Oh, What a Weekend!!

We were planning on heading north for the weekend, to get away from Trav's never-ending line-up of side jobs, and to relax with the family.....but as it turned out, he had to meet an inspector at a job site late Friday and we decided to just stay put.  Sometimes packing up and trying to get to the cabin ends up being far less relaxing than if we were to just stay home.  The weekend seems to pass too quickly, and then we're back on the road again, trying to squeeze 2 days worth of cleaning and prepping for the week into a few hours on Sunday night. 

As much as we missed getting to do some boating, enjoying the heat lakeside, and seeing family, we were long over-due for a family weekend of our own!  And fun we did have!!  

Pizza and a swim in the backyard pool on Friday!

A trip to Toys R' Us on Saturday to get Marley her big girl potty, a little basket ball hoop (girl can play ball), and some dinner at LeAnn Chin...plus a walk around Centennial Lakes park.

Sunday morning was spent exploring the zoo, followed by lunch at Noodles!  Travis took a nap with Marley and I headed to yoga at Blooma...ahhhh!  We ended our day with yardwork (it's not all fun and games)...Marley helped me pick up sticks, though she kept taking off on me and running up to our neighbors sliding glass door and knocking on it!  Ha!  And we topped it all off with an hour of playtime in the sprinkler!  I felt like such a kid!!!

What weekend would be complete without an OOOPS?!  Pretty sure Marley is going to have her first black eye, thanks to bumping her head on a table in our living room!  I'm sure it won't be the first time...

And can't leave out baby brother.......little guy is active and on the move ALWAYS!  These are the worst pics, but I'm bad at taking belly pictures this time around.  Travis snapped one and made me laugh right as he took it......something about "suck in" or was it "stick your chest out"...either way, ugh!  Here I am @ 23 weeks.

What a weekend!!  They don't happen like that too often in our house as everyone is SO busy!  Travis especially!  It was good for him to have a solid weekend with Mars.  He's been working such long days, sometimes getting home after 11pm, and he broke my heart the other day when he told me that he goes into her room at night and shines the light from his phone on her so that he can see her, because he misses her so much!  Awww....so sad!  

Hope you all had a fabulous weekend!

Marley & Me



No, not the movie...I mean me and my little miss!  We have a “song”!  Maybe she doesn’t know it, but maybe she does.  It’s been our song since she was 8 weeks old and we were visiting my sister, who was living in Florida at the time.  Hey, Soul Sister by Train came on the radio (or maybe it was on my sister’s ipod) and I remember it like it was yesterday!  Marley was being fussy, it was early afternoon, and she needed a nap.  I was walking back and forth with her in the kitchen area of my sister’s house, and the melody of this song was absolutely perfect…….soothed the little babe to sleep as I hummed along in her ear.


Every time after that, when I heard the song, the words kind of made more sense.  I know the song is more about lovers than it is about mother/daughter, but it fit us just the same.  I’d sing out loud to the song in the car.  I’d sing the song to Marley after bathtime, when we were getting jammies on (a crabby time in our house).  Shoot….I am (almost) reduced to tears every time I hear it.  Wouldn’t you know, that song played on my car ride to work on my first day back from maternity leave.  Blubbery, sobbing mess.  

It talks about “not wanting to miss a thing you do”…….and here I was, driving to work, about to miss, what seemed liked, everything that would be important. 

“Watching you is the only drug I need!”  And it’s true.  She is more entertaining than any party I’ve ever been at…….makes me smile and laugh more than anybody I’ve ever met.  Well, besides her daddy! 

“You give my life direction!”  Not that we were lost before, but Marley has brought meaning to our life that we never knew was there.  She has made us appreciate, and be grateful for, all the blessings we have, no matter how big or small. 

