The Martin Family

2010-12-05T08:44:00.000-08:00

2010-12-05T08:43:00.000-08:00

2010-12-05T08:42:00.000-08:00

Christmas Memories!

2010-01-02T08:36:00.000-08:00

Christmas Morning
The Night before Christmas

Sprinkling the Reindeer Food!

Family...

Cookies for Santa

The Girls with Uncle JoJo!
Making Christmas Candy...A new tradition!

All 3 with Santa!!

Mallory actually sat on santa's lap at school!! First Time!!

Our Precious Angels!

Holidays!

2009-12-03T16:45:00.000-08:00

Thanksgiving!
Holiday Decor...

It's beginning to look alot like Christmas!

Maddox Bradley

2009-12-03T15:53:00.000-08:00

Hey...I know its been a really long time since I have blogged....been trying to get ready for this boy! Maddox Bradley Martin was born on nov 21st at 9:48am! He was 7lb 4oz! We are loving having a boy in the house!!

6 days old

Now a family of 5!!

1 day old..

House Pics....

2009-09-08T09:40:00.000-07:00

I have had so many people ask me to put pictures of the house since we moved in....well, I finally got around to it! Sorry it took sooooo long! Side Front wrap around Porch

Front porch

Front Entry

Great Room

Great room..view from kitchen

Foyer/staircase/greatroom

Baby's room...is actually the office, but he was a surprise, so he is using it as a nursery so that we don't have to move Makayla upstairs just yet!

Mallory's room

Upstairs bath

Upstairs bedroom

Laundry room

Makayla's room

Master bath

Master Bedroom

Staircase...view from side porch entry

Dining Room...view from staircase landing

Dining room...view from foyer

Side porch entry...view from foyer

Breakfast room

side of kitchen..Mallory is in front of mud room door and glass door next to her is pantry door

Kitchen..view from Breakfast area

Kitchen again....

Makayla's Dance Recital

2009-08-11T11:14:00.000-07:00

Mallory Birthday Party!

2009-06-25T08:53:00.000-07:00

Mallory and her friend Jax.....how cute!
a random shot of some @ party

Makayla and Uncle Rain

Mallory wanted a butterfly party and a Fishing party..SOOOO due to unpredictable MS weather. we had the cake and icecream at the house and then everyone ventured to the pond for fishing...They had a great time...Every kid caught at least two fish each...The weather was perfect...not too hot and it didn't rain after all...Aunt Heather, Uncle Rain, Josh and Granny all got to come...THANKS SO MUCH FOR HELPING TOO>>>

Froggy floaty for Pool....Brandon Burt behind them...

I have tons more oics but takes forever to upload!

We're Having a BOY!!!

2009-06-25T08:47:00.000-07:00

Well, we are adding to our family....We are due Nov. 29th and they tell us it is a boy!! WOW what do I do with that??? Brad is ecstatic and I am scared....haha tables have turned.... We moved into the house on April 1 and I woke up the next morning with morning sickness.....I was in denial for about 5 days and finally bought a test.... It has taken me these full 17 weeks to come to terms with having another little baby in the house...haha BUT we are really happy and anxious for Nov to come....I do not have the best of time inthe early weeks of my pregnancies...I usually get sick on my stomach all day long and this has been no different! I am just now getting to where I am only sick 1-2 times a day! Thank goodness... Well just wanted to share the news.
PS THATS WHY I HAVENT POSTED IN A WHILE>>>BEEN A LITTLE BUSY AND NOT FEELING GREAT! HA

Happy 3 Birthday Mallory!

2009-06-25T08:17:00.000-07:00

We were in Point Clear AL for a conference for Brad during Mallory's third birthday...so she got a vacation and Birthday in one!! All she asked for was a white wedding dress....Go figure Target has the whole dress up set! She was so adorable...everyone thought she was a flower girl because there were 2 weddings taking place at the resort that day! HAHA... I can't believe our baby is 3!!

2009-01-15T10:02:00.001-08:00

2009-01-15T09:57:00.001-08:00

Happy Birthday Party Makayla...A puppy dog party

2009-01-05T09:43:00.000-08:00

Jumping into the big foam pit....
The kids--minus a few not in pic--we had about 28 come to the party..and we even had to unfortunately shorten the invite list this year..we decided to invite 5 and 6 year olds due to the number! She wanted to invite her school class this year too;

Opening gifts...look at mallory so intent on what she is doing...

Birthday girl

The Doggy Cake...It was adorable..thanks Jennifer for doing such a good job!

1-2-09 HAPPY 10 10 YEAR ANNIVERSARY!

2009-01-05T08:12:00.000-08:00

I can't believe it has been 10 years already...we always said we were gonna go somewhere for our 10 year anniversary..well, we didn't realize we would be inthe middle of building a house and have a 6 year old daughter whose birthday would fall around our anniversary! We seem to do everything around this time of year..get married jan 2, move to georgia Jan 1 have a child dec 27, be right in the middle of building a house or starting the house...etc etc etc...haha SO we took the rare occasion of it just being the two of us and enjoyed every minute of it...The funny thing is...The farthest we got away was to Jackson, the fanciest we felt like eating was Outback, and to top it off we went to a movie..and guess what we saw...A DISNEY MOVIE...WITHOUT THE GIRLS! HA HA we saw Bedtime Stories which was cute...Basically we haven't been to movie past 7 oclock in years and didn't realize they start at 10:00 and after...haha...so we got there at 9 and the only option was Tales of Desparoux ?SP or Bedtime Stories...BUT I have to say we really did have a good time... RARE PICS OF US WITHOUT THE KIDS!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

2009-01-05T07:57:00.000-08:00

New Year's Eve...We celebrated the new year with some good friends of ours..Shane, Jana, Cooper, Emry, Stacy,and Joe Dan...We had a great time....There was so much food and fun...I even learned how to play mexican train dominos....which I beat Brad in hahaha...had to throw that in there... There favorite part was the fireworks....especially sparklers

Jana, Emry and Cooper

12-27-08 Happy 6 Birthday Makayla

2009-01-05T06:37:00.000-08:00

Mallory and Uncle Rain

Blowing out the candles

Singing Happy Birthday

The 6 yr old!

