The McCrary Family Blog

Preparing and Waiting for Baby E. McCrary #3, Last Prenatal Appointment Update and Pictures of Some of Our Summer Fun!

2009-07-09T13:19:00.015-04:00

We have spent the last couple of weeks around here getting ready to welcome Baby E. McCrary #3 into our lives. However, with two beautiful, little, girl, toddlers running around already, time never stands still, so we also have been enjoying each day that we have with the two of them. We have been keeping ourselves very busy, and the next time I post, it will be to introduce our newest family member to you! We are so very excited!

I have been progressing right along as we expected. Since we've been through all of this wonderfulness (probably not a word, but oh well) twice before, we expected for things to move along as they had in the past; although also aware that they could be very different. I had my last prenatal appointment this week on the first day of my 38th week of pregnancy. The great news was that I was 3 c.m. and 75%, baby was very low and "easy to get to." Unless baby decides to arrive earlier than this coming Tuesday, we will be arriving at the hospital Tuesday morning, July 14th for an induction. At that time, the doctor expects me to already be 4-5 c.m. and 90% effaced if things keep going the way they have been the last few weeks. The doctor is very confident that things will go quickly for us as they have with both of our previous deliveries. Although with Elaina when we arrived at the hospital, I was 8 c.m., 100% and having been having hard contractions 2-3 minutes apart for a couple of hours, her delivery ended up being very stressful and scary as she decided to have a difficult time coming out to see us. With Emily, we were at 5 c.m. and 80-90% when we arrived at the hospital for our scheduled induction. Just a bit of meds did the trick for that extra boost, and she was a very easy delivery. Both of our girls were born during the lunch hours. We are praying for just as smooth of a delivery as we had with Emily, but we are also not counting on it. We know things could be very different. However, our doctor expects things to be very similar for us as they were with Emily. We know that God is in control of all things, and He will be right there beside us no matter what. For those of you who are wondering, yes, I am still convinced that we will be welcoming another beautiful baby girl into our family. So, for you 46 people who have voted here on our blog, I'm thinking that the underdog is going to take the winner's circle. It doesn't matter either way, but that is my guess. It's always fun to guess. We love not knowing the gender ahead of time. For us, it makes that special delivery moment even more exciting and special.

Below I have posted several pictures of different things we have been up to over the last couple of weeks. I had to get my blog updated and camera cleared off so that we could be all ready to go for baby!

Much love to you and please keep all of us in your prayers. Please pray for me and baby that we continue to stay healthy and safe. Please pray for Jeff as he continues to be the wonderful husband and father that he is. Pray for energy and strength for him as well. Just as importantly, please pray for our baby girls, Elaina and Emily, as they are completely not fully aware of how their lives will be changing. Please pray for this transition for them. They are such wonderful girls, and we love them so very much. We know that they will love their new baby brother or sister, but we also understand that we will be dealing with probable mood swings from everyone in our household. Pray that Jeff and I remember how important it is to take time out even during the first few days after baby's birth to spend special time with each of the girls and shower them with a bit of extra attention as well.

See you all next week with all of the details!

My parents kept the girls for a couple of days and nights last week so that Jeff and I could get some things done around the house to prepare for the baby. We are so thankful that they girls had such a wonderful time with their MeMe and Poppy. This is the longest and furthest that they had been away from us. They did great, and so did we. :) Here they are eating their special ice cream cups and cupcakes.

Poppy plants a tree for each of his grandchildren when they are born. Here is Elaina posing with Poppy and her tree.

Emily, Poppy, and her tree.

Cool chics!

Thank you, MeMe and Poppy! You're the best!

We took Emily to her first visit to Build-A-Bear last week. The reason she got to go at an earlier age than Elaina is because we had a coupon for a free animal, so we couldn't let that go to waste. She was still a bit too little to fully understand and have as much fun as Elaina did when we took her for her 3rd birthday, but she still did have fun. Plus, her "professional Build-A-Bear" sister was right there beside her "instructing" her the entire time.

Emily placing "Scruffy's" heart inside.

Stuffing "Scruffy the Dog."

Big sister, Elaina (check out the shades), helping her little sister bath and comb her very own animal.

All done! Meet Scruffy!

Our wonderful friends who now live in Iowa, the Freeland family, came out for a visit and stayed with us for a couple of days and nights over the Fourth of July weekend. Here is a picture of our girls with Jill and Jennifer. We had such a wonderful time with them. We really wished that they lived closer. We enjoy the time that we get to spend with them when they come out for a visit. Jill and Jennifer were our flower girls in our wedding seven years ago! Now look at them! They are beautiful girls! Elaina and Emily loved having them with us! Joey, their brother, was our ring bearer, too.

Our girls and the Freeland Family - Thanks for visiting! We had so much fun! You are so special to us!

That same weekend, Luke Ruddle had a baseball tournament. Luke is a part of the All-Star team for his age division this summer, so he is a very busy guy (and keeping his family very busy) as they head to tournaments out of town each weekend. We chose to see him play in his final two games of the Morgantown tournament this weekend since it was only about a 20 minute drive. The weather was nice, and we really enjoyed seeing him play. They won the championship game, and it was a very exciting game. Great job, Luke!

The girls playing with their friends in between games at the Morgantown baseball tournament. They girls played so hard. They were FILTHY when we got home! They had a super fun day!

Great friends being silly!

We got back to Franklin after the baseball tournament just in time to head over to watch the fireworks. It was actually July 5th because the fireworks were cancelled due to an all day rain on the 4th. Here are the girls, filthy, and eating a very, very, very, late dinner of popcorn and yogurt. Hey, what are you supposed to do on a busy day like that? :)

Mommy 38 weeks pregnant. Emily came in while Daddy was taking the picture and decided she wanted to pose alongside me. :)

Some of my great girlfriends took me out for a yummy dinner, dessert, and movie and showered me with cases of diapers and wipes to celebrate the upcoming arrival of Baby E. McCrary #3. We had a really fun time! Thanks, girls! You all mean so much to us!

On a rainy morning, wondering if today might be the day for baby, what else is there to do than to play video games with Daddy?

Emily and "her seat." Oh, dear. She made herself nice and cozy in there for a good 20 minutes or so. I think we finally have her convinced that the seat is for the baby.

A family field trip to the Franklin fire station.

Is it Really the End of June?

2009-06-27T14:22:00.000-04:00

I can't believe that my last blog entry was mid-May! The time has flown by since Emily's 2nd birthday party. We have been so incredibly busy, and I am sad to think that the summer is half over, but anxious and excited to know that the biggest event of our summer is yet to come! We love our summers with Daddy at home. He is so wonderful and a very involved Daddy, and the girls really thrive on us both being home with them and doing things together as a family.

So, here's trying to catch you . . . and me . . . up on our very busy month of June! Enjoy the pictures. I had so many to upload that it was fun for me to stop and actually see what we had been up to as well. Phew! I'm exhausted! Next big event coming up . . . Let's have a BABY!

Celebrating Our Favorite Daddy! - Father's Day 2009

2009-06-27T13:37:00.006-04:00

We loved celebrating Jeff on Father's Day this year. We knew he would just want to have a relaxing day at home that was also inexpensive, so we did just that. We had a long morning at church, and the girls (and us, too) are always ready for a Sunday afternoon nap. First, though, the girls gave Jeff his special gift for the day. We gave Jeff the picture book, "Dance Me, Daddy" which was written by award-winning singer and songwriter, Cindy Morgan. It is based on the song, "King of the World," recorded by Christian artists, Point of Grace. When I heard the lyrics to this song/book and saw the illustrations in the book, I just knew it was the perfect Father's Day gift for Jeff this year. He and the girls love to dance together in the living room. I love to watch them, too. It is something that happens a lot in our home, and it's exactly what this song/book is about. I knew he would love it.

Here is a link to actually listen to the author, Cindy Morgan, read the book, "Dance Me, Daddy" along with a slide show of the picture book as she is reading it. It's well worth it watching, especially if you have a very special Daddy to a very special little girl(s) in your life.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1azJWIrb7Ms

If you would also like to hear the beautiful recording of the song, "King of the World" by Point of Grace, here is the link for it as well.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qG_9V8iCjX4&NR=1

Jeff, I am so thankful for you. Thank you for being an amazing Daddy to our very beautiful girls that God has blessed us with. You are truly the King of OUR World. We love you so very much! "There's nothin' better than bein' your girls." XOXOXO

The loves of my life!

Dancing to "King of the World."

Dancing with his girls.

"Spinning around on the tops of his feet . . . "

We spent a wonderful and relaxing day at home together with Daddy on Father's Day. Nice long naps, Daddy's favorite meals, and then watching the girls enjoy some time in their pool. Love this picture. Elaina is such the "SUPERSTAR!" So dramatic! She and Emily love each other so very much!

We're Goin' to the Zoo, Zoo, Zoo . . . How 'Bout You, You, You . .

2009-06-27T12:41:00.009-04:00

Our girls love this song, and we love to watch and hear them sing it! Thanks to Emily and Mommy putting their birthday "monies" together, we were able to purchase a family zoo pass at the Indianapolis Zoo so that we can visit the zoo as many times as we want to for the next year. This was our first trip to the Indianapolis Zoo, and the girls loved it! Daddy loved teaching them at every stop we made, so it took us all day to get through the zoo, and we even had to skip a couple of places. The day we went to the zoo, I was in my 35th week of pregnancy, so I spent most of the time as the caboose of our little train. It was such a great day. I'll just let the pictures and captions show how much fun we had. Mommy was photographer for the day.

Just getting started. Our first stop were the flamingos.

Elaina told us the whole night before we went to the zoo that she was so excited to see the giraffes, so we were really thrilled when we got a chance to see them up close.

The girls did this for what seemed like forever. Jeff and I laughed so hard. They were squawking, buawking, calling, whatever . . . at the chickens. It was so funny!

Mommy brought up the rear most of the day. :)

This was a stance that we saw Emily take a lot throughout the day. She would hunch down, put her arm behind her back, squint her eyes, and point while talking to the different animals.

One the several "lessons" from the day from Mr. Daddy. He is such a great teacher to our girls!

One of our favorite parts of the day was getting to sit in the front row to watch an African Elephant named Tombie get a bath.

Emily and Daddy in front of the giraffes.

Elaina in front of the giraffe exhibit.

After the dolphin show, Elaina asked Daddy, "How do the dolphins sleep?" Daddy had to tell her that he really didn't know, so they stopped to ask one of the dolphin trainers. Usually Elaina gets really bashful and won't speak, but she walked right up to the dolphin trainer and asked her question like a big girl. She listened the whole time the dolphin trainer answered her question.

Petting the sharks. Well, Daddy did anyway.

Elaina dancing around in the underwater dolphin area.

Emily's new found "dolphin kiss."

Crocodile Dock - VBS 2009

2009-06-26T21:20:00.010-04:00

Ok. So, let's just get this out there. I LOVE Vacation Bible School! Seriously. I think I love it as much as the kids. It is my one of my favorite weeks of the year. For the last few years, I have had the privilege (yes, I call it a privilege) of being the Registration Coordinator for VBS at Franklin Memorial Christian Church. I assisted with registration in previous years, but after a good friend stepped down from the official job as Registration Coordinator after she had been doing an amazing job of it for several years, I was asked to fill those large shoes. Now, this may seem like no big deal, but actually it is. Our Children's Ministry team, of which I am a part of, starts planning VBS at the end of January each year, and my responsibilities really hit hard right after spring break each year when it's time to update documents with the new theme, make copies, compile registration packets, etc. Then, the starting the second week of May or so and continuing through the actual week of VBS in June, I live and breathe VBS. Seriously. I thrive on registering all approximately 250 children and getting them assigned to groups, and my amazing husband doesn't mind when the house isn't cleaned as regularly or when I'm up on my computer until wee hours of the night/morning. Fortunately the craziest week for me, which is the week prior to VBS, Jeff is home since he is a school teacher, and he is right there ready to take care of the girls so that I can put all of my focus on VBS if I need too. Now, I must admit, this year was the most trying year for me, as my oldest baby is 3, and my youngest just turned 2, and I was 7 1/2 - 8 months pregnant. I was a bit more tired, and it all wore on me a bit more, but I can still say that I loved every bit of it!

Mommy and her two favorite VBSers.

Now, I'm not the only VBS nut in my family. Jeff really loves it, too, and this year, he had the most responsibilities that he's ever had for the week of VBS. For many, many years, Jeff has organized the recreation activities for the older elementary kids, and he has also been the "big kid," "dork," etc . . . for the daily skits that take for the opening an closing of each morning. This year he also led the worship time for our "Get Soaked" program for the 5th/6th graders. He was a busy man, and I was so proud of him for keeping himself moving throughout the mornings and being where he was supposed to be when he was supposed to be there. Jeff doesn't really have a good sense of time. He kind of just gets places when he gets there. I felt like each morning I was giving him a pep talk about how he needed to keep moving and get to where he needed to be. Really, I didn't need to do this. He did a great job taking good care of himself. :) With VBS week being right after school lets out for the summer, he really enjoys his time. He loves making a fool of himself up on stage for the skits, and really, truly, he is the BEST at it! He totally makes us all laugh. This year, he portrayed "Skeeter" as in "Mo-skeeter" ya' know mosquito???!!!

Yep, that would be the love of my life . . . "Skeeter."

We have always loved VBS week, but now that we have two beautiful girls to enjoy it with, we love it even more. Typically our VBS is open to children who will be entering grades Kdg. through 4th in the fall. However, we do offer classes for the children of volunteers, so that is why our girls are able to attend. The girls had a great week, and they loved learning more about God. We start learning the VBS songs in our van at the end of April, and the girls love them. The department leaders and teachers who are in charge of the toddler age group do an amazing job. Elaina, even just being 3, shouts out each and everyone of the five daily Bible points by memory followed by a very powerful, "FEAR NOT!" Emily joins in on the fierce, "FEAR NOT!" as well. This gets to Jeff and I every time she does it. She is so young and already learning so much about Jesus. We are so appreciative of the volunteers who worked with our girls and taught them so much that week.

Elaina dancing and doing the motions to the VBS songs.

The girls and Hannah

Brooke and Elaina praying together. So sweet!

Emily and Miss Clair letting their lights shine.

One specific very special moment during VBS week was one evening at home before putting the girls to bed. Each year, the offering that is collected daily during VBS is donated to a mission. This year, the money was being donated to a mission where there were children who were needed new mattresses. We were raising money so that they could purchase the mattresses. We were explaining to the girls one evening about how we "give" of our time to serve Jesus, but we also "give" of our money to serve Jesus as well. Jeff asked the girls if they would like to give any of the money from their banks to the children at the mission. Elaina immediately said, "Oh, yes, Daddy, I will give the girls and boys my monies, and I will give them my bed, too."

Daddy helping the girls with their offering.

We had a wonderful week of VBS. I am always sad when it is over and already looking forward to next year.

See ya' next year!

Mommy's 29th Birthday Weekend!

2009-06-25T22:15:00.015-04:00

Right in the midst and the most hectic time of VBS, falls my birthday! You read about VBS in another entry. My 29th birthday fell just two days before our first day of VBS this year, and I had a lot to do, but I am so glad that I took a couple of days from being so very busy with all of those responsibilities to spend with my family and friends.

On Friday, June 5th, three of my girlfriends had a yummy birthday breakfast for me. The breakfast was complete with super yummy donuts from my favorite donut shop, chocolate covered strawberries, and delicious egg and ham casserole. It was so yummy!

After breakfast and our Bible study, we headed to the Indy Air Show. It was practice day (basically like a dress rehearsal so to speak), and much cheaper than going for the actual show later in the weekend. We packed our lunches and got a lot of sun that afternoon! The highlight of the show was the Blue Angels. The girls loved being with their friends and seeing all of the loud and fast airplanes.

