Sprinkler Fun

The weather has been so nice here lately and yesterday we decided to plant a little herb garden. Marcus went right up to the hose and played in it for a bit so then I hooked it up to the sprinkler for him to play with and he loved it!

What we are up to these days...

Marcus is getting ready for baseball season! This morning he brought me his hat and asked me to put it on him. I was so surprised that he loves to wear it, but who wouldn't love wearing a Yankee hat??

This is his new favorite spot. He loves to climb up the couch and sit in the windowsill and look out.

Marcus has also learned to color. He has drawn several "works of art" and I love them! It is still hard to tell if he is going to be right or left handed...maybe both!

Marcus really loves being outside. When he is not out playing with his slide he is standing at a window looking at it and waiting until he can go out. We are so lucky that the weather has been so nice!

Looking Back

15 months ago we got an e-mail from our adoption agency looking for a family for a little boy who had been born several days earlier. These are the pictures that accompanied the e-mail and stole our hearts! How could we say no? We are so thankful that the Lord chose us to be his parents, it has been an amazing 15 months full of so much fun and joy! Time goes by so quickly but we always want to remember how the Lord stirred our hearts to love and share our lives with Marcus!

Playing Outside

A couple of these videos are a little long, but they are mostly for our family who doesn't get to see Marcus everday!! Marcus loves to be outside, which makes me so thankful that we live in such a mild climate for the winter time! When we aren't outside playing he is usually standing at the back door waiting to go out.

Here is a video of Marcus playing on his new slide from his friends Bella and Lily. He LOVES it!!

Great Laugh

Marcus has the best laugh ever, so we had to share it!! I guess even little boys think that throwing food at their Dad is funny!

Thanksgiving in Omaha

For Thanksgiving this year we decided to travel to Omaha to visit Kelly's family. We had originally told them we weren't going to be able to make it because of the cost of airfare, but then we decided that we really didn't want to spend Marcus's first birthday alone, so we decided to make our trip a surprise. The only person who knew about it was Kelly's sister Dawn. She picked us up from the airport and drove us to the house. When we got there we plopped Marcus down in front of the door, rang the doorbell, and then stood off to the side. It was so fun to see everyone so surprised! We had a great weekend getting to spend some quality time with them and also having the opportunity to celebrate Marcus with them.

This is the same high chair my parents used when I was a baby. They have kept it all these years and it is so fun to see Marcus be able to use it!

Marcus really loved getting to play with his uncles.

Christian teaching Marcus how to play with the cat...which is a lot smaller then our dog!

The weather on Thanksgiving day was more typical for South Carolina then Nebraska so we took advantage of it. Marcus loved crawling around in the grass and playing with the leaves...2 things we don't really have.

Eating his turkey!

One morning before everyone else was up Marcus explored our kitchen. He loved rolling and throwing the spices all over the place and then crawling to catch up to them.

His new favorite thing now is climbing and sitting in a special place, not just the floor. Some examples of this would be cabinets, the dryer, and my Mom's table.

Getting ready for the Carolina game with his Grandma.

He loves to push things around as he is walking. He is so strong he pushed this chair all over the carpet.

Typical craziness.

Family photo time-where we all act like we aren't crazy.

Cory loves this picture because he isn't the tallest one so the top of his head won't get cut out!

We are so thankful for all that the Lord has provided us with this year, but we are especially thankful that Marcus is a part of our family this Thanksgiving and that we got to spend it with an awesome family!

First Birthday!

I know everyone always says this, but I can NOT believe that Marcus turned one last week!! This has been such an incredible year! We are so thankful that the Lord trusted us with the raising of this sweet child.

Marcus opening his first gifts from his Grandpa and Grandma Klaiber before we left for Omaha. They sent his gifts since they didn't know we were coming there because of the surprise!

He was so proud of himself he gave Cory a high five.

He really loved the tissue paper and being destructive.

His Auntie Dawn wrapped his gift so nicely.

And got him some of my favorite childhood books. I am so excited to read them with him.

He probably had the most fun opening this gift. He just crawled around the room pushing it around for about 10 minutes before someone opened it for him.

And of course no birthday is complete without Funfetti Cupcakes! To say that he loved them would be an understatement.

He was more excited about the balloons on the cupcake then the actual cupcake at first.

Eating the icing first...

And then digging in!

We couldn't be happier, he is truly amazing.

Picture with his Godparents...but he was more interested in finishing the cake.

One last gift from Grandma and Grandpa Klaiber- an awesome Puma tracksuit, which was perfect for the plane ride home!