The Crawford Family: One very chilly week!!

Most of you know that I am not a huge fan of cold weather! This week has been VERY cold in my books. Kelly thinks it's great compared to the Atlanta summer heat we always experience. However, I think I would almost prefer the heat verses the cold. Saturday we had in our weather forecast, 60% chance of snow showers! I love snow, but I wish it didn't have to come with really cold weather........

After Kaitlynn & I went on a big shopping trip to Target on Thursday, we decided to spend Friday inside relaxing on the couch with Willa Grace. With the weather being in the 40's and cloudy, it was the perfect day to couch it all day! Besides couching it all day, we got a few gifts wrapped and under our Christmas tree. Kaitlynn & I also took Willa on a 15 minute stroll during the warmest part of the day - 2:30pm when it was 47* outside. I threw on Kaitlynn's winter bundle and we headed outside for a stroll. Even though there was a chill in the air, it was nice getting outside for a few minutes.

Kaitlynn & Willa Grace

*Anyone a little bit jealous in this picture??*

Kaitlynn all bundled up after our morning walk!

I am always so excited once Friday rolls around..... the weeks go by so quickly these days, but I am always worn out by Friday from taking care of Kaitlynn and Willa, plus trying to keep up with our house hold chores and running all of our errands. I enjoy the weekend because Kelly is finally home for long periods of time, plus I have help around the house! This weekend past weekend was a blur! Friday night was spent at home with Applebees takeout and ordering an On Demand movie! Saturday went by so quickly..... it was a day of pampering for myself - big thanks to my sweet husband! He took care of Kaitlynn all morning & afternoon while I headed to the Evene Day Spa for a Swedish Massage & European Facial from 9:00am-11:00am, then I went and got my hair done at Intrigue Salon. It was pure bliss. Saturday late afternoon was all about Kelly & Alabama football. ROLL TIDE ROLL - Congratulations to Alabama for their big win. Sunday, we headed back to church for Kaitlynn's 2nd visit! We had planned on getting up and going to Sunday school at 8:15am, but we were exhausted & Kaitlynn slept in :) We ended up having breakfast at home, and then headed to the 11:00am service at JFBC. Kaitlynn did fantastic once again - she was ready to snooze so I rocked her to sleep in my arms and enjoyed the sermon with Kelly. Sunday afternoon was spent relaxing at home, before we headed back to the church at 5:00pm. This weekend, the church was hosting a program called Christmas Packages! There were about 40 different events going on from 5:00pm-8:00pm Saturday & Sunday night. It was a neat event! They had live reindeer, a live nativity with a choir - also had live lamas, lambs, sheeps, etc. around the nativity. They were on a leash nailed to the ground so the kids could walk around them, but the animals couldn't get away. There were horse-drawn carriages, piano playing inside, Christmas dodgeball, amazing gingerbread houses to vote on, hot chocolate & cookies, a professional photographer, etc. So much stuff going on - it was amazing! Kelly and I took Kaitlynn around to see everything, especially all the animals. Then we headed inside to go & meet our nursery workers! They were so nice and we have changed our minds about when we're going to put Kaitlynn in the nursery. Our plan is to start Sunday, January 3rd with her in the nursery. It is the most sterile place in the church, the ladies are wonderful, and we feel so confident leaving Kaitlynn there while we worship with our sunday school class & in the Sanctuary from 8:15am - 10:45am. It will be nice to have a "date" once a week with my husband at church! After meeting the nursery workers, we headed down to have our picture taken for Christmas by the professional photographer. Kaitlynn was in her Christmas dress for the event :) Because it was her first Christmas photo, we're getting two free 5X7's and we're able to order more if we choose. Fantastic! I love free things! Once we got home, it was pretty chilly outside, so we turned on the fireplace for the 1st time this year. Kaitlynn wasn't too impressed by it - however it was time for her to go to bed for the night!

Waiting for my room at Evene Day Spa

I love our fireplace in the winter!!

This was a rather relaxing week spent mostly at home with Kaitlynn & Willa Grace. I was able to be quite productive on Monday between Kaitlynn's wake time & nap time. I got some of our laundry done, did the vacuuming, cleaned both bathrooms, and cooked dinner! It was pretty cold outside, so Kelly stopped the grocery store after work so I didn't have to get Kaitlynn out of the house! Not only did he stop by the grocery store, but he walked through the door with a beautiful Christmas floral arrangement!! Such a sweet husband. I have also been able to run during the late morning hours instead of at lunch or after Kelly gets home from work. Around 9:30/10:00am, Kaitlynn has her independent play time for about 30 minutes. I use this time to run on our treadmill. It has been wonderful because it has freed up our time at night to spend together as a family. Kelly has started running at lunch and taking a sandwich/soup or leftovers back with him to eat at work. It's worked out to be a great routine for us. Monday evening rolled around & we received our Christmas cards. I spent the evening addressing all of them so I could mail them out Tuesday morning! "It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!" We also picked out Kaitlynn's Christmas present. We are getting her one thing - she doesn't know what's going on - so one thing is plenty! Kelly and I got Kaitlynn the Little People Nativity Set. We are so excited about giving her a nativity set that we can use to teach her about the birth of Christ - and of course it's something she'll enjoy playing with!!

