Do We Look Alike?

Marlo and I were playing on the couch wrestling the other day and of course we got out the phone to send some SnapChats to Nama.

I looked at the picture and thought, "Do we look alike?" When she was first born everyone always said how much she looked like Nephi (it was the big eyes). But now that she is getting older, I feel like she is looking more like I did when I was a baby. 

Then there are days when I just look at her, look around at other people, and think, "I doubt anyone thinks this is MY baby". But witnesses of my baby pictures disagree. 

One thing we know for sure is that she is a daddy's girl! Nephi claims that he let her pick out her outfit and this is what she came up with. Although she does love her cat shoes (she brings them to us every time we are going out), I am not sure about the socks. 

Marlos is now 14 months! She is crazy active and never slows down. I have now had a handful of people comment to me about her energy and style. Are we "those people" now? Church is impossible. And that is saying A LOT coming from me. I used to be pretty harsh on those Moms and Dads roaming the hallways, on their phones, claiming that their kid couldn't sit still during sacrament. That is ME now. But, I did get my steps in on my FitBit - thanks babes! 

One thing our crazy church circus is good for is a hard nap afterwards - for baby and us. After only 5 minutes in the car, she was dead asleep with remnants of a granola bar (some wet with saliva) all over her car seat and eyes shut tightly. 

Hanging with Ms. Marlo

We've gotten in a looooot of family time the last few weeks with us all being home and it's been so nice! That won't last much longer so we are trying to take advantage of hanging out with Ms. Marlo.

Marlo LOVES the Dada book. She brings it up to us 20x a day to read and it's the only book she won't flip fast through the pages. The other day she ran to Nephi with another book and he said, "No, go get the Dada book!" Sure enough, she ran into the other room and came back with the Dada book! 

She has been the BEST eater lately! (knock on wood) She will eat just about anything and sometimes double fists her food to get it into her mouth faster. When she is done, she pulls her bib towards me and sometimes says, "Done?!" We are trying to get her to say, "all done" but her pulling her bib is good enough! 

Finally loves the bath again. She went through a phase where she hated the bath and now when we say, "Bath-time!?" she squeals and runs to our room. We have a big bath in there and just just walks around and plays with toys. I can't get her to sit down anymore. And she loves the water being dumped on her head! I have Nephi to thank for that - hopefully she with love swim lessons next year!

We have always counted out loud with Marlo to distract her and it's finally paying off! Last week she starting mimicking our counting! We were in the tub and I was showing her the 1, 2, 3 foam numbers and then suddenly she was mimicking my tone! She loves it and will sometimes use her fingers. When she is falling asleep for a nap or when she wakes up from a nap we just listen to her in her crib saying it over and over again. Next up, ABC's!

Her first piggys! 

My Costco Clan. Bless their hearts for dealing with me in that place! 

ONE!

Marlo is ONE! 

We celebrated in AZ a few weeks early so we could be with family. The theme was kind of polkadot, but not to structured. We had flatbreads, salad, desserts, and of course Marlo had her smash cake! She was giddy all night until we put her to bed. She loved all the attention and love!

I just made a simple smash cake - a banana bread cake so it didn't have a lot of sugar - with can frosting. She kind of got into it but mostly just liked playing with the frosting on her fingers! 

Please. She is the cutest. We had to do a little modeling for some bloggers that sent us that bib and headband. I have to resist the urge to buy her all the cute stuff so it's nice to get a few things for free from our favorite shops! 

Did a fun photo-shoot at Kendall's new house with her nice camera and I loved how it turned out! We got a ton of great pictures. She was being so smiley and cooperative! 

The day of her birthday in Colorado we woke her up by putting balloons in her crib! She was so confused, like, "Hey guys, this is not suppose to be in here," and she started throwing the balloons out cautiously. So funny!

Made her favorite pancakes and added some sprinkles. 

We headed out to IKEA and then to lunch. Such a happy baby!

