Bubble Lips and Laughs with Dad

Marshall has mastered bubble lips! Well, probably not mastered, we were just really lucky to get this on video!

Rice Cereal and all of December!

Marshall is four months old-time is flying by for me! He had his four month check-up last week and once again checked out completely healthy! He weighed in at 14 lbs. 11 oz. (50%) and measured 26 inches long (80%). He is a growing boy and Richard is hoping that he keeps growing lengthwise.

The pediatrician told us that we could start him on rice cereal anytime now so I tried it for the first time on Friday. He took to it pretty well and sometimes I couldn't get it in his mouth fast enough. As soon as he would see the spoon he would open his mouth and his little tongue would just start fishing around, it was so cute. Here is a little video clip of it all, and you'll have to disregard the pink spoon-it wasn't until I was done that I realized what color the spoon was! Also, please note that I was feeding him and recording all at the same time; I was quite impressed with myself. :)

OK, so I have been trying to upload this video for a day and I can't get it to work. So, I will keep trying and hopefully I will have it up to morrow, but for now, here's the rest of the post.

Marshall has also recently discovered his hands and feet. He usually only looks at his feet when he is sitting down, but he loves his hands and will look at them anytime-who knew five little fingers could be so fascinating!

Here are just a few more random Marshall pictures...do they come any cuter?

Diaper changes with dad usually result in crazy things!

Marshall and his little dog we have named Walter.


I love this little guy!

Now for a bunch of Christmas pictures...

And lastly, I would just like to document that we do indeed live in a very cold place. On Wednesday we had a high of -5, and with the wind chill we were fluctuating between -30 and -40! Here is a picture of the door in our building that goes out to the balcony-talk about frosted window panes, more like frozen window panes!

Thanksgiving and Random Tidbits

Holy cow, time flies! Sorry it has been so long since our last post, who knew that one child could keep us so busy! We have had a great few weeks and have much to share, so here it goes...

Thanksgiving

This year we spent Thanksgiving in Cheyenne with Richard's family. It was a pretty quick trip, but it was great to be all together with the Leake's. We spent our time talking, playing games, watching movies, and of course, eating great food. Marshall was able to meet his four little girl cousins, for now he is very outnumbered. :)

Marshall with Mara, Teia, and Becca

Unfortunately we didn't get one with Katelin, Marshall's newest cousin. We'll have to get them together during Christmas.

While we in Cheyenne we also took family pictures. This is Marshall after the picture festivities..I guess we wore him out. So, being in the picture spirit, we put him with this giant teddy bear for a few more shots...what a sweetie. :)

Three Months Old and a Thumb Sucker

That's right folks, Marshall turned three months old on Friday and he has also turned into a thumb sucker! He has always enjoyed sucking on his fist, but yesterday morning he discovered he didn't have to put his whole fist in his mouth, he could just suck on his thumb. He will still take a binkie, but if that's not around, most likely his thumb will be in his mouth. Richard is less than thrilled with this new development. I'm not too bothered by it, seeing as I also sucked my thumb, and I still turned out okay. :)

Our Little Reindeer



A couple weeks ago Richard found this little outfit and couldn't resist buying it...and who could blame him! We had our branch Christmas party last night so of course we had to dress Marshall up. He looked SO cute and received many compliments. Unfortunately, he was asleep when Santa arrived at the party, so he didn't get to experience the whole Santa thing this year, we'll look forward to that next year.

Smiles and Laughs for Mom

Marshall is a big smiler now and we have started to get some semi-laughs out of him. He is so much fun and makes us laugh too. Yesterday I discovered another way to get smiles and laughs, so here it is, enjoy!

Catch Up Time!!!

Sorry its been a while since our last post, time just gets away from us. So, here's what we have been up to these last couple weeks...

Marshall's Blessing
Marshall was blessed this last Sunday. It was a great day and we were so fortunate to be surrounded by wonderful family and friends for this special occasion. Some of my dad's family from Michigan made the trip to Milwaukee as well as our friends Corey and Bekky who live in Minnesota. It was great to see all who came and we really appreciate their support.

