Little Gym Big Show

Here are some photos from Thomas' Big Show at The Little Gym. He has loved going here since he was 9 months old. It was really hard to leave our friends and teachers, but I'm sure he will like his new teachers in Boston.

The Beginning of Our Boston Adventure

Okay, so I know it's a little late in coming. But I really have been meaning to share about our trip in May to find a place to live in Boston. And of course some pictures!

John was scheduled to attend a conference in Boston in early May so the timing was perfect for us to go hunting for a place to live. To be honest, I was a little anxious about this adventure. The last time I was in Boston was in academy and we certainly weren't looking at places to live. John felt confident that we wouldn't have a problem finding a place to live (or at least he looked confident). I just knew I'd feel better after we had signed on the dotted line. So, prior to our flight I lined up a few places for us to look at as soon as we arrived. And wouldn't you know, the very first place we looked at was wonderful. The lawn was lucious looking. I really wanted to take my shoes off and just walk around on it. And there was more space than we ever dreamed of getting in Boston. But, since it was the first house we were seeing and we had scheduled two more to look at, we decided to wait on making a decision. However, after seeing those two houses there was no doubt in our minds that we wanted to rent the first house. Turns out finding a place to live wasn't so hard after all ... or so we thought. We did let the agent know we wanted it and weren't planning on looking at anything else, but it took her around 24 hours to let us know that the owner had decided to rent it to a friend. Honestly, it sounded a bit fishy to us.

I can't tell you how disappointed I was. I really didn't think we would find another place that I liked as much as that one AND I had lost a day of looking in the process. We really hustled Thursday night and were able to line up quite a few places to look at on Friday. I think I actually looked at 8-9 places and none of them struck me as the one. I'm sure a couple of them could have been doable and we were seriously considering one but it had a very ackward layout. So we waited.

With the next day being Sabbath we decided to take the much needed rest and attended the church John had gone to while he was in Boston for a summer in college. And for the evening we went on a dinner cruise in the harbor to celebrate our 10 year anniversary (a little early). By Sunday morning we were ready to look at a couple more places that another agent had lined up for us. But, once again we were disappointed. The ones we were supposed to see were cancelled for various reasons. And when I asked about a specific place that her company had listed she said she didn't really want to show it to us because it wasn't deleaded. What?!? Now, to the REAL issue!

Lead paint...had no idea...flabbergasted really. I'm mean, seriously, I'm at a loss for words. But, evidently, it's a huge deal up here. So, once we figured this out we decided to just look at places that were already deleaded. You would think that would be simple enough except that maybe 5-10% of the places up here fall in that category. And I don't mean 5-10% of the ones that are looking for tenants. I mean TOTAL! So, our choices were pretty slim. Add on top of that all the other constraints ~ budget, distance from the hospital, number of bedrooms, need for space ~ and it felt pretty much impossible find a suitable place.

But, with God nothing is impossible. He is so good. He knew all along exactly where we needed to live. And we finally found a place Monday night that met ALL of our needs. And as an added bonus there is a playground less than a five minute walk and public transportation is less than a five minute walk.

So, here are a few pictures of our new place.




Okay, well, evidently not all the pictures want to be uploaded but it gives you a bit of an idea. There will be more to see later.

It's A GIRL!

Here are some pictures of our last ultrasound showing that we will be blessed with a little girl in August. And we've decided to name our favorite little girl Emily. And what will her middle name be? We still have no idea. This is much harder than it seemed to be with Thomas, but we are also a little bit busier this time around. But no worries, we will have a middle name for her by the time she arrives (and I'm certain it will be before that).



We are pretty lucky to get to see her again this next week for another ultrasound. I'm sure she'll look even cuter this time. If her activity level is any indication I don't think she will have any trouble keeping up with her big brother. Although she seems to be a little off on her days and nights (I'm not looking forward to retraining that!). At first I thought she was going to be calmer, but I'm not so sure now. She has some strong muscles already and has kept me up a few nights excercising them.



As soon as we know what her middle name will be we will let you know! Stay tuned.

