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

It's been LESS than a month since I posted anything......that's progress!!!! LOL!!

To be honest there isn't much to announce right now. Girls are still in school - just finished the first six weeks. Ryann came home with straight A's and Kamri had all good marks as far as academics go. She's making great progress and learning new things every day!!! We're still working on the listening while she's in school, but she's doing MUCH better at that as well lately. I honestly think that she's just getting older and growing out of her "toddler" ways. I mean, she'll be 6 next Friday....it was about due!!

I'm almost 18 weeks along with this new little one. We've had a few doctor's appointments and two ultrasounds. So far everything looks great! Went for some testing this past week and am still waiting on the results from my lab work. We've decided that we're not going to find out the gender of this one until the day we finally meet him/her. We're also not telling anyone the names that we've selected.......and the suspense is driving my family and some of my friends crazy!!! But, we believe that there just aren't very many surprises in life anymore and this is one thing that we can at least ATTEMPT to leave as an unknown. Now that we're almost halfway through this pregnancy and I'm actually starting to look like an expecting mom instead of a fat chick I feel MUCH happier!!!! LOL.

We've had some really wacky weather lately that had definitely put me in the shopping mood. I actually started my Christmas shopping yesterday. Didn't do much, but it was so much fun to get out there and get started!! I'm hoping to have it done much earlier this year than in years past......waiting until the last two weeks just stresses me out too much and Lord knows I don't need that this year!

With Kamri's birthday and Halloween just around the corner, I have a feeling that before I know it we'll be making plans for Thanksgiving and Christmas!!! It all comes SO very fast this time of year. But I love it......it's my favorite time of year for sure!!

Like I said, there's isn't much to update on right now.....but at least I made the effort to stay in touch with you all!!!!

Take care until next time!!
Melony : )

So very much to say!!

Okay, so I have completely neglected this thing for FAR too long. There is SO much that has happened since my last post. We'll start at the beginning.

The girls finished school at the beginning of June 2009 and on June 6 we moved into our lake house. We've done a lot of work in the past few months including putting down new flooring in the living and dining rooms and doing a LOT of cleaning. We're all really happy in our new home and look forward to many years full of memories here.

The girls both spent time with their dads this summer and had a blast. And on July 4th, I got a wild hair up my butt and decided to take a pregnancy test since I knew that there would be drinking going on at the family's 4th of July party. Well, you can clearly see below what the results of that were.

We're all very excited. This was something that we weren't really trying to accomplish but we weren't not-trying either. It was more of a "If it happens, then great" kind of thing. Our families are really happy for us and can't wait to meet the newest addition to our little family. The official due date as of right now is March 17th.....St. Patrick's Day!!! At this point I'm 14 weeks along and finally through all of that 1st trimester stuff. Finally getting a little energy back and starting to feel a little more like myself........with a baby inside of course...lol. I'll do my best to keep everyone updated as things progress.

Okay, so that bring us up to August. Of the wonderful month of August........*sigh*. I turned 30 on the 8th and Steve turned 40 on the 23rd. So, needless to say, it was a big month for us. We're still trying to recover from these momentous birthdays........

The girls started school on August 24th. Ryann is now in 2nd grade and Kamri is in Kindergarten. I tried really really hard to get pictures of them on their first day and these are the only relatively decent ones I ended up with. There aren't many to share, but don't our girls look so big!!!! Ryann's teacher is Mrs. Barnes, but we recently got a call letting us know that she'll be moving to a new class beginning next week. The school was lucky enough to be able to add another 2nd grade teacher and Ryann was selected as one of the students moving to her class. Her name is Mrs. Priest. We're hoping that Ryann likes her new teacher as much as she's liked Mrs. Barnes. Lots of good grades coming home with this little one so far!! Yay!!!

Kamri is in Mrs. Mixson's class and so far has done very very well academically. We've had a few issues with her losing her temper and there have been a few trips to the principal's office. But Steve, myself, and her teacher are all working together to try to resolve this and so far things are going much better. Kamri's teachers all say how wonderful, sweet, and loving she is and that makes me so very proud to be her Mommy. It just amazes me that she'll be turning 6 years old a month from today. I can't believe my babies are getting so big!! We've had absolutely NO problems from her at home and her and Ryann are getting along better than ever!!! They are both over the moon excited about the new baby and both hope that it'll be a little boy this time. Hopefully it doesn't make me a bad mom to say it, but Steve and I are both hoping for a boy this time too. But, regardless of the gender, we'll be overjoyed with whatever God blesses us with.


Work is going pretty well. I had to take off a considerable amount of time during the last 12 weeks because I just didn't have the energy to work more than a single shift a day. But now I'm working lunch shifts Monday-Friday and that allows me to be home whenever the girls are.......and that's what I've ALWAYS wanted!!!

