Gulf Shores 2012

As I mentioned awhile back, we went to the beach (a month ago!) with James' parents and sisters.  I have been overwhelmed by the amount of pictures I have had to look through to pick my favorites for the blog...which is why I am just now getting around to it.  Here are my favorites...in no particular order.

Here is a picture of Marlee with her Ma right when we got to our beach house

Little did we know that she was going to get sick that night...poor baby.  After spending a few sick days inside, we ventured out for dinner.

And then tried out the beach the next day.  Marlee had a good time playing in her baby pool (which lasted a total of about 10 minutes)

Here she is wanting out!  She had just learned to crawl the week before and she couldn't understand why we wouldn't let her practice her new skill.

We took her down to the water to feel the sand and water with her hands and feet

And that is about all she could handle for one day.  In her defense, it was extremely hot and humid and she still had a pretty nasty cold.  So, we went back inside and played in the house.

We tried to venture out on the beach again the next day.  Here are some pictures of her playing in her favorite spot in the living room.

Once we were out on the beach, her Ma gave her a bottle

After her bottle, we put her in her pool, but she decided she would rather crawl in the sand...which led to face-planting in the sand...which led to an immediate shower inside...which led to more playing inside the house.  She would rather just stay inside and practice her new crawling skill, anyway.

We ventured out to dinner again that night.

Here are some posed pictures we took on the beach towards the end of the week.  I am in love with all of these!!  We also got a big group shot, but I don't have it on my camera. :(
  
 

 


 
And here is my little magazine model ;)

 James, Marlee, and I were the last to leave the beach house, so we walked down to the beach before we left to say goodbye.

I think she was finally warming up the the beach and of course she was finally feeling better right when it was time to go home!  Maybe our next beach trip will be more of a success. 

Peek-a-boo

Peek-a-boo is currently Marlee's favorite pastime.

Play Date and the Park

Ashley and BJ came up with Hudson yesterday and stayed the night with us.  We were going to go out on the lake, but since it rained, we spent the day playing inside instead.  This is the only picture we could get of the two of them together.  We were all four trying to make them smile and they just sat there like this for about five minutes.  Hilarious.

 We were supposed to go to Fort Smith today, but Marlee was up all night.  I think she is teething...poor thing.  James and I took her to the park this afternoon just to get some fresh air and let Marlee try out the swing.  I took about 10 pictures and she has the same expression in all of them.  She was just grinning from ear to ear.

Then we took a walk over to the fountain so Marlee could watch the water.

 We had such a good time at the park.  Sometimes it's good to just get out of the house for a little while.

The Lake, a Play Pin, and a Good Book

Last Sunday, we took Marlee and Cooper out on the lake.  We have been wanting to take them both out there all summer, but the it has been too hot for babies on the lake.  The weather was perfect last weekend and the babies did so great.  I think we were all secretly expecting the experience to be a total disaster, but both babies had the best time and neither one of them fussed at all.

Here is Marlee and Cooper with Alissa on the dock.  It is absolutely impossible to get a picture of both of them looking at the camera

 I think this girl is going to love the lake as much as her mom and dad.  I absolutely love her in these sunglasses.

We blew up Marlee's pool as soon as we got out on the lake and she was in heaven

 Her lake activities included some water bottle chewing,

 some boat driving, 

some steering wheel chewing,

  and lots of Cooper watching

 They held hands for a brief moment and we actually caught it on camera.  Well, it was more like Marlee holding on for dear life, but it was cute, nonetheless.

This picture just kills me.  Does it get any cuter than this?!

We ordered Marlee a play pin for our living room.  I have been going back and forth on whether to buy one for about a month and I finally decided it would be a good investment.  It really gives me peace of mind when I am trying to fix her dinner or something and I know she is in a safe place.  I think she likes it. :)

Marlee has finally gotten to where she will listen to her book at night instead of trying to eat it .  She also has her preferences.  Goodnight Moon is the only book that we are able to read from cover to cover.  I just love her to pieces.