Wow growing up fast!

Christmas on the Coast

2009-01-05T05:52:00.000-08:00

The Chaos..I thought this was gonna be a small Christmas!

Heather and Rain

Our family...Gotta love the upward shot..

The girls being silly

The grandkids...Josh, Madi, Makayla, and Mallory

CHRISTMAS PICS

2009-01-01T15:43:00.000-08:00

The girls got a trampoline from Santa this year... They were estatic...they jumped for hours and hours... Mallory taking a juice break....

Makayla in action.

Brad and the girls Christmas Morning...

Me and the girls Christmas morning!

At Nana's on Christmas Eve...Notice Makayla in background in shorts...and today it is 30degrees...crazy....

HOUSE PICS!

2009-01-01T10:30:00.000-08:00

We are slowly but surely getting there!!! Laundry room counter near drop down ironing board..there wil be a sink there; just haven't cut out for it yet:)

Another pic of laundry room...we got the countertop on...LOVE the baskets Heather...Got one more but haven't gotten it organized yet..Used these two for bows for wrapping and ribbon...

The upstairs bonus room..We put the floor down and are trying to finish that room up so I can move my Christmas stuff into the closet!

Pantry cabinets..I got them painted and glazed.

Kitchen cabinets in the makings...Popa does SUCH a good job!!! We are so fortunate...

PUPPIES!

2009-01-01T08:47:00.000-08:00

They are 3/4 American Bulldog and 1/4 Lab Mix....

Mallory with MOLLY...

LUCY all white; MOLLY with spots

For Makayla's 6th birthday she wanted a puppy! We decided to get her one and let her pick it out...We had Mallory with us and she said she was taking her puppy home too! HA So we have 2 new members in our family! Two more females... ha poor Brad...even our cat is female!

Makayla holding hers...LUCY and Mallory holding hers...MOLLY

LUCY

Makayla with MOLLY

2008-12-22T09:43:00.000-08:00

Christmas Party at the church! Mallory would not take a pic with santa!
All the kids at the party....we are missing quite a few

our girls!

Christmas Photos!

2008-12-22T08:11:00.000-08:00

On our way to church Sunday
After church...Imagining what it will be like to come home....ha!

Mallory all bundled up...

Mallory by the tree..I let the girls decorate it this year!

Makayla's 6 birthday party at school!

2008-12-22T07:56:00.000-08:00

It is hard to believe she is going to be 6! I remember when she was born thinking I could not imagine the day she would walk and talk! HA Her class!
Sign in front of the school!

Making a wish...of course we had pink cupcakes with Hannah Montanna plates (although Mallory actually picked out the plates! ha!)

Milk and Cookies with Santa!

2008-12-20T07:20:00.000-08:00

The Girls with Mrs. Claus!

We took the girls to milk and cookies with santa this year in Brookhaven. They had a a blast! It was a little overwhelming due to the crowd...but the girls thought it was great! I didn't get any pics of them with santa because by the time we got our turn it was sort of rushed...ha but i did get some cute pics before and during the wait! Mallory making her reindeer food with the elves!

sweet Mallory...she loves this Santa..It was my grandma's

Close up of Mallory before we left.

Makayla..guess something was funny

Mallory did something that tickled Makayla!

Thanksgiving in Oakvale

2008-12-19T20:50:00.000-08:00

Brad took these pics of the girls! I forgot to take any so this is all I have of Thanksgiving!

SNOW IN BOGUE CHITTO!

2008-12-12T07:53:00.000-08:00

We had anywhere from 4 to 8 inches of snow reported in Bogue Chitto Thursday! This is the second time this year..It also snowed this much January 18th. AMAZING! I have never seen this much snow down here in the south much less twice in one year! I unfortunately had to work so I did not get to stay and play with the kids, but Brad's office lost power so they closed for the day! OF COURSE the schools closed as well...we don't know what to do with all this down here in the south...give us a hurricane and we can prepare but a winter storm warning!!! What's that? haha Brad took some beautiful pictures but not but a few of the kids! so sorry but most are landscape pics and all in black and white! ha I forgot to change the camera settings after the last time I used it! What's even crazier is that there is still snow on the ground Friday at 11:00! Crazy!

The old Dairy barn behind Grandma Martin's

The girls making the snowman with Nana and Boots.

The new house!

Decorating for Christmas...

2008-12-02T21:36:00.000-08:00

Daddy and Daddy's girl...being silly on the couch,.
Daddy telling the girls about Christmas...

Mallory's tree

The finished trees...

note mallory's halloween pj's haha

Thanksgiving Drama at Church

2008-12-02T21:26:00.000-08:00

The Girls were ina Thanksgiving Drama at the church on Nov 23. The children's committee put on the show... It was quite an experience... There were 30 kids in it! Mallory started out as a pilgrim but ended up being a Turkey because we needed one more... I wish I had taken pics there but didn't get too becausee I was in charge of it!!! We did get some Cute video though! Makayla was a Pilgrim and did such a good job.. She said her part well and sang the songs really really loud! Pre Pilgrimed...but did have the little indian...of course she ended up a turkey which was precious but sorry no pics...

Thanksgiving Program at school!

2008-12-02T21:15:00.000-08:00

Makayla and her friend Haley as Indians>>>

Nana even got to come...

The Martin's at the school...

a very small portion of the kids as Indians..Not sure what happened to her feather headband!

House update!

2008-12-02T21:00:00.000-08:00

The kitchen...its a warm yellow actually called white raisin! Popa started on the cabinets!
Upstairs bedroom...Bramble beige with creamy white ceiling

Office...Copper Wire with creamy white ceiling

Dining room.. Bramble beige with cherry chocolate accent wall

Main living color... Taupe actually has a sort of green tint to it.. the ceiling will be pine tongue and grove from hurricane katrina!

Can't Wait for Christmas!!!

