Mann Mania

Fall 2011

2012-01-12T21:39:00.001-05:00

Gabe and Karleigh make the storm door festive

Gabe had a book report on “Voyage of the Dawn Treader” – we got creative and made a Lego diorama

Karleigh was left by herself just a little too long with paints!

Pumpkin time!

Our annual trek to cut down a Christmas tree

Back in time…October 2011

2012-01-12T21:26:00.001-05:00

I’m a bit behind with my family updates. OOOPS! I came across some pictures today, though that I wanted to share. In October, we got away to Birmingham to visit the Roll Tide Godwins (yes, congrats are in order!). A good time was had by all – and here are some pictures to prove it.

a little static!

“I’m in hot pursuit!’Crafts with Aunt Michelle

Summer went too fast!

2011-08-08T09:24:00.001-04:00

The beginning of summer started off with a bang – my Dad got married. Compared to that, the rest hasn’t been quite as monumental, but we have had some fun family time!

Karleigh shows us how to shop!

I try out my JoJo sox

I love them!

My little girl turns 2

I realize we need a bigger pool!

We sadly remember 10 years have passed since

Christian’s mom went to Heaven

We went to a Braves game … sadly, it didn’t go as planned. We got rained out.

We got away to the beach for a week in July

Mommy & Daddy went OUT!!!

Chavi got a summer “do”

Karleigh’s hair is long enough for pigtails

August 8th, back to school. Myles 2nd grade and Gabe 5th grade

Fun in the sun!! With cousins!

2011-06-13T10:29:00.001-04:00

We had such a wonderful time seeing our family in Tampa and Orlando after Pappa’s wedding!

What a great way to start off the summer!

Blizzard Beach! Look at the poor little “lost children”

showing sis how to wield a water gun

If you needed Myles, Gabe or Noah … just check the pool!

Christi and Emily braved the boy-filled pool for awhile

Keith and Nathan know how to relax!

Christi found a cuddler!

I may not be able to hit the ball, but I sure look good!

they had to pick LSU colored balls

animal rescue mission

Ummm, girls, it’s summer!!

It is nice to “catch up”!

good one of Cindy and I – thanks Keith!

You’re doing WHAT in 30 days???

2011-06-10T23:15:00.001-04:00

Ha! I’m sure everyone in my family remembers what they were doing when they got that phone call! =) For those of you who don’t know … my 79 year old father just got married to his sweetie on May 28th. All of the Godwin clan was able to go down to Tampa to witness this special occasion. May Les and Debra have many years of marital bliss! Thanks to Dad for always showing us kids (and grandkids) your unconditional love and giving us an amazing example of Godly marriage.

yep … that’s just the Godwins taking up that side of the church!

“smelling” her flowers

too close to home …

2011-04-30T09:46:00.001-04:00

Friends and family, I just have to give praise and thanks to God for His protection this past Wednesday! I have been through some pretty severe storms in my 34 years…and 11 months ago I was typing a blog entry about a horrible storm that knocked a tree on our house and took out 2 other trees in our yard. But nothing has compared to the 5 waves of storms that ripped through our county on April 27th. It started around 9am. We had a tornado touch down in the Georgetown area (about 10 miles from my house). At that point the EMA put out warnings that we were in for WORSE storms in a few hours and around 11:30am all parents were called to pick their children up from school. I had to work from 7a-7p so I picked the kids up and then Christian came and got them from me around 12:30. This was the biggest break in between storms that we would have all day. From 3pm-11:30pm a severe cell of storms would hit about every 2 hours. Each bringing quarter sized to golf ball sized hail and winds up to 190 mph. We had a total of 6 tornados in Bradley County (one F2 and one F4) . According to the EMA yesterday “As of today's damage assessments, we are up to more than 260 homes completely destroyed in Bradley County. That means wiped out, down to the slab foundations. And this with many areas still to check.” Unbelievable!! That is 260 families that have lost everything – and that is just in my county….this horrible storm made a path of destruction through Alabama, Georgia and Tennessee! In all, 9 people lost their lives in our county that day from 3 months old to age 81. As for our family, obviously we are fine! We didn’t even lose power! We had a few limbs down in the yard, one fell on our trailer and broke the hitch, our satellite was blown off the roof, but NOTHING in comparison to areas that were hit within 2-3 miles of our house!

tornado above Bowater paper plant (right by Christian’s school)

This used to be 6 houses – now there is 1 barely standing

cars still parked in basement garage where family was huddling during storm. House was lifted from over them and moved back about 30 feet off it’s foundation! They are alive!!

another subdivision leveled

house gone and trees broken like match sticks

There will be no school all next week as our community pulls together to clean up and recover what they can.

We are so thankful!

A Mighty Fortress is our God!!

fuson shower

2011-04-15T21:40:00.001-04:00

Bundle Of Pink Baby Shower Invitation

Personalized bridal shower invitations at Shutterfly.com.

View the entire collection of cards.

disney thank you

2011-02-23T08:52:00.001-05:00

Cheerful Stripes Thank You 5x7 folded card

Shutterfly offers custom St. Patrick's Day cards.

View the entire collection of cards.

holy snow batman

2011-01-10T10:02:00.001-05:00

Oh my goodness! I have never seen so much snowfall! We have 8 1/2 inches of the beautiful white stuff this morning. So far all is well – no loss of power, etc. Thanks goodness I didn’t have to work today. I feel bad for the nurses and other rescue people who do have to work… I checked with my ladies at work and they all got there safely. Ben, let’s see some pics of what you guys got in Bama! =) Here are some pics for my more southern family, who only got rain.

Gabe and I were out pretty early checking it out

Read the ruler … 8 1/2 inches baby!!

back steps

to the right of the tree is a flower pot almost buried completely

My house looks prettier with snow on it

Christmas 2010 in Tampa

2011-01-04T14:06:00.001-05:00

Here are some pictures from our Godwin family time in Tampa. I did not get any group shots ... I'm not sure what I was doing then - maybe pulling a child out of the pool??? =) It was wonderful to see everyone and catch-up! I bet Pappa is enjoying a little peace and quiet - at least for this week - then he might be ready for company again. My family is going down in the beginning of February to visit Dad and Disney - yippee!!

