New Layouts

Here are a few layouts that I have finished lately. The one of Emma and I is for her NICU album. I kinda made a promise to myself that I would at least finish her NICU pictures before the new baby comes. After all, she is 2 now! LOL! I guess I just do so much work for other people that I am kinda behind on my own albums.

The journaling on the first one is "Before you were concieved I wanted you....Before you were born I loved you....Before you were here an hour I would give my life for you. this is the miracle of life."


Journaling on this one reads "People tell us all the time to treasure each moment because they grow so fast. We kinda chuckle because somedays we think the terrible toddler years will never end. But when I look back at pages like these, I think that my girls are growing up way too fast."

I am just doing a quick post today because I am in the swirl of getting ready for a poodle party. I am in cupcake central...literally! We have to make about 90 cupcakes for tomorrow!!! Each poodle cupcake takes a regular sized cupcare as well as a mini one. I'll post a picture when they are done, but you'll see. It's kinda an all day project.

The party is tomorrow and the girls are just so excited about it. We have been busy all week buying and making decorations as well as poodle ear headbands, dog collars, and wrist cuffs for all the kids to decorate and wear. So needless to say...I'm kinda poodled out by now!!!

Emma Grace is 2!!!!

Emma is two today! I just can't believe it! As Nathan said this morning when we woke up, it seems just like yesterday that we were in the NICU watching our tiny baby struggle for each breath. What a long way we have come since then! We have seen breathing monitors, heart specialist, failur to thrive, therapist, weight checks, and so much more! To think that my little porker belly kid once had to have weight checks once a week to make sure she was gaining fast enough! It's almost like once she realized what food was for, there was no stopping her! She lives for food!

We woke her up this morning with a "Happy Birthday Emma!" Then took her downstiars to a decorated house and a pancake breakfast form daddy. She just was so excited, except I think maybe sister was just a tad bit more!!! Maddelyn's first words this morning were "Where's the cake?" She does not understand that Emma's birthday is today but her Pink Poodle Birthday Party is not until Saturday. Maddelyn is probably just as excited with Emma's birthday as she would be her own! She has been helping us get ready for the party as well as pick up the gifts. Maddelyn I think went and just picked out what she herself wanted and said..here...Emma will like these! Oh well! Emma will like them! Maddelyn also hand stamped her sister a birthday card last night! Such a cute big sister! We have plans tonight to go out to eat with the grandma's to celebrate.

Happy Birthday Little Man!

My little man is growing up! My dear nefew turned 9 today! WOW! Nathan and I have always said he was practically our first born. Austin was born when I was 15 and he has always had a special place in my heart. I remember whenever we would babysit people would always ask how old MY baby was! I was only 15?? Anyways from then on he was my little buddy. He used to run around with my girlfriends and I in high school and was even the a prom date to one of them! He was also the hardest thing for me to leave when I went to college in TN. It is hard to believe that he was only 2 1/2 when I went to Lee. Man that makes me feel old. He is such an awesome kid as well. He does great with not only his twin little sisters, but with all little ones! I think that Emma places her "Austie" in 2nd place only after her Papa! It's amazing to watch my little "goober" peanut turn into such a wonderful little man. I thank God for the blessings that he has been in all of our lives and pray that God continues to shape and mold this little guy into the awesome man of God that he is becoming. So my little man turned 9 today, my how time does fly!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY AUSTIN!!!!

Doesn't that picture make him look just like his dad?

We have a winner!!!

We have our winner!!!! Congrats to Megan from Missouri with the lucky guess of 367!!!! My number was 360.

Megan won a lot of A2Z Essentials papers including The new Art Box and Vintage that were releases at CHA! I also included the lines Island Blossom and Harmony In Color ...two favorites! Congrats Megan! You can pemail me your address so I can get this in the mail for you. My Pea names is Scrapalot278.

I also have quite a bit of scrapbooking items on ebay right not. I once agian did a clean sweep of my stash....have to have something to keep me busy on bedrest! One of the auctions is for additional A2Z Papers if you're interested.

Cold Thursday Contest!

Just becuase it's a cold Thursday here in Ohio and my girls make me smile...I have decided to do a contest today!!! I want to see how many states I can get a comment from, so.....here it goes! Leave me a comment with your state as well as a number guess between 1 and 500. I will then have Maddelyn choose a random number froma cup to win a RAK!!! I will not spill the beans about what it is, but I am on a certian design team??? Hint Hint!

Good Luck! I wonder if we can hit all 50 states?

Just for fun...

Besides a trip to Wally World, I'm pretty much done for the day. For all of those worried about me going to Wally World on bedrest, I decided to use my 2 hours out of bed back-to-back and get groceries. I think I will be waiting a while to do that one by myself again. Nathan's sister Elizabeth is coming today to stay with us while I am on bedrest. That should help alot with the girls as well as getting things around the house done. My grandma has also been helping out with dishes, laundry and such. I went to the DR yesterday adn he said no dialation...woohoo, but he kinda worried me. You know how you always go by his tone of voice and such on how serious things are or how concerned he is about something? Well we were chatting and his theme was...WHEN the baby comes early, and that we would be happy with a Christmas baby! I said that I have already done a 36 weeker and it was not fun, his response was we would be happy with a 36 weeker! Kinda makes you think he is pretty sure we will not make it until Jan 23rd? But besides that, everything is fine.

While I am sitting here....trying to relax on bedrest, I thought I would play along with this silly Q&A that was on a friend's blog today.

1) Are your parents married or divorced? Married

2) Vegetarian? definitely not...Nathan woudl not have married me!! But I am pretty picky about my meats.

3) Heaven? for sure

4) Came close to dying?Not that I recall, but there are several time I have praised God for near misses on the highway.

5) What jewelry do you wear 24/7? my wedding rings, my saphire ring, and my diamond studs in my second piercings on my ears.

6) Are you eating? We just finished lunch...Burger King

7) Do you eat the stems of broccoli? I guess?

8) Would you ever have plastic surgery? Hmmm??? Not currently but if there was an accident or something? Maybe?

