St. Louis & Birthdays!

I am very blessed to have 2 very special women in my life. I met them while I was a college student at Saint Mary's College. Bethany and Rachel are very good friends, and even though we don't live near each other, we still manage to get together... even 5 years after graduation! Bethany lives in St. Louis, so I asked Rachel to go visit her with me for my birthday. So.. we did! We had a great time going to a Welsh pub, seeing the sites where Bethany lives, enjoying chocolate & wine, and we even watched Mama Mia! The trip went too quickly, so we'll have to do it again sometime. Here are some pics from the weekend.

Me and My Ladies

When we studied abroad in Rome and studied art history, we always fancied ourselves as the Three Graces. We loved this subject because the three of us were always together. No really, we ALWAYS were. We had a ball!

In Bethany's apartment

Rachel & Bethany Enjoying Brock's Brew from St. Patrick's Day

At Applegates for lunch and at the Welsh pub, Drussels




Bethany and Matt

It was a great weekend, and thank you, Ladies! Yummy ice cream birthday cake!

This past weekend was also my birthday! Brock's is the day before mine, so I think he has it easy in always remembering my birthday (hehehe) I got home from St. Louis around 6:30pm on Sunday, my birthday. Brock still made it very special, complete with presents, cards, and a piece of cake. I even got my first card addressed to "Mommie," which was very special. When I came home, Quin was sleeping. As soon as I heard him stir just a little bit on the baby monitor, I dashed upstairs! We opened presents after that. It was a great day.

The Birthday Girl

The Birthday Boy

The Birthday Couple

I promise, I wanted this, a new apron from Williams & Sonoma! Sometimes, you just need a great pink-striped apron, you know? I'm a very messy cook, so this was perfect. Thank you, Brock!







Next, was a present from my son. And, a beautiful bunnie mommie birthday card. For some reason, my mom and I always spell things with "ie" at the end. For example, mommie, gammie, bunnie, gummie, etc. So, Brock knew to keep up with the tradition and spelled my name correctly. My mom also LOVES bunnies, so the bunnie card was a nice touch. Thank you Brock, I mean, Quin!

Quin got me a lovely set of luxurious bath towels, YAY!!!

Quin was very excited to give Mommie a birthday present

Thanks to my boys for a great birthday weekend!!

St. Patrick's Day

I haven't claimed my Irish last name until now. I'm Polish, dang it! But, now that Quin is part Irish, I have to claim it. :-) We had a very low key St. Patrick's Day this year, and we were very happy to celebrate it with Quin. It was 70 degrees for the first time this spring, and it was absolutely beautiful outside. I don't know about you, but I'm really looking forward to spring this year. I can't wait to take Quin on walks in the stroller and have long conversations with Brock. We've found that when there are no distractions like TVs or phones, we have our best talks. Anyway, here is a picture of Quin in his beautiful St. Patrick's Day outfit, thank you Aunt Shari!

We ate delicious corned beef and cabbage, YUMMY. You will find on this blog I like to talk about food. It's very important to me, and we love trying out new things. We cooked corned beef in the crock pot all day, and then boiled some new potatoes and cabbage. The highlight of the meal was definitely Brock's Brew. He is a beer maker and has a dream of becoming a brewmaster someday in his own brewery. We would love to open a bed & breakfast and sell Brock's Brew exclusively. Brock made an Irish Red for me because he knows it's my favorite.

At work, there was a breakfast fundraiser. This past summer, a police officer named Jason Fishburn was shot. We raised funds to help send Jason and his family to Washington DC for the wounded officer of the year ceremony. We hope he wins! Anyway, I was intrigued by one of the breakfast offerings... Green Bagels! I've never had one before, and it was delicious. Check it out.

Here are some great pictures I've gotten of Quin lately. He is 5-months-old, and is so much fun! We're very thankful he's here. :-)

Quin loves his swing

Sleepy Baby, but I love these pictures



Loves his daddy

We love you, Quin!!

Quin is 5-Months-Old!

It's so hard to believe Quin is 5-months-old!! It has been a wonderful 5 months, but it's gone too fast. Brock and I are still constantly amazed by how much and how quickly Quin changes. He is the light of our lives. Here are some things about Quin.

Quin loves:
~Mommy & Daddy, either one of us can soothe Quin, but he has recently just wanted Mommy

~Still loves his feet and keeps reaching for them

~Loves to laugh, he laughs the hardest when you kiss him on the cheek. He has this WONDERFUL laugh, and he adds a high pitched squeal at the end. Warms my heart.

