Halloween 2012 - A FAMILY HALLOWEEN

This year we celebrated Halloween a little different than we have in the past.  In years past I have rushed to get the kids costumes made and wanted the perfect candy bucket, to only fight off mosquitos and knock on complete strangers doors.  This year we had the idea of staying home and doing Halloween differently than society claims it should be done.  This time of year is a busy time for Lee at work, therefore he is seldom home before bedtime and works 7 days a week, most weeks.  So, it was a HUGE treat for us all for him to be home in time for dinner, as silly as that may sound, it is true!  Daddy came home early, we grilled dinner, carved pumpkins and Gram and Pa even stopped off for a visit.  I put together a Halloween Bucket for Marlee and Trey and we enjoyed each other! Hmmmm, what a concept, I am shameful that I haven't thought of this before.  It turned out amazing, the weather was perfect, the kids had a blast and still got lots of goodies!  

Gators vs. Kentucky

Trey and I were blessed to be given tickets to this years Gators vs. Kentucky game, and they were great seats to boot!  Trey was so excited to get to go to a Gator game!  We loaded up and headed to G-ville around 6am on that Saturday with my parents, who also happened to have tickets to the game.  All dressed in our orange and blue, we were ready for a great day!  I loved spending the day with my little man and seeing his eyes light up as we entered the SWAMP, it was priceless.  Even though he had been to a game last year, he acted as if it was his first time.  It was worth every bit of last minute planning to make it possible.  Thanks to MeMaw and Pa pa for letting us take along and to Gram and Pa for keeping Marlee that day.

Marlee's Dedication

It was an amazing day to be able to dedicate our baby girl to the Lord. All of our family and friends helped us celebrate and the ceremony was beautiful.

Family Pictures 2010

Big thankyou to Angel for taking our family pictures once again this year.

2 weeks

Marlee has now been present in our family for almost 3 weeks. Of course we all love her dearly and wouldn't trade her for the world! We have had lots of visitors and she is now the most spoiled little girl on the planet. LOL....

I took some quick shots of her and Trey, just to capture this moment in time and thought I would share. We are so proud of our family and are truly blessed by God!

Hope you enjoy!

Nikki

As you all know by now, Marlee Nicole has arrived. I am a little behind on the blog and facebook, guess I have had a better way to spend my time this first week home. :-)

The C-Section was not as bad as I had anticipated, and being one week later I do feel pretty good. There were a couple days that I worried had the right decision been made, but I feel good now. I guess childbirth in any fashion can not be painless. We all know I was scared as I could be and I was good at holding back the tears until Trey got there. When he walked into the room I lost it. I'm not sure why, it may have just been hormones. But there was something about seeing him and holding him that broke me. At that point I am not sure everyone else in the room wasn't crying as well.

Marlee arrived at 9:18am that Thursday morning. She weighed 6 lbs. 14 oz and was 21 1/4 in. long. She is already tall and skinny. LOL..... AND.......Trey was right!! She has the most beautiful complexion and a head full of black hair! Lee said it was amazing to see them pull her out and realize that Trey was right, she was just as he had described her.

Lee was wonderful through all of it, he was a trooper and took some great shots of her being born. Lee really is a great daddy and husband. He did everything he could possibly do to make me feel better and he couldn't have treated Trey anymore special on that day. Marlee is now the light of his eye, along with Trey. We all tried to tell him there will be that something special between a daddy and his little girl. But, I guess you don't really get that until you are in that situation. He is a proud daddy, once again.

Marlee is a great baby, she only cries if there is a reason and then it really isn't too bad. She is so tiny and holding her is like holding a baby doll. Trey is still awesome and hasn't been jealous of her. He loves her, you can see it is in his eyes and the way he holds her and kisses her. He is and will be an amazing big brother.

I want to thank our family who has been there for us through all of this. Our family has helped us with Trey, helped get the house ready before we came home. Picking Trey up from school, hanging out with me at the house in case I needed help, helped entertain Trey when he gets home from school and driving us to the places we need to go. Thank you we are blessed to both have an awesome and supportive family.

I hope you enjoy the pictures!

The BIG Day!

Most of you will read this tomorrow, September 30th, after Marlee has arrived. This is my last night with precious Marlee in my tummy. That is such a bittersweet moment. I am sick of being pregnant, yet I know I will miss having her inside my belly moving around. I took these last 3 days off work to prepare myself mentally and physically. I have felt really good these past few days, just getting housework done, last minute shopping, washing clothes and relaxing before the big day. I am extremely nervous about tomorrow with never having a C-Section before. I also pray that Marlee is ok and that there will be no complications, you all know how our mommy mind can turn. Trey is so EXCITED! We bought Marlee and Thumper stuffed animal for him to give to her and she is giving him a pillow pet, little does he know. I am bummed that I will miss seeing his initial reaction when he sees her, but I am confident that Angel will catch that on camera for me to see later. :-) He is so precious when he talks about her, I know he will be thrilled to finally meet her.