9) Have you ever done anything illegal? speeding and a bit in high school, but nothing too serious.

10) Can you roll your tongue? Yes

11) What kind of sneakersI think they are Nike's? I only wear them once in a great while. I am not much of a sneaker kinda gal.

12) Do you believe in Abortion? definitely not. This is my soap box...but I will sum it up with this........A woman has the right to choose, when she goes to bed that night on whether she wants a baby or not! After that, it is not our decision. People always say what about rape or insest....which happens FAR less than you think, but anyways it's called ADOPTION! How can someone expect me to sum up such a heated issue with 2 lines???

13) What is your hair color? brown

14) Future child's name? Well baby #3 really isn't a future child, but so far we have Claire or Caroline

15) Do you snore? no

16) If you could go anywhere in the world where would it be? Hawaii or Germany

17) Do you sleep with a stuffed animal? when nathan is not here I sleep with his stuffed animal from college, a huge floppy elephant named Eeyore.

18.) If you won the lottery, what would you do first? Pay tithes, pay off our debt, buy a house, set up a college fund for the kids, I'd help pay off family members morgages, give to church projects, and go on a vacation with my family

19) Gold or silver? Silver

20) Hamburger or hot dog? Hamburger...I hate hot dogs

21) If you could only eat one food for the rest of your life, what would it be? Do popsicles count as a food?? If not then Clausen Dill Pickles

22.) City, beach or country? Country

23) What was the last thing you touched? a bag of stuff I just bought at Walmart

24) Where do you eat dinner? the kitchen table

25) When's the last time you cried? lets see...I'm pregnant...so 2 nights ago?

26) Do you read blogs? yes

27) Would you ever go out dressed like the opposite sex? I'm pretty girly so no

28) Ever been involved with the police? My mom works for the police department?

29) What's your favorite shampoo/conditioner and soap? Tresemme and Bath and Body wash

30) Do you talk in your sleep? I used to when I was little

31) Ocean or pool? pools, scared of creepy crawlies under my feet in the ocean

32) What's your favorite song at the moment? there are quite a few praise and worship songs out that I like.

33) What's your favorite color(s)? pink of course

34) Window seat or aisle seat? with kids...aisle seat to trap them in, without kids....window seat

35) Ever met anyone famous? Newt Gingrich, Sean Hannity, Anne Coulter, Dr. dobson...can you tell we live in a political family?

36) Do you feel that you've had a truly successful life? I don't think I will be able to tell until it's over? I think I've done ok so far?

37) Do you twirl your spaghetti or cut it? cut it

38) Ricki Lake or Oprah Winfrey? not really either....Dr. Phil is more like it!

39) How long do your showers last? If I have time, 20 min

40) Do you drive a stick? nope

41) Cake or ice cream? ice cream...bryers strawberry

42) Have you ever given money to a bum? yes

43) When was your first crush? 2nd grade

44) Where do you wish you were? anywhere but bedrest

45) Have you ever rode in an ambulance? not in an emergency...just grew up in them with parents on the FD

46) Can you tango? wish I could

47) Last gift you received? baby clothes form my friend Alicia

48) Last sport you played? anyone who knows me is laughing at this question

49) Things you spend a lot of money on? groceries, bills and such...but things I love to buy are kids clothes, children's books, and candles

50) Where do you live? Ohio

51) Last wedding attended? My own??? People keep eloping on me!!!

52) Favorite fast food restaurant? Fazoli's

53) Most hated food(s)? onions, peas, lima beans and chocolate

54) Can you sing? if praise and worship on Sunday counts?

55) Last IM? I do more chatting on boards

56) What's your least fav. chores? dishes

57) Favorite beverage? sweet tea, but only in the south, mt dew, cherry coke, barq's...and since all of those have caffine in them...welches grape juice

Pictures from DC

Well, here are 1/2 of the photos from our trip that I promised in yesterday's post. The girls are not being patient enough for me to upload all of the photos right now, so I will finish later on tonight or tomorrow. The pics are backwards in order of when we took them...of course! Here is a run down of the 1st half of them.....


1.Ford's Theater

2.A DC squirrel that Nathan had to have a pic of! I think this is the mascot animal of DC...well maybe the pigeons with the ankle braclets are?

3. My friend Alicia and I holding up matching shirts we bought for our baby girls.

4. My friend Alicia and I with our baby bellys!

5. Ann Colter

6. bush Imperseronator

7. National Archives

8. National Archives

9. The view crossing Penn. Ave...only in a city like that can you see sucha beautiful sight just walking in a crosswalk.

10. Nathan at the Dubliner.

Back from DC

Well we're home. We got back on Tuesday, but being on bed rest and all, my energy levels don't always leave time for blogging. We had a wonderful time in DC. And no....I didn't overdo it. I actually really enjoyed the trip and my free time there with no schedule or kids to worry about. I think I was less stressed there than at home? Here is a brief rundown of my trip....

Wednesday - We get to the hotel...a Hilton! at about 4:30 which leaves just enough time to relax a bit and then go to dinner at our favorite restaurant in DC. We ate at the Dubliner's which is a really casual Irish Pub. Nathan and I always have to stop in at least once on our trip for their Reubens and Shepard Pie.

Thursday - Nathan had to meet his candidate for the day going to meetings in DC, so I had my first day on my own. I decided to go down to the American History Museum at the Smithsonian. I took a cab down there and then found out it was closed for the next 2 years to remodel! UHHHH! So I walked around a bit and ended up at the Natural History Museum. It was kinda neat, but waaaaaay too much evolution for me! I know I came from a man and a woman in a garden, not some furry little chipmunk looking thing? I did get to see some dinosaur bones and the Hope Diamond though. They had a neat exhibit of mammals too which was neat. I was like walking through a zoo, except all the animals were stuffed! Kinda weird to have all those dead animals and the evolution thing in one museum??? How did the liberals get the evolution in but they let someone hunt and kill all those animals? LOL! The mammal part reminded me of some republican hunter's den...I guess the liberals in Washington are slipping!

