Merry Christmas!

So this year we're a little bit late sending out the Christmas cards... like, maybe we haven't even sent them, yet. =( But, here's a warm Christmas greeting electronically from the Marshall Family.

Merry Christmas, 2009!!

Merry Christmas from Santa's Shoppe

Yesterday we took Alina to see Santa. She was great! She didn't cry, scream, or scratch Santa... but she sure didn't smile, either. She eyeballed Santa the whole time... like, "I'm not sure about you, old man." Maybe next year she'll understand that he brings presents and maybe she won't be so skeptical about the whole thing. =)

Alina's First Snow

Alina experienced her first snow on Dec 5th... we were still living in the hotel so we went out in the parking lot and played. Adam, unfortunately, was at drill in PA so he didn't get to see our little girl rolling around in the snow. It was lots of fun, though.


Her second encounter with snow was yesterday with Blizzard '09, as they're calling it. She wasn't a fan this time around, but I'm thinking that had to do more with her being hungry and sick than not liking the snow. Yup, I said sick. She's got a little cold and her first eye infection. Lots of firsts around here... both good and bad. Oh, and she's got 2 teeth now!! Time sure does fly by.

As far as the rest of us go, the house is all unpacked now. WOO-HOO!! Since we were snowed in yesterday, Adam and I took the time to finish unpacking and getting a Christmas tree set up. YAY!! Now we just need to figure out how to get to the mall to go shopping and we'll be all done.

Alina had her first week of daycare... seemed to go well. The ladies are really nice and she's getting along well with the other babies. She even tried to steal another baby's food... yup, I've got a felon on my hands. =) Alina isn't eating finger foods, yet (she keeps gagging and throwing up), but some of the other babies are and Alina wanted the food... so, she took it. Silly girl.

Adam's loving his job, so far... although there's already talk of him deploying next year. Definitely holding out on baby number 2 until that's all done. My new job is also going well. Only one week down, but it's looks like it'll be interesting. And I can't beat the commute... only 20min!!

I think that's the update for now... Merry Christmas if I don't get to post again before Friday. We love and miss you all!!!

Random Musings from VA

1. You know you're a mom when you drop your baby off for her first day of daycare and have to hold back tears all the way to your job interview... and don't care if it makes your eye makeup run.

2. I'd forgotten that on the East Coast it's a SKIM Caramel Macchiato and on the West Coast it's a NONFAT Caramel Macchiato. Eventually those f-ing baristas will stop correcting me. ... It doesn't annoy me enough to make me stop going to Starbucks, though. Yes, my name is Sally and I'm a Starbucks-a-holic.

3. The best sound in the world is Alina laughing at absolutely nothing.

4. Who knew that I'd have my most stringent requirements for a job when the recession is at its worst? Good thing we don't "need" my income.

5. Even the best loved dog can become the best HATED dog when living in an Extended Stay for 2 weeks. Poor Cicada... she's suffered my wrath and I've suffered her idiocy for far too long in this room.

6. The stay-at-home mom network is strong. I've been here 2 weeks and already have playdates and outings lined up. I think the stay-at-home mom network might be more powerful than the mafia. Watch out, people!! =)

Thanksgiving '09

Good morning, everyone! Hope you're not too hungover from your turkey comas. =) It's been a while since I've posted so I thought I'd post some pics from Thanksgiving in the Marshall "home."

As you all know, we moved to VA... only "issue" is we're not in our house, yet, so we're staying in a studio efficiency until we get everything squared away with the house. We didn't feel like traveling (I can't imagine why after a long trip to CA and a long road trip to VA) and we couldn't host anyone (seriously, we barely fit in here comfortably) so we had a cute little celebration of our own.

We ordered Thanksgiving Dinner for 2 from Whole Foods... I don't know what 2 people they had in mind but it was enough food for 5 or 6 people!! As an example, they gave us 12 rolls... 12 rolls for 2 people!! REALLY?!?!?!? Anyway, it was absolutely delicious and we have TONS of leftovers now.

Here are some pics...

Alina counting the things she's thankful for.

Our Thanksgiving Feast.

The happy family.

Cicada putting herself into detention.

Alina demonstrating how to take a post-dinner nap.

We hope you had a great, blessed Thanksgiving, as well!!! We're thankful to have you in our lives and feel absolutely blessed have you as friends. =)

6 Month Pics

This morning we went and had Alina's 6mo Pics done. I don't know what came over her this morning, but all of a sudden it's "fun" to stick our tongue out at the camera. Gotta love babies!! =)

We're Outta Here

Our time has finally come... we're moving outta here!! =)

We're going back to DC!!

YAY!!

