Oh how the time flies swiftly........

So, here it is December 20th.....5 days before Christmas.....and we just started (and finished) our Christmas shopping all in one day! I'm pooped! BUT.....it's done!

Both of the girls are gone now for the Christmas holiday. Ryann will be home on the Christmas afternoon and Kamri will be home on the 26th. We miss them terribly when they're gone, but know that they enjoy spending this time with their other families. But boy, let me tell you.......the week leading up to their departure was plain madness!!!

Monday night I stayed home from my meeting since the girls had been gone all weekend as well as Steve and we spent an evening just being together. Tuesday we had family movie night one last time before the girls left (we try to do this once a week). Wednesday we had cheer practice and then Christmas shopping for Steve and Gamaw. Thursday night was our annual tradition of going out to see Christmas lights with my parents. We always go out in our pjs and have popcorn and hot cocoa while we drive around looking at all of the lights. Friday was the final day.......we started out with school Christmas parties for both girls, then rushed home to bake cookies, trim the tree, wrap all of their Christmas gifts purchased for others and watched a final Christmas movie before heading out to their Christmas party for Stepz Gym. Needless to say, I was beyond exhausted by the time we got home.......but the fun doesn't end there!!

Saturday morning at approximately 3:00am Grant woke up with a wretched fever and a nasty cough.......so Mommy didn't get much sleep that night. However, staying home in bed wasn't an option for us.....my sister, Brittany, graduated from Texas A&M Commerce on Saturday morning and we had a special lunch for her at my mom's house that afternoon. Sadly, Grant and I were the only ones able to attend since both girls were gone and Steve was bowling in a doubles tournament in Euless (where he made $900, thank you very much!!! So proud of him!!). Once all of this was done, we headed home where we could FINALLY rest. However, it was more of the same (coughing and fever) in the wee hours on Sunday morning, so we were not able to attend church (sad face). But, we certainly didn't want to pass our germs on to anyone else and we really had no way of knowing how sick he really was. So, we chilled around the house for the day.

We were able to get Grant in to see the doctor today and it turns out he has strep......the boy has never been sick a day in his life and now he has strep!!! Blegh! Here's hoping the rest of us don't end up with it although I haven't been feeling all the great the past couple of days......Lord, please here my plea......no sick Mommy and no sick baby for Christmas!!!

We have quite a few pics from our week of adventures........so, check out our photo site to see them!! And check back soon for more mishaps and mayhem from our family!!

Hope everyone is well!

Melony, Steve, and the Sickly Grant

PS: Christmas cards go out tomorrow!!!! They're awesome! : )

It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas.......

I can't believe it's already been 2 months since my last post! The time flies by us so quickly these days that we are barely able to keep up! It's now December 14th and before we know it we'll be ringing in the new year! So, here's a little update on how things have been with our family.

Ryann and Kamri are both doing great! Getting excellent grades in school and almost no behavorial issues whatsoever.....which has been a HUGE relief to all of us! They are also participating in Cheer/Tumbling at Stepz Gym in Wills Point. Their coach, Coach Nate, has been very impressed with their progress.....especially little Miss Ryann. She's almost ready to be doing back handsprings by herself....and that's just what she's learned in the 2 months that she's been going. Coach Nate says that Kamri has one of the prettiest back handsprings that he's seen if she can just figure out how to power herself through her moves rather than have him do the "heavy lifting". Both of the girls love going to Cheer and I think it's safe to say that it's one of the highlights of their week!! I'm going to post pics on our photo site for anyone interested.

For Thanksgiving this year, both of the girls had the opportunity to spend time with their Dads and with us. It was a little chaotic because during the course of the week I only had the two of them at the same time for 2 days.....but they were able to enjoy the special holiday with ALL of their family so that's what's important. Steve, Grant and myself got to enjoy 3 days worth of Thanksgiving......and by the end of those three days I was ready to start walking and clucking like a turkey!! LOL But it was a wonderful time for us as well! And it was Grant's first Thanksgiving........he really enjoyed the mashed potatoes....heehee.

