Parties, Crawling and Sunshine!

The last 5 months have been filled with so many memories! We celebrated Samantha's second Birthday in April with many friends and my sister Whitney and her daughter Mackenzie even flew in from NY to be here too. Sam got a big trampoline for her huge gift, and to this day still loves to spend time outside on it. We've been enjoying the weather and sunshine while it's here, and know it won't be lasting much longer.. Anthony has begun college and is doing so well, we are very proud of him. He's going for nursing, it's very time demanding but the time spent now means a better future for our family later on! Lucas is crawling, such a big boy! He is now trying to climb up onto things and I'm sure will be walking before we know it. So since finding a new family for our puppy, we decided to adopt in a kitten. He is so cute, a little black and white short haired guy. His name is Tyberius, and we call him Ty - Sam, however, calls him "Titty Tat." It is hilarious. We are all ready for Christmas, even though it's still a while away - but shopping is nearly completed and we just can't wait. Halloween outfits are ready, Sam will be a fairy and Lucas will be Tigger. Should be adorable! We have been spending much time with our friends across the street - Miriam and Greg and their two kiddos Seth and Elizabeth. Congrats to them for being almost halfway there to seeing baby number 3! There are a handful of other amazing people we have met here and love spending time with all of them! My other friends Darcy and her kids just moved away from us to Georgia, we really miss them more than they know! Since Miriam is pregnant, I no longer have someone to steal my left over coffee or to shine my lazer lights into their windows late at night! Well, really there is not much left to report for now. I will get to posting some new photos later. Hopefully I'll be back soon!

New Home, New Baby, New Memories..

So much has happened since Christmas! I can't believe I haven't posted since then.. We moved into our new home on Fort Lewis mid January. The move went so smooth and we were unpacked within a few days! It's been so much fun making this home, OUR home. Samantha settled in quickly, and made new friends almost instantly.



February 9th I had a doctor appointment, and was told I had made no progress towards delivering the baby anytime soon. That night I seriously thought I was intensely constipated! Kept being in so much pain from like 8pm until 4am when I started timing thinking it was probably contractions... took long enough, right?! Within an hour the went from 10min to 4min to ONE minute apart! We took Sam to a friends, went to the hospital and discovered I was already 7cm dilated! Wasn't able to get an Epi, but they did give me a short term injection of something (that was AMAZING) into my spine. The medicine wore off as I was pushing, which was 2 hours after arriving into labor and delivery. 3 sets of pushes, and a very blue little Lucas William arrived. It was 7:52am on February 10th that we were blessed with him. The cord was wrapped around his neck and he wasn't breathing! Took over 5 GUT WRENCHING minutes to hear his first cry. Our little miracle baby was ok! He took to breastfeeding immediately, and hasn't stopped since. Lucas weighed 7lbs 12oz and was 20.5" long. Such a handsome little man! Now at 7weeks old, he weighs in at 11lbs - not sure on the length but he has an appointment coming up and I can't wait to see where he's at! He sleeps mostly through the night only waking once or twice to eat. Naps well when Sam does even! Life as a Mommy to two is just what I expected, maybe a little harder at times - but so worth it and I wouldn't go back and change anything!

Since Lucas joined us, things with JoJo the pup became overwhelming. The little puppy had way too much energy around the baby - and bit his foot once. She jumped on people too much and it broke out hearts, but we had to leave her in a gated area most the day where she cried. It wasn't the life we wanted to give her - so we made the difficult decision to find a new home for her. We met an amazing couple about an hour away who took her in. A navy family, who promised to treat her as a child of their own. We couldn't be more confident in our decision to give her up to them!

The rainy weather here is such a drag, and I don't think I could ever get used to it... but only 2 more years and then we're headed to warmer weather in TEXAS! Can't wait for spring and summer here though, as it's much nicer and beautiful then! We plan on visiting some different fall, Mt Ranier, Whidbey Island.. So many amazing destinations to check out. Also, we are going to plan a trip to Great Wolf Lodge here maybe in the winter. Fort Lewis where we live is right on American Lake, right behind our house - and there are cabins that can be rented.. might be a fun weekend as well :)

Samantha turns TWO in a week, I can hardly believe it. Planning to have a fun little Birthday party for her!! Whitney my younger sister, and her daughter Mackenzie will be here the weekend we're having her party which is also Easter weekend. I cannot wait! We have ordered her a 14' trampoline, with the help of her Pappy and Grandma. I just know she is going to be super stoked about it, she keeps pointing out all the trampolines on our walks asking to jump on them. Butterflies and flowers is her theme, though I won't go overboard for this party. Just simple, and fun.. planning it at our house and for the kids to be outdoors so lets hope for sunshine!!

