Kids Christmas Tree!

Merry Christmas First Family in Florida!

My head is still spinning from the thought that Christmas has come and gone already. Where in the world has the time gone!?

We had a wonderful Christmas. Marc was so good about not bothering the tree and presents... it was hard to get him to pull the paper off on Christmas morning. He was more into checking out everyone elses gifts than his own (kinda like he wants every one elses toys instead of his own)!

One of Marc's favorite gifts was from "Santa" aka... daddy. It was a ball and glove set. He was having fun throwing it with daddy until bad dog Dusty thought the ball was his Christmas gift and chewed it to a pulp! Needless to say, Santa... aka.. daddy... wasn't very happy and now we need to get Marc another ball! :0(

We hope you had a wonderful Christmas and that you have a blessed New Year! You remain in our hearts and in our thoughts. We pray blessings, peace, healing, and good health upon you all!

Much love, Dawn

Late Night Giggles

We were coming home the other night from a late night outting and to our amazement... this little man was all wide eyed and then some smiles! He thought the flash on the camera was hysterical!

He has started babbling! I was concerned as he "could/should" have been doing that much sooner but it has arrived and so he just sits in his car seat and jibber jabbers to himself! He does have some new words too. "Jack Jack" is jacket. "Back Back" means I want to ride on your back! And he also says "eye", "hat", and "hoss" for horse and house!

It's hard to believe he is 22 months. Although the "terrific twos" have also arrived and his defiance and sassing level have risen! He has eye rolling down to a science although he has been doing that from about day one... such tood from such a little one!

He has taken to our visitor from Latvia very well! He is always wanting to take and hold her hand... very cute. She has taken to him too!

You are all on our hearts. Sue and Karen... I have plans to make scrap books for you... they will be more like Valentine presents as Christmas came up on me like a thief in the night! Hugs to you... and love.

Dawn~

Accessory Boy!

Marc loves to wear things! He runs towards any pair of shoes he sees and continues to put them on and walk (fall) around in them. He also loves sun glasses. He loves putting them on, then taking them off, then putting them on, then taking them off, then.... ect.....! You get the picture.

He also LOVES to check himself out in the mirror of the armoir in the kitchen. He just smiles and laughs at himself! It's very cute.

He also loves hats... they'll be posted about next!

Hugs... Dawn

We Are Here!

I feel like the little "Who" people on "Horton Hears a Who" chanting, "We are here, we are here!" I am hoping that the number of pictures in this post helps make up for the lack of posting lately.

leaving the airport

We went to VA to visit family for Thanksgiving and had a great time.

hanging with poppy

Marc was very fond of Poppy this time and called him "Papa". It was sweet.
Sadly, after just three pictures, my camera battery died and I had to wait until Don joined us to get my charger and charge it!

drummin the pillow

One of Marc's favorite things to do at Grammy and Poppy's house was play in the window seat. It's full of pillows and the kids love to crawl in circles around it! Marc also loved "drummin" the pillows.

We hope you all had a good Thanksgiving. We are already in the Christmas spirit and so happy to have our Christmas tree up! I'll have more pictures SOON.
Blessings and Hugs to you...
Dawn

Just a hello

Just a little hello from us to you. I have been super busy making fabric pins to raise money for a very special thing we are doing this Christmas. We will be sharing our home with an orphan from Latvia who will spend a month with us over December and January! Her name is Brenda and she is ten years old. We are super excited and have been raising money to bring her here. I sold my fabric pins and some scarves a friend gave me last weekend at a craft show and raised over $500. It was very exciting to see God provide so generously!

So I have been slackin on the camera! No recent pictures. I was buried in laundry until daddy blessed me and did it all today! So my head is back above water and I'll try and get some new shots and update you soon on the little man.

Hugs...
Dawn

Boo!

Boo to the rain that put a damper on our fun little night! We went out anyway and Marc was SO cute in his little Cheetah costume!

His face with the eyeliner on it was Too Cute! It made his big brown eyes look even bigger! He was so funny. After the first house, he just kept wanting to take out what was in the bag and eat it. He could not get the concept that we were going to get more and he could have some later! So I finally let him rip into a bag of pretzels and he was very content!

I loved his little tail!

Sadly, because of the rain, I went back to the house with Marc after just three houses (he was content with the contents of his bag!) and Abby continued on with a friend. So Marc go to have a pre-dinner treat while I made black bean burgers and salad for dinner!

It's amazing how fast this little guy can demolish a sucker!

I decided Dusty needed to try on my fairy wig... he wasn't thrilled about it!

Kinda sad it's over... but very much happy Fall is here and we are excited about Thanksgiving! We'll be going to visit my family in Virginia. Happy Halloween and Happy Fall!

Hugs and Love... Dawn

Been a Bit Busy

We are here! We are suckin and wipin snot like crazy, and sneezing like crazy, and rowing a boat with all the rain, and trying to enjoy fall... but we are here!

Here are some more pictures from the beach trip. Marc really enjoyed riding on the back of my bike as Abby road tandum with daddy. I don't have a picture of that though... could have ended up badly!

But tomorrow we are going to a Harvest Festival and so I should have some new pics soon!

A Long Weekend At The Beach!

Whew. We have been going like busy ants rebuilding an ant hill... I just made that up!

Marc had a good time at the beach... as usual. He liked walking around on the sand and trying to eat the muddy pieces. He also liked trying to knock down Abby's sand castles... much to her dismay.

