hot coco and rain

it is really raining, not just spitting rain, the real stuff, so we had a hot coco party today to celebrate! half of malachi's spilled all over but we had fun.

life with malachi and abram

i thought i would share a glimpse into a day with malachi and abram because sometimes i forget that what they do each day changes from week to week and some of you don't get to see them all that often. so here are some things you discover about malachi if you spent the day with him:
- he loves airplanes, the picture above is next to the long beach airport where we can go and watch planes land and take off, sometimes the pilots even wave at us.
- he repeats a lot of what we say - so he has learned some interesting words from us and others who live with us, eric and dirk. eric recently let him know that the you tube video he loves of monster trucks (yes our son is addicted to you tube, and asks multiple times in the day to watch, and i quote, "boom boom") has the music of the song "bad to the bone," so now his latest phrase is bad to the bone, associated with eric.... dirk taught him to raise his fists and say trouble, so i asked kai the other day to do trouble and he said dirk, dirk: so dirk is associated with trouble, i have to say dirk set himself up with that one
- he often leaves a room, shuts the door and tells us bye-bye, see ya
- he peels the tangerines we get from the farmers market all by himself
- he sleeps with his cars and trucks, most kids sleep with something soft but not malachi, he insists on 3 or 4 cars going to bed with him each time
- he has this look when he isn't going to listen to me, he looks out of the corner of his eyes at me and then proceeds to do the opposite of what i ask
- he loves his little brother and gives him gentle kisses and a blessing on the head, he also tried feeding him a fishy cracker the other day, what a great sharer, thankfully i heard him tell Abram, 'Here ya go,' and promptly removed the cracker from his mouth before he choked
- he is pretty adventurous and has learned that he can climb on top of the cave at the new pirate park, he is actually a great climber much to my dismay, but his climbing is not allowed because my friend who is skilled rock climber told me she doesn't even let high school students climb above their height when rock climbing and this cave is probably 9 feet high. so we aren't going to find out if malachi would be brave enough to jump off...
- he loves reading books and sometimes just sits by himself and reads behind the book shelf -thanks to loving grandparents his book supply is endless
- a few of his favorite things: baseball, elmo, football (he already cheers for USC by saying GO Trojans), cars and trucks of any size and shape, Sienna, singing & dancing, and his blankie

now for abram





our little guy Abram, who is now 2 months old and such a sweet baby is changing to quickly. i can't believe its been 2 months since his birth day and his speedy arrival on a Saturday afternoon. i know a lot of people have heard his birth story...but let's just say i still think about the day and am so thankful he wasn't born in the car on the way to the hospital, it was way too close. we had his 2 month appointment today and this is the latest:
- today he weighed in at 13lbs 6 oz and is 25 1/4 inches long and is very healthy
- he makes me smile because when I reach to pick him up from a nap his smiles greet me almost every time - he warms my heart
- his little voice is developing and he likes to tell us long stories, while he looks at our faces very intently
- ryan discovered his ribs are very ticklish and he laughs when he is tickled in the right spot - a baby's giggle is so great
- he still likes to wake me up at about 2 am and 5 am to eat - what great bonding time in the middle of the night - thankfully he falls right back to sleep and so do i
- being swaddled tightly helps him sleep like a champ and we have the best swaddling blankets, thanks to our friend allison, aden and anais is the brand and they are GREAT
- being in the sling is one of his favorite spots and puts him right to sleep, this also allows us to go grocery shopping, on walks and just get around town rather easily
- his eyes are still very blue so the jury is still out on whether they will change
- he enjoys being in his swing and on his playmat which is great because then I can get a few things done around the house

so those are the updates of my boys. i am so thankful for them and what a gift they are, and how they are teaching me incredible lessons about life, sacrifice, love and serving. i was reminded listening to the radio the other day that Jesus told us to be like little children and what a privilege to be with little children each day who remind me about what Jesus desires of my attitude and heart. today as ryan walked out the door malachi understood he was going to the office and then said mommy, home. i am thankful to be home with him and to not miss out on the moments of each day. in the last weeks i have been sad about leaving my job at Kingdom Causes and have really been processing about where my time if any will be spent working outside the home. through many conversations live and by email, in prayer, and just my thoughts i have been so challenged to grow into a new season of life with two little boys and my incredible husband who walks with me. (plus great friends and family to support us) i am still learning and processing as i write this, but i am also incredibly thankful for today and being right where i am.

