Ho! Ho! Ho!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from my little elf! She's been such a good girl in 2009 and such a great big sister. I hope Santa is extra good to her this year...from what I can tell, that's definitely going to be the case. :)

http://portablenorthpole.tv/watch/e46be54d460c53d88ace7dad0799be05

First Haircut(s)

I have been so nervous to cut Ladybug's hair "just in case" her beautiful curls were not the result of naturally curly hair, but mere baby curls. It had gotten so long, and was really looking raggedy on the ends, so I finally convinced her (and me!!) that it needed to be reshaped, trimmed, etc.


She was nervous, but only whimpered a bit. I realized afterward that my hands were clenched so tight until it started to dry and curl right up. WHEW! Naturally curly hair, after all. :)

Todd and I were amazed at how much bounce and body just a slight trim (maybe 1/2 inch) provided! It looks so much healthier now.

Davis, on the other hand, has SO MUCH MORE hair than Lauren ever did! She didn't really start having hair until 15 months or so. His little chick fuzz has been creeping over his ears so we decided his first trim was about due too. (Note to the worriers out there: the scissors are snub-nosed, and I immediately dropped the camera to help secure the child, provide safety, etc! No children were harmed in the photographing of this milestone!)

Check out those thighs. Aren't they DELICIOUS?!?!

Davis: 6 months!

We can't even believe that our little boy is 6 months old!!! He showed off all his new tricks at his well baby visit. The doctor said he's a big, healthy boy and she was pleased with all his milestones (sitting up, doing well with a nice variety of baby foods, babbling in consonants -- his faves are Tatatatatata and Dadadadada-- rolling over both directions, and lots of reaching for things that he wants). He was a real trooper until it was time for all his shots. He got 2 in each leg, plus an oral vaccination. Poor baby!!

Height: 29 1/4 inches greater than 95th percentile

Weight: 22lbs and 8 oz. greater than 95th percentile

His little personality is starting to come out!

He's very easy-going, and quick to laugh with (or at!) any one of us!

He looks in wonder at everything. He's very curious. We suspect we will have our hands full when he gets mobile. He'll probably be into EVERYTHING!

We love you sweet boy! May the next 6 months be as fun as the first...

Happy Thanksgiving 2009

We hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving. We were thankful for many things this year- our health (save the past month or so. ugh!), our gainful employment, and our families and friends- near and far -- but mostly for each other and our two precious children. They bring us such joy, laughter, and utter amazement each and every day.

Here are some moments from our Marschke Family Thanksgiving Celebration at Mimi and Papa Fish's house:

Davis tries mashed potatoes for the first time. He liked them ok. I love his bib: "Cute but messy...just like Daddy". Couldn't be more true... on both counts!

Lauren and Kaitlyn both wore their Thanksgiving dresses from Mimi for the 3rd year in a row. Lisa and I both (without talking about it!) put them in jeans and had them wear it like a tunic so we could squeeze one more year out of this cute "Mimi Original".

These two sure do love each other.

The four grandkids

(Jonathan, Davis, Kaitlyn, & Lauren)

Davis kept eye-balling Uncle Scott's pumpkin cheesecake until he finally had enough and just reached for it!

mmmmmmm, me likey!

Lauren and Her Cowboy Shoes

Lauren loves to play with shoes-- hers, Mommy's, Daddy's, any one who leaves them laying about!

Davis Finds His Hands

We've really noticed an improvement in Davis' motor skills just in the past few days. He's suddenly discovered his hands and newfound control over them. He loves to bat at dangling items, and can make a quick move to capture what ever it is that he's after...his mobile, a dangling toy, Mommy's hair or earrings...Thank God for ponytails!!

"Cleaning Crew, Coming Through"

Lauren has her very own Elmo and Cookie Monster vaccuum. As she pushes it around it says, "Cleaning Crew, Coming Through" in Elmo's little voice. The other day I was vaccuuming up the living room when I noticed she scooted off to the playroom. I thought it was because she was afraid of the vaccuum noise, but she really just wanted to be a helper. The next morning I went to get something out of the laundry room (where we keep the vaccuum) and there I found her own parked right next to mine! Thanks for the help, Ladybug!

Halloween Festivities (2009)

The kids' preschool had their annual Halloween festivities, including the parade, art projects with parents, etc. Luckily it's literally around the corner from our house, so if I work from home on school event days, I can slip over during my lunch and not miss a thing!

My Chunky Monkey smiling away at me!

Tinkerbell does the same. She did ask me after putting on her costume why she couldn't fly "up dere" in the sky since she was flapping her wings like Tinkerbell does. Awww...

