A new chapter begins...Baby Martin

Changes, changes and more changes....

So much has happened in the past 3 weeks I haven't had a moment to think about posting blogs or downloading pictures so let me catch you up to speed:

On May 17th we helped Dorian celebrate his 9th birthday...I still can't believe he is 9 years old. Happy Birthday Dorian!!

Taylor came over for the day and of course Nana, Forrest, Cody, Kaiser and Mommy were all on hand to ring in the 9 year olds special day. Notice the mohawk compliments of his daddy! We had a great day that began with a special chocolate chip with whipped cream pancake breakfast made by our very own Chef Cody...yummy hunny! Dorian got lots of gifts but I think you can tell by the look on his face his favorite was the new Razer scooter and skull helmet from mom and Cody.

After the gifts were opened we (mom, Cody, Taylor, Dorian and Kaiser) headed to the river to spend the day swimming, digging in the sand and relaxing. Even though it was cold, Cody, Taylor, Dorian and Kaiser all took a few dips in the river but mom stayed on shore enjoying the sun and taking pictures. We were all tired by the end of the day but it was a great day was had by all.

The next week was full of events including Dorian being honored as April Optimist of the month at Green Acres School. We attended an all district awards ceremony where he was given his award, letters of recognition by city and state officials as well as Free bowling passes for the summer (woo hoo!). But if you ask me Dorian's favorite part was being escorted to his seat by a very cute Strawberry Princess :) Way to go Dorian!!

That same week we also had a very BIG surprise!!! We found out that we are HAVING A BABY! That's right...a baby. We are still in shock but are of course very excited. We haven't told the boys yet because we are waiting to see the doctor on Friday to ensure baby Martin has a heartbeat and everything is going as well as it can for a 7 week old "coffee bean". I have been having "all day sickness" the past 4 days but besides that it hasn't been that bad for a mommy who hasn't been pregnant for 9 years. We will keep you updated as we go but as of now it looks like our little bundle of joy will be arriving on January 10, 2010. More to come....

Of course it seems there is always some bad news to go along with the good news so here it is: On Mother's Day the Silver Grille was officially closed to do unforeseen circumstances. So this means our very talented chef Cody is in the process of looking for a new job. On the bright side, we were finally able to spend our first Saturday evening/night together as Cody no longer has to work every Saturday but it is a real bummer because he is such a talented chef and his talents are going to waste (boo). He has been on the job search every day, updating his resume, getting letters of recommendation etc. so I'm sure he will be showing off his talents again at a trendy restaurant near you soon.

So, after the emotional roller coaster we have been on the past few weeks we decided to spend a nice, relaxing Memorial Day weekend camping on the river in Waterloo. Taylor wasn't able to join us because he was camping with his girlfriends family (way to crash your girls 4-wheeler Tay! lol). Since Taylor wasn't with us and he usually starts the first fire of the season, Cody stepped in and showed off his fire building talents.

This is our first fire of the season (nice job Cody!) We had a really nice time just relaxing, sitting in the sun, walking in the woods...oh ya and Dorian dug, and dug and dug. I think an excavation job is in his future for sure!

Cody bought a new camping game of ladder golf which was so much fun. We had a few little tournaments and also challenged our camping neighbor and his 8 year old son to a few games and I can happily say WE WON...WE WON! It seems Cody has emerged as the ladder golf champion but insists on challenging me every day to remind me he is the champion. "you da man babe!" LOL




So I think you are up to speed on our lives now. I've covered the birthday, jobs, babies, awards, camping....like I said, we have had a very busy month of May.

When boy meets girl...

Our story starts here...or should I say on February 12, 2009, when a 35 year old very talented and good looking executive chef of the Silver Grille named Cody found a super cool, cute as a button 35 year old divorced mom of two boys named Amy.
Oh ya...before we get too much further I must also mention there is one more player in this story. Cody has a black wolfinghound AKA black lab named Kaiser. Cody got Kaiser a year ago and raised him to be a sweet loving family doggie!

