More Snow on Mommy & Marshall's Date Night

Last night, Marshall and I had a fun "date night" planned! Eliza goes to bed pretty early so that leaves our evenings free to spend with Marshall. We were headed to a make-up class for Music Together (our weekly music class). And, we went to Dairy Queen for dinner beforehand - it was Marshall's first trip to Dairy Queen and he loved it! After we had dinner, we had ice cream of course. I got Marshall a kid-sized sundae and got myself a Kit Kat Blizzard. Marshall wanted to try my Blizzard. After one bite he said "Let's Share!," handed his tiny sundae to me, and took over the Blizzard. He has things figured out pretty quickly.

While we were at music class the snow really started coming down and there were about two inches by the time we headed for home. (don't worry Dad, I made it home safely). It was pretty late when we got home but Marshall just couldn't wait until morning to play in the snow. He had a great time with us making a snowman and having a snowball fight!! And, he was up early today ready to play outside again.

As always, I'll add a picture of Eliza just for fun :)

Happy 5 Month Birthday Eliza

We are a day late with this one, but yesterday was Eliza's 5 month "birthday." (I'm sure she would love to know that I'm posting naked baby pics of her on our blog!) Our family cannot believe how quickly the past 5 months have flown by. Eliza is busy log rolling around the house - no more setting her on a blanket and leaving the room. She is a fast mover. She is working on sitting up all by herself and we have a feeling she will be crawling before we know it. Eliza is not content to stay in one place, she is a busy baby! In the pictures you can probably tell that Eliza is teething as well - drooling and chewing on everything!

This week Eliza has really taken a new interest in Marshall as well. I know that in every post about Eliza I mention how happy she is - she is really all smiles. Even more so lately, everything that Marshall does makes Eliza laugh. She is sad if Marshall is down for his nap and she is awake. She loves going to get Marshall when he wakes up! It has been a joy to see them interact with each other and see their friendship already beginning.

Snow!!!

It snowed in Salem!! The snow started falling on Sunday afternoon and we woke up this morning to a world covered in a blanket of snow. Marshall was so excited to build a snowman. He looked out the window in his room and yelled SNOW! Then, ran to our playroom and yelled to assure me that there was also snow out the playroom window. We met our neighbor Etai and his mom outside for some fun in the snow. Although, the boys were not interested in wearing gloves so the snow was a little cold to play with. They settled for playing with bubbles instead and had a great time (Hence, the lack of snow in our "snow" pictures!).

Just For Fun

Just a couple of pictures from this morning . . .

Legos & The Kitchen Sink

On days when we just stay home, Marshall has all kinds of ways to entertain himself. His two favorite activities right now are Legos and playing in the sink. Marshall is really into building Lego towers just to knock them down. And, he has quite the ritual for playing with water - he has his time in the sink down to a science which requires lots of cups, soap, and dumping water back and forth. Not to mention lots of water on the floor! And, as you might be able to tell in one of the pictures, Marshall spent part of his afternoon baking cookies with Mom - look for the telltale chocolate around his mouth :)

A Slow Week

Life has been a little slow around the Compton house for the past couple of weeks. In 2 weeks we were hit with the stomach flu and two different cold viruses! Plus, the weather here in Oregon has been freezing recently, bringing just enough snow to make the morning commute interesting for Eric, but not really enough for Marshall to play in. Marshall and I got outside to play one dry, but still freezing,day while Eliza was down for a nap. But, we didn't last long!

The biggest news this week was that Marshall moved up to the 2's Sunday school class at church. We were sad to leave Teacher Doug and Teacher Mary behind. But, we really like our new teacher, Teacher Lori. Lori also teaches my Bible study at Bible Study Fellowship on Tuesday mornings, and Marshall thought it was neat that he and Mommy have the same teacher. Most important to Marshall, he was relieved to find a slide in the 2's classroom just like the one he had played on in the Toddler class. The 2's class also does a more in-depth Bible lesson each week, and Marshall loved it! He got to bring home a coloring and sticker sheet about Jesus feeding the crowd of 5,000 people. It was so much fun to listen to him share his version of the story with us. Eric and I love seeing the beginnings of Marshall's faith in Jesus!

I'm putting up a couple of pictures of Eliza today too! They pretty much explain her life this week - although you can't tell from them that she has a horrible cold. This baby is always happy - even when she is really sick. She loves watching Marshall, she loves to be naked, and she loves to be sitting up in her Bumbo seat!

