Fancy-pants Camera is Dead

Today, our fancy-pants camera freaked out on me and will no longer take pictures. I can't even explain how pissed I am about this. And of course I couldn't send it in today, because evidently this business closes at 4:00 in the afternoon. It came with a one year warranty, so I am putting that into action first thing in the morning. If my camera had died forever, I would have cried real tears for a long stinkin' time. I love that thing.

But, here are some recent pictures from before the death of the camera.
Please ignore me in the background of this picture. I tmigh tbe the most unflattering picture of me ever. Ju concentrate on Marley and how tall she is these days... She's growing so fast. It breaks my heart.
I love this little girl.
Cross your fingers that my camera will live again. It makes me sad just thinking about it being gone for a few weeks.

Windhill Crawfish Boil

I should have posted these pictures, oh, 5 days ago? I'm behind. But at least it's here.

The Crawfish Boil was last Saturday. We had a blast! Marley hung out with us for a while and then went and took a nap with Mimi in our apartment. Everyone had fun, ate crawfish, played washers, listened to the live band... We had one grouchy resident call the police from her apartment complaining that we were too loud! Can you believe that? She called the police on the manager! Anyway, here are a few pictures.

Occupying Marley with a package of napkins so I can do whatever I was doing.

First time Asa's dad has ever held Marley when she didn't scream her face off.

Sippy Cup Abuse

Poor sippy cups...

Just Say It

Wow, I haven't written anything since Sunday?! I promise I meant to, but I keep forgetting the camera at work or in the car. And nothing really big has changed with Marley. She's just getting stronger and more social everyday. It amazes me.

I keep trying to get her to "mama"... or even just "ma" would be okay, but no. When I say it, she responds with "DADA". Hopefully it's coming soon.

I registered for my classes this summer and in the fall. I also figured out that I am not going to be able to graduate until May of 2011. That's five months later than what I wanted, but I can't do anything about it. My internship has to be taken alone, so the last semester I will only be doing that. I also think I am going to have to get a Graduate degree after I finish. So, I'll have to figure that one out sometime.

I'll post some pictures tonight... hopefully I will remember the camera.

New Things

It feels like a ton of things have changes in the past few days. Here are the ones I can think of:

Hitting- She loves slapping the table, slapping my shoulder, slapping her legs. She also loves to bang her sippy cup on everything. It's pretty cute right now that she thinks it's so fun!

"Where's Mommy?"- I was laying in bed with her this morning and covering up my face with the blanket and saying "Where's Mommy?" She actually knew to pull the blanket off! She pulled it up at first and stuck her little head under. It was ADORABLE! Then, she figured out how to pull the whole blanket off and find Mommy! Something that goes along with this is the fact that she has learned to move things out of her way when she is trying to get to something. She pushes toys out of the way when she is trying to crawl across the floor.

On and Off- She loves loves loves to pull people's glasses and hats off! It takes everybody by surprise, but today she started trying to put them back on! Today, I was putting her hat on her, she was pulling it off, then we were doing it all over again. She started trying to put it on my head!

Giraffe Toy- She has a little giraffe toy, where she is supposed to put balls in it's mouth and they roll down and play music. She has caught on to where the ball is supposed to go, and actually tries to do it!

Talking Directly to Us- Instead of blabbering away to herself, she talks to me! She looks right at me and "talks" with such purpose. she looks like she's saying "Pay attention, I'm talking!"

Cruising- She can "cruise" along the couch! She takes little baby steps!

Things are happening so fast! She learns so much everyday, and I can't help but be impressed!

Asa's Big Surprise

Before:After:

It's a little messy, but you get the point. It's all gone. I don't even know what to say, except that I love it.

Mimi

Mimi is in town! We went over to my mom's house tonight (Mom is out of town) and she made Marley and I dinner. She brought some really cute dresses from Austin (one is featured below), so Marley is going to be all dressed up all summer. Marley stayed with her this morning while I had class and was a perfect angel for Mimi. They played and laughed and Marley wasn't in a bad mood until she saw me... as usual.
Marley tried two new things tonight. Yea, I know you aren't supposed to do that. But we did. Watermelon was not hit. She tried one little piece and then pushed my hand away when I tried to offer more.Broccoli was surprisingly a pretty big hit! She looked at like she was really confused, but she kept eating it. Maybe she will like vegetables after all!

Backyard Lessons

Today, Marley learned about grass.

She learned what it feels like.

She learned what it looks like.

And she learned what is tastes like.

I kept pulling pieces out, but I think she liked it because she kept sticking them back in. She didn't swallow any, but I'm sure she got some dirt. It's good for her though.Overall, grass is pretty cool.

Where have I been?

Dealing with my little monster.

I have been so busy... no time for my poor, little blog. Sorry, blog.

Marley is doing much better. She started sleeping like normal again on Tuesday night. And she's definitely happier most of the time. But Asa and I are worried that she is spoiled now. I know that sounds weird, but will NOT let me put her down on the ground by herself. She just cries until I pick her back up. It's annoying. That's the main reason why I haven't been able to write anything. And homework.

Nothing too big has changed, but she is getting stronger. She loves to "walk" with me holding her hands. She squeals and laughs the whole time. She hasn't been eating much food since the ear infection, so I'm hoping that will change soon. She needs to eat with all the moving she's doing.

I have been wanting to get the windows tinted in the car for a while, and yesterday Asa found someone to do that. I hate having to worry about the sun being in her eyes while I'm driving. Then she cries and I am trying to hold my hand in the back seat in front of her face... it's not safe. So, at least that is fixed.

