MGM

Our next day at the park was MGM. I did a completely different set of rides than I usually do there! No "Tower of Terror" or "Rockin' Roller Coaster" for this expectant mommy. This time I was at the Playhouse Disney show, the parade, and on the search for characters John V wanted to hug.

Ready for some 3D action with the Muppets

Ready for the parade to start - Grandpas make nice chairs : )

Flexing with The Incredibles

June and Quincy got HUGE hugs - a little starstruck to meet THE LITTLE EINSTEINS!

"It's Handy Manny!"

"Like my cool ears?"

Dancin' at Playhouse Disney with Bear

The amazing lights display. The lights dance to the music!

This felt like being in a movie as you walked down the street covered in lights and listened to Christmas music

Epcot

One of my favorite parks in Disney World is Epcot. We spent the day there and then went back for half a day later in the week. John V was a huge fan of the newly redone Nemo area that used to be the Living Seas. It was great! I've already shown you my pictures of Kailey fully enjoying her lunch and licking her plate.

All the interactive, gagdety stuff was a big hit with my kids

A girl and her grandpa

I think there is a little boy under that sombrero!

We love Donald Duck!

Missing Mimi

My favorite picture of Mimi the day Kailey was born

We got a call in the wee hours yesterday morning that John's grandmother had gone to be with Jesus. For the past few years she has lived with John's parents so we have been blessed to see her often and for our children to have the opportunity to know and love her. John V has been an unusually blessed boy in having the opportunity to know 7 of his 8 great-grandparents. It was sad explaining to him that we'll have to miss Mimi for a while so she can live with Jesus while we stay here. He seemed quite logical about the whole thing like he was thinking, "Uh, who wouldn't want to go live with Jesus? Yeah for Mimi!" Exactly the perspective we all should have, although our sadness at missing someone just makes it difficult at times. We would appreciate your prayers for the whole family as everyone adjusts to the hole in their lives, especially John's mom, Sandy. On top of everything, yesterday was Sandy's birthday - a difficult birthday but we celebrated with her last night, rejoicing that God gave us our Nonnie. She has been an incredible example of a selfless servant as she has cared for her mom. She and John's dad have sacrificed, nurtured, and loved their mother/mother-in-law in a very special way. I have the deepest admiration for them and pray that my heart will be as willing and Christlike if I am called to the same task. We are incredibly grateful for having had a wonderful holiday season with our Mimi and a quick and easy homegoing while she was still sharp and very happy. Thank you, Lord, for the promise of a reunion with You!

I also heard some news about my friends in the car accident. Miraculously there were not even any broken bones. The two children were able to go home that night, the husband the following day, but as of my last hearing, my friend is still in the hospital with some severe bruising and a concussion. I think you will agree that the Lord deserves praise for a complete miracle when you look at the car below! The front passenger seat shown is where my friend was sitting. Please continue to pray for her complete recovery and praise God for His protection on her family!

Magic Kingdom - Part Two

We had lunch with Pooh and his friends at the Crystal Palace and then headed out for more rides before naps. We had a nice, long nap so we would be ready for Mickey's Christmas Party that night. The park stays open late, they have a wonderful parade, and it "snows" on Main Street. It is beautiful. The castle was covered in lights, and it was stunning. I never get tired of going to Magic Kingdom, especially with a child who has never been! (And our family usually manages to take one of those!)

That is one big hug Mr. Pooh is getting

THE ride - Buzz Lightyear! I'm not sure which one of them likes it more.

The man himself. John V was impressed that Dad could hold his own next to Buzz.

Christmas Party!

It was a little chilly that night so the kids bundled up for the parade. The cold air made it feel even more Christmas-like.

We found Woody all by himself while everyone else was busy watching fireworks.

"Dad, those are LOUD!"

Three cool dudes

Ten Years Together

Last night was a special anniversary for John and me. We have now been a couple for ten years! Somehow I managed to zip both Baby and myself into my black dress and we headed out to a wonderful steak dinner where I cut only my own food and enjoyed every bite!

On New Year's Eve '07/'08, a very nervous 18-year-old John asked my dad if he could take me out and start spending time with me as a couple. We had both graduated from high school the spring before and now John was at work for a consulting company in Dallas while I had just returned from living in Dallas during the fall. We went from friends who spent a ton of time together with our buddies to a new couple figuring out how this whole thing worked! It took a lot of trial and error, adjustment from both of our families, and a lot of patience and prayer. The value of the next few years was priceless as we took very seriously the time we were spending seeking God's will and growing both individually and as a couple. I can remember waiting for his phone call each night when he left work and started the drive from Dallas to his home in Benbrook. Lots of good talking time. I've now been getting that call when he leaves work every working day for ten years. : ) I could probably count on one hand the days I haven't talked to him since then and there haven't been too many more that I haven't seen him. I still never get tired of his phone calls or any less thrilled to see him.