My Handsome Little Man

Latonia found a great little place to take some photos and of course I had to use my favorite model. These are just a few of the pictures I took. I still need to edit the rest but haven't had the time. They were taken back in January but hopefully I'll get to finish editing them soon (I can dream can't I?). Sometimes it's really tough to get Thomas to smile and interact with me when I'm trying to take his picture. Luckily there were cars passing behind me and I could encourage him to look for trucks like Pop's.

The Little Einsteins

Anyone who has spent time with Thomas in the last 6+ months knows how much of a fan he is of The Little Einsteins. He watches one of their shows almost everyday (except Sabbath) and his Little Einstein toys have gone to many places with us. So, when I found out they were going to be a part of Disney Live in Memphis, I couldn't resist getting tickets for Tom and me. We went with cousins Sam & Maddie and two of our Little Gym friends. At first, Thomas didn't know what was going on since we'd never before been to a show. But he quickly got into it and enjoyed singing and clapping. He hadn't seen some of the characters from other shows but was excited to also see Mickey Mouse and friends.

Here are a few pictures from the fun day. We had really good seats, too.

Catch Up Time!

I know it's been a while since I've posted anything. It certainly isn't because I haven't wanted to post, just haven't had much time. Life has been very busy with a toddler running around, working and preparing for the big move in 6 weeks. I'm going to try and catch you up on some of things we have done recently. (And by recently I mean in the last several months.) Somehow the time just seems to fly by so quickly.

Hope you enjoy catching up with us!

Coming in August...

So, this is going to be the year of changes for this Craig family. We will moving from Memphis to Boston after being here for 11 years. But just as exciting...we will be welcoming our second child into this world in August. Yes...WE'RE PREGNANT! We can't tell you how good it feels to share this wonderful news with our family and friends. It's still hard to believe that our family will be expanding. Julie is almost 14 weeks along and we have already had several doctors appointments and they have all been very good. We have been blessed to see our little baby twice now on ultrasound. The first time to confirm the pregnancy and hear that little heartbeat (what a wonderful sound!). The second time the doctor was unable to find the heartbeat with the doppler because it was still a little early. He wasn't worried but he wasn't going to send us away without us KNOWING that everything was great with our little one (what an awesome doctor!).

It was great to see our little one moving around. It looks like it may be just as active as it's big brother. It's arms and legs were just moving all over the place. Of course, it is too early for Julie to feel the baby moving yet or for us to know if Thomas will have a baby brother or sister. We are simply happy at this point to see a healthy baby.

The first trimester was rougher this time but thanks to the wonders of medicine and lots of naps I have survived. In all honesty, the nausea was comforting to a point, but after a while it just got old. Everyday I am feeling better and even though my energy levels aren't through the roof they are better than they were.

We've already started preparing Thomas for the addition. He has so many changes coming up but we know he will handle it well. It's been fun to hear him talk about the baby. And it changes daily as to whether he wants a brother or a sister. I think John is trying to predispose him to wanting a brother but we will take what God has decided to give us. I was amazed when he told me that that baby was going to get his crib. I hadn't talked with him about this yet and neither had John. I assumed at the time that Mima must have mentioned it to him because I just couldn't fathom that a 2.5 year old would come to this conclusion on their own. Well, he did! Mima hadn't mentioned it to him so he must have come up with it on his own.

So, there you have it! It is going to be the year of changes and new experiences for us. But we know that Lord will help us through each task (I'm counting on it having to move 7+ months pregnant). We ask that you continue to keep us and our "Little Acorn" in your prayers. We will keep you updated on our progress with Thomas, the baby and the move.

Baking Cookies

Since we were given a day to stay at home thanks to some snow I thought it would be fun to let Thomas help me make some cookies. He really enjoyed stirring the ingredients together. Although, he may have enjoyed pushing the camera remote more and saying "Cheese!" Either way it was a wonderful way to spend the morning and I look forward to having my little helper in the kitchen more often. I guess he is getting to an age where he would enjoy it

January Snow

We woke up this morning to a snow covered lawn and school being closed. YEAH! It's actually the second snow fall, which is amazing that it has snowed twice within a week. The first one I wasn't able to get pictures of but this time we went out first thing this morning. Thomas really enjoyed it. He may have enjoyed splashing in the puddles more, though. But I think he'll enjoy the snow that we'll see in Boston. Enjoy the pictures!

