Marc's Birthday

Over the weekend Marc turned 37!!!  I remember back when I met him, I wasn't sure if dating a guy in his 30s was a good idea - he seemed a little too "old" for me.. but I'm so happy I disregarded that notion because 5 years later... I couldn't be happier :)  

Those of you who know Marc well probably know he likes to stretch out his birthday for as long as possible; however, having a baby seems to change things! We did get to celebrate with my Aunt Nancy, Uncle Mike, & cousin Penny (This seems to happen annually!) And on his actual birthday, we went to his favorite restaurant - Mastros - where we used his birthday gift card from my parents! Maree got in on the fun too & attempted to help daddy open his presents, but she seemed more interested in eating the tissue paper!!

Birthday cake with 37 candles made by the Savelys

Nancy & Penny with the birthday boy!

Maree helping daddy open his presents

Apparently I didn't give very good gifts.. 

 Marc's favorite - butter cake!

1st Soccer Game

As we all know, Marc loves his sports...and his margaritas. In this case, yes, the two are related!!  The two sports he jokingly/seriously hopes Maree will take part in are swimming and soccer!! Can't say he'll get tons of encouragement from me... but we'll have to wait and see!  He decided it was time to introduce her to soccer so we went to see our friend Christian play in the semi-finals of his soccer tournament.  Christian has known us for 2 years now because we always see him for our "Margarita Mondays" at Cantina Laredo, where he is our favorite bartender/server. He always takes great care of us, and he loves Maree :) 

Christian & Maree

Trying out the field...

Hydration break... 

Yes, this soccer match turned into a giant fight - so it went from Maree's first
soccer game.. to Maree's first fight!! 

After the game - they won!

9 Months!

I can't believe 9 months have come and gone so quickly!!!  I find myself going back and looking through all the pictures I've taken of her so far and am continually amazed by how much babies change/develop in this first year.

Some 9 month milestones

• Her 9 month check up shows her weight gain has definitely slowed down (only 22 lbs 88% now).. but her height is off the charts.. she's almost 31 inches - she's going to be tall like her daddy & uncles!

• Taking "big girl" baths (she travels from one end of the tub to the other & delights herself by splashing)

• She has thick, VERY straight blonde hair that I think she inherited from her Nana Gayle - It won't curl over her headbands, and it doesn't just lay down... so it is pretty much spiky at all times! 

• She's pulling up on everything, everywhere, and walking along furniture, which makes me very nervous with all of the tile floors we have in AZ-- She also walks with her push toys & even stands alone for a few seconds at a time

• She's taken to dog tendencies lately... when she crawls somewhere, she will put her toy in her mouth so she can take it with her

• We took a trip to the Disney store so she could pick out her first stuffed animal.. I held up two at a time, and EVERY time... she picked Minnie Mouse - watching her try to crawl with Minnie's ear in her mouth is quite amusing

• I'm sure I'm a terrible mother for allowing her to watch tv, but she loves a few cartoons - her favorites currently include Mickey Mouse, Dora the Explorer, and my least favorite, Yo Gabba Gabba.  When any of these come on, she crawls over and stands up to bounce/dance to their theme songs.

• Lastly, we can't figure out who Maree looks like!  When she was born, she looked like my baby pictures, but I think lately, she's been looking more like her daddy!???

Bath time mohawk

Can I touch these Yo Gabba Gabba characters??

Nana & I have the same hair!

A few similarities between Maree & mama, but not tons!

What a little stink pot! 

I left the room for 10 seconds only to return and find that she'd climbed on top of this!!

She finds EVERYTHING!! Even if it's hidden under the couch!

Not safe I know... but this is how she keeps her play object with her when she's on the go

Here are a couple videos I forgot to post- PLEASE don't pay attention to my horrible baby voice in these!!