I still can't believe John chose me out of the girls in the world to be his. I thank God for this wonderful, faithful man and all the ways he has grown and the way the Lord has allowed us to make so much of our spiritual journey together. I thought he was wonderful ten years ago but I don't think I had scratched the surface of all that he was and what he was going to become. He is strong and full of purpose. He is committed and faithful. I never have a second's doubt or mistrust of him or his motives. He is full of life and ready to enjoy every second, no matter what we're doing! Baby, I love you and I'll gladly be the other half of this couple for decades more!!!

P.S. I just received a phone call that a friend of ours was in a severe car wreck tonight at 9:00 with her husband and two young children. They were cut out of the car and care flighted to the hospital. Please keep the Sherburne and Monroe families in your prayers when you read this. I can only imagine what they and their families are going through tonight!

Magic Kingdom - Part One

Like I said, we took a lot of pictures. All of these were taken before lunch the first day at Magic Kingdom. : ) And I'm only giving you the highlights! My face hurt after a few hours from smiling so much at my kids' excitement!

Watching Mickey come in on the train and counting down until they opened the gates!

Little John's first glimpse of the castle

We're here!

Kailey playing at Pooh's house

The whole crew with Mickey (minus Cam and Carli). This was the greatest Mickey ever. He kissed all the girls hands, hugged the kids, high-fived the guys, and didn't rush us at all. The kids were totally starstruck.

Disney World - Day 1

Well, since our week of Christmas festivities, complete exhaustion has set in and I have done nothing. I finally went to the grocery store today. Apparently growing a baby and keeping up with two others is just tiring. Who knew?

Anyway, my desire to blog has been noticeably missing but I have returned for all of my faithful readers patiently waiting for Disney World pictures. Posting any before Christmas was strictly taboo because we didn't show them to each other until our Christmas celebration where we also exchanged sibling gifts we had bought on the trip. Each family group had 500-700 pictures so I'm not sure we've still quite made it through them all. So fun! Maybe eventually I will even make it to pictures of our first gymnastics show and Christmas!

So here goes. Day one of our trip we flew in and checked in to the hotel, then headed over to the Boardwalk, beautifully lit for the evening. After a yummy pizza and some carnival games and entertainment, the little ones and a few of us adults headed back for baths and bed while the rest of the crew stayed for a lovely seafood dinner.

Kailey's first flight - she was fantastic!!! She laughed hysterically when we took off and bounced up and down like she was saying, "Faster, faster!"

Bubba got the window seat

The Boardwalk all lit up

Playing games with Dad

"Daddy and Bubba won me a frog!"

These girls are ready to vacation - unfortunately Kailey decided to remove her face from the photo!

The Big Eater

Kailey really likes to eat. It's hilarious. She still only weighed 18lbs. at a year so I'm not sure where it's all going! Maybe somewhere in all that running around it's being burned off! It was a running joke on our trip because she would start first and end last. While eating at the seafood restaurant in Epcot, this is what she did when she couldn't get any more fish, green beans, and rice off her plate. Silly girl!

I Like It Friday

I know. . . you thought it was gone. It's not. We're back!

This week I like online shopping! Holiday survival for a pregnant mom of two small children (or anyone else who didn't want to fight the shopping crowds). Can we say cheaper prices, no tax, and most of them have free shipping?! As we would say around here, "Boo yeah." No, I don't have any idea what that means. We just say it.

www.amazon.com

www.buy.com

www.cbd.com

www.zappos.com

Blessed Be the Name of the Lord

It seems that each of my children has a story from early on. John's was a story of unexpected physical challenges for me in getting pregnant, of patience, of continued faith that we would have children, of realizing that God had sent me the most unbelievable man to be my husband as he showed grace, patience, and tenderness. While our wait was only a few years, it seemed very long after losing our first baby and waiting my whole life to be a mom.

Kailey's was a story of hope through lots of darkness as my family went through, what I hope was the most difficult year we will ever experience. Losing my nephew and two more babies in six months felt like more than we could bear but through Christ all things are possible. He showed Himself strong enough to carry us all and reminded me that there are others besides my family ready to pick up and carry when I need them. I learned much about humbling myself, admitting I'm weak, and asking for help. Then came God's direct promise to us of victory over these struggles and a renewed sense of Him being on our side, not fighting against us to "teach us a lesson." This was possibly one of the greatest lessons of my life. He showed Himself mighty and my precious niece and Kailey were born six months apart.

