The Marsh Family Blog

Happy Valentine's Day

2012-02-12T14:58:00.007-05:00

Friday, we were invited to Valentine's Day Party at a friend's house. We took heart shaped cheese and crackers to share at snack time.

And we took these homemade Valentines to give to our friends. I saw this idea on Pinterest.com. You can see how we made them at the following blog: http://happiestmomontheblog.blogspot.com/2012/02/make-your-own-valentines-melted-heart.html

Tomorrow, Lillie has her Valentine's Party at school and she is taking more of her homemade valentines. A few weeks ago, I went to a Mom's night out with our playgroup moms. We painted our own pottery. This is the finish candy dish that I made.

Lillie and Sophie visit the ER for the first time

2012-01-28T19:16:00.007-05:00

Lillie was dancing around the Living Room last night and fell on the edge of the coffee table. I took her to the ER, but the cut was too close to her eye for stitches. She also has a bruise across her nose and eyebrow. She is the third kid in her class to have a cut by their eye.

Update: I took a second trip to the ER with Sophie the next night. She has Pneumonia.

Hop, Hop

2012-01-26T17:18:00.005-05:00

Today, We went to the Knee-high Naturalists program at the Binder Park Zoo. First, Lillie and Sophie got to see the larger Giraffe made of Legos. Sophie was scared at first, until we showed her that it was made of blocks.

Today's Knee-high Naturalist's topic was on bunnies. There was a craft activity making a storybook on Bunnies, an information session, a Nature walk, and of course a chance to pet 2 bunnies. The first one was named "potter" from Beatrice Potter. He was a lop bunny.

The next one was a Norwegian Rabbit and his name was Winston. Sophie was hesitant to pet Winston, but I think it was because he was so big. She eventually petted him, but she was more interested in some of the puppets that the zoo had to play with. Sophie identifies bunnies by calling them "hop, hop."

New Year

2012-01-19T19:43:00.004-05:00

It has been a busy start to the new year. Lillie went back to school, dance and swim lessons. We have had a lot of playdates, since it is too cold to go outside and play. We even started both of the storytimes this week too. A couple of weeks ago, we went to the Kingman Museum and Planetarium in Battle Creek. We enjoyed the planetarium show, seeing different rocks, fossils, and bones. We even saw dinosaur bones, an albino deer, and musk ox.
Sophie can say over 30 words. Most I can only understand. She has started to sing along to songs and say 3 word sentences. For example: "I got it." The other night, Brian was sick and went to bed early. He gave Lillie and Sophie a hug from our bed and I got the girls into bed. After I tucked Sophie in and came downstairs, She yelled, "I Want Dad!" She wanted Brian to also tuck her into bed.

Merry Christmas

2011-12-29T11:54:00.000-05:00

Lillie and Sophie on Christmas eve in their new jammies.

This year we added a new Christmas tradition. Jack, our elf on the shelf, came to watch over Lillie and Sophie. Every night, he would fly back to the north pole to report to Santa if they were good or bad that day. Each Morning, Jack would appear in a new location. This morning he was having a tea party with Snuggles and Cuddles. Other mornings, we found him fishing for goldfish crackers in the toilet, zip lining into the living room, turning the milk green, or finding Christmas movies to watch or books to read. On Christmas eve, Jack caught a ride back to the north pole on Santa's sleigh. We won't see him until the next Christmas season.

Lillie and her classmates sang a few songs to the parents at the end of their Christmas party.

And then there is Sophie. She is only 22 months old, but in her short life has dealt with acid reflux, ear infections, and strep throat infections. Three days before Christmas she had her tonsils and adenoids removed. She has had a cold for the past 3 weeks, but the Doctors were not overly worried. But as a result of the anesthesia with the cold, she developed strider which is like croup. She had to stay in the hospital overnight and have 3 breathing treatments. She is doing better now. She is really fussy and she gets to watch a lot of "Blue's Clues," her favorite TV program. During this episode of Blue's Clues, Steve and the animated dog Blue were playing make believe with a box. She pushed an empty box by the front door into the living room, and crawled in it.

She is starting to say a few more words and phrases. She can even identify the letter "S" on the refrigerator.

Christmas Nativity

2011-12-11T22:08:00.000-05:00

Tonight, Lillie was in the Church Nativity play. She was a lamb with her friend, Katie. Lillie and Katie were in the stable with Mary, Joseph and baby Jesus. The girls were captivated by the real, live baby that was being held by Mary.

Almost the entire cast is in this picture. Lillie is under the angel's wing on the left. It was a great play and we can't wait for it next year.

Visit from Grandma and Grandpa

2011-12-10T16:44:00.000-05:00

Grandpa and Grandma came to visit last week. We went to the Air Zoo. An indoor Air and Space museum with lots of airplanes and space items. It even has small rides and simulators. Lillie was tall enough to ride some of the rides by herself and Brian went upside down in the flight simulators.
On Wednesday, Lillie had a snow day from school. Grandpa and Lillie made a snowman and went sledding. They also went to the wassaling with us on Thursday. (see previous post) On Friday, we went to the MSU Dairy farm where the cows are milked by robots. We also went to the MSU bird sanctuary to feed the birds. Some of the swans ate from our hands.

Saturday, we went a restaurant with a bull ride. Grandpa didn't want to ride, but Lillie went for a short ride. It just spun around slowly.

Lillie and Sophie got to open a few Christmas gifts from Grandma and Grandpa too.

Wassaling 2011

2011-12-10T15:45:00.000-05:00

Richland area businesses host a wassaling event. First, we went to visit Santa. As you can tell, Sophie was not happy, but Lillie enjoyed telling Santa their wish list. Then we went to Library to listen to the high school band and choir.

After listening to the band and choir, we went to see the real, live reindeer. They were about the size of a pony and they had really long antlers.

Beth, Sophie and Lillie by the reindeer.

Last, we went to visit Lillie's Preschool, Jack and Jill. Lillie and Sophie got to make an anteler hat, by using their hands as a pattern. Lillie is pictured with her teacher, Mrs. Hoard.

A quick trip to Chicago

2011-11-20T23:01:00.001-05:00

Brian worked in Chicago last week. At the end of the week, we joined him to visit some of the girls' favorite places. First, we went to the American Girl Store. Lillie took her doll, Julie, with us to the store.Lillie is wearing her new American Girl sweatshirt in the historical girl section of the store. (side note: Lillie and I have read all of the "Julie" series and "Julie" mystery series. She wants to read the Molly ones next. Julie's story is from the 1970's and Molly's story is from the 1940's.)

Next, we ate at the American Girl Cafe, where we discovered that Sophie likes to cross her arms like Brian.

After lunch, we did some shopping at the American Girl Store and the Disney Store. Next, we went back to our hotel room for some rest and nap time.

For dinner, We took a cab (per Lillie's request) to eat at the Rainforest cafe. When we walked in, there was a robotic snake hanging from the ceiling. Brian suggested that Lillie pet it and she started screaming. The rainforest cafe had a lot of salt water aquariums and robotic animals. Their mascot, the red-eyed tree frog, even came around to see the kids. Sophie still does not like full sized characters. She kept an eye on him the entire time she was eating.

It was not hard to get a good smile out of Lillie that day. The next day we stopped at the outlet mall on our way home.

Little Swimmers and Cupcake makers

2011-11-11T21:37:00.001-05:00

Last week, Lillie and Sophie started swim lessons. First, Brian and Sophie had their class. Sophie loved playing in the water.
Then Lillie had her lesson. She is pictured her kicking with the other kids in the water.

Monday, Lillie and Sophie helped me make cupcakes. Lillie learned how to crack eggs by herself.

And of course, we had to try the cupcakes. This is the first time that Sophie has had cake since her birthday. She loved every bite.

Happy Halloween!

2011-11-01T19:39:00.000-04:00

On Sunday, we carved the girls' pumpkins. I transferred the pattern to the pumpkins with a pumpkin knife and Brian cleaned up the designs with his Dremel tool. Sophie picked out the Blues Clues pattern and Lillie picked out Rapunzel.
This month has been a busy month for Halloween festivities. We celebrated Halloween at a playgroup Halloween party, at Zoo Boo, at the library story time, Preschool and trick or treating last night in our neighborhood. Lille dressed up as Rapunzel and Sophie dressed up as Minnie Mouse.

