The Craigs: December 2012

Christmas with the Craigs:2012

Our 1st Christmas together as a family of 3 wasn't quite had I envisioned it to be. My brother in law, Marcus, had the flu the week before Christmas so we waited a day to let his meds kick in & their house to air out. I woke up on Sunday morning with a scratchy throat but didn't think about it. We drove to Atlanta that day & by Sunday night my eyes were watering and I felt horrible. Had fever all night long & didn't sleep at wink. I woke up Monday morning (Christmas Eve) and just knew I had the FLU! After a 3.5 hr wait at the Minute Clinic, it was confirmed. The FLU for Christmas! I bought masks so I wouldn't get anybody else sick and just tried to "isolate" myself. I was mostly worried about my nephew Benton who has had RSV & has been in & out of the hospital but God was faithful and so far NO ONE has gotten the flu from me. Even Sweet P seems to be fine.

Mommy is sick so masks for everyone!

From Christmas 2012

Christmas morning brought lots of joy with Kinley's red kitchen.

From Christmas 2012

Mr. Benton loved his new wheels

From Christmas 2012

Paisley could have cared less about presents but LOVED the wrapping paper

From Christmas 2012

Gotta love Christmas morning pictures when everybody looks like a wreck.

From Christmas 2012

Todd got a TEXAS belt buckle. Every rancher needs a belt buckle & I figured he needed his before we moved.

From Christmas 2012

I got a BIG surprise this year- mentoring session with my favorite photographer & friends (whom I stalk ) Lauren Garrison. I was literally jumping up & down. Todd had asked if he could combine my Christmas & birthday gifts and I informed him that it better be a good one & it was !

From Christmas 2012

Christmas day was spent at Sean & Kristen's for dinner. Kristen served the most amazing food on an absolutely gorgeous table.

From Christmas 2012

Paisley loved her Grandma Beth

From Christmas 2012

There was lots of chaos & lots of fun with 5 kids!

From Christmas 2012

There was even dancing to booty music. My niece Calista loves to dance.

From Christmas 2012

I didn't take my normal amount of pictures since I really wasn't up to par but I did score some pretty cute ones of Paisley.

I love this picture of Paisley & her daddy on Christmas Eve.

From Christmas 2012

Is it just me or does this kid get cuter & cuter????????

From Christmas 2012

I hope you & your family had a very Merry & sick free Christmas!
P.S. Happy New Year!

Angels among us

How can people say there aren't angels among us? I can name 3 angels that have blessed my life in the last month. 3 people who gave us their time, energy & strength to take care of my baby for the last 3 weeks so that she wouldn't have to go to daycare while I worked.

Have I told you that story yet? That Paisley only lasted 4 hours at daycare one Monday before Todd picked her up and then refused to let her go back there? And then I had to scrammble to find people to watch her until Dec 21st? Well God proved Himself faithful once again and 3 special ladies came to our rescue.

Mother Therese flew back to NC after a week after she was here for Thanksgiving. She unfortunately had a rough week. I don't know if Paisley had seperation anxiety or if the antibiotics from the virus she picked up while being at a daycare for 4 hours messed her up or if she just bad a week but Paisley was not her typical happy self that week. She literally went on a 4 day hunger strike and refused to eat during the day while I was at work. She would go 12 hrs each day without eating. It stressed both my mom & I out. I'm so thankful that my mother was there to take care of her during that stressful week instead of Paisley being at a daycare. I can't thank Momma T enough!

From Paisley_Month 5

My friend Kaleena had Paisley the next week. Kaleena is a school teacher & was tracked out in December so she was willing to help us out (can you say Jesus that she would be tracked out when we needed her the most!). Thankfully Paisley had a better week and she ate. Kaleena would literally write up details of their days together. And like true teacher fashion, she would give me assesments on what Paisley was doing, things she liked & how she could improve certain skills. You have NO idea how thankful I was that this teacher was here with my baby. Kaleena even taught me a few things that I didn't know about Paisley and about our dishwasher caddie! :-)

From Paisley_Month 5

My friend Kelly stepped up the next week. She said the Lord had already put it on her heart before I called & asked her to babysit. How cool is that? Well, Kelly is a super hero mommy. She has 2 kids of her own so 3 is a lot of work! They had a birthday party for Jesus! And they had craft day and made this.

