The Fair

Jaime and I went to the East Texas State Fair this year. It had been such a long time since I had been. As a matter of fact, Jaime and I had never been together. So we decided to meet up with our good friends, Nathan and Tiffany, and take Madison out for the day. It was a little more hot than I would have liked, but it wasn't crowded at all and we had a really great time! Here are a few pictures from the day:

The carousel was the only ride she was big enough to get on. She loved it...until it actually started moving! Poor Daddy, spent the next few minutes trying to get her to calm down and actually keep her on the horse!

We spent some time inside Harvey Hall at all the exhibits and soaking up the AC. Madison was still happy that daddy won her a Nemo fish while playing games!

This is my daughter's new way of taking a picture. She throws her self to one side and yells "cheese!" I think she feels like she is posing, but then the picture comes out looking like this! She's silly...

Hot and tired. Time to head home.

18 Months

Hello, again!

Ever since I got my I-phone, and considering that my internet is STILL dial-up, I've been really bad about posting. Let's see what I can catch my few readers up on:

I went to certification in Austin back in mid-August. It was a long, boring week but it's now behind me. I haven't received my scores yet but don't anticipate anything too bad! I also had my first evaluation by my director. I walked away still employed which is a good thing! To top things off, I got my first raise...and a pretty significant one. Very exciting!

Jaime and I have found a house we really love and are in the early stages of pursuing it. We don't know that this particular house will be the one we are meant to have yet; but we are certainly hoping so and praying a lot about it!

On the 13th, Madison Elizabeth will be 18 months old! That is shocking to me. I still remember this:

What a chunk and only crawling at that point. Wow, time sure has flown by! She runs around the house like crazy, kicks a soccer ball, and says the following words: daddy, mama, nana, papaw, alan, kitty, puppy, bye, hi, yay, where, why, no, eat, juice and the list goes on. She is even starting to form small sentences by combining a word or two. There is never a dull or quiet moment in our house anymore! She's amazing!

I suppose that's all for now. I'll try to post some current pictures of the girl, soon!

It's Been A While...

Well, as most of you know, I had a miscarriage about a month ago. Jaime and I went in for our 10 week appointment. We were both so excited to see the baby's heartbeat and get some sonogram pictures; just like we did with Maddie! I was starting to finally feel better and was looking forward to moving into the second tri-mester. However, once the sonogram began, I immediately knew something was wrong. The baby was there but the heartbeat wasn't anymore. It only measured to be 8 weeks and I was almost 10.5 that day. We were devestated and it's been a hard month, but things are slowly starting to get better. We still have the desire to have more children and soon; but now that fear is there that never was before. I had my follow-up with my doctor yesterday and she said that thing look good. Please be praying for us as we contemplate when we want to try again for another baby. Also pray, that this time-we get to bring this baby home with us-happy and healthy!

In other news, Jaime is home for the summer and absolutely loving being with Madison every day. Im not sure what they do all day, but they seem to have a lot of fun! I'm jealous!

My job is busy and stressful as always. I'm set to go to certification in August. It's in Austin, which Im not looking forward to; but as long as I pass the test-I get to keep my job and get a raise!

We are saving up for a house. I am so excited that this is even a possibility! As much as I hate working right now, the extra income has really helped us be able to do a lot of things. My goal, is to within a year, have found a house. Though I wouldn't be opposed if it happened sooner than that! =)

I hope everyone is doing well. Sorry, it's been so long-it's just been crazy around the Crouse House.

Mother's Day

Here is a picture of my Mother's day gift:

It's hard to tell detail, but it's a mother's ring (with an aquamarine stone) that has "Madison" engraved on one side and her birthday on the other! I love it. It's just what I wanted. It's the "stackable" kind which means, that with each child, I will get a ring and stack one on top of the other. Jaime and I have a bet as to just how many rings my finger is going to hold! ;)