It's a Golden Life

It's been a whole week since a our little girl arrived. The time seemed to fly by this week. We came home on Sunday. Donovan started his new job on Monday. Donovan's family arrived on Friday and left yesterday! It seemed strange to be home all week! Chi and Haly are doing really well. He is starting to realize that this is our baby-we get to keep her. He loves holding her and kissing her, right on the lips. He's very sweet to her and makes sure she has her blankie. He has a weakness though-he is a red handed binky stealer. We've been trying to use a binky to soothe her when she gets fussy and Malachi doesn't care if it is pink, with flowers or even says "precious". He's not biased and doesn't care what it looks like-if it's a binky, he'll take it! Other than that, he's been doing very well. We've been very careful to pay attention when he needs someone, or when he just needs some loving. Haly is very sweet! She sleeps all the time! ...

So, some unexpected experiences this weekend! I went to my 38 week check up on Wednesday. He said we were about 4.5 centimeters and 80% effaced. I was prepared to go another 2 weeks, expecting what I did with Malachi. He didn't come until I was 4o weeks! Well, Thursday rolls around and I start feeling "strange". I was having pretty regular contractions every 7-12 minutes. Some felt crampy, and I was sure this was it. We decided to head to the hospital. I was going to wait until Donovan was off work at Youth Bridge at 10pm, but around 6:30 I told him that we may need to go a little sooner. So, he was able to get off work and meet me. We took Chi and his brother and sister to our house, where the Rambos very graciously watched them for us. I grabbed a tentative overnight bag with a change of clothes, toothbrush, hairbrush, deodorant and a couple outfits for the baby, "just in case". We went into the ER and they took us right up to Labor and Delivery. Before we kne...

So 36 weeks down, less than 4 to go! It seems so close. I can't believe we will have another person in the house, and another little one to share our bed with. I can't imagine having 18 kids. What size bed would I need? A queen sized mattress is good for three people! I know this from experience. We'll just have to start piling on top of each other when we cuddle in the mornings! Malachi is developing his wonderful 2 year old attitude. I was hoping it was just his teeth coming in-that would make me angry too~ But no-his favorite word is "no, no, no", it seems I am always telling him "NO" for saying "no!". He began hitting other kids when he wants something and demanding they listen to his "no" antics. On the flip side, if his daddy just looks at him in a stern way, he melts and wants a hug and a kiss. He's so sweet, yet trying to be defiant. He's still my sweet boy and loves to kiss, hug and cuddle with me. His favorite times ...

This past week we were blessed with the opportunity of going to Panama City Beach, Florida. It was the first real vacation we've been on since Donovan and I have been together. It was beautiful and refreshing to have a whole week of no stress, no plans, no bills and no work. The best part was seeing each other all day, every day and just hanging out! Malachi loved seeing the ocean for the first time. He was surprisingly, not scared of the water-if his daddy was holding him! If he were by the water and a wave washed over his foot, he kind of freaked out a little and scrambled to dry sand! He loved to dig in the sand and find seashells. He wasn't sentimental, though, he just threw the seashells back into the ocean! He was a trooper and took 3-4 hour naps almost everyday! That meant that momma and daddy were able to sleep a little out of that time. We even went swimming on Wednesday while he was sleeping. The place we stayed at was a condo on a private beach. We opened the back sl...

So, we were going to wait until Malachi's 2nd birthday to go to Chuck E Cheeses, but Daddy decided otherwise!! We have some more pictures, where they've escaped on to on the computer, gets me. So, as soon as I find them, they will be posted! He loves the carousel and anything that has to do with cars. He did NOT like the tunnels, daddy went up and rescued him, what a great daddy!

Malachi still looks a lot like daddy because of his blue eyes, but he is beginning to look so much more like mommy. He also started calling us "mommy" and "daddy" instead of Mama and Dada. He took a huge step this past week. He is now sleeping in a big boy bed! It is a firetruck that we found at a second hand store-in perfect condition-for $40! We couldn't believe our luck. He has done so great sleeping in his bed too! He is still having a little trouble with nap time, but we are making progress. It only took 4 times of putting him back in bed and explaining why he needed to stay there for him to understand! I watched him through a crack in the door, and as soon as the 4th time of me placing him so delicately back in bed, he sat up and drowsily ended up on his pillow! It's so exciting, but a little strange. He's not a baby anymore for sure. Now onto potty training! Oh boy. Here's a pic of the three of us!! This rarely happens, but we captured a shot....

We think Malachi is getting the idea that a baby will soon shatter his world. He only calls my belly a baby and everyone elses a belly. He will also hug my belly and pat it, saying "aww". His language is getting understandable! He is starting to say words out of the blue, such as; plane, thank you, pretty, MMOOOOOMMMMY *(When he is hurt or needs help, any other time it's Mama), Boog (Bug). Whatever he can't say a word for, he just says, please, please. He is a crazy boy with such a sweet personality. He is very helpful, too much so at times. He likes to help mama feed the babies at work and help with the household chores. I love this boy very much and am so enjoying the stages he is going through. He is constantly wanting to brush his teeth, have you read books to him and playing with cars. He is all boy-he plays in the mud, runs around barefoot and would rather not wear any clothes at all. He even goes as far as chewing on sticks. Daddy taught him a wonderful trick ...