Mother's Day with Family

We spent Mother's Day weekend celebrating with our families, of course, and got some pictures of some of the sweet moms in our lives. I am constantly in amazement at the women in my life. My grandmothers, our mothers, aunts, sisters and sisters-in-law, all incredible women who do a fabulous job mothering. Seeing all of their different strengths and the way God uses them is inspiring. I am blessed by their examples as they challenge me to be a better mom.

The Critz crew complete with growing twins and the sixth grandchild on the way!

The moms on my side of the family - my grandmothers, aunt, mom, and sister-in-law

The May birthdays - we celebrate in groups : )

I don't know if you can see it in the picture but the flames on the candles were colored like the candles! It was pretty cool!

Gymnastics Show

I'm just going to keep moving back now through all the things I've missed blogging about. I should have plenty for a while! : )

John V wrapped up his spring semester of Little Gym with his show. Daddy came to watch and John was a total ham, as usual, when anyone out of the ordinary is there. Little Gym is one of his favorite places and we recently found out that his teacher also goes to church with us! John thought that was cool. This spring he has started doing backwards somersaults and is doing really well with the bars. We're already rolling into our summer semester which will be a good thing for him to have going with the baby's arrival and all the change.

A big jump

Mr. Brian coaches on the bars

Getting his medal

Posing with Daddy

John's 4th Birthday

On the 19th, John V's actual birthday, we went to lunch at his favorite restaurant, Cracker Barrel. We ate with Uncle Cam, Aunt Carli, my sisters and mom. Aunt Carli has to miss the parties because Saturday is an important work day so it was fun to still get to celebrate with her.

That night, John got to pick an activity for our family to do together so we went for some mini golf. We saw a rabbit and Kailey loved walking around with a pink ball and little club. It was a fun day celebrating our favorite big boy!

One of John's favorite things about his birthday this year was getting cards, especially in the mail. He would look at them over and over and tell me who they were from. He had quite the collection that is now hanging on his bedroom wall. One of his favorites played a praise song and he loved to dance to it.

John's Birthday Party

Cupcakes with our small group

"What did Mom and Dad get me?"

Tigger and Pooh were the theme for the day

Yummy cupcakes!

"YUM!"

This is less than half of the obstacle course

This year we decided to scale down a little from our usual, "every-kid-John-knows-is-at-our-house" birthday party. He chose his five closest buddies (his age) and then we had the cousins and family, of course. He wanted to have it at home and he and his dad picked a huge inflatable obstacle course to rent. It was fun! The obstacle course was already set up when he got up that morning and he was so excited when he looked out the window and saw it! He and Dad had to make a few runs before the guests ever arrived. The next day we had cupcakes with all of our buddies in our small group and then Monday he got to pick a special activity with just our family, so he had quite the long weekend of celebration!

Progress and Transitions!

I feeling like I'm working my way out of the deep sea of undone things. We have made some huge progress the last few weeks on some things that I was really wanting finished. Pictures will be forthcoming on all the excitement. Two of the biggest were big, growing-up changes for both John and Kailey.

First, just in time for his birthday, John is officially potty trained! He is doing fantastic and needs very few reminders. Accidents pretty much don't happen. I knew when he got it, it would happen quickly because of being older, but it really seemed overnight! He is proud and we are thrilled and relieved! Now there won't be three in diapers! : ) Kailey seems determined to join John in his potty endeavors and likes to stand in front of the potty and try to go. It's hilarious. We'll have to work on sitting before the real training kicks in with her.

A proud guy in his big boy underwear

Next, Kailey moved upstairs to her big girl bed in her new room and has done absolutely perfect!!! We have not lost a bit of sleep, she stays there, still goes to sleep on her own, and I am in total shock that she could do it this easily. I knew it would go well with her because she loves to sleep and doesn't seem as thrown by changes as her older brother, but this was beyond my wildest dreams. She seems to welcome the challenge of something being different and new and loves to talk about her "bed upstairs." Thank you, Lord, and bless you, Kailey!

A happy girl in her big bed

Working Away

The Johns putting Kailey's new bed together

We're working away over here at the Critz' house. The last weeks could not have contained any more events, fun, and friends. After having my whole family sick, being on vacation, hosting bachelor and bachelorette parties, and being in one of the most precious weddings I have ever seen, I feel like I've been hit by a truck. :) I know. . . a little dramatic. I have been struggling with first trimester symptoms like exhaustion and nausea. My midwife says this is common for some women when they hit their third trimester. Hooray. ;) Anyway, we're plugging through it and my kids, while making enormous messes that I am tempted to leave on the floor, have been precious about playing together for hours and hours. Their relationship is blowing me away already. Kailey hugs and loves on her brother and John tells Kailey that she is his beautiful, favorite sister. I tear up every time they do it!!! Sure, the playing often turns to squabbling, but they're learning to resolve it and that love far surpasses insignificant irritations or inconveniences. I thank God for how He is already working in their hearts turning them towards each other!

When we finally get a project finished around here, I'll post some pictures. I'll also try to get some beach trip pictures up this week. We had such a blast!!!

