Israel John Crain

He is here!!!

Born 3.21.13

@ 9:34 a.m.

7 lb. 12 oz. 

20 inches long

  

You guys. We are in love!! Honestly this boy has brought so much more fun into this house. I knew I loved him from the day God placed him into my belly, but wow. We just didn't realize just how much love that kid could take from us when the doctor placed him in our arms. Neither of us realized we missed having a newborn around until now. Israel is seriously amazing. Eden LOVES her baby brother. Sometimes I don't think she realizes he actually has a name...just "baby brudder." She thinks I feed him from my tummy. Hilarious. Trust me, I have every intention of writing his birth story because I think it was a pretty great one...and it wasn't traumatic this time..HOORAY! We were able to leave the hospital just 2 days after having him so we have been able to be home since yesterday and loving being a family of four (plus Bella of course). I can't wait to tell you all more about him.

I love my little family more than I could have ever imagined. 

Thank you God for blessing us so much. I still feel like I am living in a dream. 

*All pictures taken by my very talented friend, Charissa Bernard. Thank you so much Charissa for capturing our first day so perfectly!

Serve

I wanted to share a quick something with you all today. Something that doesn't cost money, but does require a tiny bit of effort. Something I think is worth it. Let me give you a back story (don't I always feel the need to do this?!). 

Pregnancy is not my best time. I know I am so beyond blessed to have carried two babies. Trust me, I realize the blessing that is when so many people are unable to do the same. My heart aches for you, really it does. I do my best to not be the typical complaining pregnancy lady. I find complaining to be quite ugly really. Although, this pregnancy has been much more painful so I did start to feel a little more compassion to those that whine about all of those aches and pains...I actually really got it this time. The worst part of pregnancy for me is the hormones. My attitude is quite lame honestly. And my patience? Non-existent. This bothers me a ton and takes a lot of prayer to try to get past it. Then there is the whole...I'm already a control freak who obsesses over cleanliness and then gets nesting thrown on top of that and well, I am certifiably crazy. 

Guess who bears the brunt of my crazies? The husband. My best friend. The father of my babies. 

This hurts me and I know it hurts him...although the rockstar that he is, he doesn't even say a word and just keeps helping me through it all. Thanks babe! 

So I was reading somewhere one day (probably a blog because that's where I get a lot of inspiration these days) and I saw the suggestion to stop complaining and nagging your husband over all the little things that make you frustrated and just do it. 

Enter the shower curtain. 

I am not OCD, but I do consider myself borderline sometimes. Little things will make me crazy. The way the soap dispenser is facing, toilet paper must always be refilled and obviously the toilet paper goes over and not under, pillows get put a certain way, etc. Yes, I know it is crazy, but these are the things that help my chaotic life feel a little less chaotic. So, what is it about a seemingly harmless shower curtain that makes me insane? It MUST be pushed back to the right side (i.e. the side where all the toiletries are sitting, NOT the side with the faucet). Crazy right? But it drives me insane if it is any other way. Sadly, my poor husband does not understand this. 

In one of my hormonal rampages, I was frustrated that once again the toilet paper roll was empty, socks were left lying on the floor, and the shower curtain was THE WRONG WAY. I was thisclose to having one of my crazy episodes when I remembered what I had read about not nagging and just fixing whatever is bugging you. So, I did it. I grumbled a bit under my breath, but honestly, it wasn't that big of a deal. 

I've been doing this for a couple of months now. I can pretty much guarantee Josh has not noticed and probably didn't realize how annoyed I was at it. And you know what? I wasn't doing it so that he would notice. Usually I would want him to take note that I am this great wife who is doing such a great thing. But really? I just want to serve him with a happy heart. I hadn't realized how much I was struggling with the serving part. I mean, I cook him dinner, wake him up for work, clean up the house...isn't that enough?! Answer? NOPE. 

