Calling ALL Prayer Warriors!

Desperate prayer is needed for a friend of mine's husband's cousin. Her name is Katherine Wolf, and she is from Athens, GA. She is currently living with her husband and 7 month old son in California. Her husband is there in law school. Anyway, you'll have to go back and read all the posts on the links below to be able to fully understand what is going on. Katherine is suprising everyone with her progress, but is still in VERY critical condition. This new journey began in her life one week ago, and I can't get up or go to bed without checking in for updates. She is very heavy on my heart, and I would like for you to join me and many others around the world as we pray for Katherine Wolf and the testament she is here on earth!

http://www.caringbridge.org/cb/viewMyStory.do?method=executeInit

http://www.katherinewolf.info/

http://katherineawolf.blogspot.com/


Pray Mark 5:41!
"He took her by the hand and said to her, "Talitha koum!" (which means, "Little girl, I say to you, get up!")

A ZOOrific Day!

We had a wonderful Saturday! We met Daryl, Lori, and Ms. J at Zoo Atlanta! The weather was perfect, and the kiddos were GREAT! Davis was pretty excited to see all the animals in person. I almost don't think that he knew what to think! We were able to see all of the animals except for the lions. They weren't out for some reason! Tim enjoyed taking the time to tell Davis about his family tree and introducing him to some relatives! LOL! Couldn't resist! The girls were happy, and they both got to experience their first application of sunscreen together! Davis said his two favorite animals were the panda bears and the gorillas. I swear Daryl was with us, but for some reason I have NO pictures of him except for a back of the head shot! I am telling you I can't quite get the "taking picture" thing down when keeping eyes on 2 kids! This is a goal I must work on!

Lori with Jamie and Me with Marleigh!

Our first official "girl shot!"

Pictures of Davis are getting MORE and MORE difficult! He doesn't want to be told to smile for the camera! His approach is "avoidance!" Here is Davis and Tim in front of the Gorillas. As you can tell, Davis would much rather be enjoying the animals!

This is momma panda. The zoo keeper said she was inseminated just 8 weeks ago! So, mommy was being kept isolated from daddy and their baby girl.

I'll let you caption this picture for yourself!

This was quite suprising to me, but the little fella below is playing a matching game on a touch screen. Every time he made a match he is rewarded with a treat. They have a screen set up so you can see how he is doing. Amazing!

I am such a girl -- I am so scared of snakes and Davis LOVES this! Of course, this freaks me out because I just know if he was to see one outside that he would PICK IT UP!!!

I'll end with the elephant, which is actually the first animal we saw. Davis loves elephants and I wish you could have seen his face. He wouldn't hardly say anything. He just stared at him! I know he was completely taken back by his size and stature! Absolutely amazing!

'Twas the Night . . . .

. . . . and all through the house, not a creature was stirring not even Ms. Priss! Let me just tell you how proud I am of my baby girl! Friday night was the night! "Moving Ms. Marleigh!" Her daddy had the pleasure of putting her to bed! It was "my" night to put D to bed! We try to rotate so that D gets adequate time and attention from both of us! Well Ms. Priss was asleep before D! If any of you know Davis, he ususally tells us he is ready to go to bed and we change his diaper and rock him for a minute or two and either read a book or a sing a song and then turn on his lullaby CD and turn on his constellation/star turtle! Last night after rocking and talking for a few minutes (oh with Pooh, puppy, horsey, three pibbies (pacifiers) and two blankets in my lap, he simply said, "I get in my bed now!" Such an EASY one to put to bed. We never expected to get another one that would sleep so well! Looks like we might have another keeper on our hands! She went to sleep rocking in her room and feeding at 10:30 -- we had one "Freak" panic at 11:00 when it sounded like something struggling to breathe and I jumped out of the bed and flew upstairs faster than I have EVER moved! To only throw open her door and find out it was birds in the background on her lullaby CD! What??? Are you kidding me! Needless to say I killed the CD! Ms. Marleigh slept through my maniac entrance! LOL! After that, not another peep until she woke up hungry at 5:45. Friday night is Daddy's feeding shift so Tim got up and fed her and was back downstairs by 6:20. It is 8:20 now and she is STILL sleeping! I went in her room when I got up at 7:45 and gave her the pibby because she was squirming, but her eyes were still closed. She is still snoozing away! I started her music again. Being a teacher I know the benefits of classical music, and Davis LOVES having his while going to sleep. So, I am SO happy we started Marleigh out with it the FIRST night! I am sure she is use to it, as she was snug with me and D all those months while we rocked and listened to it every night! So this post is for Marleigh! Mommy loves you and is SO proud of the big girl you are becoming!!! We are so blessed!

Silent Night!!!

Ok, I know I have probably already jinxed myself at work today, so I might as well go ALL out and do it publicly!!! I have to brag to someone! Little Ms. thing finally went to sleep before 11:30 last night! For those of you that don't know, she is a NIGHT/EVENING Owl!!! :) She has always slept well getting up just once to eat, but last night was her first full nights sleep!!! She went to bed at 10:30 -- so we made it to bed an hour early! And she didn't wake until AFTER I left for work! Dad said she got up around 7:30!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Which is like 9 hours! Woohoo! I was all excited about the 6-7 that she had been doing! I will take 9 any night! Please pray this will continue and not just be a one night ordeal! Anyone those of you that know me, know that I am a nut for documentary and articles about anything and everything. That comes with the territory of education! So my latest read discussed infant sleep and weight. Basically it discussed how the more sleep an infant gets the less likely they are to be overweight as a kid/adult. I know I was never a good sleeper! (Sorry Mom and Dad!), and I have always struggled with watching my weight. So this made me quite curious. At this stage in the game if this is true, poor Marleigh is going to anorexic as she sleeps ALL the time! She is getting better, but she does nap until almost 2:00 everyday! Of course she is up for feedings and a little play time! The doctor recommends 18 hours of sleep a day at this point and she is pretty close to it! Afternoon-on is "game time!" I'll take the advice that I am hearing and finding for myself! "Let them sleep as much as they will sleep!" and "NEVER wake a sleeping baby!" Tim has been out of town and is currently in route home! I called and woke up his happy little butt this morning to tell him that he was going to have to LEARN how to be more quiet when he gets up and gets ready! However, reality sunk in when my girlfriends from work corrected me by saying, "No, Amanda, you know YOU need to move her to her room, and get her out of your bedroom!" I going to try it this weekend! I LOVE working with women that are experts in ALL areas! They are SO right! Wish us well!

