Busy Little Bees!!

Hello everyone!! I'm so sorry that it has been an eternity since I updated our blog. Alot has gone on in the Marks household since my last post. I'll briefly let ya'll in on all the happenings.

In February, our sweet husband and da-da turned 30!!

In March, we found out that we will be staying in Jackson for Tyler to do his 5 year orthopedic residency at the University of Mississippi Medical Center. Words cannot describe the excitement, relief, and anticipation that we have. He will start his residency on July 1st. Ya'll please keep all of us in your prayers. It is going to be an adjustment for all of us. We also celebrated our 3rd year anniversary on March 19th. We went to the Alluvian for the weekend. It was so nice to get away.

In April, we went to the beach with our sweet friends Reed, Caroline, Dendy, and Millie Hogan. We had a blast!! It was a wonderful week!! Ella really doesn't like the beach, sun, or water that much!! We found out that she was allergic to pretty much all sunscreen that week. We spent most of the week in her cover-up. The Hogan Family has moved to Dallas, where Reed is doing an internal medicine residency at Baylor University. They are truly wonderful friends to us and we will miss them dearly.

Also in April, little Eloise Brickell was baptized at Highlands Presbyterian Church. It was a wonderful day. We had everyone over to our house for lunch. It meant so much to us to have all of our loved ones there for this special day in all of our lives.

In May, we celebrated Tyler's Long Coat Ceremony and his graduation. We are so proud of you Daddy for all of your hard work!!

Most recently, we went to the beach with my parents. It was so much fun. We finally found a sunscreen that she wasn't allergic to, but guess what?? She still really didn't like the beach. Something about getting hot, sweaty, and dirty is not appealing to her. I guess she is just all girl like her mommy!! Thank you Granann and Papa for taking us on such a wonderful vacation. It was so special to spend that time with you. Ella especially liked spending time with her Papa, considering he was the only person she would go to all week.

Let me give you a little update on Ella!! She now has 4 teeth, almost 6!! She is crawling and pulling up on everything. She is saying ma-ma and da-da. I don't think she is doing it intentionally, but we like to think she is. She just started waving bye-bye and eating little cereal puffs. We have had some major breakthroughs since my last post. We visited the doctor today and she weighs a little over 20 lbs. and her head circumference is still in the greater than 97th percentile. I think that is just the funniest thing.

I guess that is enough information to process in one post. I promise to do better in the future!!

Quick Update!!

I'm going to give a quick update on the Marks Family!! Ella is doing great. She is now rolling over, smiling constantly, laughing, and has developed an anxiety around people other than Tyler and I and her teachers. I asked Ella's teacher today where we went wrong and she assured me that all children go through this period (I just didn't think it would start at almost 5 months).

Tyler and I are wonderful. We are still anxiously awaiting March 20, 2008 which is Match Day. Please keep us in your prayers wherever direction the Lord may lead us.

Here are some new pictures that we have taken of Ella and our family recently:



Bathtime!!!




Ella w/Pops & Bug




Admiring Myself!!




Papa & Ella




Ella's Coat her cousin
Sarah made her!!

4 Month Check-up!!

I just thought I would let everyone know how Ella's four month check-up went. She weighed 15 lbs. 6 oz. She is quite the little butterball. She was 25 inches long. Her percentiles are as follows: 80% on height, 85% on weight, and the 95% on head circumference. I like to think of it as she has to have a big head to hold that intelligent brain of hers.

Of course she had to get her vaccinations. She have to have 3 seperate shots. It was not fun for any of us.

I'm so sad that she is already 4 months. It seems just like yesterday that she was born. Time sure does fly by!! We are cherishing every moment we have with her.

Also, in case you haven't noticed in the pictures. She is losing all of her hair. She rubs her head so much in the back that it is probably about an inch long. She is also losing it on the sides. We're so sad. We just hope it comes back red. Here is a picture of when she was first born so you can see how much she has already changed.

What A Day!!!

Wow!! Ella has had a big day today. We decided to try out her Bumbo seat this morning before running some errands. She loved it. She looked like such a big girl sitting there. I really think she liked looking around and seeing things from a different view other than flat on her back, in her swing, or in her bouncy seat.



Then tonight, we tried cereal for the first time. I think she did fairly well considering this was our first attempt. She ended up wearing most of it. I don't think she really liked the taste very well. We go to the doctor on Tuesday so I will ask if I can mix it with some fruit so it will be a little sweeter. Also tonight, we put her in big girl pajamas. This means that she wore a two-piece outfit rather than her usual onsie. She also is sleeping for the first time ever without her swaddle blanket. We have swaddled her in her Miracle Blanket, which I believe has saved us, since we first brought her home. I strongly recommend using these with any newborn. We'll see how this goes. I have posted some pics of her first feeding.

Lastly for tonight, I want to thank Aunt Joy for designing my new blog header. She did a wonderful job. I'm going to have to take some classes from her on Photoshop!!

Happy 2008!!

Well, 2007 is over and boy was it a wonderful year. Tyler finished his 3rd year of medical school and is now pretty much finished with his 4th year. The Lord blessed us with a beautiful, healthy little girl, who I must say is the most precious thing. Those are just a few things that we are so thankful for.

We've gotten off to a rough start in 2008. Ella has had some sort of stomach bug since the day after New Year's. She is just now getting over it. Now, her daddy has the stomach bug. It hasn't been alot of fun around our household. I'm just trying my best to avoid it.

Ella is changing everyday!! She is so much fun. She laughed for the first time on New Year's Day. She is also trying her best to roll over. She almost has it. It should be any day now. In a couple of weeks she should be able to start eating cereal.

We are anxious to see what the New Year has to bring. Tyler will be beginning his residency in July and we are praying that we will stay in Jackson. Please keep us in your prayers!!

I'm going to do my best to post at least once a week. As you all know, sometimes our crazy, hectic schedules prevents us from doing so. I hope everyone enjoys keeping up with what is going on with the Marks Family.





To explain the pictures below. Ella is quite the wiggle worm at all hours of the day, but especially at night. For the last several weeks we have had to slide her back up from the end of the bed into her wedge several times throughout the night. Well, this morning, not only did she manage to slide all the way down to bottom, but she managed to turn herself completely sideways, which is quite a feat considering that we are still swaddling her. As you can see from the pictures, she was very proud of herself, as was her daddy, considering he has woken up many a times wondering how in the world he got turned this way during the middle of the night.

Check out my Slide Show!

Sweet Eloise!!

We are finally starting a blog to keep everyone updated on our life. Ella was born on September 10, 2007. She is the most precious little girl. We moved into a new house in Madison shortly before she was born (2 weeks to be exact). We have had quite a few changes in the last several months.

Ella is changing everyday. She is smiling and trying her hardest to say something!! We just can't figure it out. She started daycare earlier this month. She loves it. She has some very sweet teachers. She is at Dominicare, which is located at St. Dominic Hospital. It is great for me because I can visit her at any time of the day.

We just celebrated our first Christmas together!! It was so much fun and so busy. We did a lot of traveling. We found that it is quite difficult with a 3 1/2 month old. We all got lots of wonderful things. We are looking forward to next year!! It is going to be so much fun for all of us. I have posted some pics from Christmas on a slideshow for everyone to view. Hope you enjoy!!