Wyatt at 3 1/2

Wyatt is 3 1/2 years old now!  (Going on 20)

It has gone so fast!

He keeps us hopping and entertained.

He is quite goofy...as you can see in the picture below :)

Someone got into mommy's makeup!

Here are some of his current favorites:

Favorite Toy: combine

Favorite thing to watch: Wild Kratts

Favorite book: Daniel & the lions

Favorite Food: French Toast

Favorite color: lavender

Favorite Sister: Ella

Favorite Song: Jesus Loves Me

Favorite snack: goldfish

Favorite animal: lion & tiger

Favorite outside activity: swim in the pool

Favorite thing about Ella: he said, "I think she's pretty"  :)

In the picture below, Wyatt is showing off the new toys he got when he finally pooped on the potty!

It happened about a couple months ago and he has done really well with potty training since!  Hooray!

We're keeping our fingers crossed!

My cousin caught this classy picture below at Ella's birthday party.

I guess he was just entertaining his audience!

He is such a sweet & smart boy.

And he's looking forward to having a new baby brother or sister!

15 months!

Ella is 15 months now!

Thought I'd share her stats and some pics from her birthday party!

Guess I'm a little behind on sharing those :)

Height: 30.8 in.  (67th %)

Weight: 20 lbs 7.5 oz.  (18th %)

She's a peanut!

She has decided that walking is fun!  Yay!  Although, she gets around super fast when she's crawling :)  She jabbers a lot too...guess she gets that honest!  And of course, my favorite thing she has started doing is saying "Mama"!!!  Finally!

Ella got a chair from mommy & daddy.  She also got a lot of other nice presents from our family and friends that came out to celebrate!  We were so thankful for everyone that could be there! 

I sure had a lot of fun making the cake and cupcakes...although my cake was a bit of a pinterest fail...I thought it still turned out alright :)  I decorated with handmade bunting.  I also had hydrangea from our landscaping on all the tables.  And of course pink balloons!  I think that was one of her favorites...she kept pointing and saying, "boooo"!

Ella sure enjoyed her meal!

I'm pretty sure Ella's favorite gift of the day was her dolly from Grandpa Devon!

I think she held onto it the rest of the time!

Her first taste of sweets...Pretty sure she won't ever go back!  She attacks anyone with a treat!

 Clearly she enjoyed this :)

Of course Wyatt had to help...and play with all her toys...

My favorite pic from the day!



Party of five

For those in blog land who haven't heard the news...

We will soon be Cripe "party of five"!!!

Some days I can't quite believe it myself!

Here's the picture we used to announce this to our family...

I've also included a few outtakes for your enjoyment :)

Love her expression!

Our sweet Ella

Our sweet little Ella is already 14 months!  How time flies! 

Thought I'd share a little about her and some of her 1 year pics :)
Ella is full of energy and loves following her big brother everywhere! 

Ella really loves looking at books.  Especially if there are animals, balloons, or balls.

Ella typically calls every animal "boo"  :)  We think she is trying to say "moo".  She loves seeing the cows at Papa & Grandma's, the horses across the road, and says "hi" to any dog. :)

Ella adores her daddy.  She gets so excited when she hears him come home.

Ella loves to eat!  She really loves vegetables and bread!  If she sees bread, she has to have it!

Love those pics :)  She is super friendly, just like her brother.  She says "hi" to everyone!  She loves playing with her doll that Grandpa Devon gave her.

She really loves Wyatt and he loves her too.  She usually wants to be wherever he is, which he is normally okay with...unless she's trying to take his toys :)

Love it.

She just melts our hearts!

(All photos by Jessie Nichole Photography)

Hope

A couple weeks ago, I finished a 12 week session of griefshare classes.  My dad, sister, & I were able to attend together.  I think that it's been a very helpful experience...to read scripture, gain biblical perspective, hear testimonies, and share with others who are experiencing grief.  We all experienced loss in different ways, but we were all grieving. 

