a rainy day tuesday update

so since my last post things are much better. I think I needed to have a bit of a break down to start building back up.

Since then we've had quite a lot go on.

My dryer got a temporary fix as we wait for a new heating element thinger, my sister and I went shopping for my mom's birthday present while daddy stayed home with Malakai and I bought my first pair of post partem jeans- a size 9 (used to be a size 4/5). I'm not putting too much emphasis on that though as sizes in different brands vary and I went with the cheap Target stuff in hopes to be able to use my pre-pregnancy jeans sooner rather than later. Although- as I type this I'm wearing some maternity jean...I did daycare today and didn't want to get spit up on my new ones. haha.

Last Friday was Mema's birthday (my mom). We picked up my sister from her college dorm, grabbed a "you bake" pizza and headed out to the country where my parents live. We decided to stay overnight since we are usually hanging out at their place on Saturdays anyway. My mom, sister, and I played Wii on one side of the house while Ben, my dad (G'pa) and brother played xbox on the other.
The next day we decided to take Kai in the pool for the first time since it would probably be the last warm day and he got some adorable swim clothes from my cousin that will only fit now. Funny thing is, we had to cut the neck of the swim shirt to fit over his head...
Before cold water-

After cold water-

Sweet boy didn't like it very much. But we got this cute family shot-


Later that day we met up with some friends of ours that we haven't seen in almost a year. Jake, Kyla, & their new son Judah (born June 9th) live in the Dominican Republic as teachers and missionaries. Kyla and I were roommates our senior year of college and Jake was in a band with Ben back in the day. It was so great to see them and meet their son. The babies had some great playtime and Ben took lots of photos.




Malakai loved this playmat and it actually belongs to some other friends of ours who's son is a year old and they let us borrow it since he doesn't use it anymore. SCORE!

On Sunday evening our church had an evening service with worship, baptisms, and child dedications. We had Malakai dedicated that evening. Much of our family was there and it was a very special occasion for us.




Now I'm off to finish baking cookies while I wait for my husband to come home and my little sister to come over and watch Grey's with me.

sometimes it hurts

Although yesterday started off fun with the new experience of caring for two babies at my home, it didn't end up on such a fun note.
Ben was gone to work for 9 hours and when he came home Malakai was fussing and daddy wanted to spend time with him so I made dinner and Ben ate while holding our little guy. Once I was able to sit down and eat my dinner he was getting ready to leave again. He was only home for two hours before he was out the door for worship band practice- this is his first week back with the band. With the house dark and mostly quiet, the loneliness settled in. I've warned myself and even Ben about the possibility of this happening when he went back to work, but it still came as a surprise. Malakai continued to be rather fussy on and off, but a smile here and there kept me going. By the time Ben got home three hours later I was broken.
He made a comment about leaving an hour early on Sunday morning so he could get a ride with a friend to band practice and I could have the car to get to service later that morning. When I said something about it, he said "well you won't have to get up that early" and I responded with "it's not about that, it's that you won't be here for another hour."
Then I promptly changed the subject to getting Malakai to bed and we both quietly went about our routine.
Ben's so good about giving me my space when I'm upset if I don't want to talk about it just yet, but knowing how long to let things simmer so they don't boil over. He waited til I got ready for bed and asked if I was okay and it just all spilled out of me. I was stressed from the events of my day, my shoulders were aching from carrying around the babies, my heart was lonely for my husband, and I was missing actual adult conversation.

I cried...and it felt good.

With Malakai snoozing in between us we chatted about our days for a half an hour in the dark which turned out to be exactly what I needed.

I feel better, and all would be perfect if my dryer would start working again, Malakai would nap in his crib, and the bills would pay themselves. Oh well, no day is without it's demands.

a new venture

I just realized that I haven't mentioned a word about my new "job" on here and today was my first day.

Late last month I had emailed my former boss to let her know I was thinking of her on her first day back to work since having little Henry in May. She emailed back and mentioned that Henry wasn't in daycare yet because her husband was still at home. He's a grad student and teaches some courses at the University of Oregon so he doesn't start until next week. She also mentioned that when he does go back they'll be looking for someone to watch Henry a few hours a week.

My DREAM job would be to watch someone's kids and my own at the same time...and it is now mine!

