It's Monday in New Orleans

You know what that means . . .

*Milestone note - Just this morning Kenzie Kate rolled from front to back for the first time!  One step closer to running!!!

Let's go fly a kite

We spent the last few seconds of daylight this weekend flying a kite down by the river.  This was the very first time that Marley has flown a kite and she did great - must be that great teacher (on the right)!  Kenz and I enjoyed the view from the sidelines since she doesn't quite have the motor skills to hold the kite - but give her mom's hair and she'll never let go!

One Half of a Century!

Yesterday we celebrated Pop's 50th Birthday with crawfish and cake - yum!  We surprised him with this awesome cake that was another Lori and Tre' collaboration - great job you guys!  This is a big deal since I can not recall a single birthday of his that he had one so we wanted this one to be special.  Hope you enjoyed it Dad - you deserve it!

Some shots of the cake.  Mrs. Lori made the cake and decorated it and Tre' sculpted the old man and skull and bones from fondant.  It was completely edible, just ask Jessie who sampled a tibia or Murphy - Mom's dog - who somehow got his paws on the skull.  Delicioso!

Never one to slack, Mom asked Dad to pick up a BOTTLE of bubbles for Marley.  He picked up a GALLON of bubble solution as well as this awesome bubble blowing machine!  This was a giant hit and kept Mars busy all night - that girl loves bubbles.  Thanks Pop-Pop!

The half century flame was SO large that it burnt the cake - Dad was able to muster up the oxygen to save us all!  At this age being able to blow out a candle is a big deal!!!

Since Dad is half vampire it is very rare to ever get a picture of him, much less him and Mom together.  Here he is checking out the ipod that we got him - we had it engraved with "Never take life seriously, no one gets out alive anyway" - just in case he forgot!  Hope you had a great day Pop - we love you!

Sweet Sister

I hope that these ladies are always this close - I'll let you know what happens when Kenzie is old enough to "borrow" Mars' stuff, and I have girls shrieking in surround sound!  As of now Kenzie is completely infatuated with her big sister and Mars is pretty crazy about her too.

Little Lovely Lady

Just a few shots of Kenzie Kate enjoying the sunshine coming through the window.  Notice the fuzzy hair - it keeps getting longer yet it still stands straight up!

Marleyisms

It has come to our attention, as of late, that our little Marley has quite the budding personality.  Now it could just be that she is at that age but either way - girlfriend keeps us laughing!  For instance - Mars can count in three languages, english, spanish, and marleyisms - completely made up words in the same sequence of numbers.  This occurence is one that still cracks me up: P

The girls and I were making a quick trip through the grocery store when we noticed an elderly gentleman who had recently had some sort of procedure on his eye, or was being fitted for a glass one - who knows, either way he was wearing an eye patch.

Marley:  MOM LOOK - A PIRATE!!!!!

Me:  marley - hush!

Marley: ARRRGGHHH!

Me:  still chuckling a month later

*you must remember that she is an innocent child with no ill will or concept of what is socially acceptable 

Best. Easter. Ever.

Tre' and I were thrilled to spend Easter with two lovely ladies this year.  We hope you all had a wonderful day and we send you our love!

For one month at least we have heard about how the Easter Bunny was going to bring Marley the Wonder Pets - thank goodness he delivered!

Kenzie enjoyed her very first Easter.  Thanks to the Bunny for the new cowgirl toy!  Next year will be even better when she can get her hands on all that Easter candy.

All dressed up!

Marley had best Easter a kid could have.  She had a breakfast of ten chocolate eggs with a side of jellybeans, then she spent the day barefoot in the grass catching bubbles.  A lollipop (or candy stick - if you ask her) for lunch, skip the nap, then off to Nonnie and Pop's for lasagna and pie.  Add in all the goodies from everyone and you have a perfect day!

Gracie girl and her Nan - I love this one!

We love Spring!

This past weekend was a great one full of family, food, and great weather.  Saturday we hosted our first crawfish boil of the year and I must say that Tre' boils the best crawfish!

Kenzie hanging out with her Nonnie - she's ready for that spring sunshine!

The feast!

