Christmas 2011

Since I have waited until almost 2012 to blog about Christmas, here we go with Christmas 2011! Celebrating Christmas with a 4 year old and 3 year old was everything we imagined it would be - magical, fun, exciting, overwhelming, and exhausting :) It is bittersweet that it is behind us. Good thing we have lots of pictures to remember it!

We changed up our Christmas schedule this year. We started on the Thursday before Christmas at Lolly and Poppy's house. Pregnancy brain over here forgot her memory card in the computer so I will have to rely on Aunt Casey (thank goodness) for pictures from the night.  The kids were so excited and wild- ha! They all got little CD players with kid music that we hear all day long now, ha. We ate some amazing boiled shrimp and all that goes with it, opened gifts, and roasted marshmallows in Poppy's new fire pit. So fun!

On Friday (Christmas Eve's Eve) we went to Mee Maw and Paw Paw's house. Here it is strict tradition that we take family photos in front of the Christmas tree. This year Mee Maw downgraded her Christmas tree, so here we are in front of the miniature version :)

 A rare family photo with everyone smiling.

Another one with the great grands! 

 Collin was so pumped about his guitar because this was something he really really wanted this year!

 Brantlee opened up a beautiful princess dress that immediately had to go on her body, of course!

 Funny side note: The kids are obsessed with the Wizard of Oz. When she put on her dress, she proudly announced that she looked JUST like Glenda the Good Witch, ha! She couldn't believe it!

 Playing with their new stuff. It was a bit eventful to say the least. Precious memories :) 

 On Christmas Eve, we went to Stateline to visit the Crager side of the family. The kids insisted on "helping" Poppa cook of fish.

 The grandkids and great grandkids with Mr. Crager.

 Then it was time to get ready for Santa...

 The look on Collin's face when we saw his drums the next morning was priceless! I seriously think he asked us every.single.day for the last two weeks if we thought he would get the drums he asked for, ha!

B admiring her new Barbie Dream House, which she truly LOVES and is so proud of it. 

It was so fun to see the kids so excited and happy that they got what they asked for. 

 Traditional Christmas breakfast at Mimi and Paw Paw's house on Christmas morning. Then we went to a wonderful church service before we opened  presents. 

 All the great grandchildren

Christmas Day evening we spent at Nana and Poppa's house for one last meal and gift opening.

 The LeapPad has taken over Collin's life. He is such a junkie for technology! Every morning he wakes up and asks me to look and see what new apps he can download or how many points he can get today. Seriously???

Brantlee ended her Christmas getting the most beautiful Belle doll. And her life is officially now complete :) :) 

We are slowly but surely getting the house back to "normal" (whatever that means :) Every year so far with kids we have been so overwhelmed by all the toys our kids get from all the wonderful family we have. At first, it totally stresses me out!! I mean, where will we put it all?? And what child needs to get so much stuff??

Then it hit me that these gifts have no eternal value. It is all just "stuff." And in a year (or less) the kids will be liking something else. But what these gifts do represent is the family that loves us and these children more than life itself. And that is what matters. That is what we thank God for.

And you know, God is no different really. He lavishes us with more than we need and certainly more than we deserve. And that is what we are most thankful for. He is the reason we should rejoice all year long.

Partying Hard

It's that time of year to party hop from one Christmas festivity to another. Here are some of ours this year.

Last Wednesday both kids had their class Christmas parties. Here is Brantlee excited before going to hers. I do love a girl in jeggings and boots ;)

Collin is all smiles with yummy sprinkles in his teeth :) 

I am always so amazed at how well behaved these kids are at parties. Sweet classmates!

Last Friday night was the adult Sunday School party. C & B stayed overnight with Lolly, while Kyle and I had a night with adults. It was fun for all!! But no pictures, of course :/

Sunday morning before church I wanted some pictures because we were all dressed Christmas-y. Too bad not everyone thought that was a good idea. Can you guess who that was??

At church the kids had a birthday party for Jesus!

And on Tuesday we went to ANOTHER birthday party for Jesus at Harrison and Hudson's house. It was really the sweetest party. Ms. Amanda did such a great job! We heard a great story about the true meaning of Christmas, collected canned food and money for local ministries, and of course ate birthday cake!

Hunting for the canned foods

And loading them up!

And lastly, we HAD to make Santa some cookies.

I love that I snapped this picture in just enough time to catch B eating the dough. Guilty!

This activity is serious business at our house.

Even though it might appear that we have been busy, the reality is that I cannot keep these kids busy enough!! The anticipation and excitement over Christmas this year has these two about to explode. (Or maybe it's just all the sugar in the house.) This evening begins the first of 5 Christmas activities over the next 4 days. And it could not come soon enough!

Merry Christmas to all!! 

The Crager Family wishes you a very blessed holiday as we celebrate the birth of our Savior!

Guess who met Santa?

We all did! Yesterday Collin finally decided that he would see Santa, but he wasn't going to sit on his lap. Fair enough. Brantlee would have nothing to do with him. I had to hold her the whole time. I have no idea how we got a smile out of her for the picture. Whatever it takes for the memories!

