Merry Christmas from Texas

Wow... we made it to Texas. What a wild ride that was.
Now that we are all here we are all sick. Sammie started it all, she had a crazy cold and congestion, passed it to Andrew then the rest of us got it. Andrew got it so bad we had to go the doctor here in Texas and get antibiotics for him. So he is on medication and the rest of us are on over-the counter meds.

We have had a good time while here in Texas. We got to go out and hang\ out with our friends Heather and Daniel. It was good to hang out with them and catch up. Thanks yall.

I just wanted to wish everyone a great Christmas and a happy new year. Here is our holiday card to everyone! Love ya. (If you have not gotten your card in the mail I am still working on it. Just call me a slacker.)

Window paintings

Sunday Sammie was sick all day so we decided to keep the kids from school on Monday. So to keep them busy we painted the window. It was fun so here are the results….
Drew presents….”Corn”

Sammie presents….”pumpkin”


And I just wrapped everything up with “fall”


Here is the whole window



They just blob the paint on the window and I just went and added the circle and lines to Sammie’s picture and drew…I just added the other side of the corn for him. Caroline observed and supervised the painting of the window. She is a great supervisor. I think we will start painting the window once a month and see our creations grow. The kids love to paint on the window. They think it is fun. (At least this way we know that the window will be washed at least once a month. )

By the way... Sammie is fine, she just had a little stomach bug and she is as good as new now.
See yall soon.

SESIL

here are the pictures of the kids after we finished with the window. Proud little painters.

pirate pillages loot "aaarrrrrrrr!"

This pumpkin is NOT happy!
Another successful raid of loot and treasures!

The Devil made me eat 22 pieces of candy!

So off to the burbs for halloween, we took Moo, drew and sweet carolina out to Marie Amatos house to celebrate! As you can see Sammie was one cute little pirate, she would swing her arm and tell you "aaarrrr!". Drew is sporting his best devils costume , very scary! And sweet Carolina was a little pumpkin , but when she got too hot we took the pumpkin body off and she turned into a carrot stick. I'm pretty sure sammie and drews pediatrician and dentist would not have been happy about the evenings food choices....none were on the food pyramid unless the pryamid consisted of massive amounts of lollipops, chocolate , popcorn and an occasional starburst. The only thing they did not consume was pure sugar, which i'm sure they would have, had it been offered! Hope you all had a safe and fun Halloween!

circus

okay... blogger lost my original post. Too tired to re-post. I should have learned my lesson the last time this happened. Sorry. I will post again soon. Next time I will post with pictures.

Long story short....we went to the circus with Sammie and Drew.
:)Sesil

Circus

Last night Robert and I took Sammie and Drew to the circus. Sammie was excited and kept talking about the elephants, tigers and seeing JoJo(If some of you don't know Jo Jo is a clown on her TV show with Playhouse Disney and is her favorite cartoon) the ENTIRE way to the circus. We get there and get the tickets. We got general admition tickets so we found some seats and Robert was off to get the snacks and goodies. While waiting for the show to start they have elephant rides and pony rides for the kids to participate. We decided that was not something for us but the kids did like watching all the other kids riding the animals. Andrew kept waving a the elephants. Robert gets back with the goodies and the show finally starts.

The show started off with the Lion and Tigers. What amazing animals! Then there was this Romanian couple that did acrobatic maneuvers, while suspended high about the circus. Then there was an elephant that could balance and walk on this large cylendar thing. It was amazing. Then there were these ladies that would go up on the ropes and do their dancing and hanging from the ropes while the guys on the ground would swing the rope to make them spin. (do you know what i am talking about here?)

By that time Sammie was exausted and was ready to go home. so we packed up the kids and headed back to the house. I think we missed the majority of the show but the kids were just way tooo tired and I did not want to get to the point of them loosing thier minds because they were tired stage. We made it home by 9:30 and the kids just crashed. I think they had a good time, too bad we didn't get a chance to see the whole show. Maybe next year.

Update...

Where has the time gone.

We have been crazy busy. On the 23rd of September, Robert and I went with Jamie and Wade's family to the Cowboy vs. Bears game in Chicago. What a great time. We tailgated and then attended the game. Soooo much fun..... Jay (my buddy from Nacogdoches, TX) called while I was at the game. He said that I was on TV. TOOO COOL! Too bad I didn't Tivo it! About the same time Phylis said that Sammie pointed to the tv and said "Look there is mommy!" So I guess Sammie saw me too. Had a total blast! Thank you Donna Barns for finding the tickets.

Then the next day on the 24th of September, Andrew and Sammie started pre-school. It was a tough day for me because the both cried. But glad to say the crying stopped at the end of the week. They are both doing well at school. I will have to post the pictures. (okay... off to download some pictures)

This past weekend Laura and Van came to visit. We took everyone to Shaboygan, WI and went to Blue Harbor Resorts. Sammie and Van had a blast at the water park. Drew...was a little scared. Caroline had a little dunk in the water as well. I actually got to sit in the hot tub for the first time in a long time. (I am finally not pregnant.) So we all enjoyed the visit. Sammie is still talking about her Cousin Van and Aunt Laura. Thanks for coming down.

