Marley's 2nd Christmas

Christmas this year was one big crazy blur. We had lots of places to go and lots of people to see, and it makes me tired just thinking about it. 

First, we spent Christmas Eve day visiting with Jason's family. We drove to his parents house in the morning and had breakfast and opened presents. 

 Jason had to work in the afternoon, so we didn't get to stay long. Marley and I spent Christmas Eve hanging out at home and watched some movies. I was excited to give Marley her Christmas jammies, and miraculously got her to sit still for a picture...barely. 

Christmas morning we woke up around 8 and did presents with just our little family at home. Marley had no idea what was going on, but was glad to get some new toys and books. She had to cutest reactions to each present. 

We were also able to Skype with my parents and little brother in California. They watched us give Marley her Lego table, which they helped get supplies for.

Then after breakfast, our marathon Christmas began. We had parties to be at in Bountiful at 10:30 and then Centerville at 1. The first was with Jason's mom's side, then the second was with his dad's. We had a lot of fun visiting, it was just exhausting chasing Marley around 2 not baby proofed houses. Our day ended around 4 and this pretty much sums it up:

This was less than 5 minutes after we got in the car to drive home. Poor girl was exhausted!

We rounded Christmas out by getting together with my sisters and their families two days later. We had some yummy nachos and Marley had fun playing with her cousins! I was having too much fun visiting, this was the only picture I took:

We're grateful for all of the family we have close by to visit with, and for the chance we had to celebrate the birth of the Savior. This time of year is just the best. Hard to believe that next year we will have another little one, but it will be so much fun! 

Now bring on 2015. 

Toddler Christmas Crafts

Now that Marley is getting older, I've been wanting to try doing activities with her. Especially with it being the holiday season, I knew there were a lot of fun ideas out there. We invited one of Marley's little friends over and had a craft day.

Here are the three we decided to do:

Tape resist snowflake

What you need: 

Paper

Painters tape

Washable paint

Paint brush

Here's what you do:

Use the tape to make a snowflake design on the paper, then paint over it making sure all of the tape gets covered. Let the paint dry overnight and then remove the tape carefully. Pretty simple, and the end result is really cool! 

Melted Snowman

Here's what you need:

Construction paper for various shapes

 Googly eyes

White washable paint

Paint brush

Glue to apply shapes 

Here's what you do:

Cut out the shapes for your snowman parts. Arms, nose, hat, scarf, eyes. Have your little one go to town with the white paint, then have them apply the shapes with glue. The great part about this is that its supposed to look crazy and messy, so there's no wrong way to do it!

Paper Plate Rudolph

Here's what you need:

Paper plate

Brown crayons

Brown construction paper for antlers

Either a red pom pom or construction paper for nose

Googly eyes

Glue or tape for antlers

Here's what you do:

Have your little one color all over the paper plate with the brown crayons, then glue their traced hands on for antlers and apply the face. I trimmed the plate and put Marley's hands on the front because they're so small, and she didn't color on the whole plate.

This project was the best because it was quick, and virtually mess free. 

Tips for painting with Toddlers: 

-Tape down the paper they are painting. 
This way it doesn't move around and create extra mess.

-If they're tall enough, have your little one stand on a chair (with supervision) at the table while they paint. It really helped Marley to reach everything.

-If you're worried about their clothes, either strip them down or pull out an old shirt of yours for them to wear as a smock. 
I was bracing myself for the worst, and it really wasn't that messy. 

-Cover your table with newspaper if you're worried about stains. The washable paint came right off our table, I was worried the newspaper would be a distraction so I didn't use any. 

Thanksgiving

This year we spread out our Thanksgiving visits with the family. Because we're all very busy, my sisters and all our families got together this past Sunday. 

Its always so much fun getting together and watching the kids play. They all get along pretty well and its nice going to an already baby-proofed house. 

Dinner was DELICIOUS! We all chipped in and brought different sides, and Nellie and Ryan always cook the BEST turkey. All the kids enjoyed the food too...

 The day of actual Thanksgiving was lots of fun too. Jason let me sleep in, and then we all watched the parade together. Marley was being so snuggly and cute, 

she sure loves her Daddy!

 About 15 minutes after I took this picture, Marley fell asleep. It was so funny because she was fighting it because the parade was very exciting. 

While Marley took her nap, Jason and I worked like crazy to put up the Christmas tree. We had fun decorating and made sure to put the breakable ornaments up high. 

 Later in the afternoon we headed to Centerville to spend Thanksgiving 

with the Henderson side.

