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!