What a week!!

This past week was filled with so many wonderful memories. I wanted to be sure I wrote them all down. It all started with my brother Garrett returning from his mission on December 21st. He was serving in the Santa Rosa California mission and did a wonderful job there. I am so proud of him and his example. This is a picture of him and Marlee at the airport.


Then came Christmas, which we spent up in Holbrook. This was Marlee's first Christmas but since she is only 3 months old we let her sleep and we opened her presents. She got this Bumbo from her Nana and Papa. Doesn't she look so stinkin cute in this chair.

The Saturday after Christmas is one day I'll never forget. One of the presents I gave Roy was the work all done for his Father and Grandfather to be baptized. You see, my mom had already reserved a time slot in the temple to do baptisms for the day after Christmas and when she told me we where going, I thought what better time to get this done. Roy and I have talked about it before but never did it. It was an amazing experience. My dad was the one doing the baptizing. So to see Roy be baptized for his Father and Grandfather was amazing. You could feel the spirit so strong. There was not a dry eye in the room. I am so excited to do more work for his family.

The day after Christmas was also Marlee's 3 month birthday. Here she is all dressed up to do family pictures. My mom's whole side of the family was in Holbrook for my brothers report and for Marlee's blessing so just jumped at the chance to take a family picture. It has been a very long time since everyone has been home and it was great to see everybody. I can't wait to see how the pictures turned out.

Now to Sunday!! Sunday my brother talked in church about his mission. It was an amazing talk. I loved listening to him talk and to feel of his spirit. He has grown so much, not just physically but spiritually too. Again, I am so proud of him and the work that he has done. I know he has touched many lives. Sunday was also Marlee's blessing day. She is now on the records of the church. I think we had one of the biggest circles for a baby's blessing and I have to tell you why. All week I talked to different people about how we should go about inviting people to stand in the circle because we were going to have so many people there. Well my Uncle Stuart gave the best answer. He said, "The more the better." The way he sees it is the more people standing in the circle, is the more people that will be supporting Marlee in her life and you can never have to much support. After he said that, I wanted every one that could in that circle. SO we had Roy, my dad, my 2 brothers (Lance and Garrett), Grandpa Foutz, my Uncles Brent, Jason, Jeremy, Scott, Stuart, and John, then also my cousins, Terril and Brian. Oh and Bishop Stuart. It was so great to see them all in a circle with there hands supporting my little girl. Roy also gave a very beautiful blessing and I am so grateful for him.

The picture below is Marlee in her blessing dress. My Aunt Mel took pictures of her as well after church and I can't wait to see those pictures. Thanks Mel!!

I hope I'm not forgetting anything but that was a Christmas week in a nut shell!!

Merry Christmas!!

I had to post pictures of Marlee's outfit that she wore to church today. Her Aunt Tess got her this shirt that says, " The best things come in small packages" and of course Nana had to make her a skirt that goes with it. This first picture displays her angel look! ha

And in this picture she is saying no more pictures mom!! haha

Dr. Appt

She is the happiest baby!!

Marlee had her 2 month check up and shots yesterday. She weighs in at 10lbs 15 oz and is 24 inches long. So basically she is a long skinny baby. She also got her shots. Poor thing, the moment the Doctor stuck her, her face turned all shades of red and she started screaming. It was so sad. She cried for a good 5 minutes in the Doctors office. But after that she calmed down and was pretty much fine. You could tell her legs were a little sore but other than that she was still a happy baby.

2 Months Old and Thanksgiving

The last couple of weeks have been exciting. Our family went up to Holbrook to throw my dad a 50th surprise party. It was awesome and he was totally surprised. Marlee and I got to stay the whole week with my family while Roy drove back to the Valley for a few days of work then came back to Holbrook for Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving day marked Marlee's 2 month birthday and here is a picture to show for it. She is the happiest little girl. She really only cries when she is hungry and I'm not fast enough. Other than that it is mostly smiles.

This is our family picture on Thanksgiving. Marlee was not cooperating with the camera.

Also a little update about school. I finally got expected into Nursing School. It only took 2 years!! I'll be going part time which I'm am really grateful for because I did not want to leave Marlee all day for four days. This way I only go to school Mondays and Tuesday from 5:30 to 9:30. We will need to find someone to watch Marlee from about 4:30 to 7:00 because Roy will still be at work. But 5 hours a week with a babysitter is not bad. By the way if you are reading this and you are willing or know someone who is willing to watch her, call or email me. We would greatly appreciate it.

