We're having a........

We are having a precious baby girl!!! I am so happy. I would be happy for a boy too but I will have to admit that I was secretely hoping it was a girl. I don't know what to do with a boy. I'm sure I would figure it out but my Mom and I need a new shopping partner and we were afraid we would make him gay. :) Plus it is so much fun shopping for little girl clothes. My Mom and I are having a ball of course. Nick just put the crib up and we are already starting her baby library. I have never been so happy in my life. I am so blessed. I really enjoy being pregnant. I have aches and pains once and awhile but other than that everything is going really well. Much better than the 1st trimester. That is for sure. The only thing that has been a struggle is trying to find maternity clothes. I wish I could sport sweats everyday but that won't fly as a teacher. None of the pants fit me. I tried on so many and looked hilarious. I am now turning to leggins or stretchy pants. Thank goodness they are in style right now. I got a couple of sweaters and shirts so that is good. My belly is getting so big. I love it. I'm sure I won't be saying that in a couple of months. I love feeling her move too. It is the best feeling. Nick and I are starting birthing classes soon so we can be as prepared as possible. I am sooo scared.

Here are some pictures of the last ultrasound. She is a thumbsucker like her Momma was. Braces here we come. Oh, and I forgot, the best part. Her name is Marlie Marie Coleman.

The Winter Storm of 09'

I love snow storms. They are so beautiful. I love cuddling with my honey and kitties with the fireplace roaring. It snowed for 24 hours straight. We ended up getting 2 feet of snow. It's nice to be forced to do nothing but watch the snow come down. I don't have school today either. Yahooo. Here are some pictures of Nicholas after he snow blowed the driveway. It took about 3 hours. Thank goodness our neighbor let us borrow his because we didn't even have a shovel. When he was finished he decided to be silly and play around in the snow. It was cute, my little California boy playing in the snow like a little kid.

Baby Coleman's First Pictures/ Missy's Growing Belly

Third Time's a Charm

I think it is about time to announce that Nicholas and Melissa Marie are pregnant with their first baby. That has a nice ring to it. We are soooo excited you don't even know. I am officially 3 months today. 6 more months to go. I am due on May 13th! I have always wanted to be a Mommy and now my dream is coming true. We are so blessed. I have never been this happy in my life. I can't wait to see how cute Nick is as a Dad. He is going to perfect at it. I can already tell.

I'm not going to lie but the first three months have been rough at times but it is all worth it and more. The nauseousness, exhaustion and constipation is definitely something I can do without. Sorry if that was too much info. My belly is already to starting to look like a beer gut. Thank goodness it's a baby and not beer that's in there. I am so weird.

Some of you know that we were on fertility medications. Definitely not fun at all. Lots and lots of needles. Thank goodness Nick was able to give them to me because I couldn't do it. The whole experience was an emotional and physical roller coaster. I think the worst part about it was not knowing if anything was ever going to work. I would be so devastated if I couldn't have children. Thank goodness it worked the third time because our next option was In-Vitro and that process is so evasive and crazy.

I found out on Sept. 4th. I had to go in for bloodwork and wait 6 hours for the nurse to call me with the results. It was the longest 6 hours of my life. I went visiting teaching that day and of course the nurse called when I was in the middle of it and I didn't hear my phone. I quickly called her back when I got home. I wanted to be by myself when I got the news. Of course she didn't pick up and I had to leave a message. Waiting for the call back was so painful. I was praying, walking around the house aimlessly, turning the TV off and on. The cats were looking at me like I was crazy. Finally my phone rang. Here we go, I thought. The nurse said, "Hello, we got your test results and it came back positive." "Congratulations, you are pregnant." This is verbatim. I didn't know what to say but fight back the tears. As soon as I got off the phone, I said a prayer through my tears. I couldn't stop smiling.

I went to Hallmark and got Nick a frame that said, "Anybody can be a Father but it takes someone special to be a Dad." Then I rushed to his work. I waited in the parking lot for him to come out. I tried not to smile too much when he came out but that is very hard for me to do. I barely got the words out and he knew. He picked me and gave me the biggest hug and kiss. I have never seen him so happy and excited and I will never forget his expression. It was so adorable. We kept kissing each other over and over.

Then it was off to tell my parents. On the way, I thought of my grandmother and said a little prayer to her. I wish she was here to experience all of this with me. I know she would be so proud to be a great grandmother. Love you Mommom!

