The Greatest Woman UPDATE

My grandma will be having open heart surgery/ single bypass at Jackson Hospital early Friday morning. I feel really good about the surgery but prayers are still welcomed. Please pray for the doctors performing the surgery and for a speedy recovery. She has two little people who will be missing her while she is recovering.

The Greatest Woman...

I figured the next blog i posted would be about my fabulous trip to Kansas. But instead it is about my beloved Grandma or what my sweet Abby calls her Gigi! On Monday she will be having another heart cath and a possible stint. This is really hard for me! I know what she means to me, but it is a whole 'nother story what she means to my children. Please pray for her Monday morning that everything goes great! She is a blessing in my life and I thank God for her everyday!

Please Join me!

La

Man it's HOT

This heat outside is RIDICULOUS!! I mean seriously...for a simple errand to Target at 9am...and in order to get out the stroller, get both kiddos in, and get inside, I already look like a just did 30 on a treadmill! AHHHH! But thankfully, last year my mom and dad AKA Nana & Papa got a swimming pool at their house. I didn't really get to enjoy it last year being a humungo preggie, and b/c Abs wouldn't stay in too long. However, this year Abby and I got to take Mommy & Me swim classes at Wynlakes. It was really great and our teacher was FAB! Abby really got comfy in the water. It really is nice now to put her float vest and swimmies on and her just swim around the pool...shallow end of course. Before she would get in one minute and be playing around the pool instead of inside it. Now because someone wants to be soooo independent or a BIG girl as she would say it is awesome! I am so proud of my little swimmer...I mean we have a ways still to go, but for a 2 year old she is doing great!

Here are some pictures from last weekend! This was little man's 3rd time in the pool, and I think he just loves it too! He gets hot so fast that outdoor activities aren't a realy option for him...so he just chills in there.

How she smiles now, when I take her picture...please let it be a phase :-)

Unless I can catch her before she knows what I'm up to :-)

Toofies and Tee Tee

Sorry I haven't blogged in a while...I have been in the bathroom alot lately! But for good reason :-) Abby decided last Friday to bring me every diaper that she had wet or unfortunately pooped in. I have tried several times to start potty training...but it was just so frustrating because little man is so needy and other mom's of more than one know sometimes you just have to suck it up and can an idea. So as grossed out almost 2 1/2 year old poops make me, I was willing to put up with it until Miss Priss decided she was ready. And I guess she was...we have been going to the potty in her princess potty since Friday night. So almost a week! It has been wonderful - except for the occasional poop on the floor or finding her putting like 10 wipes down the toilet! I finally conquered our biggest issue today (so far) which was actually wearing underwear. My child has been running around since last week without any panties on...even when we had company to cookout on the 4th. Luckily they love us and know we are weird anyways :-) So as of now...we are almost potty trained. She still wears a pull up for naps and for sleeping...since I don't want to have to take all the sheets off, clean comforter...you get the drill.

My little man Ethan is growing so fast! He is sitting up good and strong, and we think he will be crawling sometime during the next month. He is a little behind his sister who started at 6 1/2 months, but not too far behind. He also got his first "toofy" yesterday! It has been white under the skin for a while...glad that sucker is out in the open. Maybe now the little guy will chill out a bit :-)

Anyways, here are a few pictures of Ethan's Baptism and other silly moments! All for now! Tootles!

Our precious little Ethan




Our little family

Talking all the time! I wonder where he gets it? :-)



Playing

Sitting like a big Boy!


You guessed it...she is my child! Miss Priss and her love of dress up!

What we've been up to - Pictures!

Hanging out

Eating Ice Cream with cousins

Learning to sit up

Eating & Hamming it up...always :-)

I'm Back

We have been so busy around the Marshall house that I rarely get to check email much less post on the blog. While we were away the kiddos and I enjoyed a wonderful time at the beach with Mimi, Ethan turned 6 months old, Abby and I took Mommy & Me swim lessons, and we purchased a fabulous new...drumroll please...air conditioner...bombombom! haha! Life with 2 kiddos is hard and tiring, but we are making it work! Anyways, onto those crazy kiddos of mine:

ABBY - is two going on 12!
She is already flirting with boys ( i wasn't prepared for this to start so early)
She is sleeping from 9pm until 7:30 or 8am - thank goodness
Is a chatterbox! We can understand her almost 99% of the time!
Is funny too! Love to say thank you so much momma for even the simplest of tasks like getting her more juice, or saying all better whenever she does anything :-)
Eating anything sweet or carbs! She is a tiny little gal, but boy can she snack! Loves steak, chicken tenders, ,mac and cheese, green beans, bacon and the only child i have ever heard cry for broccoli!
Is starting to realize brother might be loads of fun one day...she will lay on her tummy and talk with Ethan and tell him Good Job brother! She loves when he laughs!

