Goodbye 2015, Hello 2016!!

Hello everyone!

Somehow it is time for The Crawford end of year update! I know I say this every year but I can't believe another year has come and gone. My Papa used to say that each year goes a little faster and we are realizing how prophetic his words are!

This has been a year filled with a lot, some good and some not so good, but as  always, The Crawford Family came out stronger than ever.

2015 Crawford Highlights

⦁ Made some amazing friends in Simsbury!

⦁ Applied for Shannon's 10 year green card!

⦁ Tilly endured paralysis due to spinal myelitis but made a miraculous recovery!

⦁ Celebrated my first Mother's Day & it was just perfect!

⦁ Shannon and I celebrated meeting 5 years ago (May 2010) and had our first night away from Jack (Nana and Pop Pop watched Jack and he did great! )! Shannon surprised me and we went to New York City! We retraced the steps from our first moments, hours and days together! It was so romantic and a beautiful way to reflect on our relationship. We also squeezed in a trip to FAO Schwarz for Jack Man before they closed their iconic location!

⦁ Survived our first major house project ... renovating our breezeway! Shannon and my Dad did an AMAZING job together!

⦁ Shannon celebrated his First American Father's Day and Second Australian Father's Day!!!

⦁ Aunt Tiffany visit us and met Jack for the first time!!

⦁ Celebrated Jack's First Birthday with a Dr. Seuss Birthday Party! Our closest family and friends were here to be a part of such a special day! The world would be a better place if all the world was loved the way Jack Francis is!

⦁ Jack has started walking and talking ... He is quickly becoming a big boy!

⦁ Spent our first summer getting to listen to music from the downtown venue and even got to see fireworks ... all from the luxury of our back deck!! Not a bad way to spend your summer nights!

Surprised Shannon with Counting Crows tickets!

⦁ Took Jack for his first family trip to The White Mountains!

⦁ Jack Trick-Or-Treated for the first time. He was a bat in the afternoon and Daniel Tiger in the evening!! He was the cutest!!

⦁ Jack watched his first ever movie in the theater ... A Peanuts Movie! He did such an amazing job and kicked off the Peanuts Theme for Christmas 2015!!

⦁ Hosted the first ever Crawford Christmas Cookies, Cocoa & Cartoons! Jack's friends got to decorate cookies, wrote letters to Santa, watched cartoons and got goody bags ... It was too cute!!
⦁ Hosted a neighbor Holiday Breakfast for the phenomenal people that we are lucky enough to call our neighbors and friends!

⦁ Added a new member to the Crawford Clan ... Mr. Linus! We found him at Petco, which hosts cats from a local animal shelter. There was just something that told us he needed to be a member of the family and we did just that! We love that our family's love just simply grows!

⦁ Celebrated our first Christmas in Connecticut! Last year was spent in Vermont so it was really exciting to host Christmas this year!! Jack received beautiful presents from all of his family and friends. He is one lucky little boy and not just because of his Christmas haul!

⦁ Celebrating our 3rd Wedding Anniversary TODAY! I am in awe every day that this is my life and that not only were Shannon and I were lucky enough to find one another but we made it against all odds. I am a true believer in everything happening for a reason and I know that handsome Aussie was on that balcony at that precise moment so we could have our love story ... Which I am so thankful for each day! I truly love him a little more each day and the life and family we have created!

Resolutions

I love The New Year because I love the idea of starting anew! This year, I feel like I have some great resolutions and am excited to share ... It may help me to stick to them when people really know what they are!

⦁ Limiting my Facebook time. I want to be present and constantly checking Facebook does not help me achieve this. It has become such a habit to check Facebook any time I pick up my phone ... So, I am going to try to seriously cut back! Facebook is a total vice but I am hoping to limit it in the New Year!

⦁ Cooking one new meal a week. I can be a creature of habit so I need to stir things up ... Pun intended hahaha!

⦁ Continue my exercise and healthy eating routine (excluding December when we were all very sick and the mainstay of our food was butter, sugar and salt with all my baking lol!) I am finally a few pounds less than my pre-baby weight which I am so proud of! I want to simply maintain that with healthy living!

⦁ Work on my Mindfulness. I taught this in my classroom and I know how beneficial it is! I am going to attempt to find a simple meditation/yoga program that works for me and help to keep me present!

• Putting positivity into the world. If this year has taught us anything, it is there is a lot of terrible things happening in the world but I truly believe there is far more good that exists. So, if everyone does good in their own way, it will help combat all the bad we are inundated with!

All of these resolutions are not only for me but for the benefit of my amazing family! I know how important modeling good habits are. Each day my aim is to be a little bit better than I was the day before. There are days I definitely fall short of my goal but I know that I am always working towards betterment for all of us! They make me want to be the best version of myself I can be and I want to be that and more for them.

So, there you have it! Full on year but again, we have come out stronger than ever and I think that is all you can ask for. We have high hopes for 2016, we think some pretty amazing things are going to happen and we know that no matter what it has in store for The Crawford Clan, we will face it together! Thank you for being a part of our lives!!

FROM OUR FAMILY TO YOURS, HAVE A HAPPY & HEALTHY NEW YEAR!
Goodbye 2015, Hello 2016!!