When we got to my parents I hid in the dinning room because my parents weren't home yet. Nick talked to them when they got home for a little and then I jumped out. Of course they knew before I said anything. I can never get the words out fast enough. They are so excited to finally be grandparents. I was their only chance and I pulled through for them. Go me. Oh ya, and Nick too. Couldn't have done it without him. :) I hope that I can be as perfect of a Mom as my Mom is.

Then we called Momma and Papa C. Nick is so funny. His Mom totally knew at first too. She said, "You guys are going to have a baby." I think Grandparents are part psychic or something. Nick said no Mom that's not what I was going to tell you. "I wanted to tell you that I lost my wallet, Missy lost her keys, which I never found by the way. He went on and on. At last he says, "Oh ya and Missy is pregnant." He is always trying to be a comedian. They were so happy for us. I can't wait for them to come out and visit!

Hopefully my next blog entry will have some pictures and announce the sex of the baby!!!

I think I can say that I am well rounded

First- My girly, homemaking side-Homemade Jam

On Thursday I went to my friend Wendi's house with Kelliann. We learned how to make fresh homemade, Jersey Peach style, jam. It is delicious. I have always wanted to learn how to make homemad jam and how to can it. I was first introduced to it my sophomore year at BYU. My roomate's Mom sent her strawberry jam that she made. I usually don't like jam but once I tried the homemade kind, it was love at first sight. Ever since then, I have always wanted to learn. Almost 10 years later and here I am. It was too difficult. I am so grateful that Wendi taught us. I can't wait to learn more from her. Yay!

Second- My manly, testerone enhanced side-Shooting with the boys

I have always wanted to go shooting with my Dad since I was 14. He has collected some pretty cool guns throughout the years. This one took about 14 years until we finally went shooting. Longer than the jam one. Jeeze Louize. I guess I had to bring a son-in-law into the picture in order for it to work. We shot Nick's SKS and my Dad's M16. My arm is definitely a bit sore. I didn't do too good in the beginning but once I got the hang of it I was a good shot. I can't wait to do it again. Hopefully I won't have to wait another 14 years.

Interior Decorating

Some friends have asked me to post some pics. of the inside of our house. I absolutely love decorating. It is definitely one of my favorite things to do. The best is when you get a good deal on something. Sometimes I don't and give in but it is all worth it. Nick and I love spending time at home so why not make it homey. Is that how you spell it??

Do you notice Maddie sneaking in the pictures. She's such a little model.

I'd have to say, that my favorite party of our house is our backyard. Does that count? I am obssessed with Jersey's trees. I can't wait for fall to set in!!

We finally have grass and a some foliage. I love that word.

Learning How to Sew and Loving it! My First Pillows!!

Here they are. I am so proud of myself. My friend, Megan, who is awesome, has been teaching me the ways of the sewing machine. I'll have to admit I was pretty bad in the beginning even though Megan said I was doing great. She is so nice. I love finding a new hobbie. It makes me so happy. I have been wanting to make pillows for a long time but just wasn't motivated enough. Now I have the time so I thought, why not. Sometimes I give up so easily if something doesn't turn out exactly the way I want it to so Nicholas counseled me through it and told me to stay strong and to not give up so I heeded his counsel. ;)

Here is a picture of my very first pillow. This one was tough. The button holes and the piping was pretty advanced for my capability. The buttons are a little crooked but that is what makes it homemade, right?

Here are some pictures of the pillows I did all by myself. GO MISSY! These pillows weren't half as hard to make and I think I may like them better. What do you think?

I am really excited to make more. I love finding vintage fabric with cute floral designs. My next big goal is to make a quilt. My friend Kelly McCaleb is my idol and I hope to make cute quilts like her's one day. I am going to follow your quilting directions Kelly so I may have a few questions if you don't mind.

The New Addition to our Family.

Her name is Opal. She is 6 months old and has beautiful colorings. I saw a picture of her on the Internet and had to go see her. No more kitties, I promise. They are so dang cute and funny though, especially when they are kittens. It's hard to say no to this face when you know she needs a loving home and we can give it to her. I wish I could say that it was a new baby that was the new addition to our family but this is second best.

She loves to race up the steps and slide across the floors. She pushes the other cats out of way when its time to eat. Thank goodness they all get along. Butters is very gentle with her but Maddie doesn't give her any slack. She full body slams her when she wants to. It is hilarious. I love how each cat has their own unique and quirky traits. Maddie loves to look at herself in the mirror and now Opal is starting to do it. She looks up to her big sister.

