Baby Shower & Nursery Glimpse

I was thoroughly blessed last weekend by an amazing baby shower given by Dara. She put so much hard work into it. The decorations were amazing and had lots of personal touches just for our family. The centerpieces were vases filled with lots of baby items. Also an adorable diaper cake, Baby A and B hats for the hospital, personalized candles for prizes, personalized M&M's for favors, personalized tea bags, and name banners for the nursery.
It was so fun to be surrounded by so many of my family and friends to celebrate the arrival of Micah and Mason. I received many wonderful gifts, including some adorable outfits and many needed baby essentials. Thank you to everyone who came and those who have sent gifts as well. We appreciate all of your generosity.
Above is my 6mo picture from the shower. I have had a request for a picture in a fitted shirt to show the real shape of my belly. It will be coming next month.
Enjoy a slide show of pictures from the shower.

And to appease many of you here is a picture of the babies bedding and a few pics of the cribs and artwork. Their room is in progress. More pictures will be coming soon.




Last but not least, our most recent shots of the babies.

Micah

Mason- I love that it looks like he is laughing.

Marteney Love Day

Or as some of you may call it Valentine's Day. I know I know it is a month later but I have to blog in chronological order.
Thursday night that week Madison and I went to Nana and Poppy's house to make Valentine's and sugar cookie dough for the next day. Our course we couldnt make dough without making any cookies. Madison had a practice run at cutting them out with Haley.



Friday Dara and Sydney came over to make cookies. 5dozen cookies and a very messy kitchen later both girls took a nap while the mommies iced them. Several family, friends, and neighbors were the recipients of the delicious cookies. Of course I saved several for us as well. It is the best recipe.









Madison and I spent V-Day morning at home while Matt was in Lebanon working on his Chevelle. When Madison woke up from her nap Daddy had just come home with presents. I had bought her a little bag off goodies an Daddy brought her a stuffed lion and Singing Dora card(that she is still playing with). Matt brought me beautiful roses as well. If you ask Madison they were hers though.

That evening Aunt Ally came over to play with Madison while we went on a date to PF Changs and a movie. It was nice to have a night out. Thank you Ally! I am sure next Valentine's Day will be a little different around here. We hope you all had a special day as well.

Babies, Friends, and the Space Needle

Once again I am behind in posting. I will start out with a belly pic update since I have been asked by several people. I am 5months in this pic and even bigger now.
The babies are doing great. The babies weighed 1lb 3oz and 1lb 4oz. Measuring right on track. Both babies are also now head down (for now). I was a bit concerned before our last appt due to many contractions (mostly when I am on my feet to much). I was concerned bed rest may be in my future. The Dr. was not concerned and said with twins they are normal. I just need to keep an eye on the frequency. They did increase my appts to every 3 weeks for the next 2 and then every 2 weeks.

Madison is getting quite protective of my belly and doesn't like it when anyone else tries to feel the babies. She got to feel them move for the first time last weekend. She is normally not patient enough but put her hand on my belly just in time to get 3 good kicks. She pulled her hand off each time with big eyes and then put it back. So sweet.

Madison recently went back to the Dr. for an eye check. Some of you may remember that at her one year appt we had been noticing an eye turn. They decided at her recent appt to give her a pair of loaner glasses to wear for an hour or two a day to see if it relaxed her eyes. We go back for a follow up in the summer. She has done fairly well wearing them. They are way to big. Matt calls her Sally Jesse Raphael in them.

This month Madison has been getting lots of time with friends. Several tea parties/ play dates with Sydney, fun with Brock for Superbowl, playtime with Jillian at the office. She loves any time she gets with kids. Hopefully her brothers will be included.













Our most recent family fun was a trip to Seattle to visit Uncle Bob and Aunt Betty with Papa John and Gma Dolly. We normally go for Memorial Day Weekend but we will have a busy month of May with the arrival of Micah and Mason. We had a great time visiting. We even got to go to the Seattle Science Center. Madison enjoyed the tide pool, Kids climbing and water area, and the Butterfly Gardens. She also got her first glimpse of the Space Needle. Check out the slide show below.

Well this should catch us up for a while. I have some fun pics of Madison making Valentine's Day cookies I will save for another post. Have a Happy Valentine's Day weekend.

Big Girl Room- The Baby is Gone!

Last nap with binky.
January 2nd Madison got rid of all things baby in her life. She had her last day with her binky and last night in her crib. For those of you who are not aware, Madison was very attached to her binkies. They have been her comfort when sad, hurt, sick, for snuggle time, or just because. There was even a period of time where she would fall down just so she could cry and ask for her binky. I think I was probaby just as attached to it. It was an easy solution to a crying girl in the car or public place. We started 3days before by cutting the tips of of her binkies one at a time. She would just look at it and say binky broken and throw it in the bathroom garbage. I was quite stunned at how easy it was. The last one was her prized Fufly(Butterfly) binky. That one she held a second longer, took one last suck and away it went. She talked about her broken binky for a few more days but she never even really cried that night. Mom on the other hand held her over her crib one last time and prayed over her with tears running down my face. It was a bittersweet moment as my baby girl was growing up. That night seemed to mark a big turning point towards 2 new babies joining our family and Madison becoming a big sister.



The next day Madison spent her nap at Nana and Poppy's while we put her new big girl room together. She was so excited when she walked in. She has slept great in her new bed although she has fallen off the bottom 2 times. We have a rail on the long side but somehow she manages to get upside down an roll off. The floor is now padded with pillows.
Below are pictures of her new room. Starting by looking in the door and moving left.

