Random pictures

I love playing the drums, Mr. Will! Thanks for a fun time. My Mommy and Daddy discovered that I already have more rhythm than half of the members of my family.

I love ketchup and french fries! I especially like the ketchup part.

For Donna

Here is one of the few pictures of me standing sideways showcasing my belly.

Enjoy. In the picture, I am 31 weeks pregnant.

Christmas presents - Round Three

Round Three happened this morning with Daniel's Mom's family. His Great-grandma and grandpa gave him a plastic train that has its own track. He really enjoyed it. It would run without the track, too. His Nana and Paw-paw Rick gave him a race car set. It makes cool sounds, which Malachi, of course, loves the most. It was a great family time with some great southern breakfast!!!

Christmas presents - Round Two

Round Two of Christmas presents was with Daniel's Dad's family. Uncle Larry and Aunt Jane host this Christmas gathering each year. It was a lot of fun. Malachi got some really great toys that he just loves! Thanks Paw-Paw and Maw-Maw Cathy & Uncle Larry and Aunt Jane. Thank you Great grandma Geraldine for the great clothes, too.

Christmas presents - Round One

This morning we opened presents from my parents. Malachi helped me open my presents from Grammy, Grandpa, and Daddy. Grammy and Grandpa got me a new camera!!! Daniel got me a photo printer and iPod Shuffle.Then it was Malachi's turn to open presents. He got an outdoor push car (that an adult pushes) and a seat to be attached to the back of a bicycle, so he can ride around with his Daddy. You see, Daniel had been riding his bike around the driveway with Malachi on his leg. Malachi loves and and thinks it is great. Now we just have to get him a helmet. That way they can ride around past the driveway.
We also had Round 2 this evening, but I will post those pictures tomorrow hopefully. Most of those pictures were taken with my new camera. I hope that you enjoy the continual updates while I don't have to go to bed at 9:30pm to get up for work in the morning.

Cute Picture

There is actually a picture of me! My friend Lesli has a daughter (Kyla) two days older than my niece, Avery. She also has a blog. Anywho, if you scroll down on her blog a little, there is a picture of me (very round) holding Malachi on one knee and Kyla on the other. Malachi was doing well not being jealous of Kyla, but then he was just too tired to handle it. So, I had them both. Thankfully, they are both fabulous children!!!

Dear Malachi,

I don't think that I truly understood how fast you would grow up. You understand so much more than I give you credit for. Mommy is still your favorite person, but Daddy is definitely a close second. You get to spend whole days hanging with your Daddy, and you are always in a better mood and have a lot of fun because of it. You also love to play outside. It is a blessing that the weather has been so mild the past few weeks. You love to ride on the bicycle with your dad. You love to throw and kick around a soccer ball and football. When you fall, you just get back up again. You have become a tough boy already.

You love electronic devices. Just the other day, you leaned over to the bedside table, grabbed the remote, turned on the TV, and leaned back on the pillows (just like Mommy and Daddy). It was precious. Playing the piano in the study has also become a favorite pastime. Sometimes it does sound a lot like music.

Clothes are sometimes overrated in your book, but that's ok. As long as streaking is reserved for at home, we'll come out of it eventually. As much as you love books, you'd think that you could actually read them. Sometimes you "read" the contents out loud to me. I know that you already know which way the pictures and letters should go. You always know when the book is upside down and adjust accordingly.

Even though your life will change in 2-3 months, I feel that you will be just fine. This weekend, you gave a 4 month old baby his own pacifier without attempting to put it in your mouth. You also wanted to share your soy milk with that baby. Most of the time if I ask you to kiss the baby (doll in the grocery cart), you will. I have a feeling that you will make the transition to being a big brother well. I have confidence in God's plan and in your upcoming independence. Each day you amaze me and bring so much joy to my life. How could we do without you? I don't miss the time in our lives when you were not around. Each day I look forward to meeting you at home or in the parking lot and going home to play.

When all these changes happen, remember that I will always love you. I will try my best to keep our traditions at bedtime. I think that those things will help keep you on track. I love cuddling with you before bed and reading Bible stories. Don't ever forget how much that I love you (and your Daddy, too)!

Mom

New Words

He's actually beginning to use words to get his point across. It is truly amazing. Sure, he still whines and cries when he needs something but not always. You see, a few weeks ago we pulled down the dehydrator and dehydrated some fruit that was slightly too old to eat. Malachi loved eating the dried apples. He started saying apple or more like "ap-pa." At first he would just say it, not referring to anything, but a few days ago, he was communicating to me that he wanted apple. I was so excited! Now, all fruit right now is "ap-pa," but it still means that he is moving towards using his words to get what he wants/needs. After eating some ravioli, I asked him if he wanted some grapes. He smiled really big and said, "ap-pa." The following morning I was putting my lunch together, and I was adding a clementine. He looked at it and said, "ap-pa." You get the idea. All fruit is apple, but I can't tell you how thrilled I am that he is using words, words (!) to get his point across. Yeah! Another step towards independence!