Maddie loves to sleep under the covers with us too which is nice in the winter time. We have our own personal electric blanket. Butters is obsessed with the garage and cries all the time to go out there. He always falls asleep on the lawn mower. It's because he's a man. :) Opal loves to suck on blankets. She will hang out with us for hours on the couch as long as she has her green blanket. They are so funny and that's why I love them. One more thing, Nick cleans the litter box so I don't have to worry about that nasty part. Thanks Nicholas!!

She is definitely bad when she wants to be. Our poor screen. She loves to try to catch some buggies. Yum.

Our Square Foot Garden and the Joys of Flowers

Gardening is a lot of fun. So far I haven't killed anything so I'm guessing that is a good thing. We had our first harvest of lettuce and two adorable strawberries the other day. They were surprisingly good. I hope each year to add another square foot garden. Baby steps, right. I can't wait for more fruits and veggies to pop up. Thank goodness Nick made a chicken wire cage for it because the turkeys would have really enjoyed it. Speaking of turkeys, the other day I was home alone and I heard this loud banging noise. I was so scared. I didn't know if somebody was trying to break in or what. I heard it coming from the basement. Thank goodness my boyfriend Butters came with me. When I went down, there was this huge turkey with his feathers sprawled out banging on the glass. He was hitting it so hard. I was afraid he was going to come through the window. It was really scary. My baby Butters ran right to the window ledge and scared the turkey away. What would I do without my baby Butters.

Ok, back to gardening and beautiful flowers. I'm slowly learning all the exquisite flowers out in the world. They have such crazy names. I'm trying to remember all of them but those who know me, I have a terrible memory. Here are a couple of flowers that I absolutely love. This is Viola. My friend Kelliann gave me these flowers. They were so sad looking at first but look at it now. It is so beautiful. I guess I have somewhat of a green thumb.

This arrangement is from my Mom. She is an expert with flowers. She is always teaching me what flowers are good for sun and shade and the crazy names too. Nick and I have the arrangement off of our porch so we can look at it as we eat dinner.
My goal is to add different types of perennial flowers each year to our edge of our woods. I can picture it now, all different types of flowers that are the colors of the rainbow. Our grass looks beautiful, thanks to Nicholas Ivan. He is lucky to have a sit down lawn mower from Dad. I wish I could help but I would probably mess it up or run into a tree like I did when I was younger. :)

Here is some basil from my herb pots. I made pesto with it. My other friend Kelly from Utah has the best recipes on her blog so all the credit goes to her. It turned out really well. It was delicious. I put mushrooms and peppers on the pasta too. The only problem is when I cut the basil, I cut all the leaves and you are only supposed to cut the bottom leaves or they won't grow back anymore. Minor mistake, hehe. Kelliann said that they may grow back but nothing yet. I guess no more pesto for now. You live and you learn.

My Mom and I used to go strawberry picking when I was younger. Good memories. I remember picking one and eating two. Jersey strawberries are soooo delicious. Buying them from the store just doesn't compare. Here are some strawberries I picked with Kelliann. It has been awhile. I can't wait to take my kids one day.

I have never been cherry picking before. These weren't as delicious as the strawberries but the trees were so beautiful. We took so many pictures. I want to frame the picture on the left. This is in the middle of one of the trees. So much fun. I love the Garden state!

Spring has Sprung!

Spring is officially here, finally!! Nick took this picture out our bedroom window. Thought I would share its beauty with you.

I know, I know. I have been a slacker with my blog. It is always in the back of my mind and I have so much to say but not enough time in the day. Hey, that rhymed. Where do I begin. Lets see, we are finally in the house and absolutely love it. I feel like a real adult. I guess that is a good thing. :) It is definitely hard work but well worth it. I have decided that I am slightly OCD with cleaning. I am slowly working on that. It was so easy to clean the condo. It takes forever for me to even vacuum. I get a nice workout though. The builder recently put sod in the front yard and seeded the backyard. So far it is still green. I hope it lasts. This picture is only a few of the many turkeys who like like to visit us in our backyard once and a while. We usually have about thirty. We have decided that if the cats are bad we will feed them to the turkeys. Poor things. They are scary looking creatures. It's nice to be out in the wilderness. A little scary at night though especially when we watch a scary movie.