ETHAN - is 6 months old - Already???
He is such a sweet boy, but much fussier than his sister
He is sleeping from about 6:30-7pm until about 6 or 6:30am. Then normally will go back to sleep until 8 or so...I love that part!
He is napping about 3 times a day still...but they are for only about 45 minutes
He is razzing, cooing or making funny noises all day
Is starting to roll over in his bed from his tummy to back....this doesn't make him happy since its tight quarters for him to then roll back over to go to sleep :-)
Eating 8 ounces about 4 times a day
Loves real food....squash, apples, pears, sweet taters, zucchini, cereal and prunes
Weighs 18 pounds...yes you read that correctly...18lbs! Funny since his big sister was 19lbs at a year!Sitting up for longer periods at a time...stay tuned to see if he is like his sister and starts crawling by the beginning of 7 months.

Now we are just enjoying our time and planning on spending many days outside and at my parents pool! That is all for now! Pictures soon...I promise!!

What might have been

So I have been a bad blogger and I am aware of it! But it is crazy getting out a sentence much less an entire blog these days. Anyways, this one isn't about the kiddos, I promise the next one will be. This is about something unexpected that happened last night...it was truly a WOW moment! One I couldn't believe I was seeing in person or how much things could have changed so quickly...thankfully nothing terrible did happen.

Last night, I was about to enjoy the season finale of Desperate Housewives (sidenote: I NEVER get to watch my favorite shows anymore...at least when they are actually airing. Thank you Charter On Demand) anyways I sit down and the show comes on and I hear a loud LOUD bang! Of course I look out my window and there is my poor mailbox all catywhompass (not sure on that spelling..never have spelled it before..haha!) So I march on outside with my hands on my hips to await the moron who hit it. Well she got out and I heard a baby screaming, and I immediately felt sorry for her! I have been there when your child just won't calm down and you are more focused on that than doing what your supposed to be. But then after she got her kiddo out and walked over to my driveway I began to sense this wasn't going to be a fun converstation. She was just so upset and hyperventialting! I kept repeating it is just a mailbox when I realized she couldn't stand up straight. So I told her to take a seat on the driveway and calm down. I then asked her for her child and she gave her right to me! I knew then, what I had suspected! She was drunk! Part of me felt sorry for her, but seriously....my children sleep on the front part of our house! How could any mother do this???

Later as the cops were arriving, my neighbor and I were joking as to how she missed my trash can which was in the "line of fire". That's when my heart sank and the truth about really what might have been really hit me. Starting at the fire hydrant on the corner of my house...missing it by only a foot or so, were the beginning of tire tracks into my yard only about 15 feet away from where my sweet boy was sleeping! My sadness for this girl went from that to rage and anger in seconds. The tears came and I realized how lucky we had been. This girl had missed a fire hydrant, trashcan, coming into my house and instead of hitting the power pole that was just to the other side of my driveway (and the transformer too) she hit my measly bird poop covered mailbox!

I couldn't sleep for a few hours after I was already inside after talking to police. I don't know if she was arrested or if her boyfriend had gotten in trouble for his part, I didn't care. I just felt lucky, scared, exhausted, and sad for this girl and her child. Today, there was a knock on my door...and there she was. Much more put together and in control, with that same beautiful little lady with her. She apologized and said how sorry she was. Also that this was her wake up call!

I guess my point of this blog isn't to share a juicy, crazy, "really that happened to you" story, but to share it in order for you to help someone who you see struggling. I could have been rude or angry with her...I was of course but I didn't show it. I instead tried to be as compassionate and understanding as I could be. She obviously needed help...and sometimes it just has to slap us in the face to realize it!

I had my "a-ha" moment as Oprah would say!