Happy Birthday Marshall!!

Today was Marshall's big 1st birthday and he woke up with a smile as usual! He drank his milk and was surprised by Grammy with presents from her, Grandma Horton, and Aunt Nancy. He got some really fun things but his favorites were the blue shovel and yellow sifter. He carried them around all morning long. He played all morning long, took a nap and waited for Uncle Tom and Howard to come over. Nick came home for lunch and we all went out to Grimaldi's for lunch. If you haven't been here yet it is an AWESOME pizza place at The Woodland's Waterway. As many know, with a kid at a restaurant time is very important and while waiting for food we have to get creative at times. Marshall snacked on a few things but got bored easily so I gave him my lemon, which was very entertaining to watch. He would put it in his mouth and make a yucky face but put it right back. It was so funny and I got a lot of great pictures. After lunch we went to the splash pad and luckily had it all to ourselves. This was Marshall's first time to see a splash pad so I was probably more excited than him. He wasn't sure what to think of it at first and I'm not convinced that he loved it, but I do think he had fun.

Grammy watched Marshall tonight while I went to a Just Between Friends sale with Jess. I didn't get as much stuff as I normally do but I did get some good play clothes for the summer. When we got home Marshall wanted to show Jess all of his new toys he got this morning even though he didn't touch them all day.

Overall, it was a wonderful day and I just can't believe my little man is already 1. His big birthday party is Saturday and we are looking forward to fun times with lots of family and friends!!

Grammy is here

Grammy made is here all safe and sound after an 18 hour flight from Qatar. I kept Marshall up late Monday night so he could see her and I just know she was so excited to see him. She got here around 8:30 and Marshall ran in circles through the kitchen, dining room, and living room about 20 times. He is such a show off when people come to the house. Grammy was so thrilled to play with him she just plopped on the floor and dove right in. Marshall wasn't the only one who was happy we had a guest, Sandy and Skippy were super crazy and barking like maniacs when she walked in the door. We played around the house inside and out for the last few days to let Grammy get over any jet lag she had before her flight to San Antonio this morning.

Yesterday we went to Northshore Park to show Grammy our favorite place to go these days. It was way hotter than I expected but we had fun anyways. Nick asked his mom what we did at the park and she told him "We followed Marshall around." That is so true, he is all over the place and can't always decide where he wants to go with all that grass, mulch, sand and water around. The biologist in me wants to rant a bit about some people that I saw today and I always see at the park. There is a sign that says "Please don't feed the ducks" with an explanation saying that the ducks thrive on their environment and over feeding causes disease and over population. To me that says it all and the first time I went to the park after I read this sign I put the bag of bread back into my bag and did not feed the ducks. EVERY time I go to the park it seems like people decide to ignore the sign and feed the ducks anyways. I know it's fun to feed the ducks but can't we just let them be and enjoy watching them??? Ok, I'm done with that. On to other fun stuff.

So, after the park we met Nick at Tom and Jess' house for dinner. Tom made yummy mango guacamole and burgers with mushrooms and onions for dinner and awesome heath bar cookies for dessert. Marshall loves their house because they have wood floors that he can throw stuff on and stairs that he can climb. With all the excitment of the day Marshall was exausted and ready for bed when we got home. Tom came by this morning to take Grammy to the airport, so we said our goodbyes and will see her next week when she drives in for Marshall's birthday.

Happy Earth Day to all!!!

So, yesterday it rained the majority of the morning but the sun finally came out and dried up things a bit before it started to rain again! I'm not complaining about the rain because we need it but outside time for Marshall is a must and we luckily got to sneak it in. We went outside around 5:15 and played for almost a whole hour. Marshall loves to play in all of my flower pots full of just dirt but this was the first time the dirt was mud. One of the pots was hardly full so it was easy for Marshall to tip over and dive right in and boy did he!!! He eventualy sat on the ground and started dripping muddy water and mud on his legs. You can see in one of the pictures that he is thinking really hard about what he is doing. Marshall has also started giving stuff to me if I ask "Can I have it?" You can see him giving me some dirt in one of the pictures. If we could stay outside all day it would be awesome, but we had to come inside and eat dinner, whick never fares well with him. It is hard sometimes to let him get dirty especially right before dinner, but a little dirt never hurt anyone and I get a kick out of watching him.

On another note, Grammy (Nick's mom) is coming in town today and we are so excited to see her. She has not seen Marshall since December and she is definitely in for a nice surprise to see how big he has gotten. She will be here for a few days before heading to see her family in San Antonio but she will be back for Marshall's big birthday party and the arrival of Tom and Jess' sweet baby girl, Leah, in May. We are looking forward to lots of play time with her during the next few months.

Hope everyone has an awesome week!

Here we go!!

Well, I have jumped on board the blogging train! Marshall's first birthday is almost here and I figured it was time for me to start sharing our little world with our friends. I have been at home for just about a year now, I can't belive time has flown by so fast. I miss my job at the museum (the people, insects, and butterflies) but Marshall and I have had so much fun this year and it has been well worth it! I am so excited that the weather is FINALLY warming up and Marshall and I will be able to do more stuff outdoors. He definitely takes after me because he loves to be outside and throws a fit when we have to go in. I think I will be able to keep up with my yard much more this summer with all the time we will be spending outside; I've already cleared out a area for a vegetable garden.

So, about Marshall . . . he is walking like crazy now and even starting to almost run. He is a definite show off when people are over and will just walk circles making all sorts of noises. He loves his books and has starting bringing them to us to read OVER and OVER again. His favorites are: Tails, That's not my Tractor, That's not my Dragon, Hop on Pop, and How Big is Baby Elmo. He has four teeth now and is learning how to use them with accidental chomps on mommy while giving kisses. Speaking of kisses: he kisses all sorts of things. He was under the kitchen table the other day and I was standing next to it and he kissed my foot. He kisses elmo, his books, the puppies before bed, and of course his daddy when he comes home from work.
I will keep you all updated when Marshall does new fun stuff!

This weekend we celebrated my niece, Tricia's, 7th birthday. We had a nice time with family, ate lots of crawfish and went swimming in a nice heated pool. We also ventured out to Montgomery hunting for the perfect bluebonnet photo opp. After driving around for a while we stumbled upon the best place in an undeveloped neighborhood behind a BBQ restaurant. Marshall was soooo happy to get out of the car and loved the flowers. We got some good shots but the majority of them are of him looking down. A few ladies were nice enough to offer to take a family shot of us after seeing me searching for a spot on the ground to put the camera to set the timer. Once I figure out how to post the pictures on this blog I will, so stay tuned.

Hope everyone has a great Monday!