New York City

Well, I'm finally getting a chance to post about our trip to New York City in November. John had to be there for a conference and a few weeks before his trip it dawned on me where he was going and for how long and I REALLY wanted to go with him. So, I was able to arrange for some time off at work and found a reasonably priced plane ticket and it was settled that I was going too. I am so glad I did. NYC is AWESOME! John arrived a day before I did. My flight got in pretty late and I took a shuttle from the airport to the hotel ~ that was an adventure in itself. First of all there were traffic jams at midnight! This city really doesn't sleep. Secondly, the driver pretty much zig zagged in and out of traffic. I really did have to hang onto my seat. When I had arranged for the shuttle it didn't dawn on me that there would be 8 - 10 other people wanting to be taken to their hotels too. Silly me, thought we'd all be going to the same hotel. So what would have been a 15-20 minute ride turned into over an hour. But I did make it safely there. The hotel was only a few blocks down from Time Square and it was still going strong when I arrived. The next morning I was tempted to sleep in after getting in so late, but I didn't want to miss anything. I was there to see the city and that's exactly what I planned to do. I walked a mile or two (not sure how far it was now) to the Rachel Ray show in hopes of getting in on stand-by. No luck unfortunately, but I did get to see a lot of the city in the process. I went back that afternoon to try again, but still not luck. Oh well, maybe on another trip to the Big Apple. On the way there I came across the Grand Central Station and enjoyed checking it out. It actually took me awhile to find Rachal Ray's studio in the morning because of a few wrong turns, but it was just more that I got to see.
When I went back to the hotel the first order of business was to ditch my cool looking boots for my tennis shoes. I've never had a problem with them before but the streets of NYC require shoes that have cushion. I found Rockefeller Center with the ice rink and the Christmas tree which was in the process of being lit.
After John got out of his meetings that evening we decided to go to a restaurant at Grand Central Station and then check out the Empire State Building. I don't think I've mentioned yet how cold it was while we were there. IT WAS FREEZING! At least compared to what we are used to here in Memphis. It was made worse by the wind that just whips throughout the city. Thankfully I was able to convince John to get a hat for his head (I had already purchased one earlier that day) because I knew it would make a huge difference. Well, once we got to the top of the Empire State Building the wind and the cold went up a few notches. Thankfully there was a little room you could warm yourself up in but then you couldn't really see the city. So, we walked around it a couple of times and got our pictures and decided we were good to go. It really is breath taking, though to be able to see so far in every direction.
The next day I was hoping to get up early and go to The Today Show and see if I catch of glimpse of the crew there. I didn't quite make it out as early as I had hoped. The thought of being so cold again detered me a little. I did see Al Roker out on the plaza and had a close up view into the studio but that was about it. So, from there I headed across the street to a book signing that was about to start. It was Richard Belzar who plays Munch on Law & Order SVU. I got to meet him and his dog and get a free book that he signed for me. Later that afternoon I came back to the NBC studio and took a tour of the place. They wouldn't let us take pictures which was a big disappointment for me, but that's the way it goes. It was really cool to see behind the scenes. We were actually able to see the set of Saturday Night Live while they were rehearsing. It's a lot smaller than I thought it would be. On my way back to the hotel I took a little detour to FAO Schwarz to find a teddy bear for Thomas. That is another amazing place. I don't think I'd want to take a child in there for fear that they'd never want to leave. I know I didn't see the whole place but I almost got lost in the part that I did see. Leave it to NYC to have a toy store that is so grand.
That night there was a reception for the conference attendees at the Rainbow Room (sponsored by one of the device companies) at the top of Rockefeller Center. We had to listen to some presentation (don't ask me what they talked about) by the company and then there was a buffet to enjoy. Most of the time when I go to something like this I know a few more people than I did that night. Despite not knowing many people before hand the ones that I met that night were very friendly (even a current new yorker) and were good conversationalists on topics other than surgery. It was a lot of fun and we ended up staying until there was no one else left.
Unfortunately, the next day I had to fly home. It was such a fast trip but full of fun. If you've made it this far you are quite the trooper. I have rambled on long enough, but I certainly want to go back some day.