Overall Update on Life

First (as usual) I have to say it has been extremely too long since I've posted, but we have so many things going on right now that time has really gotten away from me.

1. Justin left Chep and has other exciting opportunities that are working out well. It was a long, hard decision to make, but it's going to be fantastic for his career and for our family overall. Which leads to point #2...

2. We will likely move if the opportunity arises. Our house is on the market, but we are in a tough situation with the Orlando real estate market, so we have lots of things to consider before we jump into anything. We never thought when we built this house three years ago that we would be trying to leave it so soon. Anybody want to buy a traditional sale? I know they are few and far between these days!

3. My laptop is about to bite the dust. This wouldn't be a huge problem if Justin wasn't in the office almost everyday. Not that I'm blaming him at all, but I might just have to start dragging our iMac out in the kitchen everyday :-) I'm on my macbook now, and it's given me an impressive 10hrs/day for over 4 years, so I shouldn't complain.

4. Lots of family things going on as well - I turned the big 30, Justin is about to turn 32 next week, Ashley got married (need to post pics, best time ever!), Michelle got engaged, and we are planning a very large trip over the holidays to Japan. Oh yeah, and I still attempt to work every free minute I get, so that pretty much fills up our days!

Coming soon...18 month update (well, 19 months actually), and Halloween pics. I promise promise promise to spend at least a little bit of time each week posting!

15 Months Old

Have lots to post about since I've fallen behind again, but we went in for Britt's 15 month check up last week, which didn't go quite as planned. First, he weighed in a 21.5lbs, which means he's only gained a few ounces. Not a problem at all according to the doc, since he's been running around for months now and is looking more like a toddler than a blubbery baby. The great news is that he grew over 2 inches and is 30 1/4 inches now, woop woop! He also had his first ear infection (actually in both ears), so we were not able to get his boosters. We head back in two weeks for a follow up and to try again with the shots.

Here is a summary at 15 Months:
- 21 lbs, 5 oz (need to check what percentile)
- 30 1/4 inches (need to check what percentile)
- Walks, runs, climbs up the steps, working on going back down on his belly, climbs his slide and slides down all by himself, and he LOVES to dance to anything.
- Says Dada, Mama, Ball, Dog, Duck, Go go, and a few other mumbo-jumbo words (tbd)
- Can jump to me in the pool and go under, loves to blow bubbles, is comfortable laying on his back and belly in the pool if I have a hand on him
- His favorite food is a bowl at Chipotle (rice, black beans, chicken, corn, tomatoes, cheese, guac). He cannot get enough of this place and clearly takes after his dad. He has also discovered that we drink diet coke and not water, so he has decided he loves that as well (I know, I'm a horrible mom for giving into my child and feeding him caffeine and artificial sweetner!)
- He drinks about 20 oz of milk per day and is not a fan of juice. He prefers water in his cup over juice, which makes me very happy.
- He has discovered balloons at Publix and gets excited every time we walk in. He points and squeals while we check out until he gets one.
- He has made many friends in his play group (so have I!), and we try to do something at least once or twice a week.
- We have been to see the Shamu Show at Sea World a few times, and he LOVES it! We even took Aunt Courtney, who was visiting. He loves to see the sharks and dolphins too.
- He still loves Clifford and Wheel of Fortune, along with So You Think You Can Dance.

That's about it for now.

Pics From the Shoemaker Wedding Weekend

With Aunt Court:


With Big Daddy:


Swinging:


Bridal Luncheon:


Burger Siblings Rehearsal Dinner:


Burger Siblings Wedding:


Burger/Marshall Family (we didn't get very many with Bman at the wedding):


The Handsome Ring Bearer:


Brooke and Justin:


The Happy Couple and Brooke:

I Love Clifford, The Big Red Dog!

Here's what we did at 7am this morning. We usually have a dance party every day, but Britt started early this morning. He doesn't watch very much TV, but he loves Clifford!

A Few Favorite Videos

Here are some of my favorite recent videos. As you can see, B Man has quite a little charming personality. He's such a good dancer too, haha.


Going Golfing:


The B Man Workout Video:


Slide Obsession (plus a little dancing):

Wow, where has a month gone?

I just realized it's been over a month since I've posted. We've been to Atlanta to spend time with my family, but that's really about it as far as traveling. We decided to drive, which wasn't too bad, except for the fact that I still completely suck at driving Justin's car, so he was forced to drive the whole way while I had B Man duty.

Oh, we also went to a wedding and Justin and I spent our first night away from home and Britt, which went great. Cliff and Ann Marie came and stayed, and according to them, the night went perfect. We had a great time, here's a pic of us at the reception:



Other than that, we're trying to spend lots of time at the pool (the Swim Atlanta genes got passed on!), and I officially finished Beach Body Insanity today. It was over 8 weeks of getting my sweat on in the garage, but I think I see some results in my arms and belly. Now that it's nearly 100 degrees out, I'm looking forward to starting to run again (I took most of the last two months off because Insanity took up so much time and energy). I think I need to pick a race to start training for, hmmmmm...

I'll post 1 year pics soon...

