Hope

It's my favorite word. I have it hanging on signs in my house and office. It's the only thing that helps me walk through others' difficult journeys with them.  During a time like now when the world seems so dark and after reading and agreeing with an article like this

http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2012/12/15/i-am-adam-lanzas-mother

I have to keep reminding myself of this word, Hope. Hope in my Savior who was born in that stable at Christmas. Please watch this video by John Piper. It is a perfect story of hope in the midst of tragedy.

http://www.desiringgod.org/blog/posts/hope-for-the-hurting-this-christmas-video

15 months

It's becoming a pattern for me to be late on these posts, oh well.  Our little man turned 15 months on Sunday, and it's amazing the difference in development even just a couple weeks has made! He has really been exploding with saying words (and trying very hard to say some things which just ends up sounding very funny)! He has a lot of names down (meaing he can say them and knows who they are) - Dada, Mama, MeMe, Pop, Nana, Maggie (sometimes is ma-yee, sometimes just ma), and Ty. He has also started saying tractor (ta-tuh) which is so cute, amen after prayers (may-meh), mi is milk and mickey, bad dog or dog (ba duh), boy (buh), clean up (la-up) when we sing the clean up song, and lots of "what does the cow (whatever animal) say?" Such a smart little man!

Trying to say potato...

 

He is still in the 70th percentile in height (32 inches), and actually did go up a little in weight - 16th percentile (22 lbs) haha.  Has all his one year molars (a couple not quite completely finished, but all through), and now I can tell we are working on canines which are his last teeth until 2 year molars!! This boy has a mouth full! And he's been much better about sleeping when he's dealing with them. It's now the rare couple or few days that he has trouble at night or waking up early and napping instead, and I can tell now it's teeth because he goes back to good sleeping once the tooth has broken through. Praise the Lord!! He's still not a sleepy child though, for sure. Sleeps about 11-11.5 at night and rarely more than a 2 hr and 15 min nap.

 

Even had to get his first hair cut because he was getting so shaggy!

 

 

He loves, loves, loves to run and be chased. Thinks it's hilarious plus I think he just has tons of energy he needs to release! Even though he tries to chase him a lot, Ty is still his best buddy - though it may be more one-sided right now ;)

 

 

Mickey Mouse is hands-down his favorite show and stuffed animal, and it's hard to tell what his favorite food is because he eats so well.  Still seems to love green peas, yogurt, cheese, and cheerios though.    And if he could be outside, no matter what, he would be, freezing and all! He also loves opening and shutting things like drawers and cabinets as well as putting things in things and taking them out. So needless to say I find all sorts of random things like pacis, sippy cups, mickey, and such in all kinds of places! Surpisingly (very actually as much as he likes lights), he doesn't try to mess with the Christmas tree much. 

 

He really is such a fun little guy who loves to laugh. We are very blessed!

Fall, Halloween, and 14 months

This little guy hit 14 months a few days ago! I am loving this age! Getting himself where he wants to go with ease, trying desperately to communicate haha! He says, Maggie, Ty clearly now (well he yells it, wonder why :/ haha). He also added bite, and a few new animal sounds to his vocabulary. Plus he's just so much fun - and I can't get enough of the giggles! It also helps that he's gotten used to teeth coming in finally (now that we're almost finished!)! It only disrupts sleep every now and then now, but he's only missing his canines (other than his 2 year molars)!  Still LOVES to be outside! All you have to do is say shoes or bye bye and he gets super exicted. 

Loves walking with his Daddy and holding his finger :)

 

 

Although you wouldn't believe it by his weight, this boy is my extremely good eater! He eats almost anything (besides bananas and he isn't a huge fan of sweets like cake unless it's ice cream!), and eats ALL the time! Maybe it all goes to his height because he's still really tall. His favorite is meat - ham, turkey, fish.  But also likes green peas a lot too.

 

He runs all over the house constantly (favorite games are chase with Daddy or pushing some toy around chasing the poor dogs). But thankfully Ty is still his best buddy!

 

This dog is beyond wonderful. He lets M roll and crawl all over him, and he just lays there or licks him!

My cute little owl for Halloween. We just did Trunk or Treat at church (not big Halloween people here), but all this guy wanted to do was run in the street anyway!

 

So blessed to have this funny, sweet, energetic little boy in our lives!

