6 Months!!

HOW has half a year passed already?! It just boggles me... Madelyn has changed our lives in so many incredible ways. It is hard to remember a time without her. Here is our monthly teddy bear picture!

This little girl has been up to so much lately! She now gets her hands on EVERYTHING in sight, nothing is safe from her little paws. She is rolling all over the floor, almost sitting up on her own and talking up a storm! Our latest adventure has been introducing her to solid foods. Last week we covered the baby cereal and last night we moved on to carrots. Everyone has told me that babies don't like veggies at first and not to expect her to eat much. Not our kid! She was an absolute champ and took out half a jar plus oatmeal! Here's a little peak of how the meal ended... A little messy but well worth it. Hope you all are enjoying your holiday season so far, I know we are!

Blessed

This statement could not be any more true. I am so ridiculously thankful for the amazing man that I married and the absolutely incredible father that he is to our daughter.

Oh, December...

Well, it's official... my favorite month is here! Our home is filling up with all sorts of winter-ness. At least on the inside, outside of course it is still 80 degrees and extremely muggy (has me dreaming of 10 above, snow and ice).
We've got our Christmas tree up, the lights are out and Madelyn's got her Santa hat on! It's just fun all around :)

This month is busy busy busy for the Marshalls! Joe is finishing up his college courses this week and will be back to work next week. Unfortunatly that means much longer hours than those that we've been lucky enough to have lately... On the up side however, in less than three weeks we will be on our way to Wyoming to see our whole family. Joe and I are in severe need of some family time and it will be Madelyn's first time meeting all of her aunts, uncles and cousins on Joe's side. We can't wait to be back around the people we love!

While we're waiting to leave we'll be filling our time with lots of cuddles, Christmas songs and enjoying this last week with all our Daddy time!

Another awesome bit of news: Madelyn has finally graduated from the kitchen sink to the big girl tub! Last night was the first night we tried it out and she LOVED it! You can see in the photos that it was definitely a hit.

This little ham is loving all the pictures we've been taking with the new camera! I'm thinking that someday I might get tired of snapping shots of my little princess... No, no nevermind, that is never going to happen :)
I hope you are all enjoying this beautiful month as much as we are here!
Sending all our love,
Joey, Amanda and Madelyn Marshall

Everyday...

Every. Single. Day. That is how often I am reminded of how blessed I truly am. When I woke up this morning and rolled over to my beautiful baby girl smiling at me I couldn't help but think over and over again how lucky I really am.

I will never get tired of this sight. My amazing man snuggled up with our little princess. Absolutely precious.
Just taking a minute to show off my beautiful family :) I am one lucky momma!

Happy (Madelyn's First) Thanksgiving!!

HAPPY TURKEY DAY!!!!
I hope that you all enjoyed some massive amounts of food and are having difficulties getting off of the couch right now. We are just now recovering from our turkey comas.
Although we weren't around any of our extended family this year, Joe, Madelyn and I enjoyed a very relaxing and happy day in our home and with our friends. We were lucky enough to be invited to our friends Rashelle and Cody's house for dinner and it was delicous! Maddy is still too young to enjoy her very own turkey dinner but she seemed pretty happy with milk as a substitute :)

There are so many things that I am thankful for, I could probably go on for days. But, since no one wants to read for that long I'll just highlight. I am thankful for:

1. For the United States Armed Forces and that my amazing husband is part of such an honorable group of men and women.
2. For phone and internet allowing me to stay in touch with those I love across the country.
3. For the amazing friends we've made out here in Hawaii, there is no way I could have made it through this last deployment without you all!
4. For my parents, thank you for raising me the way that you did and teaching me right from wrong. I feel that there needs to be more parents like this these days.
5. For my puppy dogs, they light up my day with their silly antics. I don't know what we'd do without them
6. For living in a land where I am free to practice religion and praise my God any time and way that I choose. So many are not so lucky.
7. For the amazing family that I married in to. The Marshalls are some of the most caring, fun and down-right good people that I have ever had the pleasure of meeting and am SO blessed to call them family.
8. For the opportunity to live in the beautiful state of Hawaii. It's just plain incredible.
9. For the absolutely incredible man that I get to call mine. He is my rock, my best friend and I honestly don't know what I would do without him. He suprises me daily with how great he is with our daughter and for this I can't thank him enough.
10. Last but not least, I am so ridiculously thankful for my beautiful, amazing, funny, charismatic, smart little Madelyn Grace. She is my entire world and I don't know how I ever felt complete before she blessed our lives. She truly is the love of my life :)

It's been a great day and my bed is calling my name. I am hoping that you all are enjoying the holidays as much as we are around here!
 With all our love,
The Marshall Family

Realizations

1. A baby's initial scared/startled face is absolutely hilarious. Until they start crying.
2. Macaronni and Cheese is WAY better when it's cold.
3. Cold weather somehow makes this home cozier. (Mainly because we get to drink tea and cuddle)
4. Being far away from family is hard. End of story.
5. The aging process is unavoidable and in some instances extremely sad.
6. Cancer sucks.
7. Prayer is soothing.

I feel like today was SO full. My mind hasn't stopped running since I woke up and yet I am sitting in front of the computer typing away. I'm attempting to use writing as a form of therapy. We shall see if it works!

