Happy New Year!

Man, another year down...seriously? Time is going way too fast! So this month Marley turned six months old, I have a six month old little girl- half a year old...this is so unreal! Marley has blossomed into such a fun active little one, always smiling and talking-even playing with lots of toys!

 

Sorry for the blurriness, she was smiling and when she does that she giggles and wiggles :) 

Christmas in this house was an adventure, I never thought I could love a holiday more than I have this year because we had a little one in the house- imagine what next year will be like?! Marley was at a fun age to watch her unwrap presents; but it was a little painful for me with her being so SLOW!!!!! Haha

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J0WBkCnwpfo&feature=youtu.be 

Just in case it doesn't play on here...its been acting dumb lately.

 

She didn't really care too much about the big guy. This was the ONLY picture we got with Santa, every other opportunity we had she fell asleep minutes before getting a picture with him!

So all in all, it was a great few days. We had Marley open presents on Christmas Eve with my dad so he could watch and then headed to Provo to spend time with my family. And once again, Marley was SPOILED (Only Grandkid issues -.-) But we got a few gifts as well. From my parents we got a bread maker(!) and I have utilized it very well, making bread for friends and neighbors...and we are pretty much all breaded out haha! TJ always would beg me to get bread and I am not a huge bread fan, I normally buy a loaf and it gets moldy before I use it all; so he is enjoying this gift but has requested that I don't make bread for a while ;) TJ's family got us a new shower head that is pretty tight, as in a party when you shower! We are so excited to try it out when it comes in, no more lights on when I'm taking a shower (haha). TJ and I decided we already got our Christmas presents early and we weren't really going to give each other anything else (We also just had to buy diapers and those things are not cheap!) But when we came home that evening I found a gift on the bed, it was a year membership to Planet Fitness!!! What an amazing husband I have! (before anybody thinks what I am sure you are thinking, I love working out and it helps me feel better about myself since my body isn't the same since I popped out a 9 pound baby. He doesn't think I am fat or anything)

We were brushing our teeth and Marley wanted to join in on the fun! 

Marley's new stash...tons of toys!

Our new bread maker! And the very first loaf of bread I have made on my own (actual bread) It was yummy!

So anyways, we have had a wonderful vacation having TJ taking some PTO to spend a week with us and I have been super grateful for all the time we have been able to spend together. New Years was fun, we actually made it to midnight and it was a challenge (it makes me sound so old!) But Marley decided to make it to 11:30 and then wanted to wake up and keep the party going all night, so we ended up being two exhausted parents the next day!

Marley Milestones: She started Rice Cereal earlier on in December and its been so good so far, growing so much and is so much fun! She likes to make us work for her laughs...as in I run around the house all over just to catch a giggle from her! (Who needs a gym membership?) She is ALMOST crawling, GAHHHHHHHH!!!!! She also initiates play now and it is super fun...this really is a perfect age where she is actually not...boring (I sound terrible haha)

I don't know why everything is being so dumb but here are some videos of our little princess growing and learning lots

http://youtu.be/wr69oSpCkZg   Talking to daddy
http://youtu.be/gfow9OLH8ZA  Playing peek-a-boo
http://youtu.be/MHYSYckRqO8  Eating Rice Cereal

TJ is still working diligently for Clearview, he just passed his one year mark with the company, he had a work company Christmas Party in December and we all got dressed up and had a great time; we even won a dart board! He is such a great dad too! Loving each moment he gets to spend with his family.

Being a stay-at-home mom is a wonderful blessing and I am so grateful I can be with Marley every day and play tons of games with her and help her grow and learn. It has been a struggle a bit because I am so alone majority of the time and I can't really have a meaningful conversation with her...she likes to interrupt me ;)  But because I have had issues with my body since being pregnant has caused some hard times and its taken its toll on me. I stumbled on this very beautiful well-written blog about postpartum bodies and it has changed my outlook on my soft stretched out belly and wide hips. It really is wonderful and I like rereading it when I have a rough day. It is also very nice to be able to go to the gym whenever I want and having such a supportive husband is a big factor in it as well. 

Link to "Babies Ruin Bodies": http://weseekjoy.blogspot.com/2013/12/babies-ruin-bodies.html 

Marley and I just chillin' on a beautiful day!

We also went to Las Vegas right after New Years, my great aunt passed away so we went for the funeral and had some fun while we were there. We decided to celebrate TJ's birthday a tad bit early and actually have a date by ourselves! IT was pretty awesome, and I enjoyed every second I got to spend with him! We really enjoyed the weekend and Marley was such a good girl for being in the car for that long of a period. We LOVED the warm weather, I was sad to come back home with it being 16 degrees and I came back to this from 60 degree weather! WHY???? (haha) 

But that is all for now, I hope this new year brings lots of love and laughter and yada yada yada ;)

Until next time!

It was dark, and crowded so this was the best shot I got. Right in front of the Mirage waiting for the Volcano to go off

We didn't know that they take photos for tips...so they were a tad bit mad after this! OOPS!!!

Words cannot describe how happy I was. I was within DOORS of CELINE DION!!!!!! I had to take tons of pictures because I am dumb like that but I was truly truly happy!

Our little family!

Its the most wonderful time of the year!

Man, another month down! Crazy how time keeps on flying by; I feel that with the older age I become the faster and faster the years go by. STOP! I want my baby to be a baby for a little while....okay a lotta while! Haha.