One month

I can't believe a month has already passed since giving birth to our little angel. Where has the time gone? I love each and every day with this little one. Every day is completely different. We have our good days and our bad days. Thankfully the good ones out weigh the bad ones. We had a little photo shot in honor of her one month birthday.

A couple of her likes:

She loves to take a bath
Getting her diaper changed
looking at the ceiling fan
she loves light, like looking outside
she likes her changing table, weird I know but every time I lay her down she is so happy.
her swing

2 week check-up

Marlee had her 2 week check up today. She is growing so much. She is 22 inches long and now weighs 8 lbs 9 oz. I was so surprised she weighed that much. When we went to the doctor a week and a half ago we weighed 7lbs 5 oz. So I was very happy that she gained as much as she did. Also here are a few pictures I have taken over the last couple of days.

5 Generations

This past weekend was an awesome weekend. We got to go visit my Great Grandma which is Marlee's Great Great Grandma. It was perfect because my grandparents were in town as well as my parents. So we have to jump on the opportunity to take pictures. So there you have it....5 Generations!!! What a blessing!

Marlee Zane Brandon

Marlee Zane Brandon

September 26, 2009

3 p.m.

7 lbs 11oz

21 inches

Sorry it has taken me so long to post something about the birth of our little girl. But I still adjusting to life with a newborn. Let me go ahead and write about little bit about the birth of Marlee. It all started Friday September 25th at 2 pm. I had gone to the bathroom and was washing my hands when I felt like I peed my pants. I remember thinking, there is no way I just peed my pants because I just went to the bathroom. So I go down stairs and was doing something in the kitchen when I felt it again. I called my mom and asked her if she ever experienced her water breaking and what did it feel like. She confirmed my thought that my water had broke. So I called Roy to let him know that I was calling the hospital to ask them what I should do. He said right then that he was coming home. I called the hospital and they wanted me to come in and they will check to see if my water actually broke.

Got to the hospital and sure enough my water did break. So they admitted us right them. By this time it was around 5 pm and I wasn't having any contraction. The nurse told me they would be starting me on pitocin. That started around 7 pm. The screen was showing that I was having small contractions but I still wasn't feeling them. So Roy and I just hung out. We played Uno, watched TV and then later I tried to get some sleep. They didn't start checking to see if I was dilated until about 11 pm, which at this point I was still only a 3. Through out the night my contractions were getting stronger and stronger and by 7 am I couldn't handle them any more. They were making me shake and throw up. So I got an epidural. When I got the epidural I was dilated to a 6. So I was making some progress.

Wow, once that epidural kicked in, I was in heaven. Those things are amazing!! So I tried to get some sleep since I didn't really sleep much with those contractions I was having. I think it was around 11 am the nurse was watching the charts and had noticed that with each contraction I was having Marlee's heart rate would go down. She was a little concerned so she called the doctor. She also said she couldn't turn up the pitocin because that would only make my contractions harder and if they are harder then it could put more stress on Marlee. Doctor said to turn off the pitocin and watch the heart rate with out it. Well once they turned off the pitocin, my contractions basically stopped. And of course Marlee's heart rate went back to normal.

The Doctor came in about 1 pm to talk to us. She said that because Marlee wasn't doing well with semi weak contractions, she is concerned that once I get into hard labor that she really won't do well. Also, I still wasn't dilating, I was still at a 6 at 1 pm. Then on top of that we were coming up to 24 hours of my water breaking. Which is a concern for infections. So with all of this on our plate, we decided together that a c-section would be the best thing.

After the Doctor left, I started to cry. I didn't want a c-section but I wanted what was best for our daughter. They started prepping me and we were in the operating room by 2:45pm. Marlee was out at exactly 3 pm.

We are so blessed to have Marlee here with us. She has brought so much happiness into our lives already. She is a really good baby, she eats and sleeps like a champion. Which I am so thankful for. She is really alert. My mom said she doesn't remember newborns being awake this much.

I can't believe I love something so much having only meet her a little over a week ago.

40 Weeks

Well this is me at 40 weeks!! Awesome right. We are getting ready to leave to go to the hospital to have an out patient induction. I guess they will gel my cervix which can induce labor. If nothing happen though we could be sent home. So lets hope it works! I just want to hold my little girl already.

