John's Girls

2011-05-18T10:55:00.002-05:00

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The WHOLE Family Gets Together

2011-01-09T11:37:00.016-06:00

Grandkids
Grandkids

Grandkids

Great Grandkids

Sons

Rondal & Jean

John, Sarah, MaKieley, Marley, Maddux, Jerri, Kati & Buddy

John, Sarah, MaKieley, Marley & Maddux

John, Sarah, MaKieley, Marley, Maddux, Jerri, Kati & Buddy

John, Sarah, MaKieley, Marley & Maddux

Sillies!!

Shauna, Amanda & Jeremy

Lisa & Jim

Shelia & JoeShelia & Joe

Kati, Jerri & Buddy

Tara & Tim

Cousins!!

Shauna, Jeremy, Amanda, Tim & Sarah

Cousins!!

Shauna, Jeremy, Amanda, Tim & Sarah

Cousins!!

Shauna, Jeremy, Amanda, Tim & Sarah

Jim & Lisa

John, Sarah, MaKieley, Marley & Maddux

Tim & Tara

Jim & Lisa

John, Sarah, MaKieley, Marley & Maddux

Tim & Tara

Jim & Lisa

John, Sarah, MaKieley, Marley & Maddux

Tim & Tara Joe & Shelia

Venus, Shauna, Amanda & JeremyJoe & Shelia

Venus, Shauna, Amanda & Jeremy

The WHOLE Gang

The WHOLE Gang The WHOLE Gang

The WHOLE Gang

Happy New Year 2011!!

2011-01-05T20:10:00.005-06:00

My Friend Mark took us out the day before New Years eve and did some Family Pictures for us! He is a very good and well sought after photographer her in town! We had fun but we were really cold. We would climb in the car and warm up and then run out and take a few pictures! It was probably pretty funny to watch!

Our First Family Pictures as a Family of 5

2011-01-05T18:18:00.006-06:00

2009-04-16T07:32:00.027-05:00

Marley Marley Marley

2008-06-19T18:55:00.002-05:00

Marley is talking so much more! Well I guess I should say we are able to understand so much more! She has been very outspoken since she was about 6 weeks old! She loves to sing and pray and tell you about Elmo (melmo).
Here are a couple of things I want to remember that happened in the past week:

Sunday night during church, Marley wanted to look at a song book. She cracks us up because she licks her finger before she trys to turn the page. Each and everytime. So I gave her a song book to keep her happy. She promptly opened it and found the page she wanted (using the finger licking technique) and began to sing. Not softly but loudly! I closed the book and she began to complain so we opened it again and I told her to use her very quiet voice. She used the finger licking technique again and found the page she wanted and again began to sing again. However, she forgot that I asked her to use her very quiet voice and she used her loud voice. It was so funny! At that point I had to put the book aside and pick her up and take her out. She was not happy with that either! She got over it fast though.
Marley loves MaKieley's piano. Today she crawled herself up onto the bench and somehow made the piano play a song and she sang along with it while dancing along with it AND played along with it! It was hilarious and words do not do it justice!
Marley loves to hold hands when we pray and she loves to say amen! She used to bow her head and listen while others said the prayer and she might babble a little but there was always a definite AMEN at the end. Well now she loves to pray multiple times in a row and it begins with someone else saying the first prayer and progresses into her saying it herself. Well tonight at dinner MaKieley said the first prayer and then I did and then Marley said several. Well the final prayer was one of her most understandable yet! God...thank you...Daddy...Sissy...Mamma...bites...paci...mulk(milk)...AMEN! MammaDaddySissy...bites...mulk...paci...Daddy...Mamma...Sissy...puppy! AMEN!

She is growing up so fast and I do not want to forget any of it! Thank you God for my sweet babies! They are so precious to me even when they drive me up the wall!

Marley's End of Year Program

2008-04-24T22:10:00.000-05:00

Our girl is growing so tall! Tonight was her end of the year program at her little school! The theme was Soakin' Up The Son! A beach theme! So the littlest ones wore their swimming suits. So out we went to find one that fit (how dare she grow out of the one we bought her last year!). This brown and coral/pink suit was one of the cutest ones we found! And would't you know she made it cuter! I would have never guessed that would happen! ;)Now for a few of my favorites - she is such a ham!Notice the raised eyebrows!This is Marley with her Oh So Sweet Teacher - Ms. Amy (or Meme as Marley calls her).The first song they sang was Jesus Loves Me the clapping version! She clapped her little heart out! She was so entertaining!There second song was about a Lighthouse and they were handed flashlights to shine around! Marley did such a great job!

He's Here! He's Here!

2008-03-08T20:43:00.001-06:00

Isn't he cute! WE think so!

Oscar Nile was born today at 12:21 p.m.

He and his mommy are doing wonderfully! We are so excited to finally see what our new little nephew/cousin looks like! His daddy and big brother Oliver are doing great too! We can't wait to see what his big brother thinks of him! I know he will love him!

Dads, Dangrans and Donuts

2008-03-06T16:50:00.005-06:00

Dad's and donuts is a fun time MaKieley participated in many times when she was younger! So the tradition carried on with Marley. MaKieley always asked Dangran to come as well! Since Dangran is probably Marley's favorite person we decided he should be invited to come with Marley as well!
Wow! They really do look a lot alike!
What do you think?

Marley helps Dangran clean the donut off his face!
She sure does love the men in her life!

Happy Hap Birt Marley!

2008-03-01T15:47:00.001-06:00

Sometime between yesterday and today our Marley turned 18 months!
As is normal for our family, we celebrated Marley's Hap Birt!
Here she is getting ready to blow out her candle!
If you look closely at the flame, you can see she is in mid blow!
Out goes the candle! Yea Marley!
Wow! How time flies! I can remember MaKieley's 18 month birthday and it seems like it was just last year and here we are about to celebrate her 7 1/2 birthday and celebrating our baby's 1 1/2 month birthday!
Marley is doing so many new things! She is potty trained! She says no no and shakes her finger while saying it. She has so many words let me name a few:
Mama
Daddy
Sissy and Sister
Bubba
Grammie
Dangran (this is one of her favorites)
banana
apple
bye bye
hey
puppy (sounds like pup pup)
purple
red
one
please
thank you
all done
car
LaLa (my friend Angela)
Bella (Angela's new dog)
go
milk
And there are so many more!
She has 9 teeth and 1 more about half way through. And then two more that just peeked their tip through this weekend. She can tell us if she want one or two ponytails. She loves to read and she loves music. She will clap and dance along to any music you play for her!
I am not sure how tall she is or how much she weighs but when we go to the Dr. next week for her well check I will let you know!

The LONG and SHORT of Things

2008-02-16T11:20:00.010-06:00

Well, Today was THE Day!
MaKieley has been growing her hair out for

over a year and a half so that she could donate

it to Locks of Love!

This is a picture before of her beautiful,

yet difficultly thick, long blonde hair!Here is her pony tail waiting to be cut off!

