It's a...

GIRL!

After much anticipation, measurements, calculations, old wives’ tales, and good old fashioned guessing, we were excited to share with our families on Christmas Eve that we will welcome our baby GIRL, Addison Nelue, in May. Clay and I have always liked the name Addison and knew that our little princess would have that name. We also wanted her to have a family name and decided to remember Clay’s mother, Karen Nelue.

We had a wonderful Christmas full of blessings. As we left Lampasas packed up with little Addison’s crib and dresser, we know that the nursery painting and planning is now in full swing! We keep saying that May will be here before we know it!

We have enjoyed this time of anticipation and now are looking forward to a future of ruffles and bows.

Amen and Pass the Butter!

Marcy

The Mystery of the Note Fairy

Growing up, we all knew of the traditional mystical characters:

• Santa Claus, the spirt of Christmas
• The Easter Bunny, who brings baskets filled with colored eggs and candy to the homes of children on the night before Easter
• The Tooth Fairy, who comes in after a tooth is lost and leaves money (4 quarters in the Melton house) in exchange for your pearly whites

Until this week, I never knew of the mystical Note Fairy. The Note Fairy is known to bring sweet notes of hope and encouragement during pregnancy.

Wednesday was my 20 week sonogram which brought additional anticipation and excitement because we are able to find out boy or girl. In preparation for the appointment on Wednesday, the Note Fairy made her first delivery on Monday leaving her note on my car:

Tuesday, the Note Fairy (via the unsuspecting UPS delivery lady in my building) made her second delivery to my office:

I must have really gotten into the mystery of the Note Fairy because Tuesday night I dreamed that the Note Fairy planned a trip to Horseshoe Bay for a Miami in Marble Falls weekend.

Wednesday as I sat in the doctor’s office with Clay waiting for my blood pressure to be taken, the nurses at Dr. Lampkin’s office brought in my chart and an envelope ‘dropped’ onto the floor. They handed it to me to hold and the Note Fairy had struck again!

Due to the excitement of the Note Fairy striking in the doctor's office, my blood pressure shot through the roof!

You all may be wondering what the Note Fairy looks like. Initially, I imagined Cinderella with wings. Now, I know she looks like my friend Ashley!

I am reminded by the Note Fairy that the smallest things can mean the most. How lucky I am to have a Note Fairy and more importantly dear friend!

Amen and Pass the Butter,
Marcy

Blue or Pink - Let the Games Begin!

We have been having fun ‘testing’ pregnancy myths, wives tales, and superstitions to determine the sex of our little E. Although we won’t find out until Christmas, here’s what our very scientific studies have shown:

Chinese Birth Calendar: According to an ancient Chinese birth calendar which uses the age the mother will be when she gives birth and the month the child was conceived, we are having a boy.

Ring on a String: Sarah, the witch doctor, helped us on this myth. Holding my wedding ring on a string over my belly made the ring swing back and forth. Looks like we’re having a boy.

Acne: No pregnant girl acne. Could be a boy.

Pick up a key: I picked up a key by the bottom, rounder part rather than by the thinner end. Maybe a boy is on the way.

Mayan Tale: The Mayan tale adds the mothers age at conception and the year of conception (2038). The result is an even number. According to the Mayans, we’re having a girl.

Clumsy v. Graceful: If the pregnant woman is graceful throughout her pregnancy, she’s having a girl. If she becomes clumsy, she’s having a boy. I just dumped a glassful of water on Clay at dinner the other night…boy.

We will be putting the wives tales to rest soon. We can’t wait to find out what Ethan’s cousin; Melody, Jeff, Jen, and Zack’s nephew/niece; our parent’s grandbaby; and the newest addition to our family will be! Stay tuned!

Amen and Pass the Butter,
Marcy

Give Thanks!

Thanksgiving has always been one of my favorite holidays. Somehow, my mother always had a magical way of creating Thanksgiving dinner with what seemed like no more effort than any other meal she made for us. Now that I am starting to fill that role, I realize that even though my mom could pull off a Thanksgiving meal without breaking a sweat, it’s not an easy task. Jen and I have taken over preparing the Thanksgiving feast for our Erwin family. With a little planning we had a great spread and a lot of left overs!