2008-11-17T06:48:00.000-08:00

This past Saturday I took the girls to get their picutres made at Jenny Lynn's. I actually changed their outfits once I got there..but I loved these little outfits too..so after the shoot was done we changed back into these and I took some myself at the train depot area!

Mallory!

2008-11-17T06:36:00.000-08:00

Movie Star, Fashion Model, or Ballerina?...

Just Becausee I love this Picture and These Outfits!

2008-11-17T06:32:00.000-08:00

House update!

2008-11-17T06:13:00.000-08:00

We are inthe process of painting! We are doing most of it ourselves! So we are exhausted...but it is coming along quite nicely.. these pictures don't really do justice, but the best I could do...

Mallory's Room! The ceiling is a light purple and the walls are called Key Lime Pie!

Makayla's room...Walls are a butter yellow and ceiling a pale yellow.

Laundry Room! It is called Aquarium! It has become one of my favorinte rooms..Popa has almost finished the cabinets now and dthe Countertop got ordered this weekend. I have had this room planned and designed for over a year now..so it is awesome to see it coming together...The whole inspiration started with some funky orange light fixtures I found and that I wanted it ot be my beach getaway from the country! I knew I wanted the walls in a turquise and orange fixtures.. I'll take more pics of this room soon..

Mudroom...the bench is now complete..all we await is the cabinet doors and hooks for coats.

The Front door! I finished staining and sealing it! Ya hooo! The porch painting is done...all we gotta do is stain the concrete... we may wait and do that in the spring when it warms up...

Halloween!

2008-11-17T05:40:00.000-08:00

This year for Halloween the girls were Princesses again! Makayla insisted on being Ariel even though she was Ariel when she was 3! Mallory was gonna be Flounder from the Little Mermaid because she thought "that would be funnnny!" ha but we couldn't find the outfit so she decided to be Tinkerbell! She made such an adorable Tinkerbell. A BIG thank you to Granny who found these costumes on the coast! The Sat before Halloween we had a trunk or treat children's party at church! We had a great turnout of kids and lots of trunks too! They had a blast! For Halloween night we trick or treat out here in the country (which is weird because you get in and out of cars and just drive around to people's houses) Then we have made it tradition to go trick or treating in Brookhaven inthe neighborhood we used to live in. We always meet our good friends the Moaks and Makayla Cooper Mallory and Emry trick or treat together (city way of walking through the neighborhood! which is what I am used too!) We had a great time and ended the night with a meal with friends at Cracker Barrell. Brad's Trunk and the Girls.....

All the kids that participated! Makayla and Mallory are on the far left

Tinkerbell's wings! Notice the light up wand she kept putting between her legs using it to fly on! It looks like a tail! ha

Our little Mermaid and Tink!

Nana and her Princesses! Thanks Nana for helping getting them ready!

A Little Funny!

2008-10-08T20:48:00.001-07:00

Makayla started back to dance today! So while we were shopping for leotards....We were in the dressing room and Mallory went to a corner to hide and I knew what she was doing, so I was trying to hurry. All of a sudden, VERY LOUDLY Makayla says "EW Mommy it stinks in here!" and just as LOUDLY Mallory replies "Ya, Makayla that's me!" The child has no shame!
HAHA...I can't wait till she's potty trained! She's just a little strong willed and says she doesn't want to go in the potty...I decided after a week of accidents, to just wait till she is ready!!

PARADE OF BOOKS!

2008-10-06T13:31:00.000-07:00

SO, We really like this school Makayla is in, of course it is where Brad went so he is partial, but I really like it too. They had an event in August called the Parade of Books. It was to promote reading and go along with the book fair. Each student got to dress up as a book character and parade around the gym! How cute! Makayla was head set on going as Belle. I was worried it would be a little overkill, but was sooo not. There were some really cute costumes there and even the faculty participates! The Principal was Winnie the Pooh! ha.. While I am at it, let me talk about the book fair! I remember a time when you went to the book fair during class and bought a book with the money mom gave me. Not how it is now...They had a kick off event that corresponeded with open house at the school. It had a whole safari theme to it..There were refreshments all done as animals (ex zebra cookies and cakes). They had some of the older elementary students dressed up and performing songs in the hall way, they even had a real petting zoo in the school! With a live snake too ( I wasn't crazy about that part!) Anyways, so far we are liking it and Makayla is leraning sooo much! I am too; we have to memorize a bible verse every week that she has to say by Friday! Well enough running my fingers for now!! haha

Hanging on the Monkey Bars...Mallory and I got to go to the parade, lunch, and playground with her..Mallory thought it was Great!

My sweet girls!

A Very Small Portion of the parade!

OUR MALLORY! (9/26/08)

2008-09-26T19:12:00.000-07:00

Mallory loves to look at the scrapbooks I've done. I hate to admit most of them are of Makayla..SO I took some pictures to make a page for her...I am about 20 months behind on hers, but I plan to catch up as soon as we are in the new house! Isn't she Adorable?

2008-09-26T18:37:00.000-07:00

On Our Way to Church (August)

2008-09-26T18:29:00.000-07:00

2008-09-26T18:26:00.000-07:00

I have not updated the blog in a while until today... We have had some unfortunate and sad times in our lives lately. My Father passed away on Sept 12th. Please continue to be in prayer for my family during this time. We miss him so much, but as Mallory told me just last night "but mommy he's with Jesus".

House update!

2008-09-26T11:01:00.000-07:00

We Finally Have SHEETROCK! We had some delays this month in getting the sheet rock hung. They finally started Wed. and are almost done with the downstairs. I can't wait to be able to start painting! It is coming along slowly but surely....

View from Dining room towards side porch. the door is the side porch entry

This is view of Kitchen from the breakfast room. you are loooking into the dining room

Mallory's room one side of it anyways

Popa hard at work in the garage...

view from in the kitchen through the opening where the stovetop will be..looks into the living room

View from the front door...sheet rock not quite done in this room
side porch! this is done except for painting!
Another view of front porch

Front of the house...
Back of the house
back of the house on the garage side
side of house....this will be where additional parking and guest entry will be through the side door..since we are in the country and no one uses the front door...haha

Makayla started School! K5!!