Although we're sad to leave our AZ friends, this just isn't (and hasn't been) the place for us. We leave at the end of this month. We'll keep you updated on travel plans and what not; but for now, we just wanted to let you know the news.

WOO-HOO!!

Quick Catch Up

A lot has happened since I last posted... so here's a quick catch up:

Alina sitting up for the first time.

What happens when you feed oatmeal to a baby who just learned how to sit up. Note the oatmeal on the forehead.


Alina trying to open up Mommy and Daddy's anniversary present.


Alina playing in the gift wrap paper... lots of fun "swimming" through it and making crinkling noises.

Alina eating veggies for the first time (sweet potatoes) in her big girl chair.

Yummy

I'm not sure... but I think Alina might be teething. Either that or she's in the stage where everything just goes into her mouth. Anything that gets into her grasp goes into her mouth. We have to be VERY careful what we leave within reach of her little hands now... oh joy!! =)

Alina Laughing

The best video EVER!!!!

The Great Disappearing Act

This afternoon Adam put Alina on top of her play gym and let her do her thing... apparently "her thing" is to slowly disappear underneath her play gym.

Alina's First Cereal

Alina had her first try of Rice Cereal last night... the experience can be summed up in two words: hilarious disaster!! Alina didn't have a bad reaction or anything... she just kept pushing the cereal out of her mouth. By the way, the consistency of rice cereal when you first feed a baby is like milk... not sure if that adds to the cereal ending up all over her chin and bib, but that's what it is. For the record, we didn't expect that she would just know what to do with a spoon... but we didn't expect the mess we got, either. =)



Last weekend I dug out the 9mo clothing for Alina. I can't believe she's wearing 9mo sizes in onesies, now. So, if you're ever interested in giving Alina clothing, go for 2 piece sets... she grows out of onesies WAY too quickly!! The good news is that she's now able to wear some of the onesies that represent important things in our lives, like....

our taxes

Bill being in the Marine Corps

Adam's Huskies

I'm SOOOOOO Not Ready

Alina's 4mo appointment was today. She's healthy and doing great!! YAY!! She's now 15lbs 2oz and 26 3/4 in long. She's around the 75th percentile in weight and OFF THE FREAKING CHARTS in length. She's so long she's in her own percentile. =) That explains why we go through clothing sizes so quickly. Onesies made for 6mo olds are too short for this little girl now.

The other big news of the day is that the dr says it's time to start feeding Alina solid foods. I'm not ready for this. I'm just barely getting okay with not giving her breastmilk anymore. The dr says it's also time to just let Alina sleep on her tummy if that's what she wants to do (I've been turning her over onto her back when she falls asleep). Apparently, since she can roll over and hold her head up, she's not at risk of suffocating herself anymore. My little girl is getting older and is starting to be able to fend for herself... WHEN DID THIS HAPPEN?!??!?!?!?!?

Everything else in our lives is going well. I'm busy training people on how to be great all day and Adam is busy grading papers online all day. Cicada's starting to try to play with Alina now... even though Alina is just still trying to figure out what the furry thing that moves is.

Oh, in case you haven't heard... my brother, Bill, and Marivy are engaged. They plan on having a civil ceremony this fall before Bill deploys to Afghanistan. Bill is stationed at Kaneohe Bay, HI, now. Jason, Adam's brother, is stationed at Camp Ederle, Italy. Anyone down for a trip to HI or Italy?

Anyway, I'll be sure to keep you up to date on how the solid food goes. I can't imagine it'll be easy... I know I won't be giving her the Chicken Noodle Soup flavored baby food EVER, though. =)

What the Heck is That?

We got Alina these things called "foot finders." They're socks with little bugs on them that make rattle noises... I guess they're supposed to help her find her feet? I don't know that she needs help with that, but her reaction is hilarious!! I think she may be starting a career as a tap dancer. =)

Alina's "Quarter Birthday"

Friday, July 3rd, was Alina's "Quarter Birthday" BBQ. Now, before you all start laughing too hard, the BBQ wasn't a planned thing. My parents were in town all of last week helping out with Alina while I was at work and Bill and Marivy came to visit on Wednesday. Since Adam was coming home on Friday from his TDY, we decided to have a family BBQ. As we were getting everything together, we realized that Alina was turning 3 months old that day... thus, the BBQ became Alina's "Quarter Birthday" BBQ. =)





Despite the extremely hot weather, we had a great time. We had lots of good food, good beer, and laughs with Alina. It was great having Bill come out and meet his niece this week. It was even better having Baachan and Jiichan here to spend time with Alina. Having never really had any grandparents in my life, I'm so excited that Alina has 2 sets of grandparents who want to be a part of her life.

