Last post of 2006

I know that I will be writing 2006 on everything for many months to come. I'm just that way. I don't like change. Well... I guess I do to an extent. If it is my idea then yea I am all over change and ready to dig in but when it comes to change that just happens in life then I drag my feet.

I have taken a blog break for no reason and when I sat down tonight I thought about all the things that have happened in the past weeks since I have blogged and suddenly none of them seemed crucial or too important to not wait a few days. Don't get me wrong I have some great things to share but they can wait.

Tonight I want to focus on my family.

I have an incredible husband that is getting a much deserved break. I call it a vacation but it is just a break between seasons. Now it is quiet and we are loving it. He has done nothing for a few days and he is in heaven. Actually "nothing" has included changing diapers more often and helping around the house. But I know he would rather be here than outside somewhere. Cameron is so incredible that in his little bit of time off he graciously volunteered to be a parent volunteer for Gracie's field trip. Now I didn't fully disclose all his duties while on the field trip so he went into the event a little blind but he did a great job lending a extra set of hands for little ones to hold on to while we were at the mall visiting Santa and Dollar Tree shopping. Gracelyn was on cloud nine that he was there and kept telling her teachers that her Daddy was coming. What a great man to realize that holding 4-5 year-olds hands was more important than getting a few more zzzzzz's while we were at school.

My daughter is 4 years and 5 months. She is ready to say 4 1/2 but I told her she had to wait another month. She is just a hoot. I am shocked that she is as smart as she is. She is where she needs to be as far as school stuff. She can write her name and knows all her colors, numbers, and working on the majority of her alphabet so she is just right where she needs to be. But she is so smart in her thinking and reasoning skills. Gracelyn loves to draw and paint and when you ask her what she is making she gets a little offended that you don't know right away. We are getting creative in asking what she is doing so as not to offend her so much. She pouts like a normal little girl who doesn't get her way and that is when we just have to turn our heads and laugh. It isn't funny all the time and we recognize the manipulation but it is funny that she is changing. She is such a girly-girl and can't wait to be a mom. We have talked non-stop about how she has to get married and then she can be a mommy. She has it all planned out. She got some new babies for Christmas and she calls them her kids. Very mommy like. She asked if she could be Cannon's 2nd mommy. Poor guy he is really in for it. Gracelyn asks him all the time who he loves more. Good thing he can't answer just yet because I might get my feelings hurt.

Cannon is 16 1/2 months old. WOW! Seems like I just had him last week. You know the old time flying thing. Well... it is so true. We are definitely having fun. He was in the room with me when I was putting the new baby bed together. He just sat and watched me. I wish I knew what he was thinking. He has no idea that his little world is about to be rocked but as much as we are looking forward to a new baby we are still focused on the fact that Cannon is a baby as well. Hence why we opted for another baby bed instead of moving him out of his and putting him in a regular bed. It worked out perfect. I want to enjoy my two babies for as long as possible and if keeping him in a crib is the ticket then I will take it! :) Cannon just jabbers and jabbers until we think we can make out what he is saying. We make it up but it is fun just the same. He is just so darn cute is all I can say!

Baby Melban (NOPE~NO NAME YET) is doing great. I get to have another sonogram on Wednesday to get an estimated weight on the little guy. It gives us another chance to see him and just maybe get confirmation that he is a HE. The last two sonos he has been breach and his little rear has been so far down in my pelvis that we couldn't see anything. I think he has flipped so hopefully we can see for sure what is going on. I have been having some signs of things progressing that I didn't have quit so early with the other two so I am getting my ducks all lined out and ready to go just in case this little guy decides to make an early debut. We are ecstatic that God has given us another opportunity to have a baby.

The rest of my family~well what can I say? My extended family is just wonderful.

Mom and Dad gave us an extra special gift for Christmas. They had their picture made professionally. Can you say shocked??? We were in awe that they did it and it was just wonderful. They are on my entertainment center and I just smile every time I look up there. I love the support and encouragement they provide for Cameron and I and it makes me proud to say they are mine!

My sister and her family are just precious and growing. Tyler, Keely, Maggie and Marlee are all super sweet kids and I love that the twins are getting more mobile. My sister on the other hand is running all over the place trying to keep up but it is funny to hear all her stories of the girls. The big kids are big helpers so that is a huge plus!

Cameron's parents and sister are all busy with Bella. She is just a pure angel in our lives. I know that Nana-B and Papa are loving her being with them everyday and they are soaking up the time they have together. Kassie is preparing for some college classes while she is here and and hopefully will start subbing at KU with me. Jerry is scheduled to come home in February for 2 weeks and I know the countdown has begun. I want each of you to say a prayer for our troops. Jerry is important to our family and his safety along with all the troops is my greatest concern. I am proud of him and his commitment to the Army. What a true American but in the same breath I do pause and pray for God's protection on all the soldiers over there.

Most importantly I want to praise my heavenly Father! He is my one and true light of salvation and glory. What an awesome year he has provided for me. He made provisions for me that I didn't deserve and has never looked back. I am called to praise him and I do so proudly. I proudly shout I am a CHRISTIAN. I proudly shout that my GOD is GOOD. I proudly shout that I don't deserve his mercy but got it anyways. Each day he lays his grace upon me. Each day I do something to disappoint him I'm sure but I do recognize that he is mighty and good and faithful. Praise God from whom all blessing flow. Without God this past year would not have been the wonderful year that it was. He did amazing things in my life and I am certain that he will be faithful in 2007.