Cousins having fun!

Myles takes killing bad guys very seriously

One of the marble showdowns

oh my goodness - how did he get so old???

at least he's not THIS old yet =)

pretty Christi!

a checker duel

is Gabe cheating???

best hairdo award goes to ... Katherine!

Piano recital 12/9/10

2011-01-02T19:16:00.000-05:00

This was Myles' first semester of piano lessons and his first recital! We were very proud of his progress in such a short time! And by the look on his face, I think he's proud of himself.

Gabe has been playing for 3 years and has advanced way past my limited ability to help him. His piece was super easy ... he chose one of his favorites to play for the recital... instead of one of his more complicated songs. Sorry for the poor camera work on this one .... Karleigh was "helping" me. And I only got part of Gabe's song because I was chasing little miss ...

Look out trees, we have a saw and we're prepared to use it

2010-12-16T12:21:00.000-05:00

The Saturday after Thanksgiving we meandered up to Calhoun, TN to cut down our Christmas tree.

It was a beautiful, crisp winter day. We were careful to not choose one that was too tall - we did that last year and Christian had to butcher it. And by December 15th we had a dead tree ...

So, we chose a nicely shaped 8 footer.

Boo!

This is THE one!

Karleigh feeling an evergreen

Bigest bro and little sis riding the cow train.

decorating fun

Karleigh did her part ... unpacking the decorations

Its Christmas!!

2010-12-14T22:44:00.001-05:00

Count Your Blessings Christmas 5x7 folded card

Personalize your Christmas cards at Shutterfly.

View the entire collection of cards.

Thanksgiving

2010-12-02T10:34:00.001-05:00

We Are Thankful Fall Greeting

Unique party invitations and announcements by Shutterfly.

View the entire collection of cards.

Dress up fun!

2010-11-11T09:13:00.000-05:00

Karleigh trying to figure out how she was going to carry her treat bag. And her pigtails stayed in ALL night!

I'd run from them too, Karleigh =)

Aw - I love those bag o' bones!

Myles proving that I wasted my money on the mask! His face is better!

Their costumes are actually PJs with glow-in-the-dark bones - super cute.

Fall in Tennessee

2010-11-11T09:00:00.000-05:00

We were blessed to have some Lee students come to our house and offer to help with yard chores for a service project! They swept our garage, helped us plant a tree, and played football in the yard with the boys. Yay! With the fall weather that has set in we have been enjoying the good ol' outdoors! We have planted 2 maple trees to replace the ones we lost to the storm in May. My industrious hubby hung our bikes from the ceiling in the garage to make more room. =) OK - I couldn't get the pictures in the order I wanted, Blogger is messing up, so bear with me.

planning the landscaping

Our neighbor saw them doing this ...

and he brought over THIS and dug the hole for them!

Finished - with river rock by drainspout.

One of our new maple trees with a hint of fall color (couple weeks ago) with a view of our street.

our day in Nashville

2010-09-23T20:09:00.000-04:00

The boys and Christian & I got away to Nashville last weekend for the LSU vs Vanderbilt football game. It was my first college game since 1996 when I visited FSU. It was Gabe and Myles first chance to see the tigers in action! They were super excited! We went to Nashville early so we could visit the Parthenon, which is a replica of the one in Athens that was built in 438BC. I am no history lover ... but it WAS actually interesting, and yes, Christian, it was educational for the boys. =)

Those tiny people are Gabe & Myles =)

Cool tiger-eye logo on a truck

Myles was a LITTLE enthusiatic

Karleigh is not pictured because she stayed at home with a babysitter - she would

have been completely bored - she's not into football ... YET!

one of those days ...

2010-08-10T16:03:00.000-04:00

This will not be my typical post ... no pictures of the family and musings about what we've been doing. Today, I miss my mom! For those of you that have lost a loved one, you know that it will hit you in waves that they are indeed gone. One day you are doing fine and then the next, (wham!) overwhelming loss and all you can think about is that someone. The boys started back at school today. Maybe that was what started my mind down the path. As always, the first day of school was bittersweet. When we stopped to get the mail, I remembered a story Mom told me years ago. I had asked her what the worst thing she had done as a child. She recalled that she once found a dead snake and put it in her elderly neighbor's mailbox to scare her. I, of course, though that was hilarious, and apparently, so did Myles when I told him. What do you think I found in the mailbox the next time I opened it? At least it was a fake one and not this one:

She came to my mind again when Myles and I were making Nestle Toll House Chocolate chip cookies and he kept robbing the batter. How many times did I "help" Mom make cookies only to decrease the batch by half from all the batter I'd eat? God bless her, she never got angry with me, or at least she didn't let it show. That was the only part of the kitchen I had any interest in when I lived at home ... making chocolate chip cookies ... oh, the cooking wisdom I missed out on!

I just want to remind everyone (IF anyone reads this) what a wonderfully patient, forgiving, loving, and unselfish lady of God my Mom was! And I KNOW that she is enjoying her reward right now!

I love you Mom, love J Baby

Karleigh's white trash moment

2010-07-23T11:15:00.000-04:00

Christian did some work in the yard (a dreaded chore around here) and he had Karleigh outside with him. She got filthy dirty and I came home from work to find her covered in dirt. She wanted me to hold her, which I couldn't do with her so muddy, so I took off her clothes down to her diaper. Then, miss Karleigh wanted down to walk in the yard, shoeless and in a diaper (thus, white trash baby!)

She proceeded to walk to the swing set and cry to be put in the swing - she knew what she wanted!