That night we went to dinner with John Cox...Nathan's candidate, and our friend Steve. We had a wonderful dinner at Ruth Crisp's Steakhouse. It was nice, but I don't think my steak was worth $40.00?

Friday - Nathan had a busy day at the Washington Briefing...a Christian conservative conference, so I was on my own again. I went tot he National Archives to do a bit of family research for my aunt. It was so overwhelming! We did not end up finding what we were looking for but it was worth it just to go in and look around!

That night I had dinner with Nathan at the hotel that the conference was being held at and then attended the conference. We saw this hilarious comedian who looked just like Bush! Way too funny! We also hear Ann Colter that night! Gotta love a loud FEMALE conservative voice out there. All the loud female voices are way to the left it seems.

Saturday - I drove into Maryland to see my very dear friend Alicia, from college. My 25 mile trip ended up taking me 2 hours...but I would rather not go into it. Lets just say that we are not moving into DC until we can afford to hire a driver! UHH! DC traffic! We spent the day together chatting and I did get to see her mom as well. Alicia is due a month before me with her first little girl Emma-lee! So funny to think my best friend from college and I are pregnant together!

Sunday - This was our last day in DC and the conference only had a morning session so Nathan and I got to spend some time together. We went down to the Ford's Theater Museum and got to look around. There were lots of neat artifacts on display. We then went down to the Smithsonians...Nathan made me ride in a wheel chair we borrowed from my grandma. We looked through the Air-Space Museum and the Art Museum and then headed to the waterfront for an all you can eat buffet. That night we returned to Ford's theater to watch a play. The play was really good, but it was amazing to see the booth were President Lincoln was shot! you know me and history!

Monday - We left the hotel and headed for Pa to get the girls. We also got to go to Nathan's brother's 16th birthday party at an indoor water park. The girls just loved it!

Tuesday - We headed home!

Wednesday - Nathan left for another trip and the girls and I went to my aunt's house in Willard for the duration. Nathan did not trust me home alone on bed rest. He said I would do way too much! He returned Saturday and the girls and I came back to home to meet him.

It looks like Nathan's younger sister is coming to stay with us while I am on bed rest so that the girls and I don't have to keep going to family member's houses to be babysat. that should be a huge stress relief in itself!!!

****Blogger is not letting me upload pics tonight, so I will try again tomorrow.

What will I do with myself for the next 10 weeks????

Well, the garage sale went well. Nathan returned form his buisness trip, and Maddleyn still loves school. She now can say her full name and address! It's so cute to hear it! The girls leave in the morning for PA to visit their grandparents while we go to DC for 5 days. Nathan has a buisness trip and I am tagging along with him. I will probably be visitn gthe National Archives as well as some of the Smithsonians while he is at his confrence. I am also supposed to meet up with my best friend from College, Alicia, who is expecting her first little girl in Dec. But, this trip might get more complicated after our Dr visit today.

Well, we went to the OB today. It was my regualar check up, but I have been having more contractions, even through the progesterone shots. So, he said flat out that I am doing too much. Even though there is no dialation or thinning of the cervix yet, I am having way to many contractions for 22 weeks. His point was that we are not even to the viability point of 24 weeks yet, let alone anywhere close to delivering a healthy baby. So, he put me on partial bedrest. Basically I will be allowed up an hour in the morning and and hour in the afternoon to do whatever needs done around the house and then it's back on the couch for me. My first thought was...you're kidding??? I have two toddlers and a hubby who travels all the time? No way is that possible? But, my doctor scolded me and basically said you have already had one preterm baby at 36 weeks with problems...it's not worth risking/fooling around with these contractions especially at 22 weeks. He said that he wants me to be in bed until at least 32 weeks.....thats 10 more weeks...and then we would talk. He said a 32 weeker is still a tiny baby but much better than a 22 weeker. So, now Nathan and I are trying to figure out how to manage all of this with him traveling so much and two little girls who need constant attention. Yes, someone can come and help out during the days, but what about when they leave and before they come in the morning? Do I chases kids? We could go and stay with family, but I HATE the thought of uprooting our lives and home for the next AT LEAST 10 weeks? I mean the help would be great, but I really hate the thought of living in another person's home for the next 10 weeks basically loosing all routine we have, and just before the baby comes. Just when we think life is falling into a routine with Maddleyn's school, story hour, Nathan's trips, my ebay stuff, potty training Emma, and the baby on the way......we get a curve ball. So, now what??? Basically the woman in me got a slap in the face today. I am a control freak...do it all yourself...independent kinda person who now has to be on bed rest. This should be definitely a learning experience...or shall we say a test of my will and faith!

Oh yeah, still no name? Maybe it is a boy and that's why we can't choose?

My Little Preschooler!

Well we my baby is now a homeschooler! She started preschool yesterday and LOVES it! She was so cute! After finishing her work for the day she says..."But I wan tto do school again!" I told her we woudl have to wait until tomorrow! Cute huh? She really does pick up things fast thoguh! Just like her daddy!

Not too much to report today. Nathan is off on another campaign trip for the next three days. I am leaving in the morning for my parents' house for a couple of days. We are going to be having a garage sale there on Thur and Fri. Oh, a couple of friends had thier babies last night! Congrats Adavee and Kirsten! Welcome babies Lydia Jane and Lillie Ann! Such cute names! Now if baby #3 only had a name...huh! Nathan says it will come...but not yet! She is still just baby #3 for now!

So where was I?