~Loves to laugh at Daddy, Daddy makes him laugh by saying phrases very quickly and getting in Quin's face, especially "Todo el mundo," which means "the whole world" in Spanish. Daddy was saying, "You're the most beautiful boy in the whole world!"

~Peek-a-boo! This game is just too much fun.

~Sweet potatoes and bananas

This past weekend, Quin had his first slumber party!! We went to Brock's parents, and Quin got to spend some quality time there. We also got to go to the church we were married in, so it was a very special day. We've known a lot of the people at church for YEARS, so I'm sure it was exciting for them to see us with a baby. We are truly blessed to know that so many people love us, and pray for us. At Grandma & Grandpa McCracken's we took a bath, played on the floor, watched a movie, took pictures, had a yummy dinner and breakfast, and went to church. Here are some great pictures with Quin's grandparents.

Here is Quin with Grandma McCracken


3 Generations of McCracken Men


Quin and Brock with Grandma & Grandpa


Here we are in the church we were married in.


We keep realizing just how important quality time is. Quin normally takes a nap after he gets home from daycare, and tonight, he took a nap during dinner time. Brock and I got to talk while the baby slept. For new parents out there, I highly recommend doing this. We split a bottle of wine and ate pork loin and mashed potatoes and just talked. It was very special, and a cheap date at home. It's so easy to be completely consumed by the baby, and it was so nice to have some time just for ourselves. However, Quin woke up just at the right time for us to hug and love on him again. :-) It was perfect timing. Having a baby certainly changes everything, and I couldn't ask for a more welcomed change.

Lent & Life

Well, in the Christian faith, Lent lasts 40 days before Easter. It's a time of reflection and to prepare for the last days of Jesus' life on Earth. Lent begins on Ash Wednesday. Our church has a special Ash Wednesday service, but we first celebrate Fat Tuesday with pancakes. The service is called Pancakes & Ashes. For the past few years, I've always helped make the pancakes with some friends at church. This year was no different. I left work early and headed to the church's kitchen! It's always so much fun. I was really looking forward to Ash Wednesday this year so I could celebrate it with my family. I really wanted a picture of Quin with his first pancake! So, Brock also left work early, got the baby, and came to church. Quin of course can't eat solids yet, but I still wanted a picture of him with a pancake. Check out this awesome picture!

Quin already has the idea! Look at that mouth!
Yes, that's me in an apron.

Here are some pics of the wonderful ladies I get to worship and do service with.



A lot of people give something up for Lent, chocolate, alcohol, fried foods, etc. They do this as a fast and to meditate. I chose to gave up fast food. It's such a convenience, but I know it's not healthy either. So, I'm working to keep at it. I don't think Subway counts, however.

Almost a year ago, we found out we were pregnant with Quin. He is a miracle baby. I have some health issues, and we really thought it would be difficult to get pregnant. We want children and are so blessed to have Quin in our lives. Before we knew we were pregnant, we went on a mission trip to Venezuela. I can honestly say that trip changed my life, and I really understand just how small our world is. The best part was going with Brock. The people we went with are amazing. We all got along, no one complained about the food, and we genuinely enjoyed worshipping with each other and doing God's work. I just feel like bringing this up because a year ago we were in Venezuela and had no idea I was pregnant. Brock talked about the trip once during church service and mentioned how we went and didn't know it, but our son was there too. It's very special. Here are some pictures from that wonderful life changing experience.

The children were amazing, and I miss them so much. They were so loving, and luckily, Brock and I spoke enough Spanish to understand. Here I am with Shari and Christie.


I'm holding Daniel, who turned one. We were at his birthday party! Hmmm, me holding a little boy, a sign of things to come???


Brock and I adored this woman, our Abuela (grandmother). She said Brock reminded her of someone in her family. I have no idea how old she is, but she is very, very kind. She was watching the young children while we worked. Then, I wanted to watch the children with her.


Motherhood certainly has changed my life, and I'm very grateful. I'm so lucky to have a partner who really wants to be active in his son's life. He helps with bathing, feeding, changing, anything and everything. Brock is such a great daddy that I wanted to put some pictures of him on here. Thank you Brock, and I love you!

My little twins in blue


Daddy with a wide open smile like his son


Daddy & Quin at Ash Wednesday