Already this pregnancy has been no different, requiring "all hands on deck" as the battle begins in desiring to bear and raise a child for the Lord. When I discovered I was pregnant for the sixth time, I immediately began dealing with the obvious fears. The first weeks are long and hard. I claimed victory over our cycle of loss and asked God for a first for us; two consecutive, successful pregnancies. I struggled with telling others or getting excited but John was firm that we would not allow for something to go wrong but walk in faith. I ordered my 150 Christmas cards announcing our news, we told the family at Thanksgiving and proceeded as planned. The week after Thanksgiving I was sitting at lunch when I was suddenly hit with horrible cramps. I went hot, cold, clammy, and my ears started ringing. Thinking I was likely to pass out I left the kids with John and went to the car. As I tried to figure out what was wrong, the bleeding started. Here I have to admit complete and total weakness. I fell apart. I have never had it turn around from that point. To me it signaled the beginning of the end and I began sobbing as I drove my children home, called my mom to come over, and climbed into bed. I kept telling God over and over that I had had enough. I couldn't do it any more. Why, when I have worked so hard to give this area of my life so completely to Him, does this keep happening? All I remember is saying, "Enough!" over and over. I told God that I didn't know what or how to pray any more. What was I supposed to ask for? I texted my precious accountability partners and quickly received assurances of their love and prayers. I cried to my dad like a little girl telling him that I just wanted to wake up and have the nightmare be over (I had recently had a horrible nightmare about miscarrying this baby). My dad and friends all said the same thing, that they would be praying that God would still turn this around. I told them that I wanted them to pray because I didn't feel strong enough to even ask for this to not be what it had been the other times. As I struggled through the afternoon, LJ sat on the bed next to me for hours. He watched cartoons and would pat me, calmly saying, "You will get better, Mom." He was like a tiny rock with God speaking comfort through him. After fighting through emotions of all kinds, I finally reached a place of some peace. I informed Satan that he might as well quit coming back to me time and time again because my answer would remain the same. Even a fourth time, "Blessed be the Name of the Lord." How could I look back on my history with Him or look around me at what He has done and think anything else? I told the Lord that this time I wanted to shout a victory from the rooftops, but I knew that His victories were sometimes slower and just as powerful. About the time it got dark, the bleeding began to stop. I had still seen too much to be hopeful and my midwife and I decided to set up a sonogram for the next day to check things out.

At bedtime, LJ was told to choose three stories, as usual. He generally chooses the ones he sees, the longest ones, etc. Tonight, without a blink, he said, "David and Goliath, Daniel and the Lion's Den, and Noah and the Ark." I thought, "Okay, Lord, I hear You. Through my three year old son You have just reminded me of your power over giants, lions, floods, and my situation." I had all day wondered what I was going to tell my sweet son. He was so excited about his new brother or sister (he insists brother)! After reading, LJ kept saying over and over, "I will fight the giant. I am not afraid." I knew that God would also take care of my son. Lying there listening to my husband read those precious stories was comforting down to the core of my being.

As I went to bed the Lord gave me the most beautiful picture. I pulled out my Bible looking for the story He was reminding me of. In Exodus 17 the Israelites went to battle against the Amalekites, led by Joshua. As long as Moses held up his hands over the battle, the Israelites won, but when he lowered them, they began to be defeated. When Moses grew tired, they set him on a stone and his brother, Aaron, on one side and Hur on the other, they held his hands up until sunset when the battle was won. God said to me that for that day I had been Moses and needed my arms held in this battle. With family and friends on either side praying, the victory had been won. The enemy had been defeated. I was amazed at even the timing as I thought of how my peace and then the stopping of the bleeding had happened right around sunset. Coincidence? I think not.

The next day, after a long afternoon of waiting, I went in for a sonogram and experienced a first. After a threatened miscarriage, on that screen was a tiny heart beating. My precious midwife said, "I knew it! Make sure she can see that heartbeat. She needs to see it." They said that everything would be fine and we would do a check in a few weeks just to make sure that the place the bleeding came from had healed properly. At the end of Exodus 17 God says, "Write this on a scroll as something to be remembered and make sure that Joshua hears it, because I will completely blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven." So I am writing, and my precious "Joshua," unaware of his or her fight in the womb, will hear from day one of God's goodness and power. The story ends with, "Moses built an altar and called it The LORD is my Banner. He said, "For hands were lifted up to the throne of the LORD. The LORD will be at war against the Amalekites from generation to generation."

