Happy Halloween!

I know, I know. Yes, I fell off the face of the earth, but, I am trying to make a comeback so why not start with Halloween? As you can see, Marlie is much bigger and sassier than my last post at 15.5 months when she FINALLY got her first tooth. I can hardly believe that Marlie will be two in less than two months, this year has really flown by.

We started out the day with a trip to IHOP for breakfast to get some All You Can Eat pancakes. Funny though, we didn't even end up getting pancakes and I ended up with a hair in food...nasty. Now I remember why we don't go to IHOP! For the love of everything holy, stay away from IHOP. Marlie was supposed to be a little witch but we had trouble getting her to keep her witch hat on and I couldn't find a dang black leotard that would fit her so this is what we ended up with! Oh well, maybe next year we'll do better :) I went as a witch as well and Sam went as a cowboy (not too far fetched from everyday life). We started out the evening by heading over to Steve and Sierra's house for some yummy taco soup and delicious treats. Marlie did so well at saying "trick-or-treat", even though she had no idea what the heck she was asking for!

Sam, Steve, Sierra, Marlie, Davin

Ava and Emma

Abby, what a cutie pie!

After leaving Steve and Sierra's house we headed out to Grandma and Grandpa Sorensen's house to see the rest of the fam. We ended the night there playing and stuffing our faces with goodies. We headed home to wash the purple out of Marlie's hair and she was down for the count as soon as her head it crib. Despite the nasty rain and wind, the evening turned out pretty well and Marlie enjoyed her free day of lots of chocolate and candy!

My niece Ellie, what cute little cat she is :)

Quin, Marlie and Ellie

Marlie's First Tooth!

Finally! Today we discovered Marlie has her first tooth! Yes, it has taken her 15 1/2 months to get one so we are excited. It isn't in the front where they typically come first, hers is on the left side towards the back. I asked Marlie to show me her teeth (like I do most mornings) so I can check for any progress and to my surprise I felt something sharp! What a proud momma moment :) The best part is Marlie hasn't really even been fussy or had any drooling so I had no warning signs. If the rest of her teeth come in this easy, I'll be happy as a calm :) I'll try to get pics when Sam comes home, the location of her new tooth makes it very difficult for me to take a pic, especially by mysefl!

15 month appt.

Today Marlie had her 15 month check-up. I was certain she had gained some weight since her one year appointment but to my surprise she had only gained just over a pound. As usual Dr. Miller says she is very healthy and doing great! Quick rundown of the stats: 18 lbs 10 oz (3%tile), 30 inches tall (62%tile). Dr. Miller said that Marlie is the second oldest child he has seen without any teeth. The oldest he has seen is 18 months so we are holding out for then :) I just can't believe how much Marlie has grown. She says tons of words: dad, daddy, gingi, hi, bye, shoes, socks, thank you, no, uh-oh, mom mom when she is upset and tato. There are many more but I can't think of them right now! Marlie still loves music and loves to dance to any kind of music, I think she is going to be a little dancer :) She has also started to sing along, especially in church. Of course she loves to sing while everyone is quiet and taking the sacrament! We just love her to pieces and are so thankful to have her.

Marlie's Photo Shoot and 9 Month Appointment

Marlie turned 9 months old on Sept. 16th so I decided to have her pictures taken again because she has grown and changed so much since I had professional photos of her done. I posted a few, but they all turned out so great I am having a difficult time deciding on which ones to print!

Marlie is growing and changing daily. I cannot believe all of the new things she is doing. She keeps me busy, busy all day long getting into everything and waiting for me to catch her in the act of doing something she shouldn't be doing. Believe me, she knows when she is doing something wrong!!! Marlie is crawling on her knees all over the place and getting faster and faster all the time. She pulls herself up on everything and walks around the coffee table like it is nothing. If I turn my back for one second Marlie is into my drawers pulling everything out and laughing at herself. I love how my little bug follows me all over the house and wants to do what her momma is doing.

Marlie jabbers all the time and we are working on saying "momma" and "da da". So far, "da da" is her favorite. She LOVES music and will dance anytime she hears any type of music, she loves to shake her little booty :) Marlie is still on the slender side, at her 9 month appointment she was 15 lbs 9 oz (4.8%tile) and 27 inches tall (31%tile). Maybe someday she will catch up with everyone else, but for now she is just my little monster. We have been trying lots of new foods and I have been surprised at they funky things she likes. It has been challenging now that she can eat mostly table food for me to make sure that I am making healthy things for her to eat, with baby food it was much easier. We still avoid giving her sugar as much as possible, but I have to admit that Grandpa Chandler gave Marlie a lick of ice cream when he was visiting! She of course loved it! I guess that is what grandpas are for, to spoil them rotten :)

Anyway, Marlie is doing great and making so many new strides I know I am missing tons! She is strong, independent, and feisty like her momma. She will sure let you know when she is mad at me or when I am not getting her breakfast fast enough, I am sure going to have my hands full. My favorite is still those times in the day when I get to snuggle her while she takes a little nap, how soon those times will quickly disappear. I could not be more blessed, I just love her to pieces.

Fun With Family and I'm a Big Girl Now!