Pumpkin Patch, Baby Gates and M&M's

2011-10-16T21:24:00.000-04:00

Last weekend was busy. Gull Lake High School had their homecoming parade in Richland. We went to see the floats, band, and football players. They threw out candy and Sophie got to try her first sucker.
After visiting Gull Meadow farms with Lillie's Preschool class, we had to go back to pick out our pumpkins with Brian. Lillie and Sophie rode the apple train, bounced on the inflatable pillows, and went down the slides.
It was such a nice day, that we wore shorts to the pumpkin patch.

The next day, Lillie was invited to a birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese. She had a great time playing the games with some of her preschool friends.

Lillie has learned how to count to 100, by tens and Sophie has learned how to open the baby gates. We left them up, so we can hear her go upstairs to play in the playroom. Sophie also went poopy on the potty chair last night. She got 3 M&M's. We now keep the M&M's in linen closet.

MSU - Kellogg Biological Station and School field trip

2011-10-03T21:17:00.001-04:00

We have been enjoying the fall weather here in Michigan.
The Kellogg family was very charitable. When Mr Kellogg died he left some of his land to the Michigan State University. MSU does a lot of research at the Kellogg Biological Station (KBS) near us. It features, the Kellogg Manor, Bird Sanctuary, Research facilities and a Dairy Farm.
Two weeks ago, we went to a playgroup activity at the Dairy farm. The cows are milked by robotic machines. Each cow has an collar with an electronic identification chip. The computer knows exactly when the last time the cow was milked, how much the cow produced, and how much it weighed. If you come to visit, this is definitely a place we need to take you. The girls loved it and could have watched the cows being milked for hours.
Yesterday, KBS hosted an open house event. The Manor house, Bird Sanctuary, Dairy farm and Research buildings had special events and tours. Our first stop was the Manor house. I have never been there, but Brian has for several meetings and dinners. It is a big Tudor home and they offer tours and special events through out the year. Next, we went to the Dairy Farm to show Brian the milking process. We even got to see two 1 week old calves. After the Dairy Farm we went to one of the research facilities to learn about carbon footprints, living soil, and small creatures in the water. Last, we went to the Bird Sanctuary. We have a membership and we have visited many times, but we still love to visit. We like to feed the birds. Brian is hand feeding a trumpeter swan in the photo below. We saw ducks, geese, swans, hawks, owls, and pheasant. They also had face painting, information and learning tables. The bird sanctuary is also another place we need to take you when you come to visit.
Today, Lillie had her Jack and Jill Preschool field trip to Gull Meadow Farms. We started with a hay rack ride to apple orchard to pick apples. We got to eat an apple on the ride back. Then we got an apple doughnut and apple cider while they talked about pumpkins. Next, the kids identified the different plants in one of the greenhouses. Corn, Cotton, Peanuts, beans, peas, etc. Then the kids were able to slide down the big slides and pick out their own pumpkin to take home with them. Not bad for $5 a person.

Lillie is pictured in the photo below with her teacher, Mrs. Hoard, and her classmates.

Swinging into fall

2011-09-14T21:44:00.000-04:00

We haven't had a chance to write a new update, because the last month has been a busy one. We went to Omaha to visit family a few weeks ago. Lillie and Brian went to the zoo with Cousin Brenden, Aunt Amy, Nana, Grandma and Grandpa Marsh. (Beth stayed home with Sophie because she was sick.) Lillie loved the zoo including the polar bears and petting zoo. Brian wore a red shirt and the butterflies were attracted to him in the butterfly exhibit.
Lillie started Soccer. Every Saturday, she has a 1/2 hour practice followed by a 1/2 hour game. There are 6 girls on her team and they are called the Princesses. The team didn't have their uniforms for their first game, but Lillie is wearing pink shorts in this picture.

Monday, was "meet the teacher" day at preschool. Lillie is with her teacher Mrs. Hoard in this photo. Lillie got to meet her new and old classmates too.

Last week, Lillie started her combination dance/gymnastics class for the second year. She does a great job at skipping.

Yesterday, we went outside and I worked with Lillie on "how to swing" again. She can now swing without us giving her a push. She is so proud and she can swing for 20 minutes on her own. This made me realize how big she is getting and doesn't need us as much. I really hated to push her on the swing, but I miss it already. They grow faster every single day.

Sophie is cutting her 16th tooth and she is continuing to explore her world. "Wednesday Wigglers" storytime started back up today, because they didn't offer this storytime in the summer. Sophie did so good. She sat down on the carpet, next to Lillie and the other kids, to listen to the stories, rhymes and songs. She even clapped along.

Sophie is 18 months old

2011-08-26T13:39:00.000-04:00

Sophie turned 18 months old yesterday. In the past few months, she has learned to walk, learned to dance, had 2 more teeth come through, had strep throat for a second time, and explored along side her sister. She still has no fear. Yesterday, I was making dinner and when I turned around Sophie was sitting ON the kitchen table. She was so proud that she climbed up on top of the table.

Her vocabulary is expanding too. She understands so much when you talk to her. She has learned to call for "Ma,Ma," "Da,Da," "Lillie," and "Mitties." She even learned to say "Oh, Oh," (her version of "uh, oh," when she drops something.

The past 18 months have been fun, exciting, and exhausting experience and I can't wait to see what happens in the next 18 months.

Playgroup - Parent's as teachers event at a farm

2011-08-12T22:11:00.000-04:00

Our Playgroup started a "Parent's as Teachers" playgroup event. Our first event was at a farm. We had been there before and Lillie couldn't wait to go back. This time, Sophie was able to feed the chickens too.
We got to pet the chickens. Lillie is petting the chicken in this picture.

After feeding and petting the chickens, the kids got to pick the eggs. Lillie asked if there were any green eggs. (Yes, green eggs.) They call them Araucanas or Easter Egg Chickens, because they lay eggs with a blue-green shell. In this photo, the parent hosting the event just lifted Lillie up to pick a green egg out of the top roost. The light green egg is in her hand.

After Lillie picked a dozen eggs, she jumped in the toddler trampoline.

This week, we also went to a summer Library event featuring the bubble man. Both Lillie and Sophie enjoyed watching him make bubbles.

Lillie has also been busy attending birthday parties. She went to 2 birthday parties in the past 2 weeks and she has 2 more birthday parties next week.

We finally have a pumpkin growing in our garden. It is about the size of the lemon. We also have a 2 more that are each about the size of a grape.

Kite and Bite

2011-08-12T15:27:00.001-04:00

We don't get a lot of wind in Michigan, but the other day we did. Lillie noticed the wind and asked Brian to help her fly a kite.
They tried several times to get the kite in the air.

And they did get the kite in the air a few times. Until the wind died down.

This is one of my favorite pictures of Lillie running with the kite string.

Lillie had a great time, but the next morning she woke up with 2 goose eggs on her head. She had a bad reaction to a mosquito bite. One the size of a nickle and the other the size of a quarter. Benadryl and hyrocortisone helped bring the swelling down. The quarter size one is in this picture and the nickle size one was under the edge of my hand. We found the smaller one a few hours later.

Camping

2011-08-05T22:18:00.001-04:00

Tonight, is the first night that Lillie and I will not be sleeping in the same house. Why? Brian and Lillie are having a camp out in the backyard tonight. Brian and Lillie set up their tent near the fire pit in the backyard.
We all had to have smores.

Then it was time for Brian and Lillie to lay down and go to sleep. They have been out there for an hour, so maybe they fell asleep.

Update: They came in the house to sleep in their own beds at 12:20 a.m. The motion lights, crickets, locust and frogs were keeping them awake.

Kalamazoo Valley Museum - better than Chuck E. Cheese's

2011-08-04T22:37:00.000-04:00

Yesterday, Lillie Sophie and I met our playgroup at the Kalamazoo Valley Museum. It is a free Children's museum, so, you only have to pay for the parking downtown. Yesterday, they had a "hands on" event featuring Curious George. There were 10 tables set up with different craft activities. Lillie and Sophie had a great time. We were there for 3 hours. They did a lot. Here are a few pictures to show you just a few of the things that they did. They played in the "preschool" area.
Lillie played a bango.

