keeping my word..

Ok so here's a little post to back up my previous post :) Let me start back in January when we welcomed our baby boy into the world...that's something worth blogging about for sure! He was born a week past my due date (Jan. 23) on a snowy, icy blue moon, January 31, 2010 (seriously, we had a crazy snowstorm! We drove to the hospital at 4am on ice-covered roads!) After a long labor through the night and half of the next day, he finally came at 2:28 pm on Sunday afternoon. What a joyful day that was!

first bath :)

all bundled up.

oh what a kissable little face.

daddy and baby resting..I think Steve was more tired than I was after the labor ;)

going home outfit

daddy trying not to slip on the icy driveway. bringing baby home!

meeting his older (by 5 weeks) cousin Howard

meeting his 3 year old cousin Duncan

1 week old. precious!

We adore our sweet, firstborn Kaden Isaiah. These last (almost) 6 months have been so enjoyable! He has been such an easy, happy baby! I know I am a blessed momma to have such a content baby boy. We'll take a few more just like him ;) Is that too much to ask??

Having Kaden five weeks after his cousin Howie was born and 3 days after his cousin Kieran was born has been really sweet. I'm so glad he has cousins close in age. I'm sure they'll be close friends. The first few months after he was born were slow paced, happy times. It was still cold and gloomy outside, so I never really felt like I was missing out on things and stuck at home. Then by the time the weather was nice, we were well adjusted, recovered and ready to enjoy it! So far I love being a momma!! More to come later :)

..startin' fresh

Wow. Six months without posting might lead one to believe that I have given up blogging for good. In fact, I have actually thought that I should sit down and blog on multiple occasions, but was then discouraged by my long absence and overwhelmed by all that I would need to catch people up on in our life. But I've decided that I shouldn't let that stop me from resuming this blog. I recently scrolled through all of my previous posts and enjoyed being reminded of different things that have taken place in our three years of marriage, the season of being married and finishing school, working full time, holidays, vacations and lots of random memories along the way. And now that Kaden is a part of our family, and Lord willing more children in the future, I think this is a great way to record not only photos (since you can do that with facebook and other media outlets) but also write down things you don't want to let slip from memory, thoughts that accompany the daily happenings of our life as a little family. How precious it is to be able to go back and have these things brought vividly back to life through images and words and in a sequential manner. So here I go again. I might not be able to fill you in on every little detail of what's past, but that doesn't matter. Here's to startin' fresh!

Hello there.

Just thought I'd do a quick catch up post this morning on this poor, boring ol' blog. I hope everyone had a great end of '09. Our holidays were very laid back and enjoyable. Steve's parents came for a week at Thanksgiving, so it was great to hang out with them and catch up. They'll be coming back in early February to meet their new grandsons! We're looking forward to that. I finished working after Thanksgiving, so I was able to enjoy the month of December getting ready for Christmas and baby's arrival. It's also been nice to get myself into a routine here at home. I love it!

I'm so thankful that I will be able to stay home with our little guy and be fully devoted to raising him (and future children) and being a wife and homemaker! Steve's hard work to provide for us is an incredible blessing to me and I don't take it for granted that the Lord is allowing me to do this. I'm excited about this new season of being a momma. I've just been praying for a contented heart that fully embraces this calling on my life...He wants me to take joy in all that comes with caring for my new baby...the many feedings throughout the day and night, changing diapers, caring for and nurturing him instead of getting a shower and out of my pj's :) I know it will require dying to myself throughout the day, every day, but I'm excited to see how the Lord will stretch me and change me in this new season! I can't wait to meet this little guy!

So anyway, Christmas was spent with my family and we had a great time!

We did presents and ate lots of great food of course. Steve had a few days off, so I loved having extra time with him as well. It was our last Christmas without kiddos so we kinda splurged and went crazy with our gifts hehe :)

On December 22 we welcomed Howard Robert Crabb into the world! My sister-in-law Jess gave birth to their first son, and my fourth nephew!! He is such a cutie and it's been so fun watching him change so much even in the past few weeks. He was born 2 1/2 weeks early, and is doing great! Jess and Brian are awesome parents to this little guy. They live directly across the street from us so it's going to be SO fun watching these boy cousins grow up together.

