one year photos....FINALLY!

In keeping with our "better late than never" theme, here are some pics from Mar's 1 year photo shoot.  Nothing like ordering them 4 months later :)  Enjoy!



Two Firsts...

Her first salon appointment

 & her first overnight hospital stay :(

Marley can count to 10!!!

This is the best video we've been able to get so far.  She can do it by herself but it seems every time we pull out the camera, she gets a little shy and needs a prompt here and there.  Pretty darn good for a 16 month old!



First Christmas!

I guess better late than never seems to be our theme lately, but we did have a great first Christmas with Marley. Kris and I put a lot of thought into each gift we got her and really wanted to get toys that she would really like and would grow with her. Obviously Kris and I were far more excited about our first Christmas together than Marley since she had no clue what was happening anyway. We spent Christmas Eve with my family, which included my 4 year old niece and 1 year old nephew so you can imagine how crazy it became when it was time to open gifts. We all had a great time and Marley got several great gifts. Once we got home Kris and I made sure all her gifts were under the tree and that Santa had come. Christmas morning, again us more excited than her were up early waiting on Marley to get up. It was a wonderful Christmas morning, we took our time opening each gift and playing with it then moving to the next one. Her big gift this year was a kitchen that she does love, she also got her own little rocking chair, she got blocks, crayons, crayons for the tub and a little music player that she can pack around with her. We had also gotten her some Christmas pajamas but she got those the night before. Later that day we went and had Christmas with Kris' side and again she received several great gifts. Christmas with Marley will always be special but I don't think anything can beat that first one. Since everyone loves pics I will leave you with some. Hope you all enjoyed your holiday as much as we did.

                             Christmas Eve: Marley 1, Jarret 1 1/2, Jenna 4                           

Santa made it!

Trying out her new rocking chair

Oh boy!  New blocks!

new "cd" player

Mar rockin' her new hat w/ Mommy

Patience!  Dinner will be ready in a minute.

 Hugs for Cousin Miles

 Christmas photo @ Ronnie & Jenny's

 Mar's newest thing, her "mean look"  lol

 Party at my crib, New Years Eve!

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!!!

Looks like Santa's a no-go

We were at the Jordan Creek shopping center in Des Moines last weekend and thought we'd give Marley one more opportunity to tell Santa what she wanted for Christmas.  Just as suspected, Santa's a no-go.  It's funny, she likes to talk about Santa, Ho-Ho-Ho like Santa, and find all the Santa decorations on our tree but once she hits that knee, LOOK OUT!  This was one of those arched-back, feet/arm-flailing, head-banging fits.  She wasn't on his knee long enough for the photographer to get a pic.  Luckily we were able to snap a quick, albeit blurry photo before Santa gave her up.  Judging by Santa's expression, I don't think this was the first fit he had seen that day.  LOL!



It works!!!

Just got our confirmation email from Shutterfly regarding the $25 promo code if you post your card projects on your blogs.  Big thanks to Anne, we didn't know anything about it till she pointed it out.  Here's the email we just received: Thank you for your participation in the Shutterfly share project promotion.  "We’ve confirmed your entry and are pleased to provide you with a discount code for $25 off your next order at Shutterfly.com. Please note this discount code expires February 15th, 2011. We look forward to seeing you again soon!  Your redemption code is:"

New Heart in Africa Ornament!

Just got our newest Heart in Africa Ornament from etsy.  It's really cool!  You can get your own HERE.



Marley checkin' out her new ornament