Bailey, Bailey, Bailey Brown!

You're the cutest girl in town!

With your long blonde pretty hair,

Sweetest girl - they're very rare!

Bailey, Bailey, Bailey Brown!

Always happy, never frown!

The sun aglow upon your face,

One day, our lives, the Lord did grace.

A perfect baby girl - he did send,

Bailey, your precious to no end.

Sweetest smile you ever did see,

A laugh that will fill your heart with glee!

Good sister to your brother Birch.

You say your prayers and go to church.

You ride your horse and pet your cat.

Wear your coat, your gloves, your hat.

Plays and plays and skips and runs,

Helps her mama lots and tons!

She's the sweetest girl in town!

Oh that Bailey, Bailey Brown!

I love you to the moon it's true,

Sincerely Aunt Sam, I really do!

Well I never!

This morning Pauly and I woke up, got dressed and headed into the kitchen to get some breakfast. I pored us both a bowl of Rice Krispies (or the like rice krispie because I got the non brand kind) cold cereal. Now... is it not all kids who would give a arm and a let for cold cereal and especially are totally in love with Rice Krispies? The snap, crackle, poppiness of it all! And really just the general loveliness of their tiny crunchiness. Well... he totally turned his nose up at it and took his hand and pushed the spoon away. I couldn't believe it! When us girls were little we would dream about eating my cold cereal just on a whim like this. My mom never bought cold cereal - we always ate hot cereal unless we ate it at Grandma and Grandpa's house or at a friend's house. I was thinking I was the coolest mom of the year when I was letting him eat cold cereal - period! Not him though! He would not have any of it. Me being the... I don't know... type of mom that won't have that (if you know what I mean) held down his arms and showed him just what he was missing. He did gag down about 3 to 4 spoonfuls, but scoop after scoop, into his mouth, he remained to keep that beautiful scowl about his face (the one thing that makes us look alike) and didn't chew, didn't swallow, then slowly I watched his little face formed into that recognizable warning to let all those around that there was going to be an explosion and.... HE SNEEZED! I've got to hand it to him though he clinched his little lips pretty tight and only a few krispies escaped from those little tightly clinched lips of his. He continued to not chew or swallow and he just held this stuff in his mouth until finally I told him - okay your done and slowly as he watched cartoons chewed up the now gooey, soggy stash. Gross huh! What a stinker!

So blessed!

There are two people in my life that just thinking about them brings me to tears of pride and joy! My sisters! We have such an amazing bond and we always have. I'm dedicating today's blog entry to these two amazing women in my life. They are such precious women because of all they do for their families, everything they put up with, and for everything they give up so that their little ones can have anything they want or need. They are hard working, honest, patient, and loving Christian Women.

It makes me be a better mom and wife just being able to talk to them everyday. I am so thankful to God for these girls and I am so thankful also to our parents for reiterating to us, as we were growing up, just how important we are to each other. Talking to them on the phone each day gives me inspiration for my day. So- To you my sweet sisters... know that I love you forever and I thank you for all your love and support you give me daily! And know that I am here for you - Always... to the moon, Sam

I'm obsessed

Have you ever really thought about Peacocks as inspiration for your home decor? Well... I can't get over their beauty. What an expression of God's handy work! Their radiant colors of teal, green , purple, orange, and gold are a gorgeous display of vivid colors, textures and shapes to announce one of the most beautiful creatures on earth. Ahhhh... takes my breath away. I think that in 2009 I'm going to paint some rooms in my house and I've been thinking a lot about colors I'm going to paint and certain room "themes" if you will. I'm contemplating on using these magnificent creatures as inspiration somewhere in my home.

