Happy Easter!

I can't believe its Easter time again already. It doesn't seem all that long ago we were spending the holiday in a crusty motel alone, in a new place. We are lucky to have some wonderful people around us this year to celebrate with. Our friends the Rawlings were kind enough to invite us over for Easter dinner. Great food and great company. Marin enjoyed her easter basket...probably more than anything in it. She wore it around on her head for the most of the day. However, she is now the proud owner of a Blue's Clue's movie. She loves Blue!


We had a difficult time getting her to pose for the camera in her cute Easter dress so this is about all we got.



We hope you all had a wonderful Easter holiday!

Blog Challenged

In the words of Homer Simpson..."why must I fail at everything I do?" I've sat on my rear for about the last 3 hours trying to download new templates for our blog site. Obviously nothing I did worked and we're back to the same ole' same ole' we've been using. What on earth possessed me to think that I know enough about computers to do anything fancy is beyond me. I've lost three valuable hours of my life accomplishing absolutely nothing and I'm rather frustrated. So here it is...and here it will remain. Anyone is welcome to school in the world of blogging. I could certainly use some help.

Under Construction

Please be patient as our site is undergoing some construction. We're a little slow when it comes to computers, blogs, etc. And by "we" I mean I...Katie.

Day at the Museum

Marin and I went to the children's Life and Science Museum here in Durham last week. We meet some friends from the ward there and had a great time letting the kids loose to explore the different exhibits. It was a lot of fun.


They have a new exhibit just for babies and toddlers, so needless to say we spent most of our time there letting the kids play. Marin found a small staircase just her size that I don't think she ever left the whole time we were there.


If I would let her, she'd spend her whole day playing on stairs...but we're not quite proficient enough for that yet. The museum has a huge playground outside and a small section of farm animals as well. Marin doesn't get out much and thought every animal she saw was a dog...but it was still cute.


They also have an amazing butterfly house which was a lot of fun for the kids. This butterfly landed on my friend Tami's hand.


We later found out that the butterfly's name is the Red Mormon. Tami just happened to be wearing a red shirt and is in fact a Mormon. Coincidence?! After the butterfly house the kids, including their mom's had had their fill of museum fun. There was a lot left unexplored so we'll definitely have to venture back again soon.

ABC's and 123's UPDATE

I am rescinding all previous claims. This is why.




Look who’s reading ... a tot!

ABC's and 123's

I know that I'm being ridiculous, I live 90% of my life under that assumption, but I really do think that Marin is a smart little girl. I know that every parent says that about their child, especially their first, so I try so hard not to take myself seriously. Currently I'm stuck in that 10% of non-ridiculousness and loving the sure knowledge that Marin is in fact the smartest 16 month old to ever have graced this planet. I have many examples to support this certain knowledge, but I will only bore you with a few.

1. Just the other night, some good friends of ours were kind enough to watch Marin so that KT and I could slip away for a meeting without her. When we picked her up. The husband of the couple told me how smart she is and how much she really comprehends what is going on. And she really does. you can talk to her like a normal person and she really does seem to get it. It's bizarre. You may be saying, "so what? some guy told you that she was smart." Well, I don't think that he's just some guy. He's a really smart guy himself. He's here working at Duke Hospital as an anaesthetist. Maggie, you can tell Ron that he made my week. LOL.

2. I give you this video. It's not the best example of her skills, but she sure looks cute in it.



Sorry that she didn't get to D. I'm not sure why she quit. D is actually her favorite letter. We have a Sesame street CD that has a song about the letter D. that's how I know that it's her fave.
Did you note that she's not just repeating, she actually knows what comes next. Seriously, I don't think that most kids at 16 Mo. can do this.

3. She knows an extensive amount of anatomy. When asked, if she's not playing shy, she will point to:
hair
head, eyes, ears, nose, mouth, teeth, tongue, cheeks, and chin
neck
shoulders
back
belly
belly button
arms
elbows (she actually points to her wrists)
hands and fingers (she knows the difference)
legs
knees
feet and toes (also knows the difference)

4. She started at 13 months coming to us and patting her bottom while saying "inky" when she had taken a poop. Then when we acknowledged her, she would run over to the diaper bag and get a diaper and wipes and then bring them back to us.
She doesn't do this so much anymore. But sometimes we still get lucky.

These are just a few reason why I know that she's an uber genius. I'll now just sit back and wait for our call from MENSA.

Thank you, and you may now feel free to talk about how amazing it is that Marin is so smart when her father is such a moron.