16 & 17 Months

Well, I haven't been the best about sending monthly updates on Marshall lately. Since his 1-1/2 year "birthday" is a week or so away I think I'll save the actual update for that one. But here are a couple of fun pictures of our little man...he's just getting so tall, growing more "auburn" hair and saying more words every day...but the tooth count is still at 6, so hopefully more chompers start coming in!



Excited about Fall & Halloween pillows!




Bear Down Chicago Bears!



Wearing Daddy's tie



Papa with his grand kids



In other news, we're about to start our kitchen "face lift" project, so the month of October should be interesting! I'll post some before and after picks and update on the process as we go along. We've been in this house for 4 years so we're very excited about having an updated kitchen...but not necessarily stoked about all the dust and living out of sorts but it will be worth it in the end! :)

American Girl Outing

I should have titled this post, "A Fish Out of Water" since that's what Marshall looked like when we visited the American Girl store with my niece Elizabeth. For her 7th birthday we gave her a trip to the store to get her doll's hair done, eat at the cafe and do a little shopping. If you haven't been to one of these stores, it's like Dorothy stepping into Oz, except every thing's pink!  

We got there early to get the lay of the land. We made our way upstairs to the hair salon to get an "up-do" for her doll, which just happens to be named Elizabeth as well! (And the stylist's name was Elizabeth too!)

After she got her hair "did" we went shopping, which was more like narrowing down and teaching a 7-yr old that money doesn't grow on trees, but the fruit of the spirit, self-control does! :)

We ended our pink adventure in their cafe which actually serves really good food, like adult type meals. But the highlight was when they serve your doll pink lemonade in her own little cup while she sits next to you in her booster seat, precious. Elizabeth just thought it was the coolest!

 

Marshall would endure any amount of pink for his cousin! 

Seriously don't you just want to sop this up with a biscuit, ADORABLE! I like to call it Marshall's affectionate head butt! He simply adores his "Sissy" and you can tell from that sweet little face...sigh.

One Nap a Day

Last week we (Marshall & mommy) made the official transition to one nap a day! In an effort to make the transition a little less bumpy we filled our week with an outing every morning. Busy babies don't realize they're sleepy...or at least Marshall doesn't. So trips to the gym, the mat room at church with Amanda B. and the pool with Amanda M. and sister helped to make the time pass. He seems to have taken to the change and typically sleeps for about 3 hours. Believe me, I am loving this!!!

Longer mornings have made for some funny and creative activities around the house and here are a couple to show all the "excitement" when we're at home.

Playing with boxes

Eating with his pet mouse

Rockin' the day away

Trip to CA

In July, Creighton and I took our first vacation sans Marshall to California with our friends Aaron and Mandy. Unlike our last trip to CA, I did not do a good job of taking pictures...quite pitiful really. But I think it's because I was trying to relax and enjoy the moment, rather than capture it. So here are a couple that we did capture!

We started our trip with an afternoon in San Francisco, then headed up to Sonoma for dinner at our favorite restaurant, El Dorado Kitchen. We fell in love with this place on our last trip and as usual, it did not disappoint! Thankfully they still had my fav dessert, homemade cookie ice cream sandwiches with a chocolate and caramel dipping sauce - YUMM-EY!

We spent the next day in Napa and enjoyed some tastings at a couple of different wineries. Below is a picture of us in front of Darioush, one of our favorites! This place is over the top (as you can tell by the decor) the owner's Persian so he wanted to bring his "home" to Napa.




After Napa, we headed down the famous Hwy 1, Pacific Coast Hwy for a very long and picturesque drive down to Paso Robles, our next stop. The views are just breathtaking and an absolute testament to the glory and greatness of God's creation. We made a stop in Santa Cruz to enjoy a walk on the beach. Then off to Monterrey and the 17-mile Drive at Pebble Beach.

On the boardwalk in Santa Cruz

At Pebble Beach, the self-named "log of love" since it seemed to be the photo op location for all the couples...even for Mandy and I!

This picture doesn't really capture the wicked view of the trees along the coastline. You see them a little better, along with all those seals in the next picture.

The famous "Lone Cypress" it's the one in the background growing all by itself out on that rock.
I didn't take a single picture the entire time we were in Paso Robles, but I did whip out the camera at Hearst Castle, owned by the famous media mogul William Randolph Hearst. This place is huge and beautiful! These are just a few pics from the tour.