 Marley had lots of fun playing outside and was very excited to see a doggie. She loves dogs very much, and isn't afraid of them at all. We had a great time visiting with everyone and ate lots of yummy food.

We headed home and spent the night watching movies and looking at the ads for fun.

 I'm thankful I was able to spend the day with my little family. Its hard to believe that next year we will have another little one running the show. We are very blessed and I'm so grateful for all that we have!

Happy Thanksgiving. 

21 Months & 21 Weeks

Oddly enough, my belly turns 21 weeks the same week that Marley turns 21 months. I couldn't pass up an opportunity like that to do an update on us (3) girls.

I've been slacking on pregnancy updates, this toddler of mine keeps me pretty busy. Lucky for me, my pregnancies have been very similar which is a good thing because the first was pretty "easy." 

Growing a human is hard work, but I was fortunate enough to have minimal morning sickness and only tossed my cookies once. (With Marley that happened just 4 times.) This time around I have suffered more from being tired and also have more aches and pains due to toddler chasing and hopping over baby gates. 

A few weeks ago we found out that we are having another girl! We would have been excited either way, but we are grateful to know that we literally have (almost) everything we'll need already. We are also lucky that our girls will born around the same time of year so the seasons will match up when it comes to clothes. Marley was born on February 13th and this next one is due March 22nd. 

Speaking of "the next one," the name we have decided on is Mackenzie. It is nice to stop referring to her as "it." The middle name is still up in the air, but we are all set otherwise. 

Now lets talk about our crazy 21 month old toddler...

Miss Marlene has been developing into quite the silly, crazy, curious little person. She loves any chance to explore new things, and really has no fear. She will climb on or into anything, steal things off the table or out of drawers, and follow you into a place any chance she gets. 

Marley also learns very quickly, especially from her mistakes. She is very much aware that falling off the couch isn't fun, or that throwing tantrums on the kitchen tile hurts. She is definitely testing her limits right now, her new deal is to bang her head into walls when she gets mad or in trouble. 

Marley has become a lover of puzzles and books. She has two Melissa and Doug puzzles that she can do completely on her own, and she is always bringing books over to me that she wants to "read." She is really quite clever and it is fun to see the wheels turning in her head. 

Marley Likes

going to nursery

coloring with crayons

watching Blues Clues and Wallykazam

snacking on Fruit Loops or Apple Jacks

trying on peoples shoes

stealing the Tupperware lids out of their drawer

giving her stuffed animals kisses (Even makes a"mwah!" sound)

and also blowing kisses, while making the same sound

 singing the ABC's

dogs

putting on bracelets, necklaces, or hair clips

Counting 

(It comes out like this: "Juan, Chew")

Pretending everything is a phone, by putting it to her ear and saying "HOW?"

Any extra play time with Daddy, he is very busy!

Eating melted m&m's 

Marley Doesn't Like 

When Mommy wants to watch "her shows"  

(She will only tolerate The Price is Right, Ellen, and the Tonight Show.)

Leaving her shoes on in the car

Sleeping in

Getting her hair washed

When we don't let her follow us into a room. 

(Especially our room, it has all the shoes! She politely knocks sometimes, but mostly screams and bangs her head against the wall.)

Shopping trips that last more than 10 minutes

Getting her face or nose wiped

When we don't let her touch our phones or laptops

Driving home during bedtime...she will NOT sleep in the car without a fight.  

Our Halloween

For Marley's second Halloween we spent the day in Cedar Hills with Jason's family. He was lucky enough to get the day off, so once Marley had her nap we headed 

down there for some fun.

Marley dressed up as a mouse, I was a cat, and Jason was cheese. My sister and her little family joined us for trick or treating and we had a great time.

 Marley didn't quite understand what we were doing, and she got a little grumpy. She's not good at following us when we put her down to walk, so she tried to run all over even though it was dark and she was in a new place. 

So then Jason tried to put her on his shoulders, but for some reason she couldn't balance right. We think it was the "big booty" of her mouse costume that threw off her center of gravity a little bit. It was actually hilarious to watch her, and she even fell all the way backwards twice. 

Jason ended up carrying Marley most of the time and taking her to all the houses. Eventually she was banished to the stroller and we took her costume off because she was getting hot. 

Once we were all finished trick or treating, we went back inside and I made candy trades with my niece. The kids played for awhile, and then we took our tired, grumpy kid home.

This Halloween was a lot more exhausting than last year, mostly because I'm 20 weeks pregnant AND we had to chase around a 20 month old toddler. Hard to believe next year we will have 2 trick or treaters!