Professional Pictures

Here are some of my favorites from our professional pictures taken around Christmas.  Like I said before, it was freezing and Marlee had an ear infection, so Stephanni with Stardust Photography did an excellent job capturing what she did.  She is actually giving us another session for free in the spring because of our unfortunate photo shoot.  Isn't that awesome?!

 And I just love these last three because this gives you an indication of how the day actually went.  Our little princess doesn't like to be held in the great outdoors...she wants to be moving, duh!!

 Grandmas and Great Grandmas, I plan to develop and mail some pictures to you (since they were supposed to be part of your Christmas gift).  Let me know which ones you want or otherwise I will just pick my favorites.I can print them for anyone else, too.  She gave me the copyright, so I am just going to print them at Walmart (score!).  

A Walk in the Park

It was 70 degrees outside Monday.  James took the day off to help me with Marlee since Monday is my busiest work day and Mom was in Bernie.  We all went to the park Monday afternoon and Marlee had a ball.  She would stay outside from sun up to sun down if I would let her.

She crawled up into the playground all by herself, like a big girl

and headed straight for the swings

 I adore this picture 

 If you know Marlee and her attention span (Dada says she has the attention span of a gnat), then you know she only wanted to swing for about 2.5 minutes.  Then she was on a mission to find something new.

She wanted to climb up the steps like the big kids

and walk across the bridge.

And then slide, of course. 

 Hmmm...what can I do next?

 Eh, I'm tired of the playground.  I think I'll walk on the trail.

She spotted her juice and got our her turbo booster arms so she could walk real fast to get it.

 Dada is gonna get you!!

We all went to get ice cream afterwards.  I shared my Butterfinger mix with Marlee and she loved it. 

An Average Weeknight

After dinner and bath, James and I play with Marlee for about an hour every night before bedtime.  Here is an idea of how that goes...

She sure is a busy body and she is so lucky to have such a fun Dada.

It Feels Good to Feel Good

Marlee had roseola last week.  I had never heard of it, but it is a virus that is common in children 3 months - four years that causes really high fever for 3-7 days.  Once the fever finally breaks, the child breaks out into a rash.  Since there are no other symptoms besides fever, doctors are unable to diagnose it until they see the rash.  The fevers can get up to 105 and many times causes seizures.  Thank goodness Marlee's temperature only got up to 103.8.  When I put her in a cool bath to bring her fever down, she insisted that her monkey get in with her, and then she was out of sorts about her monkey being wet.  Poor thing.

Her fever broke on Saturday and James and I desperately needed a break after not sleeping for almost a week, so Marlee went down to Fort Smith to spend the night with her Ma & Pa.  Here are some pictures they sent us.

 I bet it felt good to finally feel good and get some sunshine. :)

Christmas 2012

Here is how we spent out Christmas break, via pictures.

 

 Lots of good, quality family time.  I am so blessed to be a part of two wonderful families.  Seven nights away is a lot though.  We paid for it with many sleepless nights once we got back home.  Needless to say, it is good to be back into a routine.

13 Months 1 Week

I'm not going to do monthly update anymore, but I do want to check in once in a while and let you know what all is happening in the life of Marlee Mae....

• Still wearing 12 month clothes and a size 3 diaper
• Walking, fast-walking with her arms behind her (James calls them her turbo boosters), and stomping
• Still a bookworm and loves to read all of her (short) books.
• Has started saying "Oooo" when I point to the Owl in her 100 words book
• Has started saying "E-I-E-I-O"
• Loves when I sing The Wheels on the Bus or the Itsy Bitsy Spider.  She hold her hands out when I sing the Itsy Bitsy Spider and studies them real hard
• Still a big time fruit lover and a big eater in general.  For example, she ate a whole banana, 5 strawberries, a tub of Velveeta shells and cheese, 1/4 hot dog  and a handful of blueberries for dinner the other night (she is not much of a protein eater)
• Cardboard and wood are her "teethers" of choice.  Too bad they aren't toys at all.  I have tried everything I can think of (refrigerated teethers, frozen bagels, frozen washcloths, etc) but she isn't having it.  I'm worried she might be on the show "My Strange Addiction" someday
• Loves to grab the toilet paper, throw it over her shoulder, and run as fast as she can
• Started saying "Ah" when she is really thirsty and takes a drink.  She thinks it is hilarious when we do the same.
• Would live outside if she could.  Unfortunately it is freezing outside so we are stuck inside a lot.
• Enjoys eating Frank's food.  I thought that once she actually ate a piece she would realize that it is gross, but she still grabs a handful whenever she gets a chance.

Christmas Break via IPhone Pictures

James was off work for two weeks, so instead of blogging, I decided to sit back, relax (haha!), and enjoy two weeks with my family.  And it doesn't help that Marlee chewed my camera cord so I can't upload pictures right now.  Here is a snapshot of our Christmas vacation through IPhone pictures:

Marlee got her first ear infection the week before our Christmas break.  This was not fun at all and I really feel sorry for the parents who have to go through this over and over again.  It absolutely broke my heart.

After two changes in photographers and two cancellations, we finally got some family pictures made.  Marlee had an ear infection and it was freezing outside, so Marlee wasn't feeling it...and I don't blame her.  I'll be surprised if we have any happy pictures of my usually happy girl, but oh well...there is always next year.

side note: she did love her sparkly shoes and trotted around the house in them like she was hot stuff.

 Marlee in her big girl car seat.  She is indifferent about it.

 We usually go on a Mommy/Daughter lunch date on Fridays.  She LOVES anything with a straw (especially smoothies and Sonic drinks...thanks a lot Papaw).

 It snowed on Christmas day in Fort Smith.  Marlee said "Oooooo!".  I didn't let her out in it because she was still sick, but she enjoyed watching it from inside.

 So much family togetherness in the winter can make you go a little stir crazy, so we took our first trip to the drive-thru safari in Gentry, AR.  We were so impressed with the animals and the experience in general that we plan to make this a yearly family outing.

We spent New Year's Eve with the Morehead's.  Marlee went to bed at 9:00 and then woke up at 10:30 ready to play.  We all went to bed at 11:00 and little miss thang was so wound up that she didn't fall asleep until 12:30!!  Needless to say, she slept in the next day.  She also woke up the next night around 10:30 and wanted to do the same...little stinker.

 And here is my little princess ready to go back to school this morning.  Her outfit has been killing me all day...she looks like a little grownup!

 We also took a trip to Bernie during our break, but I don't have any pictures.  I suppose I was too consumed with keeping Marlee out of everything that wasn't child-friendly.  This little girl loves to explore new places and she was in heaven at Memaw Pauline's house (at one point she walked up to me with a glass ornament in her mouth!!) and Memaw Doris' house (I think she went up and down the stairs 100 times).