How did we get so lucky to get this sweet girl? I hate to say that our life started once we had Marlo (like many people say) because I personally don't feel like it did. I felt that more at marriage, but with Marlo's birth I felt a bigger change within myself and a major enhancement to our already beautiful life. I remember wondering what she would look like and now I feel like we've always known her and what she looks like. No doubt she is our baby - everyone says she's a 50/50! I would say it's the same personality-wise; she's outgoing and social like me, and curious and kind like Nephi. And then there is a little of Marlo - the cautious but daring, sweet but sour, fragile but strong, little girl that we adore. Every phase gets more fun and we can't wait to grow up with her! 

And of course, it was my "Mommy Birthday", too. I get the chills when people use the phrase, "my baby that made me a mommy," because I know that feeling now! I know why my Mom has a special little affinity towards her first-born - I will always have that for Marlo. And although I am very hard on myself, I feel proud of my accomplishments as a mother. My skills and talents have been exercised just as much as my weaknesses have, and I have Heavenly Father to thank for that. 

Father's Day

For Nephi's first Father's Day we went camping with his family. Because of our work schedules ever since we have been married, our weekends are tight and camping has always been on the list but we've only ever gone, now, twice! I know, I am bad - I want to be better when we move to Denver. Not that I love it (I don't hate it) but I know Nephi LOVES it.

We packed up on Saturday while Nephi was at work and then as soon as he got home we hit the road to Palisades to meet up with his parents and the Cannons. They had camp already set up and we just sat around the fire with hot dogs and smores. In the morning we had breakfast, went on a little walk, played around the camp for a bit, and then packed up. A lot of work for 1 night but it was worth it!

We headed to the lake a few minutes down the road and took out the paddle boards. They are harder than we thought but we got a hang of it!

I made some rice krispies for the lunch we were in charge of and they turned out so good! I love rice krispies so I tried my own recipe based on a few that I have tried in the past and love what I came up with:

THICK and Sweet Rice Krispie Treats
1 box of rice krispie cereal
1 jar of marshmallow creme
1 bag of mini marshmallows
1 tsp of vanilla
1 cube of butter

Pour box of rice krispies in a bowl and set aside. Brown the butter in a pot on a medium heat and then add vanilla. (You will know it's been properly browned when there are little brown flecks in the butter - make sure you don't burn it!) Add the marshmallow creme and stir (It will turn brown and have flecks in it - it's okay!). After that is mixed, add almost the whole bag of mini marshmallows  slowly (you decide how much you want to use but if you use almost all of it, you can use the whole box of cereal). After everything is melted, pour over the bowl of rice krispies and stir with a wooden spoon. Add to a 9x13 cake pan and let it cool at room temperature.

These are THICK. Like the ones you would get at a deli. I cut them into squares and wrapped them in plastic and put them in a baggy. They are pretty moist and it turns out Nephi likes them more dry so with the extras we had he let them dry out for a day and then finished them off. SO GOOD!

Marlo was a little gem! Slept through the night (between Nephi and I) and even napped a little on Saturday. 

I would follow this man anywhere! Seeing Nephi become a Dad has been no surprise to me. He is still the most kind and genuine man I have ever known, but just really obsessed with another girl :) He loves Marlo to no end and he always impresses me with his patience. I never have to make him go into her room to soothe her during the night, he just takes his turn when it's his turn. He loves putting her to bed, waking her up, changing her diaper, feeding her - anything! He doesn't pick and choose - he is 100% all the time. I truly believe Marlo chose him to be her Dad and then was like, "Okay, I guess that lady can be my Mom." We are beyond blessed to be loved by Nephi! 

Marlo & Me

Since the day Marlo was born, it's been rare for anyone to say she looks like me (Mallory). What!? She's MY baby!? Everyone says she looks like Nephi, and I get that, but still. I birthed her. It's a weird feeling and I know I cannot take offense by it but it's hard not to feel a little bummed over it. I had my Mom send me some baby pictures so I could see if we look alike.

As Marlo is getting older I think she is looking more like me, but she will never look completely like me and that is just perfect because I want her to always have Nephi's eyes & eye lashes...hair...personality...and my eyesight...skin tone...and smile. Like we get to choose, right?

