Marshall's 1st Birthday Party - 4/3

Marshall's birthday was the week after Easter, so we decided to have his party Easter weekend and celebrate with an Easter egg hunt. We had a great time with family and friends from playgroup!

(Let's just ignore this post is about 2 months late!?!)

The spread...

Marshall with Auntie Vicki and her beautiful cake creations. Thank you Vicki for all your hard work!

Future BFFs Marshall and Brady with mom Mandy

Let the chaos, I mean, Egg Hunt begin! I'll be honest, I knew the kids were too young to actually appreciate an egg hunt. But this was every one's first Easter so it was more of an experience for the parents...like everything their 1st year.

Peyton and Mia, pretty in pink!

Cousin Austin helping Marshall with his eggs

Camryn won the prize for biggest stash!
The famous and elusive playgroup group shot
Top: Egan, Jake, Mia & Zane; Bottom: Marshall, Camryn & Peyton

Time for some cake!!! Naked and ready to eat!



A job well done...

Marshall didn't quite attack the cake like we thought, since he's such a big eater and often double-fists his food. He played with the cake more than ate it...regardless, he loved all the attention!

Some of his favorite gifts...

Stacking blocks from Mia

Some new wheels from Grandpa & Grandma

Rocking Chair from Gana & Papa

Thanks to everyone for such a fun and memorable birthday!

5 Years of Wedded Bliss

Today we celebrate our 5th Anniversary! For those of you that know our crazy story, you know the Lord had everything to do with our reconnection after many years. Some day I'll post our story for Marshall to look back on, but for now I thought some pictures would be fun to walk down memory lane. To quote a line from Rascal Flats, "God blessed the broken road that lead me straight to you." Love you Creighton...here's to a lifetime of love and laughter!

Early in our dating relationship, young love!

The Big Day!

Honeymooning in the British Virgin Islands

Vacationing in San Fran

Our first baby, Maggie!

Christmas '07

My reality ;)

Days before Marshall was born

Happy Birthday Creighton! - 4/25

Yesterday was Creighton's birthday, so we had a fun weekend of spending time with family and friends. Saturday we had a wonderful dinner with our dear friends Aaron, Mandy and their son Brady. (Sorry, I forgot to take pictures.) Sunday we had a family brunch at Bread Winners with Creighton's parents and grandparents. Their food is so yummy, I had banana bread french toast and it was fabulous! We had a relaxing afternoon with some shopping at Kohl's, we watched Crazy Heart, (which is really good) and spent time in the yard.

Creighton grilled some very yummy steaks, I made a tasty Bobby Flay recipe for Smoked Chile Scalloped Sweet Potatoes and the 3 of us enjoyed dinner out on the patio! A wonderful relaxing evening to celebrate my fabulous husband. I can't tell you how lucky I am to be married to Creighton...the Lord definitely found me my perfect match! He's such a loving and attentive father and one of the funniest and goofiest guys I know. I can't believe we're celebrating our 5th anniversary this Friday. I love you Creighton, you are the calm in my storm and the love of my life!

Since Marshall refused to look at the camera, we had to take drastic measures...but we got what we needed!

The birthday dinner spread!

Watching the sunset...Creighton mini-me

Happy Birthday Marshall!

One year ago today at 10:40am, Marshall Creighton Uphues was born! To say this past year has been a blast would be an understatement! Marshall is just a fun kid and it's been a joy to see his little personality blossom over the past couple months. His spunk and hilarity is contagious...I've always said our children don't stand a chance of being normal with Creighton and I as parents and Marshall is definitely falling right in line! :)

Since we had his birthday party on Saturday (blog post to come) today we went to the park with his playgroup. It was a beautiful day, perfect to be outside. Marshall sported his birthday boy shirt that I snagged on sale at TJ Maxx! We went for a swing, hung-out with friends, and as always played with the girly pink toys. ;)

Here's a recap of some of my favorite pictures over the past year.

Like I said on the day he was born..."My heart is now full."

Dallas Blooms

Yesterday our playgroup went to the Arboretum to enjoy Dallas Blooms and their special "Mommy & Me" day. Our group didn't really partake in the scheduled activities, but we found a great tree and had a wonderful afternoon enjoying the beautiful weather and the fabulous scenery. Since Marshall is walking these days I shot a little video of him walking through the grass on his hunt for little sticks. He's not a fan of actually looking at the camera when there's so much to see around him. Let's face it, I'm boring since he looks at me all day! So I got some really nice profile shots! :)

Our little boy is turning one in a week and two days, so we're in party planning mode. I can't believe it's already been a year since we brought our sweet baby home from the hospital on Easter Sunday. What a blessing he has been! Such a tremendous example of God's goodness and faithfulness.

(If you can't view the video from email, visit the actual blog)

11 Months

"Red" as his father refers to him is now just one month away from being a year old...crazy! The past month has been an exciting one now that Marshall is attempting to walk. He's taking a couple of steps here and there, but just gets too excited and starts waving his arms in the air. This inevitably causes him to fall since he's not too sturdy in his stance. But it's been fun to watch him figure this whole walking thing out. It's still faster for him to crawl to what he needs, so the transition to walking seems to be slow. (Please note: Mom isn't complaining!)

He also has not one, but TWO teeth! The second tooth quickly followed the first and he seems a little more angry about this one than the first so that's been fun!?! Still haven't been able to get a picture of the elusive teeth, he's constantly got his finger or tongue covering them. Some day...

Above all I'm so thankful for the little personality that's emerging with every day. Marshall is a very friendly baby. He'll go to anyone that wants to hold him with no reservation...even the security guard at "The Dump" furniture store...no kidding. He loves being in the church nursery and gets giddy excited when he sees the sweet woman that greets him at the Wednesday bible study nursery. Never once has he cried when we've dropped him off. As a mother, I am beyond thankful to the Lord for that one! As his grandmother reminds me, Marshall's spunkiness definitely comes from me, since Creighton was terribly shy as a baby and child.

But let's be real here, our sweet boy isn't always so sweet. Marshall is a toy stealer and a bruiser! Creighton and I have witnessed it first hand when we're serving in the nursery. That boy can steal a toy from an unsuspecting child in no time. (The song "Swiper no swiping!" from Dora the Explorer starts playing in my head.) So learning to share is at the top of our parenting list. But the one thing above sharing on that list is teaching gentleness. Yep, my son is a hitter...of other children, our dog and especially mommy's face! I'm not a big fan of people hitting my face, so this has been a good lesson in parenting for me and how not to react when your child comes swinging at you. But regardless of these little personality quirks, he is wonderfully and perfectly made. And still loves to snuggle with his mom, cheek to cheek! Just precious....

Our little bath monster

Love me some broccoli