Blessed be the Name of the Lord!

Our Special Christmas Gift

Yes, I'm still alive, and we're home after a fantastic trip to Disney World with my whole family. Mountains of pictures will be forthcoming. I think I finally bit off more than I could chew in November because I had some extra nap times for Mom I hadn't planned into the schedule! Blogging had to be left behind. If you haven't seen our Christmas card yet (a few didn't make the mail before we left for Florida), the Critz family received an early Christmas gift! Sorry to anyone who found out from someone else before I could tell you. I was trying to surprise with the cards!

A special gift nine months in the making,
A tiny little one God's creating.
In July of next year our gift will arrive,
Making us a family of five!

Kailey's One Year Pictures

Kristin just put Kailey's one year pictures up on her site. You can go to http://www.kristinmorales.com/index2.php, click on client and type in Critz as the password. Just don't look at the ones of me! Yikes! I love having pictures done of my kids but should really stay out of them. : ) Anyway, there are several that capture Kailey's personality so well! Kristin does it again!

Who Says Laundry Isn't Fun?

Kailey's Pink Party

Making Kailey's cupcakes. All the "Little People" helped us. : )

Showing Bimi her birthday present

Reading her baby a book

Talking to Memaw Cox

Happy about finally getting to eat cake like everyone else

Yum! She didn't get any on her pretty dress!

Sharing the rest with Mom

LJ driving his friends around in his golf cart.

The party crew - minus a few who had left. Such fun! Many kudos to the guys who were willing to wear pink for the party (and to the wives who dressed them). True men.

Happy Birthday, Princess!

I completely missed blogging on Kailey's birthday. It has been a busy week full of fun things. Being the classy girl that she is, Kailey went shopping in Dallas on Tuesday night (her actual birthday) after having a wonderful pink party on Saturday! Thank you so much to those who called, e-mailed, and/or attended her party! She has such special people to love her. I pray that she already knows how richly blessed she is.

I will post more pictures but thought I would share my birthday letter for Kailey on her first birthday.

My Precious Sunshine,

This year has flown. I can vividly relive each detail of this day last year and have trouble believing that there could possibly have been 365 days between then and now. Yet it is also difficult to comprehend how you could have spread so much joy in a mere 12 months. There is no way to describe the blessing of you. You are everything precious, beautiful, joyful, and wonderful. You are already my little companion - sharing with me in girl things, mommy things, sweet things, and pretty things. You are a buddy to your brother - playing ball and tagging along right behind him. You are a princess to your daddy - grabbing his heart and holding it in that tiny grasp.

You have done everything early, seeming to run to meet milestones that I would have been willing to postpone. You seem to already have a desire to remind me that you are not a baby but a growing girl who needs responsibilities. : ) You want to help, snuggle, comfort, love, and cheer everyone you meet. I am in constant amazement at God's ability to use your sweet presence in a shopping mall, a grocery store, or a restaurant to put a smile on someone's face and cause them to open up and share with us. I pray to constantly be ready to walk through the doors God uses you to open and to reach out to others. I know you will always be challenging me to do better simply by being yourself.

Less than two years ago, your daddy and I were crying out to God for you, knowing that there was something missing from our family. That something was you! When we asked God what He wanted us to do, He told us to stand firm and see Him deliver us from the long and difficult road we had been on. God gave us a story in the Bible of Him fighting for His people as they praised Him. At the end of the story they ended up with so many riches when their enemies were defeated, that it took them three days to carry it away! We felt that was our promise from Him, treasure beyond our expectations. You have been beyond what we could have dreamed. Because of that we decided to name you, "Kailey" which means "crown." Our treasure given in God's victory over our struggles! He is so good!

My precious Kailey Abigail, there is not a day that I take you for granted, not a night that I put you to bed without pouring out a heart of gratitude to God for giving you to me. In no way could I ever deserve to be your mother and have the joy of spending these precious years with you, but I can never thank God enough for His graciousness in allowing me that priceless privilege.

Oh, how I love you. But always remember, He loves you unfathomably more. He will be your everything if you will only let Him. How I pray for you to walk with Him each hour of every day for the rest of your life. There is no real living outside of Him. No real joy unless He is at the center of it. If I could only ask one thing for you, baby girl, it would be to know His love and to return it with everything you have. If you do that, everything else will fall into place.

Happy Birthday, my love. May there be many more full of the love, family and friendship that this one has been. You are a blessed baby girl.

