McCraw Family

spring break wrap up

2009-03-29T21:29:00.000-07:00

I am sooooo sad that my spring break is over but I guess I shouldn't complain after two weeks off. (yes, I know that my job spoils me!) Here is a brief recap: My whole family plus my best friend came out the first weekend for Addie's babtism. We decided to have her babtized over in Tempe and my friend's dad's church. I grew up Episcopalian and the church's beliefs are still the closest to my own. It was a very cool church and I actually enjoyed it much more than I believed I would. The priest was very liberal and the whole feel of the church was great. My family and my best friend were here for the extended weekend. We went to a spring training game on Monday and then they departed Tuesday morning.

We followed a couple of hours later as we headed up to Tacoma to visit with Vic's family. Neither his mom nor dad had met Addie yet so it was deff. their turn. They both adored her! I feel awful but somehow we didn't get any pics of them with her, just some with her cousins! It was a great trip but I was super glad I had another week off to relax when I got home. I had a girls shopping adventure as my 2 neighbors and I all headed for Scottsdale with our girls. We got a cute pic of them all in the car together. The three amigas. very cute. I headed over to Tempe on Saturday to meet up with a good friend who lives on the other side of the planet (Gilbert). Her kids and Addie had fun together as we walked around.

I'm back to work tomorrow- 10 more weeks then summer break. I'll miss Addie but it will be good to get back to my job and my friends. Hopefully I will get to kep my job, I will know in about a month if I survive the budget cuts! keep your fingers crossed!!!

Addie with Dante at Tempe Art Festival

Addie with Gabriella @ Tempe Art Fest

The Three Amigas

Addie with PopPop at Mariners game

Addie with her cousin Isaiah in WA

Addie with her Godparents

Us at the church with the Priest

quick update

2009-02-15T20:43:00.000-08:00

Here is a quick update with some pics of Addie and recent goings-on (not much). I have been working tons and super busy while there. It has been nice to have my hubby around much more since football season is over so we have been laying low on the weekends. Here are the pics and the video was of today. She cracks me up.

please note the tuft of hair that decided to stick straight up after her morning nap

i think the flash makes her squint which looks like a smile.

Addie with her new teething biscuits- those things make a mess but she loves to eat them!

long time, no post???

2009-01-18T07:14:00.000-08:00

I am sure that my faithful followers must think that I must be filled with lots of happiness and hope over obama to not post anything since november :). Now that the inauguration is here, i suppose it is time to post. The truth is that a good friend got me to join facebook and I am completely addicted. Who needs blogger when you've got facebook... who needs food for that matter when you've got facebook. I don't have a problem. :-)

So here is a quick update. Addie is going to be 9mo. on the 22nd and she is doing great. She hasn't committed to the full crawl but she does an awesome impression of an army crawl. She gets around amazingly fast with it... especially when she's not in a dress that slows her down. She has been cutting teeth like crazy, this week alone she has cut 4! now she has 3 on top and 4 on the bottom.

I am back to work after a fabulous 2 week break for xmas. Things are good on that front. I am so happy to be a person who truly loves their job. Hate if you must but I am a brat like that. Decided over break that it was time to chop my hair off. I have been talking about doing this for a few months and considering the last time that I had a shorter do was in the 90's, I thought it might be time.

Here are some recent pics of Addie and the fam...

My new cut for '09 and no it is not a mommy cut

Addie in the best investment ever... Grandpa got it for her for xmas

yes, she does have neck. we'll have to work on that

she really liked her clock radio cd player. :)

Collin reading "The Night Before Christmas" to Addie

My mom, Addie and Me at Desert Botanical Gardens for the Dale Chihuly Exhibit

Mom and Dad at DBG

Happiness and Hope

2008-11-05T18:45:00.000-08:00

After sitting and reflecting upon the results of the election last night, I feel overwhelmed with hope for our nation. To my close friends, it is no surprise how strong my support for Barack Obama and his beliefs have been. There were times during the campaign that I became nervous and I thought at this point I would feel a sense of relief when Obama won the race but instead it is more of a sense of hope. I was touched at how sincerely he wants to reach across party lines to create the change our nation needs. Here are my favorite parts of his speech from last night:

"This victory alone is not the change we seek. It is only the chance for us to make that change. And that cannot happen if we go back to the way things were.
It can't happen without you, without a new spirit of service, a new spirit of sacrifice.
So let us summon a new spirit of patriotism, of responsibility, where each of us resolves to pitch in and work harder and look after not only ourselves but each other."