I challenge you to think of all the things that God has done for you in the past week, month, season, year and give thanks. Give thanks for his faithfulness. Give thanks for his mercy. Give thanks for his grace. Give thanks for his love and comfort. My family is just one of about a million things that is wonderful in my life. For that I am thankful!

God Bless you and Happy New Year!
Keri

The more the MERRIER!

I will say it again! I love Christmas cards. :) Here are a few of the latest we got in the past few days.

On the LEFT if Kayzlee Jalane. She is the daughter of Cameron's 2nd cousin Shyla. Kayzlee was born on October 5th and is just the cutest thing ever!!

On the RIGHT is the Richards. Tiffany and I taught at Landergin for a few years and she is now the mother of 3 precious boys, Justis(4), Navy(2), and Titan (4 months)

The TOP picture is the Stewart kids. Pike (4th grade), Grace (1st grade), and Emma (4). The moved to Houston this summer and are getting used wearing shorts during the winter months I'm sure! :)

The MIDDLE card is of the Ator clan. Riley(9), Jake(7), Nathan(4), and Lainee(2). I went to ACU with Randall and Teresa and am fortunate enough that Teresa is my co-teacher at KU. They are also the pastors at our church Plum Creek Fellowship. Can you tell we just love this family??

The BOTTOM picture is the Smithson girls. Jaci(1st grade) and Katy(3) are just the cutest things. Super sweet family that we just adore. They go to our church and Kami does my hair. If you are in the market for a new hair stylist I will gladly give you her name!! She does fantastic color.

______________________________________

We had an ice storm come through yesterday and woke up this morning to a few inches of snow!! It was just wonderful. Cameron has been out all day working on trees for some customers. We finally finished up our Christmas shopping and feel like we can just sit back and enjoy the season. Just 5 more days until Christmas. What are your holiday plans?? We have some great traditions that I will write about soon.

Merry Christmas everyone!

Christmas Cards

I love Christmas Cards!! I love reading the wonderful things that are written either comical or religious they are all special. I also love photo cards. Many that I get are from friends that I don't see on a regular basis so it is fun to see how much the kids have changed or grown. Here are a few that I have been looking forward to this year.

I'll start with some of my favorite people in the world! :)

Tyler (9), Keely(8), Marlee & Maggie(8months)

What a sweet picture of my nephew and nieces!

Top picture is of Bella my niece on Cameron's side. She is 7 weeks old.

The bottom picture is the Sullivans in McKinney. I went to ACU with Stacy and Brad for a few years. They have 3 beautiful children. Shelbi, Dawson and Courtney

On the left are the Ramsey kiddos. Macy is 4 and Jack is 14 months. Extremely close to my own kids! Amy & I graduated college together and have remained friends ever since. I just love this family!! :)

On the right are the Girty girls. Allison(6), Lauren(4), & Caroline (18 months). I work with their mother and graduated high school with their dad. Small world!!

On top are the Finley kids! The Finleys~Hunter(7) and Rylee(4) are great friends of my sister and through them I have gotten to know this neat family.

The middle picture shows the Bentley's. I graduated college with Jaime and through many emails and daycare situations have stayed in touch with her. Brandon(4) and Brooklyn(2) are super sweet kiddos!

Last but not least are sweet neighbors from across the street. We moved in the same weekend 2 1/2 years ago and have gotten to know the Zahllers fairly well. Their kids, Chris & Sarah are twins who are in the 6th grade. Mary is a breast cancer survivor and most of all (being Denver natives) they love the BRONCOS as much as we do!

My Ten Names

My good Friend Jennifer sent me this funny email. What are your ten names?

My Ten Names
1. YOUR REAL NAME
Keri Melban
2.YOUR GANGSTA NAME: (first three letters of your name, plus izzle)
Kerizzle
3. YOUR "FLY Guy/Girl" NAME: (first initial of first name, first three of your last)
Kmel
4. YOUR DETECTIVE NAME: (fav color and fav animal)
Red Bunny
5. YOUR SOAP OPERA NAME: (middle name, Street you live on):
Elizabeth Renegade
6. YOUR STAR WARS NAME: (the first 3 letters of your last name, first 2 letters of your first name, first 3 letters of mom's maiden name)
Melkemay
7. SUPERHERO NAME: (favorite color, favorite drink)
Red Fresca
8. IRAQI NAME: (2nd letter of your first name, 3rd letter of your last name, any letter of your middle name, 2nd letter of your moms maiden name, 3rd letter of you dads middle name, 1st letter of a siblings first name, last letter of your moms middle name)
Elzalrn
9. STRIPPER NAME: (the name of your favorite perfume/cologne/body spray)
Beautiful
10.WITNESS PROTECTION NAME: (mother & father's middle name)
Lynn Walter

Baby pool

I am so bad with the HTML stuff that I can't get my banners to show up BUT you can click on the following link http://www.expectnet.com/games/melbanbabygame to take a guess in our baby pool! There is also a link on the side bar. I got this off my friend Wade's blog. He just had a baby on the 5th of December. Hop over to his blog and check out Tate~he is just gorgeous.


