Mallory's Birthday Party- Gabba and Little Gym!

Mallory had an absolute blast at her Little Gym birthday party.  She enjoyed it from start to finish.  It was  so worth it just to see her have such a good time.  We decided to really focus on Mallory and her same age playgroup friends and a few neighborhood friends, this allowed everyone plenty of room to jump, swing, and dance.  It was the perfect party for a 2-year-old. They started with free play, then the staff led a mini class of dancing, tricks, parachute, and trampoline.  We had pizza and cake and then ended the party with basketballs and bubbles.

Highlights Included:

Seeing Mallory and Gigi dance together on the open floor

Watching Mallory just stare and stare at the Yo Gabba Gabba friends on her cake.  It was like they were the only people in the room and she couldn't believe they were at her party :)

Watching her run in circles and dance like no one was watching to songs like Twist and Shout

Watching Peyton do his "trick" for the group- a very fine tuned Sommersault

Nolan crawling all over the gym equipment

Mallory just having a ball! She continues to say "More Happy", meaning more happy birthday to her!

Here are a few pictures from her fun party!

Nolan's THREE Grandmothers :)

My Gabba friends are here too! I can't stop staring!

I just can't believe they all made it to the party- Foofa, Brobee, Plex, etc!

That taste good to you too, Baba?

Mallory Ann is TWO

Mallory Ann turned 2 on November 7th.  In some ways I can't believe my baby girl is 2, but in other ways I can't believe she has only been with us for 2 years.  She is so important to our family that it is hard to remember our lives without her.

We celebrated with a Yo Gabba Gabba themed birthday party at The Little Gym with 10 of her closest friends.  To say she enjoyed it would be an understatement. She had the time of her life! It was the perfect party for her.  Afterwards we opened her presents with Gigi and Bebe and Papa back home. On her real birthday she brought special treats to school to share with her class and got a special balloon and birthday cake after dinner.  It was a great weekend.

I will post her stats from her 2-year-old appointment next week, but here is a snapshot of details about our little girl at age 2.

Mallory Ann- At age 2 you have started talking and your little personality cracks everyone up.  You love baby dolls and try so hard to be a mommy to your little brother Nolan. The problem is that he only weighs about 3 pounds less than you so mothering him can be a little hard, but you never stop trying to feed him, hold him, burp him, carry him.  You love your baby stroller, your babies, your shopping cart, and tutus and dress up.  You have recently developed a STRONG opinion about what you wear in the morning and usually end up in a very fancy dress with fancy shoes. You adore Yo Gabba Gabba. You will watch it over and over again and know all of the characters names.  The phrase "MORE GABBA!" is often yelled throughout the house. You love washing dishes and playing in the sink. You sleep with your Tootsie, Blankie, and Brobee from Yo Gabba Gabba.  Your favorite books are Brown Bear, Brown Bear, Nursery Rhymes, and Moo Baa La.  Each night we read about 4 books together and sing a song.  You love Twinkle Twinkle the most the days but your absolute favorite song is Rock-a-bye your Bear by The Wiggles.  You like to eat and your teacher says you are usually the last to leave the lunch table.  You love school and run straight into the classroom. You love my purse, shoes, jewelry and make up. You are funny, sweet, spunky, a dare devil, and the light of my heart.

Mallory, I cherish my days with you.  When I was little I dreamed about being a mommy, and had little girl baby dolls that I treated like real babies. (it was a little crazy :) ) I even planned birthday parties for them and sent out invitations and baked a birthday cake for them- the full treatment.  So you see- I have been practicing being your mommy my whole life, so to spend time with you,  sing and dance with you, plan your birthday parties, and just be your mommy is truly my dream come true.  It is just even sweeter that you look like me :) I will always remember how I felt when I was getting my 18 week sonogram when pregnant with you and the doctor said "It's a little lady."  Tears of true happiness sprang to my eyes because I felt like I already knew you in my heart. You were meant to be and meant for me :)  The best part is that I could never have imagined the type of little girl you would be- I love that you are feisty, funny, daring, sassy, yet, still my little princess.  I'm sure your Daddy would say all the same things about you, well- maybe not the part about planning baby doll birthday parties, but he loves you so much too sweet girl. He can't wait to get you on a soccer field. :)  Happy Happy Birthday Mal-Mal, Souci, Sissy, Rump, Mal, Sweet Girl.