The girls, with Hannah, riding around checking out all of the airplanes.

Look out! Emily's behind the controls!

Going on a plane ride?

Emily and Hannah - so cute!

One of the Blue Angels

Watching the planes way up high!

A wonderful day with sweet friends!

There was a time that afternoon when Emily decided she wanted some special time with Scott. (Scott is Jill's husband, Daddy to "Nannah," "Ben-Ben," and "LUUUUUke.")

"Fat Albert"

Blue Angels

Airplane!

Emily yelling, "AIRPLANE!"

We had been gone since 8:30 a.m. that morning, and we were pulling back into our neighborhood at 5:30 p.m. We were all exhausted, but Elaina and I were going to hurry to change our clothes, spray some smellies, and head back out the door to go to our dear friend, Sarah's, first dance recital. As we pulled up to the house, I saw my parent's car parked in front of our house. I was so confused because I had planned for a couple of months to spend some time with Elaina and take her to this recital. Jeff knew this, so I wasn't sure what was going on. Jeff had secretly asked them to come down to spend the night and spend the next day (my actual birthday) with us. He was hoping that we would have a chance to go out to dinner before the recital, but we got home from the air show later than he thought we would. So, Elaina and I headed out to pick up Jill and Hannah for the recital and had a really special night together. The dance recital was almost three hours long, and it was really neat. The last half of the recital was "Mary Poppins" and Elaina loved it. She had never seen "Mary Poppins." Sarah did a great job! My mom, dad, Jeff, and Emily stayed at home and enjoyed each other's company. It was about 10:45 p.m. when Elaina and I got back to the house, but Emily was still up! She was not going to go to bed without having some of Mommy's birthday cake that MeMe brought with her! :) So, at around 11:00 p.m. that night after being gone since 8:30 a.m. and having an absolutely wonderful but exhausting day, we finished it off with birthday cake! Yum-yum!

Emily putting candles on my cake! You would have thought that she was exhausted after such a long day, but she was running around like a crazy girl!

My loving Elaina Joy. She was SO tired, but she was definitely ready for some cake!

Emily singing, "Happy Birthday, Mommy!" She cracks me up!

More candles!

That night, sometime around 1 a.m. (so, morning, I guess) Jeff informed me that I would have no time to work on any of my VBS responsibilities on Saturday either. My blood pressure began to rise greatly at that point; I'm sure. I knew I still had a lot to do to get prepared for VBS Monday morning, and now he's telling me that instead of taking one day off from VBS preparations as I had originally planned, that I was taking two days off???!!!! He knows how I work and how my brain works . . . what was he thinking!!!??? It didn't matter though, it made me so happy that Jeff had planned ahead for me. He is totally a last minute kind of guy, and he really wanted to make my day extra special for me. He knew I had been working so hard for several weeks on VBS, and he wanted me to relax and enjoy my birthday.

So, Saturday morning (June 6th - my actual birthday) we woke up and had a late breakfast out with my parents. It was so nice to see them and spend some time with them. After breakfast, we all went bowling. We had been together last year on our vacation, but it was candlepin bowling, so the balls are very small. This was our first attempt at regular bowling with the girls. They were so funny, and had a great time. They both wanted to be so independent and do it all themselves. They figured out very quickly that the balls were so very heavy for them. Elaina was really into the idea of bowling. Jeff was constantly trying to teach her, and finally after much instruction from Daddy, Elaina looked at him, pointed at him sternly and said, "Daddy, you go sit down over there!" By golly, she was going to do this all for herself! So funny!

Cheering on and encouraging their bowling balls. They went SO S L O W down the lane . . . oh my land!

This was the stance Elaina took every time after she rolled her ball down the lane. Feet apart. Hands on hips. Mind you, she had to stand like this for a very long time because again, their balls went SO S L O W down the lane. It became painful to watch.

So proud of her bowling skills.

Emily saying, "Cheese!" So cute!

I LOVE THESE TWO GIRLS!!!

After bowling, we went to back to the house for a break, and then Jeff told me that we were going to go on a picnic. He had already asked my mom to prepare my favorites for lunch, and we were going to pack up and head to the playground for a picnic as a family. He did ask me if I'd rather go to the playground or just eat out on our deck and play in the backyard. I preferred to stay home. Even though I know he would have packed everything up and my mom would have lovingly helped and I wouldn't have had to do anything at all, it just sounded better and easier to stay home and have our picnic in our very own backyard. It was very yummy and so very relaxing. I spent some time on our swing, and that was so nice.

Not long after lunch and after an absolutely wonderful morning celebrating and being pampered by my family, Jeff told me that it was time for me to leave. He had made plans for me to go to a friend's house and swim, float on a raft, and soak up some sun with some of my girlfriends for a while that afternoon. My great friend, Shawna, who owns the home with the pool, had offered to have a pool party for me a week or so prior, but I knew how busy everyone was (including her) and told her that it really wasn't necessary. We were going to be getting together really soon anyway for some relaxation time. This time of year with everyone's schedules with baseball and VBS is crazy! Well, after Jeff found out that she had offered that to me, and I turned it down, he called her and just asked if I could come out and enjoy some "Mommy" time. It was nice. After a while of being out there by myself with some friends, Jeff brought the girls out after their naps, and we were able to have some fun time together swimming and playing in the pool as a family.

Thanks, Scott family!

Having so much fun with my girl in the pool! She loves the pool!

Stealing a kiss!

The day was not done, my best friend, Jill, was hosting a cookout at her house that evening with a lot of our friends. Another wonderful friend, Hilary, and I share the same birthday. (She is 7, I say 7, did you hear me, 7, years older than me.) We have many mutual friends, so everyone gathered at Jill's that evening for some yummy food, family fun, and delicious strawberry shortcake!

It was a wonderful birthday! I am so thankful for my incredible friends and family for making me feel so very loved! You are all the best!

Jeff, you are an amazing husband and an incredible Daddy. Thank you so very much for loving me the way that you do. You truly are the best, and I appreciate you more than you know.

Happy 2nd Birthday to Our Sweet Emily!

2009-05-18T10:42:00.009-04:00

We celebrated our sweet Emily's 2nd birthday this weekend with friends and family over for a princess party! The girls love their Disney princesses, so we thought it would be fitting to theme her birthday around them.

I made Emily a princess castle cake this year. For this being only my fifth cake that I have ever decorated, I was pleased with how it turned out. It made my birthday princess happy, so that's all that mattered. I looked up images of princess cakes on the internet, put my computer on my kitchen table, and just tried to copy one with a few changes of my own. I had fun working on it, and I was just happy to be able to make Emily feel extra special.

Emily and Elaina

The birthday princess was so excited about her cake!

Mommy and one of her princesses

My mom was here to help me get everything ready for her party. I tend to overdo it, so it was great that she was here. She was a huge help! Thanks, Mom! You're the best Mom/MeMe ever! Jeff was a huge help, too. He took Friday off of work because we had several dentist/doctor appointments in the morning and then just had a few hours after we got home in the afternoon to get everything finished up for her party. He is the best husband/father in the world! We had a wonderful party for Emily!

Thank you to all of her friends and family who came and shared in her princess celebration. We are so very blessed that Emily has each of you in her life. She is a very loved little princess, and please know we love you all, too!

Emily opening her gift from Elaina . . . Disney Princesses!

Great Maw-Maw Alice was able to come for Emily's party! What a special treat!

Yummy!

Daddy and Elaina carrying Emily to her bedroom after a long day and a super fun party that evening. She was worn out! Mommy felt the same way, but no one carried her to bed like this!

Emily also had her 2 year well visit today, and she did great for the doctor! Elaina went with us, and was a huge help by showing Emily exactly what she needed to do. She is growing well, and the doctor was impressed that she knew her "right and left" and also came in to her doctor visit in "big girl panties" and is both day/night potty trained. Of course, we do still have our occasional accidents when she gets too busy playing at a friends house or some place other than home, but she is doing a great job, and we are so proud of her! In fact, she went six days straight without any day/night accidents at all last week. She tells us that she needs to potty by saying, "Wa-wa potty!" and to take care of her "number two's" by saying, "Snake potty!" We can all thank her big sister and Daddy for that one! What little ladies he has around here! Auntie Leah would be proud. Emily absolutely wants NO help at all when going to the bathroom. It seems like a 10 minute ordeal. She has to pull her own pants and panties off without help. She has to put the toilet seat up, get her soft potty seat on the regular toilet seat, get her step and place it up to the toilet so that she can climb up onto the toilet by herself, etc. so on and so forth. This is all great, but it just takes her forever. Sometimes I'm afraid it's going to take her so long that she'll have an accident while she's trying to get everything situated, but she ends up making it. If you try to offer help, she demands, "NO, ME! ME DO!" She loves wearing her princess panties! We bought her a package of princess panties as her reward for learning how to potty. She was thrilled with them, so hey, why not. Nothing but princess panties, right?

Dear Emily, you are our sweetheart. We love your snuggles and your kisses. We love to watch you pray with your eyes squinted super tightly shut and interrupt your own prayers with "ME?". We love how you twirl you hair into knots when you're tired and how you love BABY animals . . . especially baby whoo-whoos. We love how you love your sister and "Mommy's baby" that is coming soon. We love how you race out to the driveway to meet Daddy at his truck as soon as he is home from work. Daddy loves how you are especially his girl. We love your love for outdoors and bubbles, and Daddy loves how you and Elaina enjoy loud Toby Mac music in his truck with him. Now, about that temper of yours and lack of patience, your favorite word to Mommy being "NO!", how grumpy you are when you wake up from your naps (just like your Mommy) ummmmm . . . well, we will continue to work on that. We are so fortunate that God blessed you with us and is allowing us to care for you. We pray daily that He will guide us in raising you the way that He desires us to. We love you, Emmy! Happy Birthday, Love!

Emily showing us how old she is, "TWO!"

The Best Mother's Day Yet!

2009-05-11T09:45:00.009-04:00

I was treated to a wonderful Mother's Day. It was the best Mother's Day yet! It was perfectly simple, and I loved every minute of it!

Sunday mornings are always busy because we are at church by 8:30 a.m., and with three girls in the house to get beautified, it's pretty hectic. ;) Jeff and Elaina got up early and went to the donut shop and came home with donuts and a nice, big, Mt. Dew Polar Pop for me for my Mother's Day breakfast! YUMMY! I was so excited (and so were the girls)!

The girls enjoying a Mother's Day breakfast of donuts.

Then, the girls gave me their homemade cards. Those really didn't surprise me. Elaina let that out earlier in the week that they had made them for me. When we were coloring cards for their grandmas, and I was explaining to them why we were sending their grandmas cards, she said, "But, Mommy, we already made your wonderful pictures. Daddy hides them. Then, we go to church, and after church, we will hide them behind our backs and say, 'SURPRISE!'" Then, she stopped abruptly, looked at me with BIG eyes, and said, "Uhhh . . . I not say that. I not tell you that." It was so funny! She realized after getting excited and telling me all of that that she was supposed to wait. It was really sweet. It's hard because we teach the girls not to keep secrets from us. We do this for their protection. We tell them that they are always to tell us about things, and we try to explain the difference between a surprise and a secret, and that we don't keep secrets from each other. On one of my cards, Jeff had the girls tell him ten "Things We Want To Tell Momma." Here's what they were: (I love the first two that Jeff said came immediately out of Elaina's mouth. She has such a love for Jesus at such a young age.)

1. Jesus Loves You! (Elaina)
2. Jesus Lives! (Elaina)
3. Kitty Cat (Emily)
4. Grrr . . . (Emily's ferocious growl!)
5. Ice cream (Elaina)
6. Wa-Wa Potty! (Emily - translation: "I have to go pee in the potty!")
7. Poo-Poo Can-Nee (Emily - translation: "I have to #2 in the potty, and I want a piece of
candy when I'm done!")
8. You are beautiful. (Elaina)
9. Thank you. (Elaina and Emily)
10. We love you! (Elaina and Emily)

We have also been working with Elaina on how to write her name, so she worked on writing her name on my cards as well. Right now, her favorite letter is a because there are two in her name, and she likes to say, "Circle with a stick," so I had a lot of a's on my cards.

When it was time to leave for church, we decided to take a few pictures. Usually, I am the one taking the pictures, so there are usually more pictures of Daddy with the girls than there are of me with the girls. So, this morning, Daddy took the pictures. Here we are getting ready to leave for church for the morning.

My beautiful girls

Elaina wanted to stand on a step to show how big she was for this picture.

Silly girl!

Oh, how blessed I am! LOVE THEM!

The girls love their baby!

Elaina and her dear friend, Hannah, at church. So cute!

We usually don't get home from church until 12:15 p.m., so we are always hungry and tired! We decided to come home and warm up some quick leftovers for lunch and get girls down for naps. Before we had lunch though, the girls each came walking into my bedroom with gifts behind their backs for me. I love Willow Tree figurines, and each of them had one picked out for me. Of course, Jeff helped some. He wanted each of the girls to give me one that would remind me of them in a special way. Emily gave me "Tenderness." Emily likes to be held like the child in the figurine is being held. She loves to snuggle, so I will always think of her when I see this figurine. Elaina gave me "The Dancer." How appropriate! She is my little dancer. She loves to dance! She dresses up every day, sometimes all day long, and dances to music on a cd, or to music that she sings herself. She makes up dances - very interpretive might I add. ;) She loves to dance with her Daddy, too. She loves to do her gymnastics in the house. So of course, this will always make me think of her. The gifts were a huge surprise, and I loved them!

Emily's gift to me - "Tenderness"

Elaina's gift to me - "The Dancer"

The girls took naps, and Jeff and I relaxed on the couch for the afternoon and did a few things that we needed to get done. For dinner, we went out for Mexican. It was YUMMY! I think Emily enjoyed it the most. She chowed down on chips, salsa, cheese sauce, beans and rice! It was so fun to see her enjoy it so much. After dinner, we came home, had ice cream and played outside.

It was a wonderful day! I was treated so well, and was definitely shown how loved and appreciated I am. I am so blessed that God gave me such a beautiful, wonderful family. I have the greatest husband who is also the greatest father to our precious girls, and my girls are so wonderful! I have to remember during those times that I get frustrated or those times when my girls aren't perfect like I wished they would be, that I am so blessed to have a husband and children who love the Lord and that I can go to HIM with all of my fears and frustrations of daily parenting. It is my prayer that I be a Godly example to my children and teach them about Jesus and how much HE loves them. I am truly not worthy!

30 weeks with #3! - Mother's Day 2009

Me and my girls (Elaina 3 yrs. 4 months; Emily 1 week shy of her 2nd birthday!)
Mother's Day 2009

Planting Mommy's Flowers with MeMe

2009-05-06T14:29:00.004-04:00

Every May, my mom comes down, and we work out in the yard for a day - all day - planting flowers. I always look so forward to this, especially now with the girls because it would take me probably three days to get done what we get done in one day with my mom. Between taking breaks for snack, swinging, bubbles, potty, etc . . . it would not be as fun if my mom wasn't here to help. We had a beautiful day of planting my flowers, and the girls had a ball. We were outside ALL day; they didn't take naps, and they were a MESS when it came to be 8:00 p.m. and time to go inside - especially since towards the end of the evening, Elaina thought she would shampoo Emily's hair with bubbles. They loved digging for worms in the dirt, but neither one wanted to touch the worms. I don't blame them . . . that's why I wear gloves when I plant! Leave it to Emily, though, to find a baby worm. Emily LOVES baby animals, so while digging in the dirt, I wasn't surprised that she was the one to find a baby worm. She was so excited!

Thank you, MeMe, for a wonderful day of planting flowers. I'm still exhausted though from the long day, so off I go for a nap!

Emily's baby worm

Planting Mommy's flowers

MeMe and her girls

Note to self: Potting soil and bubble solution make for very messy toddlers! Elaina is just getting started in this picture with Emily's shampoo job. As usual, Emily is just going along with it without a care in the world.

