Big Night for our Big Girl...

Well, last week sometime, Lauren finally figured out how to climb out of her crib. Todd heard a funny noise in her room, and when he went to check on her, she was standing in the doorway of her bedroom. Fortunately, her bed converts to a toddler bed. Our hope is that this is the first transition step to a real "big girl bed" in time for her sibling to arrive. Then perhaps she won't think of the crib as her bed still...fingers and toes are all crossed on that front!

So....last night we converted the bed. She was ok with it until it was time to go bed, and our child that fears change was suddenly very upset. BUT, after a break from the drama watching the Muppets Christmas special in Mommy and Daddy's bed, we brought her back to her room and after just moments (literally) of crying and one futile attempt to get out, she slept all night in her new bed. In fact, this morning we heard her talking to herself, and found her sitting right in the middle of the bed, not even trying to climb down.

Happy Holidays from the Marschke Family!

We plan to begin our Christmas celebrating this weekend with Todd's family, then hit the road for the North Pole (i.e Wisconsin) sometime on Sunday, arriving at our final destination on Tuesday. I am not sure how much posting I'll get to do over the next week or so, but promise for lots of pictures, and maybe even some video when we return. In the meantime, here are our family portraits for 2008 to keep you sated until then...

Safe and Happy Holidays to everyone from our family to yours!

The Big Announcement: Coming in June to a Blog Near You!

So...not a surprise to many of you blog stalkers, but I am happy to confirm officially that our family will be expanding this Summer to include a new brother or sister for Lauren.

I am officially in the 2nd trimester this week, and we are happy to share this grainy, not so clear photo of our precious Baby #2.

To help the ultronsonically challenged (your blogger included!), the far left is the head, with arms and hands near the mouth (he/she was trying to suck the thumb). The profile is eerily like Lauren's...kinda neat to see if they really do look alike! The thigh, leg, and feet are on the far right side of the picture. This poor little one appears to also have the curse of big feet (sorry in advance, kiddo!).

Heartbeat was a strong 154, and I heard an audible sigh of relief from Daddy when he heard it coming through the ultrasound machine. The baby was moving a ton (apparently grapefruit juice and rice krispies were a hit). All looks great. We should be able to find out the gender in about 5 weeks or so.

Playing Catch Up (Mea Culpa Part II)

Here is just a random sampling of fall pics from November...

Georgia/Florida Game


Lauren and Kate hanging out in the kitchen before the game. You can't tell by this pic, but she was so miserable with two eye teeth coming in at once. She tried so hard to be a good sport.



Haylie, Lauren, and Kate prepping food for half-time.

Lauren cautiously shares her toys with Haylie, her "pretend" cousin. I think she was worried that Haylie might "run" off with her singing doggie (a favorite).

Playing Outside with Nana & Poppa

Lauren shows off her Georgia Bulldog, UGA.


Here she kicks around the Little Mermaid ball that Nana & Poppa found for her at Target earlier in the day.

The First Cold Day in Georgia

Lauren was so excited to wear her wool coat ("It's Pink!") and her mitten and hat that she got last Christmas from Nana. Thank goodness it still fit her this year. I wasn't sure with how much she's grown. She loves the hat especially...so much so that she often won't take off the hat when she gets home from school for the day. Thank you Nana for a GREAT gift!

Thanksgiving

I didn't really take many pictures this year, but I thought this one was just too sweet. After a delicious meal at a beautifully dressed table, everyone settled in to watch "Santa Claus is Coming to Town". I loved how entranced the girls look in this shot...because 2 minutes later they were totally bored with it.

We managed to get one more wear out of the Turkey dresses that Mimi made last year. They looked very 60's in their 'minis' this year...we decided next year they'd be cute with pants (think tunic top), in hopes to squeeze yet one more year.

Love their babies sitting on their laps, too. These two girls are such blessings to us!

Kaitlyn's 2nd Birthday Party

Lauren's sweet cousin Kaitlyn had her 2nd birthday in early November. She had a very fun, girly party of butterflies and flowers. It was really cute to watch the 4 little girls at the party all play together, all the hairbows, and the giggles.

Aunt Lisa, Kaitlyn, and Uncle Scott blow out the candles on the beautiful M&M Butterfly cake.

Lauren enjoy her cake and even wore her party hat (shocker!)

All the little girls gather around to watch Kaitlyn open presents!

These two have so much fun playing together. Here they sit in side-by-side chairs and have some "Cawfee Tawk Time".

After everyone goes home, Lauren plays around with Uncle Scott.

HAPPY 2nd BIRTHDAY DEAR KAITLYN! HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU....

Halloween 2008 (aka Mea Culpa)

Alright, alright, People! I fully realize that it is DECEMBER and I am just now posting my Halloween pics. As I have been reminded by several of you, "Blogs Don't Update Themselves". Your voices have been heard and you are going to get multiple postings in the next few days, so hang onto your hats, folks..... Let the blogging begin!
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Halloween was very fun this year, and Nana and Poppa Umpy came to visit from Wisconsin (or Woodondin, as Lauren pronounces it. And, Aunt Sarah flew in from Brooklyn to make our family visit extra special. In the week leading up to Halloween, they sprinkled magic pumpkin dust in the yard at Lauren's school.

Magically, the next day there was a whole pumpkin patch of toddler-sized pumpkins for the kids to take home and enjoy. Lauren loved her so much she carried it EVERYWHERE with her. I swear she would have slept with it, had it been allowed. Todd finally cut the handle off on it, for fear she was going to poke someone's eye out!

Halloween Parade at Primrose School

Lauren's school had a parade, so we brought her over there so she wouldn't miss out on the fun. She ended up melting down and being too tired for trick or treating, so probably best that we got her in the costume for some photos in the morning! It was interesting to see her in her element at school...she's very laid back and really just observes everyone around her. I think my parents and sister really liked seeing where she spends her days.

My sweet bunny! As I mentioned in an earlier post (can you remember back that far? No? Well SCROLL DOWN and read about!), this was MY blue bunny with the pink ears costume that Nana found in the attic and cleaned up for Lauren. All it needed was a new bow (an in retrospect, more wires in the ears! Just call her lop-eared!).

Lauren and Aunt Sarah taking a break from all the Halloween fuss to check out the PBS.org website. Did ya know that Elmo is on there? AND he talks?! Lauren was amazed. They also checked out video of Lauren on You Tube. She was pretty tickled by that.

Our Friendly, Neighborhood Pumpkin Patch


Lauren checks out a concaved one that makes a perfect seat for a 21 month old!

Always rooting for the underdog, Aunt Sarah extolls the virtues of said pumpkin to her niece, hoping that Lauren will take the bait and pick this sad, lopsided pumpkin to take home with her. No such luck (though Sarah did end up convincing Nana and Poppa that they ought to buy the one that looks like the freak from Goonies-- Sloth, I think?!). So a freakish pumpkin did find refuge at the Marschke's, after all!

Lauren enjoys the haybale with her Poppa Umpy and Nana. After MANY tries, we couldn't get her to look at the camera so I picked the one where the grandparents looked the best to post. You can thank me with a nice full stocking at Christmas, folks!

Pumpkin Carving 101


Poppa Umpy takes charge with Lauren on getting the pumpkin going. Lauren quickly catches on and dives right in! No mess is too much for this tom boy! In fact, when they gutted a pumpkin at school earlier in the week they said all the girls were squeamish....except our Lauren. She dug right in with the boy! You go Girl!

Todd designed the scary face and handled that part of the carving process. Here is the finished product. Are ya skeered???

Hope everyone had a safe and happy Halloween....6 weeks ago. Ahem!