Haunted Gingerbread House

Marley went to her Grandma Ruth's house for the day. It was nice to have time with just Grace, but I definitely missed her! She made the most adorable gingerbread house for Halloween! Then she wanted to make graham crackers for her & Grace!

Later, after she got home, Marley said "Dang it Mom! I'm so dumb! I forgot to get the pumpkins from Grandma's for me & my baby sister!"

Big Bad Wolf

One day Marley came into the living room after playing by herself in her bedroom. She told me she was scared & that she didn't like the "big bad wolf". I was unsure what she was talking about, so I went into her room with her. She had several books strewn about the room, one of them being a story about the 'Three Little Pigs'. She opened the book to the picture below (which turned out kind of blurry)...and that was what had scared her! She's so funny!!

Bathtime Marley

Since we had the camera out for Grace, Marley had to be apart of the picture taking as well. Of course, she's giving her cheesiest smile. I don't know if Marley has any other kind of smile! But we love her anyway!

Grace's First Bath

Miss Grace got her first bath a few days ago in which she cried for about two seconds before she relaxed & truly enjoyed it. This lovely little girl is such a great joy! We love her dearly!!

Happy Birthday My Dear Kevin

My wonderful husband & fantastic father, Kevin, turned the big Three Three this year! His wonderful mother, Ruth, brought the balloons & the most delicious chocolate-peanut butter cake to celebrate. We had a delightful dinner at the Bombay house & a quite, but lovely evening at home just enjoying each other's company! Happy Birthday Kevin!!!

Jewelry in the Buff

Marley loves to play in my jewelry box. She is constantly trying to get into it & play with everything in it. She was supposed to be getting in the bath, but managed to sneak over to my jewelry box to get in one last bit of play before going to bed!

Arm Sling

Due to the out-dated code standards of a home built over 40 years ago, the last bottom three stairs to our basement has no railing on one side. Marley was climbing down the stairs & while on the third stair from the bottom, she turned funny, and, of course, fell off the side that had no railing. Her left arm took the brunt of the fall. She would not stop crying & I thought she might possibly need a nap. So I laid her down in my bed for a nap with me. Even though she stopped crying, she kept favoring her left arm. She knew that Aunt Tina & Uncle Jono were coming up for a visit, but wouldn't get out of bed when they arrived. Which is odd behavior for her since she adores Tina.

I decided to take Marley to the urgent care so they could take a look at her arm. Fortunately, Jono & Tina were able to go & help me with Marley & Grace (thanks guys!) Happily, we were seen in a timely manner. As the physician examined her arm, he concluded that it was her elbow that was causing her pain. I'm so proud of Marley because even though it was painful & scary for her, she allowed the rad tech to take x-rays of her arm!! Even though they were not able to see an obvious break (as some breaks cannot be detected), there was a possibility of a radial-head fracture on her left elbow. There was not much to do but put her arm in a sling & give her Tylenol/Motrin & have her take it easy. The next day, I received a call from the urgent care after the radiologist had looked at the x-rays as well, and there was no visible break, but lots of fluid around the joint & to follow-up with her pediatrician in one week.

I'm glad to say that the follow-up with her doctor a week later was normal. She is now able to use it normally!

It's so sad that they have to make slings this small!!

Goofing Around

Kevin took some fun photos of Marley...her hair was in absolute disarray but I thought the pictures were so cute! Plus she wanted to show off her "bunny money". One of her books is about "bunny money" & had a page of "money" to photocopy so she could have her own "bunny money". She seemed to think that the "bunny money" was pretty darn neat.

Talkin' with Tina

Marley often uses her play phones to call & "talk" to her Aunt Tina. Well this time, pretending to talk just wasn't enough! She wanted to actually give Tina a ring-a-ding-ding so she could really talk to her. And talk is what Marley did...she had a 10 minute conversation with Tina about whatever was going on in that little mind of hers at the time. She would have kept talking with Tina but we figured we'd give Tina a break & end the phone call since Marley would've kept chatting away! I love this little kid!

