Seasons

I have nothing nice to say about winter anymore. I'm over it.  Bring on spring.  Now that that's out of the way, we'll move on to more interesting things, because clearly spring isn't listening to us.

We braved the blizzard warning and grilled the other night!

This will be a picture laden post. Which will make you happy Grandma and Grandpa!  We have been keeping busy despite the treacherous weather. For my own records I want to document the last few months with Tenley specifically.  In November of 2014, Tenley started having very random high fevers. These would come and go. A fever would stick around for a few hours and then be gone, or sometimes it would last all day and really wipe her out. That was the only symptom. Until we noticed how tired she was getting. All of this was around the same time she started school and stopped taking a nap, so I really just thought it may have something to do with that. I took her to the doctor in late November, because I thought that she had a UTI and that could have been the reason for the fevers. Everything came back clear though. We made it through the holidays, but fevers would still pop up. I started keeping track of them and it was rare for her to go a week or two without one. I couldn't ignore my gut any more and knew in January that I needed to get her in to the doctor again. At the end of January 2015 we took her in and I asked them to run a blood test. I hated to put her through that, but due to the random fevers, fatigue, and leg pain that had popped up I wanted to be thorough. She was a trooper and was very brave. I held her tight as they did the blood draw and prayed that everything would be okay. The doctor came back in to talk to me about all of the things they were testing for. The biggest concern was cancer. I had really prepared myself for that word. Mike and I had talked about it, we had thought it, but hearing it out loud from your child's doctor is a completely different feeling. Thankfully, the blood test came back normal. So they sent us to Memorial Children's Hospital to a Pediatric Infectious Disease specialist. Dr. Ansari. He has been very informative. At the appointment with him we heard a few more scary words. Cancer and tumors. We weren't out of the woods. But after he did a couple x-rays and an examination everything was still coming back normal. At this point I was beginning to feel crazy! But I guess better a crazy mama and we know for sure that Tenley is healthy!

  Tenley was very brave during her appointment.  She liked her new bracelet that they gave her when she had to get x-rays. Her next appointment is this coming Tuesday. She will have an ultrasound done of her stomach and also another appointment with the specialist. She has been on an antibiotic now for a couple weeks and I have seen an improvement in her. We're praying that this was just some crazy virus!

Paisley has stayed a constant joy through all of this. I can't imagine our family without that sweet little girl. She is so compassionate and is always asking "mama ok?" when I cough, sneeze or anything else. She's so sweet.  Paisley is starting to become a daddy's girl! She asks for him every morning and when I have to say that he's at work she often says "ohh no. Daddy hold me!" This of course makes Mike so happy!

I have started a new, and very much needed, journey to losing weight. I don't often talk about this publicly, but I think this would be good motivation and accountability. I am working out every morning, I haven't had pop in over two weeks (whoa!), and I am eating mostly lean protein and fruits and veggies. I am currently down 8 pounds and about 9 inches total.

I know that the struggles will come. I know that I'll want to give up, there will be set backs, but I also know the struggles will be SO worth it when I get to my goal.  Once I get a good handle on my cravings I'll be able to have one cheat meal per week. I'm looking forward to my first one already :) I think they will be much more satisfying when they are only happening once a week. For now though I'm sticking to this strict plan and inventing new ways to eat grilled chicken!

2015.

We're now 21 days into 2015.  Let's get caught up.
1.  I turned 30 on the 11th.  I almost had a break down.
2.  But Mike threw me a wonderful surprise party, and I decided that if I get to spend another 30 years with my amazing friends and family - I'm doing just fine.
3.  Mike and I were able to get away for the weekend.
4.  My parents house sold.

Now that we're caught up on big events, let's get back to the focus of the new year.  I'm not really a person who does resolutions.  I just think they are a way to remind you of your failures.  But with that said, I do think the new year is a great time to look back on your life and think about what you want to do better.  I found this list online.

I think that pretty much sums up how I feel about 2015.  While I'm going to try and do those things on the list, ultimately I'm just going to try and be the best me that I can.  That includes getting healthier, taking walks with my family, spending time each night with the girls instead of rushing through bedtimes, spending more time in the Word, making intentional time with my husband.

I'll leave you with the funniest of pictures.  The girls were eating lunch yesterday and were interacting so nicely with each other, so I snapped a few and this one happened:

Tenley is full of experessions these days.  Here's a couple of nicer ones too.

Fa la la randomness!

I can't believe Christmas is right around the corner!  I still have a couple gifts to buy, and I have ALL our wrapping to do!  Remember when the stores used to give you boxes with your Christmas purchases?  I sure wish they still did that.  I've been setting aside Wheat Things, Lucky Charms and saltine cracker boxes wrap some of our gifts!  Won't the girls be thrilled when they open a box of wheat thins!

I love the traditions that Christmas brings.  I've been watching plenty of Hallmark Christmas movies. That's my own personal tradition.  There's nothing more peaceful to me than after everyone is in bed I cuddle up on the couch with the glow of the Christmas tree lights on watching a Christmas movie! I'll stay up extra late just to make it happen some nights.

Last night we completed another tradition. We went to Winding Brook neighborhood in Mishawaka to look at all the Christmas lights. I popped popcorn for the girls, got them in their pajamas and off we went! The older they get the more fun it is.  Tenley counted how many santas she saw.  Paisley seemed to be in awe of it all.  Every time we asked her what she thought she just stared out the window and said "yeahhhh".  Ha!  She was intrigued.