Really not much more to update on... on a big weight loss plan right now. Down 20lbs since I had Lucas already... planning to lose AT LEAST 50 more by the end of the year, but hopefully I'll exceed that!! Feeling so great already, and I pray I can keep on this positive track.

Might not be another couple months until a further update.. so until then - many happy thoughts and blessings to all!

It's almost time..

Christmas has come and gone, we had new photos taken of our little munchkin.. Super cute, right?! We thought so!!

Less than 5 more weeks and our little man, Lucas William, should arrive! It's getting more and more real, and exciting as each week passes. Before the baby comes, we'll be moving into military housing.. more specifically, we'll be moving over the next 3 days! Things have been sort of hectic and stressful, but we've tried keeping life as normal as possible for Samantha.

During Christmas, we adopted a cute little Jack Russell Terrier into our family. Sam named her "JoJo." She is VERY high energy, but we expected that with a terrier. Anthony had her housebroken in a week, and she's learned many commands since then! Really, she's a great family pup!

Samantha is speaking so much more.. counting to TEN on her own (sometimes skipping "8" though.) She repeats anything and everything that comes out of our mouths - we've learned to be more filtered over time. Potty training has been going amazing. She hardly has accidents in her diapers anymore, except at bedtime and when we're out in public. Our little girl is so very proud of herself, and we are so proud of her too! As always, she is a dancing maniac all the time - but she has now added singing into the mix, and it's seriously the most cutest thing ever. We've been trying to prepare her for her brother to come, at times it seems she understands, but there doesn't really seem to be a way to tell. She knows that her "Bubba" is in Mommy's belly, and that his name is Lucas - but she has a hard time saying it.. I'm sure it will become very real once he actually gets here.

I've been loving driving around in my new 2010 Kia Rondo LX! It's been amazing to finally have a little freedom since moving to an entire new environment... how do I have access to the car you wonder? Well, Anthony got a truck! He made a very smart and awesome purchase on a 1991 Ford F250.. he's spent $300 fixing what was broken and giving it a full complete tune up!! He did it by himself, with much gratification. So once again, we are a two car family - and it's done wonders for my attitude!

It's getting about that time to buckle down on laundry and cleaning before the movers come in 2 days. It's a blessing to not have to pack everything ourselves, though I'm nervous about what might go missing again from our last experience 6 months ago.. I'm having some faith once again, and we're being smarter this time. We're only moving 30 minutes away, and will be taking ALL our electronics ourselves. We won't give the movers an opportunity to take from us! I can't wait to get settled in to our home that we'll be at for 2 1/2 years! I'll finally get to unpack EVERYTHING, and hang up photos and make it more comfortable for all of us.. Something so little, that will make such a big difference in everyday life. We're cutting back on our cable tv service too, no more 1000+ something channels.. and only one tv. Our new backyard is going to be huge, we definitely will be getting fencing up asap! Small kitchen, but I'll manage.. and, there is a playground only one block away to walk to! Also there is a lake down the street, with camping and everything! Life should definitely get better from here on out.

Might be a while before I post again, but I'll try to get on it after the baby comes! Much love to you all, and I hope this New Year has been as amazing and blessed for you as it has been to our family.

Just bragging about our baby girl!!

Above was Sam, after getting into her baby powder!First time playing with the hose!

Sam ready to take a walk!!

It's amazing how much a child can learn in such a short amount of time! In just the passed couple of weeks, Samantha's vocabulary and actions have blossomed so much! I'm definitely going to brag about it all right now, because I am beyond proud of her progress!!!

Her body..
She has learned to point to and say where her hair, eyes, ears, nose, tongue, teeth, chin, elbow, belly, knees, fingers and toes are! Her favorites are elbows (which she calls "Elbeeeooo") and her knees!

Animals...
Since being so into books, and most are of animals, she has learned their names and sounds quite quickly! She can name and make the sound of; Cat, Dog, Monkey, Cow, Duck, Horsie, Pig, Sheep, and Lion. She can also make an awesome attempt at saying Elephant, but it's not quite there!

