Baby's 1st day at the BEACH

Well the Long weekend has finally come and we couldn't be more excited to spend time with our family and friends while enjoying this gorgeous weather.

We thought Saturday would be a great day to take Marcus to the beach with Grammy and Grandpa Cochrane, and the rest of the Klan- He loved it and was such a good boy. He soaked in the gigantic lake, watched the sea gals as they flew by and examined the soft glandular pieces of rocks. It was a HOT day but the water was still too cold- Marcus could only bare to keep one foot in the water.

Loves his Grammy as he strokes her chin!

Such a Little Beach Bum-

Henrietta you Naughty Bird!

Meet Henrietta-

She is our momma bird. She has live outside our house for the last several years. Every year she builds a new nest in a new place. She usually lays two to three robin eggs that are just so adorable.

However, this year I take issue with her. She is slacking in the ...lets say home making department. Her nest's have gotten sloppier each year.

We currently have one in our out door light and though I constantly remind Matt NOT to turn the light on-so no bird roasting takes place, I am constantly tidying up her loose end strands that hang down.

Last years Nest

                      



This years Nest

Come ON Henrietta!!!! I know being a momma bird is hard work but this is a little much.
if she wasnt so dang delightful....

Happy Spring everyone!~

Marcus the GREAT!

Marcus is 6 months now and has really hit a milestone.

 I don't know if this is common amongst other momma bears but even though I LOVE watching him grow and learn new things my heart aches a little every time he becomes a "big boy". In my case, my boy is becoming really BIG everyday, like seriously huge where I can't barely hold him :|

His personality is definitely shining through.

He has a sweet gentle spirit. Loves kisses, hugs and squeezes. Once you start he just begs for more. That being said his nickname in our home is little "Spartacus." He is a tough  little macho man. I tease Matt all the time that when Marcus becomes of age and they play wrestle, Marcus will take him down. Matt sheepishly agrees. He is our little "Marcus the Great"-good old Greek mythology. He is husky and very strong. Did I mention that his head is almost as big as mine ;)

Marcus will already turn pages of his favorite books on demand but if he shows disinterest in certain books he will have no part of it.

We have been teaching him certain words of which we know he recognizes and response to(or at least we'd like to think so;) every parent thinks their babe is the smartest right? ha I'm sure he is just being a baby and grabbing at everything or babbling and we are like " oh did you hear that, he said dada" haha.

where's my nose- then he grabs it
where's my kiss- then he attempts to kiss
and of course he knows dada- 

Marcus is a daddy's boy for sure. He is connected to Matt and just lights up every time he comes home from work. We are working on him waving hello to Matt- He does it occasionally. I think they have a special connection because well..... they are IDENTICAL in every way. He loves when daddy changes his bum, gives him bath time and reads to him.

He loves naps, playing on the floor with his new red fire truck, standing up against the couch to look out the window at the birds and trees, stomping his feet when we stand him up, smiles, duck noises, mommy dancing in the kitchen while he tries to dance along,

He hates food- everything except my breast milk, will yell really loud if I am talking to someone or he is tired and wants to go to bed- which makes it difficult when we are out at fam or at friends houses.

He doesn't make strange with people. He will smile and will encourage being held by anyone. Little offended that he doesn't scream his head off when he departs my arms.

As of late, Matt made Marcus a book shelf out of gutters, yes gutters! Of course I got the idea from pinterest. It turned out great. I picked some wood letters from the Dollar store and painted them.We got the gutters for 9 bucks each- got two and cut them in half-25 bucks later and voila here is our end result.

Marcus turning the pages of his book-

Marcus give hugs and kisses to Mr. bear- please excuse my annoying voice- you quickly learn that you need to talk like this to get the babes attention- high pitch, repeating constantly...

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Matt and I made bird seed feeders...again idea from pinterest while Marcus watched and just wanted to ea the peanut butter. Matt and I are like kids- rather do some random craft or project on an early Saturday morning. Will we ever grow up? ok truth be told, on many occasion I beg matt to do these random things with me:)

There ya have it- an update on my little man.
Being a first time mom comes with a lot of different emotions, but I will continue to do my best. Its hard not to with a little stinker like this one.

Cheers

Gardening 101

Well I've jumped on the gardening wagon full force and am ready to go.Very quickly I will tell you how this came to pass. One thing really lead to another and so forth.

1) Casually one day searching on the Internet about dairy products (because it seems to bother Matt when he intakes any form of dairy...except ice cream so he says :|
Came cross the Ellen show talking about her being a Vegan- she makes reference to a documentary "Earthlings". I thought it was about aliens, checked it out and turned out it was about animal farm factories and the cruelties that take place within those walls.

2) Watched it, ripped my heart out string by string (Matt as well)

3) Made a conscious choice to stop eating meat or at least eat meat "sparingly"

4) Lead  us to eating LOTS of vegetables and beans

5) Finally, came to the conclusion that our very own vegetable garden would feed us through out the summer months, while having an activity that Matt and I ...and Marcus, can do together.

phew! Ok so that's how we came to the point of making our own vegetables. We ordered NGMO (non-genetically modified seeds from a little island called salt springs island off the coast of B.C.

We have our own compost brewing in the back and with a little hard work in tilling the earth, we should be good to go. Sounding a little like hippies? or Granolas as some may call them ;), I'm afraid not. I still like to indulge here and there in the pleasure that consumerism or the keg has to offer.

We know nothing of Gardening so we have been doing a lot of research. Of course everyone says different things. Some say you need to add a bunch of things to the soil to make the veggies grow, others say some good dirt, compost, sun and water will do the trick. IF this project is a total fail I will blame it on...Matt haha, just kiddin. We will just try again next season.

