1 Year!

Marlee is one! Wow, her first year zipped by so fast. She has brought so much joy to our lives. For such a small thing, she certainly contributes a lot to our family dynamics. Today we celebrated this fabulous little girl. Her brother and sister were very excited to sing happy birthday to her first thing this morning. She was in a great mood. It was as if she knew it was her day and she was ready to party.
What a year it has been! She has done all the normal things like learn to smile and roll and crawl; walking is almost ready to be checked off the list. She can take a few steps, about 4 or 5 with no problem. She has even gone about 8 or so, but typically she knows if its more than a few feet, she can crawl there faster and doesn’t try too hard.
But mobility is not really an issue. She can climb stairs like nobody’s business, and can sorta come down, but I don’t really trust her yet. She can now climb up on the furniture especially the little table and chairs. Strapping her in has curbed her high chair escape tactics. Pretty much nothing pleases her more than to climb into a chair next to Hayden and play with his markers while he colors. She especially likes to have her own coloring book, even if there is no chance I will take the caps off the markers for her. However, she is sorta figuring that one out on her own. She is a monkey for sure!
And now that she is so mobile, she is quite certain that she is perfectly capable of keeping up with the big brother and sister. With the improved weather, she is able to chase them around the yard. Somedays, they sneak out; then she just stands at the door and bangs on it until someone takes pity on her and lets her out. She likes to do laps around the perimeter of the yard, same thing at the playground. It’s a bit bizarre. With Hayden’s Tball season in full swing, (hehehe) we are spending lots of time at the park, and Marlee couldn’t be happier, even with the nasty wind.
She is a complete chatter box. My friend was watching her this week and her 3 year old did something to tick Marlee off, and well, Miss M thoroughly chewed him out. She often has choice words for Hayden and Sage too. We are not really sure what those words are, but she means business.
She prefers to handle her own bottles now. After the whole BPA plastic bottle leaching toxins thing on the Today show, I tried to switch her over to sippy cups, but she promptly let me know that we are not quite ready for that transition. So we bought all new non-BPA bottles. (toss all your bottles with 7 in the chasing arrows if you haven’t already done so)
Such a busy month, we spent so much time on the go. She takes it all in stride with a big grin. Her naps have been interrupted, cut short and even skipped a couple of times. She is never too put out by any of it. I am just hoping that she doesn’t get used to the nap skipping stuff. She is a champ of a sleeper! She still takes 2 naps a day, but I am guessing that she will be losing one soon. It will be a sad day for me.
Favorite things this month:
Cousin Jess and her purple finger nails
Climbing
Whole green beans
Goldfish crackers
When Daddy comes home from work or when mom comes home from being out
Playing any game with Hayden and Sage

Spring Break

Hayden's first Spring Break. ahh, we played hard. Seeing how I have been quite homesick, I decided that we needed more than just a way too short weekend to play in Seattle. Just the kids and I (just???) got to hang out for a few days and visit and do really cool stuff like roller skating and going to the Bouncy Place and even the Science Center for Hayden. A big thanks to cousin Avery for scouting out hot spots in town. It was so much fun!
Friday: We rolled into town nice and early. We went to dinner with my mom and dad at everyones fav, Red Robin. Apparently the mac and cheese was too much for poor Sage, she threw up all over the restaurant. It was aweful. And when I say all over, please know that I in no way am embellishing. Ask my mom. What a way to start the trip!
Saturday: well, the throwing up was an isolated incident, Sage was ready to tackle anything. We loaded up Cousin Jess and Grandma and headed up north where we gave Hayden to Auntie Shelly for the weekend (thanks aunt Shelly, you're awesome!) and us girls headed to Jenny's baby shower. Sage entertained all with her rendition of Drift Away, or if you ask her, "give me the beat boys and free my soul, i wanna get lost in your rock and roll and drift away." She prefers the long title. Marlee was entertained by Jessilyn and her cool purple finger nails. Those two made a connection, way cute!
Sunday: We had a belated Easter dinner. The WHOLE fam gathered at my dads. Boy, those events are totally worth the drive over. It is always so cool to have everyone under one roof. Lots of food and family. (only one missing was Heath:( ummm, I think my nephews are turning into giants. They soooo tower over me, and boy can they eat!