2008-08-22T12:35:00.000-07:00

Makayla started School this month...I am not going to say where due to safety reasons..So far she loves it...It is amazing to watch her in her little world...It is very different then what I am used to..she only has 9 kids in her class so they have alot of one on one time.. They get to go to Computer, Music, Art, Library, and PE. I think her favorite is the playground and Cafeteria! HAHA... Her very own desk!

The Reading area!

This is her teacher, Mrs. Beth.

House Update!

2008-08-15T06:07:00.000-07:00

Sorry its been so long! We have been super busy trying to get this house done... It is coming along slowly but surely! The Brickers are getting closer to being done and have gotten more done since I took these pictures. Then the roofers have to come back and finish up a few areas... Can't wait to be living in it!! Maybe by Christmas!

this is the tall side wall towards the woods.

Closeup of the Brick and Window.
View from the front of the house.
The Front Porch in Progress
The side Garage entrance view.
The back view..yes the white door will be painted to match the other windows and doors.
The back porch. still needs columns and some finish work.

A visit to Aunt Heather and Uncle Rain's!

2008-08-09T18:51:00.000-07:00

John Willis came to see us! Lesley and Lawanna were at a conference in Destin and drove over to Navarre to visit! It is always so nice to see them.. They live in Georgia so the visits are not often enough! Thanks for driving over!

We went to see Aunt Heather Uncle Rain and Josh a few weekends ago in Navarre, FL. They recently moved there and we just couldn't wait to go see them! I must say they live in PARADISE! It is beautiful and there is sooo much to do. The girls loved every minute of it... AT THE BEACH>>>>>

AT THE POOL>. We sort of borrowed one of the hotel pools haha
Uncle Rain, Brad and Josh took a boat out and did some fishing..they picked us up in fort walton at a dock and we went for a ride... It was a lot of fun.

Water Park In Gulfport!

2008-07-17T19:59:00.000-07:00

We took off for a weekend to mom's in Gulfport! Aunt Heather, Uncle Rain and Josh were there too. We had a great time and thoroughly enjoyed the day at the water park. It took Mallory longer to warm up to it, but she had a good time once she did! Makayla loved it and played her heart out on all the slides.. Aunt Heather had a good time riding the slides too!
I guess this is our swimsuit model pose!
Imagine! We ran into some of our friends from Bogue Chitto! This is Riley, Kassidi, Mallory, and Makayla.

Update on House!

2008-06-30T10:23:00.000-07:00

This is my granite! I love it.. it is called Cinderella Blue (ha go figure with all the girls in my house...poor brad!) A view of my back porch/gable with window.
Updated View from the front!
View from the front door.

It is all progressing very well, but I can't wait until there is some finish work there! I am ready for something other than wood! HAHA...

T Ball Pics!

2008-05-28T08:43:00.001-07:00

Makayla is playing T Ball again this year! She LOVES it! She calls it the "winning game"! Isn't that cute! Our church has sooo many kids her age that we have our own team! Brad is helping coach it. She started out as short stop and is playing first base some too.. She is doing sooo good, I am glad she likes it because her dad and I both are ball players! Looks like I am going to have many years to come at the softball fields! I asked her if she liked dance or t-ball better and she said t-ball without hesitating! Maybe she is not as girly as we thought! ha...

Note the pink cleats!! haha She also has a pink glove and a pink bat! Her dad just LOVES that! ha!
She is the one in between the two guys in blue with her sleeves tied up!

Last Day of Preschool! May 17th

2008-05-28T08:28:00.000-07:00

This is the two 4 year old preschool classes! They had a blast at the park for the last day of preschool... Makayla is in the middle on the bridge!

This is Makayla's Benjamin! They have been in class together since they were 2. I will never forget when she came home from school when she was only 2 years old and said "Momma, Benjamin has my heart!" I thought "What are we in store for???" Well they have remained friends for 3 years, and just a few months ago she came home from school and said "Benjamin kissed me on the cheek" "But I didn't kiss him back" I thought oh my, I hope they are not in the same school together next year! I don't think they will be, not sure though! But you can clearly see in this picture that she adores him! haha Mallory even go to go play with all the kids! They had a kiddie area on the park, but she thought she could handle the big stuff! ha.. I was a nervous wreck at first, but then I realized she CAN handle the big stuff!!!
This was so funny, Mallory just pushed her way in to sit by big sister and was stealing all the other kids snacks! Look at Seth's face on the left! Ha!

Happy 2nd Birthday Mallory!

2008-05-17T20:21:00.001-07:00

Mallory's birthday was May 9th while we were in Gulf Shores, After a day filled of swimming at the beach and pool, and shopping in Foley with Nana, we celebrated her birthday at the ice cream shop! She loved it and had ice cream EVERYWHERE! She really liked opening her presents... Thank You Uncle JoJo for the adorable outfits!

Mal Mal in her Hat!

Ice Cream cones and Presents!

At the Party...We were so glad Nana got to come down and join us at the beach for a few days..

Happy Birthday to me...I'm 2!!

Gulf Shores, AL!!!

2008-05-17T19:30:00.000-07:00

Brad had a conference in Gulf Shores, AL at the Island House Hotel...so the girls and I got to go along! We had a wonderful time and the weather was perfect! Warm enough to swim but not tooo hot. Mallory loved the sand and beach, Makayla did too; but the liked the pool the best! Of course we also went shopping in Foley and played some goofy gulf (which they loved even though we saw a sanke on the course!) Mal Mal in the sand...

Makayla ready for the waves...

On our way to Lamberts...Home of the thrown rolls....this is Brad and the girls favorite place to eat...

On our way to go to the Original Oyster House for my mother's day meal then to play goofy gulf..

Makayla swimming! She finally went under water the last night we were there...She is going to take swimming lessons this summer...

House Update!!

2008-05-17T19:16:00.000-07:00

View from the front..There are still two dollhouse things to go over porch area.

Side view of the wrap porch .

