Easter (a little late)

Mark wanted to dye Easter eggs Sunday after church so we put Maryn down for a nap and let Parker do the eggs. I put them in a basket on the dinning room table with what was left of the kids Easter candy. Tuesday the kids and I went to the grocery store and came home to find Max, our beagle, had eaten about 8 of the eggs, shell and all. Needless to say I put him outside for the rest of the night. YUCK!!


Notice our Auburn egg, front left


My own little preschool. We had Cam over to play last Monday and they had such a great time. Parker and Cam love playing together and Maryn does her best to keep up with them. She LOVES Cam. I see a huge crush in her future, big brother's best friend. They were so cute all sitting around the table eating their snack and watching Baby Noah.


The church Easter egg hunt.




Easter Sunday- neither of my children wanted to be still for a picture.



Parker's Easter parade at school. His class were lambs. Fortunately their costumes were not too elaborate.

Parker got to ride in the wagon because he was having a rough morning. After almost an entire year at preschool he is going through a phase where he wants to stay home with me. I broke down and let him take his teddy bear to school who appears to have participated in the parade. Maybe this week will be better...

Look Out :) Auburn... Here We Come

Sarah's mom made this adorable outfit for Ford to have his picture made in. He went with Granny for a photo shoot with a baby bunny and a lamb. Isn't he handsome?!


Sarah made a delicious dinner Friday night- cheese grits, asparagus wrapped in prosciutto, and a pork tenderloin on the grill (by my dad).


My future Auburn cheerleader


The goal was to get the three kids in a picture in their sunglasses. You can see how well it went!




Ford rearranging the fridge


Aunt Sarah swinging the babies around. Isn't she 19 weeks pregnant? I am hoping her belly looks a little bigger when we're at the beach so I'm not the only enormous one.


Parker driving the excavator.


Digging and dumping out the dirt.

We went to Auburn last week, Wednesday through Saturday. It was such a great time! We left around lunch time on Wednesday so we could pick up Dede (aka Debbie) at the airport. The kids did pretty well in the car. By the time we got to La Grange, GA Maryn had had about enough so the rest of the trip was a little tough- but oh so much sweeter in Olivia!! We had lots of room! I even attempted a nap on the back seat with Parker but Maryn would have none of it. One of my favorite little silly things about the minivan is that the seat belt receptors (surely there is a better word for that?) have a little home in the seat so you can put them in there and they don't stick into your back while you are lying down- with a seat belt on of course. What a great idea!

Dede and Papa had not seen the kids, Parker, Maryn and Ford, since we had been in Seattle in September. The babies have changed a lot since then- walking and some talking too. It was chaotic but so much fun. They are building new houses in Sarah and Joseph's neighborhood and there was an excavator next door digging out a basement. Parker and I went to check it out Wednesday morning and the man driving offered to let Parker take a ride! It was the coolest thing ever. Parker got to actually dig the dirt, swing the bucket around, and dump the dirt out by himself. What a nice man to let him have such a great experience! Papa came out just in time to get some pictures.

It was a typical Martin get together filled with LOTS of good food (breakfast casserole, chocolate cake, cookies, cheese grits, Warehouse Bistro... all a pregnant woman's dream), shopping, and great conversation- especially planning our upcoming beach trip! Thanks Sarah, Joseph and Ford for letting us invade your house. And Papa and Dede thanks for making the trip. We love getting to see you all. Oh, and to Shealy and Granny for babysitting the kids so we could have a dinner out. You're the best!!

Random Pictures

Parker and Maryn in their new raincoats. I usually never splurge on clothing items for them but I bought them on a little bit of a sale and a size too big so they could wear them this spring, next fall and next spring. Maryn loves hers so much its the only coat she wants to wear right now.



Parker helping me bake Valentine's Day cookies.


Maryn playing in my makeup. Notice the blush on her overalls! (She sticks out her tongue when she's concentrating like her Uncle Joseph used to when he was little.)

Catching Up

A few random pictures...

