Amen

Tonight was a huge milestone in Buggies life. I asked her who she wanted to say the night night prayer and she was a being a weirdo. So finally I asked her if she would like to say it and she agreed. So I began telling her to start :Dear Heavenly Father:, well she repeated it which was wonderful bad thing is she felt the need to scream it. The whole prayer she screamed. Even Amen...... now I am glad she is saying her prayers but hopefully next time she can say it in a quiet indoor voice. I didn't even know she had started the prayer until Larry said something. Our sweet princess is growing on up.

one step, two step, more steps

So Larry and I celebrated our 3 year mark being married on April 21st. I am very grateful to have such a loving and caring husband, who is also a wonderful father. For those that don't know it has been a long road for us and many many years of friendship to get to where we are today. Those that have stayed by our sides: we are indebted to your kindness and support. I know many people have had to listen to me over the years yap my mouth over the "cute boy". I still feel sixteen around home, and I think I may feel like an eternal teenager because of him.

Now for a condensed version of our "courtship":

I first met Larry at youth way back in late 1996. My friend Ruth was talking to his buddy Mike, who let the cat out of the bag that Larry liked me. Well once that knowledge was made known to Ruth she did everything she could to set us up. Luckily Larry and I really hit it off on the phone, and soon he was tying up my parents phone lines for hours on end. We went on our first "date" sometime in March of 1997 to see Grease when it was released in the theaters. I say "date" because I wasn't 14 yet and my mom dropped me off and two friends went with me.
We dated for some time then broke up. We stayed good friends for the next couple of years, but grew apart in social activities and drifted away from our friendship.I would call him occasionally to check in on him and he would do the same to me. So for the last couple of years of high school it was a phone call here and there. I did see his buddy Mike's mom at church and she would keep me updated on how the two were doing.
After I graduated high school he started contacting me again and I would occasionally receive the phones calls. More of the time my roommate got the calls. We started talking more once I started college in the fall of 2002. By Thanksgiving of 2002 we had finally saw each other again. The last time I had seen him before that was probably sometime in 2000. We met up and instantly hit it off again. We dated once again this time for a short 3 or 4 months before he pulled a disappearing act on me. He did give me a promise ring and promised that when the time was right he would marry me :( I had to wait for him for a different type of mission then most girls. He needed time to figure himself out and wanted to protect me.
After the break up I was pretty devastated and it took me a while to move on and be okay. We both went our separate way for a short amount of time. I made my mistakes and he did his. We lived and learned what we needed. I had moved away for a short period of time and came home to visit my family when you wouldn't believe it, I ran into him. I happened to be going to get my dad for a lunch date and saw a small care accident and it was him! I was excited, scared and frustrated all at the same time. I told my dad about the run in and he asked why I didn't stop to say hello (my parents are old school and make small talk with anyone they know). As I was re-telling the story to my younger brother the house phone rang. After all the years he still remembered my parents number! First thing he did was apologize. Seems as though he didn't want to hurt my standards or pull me down and felt that it wasn't the right time for us. So it took him a little more then 2 years it happened. We began talking on the phone again in May 2005. Since then we have done a lot of talking. From May 2005- January 2007 we saw each other twice, but talked on the phone contently. I must have been his New Years resolution because we have talked and been together since then.

This is very condensed because so much has happened to us. I love him with all my heart and I know I can trust him with my life. It has been an uphill battle to get to where we are today but I am grateful for every moment of it. I have learned a lot about myself, the atonement, forgiveness, laughter, forgetting, and living because of him. I look forward to the next 60+ years with him and some more kiddos.

Now for the cools, as we say. We spent our anniversary being fairly boring. Larry went to school I hung out with the kids. Larry did come home early from school to spend time together though. His mom came over and watched the kids while we went out. We took the motorcycle for a cruise down to El Pinto restaurant, which was very nice.  We had a nice meal and a good time. It was nice to get out. We then cruised around some and then went up to the temple. We sat for a bit and talked. It was very windy that day so our ride down to El Pinto was, needless to say, exciting. We then came home and cuddled our munchkins and went to bed. Even though the date was simple it was very enjoyable and relaxing. It is something we need to do more often.

Mommy-hood and more

So our new edition to the family has been one heck of a hit!! Lana absolutely loves her baby brother. She will be a great big sister. She is always wanting to help with diaper changes, getting him in his car seat, giving him his blanket and pacifier and she likes to cuddle while he eats. She is always kissing him and hugging him. The poor little guy doesn't get much sleep thanks to his big sis. She is more then ready to have him up and playing. Although we have explained many times he isn't big enough to play yet, she still insists on dancing with him.

Since she has been such a wonderful sister we treated her to a trip to the Natural History museum. It was Maximus' first big trip out of the house. I was pretty tired and sore after carrying him the whole time but it was worth it :)

We have really enjoyed being a family of four. It has been a little more work then before but worth every moment. Lana is a ton of help. Two-three days a week I watch Lana best buddy and they keep each other fairly occupied and busy. Two toddler/preschoolers are busy people! This summer Larry and I are also anticipating our two nephews to be with us as well. Those two are a huge help with the smaller ones :) We have discovered we can handle 6 or so children but we don't know if we want that many yet........Over spring break we finally painted our house, and had more then just our two kids here :) I can multi-task which is great.

Our house is no longer the ugly turquoise house any longer!! We have a nice brown normal New Mexican home :) It makes me very happy. It was a ton of work and Larry and I were both very tried after all the work. We had some help from Robert and Stone.

This is from when it was primes. I will blog another day about the painting. Right now Mr. Maximus is cranky and mad because his sister decided to jump on him...............