Speaking of babies! We took a very quick road trip to Keller to visit the Jones'. Justin David was born at 8:06 am Friday morning. He weighed 7 lbs 4 oz and was 20 3/4 inches long. He is a precious baby. Momma and baby are doing great and they got to go home today. Here are a few pictures of the little guy! :)

I just wanted to share some reasons I love my husband! He is the absolute best person in the world.

All the reasons I love you!

~You are my soul mate
~You love your Kids more than baseball and cars
~You are willing to sacrifice anything for your family
~You are always thinking of ways to help me
~You let me stay home with my babies
~You laugh out loud at something funny on TV
~You put the toilet seat down
~You take your shoes and dirty clothes off in the garage
~You pray when it matters! (DAILY)
~You get up and go to church even when I don’t feel like it
~You love Oreos
~Coffee is a food group to you
~You love your dogs
~You sold your favorite Mustang to give me an engagement ring
~You love your parents and respect your mother
~Your son thinks you are a super hero
~Your daughter thinks you are a prince
~You know how to work hard
~Oral hygiene is important to you
~You are learning to pause the TV more
~You always help me if I ask
~You keep our yard looking good
~You take pride in your truck
~Your business is more about integrity than money
~You have dreams for our future
~Your customers respect you and your character
~You have a unique last name
~You value our kid’s education
~You love to build fires
~You put Christmas lights on the house
~You eat anything I cook
~You don’t snore habitually
~You get up and check the door even though you know it is locked
~You help me keep the house picked up
~You know how to make me feel special
And the #1 Reason I love you is because you love me!

I'm Melting!

Quick~What is that line from?

Gracelyn watched The Wizard of Oz for the first time recently and just loved it.

That also means the attempt she made at a snowman is leaving us as well. As quickly as it came it is leaving. Well kinda. Of course you can still see plenty of snow in the shade of our home but it is not pretty and glistening anymore.

Cameron has been very busy putting up Christmas lights for customers this week and weekend and it is really wearing him down. He HATES it. There is so much that can go wrong with Christmas lights. Fuses, burned bulbs, timers, etc... but it is almost over and then his vacation begins. We both can't wait for him to be able to relax. He will have a few clean-up jobs to do but for the most part he is done with his season. Until next year... OIE!

Found a fun little thing to add to the blog. You just type in your blog address and it generates a word cloud of words that stand out in your blog. It is funny to me to see a word and remember which entry it came from.

I sure hope that Cannon knows his name is Cannon and not No~No. He is in love with the tree and Christmas decorations. It is so fun to watch him go up to it and "pet" the tree. He does really good for the most part but every once in a while he gets really brave and grabs an ornament. He immediately looks at you to hear your response which is most typically no~no Cannon. If you get up then he drops it and runs. So typical of his age but so funny to watch him figure out life as well. I've caught him a few times laying under the tree looking up. That is my absolute MOST favorite thing to do!!!! So I got down there with him and we just looked up at the tree together and talked about it. He had lots to say and I couldn't understand a word of it but I hope he was telling me that he appreciated the effort it took for me to get under there. I also hope he was telling me that it was his most favorite thing to do too! I wanted to stay longer than him but after a few minutes he was onto bigger and better things like the dancing snowman we have. :)

We have been listening to Christmas music since the day after Thanksgiving on the local radio station. Either in the car or at home it is playing non-stop around Gracelyn. Today for the first time when Feliz Navidad came on she got a big grin and said, "Mommy, I didn't know we had Christmas songs in our car." I told her that we had them on for the past week but she just didn't pay attention to it. Is she a blonde or what? Now if she can just master the 3 songs we have to sing for our program at school we will be set!

Have a great Monday!!

Keri

Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let is Snow...

I absolutely love snow. I love the cold weather, I love the cold wind, I love the ice and snow. I also love being able to stay home!!! School was cancelled on Thursday due to the snow and I want to go on record that in the 6 years I taught public school it NEVER closed. I only work on Tuesdays and Thursdays at the preschool now and Thursday was the lucky day for it to be nasty and for me to not have to work. As much as I love the snow I don't like driving in it!! :) I really don't like the idea of me having to carry Cannon around pregnant on ice. But we stayed home and it was wonderful. Cameron set out around 10:00 to start shoveling snow and got home around 7:00 after a long day in the bitter cold but he made some good Christmas money so we can't complain. Today he was out again but not before we ran to trusty old Wal-Mart for new mittens/gloves and hats for the kids to play outside. Although the adventure was short lived we did get some good pictures of the kids having a blast. Baron and Blaze thought the snow was pretty cool too. They have been cooped up in the shop for the past few days and this was a nice play time for them too. Enjoy our pictures of winter. I hope this is just a small taste of what is to come!!!

One of those days!

Ever had one of those days where you can't do anything right? Seriously everything that I have attempted today has failed. Whether it is with a person, laundry, Christmas decorations, cleaning the house, taking a nap! :) It has been a long day and I don't have anything to show for it except being deflated. I really wish I had a do over day. To not do some things I did and to take another shot at some things I attempted. I just pray that this day is one that won't be repeated EVER and that all the things that went wrong won't happen again or I will be better equipped to handle them at a later date.

Mom's blog & stuff

Well it is a great feeling knowing that your mom can conquer the blog world. Check out her blog and leave some comments to support her in trying to get started! She has tons of stories about my grandma that I hope she shares.

