Marsha, Marsha, Marsha

I have never really loved my name. I don't know why. I was named after my grandpa whom I loved, but it was just something I had a hard time accepting. Maybe it was the whole idea of being named after a man. I don't know. Together with my last name it just didn't roll off the tongue nicely. I never wanted to change my name, I just often times wondered how nice a different name would sound. Molly has decided that she is going to make me love it. She calls me Marsha or Marsh all the time. It's pretty cute and how could you not love your name coming from a sweet two year old...most of the time.

Molly got a new haircut. You'd think by looking at the pictures that she loved it. But you'd be wrong. She cried for about a whole week before whenever we brought it up. She didn't cry while getting her hair cut, she just sat in terror and had to hold my hand the whole time. Not even Dora could help the experience. And she was sitting in a fire truck. You'd think that sitting in a fire truck would make everything better. But again, you'd be wrong. We love our Molly and her shy personality.

babies, tutus, and nail polish

Have I mentioned before that Molly loves babies? She is obsessed. They always have to be wrapped in blankets in a very particular way. In the mornings they have to be rocked and for naps and bed time they have to be in her bed with her.

Rocking and cuddling with her babies.

Molly and only a few of her babies under the blanket. I'm not really sure why this was ok on this particular day. She usually has to have them all wrapped up in blankets.

Just a cute picture of Molly busy at the computer

Molly really likes to have her fingernails and toes painted. I never paint my fingernails and rarely paint my toenails and as far as I know, it's been awhile for Brady too. Molly has also become very shy of the camera. If you ask her to smile she won't . The second I pull it out she tells me "don't" and turns away. That explains this picture of just her cute little feet.

Dancing Molly

I believe Molly is going to get a ticket on the hot tamale train if she keeps dancing like this. I think she gets her sweet dance moves from her daddy. He has recently perfected the art form known as "Churning the Butter."

Molly is so lucky to have her daddy!

I have been kind of a dud these days. One day I was feeling sick and resting downstairs. I had been wanting to get Molly dressed up in her snow gear so she could play in the snow for weeks, but just never could bring myself to do it. I went upstairs to see what Molly and daddy were doing. Molly was all dressed up to go out in the snow. Brady is so great. He does things like this all the time. He is so great at making Molly and me happy!

What?

This is how Molly feels about having a baby brother. We are due June 1st and are very excited.

Happy Birthday Molly!

Molly is two! We can't believe that our little baby has turned into a big girl. Some things about Molly:
Molly has gotten really good at saying please and thank you. She loves to give kisses. Every night before bed she gives a regular kiss, an eskimo kiss, a butterfly kiss and a doggy kiss. She learned the doggy kiss from her cousin Katie. It is just licking the face. Molly is very particular and things must be a certain way. I guess she gets this from her mom. She is very mechanical and loves to figure things out. She loves playing with the Russian nesting dolls we brought home from Ukraine and is very good at turning off the tv with the remote. She likes to go, go, go. She is not a home body at all. She is good with association. She will see someone's car and start naming all the people in the family. When we say prayers, she will start naming people. It is really cute. She also tries to sing along when we sing to her

Molly getting a big birthday hug from her cousin Ben. I am so glad they get along so well.

Molly helping daddy bake her birthday cake. She holds the cord and "helps" move the mixer. When we say we are going to make something, she moves the chair over so she can get in on the action.
I feel so bad for Molly having a birthday right before Christmas. It is hard to know what to do to make it special. I know that she doesn't care at this point, but I still want to make it special.

Molly LOVES buses. She points out all the buses as we drive, most of which we don't even see. Her favorite movie is a bus movie and we can't go very long without getting to sing 'The wheels on the bus'. In the car, she will make different animal sounds for the animals she wants on the bus. There are always a lot of sheep, pigs, and snakes on the bus. She will sing the animal noises and 'all through the town'. It's pretty cute.
I decided to make a bus cake, because there is nothing Molly appreciates more. It seemed a little daunting at first since Molly woke up sick and was feeling miserable all day. Maybe I should learn not to procrastinate. With the help of my sisters, it was actually really fun to make this cake. And Molly even knew what it was!

Molly's favorite book!

Getting ready for Christmas

This will be our first Christmas at home together as a family. When Molly was born we were lucky enough to spend Christmas in the hospital and last year we were in Washington. We decided to make an advent calendar this year. My mom would always make one growing up and I loved them. She would usually make a tree, but Molly loves snowmen so we decided to try that out. Molly loves it and it is the first thing she wants to do in the morning, after watching elmo of course. It is hard to keep her to one a day, but she's pretty good about it. She is really good at sharing her candies.

Molly helping daddy wrap presents. She was really impressed with his wrapping skills.

Molly loved putting up the ornaments, but especially her elmo ornament. He got put up many times and in different places.

Molly makes me happy!