With Thanksgiving comes tradition. Every year when we sit down together, we go around the table and share what we are thankful for. It is always a reminder of how truly blessed we are.
This year, Zack and I started a new tradition - the Great Pie Challenge! A few weeks ago, we decided that we would each make a chocolate meringue pie and winner take all (although all was merely bragging rights). Thursday, I slaved in the kitchen making my mom’s no-fail homemade crust with chocolate filling and meringue from scratch. Despite some minor set backs and lessons learned - (1) meringue should not be refrigerated; (2) it is difficult to travel 300+ miles with a meringue pie (and a dog) - I came out with the victory! To my benefit, Zack doesn’t exactly follow recipes and Paula Dean makes a mean pie!

The winning pie (before refrigeration and transport)

This weekend will be full of Melton Thanksgiving traditions! Mom, Melody, and I will be in Dallas for Black Friday shopping! Clay and Jeff have decided that they do not want to be in the same county when the Melton girls hit the street so they will be in Austin for the big game. Let’s home the Aggies come out on top and Clay comes back with bragging rights for the rest of the year!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Amen and Pass the Butter,
Marcy

Clay, Me, and One to Be!

That’s right, we’re having a BABY! We have been crossing our fingers for a few months and got our official “pregnant” during the first part of August. I thought that right before I left for work was a great time to take a test, probably because I knew it would be negative, but boy was I wrong! Clay and I couldn’t be more excited! On or about (there’s the lawyer in me) May 5th, we will welcome our little bundle of joy into the world.

So how am I doing? Great! I am officially 13 weeks and the baby is the size of your fist. It is crazy to believe that I am over a quarter of the way there and in my second trimester! I have so enjoyed my pregnancy and luckily have had few symptoms. I am addicted to pregnancy websites and (thanks to Ashley) projectnursery.com.

We had our first ultrasound at 10 weeks which was ultra amazing! Clay and I weren’t sure what to expect which was probably evident by our reaction. We made such a commotion that the nurses outside of the room thought we were having twins (but we have confirmed that there’s only one baby in there) and the ultrasound technician told us that we were in the top 3 new parent reactions! I was thinking our baby would look like a little nugget or peanut on the screen. Little did we know, our little one has developed legs, arms, and everything in between! The baby was jumping around and dancing for us throughout the entire (2 hour although we could have stared at the baby all day) ultrasound. Not only did we see the heartbeat, we HEARD the heartbeat. Our baby measured 2” from head to rump with a heartbeat of 155 beats per minute. I never knew that we could feel so much love for the little one we won’t meet until May.

We have already started to get ready for our baby to be! This weekend my mom came up and helped me with a garage sale to make room for baby. Clay is so excited to paint the room and I can’t wait to have my mom and Aunt P in for decorating fun.

We are prayerful for a safe pregnancy and healthy baby. We are so excited to share with you our thoughts, apprehensions, and plans as we await the arrival of our baby. Stay tuned, May will be here before we know it!

Amen and Pass the Butter,

Marcy

What a Weekend!

Do not let my tardiness in blogging about our Fair/Race weekend be any indication on what a fun time it was!  Our dear friend Ashley is the executive director of the Lubbock Komen office.  We are always amazed on how each year, the annual Race for the Cure is bigger, more well attended, and raises more money for breast cancer awareness and research.  We are so proud of her and her accomplishments!  Jen has been traveling to Lubbock for the race for the past several years and this year Ethan made the road trip with her. 

The race weekend coincided with the South Plains Fair.  Jen, Ethan, Clay, and I took in the fair festivities - fried food, carnival, stock show, petting zoo, and all!  As we walked through the lamb barn, we laughed when we realized that we were 'those people'!


What I imagine the conversation to sound like: 
Clay:  What do you think about that lamb Ethan?
Ethan:  I bet I could show it better than you Uncle Clay!

The 4-H petting zoo was a hit!  Clay took the opportunity to recite the pledge, including hand signals.  Ethan loved all of the animals...so much so that he gave the big goat, which so kindly posed for my picture, a big kiss!