As some of you may know I'm very particular about my Christmas tree as is my sisters, our mother and our mother's mother as for my father's mother and our aunts on both sides (so yes, we come from a long line of snobbery when it pertains to our Christmas trees ;) - In the Melton home during Christmas there will be no Hodge Podge Christmas Tree presented (with only one exception of my husband's candy canes that HAVE to be present - I do it because I love him :o). I know, I know, Hodge Podge is some people's absolute #1 choice and maybe someday I'll/we'll learn to appreciate that but for the years to come I suspect we'll have decorations on our tree that are of some type of relevance to our particular holiday design for that year. So look what I found girls! A Peacock Christmas Tree! Now wouldn't that be fabulous darling? Here are some other "Peacocktacular" decorating ideas I found online - Enjoy :)

Just us...

So my little boy is officially growing too fast. Ben and I were talking last night and we just can't believe how tall he is getting and how tuned in to what we are talking about. It is insane! TOOOO FAST! So this morning we were searching Craigslist thinking we should find him that Toddler Bed we had been talking about and we decided for a little while he could sleep in his crib with the outside bars off.

So we ventured into his room and it took us surprisingly like 10 minutes to figure out how to take the bars off. We knew we didn't need any tools it just was a matter of slipping it down or something. We we had to push it down and pushing two buttons and it came right off. It was pretty funny how easy it was... Anyways, we got off that outside rail and I made his bed and put all his adorable stuffed animals on it and called him in the room. We said "Come see your... of course as everyone says) 'Big Boy Bed'!" He thought that was pretty cool and climbed right in.

After we got him all set up we went out thrift store shopping. Ben bought a few books - (We'll see about the new idea that I have in mind called "Buy a book - Donate a book" - We just have a ton!) then we went to Bardenay for lunch. I was so proud of myself - I had a Caesar salad with chicken (I'm trying so hard!)

OH! OH! OH! OH! You should of seen the couple that we sat by. As we headed their way they were just kind of glaring at Pauly as if he was a insect that needed squashed. It was pretty hysterical watching them. They were sitting right almost on top of each other, sharing a bottle of red wine as they waited for their lunch - they were so tan they looked like an distressed leather Marc Jacobs Handbag - but not in a good way. She had a HUGE wedding ring and they just kind of reeked of that couple that were not into having kids... so okay it isn't their thing and we know Bardenay isn't really a perfect kid environment. But it isn't like it is a bar and there are NO Kids allowed - they have highchairs there so they are expecting kids! Anyway, during the whole lunch our little angel sat down, ate his lunch and was super quiet (except for the one time he hit his head on the corner of the table) saying please and thank you doing his signing and he was just so good! We came home from eating lunch and he slept in his bed for a nap without any problems. It rocked! We'll see how tonight goes.

My baby boy needs a big boy bed ;(

I can't believe my tiny little yummy baby boy is going to need a big boy bed soon. The other morning I went in there to see two of his limbs sticking out of the bars because he is just BUSTING out at the seems in that crib! So on to a toddler bed I guess. I think I'll look on Criagslist to find one. I'm sure we can find something affordable and in good condition there.

For Christmas, Ben got me a rotary material cutter and a self-healing cutting board (Didn't he do a good job? I thought so!). I have decided to make Pauly a quilt - along with a pillow sham for his big boy bed. I think I'll make it really similar to this crazy Dr. Seuss quilt minus the Dr. Seuss character. It seems like that would be easy and still turn out really fun and colorful. This quilt is on found on Pottery Barn Kid's website

I'll keep you posted on my progress on the quilt. I'm super excited to get started! I have quite a few different kinds of material already and I think I only need one or two more from JoAnn's. It shouldn't take me long!

Did you ever?

Did you ever see someone in so much pain - maybe a loved one or maybe even a stranger, maybe it was an illness, a financial hardship or maybe even a family tragedy. And you wished that you could make things work out for them and fix everything, make things all better - so that the next morning when that person woke up it was all over and they could just breathe again and they could live their life as usual and not worry or stress.

These type of situations have been arising in my life with some of my loved ones- and I wish that there was some power I possessed so that I could fix their problems. Then of course the holy spirit chimes in and says - I'm here for them - all they have to do is ask. I'm not saying that bad things haven't happened to me and I know it is probably terrible for me to look at these situations and FINALLY realize how fortunate I am... but I do and it does help me to realize how blessed we are and just to realize that I don't have to worry about the stress of fixing these situations for these people... I don't even have to worry about fixing things in my life MYSELF - I just have to rely on Christ - He has all in his hands and he has a plan if we just listen.

