21 months!

I am so happy to report that Dylan (and everyone else) is finally feeling better *knocking on wood*! But with this crazy Texas winter of 50 degrees one day and 75 degrees the next, it's no wonder someone is always feeling a little under the weather. We're all anxiously awaiting the spring weather and more park time (plus Spring Break is only 2 weeks away!).

Last weekend I took Dylan to the library for the first time. He LOVES books and I thought it'd be good for him to get a taste of some different ones since he seems to read the same ones over and over again. He's really enjoyed reading his library books before bedtime, he especially loves Little Critter. We may get to make "library time" a usual thing now!

They had puzzles too!

He really wanted to check-out his books by himself...

Also, Dylan turned 21 months last Sunday. Holy cow, only 3 more months until he turns 2!!! I couldn't believe how tall he's gotten in just 3 months. 

Ever since I made a Valentine's Day banner (and saw how cute it turned out), I have been wanting to make one for Dylan's bedroom door.

Then I just added some letter to spell his name :-)

For Christmas Dylan received a Lightning McQueen racetrack from Grandma & Grandpa B, but he hasn't paid too much attention to it, until recently. For the past 2 weeks, as soon as he wakes up in the morning or as soon as he gets home from school, he runs over to his toy bin and starts pulling out the tracks, asking us to put the track together so he can play with it. I'm not sure where this sudden interest came from, but I'm happy he likes playing with cars.

Keith helped him build a ramp from the couch, making the car go faster...because Daddy always makes things cooler...

Dylan has been so obsessed with music since he was born, really. It must be innate in him (or Daddy's 'Power of Persuasion' is amazing). Whenever he's upstairs playing in his room, he has to have music on. Whenever we're in the car, his CD has to be playing (mostly Baby Einstein or The Laurie Berkner Band...he LOVES her!). Here are a few video's of Dylan enjoying his music...

Last night I was so excited to attend a photog workshop from the very talented Sara Barnes! I've really been inching towards wanting to take that next step to get better at photography and she had some great advice for me. I'm ready to start getting some more practice!!!

Before Baby #2...

Well, in case you haven't read on Facebook, I have pink eye *sigh*...however this pink eye has made me stay home from work for 2 days *yeah*. I didn't think it was too bad but my doctor ("hot doctor") recommended I not go back to work until Wednesday, so I happily took his advice. While home I've been able to rest (Keith and Dylan both finally managed to get me sick too) and do some cleaning I don't have time to do when I get home from work, and don't feel like doing on the weekends. But mostly, I just want to get rid of all the germs around the house so we can stop getting sick over and over again!


I've also spent some unnecessary time on my computer making photo boards on Lightroom and surfing the internet. One of the bloggers I read made a list of things she'd like to do before she has her second baby and I thought it was a fun idea. Now calm down everyone (grandma's), Baby #2 is nowhere near on it's way yet, but as quickly as these past two years have flown by, I'm sure it'll be here before we know it. So, since I have a lot of time on my hands waiting for clothes to dry in the drier, here's my "Before Baby #2" list:

• Finish paying off my student loans (this summer, yea!)
• Potty-train Dylan
• Take a photography class
• Buy a new camera lens
• Take Dylan to Sea World (hopefully in March)
• Redecorate Dylan's room, possibly with a new "big boy" bed if we decided to reuse the crib
• Take a long family vacation somewhere far away
• Start a "Marshall Family" scrapbook
• I want Keith to get a new computer...he really needs a new one
• Clean out the closets in Dylan's room and guest bedroom...there's no space anywhere!
• Have a weekend getaway with Keith
• And cherish every moment I have with Keith and Dylan...my boys :-)

Its a pretty long list, huh? Thankfully I'm in no rush...just Dylan is enough to keep me plenty busy! Here is a picture I took of him for his V-day cards for his teachers...I was so proud of myself for making the pennant in the background!

Pumpkin carving and duckies...

And the fall fun continues!!! We enjoyed our Fair Day/Columbus Day off doing absolutely nothing...it was wonderful :) I seemed to get into another "crafty mood" and decided to create a little foliage for our front porch. I used the 3 pumpkins we bought at the Pumpkin Patch the day before and flowers and a haystack I bought at Michael's. While there I also bought a decorative pumpkin, some fabric, and some ribbon. I cut the letter "M" out of the fabric and super-glued it on the pumpkin. My bow-making skills aren't quite mastered yet so I paid one of the employees in the floral department to make the bow for me. I hated putting it outside!

The rest of the day was spent enjoying cleaning in silence while Keith took Dyaln to the park and to get groceries. While we were waiting for dinner to finish we decided to carve our pumpkin.

Dylan working on his pumpkin...

And the final ensemble on our porch...we let Dylan come back inside though!

After the 3-day weekend, a 4-day work week was a breeze...sort of. This week was pretty busy at work trying to get ready for a crazy week next week, not to mention having to take Dylan to the doctor for ear infections. Antibiotics were so much easier to administer when I could just mix them in his bottle. It's A LOT harder to get him to take it now. Keith had another late night last night so Dylan and I decided to go to the lake and feed some duckies, however we should've know that 5 slices of bread was not going to be enough...not near enough! We must've had about 15 ducks following us around the rest of the time hoping I'd whip out some more yummy, delicious treats (thanks, Nichole) for them. But Dylan thought it was hilarious!

Since Keith had to work again this morning (more band stuff) Dylan and I decided to head over to the mall. First we stopped by the Apple store so I could get a case for my new iPhone...Dylan couldn't decided which one we should get...

Then we stopped by the Play Area so Dylan could play for a while (45 minutes) and share a pretzel...

Then he rode his 1st escalator up and down, and was absolutely fascinated with the handle.

I don't have a lot of pictures of Dylan sleeping, so I'm loving this one :)