Here is Ms. Tandy cutting the ponytail off!
Here is MaK showing off her cut off ponytail!
Here is MaKieley's short SHORT hair!
She was so thrilled!

SO, one more time! Here is MaKieley before!
And here she is after! With the evidence!

Ms. Tandy said they usually use about three ponytails to make a wig but MaKieley's was probably as thick as 2 or 2 1/2 of the ponytails they usually recieve!

A BIG HUGE Thank you to Ms. Tandy for such a great haircut!

:) You are AWESOME!!!! :)

A BIG Thank you also to Grammie and Dangran for coming and supporting us all and helping entertaining Marley Caroline!

For those of you who do not know the story behind the growing and cutting of the hair it is as follows.

MaKieley is in class with a little girl who does not have very much hair. They have been in class together since Kindergarten. One morning MaKieley was at home for a holiday or something and I had on the Today show! They were doing a segment on people with long hair and they were cutting the hair off and giving it to Locks of Love so that wigs could be made out of it! Well they also talked about Ann Curry giving her hair! (We really like Ann Curry in our house!) My sweet daughter told me if Ann and those other people could do it then we could! Then she promptly asked me if I knew a wig maker. I told her I did not and that all we had to do was to mail the hair in (when it was long enough) to Locks of Love and they took care of all that. She then told me I was to make sure that the people at Locks of Love were to understand that her "hair wig" was to go to the special little girl from her class! You see some of the boys were picking on this little girl and MaKieley did not like that at all. She knew God had blessed her with a head FULL of thick Thick THICK hair and she could share that with the other little girl so that she would not be sad and the boys would not pick on her! So we began growing! Then she decided that daddy and mommy should grow their hair out as well! SO ... Mommy and Daddy did! Now Mommy and MaK have reached the point of cutting but Daddy has a little bit longer to go! (Now you all understand why our hair was so long in our happy new year picture!)

I am sure you all agree with us that we have a very sweet giving little girl! She shows us so often why God calls us to be like the little children!

Happy New Year!

2008-01-01T15:24:00.000-06:00

Happy 2008 from our

family to yours!

John, Sarah, MaKieley & Marley

Generations

2007-12-31T14:45:00.000-06:00

Generations of Family!

Family is such a precious gift! I am so glad my children are being blessed with a relationship with their great grandparents! My grandparents are so precious to me and I know my children will feel the same way one day!

My girls love to go to the farm! They learn so much and they can run free and not worry about cars speeding by or walking out in the street! We love the freedom they are granted to run, play and explore! They always have so much fun on Pudden and Pap's Farm!

Marley was even brave enough to hold a grasshopper and then chase her sister with it during our last visit to the farm! It was very fun!

Our Potty Girl

2007-11-26T19:04:00.000-06:00

We have learned in the past couple of weeks that Marley is a reader while she potties! A couple of weeks ago Marley walked into our bathroom and grabbed the potty seat she sits on on the potty. She looked at me and then the potty and went to put the seat on it. I asked her if she needed to potty and she shook her head yes and gave me the potty sign. I said ok and put the seat on and sat her on the potty. She promptly teeteed and clapped for herself and so did I. Since then she has been telling us that she needs to go alot!! Sometimes she has just gone and sometimes she was in the midst of going and sometimes she even told us before she went. 95% of the time she will teetee when you put her on the potty. It has now gotten to the point that she is telling us before she goes (not everytime - but alot!)! Especially when she needs to poop! We even got her the tinest panties you have ever seen! She thinks she is so sassy when she wears them!

Marley's 1!

2007-09-19T13:45:00.001-05:00

Marley Walking

2007-08-24T18:38:00.000-05:00

This is Marley walking at Jump N Jungle! She has been walking a while now but it is still the cutest unstable walk you have ever seen! She is to little to be walking!

The Amarillo Zoo

2007-08-06T15:33:00.000-05:00

Cool Slideshows!

We went to the Amarillo Zoo with our friends the Chandler's! I wish we had a zoo! The kids got a kick out of the monkeys and so did the adults. After we saw the monkeys, tigers, bears, lions, water buffalos and all the other animals in the zoo we went into the park for a picknic! It was a very enjoyable day (other than John not feeling good from the food poisoning he had received the day before :( ).

Is Football Season Getting Close??

2007-07-06T12:09:00.000-05:00

John found this stripped polo in Redskins' colors for Colter and it was a perfect fit! They look ready to head to a Football game!

John cannot wait for football season! He is going to teach Colter all about football I'm sure!

Breakfast Bliss

2007-07-05T10:08:00.000-05:00

Happy Fourth of July

2007-07-04T23:16:00.000-05:00

We had a busy 4th of July! We started it by going to the Parade downtown!The police kicked off the parade in style! The police cars were a hit with Marley! She loved the lights and sirens.
Following the cars were the horses! A hit with both girls (especially MaKieley)!
MaKieley enjoyed seeing the band! She wants to know when she can be in that band.

Colter loved the band! He watched all the shiny instruments go by!

Marley had the best seat in the house! Right on top of her Daddy's shoulders.

There was a huge cake to celebrate America's Birthday! MaKieley wanted to know how they made such a big cake! (It was NOT a real cake :)

This was one of the cars John really liked and Marley thought the character riding in the car was funny!

MaKieley was particularly interested in these little girls. They sang all the way down the road! And danced too! She wanted to know how she could get involved with them before next year.

We were all having a great time watching the parade! MaKieley could not stop watching long enough to come take a picture with us.

Here is another car John REALLY liked!! :)

MaKieley enjoyed waving the flag!

This was one of the only times we were able to stop and look at us so we could take her picture!

There was a stage coach that MaKieley really liked!

A friend of ours played his bag pipes in the parade! It was very cool!

We all thought this old fashioned fire truck was very cool! John says it must have cost a lot of money to refurbish this truck.

Marley - once again watching those lights!

Our friends James and Patti along with their kiddos Eric, Emilee and Allison had a float to promote there MAZE. We love the maze and visit at least once a year (most of the times more)!

There was also a group of lawn mower pushers! MaKieley wanted to know why these people were so fantatical (fanatical) about their lawn mowers. And why Daddy did not paint his lawn mower red, white and blue.

Marley got worn out watching the parade!

She also made a friend with a small dog.

Here is another old truck John liked!

The masked rider even rode through!

Followed closely by Raider Red!

MaKieley made sure she showed her Red Raider Spirit by giving a guns up to the Masked Rider and Raider Red!

The Police started and now ended the Parade!

The parade was a lot of fun! Afterward we walked down to the Fourth on Broadway Street Fair! We had a turkey leg and some cotton candy and a snow cone and several other treats while we were there! Finally we had to take the babies home for a nap. While they napped we made lupper (a combination of lunch and supper). Mom, Dad, Tim, MaKieley, Marley, Holly, Colter, John and I all ate a great meal of Brisket, potato salad, baked beans, green beans, squash and ice cream! It was a great time. Later that night we watched the fire works from our front windows.

HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY EVERYONE!!

What is your rating?

