Houses, sailors. . . . oh my stars!

Since you all have waited so patiently for a picture of our house I thought I would finally appease the crowd. It's not the greatest picture but at least it's something, right? If you can zoom in you'll see Lilyanah playing with a toy on the steps & Will's hand forming the "I love you" sign through one of the windows. He was sitting on the couch inside holding Ethne. Of course I know all of that is there & can't see it so I don't expect you'll be able to! I was actually taking the picture because we're trying to figure out how we want to 'update' the look of the house & I wanted to print a picture off so I could play with a couple of ideas. We both love the colonial style & some federal style homes. I'm super big on not going with fads & making things 'timeless'. I wish I'd have adopted that theory in high school. Looking back on some pictures all I can say is YIKES! I have a printer attached to our computer now that has a scanner so I may be able to get some older pictures on future blog entries I also have a hilarious video of Will that I'd like to post but I'm not sure how to do that. Any of you have suggestions or know how?
The next few pictures are from church on Sunday the 26th of August. Mom bought the girls these adorable sailor outfits & although Ethne's is WAY too big on her we couldn't resist having them wear them. We took a picture after church outside of the building & can I just say that I love it when Gigi wears polka dots! She loves polka dots & I always think of her when I see them so I love that she's wearing one of her polka dot dresses in this picture.
After we got home from church Will was holding Ethne & was so sweet. He whispered in such a gentle voice for me to hurry over to see Ethne. He said, "I'm sure you see this all the time, but isn't she precious!?" I had grabbed my camera so I snapped a picture. Again, I couldn't resist! We Mathias girls are so blessed with such a sweet, gentle, rock of a man that we are blessed to get to call husband & daddy.
The next picture is Lilyanah in a dress that I am wearing in the picture behind her. In this picture we are both 19 months & 9 days old. For me that was June 10th, 1978 (Will wasn't even born yet!)& for Lilyanah it was August 26th, 2007.
The last picture is of my most recent attempt at creativity. Have any of you seen 'The Holiday'? It came out last winter, I think I saw it in the theatre 3 times!!! So, obviously I'm a fan. Anyway, there's a scene it in where there is a tent with hanging stars that I thought was so cool. I always loved stars growing up. I can still remember looking out my bedroom window reciting 'star light, star bright'. I'm going to get WAY off track here, but I remember there came a point, probably when I started high school that the only thing I could think to wish for was 'God's will.' Now I love that because I got my wish, "God's Will". About the same time I put glow-in-the-dark stars on the ceiling above my bed placed like the big dipper that I looked at every night. I did that all the way through college, I used it as a reminder to pray. So, now back on track, all of that contributed to me wanting to put stars over Lilyanah's head. I want to hang some glow-in-the-dark ones too but one thing at a time! Speaking of, it's lunch time so I hope you all have a GREAT weekend! Love you all!~Wendy.

Reaching Back to July 28th

Corey's birthday just happened to be the same day as the Newberg Old Fashioned Festival parade. Neither of the girls had ever been to a parade so while the guys chilled at home Mom & packed the girls up & walked over to my uncle Rick & aunt Mona's house. The parade route goes right by their house every year making it the ideal spot to sit & watch. Ideal because it's pretty close to the beginning of the route so the people in the parade are still smiling & still have candy to throw & stuff. Lilyanah was somewhat impressed but mostly just wanted to run out into the street so Mom kept a tight rein on her. I let her do all the running while I held sleeping little Ethne. Nothing really eventful happened during the parade but I wanted to show you a pic of something that made me laugh. About 20 feet away in the neighbors front yard there was this dog just standing there barking. Not funny in and of itself but the fact that he had unknowingly slipped out of his collar was hilarious. He was going crazy barking for a couple of minutes but wouldn't move from his spot because he thought he was still tied up! I could draw some serious spiritual parallels but I'll let you draw your own. I'm in a wonderful predicament of having too many adorable pictures of the girls so I'll just throw some in every once in awhile. One day when we Mathias girls were over at mom & dad's we put the girls together in the crib & here they are. I just love that Lilyanah's first instinct almost every time that she is close to Ethne is to lean over & give her a kiss on the head. The last couple pictures we took over at Jeremy's house. There's a little water feature/pond in his back yard that he's filled up with plants & even took a couple of koi from Dad's pond. It looks beautiful & I thought it was a perfect time to get some pictures of Lilyanah while she was playing around it. I also had the whole group get together to take a picture with the beautiful cloud & sky in the background. It was a fun day, Lilyanah always loves to visit with her uncle Jeremy. He always has something new to teach her & she's a willing student! Love you all! ~Wendy.

The BEAUTIFUL couple

This picture of Corey & Kelsey is too beautiful not to post! Congratulations you two on completing your first year of marriage! We love you!

