Marley is 9 months old

Marley Lou turned nine months on Dec 5th. I've been meaning to do a FEW posts on here lately but have been lazy :) I figured I would do a quick Marley update with Christmas posts to follow.

Marley (as usual) is EVERYWHERE that is kid is determined and ready for the world! A few days before 9 months she took her first steps and it was all over from there. When we went to the Dr. for her well check she walked right up to the Dr when she came into the room. At her Dr's apt she was almost 18 pounds and 28 inches long. Which means she's in the 29th percentile for weight and 79th for height.

She claps and waves like crazy and looks very proud of herself while doing it. Her favorite seat is on top of our dog food container which is just the right height for her to climb up on and sit. She's discovered that when you tell her 'no' you wont really do anything about it. SO she just smiles at your nicely and keeps right on doing what she's doing :) Her smile and laugh in the morning pretty much makes my day. Typically I hear her gabbing away in her crib and when I go in to her room she waves at me from her crib and scrambles to stand up so I can go and pick her up. She says momma and dadda but we're still not totally convinced that she's actually talking about us when she does it. 

It amazes both Ben and I that one little peson could have stolen our hearts to much and that 9 months has already gone by. She is amazing and awesome and wonderful and we are so so in love :)

Happy Birthday Sally!

My mother in law turned 60 on Saturday and little did she know that her kids and Jerry had been plotting for awhile to surprise her :)
On Saturday morning Ben and I took Marley over to grandmas house for a quick visit. She told us all about how Jer had planned a great dinner and night out at the comedy club. She was very excited. We asked all about it and told her how fun it would be and then left and laughed about how surprised she would be when all of us showed up.
We dropped Marley off at my good friend Stacy's house where I'm told she had a ball. (Her frist time being watched by someone other than a grandma or an auntie and she did great. What a little trooper we have.) And then headed off to MPLS. We got there early which allowed Ben and I to have some alone time and a few drinks which was really nice. Dinner was coming soon so we were seated and soon I saw Sara and Blake walk in with Sally and Jerry following. Ben didnt see it but the look on Sally's face was pretty funny. She had thought that it was total freak accident that sara and blake showed up the same night at the comedy club. She figured it out when she saw us :) Pretty soon everyone was there and we had a great dinner, drinks and saw a fabulous show. It was a fun night out spent with family and with lots of laughs. Can't wait to do it again soon.

A Sutter Thanksgiving

This year Marley Lou, Ben and I celebrated Thanksgiving with the Sutters on Bens side. I was VERY excited to get Marley into her brown baby legs and 'I'm Stuffed' onsie (even though I failed to get a good pick of them) and happy just to have my little family together for the Holiday. Thursday morning I got up with Marley and started getting ready to go. My grandma is having surgery today, the Monday after Thanskgiving, so I told her I'd just double the things that I was bringing to the Sutters and bring them up to her. SO while Marley napped and after my very nice husband helped me make pretty much everything I jumped in the car to drop off the food and wish my Nana and Papa a happy Thanksgiving. I got home in time to change, feed the babes and get her dressed and off we went. I was worried Marley wouldnt nap well at Grandma Pegs and I was right. BUT even without her second nap she was just as happy as could be. We had a wonderful day spent with wonderful family and are so blessed to have so many awesome people in our lives.
Here are some of our pics from the day.

Mar and I in the car on our way. Marley is looking for Daddy.

Bella

I'm not sure what I said to Brandi right before this shot but she doesnt look happy with me! hahaha

Today I am thankful for.

This little beauty who takes my pans out of the cupboard and then climbs in.

My husband and our puppies because even though I yell at all three of them (haha) I love them so much. I don't know how I would get through some days without Bens humor. He makes me laugh and smile so much and I'm so lucky to have a husband who can carry me through the rough times.


My mom because when I go a day without talking to her I feel like a little something is missing. Because she makes fun of me and tells me to knock it off when I'm being a brat. Because even now, at 29 years old, when she leaves to go on a trip I pretty much always cry. And because when I look at myself, Hannah and Marley I see my mom and that makes me think of my grandma and I love that we're all meshed together even though one of us is no longer here.