A Rather Peaceful Spring Break!

Well as peaceful as possible with a 2 and half year old and a 2 month old! For the most part, I stayed home with the kids. However, on Wednesday I spent the day with Davis and his cousin's Cooper and Charlie. We went and enjoyed a beautiful day at Stone Mountain. Things sure have changed there since the last time I went! On Thursday, I loaded up the kiddos and met two of my Sorority Sisters, Erin and Lori, at Perimeter Mall we had a fun time strolling, shopping, and checking out the bathrooms! We were frequent bathroomers with 4 kids in tow!

Here are the boys ready to get the day started with the mountain in the background! (From L to R: Charlie, Cooper, and Davis)

We gave the boys some time to run around on the giant lawn! Davis was quickly intrigued with another playdate group that had quite the little spread going on complete with food and TOYS! You could tell they were regulars! Davis helped himself to their hang out and chased their bubbles. He even hid on the mat with the moms! Can we say embarassed! I guess next time I will know to pack some toys!

Here is D and Charlie hugging after lots of chasing!

Charlie and Davis with Bob and Larry! The waiting in line was the "fun" part!

The Monster Trucks! Davis was in awe at their size! I would have to say that I was too!
Davis thoroughly enjoyed the barn play place! Here he is after slide in the hay loft!

We can't forget the Choo-Choo Train! Here is Mommy and Davis!

A cute shot of D on the train!

Here is cute shot of the Houses on the train! (Kristi, Cooper, Rodney, and Charlie)

Davis pooped after a fun day! Here he is trying to fall asleep on the tray of his stroller on the way to the car!

Strolling and Shopping
On Thursday we headed to Perimeter Mall to stroll with our friends! Needless to say our official meeting time ended up being 2 hours later than we had anticipated. I guess this goes to show that when you have kids, you have to be flexible! I was a little nervous getting out with 2 on my own, and driving the double stroller - it is HUGE! So I totally took advantage of Valet parking! I without a doubt recommend it as the help you get the stroller out/put it upunload your bags! It was worth every penny! Needless to say we didn't have lots of photo opts! However, we did meet up in the bathroom! We frequented bathrooms on this trip! But it was nice to go and know someone else could watch/help with your kids! We ended up in another bathroom for diaper changes/feedings and D and Jack were able to get down and run around in a sitting area and play! I believe they distracted Ms, J from eating! As for Marleigh -- well she pretty much slept until she was ready to eat!

Here is Ms. Marleigh all smiles before we headed to meet up with the gang!

My little Comedian!

Jack pushing his stroller!

Ms. Jamie!

Busy with the Babies!

It's been a while since I've been able to post! So I might have to catch up with two separate posts! I went back to work last Thursday and dove in with a 12 hour day for Kindergarten Registration! It went by quite quickly testing 4 and 5 year olds! Too cute! I also learned more than I have already learned by teaching of what kind of parent I "do" and "don't" want to be! I think I have an outstanding job for preparing me for pretty much everything motherhood has to offer! :)

Anyway, Mommy is on Spring break this week! For the most part we have enjoyed some time at home! However, Marleigh had her 8 week appt. on Monday, Davis and Mommy went to Stone Mountain today, and Mommy is meeting a couple of sorority sisters in Atlanta tomorrow for some strolling and shopping!

Marleigh had her 8 week check-up on Monday! She is a big and growing girl! She weighed 13 lbs. and 5 ounces! She was 23 and 1/4 inches long! Oh and by the way, thanks for all your prayers! We got the test results back from her hip ultrasound and everything looks perfect!!! Woohoo! However, poor thing had to get 5 shots! Plus she had to take the Rotovirus serum (which she loved!) She was a little grumpy Tues. evening from the achyness, but she is back to herself today! Here is some new photos of Miss Priss!!!

Marleigh enjoying her Bumbo Seat! (In her favorite shirt!)

Bright eyes during tummy time!

This evening, acting like a little lady!

Snug as a bug, going on our first neighborhood walk! Thank you Lord for such beautiful weather!

Here are some fun and crazy pictures of Marleigh and D! He is such a little ham lately in front of the camera!

A quick, Sissy hug!

A quick, Sissy kiss! (please ignore my hair!!!)

I love this picture of them looking at one another!

Just because she is a cutie!

Before I go, I have to share our new "hot" spot! Davis has earned a timeout zone this past week. It has been SO effective with him! I can't even begin to tell you! Anyway, lately all you have to do is say, "Davis, go to time out!" and he complies. Of course after his two minutes we go over and discuss with him why he is there! I just can't believe how good it has been for him!

Davis assuming the position in the "hot spot"!

Check back tomorrow night as I hope to get Stone Mountain up as well as pics from our day with friends at Perimeter!