Mommy

Walky Talky Dolly

I think I completely failed to mention that Kailey started walking a month ago. : ) Nice, Mom. She is everywhere now and refuses to crawl anymore. This is the goal she worked so hard to achieve and she will not do anything but walk, even if there is a faster option available. Here she is with her "pup pup." She gets so excited she can hardly stand it whenever Noel is around. Noel is getting a lot of good playtime these days with my kids outside constantly. Kailey also recently started making some animal noises which crack us up. She likes to moo and neigh and mooing requires her to throw her head up in the air kind of like a coyote howling. It's pretty funny. She is also completely obsessed with babies, whether real or dolls. She hugs them and makes all the little cooing noises that a mommy makes. Precious. My mom calls her a walky, talky dolly. That pretty much sums it up!

No Fear Party

I'm going to put a disclaimer on this before I even start. I usually don't discuss this with other people because I don't want them to feel that I am trying to tell them how to do or not do this. I'm not! It's the furthest thing from my mind. I just want to share how excited I am about what God prompted us to do this year! This is between us and Him and has absolutely NO bearings on my love and respect for how you choose to do things in your family (which, by the way, is how I feel about anything you and I do differently). There are choices you make in your families that constantly challenge me to rethink my decisions and ask God if He is wanting something else from us. Okay, now I feel better, and I love each of you!

Can I just tell you how much fun we had Wednesday?!!! In the past I have completely dreaded this time of year. I personally dislike everything about Halloween. The fear, greediness, and darkness that drive the holiday for most people disturb me. I dislike going to the grocery store and having to steer my small children around blood, skeletons, and life size grim reapers. I dislike that kids will gripe about people not giving out the right candy or enough of it when their bags are full of enough sugar to make you sick looking at it. I cannot find a way to align this with my beliefs of what I should teach my family. Witches and demons and evil are real, not playthings. They are part of the Enemy's army and we are on the other side. I am teaching them that God is love and casts out fear. So why toy with it or celebrate it?

In the past we have avoided the holiday. We do something else and treat that day like any other. We go to dinner or hang out with family. As it approached this year, I found myself desiring more. I felt prompted to do more than just find a safe or fun alternative when I could redeem this for God's glory. So, I did something that I often forget to do, but, whenever I remember, I am blown away by His willingness to answer in even the smallest of issues. I asked for creativity. I am not by nature the most creative person around. The great thing about this lack on my part is that whenever I experience a burst of it, I know it's God and not me. Anyway, as I prayed, the ideas just started coming. I talked to John and we decided that we really wanted to focus on the opportunity to interact with our neighbors. I mean, how often do all of your neighbors show up at your front door?

So, we scheduled our first ever Critz family "No Fear Party." All during the day, LJ and I talked about God's power and how He is bigger, stronger, and more powerful than anything or anyone else so we have nothing to fear. We listened to praise songs like "God is Big" and made a poster that listed things that are big but still smaller than God. We also wrote down things we don't have to fear like fire, thunder, and bad guys. I wrote it exactly like he said it and he was very proud of his decorating skills. Then, while he was watching a movie about God helping us not to fear, I made some snacks that reminded us of Bible stories where God was powerful. You can see those in the pictures below. LJ and Kailey dressed up like animals on Noah's Ark and made an ark out of sofa pillows. Daddy ended up playing with the praise band for Fallfest so we stayed home to pass out candy and showed him all of our "No Fear" goodies when he got home. A few family members stopped by to eat dinner with us and see our little projects. When the kids started arriving, we passed out candy, met neighbors, and that night we prayed that each child and family who had come to our door would experience God's power in their lives, dissolving all their fears. Several weeks ago LJ and I chose some pumpkins and wrote verses about God's love and power over fear on them to put on our porch. One cute little boy that came to the door asked me what my pumpkins meant. I told him what they meant and he ran back to his mom yelling, "Mom, they're Christians in that house!" Now I just pray to daily live in a way as I come and go among my neighbors that backs up that title that includes my Lord's precious name!

All in all we considered our day a massive success and all glory goes to God for His creativity! He is so faithful to hear my cries as a mom even on seemingly insignificant things like this holiday. LJ has continued to talk about God's power and not being afraid since then. After all this, I am definitely asking Him for some Thanksgiving ideas! : )

The dinosaur watching a Hermie video about not being afraid

Some of our snacks: David's staff and stones (pretzels and raisins), Animals in the ark (animal crackers), Daniel's lion (a lion craft), and one not pictured was Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the fiery furnace (sour patch kids in red jello). You can also see our poster in the back.

Even Goldie helped us out and played the part of the big fish. The little green guy is, of course, Jonah

The dinosaur and the duck in the ark

The dinosaur hugging the duck. The ark must have been a happy place. : )