Elaina getting more into the shampooing of Emily's hair with the bubble solution, and Emily still not having a care in the world about it . . . just concerned with blowing her own bubbles.

Finding Adequate Words to Express Our Thanks

2009-05-04T16:38:00.005-04:00

On Saturday, we had the privilege of attending Dr. Donald Cline's Retirement Open House. Some of you may remember that Dr. Cline is (was) our Reproductive Endocrinologist who led us on our journey of conceiving Elaina Joy and also most recently caring for us during our first trimester of this third pregnancy.

The open house was held at Dr. Cline's church, Zionsville Fellowship, on the northside of Indianapolis. It was a beautiful day and a beautiful open house for Dr. Cline. As we entered the church, we were greeted by Dr. Cline and were able to personally thank and congratulate him. As we were waiting in line to do so, I could not help but become overwhelmed with emotions as I watched in awe the other lives in the room that he has touched in an awesome way. The line of greeters who came to say "thank you" was flowing with expressions of emotions as well, so I didn't feel so out of place. The thankfulness that we have in our hearts for Dr. Cline is abundant. After our short conversation with him, it was almost as if we needed to find the perfect words to say, "Thank you." In a brief second that seemed like so long, I searched for those words, and all I could come up with was simply, "Thank you" as Jeff and I both embraced him and shared in a few tears.

Dr. Cline will always be a huge part of our lives as we tell others how God blessed us with a beautiful family by placing us in the care of a doctor who places all of his faith and trust in HIM.

Just a Few Recent Pics . . .

2009-05-04T16:34:00.003-04:00

The girls at Hannah's opening day T-ball game. It was a gorgeous day!

The girls enjoying the beautiful day!

A Saturday picnic lunch in the back of Daddy's truck.

Baby McCrary #3 Update - Long Overdue!

2009-04-14T21:54:00.007-04:00

This picture was taken a couple of weeks ago at 24 weeks. Yes, I was thinking what I
look like I'm thinking, "Get this picture taken and over with!"

I haven't given a baby bump update since we were 12 weeks pregnant back in January, so I thought it was about time that I give one. We are now 26 weeks along and doing great. We do not find out the gender when we are expecting, so you'll have to keep making your guesses. For us, there is nothing like waiting until that surreal moment to also find out what God has blessed us with. However, I am confident that we will be loving all over a new, beautiful, bundle of pink in July. I just have a very strong feeling about this. So, it this baby is a boy, I will be totally shocked and surprised. We are just so thrilled to be adding to our family!

The girls love to kiss and hug on the baby and Elaina's new favorite quote is exclaiming (while looking at my belly), "Wow, Mommy, the baby's really growing! It's really getting big!" Thanks, Elaina. :) Elaina will be a big help just like she was for me when we brought Emily home.
Emily is going to be a super involved "Mommy." She loves to mother other babies and her baby dolls. She is very sweet and loving.

As far as how this third pregnancy is treating me . . . it hasn't really been very different from my previous pregnancies. I am definitely not getting around as gracefully as I did with my first two though. My lower back pain at night has started sooner with this pregnancy, and I definitely started showing a bump much sooner with this one as well. Of course, this is my third, and the doctor warned me that all of this would happen. I really love being pregnant. I consider it a true blessing, and I have always been blessed with pregnancies that haven't given me complications. We are down to 14 weeks and one long, hot summer though! Fourteen weeks doesn't sound like a lot, but when you're that far along, huge, and have two energetic toddlers to keep up with, it seems a long, long, long way away. As far as heart rates have gone, they have been in the same range as my two girls. They have been anywhere from the mid-high 140s and lower 150s.

We are looking very forward to the next 3 months and eventually meeting our new, precious baby!
Baby McCrary #3 at 20 week ultrasound

Easter 2009

2009-04-14T21:18:00.009-04:00

We spend Palm Sunday each year with my family in Elwood so that we are able to spend Easter at home in Franklin at our church. We love being in Elwood on Palm Sunday and getting to share in a wonderful meal and time the family.

We went to see "Journey to the Cross" at our church on Thursday evening. In years past, Daddy had portrayed Jesus for the church's Easter production, but this year, the church was trying a different production, and Daddy felt that it would be a good year to step aside with us being as busy as we have been. It was nice to be able to enjoy the production together this year. Elaina and Emily both watched the entire production very intensely, and Elaina had several questions for us. She learned so much!

We colored our Easter eggs with the girls on Friday and had our Easter egg hunt here at home with them on Saturday afternoon. Sunday was another busy Sunday morning at church, and then we headed over to the Bright farm for the rest of the day.

Terry and Terry Bright are Jill's parents. We have become very close with their family over the last eight years. They are like family to us, and we are so appreciative of them and how much they love our family. We spent Easter Sunday with them again this year enjoying a delicious meal and a super fun Easter egg hunt. Elaina remembered clearly the Easter egg hung she had a "Grandma Terry's" last year, and couldn't wait to do it again. Emily was too little last year to remember it, and it was fun to see how much more into hunting Easter eggs she was this year. We were so blessed to be able to spend the day with all of our very dear friends, and the girls had a great time as they do whenever we go to "Grandma and Grandpa Terry's." They enjoy spending time with all of the cousins (that aren't really their cousins, but have become sweet friends to them). Spring and summer days are the best there because of being able to be outside and enjoy the beautiful land and sun, and Elaina could spend the entire day jumping on the trampoline, swinging, or playing in the sandbox. We love the Bright family so much!

We had a great Easter. I am bummed though that I didn't get a family picture of us all dressed up for church.

Enjoying candy after the big egg hunt.

Sorting through all of the candy. Picture 18 kids doing this at the same time. It is amazingly fun!

Happy and ready to eat candy after the big egg hunt at the Bright farm!

Elaina spotted this one "way up high!"

Emily was a bit slow because each time she found an egg, she had to say, "EGG! EGG!" 50 million times and be sure that we all saw it before she would put it in her bag and keep looking. So cute!

Finding eggs in the sandbox

Emily's first egg

Aunt Jill did a great job of getting all the kids lined up by age order in the basement before the egg hunt.

Sammy and Elaina singing, "Jesus Loves Me" while waiting to be set loose for the hunt! Good thinking, Jill!

Our little egg hunt at home.

So excited!

Emily pointing and saying, "There you are!" to an egg.

Elaina waiting on her dying eggs to tint to just the right shade.

SOoooo fun . . . and messy!

Jeff's mom (MawMaw) made dresses for the girls as an Easter surprise! The girls LOVE to put on fancy dresses!

Spring Break 2009

2009-04-14T20:23:00.010-04:00

Jeff was home for Spring Break at the beginning of the month. Although we didn't go anywhere warm and sunny with beaches, we had a really wonderful week. We didn't really plan very much to do other than relax and just hang out together. We seem to always be so busy, that we were just really looking forward to this week. We had a wonderful week with a few warm days and some fun as well.

Jeff and I started out our week by attending the Chris Tomlin concert that I posted about earlier. We had the night Friday and all day Saturday to ourselves. Sundays are always fun but busy because we are at church all morning. That particular Sunday after church, we came home, put our pj's back on and laid around the rest of the day. It was so relaxing.

Monday was a nice, warm day, so we did yard work all day. Jeff was able to mow the yard and get some other yard work done, and we had a great day playing with the girls.

Tuesday was a rain out, so we headed to our first trip to the movie theater with the girls. Neither of the girls had ever been to a movie. We met some friends to see BOLT, and it only cost our whole family $4! Elaina loved it. Emily did well for having to sit so long. She got fussy at times, but we really couldn't have asked her to be any better. We won't make that trip with her again for a while, but we will probably take Elaina to some free movies here in town this summer.

Wednesday was another nice day out, so we did more yard work and played all day! We also had a picnic supper outside as well.

Thursday was nice enough for us to get our van and truck washed - inside and out. The girls put on their swimsuits and had a ball with the water.

Jeff went in to school and worked all day on Friday to get caught up and get a jump start on the week ahead. In the afternoon, we all headed to a check up for baby and then we had our weekly small group that evening.

Saturday was the highlight of our week - SESAME STREET LIVE! Some good friends of ours, the Seawright family, won four free tickets to the Murat in Indianapolis to see WHEN ELMO GROWS UP, and they gave their tickets to us! Their kiddos are too old for Sesame Street. We had so much fun, and the girls absolutely loved it. It was an experience that we would not have done on our own, and we are so very grateful and appreciative to our wonderful friends. God has truly blessed us!

After seeing Elmo, we headed up to Elwood to spend the rest of the weekend with my family. We always spend Palm Sunday with my family. Elaina and Emily and their cousins sang "Jesus Loves Me" at their Poppy's church on Sunday, which I'm sure was Poppy's highlight of the year.

We had such a nice, relaxing spring break together. It was rough when Daddy went back to work the following Monday. His girls sure do miss him a lot . . . all three of them . . . well, I think four of them!

Cousins Seth and Luke, Elaina, and Emily (with a couple of other kids from the congregation) singing "Jesus Loves Me" at Poppy's church on Palm Sunday.

Mommy and her girls at ELMO

Daddy and his girls

Emily loved waving and saying, "Hi, Melmo!"

Elmo's weather forecast - brought to us by the letters L and H.

The Sesame Street Gang

Elaina was thrilled the entire time!

Elmo and Mr. Noodle

They loved having their very own ticket to see Elmo.

Emily helping wash Daddy's truck.

Elaina went crazy cleaning everything she could find - Emily's bike . . .

. . . her bike . . .

. . . and their wagon . . . just to name a few.

Oh, and I forgot, they thought the driveway was dirty, so they wanted to wash that, too!

Elaina was a big helper washing the van.

A yummy picnic on a beautiful day.

Enjoying the sunshine!

Rolling around in the grass enjoying spring!

Hard at work with Daddy.

The girls LOVE spending time with their Daddy! I am so thankful for that, and am so blessed to have the most wonderful husband and father who wants to spend every minute he can with his family.

HELLO LOVE! CHRIS TOMLIN CONCERT

2009-03-30T21:04:00.004-04:00

As I mentioned in a previous post, thanks to a few monetary birthday gifts for Jeff, we were able to have a date night . . . with Chris Tomlin! Chris Tomlin is a Christian music artist whose most well known songs include "How Great Is Our God," "Indescribable," "Forever," "Famous One," "We Fall Down," "Holy Is the Lord," "Made to Worship," "Amazing Grace (My Chains are Gone)." We have been to a couple of his concerts before, but when we found out he was going to be in Indianapolis, we really wanted to go. Our best friends, Jill and Scott Ruddle are big fans, too. Jill is a super huge fan of Tomlin, and she wanted to go to this concert more than anyone. Since Scott's birthday is in March, too, and also due to Jill's super sweet kids, it turned into a birthday gift for both Jeff and Scott. Some other friends of ours, the Seawright family, wanted to go to the concert as well. They surprised all of us with a dinner out before the concert. It was really fun. We had such a great time! This was Tomlin's HELLO LOVE tour, and he sang a few of my favorite songs off of that record. "Sing, Sing, Sing," "Jesus Messiah," "I Will Rise," and "All the Way My Savior Leads Me." I was a bit disappointed that he didn't sing another favorite of mine, "Exalted (Yahweh)." We got home really late from the concert. Jeff's parents kept the girls overnight for us, and we were able to sleep in on Saturday and spend all day Saturday together as well. We had a wonderful time together. It was much needed. As those of you with little ones know, "responsibility-free'" times are few and far between.

Me (looking like I've been hit by an 18-wheeler) and Jill (of course, looking tan and beautiful) before the concert started.

Jeff (looking hot) and me (again, looking like roadkill) before the concert started. It's okay. I bought him the shirt a few years ago, and I asked him to wear it that night. I like it. Although I don't believe in luck, so it should say "blessed."

First Spring Picnic

2009-03-30T20:00:00.005-04:00

On St. Patrick's Day (March 17th), the weather was beautiful! We headed to the park with our friends for our first spring picnic of the year. Is was a wonderful day!

Elaina's absolute favorite thing to do outside is ride her bike! She rides around the entire neighborhood when we take evening walks. We took her bike to the park this day, and she had a great time riding bikes with Luke and Benjamin.

Elaina trying to keep up with Luke on her tricycle.

Hannah and Emily enjoying the afternoon at the park.

Brookie

Hannah

Madelyn Mae

Elaina

Sisterly Love

2009-03-30T16:42:00.005-04:00

It is moments like these that make me stop from the housework, worries, and stress at times to just sit back and watch our girls love life and love each other so incredibly much. I know that a lot parents' dreams are to have that "All-American" family of one boy and one girl (although we would love to have four children, not two), but Jeff and I were just commenting this weekend on how we can't imagine the girls not having each other. Don't get me wrong, we would love to have a boy along the way if that is what God has in store for us, but to see our girls together right now, we couldn't ask for more of a blessing. Elaina and Emily are 16 months apart. Oh yes, we are already seeing our share of "cat fights," but the concern for each other, love, and friendship that they have already established puts joy in our hearts every day. Here are a few "sisterly" moments that I have randomly caught them in over the last couple of months. These are my favorites.

The girls watching a Strawberry Shortcake movie together. I walked in to check on them, and this is what I found. Love it.

There is a drawer in the kitchen that has my plastic kitchen utensils in it. The girls know that they can play with these things while I'm working in the kitchen because they won't hurt them. One morning after breakfast, I was cleaning up. I knew that they had been in that drawer, but they had left the kitchen and for some reason I heard a faucet running. They are supposed to stay in the kitchen with those things to play. I went to look for them, and they had taken some place mats and utensils and were "making a cake" in the living room. The faucet was running because they needed water to make their cake with. I had to laugh because although I would have preferred for them to stay in the kitchen, water cleans up easily.

Yummy cake.

The girls have a few books that help them learn how to write their letters, numbers, shapes, etc. They are "wipe-off" marker books so that the pages can be used over and over again. They love these books, but we make them stay at the table in their play room to use them. Normally, I stay close by just to be sure that the walls don't get marked on or a book from their bookshelf that shouldn't be written in. Naive me, on this day they were doing really well with not making a mess (Specifically, Emily is the one we have to watch with the markers.), so I thought I might be able to get some housework done in another room while they played. Several minutes went by before Elaina came running out of the play room exclaiming and laughing, "Mommy! I drew picture on Emily! Hurry, come look!" Well, she wasn't kidding. This is what I found.

Edinburgh Sectional Game

2009-03-30T16:32:00.003-04:00

On a Saturday evening in March, we headed down to Daddy's Alma Mater to watch Edinburgh's basketball team in the sectional championship game. Unfortunately, they lost in a very close game. We still had a great time at the game with MawMaw and PawPaw. MawMaw got to show off the cheerleading outfits that she made for the girls. She actually made these outfits a year and a half ago while Daddy was still coaching the Northwood basketball team. The colors worked well for this game, and they were barely able to squeeze into them one last time, so we thought we'd get a few last pictures.

On the way down to the game, Elaina kept telling us that her PawPaw was going to buy her popcorn at the game. Guess what? Yep. PawPaw bought Elaina a bag of popcorn at the game. :)

Emily enjoying the popcorn.

Silly girls. Yes, that would be Emily with her ferocious growling face! It's very scary, isn't it? :)

Beautiful, beautiful girls.

Daddy's Birthday

2009-03-30T16:24:00.005-04:00

Daddy turned 32 the 1st of March! What an old man! ;) He always enjoys his made from scratch German Chocolate Cake. He has enjoyed it more being able to share it with his girls the last few birthdays although they don't look quite as nice since the girls insist on helping. His birthday was on a Sunday which after church services in the morning, is a super relaxing day for us typically. We did just that . . . relaxed in our pajamas after getting home from church. For his birthday, he received money from different parts of the family. He decided to buy tickets to the Chris Tomlin concert with his money. You'll see a post later about that concert! Happy Birthday, Daddy! We love you!