Corey & Kelsey...1 year down!

So this is my first official blog!! My wonderful sister-in-law, Wendy, informed me that this was the Craig/Mathias blog and well...I am a Craig so I can rightfully blog! So I will be providing your entertainment for the evening! This is Kelsey by the way (Corey’s wife).

Corey and I have been married a little over a year. We celebrated our anniversary on Sunday August 12th. Crazy how fast the year flew by. I guess we aren't newlyweds anymore!

We spent the weekend of our anniversary in Newport at my grandparent's condo. We had a relaxing weekend including nice dinners and JEWELRY as you can see below! Corey got me a gorgeous diamond heart necklace and a beautiful pair of diamond earrings! I don't tell him to spoil me, he just does! And he is sooo good at it!!





Wendy is right when she brags about how awesome her little brother is! He has been the sweetest most amazing husband this past year and it seems to be getting better and better. I truly felt like I couldn't possibly love him more than I did on our wedding day, but it's so apparent to me now that what I felt that day doesn't compare to what I feel now. I'm confident it will only grow from this point on!

I could write for hours about him, but I will spare you the mushy details! Thank you for reading! :) Cheers for year 2!

August 9th, 2007

So, this was a first for me. I've always wanted to be a gardener, but have never taken the time to try to learn exactly how to become one. Well, our dear Meme who passed away 3 years ago was actually a Master Gardener (that's a real title for all of you who don't know much about gardening). She would volunteer time at the botanical gardens in Ft. Worth & had her own little green house in the back yard. Talk about a green thumb. Some of it rubbed off on Grandad & Lynn so I thought it would be a perfect opportunity while they were here to learn a little from them & for Lilyanah to get to play in the dirt. We spent hours the day after they got into town at Al's nursery in Sherwood looking for the perfect plants. I wished Will had been there with me to help pick but he sweetly said he trusted me so I was on my own. Grandad sat with Ethne at one of the outdoor tables they were selling & Lynn entertained Lilyanah, who loved the fountains. I think she would live in water if she could. She wore her new shoes from her mema that squeak whenever she puts pressure on the heel. It was nice to know where she was at all times without even having to look up! I'm not sure how much everyone around us liked them but they're pretty cute!
The sales people were very friendly & I was able to find plants that would do well in lots of sunlight & that wouldn't lose their leaves (evergreens). The crazy thing is I am NOT a fan of purple. I don't own a single piece of clothing with the color purple on it & don't buy any for the girls or Will (obviously). But the plants that I loved the most had purple flowers that grow on them. Most are a variation of Hebe. . . though I did get some heather & one lavender plant. I love dark, interesting leaves. . I still have to get 1 more plant but I'm not sure what I want yet so there's just a hole where a plant should be. And, I obviously still have some weeds to pull, good times. I can't say that Lilyanah was the most helpful but she had fun & that was the most important thing. On the way home from Al's we stopped at a local store to see if they had any gardening gloves Lilyanah sized. I had to get some groceries for dinner so Lynn & I went our separate ways. We came back together at the checkout line & her cart was full of gardening toys for Lilyanah. She got a little shovel & rake & a wheel barrel & one of those pads you kneel down on so you don't hurt your knees. . . have I mentioned that her mema spoils her!? But that's what grandparents are for, right?! The soil was rock hard so we had to saturate it with water & let it soak while we had lunch. Grandad did all the muscle work & dug the holes while we took turns planting & hauling away the dirt. Unfortunately we have lots of small holes hiding in the grass in the back yard that need to be filled in, so fortunately we were able to put the dirt we were digging up to use. Thank you Lynn & Grandad for coming to visit & helping us plant some pretty flowerbeds & for being so great! We really enjoyed the planting process & now we just have to make sure we don't kill our pretty plants! Slowly, but surely I will catch up & posts won't be about something that happened weeks ago! Love you all! ~Wendy.

On Saturday, August 4th, after we got back from the hospital Mom & Dad went to her 35-year Newberg High School class reunion! There were 65 people there, 40 of whom were classmates (out of a class of 210+. It was a very low-key, "no-host" gathering, and she really enjoyed it. (Note: the next weekend, August 10-11, was Dad's 35-year class reunion in Prineville. Dad and Mom also went to that and Dad found out some of his classmates memories about their friendship were decidedly different than his memory.)