Steve has been bowling a lot and has even taken up playing golf with my dad a couple of times a week. They really enjoy the time spent together and I'm really happy for him. Other than that, we just kind of take things one day at a time.......cause that's about all I can handle!!!! LOL

I guess that's about it for now. Hope everyone is doing well. I'll try to update this thing again soon and maybe even have some more (better) pics!!!

Love to all,
Melony, Steve, Ryann, Kamri, and baby Merten : )

A quick update

Since that's about all I have time for right now!! To be very honest, I haven't had the opportunity to update you all recently since I've been working what feels like non-stop! Even on my days off I have so much to do that I feel like I'm running around like a madwoman! But here's a quick work on what's going on with our little family.

Ryann is almost finished with her first grade school year and is already looking forward to summer. She's really enjoyed school this year, and has done extremely well, just as I knew she would. Kamri, on the other hand, has been having some behavioral issues that we're trying to deal with. I'm not sure if she's just tired of her teacher, or if her teacher has more on her plate than she can deal with, but it's been a daily struggle lately. Academically, Kamri is still doing wonderfully - learning more and more everyday. But, she's been having some problems following directions when it comes to nap and recess time. But I continue to believe in my baby girl and do whatever I can to let her know that we love her and that we know she can work through this. Any prayers that you all could send up would be much appreciated!

Steve and I (and the girls) are all very much looking forward to our move coming up in June. This will be the LAST time we'll have to move for a very very long time........*sigh of relief*. It's going to be a lot of work getting the house fully updated, but I'm up for the challenge and actually looking forward to the work. The girls are more excited about the fact that they're going to have a pool AND a lake right in their own backyard!!! LOL. I predict many summer afternoons spent playing outside this summer. FUN!!

Unfortunately, with this move almost here, we knew we were going to have to find a new home for our German Shepherd Shelbi since there is no fence out at the lake house. And, with many tears shed (mostly by me), she went to go live at her new home last night........*sniff, sniff*. She was loved and will be greatly missed by our family.

Work is going really really well. I work a lot of hours, and earn good money.......and I'm loving it! I'm just not the type of person who can sit at home for days on end. I need a job ~ and I love mine!

I guess that's about it for now........like I said, there hasn't been much going on with us. I'll update you all again soon and try to get some current pics online for you all to check out.

We love you all and hope that you're doing well.
Melony & The Fam

The search is finally over!!

So, for any of you who were not aware, I have been unemployed since November 1 of last year. And since we ALL know just how terrible the job market is right now, it shouldn't come as any big surprise to hear that I have had a awfully hard time trying to find work. But, just at was predicted, things worked out. I had an interview yesterday afternoon at our local Pizza Hut. They saw all of the management experience that I had on my resume and offered me a position. YAY!!!! I start working this evening and I couldn't be more pleased!!! I'll be training basically from the ground up including learning how to be a server. But, later this year there will be a new store opening up in Forney (about 20 minutes from where we will be living) and they are hoping to make me the Assistant General Manager when it does. This would be an absolutely awesome thing for us, so we're really excited!

In other news, both of the girls have now lost 2 teeth, right in the front!! And what's crazy is that they lost them within a day of each other. Let it not be said that my kiddos aren't in sync right now....lol! Everything else has been going pretty good for us. We don't have a lot of exciting news to share at this time. Life when you're unemployed is pretty boring......But, thankfully for us....things are finally looking up!

Love to all,
Melony

Goodbye 2008!!! Hello 2009!!!

I'm not sure how it happened, but somehow, another New Year is upon us. As I look back at 2008, there are a few things that stand out.....

Ryann Elyse started 1st grade and is excelling.....as we all knew she would. Kamri Jaycee started Pre-K and has learned more in the first half of the school year than I thought she would all year!!! I'm so very proud of both of my school-goers!! They're so smart! : )

The girls also started taking ballet lessons and even participated in their first recital just before Christmas. Pictures are viewable at http://melonyk.myphotoalbum.com/albums.php. Ryann also started taking violin lessons, played soccer during the summer, scoring her very first goal and Kamri is finally going to be a big sister (her Dad and Jennifer are having a baby boy this coming summer). We went on field trips to the Caldwell Zoo, and the Heard Museum in McKinney........and had fun at class parties and school events.

Probably one of the biggest things that happened to me or the girls this year was the entrance of Steve into our lives. We love him so much and feel so very very blessed to have him love us in return. It feels really wonderful to have finally met "the one" that I was always meant to be with. Every year is sure to be amazing with him by our sides.

Steve and I spent New Year's Eve with his family at their brand new home......and had a great time!

I'm sure that this year will bring many many more exciting times......and I personally can't wait!!