Love,
Katie, Shannon, Jack, Tilly & Linus

What?! Half way through the year?!

Hi everyone!

Well, it has been six months since I updated the blog so I thought it was about time hahaha.

When I started writing this I was so happy that there was some quiet and normalcy however that is just silly that I would even say that because within a few days our lives were truly turned upside down.

Last weekend we spent the weekend in Vermont with my mom and dad. We had a great weekend. Put some finishing touches on some work my parents had been doing over the past few months. Since finishing the stairs, my dad redid the wall around the fireplace and defined the mantle. I painted the kitchen and hallway and we all updated the cabinets, mom redid the countertops and Dad and Shannon put in a window in the attic. It looks great. Shannon and I even got to have a date night.

We got home and all was good until Tilly suddenly collapsed that evening. She had some movement and knew we would take her to the vet first thing in the morning. She worsened so rapidly in the early morning that we thought we were going to lose her. We went to a local vet who immediately referred us to a Vet Hospital an hour away where they have a neurologist on staff. Over the week, Tilly had an MRI, spinal tap, physical therapy and was put on a combination of antibiotics and steroids. Before the MRI the doctor told us to prepare ourselves because he did not things looked but we knew that we had to give out Tilly Bug every chance possible. After the MRI he said the prognosis was better but we would have to evaluate in a few weeks time because he thought she would be incontinent and may never walk again. He suggested the addition of the spinal tape to get a better picture and thank God we did that because it showed a sever infection of Myelitis. He said he never saw such a severe and fast onset. Luckily, he was excited by the feeling she still had in her leg and the fact that there is some movement! All the things we feared have been allayed and Tilly will make a recovery for sure. What that looks like exactly we are not sure but we know that there will be good quality to her life!!

Tilly came home on Friday and I don't think Shannon and have ever been happier. It was like bringing your baby home from the hospital for the first time especially because we thought we were never going to bring her home again. It was such a blessing and what we are now calling a Father's Day Miracle! :) This week has been one of the most intense of our lives but with the best outcome possible. Since being home Tilly is already on the move as much as she can. She is using a sling under her belly when we take her to the bathroom but she is in great spirits and we have no doubt that she is on the rebound. She is all Tilly just minus a bit of movement in her back legs. As long as she has a good quality of life that is all we care about. Jack could not be happier to have his big sister home. He may have figured how to open her pen (which she needs to sleep in for safety) and crawls in to give her kiss and snuggles ... it just melts your heart!!

So, that is the most important thing that has transpired in recent Crawford history! Below are a few highlights and I promise to post for Jack's First Birthday!!! I can't believe it is almost here! :)

Highlights From The Past Few Months ...

• Jack is doing amazingly! He is chatting up a storm, waving, can show us his tongue, clap, hug, give kisses, blow kisses, climb up and down the stairs, stand and has taken several steps each day! We are just so proud of him and are putting the final touches on his birthday in just 2 weeks ... 1 year big!!!!!!!!
• We have started to meet people in our neighborhood and town! I have met some great mommies with babies Jack's age as well as meeting neighbors with children a bit older and are awesomet! It is slowly but surely feeling a bit more like home each day!
• I co-chaired an event for the Junior Women's Club and met some phenomenal ladies. 
• Shannon and Dad redid our breezeway and it looks amazing!!! It was really great watching them work together and it means even more!
• I celebrated my first Mother's Day with Jack and it was phenomenal!! And, Shannon surprised me with a trip to NYC for the weekend!
• NYC was amazing and coincided with the 5 year Anniversary of our meeting. We went to all the places that had significant meaning for us and it finished with Shannon taking me to Tiffany's!!! I got a beautiful infinity band that has a beautiful significance for our family! 
• Shannon got to celebrate his first Father's Day today! He defines what it means to be a man, husband and father! Watching him each day inspires me and what he does for our family is unparalleled ... THANK YOU MY LOVE!!! we.love.you. Jack and Tilly are lucky to call you Daddy and I am blessed to call you my husband!!!!!
• We absolutely love our home and are starting the list for things that we would like to do, slowly but surely, to personalize it even more.
• Our backyard is wild kingdom ... we have seen a ton of small birds (that now come right up on the deck while we are out there because we feed them every night, squirrels, chipmunks, hawks, eagle, a fox, bunnies, coyotes and there are bears in our neighborhood. We are yet to see one but fingers crossed.
• Tiffany Rudy is coming in 2 weeks for Jack's first birthday and we are so excited!!!!
• We are hoping to spend some quality time in Vermont over the summer (it is our escape and we just love it up there!!)
• Working on dropping those last few baby pounds ... :) Haven't been trying too hard hahaha!
• We are finalizing the application for Shannon's 10 year green card!!
• We are hoping for a few days at the beach if we can!

That's pretty much it for us! This past week has reprioritized a lot for us. At the end of the day as long as your family and friends are healthy and happy that is all you can ask for. We are so thankful for the way this week concluded and are taking a deep breath ... together!!

STAY TUNED ...

Love,

Katie, Shannon, Jack and Tilly

I think this says it all ...