Our last griefshare meeting was about heaven.  During the meeting, this image of mom popped into my head…I knew that it was her in heaven…I just remember seeing clouds and blue sky...The only way I can describe how she looked, was that she had this beaming look of expectation & absolute joy on her face as she looked around at her eternal home…it was a beautiful image.  Thankful that the Lord provided this for me.  I left our last meeting filled with hope.

This is very fitting, because what has stuck out most to me during this difficult and confusing time, is to "grieve with hope".  I guess for me, it's the only way to deal with losing my mom.  Today would have been her birthday.  It's not been easy without her.  And although I wish she could be here to celebrate, I am comforted in knowing that she is celebrating in the most perfect way.

"But we do not grieve as those who have no hope." 1 Thes 4:13

Today in my devotions, "Jesus Calling", there were definitely some comforting words...

"Your hope and your future are rooted in heaven, where eternal ecstasy awaits you."

"Sometimes I grant you glimpses of your glorious future, to encourage you and spur you on."

So thankful for the Lord's sweet presence and peace in this time.  So thankful for the many who are praying for and encouraging our family. 
So thankful that the Lord sustains me and helps me to grieve with hope.

Oh help! Oh no! It's a gruffalo!

If you ask pretty much anyone if they know what a Gruffalo is, the answer would be "No".  So, imagine a person's response when Wyatt tells them he is having a Gruffalo birthday party...and starts describing a Gruffalo, with his orange eyes, purple prickles, and poisonous wart on the end of his nose (all this with as much expression as possible!).  Try explaining that one!  And yes, I brought this upon myself...anything for the kids, right?! :-)  Of course!  And so I set out to create a Gruffalo themed birthday party to celebrate Wyatt's 3rd birthday!  THREE?!?!?!  I still can't believe it!

So, without further ado, here is a Gruffalo!

Wyatt fell in love with the book, "The Gruffalo", after we discoverd the short film, which is adorable!  To sum it up, it's a story about a little mouse that goes for a walk in the woods...he meets a fox, an owl, and a snake...tells them he's meeting a Gruffalo, so they won't eat him...only to discover that there really is a Gruffalo!  That wants to eat him of course!

So it was a toss up between this and Curious George.  Of course I picked the one that has zero party supplies, unless you live in the UK, or feel like spending an arm and a leg to purchase these items :-)

So, I improvised...and had a super time with it!  All of the food was themed around the book...

Wyatt was SO excited when he saw his Gruffalo cake with all the characters!

We had "Gruffalo Cake"

"Mouse trails" & "Scrambled Snake"

"Roasted Fox"

"Purple prickles" and dip

Forest finds

"Poisonous warts" & Gruffalo Jello

"Purple Prickle" Punch (which was mighty tasty)

"Owl Ice Cream"

and of course, "Gruffalo Crumble"!

Wyatt had such a fun time with everyone there!  Playing with cousins and friends. 

I know we sure missed having "Grandma Judy" there with us! 

Wish I could have shared all the fun and excitement with her...

And here is Wyatt enjoying his new gator...I think this was right before he dumped his cousin off the back and then ran into the fence! 

Probably not the best idea to practice this with so many people around :-)

Just love the look on his face!

The kiddos that joined us all went home with some "Gruffalo goodies"...i.e. "The Gruffalo" book, or "The Gruffalo's Child" book, or a cute board book for the little ones.

Thanks again to all who helped Wyatt celebrate!

A tribute

It's hard to believe that it's been three weeks since my mom passed away.  Some days it feels like it's been an eternity.  Some days it feels like it just happened.  Even saying these words feels weird to me...this reality certainly has not sunk in yet.
I am so thankful for the peace that comes only from the Lord and that He is a constant presence through this difficult time.  It is only in His strength that we can walk through this.  Even though I don't understand why God chose to take my mom home so soon, I know that He is in control.  I know that His joy comes in the morning.  I know that He is the God of all comfort.  He will sustain us and carry us.  He is my rock and my refuge.  He is my strength and shield.  I will continue to follow Him and trust in Him.