Lindsey was nice enough to take a couple pictures of the girls for our Christmas cards this year after Paisley's 2 year pictures.  Here a few:

This was the one we used on our Christmas cards.

Here are a few of the pictures of our newest two year old too!  Where has the time gone! Grandma and Grandpa you'll enjoy seeing all of the hair that she has now!

Still blonde and blue eyed!  So different than her sister!  We took the girls to see Santa the other day and a friend saw us all standing in line and she said "I just can't get over it.  Tenley is so much like you, Michelle and Paisley is the spitting image of Mike."  That's really the truth.

Oh, our Santa picture you ask.  Welll.... I'll show it to you.  I cropped it so you could better see their expressions.  Paisley wasn't having it.  Not impressed by Santa.

Happy Halloween!

In the Marshall house we don't get too into halloween.  But the kids love dressing up and so I decided to humor them.  This was the first year that they went "door to door" trick or treating too.  Usually we drive around to houses that we know.  It was nice to have them out of the car, not so much loading and unloading.  Tenley just thought it was the best thing she's ever done!

This year Tenley went as a cowgirl and Paisley went as a bumblebee.

Aren't they the cutest!?  It took some convincing to have Tenley go as anything other than Elsa!  But once we talked up being a cowgirl a little bit, she was on board.  I took a look back at our past halloween costumes.  I came up with these:

2011

This was my favorite costume of Tenley's.  She looked so cute as a little ice cream cone! Halloweens in Indiana have to be a little different than everywhere else I think.  We have to dress for the weather too, so these warm fleece costumes are perfect!  For Tenley's first halloween she was a football and Mike and I dressed up as tailgaters.  I couldn't find that picture, but Tenley would have only been a little over a month old!

Paisley's first halloween and my favorite picture of the girls.  This picure is the perfect depiction of what we were going through at that stage.  A very happy Paisley dressed up as a cupcake, a curious Jayda Hollar, and a stubborn and angry Tenley.

2013

Fall!

Fall is my favorite time of the year in Indiana!  I just love the crunching of the leaves on the ground, all the colors, the temperature, -- everything!!

The girls enjoy every bit of playing outside during this time too!  Paisley and I got some good time in the leaves the other night.  

Now that GG and Great Grandpa are back in Florida (sniff sniff!!) I think it's time for an update. Tenley is loving preschool!  She claims that her teacher, Mrs. Simpson, is her very best friend.  

While I don't get a ton of information out of her, I do know she's learning a lot, meeting new people, and having a great time.  I pray that her excitement for school continues as she gets older.  Tenley was able to be in her first parade early this fall too!  She was THRILLED.  

Paisley continues to grow and is starting to put words together and talking a lot more!  Her laugh is so contagious and that little smile of hers never gets old!  God certainly knew what he was doing when he decided to surprise us with her!!  

Show us your life!

I'm linking up with Kelly and Kelly's Corner Blog today for Shop Small Market!

If you are visiting from her site, welcome!  I am a Christ-Follower, Wife and Mom!  I also own Madison Street Designs!  I make custom invitations, announcements, wall art, etc. and send it to you as a high resolution .jpg file so you can print it as many times as you would like!  Check out my facebook page at www.facebook.com/madisonstreetdesigns for more info!  I love what I do and would be more than happy to create something just for you!!

Here are some examples of my work:

Being a Mom is tough!

I've become a stranger on this blog!  I thought I would dust it off and start writing again and link up to a Bible Study I'm participating in right now.  We are currently reading "Am I Messing Up My Kids" by Lysa TerKeurst.  I love anything by Lysa!  She is so honest and open about her parenting experiences.  I need a little open and honest parenting conversation in my life.  Because let's be real- being a mom is TOUGH.

If you are a parent and you haven't asked yourself "am i messing up my kids?!" then you should probably stop reading now.  Good for you.  But I doubt there's many of you who haven't asked yourself that question at least once or twice.

 I think back to when I was pregnant with Tenley (my oldest) and I think about all the sweet, emotional feelings I was feeling back then.  "This is the greatest time in your life", "I have wanted this all my life!" were things that I was probably caught saying.  Then our amazing Tenley came into world.  As we drove away from the hospital with our sweet girl, I remember thinking "OH.  MY.  WORD.  Did they really just let us walk out of this hospital with a BABY!?  They know nothing about us!  Are we ready for this responsibility? They just let anyone walk out of here with a little human!!" Talk about a freak out moment.  That was it.  But life went on and we learned to understand each other, Tenley and I.  Tenley became less of a baby and more of a toddler.  A horrible toddler!  Tenley has always had her own ideas and opinions and she wasn't afraid to share them starting around 18 months.  That was about the time that people started saying "about time for another one huh?"  I would adamantly say, "I'm not cut out to be the mom of a toddler and a newborn."  Well...God thought I was.  Along came Paisley.  Boy was she a surprise.  But above all a wonderful little blessing that has completed our family and made me feel like maybe, just maybe I can do this motherhood thing.

Now, Tenley will be four in September and Paisley will be 2 in December.  We have our hands full most days.  But I love being a mom to my spirited little girls.

The truth is- I can't do it on my own.  I can only be a parent with God by my side.  A good parent that is.  I am excited to see where this Bible study takes me!