Leading up to Christmas!

We could tell this was going to be a fun year for Davis! He loved the Christmas lights! "Ooooh Mom . . . look . . . pretty!" He enjoyed looking at Santa Claus! "Santa Claus, Ho . . . Ho . . . Ho . . ." he would say! Mimi and Pops started a yearly tradition of giving him a little something Chistmasy at Thanksgiving this year, and this year it included a jumbo stuffed Santa for the fictitious side and some board books about baby Jesus and Christmas. Have I ever mentioned how much Davis likes to READ!!! (or I guess I should say be read to!) Lets just say Mr. Jumbo Santa did pretty much everything with Davis, and Davis was not happy at all when we packed him up today!

Well one of Davis' most memorable outings for the month took place on Tuesday, December 11th. Tim was out of town on business, and Davis and I tagged along with D's twin cousin's, Cooper and Charlie, and their mutual friend Hayden. We took the kiddos to ride the Pink Pig at Macy's at Lenox Mall. After the Pink Pig we headed to pick up some food at the CNN center and then took the kids to see the lights at Centennial Olympic Park. Let's just say their favorite thing about the park was running free in the sweltering 75 degree weather!!! Is it Christmas or what?

Let's talk about the Pink Pig -- first of all I had the hardest time finding clothes for D to wear -- I mean here it is mid-December and you can't breathe outside! I wanted him to wear something festive but most of his Holiday attire wasn't suitable for summertime weather! Let's just say that I pretty much packed the house making sure we had adequate attire should the weather dip at night fall!

The famous Pink Pig

Davis absolutely LOVED it! We rode it twice, and he is still talking about the "pink pig" on the "track!" As you can see, I couldn't even get a good picture of both of us on the ride! He wanted no part of the camera, he had too much too look at, listen, and take in! PS -- they didn't consider pregnant momma's when designing the pink pig! I could hardly bend my swollen and achy legs enough to get them inside without totally squishing Marleigh to death!

Here is one of the many photos that I snapped of D -- in a trance like state! LOL! It was great! I was so happy that he enjoyed it! Cooper enjoyed it too! Charlie and Hayden weren't too happy about riding it a second time! I was just thankful D didn't pitch a perfectly normal 2 year old - tantrum when I told him we weren't riding it again!

Here is a look at the twins with Kristi and Rodney!

And last but not least, Hayden! (I didn't get a shot of mom and dad with him during the ride! Sorry!)

After the Pink Pig it was time to head to the CNN Center and Centennial Olympic Park! Boy, I had no idea what I was in for -- being 7-8 months pregnant and chasing a 2 year old around Centennial Olympic Park! I should have brought the monkey backpack along so I could have kept him on a leash! LOL! One thing that we quickly learned upon entering the park -- is you never know what you might come across on the benches in the dark corners of the park! LOL! Don't ask, but it was very suitable for small children!!! How many hotels are there in walking distance from the park? Go figure! Anyway, Davis enjoyed watching the people ice skate at the ice skating rink! I think his favorite part was the music, he was showing off his dance moves from the stroller! :)

Here are the lights of choice! The kids had a ball with the lit figure of a man and woman ice skating! It was in the center of the area we gave them free range, and it literally took all 5 of the adults to keep up the 4 little munchkins! Bless their hearts, they were all sweating up a storm in this crazy weather!

Don't get your hopes up, Davis is not posing for the camera! This is Davis playing his favorite "I seeeeeeeeeee you!!!!" game!

A worn out Davis telling me that he sees me again! I am thinking that is a good thing that he can see me in this crazy as all get out park! I sure hope I could see him with all the wierdos that were around every corner!

(Above) Literally, my only shot with all 4 kids in it! From L-R: Charlie, Hayden, Davis, and Rodney holding Cooper!

Mommy holding Davis in front of the beautiful Christmas tree, this was right after D got away from me and headed straight for the rode right behind the tree! Needless to see he was not a happy camper about being sweeped up after running free! I have NO idea what in the world caused this hilarious expression on his face!!! He was really as happy with me as he looks here!

