On October 26th Marina turned one! It is unbelievable how fast her first year went! She has been so much fun. She enjoyed her little birthday party...she tasted her first bite of cake and ice cream and was fairly dainty about it...just like her sister was! She loved opening her presents and playing with her new toys.

Marina is walking now. She really took off on her birthday. She had been walking a few weeks before but that was just a few steps here and there.  After her birthday party, walking became her new game. She still crawls but more and more often she's starting to walk around the house instead.

She doesn't say much. Lacey still does all the talking! :) But we know when she tries to say bottle, ball, bath, dog, dad, mom, and the word more.

Marina is are little ball of fire. She keeps moving and loves to be busy. She is quickly learning how to defend herself (her toys) by screaming when Lacey seems like she is coming too close. Haha I can see the days of arguements ahead!

We all have enjoyed our little Marina and can't wait to see how she will continue to change!

Motivation

I have always been sort of a dreamer. Someone who thinks and dreams of all the things that they want to do but never really puts them to practice or gets them done. I don't want to be that way but I have more ideas than I ever really get done.

I used to work at a place called the St. James Tearoom. I loved it. It was really fun and I always had wanted to have a little tea party of my own at my house. But of course I always thought about it and never did it! Until....
My friend Heidi is the opposite of me. She is a doer! She thinks of something she wants to do and she immediately starts planning. So one day over a pot of tea, I told her my tea party idea. She whipped out her pen and a piece of scrap paper from her purse and said, "When? What are you going to make? Lets write down who we are inviting."  Whoa! I did not know I was going to just jump into it but I went along with her. That day we planned a date, our menu, and all the things we would have to buy.

One month later...I had a beautiful tea party for my friend Courtney's birthday! All it took was a little shove and a lot of help from a good friend.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Tuesday was Lacey's first day of preschool! She was very excited! We had talked and talked about how she was going to go to school and how mommy couldn't stay with her there. Lacey can be a little timid so I was hoping she would do all right. Well...we got there and the teacher had a little activity for the parents to do with thier child, so I stayed for that. Then the parents were welcome to stay while the teacher read the kids a book. So...I thought I would stay for that until Lacey looks back and me and whispers, "Mom, GO!" and motions me towards the door! So I left! She was ready for school and was NOT one of the children who cried! haha I guess she is ready to do something on her own. =) Hope she continues to have a fun year!

We had a very nice Labor Day weekend. We drove up to Bayfield and stayed with Loren's parents. Lacey had spent the previous week there and had the oppurtunity to ride Papa's horses so....this is what we also did when we got there. Lacey rode the horse every day!

Marina liked the horses too...

her Papa is back there making sure she is stays on! She also took a short ride with her daddy.

We all had a good time! Enjoyed seeing friends and family!

Well it has been a while since I've last posted! A lot has happened in the past few weeks! Our friend David came to visit us (he's from Spain) and we took him up the tram so that he could view Albuquerque from the top of the Sandias.

We had a nice time up there but forgot how climbing in elevation how cold it would be. We went up in the evening so that David could see the city lights once it got dark. On the way back down we discovered that it had been 52 degrees at the top plus the wind chill that you factor in so....Brrrr!

Daddy time! I am so lucky to married to a man who is a wonderful father. This last sunday Loren entertained them all afternoon. Marina has to ride the "horse" at the same time as Lacey because she doesn't like to be left out.
Later when Marina was taking a nap....

Loren got out the Lincoln Logs that Lawerence and Sharla gave us and Lacey and him had a lot of fun. I think Loren had more fun than Lacey....

:) Here's to nice times with dad!

Big sister....that is the role that Lacey has definately taken charge of. She has been wonderful with Marina. When I was pregnant with Marina I was worried how Lacey would respond to Marina but I should not have wasted time stressing about it! Lacey loves to "help". I know she cannot wait until Marina is big enough to actually play with.

One thing that has been difficult is Lacey loves to take charge! :) She likes being the bossy big sister that controls what toys Marina plays with and even where Marina plays. Her new thing is picking up Marina and taking her wherever "they" want to play. I feel like I am always saying "Put her DOWN" and "Hands to yourself"! Oh well...this too shall pass! I am just very glad that they are learning to do things together and enjoy one another.

Here are some pictures of the last couple of months...

We have had some pretty good days! :)

This poor girly has had a rough week! On Sunday she developed a pretty high fever and was miserable all day. It continued until Tuesday where she woke up relatively happy and had a new tooth and one more on the way! I was relieved and thought she would continue to get better until...Wednesday morning when she woke up, she was on fire again! She broke out with quite a rash today and isn't herself. I think she has Roseola. =( So here's to hoping the worst is over and she can return to happier days like the one she is having in the picture!

It is peach season! The peach tree in the back yard decided to produce A LOT of fruit this year. Loren was very excited that we would get to eat peaches that could ripen on the tree and be juicy and delicious! We had enjoyed a couple huge peaches and then I finally hoarded three and found a recipe for this wonderful peach cake. I wasn't sure about it to begin with but I knew we had tons of peaches that would be ready soon so I thought why not?  It is amazing! Loren gave a box filled with peaches to some of our friends, and I have to admit I was a bit upset because we hadn't froze any or made jam etc. with any. (this tree is a bit of a miracle because its only produced peaches twice) But Loren just laughed and a couple of days later brought me a box over flowing with peaches. We had to pick them all at once because the birds had discovered the tasty snack that was in their tree.
SO...we sliced, bagged, and froze peaches and made seven jars of yummy peach jam. I still have peaches and I'm not quite sure what to do with them so I thought...I would make this peach cake again!

It has been over a year since I have posted something on this !Ahhh! I promise that this time, I am serious about keeping this up! We do not live by any family now so I need to do better. A lot has happened since Feb 4, 2011!

So here it goes....

This past year has been full of many changes! We welcomed Marina Lea into the family on October 26th 2011. She has really been a joy. I can't decide if she was more laid back or, this being my second child, I was. Things went along pretty well. Our only upset was in mid December the plumbing in the living room exploded and we lived outside of our home for 3 weeks on the kindess of dear friends and family! It was quite an ordeal for my poor parents (it is thier house we are living in). So Loren has been remodeling the master bathroom for the past six months and now that it is completed we are very excited to use it and I am very happy to have him not working after work! Although who know how long he'll let that last!

Marina was sleeping through the night a little bit before 4 months! She has been a wonderful sleeper! She is a happy baby. She was quick to crawl. She just has to keep up with Lacey! Lacey and Marina share a room and I can tell they are going to be friends!

I know this one is a long one and I am sure I could write much more but my writing would probably put you to sleep!