Alphabet and Numbers...
We have some awesome foam letters and numbers she received for her Birthday that go in the bathtub, we go over them every night! We also have an electronic story book that has all her letters in it as well. She makes an attempt to repeat every single letter and numbers 1,2 and 3! I would say she can recognize several letters without asking and she says them, and she can repeat about 85% or more of the rest! I was shocked when she pulled "W" off the wall last night and said it on her own!!

Family names..
Of course she's had Mommy and Daddy down for a while now, but we've been practicing everyone else and she's starting to pick more up! I wish she could take in more of them, but if there's ones she doesn't quite get yet she just keeps telling us "No!" Today she said "Kenzie" for the first time, which is one of her cousins names! She can also say "NeeNee" for her Aunt Whitney, and "Manna" for her Aunt Manda. She can say Grammie, who is my Mom and Pappy who is Anthony's Dad. We are working on everyone else diligently, but that's who she has so far.

Other things..
She has said "Please" for quite some time now, and has recently learned to say Thank you "NayNoo." She says Flower "Flowee" and smells every single flower she passes, and can also say Rock, Bath, Buhbye, and NightNight. She can say Sock and Shoe, and is obsessed with them! Her favorite words to say lately have been "No", "UhOh", "Owwie" and "Ewww!" She now tries to sing, and has always and still does LOVE to dance.


I think I've bragged enough for now, and I'm sure there is much I can't recall at the moment.. It brings tears to my eyes to think how quickly she is growing and progressing! You never truly understand how being a Mother feels until you experience it yourself. It is a life long dedication, and does take much effort - but the rewards are definitely worth everything and I wouldn't change a thing!!

We've moved to WASHINGTON!

It's been a while. SORRY! We left Virginia Beach July 1st, and spent 3 weeks on the road visiting family before ending up in Washington State! WOAH cross country move! My family spent a little less than a week in a hotel in Tacoma, before finding a home to rent in Tumwater. The house is nice, there's just so many spiders! EEK! Samantha has been growing like a weed, talking baby talk like her mouth is a running faucet and getting into everything like Miss Independent! We've been attempting to potty train again, and it's going okay but could be better. Hopefully we can get it all done within the next 6 months, because we have another BABY ON THE WAY! This baby is due February 18th, on my Mom's Birthday! We are so excited that this pregnancy has kept, and that we are to be blessed with another miracle of life. Anthony just went back to work today, and they don't do much but it's a great chance for him to try and make next rank and he'll get to spend more time home with us which is an amazing thing! We have traded in the gas guzzling truck, and gotten a more economical vehicle. A 2010 Kia Forte! Anthony is loving driving it, while I am LEARNING to drive it. This car is a stick shift, and I am starting over from scratch. It's not going so well, but I'm determined to keep trying! We are on a waiting list to move into base housing, which would be much better for my family. We'd be saving money, and be right within a decent walking distance to everything!! The waiting list can be from 6 to 10 to 13 months, so we shall see what the plan is!

Life keeps going, and so do we! One day at a time.. enjoying this new place, and enjoying family and memories!

Beach Baby!

Today was SO gorgeous out! It made it up to 98* with very little humidity. Samantha and I went to the mall in the afternoon and got some great deals on things we didn't need, but will surely use! After Anthony got home, we headed to the beach! Went and had dinner at an overpriced not so yummy Mexican place on the Boardwalk, wasn't so much worth it... after we ate we hit the sand! Samantha LOVED it!!! She was grabbing handfulls of sand and throwing it in the air, and didn't eat it - yet!! Then we went by the water, not surprisingly she wanted to go right in! The only downside is the water was freezing! Still she was giggling every time a little wave splashed across her feet. We then went and walked quite aways along the beach sidewalk, Sam walked herself and was waving to people and saying "Hi" and barking at all the dogs, pointing at birds and chasing bikes. After we went back along the Boardwalk and hit up a car show. On the way home the sun was setting, and while holding hands the song "It's a Great Day To Be Alive" was playing and my husband and I reflected on how amazing our life together is. Such a beautiful day full of His Love and Happiness.

One whole year passed...

A year ago today, we were blessed with precious Samantha Lin Marshall! Born at 7:48pm, weighing 5lbs 14oz and 19.5 inches long... she came 4 weeks premature, but that hasn't held her back from anything! Such a little ball of energy and excitement! We just love you so much baby girl! Tonight we're going to take her out to dinner, possibly to Johnny Rockets for a milkshake. I'm sure she will love every moment. I am excited for our new chapter, to experience and create many more memories.