Simply Splendid Strawberry Lemonade

There are no pictures for this post, because when I was creating this strawberry lemonade I had no idea what I was onto!  It is wonderful!  I poor myself a glass with one hand and pat myself on the back with the other.  Hey, when you are 7.5 month pregnant and longing to meet your little girl it is the simple things in life that keep me distracted.  So, I enjoy each glass with a smile...one hand on the glass and one hand on my belly...are you noticing a theme?

Simply Splendid Strawberry Lemonade

Ingredients:
2/3 cup lemon juice (I used the store bought kind, but juice from a fresh lemon would work great)
1 cup sugar
1 cup hot water (I just used hot tap water, no boiling for this girl)
10 strawberries
Ice and cold water to end up with 2 quarts of strawberry lemonade

1. Pour 1 cup hot water into your pitcher, add 1 cup sugar and stir until dissolved
2. Add 2/3 cup lemon juice
3. In a small bowl crush up 10 strawberries, then poor strawberry juice and 'pulp' into the pitcher
4. Add a little ice and enough cold water to end up with 2 quarts of strawberry lemonade

I had Tyler help me taste test and the recipe above is our desired sweetness, etc.  You can fool around with it and find what works for you!  YUM!

In the past couple of days I have typed up a cleaning schedule (found here), which I think I am going to love...I also typed up emergency numbers for friends and family that will watch my little love (one for the kitchen and one for the diaper bag)...I typed up the inventory in my pantry and made a to-do list of things we want to get done around the house before Little Miss Crow arrives.  I guess you could say I am nesting!

feel the love

On June 9th, I gathered with some dear friends to celebrate my little girl.  

Tyler and I are blessed to have the love and support of so many people! Thankful for all of you!

26 weeks - dressed up for the shower

emily, kt, me and little miss

kt and molly - threw me an amazing shower

yes, the italian sodas were that good, finger lickin' good

these ladies better be prepared to be my real live guides to surviving and laughing through parenthood

it was cold, apparently i hunch when I am cold...my cute momma

the ladies that came to love of me and my girl

babies on board

petra is amazing, she hosted and blessed my little girl with this beautiful quilt!

medium changes

                                                                         21 weeks

                                                                            24 weeks

26 weeks

i have grown a bit since week 19 and i feel little miss crow move everyday.  we watch her kick and wiggle at night and she makes us laugh when she gets extra zealous in her movements.  thankful for every move she makes because it reminds me she is growing big and strong and preparing to meet her momma and poppa.  i am looking forward to seeing what color her hair is, seeing tyler hold her for the first time, watching her personality develop, and greeting her each morning with a smile.

Ooh baby baby

Tyler and I set out to buy a blue onesie and a pink onesie the night before our 21 week ultrasound.  We had fun picking them out and reality sat in that we were going to get to know our baby even more in the next 24 hours! 

We had a great ultrasound with Dr. Hughes, and found out that our baby is healthy as can be.  What a blessing!  

Then we gave the ultrasound pictures to my friend, Katie, who wrapped them up as a present with the respective onesie that coordinates with the gender.  We really had no idea! 

We are thrilled to know that we are having a baby girl.  Thankful and blessed!

Small Changes

are you serious?

ex.cite.ed.

4.5 weeks

11 weeks

13 weeks

    

15 weeks

17 weeks

19 weeks

My belly is growing and the changes are starting to become noticeable. Sleeping is interrupted with changing from side to side after I wake up sore.  The heart beat is strong at each appointment and I love hearing it! Check back around May 9th for the gender reveal!

The Bump?

The bump...
...looks like I ate too much for lunch
...is there one day and gone the next
...will soon be here to stay for a while
...will soon have a mind of its own
...will show me a new love for elastic
...is home to the baby I love most

15 weeks and thankful!

At 12 weeks I am...

...not feeling queasy!
...on week 2 of my 6 weeks of travel for work (don't worry, I get to go home every weekend)
...trying to recover from a day procedure (not baby related) without pain medicine other than tylenol, and not much of that either (call me crazy but the thought of my baby having a steady stream of pain meds just doesn't sound ideal)
...looking bloated to the point that people probably think "I thought she was a runner?"
...going home to visit my mom who wants to buy me maternity clothes...excited much?!
...so excited that my sweet and strong husband is building us a closet in hopes of getting organized before baby's arrival
...thinking about names and then deciding it will be easier when we know the gender...probably not
...loving chocolate milk
...head over heels in love with this baby
...loving every prayer that Tyler sends up for our baby
...and to end with the silliest thing of all, I saw baby shampoo and wanted to buy a bottle and sleep with it...really?

At 12 weeks I am thankful, excited, and blessed!

Simp

A simp is a baby crow.

Now I will have stories to post on my blog about my growing belly, the gender reveal, the labor story, and the moment that I see Tyler holding our baby.

I am blessed.

Crow Christmas Letter

Merry Christmas everyone-

It has been a great year for this Crow family. We have been blessed with two major vacations, a new job, and fun memories.