Well I think I can honestly say that we have a new yearly tradition! I don't think Davis will let us forget about the pink pig! He brought home a cute little stuffed pink pig and a pink pig ornament that I put his name and year on! What can I say mom is a sucker to make her little one happy! Next year we hope daddy can join us! We almost took him again, but I don't want to spoil him more than he already is, so he can wait until next year and introduce his sister to the pink pig! He is quick to tell Daddy that the pig is on "tracks" though!

Where does all my time go?

Marleigh Update!!!

Wow! I am behind again! What else is new? I can't even imagine what lifes going to be like in just a few short weeks! It doesn't seem like I should already be working on 33 weeks!!! Here is a few quick updates about what has been going on the past month or so with Marleigh! Check back in the next day or so as I will have an All about D post!!!

Tim had to travel the first 3 weeks this month, so last Sat. we decided to go as a family and get another quick peek at our soon to arrive new addition! We did find out that Marleigh is breached, but that could still change. She has 8 more weeks! Here is Marleigh waving and flashing a quick smile to all of you!!! I was very torn at whether or not to go back again to Baby's First Images, but I knew if I didn't that I would have wished I would've, and I am SO glad we did! The pictures and our dvd are AWESOME!!! It was worth every single penny and then some!

The above "video" is not really a video -- it is just a progression of shots of Marleigh -- but I still thought it was sort of neat. As you can tell by pictures and videos she LOVES her hands near her face! We even watched her open and close her eyes a few times and she even at the end began sticking her tongue out at us. That was pretty funny!

Here she is acting silly and sticking her tongue out at us!

The last few weeks have been VERY busy!!! Marleigh has been blessed with 3 wonderful showers!!! My best friend Lindsey gave us a shower here at the house for my close friends, Tim's cousins gave us a shower at his mother's house for both sides of our family, and my incredible school gave us a shower! I am really liking all this "pink" stuff! I have already begun washing her things, but let's not talk about the nursery! LOL! Tim is off work the next two weeks so the plan is as follows: finish putting the wood floors down in the new office in the basement, put in 2 doors, and the moulding. Move the office downstairs. Paint the old office and get Davis moved in his new "fire truck" room. Paint Marleigh's nursery and get it ready! Luckily I will have some help! In January one of my neighbors is going to take care of the decorating of Marleigh's room. She is going to help accent in D's room, but she has already got a great design for Marleigh's nursery. I am so happy that she is helping me out, and I am sure it will look GREAT!!!

My "Friend" shower was perfect! It was so great to spend time with my closest girl friends and their kiddos! I had to add this picture of Davis taking care of and standing guard over his future wife, Ms. Jamie Partin!The food all looked great and TASTED great! Lindsey went with a dessert theme, and I don't think anyone at all had any objections!!
Some of us made these cute as all get outs -- bubble gum babies!!! I am so going to do this at the next shower I throw!!! Of course my Mother In Law added the blanket for brownie points, so Lori deemed her the winner!

We had to do the all time embarassing: How Big is Mommy Game! My neighbor and good friend Heather took the prize for this game! It was quite close between my mother and Heather. Here is mom giving her ribbon one last fit!

I dont' have that many pictures right now of my family shower. My camera battery died, so did my mother in laws and my brother in laws, so I am hoping that I can get more to post real soon!!! The food was scrumptuous and the cake was absolutely adorable!!!

My work shower was a lot of fun -- It was a joint shower with me and another fellow teacher, also named Amanda, and also having her second, a baby girl!

Me and my "roommate" aka Job Share Partner, Sandee! I don't think I looked too bad considering I had spent all day with Kindergartners! I LOVE my job!

The cute table my creative K-buddies set up for our goodies!

Yummo - great food and a beautiful cake!

My buddies making fun of me and my disappearing body!