My Mimi is in town right now to visit us, so we will be busy with that. And, this weekend is Windhill's Crawfish Boil! Woo hoo!

And last night, Asa did something big. I'm not going to give it away until I have pictures! But, it is exciting!

Lunch Today

Right now, Marley and I are enjoying a lunch of cheese, pasta, pineapple, and canteloupe! And loves loves loves cheese and canteloupe. She is actually using her teeth to cut bites of canteloupe and not letting a single strand of cheese go to waste. The past is just kind of blah.

I'm so proud. This is a Shaw lunch.

Another Ear Infection

We went to the doctor yesterday to see what was wrong with Marley. We went to a new doctor, I just feel like her old one didn't have time for us or something. She weighs 19 pounds, 5 ounces now and is 27 inches long.

She does have an ear infection in her left ear and her something-glands are swollen. So, he said that the antibiotics we have her on are good, but the ear drops are not necessary. And he also said it would be Wednesday before we could tell a difference. I really liked the doctor and I think we are going to stick with him. He actually sat and talked to us! BIG improvement.

The nights have been really hard. She wakes up screaming several times a night, and we have to get up and rock her back to sleep. She hasn't been eating a lot during the day at all, which is frustrating.

I just want her to better. As much as it annoys me to have to wake up with her 5 times a night, I am really just sad that she is sad. I want her to feel good and be back to normal.

Where did all the Cheerios go?

It never fails. I am always so impressed by how many Cheerios Marley has eaten. I tell her what I good job she did eating them. I know that some get into Kima's mouth before they even hit the floor (sometimes because Marley drops them, and sometimes because she enjoys handing them to Kima).

But then I pick her up and find where all the Cheerios are.

Honestly, I could see them getting on the side of her legs, but how do they under her legs?

Kima really loves meal time these days.

Marley's New Toy Chest

A few months ago, Asa told me that he wanted to make Marley a toy box. I thought "psh... like that will ever actually happen..."

Well, today Asa proved me wrong! He looked up how he wanted to do it, we went to Lowe's, bought the stuff, and he made it. We made a few mistakes, but I think it turned out really, really well. We chose not to have a lid on it for safety reasons, but maybe in a few years he can add one.


I am really proud! It's not perfect and I think it frustrates him that there are mistakes, but I think it's great. It was made with a lot of love and that's all that matters!

In other news, I still haven't decided what's wrong with Marley. We called the doctor this morning and I told her that I thought Marley has an ear infection. She called in a prescription for her ears. I gave it to her and then I noticed she was chewing on her fists constantly. When I tried to feed her, she wouldn't suck at all without crying. I pried her mouth open, but I couldn't see any teeth. I gave her some teething tablets anyway, and it actually worked at making her stop crying. So, maybe she is getting teeth and her fever was related to that. I'm going to make an appointment with the doctor in the morning though, to find out for sure.

Fever

Marley has been really fussy for the past two days. Like wanting to be held 24/7 and whining everytime she isn't. We checked, but we couldn't see any teeth. She has been going to sleep at the normal time, but she wakes up every 15 minutes. Then, during the day she has been taking more naps and sometimes only stays awake for an hour and a half. I try to keep her awake because she might sleep better at night, but I can't. She gets so sad looking, won't smile for anything, and her eyes are all red. She wants to go to sleep so bad, so I let her. I don't know if it's teething, and ear infection, low iron, just being needy, or what...

So, tonight we took her temperature and it was 101. Marley's never had a fever before when I checked it, so I didn't know what to do. But it was so cute, Asa went and got his "Everything Guide to Father's First Year" and looked it up. That book has been collecting dust on the bookshelf since we found out we were pregnant. And now he finally uses it! Only four more months until it's unusable...

So, we gave her some Tylenol, stripped her down, and gave her a little water. She is finally asleep now, and has been for about 30 minutes. I don't know why my little girl isn't feeling well, but I wish I knew how to fix it! She's so sad. I just want to hug her little body and kiss her little cheeks.

Visiting Friends

We went to see Samantha and Zane at their new house on Thursday evening. Jeramy was working, but we had a good time still. They have a huge backyard, so we spread a blanket outside and let the kids play together. Marley actually played with Zane for the first time. She tried to bite his head a few times and stole toys from him. But don't worry, he stole her's too. I have a cute little video of Marley playing with Asa's hat and Zane steal it from. She takes it back and then he takes it from her one more time. Then, she does the perfect I'M NOT GETTING MY WAY cry. It was hilarious.

New Chair

We bought Marley this new chair the other day the grocery store. They had a lion, frog, and monkey. I chose the monkey... I really wish we had chosen the frog, but I think we lost the receipt. Oh, well.

I can't help it... these have to be shared with you

Some Random Pictures from Recent Days

Eli Comes Over

Last night, we babysat Eli, our neighbor. First off, I have decided that they are not meant to be girlfriend and boyfriend. They are just too different.

He came over around 6:45 and since it was still light outside, we decided to go on a walk around Windhill. We went around every building, through the nature trail, and stopped at the dog park to visit with Bobby for a little while.


When we got home, we tried to get them to play together. Unfortunately, Eli is in the NO SHARING stage, so every toy Marley reached for, Eli took away. We told him that she was playing with it and he needed to give it back to her. That didn't really work though. He actually voluntarily sat next to her for this picture! I think she thought it was really interesting having someone else in the house though. She would crawl around after him while he switched between toys.



It was actually way easier that I thought. We can always hear him screaming at the top of his lungs from their house, but there was none of that at ours. He did most things we asked and didn't throw any fits.

I still don't want to have kids this close together though...