Costumes and Crawling and teeth oh my!

Here is Malachi's picture of his first Halloween. As you can see he was VERY unimpressed with his costume.

Malachi is really at a fun age right now. He is learning and discovering new things every single day. He is incredible and has so much personality. From his cheesy grin to his fake laugh that daddy taught him he is constant fun and joy!

He is also Mr. Busy. He has been scooting forward for quite awhile now but just yesterday he started to really get the hang of moving forward so we have a full on crawler in our house! Fortunately, with how active he has been lately all the babyproofing is done and hopefully we are ready for these milestones. The boy is growing so fast!!!

In the not so fun for Mal news, he has been a little more cranky and whiny than what is the normal Malachi and a few days ago his gums started getting really swollen. The crazy thing is we just went to the doctor a week ago and the doctor felt his gums and thought we would still be a month or more off from a tooth (although she did say she has been proven wrong before) but there were just no signs of a tooth anywhere. All of a sudden out of nowhere there are teeth! Last night was really rough as our normal 12-13 hour night sleeper was up in the middle of the night and was up really early this morning. This morning we found the culprit - the poor little guy's first tooth had popped through. The second one is very close behind and I wouldn't be surprised if it is through the gums by tomorrow morning.

So Malachi is keeping us very busy! He is Mr. Busy and Mr. Personality and we realize just how boring life really was before he was here!!!

Today I am thankful for.....

The little baby who is currently kicking and rolling all over the place in the jungle gym that is my tummy!

Today marks 4 months until my due date. 4 months....... 4 MONTHS!!! That just seems all together like it is approaching way to quickly, but I am eager to meet this new little one even though I know it will be another time of adjusting and exhaustion.

Peter and I are planners. Every single thing with our life together has been planned to the very detail. There are only two instances in our life together where things were not planned - Peter's layoff which was a very bad surprise and this little busy baby which is a very very good surprise!

We didn't know that we wanted or needed another little one so soon and while it took some adjusting (since Malachi was just 2 months old at the time) we are so thankful for the miracle that is this little one. We are both excited and eager for this baby's arrival!

I have never taken for granted this little life. I know miscarriages and even stillbirths happen everyday. I know babies are born unhealthy everyday and I am so thankful that to the best of our knowledge we are having what is considered a very "normal" pregnancy!

Every little (or big) kick or movement I feel is a true blessing to me! At 16 weeks in those brief moments where I laid in the room waiting for the doctor to bring in the ultrasound machine when she had no luck finding a heartbeat, I really thought we had lost this little one. So to be here, at 23 weeks and feeling the baby move more and more to where it is almost a constant throughout the day is such a blessing!

I am so thankful that at the 20 week ultrasound everything looked to be developing just as it should and there were no concerns they came across. I know there are still unknowns and something could still show up, but for now I am thankful for a healthy baby and a healthy pregnancy!

Some of my favorite moments during the day are when we first get in to bed at night. For whatever reason, my laying down makes the baby think it is playtime and Peter and I can relax and talk and enjoy feeling the baby move all over the place in our last few moments before falling asleep. I also wake up every morning to baby kicking up a storm. This morning when Peter got up to go to work the baby was squirming all over the place. I think s/he is starting to run out of room. I could feel something much bigger than a hand or foot and it was kind of bumping me a bunch, maybe trying to get more comfortable. It is a pretty cool experience that I am not taking for granted. If it has been several hours without feeling any movement I start to worry a little bit but eventually the baby starts to kick like crazy and I can relax and be thankful again :)

So if everything goes according to plan, I have 4 more months to enjoy the kicks and in just 4 short months little one will be here with us and we will be enjoying and adjusting to life with 2 kiddo's under 1 :)

Thankful For.....

This month is the month of Thanksgiving and counting blessings. Over this past year I have become even more thankful for all the amazing things that have happened in my life! I have also gone to a place where I was able to see what true thankfulness was. I have so much compared to what other's have and yet I often forget to sit back and be thankful for the abundance of blessings in my life.

Today, as I looked out the window at the wind and the rain, I am so thankful for a husband who works hard for our family and provides enough of a living that I can stay at home with my kids. It was just months ago that I was having to get up out of bed and out the door to work at 5 in the morning. I endured many ice cold early mornings over the past 5 years and I am grateful that those days are behind me.

I am thankful that I do not have to take Malachi out in the cold air to take him to a babysitter. I am thankful that on these cold days he can stay in his jammies all day, all snug and warm where the risk is lessened that he will get a cold or flu bug.

I am thankful that I do not have to work through this pregnancy. With the difficulty of the work I did, combined with the arthritis in my back - my OB predicted that I would have to go on bed rest early in my 2nd trimester. I am thankful that since being able to stay at home, even being pregnant that the back pain is minor compared to what it was when I was working. Now here I am approaching the end of the second trimester and still going strong!!!