(I could go on and on about the rest of my family and in laws because they are all so wonderful) but we'll let it be that I'm so thankful and blessed to have the rest of my family in our life.

For that fact that even though the roof over our head is small, it's still a roof. It's still ours and underneath it is our wonderful little family. Our fridge is full of food and we're warm and safe inside. And I love that feeling.

More pictures of thanksgiving later on. I get to spend Marley's first thanksgiving with Bens family. Who I, of course, am also thankful for. They are wonderful and loud and funny and I'm so excited to see them all and share the day with them.

No, my 8 month old doesn't sleep through the night

And no, I don't care what you think about it ...

OK it took me a LONG time to realize that my baby is just not the baby who will sleep through the night at an early age. I had hopes of nights filled with sleep by 4 weeks old. Yah right. I have used a few sleep training methods (and I use that term lightly) in the last few months and really she's sleeping from 10pm to 5 or 6am more often than not. BUT until about 7 months old she was still waking up 2 to 4 times per night. My fault? Maybe? But I've decided that I don't care. To the women who told my mother it was 'her mothers fault' that my baby wasn't sleeping through the night because she had a 6 week old who does sleep through the night. F you. Yeah F you. If you've never experienced a child who does not sleep through the night you have no idea how hard it is.  I hate to rip you off your high horse ... welll actually I kind of want to .... but it's not because you are some awesome parent that your 6 week old is sleeping that much. You just happen to be lucky.
So yes, sometimes Marley still gets up once a night. And once a night I will go in and feed her without complaint. I don't care what you think about it. And unless I ask I really don't want your opinion.

Cassies favorite things

Ok I'm stealing this from Mandy's blog. I loved it and I'm taking it. hahaha. Some of the things that I'm loving right now. Here we go.

-Reading Marley's lullabye book to her every night before we go to bed.

-Hot apple cidar K cups. Ben yells at me everytime I get them. In fact he told me last night that I'm no longer allowed to go to the store by myself. hahah. But I don't care. They are delish.

-The fact that I have a 'replacement husband' every time Ben goes out of town. Our big dog Mack dutifully takes Bens spot in bed (he even sleeps with his head on the pillow) and lets me snuggle up to him. This has happened the last 2 weekends in a row as Ben has gone up to the cabin to get ready for hunting.

-The fact that the Holidays are upon us. Not only does that mean that we get to see more family than usual but also means that I get to eat more than not. (unhealthy choice you say? I dont care) It means that I get to dress Marley up in 'My first Christmas' and 'My first Thanksgiving' attire. It means that I get to hear my Papa read the story of Jesus' birth from the bible (by far my favorite part of christmas). It means that I get to enjoy the food of my people! Lefsa and krumkaka cookies abound. Yahhhhh!

-TV. Yes I love TV. I am addicted to my 'shows' and I don't feel bad about it. I don't know what I'd do without TiVo as I litterally record probably 15 tv shows a season. Right now? Teen Mom 2, Modern Family, Real Housewives of Miami and Beverly Hills, Supernatural, Pretty Little Liars, 90210, Heart of Dixie and Duck Dynesty...and thats not even all of them. hahaha.

-WEN shampoo (like from the infomercial). I've been hooked on it for a few years now. I have psorisis on my scalp and its the ONLY product I've found that doesnt leave me in serious pain after washing my hair. AND my hair grows faster. Gotta love that.

-My Clarisonic. My mom got this little gadget for me a few years ago and I LOVE it. I stopped using it for about six months and after using it again today I don't know how I ever stopped. It makes me face look and feel so much better.

-Comfy sweater, cute leggings and furry boots. Oh the wardrobe of winter is upon us and I love it.

SO there are a few of my favorite things. Mandy...we might have to make this a semi annual thing...

Halloween

Marley's first Halloween was a success. We only went to the grandmas houses but it was still fun to see her all dressed up in her little owl outfit. She looked super cute but didn't know she was dressed up at all. Her little owl top was stuffed and it didn't seem to bother her one bit. haha.

