Oh, September. Where did you go?!

I realize it has been almost a month since my last blog post.  Where did the time go?  This month just flew by...and I have a lot of catching up to do, in more ways than one.  I'll start here! 

First things first.  I mentioned in a previous post that we had Marley's 8 month photos coming up (she was technically 7 1/2 months old at the time).  Casey VonStein, from Smile Upon Your Face Photography, met us at the Arboretum on August 29th.  This was our second time working with Casey and she is FABULOUS!!  She is fairly new to photography, and what started as a hobby (according to her) has blossomed in to this AMAZING talent...she is seriously good!  I'm always blown away by the pictures she captures AND she is incredibly laid back and fun to work with!  Please, check out her site and book a session with her...you will not be disappointed.  You can access our full gallery by visiting her website (mentioned above) and going to the client proofing section...enter password (marleys).  I love ALL of the photos she took that day, but here is my favorite of Marley and my favorite family photo...

September really did come and go!  Travis and I had a mini getaway, something we had been planning for months, September 16-19th.  We left Marley with my sister and headed to Bayfield, WI for some sightseeing and relaxing.  I will (eventually) post pictures of our trip.  The scenery was BEAUTIFUL...ridiculously beautiful and breathtaking.  I had never been to the Apostle Islands, and we spent an entire day on an 8 mile hike along the shore of Lake Superior, up and over the sea caves.  It was gorgeous!  Even Sasha (yes...we left Marley home and brought our first baby along) had a blast!  Well, Sasha was mostly so happy to be getting so much attention from mommy and daddy!  I think she was in heaven!  Here are 2 pics from our trip...

Returning from our trip was bittersweet...we missed our baby so much while we were away, but we came home to a SICK BABY!  This was Marley's first sickness in her whole 8 months of life and yes, we have been blessed to make it this far with a totally healthy baby (no colds, sniffles, ear infections).  It was just sad to see her so stuffed up!  The little lady couldn't breathe out of her nose, which made it hard for her to nurse, which made her crabby!  So, she was eating so little each time I'd feed her, and then she'd get hungry just a few hours later.  I felt like I was back to having a newborn.  Up every 2 1/2 to 3 hours each night since last Sunday...and it's just now starting to get better.  At the worst of it, she wouldn't even let Trav get up with her to eat a bottle...she only wanted mommy.  And I'm sure that had to do with the fact that she was feeling so crappy and me nursing her is a comfort.  A week and a half later and one EXHAUSTED mommy...

In the midst of the exhaustion, I turned 30 years old!  What a great birthday!  It's been a great year, my best year, and I have no problems with being 30.  I really feel like the best years lie ahead of me!  Raising a family with the love of my life, more babies, maybe a few more renovations in our home...all fun stuff that I am really looking forward to!  My sister made my birthday especially fun as she planned a surprise dinner for me at Chino with a few girlfriends.  We had a BLAST, I had too much to drink (hey...once in a blue moon, I deserve that), and I can honestly say that I haven't laughed so hard in a very long time.  So the only bad thing about turning 30 was the day after, when I spent the day feeling a little under the weather.  Gone are the days of sleeping in though...I have a baby to take care of.  So it was cartoons and coffee at 7:30am.  The times they are a changin'!  Me on my birthday...

Sake Bombs with my sister at Chino!  Happy 30th Birthday to me!

A little update on Miss Marley...she is just the cutest little girl ever (well, according to me)!  Gone are the days of colic and God knows that was the WORST few months ever!  You would never know now that she was the worlds crabbiest baby!  She is just the most smiley person, always smiling, mouth wide open, and talking.  She does say da-da and something that sounds kind of like, "This?"  I think it's her way of saying, "What's this?"  She usually is picking something up and looking at it and then says, "Issss?"  We have quite the speed demon crawler on our hands.  In the blink of an eye, she is in another room, or scaling the fireplace, or pulling herself up on any piece of furniture she can get her hands on.  She actually likes to stand more than she likes to crawl.  It won't be long and she'll be walking...I've caught her standing by herself a few times, holding on to NOTHING!  As soon as she sees me, she plops down on her butt and smiles!  Mealtimes for Miss Mars still consist of mostly milk...but she is eating pretty much everything else too!  For dinner tonight she had cubes of roasted sweet potato, fresh blueberries, and some cottage cheese!  Weird combination, I know, but she really won't let me feed her cereal or oatmeal anymore...she wants to eat things that she can pick up and feed herself!  And she has a big appetite.  We go in for her 9 month appointment and shots next week and I'm curious to see how she's grown.  Here is her 8 month photo @ our house!

