Monday, December 10, 2007

The Accidental Christmas Video

When reviewing the pictures on my digital camera I came across this hilarious video, which comes with a story...





Poor Mom... Technology can get the best of us... After the last song of Abby's Christmas program, as seen in a previous post, they kept the preschooler tidal wave on the risers for just a minute to allow parents to take pictures. I wasn't about to get into that friendly mob of parents, antsy siblings and cameras, so my mom volunteered to brave the masses to get some choice pics of Abby. I hastily handed her my camera like a batton in a relay race as Mom dashed into the mob seeking that special, Kodak moment. She came back a couple minutes later claiming she got some decent shots of Ab. I took my camera and crammed it into my back pocket as we made a beeline for the back entrance, and I quickly forgot about looking at those choice pics.



Well, when I was going to download my pictures, I noticed that I had several videos, which struck me as odd. I only remembered myself taking one... As I reviewed the goofy videos, it dawned on me: Mom's choice pics! Apparently in my haste, I had left the camera in movie mode, and poor Mom dashed off and accidentally took choice video of the backs of heads, pews and lots of parents' - ah hem - "lower extremities"! Oh well. At least we got the funny video, a view of the choice pic at the end and a lovely serenade of We Wish You a Merry Christmas by dear Mom. :)

Sunday, December 9, 2007

Jesus, Joseph and Mary



Our Stint as THE (Not So) Holy Family

Whew! This was a tiring but good weekend here for the Crooks. We - me (Rebecca), Keith and Lily - played the holy family this year in our big Christmas production at church. We did the 3:00 performances on Saturday and Sunday. Lily did great as Jesus (we called her "Jesette") and did not cry a bit. I was impressed by her performance! :) We really enjoy being in the production, as it is a great time to hang out with some neat folks. Lily was her baby diva self (my little fashionista in her legwarmers) and survived all the attention and what I call the "grandmother gauntlet" - a pack of grandmothers not shy about wanting to hold that baby!

Getting into those costumes was a little challenging, but we made it. I had the hardest time getting the headpiece on, and Keith's Joseph costume was made for a 7-foot Joseph. After using what seemed like 30 safety pins to get that headpiece to stay on and tucking Keith's robe into his shorts, we were ready to tackle Lily's "costume", which consisted of a little triangle of fabric and a big piece of cloth to swaddle her in. Enter 30 more safety pins... I don't know how they did it in "the day", but I bet it wasn't the way I did it. Poor Lily laid there wiggling and looking at me funny (I probably looked like a big, blue blob with eyes!) as I struggled to make that thing look like a diaper. By that time I started to feel a bit of panic rise up in my chest as we had to high-tail it upstairs to get in the manger, but I didn't want her costume to fall off (Keith held her up at the end of the medley) and reveal her lovely Kirkland brand diapers! I just added a few more safety pins for good measure, and we sprinted to our place. During our jog I noticed that I had not taken off my red and green toenail polish (Merry Christmas! How festive...) Oh, well. I just tucked my feet under the robe. :)

It was a great view of the action from where we stood, as we tried to look "holy". The added bonus was that the camels and especially the elephant did not "relieve" themselves on the stage this year! Wahoo! I must confess that I prayed every time that elephant lifted her tail... :)

Friday, December 7, 2007

Lily Speaks! (at only 7 weeks)

Okay, I just had to post this video. This is of Lily today at 7 weeks, and she talks, folks! (break out the record books... :) ) Now, I know that I am partial (just slightly), but I distinctly heard her say "hello" and "doing good." I say "hello", then she says it, then she says "doing good." See for yourselves by checking out the video below:






So...what do you think? You heard it, too? :) Must be a brilliant child. Ha! At least it is a cute video. :)

Christmas Cheer with the Little People



(Abby is on the top row - middle - with the most hair. :) )




Yesterday was Abby's Christmas program, and I must say she did great. :) Last year she hardly sang, but this year with much coaching (read "bribing") she was a trooper. Imagine risers with about 100 preschoolers - ages 3 to 5 years - and an emormous herd of family folks collectively armed with hundreds of thousands of recording devices. It was quite a scene. Lily and I stood on the side (it was in the chapel) and snapped a few pictures here and there but mainly listened to the singing. It was a short progam, but understandably so! Those kids looked like a preschooler tidal wave on those risers that could crash at any minute, and the only thing separating them from us was about 5 adults! Let's sing and get out of Dodge, folks! :)


After the program we took some good pictures in front of the trees in the atrium with the girls. (makes me regret the ones I paid out the wahzoo for at Picture People... oh, well) Of course, the same deal holds with Abby: for every "good" one there must be a "silly". :) Enjoy!









Monday, December 3, 2007

If Cloning Were Ethical...

I have decided that I need a clone. Make that two clones. Well, we better make it three. One to take care of children and the house. One to take care of the husband, and one to do all Christmas decorating and wrapping. Three clones. Then I could send my real self to Hawaii! Aloha!!!

Honestly, I would like to do all these things myself (including the trip to Hawaii!). I am discovering that as a mother of two - one being new - this is a difficult task. Do you know how much laundry this crew makes? GEEZ!!! I pratically need a folk lift to get it all to the laundry room. Having a baby adds about 3 loads a week minimum. Fun times. Something has to go undone. Apparently it is cleaning my house! At least the kids are dressed, fed and loved - hopefully the husband, too! If I had one request to God these days, it would be that he would allow me to grow a third arm! :)

Holiday Madness

Hello, all! It's been a while since I posted. Well, apparently I am not so good at this blog stuff...



Oh, the holidays... The family gatherings, the wonderful parties, lights and Christmas trees... and the absolute mad rush to get everything done!!! If only Christmas lights on your home were fashionable all year...



On another note, we had a good Thanksgiving visiting family and introducing our little Lilypad to everyone. Here is a picture of Keith and Lily with her grandfather and great grandfather - pretty neat. :)



Tuesday, November 6, 2007

Hello, all! Since the arrival of Lily, I have decided that I might as well try my hand at a blog so I don't jam up your inboxes with pictures!!! This is a picture of Abby and Lily at 2 weeks. The girls are doing great - Lily is about to eat us out of house and home! She definitely is going through a growth spurt. Sleep for Keith and me is a distant, beautiful memory. I think God gives you selective amnesia about this stage, otherwise you would definitely only have one child! I can't tell you how many nights we have woken up at 3:00am with the lights on, fully clothed from the day before and Lily sacked out flat on top of me! Such is the life of parents of a newborn.

Lily turns 3 weeks today. It is really flying by fast. She has already changed a bunch in these short few weeks. She even smiled at me today, and I don't think it was gas... We are adjusting to that newborn schedule, and I am so thrilled when I get to take a shower. It's the little things... :)

The Ham in My House

Abby just cracks me up! Keith took some pictures of her Sunday before we left for church, and the deal was that for every "good" pose she gets to do a silly one. It was like Bruce Lee meets Charlie's Angels. Hilarious. Enjoy!











My Wildlife :)

Oh, here are a couple of Halloween pics.



Our Miss Lilypad in Abby's old leopard costume.



Oh, the dog costume... Abby has such a fettish with dogs these days. We looked EVERYWHERE for a costume, and I just resigned myself to the fact that I was going to have to make her one the weekend before. Keith and I just happened to go into Pottery Barn Kids and lo and behold - a dog costume! This cute little number that was usually $70 bucks was on sale for $20. SOLD! We felt so energized by our good fortune that we slurged (if you call $4 a slurge) on the dog bucket to match. :)