Happy Holidays, happy holidays....

While the merry bells keep ringing, May your every wish come true!

We hope that you had an enjoyable, special, prayerful, and thankful holiday season thus far! As another year has passed, John and I enjoyed reflecting on the fact that this time last year, we were anticipating the birth of our own child. When considering the joy and excitement we experienced, we can only imagine what our Heavenly Father must have thought watching His son be wound together in Mary's womb. I do not doubt that the angels sang joyful and beautiful songs of praise when Jesus was born. We are thankful for this time of the year and hope that the meaning of this special time has resounded in your hearts as it has in ours. As we watched Meredith open presents this year, we couldn't help but hope that she will always remember why we celebrate, why we give and receive gifts, why we attempt to gather together with family and close friends, and why Christmas is not just one day but a season of celebration! (I mean let's think about it, how sad would it be just to celebrate someone being alive and special in our lives only on one day out of a whole year!)

The Christmas celebration in our household was a busy but enjoyable one. We gathered at Emerywood Baptist Church as we always do for the Christmas Eve service. However, this year was really special in that John and I participated by now being members of our choir and due to the Partin clan being asked to light the advent candles (IV lit each candle perfectly on cue until Meredith and John lit the Christ candle at the end...it was perfect). We then joined the Partin family (sans Anna Ruth, Chad, and Baylee--we missed you three!) at Ben and Elaine's for dinner and quality time. On Christmas Day, we again joined the Partin family at Ben and Elaine's where we were joined by John's Uncle Wayne and his Nanny (who still amazes us at almost 91 years old). We were able to open presents together before John and I were joined at our house by my mother, her significant other, Michael, and Greg. Meredith was so excited to see her uncles and needs to see them more (hint: this is a subliminal message sent to Michael and Gregory Powell....come more...see Meredith more....come more....see Meredith more :D). We enjoyed a great meal that was Meredith friendly because we really wanted her to join us and be able to share good wholesome food! I have to interject here and tell you about a gift that my mother got me--I mean, Meredith. Growing up, I listened to a tape series called "Bullfrogs and Butterflies" produced by Agapeland Productions (and apparently given to my by my Aunt Kathy). I LOVED these songs and would sing/listen to them over and over and over. Well, at some point, I must have mentioned that I wished that I still had them for Meredith because my mother gave them to her for Christmas....it was AMAZING! In fact, the Christmas CDs came out, and we listened to these CDs the rest of the evening. This was by far one of my favorite gifts given! Thanks, Mom!

On Friday, my best girlfriends from high school, Emma and Lauren, came up late to visit and spend the night with us. Meredith stayed up in time for them to say hello and then she pretty much passed out on her way to the crib. We spent the evening talking, talking, talking, playing Wii bowling, talking, talking, and talking. Lauren gave me a mug for Christmas that described our friendship the best...."good friends are like stars...you don't always see them, but you know they are always there." We have become so busy in our lives, but it never fails that when we join together, it is as if time never passed. I love you girls and was so glad to see you! Let's not let time pass so long next time!

Finally, my father was supposed to join us on Saturday but ended up not coming. We all missed out on his joining us during the holiday season and spending quality time with myself and Meredith.

Below are some pictures with Meredith's favorite toys for right now. In fact, she received a cart that converts from a walker to a car and she has started walking because of it already. She pushes it back and forth across the floor flawlessly. We think it won't be long until she is walking on her own!

Happy 4th Anniversary to US!

Yesterday was our 4th Anniversary and it was relaxing! John asked what I wanted to do to celebrate and I requested that we have a quiet night at home and that I would leave my school work AT SCHOOL! We had a great evening and exchanged presents. We go by the traditional gift calendar and this year was books. John and I have definitely been married for a while because we bought each other the same gifts. I bought him a Men's Devotional small bible since he is now a deacon and has always been a strong leader as a husband and father. He knew that I wanted a small bible to throw in the diaper bag or my purse and so he bought the same. No, we did not consult with each other...I guess we know each other well. I thank God that we have a marriage built on our faith in Jesus and that He is the foundation of our family. Thanks to all of you that wished us happy anniversary wishes!

Yes, that is IV, our nephew--my how the years have passed!

10 Month Update on the Partin Family

Well, it has been quite a while since I posted an update of Meredith, John and I for all of my faithful readers (I apologize--words cannot express the level of stress I have felt since August). Anyhow, we are doing well! Let's break it down for what has been going on for each of us:

Meredith-

*She is now crawling like a little excited puppy dog (as my bro-in-law so sweetly put it)...she gets really excited and flops around as she crawls and it is the cutest thing ever!