Mallory Just Born
November 7th, 2009

1st Birthday
November 7th, 2010

2nd Birthday
November 7th, 2011

*birthday party post up next!

Nolan's Shadow

I have a funny shadow, it is bigger than me.  It has blond hair and bigger clothes but it thinks we are a team.

When my shadow gets me up from nap it likes to hop right in, but the best part is it usually brings all of my toys with him.

Sometimes I think there isn't room for anything but me. But my shadow always finds a way to squeeze right in you see.




I love my funny shadow, it makes me laugh all day.  My shadow Peyton is the greatest thing to ever come my way.

Love,
Nolan



Peyton would do anything for Nolan. I am so glad that God gave him a brother to love and to grow up with. As Peyton says, "God knew I wanted a brother, so he made Nolan a boy."  And we are all so glad!

7 Months and on the Move!

Nolan turned 7 months old on October 28th.  The biggest accomplishment since last month is that he is crawling!  About 2 weeks ago he went from rocking on all fours to full on crawling and now he is a pro and can get everywhere.  He crawls around the house looking for me and his siblings and is doing a great job sitting on his own and is starting to try to climb onto things, not far from pulling to standing.  He has only had one major incident, when he crawled straight off a small step in our living room.  I heard Mallory say "Uh Oh Baby!" and seconds later he starting bawling and I found him off the step.  Other than that it has been pretty smooth crawling :)

Nolan also started eating baby food in his 6 month but we are still working on that.  So far he only likes things that involve meat :) I jumped straight into the 2nd stage mixed blends after he flat out refused the real baby food. We are kind of working backwards :) Bananas, Apples and Chicken, and Sweet Potatoes and Turkey are his favorites.

Nolan also got his first tooth and is now up to two teeth, both on the middle of the bottom gum.  He loves chewing on things to help with the teething.

At a recent doctor's appointment he weighed 21 pounds and is ridiculously tall.  He is still wearing 12-18 month clothing and is just a chunk of love.  I adore this little muffin and kiss on his chubby cheeks all day long. He is mellow, happy, loud, loves blowing spit bubbles at Peyton, loves laughing at Peyton, crawls to keep up with Mallory, and is a precious, precious boy.

It has been a busy month with new teeth, eating food, and crawling! He has grown from an infant to a sweet baby boy. I want to slow time down so I can keep him in my arms forever. Love you Nolie Noo!

Halloweenie with 3 Teenies

Foofa, A Garbage Truck, and a Giraffe.  That was our Halloween 2011.

I'll start with Peyton. Peyton loves garbage trucks.  He loves to tear up piles of paper and play with his 2 garbage trucks and his landfill toy (Toy Story 3) and will happily create garbage scenarios for hours.  He enjoys watching garbage truck videos about how they were made and can tell you all about side loaders, front loaders, and rear loaders.  I never knew the sight of a garbage truck could bring me so much excitement but my heart actually leaps when I see one on the road. I get so excited to point them out to him.  It made perfect sense to me when he told me that was what he wanted to be for Halloween.  I am not crafty though so I spent hours online looking for a way to make or buy a garbage truck costume.  I even posted an ad on Craigslist :) I finally emailed the craftiest friend I have asking for advice and she decided that she could make one.  And make one she did!  It was absolutely unbelievable and above and beyond any expectation I could have had. It had head lights that actually worked, tail lights, personalized license plate, a front loader that held candy, and she even dressed him as a garbage man.  Thank you Whitney! I think only a mother of boys could understand how important this was to Peyton, and Whitney definitely understood.

Mallory was Foofa. Foofa is the pink character from her favorite show, Yo Gabba Gabba.  By favorite I mean it is really the only show she will watch.  She loves Gabba so much that sometimes she will just yell  "GABBA!" for no apparent reason. :)  I pulled some Mommy authority and ordered her the pink girly Foofa costume instead of the little green Brobee monster that she probably really wanted to be, but she loved being Foofa and still puts that costume on every chance she gets.