Monday: We bounced. The Bouncy place-soooo fun. Seeing as it was spring break, it was slightly more crowded than last time, but they had more bouncy toys so it wasn't terrible. Marlee got in on the jumping this time. She LOVED it. I had to limit my bouncing because my back is bad again. grrr. But the kids just bounced and bounced till they could bounce no more! It was great.
We went to dinner at Wally's with Mom and Mike and my Dad. Yum, the halibut was fabulous! No throwing up either, thankfully :)


Tuesday: Roller Skating! Oh my goodness, does it get any cuter? (actually yes, but we didn't know it at the time) This place was so cool. They played Disney music, had the tiniest skates, did the Hokey Pokey, and even let moms take strollers on the rink. At the end, the kids got an icy, which made the whole event even cooler. Then lunch at the Rock, mmmmm. Grandma wanted to take the kids to icecream after lunch, because apparently, all you can eat pizza does not fill them up sufficiently. Sage and Avery sharing a bowl of ice cream WAS the cutest thing ever.



Wednesday: After tearing Jamies house apart, we headed home. The fun had to end sometime, right?
Home sweet home, where Daddy was recovering from a nasty spell of the flu. We were lucky enough to miss it all. Poor guy had a miserable few days.

um, and are these photos amazing or what??? It is really great to have a sister with a great talent and a really nice camera! Thanks so much Jamie!

Our Little Artist

Last month, Hayden's class did a weather unit. His teacher sent home a form that the kids could do a weather drawing and have it submitted to the newspaper. Hayden was pretty excited about it and drew "partly cloudy."
Well, we get the friday, saturday, sunday papers, and each time one comes, he always asks if someone in his class got their drawing in the paper. I have even gotten to the point where I just turn straight to the weather section. Friday, and Sunday, as ususal, we checked and were of course disappointed because we didn't know the artists. Usually my thought is that in the unlikely chance that he did get his picture published, it would probably be on a tuesday or sometime when we would never know. Well, today, he gets off the bus all excited to show me that he had been published. His teacher had clipped it out of the SATURDAY paper (the one untouched in our garbage can) and shown the whole class. He was sooooo proud. And, well, so am I! Way to go Hayden!

11 months

11 months have come and gone, in fact the big oh-one approaches way too quickly. I guess I have procrastinated posting long enough. This past month included Marlee’s first Easter, a family birthday party, a visit from Grandma and Grandpa, The NCAA tournament and several play groups.
One of the most notable things last month was Marlee coming out of her shell. She has always been a bit shy, especially in big groups but that trend seems to be fading. We have been going to play groups, Hayden and Sage have had some friends come play, and lots of little folks at church to chase all seem to be helping her to become more social. We got to go to a big birthday bash for my Grandma, and Marlee seemed to really enjoy being around other people. Playing in the hall with all the cousins and Hayden and Sage really tickled her funny bone, particularly when Auntie Kim helped her run after them all.

Last month she continued her quest to become master crawler. I love to watch her prowl about, then focus on something across the room, and kick into turbo-speed after it. If that something is her brother or mom, she will usually let out a little war cry and have a huge grin as she tears across the floor. She loves to sit in Sage's rocking chair. Sometimes her chubby toes get stuck in the slats, its kinda funny.
She logged some time on the stairs, indeed, her favorite activity these days. Hayden loves to help her climb up and down. One day he tried to help her out by running up ahead of her to open the gate and she tumbled down. He cried harder than she did Now he is very diligent in watching her.
She has become a waver, she loves to wave at people as we leave, especially at the grocery store. She also points. My favorite is when she does the double point. Both pointer fingers, straight ahead, and oh-so-serious look on her face, cracks me up!
On a sad note, we finished up nursing at the end of this month. Sad? Maybe bittersweet is better. Sad to see that special time just her and me come to an end, but now I have a little bit extra free time. Hayden has become the primary bottle feeder. He is so excited to get to help feed his sister. It’s very sweet the bond those two have.

Easter 08

We had a really nice Easter weekend here at home with Grandma and Grandpa from Idaho. They arrived Friday, about 3 minutes before Hayden's bus dropped him. It was a weekend full of visiting, basketball, egg hunts and yummy food.
Friday night we celebrated Grandma's birthday, I heard her tell Hayden she was 27...hmmm, I claim 27 too. Good for you Grandma!!!
We had lots of Easter fun. Friday, the kids went to a little Easter party at the church and had a cute little egg hunt. The candy in the eggs was the good stuff-Cadbury mini eggs, Robins eggs, Reeces peanut butter eggs, mmmm. The kids hunted alongside friends from their primary classes. Good times.