Britt's 1 Year Milestones

This is a bit late and out of order, but we had Britt's 1 year old check up on April 2. Here are his official stats (watch out future college recruiters):

Height : 27 3/4 inches (25th percentile, woop woop, back in the black!)
Weight : 21 lbs 2 oz (30the percentile)
Head : I forget the actual measurement but it was the 70th percentile

He is completely weaned from nursing and a bottle as of Saturday April 3 and is currently drinking 16-20 oz of whole milk from the sippy cup. I think he would have taken whole milk a long time ago, because he cannot get enough...he LOVES it! This also triggered him to start sleeping through the night after only one cry it out (CIO) night. We had tried it before while he was still nursing, but I don't think he was really ready until we dropped all of them. He even did great with the time change in Hawaii. I, however, had a very hard time (physically) stopping but am finally back to normal. Let's just say the last few weeks have been worse than recovering from a C section. Great timing for Hawaii Brooke!

Some other interesting info:
- He is in love with all fruits (apples, strawberries, bananas, grapes), so he gets those diced usually twice a day
- We discovered Pasta Pick Ups (Gerber) that have become a staple as well. I like them too...
- We tried peanut butter and he really like it. Thank goodness, makes future school lunches much easier
- He is at about 75% full speed running around the house. Crawling usually only happens when Da da is playing chase
- His new words are "Duck" "Dog" and "Go". The first two kind of sound alike so it's hard to tell. We practice a ton of other words (or at least I repeat them over and over), but he started saying "Go go go" out of the blue in the car one day.
- He knows "Where's your head?" and "Where are your ears?", and it's one of my favorite games with him. He loved banging himself in the head when I ask.
- His new favorite song is "Open, Shut Them" which we learned at the library. He does the hand motions for most of the song when we sing it.
- He's in love with his new slide he got for his bday (video to come soon), but he still (amazingly) had no concept that he cannot walk straight off the top of it. Needless to say I created a lot more work for Justin and I. We keep moving it around, and it now resides in the office so that he cannot get on it when I'm attempting to get some work done.
- He swam in the ocean for the first time in Hawaii (pics to come), which was pretty darn chilly, but he LOVED it!

I'll add to this list as I remember, so check back later too. Also, I can't transfer pics right now because my USB stick is not working and I have yet to make it to Target this week. I have tons of birthday and Hawaii pics to post, so I'm hoping to get to that later in the week.

I think that sums up one GREAT YEAR!

Our little family celebration on his actual birthday:

More Hawaii Videos

Here are a couple more videos from Hawaii. We haven't spent too much time in the sun (I'm deathly afraid of burning my fair-skinned little man!), but we hiked up Diamond Head and visited the man-made Lagoons that are much easier to swim in the other day. We're heading to the Lagoons again today, so I hope to get more videos and pics.

Also, my USB picture stick is not working, so I can't upload pics from my camera right now. I'll try to take a few with my phone and post.

Hiking Diamond Head (Britt wasn't too thrilled to be strapped to Dad):



Running around the crater (parking lot) after our hike back down Diamond Head (he's happy to be out of the Bjorn!):






Britt at the Ko Olina Lagoons:



Trying to walk in the sand is tough!:

Hawaii Videos & Pics

Here are a few videos and pictures from Hawaii, I'll be able to write more later:

Water with Mom:


Water with Dad:


Downstairs in the house:



We've been able to spend a little bit of time on the beach. Britt's attention span and fair skin make for short trips:





We went to the North Shore this afternoon to walk around and eat dinner on the coast. Shaved ice is really big there, so Britt got his first taste:

Our Little April Fool turns 1

Britt is 1, can you believe it? We can't. I have lots of videos to post, but here's one of him starting the day.

Bring it Cooper River Bridge!

After taking a year off (I was super duper pregnant this time last year), we resumed our annual trip to Charleston to take on the CRBR, along with 40 thousand others. This year was the inaugural trip for the Foxworthy family. We rented the largest SUV we could find and did an amazing job at packing it full, which is very easy to do with two babies in tow.

The drive went well, and we stayed in an amazing condo at Folly beach, along with the Shoemaker clan (it was Mike, Marc, and Sheri's inaugural trip as well). The weather didn't really cooperate for much beach time, but we were able to get some cute pics of the boys (below).

The race went even better than expected, as we all trained a lot and it paid off. Justin went a best time of 45:51, and I went a best time by almost 5 min at 47:25.

After the race we spent most of the time at our condo on Folly Beach. We made it out to take a few pictures, but the weather wasn't great for a true beach weekend.


Here's a funny video of our little red necks running around the condo:



Here are some great pics of the boys and our group. Thanks Megan for taking these, I'm jealous of your camera!

Oops...

I have no idea where the last two weeks have gone, but I'll get my act together and post an update soon!

A Glimpse Into Our Morning...