Either way, I am so proud to be her Mama!

Two Little Teeth

Since Marlo turned 6 months she has stopped sleeping through the night. At first I was afraid it was teething but no other sign of teething came and I was almost discouraged. There HAS to be a reason for this regression!! SIDE NOTE: Now that I have had time to think of big milestones with Marlo, I think she stopped because that is when she started sitting up and it opened up her eyes more and now she hates laying down. I did some research as well so I think this is pretty typical and only suppose to get worse now that she is crawling. GREAT.

On Mother's Day weekend when we were at the cabin Marlo got really irritable and clingy (both very unusual for her). I was so confused and then my sister-in-law was like, "Is she teething?" LIGHT BULB. She was. She had outlines of 2 teeth coming in on the bottom and a little bit of one coming out. That poor baby! I had no idea. She wasn't chewing on anything more than usual and she wasn't drooling so I hadn't checked in a long time but sure enough there were 2 teeth coming in.

About a week later, a few restless nights, and a few doses of Tylenol - Marlo popped through 1 tooth! We had a few days of relief and then you could tell the other one was coming through and then about a week later that come in. She did really well during the day and only had a few fits but had a few really bad nights that I don't even want to think about. We were all miserable, but compared to what I pictured, it wasn't bad in hindsight.

This girl has got her MOODS during teething...

Sometimes she is happy...

...or she just wants to be held...

...but she's pretty content most of the time.

Our 2-toothed baby!

Juicy Engagements

Last weekend (April 26) my one and only brother Sheridan got engaged to his darling lady Tiffany! To say we are ecstatic would be an understatement. They are perfect for each other and we couldn't be happier that Sheridan found Tiffany. She is also a perfect fit for our family. We love her!

Marlo loves her Tiffany! 

It was so fun to be here and celebrate with them. It was also Tiffany's birthday so we had a dinner for her on Sunday and then just played games. They are such a fun couple!

I borrowed a friends juicer to juice these oranges my parents brought us from AZ. (Confession - I didn't even end up using the juice. Long story.) And while I was at it, I whipped out the Nutribullet (which I LOVE) and blended up some green beans and sweet potatoes for Marlo. She doesn't love them because they lack a little flavor but I actually just consulted with a doctor and he said not to add any flavoring and that she will eventually come around. (NOTE: I did mix the sweet potatoes with some apple sauce the other day and that kind of worked.) 

Speaking of juicy...isn't she the yummiest!? I always know when the nap was long enough when she is so happy when she wakes up. I showed my Mom this picture and she was like, "Aren't you worried about her crawling over and jumping out?!" Nephi and I kinda scoffed at that because we thought there is NO WAY Marlo is strong enough to do that yet - I had to help her stand up in this picture. And lo and behold, Marlo literally started pulling herself up in her crib today. In fact, just right now as I am catching up on the blog and trying to get her to nap she keeps sitting up and pulling herself up. She can't quite get up all the way but she is close! Looks like we have to lower the crib.

Breaking Baby Habits

Babies are habitual. Especially our Marlo. I remember the nurses telling us that we should do whatever she wants us to do for the first 3 months and it won't create any bad habits ("You can't spoil them too much!") - I never believed it. I've always felt that Marlo has adapted to things quickly and can be flexible but she has like consistency from the beginning (like most babies). She has been pretty good at naps and sleeping in general but lately we have been trying to break her of the naps in the swing and it's been HARD. I really want her to sleep in her crib for naps but she cannot handle it! Yesterday I put her in the crib for her first nap and it took an hour of battling and crying before she finally fell asleep and she only slept for 1 hour! Ugh! So for the next nap I just put her in the swing - and BOOM - 3 hours. In fact, I had to wake her up because it was 5:30 and I wanted her to go to bed at 8. It was one of those days where I felt like I was trying to get her to sleep allllll day. I hate that feeling - I want to focus on playtime with her but I get very anxious when it comes to her sleeping schedule. I've always been scared of her just up and deciding to stop taking naps. I hear it happens, no matter how consistent you are with them.