Malakai decided to wiggle at about 6am this morning, which meant when he got back to sleep at 7am he was down til 9am. I was hoping he'd wake earlier and be napping when Henry got dropped off at 9:30 but he was bright eyed. He wiggled on his quilt on the floor while Henry's parents and I chatted for a bit. Henry's mama had a hard time leaving him, later she confessed that she cried.

Henry will be 4 months old this upcoming Sunday. He slept in his carseat for the first 20 minutes or so and when he woke up he was a happy little guy. whew! Henry's mom had brought a baby rocker that has a toy bar on it similar to Kai's swing but the toys are lower. I put Kai in that and he loved it. He played while I got Henry out and showed him around the nursery. He LOVES to stand up while being held and tried playing with Malakai's hands.



Once he needed to be changed though, he wasn't too happy anymore. For the next half hour Henry and Malakai took turns fussing with a grand finale of both of them screaming at me. Talk about a humbling experience! At one point I was holding them both- which was quite interesting. I finally got Malakai to calm down in his swing while I walked Henry to sleep. Luckily, Henry is a crib sleeper so I was able to put him down and pick Malakai up to rock him to sleep and put him back in his swing for a nap. WOW!



All of that occurred in only 2 hours, and Henry's mom picked him up at 11:30am. Luckily she had a meeting that kept her distracted from missing Henry too much. On her way out she told me that she's so glad that Henry is with us instead of strangers and that she's glad they can help us out (financially) to make my staying at home easier.

What a lovely little arrangement.

rather odd

As you'll witness by the following photos, my "side" of the family is rather odd...but we have fun and we love each other.

On Wednesday we celebrated my little sister's 19th birthday out at my parent's house. We had pizza and cake and watched Glee (at her request). We also got some pretty funny photos in an attempt to get a picture of the whole group...







Notice how I'm the only one posing like a normal person in every photo...none of them turned out "normal" but I guess it captures the essence of who they are.
As I look at these though I can't help but notice how baggy my shirt looks...it's a maternity shirt and it fits my chest but makes the rest of me look big. Any other new mom's still in maternity wear? I wear my normal looking mat tops on occasion and have no choice but to still wear mat jeans and shorts. Is it time to invest in some jeans in my current size or would that be a waste of money? I can't decide...

Then my brother Cody decided to have some fun with the camera...



Ben posing with Malakai...I'm not sure what kind of pose this is.


and THIS is why I've always been jealous of how close my siblings are to each other in age-





Well yesterday was Malakai's two month appointment and he weighed-

12lbs 15oz!!!

I couldn't believe it...my sweet little chunkers :) He also peed on the scale when being weighed right before I was going to ask the nurse how often they get peed on. haha. I still asked and she said it happens A LOT. The funny thing is that in the last two months I've only had it happen while changing him once. It's like he knew...it made me laugh.

My mom came with me to the appointment and the pediatrician was amazing as ever. She included my mom in the conversation and ooh'd and aww'd over my "perfect baby". She's been a doctor for over 20 years and loves children so much. I couldn't be happier that she's my little guy's doctor.

She confirmed that his testicle is descending and was amazed at how fast it happened. I give all the glory to God- this was definitely an answer to a lot of prayers from a lot of caring friends and family. Thank you.

Malakai was sweet and happy the entire time, even though I woke him up out of his carseat to be poked and prodded...but then came time for his immunizations. One quirky thing about his pedi is that she said that even at this age she thinks it's a good idea to let them know it's going to hurt...so I did and I was so sad for him. He was suckling away on his binky when he got the first one and he screamed the worst kind of screams but by the time the third one was done he was already settling down. He stopped crying,let me put his clothes back on and fell asleep in the car as usual. What a tough baby, huh?! I think I dwell on shots longer than he did. I kept thinking all day yesterday that he was going to wake up mad and in pain, but he never really did.

He slept in his swing for about an hour and then I brought him into bed with me so I could nap without worrying if he was going to wake up in pain in the other room. He napped for almost 4 hours straight! Tell me this though...if your little one naps in their swing do you keep it swinging the whole time? I am freaked out that it's too much swinging so I only let him swing til he falls asleep and then I turn it off....is that weird?

2 months old today!

I can't believe it!
Here's his 2 month photo...and of course he was all smiles after mama put the camera away. silly boy.


this month is "birthday month" in our family. MIL, mom, dad, sister, and brother all have their bdays this month. Today Malakai shares his two month "birthday" with his Aunt Nanner's 19th year! Happy day my loves!