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday. I ate way too much and I do pray the scales don't tell on me in a couple of weeks when I go back to the dr. That is always such a downer when you go in there and think there is no possible way I could have gained that much weight in 3 weeks. Oh well. It happens and all the more fat I eat means the cheeks on this baby are that much bigger right? Please don't ruin my theory folks.

I am sticking way out there by now. Many people at church today said that they were glad I was finally showing. Bless their hearts. I have been showing since the moment I found out I was pregnant but they sure were nice to say that. Many were moms with multiple children and knew this prego needed some reassurance! :) Like I said there have been no doubts that I was pregnant but honestly many people probably thought, "Is she pregnant again??"

Cannon has been on a terror lately. He is really a sweet little guy and talks non stop gibberish but he is into EVERYTHING. When Gracelyn was at this stage I wasn't pregnant and our house was much smaller so it was easier to control her actions and surroundings. For the most part he loves to play in Gracelyn's room and besides a few mishaps with crayons (which are now safely put away) and some acrobatics on the bed he is safe in there with her. Childproofing has taken on a whole new meaning.

Gracelyn loved that we put up Christmas decorations today. She really thought it was cool that I let her put her ornaments on the tree herself this year. She was also in charge of decorating the back of the tree. I love her little 4 year-old mind!! :) She wants everything for Christmas of course so it is hard to narrow it down to a few special things that we can get for her.

Baby Melban is moving and jumping around just fine. The headaches are gone for the most part due to the medication so I have to give an update to the internist tomorrow so we can decide to either stay on the medicine (my vote) or do something else. I think that is the plan he will take.

I am 27 weeks along and it is HARD for me to believe that in reality we will probably have a baby in about 8-9 weeks. ACK!!! That is if he comes like his brother and sister at 36 weeks which is not a guarantee but a probably so. Watch this little guy prove us all wrong and be overdue! At this point that doesn't sound so bad. He is much safer on the inside with Cannon around! :)

Our great friends the Jones' will be having Justin David Jones on the 8th of December. I have blogged about him before. I am so excited to get to meet him. Harvin and D'Sha' are on baby number 3 and the term Keeping Up With the Jones' has never meant much to us until baby time!! We have always followed in their footsteps with babies. Olivia was 5 weeks before Gracelyn. Kelly was 3 months before Cannon and now Justin will be 2-3 months before Baby #3 (wish he had a name but sadly he does not). Every time they called to tell us they were pregnant we weren't too far behind with our own news. Every time they called to tell the sex of the baby we had to follow and have the same thing. So it was no surprise when they said this time they were having a boy and then 2 months later we found out we were as well. This will be the end of the Jones' clan. 3 is their limit and we aren't for sure so we might break the cycle but we have loved having babies the same time as the Jones. We always tease that the kids are honorary best friends because we all are! Please be praying that these last few days for D'Sha' are easy and uneventful. Pray that Olivia and Kelly will adjust to a new baby in mommy's lap. Pray that Harvin will not go insane!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

I choked on my science teacher because

I am sexy and I do what I want.

This is a fun game that I got off another blog I read! :) Leave your sentence in my comments so we can all have a good chuckle! I have several people who say they read my blog all the time but I wouldn't know that because there are never any comments from you!!! If I need to list you by name I will.

Pick the month you were born:
January------I kicked
February-----I loved
March---------I smoked
April-----------I dry humped
May-----------I choked on
June----------I murdered
July-----------I did the Macarena with
August-------I had lunch with
September---I danced with
October------I sang to
November----I yelled at
December----I ran over
Pick the day (number) you were born on:
1-------a birdbath
2-------a monster
3-------a phone
4-------a fork
5-------a Mexican
6-------a gangster
7-------my cell phone
8-------my dog
9-------my best friends' boyfriend
10-------my neighbor
11-------my science teacher
12-------a banana
13-------a fireman
14-------a stuffed animal
15-------a goat
16-------a pickle
17-------your mom
18-------a spoon
19-------myself
20-------a baseball bat
21-------a ninja
22-------Chuck Norris
23-------a noodle
24-------a squirrel
25-------a football player
26-------my sister
27-------my brother
28-------an ipod
29-------a permanent marker
30-------a llama
31-------A homeless guy
Pick the color of shirt you are wearing:
White--------because I'm cool like that
Black---------because that's how I roll.
Pink----------because I'm NOT a homosexual.
Red----------because the voices told me to.
Blue----------because I'm sexy and I do what I want
Green---------because I hate myself.
Purple--------because I'm cool.
Gray----------because I was drunk
Yellow--------because someone offered me 1,000,000 dollars
Orange-------because I hate my family.
Brown--------because I was high.
Other---------because I'm a ninja.
None----------because I can't control myself

Mundane Monday

After a visit to the pediatrician it is confirmed that we have a big boy on our hands! :) Cannon weighed in at 27 lbs and was 33 1/2 inches. So in 3 months he gained 4 lbs and grew 1 1/2 inches. Overall he is a very healthy boy. We did get a prescription for allergy meds!! WAHOO. I am so ready for him to clear up and not have a runny nose all the time. Can't wait to see how well it works.

We had a great weekend with our church Thanksgiving meal and visiting with Cam's parents and sister last night. They are all home for good now. That is a great feeling.

We get to have pajama day tomorrow at school and I need to find some that will fit this belly. Gracelyn is excited as well. She can't wait to not have to get dressed for school in the morning.