I was in class that morning at Lee, just a normal Tuesday/Thursday schedual. After class I went to the sidewalk outside of my class' building to wait for Nathan. It was where we always met after class so we could walk to chapel together. I remember him running up and saying have you heard? I was like what??? He then told me that there had been a plane fly into a building in NYC. I remember him telling someothere people and me saying honey, why don't you find out if it's true before you tell everyone. We then walked into chapel and found some seats. Nathan told me that he had been in class with a girl who heard it all on the radio on her way to school that morning. I remember pre-chapel was just like always, everyone was laughing, meeting up with friends, and such. Nothing different than always. Then there was this girl who got up on stage before everyone and said does no one know what is going on? She continued on about all those poor people and thier families and how we should be more respectful and not be goofing off. The problem was that no one had any clue what was happening outside of Lee that morning. We had all gotten up, gone to class, adn now waiting for chapel, just like everyone else. I remember that during chapel they had told us the news and then shortly afterwards they turned on the huge screen projectors in the audorium to the news. We all just stood there, not leaving for class yet, kinda in this blur. I remember them playing the replay clip of the first plane hitting the towers and it was surreal. I remember thinking it looks no different than an action movie clip? Are we as a society that numbed out that it did not horrify me to see that plane crashing in to that building. To me it wasn't real, just a story on the news. The USA couldn't be attacked? We were invincible! But yet, we weren't. Those were real people who had real families and real lives. It wasn't just a movie, it was something happening before our eyes that would change our lives forever.

They say each generation has it's big event. My mom's was when Kennedy got shot. My grandmother had 2, Pearl Harbor and the great depression. See after each of these events, our lives as Americans changed forever. Not always a bad change, but it would never be the same again. You see the first hint of a change in our lives was that Nathan had just returned from his basic training for the Army National Guard. As soon as he found out he called his unit to see what he had to do. He was told that they were on standby and that he was not to leave the state? But the National Guard was a one-weekend-a-month-pay-for-college-sandbag-tornado-clean-up kinda job? They don't do terrorists attacks do they? Little did we know that they did and that this new war on terror would end up taking Nathan half way around the world hunting for men capable of doing things such as another 911. Another change in our lives was that we are no longer bullet proof. We now have to be on our guard protecting ourselves from that evil that wants to hurt and destroy everything we know as good. I for one am totally for this even if it includes giving up some of my so-called civil liberties such as taking a coffee on an airplane, having my bags x-rayed and possibly even opened, having the possibility of someone listening in on a phone call of mine (not that they would though because it's only those who have a HISTORY OF TERRORIST ACTIVITIES), or even going through a metal detector to enter a government building. I say, hey if it keeps my family and I safe, you're more than welcome to imposse on us! Many people think we are still living in a pre-911 world...we're not. The game has changed and now we have to defend the goal line from the enemy, not just always be on offence in their half of the endzone. On that Tuesday morning they brought the game to us here. When Nathan is asked if he thinks we should still be in Iraq or if he should have gone, he always says the same thing.......I would much rather spend 18 months away from my family in Iraq then for the war to come here to my girls.

It's a ????????

Well as you can probably tell by the photos, yesterday was the day to find out what we are getting for baby #3! We had our ultrasound yesterday...

and......

the nurse said.....

that we.....

should probably .......

buy P-I-N-K!!!!!!


Yep, it's a girl! Man were we surprised! I think just about everyone who knows us was expecting a boy! Not this time! So we are going to be the proud parents of 3 girls! WOW! We were so surprised that I spent this afternoon sorting through boys clothes to put on ebay and retuning a few outfits to Children's Place. Ok, so maybe we were jumping the gun a bit, but hey what's the chances that we would have a girl 3 times in a row? HaHa!

Maddelyn was not too happy! She actually cried when we told her! See, she wanted a girl originally, but then she realized that all her little friends at church have baby brothers. She says she already has a sister so she wanted a boy. When we told her, all she kept saying was "But I wanted a boy baby!...again and again! Poor thing. She was not happy until I told her that everyone we knew who was pregnant was also getting girl babies, so she was ok with that. My little girl is such the conformist! She has to be like everyone else!

Fall is Here and Emma Loves the Potty!!!

We had a wonderful time camping last weekend, eventhough it rained. Yes, typical fall weather...cool...and wet! Friday evenin we spent in the camper watching movies, but the girls did not mind that at all. Saturday morning we got up and went to Amish Country. We did some shopping at Lehman's hardwear store and a bulk food store and then had lunch at he little resteraunt we always go to in Kidron. We all had hamloaf...YUM! That is the only place I ever get it and I love hamloaf! Saturady afternoon Nathan came in and we spent the afternoon outside. I was muddy but not raining. It was nice to sit around the fire! It started raing Saturday night, but that did not stop us! We took a walk with umbrellas! My dad wire tied a HUGE golf umbrella onto the wagon and to the girls had their own tent! (Emma's newest word is brella.) Sunday was beautiful! My grandparents came down for the day and we celebrated my grandma's birthday with a cake. Nathan and Maddelyn really worked on riding her bike as well. My brother also came down for the day and spent the night with us. Monday was goregous, but of course that was the day we packed up and came home! That evening we had some friends over for a cook out and then a movie. What a nice holiday weekend.

**Note - I have cute pictures of camping, but blogger wont let me load them up??? I'll try again later.

Yesterady my mom took Maddelyn back to Willard, and Nathan was busy all day trying to meet a deadline, so it was just Emma and I. I figured that was a good day to try the ....learn to potty in one day method. So, we did. She did not get it quite a swell as Maddelyn did when we did it with her, but Maddelyn was 2 1/2 when we did her. Emma went three times in a row in the potty with no accidents! Well, after abotu two hours she had had enough potting and needed a nap...as did I! So we had to take a time out. After naps she was dry, but would not go for me. She ended up having an accident, as well as another one before bed? So I have no idea how it went....but I do know...she loves the potty!!!!!

Well, today is the day......we go for our ultrasound today to try to see what we are having! I will try to get some pictures, but I am not sure if they will let me or not. I'll be on later tonight or in the morning to let you all know...pink or blue??????

Bubbles Galore!

I am getting ready to head out the door for camping, but I thought I would leave you with a few pictures of the girls blowing bubbles with daddy a couple of weeks ago. They just love chasing the bubbles to pop them after daddy uses the big bubble wand.

Have a great Labor Day Weekend and try to take some time off to spend with the family!!!!

I'm a child of the 80's!