View from the front door into the foyer/living room

view of the back of the house/The back porch

Global Wildlife!

2008-04-30T07:41:00.000-07:00

Makayla had a field trip yesterday to Global Wildlife! It was the first time wee had been..She loved it. It was the neatest thing the way the animals just came up to the wagon and stuck their head inside to get food! She loved the, buffalo, cows, longhorns, and more... Even Kangaroos...

Update on House

2008-04-30T07:12:00.000-07:00

The Front Porch

The back porch note on the far left the drop down area..brad informed me that was for the hot tub! I quickly agreed...haha

the upstairs with the vaulted ceiling from living room in background.

The stair case! View from living room.

The view now from the front of the house.... They are putting the walls up for the second floor then can start putting the roof up....

Dance Recital Pics!

2008-04-30T06:51:00.000-07:00

Makayla had her recital pics last weeks. The day was hectic as usual on Wednesdays. I pick her up at 11:30 from pre school in Brookhaven, then turn around and have to go back to Brookhaven (15 min trip) for Dance at 3:00. Well with dance pics we had to start getting ready at 2:00; mainly because I knew Mallory always throws in a few unexpected events! haha YES This is Mascara! I thought it got awfully quiet for a few minutes, and mallory was nowhere in sight! Then she came walking into the bathroom like this saying "momma i pretty"...haha...after i grabbed the camera and took a few scrapbooking shots..i got the makeup remover out...yes it all came off! ha
Makayla with her light makeup on...she LOVES getting all dressed up!

The dance class!

All lined up and ready for the group shot!

My little sailor girl!!

After the pics were done and we were on our way home..Makayla says "Mommy guess what daddy did to my dress? He got gum on it!" Somehow in the course of getting in the car, she got gum which got all over her dress somehow....After I went a little balistic on her and called granny asking how to get gum off sequins and Makayla had received her punishment for getting the gum without permission, lying about her daddy doing it, and getting the gum on her outfit (yes it was not fun at our house) Nana came to the resucue the next day and saved the outfit (I think with goo gum)....but no picture day is no fun at the Martin's...but aint she cute!!!

The Mississippi River!

2008-04-30T06:41:00.000-07:00

We went to Natchez a few weeks ago to look for house stuff. We stopped off at the Mississippi River to see the flood. The water is higher than it has been since the 1970's! The girls wanted to go swimming...haha...they thought it was the beach! Love that!

I know what you are thinking...but Mom is the one always taking the pics...never in them! haha

More construction!

2008-04-09T17:17:00.000-07:00

It's starting to look like a house!

View from the drive way entrance!
the back porch!
putting up the insulated panels...

the garage....

WE HAVE WALLS!!!

2008-04-04T06:33:00.000-07:00

I got home from work last night with the surprise of having walls! We are using insulated panels for the exterior walls so they should go up pretty quick now that we are to that point! The front right side- Makayla's room

The back sunroom and living room area.

The girls were sooo excited!

This is what I drove up to...the girls looking out Makayla's window!

Happy Easter

2008-04-04T06:18:00.000-07:00

I Know it has been a while...but we have been super busy around here with Easter, building the house, and daily life...not to mention work...haha...here are a few pics from the Easter Season..The girls had a Easter Egg hunt and puppet show at church, Mrs Sandra hosted an Easter gathering with egg hunt at her house for the family, so they got to hunt eggs with the 2nd cousins...and then we dyed easter eggs which they LOVED and had blue and green hands and arms (ps Baking soda gets it off) Then we celebrated the resurection of christ at his church...How blessed we are!!! Happy Easter from the Children of Calvary Baptist Church!

They LOVED the Easter Bunny!

The cousins - minus Carter who is just a few months old! ha

Mallory with one of her many eggs...notice the whole hand holding the egg and the egg dipper in the other hand! ha

Our Sweet Precious girls Easter Morning!!!

Dance Recital Costume

2008-03-23T19:16:00.000-07:00

Makayla got her dance recital costume for this year! They are sailors dancing to "Good Ship Lollipop"...She looked so cute, and is soooo exicted!

Update on House

2008-03-23T19:03:00.000-07:00

Mal Mal's Dirty Face!

The House from a distance...

The Front Porch

The storm shelter!

2008-03-07T15:27:00.000-08:00

We have Wonderful News to share with our Family and Friends!
Makayla was born with a heart murmur- A Patent Ductus Arteriosus- All babies have one while they are in utero, it allows the blood to bypass the lungs, but when they take their first breath of oxygenated air it is supposed to close. There is a percentage of babies that do not- some are symptomatic in which treatment is necessary then and others are not in which they just monitor them. They sent her at 6 months of age to a pediatric cardiologist and they did an ECHO to diagnose it..They told us at that time that if it was still there by age 1-2, that is would be very unlikely to close on its own. This type of murmur/opening can put her at risk for endocarditis if she had dental work or and infection in the mouth. So for every dental appt we have had antibiotics prior to going...It was still there at 1 and 2 and 3 1/2. When she was 2 Dr Braden wanted to do a procedure where they would do a heart cath and go in and close it..well I cried so hard when he suggested it, he decided we could wait one more year. So when she was 3 1/2 it was still there...once again he wanted her to have the procedure but I was 8 months pregnant with Mallory so he said we could wait. Well I have been putting off the appointment for months..but I finally scheduled it for yesterday. She had another ECHO done and after Dr Braden reviewed it he turned around with a smile on his face and said "It looks like someone has been praying! The opening is closed, she is cured,she will not need surgery and she no longer needs antibiotics or to be followed. Her ECHO was perfect!" PRAISE GOD! We of course had tears in our eyes when Makayla said "so did I do a good job?" YES BABY YOU DID, and SO DID OUR LOVING FATHER!

We have Concrete!

