we could all use a little extra this xmas season!

Mama’s Holiday Wish List Meme


TodaysMama (link to: http://bit.ly/tmwishlist) and GameStop (link to: http://bit.ly/gamestop10) are giving away a sleighful of gifts this holiday season and to enter I’m sharing this meme with you.


1. What is your holiday wish for your family? health for my daughter with asthma as the flu season is in full swing here!

2. What is your Christmas morning tradition? marley is 3 now, and this year is already so excited about everything christmas. i'm sure there will no longer be any sleepy, lazy christmas mornings . . . and i think that that's wonderful!!

3. If you could ask Santa for one, completely decadent wish for yourself, what would it be? a chevy suburban, more room to lug work stuff around :)

4. How do you make the holidays special without spending any money? we pop some popcorn and watch the christmas movies on tv - just like i did as a kid

5. What games did you play with your family growing up? lots of board games (monopoly, etc), card games, and legos if you wanna count those!

6. What holiday tradition have you carried on from your own childhood? we open one gift christmas eve

7. Where would you go for a Christmas-away-from-home trip? it's a toss up between a beach in the carribean or a ski trip out west.

8. Check out GameStop (link to: http://bit.ly/gamestop10) and tell us, what are the three top items on your GameStop Wish List this year? a dancing and a karaoke game for the Wii, and Wii fit

i love my daughter

brave girl, growing up too fast

today, marley got her ears pierced. we were shopping at the eastwood mall this afternoon and ran into my mom, my aunt and their friends on their annual shopping trip. last night my aunt mary kay asked if i was ever going to get marleys' ears pierced. of course i replied i would like to. then didn't think another thing of it. well, at the mall, my aunt was like "let's go get her ears pierced!" and then my mom and their friends jumped on the band wagon so off we went.

marley started out doing really well, but got a little aprehensive when the lady was taking forever. the lady spent 10 minutes explaining to marley what she was going to do! aagh! we could have already been finished with it. i did have to sit in the chair and hold her, keeping her arms down and her head straight. but they did both ears at once so it only lasted a second. marley was not happy, she did the cry without sound and had some pretty big tears. but when she saw the earrings in the mirror and the presents everyone bought her she was THRILLED!

grandma honey bought her a snowflake necklace (which has already broke twice today) to go with her earrings and now marley thinks she is all that and then some! i can't believe i have a "girly girl"

3 MONTHS!

since i blogged. only cow.

lets see, big news in that marley started a new day care in september. and WE LOVE IT! she has done so well and i am so very proud of her for taking such a tough transition into stride. she comes home with crafts/activities every day, i get a detailed note every day on what she did and how things went, i speak to the same teacher in the morning and the same teacher in the afternoon every day (so none of the "i wasn't here" answers i got at the old center - very frustrating) and marley is so much more appropriately stimulated throughout the day.

we started up with tumbling classes again. it's about 45 minutes every wednesday evening. marley is really growing with these experiences. not only are we learning about physicial activity and promoting good health habits, marley is also learning about taking turns, waiting for turns and follwing a structured routine with specific sets of steps. her favorite part though is the dancing in the warm-ups. my girls loves to dance! and last night she really tried so hard to jump with both feet in the air a number of times in succession on the trampoline, i was so proud! usually she just wants to run to the other end :(

we had a really nice halloween too. marley was harry potter and she LOVED the dressing up and going from house to house for candy concept. she always remembered her "thank you"'s :) and she was very excited when we got home and Honey and Grandpa were waiting for her.

Marley also got new furniture for her bedroom. a new dresser and bookshelf from IKEA (mom's favorite store). we got a twin bed from Honey and Grandpa, but i still need to paint it. then she'll be sleeping in a big big girl bed.

in other "important" news, marley got the swine flu vaccine last week. she is determined at risk because of her young age and her asthma. of course, i will compltete a scrapbook layout about the event b/c it's such a big deal current events wise. it really got me thinking though, and put alot into perspective, about how fragile her health really is due to her asthma. not matter how well the dr and i "manage" the risks and symptoms . . . anything could happen. it's kinda scary if i dwell on it too much. and then it brought back all the frustration/anger i had from when she got RSV in the first place. the 2 other children in her daycare room with RSV were back to daycare the next day - fevers and all. maybe if their parents had kept them home until they were fever free for 24 hours (as the regulations clearly stated) and the daycare inforced that, she might not have ever gotten sick. she might still have, i don't know. she was the last kiddo to get it, that i know of, and i kept her home for the 10 days as my dr instructed. coincidence? don't even get me started on when she got mono!!

on a happier note, we're going to north carolina to visit the bakelaar's (minus dr. ryan) for thanksgiving. marley is going to love playing with kate, and i'm sure luke will be sick of marley always in his face by the time we leave :)

happy fall!!

Marley's Two Year Old Pictures

not sure why they always end up sideways. i just can't figure that out. hope you enjoy :)

and now she's two.

Tomorrow she'll be two. wow. so much has time has passed, but it still seems like yesterday. I can still smell her newborn baby smell, remember how her skin felt so loose on her body before she started chubbin' up. i remembered how my heart stopped at her first smile and how i had to call my mom right away and how i cried a little at it all. And now she's insisiting on unpacking her own Happy Meals. Tonight she asked for 'pretty nails like mama's" so we painted her toes sparkly red for her party tomorrow. And as I carried her to bed, i told her when she woke up she'd be 2 and that i would make her a special breakfast. She put her hand on my cheek, looked right at me and said " and i will eat it all gone". Last week we gave up the binky forever, on monday she argued with me about what clothes and shoes she wanted to wear, and tonight she just almost got her nightgown on all by herself. She says please and thank-you without having to be asked, she calls her grandma "honey", her top lip smirks up like elvis (and her mom!) when she says "orange" and "gross". She discovered strawberry milk tonight, and looks for pictures in the clouds when we ride in the car. She sings songs at random times, just because they must be running through her head. I hope her life always has a soundtrack and that she'll never be afraid to sing it out loud. That's my wish tonight for my two year old.

A day in the 'burgh with Jen

marley had an ENT appointment in the afternoon one day while we were on our "staycation", so we spent the morning at The Children's Museum in Pittsburgh with Aunt Jen. Marley had a blast, and so did Jen and I. She especially liked the ABC windows in Mr. Rodgers Neighborhood, the water play on the 3rd floor, and the Bob the Builder attraction. After we had lunch, we explored the art studio at the museum. Marley enjoyed painting most of all I think. It had been raining that day, but it cleared enough for us to go outside and play in the sand. We stopped in the gift shop, and Marley immediately picked up a stuffed frog and that was all she wanted. I tried to get her to get Mr. Rodgers puppets, but no - only the frog. Aunt Jen was THRILLED because Jen loves and collects frogs. Needless to say, Marley came home with the frog and takes it to bed almost every night. Thanks Aunt Jen :)