I don't often document the downside of having a crazy little man, but I thought I'd give an example of what a bad morning looks like in our house. A little precursor to the video: I was celebrating the fact that I had just finished Day 30 of Jillian Michael's Shred video when I heard on the monitor that Britt was awake from his morning nap but making lots of playful laughs. I turned on the video and noticed he was playing with something in his crib, but I couldn't tell what it was. Then it hit me like a ton of bricks. I grabbed the Flip just to document the discovery when I walked in the room. I swear sometimes keeping a baby, house, and myself clean are harder than any job for a client.

WARNING: Weak stomachs need not hit play, haha!

Side Note: I realize you're wondering why my 11 month old has a newborn soothie in his mouth (seeing as how he was never a fan of them when he was younger). I've found it's actually a good teether, he's usually chewing on it instead of the side of his crib or the window seal (which he loves to do). Let's just be glad he chose to put that in his mouth instead of anything else this time around...

11 Down, 1 To Go!

Another month in the Marshall household has flown by, and SuperBritt has another notch on his belt. We didn't do much to celebrate, but I took a video of him this morning (below) when he was in his a sweet, playful mood. Note, I pulled out the Jackets onesie for him to wear even though it still looked a bit big (and said 12 Months). However, I quickly learned that he has my chubby arms (or Charms as the girls on Cosmo Radio say) because I had do do a little stretching of the sleeves to give him some room!

Some highlights of Month 10:

- He weighed right at 20 lbs (they didn't take a length since it wasn't a well-visit)
- He had his first fever, which turned out to be a cold
- He walked consecutive steps and now can walk about 10 feet (and then give himself a round of applause)
- He started eating meat, mostly turkey
- He loves to pick up a cell phone and hold it to his ear
- He puckers his lips and gives "air kisses" to anyone and everyone (see video)
- He's obsessed with his feet/toes (see video)
- We're still battling the separation anxiety
- We're still not sleeping through the night (sigh)
- He still has only two bottom teeth
- His favorite part of the day is still bathtime, followed closely by Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune

Recap From Atlanta

Here are some pics from our trip to Atlanta last week. We had a good time just hanging out for a few days with my parents, Zac, Ashley and Mike. Ashley's wedding dress also came in, so it was fun seeing her try that on. Britt really started walking while we were there, and he's been doing it lots lately at home. I'm a complete idiot and didn't get a single picture of my parents with Britt, oh well, next time.

Not much else it up right now. Justin is on his last month of P90X, I've had a few work projects, and we're all ready for the pool to open soon!

Walk The Line

B man is on a roll with walking and getting better every time. Here's a video from today where he's chasing Ashley because she has the broom.

You Scream, I Scream...

We went to lunch at Jason's Deli after church so that Justin could eat 6 dozen hard boiled eggs. Britt made an even bigger mess than usual, but he was hilarious when it came to the ice cream. I'm pretty certain only 5% made it in his mouth!

Race Day

I ran the Lady Track Shack 5K this morning, and clocked in at 23:56, my second best time in this distance. I was pretty darn happy with my time because I started very far back (had to dodge people the first half mile) and I didn't have my ipod :-( Britt, Justin, Adam, and Cole came out to cheer me on, and of course all four got lots of attention from all of the ladies there, haha! No pics today, but hopefully some of Super Bowl Sunday tomorrow...

To celebrate, we went to Cracker Barrel for breakfast. I rewarded myself with pancakes and bacon, while Justin and Adam stuck to the egg beaters and turkey sausage. Britt and Cole celebrated too by sharing my pancakes, which (of course) were a big hit.

By the way, I wanted to note (since this is really the only place I write things down) that Britt is eating "baby food" for only one meal a day now. He's become much less picky when he feeds himself finger food, so that's what we're going with for now usually for lunch and dinner. He eats American cheese, whole wheat bagels, organic yogurt, potatoes, avocado, rice, tomatoes (diced from Chipotle are his favorite), turkey sausage, and he has a new love of carrots as of Thursday. I also started putting milk (bm that is) in his sippy cup this week, so he can really get used to it. He's been a pro at the sippy cup (with water) for a while, but I really would like to transition to whole milk in a cup and get rid of the bottle at one year. Since he only has a few bottles a week, I don't think this should be too big of a hassle. We'll see when the time comes!

Multi-Tasking

Here's Britt standing up and putting Dad's hat on and then trying to make a quick getaway!

FYI - The videos have had some trouble working lately through blogger, try again later if you can't view it now.

Double Digits!

Britt is 10 months old today. He celebrated by waking up twice in the middle of the night, eating some banana yogurt this morning, and is now taking the world's best morning nap (we're at 2 hours and counting), which means I'm super productive, if you count 1.5 hrs of work and playing around on the internet productivity.

We had a good visit with the Marshall clan yesterday, and Britt showed off his new found love of standing up without holding on to anything. He's not really taking any steps yet, but he can balance enough to give himself a round of applause. I think he'll be walking by the end of the week if I had to guess, but I've learned that this boy does what he wants when he wants!

Here's a few recent pics : one of him with his fraternity boy look and one of him checking his email on his blackberry in his "Pleasure Happy Smile" sweatshirt from Aunt Court and Uncle Keith in Japan. HAPPY 28TH BIRTHDAY UNCLE KEITH!!!



And he's awake...