Today Pauly was eating his lunch (the regular chicken breasts and green beans - Pauly is almost always eating chicken and some form of veggie. He is my Chicken and Veggie Machine :) We were rocking out to the radio, which is something we do daily! Anyways... a song came on KTSY called "Hope Now" By Addison Road. This song always bring me back - I Heart!

Lyrics to "Hope Now" by Addison Road -
If everything comes down to love
Then just what am I afraid of
When I call out Your name
Something inside awakes in my soul
How quickly I forget I'm Yours
I'm not my own
I've been carried by
You All my life
Everything rides on hope now
Everything rides on faith somehow
When the world has broken me down
Your love sets me free
When my life is like a storm
Rising waters all I want is the shore
You say I'll be ok and Make it through the rain
You are my shelter from the storm
Everything rides on hope now
You've become my hearts desire
I will sing Your praises higher
Cause Your love sets me free

A Very Melton Christmas and Happy New Year!

'Twas a beautiful Christmas in the Melton household,

Twinkly lights on the Christmas Tree - "Don't touch!" mama did scold.

The stockings were hung by mama with care,

Filled with surprises and sweet treats - "Don't peak - don't you dare!"

Granny, Grandad and Uncle Ben were nestled all snug in their beds,

While Pauly was dreaming and comfy in his new threads.

And daddy with his nose in a book,

Little mama observing, taking one last peering look,

Gifts graced the bottom of the tree all a scatter,

While snowflakes were falling outside - to the ground they did flatter,

A great feast was planned for tomorrow's big bash,

There will be pies, ham with yummy potatoes ala mash,

All woke Christmas morning with happy good cheer,

Beautiful gifts for all! So shed not a tear,

Time to call Mimi and Papa and thank them for all,

Sisters, Grandmas and Grandpas we made sure to call.

The next few days we waited and paced,

Finally the door bell rang to the back door we raced,

The Southards had arrived to help bring in the New Year,

We're so thankful to have our beautiful family here,

Playing games, taking pictures and staying up late,

laughing and crying and taking note of 2008.

Here comes the New Year - Can you believe it's '09?

Tacos for everyone! All night we shall dine!

God bless all that we love here and a far

We love you more than the moon and the counts of the star!

an update of sorts...

Well as always I have a lot of catching up to do! So frustrated with this
darn computer situation. So still the same our computer needs fixed and
the one we borrowed does not let me work on my blog :( So sad!
Because I totally am raring to work on this darn thing and
can't even change my background of anything... and this doesn't
have anything to do with my blog but someone stole my bike!
JERKS! I'm so bummed out! I loved my bike!
No... I hadn't rode it in years but whatever.
JERKS! I think Pauly and I will go for a drive and go look for it...
Someone has it around here I bet. Someone who was walking by
and saw we just keep stuff under our little carport
(No where else to put it!) GOD please send me a garage with my
beautiful green cruiser bike with the precious little basket my
husband bought me for Christmas! Really I've been a good girl!!

Well I haven't updated since just after Halloween!
Well Thanksgiving was awesome! Everyone came!
I felt so spoiled to have both of my sissies at my house
with all my
nieces and nephew and Mimi and Papa... okay okay my
brother-in-laws too! :) We had Thanksgiving dinner at
Aunt Louise's and Uncle Brad's and it was awesome because
Amuma and Papa came from Nevada we're so spoiled!!
We had a great time playing card games and such.

ILoveTheSnow!ILoveTheSnow!ILoveTheSnow!

So now Christmas time is here and I am loving it!
My boy is so adorable walking around... swinging his arms
while he walks because he is just that cool!
He is so precious and I love him so! right now he is
tugging at my shirt and crying so I better close.
I'll write again soon after Christmas and give that
update and hopefully we'll figure out this computer stuff...
Christmas from the Meltons!