So off to download pictures. Enjoy. ;)SESIL

Pictures w/Dora

Sammie's Birthday Party.

We had Sammie's party on Sep 16th. Robert rented a moon walk and the kids loved jumping all day long. Sammie's third birthday was a hit! The weather was perfect! Here is a clip of all of us singing happy birthday to her. I will post more pictures too. :)SESIL

Dora - the moon walk we rented for the party



A funny picture to show how tall the moon walk was in the yard



Sammie jumping in the moon walk



Sammie saying hi to Daddy at the wall of the moon walk



Sammie pointing saying...you come in!

Happy Birthday Sammie!!

Happy Birthday Sammie....
Sammie and I made a cake last night and I finished decorating it for this morning. Sammie loved the cake, Party Hats and Balloons! I can not believe that she is three years old. Wow...how time flies by.

Hope you have a great day. sammie is having the best birthday. :)SESIL

Sweet Caroline....

Here are a few pictures of Sweet Caroline. I took these today. She is such a joy, laughing and loves watching the kids play. Thought I would share the pictures of Caroline with everyone.

Sammie's got a big girl bed.

Sammie sound asleep on her new bed.


I finally put her bed together. As you can see she loves her new Big Girl Bed. Now I just need to work on the pacifier and the diapers. hope all is well.

7 years...

Wow... Can not believe it has been seven years since Robert and I got married. How time flies by when we are having fun.

So for our anniversary we just went to oak st beach and played with the kids and had a great day. Here are some shots of Sammie and Drew.






I can not believe it is already August. Summer is just flying by.

It has been totally crazy at the Cratin household. With having three now I don't even know what day of the week it is. Most of our days are filled with playing in the sprinklers to keep cool and taking afternoon naps..the best part of the day.

Caroline is laughing out loud now. She totally digs her big brother. Sammie....well she still thinks she is the only child. They really are doing great. I am doing good as well. Just been keeping busy with my scrapbooking, knitting,crochet and trying to teach myself how to sew a quilt. So Okay....trying to do all this and keep up with three children. Just call me crazy.

Hope all is well out there with everyone. I will try and post soon. :)sesil

just a few things...

Here is a video of the kids. This is how we spend most of the day. PLAYING!!!

I wish.

So I do have a funny story to tell...
Everyday the ice cream truck comes through the neighborhood quite often. So one day Sammie asks if we can get ice cream from the truck. I keep telling her.."sorry Sammie Mommy doesn't have any money. We need money to get ice cream from the truck." so this went on for about three days. On the forth day she hears the ice cream truck and asks "Mommy, did you find money yet for the truck?" I had to laugh and tell her "no dear you have to tell your daddy to give mommy some money so we can get some ice cream." That night Robert comes home and Sammie immediately says "Daddy, go find money for mommy!" Not knowing what she was talking about I burst into laughter and explain to him what happened earlier that day. So she did ask her daddy to give/find me money for the ice cream truck. So now we always have a couple of bucks just in case the ice cream truck comes by.

Andrew and Caroline are doing great! Andrew is defiantly a little boy. Always banging things on the ground or throwing them across the room...that is Andrew. Caroline is starting to smile, she smiles at Drew but not to Sammie. We will see who will gang up on whom.

thought I would post to give everyone a good laugh. :)Sesil

Sammie our singer...

Okay... here is Sammie singing "Sweet Caroline" Enjoy. Sorry it is a little fuzzy on the video.
:)Sesil

This is what happens when.....

This is what happens when you dog sit and your son is just way too observant.

So this is how drew plays now after dog sitting for a friend of mine. Enjoy.

Sammie and her ABC's

Sammie can sing her ABC's check her out. And check drew eating a cryaon. enjoy. ;)SESIL

Summer Fun...

A few pictures in the backyard. Summer Fun.
Enjoy! :)SESIL

Sammie can work the computer

Watch this video!!! Sammie learned how to work the mouse of the computer. Now she can navigate the internet by herself. Check it out... You can even check out her tring to sing. Enjoy.
:)Sesil

Sammie can dress herself

Sammie can dress herself
Originally uploaded by cr8n00

Going through some pictures and ran into this one. Sammie dressed herself that morning....as you can see her pants are on backwards. But Hey.... She dressed herself. Love this picture. I will be posting random pictures and other stuff today. :)SESIL

videos

drew in wagon


Drew Dancing

Sweet Caroline.......

Sweet Caroline!!!

She is finally here. Robert and I went to the hospital at noon May 3, 2007 ready for our induction. We got into the labor and delivery room and waited for the nurses to put in my IV, all the check in questions and information. I received my epidural around 3 pm. So now it was just the waiting game. Robert and I watched 24, poker and took power naps. While Robert was napping I started to watch Ugly Betty. So while I am watching TV Robert runs down to the cafeteria to eat some dinner while we wait. So Grey’s Anatomy starts and go figure….Caroline was ready to come out. The Dr. had just come in and checked to see if I had progressed and I was close. Then all the sudden I tell the nurse that I am starting to feel pressure and I think I am ready to start pushing. So the nurse checks and I am dilated….Okay… Robert is still eating dinner and was not back in the room. So I called him on his cell and tell him “come back…I am ready to PUSH!” So as soon as Robert got there the Dr was back in the room and started to get ready for the arrival. All I wanted to do was push……So my mental check list. Robert –check, nurse – check, Dr. – check, Okay…LET’S GET PUSHING!!!!