In other news, Steve's in the process of renovating a foreclosure that we bought in December. He's "flipping" it, and hopes to have it back on the market in February. We're really excited about this opportunity since it's what most of what I made while I was working is going towards. Steve would love to (and hopes to) start doing more of these, but for now we're just starting out and it's been exciting to see the house looking a ton better already! We're praying for the Lord's favor on the whole project and especially when it comes time to sell it!

And now for the countdown! It's 12 days til my due date, so I guess this little dude could decide to come any time now! We are so excited!!!!! Can't wait to hold him and kiss him. I can't believe he's really going to be here so soon. My sister Rebekah is due on the 21st so we're anxiously awaiting the arrival of her little one too...who will be first?!?! I hope she is for her sake ;) I know she's very ready!! It's so fun that these little cousins will be so close together!

::week in Hilton Head Island::

Steve and I were able to take our vacation time and spent last week in Hilton Head! It was such a relaxing week. We've both been saying how good we feel after having a week away. So refreshing physically and spiritually, and it is always so great to get away together and have such great fellowship. It was sad going back to work today and not seeing him all day :( Pathetic, I know. It's hard after getting spoiled and being together all week!

We hung out at the beach, shopped (great outlets there!!), did day trips to Savannah and Charleston and saw a beautiful plantation. We really enjoyed having one last vacation before the little guy gets here. Probably won't be going on one like that again for a while ;)

To see the rest of the pics go HERE.

wE'r HaVInG a.......

!!!!!! BOY !!!!!!

here's the proof!!

(the photos are scanned..sorry they're not the best quality)

We are so excited to be having a baby boy...I was definately surprised, but couldn't be happier. I keep seeing adorable little boys everywhere and getting so excited at the thought of raising a son. What a gift from God!

I want your opinion!

Hey all you moms out there. As I'm beginning to think about doing a baby registry for our first kiddo, I'm a bit overwhelmed by all of the "must haves" being sold out there for life with a new baby. I know that you can get by without lots of the STUFF out there, but I'm just curious as to what you found were the "necessities" and what were the things that you never used or think are a waste of space and money. We have a tiny house, so I definitely want to keep things simple and uncluttered. The less we can get by with, the better.


I'd love to hear your thoughts even on just a few items - and even if you don't normally comment here. Thanks!

3 and 4 month pics and an update...

3 month belly shot

4 months

Can't believe how fast the summer is going by! The holiday season will be here before we know it, and then in January we'll welcome baby to our little family. I'm so excited for this new season of parenthood. I know our lives will look drastically different, and there will probably be times that I look back on this time of it just being the two of us and wish for that kind of freedom, but I'm so excited to see how the Lord is going to build our family and change our hearts and lives through this gift of children. It's fun to see Steve getting excited about it too. I can't wait to see how he is as a daddy...I know he's going to be so great.

We have an ultrasound scheduled for September 9! I can't wait to know, boy or girl, so we can narrow down some names hehe :) Maybe Steve will take it seriously then. He just likes to come up with ridiculous names and act like he's serious.

We don't have any more weddings on the calendar for the summer, so it'll be nice to have some Saturdays to get stuff done around the house and hopefully get to the beach a few more times. I think we had a wedding to go to every other week all summer! But they were all fun celebrations, and I'm excited for all my friends who are now enjoying married life as well. Last weekend Steve's sister Audrey and her hubby Ryan came into town so Ryan could photograph a wedding down here. It was great to catch up with them and hang out for a couple days! Just wish it had been longer :(

Well I'm going to make some cookies to take over to my parents tonight. Peanut butter chocolate chip :) They're the absolute best! Til next time I get motivated to post...hope you're all doing well!

2 month prego shot and 1st ultrasound

Here's baby Crabb at 8 weeks. I'm now 10 weeks, 2 days!

Also, here are a couple shots of the beginning of my baby bump hehe :) Just startin to show a little!

I've been feeling okay - not great, but not miserable either, thankfully. Certain smells and being hungry are what make me feel nauseaus mainly. Other than that I'm usually fine. Poor Steve...I haven't been up for cooking much lately. He's been so sweet and understanding. Hopefully one of these days the smell and sight of food won't gross me out!

We are leaving for Arkansas on Wednesday! I can't wait! I haven't seen my grandparents and the rest of the fam for two years! Since my wedding. Wow. It's been too long. We only get to stay through Sunday...but a short trip is better than no trip, right?