2007-07-03T06:52:00.000-05:00

I found this on my friend, Ashley's blog! You can click on the box above to go to the site and it will rate your blog. We are all clean here!

The Kissmobile

2007-06-09T21:49:00.000-05:00

On our way from Fredericksburg to Franklin we went through Austin and happened upon the Hershey's Kissmobile! MaKieley thought it was great and so we stopped to see what it was all about since we had to get gas anyway! They were taking nominations for the sweetest mom or something like that so John and the girls nominated me and were videotaped for possible use in a future commercial. We were also entered into a contest for some kind of trip. I'm sure we will never hear out of them or be in a commercial but it was a fun detour!

MaKieley's Debut

2007-06-09T21:39:00.000-05:00

John's mom performs at a local place in Fredericksburg called the Choo Choo Trolley. She and her partner invited MaKieley to sing!She jumped at the chance and took the microphone and belted out her version of Shout to the Lord! She did a great job!

MaKieley's trip to the Alamo

2007-06-08T23:59:00.000-05:00

MaKieley has been asking for a while to go and see the Alamo. We decided that on our trip this summer we were going to go and do just that.We started off at this cannon. It reads In Loving Memory of Warren Eugeen Boynton. Sergeant U.S. Army World War II This was an area where periodically a historian would come out and retell the events that lead up to the fall of the Alamo. MaKieley was a little bored by this so I took her picture to get her mind off of it. She just wanted to go and look at everything. She is more of a hands on learner than a listening learner.
This was a carved stone statue from Mission San Antonio de Valero (later known as the Alamo). MaKieley wanted to know where it's head was.This was a acequia or irrigation ditch, part of the original acequia built to supply farms and the Mission San Antonio del Valero. We also made a stop in the gift shop and MaKieley wanted to pick out a coffee cup for Dangran. There were so many choices we wanted to be able to show him how hard the decision was for her. WELL apparently the gift shop is a no picture are too. I got in trouble for taking her picture!Marley had had about enough! She fell asleep just like this! I thought it would make a great picture for an ad campaign for Ozarka!Before we left my dad showed MaKieley a picture of me and my brother standing in front of the Alamo (in almost this exact place) so MaKieley was insistent that we do the same of her and Marley so she could show Dangran.After walking around the Alamo for a while we decided to make our way across the street to the Riverwalk and find some lunch. We ended up eating at The County Line (John's choice and his favorite). It was very good! What a fun day we had at the Alamo and the Riverwalk in San Antonio!

Greenbean kinda Girl

2007-06-06T23:35:00.000-05:00

Marley loves greenbeans! She loves to suck them up! She is so funny when she eats them. She sucks them in and then chews them up and swallows! Then she claps for herself!
She has such a sweet smile and beautiful blue eyes!

Eating chicken and greenbeans makes a girl tired!

Sleeping Baby

2007-06-03T15:11:00.000-05:00

I love to watch my babies sleep! They are so peaceful and relaxed! I just could not resist taking some pictures of Marley while she was sleeping.

Colter's BIG 1st Birthday

2007-06-02T22:26:00.000-05:00

Today we had Colter's BIG 1st birthday party with all his little friends! There were a lot of people there! Everyone at hot dogs and chips andt then a cupcake!
Once again Colter let us know he did not like having icing all over him! He shook his hand to try and shake off the icing but it did not work! That stuff was stuck to him.

Colter received lots of neat gifts! I'm sure there will be plenty of hours of play at his house!

Sisters

2007-06-02T19:24:00.000-05:00

My sweet girls' feet!

9 months Old

2007-05-31T06:57:00.000-05:00

eating some finger foods

fast crawler

loves ducks and can say duck

trying to walk

loves to gives kisses and hugs

plays well on her own or with others

loves to jump

loves to drink from straws

wearing a size 1-2 diaper (a between size)

wearing some 0-3 month clothing (anything that is not pants) and 3-6 month clothing

is ok with wearing shoes but would rather go without them

she loves to help with the laundry

Our Sweet Colter's First Birthday!

2007-05-22T22:20:00.000-05:00

Today our sweet Colter turned 1! Here are some

pictures from his first celebration.

Happy Birthday Aunt Lyric

2007-05-22T22:14:00.000-05:00

Happy "24th" Birthday Aunt Lyric!

Yummy! Birthday cake is GREAT!

Marley is 8 months!

2007-04-30T21:15:00.000-05:00

My sweet Marley is 8 months old! She is getting smarter and smarter everyday! I thought I would just list some things about her life as it is now.

- Marley is still wearing 0-3 clothing and moving into some of her 3-6 month clothing (particularly things that have long pants)
- She is still wearing a size 1 diaper

- She still loves all foods!

- She is doing great with finger foods!

- She loves to crawl around and is now pulling up on things and would like to just walk off (and often times tries to - but ends up falling)

- She loves her exersaucer - She loves to JUMP!!!! - She loves to clap and say the word YEA! while she is clapping

- She loves to talk and carry on conversations

- She is a joy to be around

How many Pacis?

2007-04-26T16:04:00.000-05:00

Marley is a paci hog! She likes to have one for each hand and one in her mouth! As you can see she loves three! She like to play a game with them, it goes like this: She has one in her mouth and I have one in mine (there is a little piece on the back side that I can hold between my teeth). She takes the one out of my mouth and I then take the one out of her mouth. She places the new one in her mouth and I do the same. Then she takes the one I have in my mouth and I take the one she has in her's! This can go on for a VERY long time!

A New Stage

2007-04-24T20:35:00.000-05:00

Marley is pulling up! She loves to walk (while holding our hands)! But I had been resting easy in the fact that she was not big enough to pull up and try on her own. Well in watching her today...she was pulling up and letting go! I think she thought she could walk away on her own! Not very cool! -said Mom! She is to tiny to be doing such things! I guess when you have so many people around you doing something that looks so cool you just want to try it yourself! I think this is what they call peer pressure! I think we are going to have to watch her closely as she gets older and is surrounded by other peer pressures that are not good for her!

Will Crawl for...

2007-04-23T21:57:00.000-05:00

Mini Vanilla Waffers!

Marley would rather walk than crawl. But I have found a way to make her move! She loves mini vanilla waffers! So (John says like you would do for a dog) I put out a couple of her favorites and she moved her way right to them! Who would have guessed it!? She makes me smile! :)

Cool Contest

2007-04-21T21:15:00.000-05:00

I heard from several friends (via their blogs) that there was a cool contest going on to win a digital picture frame! I have looked at these things and priced them until I am blue in the face knowing there is no way I am going to find the money for such a luxury! But winning one is ok ... right!? I think so! If you want to enter to win hurry over to 5 minutes for mom and enter to win! It will be fun! :)

Another Hap Birt!

2007-03-22T05:18:00.000-05:00

Today is our sweet little nephew, Oliver's, Hap Birt! He is such a sweet & handsome little man!

HAPPY HAP BIRT OLLIE! WE HOPE YOU HAVE A GREAT DAY! WE LOVE YOU!

