What, huh, yeah???

This past week Titus finally started calling me mama! It was the highlight of my day, week, life. Titus is 15 months, prior to this week he could say; dog, ball, outside, doughnut, all done, da da, ah ah (for his great grandpa), and bat. He could not say mama. I mean what kid says doughnut and outside before saying mama...Titus. (I guess we know what he loves by his words!!)  Well this week he finally started calling me mama! I must have made such a big deal about it that he thought he should say mama over and over all day! That's why the title of this post is What, Huh, Yeah. I've responded to his mama's about a thousand times this week with those phrases and other similar ones. So if you walk into our house anytime soon you will probably hear a sweet little voice yelling mama, mama, mama over and over.
It makes me smile.

A week in the life...7

October 23-October 30
Titus "helped" me in the kitchen this week for the first time. And by "helped" I mean he stood on a chair next to me and played with a bowl. It didn't last long, but I tried to document it with my camera phone. You can see the progression from the pictures.

At first Titus loved stirring in his bowl and I chatted with him while I chopped a butternut squash (for a delicious muffin recipe..you should try it!)

Then stirring in the bowl got a little boring for him

so he starting banging on the counter with an over-sized spoon, while eying what I was doing

And this how our time ended because he couldn't help me cut the squash. Oh well..it was fun while it lasted! I look forward to many more mommy son dates in the kitchen

This week it got a little chilly in Kansas City so we put Titus in his winter jammies! He looked pretty darn handsome.

 

We all put on our purple to watch the K-State v. KU game with the Williams family and then yesterday we put on our purple again to watch the game with the Wittmer family. Praise God for our friends who are K-Staters and who are willing to let cable-less people watch the game with them!!!

BP in the front yard, very important part of our week! :)

Here's to Pop

Titus' great grandpa, who we all called Pop, was a brick layer. He was a great man. I miss his hugs and smiles. These pictures are in honor of pop. We might have another brick layer in the family.

South Bound 35

As I mentioned before, Titus and I made the south bound 35 trip to Frisco, Texas last week. This wasn't your ordinary road trip...because it involved a 1 year old and my grandparents. It was so sweet of them to drive T and I down to Texas, but it did make for an interesting 9 1/2 hour drive (no, that's not how long it normally takes). We had great conversations but we made a lot of stops! :) After the LONG journey south, we spent the weekend with my family. I'll let the pictures tell the story.

Titus chowing down on a Braum's hamburger. He said,
"Hi" to everyone who walked by! 

My little sister was up for Frisco High Homecoming Queen

And...SHE WON!! Congrats, Sara!

Titus was very well entertained by grandma Chili while we were there! Sometimes it got a little rowdy.

 Sara had her homecoming dance on Saturday night. I got to be the big sister and go take pictures of her with her friends. She looked so beautiful. It's weird to think she will be in college next year. My first day of high school was her first day of kindergarten...I'm old. The rest of our time there was spent eating good food and hanging out with family. Titus got to see his grandmother Charlotte & Pawpaw and his great Uncle Phil while we were there as well. Thanks for a great weekend.

A week in the life...6

Oct 9th-Oct 16th
 Titus had a full week for a 15 month old this week! Yes, he turned 15 months on Sunday the 9th! My baby boy is growing up. Here is a shot of my baby on his 15 month birthday! My parents took us to dinner on the plaza before they flew back to KC.

 Titus and I left for Texas on Wednesday so most of Monday & Tuesday were filled with cleaning and packing.

Titus tried to keep himself busy while mommy packed! I preferred him entertaining himself by throwing his hangers around his room opposed to his other favorite activity this week...splashing toilet water all over the bathroom! 

We did get to the park and enjoy the beautiful weather a couple times before we headed south.

At the end of the week we headed south...TEXAS! I'll post more pictures of our time in Texas soon. Here is a sneak preview...

Happy Fall

We're pretty big fans of fall in the Marasco family and fall is beautiful in Kansas City. But honestly, who doesn't love fall...perfect weather, beautiful leaves, and of course football season! (By the way, K-State is 5-0 for those of you who didn't know!) Well here are some pictures of Titus and I playing in the leaves today. Welcome fall!!!

A praying life

Last year in our small group we read a book called, A Praying Life, by Paul Miller. Outside of God's word I think God has used this book to stretch me, grow me, and remind me of my need for him more than any other book thus far in my life. I mean every time I pick this book up and reread sections or chapters, the spirit smacks me again with huge truths about God and my need for him. I think everyone should read this book so go to amazon and buy it! :) With that being said I want to share an excerpt that is stirring my soul this morning.

"We don't need a praying life because that is our duty. That would wear thin quickly. We need time to be with our Father everyday because every day our hearts and the hearts of those around us are overgrown with weeds. We need to reflect on our lives and engage God with the condition of our souls and the souls he has entrusted to our care or put in our paths. In a fallen world, these things do not come automatically. "

Those words blow me away. It blows me away to think about how important it is to be in prayer, not out of duty, but out of necessity in this fallen world. It reminds me that first, I need to recognize my NEED for prayer so that I'm not spending time in prayer out of "duty". Then it reminds me that I need a plan or a structure for how I'm going to get time to pray. I love the last line, that's why I made it bold! I really need to remember that prayer doesn't come automatically. I need to plan for it. Just like I schedule other things that are important to me into my day. The reality is we as humans make time for what we value (you might disagree as you read that, but think about it...friends, family, shopping, internet, working out, church, TV etc.) We don't make time for prayer because we don't value it. God help me, help us! 

KU Baseball Weekend

First, let me make it very clear that I'm a not a KU fan nor do I support the wearing of KU attire in our household (I allow it but don't support it), outside of attending my brother in law's games. He plays baseball for KU and when we are at those games...It's hard to admit....but we are KU fans, when we are there, by default. We are actually just fans of Jake, but we do want his team to win. I know most of my family will consider disowning me for admitting that but that's okay. :) Here are some pictures of our weekend.

Titus and his cousin, Ryder, watching Uncle Jake play 1st base

       The boys playing with cars while they wait for Uncle Jake after the game.

 Ryder and Titus had fun playing in Titus' pack-n-play on Saturday before we headed home. We had a great weekend with family.

A week in the life...5

September 25th-October 1st

We celebrated two birthdays this week! We celebrated Claivon's birthday on Sunday evening and on Friday night we celebrated Papa Mike's birthday! Here are a few shots of those celebrations!

 Happy Birthday Claivon! We went out to eat at Red Robin to celebrate Claivon turning 10! Claivon has been our little brother with Big Brothers Big Sisters for over a year now. We had an awesome time, until Titus had a MAJOR blow out! A blowout diaper and a restaurant is not a good combination! I'll spare most of the "messy" details, but I will say that Claivon and I had to get paper towels and clean up quite a bit of what came out of T's diaper. If you ever go to Red Robin in KC, I'd avoid the car racing game. That's where most of the damage took place. 

On Friday we went to Jake's inter squad game at KU (more details in the next post), and then went back to the condo and celebrated Papa Mike's birthday!

Papa Mike opening his new boots!

Other than birthdays we had a pretty normal week. Titus loved playing with friends and playing outside. Here are some pictures of Titus from this week.

Daddy worked from home on Tuesday. Titus was a great assistant for about 2 minutes, and then he wanted the laptop and that didn't go very well. I'm not sure being Matt's assistant is a long term gig for T, but it's fun to have daddy around on Tuesdays even if he is working!