Merry Christmas!!

It is only days away :) :)

1st Dance Recital

Yesterday was Brantlee's first dance recital, and it was a Christmas Revue. This was a very big day for this little girl! She had quite the audience for her first dancing performance. Here we are getting ready yesterday. (Dad thought we needed some action shots :)

Supportive big brother

I was so proud of Kyle. He really seemed to enjoy his first dance recital too ;) Honestly.

Miss Fearless cried and almost wouldn't let me leave her backstage. I think at that point she realized this was kind of a big deal. We were nervous she wouldn't perform. But once we saw her prance on stage, we knew she would be just fine :)

The outfit was almost too much for Mommy to handle!

Preciousness!

She did so great! They all did. You just really never know how a three year old is going to handle an auditorium full of people watching them on a big stage. But it was a success! We were so proud. Of course we have it recorded, but of course I am technologically challenged and can't get it on here :) 

A little Christmas singing

Sunday night was the preschool and children's program at church.  We had no expectations for how our kids would do. Collin has what we like to call "church stage fright" - as in he will sing at school but not at church (??).  And who ever knows what Brantlee plans to do :)  After much discussion, Collin agreed to sing if I would sit on the steps beside him. Nice. But whatever it takes, right? And sure enough, he did it! And didn't miss a word. B did pretty great herself! All of the children did actually. Here is a picture at practice.

Due to my role on stage I have no pictures documenting the actually singing.

So here is my B when we got home that night :) 

Collin was feeling bad with a cold and refused to get his picture made. He explained to me, and I quote, that "taking a picture in front of the tree is only going to make me feel worse." Alright then :) :)
(And yes, he is in Brantlee's bed. For this season of life, they sleep in the same bed together :)

And baby makes 5!

Since I am pretty sure nearly everyone we know already knows our news, it is time to make it official! The Cragers are expecting!! We will be welcoming another sweet baby in July. Right now I am 10 weeks 2 days, although little peanut measured 11+ weeks today on the ultrasound. (Not sure what that means.)

We are beyond thrilled about a 3rd child! We could not be happier or more honored that God has given us this life and another opportunity to be parents.  So without further delay.... meet our little tiny munchkin!

The head is to the left and that is a foot in the upper right corner.

Arm by its head

I think that is a hand up by the head.

We are blown away by how much it has grown in 4 weeks! This was a belly ultrasound, so I was shocked by what all we could see. And the heartbeat was 159.

Basically, little munchkin has already turned Mommy's world upside down. I have been sick, sick, sick, and exhausted, absent-minded, ill, etc. I am thinking (really hoping) the sickness is on the downhill slide. I had forgotten how feeling like this interferes with the ability to function. My poor husband and children... I promise you will have me back... eventually :) :) Not that I am complaining... even though that's what it sounds like :)

Collin and Brantlee really haven't given much thought to the news. They act really happy about it, and they have thrown out a couple of names (Nick or Sally), but other than that we really don't think they understand.  Except for last night, they noticed how LARGE (larger than normal) my stomach already is and were kind of fascinated by it. Brantlee asked why it was so big and then said, "It must be from all that lunch." Thanks B! ha ha

We are praying continually for a healthy baby and pregnancy. Boy or girl, we are totally indifferent - just healthy!

St. Jude Marathon

This past weekend was Kyle's very first marathon! We, along with several families from around here, went up to Memphis for the St. Jude Marathon weekend. We had a great time and somehow managed to have some good weather, too. We went drove in on Friday afternoon then went to the Memphis Zoo Lights with the Burchfields for some kid-friendly entertainment.

The lights weren't quite what we anticipated, but the train ride was!

Well, Brantlee wasn't too impressed with anything at this point. It had been a long day :) 

Mr. Michael, Collin, and Allie

Saturday morning came awfully early! I was thinking (hoping) the kids would sleep late so we wouldn't have too much time to kill before we went to see Kyle. BUT they were up at sunrise and just in time to wish Daddy luck!!

I don't remember the last time I have seen him this nervous. Not gonna lie... I was nervous for him.

After about 4 hours in the hotel room with these precious kiddos, we had to GET OUT! So we strolled around downtown to sight see and watch the runners.

We waited and waited and waited at the race finish. My nerves were completely shot, for obvious reasons. And then finally we saw him round the corner!!

I don't think I have ever been happier to see this man ... uninjured and still running :) :) 

Turns out, he was later finishing than he hoped (4hrs 40 mins) due to some major cramping starting at mile 15!! He wasn't thrilled about his time, but we are so, so proud of him!

Kyle was pretty sore after, but his recovery was much, much better than I thought it would be. And you better bet that, God willing, this will not be his last marathon. I think it just sort of fueled the fire.

Anyway, after that the kids were needing to burn off some energy. We ran into this metal structure/statue thing that other kids were playing on, so we joined them! We ate an amazing dinner at B.B. Kings on Beale Street. (Yes, we were those parents with children in strollers on Beale ;) We rode the Tram back to the hotel and hit the sack!!

Then we booked it back down south for a very special little boy's 3 year old birthday!

Happy birthday Fischer! We love you, little buddy!