Poll

I want to take a little poll on when people think Marlee will arrive. Her due date is September 23rd. To help you make the best decision let me to you have my Doctors appointment went on Friday.

Friday was the first time the Doctor checked to see if I was dilated. She said was completely closed but I was 50% effaced. She also told us they will not induce until after my 40 week mark but I will not go further than 41 weeks.

So now for your guesses.....

37 weeks

Yikes! Look how much I have grown! That's amazing. I was just telling Roy the other night, I don't feel big enough or uncomfortable enough to be considered full term. His words were, Oh yes you are! haha I just had to laugh. But now looking at this picture, I definately think I'm big enough. Anyways, we are plugging along just waiting for this little one to come and still hoping she comes on the 9th!! We shall see!! :)

SOLD

So all the puppies are sold! Yippie! We still have one here with us because a lady from Farmington New Mexico is going to pick him up on Saturday. But I don't mind because this puppy is super sweet. So no more worrying about having to deal with puppies and a newborn!!

PUPPIES

We have 4 puppies that need to go to a good home ASAP. They are 8 weeks old, AKC registered, already have their 1st shots, tails and dew claws are cut. I am getting nervous because I have 4 weeks til my due date and these puppies are still here. Please if you know any body that would be interested in buying one, give them my name and number. I would greatly appreciate it.


This first picture is of the little girl. She is black and tan with a little white patch on her chest. She is super sweet yet very playful. She is also very smart. Roy already taught her how to shake.
This is our tan boy. He looks just like Bella. He is our adventurous one. He is not afraid to go off on his own. He is also very quiet and patient.

This is the black and tan boy. He is exactly like Hersheys. Very Very playful!!

This is a white and tan girl. She is a cuddly thing. She loves to be near you. But also very playful and has a ton of energy.

34 weeks

That's right, I'm 34 weeks today. That's so crazy to me. It has gone by so fast. I had another doctors appointment today. Everything is great. Throughout this whole pregnancy I have only gained 4 pounds. That's just crazy to think about because look how big my belly is. But if I have things my way and little Marlee listens to her mom, we only have 4 more weeks. haha But it will be alright if she decides to come another day. :)

32 weeks

There it is....picture of me at 32 weeks. According to some people I have really popped. Which I do feel a lot bigger and the heart burn has definitely showed up. Things around here have been going good. We had our baby shower a couple of weeks ago, which we had an awesome turn out. Thank you for everyone that came!! I will be posting pictures as soon as I get them. You see I forgot to take pictures myself but my mother in law always has her camera with her. So as soon as I get those from her, I'll post them. Anyways only 8 weeks left but hopefully only 6 weeks ;) Scary!!!

The Nursery

The nursery is just about down. We are missing just a few things. Things like a rocker, some necessities and a baby. So what do you think? It's really pink huh? :)

My awesome mother in law bought this crib for us when we were only 6 weeks pregnant. Needless to say it's been in the garage for a while.

I tired to get a better picture of the curtains. They are pink with brown polka pots. They match the sheets. I just love them.

You can't see it to well but there are also white butterflies. I just painted a few brown to give it some contrast. The picture below is a little bit better.

28 weeks

Can you believe I am 28 weeks pregnant? I can't!! It is going by so fast. I had to take another picture to compare to 4 weeks ago. We got to have another ultrasound today because two weeks ago when we had an ultrasound it showed that my AFI was on the low side. So they sent me home and ordered me to drink a lot of water. Well I did just that and I almost double the amount of fluid. So that made us very happy. But our little Marlee is weighting in at 2 lbs 13 oz and is in the 64%. Whatever that means. I do have some bad news though. I took the glucose screening test this week and found out that I have to go back and take the 3 hour test. BOOOO!! Not looking forward to it. So if any wants to volunteer and keep me company, I would sure love it!!

I love this picture because it looks like she is sucking her thumb.

Puppies

Bella is a mom again. She had her puppies on Sunday starting at 12 am and finally finishing at 8:30. I was gone to a family reunion so Roy had the pleasure of being the midwife for Bella. She had 5 puppies. 2 of them are black, 2 are tan and 1 white one. There are 3 girls and 2 boys. Here are a few pictures of the cuties.

D-Backs Game

Roy's work paid for all their employees to go to the Diamondbacks game last night. The cool thing about the tickets they got was that it included all you can eat hot dogs, chips, popcorn, soda and water. If they wanted to bring any body with them they had to buy a ticket but it was only $27 and that included the all you can eat stuff too. So needless to say we got me a ticket and I went with him. This first picture is the food part. It was like a big buffet. You just help yourself to what ever when ever you want. It was really cool.