Over the last few weeks Marlie has started doing lots of new "big girl" things. Last week while my mom was in town Marlie started pulling herself up things like the coffee table and really just about anything she could get her hands on. Well, on Saturday afternoon I walk in to check on Marlie after her nap and I find her standing up in her crib just grinning from ear to ear. Needless to say, we had to move the mattress down so she won't fall over the side.

Marlie has also started to crawl on her knees, she won't go very far on her knees because she has quickly learned that it is still faster for her to do the army crawl. Everyday she impresses me with how smart she is and how much her little brain is absorbing daily. Marlie loves music and will start to bounce when Sam plays it for her. Marlie is also becoming more interested in her Baby Einstein videos. She will now sit through almost an entire video before becoming distracted. I am busy chasing after her as she explores new things she finds around the house. I am amazed at what a great memory she has, I will put something away to hide it from her and she will go right back to the spot that I hid it. Marlie also LOVES to crawl over and pull on Ginger's ears, usually Ginger is a good sport about it. That also reminds me that Marlie loves to pull and rub on her ears, especially when she gets tired or when she is eating her bottle. Everything she gets her hands on still goes directly into her mouth and she just jabbers away all day. I love that when she pushes the buttons on her toys that play music she starts to dance and smile. My little one is growing up and quickly becoming a big girl!















What a cutie














Loving her new bath toys














Standing up in my crib
















Driving to the horses :)

















My parents were back in town so we decided to head to Idaho to my Grandma's cabin for the weekend. We had a great time going for rides on the razor and Sam loved getting a chance to show off on his motorcycle ;) Marlie enjoyed getting to see all of her cousins and spending time with her Grammie and Grandpa and her Great Grandma Chandler. My mom decided to head back with me to Utah to hang out with me and the Mar while Sam was out of town for a Broncos and a Rockies game. Marlie loved getting to spend so much time with her Grammie since she doesn't get to see her very often. We had such a good time just doing girl things and enjoying each others company. Marlie was spoiled with attention and we were sad to see grammie and grandpa go :( It will be until December before we get to see them again. Thanks for such a great time :)















Mom and I at Swiss Days















Adam and Marlie















Grandpa and Mar















Ginger going for a swim
















Aunt Chandee giving Marlie her first pickle

Marlie's Moment

Hanging out, waiting for the computer to be done

Okay, don't ask me why the previous post got all messed up but it already took me a million years to get it done so I was sick of trying to fix it! Once again it is time for Marlie's moment. Marlie has accomplished a lot since my last post about her. Marlie is now sitting up with no problems at all. At seven months she started doing the army crawl and is now getting around at lighting speed getting into the dog bowls or whatever she can find and she is a smart little monster, if we move it, she finds it! She isn't crawling on her knees yet, but I am sure it will be anytime now. Marlie is eating tons of new solids and seems to like pretty much everything I give her, my homemade sweet potatoes are still her fav. We recently started giving her those little puffs that look like Cheerios but they dissolve quickly. At first she didn't know what to think about them but now she loves to pick them up off the highchair tray and be a big girl and pop those suckers in her mouth. I am amazed at how good her hand-eye coordination is getting!

Most of Marlie's baby hair has fallen out and come back in blonde. She has a few long strands of hair that I just can't bring myself to cut so we just call it her Donald Trump comb over :) It is starting to look better because of all the new growth coming in. She is still just a little thing but is growing like a weed. I stuck her on the scale the other day and it said she was 15 lbs so I will be excited to see where she is at her 9 month check up.

Marlie and daddy on the Fourth of July

I'm Back!

It has been well over a month since I last posted but our computer crashed so we finally bought a new one so I am back in the game! I feel like we have been going none stop the last month or so. Sam went back to working the swing shift and weekends at the P.D. for the summer so we have been trying to adjust to his new schedule. Sam has also been busy helping his parents in the cherries. Marlie and I would go out to watch and even help sort sometimes to help give daddy a break :) Marlie and I also took a trip up to Idaho with my parents to stay at my Grandma's cabin for a few days. I had too much fun driving around in the Razor tearin' it up!

Sam had to go to Anaheim for a week to attend a Gang Conference so when he got back we decided to get out of the heat and spend some family time camping up at West Fork. West Fork is west of Heber and Sam and his family used to camp up there when he was younger so it was fun to head up there and hear all the old stories from the good ole days. Sam's brother Mark was nice enough to let us tag along with his family so we had some buddies to cause trouble with. We enjoyed long rides all over the mountains, beautiful scenery, and nights sitting by the campfire. I was a little worried about how Marlie would do sleeping in the trailer but she was a champ and loved camping. I have to say I was a little sad to come home but SO ready for a shower.

Marlie and Grandpa Chandler in West Yellowstone

I just love this pic of Marlie and Grammie Chandler

Marlie helping sort cherries, we are breaking her in early :)

Daddy taking a break from working cherries

Look, I'm a big girl riding by myself!

Cousins Davin, Marlie and Tanner

The Gang up to West Fork

Our lovely trailer and Sam's new truck (new to us anyway)

On our little hike looking for pot guts (yeah, new to me too!)

One of my all time fav pics of Marlie while playing in the trailer

How cute is she sitting in the wild flowers?

Yep, that's my girl, eating the flowers

This little outfit was given to us by one of the Dispatchers we work with and I have been waiting until she could fit into it, I just LOVE it, it has a trap door :)