Pumpkin Patch

My mom and I took Elliot to the pumpkin patch last week. This had to be the biggest patch I've ever seen! There were pumpkins on pumpkins on pumpkins ranging from teeny tiny to 100 pounders. It was pretty cool. Anyway, we had the little guy dressed to kill in his Halloween outfit...a jack o lantern onesie and striped pants. With all his orange hair, if I had him in all orange, it would have been like looking for Waldo...he would have blended in perfectly.
Elliot had a great time climbing on the pumpkins and eating just about anything he could get his hands on.

On the move

Yesterday was extraordinary! Now I know why our little angel has been somewhat sleepless at night...he's been dreaming of explorations and journeys of lands far, far away. In our house that is. Thus far he's been relegated to wherever we put him. The saucer, jumper, blanket in the living room, etc. Now, though, he's on the move. It was quite amazing actually. Yesterday morning Elliot took 2 little crawling steps then plopped on his belly. Pretty much what he's been doing for the last 2 weeks. Later on in the day, his dreams became a reality because he saw a Maggie toy across the living room and took off. One step, two steps, three...it was incredible seeing the determination and focus to actually move somewhere to get something. He's becoming quite a little person. What luck, the camera was on the end table and I was able to get his first time crawling on video!

First in, bottom up

Start reading from the bottom of the page for earliest entries to current.

Back Logs

I decided, not so much for you all but for my own records, to paste all the e-mails I've already sent out. One day I'm going to want to go back and read what I sent out, and honestly I'm too lazy to search through all my sent e-mails. So, sorry if you're not interested in old news, but if you are...enjoy!

Introducing Elliot Quinn Marshall
Born March 22, 2008 at 12:55am
7lbs 5oz
19 inches

Well, we made it through the first week successfully...at least as successful as we could as new parents with a newborn anyway. Let me tell you, this is the hardest thing I have ever done in my entire life. When I look in his perfect face, the responsibility I have taken on completely overwhelms me, but what a monumental blessing we have been given.

He is 3 days in the attached pictures. We'll get more out in the next few days of our little bundle and our new little family. It's so surreal to think of us as a family now. I'm sure it will take a while to get used to, if ever. Enjoy, we are!

xoxo Nicole & Keith

PS Please forward this on as I'm sure I've forgotten someone. Though I can no longer blame "baby brain," I can now use sleep deprivation as an excuse. :-D

We're having a blast with our little bean. He's changing and growing everyday and no longer looks like a newborn, but an infant now. He's starting to sleep a little better at night, about 4 hours blocks, which I appreciate. He also started smiling with purpose this past week. In fact, this morning he was smiling and flirting with Mommy. Last week he actually held his head up for a few minutes while on his tummy. Yes, little things I know, but milestones in Babyville.

xoxo Nicole

Hello everybody! I can't believe that Elliot is 3 months old. It's gone by so incredibly quickly. Next thing we know he'll be starting kindergarten. It makes me a little weepy just thinking about it. He's doing just fine...is in the 70th percentile for weight and 50th for height. Needless to say, he's no dainty flower. He's our little buddha with lots of creases, folds, and dimples (on all 4 of his cheeks!).
His head control has come along. While on his tummy, he can hold it up at a 90 degree angle. His favorite place to be and looking around is in mommy or daddy's arms, and he absolutely loves being outside. Although he's quite content hanging out in the bouncer or on his playmat. He doesn't like to nap during the day though...tends to put up quite a fight when it's time to go to sleep. Nights are great. He is still getting up a few times, but it's all business...eat, burp, change, then back to sleep. As you can see in the picture, he has a great smile (at least I think so!). One gummy grin from him and I forget any fussing.
Keith and I have fallen into a new 'normal.' At this point, it's already hard to imagine what life was like before Elliot came along. We're having a wonderful time with him, and are looking forward to reliving our own childhoods through him and all the adventures that come with being a parent.