All in all things are going well! I have been very sick this month with it coming/going. I have been to the doctor 4 times and was admitted to the hospital this past Monday. This cold is putting strain on my heart and lungs - causing my heart to race at a resting rate and my O2 satuaration levels to be low. Luckily Marleigh seems to be uneffected! The new meds are helping, and I haven's used the inhaler. I go back to the doc. on Friday after Christmas, and we are hoping for all to still be well! The doctor has not made his final call on whether or not we are looking at another C-section or a VBAC. I have quite mixed emotions and Tim is 100% for another C since all went so incredibly smoothly last time. My doctor is going to do at least one more ultrasound at either 35 or 36 weeks to do measurements, etc. If she stays breached, then we will totally go for the C! :) Keep us in your prayers as we have a lot to accomplish in the next few weeks, and I am already feeling the strain of being miserable. All I can say is that carrying a girl has been MUCH harder for me!

Happy Halloween!

Happy Fall 'Yall!!!

Ok -- so I have SO much to post and so little time! You know I really thought Part-time work would allow me to stay caught up! I guess I am learning that that's not the case! :) I am going to attemp to recap our October! Bear with me as it might get LONG! On a side note, Marleigh is growing like crazy or at least I am! She is making it difficult for me to sleep at night because she is VERY ACTIVE at night! I don't ever remember D really keeping me up! Things are progressing fine, and my glucose test came back perfect! The only stumble has been my iron level which is low. I had low iron in college as well, so I guess it is to be expected! Besides the nasty "big" pills, things are great!

Our month started out bittersweet - on the morning of October 2nd we were able to go the doctor and see our little Marleigh! Our doctor/ultrasound tech confirmed once again that we were having a little girl! However, during our appointment Tim's brother got a call from his doctor asking him to head to the hospital -- to make a LONG story short, Troy's cancer has come back, and it is/was more aggressive than ever expected. Troy was in the hosptial from Oct. 2nd and was finely released on Nov. 2nd after a very "rough" and "overwhelming" stay! We are excited he is home, but we have not been able to see him due to the fact that he has lately developed "Shingles," which neither Davis nor myself and Marleigh need to be around right now! We are hoping to see him within the next week or two!

This is Davis with Carlton the Cat! Carlton is Uncle Troy's middle name! Since Davis hasn't been able to be around or see Troy much we thought it would be nice if we could get him a stuffed animal named after his uncle! Thanks to Ashely and Baby Copeland who gave Davis a gift card to build-a-bear for D's birthday! We were able to use that to allow Davis to make Carlton the Cat! We took some pics and framed one for Uncle Troy to keep in his hospital room!

Here is Davis at Uncle Shuck's! We went with our neighborhood gang earlier this month! This year he actually enjoyed the pumpkins! For those of you that follow -- last year he cried everytime he was left with one! LOL! I guess he is just "growing up!"

Here is Davis with his friends Jack, Hunter, and Ally. Drew and Eva Claire were missing in action. Davis' expression cracks me up in this picture. I guess that was do to the fact that the sun was glaring on him! I am just excited that he is actually paying attention! He HATES letting Mommy take his picture! He is TOO cool for that! :)

The kiddos had a blast -- we played with and looke at pumpkins for a while, then the kiddos went through the kiddie corn maze, next we all went on the hayride -- that was a lot of fun! We finished up with the trip with everyone going through one of the big mazes, which we (the adults) totally screwed up LOL! even with a map! So once we made it back to the "entrance" we decided to throw in the towel!


Here is Mommy, Daddy, and Davis (oh baby Marleigh is along for the journey, too!) on the hayride!

Another October happening, Tim's cousin Chandler married Grace this month! They got married in Athens and had their reception at the Georgia Center. Everything was perfect -- oh except for the part that the preacher forgot to tell them they could kiss! :) So, the classic line of the evening was Grace saying, "Can I kiss him?" :) Too cute!