She got lots of love from Great Grandma

The the little stinker even got ice cream because Nana though she deserved a 'treat'.

And by the end of the night she was happy to play in her room and show off her 'pumpkin butt'.

Somehow my little sister has turned into the girl upbove. A full on Teenager. As teenagers go she is still pretty sweet. She listens to most of the things you say and only thinks you are stupid and so out of touch about 15% of the time. I'm hoping it stays that way. I look at her and just dont know where the time has gone. She used to pad down the hall to my room in her daiper and knock on my door to wake me up in the morning. Now she sleeps in that room and helps watch my daughter on the days that she spends with her gammie. She's funny and thoughful and say's Mmm K a lot. She acts and plays sports and wants to do all things 'girly'. She makes videos on her computer and is probably already smarter than I might ever be. How did this happen? I look at this girl above ... but I still manage to see the little girl below.

(also pictured is her bodygaurd and wonderful little brother Derrek :)

the icky sickies

OK I will admit it. Before I had Marley I kind of thought all sick kids were pretty gross. They have snotty faces and they cough without covering their mouth, it's all kind of yucky to me. In eyeing up the snotty kid, however, I never thought to look at his/her mother (or father). Probably because I was too busy making sure that their coughs were not coming my way and wondering how all that snot could come out of one very small nose. If their parents look anything like I've looked like in the last week or so though this is what I'm sure I would have seen:
-Bags under their eyes
-A possible mis matched sock or shoe either out of sheer exhaustion or any mental capability to know better.
-A desperate look in their eyes that says 'I would do ANYTHING for a nap or a full nights sleep'
-Along with that desperate looks comes a little bit of anger as if to say 'Why the Hell would anyone do this ever?'
-If they are a women, hair in the ponytail as you cannot blow dry/straighten your hair when snot is coming out of your childs nose at warp speeds.
-Kleenex coming out of every pocket.
And of course, some sort of limp. Because after getting up for the 15th time in the middle of the night it is only appropriate that you stub your toe on something.

I have not posted in awhile because we have had the icky sickies and well ... I look like the person listed above. Enough said.

The bag lady

Let me just start by saying that the pictures of moms modeling their one diaper bag are lies. Lies I tell you! Look them up once. You'll see a mom looking all sylish with diaper bag in tow, nobody seems to notice that she doesnt even have a baby near by!

mmmmhmmmm don't let this stylish mom with her one little baby bag fool you. That is NOT what motherhood looks like...at least not for this mother. Let me tell you what I left my house with this morning. A baby in her car seat (that is beginning to feel like 50 pounds), a breast bump, a bag for the breast milk, a cooler bag of milk for Marley, my purse, the diaper bag and a giant lump of annoyance over the amount of bags that I had to carry. I'm sure I look like a crazy person waddling out of my house every morning with my 50 bags in tow. And that was after I put the bottles, diapers, milk, wipes, nuk, extra outfit, and medicine in marleys diaper bag.

I swore that I wouldn't be the mom who totally let herself go after having her child. You know the ones. They say 'as long as my baby looks cute it doesn't matter. No one is looking at me anymore.' Let me tell you, if you look like you just rolled out of bed, threw the nearest shirt on and the most ill fitting bra you could find, people are going to notice. And I will admit I turned into that person for a little while. After a hair cut, a spray tan and some new clothes though I'm starting to feel like myself again. UNTIL I try to leave the house every morning. Thats when I feel like the crazy bag lady that just can't pull herself together and may have 27 rolls of toilet paper somewhere in all those bags.

2 years

Most people (including me) will tell you that you are probably not going to meet the love of your life in a bar. But I did! Somehow Ben and I managed to go to the same high school and the same college without ever meeting. Thank goodness because we both agree that if we'd met way back then we would not have liked each other. hahaha. SO as fate would have it we met at the exact right time. One night while out drinking and hanging out with mutual friends Ben and I saw eachother in a 'not so romantic' across the bar kind of way. I thought he was so cute and even remember what he was wearing. haha. We've both agreed that we'll tell our kids we met at the library, we'll just leave out that it was a bar.