Sister's Tea Party

2007-03-20T09:30:00.000-05:00

Show me how this tea party thing goes.Oh! Is that how it works?I know how to do that! Watch!

I told you I knew how to do this.
Such a pro! :)

Another Gap

2007-03-18T19:46:00.000-05:00

Well you guessed it! MaKieley is missing another tooth! What a production it was to get that thing out! The tooth has been loose since Marley was born (just a little then - and has become progressivley looser)! It has been so loose in the past couple of weeks that I was afraid it was going to fall out at school and be lost like the first one! I told her at the beginning of Spring Break that the tooth was coming out before she went back to school - it did not matter if I had to pull it or she pulled it!
TODAY WAS THE DAY!
Tomorrow she is to go back to school so after church I told her she had until 2pm to get it out herself but if it was not out at 2 either John or I were going to pull it. 2pm came and went and the tooth was still in her mouth. I had such a migraine and I was not sure I could do it but we made it through. She squealed and squalled and tried to make her self throw up and covered her mouth and put her head down and tried to get out of my lap and made every excuse she could think of! I'm sure you can see the pattern. I finally told her all I was going to do was put the dental floss around her tooth and then we would talk about what to do next. I guess she is like her mommy in that way! I want to talk before acting! I'm sure it drives John crazy most of the time! Anyway we put the floss around the tooth and then talked about how we were going to pull the tooth. MaKieley wanted me to pull the tooth but because I was feeling so sick to my stomach - due to my headache - I was not sure I could get through it. I motioned to John to stand behind MaKieley and for him to pull the floss. WELL he did and it popped right out into my lap! It was finally done! She screamed - in a high C my mom said - and then she was totally silent and asked if it came out. I showed it to her and she ran off to see her gap!
Such Drama! I'm told I caused drama very similar when I was her age!

Happy St. Patty's Day

2007-03-17T23:18:00.000-05:00

We decided that during Spring Break we were going to have a movie night and show MaKieley {and Marley :)} some of the movies we watched as children. So we also used it as a St. Patrick's Day Celebration (of sorts). We rented Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and Mary Poppins. MaKieley loved them both and already wants to watch them again! Marley sat and watched more than I expected her to but eventually fell asleep. It was a great family night! We do not get those enough!

On The Go!

2007-03-05T20:11:00.000-06:00

Marley crawled today! She went about four hands forward! It was not far but it was an accomplisment! She normally just goes backwards or wants to walk.

A New Word

2007-03-02T23:10:00.000-06:00

Marley's newest word is Bye Bye! It sounds so cute! I will try to record it soon and post it so you can all hear it!

Another Conversation with MAKIELEY!

2007-03-02T07:03:00.000-06:00

This morning MaKieley was sitting in the kitchen eating her breakfast and she asked me the following:
MaKieley: Hey Mom! Doesn't that sound like that song?
Me: Does what sound like what song?
MaKieley: The washing machine (dishwasher)!
Me: What song MaKieley?
MaKieley: I don't remember the exact tune but the one that sings God is an Awesome God. You know that song!
Me: hmm...I guess it does.
(So what else could we do but sing the song to the beat of the dishwasher!)
MaKieley and Me: God is an Awesome God he reigns from heaven above with wisdom power and might our God is an Awesome God......

It is so sweet when we get glimpses of what our children are thinking about and God is in those thoughts!

Hap Birt Time!

2007-02-28T22:29:00.000-06:00

My sweet Marley is now 6 months old! She is 12lbs. and 25 1/2 inches tall! She is growing so smart and big and beautiful! She has only said one word so far but it is only a matter of days before more come out! She is trying so hard to voice her opinion! We celebrated her Hap Birt with Grammie and Dangran and MaKieley! For all of you who do not know what a Hap Birt is - It is a half birthday! The six month point between birthdays! We celebrate these in our family. No presents usually. Just dinner together with as much family as we can get together and half a cake and a card or half a card has been known to show up!

Marley is still small (just now fitting good into her 0-3 month clothing) but she is all lung from shoulder to hip! She makes sure everyone knows she is around and she has something to say about things too. She still loves showers (she really does not like baths at all)! She loves books especially ones with shiny pictures in them! She thinks she is as big as her Big Sis a lot of the time! She is pretty generous with her smiles and she is starting to laugh more and more! She loves to eat! In fact if anyone is eating around her she thinks she should be eating as well! We were at some friends house the other night eating pizza and that is all she wanted. We tried baby food and nursing and her sippy cup but nothing worked! We cut the pizza off of the crust and gave her the crust - she was perfectly content!
She is a Momma's girl! When she is tired I can take her and she calms down, places her head in the crook of my neck (where the neck and shoulder connects) and goes to sleep. She will not do this for anyone else. John gets frustrated sometimes when she is really upset and I take her and she calms down! He always says, "Why won't she do that for me!" and I remind him that things were just the opposite with MaKieley! That girl is a Daddy's girl through and through!
Well time flies when you're having fun I guess! I just want to cherish each moment I have with both of my girls!

Menu Plan Monday

2007-02-26T14:01:00.000-06:00

Monday - Taco Meatloaf - Thanks to Annie :)
Tuesday - Grilled Chicken and Veggies - Marley's 6 month celebration!! :)
Wednesday - Sandwiches or WOW meal at church
Thursday - Taco Chicken Thanks to Annie - again :)
Friday - Beef Stroganauff and Green Beans

For more menu ideas click here.

2007-02-23T17:20:00.000-06:00

Menu Plan Monday

2007-02-19T08:59:00.000-06:00

Monday - Chicken & Rice Casserole
Tuesday - BREAKFAST - Omletes
Wednesday - Sandwiches or WOW meal at church
Thursday - Layered Fiesta Casserole
Friday - Easy Baked Potato Soup

My Dad

2007-02-18T21:04:00.000-06:00

Today is the day my Dad was born! What a day! What a man!

My daddy was the one who took me out on dates, taught me how to mow the yard and change my oil! He coached my soccer and t-ball teams and sat in the cold at many football games to support my performance! He is also the man who taught me how a husband should love God and treat his wife and children (I think he did a good job of teaching me that)! He was the one that did not have to say anything when I had done something wrong and that was worse than anything else! I knew he was disappointed and that did more to me than any punishment! He had the most unique way of teaching my brother and I not to fight! Like the time we were on vacation and all we were doing was arguing in the backseat! He had finally had it and pulled over! We were told to get out of the car...we did not have a clue what was happening next. We got out and my dad drove off! Not far...but far enough that we got the idea that we should be quiet for a while! :)

My dad has supported me through all kinds of things and has been more than I could have ever asked for in a daddy!

I love you dad! Happy birthday!

It Happened!

2007-02-18T20:58:00.000-06:00

It finally happened! She said it!
What!? You may be asking!
Marley said Mama!
It is such a sweet little word!
I will try to record it soon!
She picks and chooses her times to say it right now!
But that is ok because I love to hear her sounds!

