Job Title: Mommy!

Margot Lynn Crabtree was born on June 18th at 11:47am. She was 7lbs 13 oz 21in long.

I went into labor on Thursday, June 17th in the late afternoon (around 2pm). Earlier that day I had gone to the city dump with Denise, Kyle, Brady, and Shari. Brady, my 2yr old nephew, is really into garbage trucks, so Kyle set up a tour for all of us, it was pretty cool! Then, after the excitement at the dump, Denise, Shari, and I went searching for treasures at Deseret Industries. After hours of shopping and exploring, we went home and I finally decided to start timing the contractions I had been having throughout the day. At 2pm the contractions were 8 minutes apart and from then on, they kept progressing. Finally, on June 18th at 1:11am my water broke and Joe and I headed to the hospital. On our way to the hospital I swiftly made all the essential calls to Casey, Shari (Joe's mom), and my mom (Gloria). It was such as crazy experience; I was feeling excited, frantic, anxious, and happiness all at the same time.


Once we got to the hospital, reality started to sink in--she was coming! Casey, my mom, and Shari stayed at the hospital anticipating Margot's arrival for 10 hours! Talk about love and dedication! Finally, at 11am I was ready to get her out and into the world! Denise came to the hospital too and took some wonderful pictures of the event! I have to say, giving life to this precious little girl is the most amazing thing I have ever done! I am so glad that I got to share it with my closest friend and family members. An added benefit to this sepcial day was that she was born on Joe's great grandmother Juanita's birthday.

Margot is now 5 days old, and let me tell you, it has been a whirlwind! The first night home was tough, but it has been getting better each day we get to know her. I love her so much it is overwhelming sometimes. I am so excited to get to know her more and more, I can't wait to have mommy daughter days like my mom and I did. I know we will have so much fun together as a family. Joe and I are excited to watcher her grow and learn and become her own person. She will have a wonderful life, with amazing people apart of it. She already loves her family and her adoptive auntie Casey! I am so thankful for everything and everyone apart of this experience.

How many movies can one person watch?

Okay, I will admit it...I am a movie addict. For the last week, I have been watching movies galore! I think I have watched all of my movies as well as every single Netflix Watch It Now movie available online :) Ah, what a wonderful life I lead.

And what do I do when I am not watching movies? Nap. I have had some of the best naps this week! I forgot how refreshing they can be, especially since I have not been sleeping through the night. In fact, I just woke up from my morning nap, and I gotta tell you, I am feeling mighty spry. If you have the opportunity, I suggest you try it :)

In other news, Joe and I have been setting up the house for Margot's arrival. We had some little projects we wanted to get done before the lil'girl arrives. One such project was to convert one of the 3 closets in our room (yes, 3) into an alcove for our armoire to free up some space. Joe moved it last weekend, and man oh man does it look good. Casey, who has know of these plans since their conception, came to see it (she loved it) and suggested to add trim around the converted closet to give the new space a defined purpose-and so it doesn't look like we converted a closet into an alcove. We loved the idea and are going to install it soon.

The other important projects we wanted to get done were the two bathrooms upstairs.The demolition on our bathrooms upstairs is set to start Saturday. I am so excited to finally have fresh and clean bathrooms upstairs. I don't think any updates have been made to these bathrooms since they were built in the 1970s, so this will be a good refresher for them. We are essentially replacing everything like the vanity, mirrors, toilets, and shower door; and adding tile, fresh paint, and new towel bars etc. We also decided to refinish the tubs-which will be awesome since it would be quite costly to completely take them out and replace them- plus, I am not sure if we could do that anyways without permission from the HOA. This project will be done next week, I am so looking forward to it :) This is the last "demolition" project we have to do on the house and I am so excited that this place is feeling more and more like our home. I will post pictures of the finished bathrooms next week!

Productivity Level: High!

I have been way more productive this weekend than I thought possible! So far, I have crafted with Casey, had an influx of contractions, and improved my evaluating time for my online job! All in all, I am feeling pretty good about life, which is a relief because lately I have been finding myself becoming restless.