Elaina adding the finishing touches to Daddy's cake.

So proud!

Happy Birthday, Old Man!

Valentine's Day 2009

2009-03-30T15:53:00.004-04:00

Here are just a couple of pictures of the girls preparing their Daddy's Valentine's Day surprise. They (we) decorated the inside of his truck with a lot of candy, paper hearts, and love! We spent the day together as a family and then Jeff and I were able to go out to a nice dinner with friends that weekend while MawMaw and PawPaw watched the girls for us.

"Hi, my name is Emily, and I'm a Daddy's girl!"

Working hard on a couple of the MANY paper hearts that we cut and decorated!

Winter Snow 2009

2009-03-30T15:41:00.008-04:00

Our winter snow experience in January and February was much more fun this year. In past years, Elaina has enjoyed the snow and being out in it, but would get very upset if she feel into the cold snow, especially with her hands. I don't blame her, though. I'm not a snow gal either. I do the video taping and picture taking. However, this year, she had a blast sledding with Daddy and playing out in the snow. Emily also enjoyed it as well, although we know next year she'll enjoy it even more. She loved to look out the window and say, "Snow! Snow! Snow!" We always enjoy a snow day with Daddy home from work, but we don't like that he has to make it up at the end of the year. Luckily, he just had to tack one more day on to the end of his school calendar this year.

Emily getting ready to experience the snow. She had a hard time maneuvering with all of that gear on. It was bright! Had to wear those shades!

Elaina loving the snow!

Daddy shoveling and Elaina pulling the little red wagon that was Daddy's when he was her age.

Elaina wanted to help her daddy.

Our sweet pea.

Sisters

"Now I Want To Be An Ice Skater Just Like Madison, Mommy!"

2009-03-30T15:30:00.005-04:00

Those were Elaina's words after watching our very good friend, Madison, compete in ice skating in January. We are so thankful that our girls have such dear friends and good examples to look up to in life. We are very blessed with friendships and friends who love our family so much. When Jeff and I first formed a great friendship with Madison's parents (Kenny and Shawna), Madison was Elaina's age. It has been really neat to watch her (and her brother) grow up! Thanks for inviting us to share in your fun, Madison!

Madison competing on the ice.

Hannah cheering Madison on!

Emily, Hannah, Madison and Elaina

Elaina's First Gymnastics Class

2009-03-30T15:15:00.006-04:00

Elaina participated in a gymnastics class this winter, and she had a blast! The class lasted for six weeks (January - February), and only had four to six students in it for each class. Since the summer Olympics were on this past year, she has loved "doing gymnastics" in the house. We thought this would be a perfect opportunity for her. The class was offered through the Franklin Parks and Recreation Department, and was only $20 for the six-week class. Not having participated in something like this before, we were a bit unsure as to how she would do, so we didn't mind paying the $20 to find out. She loved every minute of it, and we hope to sign her up for a couple of more classes this summer and fall. We went as a family every session. The class started at 4:45 p.m., so Jeff was able to meet us there after work. Emily did not get to participate, but she watched, and she learned so much just from watching. In fact, Emily tumbles very well. She has perfected her front roll as well, and will do them at random times wherever we are. We had so much fun and enjoyed watching Elaina enjoy herself so much. She listened to and behaved so well for her teacher each class. One of our proud moments!

Elaina excited and ready to leave the house for her first gymnastics class!

Her first attempt on the balance beam.

So excited to walk the beam all by herself!

Front roll

Elaina sitting next to her friend, Brookie, listening to their teacher.

Brookie, Elaina's friend, with a smile across the beam.

Winter Blues

2009-03-30T15:09:00.004-04:00

Yes, so I got behind again! It is now the end of March, and I am posting for January, February and March! I am not one who loves the winter. January, February and March depress me actually. I become terribly lazy. I don't want to go out in the cold, but yet I get tired of being indoors. Basically, I like to snuggle up in my big pink blanket on the couch and be a bum. Then, at the end of March, the sun begins to shine, the temperatures begin to rise, and I feel like coming out of hibernation! So, here I am again . . . catching up on blog entries. With many more exciting things to do outdoors, and Baby #3 growing, you can be sure that there will be many more posts this spring. Enjoy catching up on our family as I begin a slew of entries this week!

What's Your Vote?

2009-01-14T07:28:00.002-05:00

I have added a poll off to the right hand side of our blog site. You can vote as to whether or not you think Baby McCrary #3 will be a girl or a boy. You don't have to hurry and vote now if you don't want to. The poll doesn't close until midnight on July 19th. You have plenty of time to make your decision. As of right now, I think we will be loving all over another beautiful baby girl, but I may change my mind. Typically, I base my decisions off of the bpm of the heart, but we don't know what any of those are yet. We didn't find out at Dr. Cline's office, but when we have our first appointment at the OB's office, we will get a bpm reading.
There is no way for me to tell on the poll who voted what way, so if you don't mind us knowing your vote, you can comment on the actual blog entry itself by clicking on "comment" at the bottom of this entry, or you can send me an email to let me know how you voted to mccraryfamily2002@comcast.net.

Introducing . . . Baby McCrary #3!

2009-01-12T14:21:00.006-05:00

Yeah!! We are expecting again! Our third little one is due to arrive July 2oth, 2009! We are now 13 weeks along, and are doing very well. We are overwhelmed with God's faithfulness, and we feel tremendously loved, thankful, and blessed. Here are ALL of the details for those of you who have been asking for them . . .

For those of you who don't know, it took us approximately 16 months to conceive with Elaina (our first). After over a year of trying and seeing an OB/GYN, trying options there, God led us to Dr. Donald Cline of Reproductive Endocrinology Associates, Inc. on the northside of Indianapolis. After months of frustrations, many of our questions were answered in that first hour and a half consultation with Dr. Cline. Jeff's main question to Dr. Cline on that very first visit was, "How do we know when enough is enough? Are we messing with "God's Will" by trying to intervene in this conception process using alternative methods?" Dr. Cline answered us by saying that we get that assurance and that comfort through prayer. He is not the miracle maker here. He is a servant of God, using the knowledge, abilities, and talents that God has blessed him with, he is able to help couples who desire to have a family, achieve that. In the end, it is God's miracle, and Dr. Cline is just fortunate enough to get to be a part of witnessing that. We felt incredibly comfortable and were completely overtaken and encouraged with Dr. Cline's strong ethical, moral, and Christian beliefs on fertility. As you can imagine in most modern practices, Christianity and fertility don't mix well. Dr. Cline, however, is an amazing, knowledgeable, and unique specialist who doesn't waiver from his strong Christian beliefs and faith in treating his patients and assisting them with their reproductive endeavors. His testimony is powerful. After just one month of treatment with Dr. Cline, we conceived our beautiful first baby girl, Elaina Joy. She just turned 3 last week. Once conception occurs, Dr. Cline monitors his patients with bi-weekly ultrasounds and bloodwork through the first trimester. Once he is certain that the pregnancy is stable, he releases you to finish your pregnancy with an OB. His office is small and the staff is few. Emotionally, everyone becomes attached to each other, and I'll never forget our last visit with Dr. Cline when he released us with Elaina. Tears and hugs. He even gave us a gift. Why? I'm not sure when he had already given us so much more than we could have ever asked him - his God given knowledge to assist us in conceiving.

When Elaina was 7 months old, we were ready to try again. In the back of my mind, I thought it would take us a while to get pregnant again, possibly even having to go back to see Dr. Cline. Jeff, of course, being the more faithful and trusting one of us thought otherwise. Either way, we were ready to start again. That one month was all it took. We were pregnant again! We went directly to our OB and bypassed Dr. Cline's office completely that time. God blessed us with our second beautiful baby girl, Emily Ann, on May 17th, 2007. Elaina was 16 months old when Emily was born. We are so thankful that they have each other. It is such a blessing to know that they have each other.

So, that brings us to this little miracle. We decided this last summer to start trying to conceive again. We decided that we would try and if we weren't pregnant by the first of the year of 2009, that we would probably go in and visit Dr. Cline again for some advice in January or February. I needed to have my wonderful (hint of sarcasm there) annual exam before the end of the year (2008), so I scheduled it for September. A couple of days before, the OB needed to reschedule, so we rescheduled for the end of October. The appt. day came. A friend watched the girls for me. I drove to the appt. I sat and waited and waited and waited, cold and barely covered in the room waiting for the Dr. Then, the nurse came in and said, "The Dr. just called, and she's not coming in today." I was so frustrated! If it had just been a typical day, I would have still been frustrated, but I was looking forward to seeing her because I wanted her advice on what she thought we should do as far as trying to conceive again. After I left the office, I put a phone call into the nurse at Dr. Cline's office and explained to her the situation. She told us that Dr. Cline would be more than willing to take care of my annual for me and we could just get his advice at the same time . . . how perfect! So, we went and met with Dr. Cline on Nov. 4th. He took care of my annual for me. We also talked with him about how we had started trying to conceive again. he advised us to call when I started my next cycle (which was going to be in about a week), he would do a "study cycle" for a month on us and talk to us about the results at the end of that "study cycle." The "study cycle" consists of blood work and ultrasounds throughout the month that will tell him whether or not treatment is necessary or if we should be able to conceive on our own. We agreed to start the study cycle and call when "my cycle" began. Well, my cycle never began! We found out through a home pregnancy test exactly a week later that we were pregnant!

I called Dr. Cline's office a couple of days later just to let them know that we would not be in to start a "study cycle" because I was pregnant! The nurse was excited and offered to do some simple bloodwork for us right away (4 weeks) just to check and make sure my levels were stable. I thought, "Well, why not?" so we did. Praise God that we did! My progesterone level was very low, and I had to begin several progesterone supplements right away. The medicine made me extremely drowsy and sleepy. I had very bad spells of dizziness, but was just thankful that Dr. Cline had the knowledge of what to do to try to help us. Our excitement quickly turned into worry as we knew that this pregnancy was not anywhere near "stable." Progesterone is needed to sustain a pregnancy. Cases of low progesterone result in miscarriage. We were prayerful that the progesterone suppositories would take effect. If you know me, you know I was a mess! Dr. Cline needed to keep us through our first trimester to regulate and check my progesterone levels frequently and monitor the babies progress with ultrasounds. At 10-12 weeks, the placenta should be fully formed and functioning and takes over the role of naturally releasing the progesterone. The goal was to get through the first trimester until the placenta started that on it's own. Thankfully, my progesterone level stabilized and the bi-weekly ultrasounds showed wonderful progress. Dr. Cline had me start weaning off of the progesterone supplements, and we had our final ultrasound and bloodwork check with him on Thursday, January 8th. He released us, and we are now ready to go back to our OB.

Like our last visit when we were with Dr. Cline a few years ago with Elaina, this goodbye was just as emotional and more. Dr. Cline informed us at this last visit, that he is retiring. He just turned 70, and is experiencing knee pain, and wants to leave the field "on top." His news hit our hearts hard. As we congratulated him on his retirement, we also expressed how unfortunate it was. There is no one to take his place. No one who believes in fertility with the strong Christian beliefs that he has. He is struggling with leaving, and his staff is extremely sad as well. Some of his staff has been with him for 30+ years. Words cannot describe the gratitude and appreciation that we have for Dr. Cline and his staff. God truly has a wonderful work going on there. Even though his is retiring this coming spring, you can still learn so much from him just by visiting his website. http://www.reproductivehope.com/ You know that you have a wonderful doctor who genuinely cares for you when they leave you with their home phone number and address and express the desire to continue a relationship with you and your family.

Most of all, we are just so thankful for our relationship with God and that He continues to provide and be so ever faithful to us. As we look back on how God has built our family, it is just amazing, and to see the work that He has already done in this little miracle that He has blessed us with is overwhelming.

* My regular Dr. didn't show up for my annual OB visit = God's Perfect Plan.

* We went ahead and called Dr. Cline earlier than planned so that I could get my annual in
and get his advice = God's Perfect Plan.

* We were already pregnant and had no idea the day that we met with Dr. Cline = God's
Perfect Plan.

* We called to tell Dr. Cline that we wouldn't be in for our "study cycle," but he checked my
levels anyway - something that the OB would not have done at 4 weeks. By the time I
would have seen an OB for a first prenatal visit, we would have possibly already
miscarried or my levels would have been so low that it was just a matter of time
before a miscarriage = God's Perfect Plan.

* The $885 a month progesterone supplements that I had to take were incredibly covered
with our insurance. We only paid $60! = God's Perfect Plan.

* We were able to stay with Dr. Cline through our first trimester until he was confident that
body was producing this hormone naturally = God's Perfect Plan.

I could go on and on and list so many other details that have happened over the last 12 weeks that are just obvious how God was taking care of every little detail of this pregnancy, even as far as babysitters go for the girls, when Jeff happened to already be off of work, etc . . . So many details that we just have to stand back in awe and say, "Thank you, Lord, for being in control!" I am such a control freak, and I worry so much, but it is times like these that I wonder, "Why do I want all of this control?" I don't have any of it - God's in control, so why try to fight Him for it. He always does a much better job than I could ever even imagine doing! We are so thankful!

We are excited, too, that we were able to refer some friends of our to him, and they were able to successfully conceive under his care, and our due dates are the same weekend! Congratulations, Gary and Genesis!

Stephanie, Elaina Joy, and Dr. Cline - Dr. Cline is the only Dr. that Elaina talks about with a joyful tone in her voice. She is very fond of Dr. Cline and has enjoyed seeing him on our visits over the last couple of months. She understood why we were going to see him, and she always had great things to say about him. On our last visit to see him, we were in the hallway as I was getting weighed. Dr. Cline was with another patient, and Elaina was saying (and those of you who know Elaina know she's a loud one naturally), "Dr. Cline?? Where's Dr. Cline?? Dr. Cline!!. Even though he was with another patient and knowing that he would see us shortly anyway, he still had to come out and see Elaina anyway. She brought him her slinky. She said, "I'm going to take this to Dr. Cline. He will fix it for me. Daddy can't." Unfortunately, Dr. Cline had to tell Elaina that it was "terminal" for the slinky, and he wasn't able to fix it. Although she is very fond of Dr. Cline, she wasn't too interested in having her picture taken. :( This picture will always be very special to us.

Baby McCrary #3 at 6 weeks.

Baby McCrary #3 a 8 weeks.

Baby McCrary #3 at 10 weeks.

Baby McCrary #3 at 12 weeks.

Happy 3rd Birthday, Elaina Joy!

2009-01-12T10:40:00.006-05:00

Elaina Joy's 3rd birthday was January 6th! We had a very exciting day planned with her. Jeff had worked on sub plans the afternoon and evening before for a couple of hours to prepare to take the day of her birthday (Tuesday) off of work. Those of you who are teachers now how long leaving detailed sub plans can take. We were so excited for her big day! Tuesday morning, the morning of her birthday, the phone rang at 6 a.m., the interim superintendent called a 2 hour delay due to the weather. Jeff's mind began to race, thinking of how the sub plans that he worked so hard on were now not going to work as planned. We turned on the television and realized that the roads further north were not looking good, so our day changed completely. Jeff ended up going into work and we rescheduled all of our plans for the day. He would have been wondering all day what kind of condition his classroom were in if he had stayed home. We were super bummed, but it was the best thing to do. So, the girls and I spent the day at home. We went out for dinner when Jeff got home from work, and the waiter brought Elaina a birthday sundae. She was so excited.

We rescheduled everything that we planned to do for Thursday, and it worked out great!
Jeff took Thursday off of work, and we left town right after breakfast to head up to a doctor's appointment for Mommy on the northside. After we were done there, we headed back down to Greenwood, and we had lunch and played games at Chuck-E-Cheese. This was our first visit to Chuck-E-Cheese. I must admit that I was a bit apprehensive since we had not been before with the girls, but it really was great. It seemed to be very clean, it wasn't crowded at all since it was a Thursday during the school week, and the girls had so much fun . . . and Daddy, too!