Snowy Valentine's Day

2007-02-15T10:34:00.000-06:00

We woke up on V-day to a nice blanketing of snow! We have had a lot of snow lately! Thankfully most of it has happened over weekends when we did not have to get out and do anything except go to church.

This only ended up being 1 - 2" so it did not hinder our getting out and getting to school and having our Pirate Party!

Pirate's Treasure Valentine's Day Party

2007-02-15T10:10:00.000-06:00

My two Pirate Beauties!In talking with MaKieley about her class Valentine's Day Party she expressed to me that she wanted a Pirate themed party (that is their school mascot). So that is exactly what we did! I made pirate cupcakes (see picture below) and brought eye patches for each kid. Other mothers brought pirate head scarves, gold coins, pirate telescopes, and we all played pin the eye patch on the pirate! It was so much fun! I think the kiddos really enjoyed it! We also exchanged lots of Valentine's and treats as well! Even Marley was a pirate!

2007-02-14T06:56:00.000-06:00

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!

So Sweet!

She can be so crazy!

Marley Rides Again!

2007-02-05T21:54:00.000-06:00

We went by Nonnie's House (the boys' grandmother's house) and Marley just had to ride Nonnie's Rooster.

Conversation with Grammie

2007-02-03T20:10:00.000-06:00

Grammie: Do you know how much I love you?
MaKieley: As much as life itself
Grammie: That's right and I love you with my whole heart too
MaKieley: That's not as much as life itself
Grammie: It's not?
MaKieley: No, your heart is only as big as your fist!

Those Sweet Baby Words

2007-02-01T15:52:00.000-06:00

You know when kiddos say words that sound so funny to us but to them sound exactly like what we are saying? MaKieley had words like tamote (remote), aminal (animal), cronk (crack), and deckalit (delacate).

So in memory of these words (we have only a few left) I have been wanting to tell this story...

...I had several small Texas flags, I thought MaKieley's teacher could use them in her classroom so I sent them to school with MaK. I told her she was only to take these to Ms. Gooch. Do nothing else with them. Did she listen? No. Instead she decided to split them between her teacher and her Grammie ( I guess that was ok. I just did not want her giving them to other children when she did not have enough for everyone.) She took two of them to her Grammie and told her these are for your tamode. My mom looked at her and said, "What?" MaKieley repeated herself, "These are for your tamode." My mom was confused at this point and said, "My what?" MaKieley told her, "You know that thing your sit on. There is one for each side." It was about this time when my mom figured out she was talking about the little motor scooter that my dad had rented her so she would be able to get around easier. We still are not sure why MaKieley was calling the scooter a "tamode".

5 months old

2007-01-31T20:26:00.000-06:00

Marley's Bubble Bath Today Marley is 5 months old!

Here are a few things we love about her!

She loves to smile
She love to communicate with us
She thinks she is as big as MaKieley
When she realizes she is sitting up instead of standing she goes straight as a board
She still loves the water
She is a great cuddler
She loves to stand up in her exersaucer
She gives five
The funny faces she makes when you give her peaches
Her laughter
Her big Bright Blue Eyes
All her pants fall right off of her
She wants to crawl so bad so she scoots around on her back with her feet (causing herself a bald spot on her head)
When she gets so excited to see each of us
That God Blessed us with her!

Thank you God for Marley and the blessing she is to our lives!

A Conversation With MaKieley

2007-01-28T11:39:00.000-06:00

SETTING: In the backseat of Grammie's truck while looking at one of Marley's favorite picture books (loaned to her by Tucker and Tanner - Thanks Boys!).

MaKieley: Look Marley, an orange orange

Marley: OOOO

MaKieley: and purple grapes

Marley: EEEEEE

Me: Why is it not Purple Purples?

MaKieley: What?

Me: Why is it not Purple Purples?

MaKieley: I don't understand.

Me: You have an orange orange - why not purple purples?

MaKieley: You're not making sense mom.

Me: Sure I am. Orange orange and Purple purples.

MaKieley: That is not how it is.

Me: (turn the page to a green turtle) Like this should be a green green.

MaKieley: No.

Me: Why not?

MaKieley: It's not a fruit! (very matter of factly)

Me: Oh! Ok! ( I turn the page to a red apple) A Red red.

MaKieley: No mom! That is not how it works.

Me: Why not?

MaKieley: Because God assigned it the name apple. And God assigned them the name Grapes and orange.

Me: Oh! That's how it works huh?

MaKieley: Yup!

WANTED: Snowman Killer

2007-01-21T09:33:00.000-06:00

Here is our Snowman, guarding our house, about 11:30 last night!
This morning we woke to find tire tracks through the place where our Snowman stood.
I wish I knew how to be a real CSI and take tire prints! I would track down the person who did this!

What kind of person would do this to a child's creation?

To me the person who did this is a very unhappy person! Someone who has to tear down what others build to make themselves feel good lives a sad life! MaKieley was so sad to see her Snowman in a thousand little pieces! We talked about destroying others property though and now she wants to try and rebuild it! What a great teaching opportunity!

More Snowy Fun!

2007-01-20T15:26:00.000-06:00

Marley was ready to play in the snow!
All my snow bunnies!
MaKieley and I had some fun giving John's car a face! MaKieley gave the car the eyes and I gave it a nose and mouth!
Marley was given a snow suit for Christmas (Thank you Jerri, Gerald, Jack, Kati, Buddy and Kelsey)! We never knew it would come in so handy! It was a little big but it kept her nice and toasty!! :)
Here John and Marley show off her snow suit! So cute!

Marley has fun watching Daddy and MaKieley build a Snowman!

Marley has her picture made with the Snowman!
MaKieley getting ready to play in the snow!

The Making of a Snowman!

2007-01-20T15:08:00.000-06:00

The How To Steps of Making A SnowmanFirst you make a mound of snow and begin rolling it around to create a ball.
Roll the ball around awhile! You will need a big one for the bottom. Stop and check if it is big enough. If not...
...keep rolling! If it gets to heavy have someone help you roll it around some more! Team work is best!

Once it is big enough you might need to take a rest. The bottom snowball makes a great place to sit and rest!

Next you will need to start another ball for the middle. Do it just like before - just do not make it as big. Make one more small ball for the head.

Now you should pack some snow in between the snowballs to make them sturdy.

Next you will need to gather some items to make the Snowman's face. Here we have carrot for the nose, two suckers for the eyes and another sucker for the pipe.

It is always nice to have someone to oversee just in case you miss a step!

Here is our Snowman! He is so popular that after we came in to warm up we saw a guy pull up in his truck get out and take a picture of our Snowman with his cell phone!

20 Weeks

2007-01-18T13:00:00.000-06:00

Well it's the BIG 2-0 for Marley! Weeks that is! She grows and changes everyday! Right now she is trying to help me type this and she keeps moving the cursor to different places on the screen! I guess I better stop here because she needs a clean diaper and who knows how long this would take with her helping me!

