Christmas Presents - Round Five

We went to Daniel's grandma Hinson's house for breakfast where we usually do breakfast and presents with that side of the family. Malachi probably ate like 3 sausage patties (which were quite spicy) and drank a lot of OJ in his "new race-tar tup" that his great-grandma got for him. Malachi (& Ezekiel) got lots of cool toys and a "choo-choo towch" from grandparents, great-grandparents, and aunts and uncles. This was the last round of presents. Malachi kept wanting to open more presents. He was a little disappointed when it was all over, but he has had loads of fun playing with all the new stuff at home.

Christmas Presents - Round Four

Grammy & Grandpa brought dinner and presents over on Christmas Eve. It was a nice quiet day here at our house. The boys enjoyed the time with their grandparents and playing with new toys. Malachi got his second bike. He got his first bike from his Paw-Paw Phil, but it is a little too big for him to use right now. He will probably be able to use it this summer.

Daniel putting together Malachi's "bike" - it has a handle on the back, so I can push him since he can't exactly reach and use the pedals yet.

Christmas Presents - Round Three

Daniel and I decided that Christmas day was probably going to be pretty crazy, so we did our presents opening with the boys on Christmas Eve morning. Malachi got the Cars DVD, Little People "hair-pane" (airplane), "Hot Dog" (Mickey Mouse Clubhouse) Ears that actually sing the song and he can play "Mickey says," and a gingerbread house. Ezekiel got a star-stacking tower. Both the boys received cars that go when pushed. It was a lot of fun, but Malachi kept saying, "open more presents," which sounds more like, "oped more pep-ens."


Daniel wanted Malachi to open one present early, and Malachi chose the gingerbread house. Boy, was he soooo proud of that house and wanted to eat the candy, of course.

Christmas Presents - Round Two

Christmas continued on Saturday, December 22nd at Daniel's Dad's house. We had pizza and a lot of fun with toys and presents. It was crazy with all the presents in their little living room, but Malachi and Ezekiel did a great job opening presents and having fun with the family.

Christmas Presents - Round One

Since David and Michelle got married on Dec. 15th, we had a brief present time with Uncle Josh, Aunt Erin, Callie, Avery, David, Michelle, & Jasmine. Malachi (and Ezekiel, too) had a blast playing with their cousins and opening presents. All the grandkids got slippers from Uncle Josh & Aunt Erin. Malachi wanted to were them out of the house a few times and did wear them to bed a couple of times and slept with them on all night. Ezekiel's slippers are a little too big right now, but Malachi enjoyed seeing him wear them for a little while.

Malachi got a cool set of maracas---anything that makes noise. It's a good thing that their not too loud. Ezekiel likes to taste them, too.

Ezekiel got a frog set for the bathroom. He thinks they are scrumptious!

Dear Ezekiel,

You turned 10 months old on Friday, last week, and you continue to amaze me each and everyday. You are FINALLY feeling better. It took a lot of antibiotics (the third round) and saline up the nose to finally conquer your ear infections and colds. I think it was around 4 weeks that you were sick. You are such a happy baby, and it killed me to see you sick, but you handled it like a pro (just like your brother). You are a trooper. You don't miss much and want to be involved in everything that your big brother, momma, and daddy are involved in. You don't like to sleep when you know that something exciting is going on.


You can crawl (very quickly, I might add). You can put crackers in your mouth and very small items in your mouth as well. You can pull up to your knees easily and sometimes pull up to standing. You have to work a little harder on the latter. You don't cruise around furniture very much, but I think that's because you feel that you can get wherever you want by crawling. I don't worry much about you falling off of your rocking Pooh or anything else. You have always been very aware of your surroundings and fall softly on your appropriate body parts. Unless Malachi knocks you down, you can fall without getting hurt, and growing up with a big brother who is only 19 months older than you, you learned quickly to deal with it.


I love to see you smile, and your laugh is soooo contagious. I love how happy you are. You are rarely upset and cry anymore. This is a major change from your first few months of life. You used to cry all the time, but its not that way anymore. You truly are a happy baby.

About this time in your brother's life, he started to experience Momma withdrawals. You are content with other people to hold you and entertain you. However, if Momma is around, you want to be held by Momma. No one else will do then.

I love you Ezekiel, and I can't wait for you to make it to your first birthday! You've got about 4 lbs. to gain until then, but you can do it!

Dear Malachi,

I love you soooo much! I know that I say this every time, but you continue to amaze me at how quickly you pick up on things. After you have spent a whole day with me and/or your Daddy, you listen so much better just due to being the 2 who brought you here and the main disciplinarians (as it should be). You are pretty flexible, but you do much better on a schedule.

You love life to the fullest. Running, laughing, and playing are all #1 on your list. Your motto should be, "Go big, or Go home!" I love to hear your laugh and see your smile. It is extremely contagious.
You have begun to really be jealous of your little brother. It started about a month ago but has taken on different stages. For about 3 days, you felt like you needed to hit Ezekiel when things were not going your way. Now, its ok most of the time. You typically get jealous when Z is being held and you're not. You will sometimes take his "bop" out of his mouth just for kicks and "hide" it behind your back (kind of like we take some things from you so you won't grab it from our hands). Most of the time, when your Daddy or I are holding Z, you try to jump up in our laps beside him and sometimes push him out.

I had a "Momma moment" a few weeks ago. I was tickling you and just realized that you weren't a baby like your brother anymore. I wanted to cry amidst the laughs while the tickling continue to ensue. I look at your 1 year picture on my desk and realize that you are the same kid---just bigger, louder, and prouder.
I love you, forever, and I can't wait to see you reach your 3rd birthday!

9 Month Comparison

Ezekiel
He is much more mobile than Malachi had ever dreamed of being. He is a happy baby, like his big brother, but he is much more easy going and flexible. He's our little skinny guy. He started out bigger and just hasn't gained a lot of weight. We just moved him into 6-9 month clothes about a month ago.

Malachi
He was our chunky baby who loved to eat. He didn't start crawling until around 11 months. He was content to sit and watch and be loved

Fun Pictures

Malachi's best friend, Kyla, came over to play on the observed day of Veteran's Day (since I didn't have to work). Malachi had just discovered a doctor's set that I found at a yard sale. Malachi kept listening to everyone's heart go, "beep, beep," and Kyla was giving Malachi shots in the mouth. It was soooooo cute!

Hanging out with Daddy on a lazy Sunday afternoon

Momma, how is your swimsuit supposed to fit on me?

Daddy, I like this hat you put on my head.
Momma, make sure you show off this picture with my one tooth grin.

I Spoke Too Soon

In my last post, I said that we were on the up and up on our way out of sickness, but I was wrong. I had a nasty cold last week (beginning on Thanksgiving---yeah, that was fun!). I was finally starting to feel better Saturday afternoon and Sunday, but Sunday afternoon my ear started clogging up with fluid behind it. Monday morning I woke up feeling like a Mack truck just hit me. I went to the doctor and got an antibiotic for my horrible ear infection. I went to work on Tuesday, but still felt awful. Since Wednesday, I have continued to feel better. The only problem, starting sometime last night (Friday) Ezekiel started coming down with my cold symptoms. Malachi had been a little snotty, too, but doing well. I put Ezekiel to bed with one red eye (like I had for a few days) and coughing every now and then. You could tell his poor little throat hurt to cough. He would cry or whimper almost every time afterwards. Poor guy. I'm having to spray saline up his nose and suck it back out to hopefully help his snotty nose. He HATES it!!!

The boys have been sick off and on for the past month. I just want them to be better. Please pray that these sicknesses leave SOON.