In honor of Alina being in our lives for 3 months, we took our first family portraits yesterday. Who knew that Target had a portrait studio? Apparently it's the same company (Lifetouch) that does JC Penny's portraits. We had a lot of fun. Alina was awesome, of course, and super cute!! Here are some of our favorites:



If you want to see all of them, click on this link: https://www.thesmilestation.com/home.asp?AC=LTTT0924104668TARcom/home.asp?AC=LTTT0924104668TAR and enter Sally Marshall as the Guest Name.

Busy Weekend

This has been a very busy weekend! I don't even know where to start!

On Friday, Adam's mom, Marlene, arrived. She's here to help out this week while Adam is away on orders to Davis Monthan. It's so much easier to have a grandma here to help than to try to take Alina to daycare while I go to work. I only bring this up because Marlene actually offered to babysit Alina last night while Adam and I went on our first date out since Alina was born. It was weird to be out without the baby, but very nice. =)

We went to see The Hangover... oh my goodness is that a hilarious movie!! I've been quoting lines from it ever since. If you haven't seen it, you most definitely should. Afterward, we went to dinner at a new Irish Pub and had a few drinks. I almost felt like a 20-something again! =) Here's where the talkative Marshall trait came in... Adam told the waitress it was our birthdays and she gave us a round on the house. I knew the talking came in handy somehow!!


Today is Adam's first Fathers Day... he was so excited this morning!! He got a card and photobook from Alina (through me, of course) and Marlene treated him (and us) to brunch at Fleming's. We had great food and wine! Adam became the joke of the hostess stand when he thought he had ordered Filet Mignon but had actually ordered Filet Mignon BENEDICT. It was still yummy, though. He said it was the best Fathers Day ever... we'll see what he thinks next year.

Alina Videos

This is mostly for the grandparents... but everyone else might enjoy, too. =)

Here's a video of Alina absolutely entranced by her Baby Bach video. The lady that created these Baby Einstein videos is a genius (and probably on drugs).

Here's a video of Alina with the hiccups... and drooling... and trying to eat her fist. Gotta love her ability to multi-task.

Happy Mother's Day (to me)

What an awesome day!!! =)

So... today was my first Mother's Day as a Mom... yay!! First thing this morning, Adam and Alina surprised me with a card ("signed" by Alina) and inside of it were tickets for various things that I could make Adam do today. One ticket was for a foot rub, another for a back rub, another for dish duty... the foot rub was awesome... I needed one. =)


Our day consisted of going to church and then going out to lunch to a Mexican restaurant (yup, my choice)! I even treated myself to a glass of Sangria (pathetic, I know... but that's what happens when you're breast feeding).

The best part of the day happened early this evening, though. Adam was changing Alina when SHE SMILED!! Seriously!! Not one of those "I've got gas" smiles or "my muscles are just moving on their own" smiles but a real smile!! We even got her to smile over and over by smiling back at her, tickling her, and kissing her. That was the best Mother's Day present Alina could've given me. I tried getting a picture while she was doing it but my camera's too slow... boo...

On a side note, Alina has also figured out that she has a tongue. That thing is constantly going in and out of her mouth. It's so funny when she pushes her pacifier out and then gets all upset like someone stole it from her.

Anyway, hope everyone had a great Mother's Day, a great Sunday, and a great weekend.

1mo Check-Up

Can you believe that Alina is a month old already?!?!?!?!? I can't... seems like yesterday that we brought her home. I suppose that's how life is going to be from now on... only soon it'll be, "Can you believe that Alina is 18?!?!?!?" =)

Anyway, Alina had her 1mo check-up yesterday. She's perfectly healthy... YAY!! She now weighs 9lbs 14oz and is 22.5in long. That means she gained 2lbs 2oz and grew 3in in a month!! She's in the 75th percentile for length and the 25-50th percentile for weight compared to other babies... that means she's longer than 75% of 1mo olds and heavier than 25-50% of 1mo olds. Apparently I do have some vitamins in my milk. =) And apparently, at this rate, she's going to be one tall kid. Any bets on when she passes me in height? =)

Not much else is going on here. Adam has been officially hired on as an online instructor for the University of Phoenix so now he has a good "stay at home" job. It's pretty cool because he can teach as many (or as few) classses as he wants at any given time so it's really flexible. I'll be starting classes up again in June... my decision to do this might just be punishment in overdrive but I figured I'd give it a shot. One more class and I'll be half way done with my Masters so I have to try... if I can't handle work, school, and a baby, I'll stop the classes... but how will I know if I can do it unless I try. Plus I should get the classes in while they're free, right?

I hope all is well with everyone! I know I've been MIA this past month... but let me tell ya, this has been one hell of a month!!

Alina in April

If you based your opinion on these pictures, you'd think Alina slept all the time!! But, unfortunately... not the truth. She's just cuter when she sleeps. =)