So everyone was in place and we were ready to push. So I push…the head is out. Then the Dr. tells me to push one more time….I push…..Here is Caroline. Pheeewww! Caroline is out!!! So record time for me….Two pushes. So much better than 1.5 hours of pushing with Andrew.

Stats for Caroline….
Time: 8:41 p.m.
Weight: 8 lbs. 4 oz.
Length: 20 inches



Here are some pictures…..

Picture with Dr. Lin!



Pictures with Sammie and Drew.

May 1st

Today was the official "Weight In" for Robert's bet/contest. We are happy to say that Robert made his weight! You have to ask Robert what the official rules were but I think they had to loose 10% of the weight they started out with. They started the contest at the beginning of the year and today was the end. Congratulations to everyone that made their weight.

It was quite funny waking up to Robert and Wade in their boxers standing on the scale. I had to take a picture of them on the scale for proof of the official weight. Sorry...I am not allowed to release the photos with out prior approval. But here is Andrew participating in the weighing.



________________________________________________________________

Other Updates:

No Caroline yet. But here are some pictures of Sammie and Drew.






Okay....he is a mess...but at least it is a picture.

*My mom is in town to help out with the kids and Caroline. It is such a relief having her here. Now I know the kids will be looked after when we go and deliver Caroline.

*We did not do much for my birthday. Andrew had a bad diaper rash and we had to go to the dr. that day so we took the kids and we just ran errands all day. Ate at Uncle Julio's for lunch and came home and took naps. It was a good day with the family. The next day Robert did come home with flowers and a little gift. Overall a good birthday considering that I am 9 months pregnant.

*I go to the Dr. tomorrow to see if it is okay to induce. If so we will have Caroline sometime on Thursday. I go to the hospital at 11:30 to get the process started. Hopefully, I will have Caroline in time to watch my Ugly Betty and Grey's Anatomy all to myself....just me and Caroline. (Robert will have to go back home to help Mommie with the kids) Sammie is excited about the arrival of Caroline. She knows that it will be any day. She keeps touching my belly and saying...okay Caroline...it is time to get out. So cute.

*Cousin Sharon and Ed will be getting married in NJ on the 4th. I am so sorry we have to miss the unity of the two of you but our thoughts and prayers are with you. Drink a big one for all of us. Sorry we are missing out on all the festivities. Love ya and we wish you the best.

*My best friend Jen and Dave are home owners!! (the one's that just got married) They signed papers on my b-day. So Happy HOME Owners for the two of you. Now it is Baby making time!!!

*Robert and Angel (our next door neighbor) moved my scraproom up to the attic. Took them 3 straight hours just getting everything up to the attic. Wade and Robert brought down the bed from Drew's room to the new guest room on the first floor and that is Mommie's new room. Jamie (Wade's Girlfriend) said "wow, I didn't realize how big this room is with out all the scrapbook stuff." So the guest room is semi-ready for everyone. Okay...Mommie is in there now but we at least have room for guests and you are not with all of the craziness with the kids on the second floor.

So I will have to take a ton of pictures this month with Caroline's arrival and with the kids. I have a feeling May will be a great month for the Cratin family.

Love you all!!! :)Sesil

April 17th....

Okay... No Caroline yet. I am tired and feel big. My next apt. is the 19th. We will see. So my birthday is comming up too so I am being a little selfish and don't want to share my birthday. So she can come anytime before or after my birthday. But if she does I guess I will be a big girl and be happy about it.

Andrew and Sammie are playing together much better than before. I think they both know that Caroline is comming soon.

Just wanted to keep everyone updated on Caroline and us. Take care.

April 11, 2007 Snow in Chicago…. and Easter Pictures

Okay… so I was bad and did not take pictures of the snow in April because I was needing to get to my Dr. apt. Due to the snow I was an hour late to my apt. If some of you don’t know I am only around 6-10 miles away from the hospital and dr. office. So yes…that much traffic.

So the apt went good. Caroline is still a little on the big side. If she comes this week she would be around 7lbs, Next week close to 8 lbs. and the following week close to 9 lbs. and that would be the week that we would induce if she doesn’t come on her own. So we are just playing the waiting game with Caroline.

Easter was great!





Sammie finding the eggs in the house. Sammie showing her eggs.





Sammie finding eggs in Indiana.

We did our annual Easter dinner with the Ruiz family in Indiana. Some of you may not know Phyllis. She is a close friend of Robert’s and we visit her family often, I love going out there and spending holidays with them when we are not close to our families. Thank you Ruiz family. We love each and every one of ya!!!!

Okay… Gotta run… the kids are ready for their evening bath and TIME FOR BED. :)Sil