2008-03-07T15:01:00.000-08:00

They came to pour the footings on Mar 2! And we got 2 1/2 inches of rain the next day! HA! The concrete survived, but it is a nasty mess! There is a 60% chance of SNOW tonight! GO FIGURE! It may snow twice in one year here...I wonder if this is a sign.....
This is the storm shelter my loving husband decided to put in..I had no idea about it until I asked what the big hole was for! We had some terrible storms the other night in which we were in Mallory's closet with a tornado warning in Bogue Chitto...Any time we make the news out here in the boonies we adhere to it! ha...Anyways, I thought at that moment that a storm shelter is not such a bad idea! It will be under our closet in the ground.. It freaks me out a little to be underground, but I am sure Mr.Prepared will have escape routes in mind! ha...
We are building a conventional floor...the loving husband wants to be able to get under the house to fix problems as needed...Yes he is a handyman..kind of like Tim Allen in Home Improvement! Of course I am Very Glad he is Mr Fix it! Anyways, that is why the concrete is in rows like this..there is not a slab.

Update on House!

2008-02-23T07:48:00.000-08:00

So the progress has been REALLY slow because IT HAS RAINED EVERY 3RD DAY FOR A MONTH AND A HALF STRAIGHT! WE EVEN HAD SNOW FOR CRYING OUT LOUD! But, finally the clouds parted for 5 days and we were able to get a driveway and the footings dug out..then it stormed for 5 hours straight---I am talking about STORMED..haha..so now we have big puddles of mud...but they assure me they can pump the water out and pour the concrete on Monday! Keep your fingers crossed for sunshine!

Happy Valentines Day!

2008-02-22T07:49:00.000-08:00

On our way to Dance.....

I love this Dress....Aunt Heather bought this for Makayla and Now Mallory can wear it!

Makayla's Valentine party at school...Notice she is sitting around all the boys...She told me the other day that Benjamin kissed her on the cheek..but that she wiped it off and didn't kiss him back....I also saw her walking from the playground holding his hand the other day...of course she said she just did it because he was getting out of line....haha...what are we going to do with her!

Matching Valentines outfits....

Mallory's Bruise!

2008-02-22T07:37:00.000-08:00

So it was a hectic morning...and Mallory was playing in her room...then decided she wanted to brush her teeth! Not sure why at that moment, but she wandered into the bathroom..crawled up on the toilet...reached up real high for the cabinet where her toothbrush is...and crash and crying is all I heard! She fell between the toilet and sink onto the garbage can..you can see the circle shape of the can on her face! Luckily it didn't cause any permanent scarring...

Has she learned her leason? No, I still find her climbing on EVERYTHING!!
Yes...She is only 1...she loves telling everyone that...

I love this outfit because of the hat..she actually wore it for a good length of time!

Happy Mardi Gras!

2008-02-04T07:16:00.000-08:00

We went to Granny's in Gulfport this past weeekend. We went to the Pascagoula Parade with Granny and Shane, Jana, and Cooper...We had a blast and the Kids Loved it too.....It was a beautiful day with lots of warm sunshine...we actually got sunburned!

Throw me somethin Mister!

Mal Mal Waiting for the floats!!

Jana's first time at a parade...I had the kissing man come give her a paper rosee for a kiss..haha...

One of the floats

Us at the end of the parade!

Makayla- ready to say "throw me somethin mister"

Mal Mal taking it all in!

Me and Jana!

Granny! Thanks granny for bringing your camera...and taking all the photos...I did manage to get from you so we could have a pic of you too...

Cooper- preparade playing with the wagon....

Mallory at the end of the parade...ready for her nap!

Snowing in Bogue Chitto!

2008-01-19T11:26:00.000-08:00

We woke up this morning to snow!!! This was the first time the girls have seen it, much less build snowmen! They weren't real sure about it at first, but then they loved it! It only snows about every 10 years here....so this is a VERY BIG DEAL!!!

I am sitting here looking out the window and the snow is still on the ground!! Our low tonight is 21! BRRRRRR......

Brad went hunting...haha....
I enjoyed it for a little while----but tooooo cold for me----haha, I'm a Southern Girl!
Of course the downfall is the delay this will put on the house!!!
The back woods of the new house place! Isn't it pretty!

Mal Mal making snowballs!

Makayla trying to catch snowflakes on her tongue!

Nana and Popa and the dogs came over...they played in the snow with us for the second go around!
The neighbors house!

Look at all that snow! I think we got about 2 inches...It snowed for about 3 1/2 hours...

The snowman...the girls thought it was hilarious that it went for a slide!! haha

We have officially started on the house!

2008-01-14T06:14:00.000-08:00

The dirt work has begun... The kids loved playing in it...and the dogs too...

I will keep you updated on the progress from time to time, but it is going to go slow - the weather has not been cooperating! haha!

We are building in Bogue Chitto right next door to where we live now..It is on abouth 16 acres. We can't wait! Those of you that know how long we have been planning this are probably excited too! haha

Merry Christmas with Granny!

2008-01-14T05:53:00.000-08:00

So we were supposed to have Christmas in Gatlinburg in early Nov. but Heather and I had not shopped yet, so then we were going to have Christmas at Thanksgiving, but Heather and Josh got really really sick and could not travel 10 hours, sooooo.....we had Christmas in January....HAHA We were so glad Heather and Josh could travel to Mississippi form South Carolina, but we missed Uncle Rain and Madi---they couldn't make it..and Brad couldn't get the time off from work...but we had a good one with just the girls and josh...

Makayla Mallory and Josh!! Waithing patiently to open the presents! haha

Aunt Heather Josh and Makayla!

Granny and the Grandkids!

The Birthday Party!

2008-01-12T07:08:00.000-08:00

The Birthday party was at MS Gym of Dreams again this year..That is what she wanted and I said "Great"..She wanted a Tinkerbell Party! There were about 45-50 people there and I think the adults had just as much fun as the kids!! Birthday Girl!

Make a Wish

Some of the Kids!

We Jumped into the pit together! It took me forever to get out of it! Brought back some memories!!!

We were soooo glad Grannygot to come to the party!

Mal Mal loved jumping on the Trampolines...

Makayla took off running when they said go!!!

The Kids listening to the rules...haha

Happy Birthday Makayla!