Here are a few more fun pictures of our big girl.

Christmas Morning

She loves to wear sunglasses.

On our first walk of '09. She was so glad to get outside.

Snugglin with Milo.

Favorite hat from Jason and Nicole. She has worn it for a week straight everywhere.

4th Folder, 4th Picture- Kephart Blessings!

Several of my friends have done this so I thought I would join in.
Look through your pictures and open your 4th folder and the 4th picture in that folder is what your blog entry will be about.



I was excited to see the smiling faces of our dear friends Jason and Nicole. This was New Years Eve '05. Just hours before '06. The thing I loved about this night is that this was our last big party before any kids joined our lives. We all had no clue how much our lives would change in the near future.

Madison calls them Uncle Jason and Auntie Cole. They are some of her favorite people. Jason has helped out a bit by bringing her little treats(her fave Chocolate Raisens) when he comes to visit.

This is also a great way to introduce them to the blogging world. They just recently started a blog called Kephart Blessings. Check it out. We love you guys! You are definitely a blessing to us.

We would like to introduce...

Micah John & Mason Russell

Thank you all so much for the overwhelming number of votes. It was fun to see everyone's opinions come through. The names we chose ended up being the first combination we came up with. And one of the top 2 voted on.
Both babies are measuring right on track and weight about 8oz each. I am starting to feel much better but getting a bit more uncomfortable. The fun part is that the babies are both starting to move much more.
This week we bought the babies crib bedding. Madison is moving into a big girl bed tomorrow and the nursery set up can begin. Watch for pictures of both rooms sometime soon.

Here I am at 3months




And looking a bit more exhausted after traveling at 4months.


Just for comparison. With Madison at 4months. Definitely bigger this time. :)

BOYS!

The official results are in and we are having 2 boys! It was confirmed yesterday in another Ultrasound. We are thrilled. I am so excited to finally be able to go shopping.

Right now the debate is on for names. With Madison we knew right away what her name was but have always had a harder time with boys. I posted a new poll on the side with a few name combinations just for fun. Make a vote or choose other and make a suggestion in comments.

More ultrasound and Christmas pictures will be coming soon.
We hope you all had a blessed Christmas Season!

Merry Christmas Greetings!

I didn't get a chance to include a letter in our Christmas cards this year so here it is. For those of you whom I don't have addresses for please consider this a Christmas card from our family to yours.

Dear Friends & Family
I hope this letter finds you all well. 2008 has been a very busy and exciting year for us. We started the year with our house in Banks on the market. Many house showings and 2 offers later we sold our first home. The last week in April we spent 5 days in Disneyland with Melissa’s family. We had a great time experiencing such a magical place as parents. Madison loved watching all the people and parades but wasn’t sure of the characters.

One week later we finished packing our home and moved into Hillsboro. It was a sad but exciting move. We love our new home and being so much closer to so many of you. While we settled in and unpacked our new home we also enjoyed many family weekends. We spent Memorial Day in Seattle with Matt’s family, camping trips, weekends at the beach, and many trips to the zoo.

In September we found out that we would be adding to our family with the new addition to arrive June 3rd. We went to our first appt in October and had an ultrasound. Much to our surprise there were not one but two babies. We were shocked, overwhelmed, but of course thrilled. They will most likely join our family sometime in May. Madison tells anyone who will listen, “Two babies Mommy tummy”. We are preparing her as much as we can already for the arrival of these two little bundles.

Madison has been such a blast this year growing and changing so much. She is now 2 and talks in full sentences. She counts to 12, knows all her colors, many shapes, loves to draw, read, play with her friends, and play outside. She is becoming such a big girl. She is fully potty trained and moving into a big girl bed next week. I cannot believe how fast the last 2 years have gone. We are so thankful for our fun, energetic little girl.

Matt is still working for Wells Fargo in Portland as a Compliance Manager. He recently bought a new Ford truck, enjoys working on his Chevelle (still in progress), golfing, and is taking up fly fishing.

I, Melissa, am working part time for my mom at www.MyPreciousKid.com. We opened a new store front location in Hillsboro this summer. I am loving the time I get to spend at home with Madison. We attend a Mom’s groups one morning a week and keep plenty busy. I will be home full time once the babies arrive. I know that life as I know it will change completely. It will be a big adjustment for our family, but we cannot wait.


Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! May 2009 be full of many blessings for you and your families.

The Marteney’s

Birthday and Birthday again!

The other excuse for my lack of posting has been the abundance of birthday celebration in our house. Last weekend we started the festivities by having a joint party for Sydney and Madison. It was a Veggie Tales theme attended by several of the kids from our Mommy to Mommy class the same age (all boys). It was fairly laid back with lots of play time, cake (made by Dara and I), and presents. The girls had a great time.

The second was a family party yesterday. Some of our extended family were planning on attending but the snow kept them home. Instead my family, Matt's parents, and our good friends the Kephart's and Wills' helped us celebrate. It was Minnie Mouse themed due to Madison's love of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and Minnie in general. After a rush to clean once again in the midst of finishing her cake an hour before we had a great party. I felt so blessed to have so many our our favorite people come even in the snow to honor Madison. Madison had a great time and knew just what to do when it came time to open gifts and blow our her candles. She even got to enjoy the snow for a little while.

Saturday, as I posted earlier, was Madison's actual birthday. I included some way to cute pics of Madison enjoying her very own ice cream Sunday and Christmas lights. Enjoy!