· Macey started working at the public accounting firm Deloitte and Touche, while Tyler began his 2^nd year with Terry Reilly Health Services. Macey enjoys the fast pace of her job and Tyler’s work with drug and alcohol patients provides interesting stories. We are grateful that we work for companies that provide flexibility and allow us to keep each other as our top priority.

· We had the opportunity to take two major vacations this year; one to the east coast and one to Hawaii. In August, we flew to Charleston, SC and spent a few days there before driving to Savannah, GA then on to Atlanta where we met Tyler’s older brother, Tim, before attending the Boise State vs. Georgia football game. Tim drove down from the Charlotte, NC area where he lives.

We also traveled to Hawaii to attend the wedding of Tyler’s cousin, Travis Walker, to Rachael Freeman (welcome to the family). We spent 8 days on the island of Maui where we had the opportunity to go snorkeling, watch a magic show, attend a luau, eat amazing food, and relax in the sun. Tyler also took a helicopter tour which fit in nicely with his dream of being a small planes pilot.

· Tyler was introduced to target shooting by his sister and brother in law. He has taken quite the liking to it, and currently has a rifle and a shotgun.

· We began attending a bible study with some old friends and have had the opportunity to make new friends. It has been great to dive into God’s word, and we look forward to the future of this group.

· We have experienced family members giving their lives to the Lord, and others going to be with Him. We also learned a big lesson in what it means to be “joyful in hope, patient in affliction, and faithful in prayer” (Romans 12:12). We have seen amazing examples of what it looks like to trust God and know that His plans are greater than our desires.

We are thankful for lessons learned, blessings received, and the ability to laugh with each other, at one another, and at ourselves. We hope that you enjoy Christmas with those you love, and experience many blessings in the year ahead.

Tyler & Macey Crow

Devo

Well, I deleted my last post entitled 'Joy' because it was long, wordy, long, wordy, etc. I was asked to give a devotional at a bridal shower, and had a chance to really focus my thoughts into less than a page of a much clearer picture of the blessings I have experienced through Christ in my marriage. Below is the devotional that I wrote, I changed the names....I don't really have friends named John and Jane.

Jane, today, like many of the last 600 or so days since you and John started dating, you imagine what life will be like with John as your husband. It probably sounds crazy, but in a relatively short time you will hardly be able to remember life without him. Some or your greatest memories are yet to be made, some of your favorite events to play over and over in your head haven’t even been experienced, and some of the most true and authentic laughter you will ever experience is yet to come.

I decided (with a little prompting from my sister-in-law) to compile some advice. Now I want to say, loud and clear, that I don’t have a perfect marriage. My advice comes from a first year full of tears from simple misunderstandings, and from a heart that has been softened to the incredible blessing that marriage can be when we take ourselves less seriously, while becoming more concerned with God’s will and less concerned with our own expectations.

I remember growing up and thinking that I would marry a man that mimicked the men that I saw at church. The 40 year old men that were leading youth group, going to bible studies during the week, spending time with the Lord each morning, and looking at their wives with eyes full of respect and thankfulness. Now I know, it isn't a bad thing to see a strong Christian man around the age of 40 and hope that your husband will have similar qualities, but to wanted my husband to look like that 40 year old man at age 25? To resemble that 40 year old man immediately, without going through the journey similar to the one the 40 year old man has been through. Yes, it sounds a little ridiculous when I say it out loud. This was a big deal for me to figure out, and once I allowed Tyler the breathing room to grow on his own, I started noticing how great of a man and husband he was. I am amazed at his growth in the last 4 years (and quite surprised at how little I had to do with it J), and I consider it a huge blessing that the Lord showed me that I had to get out of the way and let Tyler be who God intended him to be, not who I had imagined him to be since I was a little girl playing dress up.

I attribute all of the growth I have seen in my marriage, and the joy that I experience with Tyler, to the Lord. He cares so much for Tyler, He cares so much for me, and He cares for our marriage. He values each of us as individuals, and seeing how both Tyler and I have changed as individuals in a way the complements our marriage relationship is a true testament to Christ's love and plan for our life. Christ cares for you, John, and your marriage in the same way. I encourage you to not lose yourself in your marriage. You are still you. Sometime’s that is hard to remember because after you get married and people ask “How are you?” many of them me “you and John” when they say “you.” God is different. God desires a relationship with you, Jane. He desires for you to come to him with your hearts desires, your frustrations and your daily joys. You are still His child; God didn’t create marriage to lessen His load. He didn’t hand pick John to be your husband so that John could take His place. He hand picked John because together, you team together in love for the Lord and that is a force not to be reckoned with.

So what is it that is so great about marriage? It is that feeling of the vulnerability to be yourself, because John knows when you are not being yourself. It is the ability to come home, upset or confused by circumstances in your life, and talk through them with a man that loves and respects you enough to listen. It is the ability to laugh at yourself, something that provides great amounts of joy in marriage. It is having a relationship that doesn't have to be perfect, and never will be perfect. It is the pursuit of selflessness, the lesson of what has been, and the glimpse of what is to come. Marriage is an incredible gift from the Lord, which He desires to be a part of.