Women's Retreat

Last weekend, I went to our Women's Retreat with some of my best girlfriends. The retreat was wonderful- very uplifting and challenging to continue striving to do God's work in this world. And I can't help but feeling extremely blessed and surrounded by the most wonderful group of women. I never thought I'd have a group like this to confide in, pray with, laugh with, serve alongside, encourage and be encouraged by. They have truly blessed my life. Love you girls!

Guess Whhaaattt?

So it's finally time to make the official announcement- we are going to have a baby!!! 

I'm am almost 12 weeks along, and we'll be welcoming Baby Craddock sometime around the beginning of November. We are so very excited and we feel very, very blessed. We have felt so covered with love and support from our family and closest friends and can't wait to meet our little one in a few short months!

(The pictures were taken at 8 weeks)

Happy Birthday Booger Bear!!!

Today is Bailey's 4th birthday. She's so mature. I just love this pup more than anything and love that Brandon and I made a rash decision all those years ago to go get the runt of the litter from Ennis, TX. She has been the best dog and I don't know what I'd do without her. If you're ever having a bad day and need some unconditional lovin, she's just what you need. And today, she's going to be getting lots of yummy doggy treats, even though her metabolism has slowed down a bit and some of those womanly curves are more apparent.

Pioneer Woman

Guess what. I met her. THE Pioneer Woman. I went with Lindsay and Kristyn to get our cookbooks signed by one of our cooking inspirations. She signed our books and even talked to us for a few minutes.

Brandon is FAMOUS!

Last week, Brandon and several of our friends were extras in a Rangers' commercial. To Brandon, this is like a huge deal. He's been a Rangers fan forever and literally has to watch every single game. So being in this commercial with two of the players was awesome. He's sitting right behind Yu Darvish, the Rangers' new pitcher from Japan. Don't get Brandon started...he loves him. So thanks, Daniel- for giving my husband a better gift than I ever could. Glad yall had a fun day skipping work.

Easter Weekend

For Easter this year, we went to Nashville for a few days with my family. We hadn't seen them since Christmas, so it was so great to see my sweet family. We had a great time visiting with them for a few days. Here are a few of the casual pictures we took on Easter.

 

 

 

Aunt Allie snuggling up with the doggies.

Bathroom Reno

After many years of hating this bathroom, it is finally remodeled. And I'm happy. If you don't already know, my husband is amazing. With a little bit of my vision and assistance pulling down yucky layers of wallpaper, Brandon transformed this bathroom into something beautiful. He scraped and patched and painted and built and installed everything himself. Amazing. And here are the pics...

BEFORE:

 (as in 2009 before we moved in)

                                              

AFTER:

 

 I love it!

Baby Scarlett

This past weekend I went to visit my cousin and his wife in Oklahoma. And (most of all) their gorgeous new baby girl! She is one of the cutest babies I've ever seen. So snuggly and cute, she and I just stared at each other. I snapped a bunch of pictures for them, so here are my best attempts at photography- these are for you Memommy. Isn't she the sweetest thing!?!?!?!


Baby Scarlett:

With her Mommy and Daddy:

With her GRANDPARENTS:

And, of course, with me!

Thanks for letting me come see you guys! Hope to see you again soon!!!

The Bachelor, The Baby, and The Boat

I feel like January and February have flown by. Usually I hate January and February because of the bitter cold, but it has been unbelievably mild here. While I'm typing this, it's 78 degrees outside - crazy! But I'll attempt to catch up a little.

First things first. The Bachelor. I'm obsessed as always. Judge me and pity me because I know it's horrible, but I just can't get enough of it. And my good friend Ally comes over to watch with me (Brandon just doesn't get it) and watching with her makes it so much better:

Next. The Baby. No, not me, you crazies. I'm talking about Brandon's sister Kim. She and Philip are now foster parents to a beautiful baby boy. I wish I could post tons of pictures on here, because he is adorable. But we've been to Austin to visit him and now he's been here to visit us. And I love nothing more than snuggling that sweet boy. I could go on and on...

Aaaaaaand The Boat. For those of you don't know, Brandon loves his boat. Like, a lot. It was his Papa's, and it is very dear to his heart. He has been wanting to "renovate" it, and he has just finished. He spent like a zillion hours working and obsessing over it, but I must admit it looks amazing. Here are some before/after pics.

 BEFORE:

 DURING (yikes!) :

 AFTER:

 And I made him take this one...so proud of the finished product!

So all in all, life is good! Earlier this month, Jess and Jonathan matched for his residency program in Kentucky and last week my cousin Zach and his wife Julia had their precious baby girl. We are continually reminded how much God continues to bless us and our wonderful family and friends.

January Post (Lost but not forgotten)

Oops- this is wayy overdue...

On January 6th, my mom was honored for the Vivian Thomas Award at Vanderbilt, where she works as a nurse researching Diabetes and working with families to change their lives in a huge way. As her daughter, I can tell you first hand how hard she works, and deserves to be honored for the passion and contribution she's made in her field. Here's an article telling about her special day. So proud of you, Mom!
And of course, a few pictures...

And here are a few pictures leftover from Black Family Christmas...