They played in the learning area. In this photo, Lillie is linking washers attached to the magnet.

Sophie's favorite thing (see photo below) was dropping the balls in at the top of the box and watching then roll down to the bottom.

Lillie had such a great time that she said, "It was better than Chuck E. Cheese's."

Soccer Camp and Bunny Love

2011-07-17T16:00:00.000-04:00

Lillie had soccer camp last week. She had a great time and can't wait to play again this fall. She liked learning how to play soccer and socializing with the kids. After just a few days, Brian noticed how her soccer skills had improved.

Lillie is pictured here on the last day of soccer camp, with her soccer camp shirt and soccer ball.

Sophie has fallen in love with a bunny. So much so, we had to go buy a "back up" bunny last week. She sleeps with it at nap time and at night.

Here is Sophie with both of her bunnies.

Busy Summer

2011-07-05T15:53:00.001-04:00

It has been almost 2 weeks since we posted an update, but we have been very busy. Two weeks ago, we went to a puppet show at the Library and the girls loved it.

We went to a baby birds event at the Kellogg Bird Sanctuary. We saw baby geese and swans. Lillie even made her own bird nest and baby bird.

Later that week, we went to the fish hatchery for a play date and we saw lots of fish, frogs and turtles.

Last week, Lillie went to Vacation Bible School for the first time. She learned about saints, sang songs and made lots of crafts like this one.

Brian and Lillie went fishing and she caught 2 fish with her Dora fishing pole. Lillie was the only one on the dock that caught a fish. She almost caught a turtle, but Dad did some fast maneuvering to avoid it. Lillie said, "she wants to go fishing everyday." I told her "you can only do that if you are retired." She responded, "But I am tired everyday." This past weekend we went to the Battle Creek Air Show and Balloon festival. We saw the Blue Angels and after the air show we rode a few rides at the carnival. We stayed for the balloon festival. But only one balloon flew, because it was too windy for the balloons to fly. We watched a night time air show featuring planes with fireworks on them. Sophie was so exhausted from the day of fun that she fell asleep during the fireworks show.

On the 4th of July, we were all in the Richland Parade. The Jack and Jill Preschool had a float advertising the school. Lillie rode on the float with some of the other kids from Jack and Jill. Sophie rode in her push car, while Beth passed out information cards and Brian passed out candy.

A few weeks ago, we had a playdate at one of the other's family's farm. Lillie got to pick eggs from the chicken coop. She can't wait to have another playdate there, so she can pick eggs again. Overall, Lillie has had a great start to her summer and we hear her say, "this is the best day ever" a lot.

Sophie has been enjoying her summer too. She picks out the can of cat food for Mitties to eat. She is funny. She has learned to say "AH" after taking a drink.

Well, we better go to bed. We have another busy day tomorrow with a visit to the park with other Jack and Jill preschool friends, a craft class at the library and possibly another event at the bird sanctuary.

Bouncing into Summer

2011-06-23T22:03:00.000-04:00

Last week, Lillie attended a "Bounce into Summer" Gymnastics camp. The session was 2 hours a day for 4 days. She did several gymnastics activities on the bar, trampoline, and balance beam.
On the last day they even jumped inside a huge bounce castle with slide. They did activities with hula hoops.
Practiced on a foam beam.

Climbed the rockwall.

Jumped into the foam pit in the big gym.

Butterflies!!!

2011-06-15T21:55:00.001-04:00

When bought a butterfly hatching kit last month. Lillie watched the caterpillars change into Cocoons.
And we transferred the cocoons to the habitat.

And waited a week for them to hatch. A Butterfly emerged each day. The first day, the one on the right emerged. The second day, the one on the floor of the habitat emerged. On the third day, the one in the middle had just emerged from it's cocoon.

Last night, after gymnastics (Lillie is wearing her leotard) we released the butterflies.

Lillie got to hold each butterfly in her hand, before they flew off.

Lillie's Dance Recital

2011-06-13T22:18:00.000-04:00

This past Saturday was Lillie's dance recital. She danced with her class and with all of the girls at the finale. She had a great time and did a great job. We were so proud of her. After, she chose to eat at Chili's. In Lillie's words "It was the best day ever!"
Lillie with a picture of her classmates.

Party in the Park

2011-06-02T22:17:00.000-04:00

Yesterday, was the Kalamazoo Library's "party in the park" event. The kids got a snack, drink box and a free book. Our group of kids found a spot and several volunteer readers came to our spot to read books to the kids. The Very Hungry Caterpillar read to them:

Sophie also enjoyed the stories and animal crackers.Lillie and Sophie eating crackers while listening to the story.

A banana read them a book:

The man in the yellow hat read them a story. Lillie is pictured with her Jack and Jill friends in this photo. The 4 year old Jack and Jill classes' mascot is Curious George.

They also had a chicken, a frog, a pizza man, the Kalamazoo Sheriff, and many city leaders read them books. They also got to meet Clifford the big red dog.

Lillie's last day of 3's Preschool and Sophie is 15 months old

2011-05-29T22:10:00.001-04:00

Tuesday, was Lillie's Preschool field trip to the barn at the Kalamazoo Nature Center. Here is a picture of Lillie with her friends and Preschool teacher, Mrs. Hoard. They learned where items from the grocery store came from. Milk, eggs, corn chips, etc. They also got to see and pet a horse, sheep, goats, calf, and baby chicks. After seeing the animals, they went on a wagon ride through the farm area.
Thursday, was Lillie's last day of 3's Preschool. I was fine until Mrs. Hoard started to cry. She was a great teacher and we couldn't have asked for a better teacher or first year of preschool for Lillie. We can't wait until she can go back in the fall. Many of her friends in this year's class will also be in her class next year.
Today, we went to the grocery store and Brian took Lillie and Sophie to the horse ride, while I checked out the groceries. Brian asked Lillie "how many times have you riden this horse." (At least once a week. It is only a penny to ride.) Lillie responded, "enough to get to Florida."

Sophie turned 15 months last week. Every birthday month, I take her picture with a little lamb to show how much she has grown each time. This time it was very hard to get her to sit still. It eventually turned into a game of us throwing the lamb back and forth. It snapped the picture below, right before she was going to throw it at me.
Sophie found her belly button yesterday. It was cute to see her look down at her belly inquisitively. She isn't walking, but she is taking a 2-3 steps, if we trick her.
She could walk, if she just had a little more confidence. She has been slower with walking, because her acid reflux causes her to arch her back and she has been sick for the past 8 months with colds, ear infections and strep throat.
Last week, when I was getting Sophie ready for church, she picked out a purple dress that she wore for her 1 year old photos. After picking it out, she pointed to the pictures of her in the dress with the bunny on her bedroom wall. She knew that it was the dress that she wore when she had her pictures taken with the bunny.
Sophie can say about 5 words. Today, I heard her say "fishy" when we were getting groceries today at Meijer's. (They have fish in their pet department.) I wasn't planning on stopping to look at the fish, but since this was the first time that she said "fishy," we stopped to look. She can also sign about 5 words.

bunny dress

Tea Party and Lillie Reads a Book!

2011-05-17T21:01:00.000-04:00

Today, Lillie went to a birthday "Tea" party. The birthday girl, CiCi (in the middle), is in Lillie's dance class. The girl next to Lillie and across from Lillie are also in her dance class. The girls dressed up, had little sandwiches and apple juice for tea. The girls had a great time and so did the moms.

This weekend, Lillie picked out a book at bedtime to read to Brian. She did a great job reading it and only needed help with a couple of words. I have not read "Sleepy Dog" to her in over a year, so I know that she did not memorize it. She read it. Here is a link to the video of her reading it.

http://themarshsphotos.shutterfly.com/pictures/3194

Happy Mother's Day

2011-05-10T21:41:00.000-04:00

Sophie was sick for Mother's day, but she is starting to feel better and eat more.

Today, Lillie had a Mother's Day tea at school. Her teacher, Mrs. Hoard told the kids, "to bring a special lady." Lillie told me that she didn't have a "Special Lady." I guess that Moms aren't "ladies."
Our schedule is getting busier with playdates and activities. She only has 3 weeks of preschool and 4 weeks of dance left this school year. But our summer is going to be busy. Lillie is really interested in Soccer, so we signed her up for soccer this summer and fall. She is also looking forward to a gymnastics class/camp in June.