This year we as a family also participated in the community service project that my Mary Kay unit does every year called Adopt A Grandparent. Basically we partner up with local business, organizations, and individuals to provide a gift to residents of the local nursing/retirement homes. Last year we provided gifts to 200 residents but THIS YEAR we were able to provide gifts for 500 "grandparents". The girls were a little apprehensive about this last year, but this year they jumped right in and made a lot of elderly residents very very happy. I feel so blessed that I can have my family participate in such an awesome program. It really teaches the kids about giving back and helps them keep a firm grip on what Christmas is SUPPOSED to be about!! We look forward to doing this for many years to come!

With Christmas less than two weeks away, and the girls leaving to be with their Dads in 4 days, there is just so much left to do!!! Christmas shopping for family, baking cookies, Christmas parties, our annual trip to look at Christmas lights with my parents!!! By the end of this week I'm going to be worn out.....but I wouldn't trade one single moment of it! Check back soon for more pics and posts about our week!

We hope everyone is doing well and living in God's richest blessings!

Love,

Us : )

So Very Blessed

I cannot even BEGIN to express how incredibly blesssed I have felt lately!! With so many negatives going on in the world all the time, it makes me feel so wonderful to know that we have a home to live in, dependable cars to drive, family and friends that love us dearly, and the health we need in order to work.

Grant is 6 months old now and sitting up unassisted!!! He's getting so big. He's made it up onto all fours and is rocking back and forth.....he'll be crawling in no time!! Still no teeth at this time, but we don't mind waiting on those!! He's such an awesome little guy....full of smiles and laughter all the time!! It's funny that everyone who sees him is very adamant on who he favors most.......and the answer is always different....lol. People either think he is a complete clone of Steve or they think he looks just like me........which do you think??

Ryann started third grade this year and she is enjoying school. I don't think that I can honestly post that she "loves" school anymore because she has now reached the age that she could probably take it or leave it and the main reason she wants to go (most days) is to see her friends. Haha!! However, she is doing excellent in all of her subjects and is learning more and more all the time. We are definitely going to have her tested for GT this year. I feel confident that she'll pass with flying colors. This is a picture of her on the first day of third grade.

This year Kamri started 1st grade and we have been SO impressed with how much she has grown and changed over the past year. Last year it was a constant struggle to keep her behaving in school. This year......a complete 180!! In the first six weeks of school she has only had ONE oops moment and will end the first six weeks with a citizenship grade of 99!!! Everyone who talks to her can see how much she's grown up and comments to us all the time how well behaved, polite, and smart her and her sister both are! It makes me feel SO good to hear these compliments since for many years I was a single Mommy and worked hard to teach them good manners! LOL.... Kamri has also done extremely well academically this year. And we are going to have her tested for GT classes when the time rolls around as well! They are both so very smart! I just LOVE listening to them talk to each other.....it's so entertaining. Here's a pic of Kamri Jay on the first day of school!!

The girls also started Tumbling classes in preparation for Cheer last week and they had a blast. I'll take some pics this week when we go and post them online.

I guess our blog update wouldn't be quite complete without also giving an update on myself and Steve. We are doing great!! We've been attending church at Family Fellowship in Greenville since December of last year and just recently have made some awesome new friends!! We both really enjoy attending church there and can't wait to see how many MORE friendships the Lord is going to bless us with!!

Steve is still bowling travel league/tournaments several weekends a month and has just recently started giving private lessons and he LOVES it!! I've been telling him for a couple of years now that he needs to coach....but does he ever listen to me?? LOL He's also still playing golf a couple of days a week and enjoys getting outside away from all of the hustle and bustle and being with "the guys". He's getting a lot better at golf too according to my Dad and several of the other guys he plays with. He's actually played in several tournaments recently and has some championships to brag about! Whoo-hoo!!!

