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