As for the wedding, Davis was pretty good! We sat with him in the back, and he was able to stay for most of the wedding. Everytime one of the femal attendants entered, Davis would point to them and say "WOW -- PRETTY!" It was quite precious if I do say so myself! Davis LOVED the reception because there was a DJ, dancing, and a dance floor where he could get his grove on! The cutest event of the evening was when I was sitting by the dance floor taking pictures and Davis comes running past me. I jumped up to see where he was going and by the time I got my pregnant self up in heels, he had went to a table back by the buffet grabbed the hands of two young ladies who were eating and began pulling them to the dance floor with him. They thought he was so cute that one of them actually got out there and danced with him.

Davis with one of his mystery dates! What can I say - he's a ladies man!

Here is one of my favorite pics of the evening - Daddy and Davis! Oh, Davis wore part of his birthday outfit from The Royal Family! It looks SO cute on him! We wore khaki's instead of the jeans to the wedding! :)

We went to many Fall festivals this year. We visitied Turning and Burning in Gillsville, Mule Camp in Gainesville, Martin Elementary's Fall Festival, Oakwood Elementary's Fall Festival, and our church's HallowHim Festival! Davis had a blast at all of them. Here is a quick recap of a few.

Pops took Davis into the little petting zoo set up at Mule Camp. Davis kept returning to this big gobbler! I think it was his favorite -- he just couldn't quite figure it out!

Davis' favorite attraction at Martin's festival (Mommy's school) was this firetruck! I was so excited since we are doing his big boy room in fire trucks! (oh and guess what -- the same petting was there, so D got to visit Mr. Gobbler and his friends again!)

Here's our little tiger taking a breather from jumping heaven at our Church's annual HallowHim Festival! You would never know that he's had a little bit of a cold. He was ALL OVER this thing! (and more than once at that!)

Ok, now for the biggest mistake of the month! Don't EVER, EVER, EVER go to Burt's Pumpkin Farm 2 Sunday's before Halloween! It was beyond MASS chaos! After the haul we were hoping to enjoy some time looking at pumpkins, trying their treats, and riding the hayride. NOT!!! It was over an hour wait to get tickets to get on the hayride! We had a good time though! We went up after church on Sunday with my Mom's side of the family. Cousin Conley and Aunt Sabrina had a birthday party to go to, but Davis enjoyed hanging out with his cousin Kristen!

Davis LOVED the gigantic pumpkins, and I think Daddy did too! I had to put my foot down about not bringing home a $100 pumpkin! How ridiculous is that! NO WAY! Davis liked to go around acting like they were all big drums! He did stope once and found a leaf that captivated his attention while he would hold it up and let it fall to the ground!

We discovered that if you hold D upside down, then he can't but to smile at the camera! Hey, you mom's out there know -- you do what works!

Trick or Treating in the Neighborhood!

Daddy came back from Louisanna right before all the fun began, so Davis was happy to see him! Due to our procastinative tendencies, we had to carve the pumpkin! Davis wasn't too into that -- so he mainly watched. At first it sort of freaked him out, but I was able to get a quick picture once he started getting excited about his pumpkin! On a side note, Mimi got D a Mr. Potato Head Ninja Pumpkin kit. When we stayed at the first of the week, D, Mimi, and Pops put the Ninja together -- it was SO cool. I didn't have my camera with me though -- Hopefully Pops will send us a picture. Maybe next year we can add a new Mr. Potato Head pumpkin!

Here is D out front wit his pumpking before the "treating" began!

D and Hunter in the wagon on the way to meet Jack and Eva Claire!

Here's our Trick or Treating crew! They were just too cute! I guess this is an ok picture considering their ages! :) Here is Hunter, Davis, Jack, and Miss Eva Claire in th e center! Too cute!

Davis was exhausted by the time we headed back! He just sort of got cozy in his wagon and was saying "pibby!" No pibby here baby D! Wait til we get home and ready for bed! We came home and got to see Pops and Mimi for a few! Cousin Kristy called and asked to head over to Tim's great aunt's house to visit for great Memaw for a few and the twins! He fell asleep on the way, but he was pretty good while we were there! We finally got home a little after 9:00! :) What a Halloween! :)

Last but not least! Here is a picture of Tim's grandmother with great grandson's Charlie, Davis, and Cooper.