I'm still working and growing my Mary Kay business. My goal is to be on target for that Career Car by this December and to be in qualification to be a Sales Director!!! That's a pretty HUGE jump in my career so it's going to take some hard work and LOTS of prayers to get me there!! I've also been exercising everyday......walking/jogging 3 miles a day and working on losing the rest of this baby weight plus some!! I'm starting to see real results and that makes me a very happy camper! Go me!!! I love the fact that I get to be a "work from home" mommy now. I'm not missing out on any firsts with Grant and that's so valuable to me!! I highly recommend it to all mommys...lol!

Well, I guess that's about it for now. I'm currently in the process of uploading new pics on our website as well, so check those out when you have time.

Hope everyone is doing great and living in God's richest blessings!!

Love,

Melony & the fam

Everyone's getting older......

Grant turned 5 months old yesterday....I can't even believe it!! It just goes by so very fast! He's still growing like a little weed. And definitely getting smarter. He mastered rolling from his tummy to his back about a month ago and is getting closer to being able to make it from his back to his tummy. And a couple of days ago he sat up on his own for about 5 seconds before toppling over....lol. No teeth as of right now, but the kid drools like he's going to sprout about 14 of them all at once. He also started eating cereal last week and this week we started on applesauce......which he loves as you can tell from the pic.....heehee. His sisters absolutely adore him and would do anything to make him laugh.

Speaking of sisters......Ryann celebrated her 8th birthday last month on July 13th. We took her to American Girl Bistro in Dallas and let her pick out her own American Girl doll.....and then we all had brunch together.....something that us girls loved, and Steve tolerated.....lol. She starts 3rd grade on Monday and she's really excited!!!! She's enjoyed her summer but she's ready to get back to school and see her friends again.

Kamri is starting 1st grade on Monday......I have a hard time grasping the fact that my little girl is growing up so fast. I'm excited about her starting school on a new campus this year. She'll be 7 in October and she's already planning out her birthday......lol. She's also really excited about starting cheer this school year.

Everything else is going pretty much the same for us......Steve's bowling and I'm working more and more every week. I'm currently in a challenge within my unit to put our amazing products on 100 faces within 100 days. I'm so excited about this challenge because it's really going to propel me to the position that I've been wanting since I started my business. I'll keep everyone posted on my progress.......

Also, I had a birthday on August 8th and Steve has a birthday this coming Monday......so yeah, we're both getting older......lol.

That's about it for now. I'll post again when the kiddos start school and let everyone know how their first day went.

TTFN.....TaTa For Now!!!!

Melony :)

Still adjusting.........

Grant went for his two week well-check yesterday (which was actually 2 days AFTER his 2 week birthday) and got excellent reviews!!! He now weighs 8 lbs 9.5 oz which is exactly on target for weight gain. He hasn't grown any taller.......just been plumping up.....he really likes mommy's milk....lol!! He's been sleeping really well, sometimes getting 4 hour stretches during the night. Mommy likes those!! He's starting to hold his head up a little and getting really strong!! Everyone just adores him when we go out ~ and of course the first thing EVERYONE comments on is the amount of hair our little guy has. He has so much of it that he sometimes doesn't look like a newborn baby!!! He'll be needing a haircut before long now!

The girls are doing really really well getting used to having Grant at home. They don't get quite as much of mommy's attention as before, but we spend time together whenever we can and they LOVE spending time with their brother. Last night we all went outside and enjoyed the weather together. Ryann rode her bike around and around the cul de sac and Kamri and I followed behind. We're still working on Kamri's bike riding skills........she'll get it before too long. It took Ryann about 20 minutes ~ I have no doubt Kamri will pick it up just as quickly.

Steve has bowled in a couple of league tournaments since the beginning of March and his team actually won first place in their division!!! This is really exciting to me because it means we've won a trip to San Antonio in May (I think it's in May)!!! We don't get too many adult weekends so I'm really looking forward to getting away and spending some time together!

Easter is in 2 days......Ryann is going to be spending the weekend with her Daddy but we are fortunate to have Kamri home with us. The plan as of right now is for us to all go to church on Sunday morning and we're going to take Kamri and Grant to an Easter Egg Hunt tomorrow.......assuming that the weather cooperates with us! Right now it's raining......ugh!