Here are my veggies that I just planted yesterday in my home. After the last frost we will transfer them into our garden.

Tomatoes
Peppers
Kale
Onions
Squash
Beets
Spinach
Herbs-parsley, oregano etc..
Carrots- of which we will plant directly to the garden
We already have an abundance supply of Rhubarb for pies..mmmm

Wish us luck!

We do love sharing so let us know if you would like some.

Shout out to Matt

Majority of my posts are of course about Baby Marcus, but lets be honest, baby wouldn't be here without the help of my husband ;)

I would like to give a little shout out to Matt-

Where would I be without this guy?! Its interesting to think back on our almost 4 year marriage- There has been many times where I just wanted to  wring his neck...ok sometimes I have...jk.....not really ;)
Other times I  have enjoyed just snuggling close with him and never letting go.

He is the epitome of a Man! He works SO hard at his career(driving 2hrs a day) , gets up extra early to go to the gym to work out- so it doesn't interfere with family time with Marcus and I, Baths Marcus and gets him ready for bed EVERY NIGHT, does the laundry every week and makes sure we get a date night once a week.

Our marriage has been hard at times- as I'm sure all have been, but reflecting back, I think the key to our growing love is that while we continue to make mistakes with each other, we are dedicated to becoming better. A better husband and wife, better Father and Mother,etc.. As long as we progress within ourselves and with each other and never just find complacency in this is just the``Way we are`... we will be more than fine.

It is easy to focus on the negative in your partner- heaven knows I'm guilty of that at times, but I would like to state a couple things I appreciate or love about my partner...(in no way stating that our relationship is perfect- far from it actually- we are raw and real- we go through a lot of ups and downs and challenges our way- but we always seem to work through them and be more in love than the trial before)

-Always puts his Family first
- favorite person to travel with
-makes me laugh
- amazing Father
-great with Finances ( I hate that sometimes)
-strong ethical standards
- great at Math (which I suck at)
- hard worker
-loves to move (haha jk- we HATE moving yet have done it so much)
-Loves international Foods
-Sweet spirit
- Dedicated to our marriage
-trust worthy
- Loves the Gospel




Matt, you are Wonderful!

4 Month Old Sweetie Pie

Marcus had his 4 month old Doctors Appointment today. I know he is already 4.5months but this is a very common occurrence for us. First things first- I LOVE my Doctor and the office- the ladies are wonderful and just adore Marcus but they never can get him in on time. They are always booked which is so annoying that I have to wait a week or sometimes 2 for them to check him out. I know that he is healthy and happy so I don't fuss over it and just go with the flow.

He was happy as can be to see his favorite nurse Gale who just smothered him with tickles and he was nice enough to give a couple brief smiles out of consideration to the Doctor who was poking and prying him.

So his measurement are as follows;
weight-16lbs 2oz, -75%
height- 26 1/4 inches-91%
and this is my favorite.......
Head circumference- 17 1/4-97%- almost off the charts- we all had a chuckle at that one. He sure does have a big noggin and I love it :)

I thought I better say a couple things about him at this stage- I do have a baby book but am not the greatest at recording everything-

I thought I had a good memory but realized that I'm already forgetting so many things..sigh.

1) Marcus seriously LOVES to smile- he is a very happy baby
2) he rolled over for the first time in his first 4month week- daddy was the first to see, then me. He hasn't done it since.
3) He LOVES books- he already turns the pages.....ok maybe with a little help and encouragement.
4)He raises his arms with I say uppy
5) He naps at 9, 12:30 and 3- however starting yesterday he is into two longer naps which I'm cool with.
6) He goes to bed every night at 730pm, gets a dream feed at 1130 then wakes up at 8am- sometimes will need a feed at 6am
7) He is the happiest when its me, daddy and vovo around showering him with love, kisses, songs and mass amounts of attention. larger groups he tends to get a little fussy- like at church or family functions...kinda like his daddy;)
8)he love gazing up into my eyes when I nurse him and always has a special twinkle in his eyes just for me.
9)he is getting very interested in food at dinner time (but I have decided to wait until he is 6months- may do a week earlier to give him solids)
10) he has just started sucking his thumb which is sooo adorable.

Marcus has changed my life. As one can tell, I'm a little obsessed with him. I have often wondered if its a little too much, but then came to realize that I was called as a mother in Zion and the deep love I have for my son comes natural. I cant help it. I hope I am just as obsessed with my other babies that I have in the future as I am with him. I never want to take this God given gift for granted. I don't want to complain during the hard times of being a mother but embrace and learn from my mistakes and frustrations. I want my son to know that he is always loved by his parents and accepted and that we thank God every day that his little spirit was sent to our family.

His Smile just melts my heart. He sure is a Special Babe. At times I feel I don't even deserve him.

Breastmilk Popsicles and baby Einstein

Marcus has started teething........I think. He isn't fussy but drools a lot! I found a pin on pinterest of breast milk popsicles and decided to make one.

Marcus loved it-plus its so much fun to watch him eat it.

Ok, yes he looks petrified, but I swear, he enjoyed every minute haha.

As for baby Einstein!

I had mixed emotions about letting Marcus watch videos and had read somewhere that they dont gain any brain development from these "infant educational videos" before the age of 2- HOWEVER, I picked up the Baby Einstein video collection at a garage sale this pass summer and thought I would give it a whirl.

He LOVES it! I have incorporated it into his daily routine. He gets to watch one video once a day after his late afternoon nap. Its a treat for him. He has also let me know which video is his favorite. SHAPES! He goes nuts only for that particular video- so cute.


So, even if he is getting nothing out of it, I don't mind giving him 15mins of pure enjoyment :)