*She pulls up on EVERYTHING and sometimes loses grip causing her to fall :(
*She says mama, dada, baba, and we think, papa (this makes Ben smile :D)

*She loves no salt added canned peas, squash, puffs, and her white grape juice

*She has found her tongue and loves to click it, blow raspberries, and make whatever other sounds she can manage with it
*She LOVES paper and the crinkly sound it makes

*She has figured out the drop-and-let-mommy-pick-up-game...she loves it, I think it can get a little old (I say this with a smile on my face :D)

*When she is finished eating, she starts laughing and shaking her head

*When we tickle her, she tries to get us back by climbing up on us and trying to blow raspberries on our bellies...it is adorable and the harder we laugh, the harder she laughs (her laughter is my favorite sound, ever)

*She isn't too terribly fond of long rides which is why we try to time it right during a nap or bedtime...this limits the amount of traveling we do over an hour

*She is currently on her third round of antibiotics for ear infections...we are on our last try before visiting an ENT for a consult on tubes for her ears (please be praying for her)

*We think she somehow was the only one to dodge a really terrible bout of the stomach bug at her babysitter's house....we think because while she has had a couple loose diapers, they are not continuing....again, we think

*She loves buttons on remote controls, toys, etc and will pursue them HOTTLY!

*She loves talking to her Nana on the phone and smiles really big when she hears her voice

*She loves it when her Granna walks in the door and crawls faster than I have ever seen her crawl to get to her

*This is her first Christmas and I am pretty sure she will be more interested in the boxes and wrapping paper then what Santa has put inside those boxes and wrapping paper

*She is the love of our lives

John:

*He was voted in by the church as a deacon and we are so proud--elders of the church say that they believe he is one of the youngest ever voted in (we are so proud of him and he gets ordained on January 11th at 11AM...come join us at Emerywood Baptist Church)

*He has been the most supportive and busy husband and father trying to eleviate the work load I have had at work....he is my saving grace this past semester (thank goodness it is almost over)

*He came and returned to Trinity high to discuss the relevance of various classes to his profession--the kids loved him and listened intently (my physical science classes were anxious to see the relevance of what they learn in my class to every day life)

*He is doing well at work but is concerned about rumors of salary cuts due to the "budget crisis" during this recession (please pray that these rumors stay rumors)

Melissa:

*I am finishing up fall semester of teaching a whole new class load of Biology (10th grade) and Physical Science (11th grade)....EOCs are the second week of January...pray for my students and I :o)

*I am attending a new women's bible study and am so thankful for the supportive group of women I am a part of at church

*I am adoring every moment with Meredith and thankful that my profession allows for a two week vacation the next couple weeks.

We are doing well which is more than some can say--we are healthy, in a heated home, have food on our table, and have each other and people around us who care for us. We call ourselves blessed--in this holiday season, we try to remember to be thankful and let all that worries, stresses, and frustrates us to not consume us and attempt to turn it over to our Lord who gave us life and does everything to strengthen us in his love (which is most of the time more easily said than done). We pray that you are experiencing his love and enjoying this season which is for Him and us to share and celebrate.

Meredith ready to do some grading for Mommy

Paper Roller Coaster made by John and I as a model before my students made some this past week

You better watch out, you better not cry, you better not pout, I am telling you why....Reece Clark is coming to town (SOON!)

Reece Clark, daughter of John and Jennifer Clark will be arriving soon on or around January 15th. Jennifer is so excited and it is fun to sit back and watch someone who is in the same spot that I was only a year ago. Being a first time mom was and is the one of the best experiences of my life and I am so excited for her. We threw her an intimate shower on December 6th at the home of David and Katie McWilliams. The food was great, but the company was even better. We are praying for her and cannot wait to meet Meredith's new friend soon! Check out her blog by clicking our link to the right! Also, after returning from the shower, my Great Aunt Marilyn (sister of my late Grandfather Crane) visited for a short while during her trek from Rhode Island to her winter home in West Palm Beach, Florida. There were tears, smiles, and lots of hugs. I adored my grandfather and she reminds me of all the good parts of him. I am so thankful Meredith got to meet this sweet woman.

Aunt Marilyn, Meredith, and Cousin Nancy (my mother's cousin)

Long time no post! Let's start with Thanksgiving!

For Thanksgiving, we got to spend quality time with both John's family and mine. Anna Ruth and Baylee were able to come up and visit from Naples, FL and boy, did we miss them! Baylee is such a little mommy and wanted to help take care of "Baby Meredith"...it was really sweet! John also got to go to the UNC vs State game with his family and it was the first time they had gone to a game, just the five of them, in After a fun few days with Anna Ruth, Baylee, Elaine, Ben, Jimmy, Melissa and IV (and really yummy food prepared by Elaine), we went down to visit my mother. She also had a great spread and were able to get some quality time with her and my brother Greg. Meredith adores all of her family members but does not get much time with my side of the family--we are blessed to live only 5 minutes down the road from John's family. So, this was only the third or fourth time Greg had seen her and she was fascinated by him. We had a great time and look forward to spending more quality time with everyone for Christmas.