Happy Easter!

2011-04-24T22:08:00.000-04:00

We had a great Easter Sunday. Sophie is teething, so we were awake and ready to go to early mass today. The girls loved the goodies that the Easter Bunny left in their baskets.
Lillie has been making up her own songs. The most memorable ones is "Easter eggs, Easter eggs, Easter eggs" to the tune of "Jingle bells."

No, she isn't sleeping.

2011-04-17T21:42:00.000-04:00

No, Sophie did not fall asleep on the floor. She is throwing a temper tantrum. If we tell her "no", she starts to cry and lays down on the floor. She is testing us and trying to control her feeding too. She is refusing to eat baby food and wants to feed herself. Her favorite food is Cheese or "chee" as Sophie says it. Sophie is pushing a shopping cart around the house and last week, she stopped at the refrigerator picked out a couple of magnets and dropped them into the shopping cart. Last week, Lillie's Preschool teacher asked her, "Where did you go on vacation?" Lillie replied, "I went to visit a few of my Disney friends." Later, that afternoon Lillie was playing in her room. I noticed that it was quite and she didn't answer my calls. She had crawled into her bed and fell asleep. She woke up a couple of hours later with a fever. We knew that something was up, because she has never crawled into her bed without us telling her that it was time for bed. She has not taken a nap in her bed in almost 2 years. Lillie colored the following gecko at the Library on Friday. It took her over 20 minutes to color it in, because it was the first project that she stayed inside the lines on. She also cut out the tail and glued it on by herself.

Mickey and Shamu

2011-04-10T21:54:00.000-04:00

It was very difficult to choose a picture for our week in Florida. We took a lot of pictures and made a lot of memories with the girls. Lillie met almost every character at Disney world. Sophie was entranced by the characters, but she did not like the characters in the full costume. They scared her. When we visited the Castle Couture shop (Princess shop), Lillie had Pixie dust sprinkled on her. Brian said "You have fairy dust in your hair." Lillie responed, "it's pixie dust, not fairy dust." Another memory that we will not forget was when we watched Lillie dancing to the music during the fireworks show. Lillie still chants "Shamu, Shamu" like they did at the Shamu show at Sea World.

Strike! Well, almost

2011-03-27T22:10:00.001-04:00

Lillie went to a bowling birthday party yesterday and she had a lot of fun. She carried her ball up to the line and pushed it down the lane everytime. After, we went out for Chinese food and the fortune in her cookie read: "There is a prospect of a thrilling time ahead for you."

Lillie can count to 100 and she is starting to learn to spell. The other night, I was talking with Brian and I spelled out "M-I-L-K". Lillie yelled out "Milk."

They grow up everyday.

2011-03-25T21:16:00.000-04:00

Yesterday, I worked at Lillie's school and when I came home Sophie was drinking out of her sippy cup by herself. I forgot to tell the babysitter that she needed help, but she must have just handed the sippy cup to Sophie and she knew what to do. This is my favorite photo of her chugging her milk.

The Girls love the tent and tunnel that they got from Aunt Amy and Brenden.

Sophie also loves getting a hold of Lillie's colorwonder markers. They only write on special paper and I think that she does a great job at holding the marker. She is also doing a great job at carefully turning the paper pages of the books, without ripping them.

Tomorrow, Lillie is going to a bowling birthday party for one of her good friends, Camille. She has not bowled before, so it should be interesting to see how Lillie is going to get the ball down the lane. I know that she will have fun.

The other day, Lillie asked me how to spell "Mulan", so she could spell the word with the refrigerator magnets. I started to spell it "Mulan" for her and then she ran into the living room. She came back to the kitchen with her Disney Princess book. She opened it up to the table of contents, which also had photos next to the chapter list. She found "Mulan", and then lined up the magnets to spell it on the refrigerator. This was the first time that she used a book to look up the spelling of a word.

Questions for Lillie

2011-03-18T21:26:00.000-04:00

Here is another photo from Lillie's birthday party. She was so excited to blow out the candles that she didn't wait until we finished singing to blow out the first candle.
I was reading a friend's blog and she asked her daughter (also lillie's age) some of these questions. So I asked Lillie and here are her answers:
Favorite color: Pink, blue and green
Favorite thing to eat: cheese (she likes to peel the plastic off the singles. I think that she likes yogurt more, because she eats more of it.)
Favorite thing to do: Play outside with the sidewalk chalk
Favorite place to go: Build-a-bear store
Were do you want to go someday: Florida to see the Princesses
Favorite toy: Moon dough
What do you want to be when you grow up: a dentist
Who is your best friend: Lillyanna
Favorite stuffed animal: cuddles and snuggles (Pink bear and panda from build-a-bear store)
Favorite animal: giraffes
Favorite song: "friends, friends, 1...2...3..., all my friends are here with me."
Favorite thing to wear: Twinkle toe tennis shoes
What part of school do you like the best: playing with the other kids
Favorite book: American Girl catalog and Dora's sleepover
Favorite show to watch: Bubble Guppies
Favorite thing to do with Daddy: play with the trains
Favorite thing to do with Mommy: Make cookies

Conversation on the way home from preschool yesterday.
Lillie: "Today, the boys were pirates and the girls were princesses."
Beth: "What letter does 'Pirates' start with?"
Lillie: "R"
Beth: "That is what they say. What letter of the alphabet does 'Pirates' start with?"
Lillie: "P"

Happy Birthday Lillie!

2011-03-16T22:07:00.001-04:00

Lillie had a great birthday party. Seven of Lillie's friends came to celebrate her birthday at our house. Thank you to everyone that sent or brought gifts. She loves them. Grandma and Grandpa came this past week to also celebrate Lillie's birthday.
On her birthday, we celebrated by taking her to Applebees. She asked if they were going to sing to her. They did and she enjoyed her ice cream sundae.
The funniest birthday memory was when Lillie threw her pj's, that she wore the previous night, into the hallway and "exclaimed these are 3T. They are too small." No, she didn't grow overnight, she just thought that she couldn't wear them anymore, since she was officially four that morning.
Sophie started to cut her molars and we offered her a popsicle to help with the pain. She really enjoyed the new experience of the popsicle.
It was in the 50's today and we played outside this afternoon. We were even able to go for a walk and play on the swingset. It is forcasted to be in the 60's tomorrow and I expect that Lillie will get to play outside after school tomorrow, if the rain holds off.

Ear tubes and Mom's new dishwasher

2011-03-02T21:49:00.000-05:00

Sophie had tubes put in her ears this morning. We hope that this helps reduce the number of ear infections and the pain that they cause. This picture was taken before she went in for surgery. Mom got a new dishwasher and Sophie climbed up on the door today. I think that she was trying to get to the Elmo glass on the top shelf.

Happy Birthday Sophie

2011-02-27T15:51:00.000-05:00

Friday night we had friends over to celebrate Sophie's Birthday. Nana was also here this week to celebrate Sophie's birthday. Sophie loved digging into her cake and opening her presents. Thank you for all of the wonderful gifts.
Sophie started to say "kie ca" a.k.a. "Kitty Cat."

Last week, we got a new bird feeder that attaches to the kitchen window. This picture is of Lillie in her butterfly headband, watching the bird eat from the new bird feeder.

Bedtime

2011-02-16T21:21:00.000-05:00

Sophie LOVES her bedtime routine in Lillie's bed. She crawls to Lillie's bed for bedtime prayers and songs. This week, Brian is out of town for training and he called last night to do bedtime prayers and songs. We did this routine in the living room, but Sophie squealed and kicked when I took her to her room and skipped Lillie's bed. I took Sophie back to Lillie's bed to give Lillie a hug and then she was ok with going to her own bed.

Tonight, Sophie was playing at her activity table and Lillie came over and changed the music, by turning a page of the book. Sophie let out a squeal and flipped it back to the original position. It was like she said "I want it here." Sophie has no problem in telling us or her sister that she isn't happy with something.

On Monday, we had a great appointment with the ENT. Sophie is scheduled for ear tubes next month. The PA said that a lot of babies with acid reflux can have problems with their ears, because the acid reflux can affect their eustation tubes.

Baby Gate?