Saturday morning was the race.  We, along with over 8,000 people, joined to make this the biggest Race for the Cure so far!  We can't imagine what big things are in store for next year!


Saturday night was spent with Ty and Ashley and their family (which we consider ourselves an extension of)!  The weekend was full of big events, big laughs, and big memories!  Looking forward to October 1, 2011!

Amen and Pass the Butter,

Marcy

We Love a Wedding! (Part 2)

Our parking lot buddies, Paul and Meredith, were married in McKinney several weeks ago.  The weekend gave us an opportunity to catch up with friends and spend time with family.  We traveled to the Dallas area with our great friends Clay and Eliah Lenhen and their little one, Miss Ella.  Good company sure made the 6+ hour trip more tolerable - Clay and Clay were able to have boy talk in the front (hunting, guns, and trucks) while Eliah and I took care of problems of the world in the back (or whatever was covered in US weekly in between our naps).

The bigger the bow, the better the Momma...words to live by!

Being able to visit Melody and Jeff was an added bonus of our trip to the Dallas area!  Melody and I warmed up for Black Friday at the Allen outlet malls while Clay and Jeff spent the afternoon relaxing in front of the x-box. 

Saturday night, we celebrated!  The wedding and reception were spectacular!  We were reminded again why we love a wedding!

Amen and pass the butter,
Marcy

Whoop, Gig'em, and all things Aggie!

With football season getting in full swing it is a reminder that the fall is just around the corner. This last weekend, Marcy and I took a really fun trip to College Station to see some old friends and watch Aggie football.

The weekend started early with the In the Pink Party to kick off the Lubbock Komen events for the year and ended with a late night of live music and fellowship with Walt Wilkins and the Mystiqueros. These guys are truly inspirational to be around we even stayed out late on a "school night".

Friday we headed out of town via a flight to Houston where we met up with some good friends, Seth and Lindsay Soloman, that joined us for the last leg of our trip into College Station.

Friday night we all met up at a pub that now plays 90's music which made us feel old since it used to play 80's music when we are in college. One of many examples of how things change...

Ryan, Seth, Dustin and Clay at Mad Hatters

Marcy, Lindsay, and Ashley at Mad Hatters

Saturday morning we met up with our hardcore tailgating buddies and had good food and played some very competitive games of cornhole. http://www.playcornhole.org/

Ryan and Clay playing an intense game of cornhole

It is always humbling going into the massive Kyle field. This is also the home of Marcy and my first date! As a freshman I asked her to midnight yell for the Texas Tech game. Thank goodness she said yes and the rest is history. Everyone made it a point to get to the game early for the 9-11 ceremonies. The jet flyover is always exciting but the moment of silence was unforgettable. 75,000 people with a unified moment of respect that were so quiet you could only hear the brass clips holding the American flags along the top of the stadium. Just another moment at TAMU that can be explained but not always understood.

The game proved to be an exciting time with lots of fumbles, interceptions, and big plays.

Clay, Marcy, Lindsay, and Seth at the Texas A&M v. Louisana Tech game

Sunday we had lunch with a big group of rowdy friends at La Bodega, a little fish taco restaurant. The food was really awesome and the laughs were unforgettable.

Our weekend in College Station was another reminder of how blessed we are to have loving friends we consider family.

Amen and Pass the Butter,

Clay

We Love a Wedding!

This weekend, our friends Cody and Ashley were married in Houston.  We were excited to make the trip to Houston where we got to spend time with our friends Katie and Josh and their kids Dylan, Noah and Micah.  No matter how long it has been since we have seen Katie and Josh, we are always able to catch up within a matter of minutes.  However, the kids are constant reminders how long it had been since we have seen them.  They have sprouted into little people before our eyes! 

Saturday night was wedding festivities.  Cody was in FarmHouse with Clay and we have gotten to know Ashley, who is also an Aggie, throughout the years.  Their wedding was fabulous from a groom's cake in the shape of a cow to a night full of dancing (what Aggie wedding would be complete without the Aggie War Hymn) to a photo booth for guests (we had fun and caught a "family photo" with our "son" Wesley also affectionately known as Weasel).  We had a blast at the wedding which ended with a big bang and a fireworks display. 

