A Shower for Karlee

On Sunday, Nikki and I had the pleasure of celebrating our friend Karlee and her baby girl that we are all so excited to meet.

Karlee is such a sweet, dear friend, who leads my ladies Bible study and whose husband, Jonathan, works with Daniel.  it is so great to have a friend whom our husbands are as close as we are!

The shower was a brunch, as that has been Karlee's main pregnancy craving.

We had a waffle bar with all the toppings, jalapeno deviled eggs, sausage balls, and cucumber sandwiches

Karlee likes hot air balloons, so we had a hot air balloon cake as well as a hot air balloon fruit tray with our muffins and cheese tray

Nikki did an amazing job decorating Chinese lanterns into hot air balloons!

Brittney rocked it out helping me with Xander when he got fussy and helping Nikki and I get the final touches wrapped up.  The two older girls had a blast in Nikki's pool during the shower.

We had a great group of ladies and children come out to shower Karlee and Baby Goeres with love

We were so glad Scarlett came out with her boys!

We had guests sign You Are Special as a guest book

Beautiful Harper

I love this picture!

We love you, Karlee!  Once Jonathan is home, we will be waiting with baited breath to meet Baby Goeres!!!

Karlee's shower marks the commencement of the Martin family being in full speed.  For the week leading up to the shower, Daniel was volunteering twelve hour days in the August Florida heat to help my school's playground build.  Though he came home exhausted every day, he absolutely loved it!  

This week was monumental for the Emerald Coast Autism Center in two ways.  Our playground was completed ahead of schedule to be absolutely breathtaking.  This week also marks one year since our ECAC family lost our beloved friend and therapist, Azel Hardy, in an utterly tragic act of violence.  I still think about him all the time, as his heart was like no other.  I cannot believe a year has passed since I saw his huge smile.  Heaven is a better place with his presence.  We love you, Azel.  You will always be remembered.

Beautiful Baptism

Sunday, August 21, 2016 was a beautiful day for the Martin family.

Both Daniel & Alexander were baptized

We celebrated the Martin men as children of God in our normal church service, the contemporary service at Trinity United Methodist.

It was really very special because Sterling Boykin, the minister who married Daniel & me in 2013, performed the baptism.

We were blessed to have both my parents come into town for the occasion.

We were also thrilled to have our friends Karlee and Lindsey join us.  Lindsey took Alexander's newborn photos, and she captured this special day for our family as well.  Her work is breathtaking!

Karlee had my camera and was snapping shots, too.  We did not want to forget this day!

After the service, we headed to brunch at Clemenzas.

It was a wonderful Sunday and I feel so lucky to have Alexander surrounded by people who will help him grow in Christ.

The weekend marked another milestone for Alexander- his first time out passed the breakers!  My dad and I took him to the beach on a pretty windy, wavy day.  Just like when I was a nugget, my dad took Xander out passed the breakers.  He was in awe of the waves and loved watching them approach and roll away.  He loves adventure!

Colorado Wrap-Up: Cliff Jumping

We continued our Colorado fun with more time outside.

We all went to the cliffs and had a blast in the water.

We set up a nice shady spot before getting in the chilly water

Colorado is so very beautiful

Daniel and GrandCracker jumped off the cliff and came down to splash us

Alexander loved watching them.  I am sure he will be jumping as soon as he is able to stand.


For our last day, we went for a hike.

As with the caves and the cliffs, the weather was absolutely perfect for us.

Again, the guys headed up for an adventure.  Even Jake climbed to the highest height, and then got scared to come down.  He made it down on his own, though.  He is so like Zoey I cannot believe it!  We were very sad that she wasn't with us.  She and Jake were best buds the last time they were together.

  !  .

That night, Steve, Sherry, and Daniel headed out to Cripple Creek to have some fun gambling.  Sherry was the big winner, rolling snake eyes with a dollar on it!  A thirty dollar roll!  She also won at Black Jack, coming home with an extra $50 in her pocket!

The trip home was not near as smooth as the trip out.  We took off at 6am, so we were all pretty tired when boarding the plane.
Xander was fine during takeoff and landing, but Psycho Pig paid a visit during the middle of the three hour flight from Colorado to Atlanta.  We were trying everything we could in our seat to calm him down, but nothing was working for more than a minute.  It got so bad, one of the flight attendants came and asked if she could try walking him up and down the aisle.  As SOON as he was out of the seat, he was quiet!  I proceeded to walk him up and down the aisle, knocking into people's legs and crowding the bathroom area, for the duration of the flight.  Each time I tried to hand him over to Daniel in the seat, the screaming would commence.  It was terrible, but everyone on the plane was so sweet about it.  I think they understood we were doing all we could (and most everyone had headphones-smart!).  Thank God he did great on the short flight from Atlanta to home.

Colorado was a trip to remember, and one to repeat.  Hopefully we'll be able to go back soon!

Eight Months Old with GrandCracker & Grandmomma

Happy Eight Months!  You are so loved!

Alexander turned Eight Months while we were in Colorado.  I cannot believe how fast time is going, despite being told this would happen by every parent I know.

GrandCracker got him a birthday cake

Needless to say, he loved it!  He was such a mess, he ended up having THREE baths this day.

GrandCracker also got him his own Radio Flyer classic wagon, and Xander could not have been more thrilled.

They took a ride down the driveway

After the thrill of the race ride, GrandCracker took Xander on a stroll all over the beautiful property of the house.  Xander's eyes were wide as he took in every flower, insect, and sight there was around him.

At eight months, Alexander
Eats 6 oz every 3 hours
Eats solids twice a day, but still prefers purees (he has begun hoarding food in his cheeks if it isn't pureed)
Scoots/ crawls backwards at school, but at home still prefers to flip to get around
Sleeps primarily through the night, going down between 7 and 8 and waking up to eat between 4 and 5 and then for the day between 5 and 6
Takes two or three naps a day, from 30 minutes to two hours, unless we're on the go, in which case he takes cat naps throughout the day
Loves to wave and high five and will clap when he's excited, but not on command
Loves singing and animals
Sleeps with his blanket
Still weighs about 20lbs
His little strawberry on his head is getting smaller already!
He can flip himself over and float!
Does not enjoy the survival swim skills, but still absolutely loves the water, both bath time and pool, ocean, lake, or open water time
He can clap, wave, and give high fives

Here's a link to our Colorado videos:
https://1drv.ms/f/s!AtrcL1k3aCIgpFb0BZbsHxrc-Aom
They were too big to attach

Continuing Colorado Fun- Meeting Aunt Robin

We made the most of our four days in Colorado!

We woke up early our second day and headed out to meet Aunt Robin.

Xander meets Aunt Robin

Robin lives in a great neighborhood on a huge plot of land in the mountains.

We walked around the neighborhood and I could definitely feel the altitude difference!

Xander meets a goat

Our trip to Robin's was fairly short, but it was so great to catch up and see the amazing set up she has.  Her neighborhood backs up to the park where she works!

Lovin' on Aunt Robin

He definitely got his beautiful strawberry blonde hair from her!

Walking the neighborhood

Xander meets his first snake

Brother and Sister with Little Man

The weather continued to amaze me, so we spent as much time outside as we possibly could.

When we got back from Robin's, we went to the cliffs.  I'm having trouble getting the pictures and video to upload, but will work on that this afternoon!

We are missing our Colorado family greatly already!