That's what I wanted! =)

Yucky baby!! But still irresistible!

cousin time

2010-07-19T11:56:00.000-04:00

We got to spend some time with Ben, Michelle, and Noah last week. Nathan and Emily were at a church camp, so they were not with us. The kids got to play at a park in downtown Chattanooga that has a carousel and a water fountain for playing in. I'm mad at myself that I didn't get a group shot including the parents ... next time!

Noah posing like a pro!

Karleigh and Daddy

she was quite intrigued!

Noah knew what to do =)

Noah being a helper! notice Karleigh is chewing on her shoe, lovely!

Our new nephew/cousin!

2010-07-19T11:35:00.000-04:00

Jeremy & Ruth had a new baby on July 11th - while we were driving back from Florida! Boo - I missed it! We all piled up in the hospital room after we got home to Cleveland to meet our newest family member. Poor Ruth! =) We are going to have to snuggle him alot in the next 2 weeks because they are moving to Maine the beginning of August. Welcome Gideon Daniel Mann, 8lbs 5oz.

Myles and Gabe LOVE babies! They both complain about Karleigh

growing up and not being able to cuddle with her.

Ahhh vacation!

2010-07-19T11:26:00.000-04:00

We got away to Fort Walton Beach, FL for a week long vacation. It was so relaxing and fun!

We did see tar balls and did get some oil residue on us from the ocean (eww), so we decided to play mostly in the pool. We went with the Lyons, good family friends. The kids were marvelous entertainment for each other, giving the parents some down time. Yay!

Here is Gabe posing ... And Myles scouring for who-knows-what with a net.

Our 3 blessings!

This is Karleigh's new scrunched nose grin ... you'll see it alot.

Her first beach day - she had her own tide pool to play in

How Karleigh "rolls" in the car

Our great friends - the Lyons!

Karleigh is ONE

2010-06-15T11:38:00.000-04:00

June 11th was Karleigh's big one year birthday! Wow - what a FAST year! Right now she is walking everywhere, squealing very loud and very high-pitched (ugh!) for things that she likes and dislikes, saying "ouch" when she plops down on her diaper, and babbling wholeheartedly to anyone who'll listen. She really was the easiest baby ever! She is now letting her opinions be known with the aforementioned high-pitched squealing ... I'm ready for her to talk. But she is so much fun. Here are some pictures of her birthday.

BTW, I had to blow out the candle a milisecond before she tried to grab it with her fingers =)

before

after (mmm I'll have another)

We got her a baby doll - which to my knowledge she has never played with, but this girl KNEW what to do!! It was adorable! She hugged on it and carried it around like a little mommy.

We weathered the storm

2010-05-31T16:44:00.000-04:00

On Friday we had a serious thunderstorm! All the family was home and enjoying a lazy summer afternoon watching a movie when we heard hail hitting the roof. The power flickered off so we lost our entertainment. We then proceeded to watch the storm pass through our huge triple window in the living room. In hind sight, we should not have been by a window, but we were nonetheless! It was by far the worst storm I've lived thorugh in my 17 years living here. It reminded me of a hurricane, though it didn't last nearly as long. We had gusts of wind 60-70mph and dime to quarter-sized hail. About 5-7 minutes after the heavy winds started we watched as a huge top portion of a 150ft tall tree in our front yard fell and hit our roof. Christian ran upstairs to make sure it didn't go through the roof or break any windows. Karleigh was sleeping in her room upstairs! Thankfully it did not breech the roof! About 3-5 minutes later, Christian saw lightning strike this same tree! We all heard it - it sounded like an explosion! You can see where the lightning blew pieces of the tunk off all the way down in a streak.

All the while we were praying for safety, especially from the tree in the back yard, a pine that had been struck by lightning years before we moved in.

This pine, about 120 ft tall, ended up losing its tip also to the gusts of wind!

Here is our front yard in the aftermath ... and to give you perspective on the top of the tree that hit the house, my guys are standing on the fallen portion!

So, I guess you know what we got to do over the long weekend ... clean up our pitiful yard! We were blessed to have some help from a friend, a brother, and a neighbor (who knows how to use a chainsaw!!) We are SO thankful that God protected us and our home during this fluke storm!!

Sometimes my kids crack me up!

2010-05-20T08:58:00.000-04:00

Gabe and Myles love to watch nature shows. This is a win, win situation for me - they don't pick up on all the rude and crude behavior that cartoons portray (have you watched any lately??) AND they are learning something in the process! Woo hoo! One of their favorites is Austin Stevens Adventures. Austin is a "snake master" and that is his area of expertise, but he also photographs all diferent kinds of animals. We've seen him playing paparazzi to elephants, vampire bats, hyenas, hippos, etc. The episodes are really fun!

Anyway, both of the boys think he is amazing, and Myles has said he wants to work for him some day. OK, enough of a back story ... so I got a new (awesome) digital camera for Christmas and I let the boys have the old one. I downloaded the pictures from it the other day and found these priceless pictures!!!

Myles Kindergarten graduation

2010-05-19T16:55:00.000-04:00

Myles has successfully passed kindergarten. I shouldn't act surprised, but

for those of you who know Myles, this was not a sure thing. Myles is such a

loving boy, loyal, helpful and so random that he cracks us up almost daily!

But this boy has tried my patience from day one, well at least from when he turned 2.

He does not sit still, doesn't know when to stop talking, and he is into everything - and usually breaks something in the process, just ask his GGma & GGpa! This in mind, I was a bit concerned how his behavior would affect his schooling. But at the end of the year we had the teacher complementing us on a fine young boy who was a joy to teach. And he made straight A's. Thank you Lord!!

Myles in his cap and gown with his big bro & little sis

Gabe was in a 50s song & dance number with his class - thus the slicked hair.

"¡Olé Olé Olé!"

2010-05-16T16:33:00.004-04:00

Gabe is playing soccer this spring. He has come a long way, especially with his ball dribbling and his running stamina. The first practice he was sucking wind hard!! One period into his last game it started pouring, but the kids kept going. In fact, they seemed to have more fun in the downpour! Thank God for Christian's huge golf umbrella - or Karleigh and I would not have been happy spectators.

he shoots ...