Early Preschool II classmates, enjoying a snack before the big outdoor parade!

And here he is...the infamous Shad. We hear about "my Shaddie" EVERY day after school. I have to admit...the kid is a cutie!

Lauren and Shad cuddle for the camera.


Lauren's favorite teacher, Ms. Bryant (costumed as a diva!). This coincided with Ms. Bryant's last day before moving to NY state to be closer to her family. We are still feeling the loss, as Ms. Bryant has given Lauren a love of learning, she helped her move seamlessly through the transition of becoming a big sister with so much care, love, and special attention, that it made all the difference in the world. She has touched our lives and we miss her terribly!

Ms. Jackson holds our littlest Monkey. I guess all the excitement of getting ready for the parade tuckered him out!

Mommy poses with her sleeping Monkey anyway for posterity's sake. :)


My two little ones snuggle close. Lauren adores her baby brother. I hope they are alway so tickled by each other. She was very worried that he would be left outside alone in all the chaos following the parade so we hung tight until his teacher brought him back to his classroom.

After the parade, Mommy and Lauren worked on a special art project together that involved paper, glue, hand tracing, yarn, and very spooky googly eyes. We made a BAT! I loved working on a special project with my special girl.

As I mentioned in an earlier post, Todd and I came down with a nasty stomach bug on Halloween, so Mimi and Papa Fish were our saviors, coming to pick up the kids so Todd and I could sleep it off. A special Kat's Cradle Shout Out to Stephanie for taking Lauren trick-or-treating for us! You are the best!

Davis: First Foods

Davis has quickly moved beyond just bottles and rice cereal. Here was his first taste of baby food: Squash, He was not into it at first until he got some on his thumb and sucked if off there, realizing that it is infinitely better tasting than the bland rice cereal he had been choking down. To date he has had squash, sweet potatoes, carrots, green beans, peas, pears, peaches, and applesauce. He likes them all,s ave the peas. Can't say that I blame him...he's a good sport, though, and chokes down the sweet peas. He's lke his Daddy and doesn't want to waste food. :) And, clearly the food agrees with him. We took him for a follow-up to the almost-pneumonia incident and he weiged in at 22 lbs, 8 oz. Our little man has officially outgrown his infant car seat. Happy, healthy, juicy, and lucscious!

Davis' Baptism: October 25, 2009

We had a wonderful weekend to celebrate Davis' baptism on October 25th. It was definitely cool and fall-like. We had lots of friends and family join us to witness as we welcomed Davis into God's family (officially!). Poor little guy was fighting some nastiness (spiking fevers, first tooth, etc.), but he tried so hard to be a good sport. He cried just a little, but I suppose to most observers he was really good...he was just fussy for 'him'. :)

A special thank you to Mimi for his beautiful christening outfit. It was a perfect fit-- and not too 'frou-frou' (per Daddy's request!). She embroidered a beautiful cross on the front of the pantsuit, and again on the back of the jacket. The pocket of the jacket had his monogram on it. So much time, love, and effort went into it, and we certainly appreciate, admire, and adore her for such a gift!

Kate, Lauren, Todd, and Davis

Parents, Pastor Sherry Morrison, the man of the hour, and Grandparents

Davis with his godparents, Kate's best friends from college: Beth and David Crownover. We love you guys! Thanks for being such a special part of our lives...

Uncle Scott and Aunt Lisa and their kids joined in the celebration

Papa Fish and Mimi with Davis

Umpy, Nana, and Davis

Aunt Sarah flew in from Brooklyn a day earlier than everyone else so that she could meet Davis and spend time with her favorite girl(s): Kate and Lauren, of course! Notice that Lauren has her hot little hands on Sarah's iPhone. She thinks it's her personal photo/movie player. LOVES it. When Davis first saw Sarah (we picked him up at school), he immediately started giggling like a madman, and just adored her. Of course, that's how we all feel about her, so I shouldn't be surprised! I just loved that he was so taken with her right away.

Thank you everyone for making the trip, joining us in the celebration, and being a part of our inner circle. We love you!

Sick and Tired of Being Sick and Tired

My Dearest Blog Stalkers,

Sorry we have been MIA in blogland, however the past month we have had a little bit of everything at our house, save seasonal flu and H1N1 (knock on wood!). Between the lot of us we've had the common cold/cough, bronchitis, sinus infections, ear infections, possible pneumonia for the baby that just turned out to be a wheeze, and Todd and I managed to get a nasty stomach bug on Halloween. We are sick and tired of being sick and tired, to say the least!

A big Kat's Cradle Shout Out to Papa Fish and Mimi for all their help with watching the kids, meals, allowing Todd and me to get some extra sleep in so that we could take back the parenting duties, etc. We could not have survived the past month without the extra hands, love, and support!!!

