Sleepover

Tenley had her first sleepover this week.  She was so excited!  Our babysitter, Miss Iva, had been asking if we thought she would spend the night some evening.  I really wasn't sure, and to be honest I kept putting off the question hoping that maybe she wouldn't ask again!  I wasn't quite ready for Tenley to grow up that fast! But like all things do, the question came around again.  Another little girl that Miss Iva watches who is a couple years older than Tenley was spending the night and asked if Tenley could too.  I decided there was no harm in trying.  If I had to go get her in the middle of the night that would be okay.  So I packed her Dora backpack with her favorite pajamas and blanket.  I let her pick out a stuffed animal to take along.  The whole way to Iva's she sang from the backseat "Going to a sleepover!  Going to a sleepover!" I looked at Mike and said "Do you think she really knows what sleepover is?"  He laughed and agreed probably not.  But she was so excited to be spending extra time with Mady.  She ran in to Iva's and started playing right away.  As Mike and I lingered by the door watching her I was a little overcome with how quickly she has grown up.  2 seems way too young for a sleepover, but she still is such a little lady at times.

All ready to go!

She had a great time!  I went to bed around 11 that night after feeding Paisley, and I kept looking at the clock wondering if I would get a call from Iva.  The call never came!  In the morning I went to drop off Paisley on my way to work and when I walked in Tenley immediately said "No, no I'm not ready to go!" So I knew she was having fun!  Iva said that she did so well and she slept in a big bed with Mady and they didn't have any problems!  I could tell that evening though that she was very tired.  She went to bed early and slept late.

Updates

Since one set of the girls great grandparents are still in Florida (come home already!!) I thought I needed to update with a few pictures! We are loving the summer weather with lots of time playing in water and running around outside. Tenley would live outside if we let her! Paisley is growing so much! She is such a sweet and content baby!

Tenley's cousin Lindsey and boyfriend Brent took her to get ice cream last week!

It got really hot, she couldn't help but climb in!

This sweetie and her cheeks are just so kissable!

Posing after a birthday party!

Paisley

Here's Paisley at just about 4 months smiling and laughing.  We thought our Florida loving great grandparents might enjoy this!

The sickness hasn't quite left the Marshall household.  I took this little one to the doctor this week and she has RSV.  Not good at all.  RSV can be very serious in infants, so I was nervous, but the breathing treatments that we have to give her up to four times a day seem to really be helping.  She's coughing less and is able to cough up some of that gross crud.

 Paisley also had her three month pictures taken yesterday.  She was great.  Here's a sneak peak.

I would like to end by saying how much we miss our friend, Brad.  Brad went to be with Jesus last Wednesday, February 27th.  I didn't realize at the time how big of a hole Brad would leave in our family.  Not only was he Mike's best friend, my constant source of fun and laughter, but also Tenley's favorite play mate.  She will often ask for him when she's playing in her play kitchen- she loved cooking meals for him. Although we feel like God chose to take a wonderful father and husband entirely too early, we know He has a greater plan.  We are having a tough time seeing through the fog right now, but some day- the fog will let up and we'll be able to see a glimpse of the blue skies ahead.  Please keep us in your prayers as we try and make sense of this great loss.  Also, remember Brad's wife Kayla and his 11 month old daughter Jayda.  My heart is broken for them as they navigate this life without him.  One thing rings true through our grief and heart break- God is still with us.  Carrying us through this storm.

We love you Brad!  See you later.

Ugh.

The title of this blog pretty much sums up how Mike and I feel today.  We didn't get much sleep this weekend - we were up with a very sick little girl.  Friday when Tenley woke up she barked like a seal when she coughed, her eyes were watery, nose running and she sounded terrible.  Luckily the girls were staying home with Mike that day, because he hadn't worked the day before.  I told Mike just to let her take it easy and relax all day.  I received several texts from him saying that she wasn't getting much better.  When I got home she had a low fever.  That night she woke up crying and moaning.  Mike brought her to bed with him and she had a fever of 102.  The fever broke in the middle of the night thank goodness, but on Saturday morning I knew by the way she sounded I couldn't wait to get her to the dr.  She was wheezing and having trouble breathing.  The doctor said she had a respiratory infection and strep throat :(  I hadn't even thought about strep, but knew it was going around.  So we took it easy all weekend and let her watch lots of tv, eat a Popsicle and kept her away from her sister!  I think she liked all the tv we let her watch!  She went back to the sitter's today- I don't think she's feeling 100% but the medicine has helped.  I know Iva will make her rest a little too.

