The Rest of Christmas

Christmas really began after the BABY announcement. My mother claims she did not sleep that night because she was too busy thinking about what she has to make and purchase for "HER" baby. I love how she refers to the baby as "hers". She really is going to be the BEST grandmother (or Mama T as she decided her name would be).

We had a pretty low key Christmas. Church at the Baptist church in Spurger & then lunch at MaMaw's. We didn't open gifts until 5pm that night because we had other things going on. My favorite gift from my mother was a Texas A&M sweat suit that I wore almost 32 years ago. She kept it all this time! And now my child will be able to wear it. Talk about tearing up.

From Christmas 2011

I wanted to really get some good Christmas shots in front of the tree but like always I forgot. Instead I got a few of the tree itself.
From Christmas 2011
From Christmas 2011

And some of the ornaments
From Christmas 2011
From Christmas 2011
From Christmas 2011

The rest of the week was farm chores for the boys. Jonathan & Todd were like 2 peas in a pod. They put out hay for the cows, split wood & even fertilized rye grass.
From Christmas 2011
From Christmas 2011

This was the fertilizer that they picked up on Monday.
From Christmas 2011

Todd got to get in the tractor and spread one ton of fertilizer around the rye fields. The tractor did all the spreading & I looked like a fool following it around to get this shot but it was worth it.
From Christmas 2011

Looks kinda like snow huh?
From Christmas 2011

I love this man.
From Christmas 2011

Todd was in heaven. He really got to use his new work boots that he got from Santa. I don't know if you can tell but I'm obsessed with his boots. Looks like a real TX boy!
From Christmas 2011
From Christmas 2011

Anybody need a donkey? My parents are STILL trying to get rid of the donkeys. They can't give them away. Poor guys.
From Christmas 2011
From Christmas 2011

Yall remember Tandice the calf from August??? The baby that was named after Todd & myself? She's getting bigger now.
From Christmas 2011

On Tuesday we took a trip to "town"- a.k.a. Beaumont. We went by Posh Baby to do some shopping but we discovered that it's really hard to buy things for a baby when you don't know if its a boy or a girl. The rest of our time we spent at Cavendar's Western Wear. Both Jonathan & Todd got NEW Cowboy boots AND hats! True Cowboys. They had so much fun.
From Christmas 2011

And to end our Texas Christmas vacation, we built a small fire and stared at all the stars in the sky. The sky & starts were insane that night.
From Christmas 2011

It was chilly outside so we loaded up on the blankets & layers.
From Christmas 2011

Love this picture of Jonathan that my sister-in-law Rachel took. A true Aggie.
From Christmas 2011

Todd discovered that Jonathan has just gotten into cigars. Todd & his brothers love to smoke cigars when they get together so Todd smoked a cigar with his brother-in-law and talked all night long.
From Christmas 2011
From Christmas 2011
From Christmas 2011

It was the most perfect night to end a pretty GREAT trip!

I hope you & your family had a wonderful Christmas! This one was definitely one for the books in our family.

Much Love,
Todd, Candice & Baby Craig

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Another Christmas Surprise

On Christmas Eve, we had another Christmas Surprise. We got to tell my mother & my family that we are EXPANDING BY TWO FEET and EXPECTING a BABY in July 2012!! We had to wait to send out our Christmas cards/announcement until late last week because we had not told my family the news yet. SO here it is....

From Christmas Card

And here's how it went down on Christmas Eve.

Every Christmas Eve, my entire family (all 76 of us) gets together for my MawMaw's birthday. We eat and then play White Elephant gift exchange where you open one gift and people can steal it. This year's theme was 'As Seen on TV'. I wanted to wait and tell my mom about the baby in person and I thought this would be a great way to not only tell her but to also tell my entire family.

We all pulled our numbers and I was number 29. My gift was a picture frame that said "Love At First Sight" and had a picture of our 1st ultrasound. My gift was in the mix of all the other gifts and I was SO nervous that somebody else would pick it up. I was literally giving myself an upset stomach. Finally, my time at come. I went up and got my gift and asked my mom if she had a number. She told me that she didn't pick up a number because she wanted everybody else to get a gift. I insisted that take my gift. And she fussed at me that she didn't want to open a gift. In the mean time, my Uncle Larry had his number skipped and came up and tried to get my gift. I think I told him to "back off" and I almost bit his hand off. I grabbed another gift from him & his "Bump Its" shut him up and got him out of my way.
From Christmas 2011

After Uncle Larry was out of the way, my mom finally conceded to opening my gift since it was obvious I wasn't giving up.
From Christmas 2011

She didn't have her glasses on & claims she couldn't really see the ultrasound. So she flipped the frame over to read "Merry Christmas 2011! Love Todd, Candice & Baby Craig". Thats when her face turned to this...
From Christmas 2011

Then she announced to everybody "CANDICE ANN IS PREGNANT!"