Maximus Myers

We welcomes Maximus Myers McCracken on February 24th at 11:47AM. He was 21 1/4 inches and the hospital said he weighed 5lbs 15oz (which later was determined as a mistake). He actually weighed 7lbs and closer to 12 or 15 oz. He was a big boy :) He left the hospital at 7lbs 5oz. The labor was fairly easy and went quickly. I stayed home for most of the laboring which made it easier to relax. 

                                             

Unfortunately the little guy decided to go potty while he was inside and the NICU team had to be called in case he swallowed the meconium. Not only did he swallow it but he swallowed too much amniotic fluid as well. The poor little guy spent the first couple of days in the NICU getting everything out of his lungs. Thankfully the staff at the Lovelace Women's Hospital is amazing and he was well taken care of. The staff at the hospital really impressed us and really kept us informed. We were able to bring little Maximus home on the 27th. He seems to be doing pretty good. He had a few respiratory problems while he was in the hospital but we haven't seen anything yet at home.                                                                                                  

We are so happy to have him home with us. Lana has loved having her brother home and spends much of her time giving him kisses and wanting to just give him loves. She is always asking if she can hold him and likes to climb into the recliner with me while I feed him. She decided the other day she would suck on my arm. I asked her what she was doing and she said she was hungry. Apparently I leak milk everywhere. :)

Almost there!!!

It's been a long time since I have updated the blog. Well I am super pregnant and ready to pop :) We are both ready to have our little guy join our family and move on to the next chapter of this adventure. We had waited until the last couple of weeks to get Maximus' room prepared but now we have it and are waiting on him. We thought he would surely join us weeks ago. I dropped about 3 or so weeks ago and have been graced with the Braxton Hicks.
Here we are trucking along at 39 weeks and almost 1/2 weeks. The contractions are coming more often then they were so it can't be too much longer! Lana is pretty excited about the baby and tells us all the time stuff is for the "little baby".

To eternity and beyond !!!

We made it!!! Larry, Lana and I were sealed together on January 2nd in the Albuquerque, New Mexico LDS temple. It was such a wonderful and beautiful experience. It was worth every moment in our lives that lead up to getting there! Larry and I did our endowments the same day as the sealing. Although it was a long day it was worth it and the time seemed to fly. Both events were beautiful and worth all the work it has taken to get there!

        Larry and I were lucky enough to have two wonderful people who have impacted our lives in many ways, go threw with us as our escorts. We appreciate the love and support Vicky and Sebastian have for us and for their wonderful spouses who allowed us to stealing them away for the morning. We feel so grateful for them being there with us. We are grateful for all the people who attended the endowment and the sealing. Having that support there is priceless.

We have spent so much of our life together dreaming of this moment. It is the one thing I wanted more

then anything since I was a little kid. I am so grateful to have such a wonderful and loving man in my life that I have been able to share this great experience with! He is one terrific guy who I love more the anything!         

We were even more grateful for our little angel! She is the cutest little angel ever! She was so well behaved and calm while she was with us. Although we only saw her briefly, she was being so good. She looked so beautiful in her little dress. I loved even more that the first words out of her mouth when they opened the door was "mama". What wonderful words!! She didn't want to leave when it was time, which really touched my heart :) She loved playing outside and looking at the "waterfall". She is a cutie pie. We take occasional strolls at the temple and she loves it!                          

I was so excited and thrilled to have my childhood best friend come down to be with me on this journey. I kept crying all the way up to her arrival because of how grateful I was for her being there.

We are so happy for our little family. This was an experience worth everything we have worked for. Its an experience that we can only agree with Spencer W. Kimball on when he said "It wouldn't be far to crawl if one knew what he was getting and what he was missing if he didn't go." What a blessing to our life! We love our life and only want to continue changing for the good.

Merry Christmas

           We hope everyone is enjoying the season and remembering the wonderful blessings that come from the gift the Savior gave to each of us. Our year has been full of blessings that have brought us closer together and closer to the Savior.
           Lana is growing like a weed. She enjoys everything life has to offer and takes advantage of all there is to learn about. She has started to sing along to songs and enjoys playing the piano and drums. She is also our little artist who spends countless hours drawing and coloring. She loves the idea of her baby brother and enjoys kissing my belly. This year she has really taken in the Christmas season and has found a love for Christmas lights. We have taken her out a couple of times to cruise around Albuquerque to see some well decorated homes.
          Larry has spent most of the year as a full time student. The company he was working for was sold and we decided there is no better time for him to gain an education. He has declared his major in Psychology and is still deciding if he wants to be a counselor or get his doctorate and become a clinical psychologist. The expected graduation date from UNM is 2011. He is our A student who enjoyed most of his classes. He is very active in the church and doing service. He has been a great dad spending a lot of time working with Lana. He has been pretty successful with potty training Lana so far.Larry was called as a Sunday school teacher of the 12 and 13 year old. He loves every moment of teaching.
        Nina has been a busy bee as well. In June we found out that we are expecting our 2nd child. We have enjoyed the pregnancy and are excited about the new baby boy that is joining the family. Nina is still in school and should have her associates by the end of Spring term 2011. At some point she will finish up at Highlands University. She is still working as a pharmacy technician and plans to work up to her due date. She is looking forward to the break from doing both work and school. She loves being mom and tries to find time to do fun things with Lana. She was recently called as a Young Womens adviser for church. She has enjoyed teaching the classes and working with the girls.
        All in all it has been a fun year full of adventure. We look forward to the coming year with all the blessing we have coming. We look forward to being sealed together on January 2nd and Maximus coming in February. We hope everyone has a wonderful and safe holiday season.