We are just settling in form spending several days at my parent's house, so this will be a short post tonight. We had a busy week with spending time with my Aunt Donna while she is up from Kentucky. We also went to Joanne Fabric's since they were having a huge sale and got the pattern and material to make the girls' Halloween costumes for camping. They are both going to be Fairy Princesses and wear they huge green tinkerbell wings that we bought them this summer. Today Maddelyn helped her grandparents out with the "Fill-a-Boot." Drive by the firefighters in Willard. I have some cute pictures of the drive that I need to download into my computer. I got this forwarded to me in my email and laughed at how many memories it brought back! Man...this makes me feel old at the ripe old age of 24!



1. You've ever ended a sentence with the word "PSYCHE."
2. You watched the Pound Puppies.
3. You can sing the rap to the "Fresh Prince of Belair"
4. You wore biker shorts under your skirts and felt stylish.
5. You yearned to be a member of the Baby-sitters club and tried to start a club of your own.
6. You owned those lil Strawberry Shortcake pals scented dolls.
7. You know that "WOAH" comes from Joey on Blossom .........
8. Two words: M.C. Hammer
9. If you ever watched "Fraggle Rock."
10. You had plastic streamers on your handle bars.
11. You can sing the entire theme song to "Duck Tales."
12. When it was actually worth getting up early on a Saturday to watch cartoons.
13. You wore a ponytail on the side of your head.
14. You saw the original "Teenage Mu ta nt Ninja Turtles" on the big screen.
15. You got super-excited when it was Oregon Trail day in computer class at school.
16. You made your Mom buy one of those clips that would hold your shirt in a knot on the side.
17. You played the game "MASH" (Mansion, Apartment, Shelter, House)
18. You wore a Jordache Jean jacket and you were proud of it.
19. L.A. Gear...
20. You wanted to change your name to "JEM" in Kindergarten.
21. You remember reading "Tales of a fourth grade nothing" and all the Ramona books.
22. You know the profound meaning of "WAX ON, WAX OFF"
23. You wanted to be a Goonie.
24. You ever wore fluorescent clothing.
25. You can remember what Michael Jackson looked like before his nose fell off...
26. You have ever pondered why Smurfette was the only female smurf.
27. You took Lunch Pails to school.
28. You remember the CRAZE, then the BANNING of slap bracelets.
29. You still get the urge to say "NOT" after every sentence.
30. You remember Hypercolor T-shirts.
31. Barbie and the Rockers was your favorite band.
32. You thought Sheera and He-Man should hook up.
33. You thought your childhood friends would never leave because you exchanged friendship bracelets.
34. You ever owned a pair of jelly shoes.
35. After you saw Pee-Wee's Big Adventure you kept saying "I know what you are, but what am I?"
36. You remember "I've fallen and I can't get up"
37. You remember going to the skating rink before there were inline skates.
38. You ev er got seriously injured on a Slip and Slid e.
39. You have ever played with a Skip-It.
40. You had or attended a birthday party at McDonald's.
41. You've gone through this list occasionally saying "Totally awesome"
42. You remember Popples.
43. "Don't worry, be happy"
44. You wore like, EIGHT pairs of socks over tights with high top Reeboks.
45. You wore socks scrunched down.
46. "Miss MARY MACK MACK, all dressed in BLACK BLACK BLACK"
47. You remember boom boxes Vs. CD players.
48. You remember watching both "Gremlins" movies.
49. You know what it meant to say "Care Bear Stare!"
50. You remember watching Rainbow Bright and My Little Pony Tales"
51. You thought Doogie Howser was hot.
52. You remember Alf, the lil furry brown alien from Melmac.
53. You remember New Kids on the Block when they were cool.
54. You knew all the characters names and their life stories on "Saved By the Bell," the ORIGINAL class.
55. You know all the words to Bon Jovi - YOU GIVE LOVE A BAD NAME.
56. The only rapper you knew of was Vanilla Ice

My Dancing Divas!

Ok, I promised some pictures, so here they are. ....The first two are of my dancing divas! Grandma Bobbie found these dance costumes on clearance somewhere and the girls just loved them! Maddelyn of course had to stike a dramatic pose for me when I said say cheese. She is such a ham. I know that she would just love taking actual dance classes! Maybe someday. Emma had no idea what she was wearing but she was so cust in her little pig tails and how her belly stuck out right above that pink tutu!!!

The next two are of Nathan's Family Reunion in Indiana last weekend. This first one is of his Great-Grandma Smith who will turn 100 in January of 2007!!!! She is such a sweetheart.

This next one is of Nathan's mom Carla and her sister Gayla with "Great."




Well, that is it for tonight! We sat for some friend's children tonight and took them to the Bucyrus Bratwurst Festive. So we had 2 three year olds, a 22 month old and a 9 month old all there with us tonight. It went well, but of course we are all ready for bed a little early tonight. We have another family reunion tomorrow for my Grandma Hamons side, so I will update you all later!

I'm back!!

Sorry for the delay in posting! Life around here has been pretty crazy! Let's see..... a sum of of the past couple of weeks...

Nathan did return from South Carolina and he ended up meeting us at the Ohio State Fair that day. We spent a lovely day with my parents and nieces/nefew. Maddelyn's favorite part was that Smokey the Bear knew her name! How cute!

That Friday we spent the night with Nathan's Grandmother and Pap (GREAT FISH! YUM!!!) We then left Willard at 6:30 Saturday morning for Indiana. It was the Smith Family reunion that afternoon and it is a 4 hour drive. The reunion was great and of course seeing the in-law cousins was nice too. Maddelyn made off like a bandit at the family's charity auction, thanks to Grandma Carla and Daddy.

Sunday we went to church and Grandma Carla came along. We then had lunch with the Miller's at Fazoli's afterwards.

Monday is when things got kinda wierd on my end. I began having contractions! Yes, I am only 17 weeks, but they were still contractions. I have then been having them off and on all week and lately I am having them all day long. It is much worse the more I move around and especially if I bend over or lift something heavy. So, we went to the OB today to get checked out. He said baby #3 had a good heartbeat and I had not dialated any. He had me get an ultrasound as well and the cervix has not thinned out any yet either. So, good news there. He did say that I have a history of preterm labor (for anyone who doesn't know, we started preterm labor with Emma Grace at 24 weeks and went on until her delivery at 36 weeks.) Anyways, since I have a history, they are going to start giving me a progesteron (sp?) shot once a week until I am 26 weeks. This hormone helps to relax the uterus, keeping it from contracting. I then go back on the 28th for another check up.