Happy Birthday to Momma's Big Boy!

Happy Birthday to Momma's Big Boy!

Wow! I cannot even believe that my little one is 2 years old! I honestly have no idea where the past two years have gone! It feels like yesterday that we were preparing for his arrival and that I was feeling him move around in my belly! Now he is the big 2, and God has blessed us with a new little bundle of joy on the way!

We spent Labor Day with D! We took him to the Childrens Museum of Atlanta to the Sesame Street exhibit! It was WAY cool, and I totally recommend it! It ends on the 9th though! :) We left the exhibit and went to D's FAVORITE place! The Aquarium! I swear D would live there if we let him! I will try to post these pics tomorrow!

I was off today, but I didn't get to spend nearly as much time with D as I would have wished to! I had to leave this morning for my prenatal checkup! Everything went well. I had only gained 1 lb in the last month, so I was happy about that! The nurse was thrilled to find the baby's heartbeat on first try, which she said was the fastest one she had found. Baby Henson's heartbeat was 158 bpm today. Everything else checked out fine, and I had the triple screen test ran. I spent a while in the lab waiting for this. I guess I will get the results at my next visit.

Pops kept D during my visit, and D was very happy to wake up and hear Pops coming in the door! He was easy to get out of bed this morning! :) D and I ran some errands, and he came home and crashed! I finally got him up around 3:30 so he could eat lunch before Mimi arrived to keep him for the evening. Mommy had to go to class! :(

Luckily class ended at 7:30 instead of 8:30 and D was up and quite active when Daddy and I got home! So D and I got our nightly bath together while pretending to be pirates! AAARGH!!! :)

I trired to get some pics of D tonight, but he was in his "hammy" mood! :) He gave me all of his great "CHEESE" faces! Daddy had a killer headache, but was a good sport because D was in a daddy wrestle/play mood! I had to try to capture a quick video of D giving Daddy "raspberries" on his belly! D thinks this is hilarious, and it drives Tim CRAZY! He is so scared that D is going to bite him!!!

Sorry this is 2 days late! Blogger has been acting up for me or maybe it just took 2 days to download this freakin' video!!!

Read the last 2 posts!

A lot of action this weekend! D's party and the gender of Baby Henson #2 is revealed! Read on to see what's going on in our world!!!

Baby Henson #2 is a ......

Keep reading to find out! :) (I'm not going to give it up that easy!)

Wow! What a crazy day! It started out hormonal for me as usual! :) We made it to church, and I ended up back in the nursery! I have been drinking so much water getting ready for the ultrasound that after my first trip out of the sanctuary to the bano - I thought it best that I stay put in the nursery! :) After church we headed to meet my mom's side of the family at the park for a picnic to celebrate my uncle Jody's and Great Aunt Susie's bdays! It was GREAT -- great food - great weather - great company and GREAT view of the Lake! :) (all except for an ant bite on my toe! OUCH!)

After lunch we headed to my parents to head off to Baby's First Images in Alpharetta! We had to stop 3 times on our trip! Once for D who was pitching a FIT because Pops was not in the car with him!!! I mean a serious tantrum! Are we really having another one of these! I don't know if my nerves can handle two! LOL! A second stop to get a Mountain Dew to wake the baby up - all while praying Pops -- won't make an appearance since D is finally calmed down! A 3rd stop 3 miles away because I just couldn't hold it anymore! LOL! It's only going to get worse!

Here are some pics we took tonight -- as we were too crazy during the trip for a photo opt!

Mommy at 16 and a half weeks

Mommy and her Sunshine (in his "I'm the Big Brother shirt!)

Though it wasn't as easy as we had hoped for to find out -- let's just say our little one prefers their legs together (which is a good thing!)

Finally what you've all been waiting for ..... drum roll PLEASE ....










We are having a .....................................................







GIRL!!!






And we couldn't be HAPPIER!!!