Crafting with Casey yesterday was awesome, as usual. I used ModPodge, blue/white scrapbook paper, and yellow paint to reface the jewelry box my grandma gave me when I was 8 and Casey refinished a "t" she inherited from the old "information desk" sign at ASU. I think we did a pretty good job!( I don't have a picture of Casey's "t" but it was pretty cool.) The next at home ModPodge project I have planned is for the necklace tree Casey gave me. I am super excited about it! I will post pictures when I finish :)

Relax?! I don't know the meaning of the word

So today I stayed home all day to "relax", as per my husband Joseph's encouragement. But what I am starting to realize is that we all have a different definitions of relaxing. For me, relaxing can involve fun activities such as swimming, crafting, cleaning, etc. However, I don't think this is the traditional view of relaxation. I have come to the conclusion that when most people think of relaxation they think bed, couch, movies, and the act of nothingness. No-thank-you!

It is only 1pm and I have found myself trying to think of things to do or get done around the house. The thought of swimming was appealing, but then I realized that I would have to go through the hassle of getting in my car and traveling to said pool--so that idea was out. So instead, I have resolved to doing laundry, cooking, organizing the bookshelf down stairs, blogging, and looking into my new job a bit more. I have decided that I might need to go to Michael's to get some crafting supplies to get me through the rest of this week :) Don't get me wrong, I am not ungrateful for the free time that I have, it's just a new adjustment. I am really glad that I have the time right now to do what I want when I want to because lord knows that will change when Margot gets here :)

In other news, Casey (B.F.F.) spent her second night in her apartment, this time with electricity and air conditioning! These are essentials, especially during the summer in AZ. I do have to admit, it was fun having her stay a couple nights with us while that stuff was being sorted out :) I am going to stop by her new place tonight to check it out in all of its glory! We did get a lot done when she moved in last weekend, but I know she has done oodles more since I have been there. I am excited for this new chapter in her life, I think she will really enjoy living on her own. Plus, it will give us a cool hangout place where we can have dinner, crafts night, or just hangout! I am looking forward to these activities...I should probably fill her in on my plans though :P

Hello world! It's Michaela.

It took me a while to take the plunge into the whole "blogging scene" but alas, here I am!

I am excited about my new venture into blogging! As I dig deeper into my new found activity, it is important to me to define exactly what I want out of this whole experience. First, I want to keep people updated on the "goings on" of the Crabtree clan, because let's be real, who doesn't want to keep up with the Crabtree's? Secondly, I want to use it as a venue to express my thoughts and ideas. I know these are not the world's most "original" objectives but I am beginning a new phase in life where I am assessing (and re-assessing) who I am as an individual... "what I am into" or what "extra curricular" activities I want to participate in . I have never been a real hobbiest, but that is starting to change as I meet new people and try new things. This blog is one of the ways I am "stepping out of my shell". For those who know me, I use the term "shell" loosely...we all know that I have no real "shell" to begin with :)

It's weird to think that someone other than my known friends and family would read this, but that doesn't mean I don't approve :) I like to imagine people being amused by my "crazy" antics. Who wouldn't want to read about a "cantankerous 24 year old mother to be" who is recently obsessed with crafting, especially with ModPodge, thanks to her BFF and Sister-in-Law. But there I go again thinking the world, and all the people in it, are revolving around me...but seriously why wouldn't they want to?!

I like this whole blogging business.... It's kind of therapeutic. I think it will make the transition to staying home a little easier. I am quite chatty and I love being surrounded by people--especially when they are sitting in desks awaiting the information I will relinquish to them...hence why I became a teacher. Until recently, I didn't realize that I used the classroom as an outlet for my personality. It was the only place where I could consistently interact with people. I never knew what to expect from day to day, and most importantly, I got to talk all day about whatever I wanted---and they had to listen! :) But since Margot is making her debut (in June 2010) I will be taking time off from teaching to be with her, which will be awesome, but it will be a big change. Plus- don't all stay at home mom's have a blog? I thought it was a requirement?...