Lila's nursery

Working on Lila's nursery...

Some lovely inspiration :)  Her colors originally were bright pink and yellow but the paint color turned out a bit more purpleish gray... almost exactly like the first color shown below.  Looks like we're going with a bright sunny yellow, magenta, and lilac.  I'm thinking of adding subtle hints of soft green in the mix but still not sure.

Definitely looking for the perfect spot for these words :)

Love this girl

I'm loving this new stage of toddlerhood!  I will say that we are inching into the terrible twos and I've had some tough days getting used to her new independence but lately when I just give into letting her do more on her own, we are both much happier. 

My daily amazement includes remembering the grocery list for me, singing happy birthday regularly, tattling on momma to daddy, using a screwdriver to help daddy put Lila's crib together, mastering the please and thank you, and regular counting. 

I'm loving our daily rituals of shake your sillies out before bed and regular prayer.  I love hearing her start off the night time prayers with what she's thankful for.  Lately it's been babies and Bella :)

Lila continues the gymnastics in my belly and I'm at the stage where there is no comfortable spot in the house.  I remember wishing we owned a recliner or something!

We took these photos after music/storytime at the library.  She was loving running up hills and back down to momma's arms :).

Playdate at the Park

 And working on the letter C this week... :)

Trying to keep up with milestones

I'm overwhelmed by how fast my sweet little Marlow is growing.  I just can't keep up with all the milestones.  I've been journaling regularly but I'm always so worried to lose the collection of memories. 

We had a great weekend!  It's sooo hot for being freaking winter.  We spent the day at a local childrens museum and watched her run wild and free exploring all kinds of new things.  I love sharing those moments with her daddy.  I feel bad when we have a ball all week and sit home on the weekends.

 We woke this morning to lots of fog and Marlow kept telling us, "it's real boggy momma."  We ran all the errands after church... the same old grocery and costco run but she definitely shocked us today when she started singing the words to Adele's Someone Like You.  A promo came on the radio briefly and soon after she was singing a heartfelt, "someone like you...".  I just love her little voice... melts my heart!  Then we had some counting milestones to note.  I had told David on Thursday that she counted to six on her own without prompting and she said, "seven, eight" and I looked at him surprised!  Then she went all the way to 10 in the bath today!!

She's going to be the best big sister... she kisses the belly daily and now that we've chosen a name it's so much easier for her to understand :)  She loves her little Lila.  I can't wait for them to meet!

Me and Marlow 26w                                   Me and Lila... 28weeks

Bringing back the blog

Truthfully, I've been wanting to keep this up but I was having so many issues with blogger I just gave up!

I'm giving it a try again because oh I missed keeping track of all the delights of motherhood and Marlow's updates.  The anticipation for out second little girl is building and I just don't want to forget all these little moments.

I'm positive baby 2 (who is yet to be named) will be more active than Marlow.  If her kicking patterns are any indication then I better rest up now.  I cannot believe how much she moves and how much it hurts!!  Marlow was a soft tumble.  I remember telling my husband it felt like I was carrying around an aquarium.  These days there's an Olympic gym in my belly and I swear she draws back her foot to give me a good kick.  Thankfully this has been an uneventful pregnancy... I just cannot believe I'm days from the third trimester already.

I have no doubt Marlow will be a fantastic big sister.  She's so caring and helpful already.  I love how she talks to my belly and kisses it to tell her sister hello.  She continues to crack us up everyday with her antics.  Lately she's been calling daddy, "David" or "Punkin"... and we laugh everytime.  She loves to dance and request music first thing in the moring.  She sways so gracefully. She loves riding with the windows down and feeling the breeze in her hair. 

Marlow's favorite reads have included The First Christmas.  I love hearing her ask about Baby Jesus.  She loved everything about Christmas this year.  Her favorite song was Jingle Bell Rock and her absolute favorite thing to do is spend time with family.  We were so blessed to see lots of family this Christmas!

Since there is no way I can possibly catch up on everything... here goes a major photo dump again.

Hello again!

What have we been up to?

Well I'm pregnant with another girl due in early April for starters.... :)

Me and Marlow right before her biggest tantrum ever.  This was our holiday photos.  In this said tantrum dirt was kicked up into the air and daddy was kicked repeatedly.

Laughing with daddy at a pumpkin patch.  She didn't want to get close or touch a pumpkin because a recent rain brought knats and she wouldn't get near all the "bugs!!" 

Taking a break at another pumpkin patch... no knats :)

Running from us

Peek a boo at the orchards

Setting up Halloween decorations

Showing me her stink face.

My birthday where something like 15 people shared the largest pizza ever!!

Marlow and daddy making mommy birthday pudding treats.

Happy Birthday to me :)

Grocery shopping :)

Park playdates.  She's so helpful, she doesn't let mommy forget anything!  She's trying help me put my lens cap on.

Pumpkin Patch

She was Dorothy for Halloween

Her favorite books these days are Goodnight Gorilla, How do Dinosaurs Eat?, and If you take a Mouse to School.

She's a neat freak like her daddy and puts everything back in it's place.

She knows an egret from a seagull and loves to point out chinchillas and parakeets. :)

She glides around the carpet after watching figure skating to show me how well she can spin and jump.

She's learning numbers and abc's very well.

Favorite songs are Shake my Hands up High and Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.

Sorry for the photo dump, life is crazy!!!

Breath of Fresh Air

I wonder where Marlow gets it... she LOVES being outside!! 

I've taken a great interest in finding new "chores" for her to do around the house.  Each morning she helps mommy by watering all the plants and herbs... and herself of course.  She takes great pride in putting her dishes in the sink, throwing away her trash, pushing in her chair after a meal.  She also loves to help with laundry loading and folding.  I take great pleasure in watching her wipe her mouth clean and then wipe her feeding area.  It's adorable!!  At bath time she knows where her towels are and grabs them on her run over to the big girl tub.

When I say run, I mean RUN... the girl has picked up speed lately.  I love watching her turn corners and try to hit the breaks :)

READY?

SET.

GO!

She's been especially proud to climb up on my raised step I use for exercise with no hands and jump down on a 1, 2, 3 count with no hands.  She doesn't quite pronounce "one, two, three" but she thinks she's saying it. 

I've been trying to ask her how old she is and she's finally getting down her response of "ONE!"

She favorite stories lately has been Where's Mommy, and Llama Llama Red Pajama.

Her favorite song is my rendition of something called "You and Me Makes We."  She points to you on the we part and then herself on the me... she LOVES that song!

And to just melt my heart competely.... when asked, "How much do you love me?" she stretches her sweet little arms as far as they can while showing how much she working at it, and says, "Much!"... as in... "this much."

Oh my baby girl is getting to full blown status.  I even tried testing the potty training waters :/