8 Months Old

One good picture

And then the reality of our photo shoots these days...

 

 

 After her monthly picture, we all played in her room for a little bit.  I absolutely love these little bloomers...so cute!! 

 This is her "I'm trying to figure out what you are doing" face.

I'm thinking Marlee weighs somewhere between 15 & 16 pounds, but I won't know for sure until her nine month appointment.

Still wearing 6-9 month clothes and still wearing a size 2 diaper

Crawling EVERYWHERE!

Standing up whenever she gets the chance and scaring me when it is on the tile floor! She loves to stand up in her bed.  So much that it is getting in the way of nap time.  Who would want to nap, when you could be practicing your new standing up skill?

 
Sleeping 11 hours at night.  She is back to sleeping from about 8:00pm to 7:00am, which makes me very happy.  She is still taking three naps a day.  Mostly because her naps are pretty short.

Still drinks 6oz every four hours/four times a day and is now eating breakfast, lunch, and dinner.  She is such a good eater and still likes just about everything.  We also give her some pear juice once a day and we sometimes give her a snack with puffs and some fruit in her little mesh feeder (the most awesome thing ever invented).  We occasionally give her water in a sippy cup so she can learn how to use it.  She can drink out of it if we tilt it for her, but she still doesn't know how to hold it up on her own.

Started eating Gerber Puffs  We have been trying once a week and she finally got the hang of it last week at the beach.  It takes her a while to get them from the tray to her mouth, but she concentrates so hard while she is doing it.

Graduated to her big girl highchair.  She was ready for it a long time ago, but the booster seat was so much easier for us and she didn't mind.  Here she is in her highchair eating some puffs.  She is such a big girl.

Bath time is now a challenge because she of course sees it as an opportunity to stand up and then gets mad because we won't let her.

No longer likes her jumperoo.  Now that she is crawling everywhere, she don't like being confined.

Babbling like crazy and making cricket noises.  She loves when we imitate her.

We still read a book most nights (depending on her crankiness).  But, she is still most interested in getting the book in her mouth.

Moved up to a new classroom at school.  Almost every day, her sheet has "happy", "curious", and "content" circled.  It sure makes me happy that she loves her school so much.

Starting to "cruise" along the couch.  I'm pretty sure we will have a walker in the near future.

Developed separation anxiety this month.  She notices when I walk out of the room and she gets a little nervous and sometimes cries and crawls after me.  I would be lying if I said I didn't love this just a little bit.  It's nice to know that she sees me as a pretty important person. ;)

She sure is a lot of fun now that she is moving around.  We love you, Marlee Mae!!

Good Morning!

I am so excited to be home for the day with no plans.  This is how I find Marlee in the mornings now.  She is all smiles until she realizes that she is STARVING for breakfast.

After she ate breakfast (Milk, Pears/Apples/Bananas, and Oatmeal), we took advantage of the beautiful weather and went for a family walk.

She has started turning to look at me when she hears my voice and she grins real big.  It just melts my heart.

 And of course, no walk is complete without a meltdown halfway through causing Dad to carry her for the remainder of the walk.

First plane ride

Here is a post I wrote last Monday and then realized that I couldn't upload pictures from the IPad...

Marlee went on her first plane ride Saturday to Mobile, AL for our family vacation (in Gulf Shores). James and I were prepared for the plane ride with toys, formula, juice, baby food, puffs, fruit, baby Einstein, you name it, and we were nervous about the flight all week.  So, we were shocked when she immediately fell asleep after takeoff and slept all the way through both flights! We may have to buy her a plane so she will nap more often...LOL!

She did awesome until she woke up at 10:00pm Saturday night with a cold. We were up all night...poor thing. We are hoping it is just from the climate change and she will be back to herself soon. We played on the beach for a little while today, but she still isn't feeling very good so she is napping on me right now. She is so sweet...even when she is sick.