Marshall & the Melders

About 3 months ago, some of our dearest friends, Megan and Sky, became parents.  I was looking forward to this change of life season for them for many reasons (they are amazing people who I know will be just-as-amazing parents, they were praying for this and it's fun to be in the same season as some of our closest pals....goodbye couplehood, hello parenthood, to name a few).  Another major reason I've been excited is so I can finally pay them back for all the babysitting over the last 3 years or so.  I've been itching to get some quality snuggle time with their sweet Marshall and help them out in the process.  Now with Megan back to work, I am getting some opportunities and it's just what I was hoping for...he is so sweet!!  I think he really likes me. 

Marshall was supposed to be napping, but since he was awakened by his daddy to bring him over here and he was so interested in his new surroundings, he never did get any shut eye.  He hung out in a crib for about an hour checking out the walls, artwork and windows and then we just snuggled.

Marshall was so content and not acting hungry at all, so I tried my hand at taking a few pictures of him.  I got a new camera for Christmas, but we ended up returning the one Doug originally ordered, then realized we needed a memory card for the one we did keep, so anyways, it's been a long process to finally get to use the new camera.  This was my first experimental photo shoot.  Marshall was a patient model putting up with me playing around with the zoom and the flash for the first time.  He loved the bright red-eye reduction light, but we both were seeing stars after the photo session.  Here are my top picks.

Isn't he a doll?  We had so much fun.  He gave me great smiles during the photo shoot, but he was always so surprised by the light that I couldn't get any really obvious ones for the actual photos.  We'll keep working on it. =)  Koen came home and I fed Marshall and then it was time for the other Melder boys to get up.  Marshall got tired fast after some playtime in the jungle gym, so I put him in the BabyBjorn and he conked out.  Precious.  Sky came back to get him about 5:15pm.  My big boys were bouncing off the walls and I tried to get a trade for a few hours more with Marshall if he'd take K & T outside, but no luck.  Sky wanted his adorable baby back.  Sky took a picture to prove I could handle four boys (and I should mentioned I also cooked dinner while Marshall was here, I was pretty proud of myself).

Thanks for visiting, Marshall!  Can't wait to have you back again soon!