like his daddy. Anyway we are enjoying kissing those chubby cheeks, squeezing his tiny body against ours and watching our bouncing baby boy grow. We love you McCrea!

ANOTHER ONE BITES THE DUST!

November 10, 2008

Scanner broken, so pictures didn't turn out right.

Happy 8th Anniversary!

Going on the Gondola Ride!

HAPPY 8TH ANNIVERSARY! Yes, we survived the seven year itch! Has it been eight years of joy? Has it been eight years of bliss? Has it been eight years of happiness? Has it been eight years of fairy tale endings? As much as I believe in joy, bliss, happiness and fairy tale endings, MARRIAGE, does not bring those things. Joy, Bliss, Happiness and Fairy Tale endings are something that you dream of and then you wake to REALITY! Marriage has many ups and downs, it's the rollercoaster ride we jumped on with our eyes closed, not knowing what was around the bend, or how scary the next hill was going to be, or how hard it was going to be traveling back up the steep tracks. Marriage has it's happy times and those are definitely the times you want to hold on to forever. However, marriage also brings learning to deal with trials, schooling, children, bills, deadlines and responsibilities. Where do you find the time to be with each other anymore? I truly felt that my prince charming had rescued me from my "Cinderalla life," not knowing that my "Cinderella life," was just beginning. Sure the glass slipper fit perfectly at the time, but then as my foot grew bigger with each child and more responsibilities piled on top, I had to forget about the fairy tale I was trying to hold on to and try on some other sizes and different styles of glass slippers.. We all have many shoes to fit into, but the one shoe that is always the hardest to fit into is the glass slipper you once had. It is the one that you promised to be the perfect bride, the one who promised that you wouldn't change, or you wouldn't gain weight, and that you wouldn't have to deal with trials. I am always still holding on to the mold that I once saw myself in. Hopefully we'll find the shoe that fits and be happy with what size, color and different style it now is. Unfortunately, we can never go back and change things, we can only look forward to the future with hope and faith that we can continue on the rollercoaster ride in the proper size of glass slippers. Here is to another year of joy, bliss, happiness and the dreams of a fairy tale ending.

Eight things that I love about Chad!

He is very intelligent and smart.
He is good looking and has a great smile.
He is very funny and has a great sense of humor.

He is hard worker and provides well for his family.

He is a wonderful father to both Lorelei and McCrea.

He is sensitive and loving.

He loves to get hugs and kisses.

He is a wonderful husband and friend.

We have made it a tradition for the past three years that we go up to Scottsdale to the Hyatt. We eat at the restaurant "Alto." It is an Italian restaurant where we enjoy yummy food and creme brule for dessert. We then wait to take a Gondola ride on the lake. A Gondolier sings opera to us as we relax under a blanket and candlelight on the lake. It was a wonderful evening.

MARATHON RUNNER COMPETES IN ATHENS, GREECE!

The marathoner in action!

My mother-in-law Tana has now completed her fifth marathon! She started about 5 years ago and just keeps going. She is truly amazing! It just proves that you can always achieve your dream at whatever age you are. She never gives up and inspires us all to live our dreams. Chad, Lorelei and I have been to see her run in two marathons, the St. George Marathon in October 2006 and the Boston Marathon in April 2007. We are always glad that we are not running the marathon with her, but couldn't be more proud to watch her running as we cheer her on along the trail. Unfortunately, we weren't able to go out to see this one, but we were there with her in spirit. Tana is a great inspiration to us all. Not only is she a wonderful mother and friend to Chad and me, but a wonderful Nana to her two favorite grandchildren, Lorelei and McCrea. We couldn't be more proud of you and we love you "morether!"

Congratulations Tana Graham on completing the 2008 Athens Classic Marathonin a finish time of: 4:36:17

http://www5.marathon-photos.com/scripts/event_entry.py?job=Sports/2008%20Sports/Athens%20Classic%20Marathon&match=8324


Check her out in the Athens Marathon. She is in a bluish/perriwinkle top as she is running through the finish line she raises her arms in the air.

ARIANNE COMES TO VISIT!

Arianne Friberg Newton

Bestfriends since 1993

Some random statue in the

mall parking lot.
Me and my ass! Thinking this was hilarious at the time we needed to take
pictures of our find at the mall parking lot in case no one believed us.
Here we are with our favorite statue Henry!

I was so excited to hear that Arianne had booked her flight and was coming down to sunny Arizona to see me. Arianne has been one of my bestest friends since highschool. It has been almost 16 years that we've known each other and we have been through so much together. We had stories after stories we could laugh about or talk about. It's amazing after 16 years of friendship that you continue to do the stupidest things together and still get a good laugh about it. We have many inside jokes and it was great just being with one of my favorite girls in the whole world. Arianne is one of the most kind-hearted and sweetest people on this earth. She genuinely cares about people and probably has more friends than anyone I ever knew. She is definitely a people person and is loyal to all her friends.

We had a great time together. After I picked her up from the airport, we went over to Arizona Mills mall and ate at the Rainforest Cafe, we then did some shopping and then went out to see a movie "House Bunny." (Remember the way she says peoples names ARIAAAANNNE.) We got a good laugh about that one. We then went to Angel Sweet the best Gelato place in Arizona. I got her addicted to Gelato, like I have everyone else who has come down to visit me. The next day we went to the Arizona State Fair, totally ghetto, but still so much fun. As long as you went before noon you got in for free. We walked all around and checked out all booths, farm animals and ate funnel cake, gyros and lemonade. We were there for hours looking at all the winners of photography, art, baked goods, quilts, scrapbooks, cakes etc. Of course I love all the infomercial stuff they try and sell. It was fun. We are both thinking we need to enter the State Fair next year. They enter everything and anything these days. I know I can totally win first place on something!

The next couple days we enjoyed doing some shopping, we bought matching pajama pants, got pedicures, watched movies, went to the zoo with the kiddos, called our bestfriends Jenny, Cheri and Jeanne. Arianne introduced me to facebook, but I will have to try it out when baby is a little bit older and not so needy. It takes too much time.

We also went and saw the movie "Mamma Mia." As we were leaving the theater and walking out to the car, I noticed a statue in the middle of no where. It was a statue of a guy with a pick in his hand and a donkey on the side. No joke this is in the median in the middle of the Superstition Springs mall parking lot. It was just so random, so we had to go take pictures with him. We named him Henry. We got lots of laughs with our statue Henry and his ASS! You probably just had to be there. Huh Air!

Anyway, thanks Air for coming down to be with me. It was a much needed girls weekend. You are the best. I love you to death. Now we have many more memories and inside jokes to laugh about. HA HA