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!

38 Weeks.

How far Along:  38 weeks, 1 day.
Total Weight Gain/Loss:  -5.
Maternity clothes:  All maternity clothes
Best Moment this week:  I told Tenley this morning that tomorrow she's going to get to go with us to my appointment to check on baby!  I explained how she would hear the heartbeat.  She said "And then baby come out??"  I wish sweet girl.  I said, "No, not yet- but soon.  Tomorrow you'll just hear the baby."  She started crying and said "no...baby come out now please!!"  We have mutual feelings about this.
Movement:  Lots of movements, fewer rolls since baby is running out of room.
Food Craving:  Ice.
What I miss:  Being comfortable.
Sleep:  Never consistent, I'm usually up around 4am for an hour or two.
Symptoms: Still lots of heartburn.
Size of Baby:  Pumpkin!
Doctor's Update: Last Wednesday morning we went to the hospital with consistent contractions and mostly because I wasn't feeling the baby move.  We were monitored for awhile and after knowing that everything was just fine, they checked me.  At my appointment last Tuesday I was 1 cm dilated.  At the hospital on Wednesday I was 3!  So progress was definitely made.  The contractions have stopped though for the most part, so tomorrow at my appointment I'm not sure if there will be much progress.  I'm hoping for some!  We are definitely ready to welcome our sweet little one into our family!

Hi.  Still here.  Still pregnant.  We went to the hospital Wednesday morning with contractions.  I had been up since 4:30 with contractions pretty consistently every 10 minutes for about two hours.  Better safe than sorry so we went despite the fact that I kept saying "they are just going to send me home".  I'm glad we ended up going, we were only there for a couple hours, but after they checked me we found out that I'm not at 3 cm!  I progressed 2 cm overnight!  Now I'm kind of at a standstill.  I'm having random contractions, but nothing strong.  I know I could walk around for weeks at 3 cm so I'm trying to get my mind off of when this baby will come!  Yesterday I did some nesting.  Cleaned out the fridge, freezer and pantry.  I made some breakfast burritos to freeze for the mornings, made two dinners to get us through the rest of this week and cleaned the house.  I was successful at getting my mind off of the delivery, but I woke up this morning around 4am wondering when it would happen again!  All in God's perfect timing I keep telling myself.  And ideally, I would like to make it past the 7th since that's our Christmas Banquet for work that I plan.  So the 8th would be great :)

Tenley seems to be adjusting well and realizing that there is a change coming.  We have the carseat in the car and she had a lot of questions about that at first!  We went from arguing that it wasn't "hers" anymore to now she's begging that the baby would come and sit by her.  Progress!  She'll be a great big sister.

I go back to the doctor on Tuesday and we'll see if I've made any more progress.  I'm trying to think that I haven't in my mind, so that I'm not disappointed.  We are just ready to meet this little one!

Maternity Pictures!

I have to be honest, I've never been a big fan of maternity pictures.  Something about them always seems so awkward to me.  But, I knew I would regret not getting them this time around because I wanted to remember Tenley at this age while I am pregnant.  So we headed out this past weekend with our beautiful photographer, Lindsey.  If anyone can make me appreciate maternity pictures, it's Lindsey.  She did such a great job.  Here's our sneak peek!

I love them and am so excited to display a few in the house!  Before we know it, baby #2 will be here!  I'm 35 weeks now and feeling more sore than ever!  Baby is ready to make an appearance!  We would love for you to continue to pray for the health of our baby and the changes that this will bring to our family, especially Tenley!