That's about it for now. Grant should be waking up soon for some of that yummy mommy milk and I have a few phone calls to make so I'll update again soon!

Hope everyone is going great!

Love to all,
Melony & the Family : )

To all my Mommy friends......

Okay ~ normally when I post updates on my blog it's to bring everyone up to speed on the family. Well, this one is going to be a little different. I'm in need of some advice from my friends and I'm hoping that this will be a good way for me to get it.

So, as everyone knows Grant was born 8 days ago......and I'm absolutely in love with this little boy! Just looking at him warms my heart. I mean c'mon.....can you blame me?? Just look at our little man!!

But....here's the deal. I'm going NUTSO sitting in my house everyday!!! I LOVE being able to be here with Grant and taking care of him. But I'm having a little bit of a hard time remembering how to just be me. There are still the daily things that need to me done around here.....cooking, cleaning, laundry, etc. And I'm getting back into being able to do all of those things (after recovering). But, I'm also wanting to start working again. I had GREAT momentum built up with my Mary Kay business and with the birth of Grant, I feel as though that has come to a complete STOP!! I need to get myself back out there making contacts and holding appointments, but honestly I'm afraid of overdoing it and putting myself back several steps in the recovery process. I'm also DESPERATELY ready to start working out......but right now walking to the bus stop to get the girls off the bus in the afternoon wears me out. I guess in this particular situation I'm just expecting too much too soon. I'm frustrating myself because I'm not able to do everything that I would like to be able to do......and I know that I'm probably putting too much on myself.....but I'm just not a sit around the house and do nothing kind of person. And I'm going a little stir crazy!! However, I'm not interested in just leaving my house for the sake of leaving my house.........I'm looking to do something productive!!! I feel like I'm not being productive and it makes me feel awful!

So, this is basically a request for some advice, support, suggestions, tips, or anything else that you all have to offer. I trust all of my mommy friends and would love to hear what you have to say. Don't hold back. I know that this post probably sounded like a lot of whining.......but I'm in need of my girlfriends right now........so there it is.

What do you think?? If you can't comment on this site, just send me a message of facebook or email me at melk8879@yahoo.com.

Thank you all so much for loving me enough to help!!

Melony

It's a BOY!!!!

Grant Paul Merten
March 16, 2010 10:22 AM
Weighed 7 lb 15 oz ~ 21 inches

After getting a call from the hospital at 9:00 letting us know that our induction was being pushed back a few hours, Steve and I hung out at mom & dad's house for a while until it was time to leave for the hospital. Induction started at close to 2:00am with the insertion of medicine to thin my cervix. I was told that they would wait 4 hours and then determine when to start pitocin. Well, THAT NEVER HAPPENED!! Within 2-3 hours of being induced I was in full out labor. Contractions coming right on top of one another.......oh the pain......enter epidural. I had already informed the nurses and my midwife that in the past, once I have an epidural I progress very quickly. Apparently me telling them wasn't proof enough. I was dilated to a 3 when the epidural went in and within 2 1/2 hours I had progressed to an 8. Within 20 minutes of being checked and told that I was an "8" I was feeling pressure and calling the nurse back in. She told me that there was "no way" that I was already fully dilated and that she would come back in an hour to check me. Baha!!! She was back 20 minutes later to find me completely dilated and at +3 station. So, basically the baby's head was crowning. Our wonderful midwife....we'll call her Pam the Great......was called in and within a few minutes and almost zero pushes our little man was finally here!!!!

The first couple of nights were rough.....I'm sure that it's tough work being born and it certainly isn't easy delivering a baby.....so, we're all still trying to recover. I had no stitches and there was no tearing so my recovery has been remarkably fast.......thank goodness. And last night (night 3) Grant actually slept for a little over 4 hours in his own crib!!! Steve and I both woke up this morning freaking out because we hadn't heard from him in so long.....lol! But he was completely content snoozing. Whew!!!

