Reflecting back on 2008

The phrase "Time Flies By" is a phrase I have been saying all year long. I've thought years past have gone by pretty fast, but I really think that this year has literally flown by. There have been so many exciting events that have taken place this year not only for our family, but for our friends too! I thought that I'd go month by month and just jot down a few things that come to mind that have been significant in our lives!
January-8th: Courtney Linn Majors was born!
February-still waiting for Marlee's arrival
March-I turned 28
April-16th:Marlee Grace was born at 4:30am joining our family! (11 days early)
May-Kendall graduated from Kennesaw State with his Masters in Educational Leadership
June-I officially finished teaching at North Cobb Christian School
July-Kendall and James turned 30, a trip up to Michigan for our good friends Nate and Alissa's wedding
August-Kendall gets a new job as an Area Lead Teacher (ALT) in Cobb County, good friend Parker Riese turns 1 (on the 20th)
September-Marlee's first ear infection
October-Marlee visited the Due West Pumpkin Patch a couple times and also celebrated her first
Halloween by dressing up as a Hunny Pot
November-Marlee's first Thanksgiving-spent with my parents in Huntsville the weekend before and with Kendall's family on Thanksgiving day, Marlee really starts crawling right after Thanksgiving
December-Marlee's first Christmas!

As I look over some of the things that have gone on this year, one word comes to mind: Blessed. I feel blessed beyond measure. Blessed to be Marlee's mommy and Kendall's wife, blessed to be an aunt to Courtney, blessed to be able to be a stay at home mom, blessed to have a husband who supports me in this new role, and blessed that God has placed Marlee in our care and that she is a healthy, beautiful, smart, and loving child. I could go on and on, but I really do feel blessed!
In 2009, my resolution is more that I hope to enjoy each and every moment with Marlee. So many people tell us to enjoy our time with her because before we know it she will be graduating highschool and going off to college! Even though I have spent every day with Marlee, I can't believe she's already 8 months old. I hope that I never take her for granted or the time we have with her for granted.
I pray that 2008 was a good year for you, but that 2009 brings much joy, happiness, and peace!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Marlee's first Christmas

Christmas has come and gone already, but the memories of that special morning will not be forgotten! It was so exciting for Kendall and me to celebrate Marlee's first Christmas with her and our families! We had some fun days leading up to Christmas morning. On Christmas Eve, we went over to Kendall's grandparents house for a yummy spaghetti lunch! While there, Marlee got to open her first 3 presents! From her Great-Grandparents she got a caterpiller toy, a Leap Frog Alphabet Ball, and from her Grandparents she got a Learning Doggie! What fun! Of course the wrapping paper and the ribbon was also so much fun to play with and eat! After that we went home for a quick nap then onto church for a Christmas Eve service! Marlee stayed in the service with us and did great! After the service we went over to the Riese's house for another spaghetti meal! By the way-both meals were very good-even though both were spaghetti they were very different! Bath time with Parker followed dinner and after that came time to open presents with Parker! Marlee gave Parker a froggie towel that will match his froggie bathroom and also more Clippo pieces! Parker gave Marlee a Clippo Creativity Table! By that time it was really late and time to head home!
At home, Marlee was fast asleep and Santa (myself and Kendall) proceeded to set up the big toys! It was a lot of fun and it gave us a sneak peak as to what Christmas Eve nights would look like for us in the upcoming years-putting together toys!
Christmas morning came early-7am and Marlee was up and ready to go! We got her up and walked her into the livingroom to see all of her gifts! She was a little fussy because she was still a little sleepy, but that didn't stop her from playing with her toys! Mommy helped Marlee open the gifts that were wrapped! Marlee got a Crawl n Cruise Musical Jungle, a walker/wagon, Fridge farm, learning drum, and a rabbit towel!
After opening presents, it was time to head to the Grandparents house for more! Breakfast first then opening more presents! Marlee got another fun toy from Charter and Leigh, a Busy Ball Popper, Tigger and Eeyore stuffed animals, and music c.d.s from Granddaddy and Grandmommy Foster, and a stuffed bear from Uncle Jim! By the end of all of that excitement, Marlee was so tired she fell asleep on Grandmommy's shoulder for a power nap!
Later that evening, my parents and James, Audrey, and Courtney came over for dinner and more presents! From James, Audrey, and Courtney, Marlee recieved a Pooh plane, and some other fun things like tights, shoes, and a dress! From Grandpapa and Grandmama Fonnegra, Marlee got a handmade knitted blanket and some new clothes!
It was a fun evening! We played some new Wii games that we got and enjoyed good food and fellowship!
Kendall and I will never forget this first Christmas with Marlee. We are so thankful to have her in our lives and couldn't imagine her not being here! We are truly blessed to be her parents and thank God each day that we get with her! I hope that all of you had a wonderful Christmas season as we celebrated Jesus' birthday!
I hope you enjoy the pictures from Marlee's first Christmas!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Santa Who?!!!?!?1?