After our lunch at Chuck-E-Cheese, we headed to Build-A-Bear. This was our first visit there as well. Elaina built her first bear, and she had so much fun. It was so sweet. She was the perfect age for her first visit. She had a ball, and at times, we would catch her standing in the middle of the store, loving on her new bear and talking to it. The bear she built shows her personality. We had a song added to the bear that sings a birthday song to her. It is really cute. Emily is having a hard time now that we are at home with the bear. She gets very jealous of it, but Elaina does do a good job of sharing it with her. Emily will just have to wait until her 3rd birthday for her first visit to Build-A-Bear. Oh, the lessons to be learned in life. :)

We had Elaina's birthday party with a few friends a family on Saturday. She has been talking for literally months now about having a "blue Little Bear party." She loves the show, Little Bear, and her favorite color is blue, so she combined the two together for her party. We don't get to see Uncle Paul very often, and he was able to make it down for her party. We were so excited. He spent a lot of time playing with the kids, and Elaina already talks about missing him.

Happy 3rd Birthday, Elaina Joy! We love you so much, and are so thankful that God entrusted you to us.

Picking out a heart for her bear.

Stuffing her bear after kissing the heart and placing it inside of the bear.

Grooming the bear after it had it's first bath.

Elaina in her birthday cupcake shirt, pushing her new bear through the store in a stroller.

Dressing her new bear. Introducing, "Belle - The Birthday Ballerina Bear." (Daddy helped with the extended name.) It was so fun to watch Elaina shop for the outfit that she wanted her bear to have.

Enjoying lunch at Chuck-E-Cheese.

Emily enjoying her lunch!

Hold on!

Elaina and Chuck-E!

Redeeming their tickets.

Cupcakes featuring the "Little Bear Gang." (No Feet, Emily, Duck, Owl, Hen, at, Mama Bear, Papa Bear, and Little Bear.)

The much anticipated blue Little Bear cake. I was up until 12:45 a.m. the morning before her party decorating this cake and her cupcakes. Oh, what a Mommy will do for her precious babies!

The girls with their Uncle Paul. They loved being silly with him!

Lacing cards!

Uncle Paul was the official card reader.

Cinderella!

Some of our wonderful friends and family! Thank you everyone for being such a special part of Elaina's life!

I'm Finally Caught Up!

2009-01-07T20:16:00.004-05:00

Well, I did it . . . finally! I am finally caught up on my blog. After sifting through three months of unblogged (not sure that's a word) pictures on my camera, I have posted several to share with you. I am now ready to get back into the regular blogging routine like I had been before. I'm excited. I have missed it. Check back at the end of the weekend for a blog about Elaina's birthday celebrations this week. Thanks for being patient with my lack of blogging!

December 2008

2009-01-07T19:54:00.006-05:00

The month of December was so much fun! It was filled with several family and friend Christmas gatherings. I didn't get pictures of all of our Christmas gatherings. With so much to load up in the van, the camera took a last spot in my brain at times, and I forgot it for a couple of gatherings. Last year was fun with Elaina, but this year was even better. She started watching Christmas videos in September (which I must admit I am glad are packed away for several months), and she just loved talking about Santa Claus. She likes Santa Claus from far away, but doesn't like to get too close, and definitely wants absolutely nothing to do with his lap. We are completely okay with that. We okay with her not being fond of strangers, so we don't push her to sit on his lap. She kept telling us that she wanted Santa to bring her a "chi-chin" (kitchen) . . . well, and a real live kitty cat, but that wasn't going to happen. Emily was fun as well. She really got into opening the gifts. Also, anytime she saw anything that remotely reminded her of Santa would say in this deep voice, "Ho. Ho. Ho." It is so cute. Never heard anything like it from a little baby girl. We were very blessed to spend so much time with family and friends, and we are so thankful for the birth of Jesus - the true meaning of Christmas. Elaina learned to sing "Away in a Manger," and she loves talking about Baby Jesus, Mary, Joseph, the Shepherds, and the Angel, Gabriel. She seemed to really take hold of the "Christmas Story." Our girls are so precious to us, and we had a wonderful Christmas season.

The girls and Jeff with Great Grandma McCrary

Our friend, Taylor, is in the top row with the green dress on. I LOVE watching her ring the bells. The kids did such a great job at church. I hope Elaina and Emily will want to participate when they are old enough. (Taylor is Hilary and Danny's daughter, sister to Devan and Brooke.)

Garrett (left - Julie and Rob's son and Kaylee's brother) and Lucas (right - Barry and Valarie's son and Zachary's brother) concentrating on ringing their bells at the right time. So cute!

Santa brought the girls a "chi-chin" (kitchen)! Wow. How did he know?? Elaina was in disbelief!

Santa left the girls a letter.

Wow! A camera was in Elaina's stocking!

Emily sitting in the inflatable Strawberry Shortcake that Uncle Todd and Aunt Angel gave the girls for Christmas. They love it!

Reading the Christmas story.

Elaina got the Cinderella DVD from Santa, too!

Emily got a high-chair for her baby dolls! She loves being a Mommy!

Elaina all dressed up in her princess dress.

Waiting patiently to open presents at MeMe and Poppy's house.

Emily loved opening presents.

Sweet Emily in the apron that Auntie Leah made. Elaina has one, too.

November 2008

2009-01-07T13:23:00.002-05:00

November was a very busy month, so I will just get right into the pictures and let them show how busy we were!

All of the girls playing Elefun at Madelyn Mae's 2nd Birthday Tea Party.
Madelyn Mae, her baby sister Kaitlyn, and parents Brad and Amy are good friends of our from church and our small group.

The girls drinking their "tea."

Elaina

Emily

Hannah

Brooke

The birthday girl, Madelyn Mae

The girls playing with Play-Doh.

Elaina and I went on "field trip" to Not Just Popcorn in Edinburgh with our friends who are home schooled. We learned and watched how the popcorn is popped and flavored.

Flavoring the popcorn.

"Fluffing" the popcorn.

Sampling a few flavors of popcorn.

A cob of popcorn to pop in the microwave.

Part of our popcorn cob.

Franklin Community High School presented the musical, "Cinderella," in November. Elaina was just getting "into" Cinderella and princesses, so Jeff and I took her on a Friday night date to see the production.

Hannah and Scott went, too.

Elaina with "Cinderella." She loves her, but doesn't want to get too close.

We visited MeMe and Poppy's church on a Sunday in November to witness Cousin Thad's baby dedication. The church was having a food drive at the time to benefit The Baptist Children's Home in Valparaiso, Indiana. The girls went grocery shopping and dropped off their goods. This is a very special place to us because it is where Uncle Stephen and Uncle Paul were adopted from.

Uncle Stephen, Auntie Leah, and Cousins Luke, Seth, and baby Thad.

Oooooo, we love him!

Having fun with Daddy in the leaves. So cold!

On the hunt for a Christmas tree.

Helping Daddy cut our Christmas tree down.

The boys!

Uncle Stephen and Cousin Luke loading up the Christmas trees.

Emily and Elaina helping MeMe with the Thanksgiving "turkey bird."

Emily helping decorate the Christmas tree. This is her favorite ornament. It is a Snowbaby that Jim and Rosie gave her for her first Christmas. The minute we got it out this year, she clung to it. She absolutely loves it!

October 2008

2009-01-04T21:36:00.012-05:00

Well, this is the month that "did me in". What a busy month it was, but it was a great month! The girls and I got to take one last trip to the park on one of our last warm days. Jeff got his annual pair of rats at school, and the girls LOVED them. The girls were able to pick out their pumpkins and carve them. We had a great Halloween by passing candy out to the boys and girls at Jeff's school, and then on Halloween night, we went trick-or-treating with all of our friends. Yes, there was a "Fall Break" in there sometime at the end, but I spent that whole week in the nursery at church with my best friend. I took over the responsibilities of Nursery Coordinator in July, and Jennifer (the Children's Minister at our church), Jill, and I worked together on a plan to make the nursery have a more "homey" feel to it. Jill and I literally spent an entire week in the nursery. Thanks so much to my mom, Jeff's mom, and Jeff for taking such great care of the girls while I was totally consumed with that. It is beautiful! It was a lot of hard work, but Jill and I had a great time. It was a very busy - the fun busy - kind of month.

Elaina fell several times during our Trick-or-Treat experience (those silly dance shoes). Emily was quick to comfort her each time.

Elaina and Hannah Trick-or-Treating.

The girls Trick-or-Treating at our sweet neighbor's, Ruth, house.

Our gymnasts! Oh, how our girls love to do their gymnastics.

Elaina mid-move.

Emily's first sucker. She LOVED it, but oh what a mess!

Elaina passing out candy at Daddy's school for Family Reading Night the eve of Halloween. She was so good. We didn't let her Trick-or-Treat this night. We told her she was going to share her candy with other boys and girls. She was so happy to do it, too.

Elaina playing a game at Northwood's Family Fun Night.

Emily and Daddy playing a game at his school.

The girls each won a prize for winning the game! They each got to pick a new book to take home!

Our carved pumpkins. Daddy and Emily worked togther, and Elaina and Mommy worked together.

Before the carving.

Elaina was determined to pull the wagon at the pumpkin patch.

Emily pointed to a lot of pumpkins that she wanted.

Elaina checking out the pumpkins trying to pick the perfect one.

One of Daddy's experimental rats at school.

Elaina loves it when Daddy gets his rats each fall.

The kids playing while we were painting the nurseries at church.

Hours of chalking and taping.

The "infant side" stripes.

The "toddler side" before the stripes.

Thank you, MeMe for helping us ou during the week of painting. The girls always love it when MeMe visits. They get to make blueberry muffins with her!

A Saturday at Great Grandma McCrary's

Collecting nuts at Great Grandma's.

Emily and cousin, Haddie, playing with sticks at Great Grandma's. Haddie is one month younger than Emily.

Mommy and the girls spent the last warm day of the fall at the park.

Beautiful girl.

Silly girl.

I'm Working on It . . . I Promise!

2009-01-04T21:27:00.002-05:00

I know . . . I know . . . it's terrible! I was such an active blogger, and I have completely dropped the ball on it for the last three months. I know some of you finally got sick and tired of seeing "Saturday Morning Donuts" as my most recent blog entry that you have probably all together quit checking the blog, but I promise . . . I'm working on it. Tonight, I have downloaded almost three months of pictures from my camera and am working on organizing those. This week will be the week. There will be new blog posts! I have really missed it, and I am so upset with myself that I let myself get so far behind. Things just got completely crazy at the end of October when I spent an entire week, night and day, totally restyling the nurseries at church. I loved doing it, and I can't wait to share pictures with you, but I had a hard time catching up around the house after that. After I was done with that, Thanksgiving snuck up on me and then Christmas, and here it is 2009! I will be flying through some posts this week just so that I can get some pictures posted and a few memories written down for the girls. I'm just so bummed! More than anything, I just feel like I have let them down by not getting all of this recorded. I WILL get caught up though . . . this week . . . I promise!

Saturday Morning Donuts!

2008-10-11T10:10:00.005-04:00

Earlier this week, Jill and I went to Sherwin-Williams to pick out some paint colors for the nursery at church. At the paint store, there was a little nook with some coffee and donuts. The nice associates offered the kids donuts, and of course, they accepted. Jill and I each had one, and we were sold. These donuts were so yummy! They are the best donuts in the area. They remind us of the donuts in Destin, FL, and those are the best donuts on the planet! After Jill and I left Sherwin-Williams and Kohl's, Jill went right over to the new bakery and bought a dozen for her family.

I told Jeff about these donuts, and we planned for a Saturday morning trip to the bakery. So, this morning, we literally got in the van in our pajamas as soon as we woke up and headed over to the bakery. On the way there, we asked Elaina what kind of donut she was going to get, and she proclaimed that she would be getting a BLUE donut. I was hoping that she wouldn't be too disappointed when we got to the bakery because I was not optimistic that there would be blue donuts available. Fortunately, there were PINK donuts! Both the girls were excited about the pink donuts with fall sprinkles. When the employee asked Elaina what she could get for her, Elaina held out her hand that had a quarter in it and told her she wanted a pink donut. So cute!

We picked out our dozen donuts and headed home. On the way home, I thought that I would tease Elaina and tell her that I couldn't wait to get home so that I could eat a pink donut. Elaina said, "No, Mommy. Those are my pink donuts. You eat Daddy's donuts." I replied, "So, you'll eat the pink donuts, and Mommy will eat Daddy's donuts. What will Emily eat?" Elaina quickly responded, "Crumbs." Nice. Real nice.

At the new bakery in our pajamas.

Elaina enjoying her yummy pink donut.

Emily knows what the best part is . . . the icing!

Pacifier Free Emily!

2008-10-07T16:52:00.007-04:00

What a big girl!

I forgot to post this last week, and I just have to share. We had a big accomplishment in our house last week . . . Emily got rid of her pacifier! She has only been using it at naptime and bedtime for several, several months now, but still, she was extremely dependent on it for those times.

We took Elaina's completely away from her at 14 months. I remember being 7 months pregnant with Emily at the time, and when Jeff got home from school that evening, I demanded Donatos pizza, breadsticks, a Coke, and a white cream filled caramel iced donut. I remember vividly it being a day and a half of no fun! That was all it took though, and it was over.

I ended up letting Emily have her pacifier a couple of months longer than Elaina because when Emily turned 14 months old, she was getting four teeth in at once, and we were getting ready to embark upon a 2600 mile roadtrip. Taking the pacifier away at that time just didn't seem to be such a good idea.

So, on Monday evening of last week, I realized that Emily was 16 months old, her chompers were in, and it was time to get rid of that thing. The first night, it took her an hour and a half of crying to fall asleep. Jeff was so wonderful and took care of constantly going in her bedtime and comforting her. The next day for nap, it took 50 minutes. That same day at bedtime it took 30 minutes. Then on Wednesday at naptime, it was over. She was asleep with no crying. Now, she still does wake up once in the night and struggles to get back to sleep, but we know if we stick to it, in time, that will pass too.

The day and a half of crying at bedtime and naptime was again well worth it. Our home is pacifier free again until it's time for another McCrary baby to be added to the household. We're so proud of our little Emily. She's becoming such a big girl!

Franklin Fall Festival 2008

2008-10-07T16:18:00.003-04:00

On Saturday, we went downtown Franklin to the Franklin Fall Festival. There were a lot of fun things going on, and we had a great morning.

Elaina immediately spotted the street that was blocked off to host the dance and gymnastic teams from the area. She was so excited and loved every minute of it. She has become quite the little interpretive dancer/gymnast/ballerina around here lately. She didn't take her eyes off of all the girls performing. We would start to leave, and she would say, "Wait! There's one more t(c)omin'!" She replaces the "c" sound with the "t" sound a lot.

J.P. Parker is a floral company here in town with locally grown flowers, and I LOVE the sunflowers that they get in every year at this time. I never buy any for myself (and neither does my husband! :) ), so I was so excited when I looked down the street and saw that they were giving them away for FREE! It was so beautiful, and I wish that I had taken a picture of it. There were containers all through the middle of the street filled with beautiful sunflowers. It was gorgeous!

Next, we painted pumpkins, and that was free, too! It was so much fun. The girls each picked a pumpkin and painted it. They did such a great job!

We stopped by our church booth, too, and got balloons, cookies, and popcorn. The girls had a ball with their balloons.

We had such a great morning, and the weather was beautiful, too! We love our Saturdays together!

Emily and Elaina watching the gymnasts and dancers.

Elaina painting her pumpkin.

Our pretty sunflowers!

So proud of their painted pumpkins!

