The Perfect Husband!

I actually had some quite time by myself today and was thinking about how blessed I am. And I came to the conclusion that I truly have the perfect husband. He is so good and patient. I just wanted to tell him how much I love him and how thankful I am for him. I've always known that I'm lucky to have him but he has proved that to me over and over again these last two weeks. He is such a great dad and wonderful husband. I could go on and on about the little things he does that makes my life easier. But that would take forever and I wanted to brag about his latest military achievements too. Jonathan just received the Air Force Achievement Medal for 'meritorious service.' A few of his accomplishments that earned him this medal (according to his commander at Eielson) are "his unsurpassed experience was crucial in the repair of three ruptured water lines in two F-16 hangars...completed in two hours preventing damage to critical wing assets valued in excess of 72 million dollars, working through the night to clear a blocked sewage line, and while deployed he volunteered 192 hours at the Balad Theater Hospital. Those are just three of the many things his commander listed. I'm really proud of him and grateful for all that he does. Jonathan, I love you the most and I'm so thankful for all that you do for me!!

To Sisters!

I owe another huge thanks, but this time to my sisters. Meg and Kayleen came and spent 5 days here with me and helped out SOO much. Meg did all the cooking and Kayleen even changed poopy diapers. It was a little chaotic having 4 kids running around but oh so much fun. Hailey was so good with Jordynn. She was always wanting to hold her and kiss her. I don't think Jordynn has been put down since the day she was born. Meg even took Jordynn to bed with her one night and only returned her to me because Jordynn got hungry. I have to apologize to both of them though. I took such great advantage of them that Meg tried to leave a day early. I convinced her to stay but then instead of hanging out and having fun with her I made her help me figure out Jonathan's trigonometry while Kayleen wrestled with the kids. Sorry girls. Maybe next time Jonathan and I will manage our time better and get our homework done sooner so that we can go get that tattoo. Haha!! Good times. Thanks so much for coming girls. I love my sisters!!

This is a rare moment when the kids were all sitting still. Okay so we actually had to put a movie on to get them to all sit still but hey, for an hour we had some peace and quiet.

A HUGE Thanks!!

I hope someday that I can be as great of a mom as my mom. To start off, somehow her mere presence here started my labor and I am so thankful to finally have that baby out of me. Then while I was in the hospital Mom cleaned my house, bathed my boys, cooked meals, did laundry, went grocery shopping, etc, etc, etc. When I got home from the hospital she went into double time and took care of the house, the boys, AND me and baby. The entire time she was here I didn't change a single Kade diaper, or bathe them or dress them, or cook, or clean, or do laundry. She completely spoiled me. And the boys absolutely LOVED having her here. She read to them and chased them and fed them and was completely silly with them. We were all so sad when she had to leave. So I just wanted to send out a HUGE thanks to my mom. I don't know what I would have done without her. I love you Mom.

Just so you know I didn't COMPLETELY take advantage of my Mom I had to post this picture. Every once in a rare while I did let my mom stop working and sit down and read. And Yes, she is reading Twilight. Hope you like it Mom!!

Our Baby GIRL!!!

YEAH!! Our little bundle FINALLY made it. My last few appointments with the doctor (including Wednesday afternoon) were disappointing to say the least. I was discouraged because my body wasn't showing any signs of progressing and he wouldn't discuss inducing me because my prior c-section makes inducing a higher risk. I was SO afraid that my mom was going to come and go and I would still be pregnant. Well, mom flew in Wednesday afternoon and a few hours later I went into labor. I can't believe how perfect it all worked out. I finally went to the hospital around 6 am on Thursday and Jordynn Breanne was born at 10:20 am. She weighed 7lbs. 11 oz. and was 20 1/2 inches long. I am so excited to finally have her here. So far she has been a really great baby. Trayton and Kade were thrilled that sister was out of mom's tummy and they could hold her and kiss her at last. I can't get Trayton to leave her alone. They are both going to be such great big brothers to her. Thanks for all the love and support! Hope you enjoy the pics.

Bee update!!

So here's the latest on my unwanted house visitors. After 48 hours of having Jonathan's cage of bees in my laundry room he finally got home from work early enough to get them in the hive. A really kind lady that lives down the street gave Jonathan permission to set up the hive in her alfalfa field so Jonathan didn't have to set it up in my back yard. I wasn't too thrilled about setting up a beehive in the same yard that the boys play. Anyway, here are some pictures of Jonathan transferring the bees from the shipping cage to the hive. For those of you who were wondering WHY in the world does he want bees...HONEY. Jonathan had fresh honeycomb on his mission and has been interested in it ever since. He has seriously researched this subject for years and finally decided to try his hand at raising bees and harvesting honey. (Sorry the pictures aren't that great. I was being a coward and hiding in the truck.)

BEES!!!

Today I got a call from the post office and the man on the phone said I needed to come down and pick up a package of bees. WHAT??? Yes, I agreed to support Jonathan in his bee hobby...BUT, only on the condition that I didn't have to do anything with them. However, Jonathan was at work and begged me to pick them up for him. And, of course the people in the post office were more than anxious to get rid of the bees. The man on the phone all but begged me to hurry down and pick them up. Being the GREAT wife that I am, I gathered all the courage I could muster and went to face my fears. This is what I found at the post office. Is that creepy or what?!? My husband has some of the strangest hobbies EVER! He owes me big for this one. And since he got home too late tonight he couldn't get them in the hive so they are sitting in my laundry room. Yes, that's right, they are INSIDE my house. The boys think they are cool but I'm terrified. I keep staring at the door to the laundry room and waiting for them to bust out of their tiny cage and swarm under the door and attack me. Have I mentioned that I hate bees?

Newest Crandell Girl

Congrats L.J. and Amanda! They had a new little girl yesterday. They haven't named her yet but she weighed in at 7 lbs 6 oz and was 20 in. long. We are so excited for them and wish them the best of luck. She's adorable and we can't wait to find out what you name her. Now we are just anxiously waiting for our baby to join the growing Crandell family.