He scores!!!

Yay Gabe! HA! I just noticed all the other players in the pic are girls ...

way to Gabe, beat up on the girls!

He wants to play tackle football in the fall, Lord help me!

Look who's walking!

2010-05-15T10:26:00.005-04:00

This is our happy 11 month old Karleigh. She started taking steps about 2 weeks ago and now will make it about 6 or 7 before plunking down on her diaper padded bottom. She still little, 30th percentile for weight but 75th for height. Guess she takes after her daddy.

Proud of myself!

those eyes are even prettier in person

Myles spring sport

2010-05-15T10:16:00.002-04:00

Myles is having a blast playing baseball this year. He is such a natural athlete, it is so neat to watch! He is learning the fundamentals, i.e. don't play with dirt when someone is hitting a hard ball at you. He loves to play catcher and hits the ball with power, and his coach has overheard him talking trash to an opponent. Hahah!
Keep your eye on the ball!

Dressed out in his catchers gear

I think I'm going to frame this one and hang it in his room. Christian

has a good eye for pictures!

6 candles

2010-03-30T12:08:00.006-04:00

On March 25th Myles turned 6 years old. Wow!

We celebrated with 10 other kiddos at a local arcade that

has inflatables. They had a great time! Myles got to blow out some

trick candles - thanks to daddy.

Best friends since birth, Micah & Gabe

Tyler is SERIOUS about this

Good form Myles!
He is playing baseball this spring - he is doing really
well. He is so strong! He hits it to the outfield every time =)
He comes by that honestly, I guess.

Daddy & Karleigh time

I can't believe he's already 6. He is a great reader. Almost done with kindergarten!

Myles our resident fashion expert

2010-02-22T09:31:00.006-05:00

We have gotten quite a bit of snow in the last 2 months - this day we got 4-5 inches!

This is what it has looked like outside. And although the kids do enjoy playing
outside in the snow, it is only for a short time.

So, yesterday, when we finally saw the sun and 58 degrees ...
we felt like it was the middle of summer ! No kidding, we all were outside washing Christian's truck enjoying the natural vitamin D. Well, Myles was super excited to wear his new shorts. And this gem of an ensemble was what he picked out! It was too great not to share:

Yes, those are tan socks ... shield your eyes from the white legs!!!

I am pulling up on everything now!

And I love to eat! I am mastering picking up the food and getting it to my mouth.

Phew, that's hard work!

Valentine's getaway

2010-02-20T17:29:00.004-05:00

Christian and I got to go away for a night to Nashville last week sans kids!

We stayed at Gaylord Opryland Hotel, which has a strict speed limit ... ha!

Here we are enjoying the amazing indoor gardens there (and time with each other).

We went to see John Mayer in concert, too. He was awesome live!

Here are a few random pics of the kids:

That's my girl!

Karleigh is looking more and more like Myles these days. She turned 8 months old on the 11th.

She is pulling up on things and even letting go for a few seconds.

I am afraid we have another early walker on our hands - darn it! The gates are going up around the house as I type this =)

Visit to Tampa

2010-01-12T10:31:00.007-05:00

Pappa showing the younger generation how its done!

Gabe and Myles hanging out with Pappa at Lowry Park

Grandchild #14

Don't worry, this wasn't in Pappa's subdivision - it was at the zoo!

Myles petting a sting ray

touring the zoo

Christian trying some bball with nephew Will

Myles and cousin Matt had a blast together!

me with 2 of my bros (am I white or what?)

Karleigh hanging out at the park watching the bball fun

Christmas Day

2010-01-12T08:49:00.004-05:00

Star Wars battle gear

Merry 1st Christmas (she doesn't actually wave yet, I just caught her mid-movement)

My best present all year!

Gabe got some Bionicles

And a ridiculous automatic nerf gun, from the uncle who's in the Air Force =)

Myles being still ... everyone enjoy this moment, ahh!

Karleigh liked to tear and then EAT the paper. Fun, fun!

Our Annual Rock City adventure

2010-01-11T16:14:00.008-05:00

I am playing catch-up on the blog, sorry. I will try to fill you in on the last month of our lives. On Monday December 20th we took our annual rip to Rock City as a family (minus Karleigh because it was too cold for her up on Lookout Mountain). We went with some friends, the Caldwells, and our boys had such a great time enjoying all the Christmas Lights!

We got to decorate gingerbread cookies ... some got into it a little more than others ...

We look forward to this every year!

A Christmas tree hunting we will go

2009-12-03T09:51:00.010-05:00

Well, as per our Mann family tradition, we went to a tree farm and cut down our Christmas tree the day after Thanksgiving. OK, 2 days after since I had to work, but anyway. It was alot of fun. The kids really got into helping us choose one and wanted to help cut it down. They needed a little help from dad

They got to ride the cow train and we got free hot chocolate. Now, a cow train, for those of you not from hickville, are plastic barrels painted like cows pulled by a good ole' John Deere.

Now you know!!

It was a GORGEOUS sunny fall day! Our friends Tamara and & Ellis came along to help us document the occaision with his fabulous camera and eye for a great photo. I am hoping Santa brings me both of those for Christmas! Christian's dad(grandpa), brother and his family also got to come. Here are 2 of my favorite pictures of the cousins and Grandpa.

A few random pictures

2009-10-21T19:38:00.001-04:00

self-photography

One of Myles' lovely faces ...

Cuddlin' with big bro

I LOVE baby feet!! Why are they so darn cute??!

Randomness and Gabe's birthday splash

2009-08-30T19:52:00.006-04:00

I love that he's holding her, 4 toys and a paci!

Myles is so sweet with baby sister!

and they fight over her ... =)

Karleigh in her bumbo seat - so funny to see such a little peanut sitting!!

Gabe got an electric guitar from our family (thanks Pappa & Grandpa too)
He was so excited, he plays it until his poor fingers hurt too much to continue.