Our Week in Pictures

2008-10-03T15:00:00.004-04:00

I just thought I would share some pictures from our week. We are so excited that October has finally arrived and FALL is here. Pumpkins, leaves, cool breezes, apples, warm blankets and pajamas, Daddy having a fall break from school, . . . the list goes on and on with the things we LOVE about fall. We hope you're enjoying your first little bit of fall, too!

On Tuesday, we spent the evening together as a family playing with Play-Doh.

Emily decided that it looked like it might taste yummy. Oops! We caught her just in time!

Elaina working on her Play-Doh necklace.

So proud!

We stayed in all day on Wednesday so that I could clean the house from top to bottom. That night after Jeff got home from a meeting a church, I met Jill at the new Kohl's that just opened in Franklin. Before I left, I gave the girls baths and had them all ready for bed. All they needed was to have their teeth brushed . . . does this sound familiar?

While Mommy was at Kohl's, Daddy became the Super Hero with bedtime Boston Red Sox hat wearing and miniature white powdered doughnuts. Did I mention that I had just spent the day cleaning the house from top to bottom? Yes, that would be our two daughters sitting on the kitchen floor (nice and clean, I might add) eating their powdered doughnuts.

On Thursday, Jill and her kids and Hilary and her daughter came over to play and have lunch. This is a picture of the girls standing at the door awaiting their friends' arrival. At this time I was saying, "Girls, Mommy just cleaned all of the fingerprints and kiss marks off of that glass door."

Elaina replies, "It's alright, Mommy. I'm washing it for you."

Elaina LOVES "Little Bear." Her sweet friend, Hannah, bought her this Little Bear with her very own piggy bank money. How sweet! (Notice her outfit. She likes to pick out her own clothes now, and on many days, she likes to layer!)

Thursday evening after dinner, I met a friend to have bagels and coffee. Jeff was working on putting Emily down to bed. When he was done, he noticed Elaina reading and snapped this picture. Elaina LOVES to read.

A Princess and a Sucker!

2008-09-24T22:50:00.005-04:00

Jeff was outside mowing around 6:30 p.m. this evening when I found out that I needed to have a quick meeting with someone at the church. So, I gave the girls their baths and cleaned up the house and had the girls put their toys away. Jeff was able to get in and get his shower and relax for a few minutes before I needed to leave. At 7:45 p.m., I was ready to head out the door. I kissed the girls goodnight. All Jeff had to do was brush their teeth (which I had even already laid them out and put the toothpaste on them) and give the girls their bedtime Bible lesson. Now, I always brag about how helpful Jeff is. He always helps me out with the girls, so him completing these tasks tonight was nothing new or earth shattering. I just know that he was looking forward to relaxing and so that's why I made sure everything was in place before I left . . . you know . . . to make the bedtime process go more quickly and smoothly for him.

I left the church right at 9:00 p.m. On the drive home, I thought about how I would be going home to the girls sleeping peacefully in their beds. I was looking forward to sitting down with Jeff, snuggling, and catching up on the day. I entered the kitchen through the garage, and I heard nothing but peace and quiet. Now, I LOVE my girls and I LOVE the sounds of my girls, but at 9:00 p.m. as stay-at-home mommy, I was ready to be done for the day. I walked through the kitchen and turned the corner to the living room, and what you see in this picture is literally what I ran into . . .

There she was in all of her glory! Elaina inside the princess castle tent that her Auntie Leah picked out for her! She was laughing and giggling and was so excited that her Daddy got this out for her tonight. Elaina woke up this morning and her allergies were really bothering her. She has had a terrible runny nose and head congestion all day. Apparently, as Jeff was putting her to bed she said, "Daddy, I don't feel good." Jeff replied, "I'm sorry, honey." Elaina said, "It's okay, Daddy, it's my fault." Jeff explained to her that it wasn't her fault that she didn't feel well, but she kept saying, "No, Daddy, it's my fault. It'll be alright, Daddy." She then proceeded to tell him that it would make her feel better if she could get out her tent and sleeping bag. So, there you have it. Whaalaa! Princess castle tent and sleeping bag up in a jiffy!

SUCKER!

Beautiful Evenings

2008-09-24T22:43:00.005-04:00

We have been enjoying the beautiful evenings outside. Although I'm looking forward to the typical fall weather with the cool breezes and foliage, we can't help but be thankful for the time we're able to spend outside together as a family in the evenings! Here are some pictures of just one of our evening outside this week.

Our silly girl!

Elaina proudly riding her tricycle.

Emily wanted to play Peek-A-Boo with Mommy in and out of the front door.

" You can't get me, Mommy!"

"Peek-A-Boo!"

Elaina's tricycle ride ended in an accident! "My leg all better now, Mommy. It alright."

Happy Anniversary, MawMaw and PawPaw!

2008-09-24T22:28:00.007-04:00

Jeff's parents celebrated their 35th wedding anniversary this past Monday. This past weekend, the family all got together to spend the day. We met for lunch and then went back to Steve and Betsy's to play games, catch up, and make homemade ice cream. Congratulations, Steve and Betsy's on your anniversary! Thanks for everything you do for us!

It was also announced on Saturday that Jeff's brother, Todd, and his wife, Angel, are expecting a baby! We are SO excited! This will be our first niece or nephew on the McCrary side. Angel is doing well, and the baby is due at the end of April! Todd and Angel will be wonderful parents, and we are so thankful for them and excited with how God is blessing their life together.

Elaina helping MawMaw make homemade ice cream.

Emily wanted to help, too!

Elaina sitting on the ice cream tank while PawPaw cranks.

Emily's turn.

Elaina wanted to crank the ice cream.

YUMMY!

Elaina sharing homemade ice cream with Emily.

Sweet Sisters

MawMaw teaching Emily the "wheelbarrow."

Aunt Amber teaching Elaina the "wheelbarrow."

Elaina proudly displaying her tightrope skills.

A Visit From the Knight Family!

2008-09-24T22:18:00.005-04:00

We were so blessed to have some friends visit us this past weekend. My dear friend from college, Jessalyn, and her husband and daughter, Chris and Addie Ruth, were our guests Friday evening. Jessalyn and I had a lot of classes together at Franklin College, and we became very close, especially during our senior year. We lived across the hall from each other our last year and enjoyed Phase 10 in the hallway on many nights, and enjoyed counting on each other to head over to the cafeteria to eat. She was a bridesmaid in our wedding, and even helped me pack for our honeymoon. Although we don't get to see each other often, it never seems like we missed a beat! I'm so thankful for Jessalyn and so glad to see how God has been blessing her life with Chris, Addie, her business and now Knight Baby #2! On Friday we enjoyed dinner and watching our girls play. It had been one year since the last time we saw them, so it was great to see them again! Jessalyn, Chris and Addie are expecting a new family member due to arrive Nov. 2nd. They were making one last trip to Indianapolis to visit friends before they were homebound in Evansville again for a while. We are so thankful that they took time out of their busy weekend schedule to see us. We're looking so forward to getting to meet another Knight baby soon!

If you ever want to purchase some adorable boutique kid clothing, visit Jessalyn's website at http://www.junebug-creations.com/

Jessalyn, Addie, Elaina, Stephanie, Emily

Emily

It was so hard to get the three girls to sit still and happy enough for a picture. This is the best we could do! Elaina insisted on wearing her gymnastics outfit!

Elaina wanted to brush Chris' "hair."

Fun with MeMe and Poppy

2008-09-24T22:13:00.003-04:00

My Mom and Dad were down to visit us last week. Mom brought her carpet cleaner, and so now my carpets are nice and clean for the fall! I was also able to get some other projects around the house done while they were here for about a day and a half. The girls loved seeing their MeMe and Poppy! We had a wonderful time. Elaina is totally into puzzles right now, so she was very proud to show her Poppy her puzzle solving skills. Poppy has always loved puzzles, too. We love having my parents visit. We wish they lived closer so that we could see them more often!

Emily and MeMe working on a puzzle.

Poppy and Elaina - So Proud!

Happy Anniversary, "MeMaw Terry" and Terry!

2008-09-16T14:49:00.003-04:00

Our wonderful friends, Terry and Terry Bright, just recently celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary. They have such a Godly example of marriage, and such a beautiful family. It is very obvious in watching this family that they are a family that has such great faith and love in God. On Sunday, their four daughters (Jennifer, Jill, Brandi and Bethany) surprised them with a surprise party. Over the last seven years, Terry and Terry have become very dear friends to us. They have welcomed our family into theirs on many occasions, and are so very generous and loving to us. Terry and Terry are Jill's parents, which of course makes them Benjamin, Luke, and Hannah's grandparents. Since we have spent a lot of time with them and she's Hannah's grandma, Elaina has called Terry, "MeMaw Terry" for quite a while now. We had a really nice time celebrating with them. Congratulations, Terry and Terry!

SingStar Superstars!

2008-09-16T14:32:00.006-04:00

On Saturday evening, we got together with friends to act like goons and play SingStar! We were so excited, and it was so much fun! Danny and Hilary invited us and the Ruddle family over. The kids played, and the adults had a blast singing! It was hysterical! Of course, Jeff's first pick was "Ice, Ice, Baby!" It was great! Jill did an AWESOME job and is now the reigning SingStar Champion! She and Scott also snatched up the SingStar Couples Champion award as well. The girls played great and enjoyed the time that they got to spend with their friends, but they also enjoyed the entertainment that was being provided by the adults. We're looking forward to another round of SingStar soon!

Danny pretends he's not all about this SingStar business, but we could tell that it's his secret past time!

Hilary - Cool Cat!

Brooke, Hannah, and Elaina - SO CUTE!

Emily danced around all night!

Elaina enjoyed singing with us.

Daddy and Elaina pullin' out all the stops on "Ice, Ice, Baby!"

Jill and Scott - SingStar Champions!

Edinburgh Fall Festival

2008-09-16T14:19:00.005-04:00

On Saturday morning, we headed down to Edinburgh for the Fall Festival. There weren't nearly as many craft vendors as there were last year, so we were disappointed with that. The girls had a great time at the parade. Elaina loves parades as long as she can sit in someone's lap or on a chair by herself. She doesn't like to get too close to the road. Eventually, she did make her way down to sit on the curb with Emily. Emily was having candy thrown at her left and right . . . she didn't know what to do with it all! Elaina especially liked her candy bracelet that she got during the parade. The morning wore them out. They fell asleep on the way home and took nice long naps for us. It was a good thing, too, because we had a fun night ahead of us.

Elaina enjoying her candy bracelet.

Punkin

Emily didn't know what to do with herself!

Oh, boy!

What a Saturday!

2008-09-11T14:36:00.008-04:00

Mommy came home from her slumber party right after breakfast so that we could get a start on our fun filled Saturday. Jeff already had fed the girls their breakfast and was getting ready for the day. He did a great job holding down the fort and keeping the troops in line while I was gone for the night.

We started off our day at the Heartnut Heritage Festival at Camp Atterbury. Jeff's parents met us there. We went last year and really enjoyed it, so we thought we would go again. There are a lot of Native American exhibits. There are also vendors, a few rides, animals, a train and other fun things to do. This year's festival didn't seem to be as participated in as last year, but we still had a great time. PawPaw had each of the girls get a pony ride, and they also took a train ride, too. It was a great morning before we headed back home for naps.

After the girls took their naps, we headed out to go to The Apple Works. The Apple Works is an apple orchard. The property is beautiful, and there are many fun things for the kids to do there.
The best part, of course, are the fresh apples! Our refrigerator is now stocked with delicious Honeycrisp apples! YUM!

Emily wasn't too sure at first if she was going to enjoy her pony ride.

By the time she made her third lap on the pony, she was a pro!

Emily waving to her sister while her sister takes her pony ride.

MawMaw helped Elaina with her pony ride.

The train at the Heartnut Heritage Festival

Elaina admiring her ring made out of a nail that she got at the Heartnut Heritage Festival.

They made it to the top of the hay bale stack at The Apple Works!

The slide at The Apple Works

Emily LOVES animals. She gets real close to them, but then when they start to notice her and move towards her, she gets in this stance. This is her, "Don't you dare touch me!" stance.

Elaina LOVES animals as well, but does not like to get close to them at all. In this picture, she is being a brave big sister for Emily by petting the goat so that Emily isn't scared of it. It was really sweet.

On The Apple Works tractor

Emily and Daddy enjoying a homemade apple dumpling.

Elaina enjoying her delicious Honeycrisp apple!

Girls Night Out!

2008-09-11T14:27:00.004-04:00

All of the girls in our family had a Girls Night Out on Friday night. We spent the entire week battling colds that we just couldn't seem to get rid of, and we were very excited to get to go out on Friday night.

Jeff took Elaina and Emily to the Franklin Community High School football game. They were so excited. Not only do they get to go watch football, which they love, they also got to ride in Daddy's truck! They had a great time. Jeff said that they really enjoyed the game. Maybe we'll get to another one this season and Mommy can go next time.

Mommy spent the night with her friends, Jill, Hilary, and Amy. It was Amy's 30th birthday. We went to dinner at Bravo's and then spent the night at Hilary's house. We had a great time, and Hilary was a great hostess. We got to eat Annie Leser cake, and Jill made her delicious blueberry muffins for breakfast. It was great! I just wish I had been feeling better. Amy ended up having bronchitis too. Hilary singing karaoke lifted my spirits incredibly. We're looking so forward to the arrival of Brad and Amy's second child on October 7th!

Stephanie, Jill, Hilary and Amy

Go Grizzlies!

Labor Day Weekend 2008

2008-09-11T14:18:00.003-04:00

We were looking so forward to Labor Day weekend. Then . . . we got sick. The girls came down with croup and a really bad cold. We were in all weekend, but Monday we thought we would venture out for some fresh air. It was so nice to get out and go to the park to play. The girls had a really great time and enjoyed getting out of the house. Although our weekend didn't go as planned, we were still able to spend the entire weekend together as a family, and that's what we like to do most.

Emily, Would You Like to Read a Book? - A Much Needed Reminder

2008-08-29T14:27:00.010-04:00

I personally needed this today. God was reminding me how blessed I am.

I'm fortunate enough that my girls take naps at the same time every afternoon. Their naps usually last anywhere from 2 - 3 hours. If Elaina wakes up first, she's very good about leaving their room quietly rather than calling for me if she notices that Emily's still asleep. This way, Emily continues her nap.

I usually lay them both down at the same time. Sometimes they "talk" and laugh at each other before falling asleep. Today, as I was listening after I laid them down, I knew Emily had fallen asleep immediately because I could hear her sucking away on her pacifier. You know, the sucking pattern that lets you know that they are out like a light. Elaina always takes "all of her books" (not really ALL of them because that would mean a bookcase full, but about five or six of them is "all of them" to her) to her bed with her and "reads" before she falls asleep. About 20 to 30 minutes after they laid down, I was continuing some housework that I wanted to get done while they were asleep. I heard Elaina coughing again. She has a slight case of croup, and she had a really rough night last night sleeping. She's much better today, but when she lays down for a long period of time, she starts to have coughing fits again. Anyway, since she was coughing again, I decided to go in and check on her.

I was startled when I walked in and saw Emily's crib. Basically, I saw a crib full of books, and I couldn't see Emily. I rushed over to the crib, and fortunately her head wasn't buried in books, so she was still breathing and sleeping peacefully. In fact, she hadn't moved an inch since I laid her in the crib. Not sure how having several books tossed over into her crib on top of her wouldn't bother her, but apparently it didn't. She was in the same position I initially laid her down in. I looked over at Elaina, and she was sound asleep as well, with her face planted right into her pillow . . . not really sure how she was able to breathe and have her face in the pillow like this, but she was making it, so I wasn't going to disturb her.

I just had to stand there and laugh for a moment. Apparently, Elaina decided to share her books with Emily today; although Emily had no idea! As I write this post, they are both still asleep, so it will be very interesting to get Elaina's interpretation of the story when she wakes up, and it will also be interesting to see how Emily responds to waking up to a crib full of books! I may have to post again if their responses are interesting!