It was a very gloomy day on our side of the island but the clouds were a welcome change from the norm of 80 degrees. Yes, I consider myself lucky to live in Hawaii, but NO I will not deny that I miss crisp, 10 degree mornings in Alaska. Today gave us a chance to bundle up a little bit and head to the movie theater for Madelyn's first visit to the big screen. Hence the scared/startled face (number 1). Priceless! But she did wonderfully, no tears and Mommy and Daddy got to enjoy the first movie since before she was born.
The cold weather of course called for some comfort food: Mac N Cheese...which I have discovered since entering mommy-hood is much more delicious cold than hot (this is usually the way I get to eat it these days anyways) and some hot tea :).
I am a firm believer that the good Lord fully prepares us for all that he sends our way. Today was my preparation for some startling news this evening (refer to numbers 4-6).
The immediate future will be filled with much love, prayer and faith that our Father in Heaven has a plan. Sometimes that's all there is left.

So although today had it's up and downs, I am ridiculously grateful for the beautiful life I have been blessed with. And as I lay down to sleep tonight I will thank the Lord for this little piece of heaven that reminds me of that daily.

Sending all our love,
Joey, Amanda and Madelyn Marshall

5 Months!

Our little munchkin is now 5 months old! She is smiling, laughing, grabbing for her feet and sticking just about everything she can get her hands on right into her mouth. I'm a little scared that teathing has begun...
Miss Madelyn is growing like crazy! Those cheeks of hers just kill me. As a momma it's a little bittersweet to see her getting so big; she's not as content just cuddling with me anymore and I sure do miss it! Here's that cute picture we get every month. Teddy Bear sure is getting smaller...

Enjoy!

Picture time!

This last week was pretty slow around the Marshall house, and I have to say its been a nice change of speed. Joe is in school right now so we're getting to see a lot more of him during the day. And he's home by 2pm every single day, it's been amazing :)
We don't have a whole lot of news right now but I do have some adorable pictures to show off! So here ya go...


Although she isn't a huge fan of her carseat, she just looked too cute to not snap a quick picture





Ready to head to mass with mommy!





Tummy time on her boppy is now one of our favorite pastimes!





Early morning all snuggled into bed with mommy.


And of course Oakley had to hang out with her for a while...
So nothing too exciting... But at least there were pictures!
Until next time!
With all our love,
The Marshall's

The Color Run

SO. MUCH. FUN!!

 This Saturday we got away for a few hours for our first 5k of the year with our friends Shannon and Taylor: The Color Run. Seriously a blast!

 Although we missed our little girl for the few hours we were gone, I am very happy that we didn't bring her, she would have been a mess. I don't see the strollers that were there recovering from the color anytime soon...

 The color was pretty hard to get off, but it was well worth it! Definitely doing this again someday :)

Madelyn's first Halloween!

Having a child seriously makes Halloween a million times better! I think I have decided to make my kids' costumes every year if its at all possible. I had such a fun time putting together Maddy's little get up.
Pumpkin carving on the other hand I feel will be much easier once our children are older... Juggling a baby, pumpkin guts and carving instruments was quite a handful. Luckily Joe was able to be home to enjoy the holiday with us. It's so nice to be together as a family :)
Here are some photos of the grand event!





















Our little love bug was happy the entire night... Until bed time, that was a different story. But all in all I would call tonight a success!
Until next time, all our love!
The Marshall's

Growing, growing, growing!!

I know I say this a lot but man, am I amazed by this little human! The rate that she learns and discovers new things is seriously incredible. We had our little one's four month checkup this last Friday and were happy to hear that she is still growing perfectly! At 10 lb. 4oz. Maddy is growing right along with her growth curve :)
This week is going to be pretty fun around the Marshall house. We've got pumpkin carving, finishing up miss Madelyn's Halloween costume, a mommy/daddy date day on Saturday morning and then Halloween next Wednesday!! Unfortunately Daddy is going to be away working so it looks like this holiday is going to be a mommy/Maddy date :)
That's about all we've had going on the past few days... But of course there are pictures!


Madelyn loves cuddling with Oakley


Although she isn't a huge fan of tummy time... She would rather sleep


Quality time with Daddy in her crib


And there's always time for snuggles





Family beach night


Love this man :)





And love those cheeks!


The pups were loving time in the water!


New sleeping position?


And of course one of my favorites :) Madelyn got some leg warmers last night!
We hope you enjoy the photos!
All our love,
The Marshall's
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Four Perfect Months!

Our little girl is four months old today!! It's been such an incredible ride and I can't express how much we love being parents :) Here is our monthly teddy bear photo:

Now I'm off to spend my 22nd birthday with my beautiful family!

Sweetness...

There is just something about watching my husband and daughter together... I don't know that I will ever get tired of it. Lately I have been hearing a lot of, "Babe! Stop taking pictures!". But I just can't help it :) The two of them together are just so darn sweet.

Now is also a great time to show off a few of our beautiful homecoming photos! (Credit to Brenda Van Photos for capturing such an incredible day)

Waiting for Daddy to show up on the busses!

There he is!

One of the happiest moments of my life :)

One of my favorite pictures out of the lot.

Well there is little peak into all the sweetness going on around here these days! I'm a very blessed Momma :)

Sending our love!

The Marshall Family