Love,
Nicole, Keith, and Elliot

Hey everybody! Wanted to forward these super cute (mom is partial) pics of Elliot's 1st swim. My parents turned their jacuzzi down for us, we threw a swim diaper on him, and jumped right in. Considering he absolutely loves bath time, we thought he'd enjoy the pool...and we were right. He laughed and smiled and kicked and kicked. He's quite the water baby. I've also included a pic of our 'smart cookie' in the making...hey, i'm just following the onesie! Anyway, enjoy!

love,
nicole, keith, and elliot

Hello all! We recently took Elliot to have his first portraits taken. He napped, he was fed, he was bathed, in good spirits, and sporting some cute duds. The photographer was great. He was friendly, personable, willing to do whatever we wanted as far backdrops and poses, and seemed to be great with little ones. I say seemed, not because he wasn't, for all intense purposes the guy was great with everyone else's child. My child, though...my very sensitive and spirited (which he's turning out to be both) boy, wasn't seduced by this baby-loving photog. No, no...he didn't want to cooperate one bit!
It didn't matter how many silly faces and goofy noises this poor guy, who probably only makes minimum wage, made, Elliot was not, I repeat was not going to do what we wanted. Isn't that typical of children when their parents ask them to 'perform?' Needless to say, we got a bunch of pictures that weren't worth saving, even as candids. However, once mommy came to the rescue, my sweet baby's smile shone as bright as the morning sun...dimples and all.
So I've attached a few for you all to enjoy. These are expressions we see on a daily basis that we've come to call, 'the many moods of Elliot.' Which one is your favorite?

xoxo nicole

ps - we submitted the pout for a contest...you could just die. enlarge it and check out the drool sliding down his little chin! and don't worry about the hand in the tummy shot, that was cropped out. but those dimples...delicious!

Hello all! We have exciting news to report this week. We know Elliot's supposed to grow and reach various milestones at certain ages, but to actually see him achieve those milestones is just amazing...this week has been quite extraordinary.

Milestone #1: Elliot has been rolling over for over a month now, but lately he's been putting a lot of energy into sitting up. Of course he hasn't been too successful...falling over, wobbling, face planting, and just having to have a lot of help from mommy and daddy. Well, yesterday he turned a corner. I guess things just clicked because there we were at a friend's house, and Elliot was just sitting up and 'playing' with he other babies. I didn't have to catch him or hold him up. Keith, the already smitten daddy, got home and was greeted by his son sitting up and looking at him. That's the picture attached. One day he's falling all over the place. The next he's in total (almost) control.

Milestone #2: He scoots around in his crib while sleeping. However, this morning I put him on a blanket to play. I walked 6 steps to grab my computer. When I turned around, my baby wasn't where I put him. He was under the table. The little bugger scooted himself backwards about 4 feet! I tried to get him doing it on video, but he was too interested in the camera to perform...typical child!

Enjoy the pics we'll keep 'em coming!

Love to you all.

Nicole


Well, Elliot has now had his first taste of solids (this was Sunday night)...officially. I say officially because he's had a nibble out of his friend's bowl before. However, this was the official first meal and I think he's hooked. He didn't quite know what to do with the spoon except gnaw on it, which caused all the sweet potatoes to dribble onto his chin and belly, so I fed him with my finger. This worked much better. Then came his dilemma of what to do with it once it was in his mouth! He kind of sat there with his mouth open full of the homemade puree. Eventually he started swallowing it.
Tonight, though, he ate like a champ!! It didn't take him long to figure out that the spoon was the thing giving him the yummy goodness. He even leaned in, mouth open, and then closed it to get the food into his mouth...all the while kicking and waving his arms in excitement. He seemed to be enjoying it so much, we had to add a little rice cereal so it would go a little farther. I think this boy is going to be an eater like his daddy! Enjoy the pics of Elliot's first solids.

xoxo ~ Nicole

Welcome!

I wish I thought to start this about a year ago. Although I'm not sure 1) you would have really wanted to read about the "joys" of pregnancy (and when I say "joys," it's not literal), 2) I really wanted to chronicle my pregnancy. Honestly, I didn't enjoy being pregnant. Yes, growing life was cool...blah, blah, blah...but all in all, I didn't like it. I was sick most of the time, had heartburn so bad it was like a blow torch shooting down my esophagus, and I just felt fat all the time. I did gain about 50 pounds, so I wasn't too far off.
But I digress. This isn't about what happened before our lives were turned upside down. It's about what I like to call Mr. Elliot's Wild Ride. Yes, I stole that from Disney. He's now 6 1/2 months old. Where the time has gone, I have no earthly idea. I see tiny little babies around and can't imagine that he was that small, but he was. He's now 20 pounds and about 27 inches. A respective 75th percentile and 50th percentile. There are no rolls on this child. He is solid. We have a freakishly strong (more on this later), spirited, flirtatiously social, curly, red-haired child. And who knew Keith and I could create something so incredibly adorable. My fear is that IF we decided to have another, we've already used up all the cuteness we had stored up.
Anyway, I will try my best to keep you updated on all the goings on around our house. There will be pictures and hopefully video clips for your enjoyment. Please feel free to comment, question, and suggest. It will only make the site that much better.