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With all of the speeches lately (state of the union, state of the state, the Golden Globe acceptance speeches, etc), I hope you don't mind listening to one more.

California Dreaming

Yes, it's true. We have been here in Meridian just short of 6 months and the reality of our location has officially hit me. I miss California. I miss downtown San Diego (minus the bums and traffic, of course). I just miss all of our familiar and bustling surroundings, not to mention the beautiful pacific ocean. Maybe I'm just suffering from a bit of Seasonal Affect Disorder as a result of the gloomy, rainy and downright chilly weather we've had pretty consistently for the past few weeks, but on second thought -- no -- I'm pretty sure it's just Meridian. For the most part life in Meridian is very BORING. However, there are a few little gems that this city has to offer. For example, there is this nice park called Bonita Lakes that has great running trails in a very "scenic" environment where we enjoy running when the weather permits. Also, not too long ago we discovered this great bakery that has the best cookies!
Well, within the past 24 hours we've found out the following:

1. A human skull was found on one of the running trails at Bonita Lakes and the trails are closed pending the investigation.

2. The bakery with the fabulous cookies has gone out of business.

Next they are going to tell us that celebrating St. Patrick's Day is against the law in the state of Mississippi!

Needless to say, we don't leave the house much. It's sad, but true. We're looking forward to a trip to my mom's in April. I've already started counting down the days. The trip also just happens to coincide with my 30th birthday, so I just realized that ironically I am also counting down the remaining days of my 20's. Great, now I'm even more depressed. ha ha.

Thank goodness we have our adorable and hilarious baby girl to keep our spirits up!! Here are a couple of pictures: the first one is a shot of Marin in one of her favorite napping spots, our bathroom, which I just recently re-painted. The second one I took just after silly Marin had finished demolishing a cookie.

Our Best Attempt at Showing Off Marin's Tooth

 

Calvin Update!

To the faithful Cronley Blog watchers: Calvin is still alive and kicking...scratching, meowing and lately, growing. Most recently we had changed his eating style to promote a "grazing style" feeding such that if he's hungry, he eats. Well, that failed. This little experiment caused Calvin to balloon up and gain over 3 lbs in 3 months (think 30 lbs for the average person!). So it's back to two feedings a day, spaced such that he makes a mad dash toward his food bowl any time he thinks anyone is making a move in that direction.
In a related story, Marin loves Calvin, no matter how grotesquely overweight he may be. He lights up her face and he seems to realize the effect he is having on her. He often "babysits" when she is on her mat and always seems to be around to distract her during feedings. Marin is learning to sign (very trendy, I know) and we think she likes the sign for Mr. Cal the best.

Tips on Parenting

Before going to a child's periodic check-up, know the correct answers to all of the doctor's potential questions. Here's a little excerpt from the most recent visit...

Dr. Wilson: Does she make any high pitch noises?
Tracey: Oh, yes. Definitely.
Dr. Wilson: Okay. Good. This is the time when they enjoy their own sounds. Does she have any teeth or sign of teeth?
Tracey: No. We're still waiting!
Dr. Wilson: Oh look, here's a tooth right here.

Yep. Our little one has a tooth and not only that she's been hiding it from both of us this whole time!

Back at It!

The holidays are officially over. What started with a houseful at Thanksgiving has ended with the shameful lowering of the newly acquired ND flag. Over that month and a half we had a blast with so many visitors and so many calorie-laden treats. But it's back to work for everybody...and that means I must once again get serious about blogging for the good of the family.
Marin has made it to the birthday of all birthdays...yes, the half birthday. She has her checkup tomorrow and I'm sure we'll flood you with its inane findings.But who really cares about weights, heights and percentiles when Marin has started to scream at the top of her lungs?!? Now that's progress! The photo really shows it all...she recently has added this pensive look to her repitoire. She may look deep in thought; give her a second or two and she'll curl your hair with a blood curdling scream. Here is Marin bouncing around in her jumper.
Happy 2007!

A new picture...

for the frequent blog visitors, to tide you over until Tom decides to re-enter the blogging world. This is Marin with her favorite gift from Santa --- the singing Lion.

Merry Christmas!

