Am I Crazy??

Potty training...something we parents look forward to (no more diapers), yet dread from the moment we find out we're expecting! That day has arrived at our house. Hence, the sink is full of dirty dishes, and the floors full of yesterdays toys, and laundry piled up ready to be washed (right now he is taking a brief nap, instead of cleaning - I chose to blog!). Today, tomorrow, the next day, and the next day etc., mine and Jarins day consists if us sitting together and watching "Elmo Potty Time," and then he runs to the toilet, where we sit for a very long time with the water running, and reading books, and drinking juice. After at least an hour with no success, we finally pull up the big boy underwear, and then IT happens - somewhere other than on the toilet (within 5 minutes of leaving the toilet), then the whole process begins again. This is the earliest I have attempted this with any of my kids (out of laziness on my part), but I really wanted this to be done before the new baby comes. Which brings up another point...suppose this actually works right now - there is a possibility of him regressing once the baby is born. So what am I doing this NOW for, and not waiting until things are settled down at our house? I HAVE NO IDEA!! That's where I ask the question, "Am I crazy??"

AAAWWW-SOME

This has been very typical of Jarin since Ira and I got home from our trip. He has clung to us like we are leaving again. It makes it very difficult to get very far, but we "patiently" let him deal with these insecurities however he needs to. It has been getting a lot better the last few days.

Who knew we would traumatize the poor kid in such a way! He must be sensing the changes that our family will be going through in the near future, and feeling like he is going to be replaced. Speaking of which, he doesn't seem to get it that we will be having a new baby join the family. How do I explain it to a 2 1/2 year old so he's not in total shock when July comes around?? Any ideas?

Our kids with their Easter baskets. It doesn't matter how old they get, Easter is a fun - new beginning (from the dreaded winter) for kids of all ages. Jarin was great fun this year. He kept thinking that Santa Claus brought him a basket with candy. Every new adventure for him (getting his basket, and looking for eggs, finding candy in some plastic eggs etc.), he would say...AAAWWWSOME, and laugh in this made up kind of grunt he's been doing. It's so much fun to watch them experience life with so much enthusiasm - we can all learn a little optimism from our children (at least I know I can!). Hopefully I can learn it from them before they pick up on my adult pessimism!

Monkey say...Monkey do!

These two are quite the characters when they get together. This is Jarin and his friend Jaxson. They love to play together...but not TOO often. They are like brothers, they are best friends and can be worst enemies (if they spend too much time together). Yet when they are apart, they always talk about each other. They either guide each other to making good choices, or guide each other to making bad choices - but either way, they are in it together!
Where would we all be without great friends?

ALOHA!!!

outside our 1st condo

We just got back from the trip of my dreams. I have always wanted to go to Hawaii, and we finally did it! We decided with a baby on the way, it better be now or not for several years. We thought that we were being so smart to book it at just the right time during my pregnancy so that the morning sickness would be gone, and the uncomfortableness (is that a word), wouldn't have set in yet. As luck would have it, two weeks before our departure, I got the full fledge influenza. Believe it or not, I was actually a little relieved, because I knew it was going around, and we still had 2 weeks before our trip - plenty of time to get it over with, and run through the whole family, and all be better before we left - right? WRONG! I was partly right, it did go through my entire family during that time, and they were mostly all better before we left, but guess who was still flat in bed the night before our early a.m. departure? That would be ME! I laid in bed while my sweet husband packed my bags, and wonderful friends and family helped with dinners and getting my house put back together before we left. All I can say is that I had the opportunity to re-learn several lessons that I have been taught many times - and that is...
1. I will never doubt the power of priesthood blessings.
2. Prayers are always answered (maybe not exactly when I wanted it, but when I needed it).
3. It's good to be humbled once in a while. (not always easy to accept help - but humbling!)
4. I am so lucky to have such a patient and caring husband who would have carried me (and baby) on his shoulders if that's what I needed! Lucky for him ...I could walk!

Anyways, I was able to get out of bed the morning of our departure. It took a couple days of keeping things low-key, and that humid warm weather, and then I was feeling great.