Nolan was a Giraffe.  It was hot outside and the giraffe was the best for him with the weather plus he looked adorable. :) And it made perfect sense to put our TALL baby in a giraffe costume, the tallest animal in the world.

The kids had so much fun at school that day and then loved trick or treating through the neighborhood. Peyton ran from house to house with his friend Reese, and Mallory slowly ambled up and down the walk ways, would say "TEEEET" and then immediately ask me to "OMEN" it.  She was covered in chocolate by the end of it.Nolan loved riding along in the baby bjorn.  Such a fun Halloween!

"Whatcha gonna do when they come for you?"

See this Yo Gabba Gabba Boombox?  Funny story about what was happening back home while I was out buying it.

2 weekends ago Peyton did not want to play in his soccer game. He asked for the phone and asked how to call his Bebe. I instructed him on the numbers and how to connect the call and he talked to Bebe about going to her house instead of his soccer game. We all told him that he did not have to play soccer, but he had to go to the game and support his team by sitting on the sidelines. He was not happy about this. About 20 minutes passed and we heard a knock at the door and repeated ringing of the doorbell. I heard Marshall in conversation with 2 men. I then heard him say "Did you call 911?" I ran out there and found 2 Dallas police officers at our front door.

Turns out- after talking to Bebe, Peyton had called 911 because he did not want to play in his soccer game. Let me repeat, Peyton called the POLICE because we were making him go to his soccer game. (Which Marshall coaches) I guess he hoped the police would side with him and make us let him stay at home. In his mind they were the only people with more authority than his parents. The police were happy to know there wasn't an emergency and soon left, and we spent a long time trying to explain when is the appropriate time to call 911. He seemed to get it.

The next day I went to a consignment sale where I found that gem of a boombox at the beginning of this post. While I was there Marshall was at home with the 3 kids and received another frantic knock on the door. Yes, it was the Dallas Police Department -Again. Repeat of the above scenario. When asked why he called 911 (while he was happily watching Toy Story 3 mind you) Peyton replied that he "was just a little angry." So clearly the 911 explanation wasn't working. After really talking to him I decided that he didn't know that just dialing without talking and quickly hanging up will still send the police to your house. It hasn't happened since. And good thing because they may actually have to take someone away next time!

Lessons learned:  1) Some 4-years-old may be a little young to understand the concept of 911. I thought it was important that he know what to do since we have 2 other babies in the house, a skill he will hopefully never have to use but clearly I needed to do some more explaining.   2) Don't leave the phones where your children can call people without you knowing.  3) Don't expect Peyton to not try to solve his own problems.

The police handled it very well the first time, pretty well the second time, and there will not be a third time!

And in case you wondering:  Peyton ended up playing some of his soccer game, his choice. Go figure!

His 1/2 Birthday! Happy 6 Months Nolan

Our sweet baby is now officially 6-months-old. Has it really been 6 months?!? He is changing daily and I love to see him figuring out his world. He has started rice cereal and some veggies and likes it, he just doesn't know how to keep it in his mouth very well. We will keep practicing and I bet he is eating like a champ in a few weeks. He sits up on his own and is already on all fours rocking and rolling, just about to crawl. I am not ready to have a crawling baby AND Mallory in the house at the same time! This is going to get interesting :)

Nolan is the best baby. He sleeps 11 hour stretches at night, take 3 little naps (with a little bit of protest), and loves to drink milk. Which leads me to my next point.

He is rather large. Nolan is wearing 12-18 month clothing and wears the same size diapers as Mallory who is almost 2, they are both in size 4's. He is currently wearing the same clothing that Peyton wore at 14-months-old. He is a heavy load to carry all day but those big fat kissable cheeks make all the heavy lifting more fun.



Here are his 6 month stats from his appointment earlier this week:
Weight- 19 pounds, 5 ounces- 90th percentile
Height- 29 Inches- Greater than 95th percentile (or off the charts)
Head- 17 3/4 inches- 75th percentile


Here is Peyton "stretching" Nolan out to give you an idea of his length.