You may be reading this and you may not have a husband. So, who else can you serve today? A friend? A family member? A coworker? Try it. It may not come natural at first, sure didn't for me, but soon enough you may be able to do it with a smile on your face. Seriously. And maybe I am the only person out there who freaks out about seemingly insignificant things and struggles with nagging...so um, hello, welcome to my life. 

I almost didn't post this. Mainly because I didn't want this to look like I was saying, "LOOK AT ME!!!" and obviously Josh will read this and will know what I have been doing. But, I felt like it was something that needed to be shared and honestly? It will challenge me to find other ways to serve him. 

So...GO. Go fix that shower curtain. Don't say a word and just do it. SERVE.

38 Weeks | The Final Update

The very last pregnancy update is here. I am right at 38 1/2 weeks pregnant right now....I will be 39 on Thursday. The day of the scheduled c-section. I never thought I would make it to that date, and am still wondering if I will. Baby boy, you are trying hard to come out early. Ordinarily I would be just fine and dandy with that, but my doctor is out of town and we kind of sort of will have a brush with fame if he waits until Thursday. I'll give you more details on our major "famousness" (yeah I made that up) if it actually happens. Here is the thing. Last pregnancy my water broke. I never once had a contraction of my own. Had no idea what they even felt like. The doctor on call (because once again I didn't have my actual doctor) insisted we start Pitocin to reduce the likelihood of infection. I finally agreed. Pitocin contractions are the only  contractions I ever knew and I thought I would never know what "real" ones felt like since this time our baby would be born through a c-section. No need for contractions there. Ha. Ha. and HA. I have had contractions for the past month, and very strong ones I might add. Fast forward to two days ago and if I even moved I would have one. Yesterday, I put myself on bed rest knowing my doctor was out of town. I refused to time contractions until later in the night... they were 2-4 minutes apart, all lasting for a minute or so each. No one thought I would make it through the night, but thankfully, I did. The contractions kept coming all night and were pretty intense in the morning, but somehow they just died down the rest of the day. Not that they are non-existent, but I'm less worried about him coming at the moment. Honestly, if it weren't for my horribly awful experience last time that lead me to my new doctor, I would be up and walking around trying to get labor started. Sadly, due to that awful experience, I am a bit on the worried side when it comes to having a different doctor. I think it is valid. I totally know God has this in His hands so if Israel comes early I will be more than excited. I keep picturing what his little face will look like.

Oh and in ever dramatic Mallory fashion, I may have taken a trip to the hospital once already. At 37 weeks. I peed my pants. Don't ask.

I have loved being pregnant with friends. I don't want to forget that my friend Sarah and I have our c-section scheduled for the same morning. Yes, we live in two different states, but it has been fun to have that to look forward to together. Now we are both excited to see which baby comes first! I also have a friend who is being induced the day after my surgery, by the same doctor, which means we will be hospital buddies! I am so determined to have a better experience this time that I truly believe I am going to be able to get up and move around and go meet her baby girl. And, probably the most special thing I want to remember is that Israel shares the same due date as his little "cousin," Hayley. Ruby and I were both due on March 28th. Ironically, I'll be having him a week early and she had Hayley almost a week late. They won't share birthdays, but just having shared that date seems pretty special to me. 

I just cannot believe the time is here. All the planning, worrying, excitement...it all comes down to one day. Soon enough I know I will look back and wonder what life was like without our little boy even though right now I can't figure out what life will be like with him. More chaotic for sure, and yet, so much more wonderful. That I am sure of. 

Just for fun, I also want to make sure to remember some guesses we have about our little man. Eden guessed that he will have pink eyes. Let's hope she is wrong on that one. For some reason I have always pictured him as having dark hair and dark eyes. I don't know if that is because in my family I was the blondie when EVERY SINGLE OTHER PERSON in my family has black hair or what. It is just what I picture. I also think of him as having more of my brother's personality. Laid back, but still great at bugging his sister. He may end up being more of a class clown like Josh, so we will see. Eden uses up so much energy that I am not sure if we can have two highly energetic kids around. Thankfully Bella sleeps for all of us. As for size, Josh and I both feel pretty confident he will be in the upper 6 pound range. Maybe 6 lbs 10 ounces? We will see soon enough!