The crew at his pool party

Christian did a good job capturing Gabe blowing out the candles

I'm proud of the cake - see below for description

the boys wanted to help me put icing bathing suits on the teddy grahams

I started with a plain iced cake

Added a blue icing "pool" with my poor-man's decorator

lined the pool with chicklet gum "tiles"

and completed the pool scene with fruit roll-up beach towels, teddy graham swimmers and trolli "life preservers". We had as much fun making it as we did eating it! Happy 8th birthday Gabe!!

Karleigh on the big screen! (well, if you have one ...)

2009-08-19T21:10:00.006-04:00

Miss Karleigh weighed 10lbs 8oz at her checkup on Monday - which brings her up to 50th percentile (she was 25th at birth). I wanted you to be able to see how she is interacting now. It is so amazing how fast they change at this age! We are all enjoying her! I think the boys get the most enjoyment hearing her explosive bowel movements - potty humor goes a long way with them. =) I finally captured some smiles on camera ... at least on video. Tomorrow is Gabe's 8th birthday, but I probably won't post anything until his party on the 29th.

All Karleigh

2009-08-13T14:16:00.006-04:00

I seemed to have lost my touch in the quick-capture of an infant's smile ... here's 1/2!

So sweet - baby sis adoring big bro!

yummy

Karleigh is 2 months old!! Time is flying by. My tiny girl is finally getting some fat rolls. =) Now, if only mine were that cute ... You can't tell in the pictures but her eyes have lightened a bit to a brilliant blue - not the newborn, dull look anymore. They are so pretty. I wonder if they will stay blue or turn hazel like Gabe's did. She let's me sleep about 4-6 hours at night (though, I'm stil begging for more!) and then goes another 3-4 hours. She really is an easy baby! She is almost at the fun interacting stage, instead of the lay around and stare at things stage. I'm not sure how much she weighs - we have her 2 month checkup on the 16th. She is finally wearing 0-3 month clothes now instead of newborn.

She is starting to "talk" to toys, curtains, people ... pretty much anything.

"talking" to the camera

Myles' milestone

2009-08-13T11:17:00.005-04:00

No emergency or stressful parenting situation to blog about this week - thank God! This one is bittersweet, though. Myles is officially a kindegartner now! He had a half day yesterday and the lucky duck got another half day today because of a broken water main at school. He has not had much to say about the upcoming event, so I was a little worried he would be emotional or clingy. Well, that never happened. He was all smiles. I didn't even tear up. I did much better emotionally than I did on the day when Gabe started kindergarten ... does that mean I'll be shouting for joy by the time Karleigh goes? Ha! I did get a little teary when I picked them up from school and saw the handprints and sappy kindergartner's poem ... who wrote that anyway? It reminds me of I Will Love You Forever, I cannot read that book without completely choking up abouth halfway through! It has become a joke with my boys ... Gabe usually has to finish reading it because I'm sobbing and my reading is unintelligible. And I am NOT the emotional type. Anyway, it was a good day for all! Yay!

They insisted on this pose =)

happy Kindergartner

Our 3rd grader

Fort Walton Beach

2009-08-03T10:52:00.007-04:00

We were so glad to get away from Cleveland for a family trip to Fort Walton Beach, FL. It was the first time for Myles to play on a beach! Driving down was a little crowded in my Camry ... family of 5 in a midsize sedan = COZY. But we made it work - kudos to Christian for packing the trunk using every possible square inch of space! We really need a bigger vehicle. Someday ... The boys did well in the car for as little space as they had. They helped keep Karleigh entertained by playing air guitar and drums =)

Here are our kids and the Lyon kids enjoying lunch on the balcony

Myles relaxing ... wait, I thought that boy never sat still, well here is proof that he does occaisionally! You can see the view from our balcony - gorgeous!

Myles LOVED to dig in the sand - more than getting in the water

We could hardly get Gabe out of the water!

Random picture of Karleigh - I think she had just gotten a bath.

My sweet kids

I love how Karleigh is looking up at Myles in this one!

Grandpa Mann got to drive over for a couple days to spoil the grandkids!

We had such a great relaxing getaway. A nice recharge before the school year starts and I'm back to work! Christian is back to work officially on 7/31. Our kids start on 8/12 ... Myles first day of Kindergarten and Gabe is entering 3rd grade. What will Karleigh and I do around here without the boys? I'm sure we'll think of something! ;)

I choose to believe the report of the Lord!

2009-08-02T14:32:00.003-04:00

Well, readers, if you read my post about my harrowing day in July, I have one to top that! On Thursday I updated our CPU with a hand-me-down from Christian's dad - this one doesn;t have to think for ages before opening a window - its awesome! I put the old CPU behind my desk chair on the floor in the living room. Why? I have NO idea! Anyway the next morning, I was holding Karleigh and my cup of coffee (typical sight in the morning) and tripped over said discarded CPU. As I was falling Karleigh was propelled onto the tile floor in our foyer. Typing this makes me sick - replaying the scene in my head ... Anyway, I immediately knew she was hurt because of the force with which her head hit the tile. got in touch with my ped. as I was consoling her and putting an ice pack on her head. We took her to the ped who then sent her for an xray. Sure enough, the xray showed a fracture in the back of her tiny skull. Because of the potential for brain injury and internal bleeding we were sent to the hospital for observation and a CAT scan. At this point we called or texted everyone we knewto pray for our precious baby! And boy, did we get a prayer chain going around the southeast US ... it brings tears to my eyes, just typing this! After an agonizing wait (which really wasn't that long in hospital terms) we received a report of a negative CAT scan - which means no brain injury, no brain bleed AND no fracture seen!! WHAT??? Well, the radiologist tried to explain that the fracture was not visible due to the angle of the CAT scan and it taking pictures that slice every 5mm and the fracture just happened to be in between one of those 5mm slices ... well, I choose to believe the report of the Lord! My baby is perfect and has been healed by the Healer!! Honestly its harder for me to wrap my head around the complicated and highly conincidental "theory" than it is for me to believe that God answered the prayers of probably a hundred or more of His children being raised at the same time in agreement. I'll have you know ... I told my pediatrician that also ... I sound like Sylvia Godwin, don't I? Ha!! We are at home recovering from our traumatic Friday. Little miss Karleigh is acting completely normal for a 7 week old, eating, sleeping and pooping (loudly)! Please keep her in your prayers for the tender bump she has on her head.
Glory be to our amazing God!