Music Together

After a month-long break, Marshall is back to music class! His class is every Friday morning and he looks forward to it each week. He loves his teacher, Mrs. D, especially because she plays the guitar! Each 10-week session features 23 new songs - plus the two standard songs. And, if you have spent much time around our family, you know the two standards - "Hello Everybody" and "Good-bye, So Long, Farewell." Marshall knows them by heart, and they are usually a key part of his concerts (just ask Marshall's Uncle Brad and Brad's girlfriend, Stephanie - they must have heard "Hello Everybody" hundreds of times driving around Kauai last spring . . . Not the most romantic way to experience Hawaii!).

Also this week, Marshall decided to ride his little push bike down the stairs while Mom was moving laundry. See, we told you Marshall is a daredevil! (Apparently, the cat tower incident just didn't provide enough danger.) Luckily, he announced his plans VERY loudly and fortunately the laundry room is right at the top of the stairs. So, Mom could turn around and run to grab Marshall just in time. He had the wheels all the way to the very edge of the stairs - picture teetering off the edge at the top of the stairs - and he was just sure it would be a fantastic adventure! But, the Lord must have known that Marshall's Mom couldn't have handled the inevitable aftermath that day and she was thankful Marshalls' plan was foiled!!

Our Weekend

Well, I (Jocelyn) have been wiped out since late Friday night with a stomach bug. And, Eric came down with a horrible cold at the same time. So, Marshall had a short vacation to Gram and Bampa's house starting on Saturday night. I'm sure to Marshall, Gram and Bampa's must seem like an all-inclusive resort featuring treats like dinner out at The Ram, around the clock attention, and all-you-can-eat ice cream. (Well, Gram says the ice cream part isn't true . . . but Marshall asked today if he could call Gram just to tell her that he misses the ice cream, so we are a little suspicious!)

In the past few months, Marshall has become more and more of a daredevil, although he looks pretty innocent in the picture I posted today! He he made full use of his new adventure skills by deciding to climb the "cat tower" during his visit to Gram and Bampa's. However, the climbing didn't make it too far before it ended with a crash into the cats' water bowl. And, Marshall is happy to tell you just how he got that nice "boo-boo" below his lower lip. We think the cats are in for trouble with Marshall around . . . He has also told us several times (with great delight) about how he chased one cat and made her mad, so that she hissed at him. The best part is him telling the story using animated facial expressions and making claws with his hands. Maybe we can get that one on video soon!

On another note - Eliza has officially learned how to roll from her back to her tummy (About as exciting as it gets when you are four months old)!

And, Eric and I are both, very thankfully, on the mend :) . . .

Eliza's Favorite Things

Well, I'm sure our excitement about blogging is going to wear off . . . But in the meantime, I thought I should post pictures of Eliza's favorite activities since all of you can see Marshall in action in his video!! Eliza's best time of day has always been bathtime - she just can't get enough of the water. But, getting out of the bathtub has always been traumatic for her - until today. I got out this huge hooded towel sent to us by some friends, and Eliza loved it so much she forgot to be mad about getting out of the water! So - all of you can enjoy her happy smile! (And, thank you to David & Rebecca for the towel - we love it!)

And, Eliza's newest discovery is her Exersaucer. We get her propped up with blankets and she LOVES it. She must just be glad to have a new view of the world!

Marshall in Concert

Happy New Year!

As a family New Year's resolution we have decided to provide the people we love with more frequent pictures (and hopefully some videos too!) of Marshall and Eliza. So, we thought we should jump right in on January 1 with a quick update:

Marshall turned 2 in October and is keeping us entertained with his ever-growing vocabulary and concerts of songs from his weekly music class. He is looking more like a little boy and less like a baby everyday! His current favorite activities include playing his new guitar, watching The Wiggles, and baking cookies with mom (or more accurately, eating all of the chocolate chips out of the dough!). We have laughed more in the last six months with Marshall than we ever thought possible!

Eliza Grace just turned four months old and as you can tell, hasn't missed a meal in those four months! We marvel at how happy she is (almost) all of the time. Her current favorite activities include eating, rolling over, eating, sleeping, watching Marshall and eating! Her sweet personality has been a blessing to our home since she arrived in August.

We wish all of you Christ's blessings in 2008, and we look forward to keeping in touch!