Our little one is quite the little lady! Her legs are like the jaws of life! :) We got some GREAT profile pics for her to be so little! The ultrasound tech knows her stuff so she said she was sure of what the baby was right from the start. She wouldn't share her news! She said she wouldn't comment until she had proof for us to see! Little did she know this was going to be a great feat! It was awesome to watch our miracle rubbing her face and sucking her thumb. We even got a few cute smiles! Her legs were another story! We finally captured a few shots of the three little bitty lines that confirmed - It's a GIRL!!! I was shocked -- I had totally prepared myself for another boy! I didn't want to get my hopes up! Plus -- when the tech knew right off -- I totally thought boy! I was like she had to have "seen" something - so it must be a boy! The tech explained that boys would have something sticking up from between their legs if they were a boy and their legs were clamped tight. Sure enough nothing above the legs and nothing below the legs! :) Just three little lines when she opened enough for us to capture some quick shots! Oh this is so not good for the budget of a part-time working mom! Luckily the grandmas were ecstatic, so we know they will come through with outfitting a girl! I think I may have to visit Gymboree tomorrow -- they are having a HUGE sale with like 40% off plus an additional 20% off -- PLUS I got an additional 20% coupon in the mail -- Woohoo! :)


Here is a video that I hope works! :)

Baby Henson with her left hand at her mouth!

Full Body Shot

I'm a GIRL!!! (Look close at the arrow!)

I'm still a GIRL!!!

Wow a boy and a girl! Some people try so long for one of each! We are so blessed, and I of course was so emotional when she told me. I kept thinking that I was dreaming! Now I need to work on names -- right now at the top of our list is Marleigh Jane and Reagan Jane -- we came up with Marleigh by Tim's middle name Marcus and my middle name Leigh! I love Jane for a middle name. It just short and classy -- it's my mom's middle name and it just so happens to be part of Tim's grandmother's name as well! It is a definite middle name! Now on to the name debate and the debate of a new blog name!

My Little Monkey is Turning 2!

Ok -- so here I go again -- I was finishing this post up and I LOST it! :) Aaargh! (As D would say in Pablo-pirate language! :)

Wow I can't believe that my little angel is a BIG boy! He is the joy of my life and I continue to thank God for blessing me with such an amazing treasure! :) Davis will turn 2 on Tuesday, September the 4th! Where have the past two years gone? I use to think that babies were babies for EVER! Now I know first-hand that is VERY far from the truth! :)

So, on Saturday we celebrated with friends and family Jungle-style! We all monkeyed around and had a BLAST! :) Davis is so blessed to have such an incredible support system! Thank you to all of you that took time out of your hectic schedule to share in this special time with D. He LOVES you all, and we do too!

Drum roll please! May I present to you MY Birthday Boy!!! (Yepped you guessed it -- on a slide!) What can I say -- he is ALL boy!!!

The yum-yum station --- we had GREAT food! Hot Dogs complete with animal crackers, banana crisps, and nutter-butter cookies! We even had a Monkey Cake and Jungle Cupcakes followed by some good ol' vanilla ice cream! The cake turned out GREAT -- I had some issues with the baker - so I am sorry to say that I won't be doing business again!

Close-up of the cake

Close-up of the cupcakes

The Family! (yes my belly is exploding! - it was the cake -- haha!) Oh -- and despite the looks of the picture - I promise we weren't trying to give him a wedgie! Don't you just hate those?

Our BEST friends in the WHOLE world! Or should I say OUR better half! LOL! Thank you so much to Lori and Daryl! We couldn't have pulled off such an excellent par-tay without you guys! We owe ya! :)

Best Friends -- carrying soon-to-be BEST friends!!!

Too cute to not post! Ok so Uncle Daryl and Aunt Lori for this way cute and trendy coat and hat for the D-ster at Baby Gap! D LOVES it! He was all strutin' around last night in his hat and coat with his diaper and sippy at like 10:00 (oh yeah -- he was pumped and WAY of schedule with such an exciting day!) He was in such rare form that we thought it was time to capture his GQ side! I think he looks like Sherlock Holmes -- what are your thoughts? (PS - I swear those are not Tim's boxers again! LOL!)