Here is the tribute that I wrote and read at my mom's funeral...

If You Knew My Mom…

by: Kristy Cripe

If you knew my mom, you knew that she was a JEM. Literally, her initials were JEM, and she would often sign emails this way or just remind me. But really, she was a “JEM”…she was one of a kind.

If you knew my mom, you probably knew how gullible she was. I can think of numerous times when mom received calls at work from a certain younger brother, claiming to be someone who had a serious complaint about their insurance. And all the fun times us daughters or son-in-laws or nephews took advantage of this.

I think she really enjoyed all the teasing.

If you knew my mom, you may have heard her say, “I just don’t have anything to wear”…even though she did, I know that she is just loving the way she looks in heaven.

If you knew my mom, then you probably noticed the twinkle in her eye & her mischievous grin. She often looked like she was up to something…

If you knew my mom, you probably knew she was a middle child. I think this was something she would bring up at times to gain sympathy for being the "neglected" middle child, but I think she secretly enjoyed it.

If you knew my mom, you may have known her by a different name, I’ve heard her referred to as “quite the Judy”, “Judge Judy”, “Chutie Mhay”, “mom”, & my favorites, “grandma Juuuudy”, & “Judy grandma”.

If you knew my mom, you probably knew she was the life of the party. Her smile could light up a room and you knew you were in for a fun time when mom was around. There will be a very noticeable void at our family gatherings. I am so thankful that we have the Lord to fill that void.

If you knew my mom, you knew how competitive she could get when playing games. So much so, I believe her and Jeff were forever banned from playing monopoly. And there may have been a coaster thrown around the dinner table during an intense card game. But I think mom won the biggest game of all…she beat us all to heaven & I’m sure we’ll hear about it when we get there.

If you knew my mom, you knew that she loved her family. She loved my dad and I am so thankful for the love they shared. I know she loved us girls and was proud of us. And I know that she was so thrilled to gain 2 amazing son-in-laws. And I can’t imagine seeing more joy, than they joy she took in seeing her grandkids. She would do anything for the chance to babysit. And watching her face light up as the kids ran to her when they saw her at church and seeing her laugh when sometimes they would trick her and run to grandpa instead. She was so good to them and I am sure going to miss watching her be their grandma. We have so many wonderful memories to cherish because of the love mom and dad had for one another and for the Lord. I am so grateful for the time I had with her and even though it was cut way too short, I am thankful to know that I will see her in heaven someday.



Happenings here

Here is a recap of the last few months!

I'm pretty sure we had the cutest little cowboy and bunny on Halloween!

Wyatt had a fun time on his first trick or treating adventure!

We made stops to see some great-aunts/uncles and grandparents.

Just love these two!  They're so sweet to each other!

We had a wonderful time celebrating Thanksgiving in Indy with Crystal and Philip and their boys. 

Crystal made lots of yummy food and the kids had lots of fun playing together!

Wyatt really enjoys being a big brother and "helping" his sister! :)

 Christmas was quite fun this year...a little crazy with two!  We started the "elf on a shelf" tradition...I forgot to add a picture of our elf "Patience"...Wyatt named her...haha.  He had fun finding her each morning...here is a picture of what he left for Santa and Patience (elf donuts) & yes, mommy walked away for a moment and Wyatt got a hold of the green sprinkles ;)   (and woops, I forgot to take a picture before mommy...er....Santa, had eaten one cookie and drank one of the cups of milk!)

Christmas morning...

 All Wyatt asked Santa for was a cupcake!  Really?!  A cupcake?!  But Santa brought him one :)

Clint and Wyatt both caught the stomach flu right before Christmas.  Fortunately Wyatt woke up Christmas morning acting back to normal!  Although in this picture you can really tell he lost some weight from the puking and not eating normal!  Ella and mommy didn't catch the flu, yay!  Ella seemed to enjoy herself!

 And a few more shots from Christmas!