Time Really Does Fly By!

It is a winter wonderland out here in the east and Marlie seems to like it just like her Mama. We are definitely ready for Spring though. I can't wait for the warm weather and  Marlie's 1st Birthday! Is it sad that I am starting to plan for it now? I was thinking of a Butterfly and Flower theme.

Nicholas works so hard so he deserved a nice new set of  drums. I always felt bad when he had to get rid his last set of drums to a pawn shop because they couldn't fit in the car for our cross country trip to the east. Once and a while he jams with some guys from our ward while the Moms and kiddies hang out upstairs. Marlie hit the drums a couple of times but in the end, she would rather eat them!

Don't you just love that face! Marlie loves to crawl everywhere, especially under the table where I can't reach her. She is a strong little thing and pulls herself up to a stand with such ease. She just started to let go of things and try to balance standing up. Does this mean she will want to be a gymnast? Lets hope not. She  gets into everything now but I don't mind. I would much rather do this than have a crying baby. She does have a little temper though. She gets frustrated very easily and puts her hands into fists and grunts. She even kicks things out her way. It should be interesting when she is a toddler.

Today is Marlie's 9 month Birthday. I can't believe she has been out in the world  almost longer than in my belly. We just noticed her 1st tooth the other day finally.  I noticed because she bit my finger and it hurt much worse than before. The next day we noticed another one coming in right next to the 1st one. They are on the bottom in the middle and you can see them when she smiles. I will have to get a picture of it. I also have some stats because she had her 9 month well visit the other day. Her height is 27 1/4  and her weight is 15.13. She is in the 25th percentile for height and 5th percentile for weight. She's not the biggest eater at times. We need to plump her up a bit.

This was one of the first times she stood up in  her crib and was so proud of herself. I went in to get her and it scared me to death because I wasn't used to seeing her like this. It was so funny! Nice hair too! Her hair is always like this. It's wild.

I know the snow is cold and not fun to travel in but look how beautiful it is. I love it!

Nick and I take turns putting Marlie to sleep and then Nick and I hang out for a little downstairs before we head up to bed. One night he never made it down. How precious is this?

Introducing Marlie's new playroom/Nicholas' Mancave. So far they have been good at sharing the room together. :)

The Mancave equipped with Video games and drums.

The Playroom equipped with the most adorable toys from Ikea. I love that place.

I am very proud of myself because I have been using my sewing machine. Sewing is still very new to me. I sewed this window curtain. What do you think? I know it is easy for most but for me, it was a feat.

Till next time!

Count Your Many Blessings

"Count your many blessings, name them one by one. Count your many blessings, see what God hath done".

Don't you just love that church hymn? I feel like I am always counting my many blessings and never taking them for granted; or at least try not too. There are too many to count but I try. :) This year has been one of the best years of my life. My beautiful daughter has come down from Heaven and has made our family so unbelievably happy and blessed. Heavenly Father works in mysterious ways and has made it possible for me to stay home with my little one. I have always wanted to be a Mommy and just that. I believe it is the most important job in the world. It is so hard now a days to be able to do this. I am so blessed.

Nicholas is the best Father a man could ever be. He always lights up when he sees his baby and takes such good care of her. She was unfortunately sick on Christmas with her first ear infection but she was a trooper and still enjoyed it. Nick jumped right in and helped me take care of her during these tough days for her. I love how hands on, patient and loving he is. I always have the biggest smile on my face when I see them interact and see the strong bond that they are creating. Marlie always lights up when she sees him. I'm a little jealous. Just kidding. She loves her Daddy!

Nicholas is also such a hard worker and an amazing provider. If it wasn't for him, I wouldn't be able to stay home. We are so unbelievably blessed to now own a bread route and a pretzel route. Hopefully there will be another one some day.

I am also so blessed to have such a wonderful family! They love us so much and do so much for us it is amazing. I don't know what we would do without them. I hope we show them how much we love them and appreciate them. I wish my in-laws, Mama and Papa C and their family lived closer. That would make it even better. We miss them a lot, but we are planning on seeing them in July for Tyler's baptism. And guess what, Oma and Opa? My parents are hoping to go also, yay! We are very excited and are going to have a blast!

Marlie loved ripping the wrapping paper much better than playing with her new toys.

 On Christmas Eve we all went to  Aunt Helen and Uncle Al's house. We always have so much fun there. Poppy was able to make it this year so that was really nice. I always missed him when he couldn't come with us in the past. There are tons of kids running around and presents and wrapping paper everywhere. It is a blast. This Christmas Eve was a special one for us because Marlie was baby Jesus in the play that we do every year. She was the prefect baby Jesus, even with an ear infection. We sang Happy Birthday to Jesus and ate tons of delicious food.

Christmas morning was spent at our house. It was nice and quiet. We had breakfast and I tried playing Christmas music on my violin. I say tried because I haven't played in a long time. I don't think I hurt their ears too bad. I plan on making it a tradition and playing every year if they can stand it. :) We then opened presents. Once again, Marlie had more fun with the bows and wrapping paper than with her new toys. Kids. Below is what Daddy got for Christmas, a nice little Marlie. he he. He really got a remote controlled helicopter from my Dad. It is pretty impressive.

Update on Marlie time- She will be 8 months on Thursday. I can't believe it. Time really does fly. She is 15 1/2 pounds. She is getting up there. Her personality is really starting to come out and I love it. She is definitely a little crazy but she is a girl so what do you expect. I have a feeling we may need to get a time out chair in the near future. :) She is so close to crawling and standing up. I think it will be any day now. She gets frustrated sometimes. I think she gets her impatience from both me and her Daddy. She loves to smile all the time now. You should see her in church, always looking around and smiling at everybody. It is adorable. She loves to smile at her Pop Pop when he makes a silly face or when Poppy says, "I like you," to her. She adores Mimi's singing and dancing and especially her jewelry. 