I would love to haul out all the Christmas decorations and get started decorating the house. Since we aren't having Thanksgiving here this year I can spend a little more time doing it all but I can't get the tubs from the shed into the house by myself. Let me rephrase that. I can get them in here but I might get in trouble when Cameron gets home.

The Jones' will be having baby #3 on the 8th of December. We are still working out all the kinks with me being able to go with Cameron down to visit them. He will be taking his irrigation test in Mesquite on that day and I would love to ride along and spend some time at the hospital with D'Sha'. I can't wait to hold baby Justin. Trying to fit in Christmas shopping and other obligations is difficult because time is filling up fast for the holidays. Tis the season that's for sure!

Random Blog

This week has flown by! It was jammed packed with stuff and every day felt like we were on a special mission to get it all done in time. But we did and it was a great week. Some highlights were the Pilgrim Stew at school for the kids on Tuesday night. During class the kids got to go down to the kitchen and pour in the cans and then that night all the families got to come and enjoy the stew. It was so fun and lots of eating took place. It was much nicer than a huge feast and more relaxed for all involved as well. Gracelyn kept asking when we were going to the soup party!

Wednesday night we got to decorate the church for CHRISTMAS!!!! I LOVE CHRISTMAS!!!! I do like to give each holiday it's own time and Thanksgiving ranks right up there with Christmas but it was a special time to be with friends and get to decorate. The new tree that was bought for the foyer was beautiful and HUGE. Now my mission is to find an ornament that represents our family somehow to hang on it.

At my OB appointment this week my doctor reviewed all the results of the tests and ultrasounds to say that things are just perfect. WHEW! It was a huge relief and she did go on to say that Dr. Urban (my internist) wants to do some kind of study/scan/test on my head to determine the source of the headaches if we can. The medication that was prescribed does work but from what I can tell he wanted to do something more to see if we can understand it all better. There is a list of tests that can be done starting with something that is the least evasive and then working your way up the ladder that would end with at CT SCAN if necessary. I feel confident that after the first test we won't find anything and it will be all over. But it is nice to know he has a plan.

Cameron is out of town, actually on his way back home by now, but he is helping to bring Kassie and Bella to Amarillo! After getting things squared away down at Fort Hood they are ready to come to the panhandle for a year. We are ready for them to be here. Gracelyn can't understand why Nana-B isn't around. No matter how you tell her she thinks that Nana-B moved to be with Bella. Is there some jealously going on? Watch out Bella! Just kidding. She is anxious for them to all get here permanently! Cameron left Friday morning and last night Gracelyn asked if she could sleep on daddy's side of the bed. Sure~why not. She promised to keep on her side. Hmmm.. Has she heard me say that before?? Does she know that I like my space during the night? It was nice to feel her up against my back because I can guarantee you she did not stay on her side!


Another tidbit of information is that we are adding another name to the list of possibilities! I thought we were done but oh no!! Cameron has to throw in Samuel and say that from the very beginning he has really liked it. I have too but we came up with so many other names I thought it got moved off the list. So Samuel Baker is listed with Jace and Mason. Samuel is Cameron's grandfather's name. We are huge into family names and try to incorporate either the first or middle name of a family member into the name. Gracelyn's middle name Mae is actually Cameron's great-grandmother's name and my mother's maiden name (May). Cannon David is using the initials CDM like Cameron and Charlie (Cam's dad) with David being both their middle names. My family does not provide very many opportunities for boy names. To list a few~Leon, Irving, Walter, Harvey, my grandfather's name was just the initials I.W. because the real names were so bad. SERIOUSLY! So you see where using my maiden name comes into play which we do love! After a high five we thought we decided to name this little guy Samuel Baker. I was done. Ready to tell the world, but then Cameron comes home after a pretty hectic day and as he is talking to my belly he calls him Mason. HUH? What? What did you say? Oh good grief! People may think it is me that is gun shy of naming this baby but I want it to go down in blog history that CAMERON is the one who cannot make up his mind! So to my sweet baby in my tummy. You had a name for a very brief 12 hours. Then daddy came and decided he just didn't know for sure! I do promise that you will have a name when you are born though. Until then I also promise that it is not me who is pushing on you all the time. It is big brother Cannon. I will point him out when you get here. I know that sibling rivalry starts early but give him a break he doesn't know how his little world is about to rocked!

I signed mom and dad up for making a turkey and dressing for the church holiday meal tomorrow. When you want good dressing you go to the source right? Well my grandma May made the BEST dressing ever and for years mom would watch her and ask her how to do it. It is not by a recipe by any means and you just do it. Before grandma's memory got so bad you could ask her and probably never write down the same thing twice. But mom and dad have perfected her dressing! Although we have not sat at the kitchen table with Grandma in the past few years making dressing I still feel like it is her tradition. I don't know how many times my mom will say today, "Mother always said..." but I know it will be said. I am too pregnant and emotional to blog about Grandma today but I will soon. I love that lady so much! She is really happy and that is all that matters in the world to me.

Many blessings this weekend and next week. I hope to not get too busy to write some more soon! November 20th or so through January 2nd is my absolute most favorite time of the year! Throw in some snow and I am in heaven!
Love you all,
Keri

Look at me!

I know you aren't used to seeing Cannon upright. He is a walker. WAHOO! I have been amazed at how his walking habits are so different from his sister's. Well... they are different from most kids actually but oh well we made it. It is really funny to watch him upright and just toddling everywhere. I don't think he has crawled one time in the past 3 days.