So, needless to say.....I haven't felt too up to blog'n this week! Sorry guys for the no pics as well. I have to find my digital camera's cord to load the pics. I do have some nice ones of the reunion and such to share though. Have a great weekend and I will check back in soon...I promise!

About Me Thursday.....

I had my first OB appt. today. Yeah, I know that I am 15 weeks along and I'm just now getting in, but my Dr. had to cancel the last two because he was delivering babies. Anyways, I need all of my brother's and sister's in Christ to be in prayer over the next 5 months for the baby and I. I had an ultrasound yesterday that said that the baby might be placenta previa, which means that the baby's placenta is blocking the way out for the baby and it would result in a c-section. Woo-hoo...not looking forward to that! I mean how "natural" and following God's plan can it be for someone to just cut the baby out? LOL! Oh well just be in prayer that the ulrasound was misleading. We will have another one in about 6 weeks. Also I have been having some irregularities with my heart beat and the Dr. said that it is not an uncommon complaint for pregnant women and that I need to start monitoring my pulse until the next appointment. He said that it has to do with the electrical pulses of the heart acting up and that the extra stress of a pregnancy can make a women start having these irregularities. He said that if it continues that they would monitor me at home for 24 hours and then send me to a cardiologist for testing and a possible catherization. Please just be in prayer about this as well as heart conditions do run in my family, and the Dr. said that the condition may or may not leave after the baby is born, but is treatable with medicines.

Ok, enough depressing mediacl news! I fellow scrapbooker from 2peas gave me this idea.....thanks Denise! Questions Two by Two:

1. Two places I hate going to.......the dentist and the GYN

2. Two foods I couldn't live without........popsicles and chicken salad

3. Two places I want to visit before I die.......Hawaii and Alaska

4. Two silly habits I have....making the bed through the night and pitching everything

5. Two stores that would wreck my world if they closed......Walmart (what family can live without them?) and Old Navy

6. Two things I worry about: the future and making people happy (yep, both faults of mine!)

7. Two things that scare me: Snakes and trying new things

8. Two of my favorite movies: The North and South and Pride and Predjudice

9. Two dreams I have......opening a bed-n-breakfast and seeing my daughter's wedding days.

10. Two things I wish for my daughters.......for them to find a spouse that love God and treats them as their father does me, and for them to become the women of God that I know He has instore for them

11. Two little known facts about me......I get embarrassed easily (not so hot for a politician's wife) and I LOVE PICKLES!

4 Years Already!

A family member asked me for a copy of my wedding photos for an album she's doing, so I pulled out the old album. Man, it's been four years! Actually it seems like a lot longer than that! I mean, hello we've had 2 children, another on the way, an 18 month deployment, 2 undergrad degrees and a masters, 4 homes, 4 cars, 2 cats, 1 dog with 6 puppies, 2 campaigns, and of course 4 wonderful years of marriage.

It's so funny to look back at how much we have gown/changed, as well as how much our love has matured as well. I mean you think you could never be as much in love as the day of your wedding, but then you you hold your first child minutes after she arrives. Then you think, well this is as deep as it get and baby number two warms your heart just as much as the first does. It's so amazing how much a couple's love can grow and mature with each and ever step the family takes. So I think that I was wrong. Your wedding day is not when you are the most in love with your spouse. It is only after a full long life that your love maxes out. So I admire those sweet old couples we see at Walmart because only they know what it means to be more in love than they ever will be. They have seen babies, children leaving the nest, harships, true joy, fears, and hopefully a life of faith in God together. That's what I look forward to the most......growing old with Nathan and falling even more in love with him with each turn in our lives.

Ebay Queen!!!

LOL! That's what I feel like today...an Ebay Queen! Have been listing my but off the past two days and have a total of 34 items on right now! I have a few scrapbooking items on, like a custom album and a custom layout, but most are clothing items. You can check it out if you want to at my ebay.... http://my.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?MyeBay

Besides Ebaying, Nathan went to his Bible Study tonight and Maddelyn had a friend from church over tonight. They had a blast, but Emma doesn't do well playing 3rd fiddle. I guess we need to work on that one.

Not too much to write about tonight, so I think I'll do some random things that make me smile:

1. Spending time with my hubby!

2. Eating anything with fruit and ice.

3. Sitting back and looking at one of my layout after I just completed it.

4. Knowing that I am raising a little girl who is just as big as a perfectionist as me...Maddelyn!

5. Falling asleep while listening to it raining outside.

6. Seeing the first snow of the season.

7. When the man and women get together at the end of romantic movies.

8. Finding new ribbon to buy or my scrapbooking collection!

9. Seeing our new baby for the first time in the ultrasound.

My very own B&B!

Well yesterday was quite a busy day for us Martins. We spent the entire day moving bedroom furniture and re-organizing. Sounds like fun huh? Well it was for the crazy perfectionist/organazional freaks like me!! See, when we moved from Tn to Oh I got rid of our old matresses. So, when I left my parents house to move here, we had a bed, but no matresses for the new house. My parents said we could just take their guest room bed until we bought our own set. Well with the campaign and now Nathan working on the presidential campaign...we hadn't been shopping yet. So, we finally bought our new matresses...they are sooooo comfy! They were delivered yesterday, but in order to have a place for them we had to set our bed frame up and make a new place for it since the headboard is so tall. The bed itself was given to me as an heirloom. It is a cast iron bed with the big brass knobs on each bed post. The bed was what my great-grandparents set up their household with when they were married. So I now have my beautiful antique bed back with new comfy matresses to match!! The most exciting part is that I finally have my room organized as well. See when Nathan started traveling so much on the campaign trail I said that I wanted his office for my scrap room and he could have the studio area in our bedroom for his desk. It all worked out fine with trading rooms...and I now have a WHOLE ROOM to scrap.....but he ever re-organized the mess of office supplies that came upstairs. He is gone so much that he just never got around to it. Well he finally set up his office yesterday and I love it!!! I took a couple of pictures of our new little B&B room! Isn't so cute! Very "Mandi-ish" huh?