Hopefully we are on the home stretch to feeling better (knock on wood-- I received an email earlier that pink eye has been detected in Lauren's class, and Hand, Foot, & Mouth in Davis'...God willing, we will come out unscathed on those fronts....!). So, enjoy several new posts and even some (gasp!) video clips from the past month or so. We've missed you too.

Evening Antics

Waaaay back in mid-October I got the camera out during our usual dinnertime fun.

Davis was just learning to love rice cereal. I think this child may have a "texture thing"....rice cereal was not (and is still not) a huge hit. Hanging out with Dad, on the other hand, always gets the little big guy giggling!

Daddy with his two snuggle bunnies.


Lauren is just learning to pose for the camera. So happy, bright-eyed, and curious, this one is...

Davis - 4 months

Our Little Big Guy never ceases to amaze...

The doctor was amused with how much he has grown since his 8 week check up. Once again, blowing up the charts, greater than 100th percentile on all fronts:

Height: 28 inches
Weight: 2o lbs and 6 oz

He's really big and juicy, but the doctor stressed VERY proportionate so that we wouldn't be worried about how big he's getting. We thought Lauren was big for her age, and even with slightly larger boys chart, he is averaging 5 lbs heavier and 2-3 inches longer at the same age.

She thought his head was beautifully shaped, and that he was doing all the "tricks" he's supposed to be doing right now (rolling from front to back, holding his head up, baby 'push ups' during tummy time, cooing, laughing, etc.). He was all fun and games until they decided to give him his shots. YOWZA. I have never seen this baby cry like that, but it was short-lived, and he clearly forgave me with some nice Mommy/Baby cuddles.

Happy Halloween 2009!

Davis' 4 month "Photo Shoot" coincided with Halloween, so I decided to bring Lauren along too and capture both kids in their Halloween Glory. It certainly wasn't our best set of shots, but it captured our current reality nicely.

Tinkerbell "pretending" she's shy. I think we all know better!

Tinkerbell is trying to give Chunky Monkey the slip!

Chunky Monkey, all happy and smiles!

Sunday Funnies

We had a busy weekend, but Sunday proved to be slow and easy-- a perfect match to the overcast skies! Lauren sleptover with her cousin Kaitlyn on Saturday night, following Jonathan's AWESOME glow-in-the-dark monster mini-golf birthday party, so we only had Davis to contend with. He turned 4 months over the weekend, so we started pulling out all the next milestone "gear" for him: highchair (baby cereal time!), bumbo (he's already WAAAY too chunky for it, so don't think he'll get to use it), and the EXERSAUCER. As you can see below, he LOVED it!

He was very wide-eyed at first...it was almost like he was thinking, "But I am standing up and I can't stand up by myself. How does this contraption work?!"

Then he started noticing all the things he could bat at, look at, make sounds with, etc.

"Oooh...look at the pretty baby in the mirror!"

Later that afternoon Lauren returned home, and we returned the favor by watching our niece and nephew for a few hours. Lauren was taking a much-needed nap, so we got some great one-on-one time with both kids!


Jonsthan and Uncle Todd reading about different creatures of the earth. Jonathan is in kindergarten now and super inquisitive. It was really neat to watch Todd in "teacher-mode" with him, asking him probing questions to get him to think and learn! Very cool bonding time for the two guys.

Kaitlyn enjoying a chocolate milkshake, compliments of Uncle Todd.

Kaitlyn reading Halloween-themed books to Davis.


Lauren finally woke up and put on her new "Fishing Dress" that Daddy picked up for her at his favorite store. I think Daddy meant for it to be "Fishing Nightgown"...nonetheless that night she asked him if this means she can go fishing with him now. I could tell he was really pleased that one of his favorite buddies loves to spend time with him too!

Little Mommy

Davis woke up around 2am last night and was clearly just out of sorts. The big boy has been sleeping through the night (10- 11 hours straight) for well over a month now, so it was strange that he needed any more attention than just finding his pacifier for him. I changed his diaper and went back into our room, only to hear him fussing, yet again. When I went back into his room, I discovered Lauren trying to climb into his crib crooning, "Shhhhh....Shhhh...It's ok, Buddy. You are ok!".

That little mommy moment was such a sweet "awwwww" moment. I almost didn't care that both kids were up at 2am. Almost. :)

Hat Day!

Today is Hat Day at Primrose, so both kiddos have on their favorite ballcaps. Lauren is, of course, dressed for Tuesday Dance Classes. Davis has on a grey tee with blue jeans...he looks just like his Daddy on a Saturday!