Children's Museum

We finally made it to the Children's Museum! Marley & Mack had a wonderful time as there are so many activities there for children their age to enjoy...far better than the "scary museum"! In fact, they had so much fun, it was like pulling teeth to get them to leave without making a big fuss! We'll have to buy a membership so we can go more often!

The Scary Museum

Marley & I took a trip to the Discovery Gateway Children's Museum with Maren & Mack, but, to our dismay, it was closed for the day! Since were were already at the Gateway mall, we decided to wander over to the Clark Planetarium. Although Marley & Mack played around on the moon & Mars rock areas, there wasn't a lot for younger kids to do, so we didn't stay long. Later, Marley told me that she did NOT want to go back to the Clark Planetarium because it was the "scary museum"!

State Fair

While I was still in the hospital with Grace, Grandma Ruth & Papa Jerry decided to take Marley to the State Fair to give Marley a little one-on-one time! It was nice that Marley got to get out of the hospital & break away for a bit! She was so excited that she got to ride the train & see all of the animals...she was a little disappointed that she didn't get to see the chickens & chicks!

Big Girl Bed

We finally let Marley graduate to her big girl bed (that we've been storing in the garage for the past several months now!) since we finished Grace's room & moved Marley's old crib to the new nursery. Marley is absolutely thrilled to have her new bed & loves to show it to everyone that comes over!!

Helping out in the nursery

Kevin had to do some finishing touches on Grace's room & Marley decided to be a great big sister & help out! Pictures of the finished product to come!

Grace at Home

I had to take some pictures of Grace shortly after we got home as I think she's so darn adorable & her newborn-ness will not last for long! She's such a joy! So calm & sweet! So far, she's not a big crier of which I'm grateful for! I love this little girl! I was so worried that I wouldn't be able to love her as much as Marley because how is that possible? But I've found that my heart was built to love more than one child! As soon as Grace was born, all my worries went away & I found I love her as much as Marley! It's so remarkable!

Welcome, our lovely Grace

Around 3 am or so, Sunday, Sept 12th, 2010, I began to feel contractions that were 5 minutes apart. I didn't want to go to the hospital so early, knowing that I could have those contractions for long while before anything would happen. Around 7:30, I woke Kevin up & he called his lovely mother, Ruth, to come watch Marley (as she was still asleep) while we made the trip to the hospsital.


We arrived at the hospital around 8:30 & did the usual check-in thing between contractions. These were uncomfortable, but tolerable. After the triage nurse finished her assessment, she told me I was dialted to a 6! Yay! That means the baby will be coming soon, right? The triage nurse thought so. I wanted to attempt this delivery without any medication. I received an epidrual with Marley & was so numb that I couldn't feel when I should push with Marley. I pushed for an excruciating two hours straight with her! I finally gave up & thought, there is no way I can continue to do this...they've got to get this kid out of me doing something else (fortunately, she came about 10 minutes later!) I did NOT want to go through that again! I figured no medication would make pushing this baby out much easier.


We got set up in the room & I thought, I can do this without meds! The physcian on-call came in & said that she would be in with a C-Section & that I would probably deliver before she got done, but she would alert one of her collegues about my status! She also instructed the nurse to set up the delivery tray so it'd be ready since the baby would definately come soon. Wonderful, I thought! The sooner the baby could be delivered the better...well, such was not the case! The physcian finished her C-Section & nothing had progressed with me. She checked me around 1:30 pm and I was dialated to (drum rolls please...) a 7! A 7! Was she kidding me or pulling my leg? Four hours of laboring in the hospital & I had only progressed to a stinking 7?!



When the nurse asked me if there was anything she could do for me, I ask if she could get this baby delivered ASAP! She said that she'd get the MD & break my water & that should get it started. I mean since she'd seen second deliveries deliver within 20 minutes to an hours after breaking the bag of waters, I thought, alright I'm in the clear. I can still do this without medication!



