Monday, March 29, 2010

Eggstra Cute

Neighborhood Easter egg hunt
Last year, I looked like this...fat face and all:) We were walking Bode past the hunt last year, watching all the little children scurry around for hundreds of plastic eggs and we smiled that our little Maryn would be doing the same in one short year...short it has been!!
p.s. the fat face was worth it!

Mr. Easter Bunny himself
the scurry...
...the hunt...
The Prize!!
So proud of her collection
Hangin' with our next door neighbor, Skylar...who's going to have a new baby brother or sister in about 4 weeks!!
They even handed out iced cookies!
Just look at sweet baby Ashton's lips...I'm not used to having those around to kiss
Did you notice that they both have the same strawberry clip...love these clips!!! I need to own one in every design!
Two little peas

Get over the bow addiction, girl....leave it alone
poor Ashton
once again...she hands it to me and Ashton thanks her
Check out Maryn's concern for crying Ashton...so compassionate
I asked her to give her a kiss, and this is what I got
And this, well this is just downright delightful

Thursday, March 25, 2010

Maryn is 11 months old!

We are a week behind in posting because we are having so much fun! This past month has been jam packed with trips to meet new friends, Kindermusik and Gymboree classes (pics to follow from these!), celebrating Grandma and Poppop's birthdays and learning soooo many new tricks! It seems like last month was a motor skill month for Maryn, she learned to walk and climb the stairs....and this month we have seen a huge cognitive growth in her. Every single day she learns something new!! Every day! Imagine what's going on in these tiny little brains every minute...it's amazing that she can sleep 12 1/2 straight hours without waking up from the incessant brain activity. She is communicating with us better than I ever imagined an 11 month old could. I started using several sign language signs with her a couple months ago and they all seemed to 'click' for her this month and she can now tell us when she wants more, when she's all done and when she wants to read a book. When I was pregnant, I prayed that she wouldn't be a picky eater, because Lord knows that Mac is, and out of pure laziness, I didn't want to fight that battle. Well, prayers were answered....we've got a little 'Miss Piggie' on our hands...she will eat ANYTHING I offer her, it's insane....hence the reason why she learned to sign 'more'! Now we need to work on 'please' and 'thank you'...I'm raising a Southern lady and manners are a must down here. Pretty soon she's going to be throwing so many signs in the air I won't be able to keep up with them! She's a much quicker learner than I :) She's still walking across the room but definitely falls several times a day. She absolutely adores any and all music. If she's in a crabby mood or crying for some unknown reason...I start to sing and the crying stops and she starts dancing. Still no teeth! Has anyone ever seen a one year old without teeth? I'm seriously considering taking her to the dentist to see if she actually has any. She gives her 'babies' (any doll or stuffed animal) kisses and hugs aaaalllll daaayyy loonnnggg! She has a sweet, nurturing and almost motherly nature about her. When we're at Gymboree and all the babies are sitting in a circle playing with toys from the 'busy box', she always reaches out her toys to share with the other babies. And just today, I was babysitting Ashton who is 5 months old, she started to cry and Maryn started rubbing her arm with a concerned look on her face and looked to me to make her stop...just adorable!
My sweet delicious Mare Mare
Spring has sprung and flowers are the theme for the big event next month!
Serious Maryn
She has also learned several body parts and can point to her head, ears and toes when we ask her where they are! Serious cognitive growth this month, people!
All gums!!!! I secretly love that she doesn't have any teeth because it sort of means that she's still a baby and not almost a toddler!!!!!! And don't let this gummy smile fool you...she can pack in some shredded chicken/turkey/beef, chopped cooked carrots and broccoli, pasta, bread...the list goes on!
Her fuzz is finally long enough to wear her bows pulled to the side...
...but unfortunately, after 11 months, she's figured out that they're there...but always kindly hands them to me...

...she actually hands me everything she takes off or out that she knows she's not suppose to! I guess that's better than hiding them in the cracks of the sofa or behind her crib.
My friend copied and laminated some common signs and let me borrow them. I have since taped them above her highchair so that we can really focus on communicating better with our little cognitive sponge! It was funny, my friend Laura was watching Maryn at our house for a couple hours and she said that at lunch, Maryn kept signing for more and more Cheerios, yes she's a pig, and then all of sudden Laura thought she was waving hi to her, so Laura started waving back...then she looked up at the pictures and realized that Maryn was signing 'all done'! Children are so much fun:)

See, .....she's signing for 'more' bananas but I was too busy taking pictures and she got frustrated that I wasn't listening....excuuuse me, Miss Maryn!
We hung out with baby Baxton and my friends Bri and Heidi for an evening. I got the 'itch' after holding a newborn again!

Crazy auntie Heidi is the best...
...she plays chase...
...and gives kisses...


...and shares her cell phone....
Some how or other, Maryn's bow ended up in her hair!
Look ma!! Daddy took me to Victoria's Secret!
A girl is never too young for a little Vickies




Happy 60th Birthday Poppop!!! Have fun in Vegas this weekend and don't come home without my college education funded!!

Sunday, March 21, 2010

Luck O' the Irish

The leprechaun left Maryn bubbles!!!
What a lucky girl!

And how lucky we were to share 6 wonderful years with this guy (Bayley 3-17-08)
And I suppose we were lucky when this guy came along. ha ha! (Bode 3-17-09)
We hit the jackpot when junior mac arrived
3-17-10
Grandma and Poppop Cummings went to Ireland the week after Maryn was born and bought her this outfit...we've waited 11 months to wear it
Not so lucky when she gets knocked down by the big fluffy tail




Grandma came for a visit...now if that isn't luck, I'm not quite sure what is!
She got pinched for not wearing green on St.Patrick's Day:)

We celebrated her birthday a week early....Maryn needed the practice

We consider this behavior 'affection'!



She can make it to the top in 19.7 seconds!


Check out the luck on this one...my friends and I went to a local consignment sale a couple weeks ago and my friend Laura spotted this bad boy...a Pottery Barn Anywhere Chair with 'MAC' monogrammed on it!!!!!!!! Seriously!!! She snatched it up for me. I was so close to paying $120 for one of these chairs.
She loves it....she reads on it and drinks her afternoon cup of milk on it
and practices all of her tricks on it
And I'm the luckiest of all....two MAC's to wrap my arms around!