2008-01-12T07:03:00.000-08:00

We spent the day in Jackson--and went to Chuch E Cheese---she had a blast! I can not believe my baby is 5!!!

Christmas Morning!

2008-01-11T08:46:00.000-08:00

Makayla wanted Little Pet Shop stuff and Mallory got a cute little Motorized Barbie Car..They also got tons of other stuff like baby dolls and Barbie Dolls and a V-Smile Game system (which Makayla loves)..They had a wonderful Christmas and it was soooo much fun to watch them!

Cookies for Santa????

2008-01-11T08:32:00.000-08:00

A little too much help maybe!

Yes with all the hustle and bustle of Christmas, I let Makayla pick out the cookie dough from Wal-Mart! Sorry Santa--no home made cookies this year! haha

Is that Daddy in the Kitchen? Does he know how to bake cookies? HAHA

Are the cookies for Santa or Us?

Christmas Eve at Nana and Popa's

2008-01-09T19:34:00.001-08:00

Every year Brad's family gathers to celebrate Christmas at Nana and Popa's house! Every year our family grows....

Happy Birthday Makayla!

2007-12-27T20:36:00.000-08:00

Today is Makayla's 5th birthday..Hard to believe, she is growing up so fast!
We have had a death in our family, Grandma Martin- Brad's Dads Mother- Passed away on Dec. 26th.. For those of you that don't know, we are living in Granmda's house. She went to live in the nursing home I think in 2000. We had the viewing tonight and the funeral will be in the morning.
With all this, we had an improvision for Makayla's birthday..We took the girls to Jackson for lunch at Chucky Cheese! She loved it and we had a small cake and ice cream too...She even got to open a few presents today! She will be having a Tinkerbell Party Saturday at the Gym of Dreams in Brookhaven. With all of this on top of Christmas, we are also "breaking ground" tomorrow morning on our house! (weather permitting)
So needless to say we are super busy around here...oh and Our 9th Wedding anniversary is on th 2nd of Jan!
I will update with some pics as soon as we slow down a little!
Have a Happy New Year
Amber

Merry Christmas from Us to You!

2007-12-23T20:03:00.000-08:00

Wrapping Presents!

2007-12-23T19:49:00.000-08:00

The girls "helped me wrap presents the other night...I couldn't resist some cute pajama pics!
My Future Model

Christmas Pics!!

2007-12-23T19:29:00.000-08:00

Sunday Morning on our way to church!
One set of Christmas Pajamas...It is tradition in our family to wear Christmas Pajamas for the first time on Christmas Eve..to wear for Christmas morning pics...these are some from Nana..Thanks Nana
Daddy and his girls...note the start of the beard...
These dresses were adorable..Thanks Granny!

Christmas Dresses and Christmas Cards!

2007-12-22T18:25:00.000-08:00

Peek a boo... this is sooo Mallory

They thought this was cute, looks like they are in jail!!

I should have used this one and said "From our on the go lives to yours!!"

note the big sister was trying to catch her!

My cute girls...gotta love them...they love their snowmen dresses with silver shoes..they thought they were Cinderella!!

This was actually the second time we tried to get pictures for the card..the first time Brad and I and the girls were going to a Christmas Concert at the local community college...we were all dressed and together and had the tripod and camera...but....after 5 pictures the battery ran out...so no family pic this year...maybe next...

Christmas with Santa at Calvary!

2007-12-21T20:16:00.000-08:00

Mallory, Not quite sure about this!!! The Family
Makayla finally sat on Santa's lap for the first time ever!!!She loved him and told him she wanted a Pet Shop for Christmas...and she relayed for Mallory for a Barbie Car...haha

Family Vacation to Gatlinbug, TN...

2007-11-27T21:25:00.000-08:00

We had such a good time in the mountains in May, we went back with the family in November. Granny, Heather, Rain, Josh, Brad, Me, and the Girls...We went to Dollywood, the men went hiking, and we had lots of fun in the cabin...

Happy Thanksgiving!

2007-11-27T20:43:00.001-08:00

OUR MAL MAL!!

2007-11-27T20:12:00.000-08:00

She is so darn cute and such a handful at the same time! She is now 18 1/2 months old and wearing 12 months clothes..she weighs 20.5lbs...loves to get into sister's toys and play with her baybyyy dolls as she calls them...Don't you just want to pinch her cheeks?

Trunk or Treat at Calvary

2007-11-09T07:51:00.000-08:00

Makayla- AKA Jasmine Princess

Mallory--AKA Snow White Princess

The family decorating trunk or treat bags

The kids at Calvary!

Birth - 6th grade

On our way to church one Sunday Morning!

2007-11-09T06:50:00.000-08:00

Love the dresses Granny Holifield, THANK YOU!

Happy Halloween Outfits

2007-11-07T06:32:00.000-08:00

All the girls with matching Boo Shirts!!!

Thanks Granny for the adorable tops!!!

On our way to the Pumpkin Patch...Makayla's Preschool Fieldtrip....

2007-10-26T19:13:00.000-07:00

Halloween Costume Party!!!

2007-10-26T06:56:00.000-07:00

Brad and I hosted a Halloween Costume Party at our house on October 20th, Which was also Brad Birthday! We had a blast with about 30 guests, a weenie roast, hayride, bonfire and lots of fun!

Corey, Holly and Brandon Welch! They were Batman, wonderwoman and superman....but had already changed...
the end of the night at the bonfire!!
Jenny, Laney, Gavin, and Jason Leggett...Mom and Dad didn't get to dress up..they were running late...
Brad and Makayla blowing out the birthday candles..Happy 34th Brad- My Knight in Shinning Armor!
Brad and Makayla on the Tractor for the Hay ride!!
Loading up for the Hay ride...It turned cold after the sun went down...
Nana dressed up as a witch and had a tent with candy in it for the half way point of the Hayride. She had scarry music playing and the kids were screaming!! The oldest child there was 6!! They eventually did get off the hayride and go into the tent for candy...after she took the mask off...haha

Neisha, Jax, and Josh Leggett
Jeremy and April Wallace

The girls--- Holly, Me, April, Neisha, Amy, Jana, Shirley, Jessica
Our little snow white---Mallory

Coach Garreth, Easton, Felder, and Jessica Sartin

Amy and Duane Burt--little Brandon was out playing
Jana, Cooper, Emry, and Shane Moak...Check out Shane as the Lion!!haha
Makayla as Jasmine (couldn't tell because of the black wig), Georgeanna, and Mallory
The Kids--Brandon Tyler, Makayla, Emry, Georgeanna, Mallory, Jax, Brandon Burt, and Cooper

The Martin's...