God is so very good, and today He reminded me of the simple things in life and the happy times that I take for granted sometimes. I am so blessed to have such a wonderful family that I can share these special moments with.

What more could I ever want? Well, at times, I have a long list of answers to that question, but today, I'm reminded . . . I already have it all. Anything else is just another added blessing from God.

Where's Emily? Really . . . she is in there!

Who Needs a Boy? McCrary Family Football Practice

2008-08-29T13:59:00.004-04:00

For some reason each time we have given birth, there have been some responses that go a little like this. "Oh, a girl (or "Oh, another girl"). I bet Jeff was a little disappointed that he didn't get his boy. I bet Jeff really wants a boy." We wouldn't give up either one of our precious girls for a boy, so when we get this statement from people, we always just smile and say, "We love our girls." One, because it's the truth. Two, because this statement made by other people can get a bit irritating after a while, (it's funny that they determine your feelings for you), so we just try not to give too lengthy of a response - along with the question, "Are you guys going to try for a boy?" So, to answer that one up front . . . No. We're not going to try for a BOY. When that time comes, we're going to try to have another BABY (boy or girl) so that we can add another precious little one to our family - not necessarily so that we can "get a boy." Plus, my brother and sister-in-law, Stephen and Leah, seem to do a good job of keeping up with filling the need for boys in our family. They have three wonderfully boyish boys! I always tell people that we fill the girl quota and they fill the boy quota. Of course, we expect these comments just as any other couple who has either all girls or all boys expects the comments that they get. I'm sure I've made those comments to other people myself before I had children of my own. Now I try to make it a point of not making comments like those because I know that I get them myself. If God chooses to trust us with gifts of girls, then we consider ourselves truly blessed. Jeff has always been very thankful for these girls who love to snuggle on him, love on him and think that he's the greatest guy in the world! Now, would we be thrilled if we were to ever "get" that boy? Well, of course! The majority of families out there would probably like to fill their families with boys and girls alike.

But in the meantime, Jeff is preparing his girls for that one sport that typically is for "boys only" . . . FOOTBALL! Elaina's Poppy bought her a football last year during football season, and she also has a football jersey. She loves playing and watching football with her Daddy. This week, Emily had her first football practice with Daddy. Emily has actually started her football practice with Daddy at a younger age than when Elaina did, so we were quite impressed with her natural abilities. Elaina didn't start practicing football until she was about 20 months or so. Emily is 15 months. I thought you might like to see some pictures of these future McCrary GIRL football stars!

Emily holding the football for Elaina to kick.

Elaina's touchdown dance!

Elaina holding the ball for Emily's turn to kick.

Busy, Busy, Busy!

2008-08-26T21:18:00.009-04:00

It's been a week since I have posted anything on our blog. I have been meaning to, but we've just been so busy! It was a great week, but the bad thing is that I forgot my camera when we went to a couple of places!

On Wednesday of last week we went to Rosie and Jim's house to visit. Their grandsons were over, so Elaina and Emily had a lot of fun playing with Noah and Jack. We always love going to visit Rosie and Jim. Rosie and I usually get to sit and catch up, the girls and I get fed extremely well, and the girls have a ball playing with Jim. They absolutely adore him! Sunday was Rosie's birthday, so we got to wish her a happy birthday, too! Unfortunately this was one of the places I forgot to take my camera! Next time we visit, I'll get some pictures and be sure to post them.

Thursday, we noodled! The girls and I headed over to "MeMaw Terry's" house and made homemade noodles to freeze with Terry, Jennifer, Bethany, and Jill. We had a great time and made a HUGE mess! The girls played with their friends. Eventually, Hannah and Elaina decided that they wanted to help, and they had so much fun making an already huge mess even more of a mess! I couldn't believe that I had forgotten my camera again because there were some opportunities for some really cute pictures, especially when Sammy (Bethany's middle son) joined in with the rolling pin! The noodles are delicious! We actually had some tonight, and we have more in the freezer to look forward to this winter.

On Friday night, Jeff and I went to the Whiteland vs. New Palestine football game at the new Lucas Oil Stadium. For those of you who are not from Indiana and are reading this post, this is the new Colt's stadium. Friday night was the first night that a football game was played in the stadium, so it was really exciting. We went with a large group of friends who mostly are alumni of Whiteland, so they were super excited. We went out to dinner before hand. Jeff and I were really missing the girls at dinner because everyone else had brought their kiddos, and we asked Jeff's parents to watch the girls. Once we got to the game, though, we realized that we had made a wise choice to leave them with MawMaw and PawPaw. The game didn't get started until after 9 p.m., and we didn't leave until almost midnight, and the fourth quarter hadn't even began yet! We were able to get great seats on the first and second rows. We had a great time with our friends and getting to see the new stadium. It was especially neat when they opened the retractable roof. It's amazing!

On Sunday, we headed to Kentucky for Jeff's grandmother's 85th birthday. Most of the entire family surprised her at church and then took her out to lunch. We had a great visit with everyone. We don't get to see Jeff's brother and his wife and sister and her husband very often, so it was especially nice to see and visit with them. We hope Great MawMaw Welty had a very special day. She's such a wonderful lady!

Tonight, Jeff took Elaina to the first Northwood skating party of the school year. This is always something that he does with her. Maybe at the end of the year, Emily will be able to start going, too. I know Jeff is really looking forward to being able to take her, too. They had a great time together! Elaina loves the music and getting to see all of the kids, too. She especially likes the arcade games. To top it all off, she got to ride in Daddy's truck, and that is always a special treat for her!

Miss Emily had her 15 month check-up at the pediatrician today. She weighs 22 lbs. 12 ounces and is 32 1/2 inches long. That's 50th percentile for weight and 95th percentile for length. She's doing great. Of course, we'd love it if she would start talking a little more rather than pointing and grunting and whining, but the doctor isn't concerned. She said it's very typical for a second child to talk later than the first. This could be because Elaina is doing all of the talking for her! Emily also isn't a big book lover, so this also could slow her language development down. In fact, it's just been within the last few weeks that she's become interested in books. She can't sit still long enough to have a book read to her. Our girls two girls are complete opposites. Elaina loved books very early on, and still loves to just sit and read. Both of our girls are so beautiful and special, and we love to see traits in them that are similar, but we also love their differences. We just continue to pray that they both grow to love Jesus and live a life for Him.

I will try to do a better job of keeping up with the blog. I don't like to get behind, and I especially don't like forgetting my camera!

Lucas Oil Stadium

OK. So the whole night I was trying to get a really good picture of Jill and Scott for my blog, but she was being a punk the whole time whining about me taking her picture. Since we were sitting so close to the field, and Peyton Manning was standing on the side line of the field in front of us, I was wanting to get his picture. Jill decided she would continue with her shenanigans and get right in front of my camera while I was trying to get Manning's picture. So much for a good picture of Peyton, and so much for a good picture of Jill. This is what I ended up with.

The best picture of Peyton Manning that I could get.

Hilary posing for the camera.

The kids had a great time at the game. I don't think they watched one minute of the actual game. Their focus was getting on the big screen, and our seats were perfect for it! This is a picture of Madison and her little girlfriends on the big screen. Madison is in the middle.

When it came time for Hannah to get on the big screen, she was super excited. But her big brother, Luke, did what big brothers are made for . . . he stole her glory and shining moment. This is a picture of Hannah with Luke jumping right in front of her to get some screen time.

Now, typically, it was the younger kids and the high school students who were doing everything they could to get on the big screen. But there was ONE poor 35 year old soul in attendance who was desperately awaiting her big moment! This is Hilary on the big screen. She is the blonde on the left side of the picture behind the younger kid. Way to go, Hilary!

Elaina and Emily sharing an ice cream cone at Great MawMaw Welty's 85th birthday lunch.

Elaina posing for the camera with her roller skates on.

Oops . . . posed a little too long, and lost her balance.

Elaina on the motorcycle arcade game. She gets her love of motorcycles from her daddy!

It's Football Season!

2008-08-19T13:59:00.006-04:00

Through our seven years of friendship with the Ruddles, we've been able to watch their kids grow up. Benjamin was 2 when we met, Luke was 7 months, and Hannah was just still part of God's wonderful plan. We love these kids so much! As they've gone through several sporting seasons in soccer, baseball and basketball, we've always enjoyed seeing them play. This last Saturday was a new one for them . . . football! We were so excited to see them play, and they did a great job!

Elaina was pumped all morning. She wore her football jersey, got her football ready to go and she was bound and determined that she was going to go play football with "the boys Ben-Ben and Urk" (now becoming "Uke"). Jeff had to get her hopes back down to reality and told her that she couldn't play with them today that she would just have to watch and practice.

Luke, the younger Ruddle boy, plays "QB" and Wide Receiver. Benjamin, the oldest Ruddle boy, plays Quarterback and Wide Receiver as well, but they are on separate teams. Benjamin and Luke both scored touchdowns! It was so fun to watch them play. They are both really great! We look forward to watching more of their football games this fall.

Saturday evening, we were able to watch Brooke while her mommy, daddy, brother and sister went to a tour of Lucas Oil Stadium. Brooke is so sweet, and Elaina had a great time playing with her. By the end of the night, Elaina was exhausted from our long day and getting to play with so many of her friends!

Jeff coaching Hannah, Elaina, and Emily in the techniques of football. Look out, Emily's running it in for a touchdown!

Benjamin and Luke Ruddle ("RUD STUDS!")

Elaina and Brooke having a picnic

Introducing . . . Elaina Joy McCrary . . . the Gold Medalist in All Sporting Events . . . for the 2024 Olympics!

2008-08-15T21:50:00.005-04:00

As I mentioned in my earlier post, we have been thoroughly enjoying the 2008 Summer Olympics. Our television has been on at 8:00 p.m. each night, and we've been staying up ridiculously late watching it all. It has been so much fun because Elaina is so into it. She absolutely loves watching the Olympics, and to hear her even pronounce the word is so much fun in itself. She has been staying up way past her bedtime, too, but it's been worth it because of the laughter and joy she's brought to us through these Games. She does not like it at all when a commercial comes on. She's going to miss the Olympics for sure when they're over, but Jeff recorded some of it on Thursday night, so we can always have her watch that.

She has proven herself to be an all around athlete! She participates in all sports to her maximum ability and with such determination and grace. We just want the world to know that she's the one to watch for the 2024 Olympics. Her strong point is definitely gymnastics, but she is also very strong in diving, track and field, and beach volleyball. Look out, World! Elaina Joy McCrary will be coming home to the USA decorated in Gold in 2024!

(DISCLAIMER: By the way, please know that we are not the type of parents who would really be truly serious about any of the content in the above paragraph. We are not training our 2 1/2 year old for the Olympics in 2024 nor do we seriously think she's a superstar at age 2 1/2. Well, she's a superstar in our eyes though . . . superstar in the drama department!)

One of Elaina's gymnastic moves

Dismount

Elaina - the tack and field Gold Medalist. "I run fast like those boys on the Olympics!"

Elaina serving an ace in beach volleyball

Standing on the podium waving to the crowd after accepting her gold medals

A Long Week Missing Daddy

2008-08-15T21:31:00.007-04:00

This week was the official start of the school year, so Jeff was back to work full swing. He was usually out of the house by 6:30 a.m. and not home until 5:30 p.m. and one night it was almost 8:00 p.m. We were once again reminded that teachers definitely deserve their summer "vacation." Needless to say, we missed him greatly! The first day, the girls were up when Jeff left because he didn't have to be there so early. When he told the girls that he was leaving, Emily went to the other room, grabbed her shoes, and came running back with them to hand to Jeff. They watched him from the door as he left. It was a heart breaker for sure.

With Jeff being so busy with school, it was just me and the girls. Jeff helps out so much when he's home, and I've had him home for two months, so this week was a definite adjustment for me too. I'm exhausted. Usually, I take a nap when the girls nap, but this week I was busy working on my new ministry area at church. I am now the Nursery Coordinator, and I'm really excited about it! Jeff and I prayed about this before I committed to doing it, and we're both certain that this is a where God wants me serving right now. It's taking a lot of time here at the beginning, but in the end it will be well worth it when things are up and running the way I hope that they will. We've also been staying up way too late watching the Olympics. We can't stay away from the TV from 8 p.m. on. The Olympics are so great, and we've really been enjoying them.

One evening, Jeff wasn't home yet, and it was time to get dinner going. I popped in a Veggie Tales DVD for Elaina and hoped that Emily would entertain herself while I fixed dinner in the kitchen. Well, Elaina loves her Veggie Tales DVD, so she was fine. I heard some terrible piano playing as I was working on dinner. Elaina loves to sit on the piano bench and play the piano, and Emily will tap a key here or there as she walks by it. As I was listening to the piano being played, I just assumed that Elaina was taking a break from her DVD to play the piano instead. When I looked over, it was Emily who had climbed up on the piano bench to start playing. She was having so much fun and looked so sweet sitting there playing the piano. It wasn't terrible piano playing at all, it was beautiful piano playing because it was my baby girl having a great time!

It is Friday evening as I write this post, and the Olympics are on the television. Jeff is relaxing on the couch. We are so glad it's Friday!

A Weekend with Papa Calvin

2008-08-11T22:18:00.007-04:00

Papa Calvin came to Indiana to visit with my parents for a week, so we went up this last weekend and spent more time with family. Papa Calvin is a preacher in Eden, NC. My parents were members of his church while they lived there, and my dad made the decision to go into the ministry under the guidance of Papa Calvin. All of my grandparents had passed away by the time I was six years old, so Papa Calvin was, what I call, "my adopted grandpa." I have many special memories with Papa Calvin. One memory I have is that he taught me how to drive when he was out here for a visit. He'll never forget that either. Papa Calvin usually visits once a year, and many times, he's able to make it out to Indiana twice a year. We had a great time visiting with him.

On Saturday, Papa Calvin took us all out to eat. We ate at Hollyhock Hill Restaurant in Indianapolis. It's a family style restaurant and is a great place for you to have an enjoyable meal with a large group. After dinner, we went back to my brother and sister-in-law's house in Carmel to visit. The girls had a great time playing with their cousins. They always have a great time with them. Elaina usually laughs and giggles the entire time they're together.

On Sunday, we went to church at my dad's church and played in the afternoon. I took the girls for a ride on the riding lawnmower, and we played at the playground. We always eat way too much food when we're at MeMe and Poppy's house! It was so yummy.

There is a lot of property where we grew up. The house I grew up in, where my mom and dad still live, and the church are both on the property. My dad has planted a tree for each of the grandkids after they have been born. Emily and Elaina both have a Japanese Crab apple tree. My dad planted them in front of the wooden cross on the front of the church. He hopes when they grow that they will frame the wooden cross. I'm sure that they will be beautiful. Those trees mean a lot to my dad, and it means even more that he was able to plant them on the property.

We wish we could have stayed longer, but we really needed to get home. Jeff went back to a regular full work schedule on Monday, and he has a lot to do. Also, we still haven't been home very long since we returned from vacation, and I have a lot of house things to catch up on. It's time to get back into a routine now that Daddy's back to work. It was a great summer! I'm sad that it's come to an end.

A baseball game with the kids

Crazy Cousins - Seth, Luke, and Elaina

Papa Calvin and his "adopted grandkids" and Jeff to help keep them all in the picture. (Unfortunately, Shelbi wasn't there.)

Baby Thad

Emily playing at MeMe and Poppy's

Elaina singing and dancing on the stage at the playground at MeMe and Poppy's church.

MeMe and Poppy have the BEST playground!

Elaina picking a tomato for Mommy from Poppy's tomato garden.

Poppy, Elaina, and Elaina's tree

Poppy, Emily, and Emily's tree

The girls and their trees in front of Poppy's church.

We Love our Hooded Bath Towels! Thanks, Rachel!