I will try to post vacation pictures tomorrow =)

Karleigh is 1 month old ... well technically she has been for 5 days

2009-07-16T13:16:00.004-04:00

One month update:

Karleigh weighs a whopping 8lbs 4oz (still less then Myles at birth!) and is 22 1/4in.

She is sleeping a 4-6 hour stretch at night now- thank you God! I feel fairly rested now with 4 uninterrupted hours. Her new found skills are holding her head up for about 20 seconds at a time, cooing and smiling at anyone talking to her. She got a bath in her infant tub last night for the first time. I thought her umbilical cord was never going to fall off! She must have a gorgeous belly button lurking in there after hiding for 4 weeks.

Myles and Karleigh got to spend alot of time together while Daddy & Gabe were in Hawaii - Myles loves to hold her and make up songs to sing to her. So sweet!

Next week we are going to the beach for some family time! I can't wait. I will make sure to take alot of pictures ...

Scarriest parenting moment to date ...

2009-07-14T12:38:00.002-04:00

Well, I nearly had a heart attack 2 times last Saturday night. The first was on the way to Joel & Melanie's house. I was driving on N Lee Hwy, on the section that has 5 lanes (with turn lane in middle) and some retarded lady had stopped her truck in the turn lane and was chasing some unknown object in the road that had fallen off her truck. I almost hit her (a pedestrian!!!) because I was in the right lane and I couldn't see her because she was blocked by the car in the left lane ... who also almost hit her! Thank God when I SLAMMED on my brakes, I was able to stop before hitting her! OK, so adrenaline rush #1 of the night had occured. Now for #2: I made it to Joel & Melanie's in one piece and the adults had settled down to watch a movie while the kids, Micah, Daphne and Myles were outside playing. Micah came in for a few minutes to hold Karleigh and then he was off again to play outside. About 15 minutes later Mcah comes in with a look on his face that I cannot describe ... and says "Mom, (and the rest was almost unintelligible because he was so upset - but I got the gist of it) Daphne and Myles are stuck in Janna's trunk!" You have never seen 30-something adults run so fast - I popped my trunk and sure enough, Daphne and Myles were locked inside. Just typing this makes me nauseated! They were both beet red, soaked wet with sweat, (thank you God this did not happen during the hottest part of the day) and in shock! We hurried them inside and put cold water soaked towels on them and made them drink water - but they were both just staring off with this weird "in shock" stare for a few minutes! Pardon me while I hurl ... OK, anyway, we never have gotten an explanation as to WHY the 5 year olds decided to get in the trunk. We are just so thankful to God that their guardian angels kept them from what could have happened. How did I NOT have a heart attack that night, you may ask, and I would answer "I have no idea!" I didn't break down crying until the next day when I noticed my trunk of my car is bent on one side - from Myles using his legs to try to escape it! Another pause to puke!

This is what my trunk should look like

Notice the separation ...

Parents, learn from this horrible story, tell your kids about the dangers of being in a hot car and/or trunk, before it happens!

Enjoying the summer

2009-07-05T12:24:00.006-04:00

Here is a quick catch-up on what we've been doing this summer. We are so blessed to have a whole lot of family time this summer since Christian is off and I am off also due to Karleigh's birth. We have made some great memories with some family activities like: playing in the water Downtown Chattanooga. We LOVE going down there - there are so many fun family oriented things to do ... and alot are FREE (more important than usual right now!) Here are a few pics of the boys in the water.

Christian's dad was able to come up for a visit to meet his 4th grandchild. Here we are at church - Karleigh's first time!

Another free family thing ... Mayfield Dairy. I have lived here for 16 years now and have never been on the tour. It was neat to see the production of milk and ice cream. I must be honest, though, I buy the cheap milk! Shhh! I would highly recommend the new Mooionaires Java ice cream by Mayfield - it is wonderful!

We all had to wear hair nets - even Karleigh (hers is a beard net)

Christian modeling both for ya!

Since our church didn't have an official VBS, we sent the kids to First Baptist for theirs. I was so impressed with their organization and the kids loved it. One highlight of the week was the family night. It included lots of inflatable fun for the kiddos. I wish I wasn't over the weight limit! Those looked FUN!

Should I?

Indeed!

Karleigh was a week old

Last Monday we went to Coolidge park in Chattanooga and had a wonderful picnic with family and friends. It was a great relaxing time to socialize. The kiddos played in the fountains and had a blast.

Christian got soaked taking pictures. heehee

Here is a good one of the 3 kids!!

Can you tell that Karleigh looks more and more like Gabe?

Karleigh's first photo shoot

2009-07-05T11:45:00.004-04:00

We have a friend who is trying to get into photography as a side business and he wanted to use Karleigh as a muse. I am so glad he asked - the pictures turned out so good! I'm starting off good with the 3rd child making sure she has lots of pictures! I am the baby of 6 and have about 10 pictures total of my childhood. I used some of the pictures for the birth announcement - so I will just post a few here:

I love how she looks chubby in this one!

So precious!

How can you not LOVE baby toes?

Awww!

Almost a smile - pretty good for less than 1 week old!

I have his info if anyone wants to use him to photograph your special events! Thanks so much, Ellis!