We just bought a couple of crab apple trees. They are so beautiful. They are all blooming right now. I absolutely love the spring!!! It is so nice to see all the trees turning green again and all the beautiful flowers. Everybody is in a better mood, especially teachers because summer break is just around the corner. It is supposed to be 70 degrees this weekend. Yay!!! Nick and I found some nice walking trails in our woods. I love exploring and taking a nice walk in this beautiful weather. I've decided that the seasons are one of my favorite things about the east. Nick says he likes how it breaks up the year and helps you to not take the nice weather for granted.

Speaking of my Nicholas, have I shared with you that I love him so much and am so proud of him. He just finished his second semester in his Business Management degree and has gotten A's and B's. He is working so hard. I don't know how he does it sometimes with the responsibility of owning a house, work and putting up with me. He is pretty amazing. I keep asking him if he wants to take a break but he wants to go straight through. We recently went to a meeting at Rowan University for their MBA program and he has decided that he wants to go for it. I know he can do it. He's such a hard worker. I always brag about him. I can't help it. He is so humble that I need to make up for it.

The house is coming along. Each week, I have a list of things to get done. We have come a long way. Once again, I love decorating. It is so much fun. A little expensive but so much fun. I have decided that I need to stop and concentrate on a garden. I am coming to love gardening. Mind you I am very new at it and still need to learn a lot but I can definitely see the potential of it becoming a hobby for me. I just started tomatoes, lettuce, and peppers. I hope I don't kill them. This weekend I want to plant some spices.My friend Kelliann is into organic fruits and vegetables and has inspired me to eat healthier and organically as much as possible. She is now Vegan which takes so much dedication and obedience. I don't know how she does it. I look up to her. I can't imagine giving up pizza and ice-cream. Nick and I have decided to work on being Vegetarians with meat once and a while. So I guess you could say we are partial vegetarians or just people trying to eat better. hehe. It is going well. I have been making vegetarian quasidillas, tacos, and pasta. I really do believe that cancer is caused by the pesticides that are put in our food. Hopefully one day my garden will produce most of the fruits and vegetables that we need. I will keep you posted.

School is going well. I really do love my job. I've decided that this is the first job I have really fully enjoyed. I love that I feel like I'm making a difference and helping my students and fellow teachers. The kids are so cute and funny. Of course there are a few that you want to beat over the head but other than that I love teaching them new things and learning from them as well. My boss is having me give workshops to the teachers now once a month. Teaching your co-workers is a different story. I get so nervous in front of them. I'm so afraid that they are going to ask me a question that I don't the answer to or run out of things to teach them. I just taught them yesterday. It went really well but it takes so much out of me. I was so exhausted after that I passed out on the couch for three hours. I think I have one more to go till summer so that is good.

We are so blessed. We have such wonderful Families. We don't know what we would do without them. We wish we were closer to Nick's family, maybe one day we can convert them to the East. :) Miss you guys!! We just found out that Chris is coming out to visit. We are so excited about that. I can't wait to show him around Jersey. It will be nice.

Ok, I am tired. Time to go to bed. Hope you enjoyed reading. I'm not the best writer so I hope it wasn't too tough to read. Till next time!

PS. Here is a picture of Maddie as I was writing this post. I think she wants a blog of her own. Hehe

Jamaica

Let's see, so it has been about a month since I have written. Of course life has been crazy, what's new. The Jamaic trip was absolutley perfect. It was soooo romantic. They treat you like Kings and Queens. I would definitely say that Sandals all inclusive is the way to go. We probably didn't get our money worth because we don't drink but I would still do it again in a heartbeat.

We climbed a beautiful waterfall, Dunn's River Falls. The water was a little cold for me but other than that it was really fun. We also went on a zip line course in the mountains. It was scary at first but so much fun. The bus ride getting there was not too fun for me though. We tried to get tan and did a pretty good job of it. Nick was more red than tan, but that is better than white. We met some really fun couples too. Half the time they would forget they met us because they were so drunk when they talked to us. It was pretty funny.

At night the resort had different shows for the guests. They had this one break dancing show that was crazy. Nick loved it. We got it on tape. They should be on America's best dance crew. Jamaican's are so athletic. The restaurants were fun too. They were all on the beach which made it really romantic. There was one restaurant on an island that was not so good. They had curry food and personally I think curry is the worst food on the planet. After being sick in Fiji from that stuff, I can't even smell it let alone eat it.

It was nice to get dressed up for dinner each night and not having a care in the world. We really needed this vacation and will probably need another one real soon. hehe.It was definitely tough to come home to snow and work.