Malachi's Big 10

Somehow we have a kid in the double digits already!  It seriously doesn't seem possible that we have almost been parenting for 10 years!  We wanted to make this birthday really special for him, but the lovely little virus going around prevented a lot of what we were hoping to do. But we still lavished him with lots of goodies and so many lego sets it took him days to put them all together! We are still waiting to see if we can throw him a birthday party which seems more and more unlikely as time passes. But if not, we will still throw a mini party with a birthday cake sometime in May! 

We finally got our first In N Out location and that was at the top of his list for food this year! The wait was long but that was okay and we were successfully able to maintain social distancing! 

We wanted to spoil him with a dinner at Benihana, but since we couldn't do that dinner of fancy steaks and his request of fried rice worked well enough! 

Lots of legos and football made him pretty happy! 

And marionberry pie for the day, but a cake will be coming later!

Since we couldn't go out shopping, we ordered him  his very first Stitch Fix and I think all the kids love the idea so much that this may become a regular birthday tradition. He loved checking out what his stylist picked out for him and they really nailed it for him! 

Malachi,

Wow, as they say, 10 years has gone way too fast.  I've watched you grow from a tiny 6 lb baby boy that I stared at in pictures from a distance, to a super chubby 6 month old, to a very active, loud 18 month old reciting his ABC's.  To a cute and sweet missing his front teeth 5 year old graduating kindergarten, to a super smart and fun 8 year old and now watching you grow even more into a God loving 10 year old young man.  I love the time we spend together and I believe we have a special relationship even if sometimes we have our moments as I assume most mom's and sons have.  But I really enjoy getting to watch and observe the special young guy you've turned into. You care deeply about other people and you are very extroverted with very little fear.  You are very smart in school and gifted with music. I truly can't wait to see what all this next decade of your life holds for you. There will be trials, I am sure. But I really do look ahead with much anticipation at who you will become as you inch further and further into adolescence.  I am sure it will all happen far faster than even I can imagine.  So here's to 10 blessed years of being your mama and watching you grow. I couldn't have dreamed of a more amazing firstborn and am so thankful that God brought you into our lives! 

Easter

Easter is always a holiday we look forward to and we celebrate it for several days leading up, between coloring eggs, resurrection rolls, egg hunts, church, basket hunting we keep a pretty full weekend of activities. But it is always fun and even though things looked a little bit different this year we still had a wonderful time celebrating as a family. Here are some of the highlights of our celebration! 

Ayla at 4 Months

Baby Ayla is already 4 months old!  4 months old is just about my most favorite phase ever!  I love that they are still snuggly but also start developing personality.  I still get some snuggles here and there with Ayla but she seems to be developing early and wants her independence so she seems to much prefer rolling all over and even scooting all over the place! 

Even though she's got impressive lil thighs, she's still a peanut weighing in around 13 lbs (24%) but that seems pretty consistent and even a little bit bigger than Sabrina so I'm not surprised.  She's doing great with nursing now even if it still seems like that's about all I do all day.  When she hit a bit of a rough patch with sleep we decided to give her a bit of oatmeal and that did help through that phase.  We are definitely in the "let them eat at 4 months" camp and so far she has tried avocado, sweet potatoes, and peaches.  So far peaches have intrigued the most interest from her but that's no surprise to me because I loved peaches while I was pregnant!  

Sleep has been interesting this month.  She's still super easy to get to bed at night and is going to bed between 8-9 every night.  The challenge has come in keeping her asleep.  That 4 month sleep regression is no joke!  She has been napping in her own room and tends to sleep better in her crib than her bassinet so she kind of forced the transition even if I didn't mind her still being in our room.  With her rolling all over the place she has discovered tummy sleeping, along with her thumb so she is a tummy sleeping, thumb sucker now!  She goes down super easy and self soothes with her thumb but her early development is kicking our behinds and she ends up rolling all over her crib and scoots herself to corners which means multiple times a night she is waking up crying.  So this is a new phase we are working through but as with every other sleep issue we have had with her, this too shall pass! 

In fun stuff, she is babbling all the time now and giggling and really interacting with us now.  It's a fun phase for sure.  She's grabbing toys and playing in her jumperoo.  They really do grow up and change so fast! She's gone on lots of walks and loves being outside.  As mentioned before, she put her feet in the sand at the beach for the very first time, celebrated her first St Patrick's Day, tried food for the first time, played in her jumperoo for the first time, discovered her thumb and is a rolling pro!  Definitely a big month of development! 

Little Miss Ayla, you continue to delight us!  You are adorable and fun and we all love playing with you!  You certainly are growing and changing so fast.  You don't listen when I tell you that I want you to stay my little snuggly baby a bit longer. I have a feeling there might a trend with you of wanting to grow up a lot faster than I want but I promise I won't hold you back!  You are so incredibly loved and we are so grateful for every day with you!