8 months old on September 11th, 2010

Soooooo HAPPY to be in her big girl carseat!

Ahhh...Friday tomorrow!  So exciting!  Angie's bridal shower and bachelorette party on Saturday and Kyan's birthday party on Sunday!  Busy, busy, busy!!  Wishing you all a very happy weekend!

XOXOXO!



Look who's talking...

Da da da da da!  Miss Marley is just a chatterbox!  I'm pretty sure that she doesn't KNOW she is saying dada...but it sure sounds like daddy, and I keep pointing to Trav when she says it!  I think she's beginning to make the connection!  Such a sweetheart!  She loves yelling (and gets louder if we aren't paying attention) and putting her hand over her mouth to make her voice sound differently!  I have a feeling we are going to have our hands full with this little lady!

She's had a busy month, with so many changes and milestones!  Tooth #2 has made it's appearance.  So now we have the bottom (middle) two teeth!  It just broke through in the last day or so and she was just drooling puddles in the days leading up to it.  

Other news...and this is such a "melt-your-heart" moment...I was putting Marley to bed tonight, reading her the Nighttime Prayer Book and sitting in her rocking chair.  After the book was finished, I turned her towards me and she was chattering a little bit and looking right at me with a big smile.  I kissed her little lips (like I do about a million times a day), and I said, "Kisses!"  And she looked back at me, and leaned in to smooch me again!!  And again, I said, "Kisses!"  She kept smiling and leaning in for more!  Of course, these weren't clean little kisses...these were Marley-drooling-open mouth-slobbery kind of kisses, but so PRECIOUS nonetheless!  I was just beaming...she is growing so much, physically and emotionally!  And this was her first real display of affection!  Oh, how I heart her!!!!

It's time to get some sleep!  I just finished 7 loads of laundry (ick) and am not looking foward to heading back to work in the morning!  Already looking forward to the weekend and am so happy it's a short week!

I hope everyone had a HAPPY holiday weekend!

Full Speed Ahead...

Just a few weeks ago, Marley was just perfecting her crawling skills.  Now, she is trying to pull herself up on everything...even standing up on her own in her crib!  Time, if you hear me, please SLOW DOWN!!  Here are some pictures of the little munchkin...what kind of shenanigans will she get in to next?!

We've had a busy week, and tonight Marley had her first Minnesota State Fair experience.  For those of you that don't know, Travis and I have gone to the fair every year since we've been dating...and every year, I drag him (unwillingly) into the photo booth.  I save the photo strips, and write the dates on the back.  Point of my story being that we now have 7 strips of photos and it is so fun to look back and see all the changes!  Last year we were newly married and I was 20 weeks pregnant with Marley, and this year, we're a family of 3...and we had another little head to squeeze into our photo!  So much fun!  Marley was such a trooper.  We carried her in the Baby Bjorn and left the stroller at home.  She was so content to people watch and sample some of our food!  The barns were closed for cleaning while we were there (major bummer), so we just meandered around sampling lots of unhealthy deliciousness!  Trav's first stop...the footlong hot dog stand.  I hit up the Salty Tart, where I got a Peaches & Cream parfait...sauteed peaches layered with a vanilla soft serve/Greek yogurt mixture, topped with organic ginger snaps!  Yum!  Marley loved the peaches and ice cream!  Then it was on to cheese curds and Sweet Martha's, a MUST at the State Fair every year!   Finally, we sampled a Pronto Pup and a Gizmo (one of Trav's favorites), and then tried the Australian Battered Potatoes on our way out.  Delish!  I skipped the Cotton Candy this year and am having a bit of remorse about doing so!  Here are some pics of our trip to the fair...

We're off to the cabin tomorrow!  Three days of relaxation and cool weather!  I'm actually excited for fall.  Is that sad?!  I love sweatshirt/track jacket weather!  Hoping that you all have a happy and safe holiday weekend!  Bring on September!!

XOXOXO!!!