Marshall is 2 and Transitions

Wow. It's been a while. But I figured I needed to document some of the big things at least!

So the first thing is that my big boy got rid of his paci!!! I thought we would try it when he turned 2, but we ended up trying it a few months before that because the child has so many teeth (all of them except top 2 year molars!!!) that he was chewing the nipples off of all of them! We had only been giving them to him at nap and bedtime for a while. So I just gave him the paci part without the nipple on them and say "uh oh they're broken," and he very easily accepted it and moved on after a couple of days of asking! Not at all what I expected!

Then this cutie turned 2!! (We did a shared party with one of my friend's little boys who is just a week younger than M). Loved getting to have it at the farm I've been working at doing Equine Assisted Pyschotherapy.

Marshall loves riding anything that's loud, especially the tractor, so of course Daddy brought it along.

Birthday boys...

Some things about Marshall...
He is ALL boy. Can't be still, loves running, loud things, grease and tools.

He's still a skinny white boy haha! Only 24 lbs (10th percentile), but he's 36 inches tall, so he's like 65 percentile I think. Doesn't talk a ton, but definitely tells you what he wants. His favorite things right now are loud things that go fast, Mickey Mouse still, robots, still orange juice, Maggie-Ty, cuckoos, books, football, tools, and counting.

And the most recent transition...
he's potty trained (or pretty much is)!! I decided to just attempt this 3 day potty training thing I've seen stuff about, with little to no expectations. But I figured it couldn't hurt because it's very positive reinforcement oriented, and I could already tell with just trying to introduce my strong-willed-impatient-can't-sit-still-child to the potty (and his pitching a fit not wanting to be made to sit on it) that trying to force him to sit on it every however many mintues was not going to fly. So this way seemed to give him a lot of control over it (when he goes, etc.), and it really clicked for him! So proud of that little guy!

He's a big mess and yes, very strong-willed like I said. But man, he's pretty smart, super active, eats great, very loving when he wants to be, and oh so cute and funny! Blessed to be his parents!

Halfway to 2 years old!

This guy gets cuter and cuter every day!! That white hair and those blue eyes are just heart melting!!

Yes, he's now halfway to 2 years old! Thinks he's going on 15 though! He definitely has a strong will and is very persistent, but I just remind myself (constantly haha) that one day that can be an amazing strong will for God! Joey says he's just like a car with no brakes and a stuck accelerator - we just have to keep him between the lines until he learns to do it himself haha!

He's still a skinny little boy (23 lbs, 10th percentile), but it's not for lack of eating! Holy cow, can this boy put it away! And pretty much eats anything except bananas and not a big sweets/cake eater. His favorites right now are macaroni and cheese, ravioli (he calls oli oli), peas, and manadrin oranges. But seriously, it's hard to pick out his favorites because he eats it all! Especially if it's on your plate! And he eats constantly between meals!

I guess he's so skinny because the child runs everywhere all the time! his favorite game is chasing his daddy around the house or "tackling" and I mean running and wrapping somebody around the waist or pushing until you fall over! As I said, very determined! He's so funny! Although, he will actually sit still for a bit like above to watch only Mickey Mouse Clubhouse....or in his own recliner.

He says tons and tons of things - mama, dada, and Ty all the time. Truck (tuh), milk (mi), uh oh, help please or please (puh puh), paci (pa pa), pop, Mike (myyy), leah (not sure how to type it but it's whe whe whe), Brad (bad), waffle (wa wa), bye bye, hi, rice (rye), garage door (ga da), moon, wow, tomato (tama tama), donald duck, probably more that aren't coming to mind.

He also loves doing animal sounds - cow, dog, cat, chicken, turkey, owl, frog, duck, sheep, bunny (he says boing and attempts to hop).

 

He has also totally shocked me the past couple of weeks and started letting us know he has a dirty diaper by grabbing the wipes and a diaper! Amazing.

 

He has a mouth full of teeth! All teeth including 1 year molars are fully in, and now the sleep saga (or lack there of) continues due to all 4 two year molars coming in! Maybe, praying!!!, we will be done with teeth very soon, and we will all sleep!!

 

 

 

He is also fascinated with putting on any and all shoes and seeing how far he can walk in them! We were pretty impressed with the several steps he took in Joey's steel toed boots!

 

Like father like son - turns his bike over to inspect under it.

 

This kid keeps us on our toes, cracks us up and keeps us entertained, and has brought us more emotions than ever thought possible. It is our prayer with him every night that God will equip us to be the parents He wants us to be to this amazing little boy!

 

 

 

Two Dreams Become One

I have always been crazy about horses, probably rode my first one when I was 5 at a friend's house. Yes, I'm an animal lover, but horses have an even greater impact on me. They're so majestic and powerful, yet gentle and loving.  Sounds a little familiar to my Heavenly Father, maybe? ;)

So of course a dream of mine has been to own or somehow incorporate horses into my life. I remember begging and begging my dad as a kid/teen to have a horse. Obviously, I don't resent him for not getting me one as I now understand the intense commitment (financially and time) that owning a horse requires.  The dream never died though. My passion did change or at least become distracted by my calling into the Christian counseling ministry. Then, as you can read about here, God allowed a dream to come true - starting a non profit counseling center.

And now, just another year later, and I stand in awe of God blessing me with something called Equine Assisted Psychotherapy. We have been trained (not fully certified yet) to be able to use these amazing creatures to help clients with their problems, and we are already seeing the potential for great things after just beginning to utilize it with clients.

I ADORE that these guys are my collegues now!

A Clydesdale at the Kentucky Horse Park where we were trained. My absolute favorite horse, and I finally got to meet one!

Not only are these guys my new coworkers (and we also have a great equine specialist, Anita Duncan, that we work with), I get to wear blue jeans and boots to work! How great is that?! ;)

Gorgeous Kentucky Horse Park.

I am soooo blessed!!

Christmas in February

Yeah, that's how behind I am.  I haven't even blogged about Christmas. It's been busy and sick around here (found out my little bitty man has asthma like his mom, sad).  Anyway, Christmas. It was a nice time with family and not too overboard for the kiddos, get to focus more on Christ's birthday that way. I like it.  Trying to decide about some traditions to start next year with M, since he'll be older, to teach him early about the true meaning.

Still do my traditional giving through baking. I love this, something I learned from my mom - spreading the Christmas Joy by baking homemade things for folks in the community like mail carriers, sanitation workers, etc. 

 

And of course, it's nice to have leftovers ;) cranberry white chocolate chip cookies, yum!

 

Shhh, don't tell his daddy he likes playing with ribbon.


And the Guntersville Christmas parade...

My crazy child was mesmerized by all the city's firetrucks' sirens going off at once!

A Mickey bath toy in his stocking. Needless to say, we are a bit obsessed with Mickey Mouse. It's the only thing he will sit and watch longer than a few minutes (an entire episode!).

 

Christmas brunch - fruit salad, bacon and cheese quiche, sausage and grits casserole, and mini monkey bread

 

Presents for Nana and MeMe 

 

 

 

His own recliner from Gramps and Nana.

 It was kind of nice doing that so late, get to relive it when all the dust has settled! I just realized I haven't blogged about the new equine addition to our ministry! I have been so excited about it, I assumed I told the world, so that's next!

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!