Marley's New Trick

2007-01-15T22:06:00.000-06:00

Do you see this big Sippy Cup that is almost as big as Marley's head? Well she has been drinking out of it pretty well for a little over a month now! She has held it before but in the last week...
...she has been perfecting the art...
...of getting it into her mouth by herself and then drinking! She has done it!

She thought this was the best fun! Last night when she was eating dinner she would get so excited everytime we would hand her the sippy cup! I will try to record her response sometime because it is so funny to hear her get so excited! She has been "drinking" out of a big person glass (no lid) for a while. But almost always 95% of the water dribbles out of her mouth and down her front! Not so with the Sippy Cup!

For a while now Marley has decided that anytime anyone is eating around her she should be eating too! So we have to make sure we have something she can eat anytime we sit down to a meal! Now I am sure we are going to need the Sippy Cup everytime too!

An Icy Winter Blast

2007-01-14T21:21:00.000-06:00

"Baby it's COLD Outside!"
MaKieley and John have been singing that song all weekend! Just to give you a taste as to how things are outside our house, check out these pictures! The icy rain started Friday night and made EVERYTHING VERY slick by Saturday morning! John was supposed to go into work but after some quick talking from MaKieley and I, watching a driver almost take out our mail box and (John) falling on the ice he changed his mind. He worked from home instead!
When we woke up this morning things did not seem any better! At the bottom of the TV screen we could see all the church cancellations and the weathermen were warning against any travel! Our chuch however was the only one not cancelled - "Meeting as Scheduled" was under our church's name on the bottom of the screen! Since my mother, fractured hip and all, had decided to go we thought we should be there to help her if she needed us (which of course she didn't). So out went John (by himself) to drive the car around the block to see exactly how the roads were. Surprisingly they were not bad at all! So we all dressed and got in the car and went to church! The roads were fine until we got to the building! The road the church is on was icy and the parking lots were like an ice skating rink! But we had made it! We worshiped and then went to Mom and Dad's for lunch. We made our way home after lunce and found the loop was dry!
Thank you God for keeping us safe!

I'll have a Side Order of Patience Please

2007-01-13T19:19:00.000-06:00

What a sweet face! Behind it is what is driving me crazy! MaKieley went through a while of not listening and minding, doing whatever she wants to, just general 6 year old rebellion! Well I thought that little girl who tries my patience on a daily basis had finally disappeared about Wednesday! She was listening and minding the first time, doing what she was told, asking before she did things and not showing much rebellion at all! Well as you have probably guessed... SHE'S BAAACK! 'Maybe it is the weather' is what I have been telling myself all day! For those of you not here - An ice storm came in over night and thank goodness today was Saturday and not a school day! We have been in our house all day! Marley waited until 4 pm to take a good nap - we would get her to sleep and she would sleep for 5 to 15 minutes and then she was up again, but she was not happy! She was very agitated because she was tired! And MaKieley was not helping the situation at all! So as you can see, today did not lend itself to a calm laid back stay in your jammies day! I know MaKieley has such a sweet heart and wants to help! It is just that she does not always do it in a helpful way! Example: We made queso this afternoon to go with our dinner. I put it in the microwave to heat it up and then had to hold Marley. MaK went in and took it out of the microwave and decided she would add some more of the Rotel juice (which I really did not want in there but it was not the end of the world). What made it worse was when I dipped the first chip in the queso I found out she had also found it necessary to add a hefty dose of Splenda! YUCK! Ok, I know my dad is reading this and cracking up and telling my mom to listen up! Now she is cracking up! I beg you to please think about the way you felt when I am sure I did something so similar to this you are having flashbacks! It has been a long and hard day and it is only 7:35pm and I would appreciate a tiny bit of sympathy right now! Thank you! If you could serve it up I would ask for a Side of Patience to go along with my tiny serving of sympathy. But I know that is not possible so I will just have to ask God if I can get a little extra patience to make it through this long weekend!

19 weeks old

2007-01-11T19:50:00.000-06:00

Today Marley turned 19 weeks old! She has been eating green beans for a whole week and has decided to like them. Today we moved on to green peas! She liked them immediately so there are no funny face pictures to share! She has been sleeping in her big bed for the past several nights and doing great! Daddy on the other hand is a basket of worries. I feel fine with it since we have the monitor right by her bed and can hear any little noise she makes. She rolls over onto her tummy sometimes and John really does not like this! Her Pedi said it was ok if she rolled herself over to leave her that way (which is exactly what we did with MaKieley). Just make sure it is just her in the bed (Which we know already!). I guess we will just have to work through it! I love the fact John cares so much about his girls!
Marley is doing better with sitting up by herself but would almost always rather be in the exersaucer where she can stand up! She is laughing more - the recording below is of her laughing. We were visiting with our friends Tucker and Tanner today and she thought they were so funny! Of course the recording below is the tail end of the giggling so it is not real great! (It takes to long to call the recording number put in the channel number and password and get it recording! By the time you do it all you miss the really good stuff! Oh well! It is the handiest way to catch things when you are out and about!)
Gabcast! John's Girls #11 - Marley Laughing at Tucker and Tanner

Marley Laughing at Tucker and Tanner dancing with her!

Dinnertime With Marley

2007-01-09T18:52:00.000-06:00

Below are a few conversations between Marley and John while he fed her dinner tonight. I just could not stop with one recording! Beware of the bottom two as they have quite a bit of squeeling in them!
Gabcast! John's Girls #8 - Dinnertime conversation with Marley

Conversation with Marley while she was eating greenbeans

Gabcast! John's Girls #9 - Dinnertime conversation with Marley

Marley eating cereal

Gabcast! John's Girls #10 - Dinnertime conversation with Marley

Eating cereal and greenbeans

It's Over!

2007-01-09T09:45:00.000-06:00

The Holidays are Over! I know that sounds really bad, right? I just was not into them this year like I normally am! Blame it on a new baby, not having real winter weather, tiredness......whatever you choose. Today is MaKieley's first day back at school and she was excited! She got out of bed as soon as her alarm went off (despite going to bed 30 minutes late and not going to sleep for at least another hour) and dressed herself, brushed her hair and was ready for breakfast when John pulled himself out of bed. Yes I did say John and not Sarah. I stayed in bed with Marley who had already been up to eat twice since 2 am. I was not asleep but since John seemed to have everything under control I stayed right where I was (not a normal thing). This really was part of one of my New Year Resolutions to give up some of the control and not worry about everything being perfect all the time. We will see how long it lasts. Anyway - Marley and I did get out of bed in time to wish everyone a good day and see them off at a decent (not late) time. You see it takes appx. 15 minutes to get to MaKieley's school so we can not leave the house late! Or Else! John informed me they got to school in plenty of time for MaKieley to walk in at a leisurely pace. Normally we are pulling up to the school telling her she needs to get in the building and go straight to class! No playing around (which she loves to do)! She informed her daddy she liked getting to school at this time.
Now at home I feed Marley and we watched one of our new Baby Einstein DVDs (Thank you Aunt Lyric, Uncle Andy and Cousin Ollie) and then it was time for a much needed nap! So right now she is sleeping in her big bed dreaming of whatever she loves! I am updating my blog, doing laundry, doing some picking up and enjoying the little bit of normalcy!
I hope everyone has a great day!