Wednesday, August 8th was the day for guests~ My mother & granddad-in-law flew in from Oklahoma, my cousin, his wife & their son flew in from Mass. & my aunt's father & sister-in-law flew in from Missouri. I assume they flew. CRAZY! Unfortunately they also all left on the same day a week later! Anyway, it was the first time Grandad had been out to Oregon since Will & I got married almost 5 years ago! We had such a nice time, Lilyanah instantly took to her Mema who SHOWERED both the girls with gifts. But it was playing with Mema that Lilyanah loved the most. That's mostly what we did. We spent the afternoon on Thursday at a local nursery called Al's looking for the perfect plants to grow in our planter box & flower bed in front of the house. I have lots of pictures from that so that will be a separate post. On Friday Will picked up his sister, Michelle from the airport. She flew in from Texas & once she got there the games began!Will's family, like mine loves to play card games. Unlike mine, they stay up until the wee hours of the night playing. Something I'm not quite as good at since having children. But we always have such a good time. We played a lot of Round House Rummy & Hand & Foot. And I must say we women got stomped at both games, every single time. The visit ended way too quickly, we were just so glad that they made the trip to come see us. As parents we know it's mostly about the kids now. Isn't it funny how we're the main attraction to our parents until our kiddos come & then we become sidekicks!? Of course we don't mind, we love our kids more than life & love that they are loved by others too. We are so blessed that our girls are so loved by our entire family, we couldn't ask for a bigger blessing! The night before Lynn & Grandad left (early early in the morning), we took a couple of pictures of the girls with their only great-grandparents! What a treasure these pictures are to have! I had to include the one too of just Ethne & Grandad it looks like he has her smiling! Love you all! ~Wendy.

Hospital Visits 1 & 2

The 29th of July I had my first CT scan since before we found out we were pregnant with little Ethne. CT days are not fun for me. I can forget for the 4 months in between scans that I ever had cancer. God completely healed me, all I have to remind me that I did is pictures & of course memories. But even my memories seem like they happened in a different lifetime. If I'm being honest (which I try to be always, I know it always sounds funny when someone says, 'honestly' as if they aren't usually honest. Okay, off the subject.) Anyway, I am afraid of getting cancer again. I know that God could heal me if I were to get cancer 100 times, but that doesn't mean I want Him to have that opportunity! I'd had a little bit of pain in my abdomen & was a little concerned that it may be cancer pain so I think we were all a little bit nervous to hear the results this time around. Thank the Lord we found out I am still cancer free!
I don't think I've blogged this but I have told some of you. There are companies these days that will actually 'store' your child's umbilical cord because the stem cells in it can help cure diseases etc. . . Well, it's a CRAZY expensive investment, typically a couple of thousand dollars. But, apparently because I had cancer we were able to store Ethne's for a only $150. So, basically that means if I DO get cancer again she could have her chance to save my life by using the cells they collected from her cord. I hope that won't be necessary, but what a gift to have that resource available if we need it.
On August 4th we spent the day at the Beaverton Kaiser with Ethne. She hadn't eaten very well during the night & in the morning whenever she was moved even a tiny bit she would let out a very pained cry. I don't like hearing that cry! She broke the 100 mark with her temperature & when I talked to the advice nurse she suggested bringing her in. No little baby should have to go through the few tests that they ran on her. I won't mention a couple of them but she had to have her blood drawn from her little arm & an x-ray done on her abdomen. No one found anything. I think it was something with her digestion. I know we probably could not have gone in but after cancer we don't have the typical mindset of 'oh, it's probably nothing', we know it could be something & just want to make sure it's not. The picture of Will & Ethne (completely covered by the blanket)is precious to me because it was toward the end of our day at the hospital & Ethne had fallen asleep on Will's chest. And my strong, rock of a husband sat there holding her so close broken because his little girl was hurting & he couldn't do anything to help her. It may sound 'not nice' that I think that's precious, I guess it's just a testament to how much he loves his girls. By the next day Ethne was a lot better, so no worries. . . So my question, when is the last time you had to go to the hospital for something that was wrong with you, and what was wrong? Thanks again to all of you who comment, I love reading what you have to say! ~Love you all! Wendy.