Marshall is ONE!

Well, I'm just now getting around to documenting our little man's turning 1 because shortly afterward my hubby surprised me with a getaway to celebrate one year as parents (he said to reward me for surviving a year with Marshall haha!)! More on that later, though.

A friend took some great pictures for us (Lucy Thompson Photography, check her out here). 

So much has changed so quickly lately with this guy!! He is walking all over the place (had been going between furniture and people for several months, but just decided to take off everywhere by himself). He is saying lots of things besides Mama Dada and MeMe - like Chick Chick which also sounds the same as when he copies us saying "tee tee!" and Mi for Mickey (which he has decided he loves). He has dropped his morning nap because he was taking way too long to fall asleep even after pushing the nap too late in the morning as it was. So he takes one nap after lunch now that is usually around 2-2.5 hrs, if we are really lucky it's 3 ;) Has finally decided to feed himself more with his fingers and is doing ok using a spoon and fork sometimes.  The smash cake with Lucy didn't go so well because this child typically hates, and I mean hates, food on his hands!!

Cries way more about that than he does if he falls and hits his head! Something that hasn't changed though is that he is still in about the 80th percentile in height at 31 inches and the 10th percentile weight at (20 and a half pounds). Very hard to find clothes that fit as smaller ones are too short and longer ones are too baggy! It's not for lack of eating, that's for sure!! This boy is just on the go! So the doctor said we don't have to worry about getting rid of his milk at night because he could use the extra calories haha!

We had some close friends and family over for a little celebration for him...

The cake was an outdoor theme because Marshall adores outside - including bruising up his shins and knees crawling on gravel and concrete!

We gave him a small store bought "smash cake" with similar results as the first one haha! He did eat a bite or two with a spoon, but he much more wanted to get down and play!

So we ended up sending in a sub (M's buddy Carter Cameron) to finish it off...

That's how you get it done, Cart!

We love those cute little dimples!!

So grateful for our family God has blessed us with!

11 months

This little boy is just that - all boy! He is his father's son for sure - loves loud noises and riding things like the 4-wheeler!

He is very capable of walking all over the place and will do so if he thinks you are nearby or barely touching him. Otherwise, he is content to hold your hand and walk around or crawl as fast as a madman!

Has a mouhful of teeth! 4 on top, 2 on bottom and in his tiny mouth it looks like he has almost a complete set!!

Not doing well about self-feeding. He loves feeding himself Cheerios and Puffs, but anything that has a different texture than hard, he hates getting on his fingers. So obviously that keeps him from feeding himself most other things.  He'll eat lots of stuff if we feed it to him ourselves. Anybody had this issue before?

I am in such shock about what has been helping this child sleep a little better and whine a lot less with his teeth....

a pacifier!!! He looks so funny to me with one! Has never ever wanted any part of one before except to chew on it for a second or two. Well, now evidently it puts pressure on the right places in his mouth because he loves it!!

Can say what sound a monkey makes - "ooo ooo ah ah"
Can say "be be" for baby
Says "ma" for lots of things - Maggie, milk, light

Drinking completely whole milk now. Transitioned with half and half formula for about a month. He doesn't really seem to notice. Doesn't like it directly from the fridge really cold though. Either needs to have sat out or be warmed up very slightly. Still doing fine with his sippy cup.

If he'd start eating more table food, we'd start transitioning to a later dinner with us and less milk at night, but for now he still drinks about 4 or 5 oz at night. 


We love our little man so much!!

10 months (yesterday)

The 1 year mark just keeps creeping up! It has now gotten to the point where I look back at newborn pictures and really can't remember his being that small. 

His absolute favorite passtime, swinging

It seems like he's grown up a ton this past month! He's been crawling hands and knees style now for weeks (instead of his army crawl), pulling up on everything, cruising on everything, stands by himself without assistance for several seconds at a time and can take a step or two!!! In other words, into everything, as if he weren't already!