Weekend in Memphis

In an unprecedented move, I am actually writing two blog posts back to back. Ironically, Tom's Christmas leave from work started on Monday and here I am still HARD AT WORK and single-handedly maintaining this blog. Okay, there are only a few exaggerations in the previous sentence. 1. Tom is on leave from flying, but he has still been working as my live in "Manny" while I continue to work this week. 2. When I say I am HARD AT WORK, what I really mean is HARDLY WORKING -- still awaiting assignments. 3. If you think that I actually know how to format the pictures and do all those fancy drop down letters in my blog posts, then you are sorely mistaken --- Tom is also my personal blog post stylist.
So, we made a quick trip up to Memphis this past weekend to visit my very good friend, AmyD and her husband Nic Morrison. Amy is pregnant with their first baby (Little Peter!) and is due any day now. Amy was kind enough to take Tom, Marin and me to the Pottery Barn and William Sonoma outlets that are just a few minutes from their house. You would have thought that we'd never shopped before -- that is how deprived of decent stores we are here in Meridian. Just short of completely draining every last ounce of precious pregnant energy out of Amy, we returned back to their beautiful home where Nic had been hard at work putting together a delicious dinner for us!! We had a great time visiting with them. Amy and I mostly talked about how if 8 years ago, when we graduated from KU, somebody would have told us that by the year 2007 we would both not only be married, but also with little children and LIVING IN THE SOUTH -- we would have immediatly spit out our mouths full of Freestate beer and laughed heartily at the idea. But alas, here we are....and life is good.
Here is a picture of Amy and Nic in front of their home in Memphis:

and here is a picture of my favorite present ever along side my perpetual lump of coal (Cal):

Newsflash

Well, this may be "news" to most of you, but after much deliberation I made a last minute decision to return to work at ICON. Two weeks ago I put in a call to basically find out who to write my letter of resignation to and the good people at ICON ultimately said "please don't leave us -- we will find you something to do that does not require travel (at least not TOO much) and you can still work from home." To which I obviously replied "Yipee!" So, I officially started back yesterday and so far things are going well. We are lucky in that once Tom finishes his instructor training(sometime next month), he will better be able to build his schedule around my regular business hours. For the next six months, or so, he will be flying almost exlusively night flights which will allow for him to be home with the Squeaker while I am working. I am not sure exactly what I will be doing for ICON, but I know that I will be working in the Contracts Dept. I am still waiting to find out more info and in the meantime I will be getting my office organized and catching up on the general annual training I am required to complete. So, enough of this boring rambling! That is our plan for right now and of course, it is subject to change at any moment. However, if the new job doesn't pan out, I have a feeling that we may be forced to start eating rice for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Hey, I figure Marin eats rice cereal at every meal and she seems to be doing just fine, it can't be that bad! Of course it is mixed with breastmilk.........yeah, that probably wouldn't work out so well.

Anyhow, just so that this isn't THE most boring post in the history of the blog (it still may earn that title) here is a picture of the crazy 3-D gingerbread cookies we baked last night (thanks Grandma Cronley!). Tom loves them so much that he insisted we display them on our mantle and then he took this video(I am living with a crazy man!!)

I hope that everybody is doing well and enjoying the Holiday Season! Here is video of the Christmas carolers that visited our house on Saturday night.

Oh Christmas Tree!

This past Sunday, we drove out to a local tree farm and like the Griswold's of National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation we kicked off our fun old fashion family Christmas by heading out into the country in the old front-wheel drive sleigh to embrace the frosty majesty of the winter landscape and select that most important of Christmas symbols--The Tree!
We nearly froze Marin right out of her purple snowsuit, but we found a tree and chopped it right down. Check out the action here and here. Oh, and check out Tracey's new hairdo! She loves it and so do I.
In other news, Marin made the bulletin at St. Patrick's in Meridian and we all ran the Meridian Jingle Bell run. It was 20 degrees at the start of the race, so we were happy that we didn't jump in the car as we passed it (twice) during the run. Also of note, in the results section here, I am in the Male 24-29 grouping, Tracey is in the Male 70-99 grouping?!?
Also, here's a nice failed Christmas card photo attempt. Check out my Zoolander-esque pose. I think I'll call it "blue steel."