Marley turned 5 months old today! It is incredible at what a little lady she is and how strong she is. A sister was sitting by us and has a daughter six days older than Marley and was mentioning how strong she is holding herself the way she was (sitting up and the upper body strength) and how her daughter wasn't even fully doing the things Marley was doing all by herself. I guess I create macho babies because I always thought we were right on track with her development...I guess we are ahead. Even her pediatrician always comments on how strong she is! (Its all that dreaded tummy time she has. Give TJ the credit because I hated doing it to her and listening to her cry)

Everything is going great in this household. We are beginning to get ready for the holidays and it is particularly nice having a little munchkin around the make the holidays more warm and loving. Thanksgiving was great, we decided we wanted to start our own Thanksgiving traditions starting with eating a whole pie to ourselves....note to all: It wasn't as fun as we thought it was going to be. I know it makes us sound like fatty's but we couldn't even go half way, we felt so sick!

I never did the '30 days of gratefulness' because I am terrible at being repetitive and forgetful. So here goes my schpeel. I am grateful for my family, near and far. They are so wonderful and do so much for me and I don't think I can ever repay them in how much gratitude I have for them because it goes on forever how much I care and love each one. For loving talks I have with my grandma to enjoying laughs with all my sisters I have now. I am most importantly grateful for the man who gives me my every want and need. What he does for our family is incredible, working all day so I can stay home with our daughter and then proceed to come home and care for me. The way he is with Marley is remarkable and I don't know what I would do without him. He really is the love of my life and I am so grateful to have him forever and beyond.

Enough of that smushy stuff. We are doing so great here! TJ had the first experience at paint ball. I was excited (as bad as it sounds) for him to get shot and have paintball wounds because I always talk about how painful it is for the first few minutes and having these welts on your body. Yeah, its like he is super human shield towards getting hit apparently because he would get hit like twice and it didn't even rupture or hit him. Its that Carney skin and blood he has...makes him super human (which is a good thing in my book). Marley and I have been having so much fun here at home while TJ is working. We like to sing and dance, and basically do everything together! She will sit in the bumbo and watch me cook and we turn on the music and dance and sing at the top of our lungs! She gets a kick out of it because she gets all happy and smiley when we start up the tunes.

Her doctor says she has a terrible but curable disease. Its called "Only Child Syndrome" and will soon be cured with us having another baby but she is sure enjoying the time she gets with us and that meaning she likes to be the center of attention and always being up with us. She will only cry if she is on the floor and we are in the other room where she cannot see us.

Marley Milestones: She is quiet the talker, which is all good until it comes to church and likes to talk a little too much. ;) She makes Indian noises and loves when we do them to her, at first she would just eat our fingers and stop making the noises (ahhhhh noises to clarify) but now when we put our fingers on her mouth she begins to make the sounds and continues til she gets bored of it or we stop. She is also learning to blow bubbles and gets them all over her face like a bubble beard...it is so cute and then I see how wet she is and cannot help but laughing. What a hoot she is! Still a happy happy baby, I swear she is sleeping like a teenager. She goes to bed around 8 or 9 and sleeps til 6 or 7 then heads back to bed until 9 or 10 if I let her. I realize because of her sleep schedule I am in no hurry wanting to wake up a ton for a newborn. Maybe this is Marley's way of saying she wants to be an only child for a longer time, haha. She has become interested in toys now and really the only toy she likes is her noisy book (sounds like crumbled paper of some sort...anyways its loud!) which we have learned is not a good church toy but it is the only thing that keeps her quiet. We are trying a few other toys out but they are not that much quieter. She is also such a squiggle worm, moving ALL the time and when we hold her in our laps she likes to squiggle until she can head-butt us. Its hysterical if its not you being head-butted or up until you get the head-butting.

Anyways, here are some pictures of our life recently:

I love how she is holding onto her blanket..TJ said she has the perfect layout of a crime scene body...creep.

  So she has learned about her fingers and what they do. She will randomly touch her head with her index finger and then pull the bow into her eyes...its become a normal thing for her to have her bow in her eyes.

                                                       Chillin' in one of her favorite spots

 She was for daddy growing out a beard and decided to go for moral support with a bubble beard!

More of the bow in her eyes...

We went to Miracle on 25th street in Ogden to kick off the Christmas season and lighting of the downtown lights. It was an alright parade until this walked by and it made my entire night! I couldn't get better pictures since majority of them were on the other side of the street. They were fun but had really no point of being in the parade which I think made it that much better in my opinion!

Now on to the favorite part of the blog today: TJ's beard!

 This was his entire month of beard growing, not much there but I LOVED it!

 He found his razor!

And time to shave the beard off :'( 

It was a sad moment for me because I really loved it.

The aftermath! I still love his baby face as well, seriously looks like he is 20!

Marley's normal place of residency. She loves it up there and is always so happy when placed on daddy's shoulders :)

  Our happy little 5 month old; I cannot believe how fast time has gone by. And what a little flirt she has become, seriously we are in trouble!

                          Sitting all the way up straight and tall. Oh goodness I love her so much!

This is the face of getting everything she wants, a little pout and a little smirk and boom! Melts your heart. In this case she was wanting to stop pictures and be picked up so she could see outside and be up with us. Social butterfly!

We decorated the Christmas tree and put the tree on to celebrate the beginning of December

Our celebratory meal! Cornish Game Hens and potatoes with EGG NOG in fancy glasses with our fancy coasters!

Until next time!