Taking a Snack Break

Kailey sat like this for thirty minutes one day while I was working in the kitchen. It cracked me up to see her with her snack and Fisher Price catalog. Funny girl!

Style Show '08

Caitlin (she made her dress), Kailey, me, John V, Carissa & John's mom, Sandy (better known to my readers as Nonnie) Don't you just love a full-on shot when you're pregnant? It has a nice blimp effect!

When I get posting, there's just no stopping me! : ) Until I run out of new pictures, that is. As I've mentioned before, I took sewing from ages 5 to 17. My sisters have also taken from my teacher and she's had one of us in classes for 23 years this summer! That's a lot of relationship! She is my mentor, friend, and additional grandmother, and all of us love her dearly. Every year she has a style show at her church where the girls are able to model a dress they've made that year for their family and friends. It started out with us modeling for her Sunday school class and wearing both dresses we had made (with a super quick change between modeling, just like a real model!). Now there are always around 60-75 girls modeling, I'm not exactly sure of my numbers, so it takes a little while just to get everyone out there once! My mother-in-law always teaches the girls to model before the show and then gets them on and off the stage. John's sister was my teacher's first student all those years ago. Caitlin looked beautiful in her gorgeous dress and it was another fun style show night to add to the memories!

Easter - Part Two

Our second Easter celebration was at Marmee and Grandpa's with my mom's side of the family. Our gatherings get bigger and bigger! We love it! We had a wonderful time of celebration with my dad reminding us all of what we were rejoicing in and John V having the opportunity to say his verse to everyone. The prize eggs at my house have always been empty to remind us that the empty tomb is the biggest gift of all! This year all the eggs were empty and then the kids turned in their eggs for prizes. This worked great so that we didn't have candy everywhere and whiny, sugared-up kids! My sister hid almost four hundred eggs for four kids - they got their fill of hunting! It was too fun to watch them get so serious about filling their baskets!

We celebrated the March (and Feb. 28th) birthdays - Da, Cameron and Caitlin. It's hard to believe my baby sister is fourteen!

This girl was serious about gathering eggs!

"Here's another one. My basket is overflowing!"

"I found MORE!"

Sweet Easter girl

Some of those eggs were hidden!

Cousins playing in the bin of eggs after the hunt

Easter

Finally I am getting around to getting some Easter pictures posted. I just downloaded all the photos from our camera and had 187. I'm a little behind. I'll start with Easter at Nonnie and Poppie's. With several music ministers in the family, we do our celebrating a little early because Resurrection Sunday is a very full one for the people behind those beautiful church services!!! It's a good reminder to be grateful to all the people who make it possible for us to worship and enjoy those wonderful holiday celebrations at church. Easter was very special for us this year because of John V beginning to understand what it means. We spent very little time talking about egg hunts or Easter bunnies while trying to make sure we focused on the gift of everlasting life. I was teary many times as I heard myself telling the old, old story and realizing how fresh it is through a child's eyes. Both kids loved the resurrection eggs and John V learned one of his first verses that he would quote to anyone who asked him, "Jesus is not here. He is alive!" I don't think I will ever forget this first "understood" Easter with my oldest child.

Knocking on Nonnie's door - when she opened it, John greeted her with, "Jesus is alive!"

I see an orange egg!

Don't know what this face was about but it cracks me up!

Kailey was seriously into hunting eggs - I think it's that put stuff into other stuff stage

Checking out the sibling basket

"Yeah, sure we'll all sit down and take a picture with our Easter baskets!" (Right, Mom.)

The kids blew bubbles in the backyard with Nonnie and Kristen

The twins weren't big on participation this year. Next year will be crazy!

The cousins popping bubbles

John and Caden are best buddies

"If you wait for the men to do it, it will never get done!"

Playing piano with Uncle Jordan - I love this picture!

Here I Am!

Thanks to everyone who has been checking on me. I'm here - just busy! John was out of town for almost a week and we are busily preparing to move Kailey upstairs and get ready for Levi. On top of that, I decided my house wasn't organized enough so we've gotten rid of boxes of things and organized and decluttered away. I'm also doing overhaul on the gameroom and finally getting some shelving built for better toy/school/art storage. I guess it's just kind of that point when you've settled into a house enough to realize what needs to be changed from the way you first arranged it. In April and May we have lots of plans including a trip, John and I both will be attendants for two dear friends' wedding, which of course brings a shower, bachelor and bachelorette parties over here, we also have John V's birthday, and all the usual hooplah. Needless to say, I may not do much better with my blogging anytime soon! Anyway, I have pictures and updates and will get to those as soon as I can.

I'm Dreaming of a White Easter?!

If you live around here, you can see that the snow is coming down! When Kailey woke up from her nap we bundled up and took our little snowbunny selves outside for some playing in the snow! Even Noel (our dog) joined us and went a little crazy, not understanding all the white stuff. I think she also didn't recognize Kailey and kept sniffing her to see what she was. : ) The lighting isn't very good in these pictures but they get the point across.

So pretty!

Little snow bunny - she couldn't move!