Uncle Greg and his favorite niece

Meredith's bath time at Nana's house!

Nana and Meredith

Happy Birthday, John!

Today is John's birthday! He is 28 and looking great (ha ha)! We will be celebrating with his parents tonight by eating a yummy dinner and dessert. This weekend, he and I will be retreating to Raleigh, where we first met and where our hearts lie to have a romantic weekend away as well as to watch our beloved Wolfpack.

To John:

Darling, I am so thankful to have you as a husband and Meredith is more lucky to have such an incredible father as you. You are truly a blessing to the both of us and touch everyone you meet through your silent strength, your unwaivering faith, and gentleness. We are so proud of you and pray for many birthdays to come!

Love,

Melissa and Meredith

The Itsy Bitsy Spider went to the EBC FestiFall....

It was Meredith's first Halloween and we had so much fun with her. She was an itsy bitsy spider that had become a creepy crawly one as of a couple weeks ago. We had a great time seeing everyone else in their costumes especially IV who bounced from place to place at the festival. It is so nice to be back near family so that we could enjoy those moments that we had been missing. Meredith was a hit but she had great competition among all of the adorable little children at EBC.

We have also been really excited about Meredith starting to crawl which started a couple weeks ago. She crawled for a day and then realized she could pull herself up on things. So, we think it won't be long before she is walking. Also, she started feeding herself her "puffs" this past weekend which just floors me! How does she learn to do these things?! We are loving every moment of time with her and I am selfishly just soaking it all up--I hate to share her.

Here are some of her latest pictures! She is now 8 1/2 months old!

At the park on a cool fall day! She loves the swings!

Enjoying her time at the park!

Drinking with a straw.

Eating all by herself.

Clean up after making a mess from eating.

This may upset Obama supporters, but.....

...we have to state how we feel on this particular topic. John and I have always supported "family values" and abortion, to us, falls under that category. Being new parents, we have experienced the blessings of a child and cannot imagine our lives without Meredith. Also, being a high school teacher, I have personally observed teen pregnancies and the trials and tribulations that those teen girls experience. Barack Obama and John McCain's views on abortion have been coming up a lot lately causing us to do some research. We oppose abortion. I oppose partial birth abortion with everything I am and it just turns me upside down just to think about it. I get very tired of hearing politicians explain that they are taking into consideration the rights of the women who get pregnant when making this decision. I know this is completely cliche, but what about those poor babies and their rights?! After carrying a child through term and experiencing every part of life she possessed, I cannot fathom the thought of someone choosing to take that life and it be considered acceptable!

I don't like politics and politicians are definitely not my favorite people. But, in light of this election we encourage you to take a look at both candidates views. We support McCain for the fact that he stands, right now, for most things we support. I don't know that we will ever have a candidate that thinks exactly as we think, but for now to us, he is the best choice.

Barack Obama's views on abortion: http://www.barackobama.com/2008/01/22/obama_statement_on_35th_annive.php

John McCain's views on abortion:
http://www.ontheissues.org/Senate/John_McCain_Abortion.htm

By the way, for those of you that come to this page strictly for seeing pictures of Meredith, stay tuned because pictures to be added soon!

Goodness...where has the time gone? Meredith is now 7 months!

First, I want to apologize again to our faithful readers that it has taken us so long to blog! We do have an excuse...our computer caught a virus and passed away. Thus, this development forced us to fork out some cash and buy a new computer. We are hoping this computer stays well because it was quite an inconvenience!

We have been very busy with work, playing with Meredith, church activities, and going to Wolfpack games! Work for me at school has been overwhelming in so many ways. I have attempted to voice my concerns with hope for relief but it seems like more things get piled on rather than taken off. So, if you are a praying person, please pray that we get a little relief soon! I think the stress has to do with a change in administration as well as the splitting of Trinity next year. Wheatmore High School will open in October/November 2009 where Trinity High will be split in half and half of the faculty and students will move to Wheatmore and half will stay at Trinity. I have no idea where I will be going yet but I would love to have the newness of a new school (and it doesn't hurt that I would be moving away from Carolina blue to Wolfpack red because the Wheatmore Warrior colors are red :)). We have a meeting with the superintendent this week.

John has had an exciting month--he got a promotion! He is now the Senior Assistant Resident Engineer in his office. Meredith and I are so proud of him! We couldn't ask for a better husband or daddy!

