Saturday, September 22, 2012

Our Precious Two Year Old

     Well, as you already know, Marcus turned two this past Tuesday, September 18th.  People say it every day, so I might as well, too - but I can't get over how quickly time passes.  The quote, "The days are long, but the years are short," make such great sense to this stay-at-home-mama.  In some ways, Marcus is quite the typical little man, while he excels in other areas, making him a little different.  Just like other boys his age, he loves all types of sports, construction equipment, cars, animals, and being outside.  He has mastered the art of getting dirty and went through three four pairs of shorts/pants today alone. He loves to wrestle with his daddy, cuddle with his mama, and tug at both our heart strings on a daily basis.  He loves to sing songs, be silly, read books, and probably his favorite thing of all time is hitting baseballs  with his daddy either in the basement or outside.
     His size makes him quite different from most other two year olds.  He's 36 1/2 inches tall, 32 lbs, and has the verbal skills of many three and four year olds.  I was concerned when our doctor told me that he was in the 95th percentile in weight (he's 95th in height, too), but he said not to be worried because Marcus was just a "big block of a kid."  Dr. Love informed us that for his height, he was just fine, so I was relieved to hear that.  When filling out the questionnaire about two year olds, I laughed when it said, "Does your child speak in two or three word sentences like, 'I sit down.' ?"  Seriously??  The other night, our big boy climbed out of his crib, came into the living room cheesing, and said, "Mommy, I climbed out of my crib."  Yes, we have the two and three word sentences down. 
     So speaking of his bed, we definitely need to transition his crib into a toddler bed soon.  He climbs out of it almost nightly, when we first put him down, and then has gotten up once in the morning, when he first woke up.  It's definitely time. We will transition him into that sometime in the next few weeks, but the good part about it is that he's not falling out, it's a legitimate climbing/sliding down and landing softly on his feet.
     Finally, we had a small get-together today for Marcus' birthday.  Mark's parents were still in town but had to leave halfway through while my mom, her husband John, and my sister came up as well.  We were surrounded by a small number of church family and friends and the weather couldn't have been better.  We had a construction theme with black and yellow balloons (Ti-Cat colors), there were diggers and bulldozers everywhere, and my sister made him the most amazing cake - AGAIN!  She made his cake last year and it was lovely, and she just gets better and better at it.
     So we hope you enjoy the pictures, and the blog about Marcus' growing up.  I use this word a lot, but he's absolutely precious to us.  We just continue to pray that the Lord will bless us with another precious one... one day. :)

Grandpa and Daddy put the finishing touches on swingset #2 while Marcus beat the slide.

3 fine Schuurman men

Eating the extra "dirt" from his digger cake before the party

Birthday hat with TWO candles on top

Aunt Liv, Dr. Dorris, Grandma, Marcus, & Grandma

Aunt Liv pushing Marcus

Yet again, an amazing cake from Aunt Liv

We were singing Happy Birthday to him

Blowing out the candles

Yummy!

Cutting the cake

She even put black & yellow construction tape stripes inside!

How cool is this???

Trying to blow bubbles

Daddy trying to teach him

Naa, let's just eat the bubbles

Isabella got a front row seat when he opened presents.

He LOVES his new bulldozer and car carrier.

Papa John pushed him high like Grandpa did.

They were big buddies today.

Meet Marcus' future wife - Madison Elizabeth Hauser

Our sweet family

We could not keep shoes on him, no matter how much we tried.

Aunt Liv and Marcus

Riding his, "moka-cycle" down the hill to Stephen

This kid was so filthy, I'm surprised the water wasn't black when he got out.


Thursday, September 20, 2012

Canadians in Town

     For those faithful blog followers out there (eh-hmm: Aunt Ran) I wanted to share a few pics of our last few days with Mark's parents.  After his birthday party on Saturday, I'll post more pictures and tell more about Marcus now that he's TWO!

Grandpa and Marcus went out and played despite the rain.

Grandpa helped Daddy put another swingset together.

Marcus loves it when Grandma pushes him.

She teaches him all kinds of fun stuff.

He LOVES this swing.

Grandpa pushes WAY too high, but Marcus loves it (as Tori watches on).


Saturday, September 15, 2012

Happy Birthday, Grandpa!

     Today is Grandpa's 65th birthday!  Even though we get to see him and Grandma on Tuesday, we'd like to post it on here for all to see!  Mark was very lucky to have him as a father growing up, teaching him the value of hard work and being around your family.  Mark is following right in his dad's footsteps by getting up while it's still dark, driving a box truck, and having a laid back attitude about life.  Just like Mark waited for his dad to get home from work to throw a baseball, Marcus is now doing the same for Mark.  And since we told Marcus that Grandpa and Grandma are coming to town, he's been asking if he can throw a ball with Grandpa, too.  Yes, son.  I'm sure Grandpa will be SO EXCITED to do that with you. 

Happy Birthday, Grandpa!  We love you! 
This was the first day Grandpa and Grandma met Marcus.
Marcus' first time to visit family in Canada.

Grandpa loves showing Marcus the flowers in the greenhouses.

Grandpa is so silly!

This picture shows Grandpa's patience with one specific grandchild (eh-hmm, Marcus).

Both these boys love tractors!

3 Generations of Schuurman men!

If Marcus wants it - Grandpa usually says yes.

Walking down the hill with Grandpa.

They are always smiling when they're with each other.

Grandpa had to round Marcus up.  He didn't want to come to supper.

Checking out all the birds at the Lion Safari.

Taking it all in together.

Grandpa and Daddy took Marcus for a boat ride, too.

More tractors :)

Marcus definitely loves his Grandpa!








Wednesday, September 12, 2012

Our afternoon at the zoo, I mean fair

     This afternoon, Mark and I took Marcus to the Western North Carolina Mountain State Fair.  Since he's not yet two (but will be on Tuesday!!!) we didn't ride any of the rides, but boy did he have a good time seeing all the animals.  It was more like a zoo than a fair.  He saw anything from camels to cows, goats to guineas.  There were a billion goats in this place.  Nonetheless, he did see quite a few new animals and got to pet some as well.  I was so surprised at how BRAVE he was, petting the goats!  He was overwhelmed by all the sights and sounds, but walked around like the big boy that he is.  It was a quick few hours, but just enough time for us to get out and spend together.

He was in TRACTOR HEAVEN

He actually stopped and just stared.

Petting the goats with Daddy.

Marcus trying to fake smile.

This is how he "smiles" nowadays and says, "cheeeeese!"

Checking out the chicks

Sweet smile in front of the sheep

I thought CAMELS had humps.  Holy cow, this bull was HUGE!

Hook 'em Horns!

Daddy and Marcus, walking through the fair.