2nd Annual Tryptophantastic 4.7 K Run/Walk

On Thanksgiving morning we continued a family tradition that we started last year. The Tryptophantastic Run/Walk is a fun run through Bellflower, that is still relatively "underground" (that means it is just us and a few friends). This year the race began at 8:31 and everyone who participated had personal records for the course, not to mention that everyone won the race for thier specific age bracket. The Fieldhouse's, Pruett's, Annika, Eric, Heidi and Sam (one of our homeless neighbors and her dog) were all in on the action. It was a lot of fun and we are certain to do it again next year. So put it in your calendars now, Thanksgiving Day 2008 at 8:31!

abram's little smiles

here is a peek at our little buddy abram.

night out

sisters


shaun

the girls: me, tia, and chrissy

my life is dictated by abram's feedings right now - he hasn't had a bottle yet...but since he has been going down at 9 i went out with my sister and our friends last weekend. it was the first time out without any of my boys (ryan stayed home with the boys). i felt a little strange without someone with me needing my attention for something, but i got over it kind of quickly. it was also the first time in awhile that i arrived somewhere at 10 to begin the evening - i'm 29 now and not in college. we went to this hole in the wall place, but kinda cool, where an 80's kareoke cover band was playing. so instead of a sound track for those brave souls singing, it was a live band, and they were good. our friends chrissy and shaun were brave and performed for the crowd, they rocked. it was a fun night with my sister and friends and now i'll probably return to most evenings where i'm home by 10 now that my sister has returned to MI.

abram is growing

as i type abram is lying on the chair in the living room falling asleep. he has his little arms spread out and is tucked into the corner. he is changing so fast and getting chubbier cheeks and legs, but is still longer and leaner than malachi was as a baby. it's funny how the clothes just fit abram differently. abram has also started greeting us with little smiles and sweet baby coos, it's so amazing to see his development. God's creativity becomes so evident to me when i look at his deep blue eyes, his little nose and long fingers. he's such a sweet baby - although last night when he woke up every 2 hours I didn't think that was the sweetest thing to do. He had been going down at 9, sleeping until 2am and then 5am and back to sleep until 7:30 - that routine is when I moved from my zombie state to an increased energy level and awareness of life around me. so hopefully tonight we can go back to long streches of sleep again. below is abe at 6 weeks!

lucy the lizard

the first picture captures how malachi felt about the pet lizard he had for 2 days last week. not just a little gecko but a full on lizard. ryan found the lizard in our yard and caught it in the bug catcher. the lizard was affectionately named lucy and shared the bug catcher with an enormous jerusalem cricket that they also caught. malachi's face lite up when he saw the lizard. on the other hand my stomach, in fact my whole body, felt shaky upon sight of this little guy. i acted excited when malachi ran to show me his new friend, at the same time i explained the lizard had to stay outside. i imagined a lizard running around my house... we have a dog and a fish and we didn't need another animal to take care of. lucy now lives in the backyard again and malachi looks for her when we play outside. i think lucy is much happier in the wild with all her other friends.

elmo and pumpkin

here are a couple pictures from our halloween night. the rest of the pictures are on my sister's camera... i happened to have a elmo costume from a friend and malachi happens to love elmo. abram just wore a little pumpkin beanie. the boys had fun with their friends tessa, ely, micah, and elijah (aka: chick, ladybug, monkey and ghost)

(so I added some more pictures from our night, thanks sarah...)