He kept cracking us up by putting his face down in the water. There didn't seem to be a reason... just because he could! But then he'd get salt water in his eyes and then rub sand in his eyes and then I'd rinse it and then he'd do it all again! Too funny.

There are some funny pictures I want to edit and so I'll add some more in a few days. I am tired and the little man will be waking up from a nap soon. Time to start thinking about dinner!

Hugs. Dawn

The newest adventure has begun!

Yep. The little guy has shown interest in the toilet for a while now. The last time we were at the lake, he was pulling at his clothes and wanted to sit. So I sat him there and there it was... his first tee tee in the potty! Man was I ever so excited!

So... the next step was to get a special little potty for him and so here it is! And yes, every young man needs reading material for the potty. I have even been know to sneak a book into the loo that I can't put down! Was that TMI?

Anyway. We are not hard core "training" yet... just introducing it and giving him the feel for it. It's amazing that little guy will sit there for 15 to 20 minutes! And as you can see, it is a family affair. Yes, it is in the kitchen... mind you it has been empty and never christened! But since we are sitting him there to get the concept when it happens, it has to be in the middle of the bustle! Abby brought him some Barbies for company and then Dusty was just checking on progress!

This picture CRACKS ME UP! I imagine he's thinking, "Could I get a beverage and some peanuts please?"

We are leaving for a few days at the beach. I am very excited. I'll be back soon with pictures!

Hugs... Dawn

Sick Saturday :0(

It's Sunday morning and mommy is home with a sick baby. Yesterday, poor Marc was hit with a fever and was just a sick little man... so sad. His first fever was 101.7. We gave him some fever reducer and it quickly came down and so we were encouraged. Then just under four hours later, it soared to 104. Mommy was not a happy camper and we went straight to the tub for a luke warm rinse/soak. After about thirty minutes it came down to 102.7. He was way over the bath by then so he then got to come down to the kitchen in a soft towel and eat a handful of grapes and have some water. His fever then settled down to 101.3. We were able to wait much closer to the 6 hour mark and gave him more fever reducer right before going to bed late and he was at a much better 99 when he went to bed! I set my alarm to check on him every few hours and he made it through the night without anymore fever and is fever free this morning! YEAH! Very scary... I did not like it!

Last week, daddy took some photos of Marc in his new fall outfit from the thrift store! (2 stores) His overalls and flannel shirt came from one store (as I hunted for a Halloween costume) and totaled $3.50 and then when daddy went to drop of some donations at another thrift store, he found these rockin shoes for $2! We love being thrifty! He looks like a little farmer!

So we are keeping an eye on him... like a hawk. He has a little runny nose and was stuffed up last night but I am vicious with saline drops and the snot sucker! So we emptied out some snot last night and he opened right up! We'll see what the rest of the day holds and we'll keep you posted.

Have a blessed Sunday!
Hugs and Love... Dawn

Festival in Fall?

We went to a festival this weekend. It was supposed to be Fall. It was about 200 degrees and we were miserable. Poor Marc was a sweat head. We did not stay long. But the cooler weather came yesterday and we are LOVING IT! Maybe we can have more fun outside THIS weekend!

Pooh, Roo, and Hefalump!

We don't have cable or television. We turned it off a year ago and LOVE not having it! However, we do watch movies and Abby is usually allowed to watch a movie per day (if she doesn't lose the privilege). Marc has never been into what is on and that has been FINE by me! But the other night he just would not stay out from under my feet while I tried to make dinner. And I was tired. So... the high chair was moved into the living room (we have an open kitchen to the living room) and he "watched" Hefalump for the first time.

And since he was strapped in, and HAD to stay still, he actually got into it! He didn't even realize I was right next to him snapping pictures! And then he started doing the CUTEST thing... he started making noises with his mouth like the little elephant was trying to sound off! It was precious and I thought you would enjoy.

Hugs and love.

Dawn

Learning New Things...

Marc is learning to use a spoon! Most of the time he still opts to use his hands, but is getting better and better with his spoon! It amazes me how he can still manage to eat apple sauce with is fingers!

Almost there...

YEAH!!!! He is very proud!

He also started "Children's Morning Out" and loves his play time with friends twice a week! He has a special little friend in his class who is also in his class at church... they are little buddies.

He loves to be read to. "Book" is one of his newest words along with "Uffa" (barking for dogs, cats, and deer!)

Hugs!

Dawn

Baby in a Bucket!

Amidst all the computer chaos (it finally crashed this week and we had to have someone come out and fix it and add memory) I noticed some great lighting in the back yard and stuck Marc in a bucket!

Well, Marc actually LOVES to climb into any box, basket, or bucket he can fit into (I'll credit that to swimming in a recycle bin :0) so getting him to get in the bucket was a piece of cake!

Add my love of photography to his love of containers and we had a good morning! Then Dusty wanted to be included of course and so he joined in the fun (although I could not get him to get in the bucket!).

Then Marc wanted to kiss Dusty... and leaned over. Amazingly enough... he didn't tip over! But he didn't get the kiss either. Dusty ran off! :0)

Marc is babbling more than ever. He is saying some really good words... they are all two letters... but it's communication! He has also learned the baby sign language for "more" and "all done".

Marc's First Words List:

Ma Ma

Da Da

No No

Ni Ni (Night Night)

Mo (more)

Ba Ba (Baby)

Pu Pu (Puppy)

Hugs and Love...

Dawn