Meredith has had an exciting month as well, she has done the following:
-Feeds herself a bottle

-Sits by herself for long periods of time

-Gets on her hands and knees and rocks back and forth (no crawling yet)

-She picks up dropped toys

-Strongly voices her opinions

-Yells to get our attention

-Says Momma and Daddy

-Drinks from both a sippy cup and a cup with a straw

-Spent her first weekend away from home with her Nanna (my mom)

-Sleeps from 6:30PM-8AM (she is totally spoiling us and we are really nervous when the next one comes along)

-Squeals at the sight of Lucy

-Has spent several fun evenings with her Granna (John's mom)

-LOVES our colorful remote control

-AND is wearing 12 month clothing (she is in the 95th percentile for length and 50th percentile for weight...I can't believe 9 month pants are too short!)

By the way, please pray for our babysitter's mom. She was in a terrible car accident and things have not turned around for her since the accident a couple weeks ago--she has not been conscious for several days now.

Praise: We are so excited about the arrival of Matt and Maureen's baby girl Cadence! We are dying to finally meet Noah Walton who was born over a month ago to Matt and Jennifer Walton. We are ready to meet Reese Clark, John and Jennifer's little one, in January! I am having a ball sharing the excitement of pregnancy with Rebecca Spriggs at work who is due in May. Finally, we congratulate Andy and Erica Owens on their pregnancy of little Vivian's new brother/sister in less than 9 months! Wow! What a crew! Are we just at that age now or is just everyone we know getting pregnant or having babies? We love it!

Enjoying her bottle all by herself :)

Such a good sleeper!

Mom, can I watch "Baby Einstein?"

She loves her daddy!

5 Month Update!

Meredith is about to be 6 months but before she gets to that point, I need to update you on what she has done this past month!

-She now eats bananas, peaches, green beans, and sweet potatoes. I am making her baby food and it feels so good to know that I am providing for her in that way.
-She is starting to hold her own bottle.
-She sits very well with pillows around her and for very short spans of time by herself.
-She makes a razz sound, growls, says mamamama and bababababa, and loves to giggle especially when I make funny faces at her or play peek-a-boo.
-She is rolling over and pushing up really well when on her tummy.
-She is pulling her legs under her as if she is ready to crawl.
-She is almost too big for her swing and bouncy chair--this makes me sad :(.
-She is paying attention to ANYTHING we eat and opens her mouth every time we take a bite.
-She loves to watch Lucy in the house.
-She loves both of her cousins (IV and Baylee)--she is fascinated by them.
-She loves bathtime and LOVES to get Mommy and Daddy wet!
-She is extremely photogenic and definitely recognizes the camera at this point.
-She pretty much sleeps from 7PM-7AM every day.
-She loves her daddy and gets so excited when he walks through the door at the end of the day.
-She is a busy body and HAS to know what is going on around her always.
-We went to our first birthday party--Julianna Saunders turned 1.

Meredith's 6 month check up is on Friday....we will update you shortly.

Passport 2008 - Gordon College, MA

As many of you know, I went on a trip with the Emerywood Baptist Church Youth to Gordon College outside of Boston, Massachusetts a few weeks ago. The trip was to Passport which is camp with a mission theme. Every day we were there, our youth and the adults on the trip visited various mission sites which included schools, Boys and Girls club, area churches, and assisted living homes. During most of the afternoon, we served the small town of Lynn with our mission work but while at Gordon College, the youth got to be spiritually fed through their camp counselors and time with their own youth groups. We stayed in dorms and had lots of activities and camp-wide parties (recreation party, volleyball tournament, dance, and talent show). I have been asked what I walked away from camp with and this is always my answer: a new found confidence in my abilities to teach/mentor youth, ministering to strangers, new relationships with the youth that I did not have before, and an opportunity to be spiritually fed without outside distractions. I was personally assigned to a carnival at a church in Lynn. Many single moms that worked either nights or did not work at all came to the carnival with their children. We played lots of games, had water slides, and free food. I met a mother who was a drug addict and another who was a member of a gang. It was very interesting how this opportunity came about after my having Meredith...it definitely opened up the opportunity to be able to connect to other moms and use that as part of my way to minister to these moms. I could go on forever about the trip...if you want to see more pictures than below, go to my facebook page! I want to say a special thank you to John, Elaine, and Anna Ruth for helping take care of Meredith so that I could go out of town. Thank you and I love you!

We can't wait for November, Anna Ruth and Baylee!

Anna Ruth and Baylee visited the latter part of July and it was such a great visit! Meredith finally got to meet her aunt and cousin and they all hit it off great--it made our family feel more complete. We met them at the Partin condo at Myrtle Beach and spent a little less than a week just spending quality time together before I left for Boston. Baylee is now 2 years old and a beautiful little ham. She talks and talks and talks and LOVES to help take care of "Baby Meredith." We spent a lot of time at the pool and beach while also making some time for shopping and putt putt. Here are a couple pictures from our visit. We can't wait to see you all again soon!