Well we are off on the road again tonight. I am attending a 24 hour crop at the store and Nathan is meeting up with some old college friends for a guy's night out. The girls are headed to their grandparents house to play with the twins, so everyone should have a pretty fun evening.

It was so funny, last night at Dinner Maddelyn was so heart-broken when she discovered she wasn't a twin. She was talking about her daddy being a baby inside her grandma's belly....with baby #3 on the way this is a common subject - who was in whose belly. Anyways she then said "like when me and Emma were twins in Mommy's belly." We of course corrected her saying that they aren't twins and she was so upset and determined that they were! I told her that I only had one baby in my belly at a time and that Aunt Thelma and Aunt Cathy had two babies in their belly and that the girls are both twins because they are the same age. It still did not satisfy her. She wanted to be a twin just like her "friends" - cousins are! Nathan and I thought it was hilarious! Only in a family like ours.....(Maddelyn has 2 sets of twin girl cousins, both a year older than her) can a child be heart-broken when she learns that she isn't a twin! Too funny!

My First CHA!!!

Well we are back form our week in Chicago. We are all a little weary from our travels but the show went well. A2Z did quite well with new orders as well as making an appearance. We had so many new people stopping by and commenting on both the booth itself and our 8 paper lines. You can see some pictures of the booth by visiting Heather's blog at http://heatherpreckel.typepad.com/ My pictures look very similar to these so I figured since hers were already loaded up I'd just direct you there. I did upload pictures of some of the layouts and projects I made up to display in the booth. The altered items are in the new Carefree line from A2Z. The layout of Emma is in the new line Giggle and the layout "cousins" is in the new line Wish. I just love the photo of Lil' Emma Grace on that layout. It captured her true self...silly and full of life! What's so funny is that the color version of the photo shows her with a snotty nose and a big bruise on her forehead, but all of that blended in when I turned it to b&w. Isn't it funny what you can hide in a photo!! LOL!

My first experience at CHA was a blast! There were a total of 6 of us in the A2Z booth including Heather Preckel, Heidi Lacy, their mom Ronda, Judith who is on the design team with me, and Amber who designed two of the paper lines. We had so much fun together while of course selling paper! I was a bit overwhelmed with the whole experience though! LOL! There were 3 different covention floors all filled with craft booths, most of which were scrapbooking. I think I got burnt out on seeing all of the new products! Mandi admitting that she was ever burnt out on anything scrapbooking related??? HaHa! I saw tons of new products that I can't wait to get my fingers on once they arrive in stores! I would have to say that my favorites of the week were (A2Z's new papers of course!!!), the American Craft Rub-ons, Bazzil Flowers, 3 Bugs in a Rug Papers, Lil Davis Flocked Ribbons, EVERYTHING in the Maya Roads Ribbon Booth, Heidi Swaps new Bling circles, Crate Paper's new line...I think I may have not been overwhelmed as I thought! I remembered more scrapbooking products than I thought I would! Good for me...bad for Nathan and my scrap'n budget! LOL!

While in Chicago we did get to do a little sight-seeing as well. We went down town on Monday and did the Michigan Ave. shopping thing. It took a lot of will power to walk out of American Girl empty handed! I think we'll wait until Maddelyn is a little bit older? While in Chicago I did get to meet Sarah Cox...Nathan's boss' wife. We stopped by their condo to meet her and their daughter Julieann....adorable little girl! The amount of hair she had put little Emma Grace to shame! :D Sarah was so sweet welcoming us into her home. She and John have a beautiful view out of thier living room windows. I have always said that the city was not for me, but I understand how one could fall in love with it with a view like that. Sarah said that she is interested in beginning to scrapbook, so maybe I can convince her to become a fellow Pea? Wouldn't be great to have a First Lady on the 2Peas board??? LOL!

Life here is trying to get back on track now that the girls and I are home. Maddelyn and Emma are very excited to see Daddy tomorrow afternoon when he returns from his trip to Iowa. I have spent the day trying ot unpack and relax a bit before another busy weekend. We have the final sessions of our bible study/marriage retreat this Saturday and the store is having a 24 hour crop night on Friday to celebrate Heidi's birthday. So basically by the time Sunday rolls around...I should be a happy camper! LOL! I don't do well without sleep. I'm one of those totally non-morning people who doesn't talk until AFTER my shower!!! Ask Nathan, when I'm tired it's best to just leave me be. I know it's not the most flattering fact, but it's me!

I'll try to get some pics of my ultrasound tomorrow and post those. I keep forgetting. Until the next time.....

Off to CHA!!!

Just a super quick update on the family.....we arrived home safely last night from our week in South Carolina. We all had a blast but the highlights of the trip were swimming for Maddelyn, visiting Boone Hall for me ( where the movie North and South was filmed) and meeting up with my college suite mate Erin Bailey. Sure there was a lot more that went on between all of that but for lack of time that is a sum up of our travels. I posted a few pics of visiting with Erin. It was so nice to see her agian and I can't believe that she is entering into her 3rd year of Medical School!

I leave in the morning for CHA!!! The girls are going ot PA to visit the grandparents and Nathan is off to campaign again. I will be spending a week in Chicago with A2Z Essentials setting up, working the show, and tearing down again. I am so excited as this is my first CHA. I also have 5 altered projects and 2 layouts going up as displays in the booth....so very awesome!!!! I will post pics of them when we get back as well...for lack of time!

We had our first ultrasound today of Martin baby #3! He/She is doing great and posed just perfect for us! I will take some pics of the photos with my NEW DIGITAL CAMERA and post them when I get back. Such a cutie.

Like how I threw in I got a new camera! Yep, hubby spoiled me with my anniv. gift this year! I got a Canon SD450! Woo-hoo!!! So, you'll be seeing many more pics than ever! Remember to thank my hubby for that!