My “Soul Sister”, my baby girl that was somehow always meant to be mine!  I love her so much and have trouble thinking about having 2 babes…..how will the love grow, how is that possible?!  I can't help but get sad thinking that there is an end in sight to the just "Marley & Me" stage.  It breaks my heart that Marley will possibly feel mommy can't be there for her all the time like I used to.  A girlfriend explained to me that every mom feels like this before #2 comes along.  Her point that hit home the most is that having a second baby is not “taking something away” from your first born (attention/love/etc).  In the end, you are actually giving something to them……a sibling to grow old with, to love, to conspire against (hehe)!  I hope Marley feels that way when she meets her new brother.  And maybe she won’t at first……but I know she will just LOVE him to pieces, just like we will always love her!     

My New Little Love!

Introducing………….our little man!!  Here he is!  

I’m not quite sure how we got so lucky!  Blessed with one, and now two, beautiful babes!  I’m thankful for it all.  Yes, even the lower back pain, my inability to sleep at night, and my constant hungry tummy.  Not so much thankful for the moodiness, nor is my hubby, but we’ll deal with it!!  Hehe! 

Look at this handsome little guy!!!  He is perfect to US and we are so excited to meet him.  Marley is going to be the best big sister this world has seen (fingers crossed on that one)!

Miss Mars Stats--18 Months

This is what I mean by growing up fast...Miss Marley had her 18 month check-up today, and while she isn't putting on the pounds quickly anymore, she's shooting up...up...up!  My tall, skinny little miss is 33 1/2 in tall and weighs 23 lbs 5 oz.  Weight-wise, she is a peanut!  But doc says that if she is a good eater and continues to trend upward with the weight gain, she's completely fine.  She really hasn't gained a significant amount of weight since her 9 month check-up, when I think she weighed almost 19 lbs...CHUNKER!!  See the pics below for proof!

Marley at her 18 month appointment today!  Long and lean!



Marley at her 6 month check-up...look out chubster!!

 

Don't Blink...

Heaven forbid you blink while your babes are growing up...you'll miss something.  Every day, every moment, each and every second...something new happens.  A new word is spoken, a skill perfected, a baby grows up (and away) just a teeny bit more.  While it is so much fun to watch them take off, literally, it's sad too.  Needing us a little less each day, growing more and more independent, becoming their own little person.  

I love my Miss Marley Jean and am just amazed by her...she's taught me to be a better person and to love bigger and more deeply than I ever knew I could.  She makes me laugh til' I cry (those darn silly faces), and makes me happy to be alive, to be living in any given "ordinary" moment is a blessing!  And here we are...baby #2 well on the way, celebrating Marley's first 1 1/2 years of life, and looking forward to so many more fun, exciting, and no doubt challenging, years to to come!!

 Playing Peek-a-Boo

 Her new face...dubbed the "Ray Charles" by daddy because she keeps her eyes closed and tilts her head up.  No offense to those that are seeing-impaired.

A TRIP DOWN MEMORY LANE

Marley Jean--5 days old on January 16th, 2010

5 Months Old--May 2010

7 Months Old--August 2010

10 Months Old--November 2010

14 Months Old--March 2011

And speaking of time going quickly...we celebrated the upcoming birth of baby girl Shaban tonight with a few of the girls and it's funny to see how over the last year or so, our conversations have switched to talks of "crafting", ways to get the kids to eat more healthy, weddings, parenting tips/tricks, and the newest (remember Houlihan's girls)...the appearance of WRINKLES (gasp)!  And as we talk about getting OLDER, which I thought I would fear to no end, I think of how lucky we are to have so much!  Lucky that we can get together to talk about our crows feet (hehe), lucky that our friends without kids put up with all of our crazies (thank you Susan and Erin...love you girls), lucky that we're heading into our 30's and have such a great bunch of strong women to spend time with!!  Moral of my story...another fun night celebrating with you ladies and another "crazy" to look forward to in the next few weeks!  Jamie...don't over-indulge on the cupcakes tonight and don't go into labor yet!!  Hehe!