We love wedding festivities and getting to see old friends!  We're excited for summer wedding #3 this month!  Stay tuned!

My Kind of Work!

This August marks my third year at Craig, Terrill, Hale, & Grantham. As I reflect on all of the things I have learned, there is one lesson that I love putting to use - the business turned pleasure trip!

My trip started on Wednesday when I traveled to Amarillo to try a case in small claims court. While I didn’t have any Perry Mason moments, it was great experience. From Amarillo, I was off for two days of depositions. Before jumping on my first plane, I had plenty of time to grab a bite to eat. My brother-in-law Jeff has been claiming for the last couple of months that he wants to try the 72 oz challenge at The Big Texan so I thought that this was a perfect opportunity to do a little scouting for him. After seeing the 72 oz rump roast The Big Texan claims to be a steak, I’m excited (and a little sick to my stomach) to see Jeff take the challenge!

Hope you're hungry Jeff - 72-oz. steak, a baked potato, salad, dinner roll and shrimp cocktail

Thursday was all work with depositions in Minerva, Ohio. The day of work and travel was worth it when I got to Chicago that evening and was met by my mom! Mom got to Chicago on Thursday morning and had a day of sightseeing.

Mom and I stayed at the historic Hilton Chicago and spent the next two days sightseeing, shopping the magnificent mile, eating at great restaurants, and I managed to squeeze a little work in too. In our two days in Chicago, we saw it all - The Art Institute of Chicago, Cloud Gate (or the mirrored bean), the view from the John Hancock Building, Millenium and Grant Parks, Navy Pier (a bit of a disappointment), and mom took a 3 1/2 hour double decker tour bus ride around the city. 

The view from the top of the John Hancock Building

Our trip ended with the play Billy Elliot to celebrate my mom’s birthday.

I just want to dance!

While trips are always a little more fun with three Melton girls (Melody was missed), it was a treat to have my mom all to myself!  After the great trip to Chicago, I'm ready for the next big adventure/work trip!  Who knows where CTHG will send me next!

Amen and Pass the Butter,
Marcy

2nd Annual Horseshoe Bay Vacation

Webster’s Dictionary defines vacation as a period of time devoted to pleasure, rest, or relaxation. The Erwins and our dear friends Ashley and Ty Hamm add 2 days floating at Horseshoe Bay to that definition! We were counting on Ty to win the lottery so we could make a career of spending the day on a water hammock. Since Ty's Lotto numbers didn't match, we're all back to work come Monday and will all have to wait until next year for our 3rd Annual Horseshoe Bay weekend!

Amen and Pass the Butter,
Marcy & Clay

Here we go!

This last weekend, Clay and I (with Snoop in tow) traveled to Lampasas for some Melton family time. Our weekend was fast a furious (much like our life seems in general these days). As we traveled home, Clay and I decided it was time for us to venture into the world of blogging. This summer has taken us from New Mexico to Fredericksburg, Amarillo to Comanche, Las Vegas to Luckenbach, Granbury to Lampasas and everywhere in between. Between now and October, we already have trips planned to Horseshoe Bay, College Station (whoop!), Sugarland, Dallas and any other way the wind blows. Clay and I have decided that we don’t want to stay in one place long enough to let moss grow under our feet! We wanted a place to share our adventures together with you, our friends and family. So Big Momma, Dearest Doris, All of our Erwins, Meddy Mewton, Heffery, and all of you who love us, care about what we might be up to, or just happen to come across our little piece of the world wide web, this is for you! We can’t wait to share our pictures, thoughts, adventures, and love with you via our virtual scrapbook!


Amen and Pass the Butter,

Marcy

Prepare for take off!

Ladies and gentlemen, please make sure your seat backs and tray tables are in their full upright position. Make sure your seat belt is securely fastened and enjoy the ride.

Welcome to a look inside the lives of me, Marcy, and our beloved pet/traveling companion Snoop Dogg.

I hope to have fun documenting a few random thoughts and keeping the ones I love informed about what is on Clay's mind.

Amen and Pass the Butter, Clay