Fall has officially arrived!

I love fall it is definitely my favorite season! Although a few weeks ago

Pauly and I woke up to snow that we just had to go and play in -

but that melted away in a day and now we still have fall - THANK GOD!

For the past month I have been fighting with a broken computer and now

we have borrowed a lab top from a friend and it doesn't

allow me to work on my blog from it.

So - luckily we are at Mimi's and Papa's this weekend for fun

and Mimi's lab top lets me work on my blog a little.

Hopefully soon things will be back to normal! Halloween was fun!

We went trick or treating with Aunt CC and Uncle Tenny and Carti too...

Pauly was a little lion and was adorable!!

Hopefully I'll have pictures of that up soon!

Happy Happy Birthday Baby!!!

As most of you know Pauly turned 1 year old on September 6th!

We had a small little party with just family and had a great time!!
The header pictures are from the party.
There are also more pictures following this entry.
He had previously got some gift certificates to Baskin Robins
from his Auntie Holly so that is where we went to get the cake.
It was delicious and Pauly got to eat his own piece all by himself!
Then I made him and Anastasie little hats for the occasion that
they wore. Paul's was a sailboat and Anastasie's was flowers.
He got a cookie jar shape toy from his Granny and 30 blue and
yellow balloons and a little red wagon from Mimi and Papa.
Then Mama and Daddy got him a train set and Anastasie, Uncle Brad
and Aunt Louise brought him a camouflaged shirt and a little stuffed bird
that makes a sound (Daphnie loves it ;) Amuma and Papa sent him
an outfit that is adorable and perfect and his best bud Phoebe brought
him a little sign for his door that says 'Pauly' on it and some blocks.
He got phones calls from everyone that couldn't make it including
his favorite Auntie Kelly who he is on the phone with below.
Turned out to be a pretty perfect birthday 1st birthday for him!
Enjoy the pics :) !!

Then Auntie Kelly came to town...

Pauly's Auntie Kelly (on the left - isn't she beautiful) came to town a couple weeks ago! All the way from Homer, AK. She brought Pauly's cousins LeaAnn and Nathan. We had so much fun! We visited and visited and visited! We went to the horse races and Pauly got to spend lots of time with them! Lucky Nathan got to stay for an extra week and we went swimming and went to the Western Idaho Fair (Nathan had a lot of fun petting the animals :) Okay, okay, it was mostly for Pauly, Granny & Grandad and me :) But we had a blast and we are so thankful they came to visit. Here are just a couple pics... WE LOVE YOU GUYS! and THANK YOU FOR COMING TO SEE US!!!!!!!

I love taking pictures!

Here are a few of here and there that have turned out good. So what... I can't stop taking pictures of my kid and nieces and nephew - Don't blame me! They're precious! (I didn't take this one of Bailey but I cropped it and turned it b/w - So awesome!) She's beautiful just like her mama :)

Summarizing Summer Fun So Far!

Well I've fallen out of the practice of updating the blog so bare with me while I get back in the swing of it. I have lots of fun pictures to share about our first summer with our little guy.

This first picture is one of Pauly and Daddy sitting at our good friends Patrick and Heather's house. We spent the 4th of July with them. When mama needed a breather daddy took Pauly and sat him up on the counter and there he sat with his arm around his daddy for at least an hour and a half. It was precious! Thanks Heather and Patrick for a great 1st 4th of July with our little guy. You two are great hosts!

Then off we went up to Camp Morrison for a week. It was a lot of fun and we got to meet new people and go for nature walks. Here is Pauly wearing his Daddy's head lamp. We did a lot of interesting things to help our day pass. This is a picture of Ben and Pauly sitting outside our cabin at Boy Scout Camp. It was a really beautiful location and was very close to the Payette Lake.

