The other day we got together for a girls lunch/playdate. It was so much fun getting together now that we are all "stay-at-home moms". These kids had so much fun playing together (at least the older ones did). I can't wait to see what its like in another year when all these little boys are running around!! Marli was so exhausted after her friends left that she sat on the couch and literally ten minutes later was out cold...and she NEVER falls asleep like that!

Road Trip

Last week Reno was out of town selling so Marli and I packed up the car and took a little roadtrip to visit my best friend Natalie up in Montana. It was so much fun!! Marli was an angel on the 9 hr drive thanks to lots of fruit snacks, Nemo and every other movie we own:) Natalie's husband Craig was out of town for work too so it worked out perfectly! After getting the grand tour of Billings, MT (which took all of about ten min) we spent most of the week lounging around her darling house eating yummy food and reading our old journals. We stayed up late every night reliving the days of jr. high drama, high school crushes and many more adventures we've had over the years. Thanks Nat for being such an amazing friend and for making our trip well worth the long drive!!

Unfortunately I forgot my camera, and Natalie's was blurry so this is the best pic we got of our trip.

Pure Entertainment

From the time she wakes up in morning, Marli has me laughing. Every morning she has something new to say when I go get her out of bed. It usually starts with her yelling "Mom! Mom!", when I finally pull myself out of bed to go get her these are a few of the phrases she greets me with in the morning:

• "It's dark in here!" (on the days she woke up before the sunshine at 6:30 or 7)
• "Where are you?"
• Yelling to me while I'm still in bed - "Mom! What you doing in there?"
• "I want to make my bed"
• "I need to blow my nose!"
• "I want to watch the Olympics on the couch"

Seriously, the things she comes up with sometimes are amazing! Most the day she is busy chatting my ear off and copying everything I say. Here are some pics of what we have been up to the past month or two.

Reno built Marli her first fort, or "house" is what she called it. She loves crawling through and hiding in tunnels.


Even though it is freezing outside, one of Marli's favorite outfits these days is her swimsuit. If I looked that cute in a swimsuit I'd probably want to wear it all day too!

Marli and Macie - Marli loves it when her cousins come over to play

Always unpredictable... When Marli is quiet for too long I know I will either find this:

Marli had set up all her books on the chair and she was reading them out loud to herself. It was the cutest thing ever! I love listening to her "read" to herself, especially the books she has practically memorized.

Or this...

Marli showing how happy she is that she gets to eat her smoothie on the couch next to Dad.

Lookin' Good

Marli has finally (knock on wood) re-mastered the skill of falling asleep by herself, and sleeping through the night in her big bed. Part of her nightly routine is reading a story before bed. Two of Marli's favorites are Dr. Seuss' "There's a Wocket in My Pocket" and "Hop on Pop". She pretty much has these books memorized. To my surprise, Reno and I are both characters in these books. EVERY time we read Wocket in My Pocket Marli points to this little guy and says "there's mom!" and then continues to find "mom" on every page. Even as I am typing this Marli saw the picture on the screen and said "Look, its mama!". Just as I am about to question my self-image, I feel a little better when Marli points out "Dad" to me in Hop on Pop. Yes, in Marli's eyes, this attractive yellow creature shows some very close resemblence to Reno. Oh how we love when Marli shares with us some of the insights of her 2-yr-old mind!

Do I really look like this? I'm sure its just
because we have the same color of hair :)

"Reno" is the tall, handsome character on the right

Marli's Birthday

Marli just turned two! I think between Christmas and birthday Marli thinks opening presents is becoming an every day thing. Little does she know thats all she gets for another year:). We are so happy that Marli is in our family and can't believe that she is growing up so fast! She always keeps us on our toes and dazzles us with her spunky personality. She is a total daddy's girl and definitely has him wrapped around her little finger.

Marli is lucky to have so many grandparents and great-grandparents that love her!

A Very Merry Christmas!!

This year we spent Christmas up at a cabin that my parents rented. It was definitely crazy at times knowing that the kids outnumbered the adults, but we loved being all together for Christmas! It was so much fun being up in the mountains surrounded by snow, eating yummy food and having fun together (especially in our striped pajamas).

All the parents waiting to capture the moment of kids running down the stairs.

Marli loved her new bike and would only open the rest of her presents if she was sitting on the bike.

The whole fam - every Christmas Eve we all wear these striped pj's that my mom has made for us. This tradition all started back when my parents were dating and my mom made one of these nightgowns for my dad kind of as a joke. Well, the joke stuck and here we are 37+ years later.

I have not been very good at taking pictures, but our family has experienced a few milestones over the past month.

1. Reno and I both had birthdays, getting one year older and closer to the big 3-0.

2. Marli decided that she no longer likes sleeping in a crib and so has now graduated to a big girl bed. I'm not sure if this is a step forward or a step back seeing that we now get up about every three hours in the night to put her back in that big girl bed. When did she forget how to sleep through the night?????

This must just be good preparation for our third milestone which is...

3. We found out this past week that Marli will be getting a baby sister! We are excited to have another baby girl joining our family in May!