Marshall is 1!

Happy 1st Birthday, Monkey! What a fun day we had! We had pancakes (his favorite) for breakfast and I gave him a monkey cake ball for a little preview to his monkey themed birthday party! He loved it! Then drove to the ranch for the birthday party with Gaga & Grandy!

Monkey frame and cake balls at breakfast

So excited for either the candle or the pancake, not sure...

It was the candle because he screamed when I pulled it away after he tried to grab the flame!

Yummy!

Look at this sweet face!

His presents

Not-So-Happy-Jake (didn't get attention 100% of the day;)

Birthday cake and cake balls

Cute hat

Listening to his first Happy Birthday song

Jake helped blow out the candle

He was very careful with the bites (yea, no mess!)

Some of his presents opened

He loves the slide Aunt Linds got him

He got a truck like Jake's

A family picture (finally)

Some more moments from the weekend...

Jake posing after the photographer took their Christmas card pictures

Jake's first deer hunt in a blind with Daddy & Grandy...they didn't get one, but had a great time!

My beautiful big boy!

He wants to be big and play with Jake so bad! One day, Marshall... be patient...stay this sweet little baby forever!

Thankful

Kids remind us everyday that we need to slow down and enjoy the small things. But at Thanksgiving, kids remind us that its not about the perfect Thanksgiving feast, stressing out about travel plans or even about football...its about being thankful for what you've been given by God.

Today Daddy, Marshall and I went to Jake's Hillander Thanksgiving party and learned that these 3 year olds "get it"!

Jake made a precious turkey hat and the feathers each said what he was thankful for...Mommy, Daddy, grandparents, brother (shocking) and, of course, toys (given by God)!

Here's the door hanger they made where he also says he's thankful for Mama, Daddy and cookies!

The sweet placemat...another handprint masterpiece!

Marshall walking around at the party

They said a Thanksgiving blessing and Jake was hilarious...he was closing his eyes REAL hard and swinging his head around, very Stevie Wonder!

They did their turkey poem..."A turkey is a funny bird, his head goes wobble, wobble, wobble. He only knows a single word...

...gobble, gobble, gobble"!

Class pictures

Jake looking cute and eating cake

Cute turkey he made

These parties stress me out...lots of kids on a sugar high! But today, I was so THANKFUL to be able to stand amongst the chaos with my precious little boy, my sweet, beautiful baby and my handsome, wonderful husband. I truly have a lot to be thankful for this year!

We came home and Jake took a bath and I got some great shots of him...just had to include in this post!

Marshall's Baby Book

Marshall is about to turn 1 year old in 2 days! I can't believe it! The night before Jake's 1st birthday I finished his baby book. I actually finished Marshall's (the writing part) last week when I was sick and had some down time. But there isn't any pictures, the newspaper clipping from the day he was born, a calendar with every day marked by a milestone or fun fact...you get my point. BUT I did create a little surprise for him (and my family) on Shutterfly that I can tell you about later;)

I thought I'd go ahead and post some Marshall Memories now though.

Marshall Thomas Woodside

Born Thursday, November 19, 2009 at 7:59am

7 pounds 1 ounce and 19 inches long

Hair color- black!

Eye color- dark blue

Due date was November 26th (Thanksgiving Day) but I had a c-section since I had one with Jake planned for 39 weeks

Dr. Brady Locke was my OB

22 of my friends threw a Drop N' Dash for me on October 8th

Marshall was the perfect baby from day 1! Slept all the time, nursed like a champ, took a bottle like a pro, easy-going, fun-loving and so beautiful!

Big brother Jake took some time to warm up to him. I'm praying that some day they can play in the same room without someone hitting someone, stealing toys, or crying...I'll keep praying. But I do look forward to watching their relationship grow and seeing that bond!

Milestones (straight from baby book):

Sleeps through the night- 6 weeks

Holds the bottle- 11 months (not sure why this is listed next, are they supposed to hold a bottle earlier than 11 months?!)

Turns over- 3 months (?) I know he turned from his back to tummy first, which is opposite!

Crawls- 9 months

Wears shoes- 11 months

Stands up- 9 1/2 months

Takes first step- 11 1/2 months exactly!

Eats solid food- 5 months old began baby oatmeal, 9 months began big people food

Bathes in a tub- 1 month (we put the sponge in there, so does this count?!)

Says first words- 9 months "Momma"!

Your favorites:

Food- Baby food was sweet potato, applesauce, pears and Yo-Baby yogurt. Solid food is spaghetti, grilled cheese, pudding, mac-n-cheese (will try anything:)

Stories- Goodnight Moon

Animals- Heidi Klum (Gaga & Grandy's dog) who he calls "Heidi" and sometimes calls dogs "aarf", cows or "moos" and deer or "dee"

Colors- Since Jake owns everything in blue, we buy Marshall green!

Toys- Jake's!!!

Songs- Old MacDonald and every song...he has such rhythm and loves to dance!

Games- Peek A Bo ("Where's Marshall?")

Clothes- I put him in all the sweet little bubbles and long johns that I didn't do for Jake, so he's dressed to the nines, or at least his closet is...he HATES to put on and take off clothes. Somedays I like to leave him in his jammies because he looks so cute and cuddly.

Activities- Swinging, car rides to the new house

Places- The ranch, the lake house, parks (loves to slide)

Words he says as of now- Daddy, Momma, Heidi, Deer, Bobble (bottle), Dis (this), no, ight (light), hi, kiss (and blows kisses), arf (dog), moo (cow), grrrr (bear)

Nickname -Chunky Monkey

Over the past year, we have both grown! He is now 27 pounds (95th percentile) and I have much more appreciation for my family and everyday moments with my boys.

Here's to the rest of your life, Marshall! I love you, sweet baby boy!

Fifth Steps!

Okay, so it's taken me a while to get his steps on film (camera or video), but I finally got some video tonight. I was SO excited...he walked 6 steps TWICE and I got it all on film...well, I would have, had I pushed the RECORD button. Talk about mad...so, I tried again and got a few steps on video.

***WARNING***

This video can make you experience motion sickness! I never said I was an expert in baby-walking-cinematography.

Marshall's First Steps

Yea! Marshall took his first steps yesterday (November 5...exactly 11 1/2 months old)! Of course, no pictures because I wasn't prepared for him to walk! When we got the video and camera out, he wouldn't do it again. Our housekeeper, Brenda, was over here and he is so in love with her...I put him on the floor standing up and she knelt down and he took 3 big steps to get to her! It was amazing! He then took 1 big step to get back to me! We'll keep working on it though...

Speaking of working, Tom has a big helper in the yard this morning! Jake was helping Daddy cut the dead plants and was so proud of himself!

Poor Jakers

For the past 3 days, Jake has been sick with a sore throat, but last night it turned into a nasty cough and fever. We found out today that he has strep throat...his fever was 102.6 and it was just the saddest thing ever! He actually fell asleep on my lap at one point in the doctor's office, which hasn't happened since he was a baby!

I took some shots of him this morning, when we just thought it was a bad cold...he looks pretty sad here, too!

And here's Marshall, getting into something as usual! We had to clear out all of the toys, since we had to show the house at 1pm (perfect day, ha!)...so he chose to play with the stool. Kept him very entertained though!