Once we got home we had to figure out a way to get cooled off. So off we went to Ivy Wild and this was Pauly's first time swimming. He loved it and now when we go swimming he scrunches up his face and acts like he wants to put his head under the water. (His father taught him how to breathe out when he goes under water, it is so cute!!)
A regular hot summer day at home with mama has usually been consisting of waking up at about 8 a.m. where Pauly lounges around and eats and plays for a couple hours. Then if it is a warm day we put out the tarp on the front lawn and Pauly plays on the tarp in the blow up elephant sprinkler with his bath toys! It is a nice way to cool off and mama usually gets great pictures of her little monster! Then lunch and nap time for a few hours then (on the perfect day) he wakes up to his daddy just getting home from a hard day's work and the play time begins again!

Lots to catch up on!

I'll soon get back in the swing of updating this weekly or atleast more than I do now :)

Uncle Raul got married!!!

Well I have a lot of catching up to do. It has been quite a while since I posted last. Late June we went to Portland for (our friends) Raul and Carmen's wedding. Ben and Raul are best friends and Ben was Raul's Best Man in the wedding. Below are some pictures of us from the wedding.

My Boys are so handsome!

Granny and Grandad live in my town!

Yep! Granny and Grandad MOVED TO BOISE!!! (Ben's mom is Lena and her husband is named Ben... that is right she married a Ben... it is a little confusing but fun! :) Last weekend we waited and waited for them to arrive and finally on Sunday afternoon they got here! We are so thankful they live in our same town and we are loving every minute of it! Pauly went right to them as if he knew just who they were. He loves on them so sweetly, it is really precious. He especially loves to play with Granny's earrings and when Grandad popped his teeth out at him, he was amazed! It was hysterical!

Playing around!

Pauly was playing around in his walker the other day and I was doing my regular cleaning and I ran onto these goggles that Anastasie gave him and I put them on him. Doesn't he look like the perfect little ski bum?
Then we were playing outside and I wanted to finish up some pictures on my film and I got this one of Pauly and Dapher-doo.

Hansen Family came for brunch!

A couple weekends ago the Hansen Family came to visit and had brunch with us. Pauly got to play with one of his best girls, Alandra. Pauly was born only 6 days before Alandra came along. Aren't they precious playing together? They are quite the pair! Teresa (Alandra's mama) and I are realizing our days are numbered as far as how many we have left before these two are cruising to go get into stuff! Jeesh, we don't even want to think about it!

Thanks Nelle!

Just wanted to give my cousin Janelle a shout out "Thank you" for helping me with my blog! Don't you love the new background?!

Cousins, Family and Fun!!!

Last weekend we had a house full!!! Everyone came to visit because our sweet Aubrey Catherine graduated from High School! Yay Aubrey! We love you!

To get the weekend off - Jodi, Bailey and Birch flew in from Spokane, WA.Then Mimi, Papa, Casi and Carti came in from Howe, Idaho.

Then we had Amuma and Papa Paul & Aunt Tammy and Uncle Mike in from Lovelock, NV.We got some wonderful pictures and had a great time... chasing kids.

Happy Birthday Hadley and Macarti!

Happy Birthday you two little precious sweethearts! We all love you so much! (Aren't they stylin' chics! Their hair cracks me up! And see Grandma Pattie in the background... this was at church over Mother's Day) Hadley, do you like cake?xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo
Carti Cart Cart!!! Very serious!
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

Jump! Jump! Jump!

The other day I was cleaning and I thought it would be nice to put Pauly in his little Jumper he got from his Auntie Roo and cousins Jacob and Joey. He loved it! He jumped for a long time so I thought I better capture the fun he was having in a few pictures so I sat down in the hallway ready to take pictures of him and Daphnie kept getting in my way - so I just would asking her to sit down and every time I said "Daphnie! SIT DOWN!" He just started laughing hysterically. It was so funny! He had so much fun jumping!

Pauly and Phoebe!

This is Pauly with his new girlly friend Phoebe. She is 4 months younger than Pauly and they love to hang out! (Well their mothers make them but anyways...) Isn't she precious :) Below also there is a picture of her and her mom - Heather. We met through Ben's work and we have bunches of fun together.
Priceless...