Highlights from our 2014

Our little Henderson family had another great year! Time seems to fly by, and before we know it we will be a family of 4 soon. Since we didn't send out a newsletter or family picture this year, you can read about our 2014 here on the blog. 

 January: Marley and I spent a lot of time at home while Jason worked and went to school. We were down to just one car at that point so we didn't get out much. That month we bought a new couch which forced us to baby proof the rest of the house because we could no longer keep Marley confined to the living room. Marley also learned how to walk that month.

February: Marley turned one! Her birthday party was lots of fun, and she sort of liked her cake. Jason was still going to school and working as a server at Olive Garden, and I was working 2 days a week at TJ Maxx. 

 March: The highlight of this month was getting a new car! We leased a 2014 Honda Civic and it is amazing. This gave Marley and I a lot more freedom while Jason was at school and work which helped me not go crazy sitting at home all day. 

 April: Marley had fun hunting for Easter eggs with her cousins. We went to the park by our house for the first time, and Marley loved it! That month Jason and I celebrated our 4th wedding anniversary.

 May: We enjoyed the sunshine and did lots of activities outside. We went to the zoo with cousins, checked out the tulip festival, and Marley got to play out in the yard a lot. During this month Jason got a new job driving buses on campus and the U, and cut back his hours at Olive Garden. I quit working at TJ Maxx this month because Jason's new job conflicted with my shifts. 

June: The best part of this month was our trip to Disneyland! My whole family planned a trip together and it was so much fun. Marley loved all the rides, especially the carousels. She did REALLY well and didn't seem to mind being away from home. That month we also celebrated cousin Evie's birthday at the splash pad and learned that Marley LOVES the water. Also, before our trip to Disneyland Jason quit working at Olive Garden for good. 

July: We spent the 4th with Jason's family and had lots of fun shooting fireworks. A few days later we celebrated Jason's birthday and my mom came out for a visit. This month we also had a little surprise...baby #2! Right around the 24th I found out I was expecting, and Marley is going to be a big sister! 

August: This month we spent a lot of time at home since I was feeling pretty crummy. Marley started going to nursery at church and she LOVED it. When we walk towards the room she gets a big smile on her face because she knows where we're going. We sold Jason's car during this month, because it didn't have an air conditioner and just wasn't practical with kids. Jason also started another semester of school and began working as a parking attendant for football games in exchange for free textbooks. 

September: We stayed home a lot this month too, just watching TV and playing with toys. Marley really started to get into reading books around this month, and we loved watching her camp out in the corner with a pile of books. We also celebrated cousin Jackson's 2nd birthday this month and enjoyed any extra time we got to spend with Jason. 
School kept him VERY busy. 

October: We were able to do lots of fun activities this month. We went to a pumpkin patch with cousins, and they had a BLAST playing in the corn pit. Marley just sat there while Jason buried her over and over. I was able to survive another Giants trip to the World Series while pregnant, and they WON! (Just like the last time I was pregnant...can't make any promises for 2016 though.) Halloween was lots of fun too. Marley was a mouse, I was a cat, and Jason was cheese. Just a few days before then we found out that we're having another girl 
and are super excited! 

November: We enjoyed some unusually warm weather during this month, and tried to play outside a lot. Thanksgiving was fun, a few days before we celebrated with my family and then with Jason's family on Thursday. Marley really started to show her "terrible two" colors this month and we had to start using time outs. She's a very passionate little girl, and sometimes just needs a moment to calm down.

December: This was such a busy month, it seemed to just fly by! I feel like we put up our Christmas decorations, blinked, and Christmas was here. Jason finished out a crazy stressful semester and we enjoyed having more time with him during the holidays. We had a great time with Marley on her second Christmas, and she loved opening presents. I had a great birthday on the 30th and we spent New Years Eve at home dealing with colds. 

We were blessed beyond measure in 2014 and are so very grateful for our family and friends. We are also grateful for the opportunity we have to welcome baby #2 in just 3 short months and be blessed with a growing family. 

Stay tuned for lots of exciting things in 2015!

Read about our 2013 HERE 

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.