Dear Malachi,

Each and every day I love you more. Even when you are tired and fussy because you woke up early from your nap, I just have to look at you through my frustration and smile. You have been on this earth for 15 months. Wow! It sounds like such a short time to others, but I feel like we have already taken several adventures together. Friday, your Daddy and I went out for our monthly date night. I never even saw you that day. You were sleeping when I left for work and sleeping when I got home from work. It didn't seem to phase you. Your grandparents, however, got to reap the joy of watching you eat and play while we were out. It thrills me to know that you are safe and comfortable when you are with your extended family.

The first nine months of your life, you grew in body. And, boy, did you grow quickly, continually topping the charts. After that, you stopped growing in body, and the mind took over. The past six months have proved to be the biggest change in your abilities and attitudes. You have always been a pretty laid back kid. You go with the flow of our lives. This is so reassuring since we are busy being pastors and many other roles. I love your smile. It comes out often. I love to watch you play with your Daddy. You give him the biggest laughs. No one else, not even Mommy, can get the laughs and giggles that your Dad can. You can easily climb the steps now and like to show off that skill. You are being Mr. Independent when walking. You rarely will hold someone's hand to lead you in the right direction. That's ok. You are building those skills needed to be a leader, but you still love being held. Some nights you let me rock you like a baby. You will cuddle me closely and look at me with such adoring eyes. I know that you won't always look at me that way, but I cherish each moment now and look forward to more time with you.

I look forward to the end of each weekday when I can come home and be with you. Playing is the name of your game, and right now your toys are not number one on the list. The TV buttons, kitchen cabinets, and bathroom drawers top the chart. We are now preparing to make everything as child proof as possible. Just 4 measley months ago you started crawling. 3 months ago you started walking. Now, you seldom crawl and love to walk. You have started doing what I like to call your "happy dance," where you sort of run in place when you are super happy. You just got 3 molars and have the 4th on the way. Those teeth were a cake walk compared to the four front teeth that emerged in your mouth in July.

Malachi, you still babble on and on. You don't really say any words yet, but you are understanding most of the concepts. Your Daddy and I are trying hard to work on your labeling skills. I think you have some comprehension of what your head, mouth, and nose are when asked. You definitely know names like grandma, grandpa, grammy, mommy, daddy, and Uncle David. You know what milk, grapes, and raisins mean for sure.

I sure do miss you during the week and especially on those days like Friday where I don't see you at all, but I am very glad that you can be happy with the other people that you love and love you back. Not having a date night with your Daddy for a year was difficult, but now I see the importance of spending quality time with you, and that it should also be important to you that I spend time alone with your Daddy. One of the many presents that we will try to give you is a good, Godly marriage example. We are Christ's bride, and He loves us more than any words could express. I know that you won't be able to grasp that concept for awhile, but I pray that you will begin to see the love of Christ through us. Thank you for being the precious gift from God that you are. I can't tell God enough how grateful I am for giving us you, Malachi. You are a true blessing. Many changes are coming your way. Don't ever forget that we love you. We won't ever love you less because of your brother or sisters. We will love you all (no matter how many there are). I love you, Malachi James!

Mommy

Updates on the boys

Malachi now officially has 9 teeth (3 of them being molars). The last time I talked about his teeth he had just gotten his first molar. Now that molar is getting much bigger and has been joined by one molar up top and the other one on the bottom. It is strange. He had two teeth on the bottom and now two molars added to it. He skipped like three or four teeth on either side. I just don't get it. He skipped spots up top, too. I'm assuming that he will eventually get the other teeth that go in between. He doesn't seem to mind, so why should I?

When did your child switch from two naps a day to one? Malachi seems ready to switch, especially since he sleeps 11-12 hours at night. I heard that most toddlers won't switch until close to 18 months. I'm not sure what to do. He is laying in his bed right now playing and making noises but was fussy and whining while playing earlier. Is the transition usually somewhat difficult? Does it happen overnight? I don't know what to do, especially since I'm not with him during the day, 5 days a week.