Saturday, we dyed some eggs. Boy, hard boiled eggs sure stink up my refrigerator, but its a tradition and I've got candles so we just deal with it. I love to dye eggs. I used to get all creative and put rubber bands on them and use stamps and crayons to get really fancy, but with a really eager three year old, we just employ the quick dunk method. Hayden insists on using the useless wire dipper, but Sage uses her fingers. She was quick to ask for a smock before we got started-I'm training her well! I was amazed that it was all done in about three minutes. For all the build up, it seems like it should have taken longer. Don't get me wrong, I'm not really complaining, we made a big old mess in that short time and my patience probably wouldn't hold for much longer. It really was fun though.
Lots of basketball to watch, Heath lives for March Madness, so he didn't get to far from his TV most of the weekend. My brackets took a bit of a beating, but I've got 3of my final four teams still going strong (and seeing Duke lose didn't really hurt my feelings anyway) Poor Grandma, she lost both her championship teams. Oh, and Go Cougs!

Sunday was nice and mellow. The kids had a good time going through the stuff in their baskets. Marlee liked Hayden's stuff the best. She got a little ball and had a ton of fun playing catch with her dad who really couldn't have been any more pleased at her apptitude for the game. Sage was so excited to finally get to wear her beautiful Easter dress. Auntie Shelly got her and Marlee matching dresses last year for a shower gift. (she is a smartie, thinking ahead like that!) Anyhow, for the past year, Sage has been so perturbed that I wouldn't let her wear this dress, mostly because it didn't fit yet, but also I wanted to keep it nice. They both looked so pretty in their dresses. Hayden was quite handsome too. Getting a good picture of all three is next to impossible, but I did try.
After church we had our own little egg hunt. Last year I learned that less is more with egg hunts and all the accompanying candy. Well, they still got way to much candy, but I am working on toning it down. Hint: the baskets look more full if you leave the grass in the bottom :)
We said a sad goodbye to Grandma and Grandpa this morning and are coming down off our sugar high.
I, for one, am tickled that there is no big candy event again until Halloween. Its almost time to start talking costumes...

Seat Upgrade

For our trip to Seattle, we bid farewell to the infant carrier and let Marlee ride in style the big seat. Yay Marlee! She seemed to really like it. And only a few months from getting to face forward and see where we're going. Its no hot pink princess seat like sister Sage has, but, hey, it still feels like first class-just look at that grin.

10 months

10 months already! Marlee continues to grow and brighten our lives. Over the past month we watched our little one get into all kinds of trouble as she explores her world. From scattering all our DVDs to unrolling the toilet paper rolls, she seems to know just how to make a big mess. Last month she mastered crawling, now she seems to be trying to set speed records; whoa, can she move fast! Her goal in life is to climb the stairs without being caught. Boy, if I forget to block them, she is half way up before I even realize she is out of my arms. She actually is a great climber and we think she will figure out coming down pretty fast too. Stairs are not the only thing she enjoys climbing, I have found her standing on “The Chair,” a funny little toy chair that sings and talks, the dishwasher, and anybody lying on the floor. She loves to get on the treadmill; again, I think this is part of her funny personality, she loves to watch us run on it, and I think she sees herself using it when she sits on the belt. She sometimes will pull up to something and let go, standing on her own for a bit. It makes her quite proud to know that she has done it too. How long before she takes that first step??? I really am not in a hurry for that.
Sticking out her tongue-I don't know what to say other than she reminds me of my old dog Sam when she would catch a mole out of the woodpile. sorta gross. kinda funny. What a goof! Marlee is totally addicted to her binky now. It’s really strange to us, Hayden and Sage never showed an ounce of interest in binkies. I sort of think maybe it was not the brightest move on my part to let her develop this habit, just to turn around and try and break it in a few months. Oh well, she loves it.
Speaking of things she loves, new favorites are Ritz crackers, Mom’s keys (ew, gross!), debit/credit/gift cards (even grosser), computer keyboards, wrestling with dad, Hayden and Sage’s bedtime, riding in the stroller, being outside, the sound of her voice, baths, bits and pieces of stuff on the floor. Things she does not love: riding in the car at night-still, 11:00 church, dry scratchy grass, mom checking for new teeth, noisy tables at the chiropractor, watching mom walk away.