Mars bears many battle wounds from the intensive playing this weekend.  Thanks papa for keeping out the infection!

Confucious say eat chocolate, hang loooose!

Bend it like Beckham girl!

New Things

Marley is on her way to becoming mommy's little helper - (if she could just reach the sink I won't need that new dishwasher after all) and she was thrilled to help me put together Kenzie's new bouncy seat.  She couldn't wait to show her baby sister her new toy when she awoke from her nap and she insisted that she try it out right away.  I didn't think that Kenz would be ready for this new adventure but much to my surprise she took quite well to it and was quite excited to use her legs for something constructive!

What. Is. This.? How did I not know about this fabulous built in feature? 

Yes, that's right - Kenzie has discovered her feet and it is her greatest discovery to date.  She especially loves the right foot, pictured here, but she finds both infinitely interesting.  Just wait until she figures out that she can put it in her mouth!

A day in the park

A few weeks ago we got to enjoy a beautiful day at Audubon Park with Aunt Heidi and best cousin Brody.  The weather was PERFECT and the children were angels - an all around great day.  Until I sat in an undercover ant pile and the kids were being so adorable that I HAD to keep taking pictures!  Thanks Heidi for saving my butt!  I got lots of practice at my new favorite hobby - here are a few of the best shots.  

The many faces of Marley

I know I've talked about it before - but now I have photo documentation and even I couldn't believe the range of emotions displayed on this girl's face on a daily basis.  Her face is more animated than a Disney movie.  This is just a sampling of the faces captured on this particular day - yes there are more!

The "Oh - now you are gonna get whooped" face.

The "biggest shock/surprise of my life" face.

The "you never know what me and my crazy eye will do" face.

The "I can't believe the nerve of this flower" face.

The "that is genuinely funny" face.

The "really creepy joker/clown smile" face.  

She has a maniacal laugh to go with this one.

The "Brody scares me" face - as per Marley.

The sweet innocent girl behind all of these ridiculous faces!

Mar-Mar

I ran across this picture of Marley the other day and I wanted to compare the two since alot of people have been saying that they are starting to look alike.  This is her at just about exactly the same age as Kenzie is in the picture below.  Let me know what you all think!

Ken-Ken

Wow Mom - have you seen this cute baby!

Kenzie is growing up so fast!  Everyday she discovers something new, and she wants to play with Marley so badly!  She is already trying to sit up so that she can see what is going on, she'll be running around in no time - then I'll really be in trouble!  We are so thankful to have such a healthy and happy baby girl and we feel twice as blessed to have two!

Congratulations Nan and Nunc!

Tre's little sister Kristin got married this past weekend and Marley was honored to be one of her flower girls.  She has decided that when she grows up she would like to be a professional flower girl - as this seems to be her life's calling.  She took her responsibilities very seriously and she was very excited to see her whole family dressed up like princesses and princes.  As you might expect she was especially thrilled by Nanny's dress and insisted on carrying around her train as much as possible.  Congratulations Kris and Todd, the wedding was beautiful, and we are all so happy for you!

Nanny, you look like a princess - now how about you let me try that dress on!
Mackenzie was an honorary flower girl and she even had a tiny little dress exactly like the other flower girls!  Now I may be biased - but I'm pretty sure it doesn't get any cuter than this!!!  This was her post wedding as she found the days events to be exhausting!
This is Marley with her post wedding hangover, she RARELY sleeps in the car, but the next day on the way to get some lunch she finally lost the battle.  The amount of energy that she expelled at the reception alone was astonishing!  It took her all day just to recover!  

Melancholy Marley

I really think that Mars should take some drama lessons, she is very good at conveying emotions through her expressions.  In this picture she is in a television induced trance and something sad has surely happened, can't you just see the sympathy!   
This, as you can clearly see, is her "MOM I'M TRYING TO WATCH SUNNYPATCH, WILL YOU PLEASE GET THE FLIPPIN CAMERA OUT OF MY FACE" face.  Can't you just feel the drama!  And what about the amazing transition from sweet to sassy - I think she's got talent - or perhaps it's just those terrible twos peeking through once again. Nah!