Secondly, I put the bumpers back on his bed. I just took them off about 2 weeks ago. You see he sleeps with a pacifier still. He doesn't need the pacifier any other time except nap/bedtime. Thank goodness! When I took the bumpers off he would start losing his pacifier in the middle of the night. It would end up on the floor. He sleeps really heavily until about 5am. At that time he needs a pacifier to get himself back to sleep. I have had to go back in there and find a clear pacifier in the dark with sleep still in my eyes several mornings in order to get some rest from his whining; plus he has gotten his legs stuck in between the bars on the crib recently. He moves so much while he's sleeping. I wonder if he'll ever be ready for a toddler bed. That is the least of my concerns, though. I digress. The bumpers went back up two nights ago. I have barely heard a peep out of him for the past two nights. His pacifier hasn't ended up on the floor, and I no longer worry about legs or heads being thrust into those hard bars. I know most infant's bumpers are long gone, but I guess I just need to continue to do what is best for my and Malachi's sleeping habits. Everyone knows that my sleep will be sporadic come the end of February.

Speaking of the other little bundle of boy. He is extremely active! It is so strange. I didn't feel Malachi move until about 20 weeks. Now I am 21 weeks and can feel him moving a ton. Do I notice it all the time? No, but I definitely notice it much more often than even 2 weeks ago. Daniel can even catch some movement occasionally if he is close enough to feel it. My belly button is already sticking out like a third nipple, waaaaaaaaaaaaaayyyyyy earlier than my first pregnancy. I go back for my next appointment at the beginning of November. I'm still on the appointments that I get to pee in a cup, check my weight and blood pressure, and then check the baby's heartbeat. Short, sweet, and to the point. I like it that way. Everything is going smoothly thus far.

Little Man

I just had to show off these pictures. Since it is beginning to get cold, we are now putting shoes on Malachi everytime we go out. I know what you are thinking, we are actually making a son wear shoes for like the first time in his life! Wow! What an accomplishment! I found the shoes at a church's consignment sale. They do two sales a year, and that is where I stock up to get Malachi's wardrobe for the season. Anyway, I just wanted to share. This is what he wore to church last week. He has really gotten to like those shoes. He doesn't have to wear socks, and the shoes make a cool sound on the kitchen floor when he walks. I love them. They are easy to keep on and keep his feet warm without socks. What more could a mom ask for?

This second picture is a little blury. If anyone wants to donate to the new digital camera fund, it would be greatly appreciated.

Frustrating Foods

I haven't really talked much about my frustration with Malachi's eating habits. About a month or so ago, he decided that he would step into a stage of life that I just wasn't ready for. You see, he has been refusing to eat all vegetables and almost all meats. He went through a time where all he would eat were strawberries. Then it was grapes. Now, he will eat grapes and raisins (his personal fave right now). He will eat almost any kind of bread. He normally won't eat rice or pasta. Today, though, he wanted to eat my pasta that I was eating for lunch. I was very cautious to see how he would react. It had extra cheese thrown in. He is still allergic to cow's milk, so that even more limits our selection of what we can feed him. Anyway, he loved the pasta. He kept eating it and had no reaction to it. I wonder if the cheese that we added to the dish was not derived from a cow (like a goat or buffalo). If that is the case, I might have to season other things with that Romano cheese to give Malachi some options. He usually wants to eat what we are eating but can't due to his allergy. One day he will like something, and the next day he will not. I just don't know what to do with him sometimes.


His newest hang up is that his food cannot be "baby food." I can't buy a jar of stuff to feed him. It has to have texture. This morning, I gave him the spoon to try to feed himself chunky applesauce. He felt the need to drink it like from a cup. He actually enjoyed this method a lot and did eat the food. Now I just have to get him to eat vegetables.

It's a........................Baby!

Ok. So, we did find out for sure that we are having a BOY. There is no way that there could be anything else in the picture below but his jewels. Just look down in the circle. The technician labeled the legs and bottom. It should be easy to get your berrings from there.

Our little boy was pretty cooperative for most of the time, but he didn't want to give us a good profile shot. Here is the picture of the face. It just looks a little like a skeleton, but you can definitely get the picture. Our boy's left hand is up by his face. Enjoy!


I am at a different doctor's office with this pregnancy. I have been much more happy with them than my family doctor. The technician did a wonderful job. She explained so much more than the technician for the hospital who allowed us to view Malachi. I hope the birth will be as good as my experiences with this group.

Daniel says that this baby looks like me. Go figure. He implied that he looked like me due to having eyes, a nose, and a mouth. He supposedly has my "eye sockets."