As I attempt to sleep now, hoping I packed everything we will need, pray for us. Pray that I have peace throughout this, pray that everything goes perfect and we can hold and enjoy our new baby girl tomorrow morning.

Stay tuned for pictures.

Almost Time!

Next Thursday, September 30th, is the day! Marlee Nicole Goodman will make her long awaited debut. We are super excited and I am super ready. This pregnancy has really flown by and now it is right around the corner and I still have lots to do. I am still working on my sub plans for work, that is a HUGE task! All my teacher friends and family know what I am talking about. Her room is almost done, just a couple more things to add and I will post pictures of it, it looks great.

My belly is enormous and seems to grow each day. I am weighing in at a whopping 155 lbs. and hope to be holding at that. At the end of my pregnancy with Trey I weighed 158lbs. So, I have done about the same weight gain, give or take 5 lbs..

I was planning on working next week, but I am done as of this Friday. It is getting to be too much and I need a few days to grasp the fact that I will soon not only have a newborn, but 2 children. I need to get things in order at home, finish my thank you cards, stock the pantry and wash her clothes and sheets, etc...... Clean one more good time and hope to keep it that way for a few weeks. I know that I won't feel like doing too much of those things when I get home from the hospital.

I am still a little nervous about the C-section, but know that everything will be ok and I will survive. It has to be better than what I went through with Trey, no doubt about that.

They cant really tell me how big she is since they havent done another sonogram since 30 weeks and wont do one again. I think she may weigh in a little heavier than Trey did, but we shall see. I am having lots of pressure and sometimes pain, so when the dr. said her head was WAY down, I totally believe him. Feels like she is going to fall out at times.

We all wonder what she will look like. Trey had a dream about her and says that she has dark skin and dark hair like daddy. I cant wait to see if he is right, he has been with everything else. Amazing what kids know and can tell you. Trey is still super excited about her, we are hoping that jealousy doesnt take over once she comes home and he realizes she isnt leaving. :-)

We have been so blessed with many showers receiving great gifts. Her room is full of pink clothes, shoes and bows. We have a closet full of diapers and wipes and blankets galore. We keep forgetting it will get cold soon after she is born, therefore all those blankets will come in handy. Thank you to everyone that has been so wonderful to us and helping our family prepare for Marlee. We have the best family and friends anyone could ask for. Ill probably have one more post next week so stay tuned........

I posted a few pictures, hope you enjoy.

Nikki

34 Weeks

We are now 34 weeks pregnant! C-Section is scheduled for September 30th, just 10 days after Lee's birthday. Marlee is growing right on track, weighing around 4 pounds. At our appointment last week I weighed 144 lbs., gaining lots of weight here towards the end. She constantly moves and keeps me awake. Her room is almost complete and it looks so cute! Trey is still excited and talks to her constantly.

I am a little nervous about having a C-Section, but I know I am in good hands and will be just fine. I have had lots of heartburn, and by "old wise tale" she must have lots of hair. :-) I am ready for the heat wave to go away, I dont think I have every been this hot in my life! I am sure Lee enjoys me not minding if the air is on since I am normally always cold. I have less and less energy as I get bigger and bigger.... Poor Trey is probably ready for his mommy that loved being outside to return instead of the mommy he has now, that loves to be inside in the a/c.

I am excited about school starting next week. I get to be with my new students for about 5 or 6 weeks before I am out 6 weeks with the baby. Trey is also going to start Pre-K at Hillcrest this year, he is growing up way too fast.

Had our first baby shower today and it was a blast, got lots of cute and useful things. I will post pictures of that soon!

Marlee Nicole Goodman will be here so very soon and we are all so excited to meet her, CAN'T WAIT!!

Today was our 30 week appt. They do our second sonogram and attempt to do the 3D sonogram. Unfortunately, the placenta was in the way and the 3D sonogram was pretty unsuccessful. She did snap one picture, but it really isnt that good. Trey was able to go with us and was very excited to see Marlee on the big screen. She was sucking and blinking her eyes, he thought that was "cool"!! What is important is that she is growing as she should be, weighing approx. 3 lbs. 11 oz.. I have gained 3 lbs. since our last appt., weighing in at 138 lbs. !! These last couple months are when mommy and baby should gain the most weight as she finishes growing. I will give the office a call this Friday to receive my C-Section date, very exciting!

I begin seeing the dr. every two weeks with our next appt. being August 16th. Marlee will make her debut very soon and we can't wait. Her room is well on its way to being done and it is looking really cute. Big thanks to Lee and I's parents for doing all that they have to make her room special. We are extremely lucky to have such supportive parents. Thanks to my cousin Cheri for painting Marlee's name and her husband Aaron for hanging the trim. We are truly blessed with talented friends and family.

We are all wondering will Marlee look like Trey with blonde hair and blue eyes or will she surprise us with dark skin, dark hair and dark eyes like her daddy????

Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy the pictures!