Big Weekend in Meridian

What a weekend! Some may have thought we were biting off more than we could chew when we decided to gather Grandma Cronley, Grandma Mac, Sara & Greg, John, Suzanne & Clare and Patty, Luke, Anna & Cece for Thanksgiving, for the baptism and for the ND-USC game. Well one of those events was a debacle, but hopefully we can right the ship in the bowl game.
How, you might ask, do you house both grandmas, a brother, two sisters and their families? Oh you simply borrow two houses in your neighborhood! Rob & Leea Myers, who housed John, Suzanne and Clare, have continued to help us more than any friends have and really probably should. It's very humbling having such generous friends. We also need to thank our new friends, Angela and CJ Price. They housed Patty, Luke, Anna and Cece for the weekend. If you like to send them a thank you card, their addresses are in the Boog and Tracey section of the Cronley Wiki.
Like any family gathering, there were minor tragedies and a major tragedy (ND's loss), but we had a fabulous time catching up with everyone especially the little ones. We have pictures!

Tracey & Marin Victoriously Run for Hope

In a surprise upset in the most recent 5,000 m race on the Meridian Athletic Association circuit, Tracey Cronley (not pictured) finished first in her age group. Most shocking from last Saturday's strong performance was that Tracey ran whilst pushing Marin in her stroller.
The results are posted here.

Though no Turkey Trot plans have been discussed, she does plan to defend her title in the December 2nd Jingle Bell 5k.

Happy Autumn

It's been awhile since we've posted and it's been a LONG while since I have contributed to the blog personally (aside from being the butt of a few jokes concerning my huge loss at the neighborhood chili cook-off). Anyhow, I seem to have fallen behind in more than just my blogging and I'd like to say that I am sorry to all of the friends and family who are currently on my list of "must email ASAP" --- you know who you are --- you're the one's feeling neglected and I am sorry. My computer time each day has dwindled to almost no time at all, which in a lot of ways is quite good. I just need to get better at prioritizing the time that I do manage to find at the computer and actually email people before the baby starts wailing away.

We have enjoyed these last couple of weeks at home. Fall is officially here, but today was 85 degrees. We have had our "chilly" moments, however, so at least the trees are turning brilliant, beautiful colors.

Marin had her 4 month check up on Tuesday and she passed with flying colors! The doctor says she'll be moving and shaking and solving calculus problems in no time! Here are a couple of our most recent pictures. Marin is looking forward to seeing both Grandma Mac and Grandma Cronley and all of her Aunts, Uncles and Cousins who will be visiting in a couple of weeks for her Baptism and Thanksgiving.

Pumpkin Carving

October is hands-down our favorite month. The colors of the leaves, the anticipation of the holidays, the constant football, and for us in Mississippi, the bearable temperatures! But October is leaving and Halloween is upon us. To help us get in the mood (since we've already eaten all of the candy we bought for the trick-or-treaters), we had an afternoon of carving up our front porch decor. Today we bought new pumpkins, since the one we had gotten a couple weeks ago, was already rotten.
So we chopped open the top, scraped out the goop and seads, and ever so carefully carved out our masterpieces. Below you see the lineup of all of the pumpkins, including the ones carved by our friends Rob, Leea and Angela. Then you get a close-up of Tracey's on the left and then mine on the right.
Our neighbor Craig offered his keen eye and sense of true art as he picked my "The Owl Swoops" as the overall winner. To be fair, Craig had a difficult time deciding which pumpkin was best which resulted in his hamburgers turning to hockey pucks in his absence.

Cronley Loses in Chili Cookoff

Despite bringing a cute baby giraffe to the competition, Tracey Cronley, formerly of San Diego, California, was unable to come home with the victory in the annual Linmoor Neighborhood Chili Cookoff. "This date was highlighted for weeks on my wall calendar posted in the laundry room," stated Cronley. Attempting to woo the judges with a rare sight at chili cookoffs, Cronley left the tomatoes in the refrigerator and concocted a delicious white chili. However, she finished the competition with her very first Chili Cookoff loss.
"Maybe if my own husband would have voted for my chili, I would have won," explained the young Rachel Ray in-training. Her husband was unavailable for comment as he spent the morning in the bathroom with a mysterious post chili cookoff sickness.
After finding out that the cookoff host was the winner, Cronley demanded a recount of the votes.