Then I met her on the ground & the crying began.
From Christmas 2011

From Christmas 2011

From Christmas 2011

It felt like we hugged forever. Then she went straight for Todd
From Christmas 2011

Then all of my aunts & MawMaw came to hug me. I love this picture because they're all crowding me and you can see MawMaw squeezing my face like she always does.
From Christmas 2011

And then she came straight for the belly.
From Christmas 2011

She immediately got my stepdad Rodney on the phone to tell him the news. Unfortantely he wasn't home for Christmas this year. He had to work in Russia and missed the big reveal. It was loud in the house but Mom said that Rodney began crying over the phone he was so excited!
From Christmas 2011

It seriously was the BEST way to tell her & all of my family. It killed me not to tell her for the last two months but it was so worth the wait.
From Christmas 2011

From Christmas 2011

I was smart enough to ask my sister-in-law Rachel & brother Jonathan to not only take pictures but to also take video. And now we have the moment captured so that we'll never forget it! You have to check it out - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uZNMWdprAi4&feature=youtu.be


Todd & I are SO excitedfor this next chapter in our lives. This is a HUGE answer to prayer & a desire of both of our hearts. We look forward to all that God has for us in 2012.

I hope you & your family had a wonderful Christmas!
Love,
Todd, Candice & Baby Craig

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Christmas Surprise!!!

Last night I had dinner with my friend Mel. We went to Peak City Grill in downtown Apex and then she came over to the house & we exchanged gifts. I had NO clue what was in store for me. She kept wanting to wait for Todd for some reason. She had a little present for him too so I didn't suspect anything. So Todd comes home and they say they are giving me a "combined" gift. Todd had told me earlier in the week that he had some 'outside consultation' on my Christmas gifts. Apparently Todd reached out to Mel and asked her what I would love and Mel (being one of the smartest people I know) said that I would love a Kelly Moore bag!

This is a Kelly Moore bag-

From Christmas 2011

For your non-photographers you may be wondering what the big deal is- it's a purse. Oh how you are so wrong. It's SO much more than a purse. It's actually a camera bag that looks like a purse. The inside has velcro seperators that a normal camera bag would have and it can hit all of your camera equipment in it. BUT it looks like a purse. There are so many times when I want to bring my nice camera to a restaurant or event and I just don't feel like bringing my big ol camera bag in. This is the perfect solution!

From Christmas 2011

I opened up the package and saw that it had 'Kelly Moore' on the box. I asked Todd where he got a Kelly Moore box from, still no clue what was inside. I open it up and there it is- a B-Hobo bag in blue! I think about died. I honestly didn't even believe it. I mean, who would buy me a Kelly Moore bag? They are so expensive that I wouldn't even buy myself one. I had been talking about this bag with Mel for MONTHS! They went out of stock for awhile so I put my name on a waiting list for 2 months and then when they came available, I decided against it because I really didn't "need" it. Guess someone thought otherwise!! I don't know if you can get how excited I was by reading this so here are a few pics to prove it.
From Christmas 2011
From Christmas 2011

These two- Todd & Mel- really got me this year. Makes me feel horrible for the small gifts I got them. boo! Oh well, guess I'll get them next year. But how sweet (and smart) was it of my husband to seek 'outside consultation' on a gift. And how freakin sweet was it for Mel to remember how badly I wanted a Kelly Moore bag. I don't think it gets much better than this- AWESOME husband and AWESOME friend! To say I am blessed is an understatement. These people & this gift are truly undeserving. Kinda like how we don't deserve Jesus- his birth, his death or his love.
From Christmas 2011

And now, tomorrow we'll be heading to TX to hang out with my AWESOME family. I got a feeling that this is going to be a GREAT Christmas that started last night with a GREAT Christmas Surprise.

Thank you Todd & Mel. Yall freakin rock at gift giving! Can't wait to try this bad boy on!!!

Merry Christmas everyone!
Candice

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Spring Arbor Nursing Home

This past Sunday I took my Sunday school girls to Spring Arbor Nursing home in Apex. This was the 2nd year that I took them there for their Christmas party. Last year's singing was a bust so I needed to come up with a new idea. This year we decorated CHRISTMAS ornaments for the old folks. It was a huge hit!

From Spring Arbor_Christmas

From Spring Arbor_Christmas

From Spring Arbor_Christmas

From Spring Arbor_Christmas

From Spring Arbor_Christmas

The residents got to pick out their own ornament and the girls painted on them & made them pretty. They absolutely LOVED their ornaments & LOVED hanging out with the young girls.
From Spring Arbor_Christmas

From Spring Arbor_Christmas

From Spring Arbor_Christmas

Like always, my sweet husband was on hand to help out.
From Spring Arbor_Christmas

I was so proud of my girls for wanting to go back this year. I gave them a choice- we could do something different or we could go back to the nursing home. They ALL wanted to go back. I'd like to think it's because they're listening to me in church as they learn about loving ALL of God's people how important it is to serve others. If they haven't learned that, then they have sure fooled me!
From Spring Arbor_Christmas

I know this week is a busy one for most folks as you get ready for Christmas. Hope it's as stress free as possible. And I wish you & your family a very Merry Christmas!
Love,
Candice

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