Why own clothes?

Gracie is getting some good practice holding babies! Bella is a cuddle bug and Gracelyn took full advantage of it while they were here last week. She was so proud that she could hold her all by herself.

Sigh of RELIEF

After one sonogram, a few tests, and a visit with an internist we are breathing a huge sigh of relief. My mom was able to change my sonogram appointment to today and was also able to squeeze me in to see a VERY busy internist. It pays to be the daughter of a very well liked nurse! The sonogram showed that the baby is measuring right on track which we knew from just 4 weeks ago but also that there wasn't too much amniotic fluid which could lead to some other more serious problems. My blood work showed nothing out of the ordinary as well. WHEW! As far as the visit with the internist I passed a very basic physical that made me feel like an old lady. I only say that because I have been with my grandma when she has gone through the same sort of exam. Hers was because of Alzheimers mine was for headaches. I hope there is no connection. HA! The doctor felt at this time there were no indicators that made him feel this was serious and that it didn't need further tests. So I got a prescription for a stronger medication to control them. Over all I was excited to see the little guy and relieved to have such good news.

When we saw him he was just sitting there criss-cross and looking like he was meditating. He hardly moved and was being a good little boy for the technician to measure everything. At the end she focused on his face and he just smiled. I immediately started thinking of what was going through his mind. He looked very cozy in there.

Was this just nothing and my doctor being cautious? Maybe. Was it something and after much prayer from my family and friends it was miraculously taken care of? Maybe. Will I question it? Absolutely not! I have an obligation to praise God for his care in this situation. I do not know how much intervention he played in it but I do know that he was with me over the past 3 days and that he did work (like he always does) without fail.

Unless we come up with any more names we are officially down to two! I am not a secret keeper and if we ever decide for sure I will definitely let everyone know but for now we are undecided on Mason Baker or Jace Baker. Each one has meaning for our family with Baker being my maiden name and Jace being similar to my dad's brother (Jack) who died when he was 19. Mason is similar to our other kid's names because it is a 2 syllable name ending with an "n". So scientific huh? We like both names equally. I use equally loosely because we each have our favorites but we are happy with them and think they are good names for a Melban.

Baby Update

I was always under the impression that the more times you do something the easier it gets. For the most part that theory is true but with pregnancy it is not the case. A very brief prenatal history is that I had two VERY uneventful pregnancies that flew by without any glitches or hiccups (all except for the babies having hiccups constantly!). This time around it is just a little different. I think that it boils down to my perspective of it all. With Gracelyn I didn't let anything bother me and I was very naive of what could possibly go wrong in a pregnancy. With Cannon I worked hard and enjoyed my summer off before having him as well and life just happened. Both babies came at 36 weeks with no problems. 36 weeks is borderline premature but since both kids were of good weight it was not a problem at all. I always teased that the kids came early because they knew their mommy couldn't get any bigger!

Baby #3 is really just a different little character. He is just fine and my sonogram report came back great that we had on the 13th of October. Whew! What a relief. But as my doctor was measuring my uterus it measured 30 cm and should be measuring 24 cm. Hmmm.... why would a uterus that is holding a baby that is right on track for his due date be bigger than what it is suppose to? This is puzzling to the doctor so we are doing the glucose testing/blood work baseline stuff early and then also another sonogram to check things out. Not a huge deal but something to think about. Like I said before I NEVER thought about the possibilities of things going wrong so this is new to me. Another glitch is that for the past 2-2 1/2 weeks I have been having headaches EVERY morning. They won't go away with Tylenol so I just mentioned it to my Dr. The variables that make me have the headaches is the weird factor in it all. When I go to bed at night I try to start out on my left side (which is recommended) and then through out the night I toss and turn and end up on every side imaginable but at least I try to start out on the left side. Well this automatically makes me have the headache. I have tried different "experiments" to narrow down the possibilities of what triggers it all. When I conveyed it to the Dr. she didn't know immediately what to think of it so I have to go to another doctor for his opinion. I am very thankful that my obstetrician is staying on top of it all and really listens to me. Bonus points for Dr. Cathy Van Hook! But on the flip side I was very used to a doctor with the previous two who was laid back and just let you be pregnant.

So although I am doing this for the third time I feel like I don't have a clue what is going on with my body.

One thing I do know is that God has a hand in this whole matter. He is in control of this situation and always will be. I do not feel like there is something MAJOR wrong just something else to worry about. And when I say worry I know that it should really be something else to pray about. Praying is the only thing that will ease my mind and give me peace. Of course test results help that as well but I know that prayer will give me comfort.

I'm off to go have a conversation of faith. I know that He is waiting for me I just hope that I have the patience to listen to Him.

Bella approves of the blanket

Kassie and Beverlee made a quick trip to Amarillo this weekend. I say quick loosely because a trip between Fort Hood and Amarillo is not quick! But they wanted to come up and show Bella off. Rightly so because she is just beautiful. Gracelyn was in love with her new cousin from the second she saw her. It was really precious. Beverlee, Kassie and Bella will be heading back down there on Wednesday for a dr. appointment and trying to get Kassie packed up and moved into a storage building so that she will be able to be here permanently! That should be in the next few weeks. But anyways it was wonderful to see them and get to hold that baby throughout church on Sunday. She looked very cozy with her blanket wrapped around her. I also love that Kassie loves bows as much as me!! I knew I liked that girl!

