Video Experiment

Marianne likes almost anything that makes noise and she especially likes music. This video was sort of a test run to see how to take and download video. Hopefully I will put one up soon that shows Marianne crawling. She is super close!

New Camera

Sorry it has been so long! I don't have time to put up too many pictures but I wanted to show you this one. It is pictures like this that make me glad I got a new camera! Hooray! More to come soon and maybe even some videos...

Playing

Marianne is really growing up! These pictures are a little outdated since some are more than a month old but they show how much more she is able to do. The first few pictures are from when we watched our friend Campell for an evening while her parents went out to eat.

Getting ready to play together!



I love this picture because Marianne is looking at Campell like

"What are you doing with my toy?"

Time for a tea party! Marianne likes the singing tea pot.

Tasting the "food" she just cooked in her "kitchen"!

Zoe's 3rd Birthday

We had so much fun going to Charleston for Zoe's birthday party! Marianne and Zoe are so cute together. Zoe loves to help Marianne by feeding her or showing her to how to play with her toys. She was very gentle with Marianne and liked to give her kisses. Marianne thought Zoe was hilarious. She laughed a lot as she watched Zoe bouncy around the house. We are excited to watch the two of them grow up together!

Zoe's party was a dress up party which is why you might see us in some crazy clothes! Marianne was a ballerina. Zoe was Sleeping Beauty. Chris was a baseball player (shocker, I know!) and I was a princess. Mimi wore a poodle skirt but Papi went as himself.

Papi always said he wanted a blond granddaughter on one knee and and a brunette one on the other. His dream has finally come true!

Perfect example of Zoe helping Marianne. After a long day of partying Marianne was a little fussy at dinner. Here Zoe is trying to calm her down by giving Marianne her pacy.

As an extra special treat during our weekend in Charleston we got to visit with one of our favorite people, Mrs. Hamilton. It was great to see her and I think she enjoyed getting to spend some time with Marianne. Mrs. Hamilton has seen us grow from a dating couple to a young family. It was fun to walk down memory lane with her and to share how the Lord has continued working in our lives as the years have passed.

Eating

So Marianne is now eating solid foods and she loves it! She likes sitting in her highchair and she thinks eating is fun. She even likes to try to feed herself as you can see! When she tries new foods she always makes funny faces but so far she has not rejected anything. Peas are by far her favorite.

Christmas 2010

After more than a month with no Internet we are back online! So now for long posts and many pictures. Hope you enjoy seeing these glimpses of Marianne's first Christmas. She was a real trooper opening gifts in four different places at all hours of the day over the course of 3 days!

It was a real treat to start Christmas off by going to church in Chapin. Our family was asked to light the advent wreath so that is why we took the picture with the wreath in it. It was good to take some time to focus on the real meaning of Christmas and to reflect on what that means to us before we embarked on our whirlwind few days.

This was the gift that started our Christmas marathon!

Check out all the fun things from Grandma Ratchford!

Marianne loved the beautiful ornament from Aunt Andrea and Uncle Darren!

One day she will realize not all gifts are chew toys!

Aunt Sandie was so excited to be spending Christmas with baby Marianne!

Chris had fun buying presents for Marianne.

Sadly we don't have a picture of it but this present was the book "Hello, Cocky!"

Cousin Zoe had fun showing Marianne how to play with her new toys!

Marianne is excited about her new toy from Gigi and Grandaddy in Hampton!

"Daddy, is this for me?"

Christmastime is here!

As we finish up getting ready for Christmas I wanted to show you how Marianne has been preparing for all the festivities!

Marianne is not sure she is ready for all the excitement!

Here our friend Raluca is holding Marianne while she looks at her first Christmas present that our friends Matt and Julie brought over! Marianne was not quite sure what to do with it but she is going to love wearing the cute clothes and playing with cool new toy!

Marianne is ready for her first Christmas party!
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!