This is where our seats where at. Not to bad right?

She has a name

For some reason, I thought I had posted that we have finally decided on a name. But my friend Kay has brought it to my attention that I haven't. But yes we have decided on a name. It took a lot of going back and forth and going through several names but the one we decided on is..............

Marlee Zane

Roy one day got out of the shower was like, Do you like the name Marley. I said yeah I like it. He said yeah after Bob Marley. (which he is Jamaican and so is Roy, well half) He said lets name her that. At the time I thought it was cute but I wasn't set on that name for our little girl. I told him I would think about it. When I was thinking about it, I was like oh wait we could use Zane with Marley and that works good. I really wanted to use Zane because it is my Grandma McGee's middle name and I have always loved it. But it is a hard name to fit with other names so when it went with Marley I was excited. So a few more days of thinking about it, I was sold but I had to change the way I spelled it. So that's the story and we are stickin to it.

P.S. We will call her Marlee

Tutu for Marlee

So since I have plenty of time on my hands, I am trying to be more crafty. I saw a picture of a newborn and she was wearing one of these. I thought I need one for my little girl. So I did some searching online and found out how to make them. I bought the tulle off ebay for $2.00. And there you have it, a pink tutu for my little girl. Now all I need is the sewing machine my mom is going to let me borrow. Yippie!! I can't wait!

24 Weeks

So in honor of being 24 weeks, I decided it's finally time to post a picture of my belly. I think I'm getting huge but when people see me they think I'm still small. I had a doctors appt. a few weeks ago but there was nothing to report. ( It was one of those boring appts.) But we get to have another ultrasound on the 16th. I guess they will look at the development of the baby. I'm excited though, I can't wait to see my little girl again.

Bargain Shopper

Now that Roy and I are on one income we are trying to save money where we can. Like eating at home, Roy takes his lunch to work, etc. Well I went grocery shopping yesterday and for the first time ever I used coupons and shopped the sales at Fry's. As I was checking out the cashier was ringing up my groceries and I was looking at the total like, Oh my goodness I did not think I was spending this much. But at the very end, he scanned my Fry's card and then my coupons. My total was $88.02 and then it came down to $52.36. I was so super excited. I saved $35.66! Oh yeah bargain shopper! ha ha
Well the moral to this story is I want to be able to save money like that all the time if not save more. So I need your help. Do any of you have any good strategies, Internet sites, or ideas for coupons or just being a savvy shopper. Please comment or email me your ideas. It will be much appreciated.

All at Once

This week has been a very interesting one. It was finals week, which I couldn't wait for it to be over. But not only am I done with school now but I'm also done with work. Not by choice. The owner of my restaurant came in on Wednesday night to tell me they were letting me go. His reasoning: I was lazy, the staff had lost confidence in me and he felt I didn't want to be a manager anymore. If you know me and you have seen me work, I am not a lazy person. Yes at times I did sit but every manager does. And from what I am told, they sit more then I do. The owner was right on one thing and that is, I don't want to be a manager anymore. I was planning on quitting August 1st because I really disliked the place and the General Manager. But I guess I'll be done a little earlier than that. So I went from a extremely busy person with school and work to a completely open schedule. So call, email, or text me whenever because I'll be around. :)

20 Weeks

Today I am officially half way through my pregnancy. I can't believe how fast it has gone by. She is kicking a lot which is really exciting. It is the craziest feeling. I have felt her a couple times on the outside which I was really excited because I want Roy to be able to feel her. But it seems like whenever we are together she not kicking as much or as hard. So he can't feel it on the outside. But that's ok, soon enough I'm sure he'll be able to feel her. We are still thinking of names. We haven't agreed on any yet but that's ok, we still have enough time. If you have any ideas, throw them our way. I like really different names so don't be shy.

The wait is finally over!!!

So we have the news you have all been waiting for.....IT'S A GIRL!!! It was so cool to see her in the ultrasound. She kept her hands up by her face the whole time. Roy was also very cute, I think he asked the tech 3 times if she was sure it was a girl. She kept saying there is no hot dog just a hamburger. Here are a few pictures she put on a CD for us but she didn't get any on there proving its a girl. So I'll have to post some of those later.