Silly Clown, Princess lessons and Chonda Pierce

Sweet Cannon! We really do love you boy! I promise we weren't being mean to him by making him wear this wig. He kept it on the whole night for Trunk or Treat and then for dressing up at school he wore it for a while. He won't wear a hat to save his life but a wig~SURE! What a fun night we had with the kids at church. Oh yeah, by the way he is a WALKER!!!! FINALLY. I will post pictures of him upright soon. It is so fun to watch him try walking while holding things in his hands like a book or his cup. Now if he can figure out how to keep his balance AND suck his thumb we will be on the right track.

Gracelyn was such a cutie and had so much fun. I also have posted about the candy monster that has emerged from her. She is a psycho when it comes to candy. It really is so funny to watch her go bonkers for it. I am going on strike. As of tomorrow morning all candy will have magically disappeared. Ether we go ahead and pull all her teeth because they are rotten or we deal with a sad monster for a few hours. It's tough being a princess with a sweet tooth.
On a much different note, I went to see Chonda Pierce tonight with a group of ladies from church. She is just hilarious and I was very moved by her talk that she incorporated between the jokes. It was light hearted but deep at the same time. She really talked about depression and how it has effected her life and the loved ones surrounding her. Great analogies were given and we laughed a lot! Most importantly I got to laugh at and understand something that I always deemed sad and taboo to talk about. It was enlightening and powerful. Because my friend Teresa had helped with World Vision (I think that is what it is called) she got special tickets for us to go back and meet Chonda! A real encounter with a famous person. (I don't get out much)! It was fun to meet her and I got a hug to boot!

Lots of things going on this weekend so look for an exciting post in the next few days! I hope you will be waiting on the edge of your seats for the scoop!

Trunk-or-Treat

AH~FALL! I love fall for two reasons. Colder weather and Halloween. Fall leads to Winter which is my favorite season and I love to see Gracelyn go bonkers over candy. She is not a deprived child that never gets candy but we do TRY to limit it somewhat. This time of year (along with Easter being a close 2nd) brings out a candy monster in my daughter! It is really hilarious to watch her plead her case for CANDY! Sunday night we had Trunk-or-Treat at church and we decorated our trunk which was so fun. Mom and I started thinking around 4:30 what we could do and after a few stops at the dollar store, Walgreens, and mom's goat pin we came up with the following set-up. It was fun to pass out candy and see so many cute kiddos!

Gracelyn was Cinderella and our friend Lainee was a scarecrow! I don't think she could scare anybody with that smile! :)
Randall was a cat and Gracie thought that was just the coolest thing because she could recognize his voice! Cannon thought he was cute and patted his face over and over again. Hopefully this will lead to great Santa pictures since he didn't seem scared of a giant cat! Tomorrow is the big day for dressing up for school. I will post more Halloween pictures then.

On another note please say a prayer for my brother-in-law Jerry Hamilton. He is off to Iraq today and will be leaving a new baby and wife behind. It is a hard day for them both for so many reasons and I hate to see them go through this for the next 15 months. How can they form a bond when they aren't together? Kassie has some wonderful ideas to bridge that gap and I pray that it will be successful.

Pumpkin Pickin'

What a day! After church we promised Gracie that we would go to the pumpkin patch and pick out our pumpkins. They are literally all over town and we had to find a new one this year because our usual spot was not there this year. Boy we hit the jack pot! Not so much with the pumpkins but with the cool wagon that you got to pull the pumpkins around in! Gracie couldn't understand why we didn't fill the thing up.
1. Pumpkins are expensive! YIKES!
2. We don't need a bazillion pumpkins sitting on our porch waiting to freeze~defrost~freeze~defrost~mold~freeze~defrost~smell~rot~etc... We have experienced this before if you can't tell.

Our pretty little punkin!

"The Wagon"
Our beautiful Cinderella pumpkin.

My cutie patootie family! :)

And on the third day...

Here she is!! Bella Renae Hamilton was born today at 1:03 pm by c-section. She weighs 7 lbs. 7 oz and is 20 inches long. According to Papa and Nana-B she is just perfect. We are so thrilled that she is here and that Kassie and Bella are doing great.



Dear God,
Thank you for blessing our family with this miracle of yours. We are so honored that you trust us with your child. We promise to love her and cherish who she is and what she will be become. We also promise to help Jerry and Kassie in teaching her your word and your ways. Praise you God for your wonderful ways, we love you dearly. Amen

Day #2

We are finishing day #2 on baby watch. As of 10:15 tonight Kassie has not had the baby. She was started on patocin(SP?) yesterday and made LITTLE progress and then had a migrane because of it so they took her off of the drip and gave her nubane today for the headache and then started it back up again. So that is where we stand as far as baby news. She is making no progress but the baby is not stressed so they don't want to do a c-section just yet. We are anxiously waiting for Bella to arrive. I hope that 3 is the lucky number and that on the third day of labor she gets some results!

Keep her in your prayers!
Keri

YUMMY!!!

***Butterfinger***
They call you sticky fingers for a reason!
What Kind of Candy Are You?
http://www.blogthings.com/whatkindofcandyareyouquiz/

Also we are on baby watch for my sis-in-law. She was induced this morning and at 1:30 I got updated that she was progressing very slowly and that they could be a while. I can't wait for Bella to get here!!! YEAH!!!