Karleigh Marie Mann

2009-06-18T13:45:00.005-04:00

Well, she is oficially 1 week old in about 2 hours. Thought I'd blog, since most of you probably haven't heard the details about what happened. So I went in Thursday to to Dr to get my fluid checked by U/S again since it had been very low. The amniotic fluid was, thank-you-Lord, in the normal range and everything looked perfect with her. Then my midwife checked to see if I was any more dialted since I had already been 3cms and had been having some uncomfortable contractions. Well, turns out I was 5cms, which means only 5 more to go! Since I wasn't planning on having this kid without any pain medicine (how revolting ha!) I went over to the hospital to get my epidural. Ahhh, heaven! God Bless anesthesia! Here is what you look like in labor with an epidural:My midwife, Anglea, whom I love dearly, broke my water shortly after and Miss Karleigh was born after 3 pushes at 3:46pm. Despite being 3 weeks and 3 days early Karleigh did not have any breathing issues. She came out screaming and pink - as you can see from the pictures. Thanks so much for all your prayers - I KNOW that is why everything went so smoothly and we didn't have any complications! I also KNOW that Memaw was up in heaven interceding on our behalf!! I sure missed her being in the waiting room of the hospital praying so everyone could hear, though. We are doing well adjusting at home. I have felt wonderful! Maybe it helped having an almost 2lbs smaller child, maybe it was that I was in the best physical shape of my life before this pregnancy and have kept up my exercise routine, maybe a combination of both. Either way, I have only felt occaisionally tired - well, duh, lack of sleep!! =) I felt pretty much "normal" on day 4. Crazy!! For any of you that have had a baby, you understand how amazing that is! Karliegh has been very good so far. She is still sleeping a whole lot. Today is the first day she is staying awake for periods of time looking around. It's nice to see her eyes open! Gabe and Myles are adjusting well too. Gabriel HAS to know where she is at all times. LOL! He wants to hold her constantly - and he just melts when he does. Its adorable! Myles has been very sweet to her and holds her for about 5 minutes, then says "She wants back in her cradle". Heehee. Short attention span! Anyone who knows Myles can understand. This afternoon I took this pictures of the guys because of all the places in the house they could all be, they were all huddled around her. When I put her down on the Boppy, there was no one in the living room at all!! I love it!!

Ultrasound update

2009-06-08T15:18:00.002-04:00

Alright, so there is good news and not-so-good news - no bad news =) The good news is that Karleigh's growth is perfect - she measured 6lbs 8oz today which is fabulous for 36 weeks. The not-so-good news is that my amniotic fluid is pretty low, so low that it is a concern. So the plan is to repeat the U/S and do a non-stress test (watch the baby's heart rate on a monitor for ~30 min to see if she shows any signs of stress) on Thursday. If anything looks non-reassuring, it is probable that we will be having this little one earlier than expected. If all remains as is - then we are good to keep on going. Either way, I've been put on modified bed rest and my maternity leave has officially begun. Keep us in your prayers, specifically that if she does come early that she will be ready (ready meaning not needing any assistance breathing ...) and that if she isn't ready, then God will increase my fluid level! Anyone ever pray for fluid before??? =) Thanks!!

Baby update

2009-06-05T14:04:00.003-04:00

So, I went to the Dr yesterday and I am measuring 2 weeks behind ... I was measuring 2 weeks behind at last visit also. This may or may not be a bad thing. On Monday the 8th we have an ultrasound to make sure Karleigh's growth is good and that my amniotic fluid level is good. If those 2 things are fine, then the measuring small is no big deal. Also, I am dilated to 3cms already - so it looks like an early arrival will be inevitable. That is a good thing since Christian and Gabe leave on July 4th for their mission trip. So keep us in your prayers and I will give you an update on Monday.

Some house pictures

2009-05-30T14:49:00.006-04:00

We have been busy continuing to slowly renovate our house. I say slowly because its one project at a time due to money restraints. If only the budget had enough room for one major overhaul ... Oh well! We have been concentrating on the upstairs, since we are indeed having a girl (I still have to remind myself of this from time to time) and she needed a room. We have shuffled the rooms around a bit - afterall the girl needs the biggest closet, right?? LOL! We asked Gabe & Myles if they wanted separate rooms and they said they wanted to stay together - we will see how long that lasts. I like it because then we still have a playroom which can also sleep guests. Which, by the way, we haven't had many of ... HINT HINT family!! We have replaced all of the existing trim: crown molding, baseboards, casing around the doors and replaced the nasty tile window sills. We painted stripes in the boys room.

In Karleigh's room we went with 2 different shades of green separated by a 1.5 inch molding about 6 inches below the crown molding. We don't have any pictures on the walls yet or the cutains up. Just need to add the finishing touches.

need to get this one framed ...

Here are some belly pictures for you out-of-towners that haven't seen the ever expanding girth of what used to be my waist! =) These were taken @ 34 weeks pregnant.

Spring Break

2009-03-31T21:09:00.010-04:00

We went to Baton Rouge for Spring Break. It had been almost 2 years since we had been down there, so it was great to visit and reconnect with family! My sister and her family live there and so do Christian's dad, grandparents, aunt, uncle, and lots of cousins. Myles turned 5 during the trip. He got to spend his 5th birthday with his grandpa and great-grandparents. How special! GGma & GGpa had cake & ice cream for us (this even after he broke their angel on their decorative fountain ... oh Myles!) Then we went to good old Chuck E Cheese to let the boys go crazy with tokens!

Grandpa

with GGma & GGpa

Dad & Gabe shooting some aliens.

Cool horse riding game - never seen one like it. You actually make movements like you are riding and direct the horse with the reigns ... I wanted to try ... but I'm sure there was a weight limit. =)

Myles with Chuck E

Carosel in the Mall of Lousianna

Not too old yet ...

statue of Mike the tiger at LSU. The real Mike was napping.

our drama king

looks pretty happy for getting his skull crushed by a tiger

I thought this one was cute

Bros

The fam @ a stop in Alabama on the way home at my brother's house.

Its a girl!!!