South Carolina

Well we made it to South Carolina safe and sound...well sorta. The safe part for sure, but sound???? We left Mansfield at about 2:00 pm Sunday afternoon. The trip totalled about 11 hours so we arrived in McCormick, South Carlina between 12:30 and 1:00 am. All was going fine. We were quite tired but ready to settle into the lake resort that we had reservations at. One problem...there was NOBODY there? Yes, there were cars around from guests, but there was no one around at the main desk for us to check in at? What were we going to do? We were all exausted and needed to find somewhere to sleep for the few remaining hours that night because Nathan had to be back on the road for his first meeting the next morning at 9:00. So, we decided to go down the road and see what we could find as far as a hotel. McCormick is a VERY tiny town...Willlard has more to it if you can believe that!!! So we find the only hotel in town and decide that since we are in the middle of no where and it's 1am we will just get a room there for a few hours and in the morning go back to the resort. Nathan goes to check in and I think...hmmm...that's wierd he paid for the room at a sliding glass window to the office, maybe it's just a southern thing? Then, I know we are in trouble when he comes walking back with the room key and the TV remote!!! Yep, they keep them in the office! Well we soon found out it was because the remote was pretty much the only thing in the room that was possible for you so steal. There was one queen bed, a sort of night stand, a TV bolted to a TV stand on the wall, One towel and wash cloth, a sink, and a tiny bathroom. That was it, no kidding, it was AWEFUL! As I told my mom, the best way to sum it up on the kinda place we stayed at is that in the bathroom there was a window in the wall...mind you the walls were all concrete blocks painted white. The window's curtain consisted of a pillow case that had a rope strung through the top and was nailed to the wall. I am not joking you!!! I am almost ashamed to tell everyone of our no-tell-motel! The worst part of it was that after we left that morning at 7am...the earliest we could get into the resort....Nathan told me that they charged us by the hour to stay the previous night! UHHHH! That made it even worse! We stayed at a by the hour motel! Nathan said we laugh someday about it???

So, then the saga continues at the resort. The front desk lady said that we were not to come in until Monday...great...so they didn't even have our townhouse ready for us yet. She said we could stay in one of the resort hotel rooms until our town house was ready. The maids got there at 8:30 and would start with our house. So...we all marched upstairs to the temporary room and slept a couple of hours since needless to say we didn't sleep to much at the no-tell-motel. So finally we got into our actual townhouse at 10:30 Monday morning. Uhhhh! What an experience. As soon as our bags were in the door Nathan took off for his first meeting. the girls and I started unpacking and then spent the day around the resort checking out things and swimming that afternoon.

Yesterday Nathan had meetings in the afternoon and was back at the resort that evening so we once again took the girls swimming. Maddelyn was as usually apprehensive about swimming and Emma was fearless. She almost worries me because she just jumps in whether you're there or not. We would be climbing down the steps to get into the pool and Emma would just keep on walking down even though she couldn't touch! She isn't afraid of anything compared to Maddelyn who the whole time she is in the water has a death grip on you. After we got out of our suits, we went to the resorts resteraunt and ate outside. It was so nice to sit and look out on the lake during dinner. We finished the day with a drive around the lake community and milkshakes at Hatdee's. Maddelyn said that she had a fun day and that the best part was swimming...even though she wouldn't let you let go of her!

I posted a few pictures of the resort from their website. I hope they turn out. If not you can check out thier site at http://www.savannahlakesresort.us/fishing.html Of course I forgot my digital camera so these will have to do for now. When we got home I will try ot scan in the layouts I have been woking on for CHA. We have some very cute papers out this show from 4 GREAT designers! It's amazing what talent these ladies have! I know that Heather Preckel...the design team coordinator has been posting some sneak peaks on her blog if you want to check them out. http://heatherpreckel.typepad.com/blog/

Happy Late 4th!!!

Hey all, sorry for the late 4th post. We spent the weekend with my Mom's sister...Aunt Donna and Uncle Clyde...for the weekend. We had a great time with my parents and nefew Austin as well. Emma ate up time being spoiled by her grandpa of course and Maddelyn had so much fun playing with Donna's dollhouse and Wizzard of Oz Dolls. Donna told Maddelyn this weekend that when we buy a house the dollhouse would be hers. I don't think she quite understood, but I know that she will love it. My aunt and I spent several summers decorating it with wallpaper, carpet, hardwood floors and furniture and it has always been a favorite of mine. Even now I still sneak upstairs to rearrange the dolls. I wouldn't quite say that I still play with the 3 story white pillar mansion, but I do love to look at all the pieces each time we visit. I just hope that my two girls have as many great memories with it through the years as I did.

I finally got back the pics from my cousin's Kaytie's graduation. I kinda stole these off her blog...thanks Kate....because I have not taken the time to scan mine in the computer yet. The pics are of her and her parents, her with my grandparents, and with Maddelyn and my twin cousins Morgan and Cathern. Doesn't she just look so cute in her cap and gown! Congrats again Katers and have fun at Lee U!! p.s. If you bring home a guy with a ring...make sure he isn't a southerner! LOL! Just Kidding!

Nathan arrived hom form NH last night and we are spending the next few days trying to play catch up around here and pack for SC. We will leave Sunday after church and come back the next Sunday. As I had mentioned before the campaign is getting Nathan a condo/townhouse there instead of several different hotel rooms across the state. This way the girls and I can go with him. It is getting to the point that if we don't go with Daddy, we don't see Daddy. The townhouse sounds really nice though. It is in a resort community, so we will have the normal swimming pool, lake, and such there to entertain us while Nathan travels around the state campaigning for Mr. John Cox.

Once we get back on the 16th, I have my first OB appt. on the 17 (I'm 10 weeks now!!!) and then on the 18th the kids go to PA and I go to Chicago for CHA! While we are gone, Nathan will be in Iowa and NH. So basically we are pretty packed for the month of July!!!

Well I will check in agian soon. Sorry for the delay between posts, I guess that is what summer does to me blogg'n. Off to a BBQ with some church friends!!!