We were the princesses and Brad was our Knight in shinning armor

I was Cinderella with a Marilyn Monroe wig..haha

The Audubon Zoo---New Orleans, LA

2007-10-16T19:36:00.000-07:00

Brad had a conference in new Orleans, so the girls and I went with him! We stayed at the Omni Royal in the French Quarter. It was the first time we have been there since the storm. We really enjoyed our visit..It was not quite as dangerous as it use to be:) We started our trip out at the Zoo...The girls loved it...here are a few pics.

Daddy and His Girls Monkeying Around!

At the Entrance
Mommy and the Girls!
Mallory seeing the Tigers! WOW she said!
Check out the Leopard in the background....kind of scary at first glance!
How cute...she thought it was real....!

Secret Sisters of Calvary Baptist Church!

2007-10-06T14:28:00.000-07:00

9 of our 20 Secret Sisters group went on a shopping trip to Gulf Shores, AL...We left at 9:30 Friday morning, went to Hattiesburg and ate lunch at Newks, got on the interstate and talked so much didn't even realize we missed our turn and realized it when we saw the Superdome in New Orleans!!! I have never laughed so hard in my life....We finally got back on track and arrived in Gulf Shores at 6:30 PM..our 4 hour drinve turned into 9 hours!!! We ate at LuLu's Friday night...we shopped all day Saturday, went to the Oyster House that night then went to Lambert's Sunday and shopped a little more..We took the right route on the way home and got back to Bogue Chitto at 6:00 Sunday night.. A BIG THANK YOU TO THE HUSBANDS FOR KEEPING ALL THE KIDS ALL WEEKEND!!! WE HAD A BLAST....

ON OUR WAY...NEWKS IN HATTIESBURG SATURDAY MORNING...WE MANAGED TO LEAVE THE CONDO BY 8:20 AM

SATURDAY NIGHT...WEE COULDN'T FIT ALL 9 OF US AND THE PACKAGES INTHE SUBURBAN...BUT WE MANAGED!!

OUR TRIP HOME..JESSICA WAS IN AMONGST THE LUGGAGE AND PACKAGES IN THE SUBURBAN..THIS HELD 6 OF US AND THE TAHOE HAD 3...

Chocolate Pudding!!

2007-10-06T14:24:00.000-07:00

My sister decided to share her pudding with me in her bedroom..This is how Mommy found me!!

Vacation in Gulf Shores--Ft.Morgan

2007-10-06T14:09:00.000-07:00

We took a family vacation to Ft.Morgan Sept 4-9..We had a wonderful relaxing time..Dr. Van's house is beautiful...Nana, Popa, and Uncle Jody joined us too....after fun in the sun, naps in the hammock, food at LuLu's, Lamberts, and the Original Oyster House, shopping and more.....It was hard to return to reality..

GO USM!

2007-10-04T14:38:00.000-07:00

Brad and I went to a USM game in September...The 1997-1998 Eagle team was honored for winning the Liberty Bowl and got to go on the field. Brad was a trainer and was invited to attend...It was a lot of fun but it rained the first half! THe Eagles did win the game!

A Visit From The Tooth Fairy!

2007-09-19T19:15:00.000-07:00

Makayla had some dental work done in August which resulted in getting a tooth pulled..It's a long story...We took her to the Pediatric Dentist in Brookhaven she has been using because I saw a cavity and she was complaining with it. The visit turned out to be very traumatic and Nana had to hold her down to get the temporary filling in (Mom and Dad were at work!) So we went to Jackson to "the frog" Doctor. His whole office is in frogs, he even has a mascot frog called Mister Smiley!. After some x-rays we realize the tooth is abscessed. She has a heart murmur (PDA) and has to take antibiotics when she has dental work done. So the abscess was very concerning to us. Dr. Long suggested we try the conscious sedation they do in the office to pull the infected tooth and do a few other things. So we did.....Makayla was hilarious in the waiting room after taking the silly juice...she sang songs to everyone...The visit went fine...but did result in our first missing tooth...SOOOO after we ventured to the Coast to Mom's house for the weekend..the tooth fairy made a visit..she even found us at Granny's...By the way; inflation is tough...that tooth was worth 5.00$....haha

4 year old Preschool

2007-09-13T19:45:00.000-07:00

Makayal started 4 yr old preschool on August 8th..She is in Mrs Mickey's Class and LOVES it! She has learned how to write her name, and is learning the alphabet really well. I can't believe my baby will start Kindergarten next year!!
17 Is her Parent Pick up Number:)

ANY GIVEN DAY!!!

2007-08-31T15:21:00.000-07:00

I decided to take pictures of all the places Mallory climbed on any given day...These were all taken August 27th...It started at 8:00 that morning on the Cinderella Vanity in Makayla's room while I was making the bed...Then the dining room table, then the toy box, then the bed, then the table agian, then Mommy's Scrapbooking table ( a seriously dangerous place to be)...and so on and so on...Makayla did not climb much so this is new to me and SOOO SCARY! At least she calls for me to get her down.... LOL.... UH OH.....Daddy Busted ME!!!!
She looks real concerned doesn't she!!!!

Happy Birthday Gracie!

2007-08-29T11:49:00.000-07:00

Gracie Guynes had a 4th bithday party with the big water slide..The kids had a blast..Thanks for inviting us!

Pillow Case Dresses!

2007-08-29T11:41:00.000-07:00

Nana has made the girls new Dresses! They were adorable in them! Thanks Nana..