These pictures below don't have anything to do with this post, but they were taken about a month ago. I just thought that they were cute, and you all would enjoy.

Praise the Lord!

I have neglected to brag on my son this week. On Monday night, Malachi and I were having dinner with Grammy and Grandpa while Daniel was at work. Let me track back a little bit first. You see, Daniel and I have been teaching Malachi to raise both his hands up to the sky and "Praise the Lord!" Moving back to present...We were sitting down eating Chinese. Malachi has been on strike for eating a lot of foods, but he decided he would eat some fried rice. I was so excited that I said, "Praise the Lord! He's eating something different!" At the instant I finished saying, "Praise the Lord," Malachi threw his hands up in the air and smiled his big smile. We were all so proud of him, he began to clap.

Later during the meal, Grammy had some water go down the wrong pipe. She raised her arms to try to clear the airway. Malachi looked right at her, raised his hands and said three unintelligible syllables meant to be "Praise the Lord!" I kid you not. If he had the capabilities, he would have said the phrase. He tried his hardest to get it out. I can't tell you how proud and excited I was!

He is trying so hard to talk now. Most of the time, I can't understand what he is saying, but he is coming a long way. He can say "apple, Mom, Dad," and "hey." He doesn't always say them at the right times, but I also know that he is a toddler. When he only can say a few syllables, he doesn't always say what I want him to do.

Cuttin' Down a Tree

Finally, here are the pictures of our fun, family outing.

There are lots of trees, Mommy!

Let's cut down the tree that I picked out.

Go, Daddy, go!

Daddy, the tree is down. Is it supposed to be laying down?

Sheep are scarier than dogs.

Baaaa!

Time for a hayride!

Let's go, Mommy. What are we waiting for?

I went on a treasure hunt and found two ornaments! I turned them in for a candy cane (that someone else will eat for me).

Loads of Fun

I have so many good pictures that I want to share, but my camera is not cooperating. Our family (just the 3, uhh.., 4 of us) went to a Christmas tree farm in Lincolnton, NC. Daniel is not big on Christmas trees, but he thought it would be a good family outing and maybe a good future tradition. Anyway, we drove about an hour to a place out in the country of the foothills. It was cut your own tree (Leyland Cyprus), any size, for $25. They had free snacks, hay rides, and animals to look at. Malachi had a blast!!! He walked around the uneven ground and when given the choice between two trees "picked" the one that Daniel cut down. He went on a hay ride, looked at a pig, some sheep, and some goats. He even ate half of a cream-filled cookie. He continued his fun at Wendy's eating fries, chicken, and fruit. He napped in the car on the way home and continued that nap when we got home. He acted like he truly did enjoy himself.

On a side note, my car is over 8 years old. Even though the tree is less than 6 feet tall, we strapped it to the roof rack. That was the first time, ever, that my roof rack (on the Rav4) has been used!!! This was also the first time that I have gotten a real tree for Christmas. I guess Malachi wasn't the only one with firsts this year!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Malachi's second Thanksgiving was rather uneventful. We had lunch with my parents and David around 12:45. Unfortunately, Malachi's one nap comes around 12 or 12:30. He had no clue that all that cooking going on in the morning was eaten while he slept. He was able to take part in Thanksgiving dinner at his Nana's house with all of his Daddy's family. He got lots of hugs and kisses from his grandparents and aunts. I tried to get him to try turkey, dressing, green beans, and corn, but he wouldn't eat anything but a plain biscuit. Hopefully next year, he'll realize that he's missing out on a bunch of good stuff.

Today we played around and emptied out the storage unit. Yay! We can now save $100 a month! There really wasn't that much left in our unit after David moved all his stuff out. I'm glad that we had the unit. There was a lot of stuff. Now there is a lot of stuff here. Really, it's not that much, but there are boxes and boxes of clothes. Malachi has at least one box of clothes for every size. I have at least two boxes of clothes for every size. I miss my old body! When I got married, I was a size 8. Pre-pregnancy saw me at a 10. 4 weeks after Malachi I was a 14!!! I got down to a 10, but it took 11 months. Right after I had gotten down to feeling good about my body, I got pregnant again! I have really enjoyed this pregnancy, but I am ready to get my old body back!!! I have missed it over the past 2 years. Sure, I haven't missed my period and other things, but I just want to feel good about the way I look. Ok, so I've gone off on a tangent. I truly am thankful for all my family and the things that come with it. I just have a lot of clothes! Now we have clothes and boxes all over the place. We just have to find a place and a home for all this stuff that we can't get rid of yet, especially since there is another little boy to fill those clothes up for a time.

