New Years Eve 2010

Well, as the year comes to an end, I find myself looking to the future and what will come. If things end up the way we are expecting, it will be another crazy year for us in 2011. To start off, our dog, Lacey, is due to have puppies any day now and she is seemingly getting more and more uncomfortable as the days go by. She pretty much just lays around the house and follows us if we leave the room. Obviously, we don't know how many puppies are in there, but my guess is 5...I suppose we will just have to wait to find out. :)

To end the year, Jared, Jordon and Steven have all been slaving away trying to build a deck for us so that our house will be more marketable. The original deck that was here when we bought the house was old, unsafe and considering that Jordon was able to just lift the stairs off without any tools, about to fall apart.

Lacey (black) and Cloey (white and black) on the original deck

After Jordon tore down the old deck, we were left with a pile of kindling

And then, in true Marquis fashion, a blizzard rolled in, right before the major construction was to begin, but the men braved the weather and with lots of hot chocolate, a few donuts and hot soup, progress was seen!

Jared, Jordon and Steve building the stairs

In the morning, the deck will be assembled! Tonight, being that it's New Year's Eve, we are all gathered around the TV watching a movie, hoping to get to bed at a decent hour for the first time this week. And just for fun, I have a few more pictures to share. :) Don't mind the pink on his shirt...he had a drinking fail with pomegranate 7-Up...

Thoughts for the day:
1) If you really want to know how dirty your floor is, put a white shirt on your baby and let them roll around...
2) New Years is a great time to try to reset...
3) Cache will eat just about anything that is put in his hand...which can be good and bad...lol

So hopefully in the next little while, we will be seeing puppies show up, and then I can post some pictures of them as well :)

Christmas 2010!!

We have been fortunate enough this year to enjoy the company of Jared's parents (Jean and Steve) and his brother and sister-in-law (Jordon and Liana) and our nephew Ethan. It is so nice to be able to spend the holidays with family especially since we will be much further away next year in South Dakota. I am hoping that we will be able to make it to Washington for Christmas 2011, but that's a whole year away, and a lot can happen in that much time.

 One of the benefits of getting up at 5:30 am with a baby is that I can enjoy the tranquil atmosphere of the lit christmas tree which is so pretty that I had to take a picture.

Also, in true male fashion, a lot of quality, brotherly bonding time was spent in front of the TV playing Call of Duty...but I just had to get a picture when both Jared and Jordon had the boys on their laps....

In some ways it was not very "christmasy" but it was nice to see them all having fun together, non-the-less. :)

And just for the fun of it, we have a few pictures that were taken of some random events of the day.



Cache loves to stand, though he still needs some support...




He fits in the shoe bin!

Christmas morning was fun and everyone enjoyed watching the little boys open their gifts. We were all gathered around the living room (which in my living room is quite a feat!) and gifts were passed around while wrapping paper, packing peanuts and boxes were flung about in the excited efforts of opening presents.



Liana and Ethan




Grammy and Cache



Cache's new toy! It vibrates and honks...and he's still getting used to it making so much noise!





Cache and Papa




Jordon got really creative with Liana's present. Yes, that's a green bean can...and no, there weren't green beans in it. :) Inside was a locket :)

All the while, we had Grandma Franco on Skype and she was enjoying the chaos that was Christmas morning :)  More pictures will be coming, but at the moment, we are going to enjoy dinner. Oh...HAPPY 24th BIRTHDAY BRANDI! Love you :)

Ward Christmas Party 2010

This year's ward Christmas party was so well done! It was all set up like a little town market in Bethlehem where all the Young Men were dressed as Roman soldiers and the young women like merchants who were serving the food! The whole gym was dimly lit with white Christmas lights to look like stars. It was very pretty. I would say that Sarah did an excellent job. :) Jared and I were asked to play Mary and Joseph who wandered through Bethlehem (through tables and to every "Inn"). I have to say that I was pretty glad that it was only a pillow under my outfit instead of being that pregnant again so soon...