Name Schmame!

http://www.babynames.com/Names/rename.php
Look at this website and see if you could live with the name that they give you! Mine could be Karsen Branxton Melban.

What does your name mean? Has someone ever asked you that? I really ponder the meaning and all aspects of naming my children and it is really hard for me to do actually. If you have known me then you know that Gracelyn's name was changed in the hospital because I just didn't like it after she was born. Cannon's name was pretty much set but I didn't want to officially say so because what if I pulled the same stunt as before. I talked about his name being Cannon David and told people we were 90% sure but I just wouldn't commit to it. With baby number three I am still under the same understanding with my family and friends. Some people assume that because we know it is a boy we also know his name. WE DON'T. We have some great possibilities and know that the middle name will probably be Baker (my maiden name) but other than that we aren't sure. I love it when people name their babies before hand and know without a doubt that Kayzlee, Bella, Maggie, Marlee, Jack, Justin etc. will actually be the right name. I am just not that confident in myself. So until then I am scouring every name website and looking through every name book I can get my hands on to find the perfect name for this baby. I sure don't want him to think that in 30 years he would love to change his name and find a new one.

I can't imagine Gracelyn Mae being anything other than that! But if I wouldn't have changed my mind she would have been Kennedy Elizabeth forever.

Baby Boom!

It is hard to believe that out of my family alone we have or will be contributing 5 more people to the US population within 6 months. I will go in order so as not to confuse everyone!

1. Kayzlee Jalane Jeffers was born October 5th to Shyla. She is Cameron's cousin on his mom's side. Kayzlee is just BEAUTIFUL!!!

2. Bella Renae Hamilton will be here on the 24th (next Tuesday). Her parents are Kassie and Jerry~Cameron's sister. I pray for the delivery to be quick and uneventful besides getting to see that cutie finally. Jerry got some great news! He gets to stay home until the next troop leaves which I believe is 2-3 weeks after Bella is born so more time with his new baby girl before he is gone to Iraq for 15 months. I finally finished Bella's blanket. This is the 2nd version!

3. ME!! I am due on the 26th of February. I have had both my kids early (4 weeks) so I hope to make it to February at least. Watch this one prove us all wrong and be a week over due. I'm more than half way done WAAAHOOO!!!

4. Cameron's cousin Shelby and his wife Alicia (on his dad's side) will have baby boy #2 in March. I think the first week or some time in there. We are just about 2 weeks apart. Cannon and Sawyer are 1 month apart so they will be going through the same things we are about having babies so close and all the wonderful things that brings with it. OIE!!!

5. My cousin Courtney (on my mom's side) will be having her first baby in April. She does not know what it is yet but should soon if they want to find out. Her husband Rodney is in the military and is currently overseas but will be home before the baby gets here! PRAISE GOD!

So there you have it! The run down on baby news for our clan. Some of these babies were wonderful surprises and some of them have been prayed over for many years in the making but one thing that is true about all of them is that they are from God and we have a huge task given to us.

Dear God, please watch over these blessings you have given our family. They are all precious and wonderfully made by you. Thank you for allowing us to care for them and help us guide them in your ways. We love you Lord and accept this task you have given us with love and great pride. We know that we are not able to care for them by ourselves and that our entire family is needed for support and encouragement. I pray for the health of these babies and also the mothers. May the remainder of the pregnancies be uneventful and full of joy waiting for these babies to arrive. Watch over Kayzlee and help her parents as they learn about their new baby daughter. We love you Lord and are thankful of your blessings for us. Praise you! Amen

The SHIRT!

There is a special tradition in the Melban family that I am so proud to be a part of. About 54 years ago Grandmother Mae made Charlie a shirt. (Charlie is Cameron's dad.) He wore it for his 1 year old pictures. Then when Charlie's brother Sid came along he wore it on his birthday and then Jerry followed when he was one. Then along came Cameron. So you get the point. All the grandsons wore this shirt in their 1st birthday picture so when we had Gracelyn (first great-grandchild) I thought why not? It was super cute with her bows! Also I thought we better do this in case we only ever have girls! Well~we got Cannon's picture made today in "the shirt". It is so fun to do this and have another child added to the collage at Nese's house. Can't wait for baby #3 to be able to wear it as well. Cannon looked so handsome and the lady at the photo place is going to enter the 2nd picture in a contest because of him being just adorable and the meaning behind the shirt. So all in all what a great day to spread the tradition of our family and to be able to show off Cannon at the same time. Oh by the way~ Cannon got a haircut last week. Doesn't he look older? Less baby like and more toddler.




On another note~Cannon took 4-5 steps on Sunday afternoon when I got home and he continues to take a few more steps each day. Although he is taking steps I would not consider him a walker by any means. My hip is where he would rather be any day!

It's a BOY!!!

Here is a picture of the sweet boy! :) It is a face shot with his fingers under his chin.
Two precious feet! 10 toes.
Boy parts!! The dark circle is his bladder.
Here is his arm and fingers on his left hand and you can see his right hand to the left. He is looking at the camera.

It was so wonderful to see our baby boy. We were a little surprised because EVERYONE has thought girl but we are just thrilled!! It just makes it all the more real. Now on to name conversations and figuring out how to rearrange Cannon's nursery to accommodate another crib!

Jack's birthday party pictures

Amy and Macy carving pumpkins!
What is up with that fro dude?
What exactly am I suppose to do?