Both Ryann and Kamri are out of town for Spring Break and both are very very anxious to meet their new baby brother! I absolutely CAN'T WAIT for them to come home on Sunday!!!!! I've missed them so much this week! It's been nice being able to adjust and have some time with just Steve, Grant and myself, but I know that we are all ready to have our family back home!!!

Gotta run.....it's lunch time for me and then for Grant!!!

Love to all ~
Melony, Steve & Grant : )

Finally the big day!!!

It's finally here!!!! We're going into the hospital to be induced tonight at 10:00 and we'll be meeting this baby soon!! We're all so excited!! The girls are both with their Dad's for spring break so it'll just be myself, Steve, and the baby this week! I'll post another blog as soon as I can.

Love to all!

Us!

10 days out!!!!

Well, I thought it was about time for an update. Although this one won't be long. We have 10 days remaining until our due date! But to be honest, I'll be really surprised if we hold out that long. I've started dilating and things have been progressing in baby land for a couple of weeks now. I've been having irregular contractions on and off every day for the past 3 days. So, we'll see what happens!!!

The girls are doing great! They're both really excited to meet their new brother/sister and can't wait for Mommy to go to the hospital!! Hopefully they will both still be here when the baby comes. Our due date falls right smack dab in the middle of spring break so there's a very good chance that both girls will be gone if we hold out that long.

I'll post updates on here as things progress and hopefully we'll have a new little one soon!!

Love to all,
Melony : )

Could I borrow some energy??

Wow....it seems like the past 8 days have just FLOWN by!! I'm trying to update this thing weekly but man it's tough sometimes. There's just SO much going on right now!

We FINALLY finished the renovations to our master bedroom and it looks awesome! I am absolutely in love with my new room and can't wait to get the baby's crib set up in there!!! Unfortunately, I have yet to actually SLEEP in my new room since most nights I end up in my recliner!! This little one requires me to sleep almost upright or else it cuts off my circulation by laying on my spine!! LOL......so, I'm looking forward to sleeping in my own bed again. That'll be nice.

I had my baby shower on Sunday and it was so much fun! I just love sitting around with the women in my life sharing stories and laughing.......could not think of a better way to spend a couple of hours on a Sunday afternoon!! And getting to open baby gifts......so fun!!

At our midwife appointment this week, I learned that I'm now 1 cm dilated and that the baby has definitely "dropped"......which would explain why it's all of a sudden easier to breathe and this one has more and more room to squirm around. At this time, Pam (above mentioned midwife) guessed the baby to be right at 7 lbs. And I still have a little over 2 weeks until my due date!

We attended our childbirth class on Saturday the 20th of February. Steve did NOT enjoy to real life video of babies being born........enough said on that.

Business is going wonderfully! I'm trying to get as much work done before the baby comes as I can, so I'm stuffing everything into each day that the Lord will let me. It's been such a blessing in our lives and I can't wait to "work" each day!! How rare is that?!?!

The girls are doing amazing! Kamri has been on green a lot more consistently lately and therefore is finally getting to participate in tumbling again......which she LOVES!!! And I love being able to watch them both!! Spring break is coming up really soon and I think they both need a break!

We had record breaking snowfall last week, which I think I posted about in my blog! It snowed for close to 24 hours here and we had snow on the ground for several days after! The girls LOVED playing in the snow and even got to take a couple of days off school!! YAY for snow day!!

Other than that I don't think there's anything else to post for this week as of right now! The kids continue to grow and develop and say things that amaze me on a pretty much daily basis!!! And I'm loving every minute of it!!!

Will update soon! Love to all!!

The fam : )

Oh my goodness....where has the time gone??

Well, we are officially under the 30 day mark!! We have 26 days remaining until our due date!! Still working on getting the house under control but hopefully by the time I post again next week it'll be complete! This chaos is driving me insane! Baby shower is this weekend and I'm so excited about that!!! We also have a childbirth class to attend on Saturday, which I'm excited about ~ Steve is really not! LOL...... But he understands why it's important and didn't put up a fight when I asked him to go, so I think I've got a pretty great guy!