Alright....next time I blog about the baby it should be a picture of him!!!!! 

The Happiest Place On Earth!

We went to Disneyland back in November. Did you know that? Yeah...I am slacking in a major way. These contractions tell me I better hurry up and get these photos posted before I am juggling two kids and more sleep deprived than I am now. I truly don't think that is possible.

So...California. The state I was born in. I moved to Oregon in 3rd grade. I still have a very soft spot for Cali in my heart. I am a sun loving girl in a big way. The last time I had seen the state was in 2007, just after Josh and I got married. We went down to witness my longtime BFF get married. It was fantastic, but since then she has had 2 babies and I had 1 and I had only met her firstborn once. That had to change. So, we planned a trip. This took a lot of deal seeking since we do not exactly have cash just lying around. Well, technically our trip was funded by cash that was in a sense laying around....our furniture. We sold a bunch of things and that helped pay for us to have a vacation! Can I just tell you, that was the most wonderful trip? Seriously. I honestly think taking a vacation with a child is the best thing ever. I know you all are rolling your eyes, but hear me out. There is something magical about watching your toddler's eyes light up as they realize they get to go up in the sky in the airplanes they always have to point out in the sky. And Disneyland? Wow. That girl felt the magic in a big way. I love Disneyland on my own, but Josh and I agreed, nothing topped walking through the "Happiest Place on Earth" with Eden. Was everything picture perfect? Um, hardly. There were meltdowns and diaper explosions (we missed our cloth diapers in a big way on the trip) galore, BUT the positives far outweighed any negatives. 

How do I even sum up the days that we were gone? There are so many things to tell you! We flew into California right after finding out that we were having a boy. Only our family got to know...everyone else had to wait until we announced it from Disneyland. We hit up thrift stores because I was a bit excited about buying some little boy things. We spent the first half of the trip in San Clemente, visiting our long-time best friends/second family. Sadly, the weather was not cooperating so we never did have a trip to the beach, but we had tons of fun anyway. We had a joint birthday party for me and my BFF's brother which was so fun. On my actual birthday we hung out in Palm Springs and ate lots of Mexican food. You know I was happy. We ate lots of good food (sadly I was still in the morning sickness phase of pregnancy), saw a whole lot of thrift stores, enjoyed Starbucks, and all sorts of fun things. I only took one photo with my big girl camera, but don't worry, I'll be posting my IG photos on a later date which has more from that half of our trip.

Oh, Disneyland. You were amazing. Everything we dreamed and more. We planned on going to Disneyland for 3 days. If you know me, you know I am a bit hardcore about my Disney trips. As in, I want to be at the gate before they open and be the last to leave. Already on the first day that didn't happen and I kinda sorta had a bad attitude about it. It was one of those "it's my birthday and I'll cry if I want to," moments. I was super excited to see my beautiful Brianne (who happened to be there with her husband), make our "we are having a BOY!" announcement, and soak up every glorious moment of that place. Thankfully, I have an awesome husband who knew that our trip to Disneyland probably wouldn't be replicated for many many years, so he surprised me with an extra day! That boy knows how to make me happy. Honestly? If you are going to Disneyland with kids...please just go more days than you expect. Long gone are the days where you can plan out each minute of your visit. I was a master at getting to each ride at the right time of day. On the first day, we made it on 3 rides. That's it. It just takes longer when you have a toddler who needs diaper changes, food, time for meltdowns, and naps. Add to that a pregnant mom and well, you get nothing done.

That's Brianne. She's amazing. Our goal growing up was to go to Disneyland together. It happened and it wasn't even planned (although we knew she and her hubs were going to be there at the same time as us). It was incredible. Thankfully they were flexible and just followed us around the whole time! 

The girls. From left: my mom, me, Brianne, and Eden. 

I think one of the highlights was meeting the characters. Eden LOVES all things Disney (duh...she's our child) so she couldn't believe her eyes when her favorite characters were right in front of her. She was elated.