OK, now that you've met all of the players we can get back to our story. So Amy saw some pictures of Cody on a website she found and thought he was pretty cute and wanted to know more about him. She sent him a message asking him to post some more pictures of himself so the next day the pictures appeared which made Amy so happy. A few days later Amy received a friend request from Cody on her Myspace which she immedietely accepted. Little did either one of them know that this would be the beginning of a wonderful relationship.

They started talking on the phone every night for two weeks, getting to know each other which made them realize they had so much in common. Not only that but they both felt like they had known each other for a long time and were so comfortable talking to each other. Neither one of them were actually looking for a relationship but were both looking for a cool person to hang out with, do fun things together and maybe gain a new friend. They have come to realize that things happen for a reason and we shouldn't question something that feels so right

They met for the first time 2 weeks later for a 3 part date because they just didn't want the day to end. Cody came down to Lebanon and they took Kaiser to the Waterloo Doggie park for his daily run till he drops. They talked and talked and walked and walked and held hands for the first time which was an amazing feeling. Cody had to leave for work later that day so Amy snuck a kiss which left them both breathless. Later on after Cody got off work at the grille, they met in Salem for a drink and ended up talking till after midnight. Amy still didn't want the date to end so she invited Cody back to her house to watch tv and spend a little more time together.

This would be the first of many amazing days spent together. They figured out that Cody has Monday and Tuesday off and Amy is only working a temporary job at OSU so her schedule was a little more flexible so Amy started taking Monday and Tuesdays off so they could spend at least 2 days a week together. A few weeks later after Amy introduced Cody and Kaiser to Amy's kids, Amy took Taylor to the Grille so Cody could make Taylor a 15th birthday brunch. Taylor liked Cody and Cody's cooking so much he gave Amy his blessing on the ride home. He said it was ok with him if Amy wanted to date Cody....woooo hoooo! Of course Dorian was easy...he likes everyone .

A few weeks later Cody took Amy to the coast for the night...their first night away from kids, work and the stress that comes with every day life. Of course Kaiser came along because he had never been on the beach before so off to Lincoln City they went to have an amazing weekend together at the Seahorse Inn. They got to take Kaiser to the beach and Ocean for the first time and he ended up being a big, sandy, goobery mess but had so much fun.




Once they got back from the beach they wanted to spend every chance they had together, doing things during the day on their days off together like shopping, watching movies, going to breakfast, hanging out with Cody's roommates. They also loved to take the boys places like miniature gofing, bowling, gamecrazy...all the things boys like to do when they are deciding just how cool this new guy is that their mom is dating.

Cody and Amy spend their first Easter holiday together, coloring eggs, hiding eggs inside and almost loosing the 19th egg that somebody hid but forget where they hid it (Cody!!!). Dorian loved having Cody to help color eggs and even snuck some secret writing on an un-suspecting Cody's egg. LOL...Boo Ducks

So this pretty much brings us up to date. Cody and Amy love to spend every chance they get together. They realize that even though neither one of them were looking for a "serious" relationship, there is no denying the feelings they have for eachother. Amy's parents agree 100% and have made Cody feel like he is part of the family. In fact Cody was invited to Forrest's retirement party last week at the Police Academy. This was a big deal for Cody and Amy because it made it that much more real that Cody is considered family when it comes to this type of event.

As soon as the retirement party was over, Cody made plans to hike up to Silver Creek Falls where they had gone for their second date. Even though it was raining, muddy, cold and wet they hiked on. Once they finally got the to falls cody kissed Amy and then pulled out an amazing, beautiful diamond promise ring and gave it to Amy.

He told her that he loves her and wants to make sure they are in a committed relationship that will last from here on out and only get bigger and better. Even though Amy was cold and wet she thought this was the nicest, sweetest thing a boy had ever done for her and it made her love Cody more than ever.

So now that you are caught up you can follow our story and be part of it with us. We have so many plans, career changes, living arrangements, family times, vacations and so much more planned so come along with is and enjoy our journey that happened when Amy said to Cody "Nice pictures, can you post some more".