So my water was broken & the contractions definetly became more intense but still, I thought, I can do it! I just need to breathe through them! Then 3:30pm rolls around, with intense contractions & the MD checked me & I was only "just over a 7"! For real?! I mean seriously, what's my problem? Everyone was so dead set that I would deliver this little girl HOURS ago...maybe that's what jinxed it.



Finally, I'm like enough is enough! I just did not want to continue to labor for hours & hours with no progression without medication! So I gave in & had an epideral. That must have been the magic trick because I literally was able to push our second daughter out in a few pushes 20 minutes later! The physcian said that maybe the epideral made me relax enough for her to come out! Hallelujah!!! Our sweet baby girl was born at 4:35 pm! She was 6 pounds & 15 ounces & 20 inches long!



It was wonderful she was her...but what were we going to name her? We really hadn't settled on any name, even after long discussions with family members, friends, while reviewing name book after name book. Why was this child so hard to name? The hospital staff members a Nazi Name Police as every single person asked us what this child's name would & threatened that we better have the yellow name form filled out before we left! FINALLY, during the last day of our hospital stay, the pressure was on & we named her: Grace Clara Cooke. I still wasn't totally sold on the name & for days after, had a hard time calling her Grace. But what else was I going to call her? I certainly wasn't going to go down to the Social Security office to change her name & as if I had a name to change it too! So Grace it is!!



I forgot how little babies are! Our second daughter was 5 ounces bigger than Marley & she still seemed so tiny! Even though I haven't gotten much sleep, it is so fun to have a brand-new baby in the house!



Marley is taking her big sister role very seriously! She's so into helping out by changing her diaper or giving her her binkie. We love our newest addition!




I love the baby's face after just being born! With their cute cries & round mouths!





Aunt Alece, Aunt Tina, and Grandma Orimi were all there to greet baby Grace!

This is Marley's first look at Grace...at first she wasn't so sure, but quickly was so happy to be a big sister.

Marley (with band aids on her face, surprise, surprise!) with Grandma Ruth & baby Grace.

I love this picture of Marley kissing Grace.

For the love of bandaids

Marley, like so many other kids, has a love for band aids that goes a little over board. She is constantly wanted to get new band aids out on put them on non-existent "ouwies". She puts them on her belly, her arms, her legs, and yes, on her face! We have to do a LOT of convincing to get her to take them off but some battles are better left alone & so we just let her wear them around!

A thing with hats

Marley has this thing with hats! She loves to put them on & wear them around the house! She even will try to wear ones that are much too small for her. She pulled this one out her Grandma Ruth gave her and started posing, so of course we had to pull out the camera. She's such a goofy gal & we love her so much!!

Say Cheese, Marley

Being so neglectful at getting GOOD pictures of Marley taken, I thought I better get some done before our second baby arrives! Let me just say that it is SO much easier to have someone else take photos of your child than doing it yourself! I had my friend from high school, Amber, take the pictures & Marley cooperated with her like a dream (if it were me attempting to take photos, Marley would have unleashed her unruliness!) These were taken in Memory Grove Park & I was afraid we wouldn't be able to because there was thunder & lightening...fortunately it cleared up shortly after we arrived! Marley's Grandma Ruth got her this adorable little dress from a street fair in Park City! So adorable!! I think these pictures turned out so well! I love how they look!!

Real vs Red Bulls

We scored some awesome seats to the Real soccer game (which Real won 1-0) through Kevin's work & got Seth & his lovely gal pal, Shanae to come along with us! It was an awesome game...Real is fantastic!! Great seats, good company, & free concessions...does it get any better than that?


Aren't Seth & Shanae just the most adorable little couple? So much more cute than the old boring lame couple (ie Kevin & I!) Seth & Shanae totally out romanced us!


I tried to get a good picture of the starters, but as you can see, they didn't turn out too well! You know you're ballin' when the name of the company is on the seats that you sit on! Ye-ah!

And then there's this...this that I couldn't resist taking a picture of. Ummm, sir, I think you're clinging to scraps there....

See...Seth & Shanae the most romantic couple ever!