Corey's Birthday Celebration

My little brother turned 29 years old on the 28th of July!!!! How is it possible that all 3 of us 'Craig kids' are almost all in our fourth decade of life! I guess it's better than the alternative. Corey was going out of town the morning of his birthday so we had a family party on the 26th. What can I say about my little brother. I love him more than life. I am so proud to be his sister & love to watch how wonderful & loving he is to our girls. There is absolutely NOTHING he could not accomplish that he set out to accomplish. He has nice legs for a guy, or so says my husband who also said, there's nothing he wouldn't do for his friends or family on top of being fun to be around. He is thoughtful, considerate, polite, insanely athletic, and a guy that anyone would be lucky to know & blessed to call friend. I just happen to be both & have him as my little brother to boot!
I included pictures of what we all did. Does it work out the same for all of you? All the men gathered in the living room & the women in the kitchen. . .
preparing, serving, cleaning up. . .The men were playing golf on Dad's wii. Will loves playing golf lately, video golf that is. I'm hoping the Wii system will go even further & pretty soon require the player to do ALL the motions. I told Will he'd have my vote to get a Wii as soon as they come out with football & you have to run the ball in addition to throwing & catching etc. That would be a GREAT workout, don't you think!?Here's a picture of two of my favorite women in the whole world. We had tacos for dinner & they were cleaning up the remnants. If you've ever been to the Craig household chances are you've had our famous tacos. Ever since we were little my mom has made homemade soft corn tortillas, can you say YUMMY!? I think we probably had them at least once a week, that & spaghetti with cornbread. And we never got tired of them, I think all 3 of us kids still make them on our own & sometimes request it when we're meeting for a meal at Mom & Dad's house. What is a meal you had a lot growing up? And do you think it's weird that we ate cornbread with spaghetti? It wasn't until going away for college that it was brought to my awareness that people don't typically eat cornbread with their spaghetti. Anyway, I had to put a couple of cute pictures of Lilyanah playing with her aunt Kelsey & uncle Jeremy. You can't tell Kelsey was playing with Lilyanah but she was. She likes to hide behind things & scare Lilyanah, which our little loo whoo loves, by the way. I just thought it was cute that I caught her under Ethne in her crib. That crib is the same one my mom used for all three of us kids. So far I've used it for both our girls though where Lilyanah was able to sleep in it for 6 months I doubt Ethne will fit for another 2. She's so long & can reach so far with her little arms. That means Will & I will soon be in the market for a crib. Will's mom got Lilyanah one of those 3-in-1 cribs & we're looking for another one of those for little Ethne. I like the idea of the girls having a bed that will be useful all through their life & that they can take with them when they're old enough to move out way down the road. Sometimes do you feel painfully aware of how quickly time is passing? I know I do when I hold my growing girls, this is precious time. I hope you all are having a great weekend! Love you! ~Wendy.

July 27th

July 19th was Will's last game of softball for the year so I thought I would take some pics! Lilyanah taking a break from following the little girls to look at me, Will running to 3rd, Lilyanah playing with a little girl from church (Allison Rockwell), Corey heading home followed lastly by Dad pitching & Will at first base. We really enjoy the softball season. Will has a blast & does a great job as the first baseman!


This past Friday I was pampered beyond belief!!! For Mother's Day my precious husband got me a gift card to Coldwater Creek THE SPA & it took me this long to use it! Mom watched the girls while I got a massage (nice). I had a little over an hour though between my massage & pedicure so Will met us & we went to PF Changs for a bite of dinner. While we were there our sweet little Ethne decided to spit up all over my white shirt. So, my sweet, sweet husband went to a shop next door & bought me a new shirt. (He has good taste I must say!) I had to hurry back to the spa to get there in time for my pedicure which was OUT OF THIS WORLD! The words going through my head were, 'thank you Will!' & 'luxurious'. I have to say pedicures at Coldwater Creek THE SPA are a little piece of heaven! They lay you back in an anti-gravity chair, literally 'tuck-you-in' under blankets & place aromatic eye covers over your eyes. The lady said most of her clients fall asleep because they're so relaxed. I did, but thankfully only for a couple of minutes because the experience is so heavenly I wouldn't want to miss a minute! They're actually booked out through the holidays!!! Isn't that crazy! Needless to say, if any of you are lucky enough to have a Coldwater Creek spa near you, the ultimate pedicure is worth every pretty little penny you spend to get one! And, thank you again Will, you're the GREATEST!

July 19th, 2007

Back by popular demand. . .some adorable pictures of the girls!!! The first one is Lilyanah holding Ethne's hand, I couldn't pass that one up! I apologize for the lack of entries, life gets busy & getting on the computer doesn't happen very often! If only there was a connection from my brain to the computer; I think I write a blog entry in my mind at least once a day. I need a voice recorder cause I also have more creative ideas for posts than always updating on what is going on.
Today I've been strolling down memory lane, I usually do when I'm spending time at my parents' house. Lilyanah takes a nap in my old bedroom, it was mine from the time I was 4 years old! I sit on the bed with her & read a book or two & sing anywhere from 2 to a dozen songs before we pray & she lays down. From the time I was in junior high (possibly earlier) I would rearrange my furniture at least once a month if not more. (Some things never change!) Where the bed is now is where it was when I remember stacking all of my stuffed animals around the edges of the bed so the monsters under the bed couldn't get to me. I have to admit, even now whenever I get a little scared I find comfort at having covers over me. . . as if layers of cotton could save me from anything other than frost bite! When you're scared what do you do to ease your fear, other than praying cause' if we don't, we should all do that! Love you all! ~Wendy.