Hope you all had a fun SAFE New Year!! We love you all,

Steve, Melony, Ryann & Kamri

Merry Christmas!!!!

Oh my goodness......where to begin!!!!

Our holiday celebration started this year on Christmas Eve with dinner and gifts at the Merten house. Unfortunately, this year it was just myself and Steve representing our little family. The girls were still with their respective dads. We had a yummy yummy dinner and presented Steve's family (Dad, Brother Jim, SIL Belinda, and nephews Trevor and Shay) with gifts. It was a very festive time. Although, it almost turned out disastrous..........while we were at the lake house, we found out that we had a water main leak in our FRONT YARD!!!! We felt terrible about calling the landlord on Christmas Eve, but come on........what were we supposed to do??? So we sat for a couple of hours wondering if we would have water standing in our yard when we got home.....luckily, they were able to resolve the problem and restore water service to our house before we ever got home..........whew - disaster averted!!!

On Christmas morning Steve and I were able to sleep in until about 10:30..........mmmmmm.......that was nice!!! But, we eventually started getting the inevitable "Merry Christmas" text messages from our friends and family that signaled that it was time to start the day. So, we got up, got showered and dressed and headed over to my parent's house - which, by the way, happens to be about 4 minutes from our own........NICE!!! My dad invited Steve out to play golf and my mom and myself were going to go out to the Greenville hospital to check on my grandmother. Since none of you actually know what's going on there here's the lowdown in a hurry........about 3 weeks ago my grandmother who lives a little North of Hillsboro, fell and broke her hip......she laid in her own house on the floor for about 18 hours before anyone thought to go check on her.......poor Grandma........but then was immediately (HA!) rushed to the nearest hospital where she was treated most urgently (to be read "it took another 11 hours!!!"). Fortunately, she was admitted and underwent surgery to repair her hip.....and was then transferred to the Greenville hospital so that she could be closer to us.......

So, back to where we were........Grandma is recovering nicely and should be released from the hospital on Tuesday, at which time she will be going to live with my sister until she's completely better and ready to be let out on her own.......lol. Steve and Dad played golf and had a great time, and after our visit at the hospital, mom and I started cooking for the family Christmas dinner. Everyone showed up about 6:00 and we enjoyed a WONDERFUL dinner of ham, mashed potatoes, and some yummy but still healthy veggies. Afterward, we had a gift exchange and proceeded to clean up the house......never fun!

By the time Steve and I returned home, we were exhausted........but we had no idea what exhaustion still awaited us!!!!

This morning we woke up at 7:00, showered and dressed, and headed out the door to make the 4 hour trip to Conroe to pick Kamri up from her Dad's house. Trip down there wasn't bad.....very little traffic and no DPS in sight. Made it down in 3 1/2 hours. Picked up our baby girl - SO SO happy to see her......and headed back home. The trip home wasn't nearly as fun.....we had to fight our way back through traffic and dodge DPS officers who were lurking in the distance, just waiting for a chance to pull someone over. But, we finally made it to the rendezvous point at which we were meeting Adam and Courtney in order to pick up Ryann and continue our trip back home.

So, here is where our story gets a little hectic.......but hopefully, the pictures will tell the story for me........the gist of it is that all of my family made a special trip to our house in order to be present when Ryann and Kamri opened all of their gifts and we had ANOTHER Christmas!!! I'm posting pictures from our Christmas tonight - and tomorrow you'll be able to see the rest! It'll take me until then to get them all posted.......but the girls had a wonderful Christmas, both with their dads and with us and we all feel overly blessed this year. Santa brought the girls a Fisher Price Loving Family dollhouse and Steve and I bought 4 rooms and the accompanying family members that go with the house.......HOURS OF FUN FOR ALL!!!! Cousin Emma is spending the night with Ryann and Kamri tonight and have just settled down for an hour of Dora the Explorer after playing "dollhouse" for a couple of hours!!! Mommy and Steve are really looking forward to bedtime tonight.......and not because we're hoping for some "alone time" either.....heehee.......we're both so exhausted we can barely keep our eyes open.....lol.

So, here's to all of our friends and family.......we hope you all had a wonderful and blessed Christmas this year, just as we did. We love you all and wish you a Very Merry Christmas!!!

Love,
Steve, Melony, Ryann & Kamri : )

The Nutcracker Revisited

Our beautiful angels danced in their very first ballet recital on Friday, December 19th.........thanks to the girls' dads coming to see them I was able to "borrow" these pictures to share with you all....

Honestly, from the second our girls stepped on the stage I was a ball of tears so, I wouldn't have been able to take pictures even if I had a camera in my hand. Add to that the fact that as a parent of one of the ballerinas, I was forced to sit in the back of the auditorium and......well, you see where I'm going with this.