Little snow dude

Baby snowman! Mommy's not talented enough for the big kind and Noel ate my first one.

Uh, Mom? Shouldn't this be a little bigger?!

The Three Boys

John V has quickly overcome all of his initial disappointment and is now announcing to the world that he has a new brother, Levi, on the way. The way he says his brother's name is adorable! Last night they wanted a picture of the three boys taken together. I can't tell you how special these wonderful "men" are to me! My sweet husband is such a terrific boy dad, a godly example of masculinity and emotion, brains and spirituality, tenderness and strength. I am so excited for Levi to have this dad and brother!

"Kissing baby brother"

This is Levi!

It's a . . .

BOY!!! We are beyond thrilled! He is healthy and seems to have the correct number of everything. Praise the Lord for His gracious gift! Our sweet one's name will be Levi Joshua. Levi means "unified" and we pray that he will feel a special and important part of our family unit as the second son and a child so closely following Kailey in age. So often the third child brings such a special spirit that is able to read people and the greatest of hearts. We will eagerly look forward to seeing all that is completely unique about our son. Joshua, of course, comes from our experience in December and the verses in the Bible that God gave to us in our scary moments. Joshua means "God saves." Just writing that gives me chills. He does. Whether spiritually or physically, He is constantly saving us when we are completely helpless to do anything for ourselves. I keep saying his sweet name over and over, so excited to be able to address my son! There will be special prayers in our home tonight as we pray over our children!

John V seemed very disappointed at first that it was not two babies. Even the sonogram technician felt bad for him as he was saying, "But we need a LOT of kids!" (That is not something that we have said to him, by the way.) I reminded him that God brings them one at a time (usually) in His timing, and that we would just keep the desire of John's heart in front of God's throne. I have full confidence that God has given him that precious spirit because he will be the oldest of several and it completely amazes me to see the preparation God will do in my children for His plans. I don't even have to take care of it! What a precious Lord. By the time we finished our celebratory lunch with the grandparents (and two aunts), John had lost his disappointment and was telling everyone it was going to be a brother "just like him." Kailey has absolutely no idea what is happening. : ) We cannot wait to see yet another precious sibling relationship develop in front of our eyes.

It means so much to me for all of you to have shared in my excitement over this day. The only thing as fun as a momentous day in your life is having loved ones to share it with! I love you all!

Spiritual Preparations

This morning I am feeling a little introspective. I woke up feeling excited and then just began on a little "remembering" walk with the Lord as I began to pray about the sonogram. Due to my family's (and other's) recent histories, I have learned to never take for granted what will happen during the course of a pregnancy. Learned that while there is no reason to fear, I have no "right" to a healthy baby and certainly "deserve" it no more than all the thousands who experience losses and difficulties. It has been amazing that even in having a deeper and more personal realization of all that can happen, I can still have more excitement and hope than ever before. Somewhere on this crazy road of bearing children there was a change. I started out driving the car and asking the Lord to navigate and tell me the best way to go. When traveling that way there is some pride upon reaching a destination, some personal responsibility when goals are reached, even when we are taking credit for what we have absolutely no control over. But somewhere in this pain and joy, the longing and waiting and the speed, the answers and the remaining questions, we did a Chinese fire drill. I think it was a gradual process. If you've ever changed drivers without getting out of the car, you know the tangle of arms and legs around the steering wheel as you try to switch seats. I think that may be what it has looked like. But as I prayed this morning, I realized that I have absolutely no desire to drive. I even have less and less of a pull to grab at the steering wheel when something scary seems imminent. More and more, when an obstacle shows up in the road, I just want to grab at His arm, just hold on to make sure He's taking care of it. This change has come at a dear price, but there is no value that can be put on peace and trust. How many children we have and when, their health, their futures, their genders, their timing - all of this is not mine and it never was. I only ask to sit and ride and to enjoy this journey. He's the only One who can truly keep in mind where we're ultimately headed anyway - we always seem to be on personal detours. I am so thrilled and can hardly wait until 11:30 when we no longer have to wonder who this little person is! I am so grateful that whoever he or she is, whatever happens in his or her life, I don't have to have all the answers. I can just point at the One driving and say, "Blessed be the Name of the Lord."

What Are We Feeding This Kid?!

Well, John V was at it again today. He's just on his game lately. He has continued insisting that we are having both a boy and a girl baby. "Two." I guess twins are just on the brain lately. While I am trying to convince him that we have had a sonogram and seen one baby, he continues to believe. "Maybe it's four or six," he'll add at times. Whoa! Apparently this kid really wants lots of siblings and right away. God sent him to the right family - he fits in perfectly! Anyway, tonight he explained to me that the way there are two babies is because one is in my tummy and one is in his. I believe I have the boy and he has the girl if I'm remembering correctly. Then he announced that he needed to go have a haircut and they would see if the baby was coming out. Out of where?! HIS HEAD! Of course, if he's pregnant, that definitely explains him feeling like he's growing a tail. Pregnancy brings about all sorts of odd sensations. I seriously wonder what we're going to do with this little guy sometimes. I love him so!