"Those are values that we all share. And while the Democratic Party has won a great victory tonight, we do so with a measure of humility and determination to heal the divides that have held back our progress.
As Lincoln said to a nation far more divided than ours, we are not enemies but friends. Though passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds of affection."

"And to all those who have wondered if America's beacon still burns as bright: Tonight we proved once more that the true strength of our nation comes not from the might of our arms or the scale of our wealth, but from the enduring power of our ideals: democracy, liberty, opportunity and unyielding hope.
That's the true genius of America: that America can change. Our union can be perfected. What we've already achieved gives us hope for what we can and must achieve tomorrow."

GO OBAMA!!!

Halloween's cutest peacock!

2008-11-01T09:44:00.000-07:00

Well cutest is for sure but some of these other pics show a range of emotions. For example... world's sleepiest peacock with daddy.

or my favorite, world's most frightened peacock!

Anyway, I think she had fun in her costume. I thought that she would throw a fit in it but she actually seemed to be quite comfy and didn't even mind the hood of it! I love halloween. Nana already bought Addie two more costumes for next year so she can choose which one she wants. So next year be looking for cutest panda or bumblebee! Hope everyone had a happy halloween.

Daytrip to Flagstaff

2008-10-25T17:41:00.000-07:00

I decided to take Addie up to Flagstaff to visit with some of my dear friends on the last day of my fall break. I haven't made it up there in about a year and a half and it was long overdue! It was the perfect time to make the trip. All of the leaves were peaking up on the san francisco's. It was so pretty to actually get to see a bit of fall. I miss it down here, but then again when it is freezing in the middle of the winter I will be grateful to be here in perfect weather. It did make me miss Flag quite a bit though.

Addie's first attempt at solids

2008-10-25T17:28:00.000-07:00

After Addie's 6mo. check up, we decided it was time to give the ol' solids a go! She was hysterical! Had no idea what to do with the spoon nor it's contents. Here are some pics of that morning.

Our trip to the beach!

2008-10-15T10:19:00.000-07:00

We just got back last night and I have been trying to come up with a way to move to the beach. I seriously can't imagine a better place to live. We have also found out that Addie is a champion traveler! No fusses on either flight- she even napped.
We first went up to Hunstville for a couple of days to see my brothers and sister-in-law. My mom snatched up the opportunity to have people over to show off her new grandchild. She got Addie all gussied up and provided iced tea and homemade caramel cake to all who came to see her. God, I love the south!
After that we headed to the beach for a week for sheer relaxation. We spent most of our days at the beach with Nana and Papa relaxing in the shade and reading. I forgot how much I missed reading. It was also great because Addie stayed on her AZ schedule which meant to bed around 9:30, which meant I went to bed at 9:30 and got to sleep until about 7:30 every morning. I suddenly have energy again!!!

Here are some of the best pics from the trip...

Nana and Addie reading the newspaper on the beach

Papa giving Addie some shade with his hat.

Ahhhh.... the beach!

Addie sleeping on the flight

Addie with Nana at the "Meet my dahlin' granddaughter" party
Auntie Avery with Addie
A cold rainy day at the beach
Mommy and Addie (pardon the boobs- still nursing!)
Papa sticking Addie's little feet in the water!

quick update

2008-09-20T20:13:00.000-07:00

So I returned my camera that broke last weekend and finally ordered the new one tonight so new pictures should be coming soon. Vic finally got the scanner to work so I can show you some of the pics that we had done when she was 10 weeks. I can't believe so much time has passed! She will be 5 months on Monday!

She has been more consistently sleeping through the night which has been great. She seems so much happier too which in turn makes me happy. Plus she is becoming a nap champion going about 2 hours for each of them.

Addie and I are heading to Alabama in two weeks to visit my family. I am super excited because we are spending most of the time at the beach. I desperately need a beach vacation. I am getting so stir crazy. I haven't been out of phoenix since last december. I think this is by far the longest I have ever stayed put. I am just a traveler by nature.

Sleeping through the night

2008-09-04T20:48:00.000-07:00

Last night seemed to be a miracle beyond miracles... she didn't peep even once! I had her sleeping through the night before I went back to work but the change in schedule and situation mixed her up pretty badly. Vic even asked me if she had gotten up last night but she hadn't!

I love being back to work but I also miss my daughter tremendously every day. I think it is kind of nice though because I get to really enjoy the couple of hours that we have together in the morning and in the afternoon before bedtime even more. Of course, my house is suffering as a result but I decided that I don't really care. Just get the necessities taken care of and I am fine. This way I really look forward to my weekends with her and enjoy it even more.