2011-02-10T13:50:00.000-05:00

Yesterday, I caught Sophie crawling through the cat door on the baby gate. Luckily, she stopped, because she was unable to figure out how to get her knees over the bottom bar. Mitties does not know how to open the little door, but maybe Sophie will show her how.

She is really starting to explore new toys and objects and I can't believe that she will be a year old in two weeks. January went by fast because she had two ear infections, which kept us up several nights. She has had four ear infections since October and she has an ENT appointment on Monday. I really hope that he agrees to put tubes in her ears, because she has been a a happier baby this past week.

Sophie loves to take baths. When she wants to take a bath, she will crawl into the bathroom and look into the bathtub. She also loves to splash so much that it looks like I washed her hair in this photo, but I didn't that night.

Lillie learned how to zip her coat a couple of weeks ago and she can count to 60 with little help. Today, I started writing a "word of the week" on her bathroom mirror. She is eager to learn new things. Last week, Brian taught her our phone number. She has a Valentine's Day party at School next week and she is excited to write out the names of her classmates on the valentines. Well, it is time to go pick her up from school.

Fishies

2011-01-24T08:17:00.001-05:00

Sophie has been exploring the house and one of her favorite places to crawl to, is the fish tank. She loves to watch the fish. She pulls herself up to her knees at least once a day to look in the fish tank.

Chips are yummy!

2011-01-18T14:00:00.000-05:00

Sophie has been crawling for 3 weeks and she is starting to really explore. This week, Sophie crawled over to the couch, because Brian and Lillie were eating chips and she wanted see what they were doing. Like a true "Marsh," she loved her first chip. Tonight, Sophie quit nursing when she heard the rustling of the chip bag and went to go eat a chip.

One night, when Lillie crawled into bed, Sophie cried out a "eh" and started to crawl over to Lillie's bed. When she got to Lillie's bed, she looked up and said "eh" again. As if she said, "I want up." I picked her up and laid her down next to Lillie. Sophie had a huge smile on her face, because she wanted to lay in bed with Lillie for prayers and songs.

Two weeks ago, Sophie started to say "Ma, Ma." Last week, she started to say, "Da, Da." When ever we would try to have her repeat "Ma, Ma" or "Da, Da" Lillie would chime "Lil, Lil."

Lillie continues to make us laugh. 3 weeks ago, Brian and I were snoozing in bed when we heard her yell "It's Daddy's Birthday!" at 7:30 in the morning. We couldn't help but laugh and it was a great way to wake up.

Lillie is also doing great in school and learning things that I never thought a Preschooler would learn. She is starting to recognize words that rhyme. I knew that her Preschool teacher, Mrs. Hoard, was teaching the kids to rhyme, but then Lillie really surprised us two weeks ago with recognizing syllables. We were driving home from the grocery store, when Lillie started to clap the rythem to "Mommy, Daddy, Lillie." I asked her is she was doing a cheer, because they have "cheerleaders" at dance class. She said "no, I am clapping to the beat of the words." I proceeded to give her more words to "find the beat." She clapped the syllables for "refrigerator, house, garbage truck, basketball, mailbox, yogurt" and other words as we traveled home and put the groceries away. When I dropped Lillie off at school the next week, I told Mrs. Hoard "thank you."

Merry Christmas

2010-12-27T21:18:00.001-05:00

Merry Christmas from the Marsh's. Christmas also marked Sophie's 10 month birthday. Sophie started crawling on Christmas. It was hard to take a picture of them by the tree, because Sophie kept wanting to move. A few weeks ago, Sophie started to sign "all done" and last week she started to sign "milk".
Lillie is also starting to learn a new language. She loves Dora the Explorer and she tries to tell us Spanish words. Instead of "Feliz Navidad" she would say "Feliz Naughtydad".
We had a great Christmas. The girls love all of the presents that they received from Santa and our family. Thank you to everyone.

Christmas Photo

2010-12-20T21:16:00.000-05:00

Last week, I took a picture of the girls in their Christmas dresses for the Christmas card. It took several attempts to get this great photo. Lillie and I were singing the theme song to Dora the Explorer when I snapped this photo. Unfortunately, Sophie's skin broke out in a rash and she will be wearing a different dress on Friday.

Teething biscuits for 7 teeth

2010-12-12T21:07:00.000-05:00

Today, Sophie tried a teething biscuit tonight for the first time. She ate more of it than Lillie did at her age. But Lillie only had 4 teeth and Sophie has 7. She bit a piece of the cracker off and I held it out towards her, She took the piece in her hand and tapped it on the piece that I was holding. She did this several times knowing that the two pieces went together.

Sophie had her 9 month check up last week. She is almost 28" (2" more than Lillie at 9 months) and 17lbs, 5oz (and 1.5lbs more than Lillie at 9 months). Yesterday, Sophie pulled herself up to play at her activity table.

Hey Santa

2010-12-09T07:57:00.000-05:00

Tuesday, I worked at Lillie's school and they had a Jack and Jill family tell the class about Hanukah. We also learned how to play dreidel. That evening we finished our Christmas shopping and visited Santa at the mall. When we told Lillie that we were going to see Santa, she asked "Is Rudolph going to be there?" I told her that the reindeer were at the north pole. Sophie did not cry or smile when she sat on Santa's lap.
One of my favorite memories of this Christmas season will be: When we got to the mall, Lillie stopped as she was getting out of the car, because she heard the Salvation Army bell ringers and thought that it was Santa's sleigh.

Sophie is starting to make new noises and she is starting to squeal really loud. She loves to dance while standing at her activity table or even when she is sitting down. This past week, she developed another ear infection. (Edited 12/10: I forgot to add Sophie's new accomplishment yesterday. While I was writing this blog entry yesterday morning I heard music. We don't have a church nearby and Lillie was in the bathroom. I then realized that it was the musical toy on the side of Sophie's crib. Sophie had learned how to maneuver herself over to the toy and kick her leg to hit the button with her foot. At 6:30 this morning she was fussing a little bit and I was hoping that she would put herself back to sleep and not need me to feed her. But she had maneuvered herself over to the side of the crib with the toy and began playing the music. Brian called it "the mommy call button.")

Lillie is starting to recognize words. The other day she saw the word "money" on a store wall. Lillie asked if it said "monkey." I told her that is said "money" and she will remember the next time we shop at that store. This week, we were doing workbook pages and she recognized the words "Yellow, Orange, and Green." Her Preschool teacher does a "word of the day" exercise everyday that she is in class. Another Christmas Memory: On Monday, we started putting ornaments on the tree. I unwrapped an ornament with different colored mirrors on it and handed to Lillie to put on the tree. When she saw the ornament she said, "Whoa, that is a pretty ornament."

We are getting use to the Michigan snow. It has snowed or flurried almost everyday since we have been back from Nebraska. If it snows an inch or two, they do not plow or put down sand/salt. In Nebraska or Pennsylvania they would have put down lots of gravel and salt. There was a lake effect snow storm that hit Michigan this past week. We are an hour from the lake shore. We got 1" of snow, but the lake shore area got 11-18".

Happy Halloween

2010-11-01T20:15:00.000-04:00

We have not updated the blog in a while, because we have been trying to get over a cold. Sophie's cold turned into a double ear infection and bad diaper rash. In addition, she had her 2 top front teeth come in within 2 days of each other. She is working on the 3rd top tooth now, so we have been missing out on a lot of sleep.

Last night, we took Lillie trick-or-treating around our neighborhood and Sophie went along for a buggy ride. There were a lot of kids trick-or-treating and it was great to see all of our neighbors.
The best part of trick-or-treating is eating the candy and tonight, Brian had to show Lillie how to eat pixy sticks.

Sophie's 8th month photo:

And finally we leave you with a Lillie saying. Saturday, we watched the Husker football game on TV. When Lillie saw the football players in their uniforms, she exclaimed, "Hey look, they are wearing capris."

