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.

Birthday Party!

Today we celebrated Samantha's first Birthday at Mt Trashmore! The weather was in the high 60's with LOTS of sun, and at first much wind but that soon settled. So much preparation, but it was worth it to see her smiling face! I had the gorgeous party dress for her, but it soon came off as she was getting a little chilly in it. THANK you to those who came! We celebrated with The VanCampens, Nammie, Uncle Jack, The Kraus', The Goedeckes, The Armstrongs, The Cryers, Johanna and her Rayven, The Hassanpours, Katherine, The Campbells and The Bonneys!! So much laughter and many unforgettable memories were made. Truly this was a day needed to be spent before we move on to our next home! Samantha made such a mess with her cake, oh man her hair was purple! Phew! So happy today is over as I can now sit back and relax, but kind of sad my baby girl in already a year old... where did the time go? Looking forward to a new chapter with many more memories!

Sunny Days and Easter Sunday!

The weather has been absolutely amazing lately! Not too hot, but definitely not cold, lots of sunshine and lower humidity!!! We had a picnic at Mt Trashmore yesterday, Samantha absolutely loved it. She walked around everywhere, and even took her new Dora Quad for a spin. I can't get over her obsession with dogs..... she does a high pitched bark 3 times then says "Dog Dog!" This is something I don't think I'll ever forget, and I really need to try and get it on video - it's just that adorable.

Easter Sunday today was such a great day. Samantha was all dressed up in her designer Easter dress that her Grampy picked out, with her pigtails and new sandals. She kept trying to walk around at church, but when she'd fall and try to get up she kept stepping on her dress. Eventually she would give up and lay on the floor like a frog or something - I couldn't stop laughing. After church we headed out to Smithfield to see family and have a delicious dinner (never a bad meal out in Smithfield haha!) We enjoyed lots more sunshine, conversation and just plain old good family togetherness! On the way home we didn't make it far before Anthony's motorcycle stalled out and wouldn't start back up - thank goodness we have the truck! We just pulled up into a ditch and the people that lived there helped up load it up and he had his straps.. Something is so wrong with his battery, and the Harley people better fix it because it's brand new and shouldn't have any problems for what it cost! Anyway, regardless of that it was a beautiful day!

So now the planning begins for Samantha's FIRST BIRTHDAY WEEKEND next weekend. I can't believe she will be 1 year old in 7 short days... Where did the time go? I mean, seriously?? She's walking and talking now? Woah! We really need to get onto baby number 2 now :) Keep us in your prayers, we want another successful pregnancy and another happy healthy baby.

The Virginia Aquarium

Today we ventured out in the rainy weather to the Virginia Aquarium. It was Samantha's second time (she first went at I think, 3 months) - and it was Anthony's first time. Surprisingly it was quite packed there with schools and many others. Samantha was totally intrigued by the large fish and turtles, and I think the GIANT alligator scared her a bit. She loved the birds too.. What was hilarious, was her calling every single animal a "Dog" and barking at them! We tried to tell her the difference but she didn't care. She touched a starfish and sting ray even, no fear in that child! Though there was much to see, I don't think that it's worth the price right now for her not understanding really. Next time out we'll go to the Portsmouth Childrens Museum, so much more for her to touch, explore and see. All in all, it was a fun filled rainy day!

Baby Food Pancakes and Muffins...

I've been constantly thinking in the back of my mind of a way to incorporate Samantha's jarred baby food into some sort of pancake or muffin, as she loves those and not so much her jarred food anymore. Tonight I finally came up with a recipe and she LOVED it! Ate two whole pancakes! I'll share my recipe in case any of you other Mommy's want to try it out!

Recipe for:
Sweet Potato Apple Pancakes and Muffins

What you'll need:
1 1/2 cups Flour
1/2 cup Baby Oatmeal or Rice Cereal
2 Eggs
1 cup Whole Milk
1 jar Stage 3 Sweet Potatoes (can substitute any veggie)
1 jar Stage 3 Applesauce (can substitute any fruit)
1 tbsp melted butter

Mix all the dry ingredients together until well blended. Add in all the wet ingredients and stir until well mixed with no dry chunks. For the pancakes, I used an icecream scooper and made mini ones on low as you would make any other pancakes. For the muffins, I scooped one scoop into a mini muffin tin and baked at 350* for 20 minutes.

I made SO many of these there was no way she could eat them all right away, so I individually wrapped them in twos and froze them! So easy to just nuke and eat, or take and run to eat later.Yummy Yummy they sure were a hit!

I'm thinking I can adjust the recipe for her next step toddler meals too that have the chunky veggies and meats in them! Be creative and have fun!

Keeping busy!

Anthony is finally home from Haiti now, and we all picked up right where we left off. Samantha is definitely a Daddy's girl! Seeing her reaction as he walked towards the truck for the first time was priceless - her excitement can't be put to words :) The day after he got in, we celebrated 3 years of our first date night ever. Hard to believe it's been so little of a time, yet seems and feels so long. He's off of work this week and enjoying his time back in the states, took a bike ride today and is getting his naps in haha! The weather has been gorgeous so we've spent much time outdoors.

I've been planning Sam's first Birthday coming up, and I think I've finally got most of the details set. I can't believe almost a whole year has passed! She's walking more than crawling now, and she's talking a whole lot. She says things like "Dog Dog" (while barking), "Go", "Hi, Hey", "Yeah", "Night Night", and much more! I'm proud of my daughter, my independent little girl.


We're so blessed to have met such an amazing group of people at Crosscurrent Church. We've found friendship and new family, it's wonderful! Tonight we're going to Community Group for some delicious dinner and eye opening discussions, I look forward to it!

Latest word is that we'll be reporting to Tacoma, Washington sometime in September! Later than we thought it would be, but it's still going to come up fast - 6 months away! I hear the weather is nice there, and the cost of living is less than in VA Beach, which is super awesome! I'll keep everyone updated!