The end of an incredible era :(

Tuesday, March 16, 2010, Josh and I welcomed Miss Callie Lynae into our beautiful world!  She was such a wonderful surprise!  That following Monday, March 22nd, Josh and I received an incredible email that opened our hearts to the idea of a lifetime!  

 Miss Jessica Crews opened the idea to Josh and I not "settling" on a daycare that we weren't fond of, rather allowing Jessica and her family to take on this vivacious, sassy little Miss Callie while mom and dad went back to work!  The thought of leaving my daughter scared me, but after meeting with Jessica, there was no doubt in my mind that Callie would be well taken care of!  I knew Jessica was the very next best thing to watch Callie than Josh and I being home with her.

Jessica calmed my fears that first time leaving Callie - with texts, videos, updates!  You name it, we got it!  Callie was 100% loved and snuggled, everything we had hoped for!  From that point on, we knew Jessica was family!  We knew God placed her in our lives, our hearts and made her apart of our family - not for these last 5 years, but forever!  You will forever be our "CaCa"!!

Two wonderful years later, Josh and I received some pretty exciting news, and the first people to find out...Oh yes, Jessica and Derrick!  To this day, Derrick's reaction to our wonderful pregnancy news is by far my favorite!  

Thank you so much for allowing our entire family into your home!  Without hesitation you welcomed our twins!  You were excited for us and said, "We will do this, I'm ready!"  You were more calm than I was - or at least you let on to be that way!  I was freaking out inside, you were calm - Derrick, well, he was hysterical :)  

On Sunday evening, May 20, 2012, Josh and I delivered happy, healthy twin boys!  Mr. Collin Donald and Mr. Carter Lowell!  You were there Monday morning to meet them and love them like your own!  They fit so perfectly into your arms!  Again, seeing this, I knew we were going to be okay!  You don't realize this Jessica, but my heart felt a sense of calmness the moment I saw the love pouring out of your heart towards my handsome little boys!  Little did we know they'd be so rambunctious and crazy!

And then there was the first day of school when I had to leave all three of my babies in your care!  This time around, I wasn't as sad....I felt confident and I knew they'd be okay!  I actually worried more about you and your sanity!  I knew I was ready to lose my cool, so the break of working was welcomed!  You poor girl, taking on all three!  Somehow you STILL loved them more than life itself!  You still cared for your own children, kept them busy, occupied, loved and cared for!  You still ran your home the way God intended you to!  I can't express to you how fortunate we are to have you in our lives!  We all are, all five of us, your husband and your two beautiful children...seriously - you are a walking Angel here on earth!  You have more love and patience than anyone I have ever met.  You are more kind than anyone and you have a generous heart.

Somehow, on Wednesday, June 3, 2015, our family had to say goodbye to you.  It wasn't a goodbye like we were moving or we would never see you again, but it was a goodbye knowing our daycare days are complete and my children will not have your presence in their everyday lives.

A few "then" and "now" photos - I love this woman!

  This is a great photo - not only is Jessica amazing, her family is top notch!  My kids absolutely adore your children and look to them like an older brother and sister!  They are there to help calm them, rowdy them up, play with them, imagine and explore!  We are beyond blessed!

Thank you, Jessica Crews, for five incredible years!  Thank you for loving my children as your own and for caring for them better than we could have ever imagined!  The love and care they received far exceeds anything they could have received anywhere else!

  

 Somehow, we are going to begin a new chapter in our lives.  You will always be apart of our family and our story, but knowing my children will not have your daily love, your daily care, your daily positive influence does break my heart.  We are eternally grateful for everything you did for our family!  Jessica Crews, you are apart of our family!  I mean, heck, we're the McCrews Family :)

Track Meet June 2015

This is the first year our boys were able to participate in the track meet this year!!  They were pretty excited!  Due to our high school's track being torn up (building a "dome") the track meet was held at the softball fields.  Under the circumstances, they did a great job keeping it all organized.  The biggest complaint we had, as well as others, was the lack of ribbons they handed out this year.  We are not those kind of parents to feel that "every child deserves to win or receive a ribbon," however, every other meet Callie came home with a handful of ribbons.  This year, instead of having 4-5 runners at a time, they had 20-30 runners at a time.  They awarded the top 3 runners, which obviously took our kids out of the running - totally okay!  They received their participation ribbon which was okay to them :)

Callie's awesome long jump!

Collin is so sweet - I love the man's reaction when Collin was throwing it :)

Grampa Shellum, you'd be so proud of Carter's amazing throw!

Great jump!

Here are a couple races we caught on camera :)  There were a few videos where the boys here trampled over, but that's to be expected with a billion kids running at once :)  Callie ran with her friends and enjoyed the company of the run!

How can my babies be 3 years old already!?!?!

This happened...Josh and I officially blinked and BOOM - our boys turned three years old!  I can barely believe it myself.  I remember waking up on their birthday and congratulating Josh!  "We have survived three years and we've kept them all alive!" - I believe those were my exact words!

It is true though - we survived three years of absolute chaos, explosive messes and and indescribable amount of love!!

Collin - our fun loving, high energetic, very curious and willing to try anything little boy!  You have eyes that twinkle and tell us that mischief is about to happen.  You give incredible hugs and kisses!  I love when you tell me everyday that you love me more than ____.  Ususally it's hotdogs or chicken nuggets!  In your 3 year old eyes, that is HUGE!  I love you two sweetheart!  I am so incredibly proud of you and the young little boy you are!

Carter - our cautious, observant little boy with more secretive spunk than an alley cat!  Your sweet little smirt gives away your shyness, but your tight squeezes and long kisses are sure to melt anyone's heart - especially mine.  I love how cautious you are about life, but after your careful observations, you dive in head first and aren't afraid to try something.  I am so proud of you and I know you are going to do incredible things in your sweet little life!  What those things are, I'm not sure yet, but I know they're going to be BIG!!!

For your 3rd birthday, you requested a Paw Patrold birthday party - so a Paw Patrol party is what you received :)  It was so fun planning your party and watching your excitment grow as the days drew nearer!  What are you going to say now that your birthday has come and gone!?  Everyday leading up to it, when you didn't get your way, you would say, "You're not coming to my bifday" - or you'd invite EVERYONE to your "bifday"!  Oh boys, please stop growing up so fast!!