I love this girl and am so grateful to have her. I haven't been the best mom for the last little while because I have been sick, but Molly is still so quick to give loves and kisses and make me feel loved. She will pat my back or run up to me and hug my legs. She is so patient with me even though I'm not so patient with her. I love that she has a binki in her mouth in this picture. Molly wouldn't even touch a binki as a baby and for some reason I just kept this with her toys. Every once in awhile she finds it and thinks she's so funny when she sucks on it. I almost wish she was attached to it. She looks so cute with it in her mouth.

Molly Moo!

Molly was a 'taow' for halloween. You can't tell by her face, but she actually really loved the costume. She wanted to wear it all the time.

Her bottom was the cutest part of it all. She would waddle around and give everyone a good laugh.

Molly was given an elmo trick or treat bucket from our sweet neighbor. Molly is obsessed with elmo and after admiring it all night at our trunk or treat, she was given her most prized posession. She of course had to sleep with it that night. It was so cute.

Molly LOVES babies!!!

Molly is obsessed with babies. She can hear one crying from a mile away. She notices one everywhere we go. We bought her a cute doll for christmas last year and she likes it ok, but she really likes the naked one my sister Paula gave her. She also likes the one we found at my mom's house that looks like it has a disease. It has weird dots all over the head because it used to be a glow baby. She can never understand why it doesn't have toes. It is really frustrating to her. It's just funny that I spent a lot of time finding the perfect baby doll for Molly and she couldn't care less about it most of the time.

Feeling old!

To start out my day, I heard a radio add for plato's closet. It is a store with gently used designer clothing for 'teens and twenty somethings' the add said. Apparently their clothes are not meant for me because I am no longer in my twenties. It seriously made me mad. I have never been there, but what if I wanted to go? Are they going to check my i.d. or give me funny looks? Why do they have to discriminate? I felt old.
Later that day a kid's car rolled into my car while parked in a parking lot. The kid was totally cool and let me know what had happend. When I first walked out, I was annoyed to say the least at the "punks." After the inital shock everything went fine. His dad showed up and asked if they could just pay for the damage instead of going through the insurance. After finding out how much it was going to be, I felt so bad for the kid. I just wished I had all the money in the world and could tell him not to worry about it, or that I didn't care so much about my car and not get it fixed, but I don't have all the money in the world and I do want my car fixed. I was really impressed with the kid and his friends. I shook his hand and told him thanks for being such a great kid. I felt old.
Anyway, I found these cute pictures of Molly and her daddy when she had just turned one and they made me feel better.

The double gulp monster

I realize that we have a ridiculous amount of double gulp cups, but what would Molly do without them?

Washington/Oregon coast

The "majestic" Columbia River, as brady lovingly refers to it.

Daddy teaching Molly how to skip rocks. She didn't quite catch on. She is really good at throwing rocks though.

Feeding the kabillion geese! I am seriously afraid of geese. They just swarm around you and try to bite you. Luckily we got out unharmed.

Lots of relaxing, thanks to Grandma and Grandpa.

Molly had fun playing with her cousin Katelin. Especially when they got to go see the animals.

Molly loves the trampoline. she actually has pretty good balance.

We stayed in an awesome beach house. Molly and Katie especially liked the new surroundings.

We got to go to an aquarium and see lots of fish. Molly slept through half of it, but still got to see a lot. She wasn't afraid to touch all the slimy things.

The coast was so beautiful. I am a huge ocean fan and I have to say that I was not disappointed. The water was painfully cold, but the view was spectacular. I loved all the rocks and trees. It was so misty you could just feel it.

Molly hated the sand. She didn't want it on her feet. So...

We laid a towel out for our little princess.

Just a cute picture of Molly and her daddy.

The Backpack

Molly has this little backpack and she LOVES to wear it.

Molly and Dad cuddling after a little motorcycle ride.

Summertime!

I heard somewhere that summer is for kids. This statement has really helped me lighten up. Sometimes it just seems easier to not do something because I'm tired and it would be a lot of work. To put on swimsuits and sunscreen for 5 minutes in the pool seems like a waste of energy. Or to let Molly eat a popsicle and get it all over her outfit after I've just gotten her dressed. And as much as I want Molly to eat healthy things, that just doesn't end up happening all the time.

It is pretty impossible to keep any drink with a straw away from Molly. Luckily for the last little while we've been getting free drinks from sonic thanks to their survey receipts. They give them to us even when we get a free one. It's pretty nice.

Bowling with the help of daddy. It was cosmic bowling so it was dark with lights everywhere. She loved it.

Molly has an obsession with pushing around strollers. She found her umbrella stroller in the closet and wouldn't forget about it for a couple of days. Even if I put it back in the closet she would go right to it as soon as she woke up from her nap or when we got home from running errands. She will let us push her around sometimes, but it takes some convincing.

We have been swimming a few times this summer and Molly prefers sitting on the steps and splashing. The last time we went I was able to get her to release me from her death grip and she actually let me pull her around while she kicked her little legs. She has been so fun this summer and I can't believe how fast it is going.