And after spending maybe a day with him I knew that we had something different than I'd ever had with anyone else. I was comfortable with him right from the beginning and have always felt like I could be myself. One short break up, 4 years of dating, one house buying experience, an unconventional engagement, 2 years of marriage and the most beautiful baby ever and we are as happy as can be.

I don't have a ton of older photos of us but here are some that I do have and then some favs from our wedding.

My favorite pic from the wedding

The is Stephs wedding while pregnant with Marley

One of our first trips together in AZ

Out in River Falls

Family pics/Marley's 6 month pics

My good friend Mandy (who is amazing) offered to do Marleys six month photos for us. I was so happy that I jumped at the chance as I am not the best at breaking out the camera and taking pictures. I've done better with Marley but Ben and I don't have a ton of pictures together either so I was very happy to sneak some family photos in as well.

6mo

Marley Lou had her 6 months check up last night. Her Dr. said she didn't think she'd ever seen a baby who could crawl and sit up as good as Marley can this early. (Yes I'm bragging a little bit). Here are her 'stats' and a recent pic of my very big girl.
Height 26.5 inches 73rd percentile
Weight 15 pounds 15.5 oz. 45th percentile
And her head was in the 30th percentile but last time it was in the 60th  so the dr. thought maybe the nurse was off a little bit :)

Today

Today I will not take for granted everything I have been given. I will be thankful for my job, my family and friends and the amazing life I am able to have. I will remember that I have a job and am making money and am not worried about how we are going to pay our bills because I cant find work. I will embrace everything weird and annoying about my family because even though they are there ALL THE TIME, they are willing to be there all the time, no matter what, for the good , for the bad and for everything in between. When I get up for what seems like the 100th time in the middle of the night I will remember that soon my baby will be sleeping through the night and I will not be able to enjoy those precious little cuddles or the sight of her calm and content face while she is snuggled up in my arms. Today I will not complain and will remember that life is what you make of it. And I am so beyong blessed everyday, every minute.

Marley is six months old and has her six month check up tonight. I will follow up with stats but here are a few things that my EXTREMELY active little girl is doing.
-Crawling all over! Marley has figured out how to 'big girl crawl' on all fours rather than just army crawling around our house.
-Pulling herself up. Our little peanut has figured out that she can pull herself up and stand. My guess is that she will be walking well before 1 as she is determined to be on the go.
-She blows bubbles and spits all the time (even in her sleep while I'm changing her diaper).
-She's learning words like No and Kiss. (not to say them but the actions)
-Although she is not much of a snuggler because she is too busy, she does like to put her cheeck to my cheeck and snuggle up to my shoulder while I'm getting ready to put her to bed.
-She's starting the think things are funny and will laugh along with you if you start laughing.
Mostly she is just the most amazing little person. It's hard to believe that it's only been six months since I had her. Time flies.

Cloth Diapers

Long before Marley was born Ben and I decided that we should look into using cloth diapers. It was a little daunting at first being that I had no clue about them. There are tons of different cloth diapers available now and if you are interested in doing it you will definitley be able to find a style to fit your family. We decided on cloth diapers for a few reasons. The main two? Disposable diapers pretty much sit in landfills forever and the amount of them going into our landfills every year is staggering. The second reason was that they are so cost effective. A typical baby will cost about 2,500 from birth to potty training in disposable diapers. Cloth diapers typically cost around 500 from birth to potty training and you can use them on mutliple children. (And they are super cute). So far it's been a success I love using cloth. We do sometimes use disposables at night because our baby is a supersoaker and I have not been able to do enough experimenting to see what types of cloth will hold her! Other than that she's in cloth all the time.
This is one of my new favorite sites from my kitchen window.

If you are thinking about cloth or have any questions about it feel free to ask. :)

Marley goes swimming

One of the things we did over our long Labor Day weekend was take Marley swimming for the first time. She LOVED it! She's going to be a little fish I think. She splashed and splashed and even went in the hotub (which was only bath water warm). By the time we left she was exhausted and we did not hear one peep out of her till we got home. We will definitley be going back to grandpas pool soon.