"Daddy's Favorite Present" - I love the two of them SO much.....

They are precious together.....

Kaitlynn's Christmas present

"Little People Nativity Set"

Christmas flowers from Kelly!!

Absolutely beautiful and such a wonderful surprise!!

Tuesday was a big day!! We didn't do anything special, but Kaitlynn rolled onto her right side for the first time. I put her into her play place, and as soon as I laid her in it she rolled to her side, laid there for a bit, then rolled onto her back!! Let's just say I was pretty excited. I called Kelly right away to tell him all about it!! Kelly and I had planned to spend some time together and have a date on Tuesday evening at home once Kaitlynn was in bed. However, she had a different plan for us that evening. She decided to stay up with us until 9:30pm! So, nonetheless, our date was postponed and we spent some extra time with our daughter before she went to sleep.

Kaitlynn rolled onto her right side all by herself!!

Wednesday was a great day. Kaitlynn woke up about 5:30am. Usually we try to feed her and put her back to sleep if she wakes up before 6:00am, but she was definitely wide-eyed and ready to play for a little while. I kept her up until 7:00am which was when she went down for her morning nap. This week her morning naps have lasted 2.5 hours! She has combined her two morning naps into one long nap - wonder how long this will last?? Things always seem to change up a bit once we get used to something! After her morning nap, we headed to Anna's house for our MOMS playgroup! The past two weeks we haven't been able to get together because of Thanksgiving and everyone having some illness. It was great seeing everyone again! By the time we left our playgroup, Kaitlynn had been awake for 2-hours..... A.K.A. - a pretty worn out baby! Once we got home, I got her fed and ready for a nap - however, we were closing in on the 3-hour mark of being awake, which meant it took a little extra effort getting her down for her nap! However, she did great and slept for 1.5 hours! We always try and get Kaitlynn down after 1.5-2 hours of wake time, but sometimes things just happen and her wake time gets extended - not very often, but every once and awhile!

Kelly and I were finally able to have our date at home! Kaitlynn went to bed around 7:00pm Wednesday evening - this is her "normal" bedtime.... if there is such a thing as "normal" with a baby! :) It was wonderful spending some time with Kelly..... while I was putting Kaitlynn down - Kelly was in the kitchen cooking us Shrimp Fried Rice!! We also had a glass of wine and spent the evening talking. It's always so nice and relaxing to just sit on the couch and spend quality time with my husband. I couldn't ask for anything else.....

Willa didn't want me to leave again, can you tell???

"All mommy wants for Christmas is a silent night"

....GAH.... our daughter is SO cute - and we're not bias ;-)

Kelly was supposed to travel this week for the 1st time in 4 months! Luckily he has another week at home before he has to travel. As much as I'm used to taking care of Kaitlynn all day by myself, having Kelly out of town is definitely one thing I don't look forward to at all. Kaitlynn is pretty easy these days, but I sure do miss his companionship at night when he's not here! I have to say though... I have been pretty lucky to have him at home these past 4 months without having to do any traveling! I'm just so blessed to be able to stay at home with Kaitlynn..... Kelly works so hard, everyday, to allow that to happen! Thanks babe!

I am pretty excited about January rolling around! I signed Kaitlynn and I up for Kindermusik Village at KangaZoom. It's an 8-week class on Wednesday mornings at 10:30am. Our music class is the same time as our MOMS playgroup, but we're changing days starting in January!! I am so happy we don't have to miss out on our playgroup.

Kaitlynn is growing so fast these days. Each day that passes, we wish we could freeze time! Kelly and I are so excited about each new phase that she goes through, but at the same time it makes us sad to think she's getting older by the minute. Time really does go by so quickly. We are doing all we can to truly enjoy each moment we have together and with our daughter. Kaitlynn is still trying to put everything in her mouth these days - no teething yet, just curiosity! She is also doing a great job continuing to develop those fine motor skills. During her play time, she loves to grab on to her toys and play with them. She loves to hold things and not let go! She is really talking up a storm these days. She has spent some time talking to my mom, Kelly's mom, and my grandfather on the telephone. It's very cute to listen to her once she gets started - it can last for a few minutes, or about 20 minutes! Our goal is to talk to her as much as possible during the day - our pediatrician told us the more we talk to her, the faster she'll start really talking to us!! How exciting! I know Kelly and I are bias, but we really do have a beautiful daughter. Each day we're completely amazed at what God did between us as a married couple. He sure did give us a beautiful, precious baby girl to love everyday! We are so thankful to have her in our lives, and I am lucky to be at home with her all day, everyday!! It has always been my dream to be a house-wife and a stay-at-home mom and both are reality for me. It's the best job I could ever have and definitely the most rewarding one as well.