Big Bed

2007-01-08T14:01:00.000-06:00

Ok I did it! I put Marley down for her nap in her crib! I had to make MaKieley stay at the kitchen table and paint (Thank you Cousins Kati, Kelsey, Buddy & Jack for the paint set! She loves it!) because pretty much anything MaKieley does makes some kind of noise. It will be easier after school resumes tomorrow.
Marley took an hour and fifteen minute nap in her crib! I think I will try to start her off in it tonight at bed time. (That is if I can talk John into it!) I am pretty sure she will not make it all night since she is in a growth spurt and likes to eat a lot."Do you like My Marley Mohawk?"

Was it a Fluke?

2007-01-07T21:26:00.000-06:00

Today I was holding Marley after I fed her and she was talking! I held my hand up in front of her and wiggled my fingers and said give me 5! She looked at my hand and then at me and back at my hand. She lifted her hand up and planted it square in mine! I looked around to see if anyone else had seen it too and sure enough my mom had been watching. My first thought was no way and then my second was try it again! So that is exactly what I did! And she did it again. And again. And again. I am sure she did not know what "give me 5" meant but she sure knew what to do when I held my hand up!

Marley Eats Greenbeans

2007-01-04T20:49:00.000-06:00

Marley is now 4 months old and was oked by her pedi to start veggies and fruits since she has done so well with rice cereal. We decided we would start with GREENBEANS! Well the initial reaction was so funny! You know the face you make when you get a bite of something that does not taste like what you were expecting? That is exactly what we got plus a full body shiver! Followed by gagging!It got better from there! She was not really thrilled about the taste still but she ate it like a pro. She did a lot better when we mixed the greanbeans into her rice cereal! It is a learning process! MaKieley did not like them at first either and they became one of her favorite foods! Hopefully the same will be for Marley!We will bring more updates as we try more new foods in the coming weeks!

4 Months old

2006-12-31T22:19:00.000-06:00

Marley is 4 months old today! She is 10 lbs exactly (with a very full belly!) and 24 inches long. She is still in the 2nd percentile for weight and the 50th percentile for height! She likes to sit up but she loves to stand up! Her new found like is the Exersauser! She likes to grab for all the toys that are on it and watch Baby Einstein in a standing position rather than a sitting one! She is doing great with Rice Cereal and drinking from her sippy cup as well as grabbing toys and getting them into her mouth! She has learned to pull hair and oddly enough MaKieley says "Don't stop her I like it when she does that!" I keep telling her if we let her do it now she will think it is an ok thing to do and she will still be doing it when she goes to Kindergarten. It will not be so funny or cute then.
Marley is growing well and is very healthy! She went to church today with Pudden and Pap her great-grandparents and then traveled home! During the first part of our trip I said she was not as good a traveler as MaKieley was but after our trip home I would say she is on her way to being a good traveler! She slept almost the whole way! :)

2006-12-24T15:44:00.000-06:00

Merry Christmas from our family to yours!

Marley Talking

2006-12-22T14:28:00.000-06:00

Gabcast! John's Girls #4

16 weeks

2006-12-21T14:20:00.000-06:00

The above picture is of Marley's hand at 7 weeks old and the two pictures below are of Marley's hand at 16 weeks old. See how much she has grown!

Marley now loves to sit in her "HIGH Chair" ( as MaKieley calls it ) while I am cooking or doing dishes. She sits there and plays with toys while carrying on a great conversation. She does these things so intently that she wears herself out as you can see in the above and below pictures.

She has become very good with her hands! She can hold toys and fingers and get them in her mouth on the first try! She is doing great with her sippy cup! The first few times we gave MaKieley her sippy cup at 3 months old she thought we were crazy! What is this thing you are putting in my mouth? were the looks we got from her. Marley on the other hand drank out of it the first time we gave it to her and is now trying to hold the cup on her own! She loves Grammie's shiny shirts too! Mom has these really pretty shirts that have little sparkly things on them and Marley loves to look at them and try to get them off the shirt (below picture). Last Saturday our friend Denise was holding Marley and she loved her shirt too! It was a kind of swirly pattern with lots of bold colors! She definitely has an eye for color and light!

15 weeks

2006-12-14T13:02:00.000-06:00

Marley is 15 weeks old today! She does not realize it but she loves Christmas! She loves all the lights around!
We took the picture here with MaKieley at 3 months so I decided to do it at the same time with Marley! I love this picture!

100 Days Old

2006-12-09T20:42:00.000-06:00

One Hundred Days Old! I can hardly believe it! At school MaKieley celebrates the 100th day of school so she thought we should celebrate the 100th day of Marley's life! So that is what we did!

MaKieley decided to make a list of the top 100 things she loves about Marley! Here is as far as she got:
1. she is cute
2. she smiles at me
3. she is special to me
4. she is small
5. she has cute clothes
6. she has pretty eyes
7. she talks to me
8. she is my sister
9. she has pink toenails
10. she rides by me in the car

Well I guess if you multiply what she got by 10 you will have 100!

MaKieley Reading October

2006-12-07T18:27:00.001-06:00

Gabcast! John's Girls #1 - MaKieley Reading October

a poem

MaKieley Reading November

2006-12-07T18:25:00.000-06:00

Gabcast! John's Girls #2 - MaKieley Reading November

a poem

A Visit From Santa

2006-12-03T22:05:00.000-06:00

Saturday was an eventful day! We got up early and went grocery shopping for the food we needed to make for the Silvertone's! We went to Mom and Dad's and started cooking! Kristi came over later in the afternoon and helped me cook. The Silvertone's (the senior group from our church) were having a Christmas Progressive Dinner and we were the appetizer stop! It was a lot of fun.

After they left us they went on for salads and the main course at other houses. We then met back up with them at the church building for desserts and a visit from Santa and his elf. MaKieley thought it was great and Marley could have cared less.
On a more somber note - our friend Keith McCord who has been battling cancer went home to be with God on Friday night. Please keep his wife Stephanie and her son Lincoln in your prayers as they figure out how to go on from here. Please also pray for his parents along with the rest of his family. The memorial service is tomorrow in Greenville and the funeral and burial will be on Friday in Tennessee. Please pray for everyone's safe travel.

Snow, MaKieley and The News

2006-12-01T10:04:00.000-06:00

The picture below was on the 10 pm news twice and the news this morning!Yesterday we had snow! It caused school to be delayed 2 hours. MaKieley could not wait to get into the snow! Since John still had to be at work early and I had a very bad headache I told her I needed her to wait until after school. She asked me if I was sure it would still be there after school. I told her I was pretty sure.
So after school she played for about an hour - throwing snow above her head, falling down and running around the back yard and through snow drifts like a mad woman! And you guessed it...

... she made Snow Angels! Didn't her snow angel turn out great?