I can't unload the dishwasher without this child climbing into it (getting himself soaking wet in the process).
His schedule is the same, with the exception of naps. This kids teeth are killing us! He now has the two bottom front completely out, the two eye teeth pretty much out, and now working on the front ones (which are bleeding in the process ouch!!!) So some days (when he doesn't wake up early in the morning and sleeps 11+ hours, he does really well and doesn't need but one nap after lunch), but the other days that he wakes up early and only gets around 10 hours, give or take, that night he takes two naps. 
We are also slowly switching him over to cow's milk, doing half and half with formula now. Our pediatrician told us that according to the AAP the benefits of formula over milk really diminish around 9 months. So we're going to save that money! His favorite food right now is yogurt, rarely turns it down. I'm not sure if he's over baby food or if it's just his teeth, but he really won't feed himself either - just kinda plays with solid food.
He still runs around like a maniac in his walker,chasing us and dogs, and crazily enjoys going after Daddy's toes!

He loves the dogs even more than he used to - Says "ma" to Maggie and pats her on the head, loves using Ty to pull up and climb on.  Still says "mama" "dada" "nana" and sometimes "meme" but these days it's mostly "mama" and he is trying to say "pop" ( mostly just makes the "p" sound). Likes to fake laugh and copy Joey when Joey laughs at him. And is sticking his tongue out all the time! Maybe that's feeling those new front teeth, who knows!
He's a really fun little boy. We may have some stubborness/a strong-will to tame in the near future, just praying God will help us with that! We love our little man!

9 months (a little late)

I can't believe this little boy is getting so close to a year old!! Turned 9 months a little over a week ago.  He has become so much fun! He was fun even as a baby, but it was in between spurts of irritability due to lack of sleep.  Plus now can really interact and get around more which is what he has ALWAYS wanted to do!

Some things to record about 9 months:

70th percentile in height and only 11th in weight, skinny little boy haha!

But it's not due to lack of eating - eats 6 oz formula at breakfast, lunch, dinner, and bedtime, and 1 jar of babyfood plus oatmeal and some yogurt for breakfast, 1.5 to 2 jars of babyfood plus turkey or cheese at lunch and dinner and some puffs in between!

And that formula is all in sippy cups! He's off the bottle. Wasn't difficult for this boy who never got comfort from sucking a paci or bottle at all.

Schedule still about the same, but seems to be able to stay awake a little longer between sleep without getting too fussy. And this booger is doing so much better with sleep and teething this go round. The two teeth on bottom are totally out and he has two eye teeth on top coming in. Will wake up early some mornings with it, but not too bad for the most part.

Still would rather be outside than anywhere else, specifically swinging with somebody.

Has added da-da, me-me (which mom loves!) and na-na (which Joey's mom loves!), and hard g's to his sounds/vocab, and loves to scream them one after another.  I think he now knows who MaMa and MeMe are. Knows light - points to it and whispers ba.

Added the "roll 'em up" part to his patty-caking. 

Gives "kisses."

Runs around like a crazy person in his walker all over the house. Still only army crawls, but is pulling up (only on people though) to knees then standing. Prefers to walk around holding someone's hands (ALL the time) than to cruise on furniture.  Has taken a few running steps between two people. He has no fear at all - will just let go and try to walk by himself.

Snuggles (holding onto with his face pressed in) with his bumper pads. So much so that he sleeps horribly in a pack and play or rented crib without blankets wadded up around the edge.

Favorite toy - ball of any kind. Favorite books - Sleep All Day Play All Night, Bubbles, and Chick-Chick. Favorite food - carrots and squash, peaches and pumpkin

Love, love, love this little man. Feel so blessed that God is letting us be his parents!

Marshall's first beach trip

While Mike and Leah were in Alaska (yes, I'm very jealous!) Mom and Dad took Caiden and us to Gulf Shores. We are really liking it down there as opposed to our usual Florida destination because it seems so much less crowded. And can't believe it but little man turned 9 months when we got home! I'll post more about that after his doctor's appointment this week. Anyway, I knew Marshall would love it because most of our time is spent in his favorite place - outside! He adored the ocean!! Loved stomping his feet in the wet sand and watching the waves roll in over his feet. No fear whatsoever!!
Only cried for a second when MeMe wasn't quite quick enough!
He is fascinated by his cousin. Loves just watching him intently, but gives him lots of smiles too!
Like "squirrel" but for these two boys it's "big truck!"
Marshall's daddy and Pop had a good time too!


But two days in a row (and two separate injuries) Pop was not successful trying to body surf.


Even with the lack of sleep at night (Marshall had to share a room with us and slept horribly without his beloved bumper pads that he snuggles with), the smiles, memories, and pictures were worth it (now that I'm rested!)