From Paisley_Month 5

Thank you just doesn't cut it! I cannot thank these 3 angels enough for taking such good care of my baby.

We love you all!
Todd, Candice & Paisley

5 months

Paisley was 5 months yesterday. After the tradegy in CT this past Friday, I have to admit that I hugged her a little harder & kissed those fat cheeks a 1,000 times more this weekend. I CANNOT even imagine what those parents are going through. I can honestly say I don't know what I'd do if something ever happened to Paisley. All I can do is pray for EVERY single person affected by this senseless act and pray that somehow God brings good from this evil.

Here is my 5 month Sweet P- she is finally starting to smile for the camera

From Paisley_Month 5

And an extra one- I know everybody is busy this week preparing for Christmas. If you're like me, you've waited way too long to get everything done. Here's hoping you get all your to-do's knocked out this week.

From Paisley_Month 5

Hello Santa

Santa came to our neighborhood clubhouse 2 weekends ago. We got Paisley dressed up in her finest elf costume and went down to visit.

From Paisley_Month 5

She wasn't really sure about Santa. Just stared at him with big old eyes. Didn't cry. Didn't smile. Just a blank stare.

From Paisley_Month 5

She looks thrilled doesn't she?

From Paisley_Month 5

I can just hear her saying "I don't know why you guys continue to dress me up & take pictures of me. It's starting to get old!"

From Paisley_Month 5

Poor baby has NO clue but the picture taking has only begun! Haha

Never say never

Have you ever said that you’ll NEVER do something? Well I have. Plenty of times. I’m learning that if you call yourself a Christian then NEVER really shouldn’t be in your vocabulary because God is funny. He’s got a funny sense of humor. He’ll change your heart, change your mindset and even ask you to do things you said you would never do. For example, I’ve said I’ll never be a stay at home mom. I’ve said I’ll never move back to southeast Texas. And I’ve said I’ll never own a dog. Well 2 out of the 3 will be a reality soon and I’m pretty sure that once Paisley starts talking, Todd will teach her to ask for a puppy and all 3 will be a reality!

Yep- that’s right. I’m going to be a stay at home mommy and we’re moving to SOUTHEAST Texas!

Seems like a sudden move right? Well, we’ve been praying for a year that God would allow us to be closer to family. Once Paisley was born we realized how hard it is to be in Raleigh on our own away from both sides of our families. God started moving on my heart about staying at home 4 weeks ago when I visited Paisley’s daycare. It just wasn’t right. I knew it in my spirit but I tried to ignore it. Then that one morning God spoke to me through that devotional and I knew I had my answer. If you didn’t read about that then click here. So once I decided to stay at home then there wasn’t a tie to Raleigh anymore. Todd talked to his boss about moving and work remotely and they are 100% supportive. So it was just a matter of where we would move- closer to my family or closer to his? I’m happy to say that we decided to move to Texas to be closer to my family. I know that this is a sacrifice for Todd but he is also very excited. He gets to be the rancher he’s always dreamed of being and he gets 24 hours access to a farm pond! Paisley gets her mommy at home and I get to live closer to my momma. Everybody wins in this decision!

This decision comes at a price. We love Raleigh. We love our friends here and we love our church! Can't imagine finding a better church anywhere. Pastor Mike's sermon this weekend was again about RISK. I wrote down something he said that I'm going to hold on to "God will never ask you to give up something that He doesn't plan to replace with something better". So I'm going to hold Him to it!

Our plan is to put our house on the market after the Holidays are over. Once it sells, we’ll move to Texas. We plan to move into the garage apartment at my parents in Spurger until we found a house. That way we're not strapped or rushed to make a purchase and we don't have two mortgages.

Ecclesiastes 3:1 says “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven”. We believe that God is moving us to a new season in our lives and that this is His will for our little family. We covet your prayers as we prepare to sell the house & the BIG move ahead!

Love,
Candice

Happy December!

It's December which means CHRISTMAS is right around the corner. I love Christmas. Love the decorations, all the Christmas movies and seeing family!

Nothing says Christmas like a Gingerbread latte from Starbucks & Christmas tree bokeh