Parker and Maryn having a picnic lunch. Maryn didn't quite get the concept as she kept crawling over her plate and getting food all over her.

Maryn's curls... best seen after a bath

My beautiful family before church

It's been awhile since my last post and we have been very busy- the circus, swimming lessons, MaeMae (my mom) came to visit, and Grandma came so Mark and I could take a much needed weekend trip. Whew!

The elephants and the tigers were Parker's favorite part of the circus although he was a little afraid that the tigers would "roar."

The weekend with my mom was great but too short. She and I took the kids to the mall on Friday and Discovery Place on Saturday. (This was two weekends ago.) MaeMae teaches preschool so she is very up on all kids books and loves to buy books for Parker and Maryn. Needless to say she and Parker read a big stack of books several times each day. We had such a nice visit.





Swim lessons for Parker are going really well. He and his best buddy Cam go twice a week for 30 minutes. They are so cute! And I am so proud of Emily for getting Cam there. She has a new baby, Tate- who is precious!!- and she is still able to get Cam to his swim lessons although they are occasionally a little late! When you have a second kid it takes about two hours planning ahead to get anywhere so I think they're doing great! And the boys have so much fun blowing bubbles, kicking and going under water. Well, maybe the last part is debatable! I have a little bit of a hard time keeping Maryn occupied. She really just wants to get in the water so I let her sit on the side and put her legs in. We both end up soaked!


Baby Tate- this is his usual position during swim lessons. He is a great baby!! Sleeps A LOT and when he is awake he is just the sweetest thing.


Maryn's usual position- sitting on the edge getting Mommy wet.


Cam and Parker


Parker swimming with Ms. Tamara. Today he went under water all the way which is big for him.

Grandma arrived Valentine's night to stay with the kids while Mark and I went to the Grove Park Inn. Our trip was to celebrate my 30th birthday. Yes, this was in September but it worked out better for our schedule (mainly Mark's studying) to go now and I am glad we waited since they were full in October anyway and we would've had to find another location.
The inn from the rear entrance. We stayed in the Main Inn. There are two newer wings that come out on either side.


An outside view of the spa


Flowers my dad and Debbie sent to our room to help us celebrate. Aren't they beautiful?

It was amazing!! We ate way too much and relaxed A LOT! We left around 3 on Friday afternoon and arrived at 5:30. Our dinner reservations weren't until 8:30 so we had plenty of time to look around and get ready for dinner. One of my favorite parts was taking a bubble bath Friday night while drinking a coke, eating chocolate and reading US magazine. All without kids in the background calling for Mommy. Saturday we went to the spa for most of the day. In one word it was heaven. You can check out pictures on the Grove Park website since they don't allow you to bring a camera. We got facials in the morning and massages in the evening. The time in between was spent in the pools, reading and napping. Fabulous. Then we were able to use their facilities to get ready for dinner that night. Wonderful shampoos, lotions, everything you needed. Sunday morning Mark was anxious to get home. Grandma said the kids were doing great so I wasn't in too much of a hurry although I really missed my babies. I think it was hard for Mark to see how much they missed us and he was ready to go. We got home around 1 and they were definitely glad to see us. Grandma said she couldn't have asked for them to be any better. Music to a mom's ears. (Although Monday while we were home and she was still here I think we got punished for being gone as they weren't great!) THANK YOU GRANDMA for allowing us to get away!!! You're one in a million!

It's Official!!

Today the SOA (Society of Actuaries, of course) posted the list of new candidates who earned their Associateship in the Society of Actuaries and my hardworking, brilliant husband is on the list!! He has worked incredibly hard for the past five years studying for these exams. Those of you who know us well know the amount of work that Mark has put into studying. Many comment that he is a professional test taker! It has been our prayer request in life group ever since we've been at NorthCross Church. I know to me and all of our friends it seems like every time we turn around he's studying again! I have complained about the hours upon hours Mark spends in front of books with his calculators and pencils. And now we, mostly he but I have some occassional moments of support, have made it to this big milestone. God has been so faithful in Mark's journey to find the right career and He has really blessed Mark in this field. It is such a blessing to have your husband happy and confident in his work. We are very thankful.