Tomorrow (Saturday), we might be starting a new family tradition. We are going to pick out a small, fresh Christmas tree to bring home. Hopefully, the tree farm we are going to will also have a hay ride and some animals to see. We are looking forward to this little outing with Malachi and to make new memories.

Less Than 100 Days!!!

If you look at the new baby's ticker today, you will see that there are less than 100 days to go! Woo-hoo!!! I need to post a picture of how big I've gotten. I feel huge already and am not technically in the third trimester yet. I've got a little over 3 months to go until the due date. My belly has even dropped some. This is a difficult thing to deal with now, because I can't get my belly on top of the counter. I have to stand at a distance to cook and wash dishes (good thing I don't do much of either:)). This little boy is a very active one. He is constantly on the move. I think that he is more active than Malachi was (in utero). We're still not telling the name.

My back has been in really bad shape the past few weeks. I started seeing our local chiropractor (from FA) a month ago. I only visit once every two weeks, though. The visits help, but I don't feel like they are close enough together. I am trying my best to not pick up Malachi as much and to make him do things on his own. This is difficult at times when he won't do what I want him to do. He is getting better. He will hold your hand (or finger, rather) most of the time when you offer it. He will sometimes hold my hand, walk to the car and wait patiently for me to put him in when running errands. This makes me very thankful. In some ways, I am not rushing this pregnancy at all. I am enjoying giving Malachi my attention and watching him grow. I also know that one child changes your life, but when the second one comes, it REALLY changes your life! I wish that I could be home more to see Malachi grow and mature. He's beginning to form words now, I think. Of course, it is all in when he feels like it. All in all, we are doing well. I know I sound like I am complaining at times, but I have been through 1 and a half pregnancies. Neither of them have been very difficult or complicated. God has blessed me with two easy pregnancies (minus the back pain). God is always good!!!

Many Teeth

Today, yes I said today, I am actually posting something on the day it happened. Anywho, today Grammy discovered that Malachi has a new tooth. This puts him up to 11 teeth, 7 teeth and 4 molars. It is also comforting to me. The tooth that is coming in is next to one of the first teeth that he got. It is on the bottom and only the third one on the bottom (not including his two molars). Way to go Grammy and Malachi.

I think this explains his clumsiness the past few days. Almost every time a tooth is about to emerge, he loses all sense of balance. Unfortunately, this is the first time he has lost all balance while walking/running. He's taller now, too. That means that he has farther to fall. I say all this to tell you that he has had a few more spills and a few more bruises. Thursday he was walking on the driveway and just fell. He busted his lip open on the top. It is still pretty nasty looking, but Malachi doesn't show that it bothers him. Then, Sunday, he was playing in the nursery and fell. He got a pretty nice bruise on his head from that one. After noticing his tooth this evening, it all makes sense. He normally has good balance and can catch himself but not when a tooth is coming in. I don't think that they list that symptom with teething. It should be added. It is a proven fact with my little boy. I don't know how much more I can take, though! I can't stand seeing my little boy all banged and bruised, especially when there is nothing that I can do to help or change it.

New Shoes

We broke down and bought Malachi brand new athletic shoes. He had none that fit him, and it has been getting cold lately. We didn't want to buy him "character" shoes, but Spiderman was the only pair we could find that wasn't lace up and over $20. The main comforting thought was that, "I can use these shoes again in about a year or so with Malachi's little brother." Well, Malachi loves his shoes! He acts like he can run when he puts his shoes on. It,s like his Spiderman shoes give him "super powers." Go figure! It truly amazes me sometimes to see him like to wear shoes so much. It's not like he ever wore shoes, ever, before he was a year old and walking. I'm just glad that this battle was nonexistent. What a great kid!

The Accident (from two weeks ago)

Here are the pictures of his nose from two weeks ago. Uncle David was feeding Malachi some of his soup, since he was begging anyways (Malachi, not David).

Saturdays are the Greatest!

Last Saturday (as in over a week ago) we had what I like to call "Saturday." Daniel wasn't working. Mom and Dad had made their breakfast. Daniel and I cooked our breakfast. Then, because it was cold, Dad made a fire in the fireplace with his newly purchased firewood (thanks to Uncle David manning two Saturdays of yard sales). It was great. No one was rushing around to clean anything. Malachi was having a blast playing with everyone around to watch him. I purposely put him in sweats to be comfortable, especially since I was still in my pj's. I snapped a couple of pictures. Malachi just loved showing all of us his toys and how he played with them. It was so nice! What a relaxing morning!

Growing Up (sniff, sniff)

This little man is almost gone from baby to toddler to boy in a matter of months. I feel like I can't close my eyes at night or I might miss something.