The girls are doing absolutely awesome! They have loved "camping out" while our house is being turned upside down. But, I'm definitely ready to have them in their new bedroom and have all of their stuff out of the rest of my house!!!!!! I know that when it's all said and done we're going to be very happy with all of the changes that we're making.

Business is going really well. I've been more busy this week than in a couple of weeks and that's been a complete blessing! I start to go a little stir crazy if I'm not working. I'm trying to get as much done before the arrival of our new little one as possible ~ I'm sure I won't be able to do much work in the first few weeks after he/she arrives.

Not sure if I mentioned before (think I did) that Jessica is also expecting her third right now and is currently due on March 2nd. Which for them is just right around the corner!! We're all so excited to meet the newest member of the Davis family!!

Went to see my midwife yesterday and I'm still a fingertip dilated but my cervix is starting to thin out......still growing in there, and definitely running out of stretching room! But I feel great! Better than I did during the second trimester actually. I was in a LOT of pain during that time, but decided at the beginning of my third trimester that I would look into chiropractic therapy......and boy has it made a difference! I would recommend it to ANYONE, and especially anyone who's pregnant! I feel so much better than I did a few months ago that it's literally unbelievable to me sometimes! Good stuffffff!!!

Well, I guess that's about it for now. Will post as we have new developments! Hope everyone is doing great and living in God's blessings!!

Love to all,
Melony & the rest of the family : )

33 Days Left!! And SO much to do!

Oh my goodness....where to start! Had an appointment with my midwife yesterday and I'm a "fingertip" dilated. That's basically nothing, and completely normal at this stage. Baby is growing right on schedule and is looking great! No problems with weight, blood pressure, or anything else so at this point we're just continuing our wait!! LOL


Started renovations on the house a couple of days ago. So, it literally looks like we JUST moved in. The girls moved downstairs, father-in-law moved upstairs and Steve, the baby, and I are going to be moving into the master bedroom downstairs......but we're knocking down a wall and putting up another......painting......and laying down new carpet first!!! There's A LOT going on at our house!

We had more snow today than this area has seen in 30 years!! I haven't seen this much snow in Texas in my entire LIFE!! That's downright awesome! SO, the girls got to stay home today and school has already been canceled for tomorrow!

Baby shower is scheduled for Feb 21.....I can't wait! But EVERY weekend between now and delivery time is completely BOOKED!!! It's really going to be here before we know it!

Will update again soon! Love to all!

45 days and counting!!!

Soo, I think everyone knows at this point that I'm kind of terrible at keeping this thing updated. I spend a TON of time online, but I'm usually working!!! And speaking of working ~ I quit Pizza Hut on December 21 of last year and have started my own business. I'm a Senior Beauty Consultant with Mary Kay!!! In the past 2 months I've reached SEVERAL big goals and I've added 5 team members to my future unit!! My goal is DIQ as of March 1st!! I know that most of you don't know what that means.......but it's a pretty huge deal. It basically means that I'll be a Sales Director making a MUCH larger commission than I'm currently making. I've loved EVERY minute of this new venture and can't wait to see where it takes me!!

Our family has finally found a church where we really feel welcome and just love attending every Sunday!! It has made such a difference in our lives.....what more can you possibly say about that??

The girls are doing great in school. Both Ryann and Kamri are excelling far beyond the majority of the other students in their classes. It amazes me how smart our girls are!! And they are really starting to develop those "tween" personalities that I'm sure will continue to grow for the next several years.

I'm now 33 (almost 34) weeks along and this little one is really starting to grow!! Just about 6 weeks to go at this point ~ we're so excited!! We have some renovating to do on the house in order to be really ready but we're getting there.....and my "nesting" instincts have kicked in full swing!!! I'll keep you all updated on the progress of the little one as we get closer to the big day!

Steve is finally getting back into bowling.....and is actually in Louisiana at a tournament right now doing REALLY well......hope he makes the final cut!

That's about it for us right now.....more updates to come soon! I promise it won't take as long this time! LOL

Love to all,
Melony & the Fam