 

Goofy got the privilege of announcing that we were having a boy named Israel. He was quite honored. It was a bit tough to get a full shot of Goofy with the hat since I had my 50mm lens on, but hey it captured the memory well enough.  

Yes, that is Eden's hand in Donald Duck's mouth. After this photo he pretended to wipe his mouth out, which made for some giggles. A fact we weren't aware of until we were at Disneyland...the girl is OBSESSED with the duck. I mean seriously. She would cry every time we had to leave him. You can bet when we let her choose one thing to bring home from Dland she picked a stuffed Donald Duck. 

Awesome Snow White right? I happen to be a serious Disney character critic. I approved of this one. 

  

Oh, Merida. We hadn't even seen her movie yet. In fact, we didn't even know how to pronounce her name correctly. BUT we had a chance to be third in line to meet her and by all means, we weren't passing up an opportunity like that. Merida had a bit of an attitude problem. And by a bit, I mean I was THISCLOSE to grabbing Eden and leaving the line. We watched her deal with the two families in front of us and whoa, girl had some issues. However, we stuck out the eye rolls figuring we would just get her to sign her autograph and wish her a better day. Turns out, her attitude changed immediately when Eden ran up and hugged her. Eden has magical powers, seriously. From what we thought was going to be our worst experience, ended up being the best memory. Merida scooped Eden up and hugged her so tight. We kept insisting we should let other people have a turn, but Merida insisted we stay longer. She talked to Eden like she had known her forever and Eden looked mesmerized. They even danced around a bit. So, a lesson was learned from our darling two year old. The girl with the most beautiful green eyes may have had a bad attitude, but shouldn't we love her anyway? Eden didn't care that she had rolled her eyes and stomped her foot at other people, she only saw a person that needed a hug. I need to work on that. Not jumping to conclusions, but loving people no matter what. I am so glad we met "Merida."

Notice the Crain family is so white that we glow. Whooops...didn't compensate for that in the camera settings. Also, aren't Brianne and Marcus the best? Eden was the flower girl in their wedding last summer (which was also the day we found out we were pregnant!) so they have a bit of a special relationship. I just wish they lived a teeny tiny bit closer. 

We watched the Soundsational Parade the first day we were there. I was super excited to see this one. It was fun music, lots of color, and all the greatest characters. Not to mention I captured a couple funny moments. 

Oh hey Aladdina....whatcha doing? Worshiping the sun again? I mean for real. 

Great job on the tower my friends. It was realistic. I liked it. Sadly, it was getting dark thus the photo is especially dark. 

Hey girl, heyyy! Also, Rapunzel, not so much. Eden didn't even know who you were supposed to be and she is a resident 'Punzel expert. 

Dear Belle, you look awesome. Dear Cinderella, you aren't doing it for me. I don't believe you are Cinderella for one moment. Try again. Also, did I mention I was a Disney character critic? Believe me now? 

This girl stole my job. They said a pregnant Tinkerbell was "inappropriate." So what if there is a pregnant fairy riding on top of a float? It's a new day folks and I WANNA BE TINKERBELL! 

I loved this one. "Hackin Hooks" and Peter Pan were fantastically funny and lively. And that boy sure can jump. 

How many photos until Blogger fails and won't let me post? Let's try a few more shall we?

Our girl LOVED the rides. Shall I mention the fact that she rode Pirates of the Caribbean at least five times? Yeah, it was one of her faves. She liked the Haunted Mansion, but getting stuck on it for a looooong period of time was a little lame. Dumbo was awesome. She loooooved the Astro Orbitors at night. It's a Small World is always a win. Like I said, rides were a hit with this one. I'll give some tips on rides in the next post, so for now here are just a few more glimpses into our trip. 

Well, thanks for reading the world's longest blog post. Wow. Took a few tries to put it all together, but I am so glad I finally did it! Thanks for taking a trip down memory lane with me...

