Already?!

Marley will be 10 months old at the end of this week. WOW! It doesn't seem possible. What an amazing journey it has been, and we've only just begun! Marley is crawling and pulling herself up all over the place. She just learned how to climb all the way up our stairs! She has the most remarkable "happy dance" that she busts out whenever she hears music or something makes her especially happy. She also has mastered the "so big" response that is super cute. I think the sound of her voice as she babbles on is the most beautiful and precious thing I have ever heard. And I love watching her interact with other babies.

She was so great on our trip to the Bahamas. She did wonderfully on the plane rides: sleeping, playing and charming other passengers with her smile. And we just kept her on California time over there so her sleep was just a great as here. Here's a few shots...

We brought this awesome tent that kept Marley safe and busy when we were on the beach or in the grass. She seemed to really like it!

We were so glad we brought this Winnie the Pooh toy. It would keep Marley entertained for quite a while at a time. Although we did get tired of hearning "If you follow the lights, you can play the piano!"

We are blessed that God entrusted us to be Marley's parents.

Bahamas Video

If you want to get a quick taste of our amazing trip to the Bahamas, that we are still on (!)...then click here.

Beware...cute baby and white people swimming ahead.

FINALLY!

Alright, alright! We know we have been slacking on posting...sorry about that! But we have just been having too much fun. Marley had her first Christmas, solid foods, snow experience, finger foods, rolling over, clapping, crawling backwards, professional tennis match, standing by herself, Easter, and she just keeps on going! She loves music, animals, ceiling fans, clapping, and giggling, just to name a few. We figure we will just let the pictures do the talking, so here you go!

Trying out her singing skills...

Here are some pictures from Christmas time:

Bundled up before her first mountain/snow experience!

At Nana's birthday party

She loves laughing with Daddy!

Bathtime is a favorite! She gets this exact smile every time we take her out of the tub.

Some pictures from Easter:

We had to take her out of her pretty dress to eat, you can see why!

Dresses just aren't practical for play time!

Our little poser

Look at me standing all by myself!

Coming soon, first trip out of the country... Bahamas here we come!

Smiles and Discovery

Whew! What a month it has been. It is such a delight to watch Marley discover life and the world around her, it just becomes hard to find time to do anything else!

We had a very blessed trip to Arizona to see our family and friends. Marley had her first plane ride over there and was a champ: she slept the whole way! The drive back was long for her, but she did well. She loves her Arizona family. This is our cousin Gabe. He put the Baby Bjorn on and ran Marley all over the mall. She loved it! Then they got tired and took a rest.


Marley is discovering many things. The most noteable ones as of late are her thumb and her feet!



Marley's favorite activity by far is going for a walk around the neighborhood in her Baby Bjorn. It's been so cold out, so we bundle her up in what we've affectionately termed her "Pink Pepper" outfit. The hat was made by my friend Adrienne, and Marley loves it!


She is so full of smiles and is so much fun. We had a couple of photo shoots of her for our Christmas cards and she was great. We are truly blessed to be her parents, and we are looking forward to celebrating the birth of our Redeemer with her for the first time!

Marley and Auntie Joyce

Our Princess Leia

I think we had a lot more fun with costumes this year than we ever have. We found the best infant Princess Leia costume and decided to make a family theme of it...so Bodie was Anakin and I was Padame. We were a proud Skywalker family. Our church Harvest Fair was so much fun! Marley enjoyed seeing all her friends.






Our precious little girl is getting more verbal and social every day! People are much more interesting to her than objects and she loves when people talk and sing to her. In fact, worship is her favorite! She gets quiet and still whenever the worship band is playing. She is still a great sleeper and we are loving her more and more every day. She did wonderfully on her first road trip. We went to Arizona to meet our new baby cousin Ryan Alejandro Castillo. He is beautiful and it was wonderful seeing our family over there!

Grandma Wendy Comes to Town!

Marley was so blessed to meet and spend time with her Grandma Wendy last week! She came out Wednesday and had to leave Monday but filled the time well with family and friends. Marley was sure sad to see her go and can't wait to see her again! Here are some pictures of the stay:



Hanging with Auntie Hailey


Checking out silly Westley


This is our precious one in some of her favorite places:

After bath=clean and cute


Laughing and talking with Daddy



Extreme close up in the bouncer...we love itsy bitsy spider!


Sleeping in the swing, thug life style


What a joy it is to discover life with Marley every day. She is sleeping 7-8 hours straight a night and then eats quickly and goes back to bed for a couple more hours. She is healthy and already ministering to others with her smiles and coos. We are so proud of her!

Smiles!

There is nothing better than seeing Marley smile and having a "conversation" with her. She is experimenting with her voice and making all kinds of cute noises and faces. We discovered that she finally really enjoys being in her bouncer because she can see and be entertained by the toys and songs. It reminds me of how it is such a testament of God's love for us that He created us to enjoy life. He created excitement and joy and happiness for His precious creation to experience. Even little Marley who is just scratching the tip of the iceberg of wonderful things to enjoy and make her happy is a recipient of His amazing love in this way. Thank you, Jesus, for joy!