SO SO Busy

Well, the title says it all!!!! We're so very very busy these days!!!!! Wednesday has always been a busy day for us ~ but it seems like lately things are getting even more hectic. This is how MY day went!

6:20am - Wake up, shower, wake up the girls, and get them started
6:40am - Check on the girls' progress, fix hair, and help make beds
7:00am - Feed the girls breakfast
7:20am - It's out the door to school.
7:40am - Drop off Kamri
7:50am - Drop off Ryann
8:00am - Stop by Starbucks for a MUCH NEEDED caffeine fix!!!
8:45am - Check in at Ryann's school and go get her from her class.
8:55am - 9:20am - Violin Lesson
After that, everything up until 2:00 is kind of a blur..........but the basic idea is that I cleaned house, did laundry, and just tried to stay awake (so much for that caffeine fix!!!!!)

2:00pm - Leave for Kamri's school
2:30pm - Pick up Kamri
2:45pm - Arrive at Ryann's school where Kamri and I will wait 30 minutes for her to be released.
3:15pm - Ryann is released from school.
3:20pm - Go to local library

It's important at this juncture that I point out that today was a very special day for Ryann because she got her very own library card! She's is able to choose and check out her own books now and she's so excited!!!!!

Okay, where was I???? Oh yeah,

3:20pm - 4:15 - Kill some time at the library reading, playing with puzzles, and watching a puppet show put on by Ryann & Kamri.
4:30pm - 5:15 - Ballet class..............too cute!!!
5:35pm - Arrive home and start on dinner.
6:00pm - Serve above mentioned dinner.
6:30pm - Clean kitchen, start another load of laundry, and get the girls ready for baths.

It's now 6:59 and I'm (obviously) sitting here writing this insanely detailed description of my crazy day..........but, it's not over!!!! We still have homework to do, violin practice, books to read, gifts to wrap (after the girls are in bed) and at some point I'm going to attempt to sit down and pay bills.......

Oh, the life of a mother.

Happy Thanksgiving

This year we spent Thanksgiving day with our families. Due to the fact that I share custody of the girls with their fathers, we don't always get to spend this holiday together. But, this year we were lucky enough to get to do just that. It started out a little rough though. Here's how our week went......

The girls didn't have school the week of Thanksgiving so we were blessed with an entire week together!!!! Since I've discovered that I am a whiz at baked goods, I offered to bake several desserts for the Thanksgiving feasts (both at my parent's house and Steve's dad's house). Well, lo and behold - I woke up at 4:30 Wednesday morning terribly sick. I was very very fearful that I wouldn't get ANY baking done in time for Turkey Day. But, after spending half of the day in bed with Steve taking care of me, I was able to finally make it up and start moving around (thank goodness!!!). I still wasn't feeling very confident that I'd be able to get much done in the way of baking, but I was hopeful.



Ryann helped me make the pumpkin pies and the lemon cakes. She had SO much fun!





Luckily when I woke up Thursday morning I was feeling like myself again. Which was a really good thing because I had some more baking to do!!! But, once everything was ready to go it was time to head out. We met Steve and Kamri out at the lake house where we had lunch with the Merten family.



After lunch, we all headed back to Greenville to enjoy Thanksgiving dinner with my family.......MORE TURKEY!!! Unfortunately, I didn't get any pics while we were at my mom's house.........sorry folks. I dropped the ball on that one. That evening, after dinner the six "kids" (Me, Steve, Jessica, Thomas, Brittany, & Josh) decided to play a friendly game of Buzz Word. And, OF COURSE, we decided to play "boys vs. girls". Well, as I'm sure you can all guess - - - -the girls WON!!! Heehee......I love winning. That game is addictive! Before I knew it the clock read 10:30 and we still had the kitchen to clean!!! YUCK!


So, fastforward to Friday morning - 4:00 AM FRIDAY morning!!! Steve and I dragged our exhausted butts out of bed and dressed for the Black Friday specials at our local Wal-Mart Superstore...........WHAT WERE WE THINKING?? This being my first Black Friday experience I quickly realized how very very much I had to learn! There were grown men and women literally fighting over Barbie Jeeps and Guitar Heroes!!!! Are you kidding me?!?!?! Lesson learned from this experience???? Either don't go ~ or be prepared!!!!!

We finished our shopping and took our worn out bottoms back to our warm safe bed........but man, that made for a really long day!

I think that's about it for this week. Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

After that, all I can say is "Christmas, here we come!" The month of December promises to be very busy for us! We have Christmas parties, ballet recitals, violin performances to attend, shopping and wrapping to do...........man, I'm tired just thinking about it all! LOL.

More updates soon to come! Love to all!!!!!