We decided to get some Holiday pictures done at the mall; they came out really cute. Don't worry Mama C, some are on their way to you. :)

 

Her second home is the mall. She is a natural. She is very nosey so this is the perfect place to people watch and see what everybody is doing. Grunting, screaming, and gurgling is one of her favorite things to do. It is hilarious. Her new thing now is pouting her lips together like she is going to give you a big kiss but instead she likes to make farting noises. It is hilarious. We can thank Mimi for this one.

Best Friends Forever!!

The End

Shutterfly is Great!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

My Fijian Hula Girl!

Here she is, my little hula girl. I got this costume 7 years ago when I was teaching in Fiji. My friends, Britt and Heidi got one also. We decided that we would use them for our future daughters one day. Britt has two adorable little boys and Heidi has a precious little boy as well, so Miss Marlie is the first to be a Fijian Hula girl. What do you think?

Fall 2010

         Have I told you that I am completely obsessed with Fall? I love everything about it; the weather is perfect and no more humidity, thank goodness. The air is crisp and the temperature perfect, the trees are so beautiful, I can't get enough of them. I have decided that Mums are my favorite seasonal flower and, of course, I still love all the haunted houses, scary movies, trick or treaters, candy, costumes, and cuddling at home. Last but not least, I love wearing sweaters (random, I know). I could go on and on. Oh ya, one more thing- my Mom and I crave the fall craft shows and have decided that Haddonfield is our favorite one. We also went to Duffields, which is an adorable farm market that has hay rides, corn mazes, pumpkin picking and  tons of kiddies running around. Marlie had no idea what was going on but we were able to get some adorable pictures. I can't wait to take her next year!


          Ok, now on to bigger and better things if that is possible...... of course it is.... Miss Marlie Marie. She is changing like crazy. I love this age the best so far because she smiles all the time, grabs everything in sight and is getting less moody as the days go on. She loves to be out and about, shopping, visiting Poppy, walking outside and playing. I was getting a little nervous that she hadn't yet, but she officially rolls over now, yay, although still hates being on her tummy. We will see if she ever crawls or just skips to standing and walking. She is also getting more ticklish. We love it when she laughs but she really makes us work for it. We definitely make fools of ourselves but it is all worth it in the end. Marlie is also starting to sit up on her own; it is the cutest thing ever! She just got over her first cold last week and still sounds like a smoker, it is so adorable. She handled it pretty well. I complain way more when I have a cold. 


          Marlie is now 25 inches long and 13 lbs. 14 ozs. She is one week away from her 1/2 birthday. Time flies. I can't believe how big she is getting. Wait till you see her Halloween costume. I can't wait!

Our backyard in the fall! Isn't it beautiful?

The Coleman Update!

Marlie had her first picnic in the park. It was nice and relaxing. I love being outdoors, especially in the fall. Fall is by far, my most favorite season. I love the colorful leaves, the weather and Mums are my favorite. There are so many fun fall festivals that I can take Miss Marlie and of course Halloween! It is my second favorite holiday after Christmas. Just wait till you see her Halloween costume.

I don't want Marlie to grow up because she is too adorable and cute but I kinda do at the same time. Is that bad? I have so much planned for her. I can't wait, I mean, can't wait, to take her to Disney World!! I want to enroll her in baby swimming lessons and dance classes and storytime at Barnes and Noble. There is so much but I know she isn't ready for all that yet. So I guess I will just be forced to cuddle with her and hang out. :) Speaking of cuddling, it is raining today. I loooove rainy days and snowstorms. It makes your house so cozy and cuddling is much better. Marlie is sleeping on me as we speak.

Opal decided that she wanted to get her diaper changed. She is so funny! She is my other baby. She loves to take naps everytime Marlie does. She insists on sleeping on top of her. Don't worry, I watch Marlie!

My cousin Joanne had the best idea ever and told me about Granny Showers! I have never heard of them before. I thought it would be so much fun so we did it! My Mom has helped out so much. She definitely deserved one. She was completely surprised and confused at first. It  We dressed her up like a Granny and played this fun guess what candy Marlie pooped out game.We had 7 diapers with different chocolate candies melted inside. It looked gross! Everybody had to guess what type of poo (Candy) it was. Carolyn (the one in the picture) won the prize. It was a blast!

Last but not least. Our recent family photo in the park.

The Jersey Shore!!

Our first family vacation down the shore. For all my western friends, we say down the shore, not down to the shore. Nick makes fun of me for this but this is how a true New Jerseyian says it. I'm sure Nick will say it like this real soon.
We had a really nice time. We hung out by the pool, walked the board walks, played some arcade games and had a nice breakfast on the boardwalk. The ocean water was nice and warm so Marlie enjoyed it. I was too afraid to go in any deeper and make Marlie shark dinner so we just dipped our feet. She wasn't however too fond of the wind and the sand. She kept rubbing her feet together to try to get the sand off. I'm excited to make this trip a family tradition every summer like it was for me. Good memories.

She is now teething. My little baby is growing up so fast. She has a little one trying to break through on the bottom right in the middle. She's not handling it too well. Poor thing. She just went to the doctors and is now 4 1/2 months and weighs 11 lbs. 12 oz. and 24 1/2 inches long. Her cheeks are getting bigger by the second. She looks like a little chipmunk getting ready for the winter. hehe. I love you Marlie!

I think she was over the wind at this point.

Hanging out at the pool.

What up yo?

Her classic serious face.

She smiles a lot but never wants to do it for the camera.