2008-08-06T15:04:00.004-04:00

When Elaina was born, Rachel (one of the girls in our 6th grade youth group at the time) made Elaina a hooded bath towel. It was too big for her to use as a newborn because this towel is made with an oversized large bath towel and oversized washcloth. When Elaina grew out of her newborn hooded towels, we started using the one that Rachel made. Two years later, Elaina is still using it, and she really loves it, too. In fact, if it is in the laundry, she doesn't like to have to use a normal towel. She's a bit particular . . . I wonder where she gets that from?

Emily has grown out of her baby hooded towels too, so I asked Rachel if she could get with her grandmother and I would pay her to make us two more towels. Rachel and her grandmother work on these towels together. When we got back from vacation this weekend, Rachel was at church with the new hooded towels. I was so excited! She made one for Emily as a gift, which was really sweet of her to do. One of the towels she made this time is a bright blue, and Elaina LOVES it! Elaina's favorite color is blue, and Rachel had no idea, so it worked out perfectly! For those of you who have toddlers, these towels are the BEST! They are big enough to wrap your toddler up in and snuggle with them for a few minutes when they get out of the bathtub, and the hood is perfect for keeping their head warm and drying their hair when they get out of the tub, too. I think it's really neat that Rachel and her grandmother do this together.

Thanks, Rachel! We love our towels, and whenever another McCrary baby comes along, we'll have to call on you again!

Missing our Friends!

2008-08-04T17:09:00.004-04:00

It didn't take long after we were home for us to start wanting to head over to see some of our friends. Elaina pleaded all morning on Saturday to go see "my Hannah" and "my Jill." In fact, Elaina fell on Saturday. It was no big deal - she just triped in the living room. You would have thought the world had ended. She was screaming! She wasn't hurt at all. Nothing seemed to help, so finally out of somewhat frustration, I asked her what she needed. She replied, "I NEED MY JILL!!" with big tears streaming down her face.

The Ruddle family got a new puppy, Mac, while we were gone, so Elaina was very excited to go see Mac and give him the ball she picked out for him. Elaina is TERRIFIED of dogs, so we weren't sure how this would go. We're very excited that they got a dog because we are at their house so much, and we're hoping that it will help calm her fears a bit. She loved meeting Mac! We had a great lunch with the Ruddles.

We got to catch up with more of our friends Sunday at church and again Sunday evening out at the Bright farm. It was so wonderful to see everyone. We had a wonderful Sunday, and the girls really enjoyed playing with their friends.

We've made a lot of girl plans this week to hang out with friends, which is very exciting. The girls will be spending time with their MawMaw and PawPaw this week, too. There are so many people that we want to see. I feel like we were gone much longer than two weeks.

Here are some pictures that the Ruddle family took of their new puppy, Mac. He is a Newfoundland and is just stinkin' adorable!

Mac and Hannah

Mr. Mac Ruddle

Miss B - New Hampshire Trip - Day 15

2008-08-04T17:02:00.003-04:00

I had to make this last post about our trip. When I was a little girl, I had a lovey named Miss B. She was a bunny rabbit hand puppet blanket thingy. Anyway, I took her everywhere, so she actually made many New Hampshire trips. One year, when we got to New Hampshire, we couldn't find Miss B. My mom tells me that I cried and cried and cried. Mom was afraid we had left Miss B in Connecticut at my aunt and uncle's house. She was fearful of what our time in New Hampshire would be like with me not having my lovey. Fortunately, my mom found Miss B, and it was a very happy ending.

Well, 28 years later, Miss B is still making the New Hampshire trip. When I was pregnant with Elaina, I washed up Miss B just in case we had a baby girl. Well, we did, but Elaina really never got attached to a lovey. I was a little disappointed, but I knew Elaina would have other special things that she gets to have passed down to her from me. So, I set it aside and saved it for possibly another baby girl. Then, Emily was born! Emily attached to Miss B right away and snuggles with Miss B at every nap and every bedtime. Miss B went on our trip with us, and she made it safely home, too. Emily loves her Miss B!

Emily and Miss B

Miss B - age 28

On the Road Again . . . Tetanus Shot Arby's Playground . . . 2650 Miles . . . We're Home! - New Hampshire Trip - Day 15

2008-08-04T16:29:00.007-04:00

We left Connecticut at 6:30 Friday morning, and pulled into our driveway at 11:30 Friday night. It was such a long day, but the weather was perfect, and we didn't run into any major traffic. It was a great day to travel.

Our total mileage for our trip was 2,650 miles! It was well worth it! We had such an amazing time. It was so special to have my parents with us for this trip, too. I know it mean a lot to them.

I was so glad that I was able to share all of my special places with the girls and Jeff. I know we'll get back up there someday, but it won't be for a long time.

I'm glad that I was able to keep up with my posting so that the girls will have these written memories years from now to look back on. Elaina learned so much on our trip, and I'm sure Emily had great experiences that helped her grow, too.

For lunch, we stopped somewhere in PA at an Arby's. We had to laugh because it was such an old Arby's. It had one of those playgrounds that I like to call "tetanus shot playgrounds." You know, the old metal ones. Well, Elaina decided to discover the metal curly slide. She's fearless. She got to the top, and went down. She did somersaults the whole way down banging her head. She was screaming and crying as she got to the bottom. But, of course, she dried her tears and asked to go down it again! I made Jeff go down it with her the second time. She's so brave. She was not happy that I made Jeff go down it with her. She wanted to do it again all by herself.

Well, we're home, and we're exhausted. We're trying to catch up on two weeks worth of mail and newspapers. It feels good to be home, but it was sad to have our vacation end. Thanks to all who prayed for us along the way. To my family on the East Coast - you are much loved by us out here in Indiana. Thank you for a wonderful two weeks and many special memories. You're the best!

Elaina playing "1, 2, 3, 4, 5" at a Cracker Barrel pit stop. Elaina and her Poppy play this game together. It's really special.

The Tetanus Shot Arby's Playground somewhere in the middle of Pennsylvania

A Tough Goodbye - New Hampshire Trip - Day 15

2008-08-04T16:18:00.004-04:00

We left Uncle Harry and Aunt Audrey's house early Friday morning. As with last week's goodbye from NH, this was just as tough. It's so hard saying goodbye to family, especially when you never know when you might see them again. We enjoyed our stay in Connecticut so much. The girls had a ball with "my ucus" (Cousin Lucus). Jeff had a great time teasing his Aunt Audrey, and I'm sure Aunt Audrey had a great time giving me grief all week and calling me "Saucy" - a nickname she's had for me since I was Elaina's age. Uncle Harry and my Dad had a great time just sitting around, and Mom enjoyed her time with Aunt Audrey, too. It was so great to watch the girls play there like I did when I was a little girl. We miss our family so much, and they were so good to us while we were there. We can't wait until we will get to see them again.

Uncle Harry, Aunt Audrey, and Emily

Uncle Harry, Emily, Aunt Audrey, and Elaina

A Day at the Park in Connecticut - New Hampshire Trip - Day 14

2008-08-04T16:08:00.003-04:00

Thursday of last week was our last full day in Connecticut. We went to a wonderful park in the morning where the kids could play. We were able to feed the trout at a catch and release area. They were huge trout! They were jumping up out of the water. The kids loved it. It was a really pretty area as well.
We also went out to dinner and enjoyed time with our family. We had such a wonderful time here in Connecticut. Here our pictures from our day.

A Day of Play - New Hampshire Trip - Day 13

2008-07-30T21:47:00.005-04:00

Today we did a lot of playing at Aunt Audrey and Uncle Harry's house. This morning we went to prayer meeting at their church. After church, we went to lunch and then came home for naps. The girls took a 3 hour nap! They are so tired from playing so much! Cousin Lucas was here all day to play with us again. He loves to catch bugs, so Elaina got to do that with him today. Emily was our little adventurer today and again decided to do a face plant right into the concrete step. She's our little climber. She has no fear and insists on being independent. She has the bruises and scrapes to show for it today. We enjoyed a yummy dinner with Cousins Robin and Donny (Lucas' parents) tonight as well.

Emily relaxing in a chair that Uncle Harry fixed up for his great nieces to lounge in while they visited.

Elaina in Uncle Harry's chair

The hill was a big hit again today!

Catching bugs with Cousin Lucas and Daddy

Emily had fun playing with Cousin Robin tonight.

More fun on the hill

Emily's scratched and bruised up face that she got from being a big explorer today!

Aunt Audrey's Toilet Paper Head - New Hampshire Trip - Day 12

2008-07-30T14:14:00.002-04:00

My Aunt Audrey has been getting her hair done every Friday morning for as long as I can remember. Jeff always gives her a hard time because she wraps her hair in toilet paper right before she goes to bed each night to keep it from getting messy. Jeff teases her about this constantly and even sent her a quality roll of toilet paper for her birthday one year. None of us have ever seen Aunt Audrey's toilet paper head because she makes sure she does it once everybody has gone to bed.

Last night, I was down in the basement office working on our family blog, and Aunt Audrey knew that I would be down there for a long time. She wasn't worried about me catching her in her toilet paper head dress because by the time I came upstairs she would be fast asleep in bed.

Well, Jeff was bound and determined to snap her picture in her toilet paper head dress. Jeff waited in the dark hallway for what Aunt Audrey says was almost an hour. Finally, Aunt Audrey didn't hear any noise in the house, other than me in the basement, so she figured it was safe to head out of the bathroom and head to bead. She was wrong! Jeff was waiting for her just around the corner and snapped a picture of her! From the basement I heard shrieking screams and loud laughter! It was hysterical!

A Day at the Ocean - New Haven, Connecticut - New Hampshire Trip - Day 12

2008-07-30T13:25:00.009-04:00

On Tuesday, we went to New Haven, Connecticut to the New Haven Bay/Long Island Sound which is part of the Atlantic Ocean. It was absolutely beautiful, and we had a great time! We were going to go to the coast in Portland, Maine last week, but the day we were going to go was the day that they had the bad storms and tornadoes, so we weren't able to go.

The Northern Atlantic Coast is nothing like you see in Florida. I had forgotten the big difference until I was reminded yesterday. The Northern Atlantic Coast is very rocky. The beaches are rocky as well, and the water smells really fishy. The water is extremely cold as well. The coast up here is very beautiful, just very different than the coast in Florida.

We got in the ocean water for a little while, but it was so cold that we didn't get out very far. This area of the beach also had a small water sprinkler park, so we spent quite a bit of time in that. Cousin Lucas came along with us too, and we all had a lot of fun. We had a picnic, fed the seagulls, and we also visited an old lighthouse as well.

Elaina loved seeing "big water" again! I don't know what we're going to do when we get back to Indiana and she asks to see "big water" and "big mountains!"

Our family at the ocean

Emily and MeMe playing in the ocean

Daddy and Elaina in the ocean

Elaina, Daddy, Emily, and Cousin Lucas at the water sprinkler park

Mommy and Emily shivering after playing in the water sprinkler park

Uncle Harry and Poppy sitting in the shade

Elaina throwing shells and rocks back into the ocean

Elaina, Emily, and Cousin Lucas at the lighthouse

Jeff and I love this picture because we finally caught Emily doing her frantic wave on camera!

Sisters

Our family at the beach

New Haven, Connecticut Lighthouse

So thirsty after a hot day in the sun!

Rolling, Rolling, Rolling . . . Right into the Sink for a Bath! - New Hampshire Trip - Day 11

2008-07-30T09:24:00.007-04:00

My Aunt Audrey and Uncle Harry live on a hill and have a hill in their backyard. Obviously, the younger you are, the bigger the hill seems. As kids, my brothers and I would roll and run down this hill every year when we visited.

On Monday, I got to watch our girls roll and run down the same hill. Although, now my Uncle Harry has added a patio, sidewalk, and lights to the backyard, so it's not as safe (not that it was ever safe) as it used to be. Emily and Elaina had a ball!

Our little explorer, Emily, found a nasty slug. Apparently, these types of slugs are everywhere around here. We saw her playing with something at the top of the hill, but we thought it was either grass or rocks. After a while, we decided we better go see what she was so intrigued by. YUCK!! It was one of those nasty slugs. It slimmed her with this thick, sticky, orange goo. We had to scrub and scrub and scrub her little hands to get them clean. It was so hard to get the gooey stuff off!

By the time the girls where done outside for the day, they were a mess! Down to the basement we went for baths. My Aunt Audrey has a huge double laundry sink in her basement that my brothers and I used to take baths in as kids. Now, it was the girls' turn. My Aunt Audrey enjoyed seeing her great nieces doing the same thing that I did as a little girl.

An afternoon of running up and down the hill in Aunt Audrey and Uncle Harry's backyard over and over and over again.

Emily worked hard each time to make it to the top by the shed. She was so tired when they eventually decided to go inside for the night.

"You ready?!"

Emily playing in the rocks

Emily just got slimmed! She was having so much fun until Daddy took her little friend, Mr. Nasty Slug, away.

Emily's friend, Mr. Nasty Slug

Bath time in Aunt Audrey's double laundry sink

Arriving in Connecticut - New Hampshire Trip - Day 10

2008-07-29T22:57:00.002-04:00

We arrived in Seymour, Connecticut on Sunday evening. We are staying here with my Aunt Audrey and Uncle Harry until Friday morning. We have already had so much fun this week, and I have many stories and pictures to share. It is a nut house here! I will post more soon. Right now, it is late, and I'm going to bed.

Lake Winnipesaukee - New Hampshire Trip - Day 10

2008-07-29T22:48:00.006-04:00

Our last stop in New Hampshire was in Meredith at Lake Winnipesaukee. This is a beautiful lake just outside of the White Mountains. The movie, "What About Bob," was filmed on this lake. Emily had already fallen asleep, but Elaina was awake. We got Elaina out of the van just long enough for her to see more "big water." We walked up and down the dock and looked at the boats. My friend who I used to teach with, Trina Lake, and her family have family that live near Lake Winnipesaukee, so it's always fun to talk about it with her.

Elaina and Mommy at Lake Winnipesaukee

Elaina and Daddy at Lake Winnipesaukee

Lake Chocorua - New Hampshire Trip - Day 10

2008-07-29T22:38:00.006-04:00

Jeff wanted to get a different view of the mountain that we climbed earlier in the week, so we stopped at Lake Chocorua on the way out of town. The girls loved throwing rocks in the lake. Elaina was teaching Emily step by step instructions on how to throw rocks in the lake. It was a beautiful Sunday morning.

The summit of Mt. Chocorua on a beautiful Sunday morning.

Elaina throwing rocks in Lake Chocorua.

Elaina teaching Emily how to throw rocks into the lake.

Elaina lining up her rocks to get ready to throw.

Daddy and Elaina

MeMe and Emily

The Kissing Bridge - New Hampshire Trip - Day 10

2008-07-29T22:24:00.005-04:00

There are many beautiful covered bridges in New England. I have a personal favorite that I got to share with my family during our trip. As a kid, my dad always drove us across "The Kissing Bridge." He would honk as we drove across and kiss my mom in the front seat. I always believed that it was truly called "The Kissing Bridge." Now that I'm 28 years old, I find out the truth. Apparently, it's just called "The Kissing Bridge" to the teenagers in Conway. Dad enjoyed this bridge as a teenager himself. ;)

We drove across "The Kissing Bridge" (more commonly known as "The Saco River Bridge") many times during our week in New Hampshire. Elaina got a kick out of it. She loved driving across the bridge, having Daddy honk, and blowing a lot of kisses to everyone in the van. She asked to go across "The Kisses Bridge," as she called it, several times a day.

Sunday we made our last trip over "The Kissing Bridge" and even decided to get out and walk across the bridge for a few pictures.

"The Kissing Bridge"

A view of the Saco River from "The Kissing Bridge"

Kisses on "The Kissing Bridge"

"The Kissing Bridge"