So my new camera got knocked off my kitchen counter and now will no longer turn on!!! I think I have bad camera karma. My last one died when I forgot about a banana in my purse when travelling back from Peru until I was going through customs. Sounds like the beginnings of a bad joke. I had smooshed it with my feet the whole 10 hour flight so it was more like banana puree by the time I went to throw it away. Anywho, luckily the camera is from costco whose return policy is from the gods. I am going to try to make it down there this weekend to return it.

No big plans for this weekend but I am definitely ready for the longest 4 day week ever to be over!

addie giggles

2008-08-23T21:32:00.000-07:00

I had Addie cracking up earlier today when I was tickling her. It was too funny! I ran for my new camera (thanks for the b-day gift dad!) hoping she would continue and she did! As you can tell this cracked me up... hope you enjoy it too.

Also, as a quick update on our little peanut, yesterday was Addie's 4 month b-day and same day as her dr. appt. I thought she was small but we definitely had it confirmed yesterday. She is 8% for weight and 70% for height! long and lean. The dr. said it was fine and he was happy with her growth so no worries.

My 30th birthday party!

2008-08-11T20:50:00.000-07:00

I finally turned 30 this past Friday. It is kind of surreal but I think it agrees with me. I laughed at myself that morning as I noticed a few more wrinkles and a couple more grey hairs. The good thing is that I will always be younger than my cute hubby! My mom came out for the week to help take care of Addie while Vic is in Flagstaff for a training. These are some of my favorite from the party.

so long since a post...

2008-08-11T20:43:00.000-07:00

I know it has been forever since I have posted and there has been tons of stuff happening. First of all, I started back to work a couple of weeks ago. I was dreading leaving Addie but I think it is really working out quite well. I love the woman who is watching her which makes it easier.

Lately she has just been so much fun. She is smiling all the time and just in the past week she started laughing! It is so much fun to try to get that little laugh out of her.

A couple of weeks ago Milena came to visit and see Addie. It was great having her here and Addie cries all the time because she misses her :-). So here are some pics from that visit and some other recent adorable ones that I can't pass up.

2008-06-30T11:46:00.000-07:00

I swear my daughter gets cuter everyday! I am one of those mothers, I know. My sis-in-law and the kids left today and so we were taking some pics and got some great ones of her. She is definitely smiling in the two we took this morning. Tomorrow we are going to a photographer to get some professional pics taken. I am super excited. I will post the link to her pics as soon as she posts them.

An Addie smile caught on camera

2008-06-19T22:06:00.000-07:00

I think I finally caught Addie smiling for the camera!!! You tell me what you think. She smiles bigger but as soon as I put the camera in front of her face she becomes so intrigued by it that she stops smiling.

Week 1 of Braggs visit

2008-06-19T21:48:00.000-07:00

My sister-in-law, Tina came to visit with her three kids this week. Anna is the oldest at 11, then Amelia at 9 and lastly Isaiah is 9 months. Here are some of the pics that I have taken so far. Here is Anna pushing Isaiah around in a box from costco. It is amazing how expensive the really entertaining baby toys are!
Amelia holding Addie
the girls posing for a photo with Addie on the floor

starting a schedule with Addie

2008-06-13T18:20:00.000-07:00

So I decided that one of the reasons that my little daughter might be so cranky is because I have her on no real schedule. My neighbor recommended this book "Babywise" that discusses the importance of creating a schedule of feeding, playing, sleeping to help the baby learn to sleep through the night. I would love to sleep through the night! I read the whole book and while I disagree with parts of it, it does seem to make sense and she has been doing pretty well with it (this is day 3, if you had even asked me yesterday i would have said it was crap!). The good news is that she has stopped fussing so much. Anyway, enough about that. Here is a super cute pic of her that I took today. I think she is looking more and more like Vic.

Uncle John and Aunt Leslie's visit

2008-06-05T18:22:00.000-07:00

John and Leslie left yesterday morning and I think Addie "broke them in" with life with a baby. I just kind of threw them into it when I passed her off the first morning they were here. By the end, Leslie even changed a diaper!!! I know they were surprised by how much a baby can fuss, especially since Addie has been going through a growth spurt this past week. It was great to have them here and sad they are gone!

New Blog page

2008-05-27T16:46:00.001-07:00

I figured this is probably the easiest way to share pics and news about our family with you. With Addie arriving 5 weeks ago today, she grows and changes so much but it is strange considering we do the same thing almost everyday!

Today was great! She was super-alert after her morning feeding and she tried her hardest to smile at me. It ended up being more of a cute nose wrinkling but made me happy nonetheless.

I am sure there will be many more pics after this weekend. Her Uncle John is coming to visit and bringing her auntie Leslie. We will see how they fare with a baby!