Unleashing the Power of Sage

For Valentines day, I got Heath a hat, but got the wrong size. On Saturday, we took the girls to the mall to exchange it-Hayden was at a birthday party. Sage, of course, had to go potty the second we walked through the doors. What is it about public restrooms that is so enticing to little kids. Totally gross! Anyhow. We caught up with Heath at the hat store where he had found out that the store did not have any more of the hats and couldn't refund our money because Heath had taken a sticker off. Lame. So we were working our way out of the store when Sage prances up to the counter to visit with the guy Heath had been talking to. She bats her baby blue eyes and tells him all about her brother, where he is what he is doing, tells him a bit about her, how she is a princess and likes the Seahawks and goes on and on until I take pity on him and call her back so we can leave. The guy was totally taken with her. He looked at Heath and says, "hey, I'm going to give you your money back!" The guy totally disregarded policy because of a cute little blonde girl.
That quite pleased Sage, more time to visit! Heath and I walked out of the store in silent awe after the transaction was done. Way to work it Sister!!!

Video of my Darlings in Action

This is a little video I threw together of a few clips that I love, but they don't really go with anything. There is one of Marlee with her funny fountain duck. She love how it quacks and splashes all over (the kids really don't need any extra help with the splashing). Actually, all three of them quite like the duck. I love to hear Marlee quack back, it makes me smile every time.
Then there is Sage at gymnastics. She goes on Thursday afternoons and loves it. She waits all day to go and bounces around the whole time. Can you imagine the energy of this group of preschoolers? Sage is the one in pink pants, I love her free-spirit. She definatley marches to her own beat.
Last is a big one, Hayden finally has learned to tie his shoe. Whoo hoo! The smile at the end is the best part. :)

I have trouble with the music and the video at the same time. It has to think a lot! I have found that if you stop the music, the video plays fine.

Bitten

So, I have always enjoyed reading. As a teenager, I read lots of romance novels. Funny story: In my 9th grade English class, Mrs. Gregory had us each come up with vocabulary words taken from our pleasure reading. One week, I was reading Danielle Steele at the time, and I was desperate for a word. I chose voluptuous-it was a big word and I had never heard it before. Hmmm, yeah, looking back, perhaps this wasn’t the best word to pull from my reading. Wonder what Mrs. Gregory thought.
As I headed off to college, I pretty much had to trade my romance novels for text books. Not nearly as fun.
Then the babies came and it was What to Expect when You’re Expecting, followed by Dr. Seuss, Lift-the-Flap books, If You Give a Pig a Pancake, and Don’t let the Pigeon Drive the Bus.
I fell in love with Harry Potter and waited anxiously for each book to come out. I have read all 7 books several times. Hayden and I read book one together, but I’m dragging my feet on book two (it’s a bit scary for him I think). I cried and cried as I read Deathly Hallows, knowing that was the end of the fun. It took me a while to get over Harry. But as the kids talk about him and play HP daily, he lives on.
Well, it seems like it’s been forever ago that my mother-in-law told me about a series she was reading about vampires. What??? Vampires? Yeah, not my genre. So at Thanksgiving, when she lent me three of her vampire books, I wasn’t really in a rush to read them. They sat on my bookshelf for over 2 months without so much as a glance. (Stacy, can you believe that???)
So a couple weeks ago, I picked one up to read while I was on the treadmill because the volume was sorta not working so good on the TV/computer. You know, it’s not easy to read a book and run at the same time. :) Didn’t matter, it only took a few minutes to hook me. I was on the treadmill for way longer than I planned. (great strategy by the way). Well, I raced through the three books way to fast. They are fantastic! Amazing. The first book is called Twilight, by Stephenie Meyer,if you haven’t read it, what are you waiting for? Then New Moon, and Eclipse. The next book, Breaking Dawn, isn’t due out until August. :( What am I going to do? I have already re-read the first three. I’m completely obsessed.

Look at them, how bad can they be?