Well, Marlee's first trip to visit Santa was a memorable one, that's for sure! Leading up to the trip, she was a little fussy, possibly a little sleepy. I should've known that meeting Santa wasn't going to go so great, but I was hopeful! We got to Town Center Mall with Jenn and Parker and surprisingly the wait wasn't too bad. We got there at a great time-right before all of the parents with school aged kids! 30 mintues later it was our turn! By that time, Marlee was happy and smiling and then.....as soon as she sat on Santa's lap, she took one look at him and his long white beard and did not like him very much! She cried and screamed and I heard an "AWWWWW" from the crowd! Poor Marlee or should I say poor Santa? Actually, Santa was great-he just sat there and smiled while Jenn and I tried to get her to crack a smile so the photographer could take some pictures, but no such luck!! I rescued her and then it was Parker's turn! He didn't think very much of Santa either! Then to top it off, Jenn and I thought it would be funny to get both Parker and Marlee's picture with Santa!! The both cried and cried! Oh well!! Maybe next year they will be more pleasant to Santa! Let's just hope that Marlee won't recieve any coal in her stocking! (I doubt she will! ) :-)

Marlee's First Christmas Season

It has been so much fun so far to see Marlee light up when she sees all of the Christmas decorations that are up around the house! She loves crawling over to the tree to find an ornament that she can get ahold of that is at her level. She also loves staring at the singing Christmas tree that is on the fireplace! As we approach Christmas day, Kendall and I are thinking of different things that we can start doing to begin Christmas family traditions! One of them may not necessarily be a tradition, but something that we have enjoy doing the last few years.

The last 2 Christmases, Kendall and I have made and sent out a photo Christmas card. We didn't send one out the very first Christmas (we had just gotten married), but Christmas '06 the card was of the two of us and the dogs. Last year, the card was just of the two of us and we waited to send out the card until we found out what we were having. This year, of course we were so excited to send out a card with Marlee in it! My good friend Jenn Riese and I arranged a "photo shoot" at a semi local park-we would take their pictures and they would take ours. Saturday rolled around, so we got dressed in our coordinating outfits and off we went! We thought that the day would be a little warmer (upper 50's), but it turned out to be in the lower 50's! Poor Marlee and Parker! Their little noses and cheeks were bright red and their noses started to run!! Never the less, the pictures turned out great! The pictures that made the Christmas card cut aren't posted-you'll have to wait to see which ones made the cut!

Unrelated to Christmas-Marlee has been pulling herself up to standing for a few weeks now. She finally figured out how to pull herself up in her crib. Yesterday I had laid her down for a nap and when she didn't fall asleep, I decided to check on her. I peeked in her room and caught her standing in the cornor of her crib having a grand ol' time laughing!! Kendall and I cracked up at her and while we didn't get a picture of her that time, we had her do it again and caught it on camera!!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Happy Fall & Turkey Day!

It's been awhile since I've last posted. Thanksgiving has come and gone (already) and Christmas is fast approaching! This holiday season is going to be so much fun to see it, experience it with Marlee, and see it through her eyes (even though she won't really know what's going on). She is growing so fast and each day she is trying or doing something new! Currently she is pulling up to whatever she can get her hands on! She would much rather stand than sit! I know she is trying to keep up with her cousin Courtney who is walking all over the place! Marlee is also crawling too, though she's not very fast! I'm sure she'll be walking in no time, so I'm just going to enjoy (really enjoy) her while she's not running away from me! The slide show is of some random pictures from the last few weeks and Thanksgiving! I hope you enjoy!

Make a Smilebox slideshow