Marshall wore a little white outfit we ordered from the Distribution Center and he did a great job at keeping it clean. He was also great during the blessing; he didn't make a peep. Richard did a wonderful job and it was a tender moment for all of us.

Marshall was pooped after we got home from church, he had had such a big morning!

Marshall with cousin Sarah.


Aunt Michelle holding Marshall and Grandma Toney enjoying her newest great-grandson.

Two Month Stats

Marshall had his two month check-up last week. He weighed in at 12 pounds, 4 ounces and measured 23 1/2 inches long! This puts him in the 60th percentile for both height and weight. He checked out as a completely healthy, growing, and developing baby boy. He also had to get three shots and take an oral immunization. Despite the tears with all the pokes, he did a great job and didn't have too bad of a reaction to the immunizations. And, as you can see, he is one happy boy!

Good Morning!

Yesterday morning Marshall woke up SO happy-I love mornings like this! When I went in to get him he was smiling up at his mobile that has three bears. We played with the mobile for a few minutes and then I pulled him into our bed for some snuggles. We had a great time and he just smiled away at everything I did. I absolutely love being a mom, and even though at times it is exhausting and overwhelming, it is mornings like these that make it all worth it!







Gotta Love the Fishes!

The swing we have has four colorful fishes that hang down from a water globe. The last couple of weeks Marshall has really come to adore these four little fishes. Whenever we put him in his swing he just stares at them and cracks smile after smile. We finally caught it on video, so enjoy!

Smiles, Halloween and a Friend

Richard and Marshall went to a Halloween party on Thursday the 30th, I didn't go because I had to go to work. I think they had a good time as Richard said that Marshall was very well behaved. Sorry we don't have any good pictures in his costume because he was either sleeping or crying. Better luck next year.

Here is Marshall with Duncan, another boy in the cul-de-sac. Duncan is 6 months old and 21 lbs. I hope Marshall looks like this when he is 6 months old.

Successful smile pictures! What a happy boy!

Six Weeks Old and as Cute as Ever!

Well, all I have to say is that I absolutely love being a mom! Even though I feel like I hardly get anything done during the day, nothing can beat taking care of little Marshall. He is such a great baby!

I can't believe he is already six weeks old. He had a major growth spurt this week. Lengthwise he has almost outgrown a couple of his three month outfits and he is already wearing size two diapers! I can't believe how quickly he is growing and changing! I told Richard I am ready for another newborn-I think that has him a little bit worried. :)

Here are some pictures from the last couple of days. I still haven't been successful at capturing one of his adorable smiles with the camera, but I will keep trying!



This is the closest picture I have to a smile. It is still pretty cute, but doesn't come close to the huge grins he has been giving us.



Bath time! I love this picture. Just hanging out in his bathtub, lookin' pretty cool.






Seriously, isn't this the cutest little boy you have ever seen?!







So here's the story behind this picture. This morning after I fed Marshall I told Richard he was in charge of the little guy while I got ready for church. I went about doing what I needed to do and was surprised that things had been so quiet in our bedroom for so long because Marshall was pretty fussy when I handed him off. Well, when I opened the door, this is what I saw and it just melted my heart. I told Richard he should just stay there all day because they both looked so cute and comfortable.

Five Weeks and Still Going Strong...

Well, now that I'm pretty much a stay-at-home mom I am finally getting into this whole blogging thing. And, just to clarify, all of the previous posts have been from Richard, even though he writes as if they were from me-what a sly guy. :) Anyway, I just wanted to share what little Marshall has experienced in his five weeks of life.

Visits from all four grandparents.

A short road trip to South Chicago with Grandpa Toney to meet Great-Grandma and Grandpa Toney. Little Marshall did fairly well in his carseat with only short bouts of screaming both ways!

An unplanned trip to the pediatrician for pink eye and his first antibiotic, poor kid.

Weekly BYU football games with dad, which have all been victories!

Trips to the medical school, the grocery store, the car inspection place, and mom's work.

His church debut, which went very well despite squirting dad's suit pants during a diaper change.

And last, but definitely not least, his first real smile at exactly five weeks old! Unfortunately we haven't been able to catch any real smiles with the camera yet, but we will keep trying!