3 Months Old

Marley is 3 Months Old or 13 weeks old! She now weighs 8 lbs. and 9 oz. which means she is still in the 2 percentile (meaning 98% of children her age weigh more than her)! The doctor is not worried about this right now because she is steadily gaining weight and staying consistently in the 2%! Marley is a great eater - our girls just gain at a slower pace than other children! It is amazing though to see her next to other babies from church who were born 2 and now 3 months after her and they are all the same size! We are now graduating into our 0-3 months clothing. We are only doing this because our preemie clothes are now to short and we look like we are going to bust out the bottom of them! Even though we do not look like we are going to bust out of the 0-3 months we do look like we are being swallowed up by material!

Marley loves showers still and any kind of water sound! She loves to be upright and only likes to lie flat when she is eating or sleeping! She is very interested in her big sister and almost everything she does!

We have truly been blessed by God with the addition of Marley to our family!

MaKieley's School House

Let me start off by saying I'm sorry for so many pictures! I just thought all the steps needed to be shown. This all started with a big box that Marley's dresser came in. MaKieley decided that she was going to make a house out of the box. I told her about when I was little and I built a club house out of a box with Dangran. She thought that was great but her's was going to be better! So she asked Dangran if he would help her while she was out on Thanksgiving break and he said sure. The picture above is of the planning process. MaKieley has been going to Art Club again this year and they learn to plan out their project before starting. So that is what she did. She was so funny about it - she had a very particular idea about how it should be!
MaKieley let Dangran do all the "dangerous" stuff. This included cutting the door opening, cutting the window openings, making the window box, and cutting a teacher peep-hole and a welcome mat. He also helped with taping the window box to the window. But please do not think any of this was his idea! MaKieley had plans drawn out before they ever started and he cut where she told him to. He was great!
Here they are talking about where to put the window and exactly how it should be cut.

Here is MaKieley looking out the window over the window box! She did all the decorating herself with Markers she borrowed from Grammie!

Here is the "MaKieley & Marley Preschool"after it was finished.

Here is MaKieley sitting in the Preschool. Her comment when she was finished was "It was much more fun than I thought it would be!"

Thank you Dangran for helping with the construction and Grammie for the loan of the tape and markers!

Thanksgiving Parade

Marley loved watching the parade this morning! All the colors and movement held her attention for a lot longer than I expected.

She watched the first part of the parade with MaKieley and then the second part with Uncle Tim. MaKieley was otherwise occupied building her school (see my next post) during the second half of the parade.

Thanksgiving Preparations!

What great helpers I had getting ready for Thanksgiving! We made Pecan pie, Sweet Potato pie, Pumpkin Bread, Turkey, Dressing, Mashed Potatoes, Gravy, Green Bean Casserole, Raspberry Vinaigrette Salad, Watergate Salad, and rolls from scratch! Oh yes, MaKieley did the cranberry sauce on her own!

All the helpers did a great job! We had a great Thanksgiving meal and we are all very thankful for being together and being able to spend time cooking, or watching football, or taking a nap! We even enjoyed a few hands of dominoes with MaKieley! It was a lot of fun watching her try to figure out how to make points with her plays.

Thank you God for our time with our family!

My Tongue

83 days old!
Today Marley found her tongue! She plays with it all the time.
She sticks it out.

She blows bubbles with it and slobbers all over the place. She is trying

to get things in her mouth now. She chews on things when she does get them

into her mouth - maybe she is starting to teeth. We will see!

Marley discovers her tongue.
83 days old

Are these mine?

Marley found her hands yesterday! She was so funny looking at them! She had a very puzzled look on her face which seemed to say "Where did these come from? What exactly are they? Are they mine?" Sorry I do not have a picture right now. By the time I got the camera and turned it on she was interested in something else. I will try to get the picture next time.
Marley was 79 days old when she found her hands.

11 Weeks

Today Marley is 11 weeks old! She now weighs 7 lbs. 13 ozs.