In Loving Memory

Last week my great grandma passed away at 101 years old. She was buried at the church that she went to as an adult and next to my great grandpa on a beautiful summer morning. She was born Aug. 5th 1911 and passed on Aug. 26th 2012. It's hard for me to imagine or comprehend everything she has seen and yet I'm kind of in awe of her knowledge of this world. Marley Lou was her second great great grandchild and I'm sad to say they never met. I'm happy, however, that I was able to have her in my life as long as I did.

I could feel myself getting fatter .... I didnt care

Last week we went to the MN State Fair, one my favorite summertime events. It is a mash up of amaaazing food on a stick, people watching that can't be beat and fun things to shop for. I LOVE it and I get excited for it every year. The week before we go I spend my days thinking about the food I'm going to eat and plan out how I'm going to be able to eat my weight in food in one day. I rationalize this intake of food with all the walking that you need to do in order to get the food. This year we took my brother and sister who have never been before. Their minds were pretty blown and at least one of them went home with a tummy ache and a need to nap :) I didn't take as many pictures as I'd like ... mostly because I was too busy eating ... but here were some highlights.

We always get the cookies at the end. Ben argued with me that we didn't need two buckets so we only got one. Later he conceeded and admitted that we should have gotten two. Now, let me clarify that nobody NEEDS two buckes of roughly 40 cookies a piece ... but I mean comeon, why not? After eating cheese curds, a super stick (cheese and pepperoni wrapped in garlic breat with red sauce on the side), pickle roll ups, cheese cake, smoothies and deep fried candy bars why in the world would you say no to a second bucket of cookies? : )

How I know I'm a mommy

Aside from the typical 'mommy' rights of passage like being peed on (I have a girl and she managed to get me all down my side and in my hair), being spit up on, the crying all night etc etc. AND of course the good stuff too - The smiles when I get home, hearing the best sound ever when I wake up which is Marley Lou talking to herself in her room and the night time snuggles and on and on of course. BUT aside from all of those things something happened to me last night that made me realize I am officially a mommy. It came to me in a dream : ) Last night I dreamt I was on a football team. We were about to play another team and I was talking to the players about where to play, what field and who the coaches were. My coach? My coach was Jonny JumpUp.
Yup, Im a mommy.

If you see this women

She seems innocent enough. A nice grandma who loves Marley so much. Right? Wrong. This women is a grandma on the loose. She doesnt listen! I tell her 'no real food for Marley, only breastmilk'. What was Marley eating on Friday? Applebees ice cream. I tell her 'Marley is to sleep in her pack n play while napping at your house.' Where was she when I called today? In bed sleeping with grandma. I tell her 'you are not funny!' and she laughs at me!
If you see this women take heed - she will most likely hand cookies and pop to your small child and then laugh as you walk away. Oh yes she seems innocent enough, but she's tricky and can charm you with her grandma ways! You've been warned.

Our Weekend

Our weekend was a good one. Early to bed Friday night. Naps on Saturday morning for both Mommy and Marley. Cherry Berry and shopping downtown Stillwater Saturday night where Marley discovered frozen yogurt ... she was a little unsure of how much she liked it but she knew that she loved the spoon.

This is us shopping downtown. (I couldnt find her cute white hat).

Sunday night came to quickly and soon we were all in bed for the night ... or at least Ben and the dogs were in bed for the night. Marley and I were a little up and down but mostly she slept good. This, however, is where things get a little weird. This morning I woke up with the wonderful realization that I was dreaming of AJ Hawk and how much he liked my a**. (his words not mine). It was a good dream hahaha.

Where TO Begin?

OK well I've done it. I've decided to start a blog. I've only got FB and Pineterest...why not add a new addiction?
I don't really know that this was the BEST day for me to start something like this as I'm so tired I can't think of anything to say. My sweet (demanding) 5 month old daughter was up a LOT last night. She woke up smiling and laughing this morning. Mommy woke up feeling like a truck hit her. After a bagel and coffee I'm feeling slightly less ran over. We'll see how the days pans out!