Main House

Outdoor Swimming Pool

Dining Hall - he wanted a narrow table so that people had to talk to each other, love it!

Indoor Swimming Pool with real gold tiles!

After Paso Robles, we headed back north and stayed the night in Half Moon Bay before heading to the airport in the morning. Half Moon Bay is a lazy little surfing town and our hotel was right on the beach. Although it was in the 50's it was still nice to be by the ocean, ahhhh...miss it already!

Summer Fun

July was a little crazy for us so here's an update on what we've been up to the past month.

Trip to the Dallas Zoo

The playgroup took a trip to the Dallas zoo and my sister & Austin got to join us as well! Their new Safari exhibit is AMAZING! As you can see below, we were eye to eye with the giraffes...I got to pet its head! And there's a little cafe where the lions were leaning against the glass so the kids got to be extremely close. Very cool! Since we have a zoo membership we will definitely be heading back in the fall when it's a little cooler.

L to R: Caleb, Marshall, Egan, Mia, Peyton and Preston

Swimming Lessons
A short clip from swimming lessons with Miss Margaret and the playgroup swim team! :) And yes, he graduated with flying colors...kinda.




Pump it Up Jr.
Our playgroup found out about this great indoor bounce house "park" that's just for toddlers called Pump it Up Jr. Organized chaos is the name of the game here and Marshall just loved it...until he got "lost" in the maze! (Meaning, "I couldn't find my mommy in the maze.") Before "the maze incident," he was climbing up and sliding down the big slide all by himself. I was just amazed at how active and independent he has become, what joy to see his little personality blossom!

L to R: Marshall & I, Egan & Whitney, Mia & Jennifer, Camryn & Amanda, Piper & Michele, Jake & Kristen, Zane & Sandra, Jack & Lisa

15 Months

Our little boy is 15 months old! We've been extremely fortunate that Marshall has yet to be truly sick in his short lifetime, just some little sniffles along the way. Well, all that changed when our little guy got croup last week. Thankfully it was a mild case and was gone in a day. It was our first trip to the Dr. for something other than a well-baby apt. (He gets that hearty stock from my side of the family!) But we got an official weight when we were there and our string bean is only 21lb 11 oz. His weight has taken a gigantic halt since his height is leading the way! He also has four teeth, 2 top and 2 bottom.

He's still a babbler with lots of things to say, of which we don't have a clue. But he has officially said his first two words, dog and cat, other than Da-da and Ya-ya. He goes between dog and "oggie," so it could be an attempt at Maggie but you can't really tell. You can add another torchered dog soul to his list...poor Tikka (my sister's dog) stayed with us a couple days and she got so fed up with his constant in-your-face harassment that she barked at him, just once. Of course he wasn't a fan, but he got the picture...dogs like personal space too!

There's also been a bit of a change in his appetite recently, he actually doesn't eat everything I put in front of him...the nerve! It's been an interesting struggle to scramble and find something he will eat besides fruit. If I gave him bananas, blueberries, blackberries or strawberries with milk everyday, he would be in heaven! We've had to get creative with the veggies and proteins but I'm determined and there's nothing a little ranch dressing or cheese can't liven up! :)

The most exciting news this month is that Marshall's learning to swim. Miss Margaret is the swim instructor that taught Creighton to swim but don't let her age fool you, (we think she's in her late 70's, early 80's) she's feisty! There are 4 other playgroup friends taking the class with us: Mia, Jack, Piper and Hudson. We are having a blast and the kids have learned so much in such a short period of time. We start our second and final week of classes next week. Now he's no Mia "the fish" Thomas but by the end of this first week he can get out of the edge of the pool by himself with a little nudge from mom and "swim/glide" under water for a couple of seconds covering about a foot of water from Miss Margaret to me. He's not a fan of kicking or lying on his back but if you ever need some "entertainment" ask one of the moms to sing the kickety-kick song for ya...it's pretty catchy!

When we're not swimming Marshall's busy stacking his stacking cups (his new favorite activity) and still playing chase, but now it's fun to run under the dining room table. Yep, we're running now...oh goody!?! We love you little man! We thank the Lord daily that he has entrusted you to us.

15 Months with Gordo the Gorilla

Wordless Wednesday - Nudie Bootie!