Busy Busy buzzing around the Zoo

Marilyn has been very busy being a curious 9 month old over the past few weeks, and we have been eagerly indulging it.

My sister Kate and I made good use of their family membership and once again took Marilyn to the zoo... and she loves it even more! As she is growing, so is her fascination with the interesting animals, gardens and even people at the zoo.

Getting so Big!

Marilyn spent Saturday with Uncle Brett & Aunt Kate, which of course means great pics for me! They even walked to the park in Greenwood for some fun time in the swing. What a lucky little lady! Can you believe how big she is getting? Crawling and moving all around- goodness, hard to believe she is 8.5 months old! I love the smiles when she is on the swings! Aren't her prescription sunglasses too cute?

How silly?!? What kind of silly Mom sends props? Me!

Memorial Day Weekend in Nashville

Last weekend, we traveled to Nashville for a wonderful visit with Hunter's family. Marilyn did so well in the car and had a blast! We had such a great time and can hardly believe how much she has changed since our last trip.

She was so thrilled to show off her new crawling talent. What a hoot!

Soaking up every kiss from Grandma Jane

Playing with Great-Day Day and her new Ostrich friend

Hanging out with Grandaddy Robert and Grandma Kirk

Whew, what a day!

Yesterday, Hunter and I spent the afternoon and evening watching my cousin Ryan & Colleen's twins. They are only three weeks older than Marilyn, so we definitely had our hands full. They had a blast staring at each other and laughing. But, I must say that Ryan & Colleen are amazing for being able to handle twins and make it look so easy. We did have fun feeding the three dinner and getting them all to sleep. By the time they left for home, I was ready for bed too!

As you can tell, there was no shortage of toys here!

Happy Easter!

Our Easter morning started off with Hunter and I eagerly waiting for our sleepy head Marilyn to wake up. At about 10 am, she decided to make her grand entrance to her first Easter celebration. Grandpa, Grandma, Aunt Kate and Uncle Brett arrived shortly after for our first Easter gathering. Marilyn loves her mini-stuffed Peeps from Grandma! They are just the perfect size for her little hands. Then she prepared for her mini-photo shoot with Uncle Brett. We are so spoiled to have such great shots of her special "firsts". If it was up to my camera skills, this blog would cease to exist! (Thanks Brett & Kate!)

Here is Marilyn with her Easter basket, peeps and beanies.

(as you can tell, we love the ears!)

Here is our little Librarian (as Hunter affectionately refers to her) enjoying her books. Her Great-Aunt Ronna is a teacher and spoils her with a book every month on her birthday.

After our time at our house, we headed to GG-papa & GG-ma's house for the annual Brenton lunch. Marilyn did very well and nearly slept through the whole thing. She did wake up in time for the egg hunt, one of my favorite things!

Marilyn's first egg hunt. It was a bit chilly, but she did very well. I imagine next year will be a blast when she is running all around!

(Like I said, I like the ears!)

She has been enthralled with this dancing chicken from GG-papa & GG-ma Brenton who shakes and dances to the "Chicken Dance".

Marilyn's 6 Month Photo Shoot

I can't believe Marilyn celebrated her six month birthday this week! Since Easter is just a week away, we thought it would be cute to see our little snuggle bunny all dressed up, so today Uncle Brett and Aunt Kate spoiled Marilyn with some special photo time, with props! Here are just a few of the very cute shots. Aren't her glasses so cute?!?

(a mini-Woody Allen)

Marilyn's New Glasses

Last week, Marilyn got her first pair of glasses. Due to her Glaucoma, her eyesight is quite bad in her left eye. The doctors decided not to wait any longer for fear that her right eye would begin to deteriorate for its overcompensation.

Well, we picked up her new glasses last Monday and ever since, she is like a new baby. She is so engaged with her surroundings and is looking at her toys with a whole new delight. She is also following the cats around the room and gleefully acknowledging Spud's presence. Amazingly enough, she is also leaving them be. I think she must be so happy to be seeing clearly that she just lets them be.

Here are just a few pics of her glasses. I will work on getting some more posted soon.

This one is from Uncle Brett's 25th Birthday party.
Oh, so cute in her little hat with Grandma.

Our Florida Vacation

Dad & Mom celebrated their 30th Wedding Anniversary on February 24th! In recognition of this huge achievement, they decided to spend the week away at my Uncle Dave & Aunt Debbie's beautiful vacation home in Bonita Springs. To add to the fun, they brought us along to celebrate with them for part of the week. We had such a wonderful time and feel so blessed to be able to share in their special anniversary.

Here we are at the Vanderbilt Beach. (The same special beach where Brett & Kate were married nearly three and half years ago!)

Marilyn has really become quite the chatter-bug and will "talk" for hours on end. Who knows where she could have gotten that? She was able to visit the beach for the first time, swim in the pool and lounge around the palm trees. While Hunter and I were able to relax and have some fun too- thanks to the help from Grandpa & Grandma and Aunt Kate & Uncle Brett, so nice to vacation with family!

Marilyn was all decked out for an afternoon stroll with Grandma and Mommy.

Here she is loving her pool time with Grandpa and her Ticklish Turtle, Javie.

She had so much fun in the pool. Her little fit were kicking away, and she was quite startled after her first big splash!

More pics to come...