Blueberries, dinglehoppers, and firetrucks

2010-10-13T13:47:00.000-04:00

We have been busy the past few weeks, so we have a lot to update you on.
This morning, We went to the Library this morning for Fire Safety week. The Morning 4 year old class from Jack and Jill Preschool was also there. Lillie is in the front row in the overalls and heart jacket. Camille, the Little blonde girl next to Lillie is one of her friends. Camille's Brother, Gavin, is in Lillie's preschool class.
Sophie's 2nd tooth came in about 3 weeks ago. She has been scooting backwards a lot and last night, she pushed herself up onto her hands and knees. Two weeks ago, she decided that she hates baby cereal and baby food. She refuses to open her mouth when we try to feed her. She usually laughs with her mouth open, but when she is at the table and laughing she keeps her mouth shut tight while she laughs. She also learned how to play with the food by blowing raspberries. The other night at the dinner table she was blowing raspberries and I said "are you going to blow raspberries?" Lillie chimed in, "I am going to blow blueberries."

Lillie's favorite movie to watch in the car is "The Little Mermaid." There is a scene in the movie where the silly seagull, skuttle, tells the little mermaid, Ariel, that a fork is a "dinglehopper" and humans use it to comb their hair. Two weeks ago, Lillie was sitting at the kitchen counter eating lunch. I looked over and she was using the fork to comb her hair. I told her, " don't comb your hair with the fork." She responded, "It is not a fork, it is a dinglehopper."

Lillie can also count backwards from 10 to 1. At the end of each preschool class, the kids go outside to play and as the moms were watching them play last week, Lillie's Preschool Teacher, Mrs. Hagen approched me. She said, "During circle time today Lillie was able to recognize all of her classmate's names." When she said "During circle time today," I must have had that 'oh great, what did my child do today' look on my face, because I couldn't imagine what Lillie could have done to have the teacher approach me. Lillie also is great at recognizing store logos, "kalamazoo" signs and police cars. The Police car recognition is great when you are suppose to be driving 25 mph on the main street in town.

And finally, Brian would like to thank "Preschool." Two weeks ago, Lillie came down with a cold, followed by Sophie, myself and finally Brian. When I told Brian that Lillie probably brought the cold home from preschool, he said, "thank you Preschool."

Sophie's 7 month Birthday, Zoo and Pumpkin Patch

2010-09-25T14:53:00.001-04:00

Today, is Sophie's 7 month birthday. She now has her 2nd tooth. Her favorite thing is to play with the tags on stuffed animals and blankets. When I took her picture this month, she wouldn't leave the lamb alone. She kept grabbing for it.
Yesterday, we met Brian at the zoo after work. This is the last week of the season that the zoo will be open. The Giraffes were not on display, because they lost power earlier in the day and couldn't run the register at the Giraffe lookout. The zoo sells lettuce leaves to feed the Giraffes. We did see the Swans for the first time yesterday. This one wanted us to feed it. Lillie may look tiny in this picture, because the swans were big. There are a lot of swans and cranes in the area that we live in. There are at least 4 pairs of swans, that we are aware of, on the local ponds and lakes that we drive past. Unlike geese, Swans live in pairs and not flocks. There is only one pair of swans per body of water.

Today, we went to Gull Meadow Farms. They are a greenhouse, orchard and pumpkin patch. They had hayrack rides out to the pumpkin patch and orchards. We did not pick apples today, since it was a little cool. They also had a play area for kids, with a bouncy area, hay mazes, tunnel slide, tractor/train rides and a zip line. Inside, there was a wide selection of canned items from michigan farms.

Lillie's First Day of Preschool

2010-09-16T15:45:00.000-04:00

Lillie had her first day of Preschool today. At 10am, Lillie asked "Can you tell me when it is time to go to school?" I said, "yes, after lunch." Lillie responded, "I am hungry for lunch now."
It was "meet the teacher day" and Beth stayed with her, even though she wanted to stay by herself. Lillie's teacher is Mrs. Louden (in the picture above with Lillie). We had circle time, with poems and songs. Choice time with the art room, the dress up/house room and the game room. In the picture below Lillie is playing in the sand with 4 of her classmates.

Peas, birthday party invite and big sister sayings

2010-09-12T22:30:00.000-04:00

Sophie had her first vegetable tonight. She had peas and rice. She liked them and had 1/3 of a jar. Right now I am holding her as I write this, because she has her first cold and she keeps waking up. For the past month, she has been schooting around in circles and backwards.
Lillie went to a friend's birthday party today. Gavin (the birthday boy) is in Lillie's preschool class. She had a lot of fun playing with the kids and all of the toys.
Lillie has gone 6 dry nights, so I think that she is night time potty-trained.
Her first day of preschool is Thursday and she can not wait. She really wants to go by herself, but the co-op preschool wants a parent there the first day. She already told me that she does not want to hold my hand.
She is becoming quite the cutie and full of surprises. We went shopping yesterday and she asked to buy a pair of sunglasses. I looked at them and noticed that they were only $2, so I said sure. (She only has 5+ pairs of sunglasses.) When I got home, I cut off the tags and handed them to her. I said, "here are your sunglasses." She replied, "I got those for Sophie."
Two weeks ago we went to the zoo, I packed snacks, drinks, sunscreen, jackets, diapers, and many more items, but I forgot Sophie's noon medicine. (It is OK for her to take it a few hours late, but I like to keep her on schedule.) When I discovered this, in the car at the zoo parking lot, I said out loud, "Sorry Sophie, I forgot your medicine." Lillie replied, "Sorry, doesn't make her tummy feel better."
Yesterday, a Michigan Groundhog wandered into our yard. The groundhogs here are more gray than brown. The one that came to our backyard was bigger than mow, our 14lb cat. She was definitely interested as she stood on her hind legs looking out the window at him.

Who needs to sit up, when you can lay back and watch TV

2010-09-07T21:43:00.000-04:00

Sophie is almost ready to sit up on her own. She will sit up without support for 30-60 seconds, if she is focused on a toy, TV program, etc. But when I sit her on the floor in the living room, she would prefer to lay back on the floor and watch TV. We have started to cut back on one of her medicines and I have started to eat cheese. She is really a happy baby and starting to like baby cereal.

Tiny Dancer

2010-09-07T21:16:00.001-04:00

Lillie had her first combination dance/gymnastics class today. There was suppose to be another little girl in the class, but she did not show. So, Ms. Shelly kept Lillie busy the entire hour. (Yes, Ms. Shelly is expecting a baby in December) For the first half hour, Lillie had her dance lesson.

Then, during the second half hour she went to the classroom next door for her Gymnastics portion of the class. The dance studio is in a really nice Gymnastics complex. Lillie loved the class, but I know that she wanted to have other kids in her class today.

She loves hula hoops and liked jumping through them in this photo. (Lillie likes hula hoops, because of the Chipmunks Christmas song.) I am glad that we put her in dance/gymnastics class. Today, she got one-on-one attention and she learned to follow directions for someone other than us.

Pretty as a butterfly

2010-08-27T13:01:00.000-04:00

We went to the zoo yesterday and Lillie asked to have her facepainted. The zoo employee said that she sat very still for a 3 year old. Lillie liked her face painted so much, that she wanted to leave it on till today. She washed it off only because we were going swimming today.
If you also noticed, she is wearing a hoodie sweatshirt in this photo, because it was a cool 73 degrees yesterday. We were also wearing pants because it was 49 degrees when I got up yesterday.

Sophie is 6 months old today

2010-08-25T15:31:00.000-04:00

Sophie turned 6 months old today and I celebrated with a CHEESEburger. It was almost too much cheese. I have not had cheese (or any other dairy products) in 6 months, because of Sophie's acid reflux. I hope that it does not give her any problems and I can slowly start to add cheese back into my diet. I hope that I can have ice cream for my birthday in January. (Yes, I already have it planned out. The Chocolate Chip Cookie Sundae at Applebees or Mint chip ice cream from Baskin Robbins. This summer has been rough, since I can't have ice cream, etc.)

Sophie celebrated her 1/2 birthday with an outing to the park with her big sister, baby cereal for lunch (she still hates it), tried using a sippy cup and she is now taking a nap.

Baptism and fun in Omaha

2010-08-24T19:08:00.000-04:00

We traveled to Omaha last week to celebrate Sophie's Baptism. We went to the zoo, did some shopping and played with family. Lillie rode a pony and Brian drove the tractor at Grandpa's. We had great weather on Tuesday and Lillie played at the slide/swing park and splash park with her cousin Brenden. She asked if he was at school today and probably wishes that she could play with him more.