WELL...this is what her pants and boots looked like after running through the snow! When she was done she got in a hot tub and thawed out! She spent last night with Grammie and Dangran as it took us almost an hour and a half to get her across town for school yesterday morning - there was a sheet of ice under the snow! We all thought it would be worse this morning because everything thawed yesterday and then refroze over night. John called a little while ago, after driving to work, and said the roads were not as bad as we thought they were going to be.

Thank you God for keeping us all safe as we drove on the bad roads yesterday and please keep us safe as we are out again today!

3 Months Old

2006-11-30T14:00:00.000-06:00

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

2006-11-23T14:02:00.000-06:00

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

2006-11-23T14:01:00.000-06:00

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!

2006-11-23T13:11:00.000-06:00

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

2006-11-22T13:58:00.000-06:00

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?

2006-11-19T08:57:00.000-06:00

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

2006-11-16T12:57:00.000-06:00

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!

2006-11-10T07:15:00.000-06:00

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

2006-11-09T16:40:00.000-06:00

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?

2006-11-06T16:19:00.000-06:00

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!

2006-11-06T08:52:00.000-06:00

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

2006-11-06T08:47:00.000-06:00

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

My Mom

2006-11-05T16:02:00.000-06:00

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!

Marley is 2 months!

2006-10-31T22:26:00.000-06:00

Marley is two months old! She now weighs 7 lbs. 6 oz. and is 22 inches tall! Her head is 14 3/4 inches around! She is now 3/4 of an inch taller than Emma, the practice baby but her head is still 1/4 of an inch smaller than Emma's. Marley is a happy baby! She loves to "talk" and smile! She loves the outdoors and windows! She still loves the water and now she is learning to sit up! She does a form of sitting that is called tripodding by most people I know! I will try to get a picture of her sitting up soon. She also likes tummy time! Aunt Lyric, Uncle Andy and cousin Oliver sent her a really cool floor mat that she absolutely loves!

She is still sleeping through the night! Somewhere around 7 to 8 hours normally! Tomorrow I will post pictures from last night! You really must check out her Halloween picture (she was a glow worm!)

MaKieley is 6!

2006-10-30T13:05:00.000-06:00

On Friday night we all got "Fancied Up" and went out to a "Fancy" Dinner at a "Fancy" Restaurant for MaKieley's Birthday. MaKieley invited her best buddy Sunny to come with her. They had so much fun! John dressed up in his tux and was their escort! We did all this because of a book Grammie bought MaKieley for her birthday. Fancy Nancy

It is a story about a little girl who is Fancy and her family is not! SO she gives them Fancy Lessons. Then they all go out to eat a Fancy dinner! At the end of the dinner Nancy ends up falling while carrying the family's desserts. It ended up all over her and she did not feel Fancy anymore.

What she learns is that there is no Fancy way to say I love you!

On Sunday at lunch we had birthday lunch! Grammie made MaKieley a Money Cake! She used to make those for us when we were kids! There are coins wrapped in foil all in the cake! The birthday kid gets all the quarters! We all gave MaKieley all the money! Grammie got her the Little Mermaid! She was so excited!

She had no trouble blowing out 6 candles! This is a relight! Meaning I said light those again! She was so fast I did not get the picture! I told her to slow down the second time!

Today John, Marley and I took MaKieley lunch at school! In the cafeteria they have a huge birthday cake on the wall and on each candle they list each person with a birthday that month and their birthdates!

Extreme Makeover: Swing Edition

2006-10-28T21:44:00.000-05:00

Ok! Maybe it is not the extreme swing makeover! But it was definitely a makeover! We kept MaKieley's swing! We took very good care of it when we were using it with her and when we were done I very carefully boxed it up so that it would still be in good condition so that we could use it with our next child! What we did not realize was that it would be almost exactly 6 years before that next child would come along! None the less we kept it. Before Marley was born we pulled it out and set it back up and washed the seat cover! I was so proud that I still had the swing and would not have to spend the money to get a new one! Was I wrong! Lets all say Yes together! Marley did not like the swing at first but when she finally did we knew we were in trouble! The swing sounded like it was skipping gears which was ok because it would still swing (we just were not sure for how long). Well....it stopped swinging one day! We were so sad! The swing looked great - no scratches and all the pieces still there - as close to new as you could get! Marley had finally decided she liked the swing and it QUIT! I would push it and keep pushing it until she fell deep enough asleep that it did not matter if she was still moving or not. Sometimes however I did not get another push in quick enough and she would grip. Not cry - but it just sounded like she was giving you the what for! If for some reason she did not get pushed soon after the griping started she would move into a full out screaming cry! Then I decided I could take it apart and fix it! SO - that is exactly what I did! I made it work! Can you believe it? I thought it was great until Marley said she did not think it was so great (she said this through screaming!). The swing was so loud that she was not very happy and not able to go to sleep very easily! So I broke down and went to buy her a new swing! She is much happier now! Her new swing is absolutely quiet! Some of you may have some knowledge of the shows Overhaulin' or Pimp my Ride where the take a car and put a lot of special things on it! Well we decided Marley's new swing had been to one of the shows! The swing has a moving mobile and a mirror and it swings from side to side as well as front to back! It also has nature sound (which Marley loves - especially the water sounds!) and plays songs! I think it looks like a baby cereal bowl! When it is in it's fully reclined position it like a bowl or cup! Marley loves her swing!

TECH WINS!!

2006-10-21T20:42:00.000-05:00

Finally, after 2 losses Tech beat Iowa State 42 to 26!

YEA!!

The girls wore their Tech gear in hopes that they would

win! Maybe it helped ;) !

At least we know that daddy's work place will

be a happier place on Monday!

Now if we could just get a Redskin's WIN ON Sunday!

I Love Cereal!

2006-10-20T15:52:00.000-05:00

Marley loves her cereal! She thinks she can feed herself! Marley gets really mad if you do not get the next bite in quick enough! (MaKieley was the same way.) She also gets upset when she gets her empty spoon and not mine that has rice cereal on it!

She sits up in her high chair pretty well but it makes things easier to put a rolled up towel on either side of her.
Marley Loves Rice Cereal!

7 Weeks Old

2006-10-19T08:22:00.000-05:00

Today Marley is 7 weeks old. This morning before school, MaKieley sat down, held Marley and read her a couple of books. Marley loves for her sister to read to her (especially when she is calm like she was today!)!

If you catch Marley at the right time she will have a nice little conversation with you! She is becoming very expressive and she loves windows (just like her mommy)!

Size

2006-10-18T07:42:00.000-05:00

SIZE! Size really does not matter as long as she is healthy -- but it is really neat to document.

Here is Marley's hand holding a quarter at 6 weeks old. Her palm is just bigger than the quarter.

I decided to do this after looking at some of the pictures we have taken of Marley make her look so chubby (and she is not)! If there is not something to compare her to then someday we will not be able to remember exactly!

So much for my ramblings! Marley and I are going to start our stay home and do nothing day now! We hope you all have a great day!