And now only two more tests to go until he is DONE. At that point he will have his FSA (Fellowship...) which will be amazing. Maybe we will throw an enormous party.

Anyway, if you want to check out the actual list here's the link (notice the high quantity of Asian candidates!)

http://www.soa.org/files/pdf/edu-2008-01-asa-names.pdf

Hooray, Mark!!!!

Two Purchases

Tuesday when Parker was at school and Maryn was taking her morning nap I sat down at the computer. I caught up on some emails, checked out tickets to the circus (we're going Saturday night! I am very excited), and made two purchases. I have been wanting these art clips from Land of Nod for quite awhile and now that Parker has been going to preschool and actually doing art projects we need somewhere to put them. Why not the refrigerator you ask? Because Maryn pulls them off every time and usually ends up ripping them. So I thought these would be cute in his room. We got the stars.




That purchase led to this art portfolio that I found on a friend of Abby's blogs. I am so excited about this! I have let Parker's art pile up on top of the fridge long enough. And since the kids had some Christmas money I thought these two things would be helpful to have. So that's how I wasted my time Tuesday while Parker was at school. Much more fun than cleaning or laundry!

Fun in Auburn

Our trip to Auburn MLK weekend... pictures in no certain order.


Doesn't he have the cutest expressions??


3 babies in a basket. What will we do when there are 5?


Joseph built a great fire. Obviously Ford is enjoying it.


Nothing to do with the trip- just a cute picture of them sharing the chair together. Parker wanted Maryn to sit with him.


Parker packing to go to Auburn. Notice there are no tracks on his train table. They are ALL in his suitcase. I asked him to pack some toys. Won't be doing that again until he's a little older!

We went to Auburn this weekend to spend some time with Joseph, Sarah and Ford. They moved into their new house a few weeks before Christmas and we had not yet seen it. Wow!! It is beautiful. What I refer to as a grown-up house! We are so excited for them!! There is lots of room for Ford to play, tons of cabinet space in the kitchen that isn't even being used yet, gorgeous hardwood floors that Sarah has to swiffer all the time, a gigantic pantry that the kids loved playing in, a fantastic master bath that rivals the best hotels... I could go on and on.

We didn't arrive until 11:30 Charlotte time Friday night. Parker did not sleep the entire way- although he was really good. I blame it on the car seat. Maryn has the Britax Roundabout that we bought when Parker was little and she slept like a baby. When she moved to that car seat we bought Parker an Eddie Bauer car seat. Not a fan. It's not very padded and sits really straight. So do I cough up $270 for the Britax Marathon for Parker? Any suggestions? One other plus about the Britax is that they have removable covers that wash well. Hmmm... we'll have to see. It's a lot of money.

So we got there safely although very tired. Saturday the kids didn't even make it out of their pjs. We did bathe them and put them in clean ones for bed. Sarah's parents and sister and husband stopped by Saturday morning. Parker loves them so much! Clayton threw snowballs (yes, it snowed in Auburn!) at the window while Parker watched. He had a blast! And Maryn and Ford were so cute together. Maryn was actually pretty good about not taking Ford's toys. Probably too much to do.

Sarah made a delicious breakfast casserole and garlic cheese grits Saturday morning. YUM! I told her that if I had had the casserole every morning during my first trimester I would have felt MUCH better. I swear protein first thing in the am makes a world of difference. There was lots of other yummy food- Amsterdams turkey wraps, Momma G's, a chocolate chip pound cake... I'll let you know after my dr. apt. Thursday just how much weight I gained!

Sunday afternoon while the boys watched football and the kids (in what order I'm not exactly sure!) Sarah and I went to see 27 Dresses. So cute!

All around a great trip- made even better by the mini van. The room, the dvd player, the style (ok, maybe not stylish), the comfort... one of our best purchases ever!!

WAR EAGLE!!!