Sophie's first food

2010-08-24T19:00:00.000-04:00

Sophie got to eat solid food for the first time yesterday. She hates it. (It was different at first and she ate it, but now she is refusing to eat it.) Brian fed her 2 days before her 6 month birthday, because he went out of town today. And I didn't want Brian to miss feeding her. I fed her cereal again tonight and she does not like the taste. I will try again tomorrow and hopefully she will like it soon. Tomorrow she will be 6 months old.

No more toothless grins - Sophie has her first tooth

2010-08-04T21:13:00.000-04:00

Sophie had her first tooth come in yesterday. I am going to miss these toothless smiles.

I am 5 months old today

2010-07-25T17:33:00.001-04:00

I am 5 months old today. I got up at 5:30 and 6:30 to eat this morning, but then I slept until 8am. I slept for 3 hours in my carseat earlier today (I must be growing) and I hear that mom has a bath planned for me tonight.
I am starting to outgrow my size 2 diapers and my 3-6 month clothes. I haven't rolled onto my back yet, but I love to scoot around the floor on my back or side, until I move around too much and end up on my tummy. I like to jump in my jumperoo in the kitchen, while Mom is cooking. I love to watch my sister play and tv with my Dad. Sometimes, I even fall asleep in Dad's arms while watching tv.

Our new playground

2010-07-24T23:08:00.001-04:00

Today, our new playground was installed. Lillie's favorite slide is the straight one. The twisty one is really fast. Her favorite swing is either the glider or tire swing. We even got an infant seat for Sophie. Lillie climbs the rock wall with ease and enjoys looking through the periscope. The only thing left is to decide where to hang Beth's hamock swing. It will either go under one of the towers or under the deck. Lillie can't wait to have family over for a picnic in the tower.

On another note you may notice how beat up the grass is in the second photo (Where the rain ran down the hill) and all of the twigs and leaves on the ground. We have had a lot of storms in the past 24 hours (some tornado warnings).

Drumming at the Library

2010-07-09T07:50:00.000-04:00

On Wednesday, we went to the library for a drumming activity. We got to try 5 different instruments. In the afternoon, the neighbors invited us over to swim in their pool. Lillie had a lot of fun with the 2 teenage girls that live there. Maybe next time Daddy can go with us to swim.

We have been filling out paperwork for Lillie to attend a preschool in the fall. It is a co-op preschool and she will be going for a couple of hours on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons.

In the 3 weeks that we have lived here we have seen 4 deer. We got some corn and a deer lick for them. So, hopefully they will keep coming back, but stop eating the hostas.

Independence day parade and Balloon Festival

2010-07-04T16:34:00.000-04:00

Yesterday, was a busy day for us. First, we went to the Independence parade in Richland. Later in the day, we went to the balloon festival in Battle Creek. We saw over 15 hot air balloons fly over and drop a "marker" on an "X" on the airfield. Lillie's favorite part of the balloon festival was riding the rides. She rode the ladybugs, carousel, flying bus, and ferris wheel. Her favorite ride was the ferris wheel, because she has wanted to ride a ferris wheel for a long time. When we driving to the airport, she yelled out "there is a ferris wheel."
After the hot air balloon pilots played their "game" they lined up on the field and illuminated their balloons. It was such an exhausting day that both Lillie and Sophie fell asleep on the way home.

New lawn mower

2010-07-01T07:51:00.000-04:00

Last week, Brian got to try out the new lawn mower. It took him only an hour to mow the lawn, which would probably take him 2 or more hours with a push mower.

Rolling over is exhausting

2010-06-30T13:07:00.000-04:00

On Monday, Sophie rolled over to her tummy and after a few minutes she fell asleep.

First week in the new house

2010-06-26T22:29:00.001-04:00

We have been in our new house for a week. On Sunday, Brian went to the mailbox for the newspaper and was welcomed to the neighborhood by a buck. The moving truck arrived on Monday and we were overwhelmed with the number of boxes. We have met all 4 of the families that live on our cul-de-sac and two of them brought us cookies. Friday, Beth and Lillie planted a small garden and Brian got to mow the lawn with the John Deere riding lawn mower. Sophie is now 4 months old and is working on rolling over on her tummy.

Greek Festival and Art Fair

2010-06-05T16:40:00.000-04:00

Today, we went to the Greek Festival in Kalamazoo. We ate Gyros and Lillie had a hotdog. She ate her entire hotdog while watching the Greek dancers. After Lunch, she jumped in a bouncer in the shape of a dinosaur and played on the playgroud equipment. There was a huge art fair (over 200 booths) just a few blocks away. We strolled through the park and found something for Grandma's birthday. Lillie asked for another hotdog and ate 1/2 of it with Dad. She of course had to have her favorite drink of rootbeer to wash the hotdog down with.

Curious George!

2010-06-02T12:12:00.000-04:00

There was suppose to be a summer reading kick off event at the park today. It was cancelled, because it rained. So, we decided to go to the library and Curious George was there! We read several books and even went to a storytime.

Sophie is 3 Months old!

2010-05-25T21:51:00.000-04:00

Sophie turned 3 months old today. She does a great job of holding her head up and this week she started grabbing for toys. She is a happy baby now that we have figured out her acid reflux. She loves to watch ceiling fans and the lights and music on her bouncer seat.

Quack, Quack, Quack

2010-05-19T16:41:00.000-04:00

There is a park two blocks from our apartment and it has canadian geese and ducks. On Sunday, we went to the park to feed them. The geese and ducks are not aggresive, but you do have to watch out for their droppings. :)

Lillie wrote her name today!

2010-05-12T18:48:00.000-04:00

Today, at playgroup Lillie wrote her name without any help. I was talking to the other Moms when Lillie said "I wrote my name." I turned around and saw her accomplishment. I have been trying to help her with a smaller pencil, but today she wrote her name with a thick piece of chalk.

Giraffes

2010-05-06T10:54:00.000-04:00

Tuesday, we went to Binder Park Zoo in Battle Creek, MI. The highlight of the day was feeding the Giraffes leaf lettuce and biscuits. There is a video of Lillie feeding the Giraffes on the "Lillie and Sophie" page. We have settled into temporary housing until we close on our house in June. We found a house in Galesburg, Michigan, which is halfway between Battle Creek and Kalamazoo. The house is on a large lot with a lot of trees.

Prior to moving into our tempory housing, we stayed at a Holiday Inn. Lillie loved to stay there, because they had a pool. During our stays Brian taught Lillie how to swim. She can doggie paddle (with her arm floaties) from the stairs to Brian 6 feet away.

Sophie has outgrown all of her 0-3 month clothes. She is growing a lot faster than Lillie. She is also a better sleeper than Lillie, especially when she has very little acid reflux.

Reptileland

2010-04-25T21:25:00.000-04:00

Today, was a free admission day at Clyde Peelings Reptileland for the WVIA (PBS) members. Lillie's favorite repitiles were the turtles and tortoises. After seeing all of the repitiles, she picked out a stuffed sea turtle in the gift shop.

Smile!!!

2010-04-14T17:03:00.000-04:00

Sophie started to smile last week. This is one of the better pictures that we have gotten of her.

Lillie has been saying some cute things lately. 2 weeks ago, when I bought Mickey Mouse shaped chicken nuggets, she asked "are they made from Mickey Mouse?" Today, she said "It's snowing" when she saw the apple blossoms blowing off the trees.

Month long update

2010-04-06T17:06:00.001-04:00

Things have been so busy around here, that we haven't had a chance to update the blog. In March, Nana, Grandma and Grandpa all came to visit. Lillie celebrated her 3rd birthday and went to see Sesame Street Live. Lillie and Sophie saw the Easter Bunny and he brought them lots of goodies for Easter. This is the first year that we were able to participate in the Church Easter Egg hunt/dash. Sophie has Acid Reflux and is on 2 medicines. This also means that Beth cannot have any dairy and has started to eliminate foods with dairy in them. Including Hot dogs, cereal bars and other processed foods. The biggest news is that Brian has accepted a job at the Kellogg's corporate office. The house has been on the market for less than 24 hours and we have had a few people drive into our circle to get a closer look at our house. We hope that this interest in the house will lead to an offer before we move to Michigan.