Be Mine

Valentine's Day is winding down, but it was a really good one at our house. My sweet kids woke up ready to spread the love. Hayden made my bed and really wanted to make me breakfast (toast with jelly), but instead agreed to me making something tasty and nutritious. We had a lovely breakfast before rushing out the door to deliver him to school. Marlee napped at Diana's so that Sage and I could go to Hayden's valentine party at school. Wow, 25 hyper kindergartners; even Sage was overwhelmed. It looked like Halloween, only red and pink. So many cookies, cupcakes, suckers and candy hearts! It was way fun. I loved to watch the kids open a card, see who it was from and see the look of gratitude on their face. Precious. I told Hayden about when i was in 5th grade, there was a boy named James in my class and he was sorta mean. He always teased all the girls. He always picked on me about my freckles; I thought he was such a jerk. Well, on Valentines day, he showed up with out cards, but had taken the time to write a little note or poem to each girl. Mine was simple, but 20 years later, I remember: Roses are red, violets are blue, freckles are nice, and so are you. OK, it was 5th grade, that was pretty nice.
So anyhow, after the party the kids and I took Heath cookies at his office. We had a little valentine gift too, but found out that Sage had already told him what it was the night before-Sage is terrible at secrets, but she thinks they are great. We completely disrupted the office, but I don't think anyone really minded all that much.
Lunch, naps, gymnastics, then we met Heath for dinner at "the pasta house" as the kids call it. yum! It was a rushed dinner though, since we had to make it to Heath's basketball game. It was a fun game, they lost in the last second though, major bummer!

There was a very loving atmosphere around our house today and it was wonderful. Not that we usually hate each other or anything, but today was very special and I really hope that we work to keep that nice spirit in our home.
Hayden wrote the sweetest note to me this morning. They have been working on spelling things phonetically at school and he really seems to do a good job. He has pretty good handwriting too! I could totally brag all day about my smart boy. He wows me each time I help in his class. ("Couldn't have a better mom then you," if you didn't already figure it out).

9 months

Oh, Marlee is growing and growing and growing. Well, length wise that is. Doctor says Miss M is at the 85th percentile for length. She is long and lean, only at the 15th percentile for weight. We are going to watch her weight over the next few months to make sure she doesn't crash off the growth chart, but the doc and me sorta attribute the drop in growth channel to her mobilitiy. She is burning her calories as fast as she eats them. Thats pretty fast. And let me tell you, this is a girl on the go! At the start of the month she would move along slowly and sometimes backwards, often getting stuck under chairs and beds and corners. One day I could hear her calling me, but couldn't see her. She had backed under her crib and was hiding behind the dust ruffle. But now, its full speed ahead, onward and upward as she crawls and pulls up on anything she can get those busy little hands on. She is quite proud of herself to have learned this. Yes, that means she is helping with unloading the dishwasher, clearing off low book shelves, and generally finding all sorts of stuff that she shouldn't have. She is very curious. She is entertained with most anything these days, toys, toothbrushes, a shoe, the twangy thing on the back of doors (had to take the tips off though, she likes to put them in her mouth), and especially her brother and sister. She can sorta chase them now, and knows that she is part of their fun. Hayden is soooo good to his sister, she adores him and always smiles when he is near. Sage and Marlee are starting to be friends too. She has never taken a binkie, but found one when I was cleaning out the diaper bag and decided it was too funny. She likes to plug it in and spit it out. I laugh because she knows its funny. She has a good sense of humor. Bath time has always been Marlee's favorite, but it is especially now with her fountain duck. Marlee cracks up at this funny quacking duck that always squirts her in the face. She even quacks back! Between the duck and the baby, the bathroom is always flooded. This past month brought lots of snow, which still seems to delight this baby (and her mom). Her little nose gets cold as can be when we go out in it, but she doesn't care. She liked riding the sled with Sage around the yard. Daddy is most proud because she loves to chase balls. At Hayden's last dentist appt. Marlee got a little basketball that is her favorite ball of all. She knows its hers. Hayden can't wait for her to get a little bigger, he would love someone new to play catch with! 2 Teeth! The first was a breeze, the second one hurt us all. She has really swollen gums, so we are wondering if more are on the way. She does not really like anybody peeking at them and will clamp her lips shut and turn her head if you look like your going to do an inspection of her mouth. Marlee has always been a chatterbox, but now she seems to have realized that words are a must. She tries to mimic any noises she hears. My favorite thing she does is snuggle in to my shoulder with a blankie and sing her own little song when she is getting tired. It melts my heart every time! She is the best eater. We have finally found the one food she refuses: baby spinach...well, can you blame her? Everything else she opens her mouth wide for. This month she got to try lots of new table foods which she is really good at eating. She has mastered cheerio flicking. Marlee also tried her first french fry-now that is something to brag about! She wasn't into eating it as much as she was into waving it around like a wand...learned that from Hayden and his Harry Potter obsession. It was a really fun month, we are trying to slow down time so we can enjoy every ounce of this amazing little baby, but are failing miserably, she is growing so fast and time is flying.