I wanted to know how long she was now but I could not

find the measuring tape so I uses a 5 gallon paint stick! She

is exactly the length of a 5 gallon paint stick! WoW those

things are useful!

Marley is growing and thriving!

She is a very happy little girl!

I love fall!

Fall is my favorite season! It is cool not hot and it is cool not cold (if that makes any since). The leaves change colors - reds and oranges! Both very comforting and warm colors. I love to pick out pumpkins with MaKieley and I cannot wait until Marley is big enough to pick out her own pumpkin (maybe next year).

I took my girls out the other day and took their pictures with their pumpkins. They did so good! I have posted a few of the pictures! They smiled so pretty. You can even see exactly how much they look alike in some of the pictures. Happy Fall Everyone!

10 weeks

Marley is 10 weeks old today! How time flies! We are re-experiencing a lot of firsts! The first smile, the first giggle, the first time she pats you while you are patting her, and so on and so forth! I had forgotten exactly how fun it was! I thank God everyday that I am able to experience them all again with Marley and to experience new ones as MaKieley learns how to help with her baby sister.
God has blessed me greatly with parents who love and support me and my family more than we deserve, a wonderful husband who is loving, supportive, caring, helpful (and so much more that there are not words to describe!) and two wonderful girls who are so beautiful and smart! As well as all the other family and friends. But his greatest blessing was his son and the great sacrifice he made!

Am I seeing pink?

What a funny name! The Bumbo chair! It is the best thing since sliced bread right now! Grammie actually got this chair as one of Marley's Christmas presents but since she likes to sit up and stand up and look at everything around her we pulled it out a little early (we will wrap it up at Christmas ;) )! Today Marley sat in her pink chair while wearing her pink clothes and watched me put away dishes and prepare dinner. We had a great conversation and she was able to be a part of what was going on! She loved that! If you have a young child or have one on the way I suggest that you get one of these chairs if possible! You can find them online at target.com and sometimes you can find them in Target. You can also get them here in Lubbock at Kid Space. The Bumbo website is www.bumboseat.com .

Happy Marley Monday!

Happy Marley Monday Everyone! Marley and I were sitting here in our robes looking out the window (one of her favorite things to do!) and she was so happy I just had to take a few pictures to share with everyone!

Marley is becoming so expressive! She loves to talk and smile! She will even gripe at you:)!

Marley and I decided to take it easy first thing this morning since we had a very eventful weekend!

First Tech beat Baylor on Saturday morning! YEA!!

Then on Sunday we celebrated Mom's birthday! YEA!!

You will have to ask her (or MaKieley who tells everyone ;) ) how old she is! I will never tell!

Then we were able to arrange for the Washington Redskins to beat Dallas for Mom's birthday! ;) What a great game! John was holding Marley, who was finally taking a nap, and trying not to wake her up while trying not to jump up and down and trying not to yell! You get the picture! It was funny! He did a great job! She stayed asleep right through all the excitement! Ok Ok! If I do not tell you this John will get me! MaKieley and I were showing just as much excitement if not more!

Well we hope everyone is having a great Monday like us! We are off to get ready to have lunch with Grammie for her birthday!

The Grammie Look

See me try to raise my eyebrow like my Grammie does? Mommy does it too! I guess it is just genetics.:)

My Mom

Today is the birthday of an amazing woman! Her name is Mom!

She is the one who carried my brother and I in her womb for 9 months. She fed us and made sure we were clean and had clothes! She drove us to and from school, soccer, gymnastics, band, and countless other activities as well as being there to support us during performances! She got on to us and gave us "the look" when we got out of line. She even went as far as grounding me from the phone! She helped me pick out my wedding dress and do oh so many other things for our wedding. She talked to me on the phone almost every day when I moved away and she sent me cards to make me smile (or cry). She supported me through pregnancies and was there each time one of my beautiful girls was born! She is still there to listen and laugh and to tell me "You're paying for your raising". Most of all she has prayed for my brother and I as well as our mates everyday since before we were born.

What a wonderful woman, magnificent mom, and most of all a fabulous friend!

Happy Birthday Mom!