I am thankful for my kind and considerate husband who was willing to make the sacrifices necessary so that I could stay at home. It isn't easy in a two income society to only have one income, but I am so glad that we are on the same page with this. He doesn't resent that he doesn't have the free funds to buy things he wants and do things that I know he would like to do. He has sacrificed for the good of his family and I am so thankful for his hard work for us!

This is Halloween!!!

Today is Malachi's very first Halloween and our very first holiday that he has been with us to celebrate!!!

Daddy worked hard to carve Malachi the pumpkin that mommy wanted Malachi to have :) It turned out great!!!

As you can see Malachi is growing quickly. We took him in for his 6 month check up this week and he weighs 21 lbs 3 ounces (95th percentile) and is 29" long (97th percentile) so he is still growing, growing, growing! We have had to pack up even more clothes and are now on to 12-18 month size which some of those are even a little snug. He is also really getting the hang of scooting and I bet we are just a week or so away from him full on crawling everywhere! We are in trouble :)

So stay tuned for some pictures of Malachi's first Halloween costume and of course I still need to post some Disneyland trip pictures :)

Happy Halloween!!!

6 Months

Malachi is 6 months old!!!

It has been a month of huge changes for Malachi. He has grown and changed so much! He has really gotten active and has learned how to roll in all different directions to get where he wants to go. The day after he turned 6 months old, he also was able to get up on his knees and start pushing forward. He does a face plant, but he is definitely figuring out this crawling business.

He has also started saying "dada" and he hoots like an owl quite a bit. We have started baby sign language with him and while he can't sign "milk" yet, when we do that sign to him he definitely knows the bottle is coming!

Another thing about Malachi is: He loves to eat!!!

In the past month Malachi has finished up trying all the baby food first foods and has moved on to second foods. His definite favorites are still pears and sweet potatoes. He has started showing a huge interest in what is on our plates so more and more we are letting him taste what we eat. He loved my cheddar mashed potatoes in Disneyland. He also loves Strawberry/Apple puffs, goldfish crackers, and sucking the juices out of pineapple!!! A few foods that he wasn't sure about the texture were jello, cheese, and watermelon. He is our champion eater though :)

It has been incredible watching him this past month as he has become more interactive, has started observing more of the world around him, and has started to become more coordinated. He is SO precious and we couldn't love him anymore!!!

It's a.............

Cute and tiny little baby :)

Today was our much anticipated 20 week anatomy scan. We did it bright and early since Peter had to go to work after the appointment. The appointment went well and I was totally jealous as Peter got to watch the whole thing, while I just had to lay there not seeing what was happening on the screen while someone pressed really hard on my bladder.

The baby was not very cooperative. Peter kept laughing because s/he was moving around a lot. The baby was also facing my spine and hiding as low as possible in my pelvis which made it very difficult for the technician to get a good view of the heart and brain (hence all the hard pushing on my bladder). I am telling you, we have a stubborn ornery kid coming :)

Finally at the end, I was able to get a good (but quick) glimpse of the baby. It was fun to get to see just how complexly put together the baby already is. The baby is measuring exactly to my due date and is weighing in at a whopping 11 ounces :)

Tomorrow we go back and meet with my doctor to get the results of the ultrasound, although the technician said that he thought everything looked good!

Here's a few pictures of our little cutie:

Sucking his/her thumb:

Face profile:

Foot:

20 weeks

Already at 20 weeks and just starting to look pregnant. Over the last couple nights sleeping on my tummy has become uncomfortable so I am struggling to adjust to new sleeping positions.

How far along: 20 weeks
Total weight gain/loss: Down 1 lb from starting weight. Doctor is not happy with my lack of weight gain but I am eating so hopefully baby is growing!
Stretch marks: no
Maternity clothes: yes, everything but my at home loungewear is now maternity
Sleep: I still want a lot of sleep and am tired a lot. I toss and turn a lot at night now that I can't sleep comfortably on my tummy. I have started sleeping with a big pillow between my legs and that seems to help.
Food cravings/aversions: Pineapple and Strawberries, and Coca-Cola
Gender: We can find out gender tomorrow at our ultrasound, but not going to, but my guess is still a girl.
Movement: Started feeling movement like a goldfish in the tummy around 17 weeks, by 18 weeks I was able to feel kicks from the outside. Mostly the movement is when I am sitting still or laying down, but I am definitely feeling more and more kicks throughout the day!
Best moment this week: Feeling the baby move around a lot - it is pretty cool!
What I miss: I don't have a lot of clothes to choose from right now and I am tired of having a lot of nausea.
I am looking forward to: TOMORROW! I can't wait for the big ultrasound!!!
Weekly Wisdom: Try and enjoy everything because the pregnancy is going so fast!
Milestones: Halfway Point!!!