Anyone Else Want to Visit Us?

This is how I picked up our friends, the Roddy's, at the Jackson Airport on Thursday. Wearing a fishing hat, Burr Oak Tool & Gauge work shirt, and of course, the novelty teeth (or teef), I approached them and asked, "'re y'all the Minnesota folk?"
Also in attendance this weekend was our friend Adrienne Turner. We didn't do too much other than eat and play with the kiddies. It was a great weekend (it meant a lot to us that people took their vacation to Mississippi to visit us!) and a good "warm-up" for Thanksgiving.

A Little Visit to God's Country

Last weekend, we loaded up the Family Truckster and headed North to South Bend, Indiana for a wedding. The Dampeer and Steigner families' gathering coincided perfectly with my wistful desire to take a 3 month old child on a 4 day, 3 thousand mile trip to the Midwest.
We split up the mileage by stopping in St. Louis, MO while traveling both North and South. John, Suzanne and Clare put us up in their home and then traveled with us (different cars, the truckster isn't that big) to and from South Bend.
The weekend was a blur of activity. Friday included a extended Cronley family dinner of Macri's deli sandwiches (the Ol' Chicago was probably the best sandwich). Saturday, after the men (Joe, John and I) had our quick, hour and a half trip to Starbucks, we all toured the campus and loaded up on everything Notre Dame at the bookstore. It was cool and crisp, but when the wind blew, it was downright cold--and that's not the Mississippi in me talking.
The wedding and reception were perfect. Claire was striking and Mike was a very cool and confident groom. We ate, drank and danced until the band ran out of Lionel Richie hits for me to request.
After a short stop at the Dampeer home for breakfast it was time to begin the long trip home. A great trip but the travel was a little much. Marin made me promise that I would never again purchase extra spicy, jalapeno and cheddar potato chips for Tracey, which a half an hour later, Marin tasted. That was a nightmare.

The Squeaker

We've been busy with getting our house put together, trying to establish/maintain a routine schedule for Marin, watching (and re-watching thanks to TiVo) Notre Dame football games and attempting to catch some zzzzzz's every once in awhile. As you may or may not be able to tell from the photos, Marin has been VERY busy growing! Yesterday I was forced to pack up all of her 0-3 month clothes as she has outgrown them - right on schedule! It's hard to believe.

October is going to be a great month for us. It's always my favorite month of the year and this year we have a lot going on: a wedding in South Bend, IN, followed up by a weekend of fun with some of my favorite friends from KU here in Meridian, then it's Halloween and Marin already has her costume picked out. Now if only the weather here in MS would act like it's October. Today it is 95 degrees and the forecast calls for more of the same ALL WEEK! Too hot.

I'm sure you will all be thrilled to hear that Calvin has fully recovered from the hectic move and the near abandonment at the rest stop in Missouri (as a KU grad I really can't think of a more horrible fate). He's really living the good life here with us bleary eyed new parents. He's been the victor, on more than one occasion, of tricking us in to feeding him more than his usual allotment. This is how it plays out: I awake to a meowing cat and even though it's not quite time to feed him yet, I do, just to shut him up so he won't awaken Marin. Meanwhile, Tom is sound asleep and oblivious to all of this. 30 minutes later, I am now zonked out and Tom falls victim to the apparently starving Cal's meows and hence Cal gets fed twice -- his #1 goal in life. Thankfully, while we three stooges (Tom, Cal and myself) are stumbling through the wee hours of the mornings, Marin has continued to sleep soundly through the nights, consistently waking up at 730am. Yipee! Knock on wood.....

The pictures above are from last Saturday. Yes, we do let her wear the Roll Tide bow from Aunt Leea, just because it's so darn cute, but note the green bow too! Unfortunately Marin was not wearing any KU stuff last weekend and she should have been, but she was already sound asleep when that epic game was going down. Better luck this week, Jayhawks!

Babysitter Interviews

We had a visitor this past weekend. Aunt Sara made the quick trip from Birmingham to bring good luck to the first quarter of the Notre Dame vs. Purdue game. It worked! What we didn't tell her is that she was secretly being interviewed as a potential babysitter. As you can tell Marin enjoyed her presence and now it is only a matter of time.