I thought lying him next to our tv remote might help you grasp his size at 6 months.

This shirt is kind of an oxymoron, like the phrase "Jumbo-Shrimp", or "Minor Crisis".


Our "little" brother has been the perfect addition to our family. We wouldn't be the same without him and we all love him in our own special ways. Happy 1/2 birthday Nolan Mark Yates!

Back to Childhood........

I have a big brother so growing up I liked playing with matchbox cars almost as much as I enjoyed Barbies. In fact, one of my favorite toys was my brother's 1980's Hot Wheels service center. It was so incredibly awesome. I bet some of you remember it.

My Mom still has it at her house and we realized Peyton loved playing with it there as much as I did. So this Christmas I found myself going head-to-head against professional collectors on Ebay trying to buy one for him. I lost quite a few auctions but finally" won" one that we gave him on Christmas. Ive been watching him play with it a lot more recently and just can't get over how similar our playing styles are. It takes me back 25 years in an instant! I half expect to close my eyes and find myself back in my parent's house at age 5, hovering over my service center with all my little cars around me, sitting on the cold floor in the entry way- with Candy the cocker spaniel close by, and hear my Mom talking on the phone while cooking dinner-which was probably spaghetti and meatballs (my Brother's Favorite :) )


Instead I open my eyes to see the most beautiful little boy in the world playing just like his Mommy did. It touches my heart to share this toy with him.





I know his little sister and little brother won't be too far behind him wanting to play with it too. I just hope they can share it, Im not sure my competitive nature can afford another online ebay auction!


Happy Car Playing Peyton! I hope you never stop playing!

Coming Soon to a Theater Near You....

The Mark Family's Beach Vacation- The Movie!

Our family just had 2 family vacations back-to-back. I think Nolan thinks that the only thing we do in our family is sit in our car but I love little adventures. We just drove to Port Aransas, Texas to be with my family, and then 2 days after returning home went back to the lake to be with Marshall's family. Both trips were well worth the drives. I will post pictures from both trips soon but in the meantime wanted to post a little video I made from the Mark Vacation. I finally explored the movie software on our Mac and I am pretty proud of myself. (it is pretty easy to navigate) It is a really short clip set up like a movie trailer but makes me laugh out loud.

My brother, sister-in-law, and nephew currently live in Belgium so we were thrilled that they could visit and could spend a few days together in Port Aransas. My brother and I grew up vacationing there so it was special to bring all of our children there. Such joy all around!

5 Months with Roly Noly

Five Months post partum may be one of the best months of a new Mom's life. Nolan is now sleeping through the night most nights, falls asleep unassisted, naps three times a day, and is all smiles and laughs. He is mellow, happy, easily entertained, and pretty much a dream baby. I love this age so much. At 6 months he will start on solids so for now I am just enjoying how easy it is to feed him and take care of him. :)

We are working on sitting up and he has shown some interest in trying to get up on all fours and go places, but he is just so big that I think we may take awhile on our milestones. I could be wrong though. For now he is just super content and happy and we all still adore him. Mallory has gotten MUCH better with him. She loves to "ickle, ickle, ickle" him (Tickle), gives him tons and tons of kisses, and brings him toys to play with. Peyton still loves him and gets so excited to wake him up in the morning and wake him from naps. Nolan babbles and babbles and coos all day long. He loves to look in mirrors and play with his exersaucer. He also loves the red bird from his play mat and is already pretty attached to sleeping with his lovie. He is most ticklish on his chubby, fat legs and can turn into a giggle box.



And a little side note- we have something to celebrate. I have lost almost all of Nolan's baby weight (65 pounds). Now I just need to lost the last 10 of Mallory's :) But I am excited, this is the fastest I've ever done it!

Yes, Baby boy- you put 65 pounds on Mommy. But every pound was worth it and then some!


"Me cause 65 pounds? Hardly. I was only 10 lbs of it. You really should be taking this victory picture with a box of Central Market Muffins, Mom."



Good Point, Happy 5 Months Roly Poly Noly!