4 months old

Saturday night was the Nine Flags Festival downtown, complete with a Christmas parade. I told Asa that I had literally been thinking about this parade since Marley was born. I guess it's just Christmas in general, but I always picture how perfect it is all going to be. We will be dressed all warm and cute and Marley will be happy and awake. The Christmas parade will be beautiful and everyone will tell me how adorable she is. All the lights downtown will make us sparkle in pictures and we will drink hot chocolate with our soft gloves on.

Well, the night played out a little differently. We took a family nap and realized 30 minutes before the parade that we needed to get up. So, I didn't get to take a shower and make my hair cute for those perfect photos. Then, I couldn't find any cute, warm clothes for Marley to wear. This poor little girl only has one hat that fits her head and it is not warm at all. I also realized that I do not have a warm hat or coat for that matter (since I am still carrying extra weight around). We got there late, so we could not sit down to watch the show. I realized about 20 minutes in that I had not fed Marley before we left like I planned. So, she started getting fussy. No gloves. No hot chocolate. No warm and cute. But we did get lots of aaawwws about what an adorable little darling we have. She even got her picture taken and got put on the Daily Sentinel website! Yay! She slept through the whole thing. We tried to hide in stores when the fire trucks and police cars came by in the parade and did their sirens. Thanks a lot guys.

Today was a stressful day. I had a test at 4 that I was really worried about. Granted, it was my only final, but any final with a FOUR MONTH OLD (!!) is stressful. I pretty much failed. I would be upset about it if I needed the class for my major, but I don't. I really did try, but I couldn't do it. So, I had Asa keep Marley all day so that I could study at work in my free time. He brought her up there to eat, but other than that I didn't see her. I really missed her. According to Asa she slept the whole day. She is a growin' baby. Her four month appointment (with shots) in tomorrow. Not looking forward to that.

I got my Moby Wrap today and I love it! Marley loves it too! I haven't actually worn it anywhere besides the house, but I will make a trip somewhere tomorrow just so that I can wear it. It is so comfy!

Marley and Kima bonded tonight. It was the cutest thing! Marley just reached out and PET Kima on the head! She doesn't know she can pull her hair yet, so she was very nice about it. Kima turned around and gave Marley a few kisses. They are going to be best friends!We also got a glimpse of the attitude our sweet, Innocent little darlin' is developing...

The Blogger

Dear Mama,

You are the best mommy in the whole world. I just thought I would let you know a few things that I can't tell you yet.

I like sleeping with you and Daddy the best.

When poop explodes out of my diaper and lands on your pants, I want to laugh but I don't.

You should go ahead and warn Kima about all the things I am going to do to her when I get big enough.

Get those dang cameras out of my face all the time! I know I'm cute, but jeez!

I wish me and you and Daddy could just stay at home and play all day instead of going to work.

I don't need the pacifier anymore, but I trick you into thinking I do. It's fun to trick you.

I want 16 brothers and sisters. Like the Duggars...

I really like to watch TV. Daddy lets me watch it when you're not home.

I love to make you smile. Then I can laugh.

I love to be naked. I would be that way all day long if you let me.

I love spitting up on your shirt right before work. It makes you all flustered and I think that's funny.

All those magazines and books you read are pointless. Hang out with me instead and don't worry about that crap. (Am I allowed to say that yet?)

I know my toots are stinky. Quit telling me every time!

Most of all, you and Daddy are my favorite people in the whole world. I love you so much right now, even though I can't tell you that yet. I hope you can tell by how many smiles and cuddles you get.

Love,

Marley V.

I captured a new favorite picture.

This is her mood 90% of the day now. I know teething will start soon, so I am taking advantage of it as much as I can. Stupid teeth will ruin everything.

Pictures

Here are some pictures...

Staring at the ExerSaucer. She hasn't really played with it yet.

I realized just a moment ago that it has been at least a couple of days since Marley cried a lot before going to sleep. We have gotten into a routine now. She has started to be really obvious about when she is tired. She rubs her eyes and yawns, so I wrap her up and within 5 minutes she is asleep. No crying needed. We get her. That is so cool!

17 weeks

Marley's sleeping right now. She took a pretty long nap earlier today, so I am surprised. She had only been sleeping about 20 minutes at a time lately. And she refuses to go to sleep until we are going to bed with her. She just needs some extra lovin' lately. I don't mind... I love to love on her.

Asa took the coffee table away today! I have been asking him to for a while now. Even though Marley isn't moving around yet, I really wanted the extra room. Our living room is so small that with the coffee table in the way, there isn't enough room to lay a blanket on the floor. So, now it's gone and I can play with Marley and even wrap presents in the floor! Yes, I have been wrapping presents already. I feel weird because my mom waits until Christmas Eve Eve to shop and here I am with all my gifts wrapped on December 4th. I am so ahead of the game.

Marley has been staying home with Asa the past couple of days while I am at work. It is so comforting for me to know that she loves him so much. He is great at comforting her and playing with her and her face lights up when he comes in. (It does for me too, don't worry) We put her in the ExerSaucer for the first time last night. We had to put blankets around her to hold her body up, but she liked it. She looked at everything and touched it a few times. I guess it was a good start.

She is so darned cute! I just want to kiss her all the time. She talks to herself now and wiggles all over the place. She laughs a lot more and she actually gets excited to see me now. I don't know if she knows when she hasn't seen for a while, but she always looks so happy to see me. She knows me and loves me and misses me and wants to impress me. I feel the same way.

I Give Up

We went out on Sunday and took pictures for our Christmas card. Our original plan was to take one with all three of us, but we could never get it together. So, it's just Marley... and they are soooo cute! I have already ordered them, so they should be here soon and I can send them off. It's a good thing we bought such a fancy camera to take so many wonderful pictures. Does anyone want to know how many pictures we took during the month of November? 1300!! This child is very photographed.

I think I have given up the pacifier battle. For two days we were very successful. Okay, kind of successful. But yesterday was miserable. You see, Sunday evening Marley fell asleep at 6:30 pm. She had not napped all day, so I just let her sleep. She woke up at 8:30 in the morning and was in a bad mood the rest of the day. This was about 4 more hours that she normally sleeps at night. She barely napped yesterday, but she cried throughout the day. This is not normal for Marley. We had to work yesterday, so the crying while I was in the office was not very fun. I ended up getting stressed out and crying which made Marley's crying even worse. Then last night, she didn't go to bed until midnight. She slept with us the whole night and cried a lot during the night. She doesn't have any teeth breaking the surface yet and she isn't really wanted to chomp on things. So, I am assuming sleep is the problem. She woke up at 9:30 this morning. I refused to let her sleep any longer than that. Hopefully, after her usual morning nap, she will be okay again. Needless to say, we used the pacifier a lot...

I sent an email to my Gma last night tell her what I want for Christmas: a Moby Wrap. She emailed me this morning and said that she has already ordered it and sent it straight to me so I can use it before Christmas! I am soooo excited. Now I have to watch youtube videos to learn how to wear them! This is going to be The One. I have two other front carriers that she hates and a sling that doesn't really fit. So, this is it. I am going to love it... or cry. Supposedly they work out great for people my size, where as the sling has to be a certain size and I got the wrong one. I can't wait to get it!!

We put Marley in a sleeper outfit last night instead of swaddling her and it was so cute! She just slept like a little person in bed with us. She likes to sleep with her arms spread out to each side, making me a little cramped for space. But it was so cute and she was sleeping, so I didn't move her.

My Mimi bought her a quilt and gave it to us over Thanksgiving and it is the perfect size to play on. It is a permanent fixture in our living room now and Marley loves it. Kima does too.