With that being said, the rest of our trip was fantastic! My parents came with us, and we visited the island of Maui first where we had a condo right on the beach. As my dad constantly said, "It doesn't get any better than this!" After a couple days there, we went to the island of Oahu. Our "beach house" condo wasn't all that we expected, but it was alright. I'll just say that the Hawaiian phrase "hang loose" was very evident in the second place we stayed. On Oahu we went to the Pearl Harbor visitor center, and to the Temple and the Polynesian Culture Center, along with playing at the beach, and of course - eating fresh pineapple everyday - YUM!
We were gone for 8 wonderful days, (a couple more days wouldn't have hurt!). We did miss our children, and Jarin seems to be holding a grudge - but I'm sure he'll get over it eventually (hopefully before our baby is born - or he may never recover)!
Now that our trip is done, and I have memories that will last a lifetime - I will try really hard to be patient for the next couple years until our new baby will be old enough to leave home, and I can go on another extended date with my sweetheart, (not that I'm wishing my children to grow up too fast, but moments like these are priceless too)!

dad, mom, nicky & ira at the beach & the temple

I've been tagged...what luck!!!????

I have been tagged, and as I've seen other people who have been tagged...I kept hoping that somehow I could avoid the whole mess. As luck would have it...or should I say...since my obnoxious sister :) tagged me, then I will play along!

I am supposed to write 6 interesting things about myself. Hmmmm....I guess this is where I should end my tagging blog! OK, OK...I will try to come up with something!

1. When I was in High School (16 yrs old), I was an exchange student to Germany. An exchange student came to live at our home for a time, then we switched placed, and I went to live with her. While I was there, I got to go across the Berlin Wall and spend some time in East Germany just 6 months before the wall came down. My friend and I tried to bring a Book of Mormon in, but they confiscated it before we went across - hey, maybe the soldiers who took it read it! Just a side note - the entire time I was there (5 weeks), my exchange students parents were on vacation - so it was just us two girls - much to my moms horror when she found out!

2. We have two 4-wheelers at our house. We often get the question from husbands "how did you talk your wife into letting you get those?" If truth be told, it was me who did the talking! Many times I have loaded up the machines and the trailer (without Ira), and taken the kids to the mountains. LOVE IT!

3. There was a time in our marriage that we didn't know if we would ever have the priviledge of being parents - now look at us...baby #4 is 1/2 way here! So never say never!

4. I used to be fairly fluent in American Sign Language. Time does change things, and now I just like to think that I know ASL. Someday I would like to pick that up again!

5. Ira lived in an igloo in Alaska for quite a while. OK..OK. I know this isn't about me, but Ira and I are one, right? Besides, this is a family blog! His grandparents built an igloo lodge in Alaska (no, it wasn't made out of snow and ice).

6. Brayden, Emilie and Jarin have been to Disneyland/world many times (OK, Jarin only twice - 1x when I was pregnant with him, and the other when he was a few months old - so I don't know that either one counts for him). GrEaTeSt place on earth!!! Jarin tells people that he is Donald Duck, he talks about Disneyland almost everyday. We have successfully brainwashed the youngest Crawford to love Disneyland also.

WHATS THAT?

So I've had some comments about baby's "boy parts" being obvious. I don't think that what your seeing are his "parts", just something else (maybe umbilical chord?), that just happens to be in a great spot to blackmail the poor kid in the future! We have a different picture of that part of him, and it's a little more in porportion to the rest of him! (Just thought I could clear that up for any of you confused souls. lol

boy or girl???

IT'S A...

BOY!!

Ira and I both had suspicious that this baby was going to be a girl, but were we ever wrong! The technician asked if we wanted to know the gender. Having had 2 previous boys, it wasn't hard to recognize that this baby was also a boy, even before she had a chance to tell us! We were both a bit surprised, but certainly not disappointed. The only disappointment is that we had a couple of girls names we liked, but not a single boys name. So...if anyone has any ideas for us, PLEASE DO SHARE!

Our baby was being shy, and hiding his face for the camera, so unfortunantly we have no profile picture, but some really cute legs. (He has his daddy's legs! j/k)

I Love You Grandma

Emilie with Grandma on Mothers Day

My sweet Grandma Wright passed away on Saturday. She had been in so much pain for so long, that we had prayed that this day would come for her sake, so she could leave her pain-filled body, and go to a much happier place. However, when it finally happened, all I could think is that I wished I could tell her one more time how much I love her. So I suppose in a way, this is my one more time. On Saturday, a couple hours before her passing, I got to sit with her for a while and hold her hand, and tell her how much I loved her. I am so grateful for that last precious few minutes. I could write a novel about the great person she was, and the wonderful influence she has been on me, but I will just leave this with how much I love my Grandma, and how I am so grateful for the knowledge I have that I will see her again after this life, and I can again hold her hand and tell her that I love her.