Absent

I've been a bit absent from the blog lately for a couple of reasons.

1. We are finishing our basement and the workers are at our house from 8:30-5:30. I have had to put Marshall down for both naps at my parent's house so that he is able to get a nap at all. There is no way he would sleep through all of the construction taking place at our house. It actually works pretty well since our summer schedule includes so much time at the pool. It just makes it harder to find the time to blog. I have also been bad about remembering to bring the camera. In fact, I haven't brought the camera down at all this summer. I guess I need to remember to do that.

2. Marshall has not been in any type of picture taking condition. He has been pretty sick the last few days. I thought he was just teething when he started running a fever on Saturday night. The fever was then accompanied with runny nose, watery eyes, sneezing, and tugging on his ears. We went to see the doctor today and it is the start of an ear infection. We got some antibiotics and we're hoping we can get this taken care of quickly.

These pictures were taken a couple weeks ago, since I didn't have any new ones I thought I would let you enjoy a few "oldies."

Do you love summer?

We do! Marshall has transitioned into the laid back approach we take during the summer months. Things just seem to slow down a bit. The boy loves swimming, especially when his cousins are in the pool (you can actually see Sam swimming under his float in this picture). Marshall's favorite thing to do: just sit and watch Sam.

I am so happy Marshall loves being in the water. I grew up playing in the pool every summer and I want the same for him. Living in South Carolina it only makes sense to spend the majority of our day in the pool. Our summer schedule consists of going to Pop and Loni's to swing for a little bit after breakfast, then swim, nap, lunch, swim, nap, swim, dinner, and sometimes we will even take an evening dip before bed. Summer is the best! Naps are even better in the summer because all of the outdoor activity completely drains him and he takes awesome naps. Gotta love that!

There are a bunch more pictures to be posted from our weekend by the pool. You'll have to be patient on that though. They aren't on my camera so they are being e-mailed to me, then I'll post those.

Refreshed

Scott and I were able to have a quick little getaway together on Thursday night. We left Marshall overnight for the first time with my mom and dad. Scott had an appointment for work in Hilton Head and thought it would be great to go together and spend some time on the beach once he finished working. It was great to sleep in a little bit and just relax with one another. We didn't have to rush through a single meal and we were able to have an uninterrupted conversation. We missed our little buddy but a night away was very refreshing for us both.

Thank you Mom and Dad for being so willing to keep him. He loves his Pop and Loni!!!

*No pictures because we didn't even think to bring the camera.

Taking Steps...How did this happen so soon?

Since this blog has become a baby book for Marshall I try and document the big milestones as they happen here.

The last couple of days we have noticed Marshall getting braver about standing on his own. One day he took a single step and then sat down once he realized he was on his own. Yesterday he got the courage and took three consecutive steps!!! He did it several times after that. While crawling is definitely his preferred mode of mobility, we know that walking is well on its way.

*I didn't take any pictures, I was too busy cheering for him. I must say, he enjoyed everyone applauding and hooping and hollering for him. He promptly sat down and started clapping for himself.

Happy to be Home (and lots of updates)

We are home from our little mountain getaway. We had so much fun but I think it is safe to say that Marshall is happy to be home. He was so excited to see his toys and bang out a little dancing rhythm on the coffee table, smiling at daddy all the while. I couldn't help but take some pictures!




look at those chompers!

Mini Mountain Vacation (Thursday and Friday)

We left on Thursday afternoon to go up to the mountains in Tennessee for a little getaway. We had such a relaxing evening on Thursday. We grilled out and just enjoyed the rocking chairs and swings on the back deck of our cabin.

On Friday, I went and did a little shopping with my sister while Tom and Scott stayed at the cabin with the boys. Fortunately the cabin was roomy with lots to do, so entertaining three little ones wasn't so bad. The cabin had a movie theater, pool table, and hot tub.

Scott and I were laughing about the last time we had come up to this area. We stayed in a little dive of a hotel. I remember pulling up to the hotel and saying to Scott, "This is not what we saw online." The cabin we stayed in definitely lived up to the online pictures we had seen. It was a great place to stay and we would love to go back. This was exactly what we needed, a little time away to rest and relax. Now...it's back to reality!




This is where we stayed a couple years ago when we came for a long weekend.







This was our cabin for the weekend. So nice!

Dollywood (Saturday)

On Saturday we spent the afternoon at Dollywood. Marshall loved all the activity. He had his first carousel ride. He liked it so much that we took him on a couple of times. The first time around he was very serious and just checked it all out. The second go around, he was smiling and waving and squealing. The boy LOVED it.

We had a great day watching him experience so many new things, including a train ride through the mountains (sorry, no pictures of that).

Side Note: Scott decided to play one of those basketball games. You know the one, pay two dollars for three basketballs and one shot in and you win a cheesy prize. Well, he played twice and won Sam and Jack a basketball and Marshall a giant teddy bear. He wanted to try and win a second ball so each of the boys could have their own but they had a prize maximum and he had already met it. They told him he couldn't win anymore prizes that day. He was pretty proud of himself and his two nephews were pretty proud too!

Scott with his prizes. You can see the basketball game behind him!