Marley is 2 months!

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!

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

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!!

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!

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

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

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!

Cooking a Berry Cobbler

Today Marley and I made a Berry Cobbler! She was very alert and talkative so I told her she could help me! You see this is my very favorite dessert and someday it might be hers too (it is MaKieley's too)! Unfortunately we will not have any of this one though! But that is ok! We made it for someone else! :) I'm sure they are going to love it! I think Marley is going to be a great Berry Cobbler Maker someday but for now she is great company while doing almost anything!

The Many Faces of Marley!

Just wanted to share these so that everyone could share in the joy we have everyday!

And Baby School Begins!

I don't think Marley ever dreamed she would be starting

school so early! But she took it like a champ!
Today MaKieley informed Marley they would be
learning about capital letters!

They also learned about where to use capital letters.
Example: Names, Places & Beginning of a Sentence.
Marley paid very close attention and MaKieley was
very patient and a great teacher too!
:) Oh what the future holds for these two! :)
(MaKieley has learned that she has to capitalize
on the times that Marley is actually awake!)

MaKieley's BIG Find!

Last Night when MaKieley and John went out back to throw out the trash, MaKieley found that our "Big Bush" had bloomed! We had noticed that the two small bushes had grown into one HUGE bush a couple of weeks ago. But we never thought it would bloom! If you look at the little bushes around the big one you will see how it started out as. You can also see that since Marley has come along I have not been out to trim off the dead blooms! It is amazing how God made things work!

6 weeks old!

Marley is 6 weeks old! WOW!

She has changed so much in that short time! She recognizes mommy, daddy and MaKieley! She knows mommy is her food source, daddy is her sleeping buddy and sister is all about fun (and sometimes is irritating)!

Her 0-3 months clothes are coming closer to fitting but they still swallow her so she just sticks to her preemie clothes.

Marley loves water in any form! She loves showers, floating in the bathtub and just hearing it run! Our good friend Jennifer found her a sound machine that has the sound of rain on it and Marley just loves it! Thanks Jen!

Marley takes naps in her cradle as well as sleeps there some nights! She loves the bendy (the thing that curves around her and makes her feel like she is being held) that we got when MaKieley was a baby! It makes her feel like she is not so alone. I almost hate to say this because it will jinx us or something......but Marley has been sleeping at lease 7 hours a night the past several nights! Does this mean we are finally settling in? Probably not! It probably just means she is in a growing spurt right now! But we can hope!

When Marley has air bubbles in her tummy that just will not come out she loves to use the blue device you see in this picture. It is "The Original Bed Buddy Sinus Pack". My mom had loaned it to us or given it to us (I'm not sure which) a couple of years ago and it sits in the freezer for when I have a migraine! (So much for my migraines now!) In a moment of brilliance (or maybe it was desperation) I remembered it being in the freezer and wondered if it could be heated as well as frozen. Well sure enough it could be heated! I think it is filled with rice - you can freeze it or heat it to use on your sinuses when you are not feeling well. No Marley's sinuses are not in her abdomen! She just likes the warm feeling on her belly and it helps her to be more comfortable.

Marley now likes to watch Baby Bach and Baby Mozart! Most times she watches for about 10 minutes and then clothes her eyes and listens as she falls asleep. Finally something that allows me to go to the bathroom by myself at least once during the day!

We are all finally starting to settle in I think! MaKieley sleeps through any crying at night and loves helping with her baby sister! She also loves to hold her - it does not matter if she is crying, happy, squirmy or still! ANYTHING to be close to that baby sister!

MaKieley in the Maze! Or is it the Maize?

Today MaKieley's 1st grade class went on a field trip to The Maze! (The Maze is owned by friends of ours from church, the Simpson Family.)
Before entering the Maze all the children (and adults) attended "Corn School". At Corn School, Ms. Patti, taught everyone how the Indians were the first people to plant corn. However, they did not call it corn they called it Maize. MaKieley thought it was "AWESOME" that the two names were the same (Maze and Maize)! Ms. Patti also taught everyone the parts of a corn stalk. MaKieley says I must list these parts now: tassel, stalk, leaves, shuck, cob, silk, corn and roots. MaKieley also says to let everyone know that a tamale is wrapped in a corn shuck.After Corn School dismissed we all went to the entrance of the maze. Here we were given a piece of paper with questions on it. When we came to each number we had to answer questions to determine if we should go left or right. There was also a popcorn trail in case we got lost.We made it through the maze easily since the kids were so smart when it came to answering the questions. I am posting a picture of the actual maze from the air.

After making it through the maze we went to the petting farm. There were little pigs, a miniature horse, and baby goats with their mom, a turkey and several chickens. From here we went to the pumpkin patch! I do mean the patch! Not one of these things you pass on the side of the road that has pumpkins lined up all in rows! This was the actual place where the pumpkins grow! This is one of MaKieley's favorite places to go this time of year. You walk out into these huge patches where all the pumpkins are still on the vine growing! You pick your pumpkin out and then a guy comes by and cuts it right off the vine for you! MaKieley picked out two really nice pumpkins - one for her and one for Marley. Yes, Marley went to the Maze too. She was asleep when it was time to pick out pumpkins though.



After we were done getting our pumpkins from the patch we went and had a butterscotch corn sucker by the large pond. Then we left to come home. It was a good thing it ended when it did because Marley was getting hungry!

What a day! It was hot and windy but we had a lot of fun!