A kitchen showed up at our doorstep today. What fun!

Macy girl had her first birthday March 10th. I know I say it all the time and you are over hearing me say it but- I just can't believe how fast the time has gone. I held it together all day on her birthday. I didn't even cry when we sang her Happy Birthday. It wasn't until I crawled into bed, completely exhausted, that it hit me. My baby isn't really a baby anymore. Who knew the word "toddler" would invoke a cry fest? I let myself be sad about the end of the baby stage for a few minutes, before I decided to be excited about what is to come.



My mom once described Macy as "pure sunshine". The other day we were at the post office, waiting in line with one other person, a big, scruffy looking guy who did not look like he was in a very good mood. Macy smiled her biggest smile at him and said, "Hi!" I'm sure he heard her, but he chose to ignore her. I felt a little hurt for my sweet girl, but she didn't give up. She said hi over and over...and over. Each time he turned away to try to avoid eye contact with her, she turned that much further toward him to MAKE SURE he saw her. He never did end up acknowledging her or saying hello. But that didn't stop her from waving "bye bye" to him when he left, wearing that same happy smile. Maybe it sounds a tad overly dramatic, but I think this is going to be Macy's contribution to the world. She's going to be happy. And she's going to invite other people to be happy too. And even if they decide not to, she's going to be happy anyway.



Thanks, Mace, for the happiest year of our lives. Can't wait for many, many more.

Video courtesy of McKay Marshall

Baby sleeping, husband hard at work, it's the perfect time for me to get it together and update. Finally. Do I have to keep apologizing for the lack of blog upkeep, or can we all just accept that I'm a laggy blogger? Kay.

Quick life updates:

McKay is a free man yet again (professionally, that is) hitting the freelance market in Portland like a mad man. He left his job at Funnelbox in Oregon City last month and has been enjoying the significantly shorter commute to the home office downstairs. Mace and I have loved having more time with him, and we are excited for all of his new endeavors. Check out the newly updated site:
www.mckaymarshall.com

Macy still holds her title as the most awesome baby girl on the planet. She'll be 8 months in 2 days. How is this possible? It's been an absolute blur of kisses and footy pajamas and cuddling and diapers and rubber duckies and dance parties and naps and rice cereal and toothy grins and a million trillion little details that make up the best 8 months of my existence. She has graduated to her "big girl" bed. Translation: I finally let go of my vice grip on Macy's newborn status, put the bassinet away and allowed her to sleep in her crib. I'm not good with change, especially when it comes to my sweet girl growing up, but Macy takes to it like a duck to water. It seems that with every minor freak out I have over her getting bigger, she responds with a look that says, "It's ok, Mom. This is a good thing."

She was a duck for Halloween and loved her costume. Every time I put it on her she glowed. Her whole face would light up and she would feel the fluffy material in her hands over and over.

We took her to the doctor last week and she is doing so well. She gained 2 pounds in one month which is GREAT news for our little peanut who started out in the 3rd percentile for weight. Stick it to those growth charts, Mace. She'll show them.

She is always smiling, loves the doggies, has a lovely little sense of humor and when she sets her mind to something she does not like to be trifled with. A woman I can respect.

McKay and I maintain that she is oh so much cooler than us.

I am keeping busy with the day to day, along with a few personal photography projects mixed in. I feel like my days slip away so quickly since having a baby. Not so much because I'm so busy and stressed and frazzled...mostly because I spend most of my time staring at Macy. I try to be productive, but after a little while of laundry or dishes or whatever needs to be done I think to myself, 'okay, that's enough. Now back to babyland.' I read a blog written by a woman who struggled with infertility for several years before having her baby girl 7 months ago. She wrote a blog one day called "Stare at the Baby". She talked about her typical day and gave a few examples that went something like:
"Go to the grocery store. Stare at smiling baby in the cart. Run into the isle of canned soup while staring at baby. Hurry and clean up mess before anyone notices. Go back to staring at baby."

I can totally relate to this. Sometimes I feel unproductive and like I probably should have put make up on that day, or that we really could use some clean clothes, but in the end I think about how Macy is growing up so fast, and my heart can't bear to miss one minute of it. It just can't. In short: I like being a mommy. What's more: I love being Macy's mommy.

We've officially been in our house for over a year now. A couple of weeks ago I took it upon myself as a responsible homeowner to stain our backyard fences. I'm legit. Still loving the place just as much as the day we bought it. I was thinking about how much I enjoy my house tonight as I cleaned the shower. That is love.

Okay, so not such a quick life update.

In a nutshell: Life is good. We are happy.

0:27 is my favorite part.