The Shepards

In the end, we ended on the stage where a little manger was ready with pillows and hay and Cache got to play baby Jesus! He did pretty well sitting up there in the manger! It's a good thing that there was hay for him to play with...and I was sneaking him treats...I'm pretty sure that Mary didn't have Yogurt Melts to keep Jesus happy. :)

Jared, Cache and Me

 We were also fortunate to be able to have Jared's parents there along with Jordon, Liana and Ethan! It was tons of fun to be able to share this fun moment with them. Jordon had to stay home to finish some papers for school...poor thing...Below are a couple of videos just for good measure :)

Cache, Grammy (Jean) and Papa (Steve)

Liana, Cache and Grammy (Jean)

Graduation!!!



Napping after a 3 am clinical shift in the NICU



Finally, after 4 years of prerequisites, followed by two years of my ADN (associate degree in nursing) program, and another three semesters for by BSN (bachelors of science in nursing) I finally graduated! I have been in school for most of my life now and it is AMAZING to not have to worry about homework anymore! It was exhausting, to say the least, to have to think about pending deadlines and papers that had to be written...but NO MORE! :)

 

My dad, Stefanie and Art at Corbin's Grill

As handsome as ever :)

I always thought it was amazing that babie's could sleep through all that action going on around them



He finally looked at the camera!



Aunt Lily, Grandma Kristie and Cache

My Dad, Kristie, and Lily flew out, Jean and Steve drove down from Washington, and Jordon, Liana and Ethan drove down from Idaho to spend the weekend! It was a lot of fun, and I'm really glad to have such wonderful family to celebrate with! The day was great, the food was good (Corbin's Grill!)and the company was irreplaceable. Thank you so much to all that have supported us during this time!

In the past, blogging hasn't seemed realistic for me as I have been busy with school and now baby. However, since the new year will be bringing lots of new changes and we will be moving further away from family, friends and our Utah family I thought it best to at least give it a go. :) I always have these good intentions of keeping a journal, especially now that we have Cache, but it always seems to fall to the wayside, so hopefully this won't as well. This seemed like the perfect time to try to sum up 2010, though it might be quite difficult since so much has happened.

 



Cache Russel Marquis, born 6/6/10, 6 lbs 14 oz, 20 inches long



I started the year off about 6 months pregnant which was both exciting and uncomfortable. I remember thinking that June could not get here fast enough, but here we are almost a year later and I don't know what I ever did before the little monster (let alone how I got homework done this semester!). Cache Russel Marquis was born on June 6, 2010 a week before his due date (June 15). He is the best thing that could have happened to us and we love every minute of it.

 

Our awesome neighbor, Blake, was able to do Cache's newborn pictures and the turned out AMAZING.

It's always a wonder that he was ever that small, and yet it's only been 6 months since he was born. In these short 6 months we have discovered the challeneges of parenthood and the blessings as well. The sleepless nights, the crying for seemingly no reason....but the smiles and laughter make up for everything. When they reach for you for the first time or smile when you walk in a room....those are the things that keep me from going crazy sometimes.

We also managed to take Cache on his first boating trips this summer. He was more like a sack of potatos because he slept for most of the time, but it was ok. Better than him crying or getting scared I suppose. :) We went up to Pineview Resevior with Josh, Stephanie and their daughter Austyn.

Cache also had his first trip to washington to visit with family! It was a ton of fun, we just wish that Jared could have been there. He was on AT (annual training) in Missouri for two weeks.

(pictures to come)



Cache and Jared huddled by the fire

Hunting, of course, was Cache's first camping trip. It was nice to be able to spend two weeks with GGMa and GGPa in Vernal, Utah. While sleeping in a trailer with a 3 1/2 month old was not as great as it could have been, at least we had a trailer and not a tent :)


GGPa and Cache

 

 

GGMa and Cache at a trip to Walmart

 

First ATV ride with Daddy!



Then, of course, there was our little astronaut for Halloween! He was so snuggly and warm! Everyone loved him, though I was asked where his helmet was by a few clever kids.



Thanksgiving wasn't far behind! He's been getting much better at eating, though he doesn't seem to mind getting dirty! Sometimes I wonder how much food actually makes it in his mouth. lol In fact, he likes food so much that he's recently stopped nursing pretty much in a matter of 2 weeks and he's gone straight to a sippy cup...strange boy...:)

From here I will end with a few things learned in the last few months:

1) It is amazing how much laundrey stain remover you have to use with a baby (baby food stains!)

2) You will inevitably find baby food in the weirdest of places! (inside my shoe?!)

Onto other adventures!