Since we were stuck at home this weekend, on Friday night after the kids were in bed I met my dad out at the shop to work on some projects I've been wanting to do!  I wanted new curtains in our kitchen.  When I'm at the sink, I can see right into our neighbors kitchen window if they have their blinds open.  So I wanted a little more privacy.  I am in love with the chevron print right now, so I chose the yellow and white print!  I'm happy with how it turned out!  The other project is for above the couch in our sitting room.  It was a big blank wall, so I couldn't wait to get these done.  My dad and I reupholstered the chevron fabric onto plywood with foam.  I hung three up on the wall- the one with the M on it is in the middle and the outside ones are the plain chevron print.  My dad saw just what I wanted and made it happen!!  I am so happy with how they turned out!  My next project is Paisley's nursery!  I haven't done a thing to decorate, so I really want to do something to that room!

Our little sickie.  Doesn't she look so old with her hair all pulled back like this?

Finally an Update!

Time for an update!
Things have been going really well in the Marshall house!  I won't lie, I could use a bit more sleep, but I'm finding getting up with a newborn a little easier this time around.  Probably because I don't have time to whine about it!  I just have to suck it up and get on with my day!  A certain two year old doesn't leave me much time for my own feelings!

Tenley is now 29 months old!  She's singing lots of songs, helping us pray, says her ABCs with only a few missing letters, counts to 15 in English and can count to 10 in Spanish.  She also fondly calls the moon "la luna" in Spanish rather than English most of the time!  We do not take any credit for this, all credit goes to her morning episode of Dora the Explorer!  Mike and I have been trying to do special things with just Tenley since we've had Paisley.  Tenley loves our special time together.  Recently, Tenley went sledding for the first time!  Mike and I were both able to take her and Tenley's best friend and our neighbor, Brenin!  She had so much fun!!  She got really brave after a couple times and begged to go down on the sled alone!  Mike and I shared a look that said 'no way!!'.  So I got creative.  We put her in a sled by herself and I laid down on my stomach behind her in a separate sled.  I told her I was going to push her down the hill.  She was so excited and said "mommy i'm so big!!" So as I pushed her down the hill I just went with her holding on to the back of her sled and to her coat.  She never knew the difference!  The older she gets I know we won't be able to trick her like this, but for now it worked!

 One of the other fun things we did was take some pictures of just Tenley and daddy!  She loves her special times with Daddy.  He likes to take her to the store with him or to run other errands.  But my cousin Lindsey (our wonderful photographer of choice) offered to take some pictures for us for free since she wanted to try some new things anyway.  So we took advantage of that!  Here's a couple of our favorites!

Dancing!

Sharing a milkshake

A friend of ours just had some baby pigs, so we would like to take her to the barn to see those next!  Let me know if you have any ideas for our special times with Tenley!

As for our sweet little Miss Paisley.  She's such a joy to us!  She's so laid back and easy for the most part!  She had a little stomach bug a couple weeks ago, but we're recovering from that now.  Poor thing is eating all she can get now that she can handle a whole bottle again!  She's gaining weight- up to 9 lbs. now!  Seems strange that she's 9 lbs at 2 months and that's what Tenley was at birth!!  She's cooing and smiling and she loves to lay on her activity mat and look at the mirror and the hanging toys.  Tenley is enjoying her role as big sister.  She's finally getting used to having Paisley around all the time and she doesn't like when she can't see her!  Last night I moved the swing into the kitchen, so that I could cook and keep an eye on her.  Tenley was playing in her play room with daddy and she came running in saying "mama where is Paisley!?!  Where is she!?" with her arms in the air questioning where she was.  I told her not to worry that I had moved the swing into the kitchen.  After Tenley saw that Paisley was safe and sound, she looked at me with a stern face and said "that's not funny mommy".  Well I'm sorry!  Ha.  She has quite the personality these days! I'll leave you with a couple pictures of the two of them together!

Family of Four

I realize I have some work to do on this blog!  I'm no longer just Tenley's mommy, I'm now Paisley's too!!  I'm back at work now after six weeks off and it's nice to be back into our "normal" routine.  Although my new normal now involves feedings every three hours during the night.  All in all, Paisley is such a good baby. She's easy and sweet and laid back.  Tenley is a great big sister (it took some adjusting of course!) and likes to show you how we change diapers and feed her.  It's been fun to see Tenley take on this role and she's growing up so quickly right before our eyes.

Because this blog tends to be more for myself, and I just don't want to forget these moments- here's something Tenley said the other day that had us laughing.  On my way to the sitter's one morning Tenley explained to me that she doesn't like naps, but that she takes them upstairs at Iva's.  I asked her if her bed was upstairs and she said "yes, in the barn."  "you take naps in the barn?!" I said.  "Yes, I do."  "Tenley I don't think Miss Iva makes you take naps in the barn, that's not true."  "It's true Mama."  So when we got to Iva's I told her to tell Iva what she had told me.  She stated the facts for her- she sleeps in the barn.  Iva laughed and told Tenley that she wouldn't last two minutes out there with the horses!  Tenley tipped her head back and laughed like she had made such a funny joke.  What a character she is!

I'm hoping to get some pictures up soon!