2009-03-31T08:40:00.008-04:00

Yep, I know, OLD NEWS! But I hadn't blogged about it yet ... so it wasn't real til now. =) So, to quote Christian, " A funny thing happened on the way to the ultrasound." Which is a little inaccurate, since nothing strange happened until during the ultrasound, but whatever. When the U/S tech said "It's a girl" and Christian and I both thought she was joking ... hahaha ... OMG she's not joking! What???!!!! The shock has slowly dissipated over the last month & a half, but I'm sure the real shock will begin when she is born and we realize everything is different! Here are some fuzzy U/S pictures.

Gabe & Myles are very excited, they can't wait to play with her. Wait until they realize she will only eat, sleep, and poop for the first few months. I hope they hang in there! We haven't decided on a name yet, but we have planned out the nursery :

Minus the strange modern chair ... I'm on the lookout for a rocking chair with ottoman instead.

Christmas 2008

2009-01-13T10:42:00.019-05:00

OK, so I'm a little behind with this post ... but we were out of town the week after Christmas and who knows what I did with the rest of the time! =) So backtrack to Christmas Eve: we made cookies for Santa that the boys decorated. Myles made the biggest mound of icing I've ever seen on a cookie.

Santa LOVED the uniquely decorated cookies! Here are a few pics from Christmas morning:

Cannot contain the excitment!!

New movies ...

Christian got some sweatpants, that I hear he's going to start wearing to school! Ha! I apparently wasn't there ... there are no photos of me. Oh well! So later in the day we went to the Lyons' house for a huge Christmas lunch/dinner. It was fabulous! Daphne got an Easy Bake Oven that she was anxious to try out. So she made the cutest little cake and cut it up to share! Too adorable!
The next day we drove to South Carolina to stay with my oldest brother and his family. My dad came up and so did another brother and his family. It seemed a little slim compared to our Thanksgiving get-together. We were missing 3 siblings + some kids. It was still so good to spend time together, though!

Myles was worn out from Christmas Day!

You can always find us around a table playing a game together!

This was a popular hang-out for some of the cousins!

Older cousins are SO cool!!

Myles & Gabe got to ride a pony and a horse. They rode like pros - with no fear! I think they would have ridden all day if we had let them. Thanks to Cousin Christi and Aunt Joanna!

Thanksgiving in Alabama

2008-12-05T14:34:00.012-05:00

Being a nurse around the holidays stinks, because the hospital never closes ... and we have to work. Well, this year I was off Thanksgiving and the weekend after - yay! So we had the opportunity to travel and see family. It was important for all of us since this was the first holiday since we lost our Mom/Memaw! It was so good to be together and be there FOR each other.

Here is my family - so you can understand what a monumental task is is for get-togethers! Thanks to Ben & Michelle for hosting! (glad my house is too small!)

We also made our announcement that we are expecting child #3.

There were lots of surprised people. =) Here is a picture of my mom, I miss you mom!!!

Here is Christian carving the 26lb turkey. Yum!!

Myles bonding with Uncle Joel.

We went to a hunter's display of all the exotic animals he has killed - not my thing, but the kids liked it. It was amazing to see these animals up close - most of which I will never see in real life (hopefully).

P.S. Christian lost the staring contest!

Family pictures

2008-12-03T14:06:00.000-05:00

My friend Courtney is a nurse and a teacher, but in her spare time (lol), she is a photographer. She is so talented! She took our family pictures last year and we got some of the best pictures we have of our boys! With them growing and changing so fast it is so important to me to capture those faces. So, we asked her to do it again this year. Here is a preview she sent me the next day ... I can't wait to get the rest of them (no pressure, Court!)

Halloween

2008-11-02T11:01:00.000-05:00

This week we had several fun activities:

pumpkin carving at the Mann house

They ended up being a pirate (with an eye patch, of course) and a scary face.

2. Trunk or Treat on Halloween night hosted by our church. The boys were both clone troopers(from Sar Wars).

There were lots of Star Wars characters this year for them to reinact the movie! They had a blast!

3. Fall festival at Walker Valley HS where Christian teaches. They had great inflatables, dunking contest, face painting and other festival type booths. The boys had alot of fun!

A fall day with the family

2008-10-21T10:38:00.000-04:00

We had a good family day last Saturday. We took the boys up to Sunset rock on Lookout Mounatin. If you've never been up there - you need to go! It is beautiful and right now the weather is perfect! The boys loved the hike down the stone stairs to the actual cliff. Myles, whom has a reputation for falling all the time, did very well. He only fell one time ... at the very last few steps when we were leaving and right after Mom had told him how good he did being careful! Ha, figures! Poor boy, his feet are just too big.

I was proud of Christian - he hates heights - and gets freaked out if he perceives any of his loved ones are in danger of falling. So this was a test of his nerves. He did very well, no panic attacks!

It was a really nice time to take in God's beautiful creation and to enjoy the beautiful family He has blessed us with!

Then we went shopping ... the boys were thrilled. NOT!

Gabe's first Homecoming

2008-10-12T09:11:00.000-04:00

Since Christian is a high school teacher and SGA sponsor, Gabe got the opportunity to be an escort in Walker Valley's Homecoming. This is the kind of thing Gabe loves to do - he loves to perform. It was so cute, he and a younger woman (Riley, kindergartner) walked the 50 yard line like pros.

2008-08-05T08:36:00.000-04:00

We have been busy bees the last 2 weeks of our official summer. Christian had to return to school Friday, Aug 1st. Gabriel doesn't go back until Aug. 11. So here is a taste of what we have done:

Tiled the boys' bathroom (now this bathroom has been "closed for remodeling" since early May!) We ran into some difficulty when we pulled up the 2 layers of old vinyl and found a damp floor underneath. Long story short, we didn't have to replace the sub-floor! Thank God!!

Next we tackled the foyer. Again we ran into 2 layers of vinyl, but no wet floor =) We ended up going with a "tile rug" pattern that we are so proud of! It took us 10 hours to lay this tile!