Israel's Baby Shower

And once again, I am so blessed by my friends and family. I was most certainly not expecting a baby shower for the second baby, let alone such a large one, but wow am I so thankful! It was a perfect event pulled off perfectly by two very important people in my life, Ruby and Kirsten. They did a fantastic job making it the perfect day that fit my personality exactly. I actually knew nothing about the shower. The only thing I asked of the girls was that they make it as stress free on themselves as possible. I don't think they listened, but hey, I tried. Either way, I had so much fun and have so many great memories from that day. I didn't get many photos..and definitely not any good quality ones. I tried to snap as many as possible, but in the end, decided having conversations with all those I treasure was much more important. So, sorry for the quality, but you'll get the idea. 

I'll have to post photos of the blocks once I get them. This was such a cute activity! I'm not a girl who likes games, so this was perfectly perfect. Each guest made a block and they all turned out so cute and unique. Seriously, I can't wait to get a closer look of them!

And um hi, that view?! I would never grow tired of that view. I take photos each time I visit this location...I cannot get enough.

Ruby. Me. Kirsten. Love those two more than they will probably ever realize. So thankful for their friendship and the fact that I am able to be so real with them. Seriously, they haven't given up on me yet despite the fact that they get to experience just how crazy I really am. 

Despite the shower being right in the middle of Eden's nap time, I couldn't imagine her not being there. She had so much fun, despite the few meltdowns at the end.

Eden LOVES her Uncle Brett. As you can tell, she has a whole lot of fun with him. This was the most serious photo we could get of the three of us. The dirty knee is an indicator of just how much fun she had...

First pair of Jordan's, lovingly given by Uncle Brett and Aunt Stephanie. Perks of Nike employees. I can't wait to put these on Israel's little feet.

I have extremely talented friends. If you want the CUTEST baby things ever check out East&El. Ashley is amazing. 

Oh and best surprise of all? Our stroller! A bunch of friends and family went in on our double stroller and ended up also gifting us with the carseat attachment AND the rocker for our bassinet. Blessed. That's what I am. Don't worry, I'll post photos of the stroller as soon as we can take our little man out for some strolls! We did take Eden on a test drive, and yep...we are in love. The bassinet stand is happily sitting next to our bed, waiting to be occupied by a teeny tiny baby. Hurry it up little man! 

This Girl

It is hard to believe that in 15 days (or less) we are going from one child to two. I probably should be reflecting on this more, but honestly I think it is all going to work out some way or another. Eden is so excited to be a big sister. She talks about Israel all the time. She loves helping set up stuff for him, put away his clothes, and all the other cute ways she can help. So, since she is soon going to be sharing this house with another sibling, I figured it would be fun to do one last post about our big girl. She has been so into me taking her photo lately (LOVE THIS!) so I was even able to include some semi-recent photos of the girl. 

Eden Rae,

You are about to become a big sister! I know we have been talking about it for a very long 9 months, but soon he won't just be in my tummy. I want you to know that you are, and will always be, very special to us. You are our firstborn baby girl. Now, you get to have the responsibility of being a sister. I know you are going to love it! You have such a caring soul and I am pretty sure you are going to just transform into mini-mommy mode right away. I am going to miss you so much while we are in the hospital, but we are going to be so excited to come home to you! You have grown up so fast. You are all potty-trained now! HOORAY! In fact you potty-trained the day after Christmas and after only a week you were potty trained during the day AND night. We are so proud of you. You are starting to eat more food, which is a welcome sight around here! Jumping is probably your favorite activity. On a bed, on the ground, on a table...it doesn't matter, you just want to jump. Daddy and I were also talking about how amazing you are with changes. We do our best to prep you before changing anything major in your life, but you have been so great at adapting to all of the changes that have happened in our family lately. You are sweet, strong, independent, loving, and very aware of other's feelings. When someone is sad, you are quick to give hugs. You are a fantastic little girl and daddy and I are so thankful that God blessed us with you 2.5 years ago! 

Love,

Mommy and Daddy