She's been a good sleeper for a few months now and we have been very spoiled. But for the past 3-4 weeks she has been a nightmare to put down! We usually get her in bed between 7:30-8:00 and she battles sometimes until 8:30. She's rolling around so much and gets on her tummy (which she knows how to roll back over on her back) but she stays there and cries so we will come in. UGH! And then she has woken up 1-3 times a night crying and we just go in and put the binky back in - which we almost cut that habit of her sleeping with it until this all started - and then she falls back to sleep instantly. Sometimes it seems like she is having a nightmare but the doctor said she won't have nightmares until between ages 1-2, so that's ruled out. Oh, and she has been waking up between 5:45-6:30 to eat. Gahhh, really?

It really could be any of the following: Cough (it's been around for the past 3 weeks), Running/Stuffy Nose (also been around for the past 3 weeks - doctor said she's fine), Thrush (she got it from the eye drop antibiotics for the pink eye), or teething (she has something on the bottom that looks like it's coming in, but she isn't chewing on everything but she is drooling a lot more). WHAT IS IT!? I'm going crazy. What happened to my easy sleeping baby!? I guess I had my bliss and it's time to have the torture.

She is such a sweetie though and I appreciate her nature so much. She is kind and curious, social and sweet. She seems to have a lot of us in her, but I can't tell all too much yet. Nephi was telling me about a study that was done that explains personalities in children. They are something like 20% Mom, 20% Dad, and 60% their own self that came from heaven! And I believe that with Marlo. It makes sense because if we were all made up of exactly what our parents personalities are, then how would we be each be individuals like Heavenly Father claims? I am grateful and anxious to get to know Marlo's 60%!

Aren't Pediatricians the Best?

Poor Marlo got pink eye this week! We were planning on taking her to the doctor on Friday for her 6 month shots but we discovered the pink eye on Wednesday so we moved the appointment up. I was so nervous because Nephi wasn't going to be able to make it because he was working and it was a last minute change in schedule that he didn't plan on. But we met with the doctor and right before the nurse came back for the shots, Nephi walked in (his office in 50 yards away from the pediatricians office)! Whew!

Marlo always surprises me. She got 2 shots this time and cried for like 30 seconds and then stopped and didn't cry about it again the rest of the day! We came home, I gave her a nice bath to relax her leggos and clean off the germs from pink eye, and then she took a good nap. No tylenol necessary! Hoping the rest of her shots go this way...?? So, just some drops for Marlo and her eyes are already looking great. We caught it early and that's what is important. Although, now I think we are dealing with thrush because of the antibiotic...ugh. I'll be calling the nurses line first thing in the AM!

The doctor said she is perfect! He was so impressed by her sitting up and how she held herself when standing. She was 69% for height, and 17% for weight (which is a 12% increase in a months time!). I have to say that having a pediatrician has given me hope for the world in medical care. He has been so wonderful with Marlo and especially with me. He never interrupts me when I'm talking, allows time and makes me feel comfortable to ask a million questions, doesn't roll his eyes at me when I say that "When I googled it, it said...", has given me great advice when it comes to breastfeeding/supplementing, makes Marlo smile, and is always telling me that he is not worried about her and that she is a perfectly healthy baby!

Since Marlo is smaller for her age (you don't have to tell me - but I am sure you will) I have always been worried the doctor would tell me I am not feeding her enough. But considering that fact that she drinks 8 oz bottles and that we are now on full formula and she is still small, he reassures me that she is just perfect. Better yet, he reminds me by telling me that his son is small like that too and that he is perfectly healthy. I mean, really. That's all I need to hear. He has never once pointed out that she is small - it's always been me bringing it up - and that means the world to me. When people are daily telling you how tiny your baby is (and you want to attack Mean Girls style) to have someone tell you that your baby is healthy and perfect (who isn't your Mom) is such a blessing. I am so impressed.

Marlo's bath after her shots - 3/25/15