Lillie's first visit to the Dentist

2010-04-06T17:01:00.000-04:00

Lillie had her first visit to the Denist today. She did great, while she let the hygentist clean her teeth. The Dentist said that her teeth looked great. At the end of her visit, She got a sparkly toothbrush and 2 Dora the Explorer stickers.

Sophie is here

2010-03-07T15:44:00.001-05:00

Sophia Elizabeth arrived on Thursday, February 25th at 8:56 pm. She weighed 7lbs and 3 oz and was 20" long. Lillie enjoys being a new big sister and helping Mom out.

Sillie Lillie

2010-02-22T15:52:00.000-05:00

Lillie can spell her name! Sometimes she will forget that there are 2 'L's in the middle of her name, but she does a great job. Her favorite new thing to do is to put puzzles together. Including, 50 and 100 piece puzzles. Yesterday, she got a new "lentricular" puzzle (one where the image changes if you move your head) and she put it together by herself.

Bye Bye Nala

2010-02-07T16:31:00.000-05:00

This picture is of Lillie (6months old) and Nala. On Friday, We lost Nala to the final stages of kidney failure. She was almost 16 years old. She hissed at the cable guy, our parents and friends, but she loved us. Lillie could pick her up under her front legs and carry her around like a rag doll.

3D ultrasound of Sophie

2009-12-24T12:25:00.000-05:00

Yesterday, we did a 3D ultrasound to see Sophie. This picture is of her face. It was a neat experience to see the ultrasound in 3D and 4D. 3D ultrasound of Sophie

Snow Angel

2009-12-09T07:51:00.000-05:00

It snowed Saturday and Lillie went outside to make a snow angel. It snowed again last night and if the rain holds off we will play in the snow again.

25 Days till Christmas

2009-12-01T07:38:00.001-05:00

We went and saw Santa last week. Lillie was excited to see him, but was very shy when she sat on his lap. Friday, we put up the Christmas tree and she was filled with "oh's and ah's" as we put each decoration on the tree. Today, we plan on putting out the countdown to Christmas calendar and hanging up the stockings.

Yesterday, Brian went to storytime at the Library with us. I know that Lillie was excited to have him there, because she picked out 3 books for him to read to her and none for me. She is really starting to become Daddy's Little Girl.

Hamburger Cookies

2009-11-17T15:03:00.001-05:00

Today, Lillie helped me make Hamburger cookies and Pumpkin bread for the Church Christmas bazaar. She enjoyed making the baked goods in her new Dora the Exporer apron. Hamburger cookies are easy to make from store bought items. Recipe: 2 nilla wafters for the bun, 1 chocolate mint cookie for the hamburger center, red and yellow icing for the ketchup and mustard, coconut dyed green for the lettuce.

Happy Halloween

2009-11-01T13:00:00.000-05:00

Lillie had a great Halloween. She filled her Elmo Trick-or-Treat basket in just 4 houses. She did very good at saying "trick-or-treat" and "thank you." She also enjoyed watching all of the kids come to our house for treats.

2009-10-23T16:03:00.000-04:00

This picture is of Lillie and her cousin Brenden. We went to visit family in Nebraska last week. While we were there, we celebrated Brian’s Parent’s 40th wedding Anniversary and spent time with our family and friends.
Our latest news is that we are going to have another little girl. I was definitely surprised and the Ultrasound tech even checked twice for me.
Lillie grew a little more, a couple of weeks ago, when she got her ears pierced. She did very well and didn’t even cry.
Lillie vocabulary and communication skills are also growing. When she is looking for something she will yell out, “Markers where are you?” As if the item will answer her back.
She was taking the paper off of a crayon the other day and I told her to leave it on the crayon otherwise we wouldn’t know what color it was. She responded, “Blue.”
Lillie loves to watch for tractors and construction equipment when we ride in the car. The other day, we were in downtown Muncy and she saw a car with the “CAT” logo on the front license plate and she yelled out “Car tractor.”
We recently found out that one of our cats has diabetes. She is on a special diet and insulin therapy. If she continues to improve she could get off the insulin in a few months.

Our Big Girl

2009-09-29T13:50:00.000-04:00

Lillie is two and a half and really growing into a toddler. This past weekend she asked that I put her hair in a ponytail and all of her hair was long enough to fit into the ponytail band. (This picture is of her sporting her ponytail.)
When Lillie started wearing big girl panties a few weeks ago, I got a little teary eyed because I knew that she would never be a little baby and wear diapers. (My hormones during this pregnancy probably attributed to the tears in my eyes.) She likes to count and sing her ABC’s. She can also identify almost all of the letters. Last night, during her bath she told me each of the letters on the “Delta” faucet. She loves to sing along to songs; especially the ones on the Disney Princess Sing along DVD.
Last week, I had a prenatal appointment. When I was getting Lillie out of the car I told her that we were going to see Mommy’s Doctor. Her response was “and hear baby’s heart go boom-boom.” When we were shown to the exam room, I got out her color-wonder markers and book to keep her entertained while we waited. I soon realized that I didn’t need to bring them once we discovered the heavy construction equipment working on the new wing of the hospital. She stood on a chair, looking out the window for 15 minutes watching the digger, backhoe, dump trucks, and rollers. Yes, I know the name of the equipment, because she asks “what’s that?” several times a day.
Lillie is well mannered. In the car she saw me drinking water out of my water bottle and asked, “Can I have some water please?”
Lillie also likes to play games. She loves matching games. I can keep her entertained for several minutes by laying the cards face up on the ground and she matches the pairs up. The cards are starting to get a little worn, because she has played with them so much. She is learning to play “Hi, Ho, Cherry-O.” She understands when it is her turn or our turn and it is a great game to help her count objects.
Brian has taught her that George Washington is on the one dollar bill and that she is 2 years old. He also taught her how old we are.
If you ask her, her name she will tell you “Lillie Marsh.” Daddy is “Daddy Marsh” and Mommy is “Mommy Marsh.”

Can you tell me how to get to Sesame Street?

2009-09-15T15:53:00.000-04:00

Sunday, we went to Sesame Place in Philadelphia. We were there for 7 hours and we were able to do 40% of the park. 40% of the park is also a water park. We saw two shows, Elmo’s World and Abby Cadabby’s Treasure Hunt. Lillie even got to have her picture taken with Dorothy (Elmo’s pet fish from Elmo’s World). At 2pm, the park had a parade with all of the Sesame Street Characters. Lillie went on several rides and activity areas. I think that the teacups were her favorite. Brian took Lillie on the teacups and she kept saying “faster” when Brian would spin the teacup.
We had breakfast with Elmo and Friends and it was worth the $17 and $15 a person. Lillie got to spend time with Bert, Ernie, Big Bird and Zoe. She also had her picture taken with Elmo. This is the only time throughout the day that Lillie had the opportunity to interact with the Sesame Street characters. She did have another opportunity to interact with Abby and Elmo in the Character Photo Studio. Lillie was so exhausted that she fell asleep in the car eating her cheeseburger.

Lillie going to be a Big Sister!

2009-09-11T10:55:00.000-04:00

Lillie is going to be a Big Sister!
Expected Due Date: March 8th
Lillie is excited and if you ask her where the baby is, she will point to my belly button. I think that it is going to be a boy. Why? My Mom and Aunt were sicker with boys than girls. I have been so sick this time that I went to the ER five weeks ago for dehydration and medicine to help with the morning sickness. I am starting to feel better, but I hope that I am completely over it in 5 weeks when we travel back to Nebraska to see family.

The Princess and the Potty

2009-08-18T12:37:00.000-04:00

Our Princess, Lillie loves the Disney Princesses. A few months ago, Lillie saw a Disney Princess Bedding set at Kmart. I told her that once she stopped wearing diapers, she could have a princess bed. Well, last Monday, she went on the potty with ease and it got easier every day. She is wearing pull-ups and using the potty. Saturday, we went to Kmart to pick up her new bedding set. If you ask her who is on the bedding set, she will tell you "Seeping Bouty (Sleeping Beauty), Belle, and Seerella (Cinderella)."

2009-08-06T14:32:00.000-04:00

We went to the pool a few weeks ago and Lillie was brave enough to go down the water slide. We stayed for several hours and she continues to ask about the frog slide.

Testing 123

2009-07-05T21:57:00.000-04:00

Testing 123