It's a Golden Life

Last weekend, we were able to leave the kiddos with Donovan's parents and go to Silver Dollar City in Branson, Mo! We left early Saturday morning around 7 am while the kiddos were still snoozing and headed to the outlet malls. We couldn't check into the hotel until 3 pm, so we had to fill some time before the park opened at 10 am. After some successful shopping I joined the trend of "skinny jeans" at the request of my husband. He said he was going to pick out my clothes from now on. I guess I don't dress "hip or cool" enough for him :) I felt claustrophobic just putting the pants on. I can't imagine how it's going to be to actually wear them longer than 3 minutes. I just kept telling myself that I would get used to it. I remember trying on my first pair of flare jeans in the 6th grade. The way they didn't hug your ankles was strange, but I was determined to be just like all the other girls in 6th grade. So, now that the old look of skinny jea...

Do you ever have those days when you feel like you are vulnerable? Let me explain :) You know that you are loved and that your husband and children adore you. Heck, they may even appreciate you! :) But there's that taunting message that resonates in the back of your mind. "Maybe they don't love you as much as you love them. Maybe they don't really want to spend time with you. Maybe..." Usually, you are able to push that aside and with reaffirmation of that love, you continue on with your day. For me, it seems I am able to control that taunting voice that lingers, but every once in a while, I become vulnerable. I allow what others say to influence what I already know about my life and myself. I open my heart and mind to dwell on situations and subjects that I have already faced and placed neatly on a shelf in the back of my thoughts. During the course of being married for four years, Donovan and I have been so busy trying to get our life set up. We have been...

I know this is a little late, but we've been a little busy :) July 10th, 2009 at 12:36 a.m. 6 lbs, 12 oz. I cannot believe my little girl is already one! It seems like she's still just a baby, and she is my baby! Going through the parenting with Malachi, I didn't realize how much they really change. It seems like in just a few weeks, she exploded into a new person. *She is 18.4 lbs. and 27.5 inches long. *She has a head full of hair now that can be fashioned into rubber banded pigtails (horns). She will NOT keep bows in. She will eat them. *She is walking all the time and everywhere. *She is climbing on the couch, our bed, up stairs and any chair she can reach. *She has 6 teeth, 2 bottom and 4 on top. *She has kicked the bottle except for night time. Even then, sometimes she's so tired she just rolls over and goes to sleep. She's having a hard time drinking from a sippy cup because of how fast it comes out-she always spits it everywhere. *She eats ever...

To celebrate H-bugs first birthday, we went to the Gentry Zoo on Monday! She loved it. Both her and Malachi are big time animal lovers. I'm not sure where they get that from ;) Haly kept her eye on the Emu's the entire drive. She did not like them. There's this look she gives when she's not sure of a situation, and the birds definitely got that look. We named this guy Ted. Doesn't he look like a Ted? We aren't sure what he is, so we named him. The kids and I flipped out when he decided to stick his entire head in our car before we could roll up the window. He drooled on my skirt. The nerve! This Camel also stuck his entire German Shepherd sized head in our window! The best experience by far was the Zebras. Malachi just puckered up and laid a smooch on this guy. When we told him to do it again he informed us that it was "yucky" and then proceeded to scream "IT'S A WOLF"-or an Alpaca...with his head in Donovan's window with the most hil...

With Father's Day right around the corner (tomorrow) I have been thinking a lot about what it means to have a father in my life and for my children to have a father in their lives. My husband. He is amazing. He is a really great dad. His laid back personality can fool anyone but me. In this house, he is known as many things aside from "just a laid back guy". He has many jobs and rolls to fill here. He is the tickle monster-lurking around every corner just waiting for a frown. He is the pushover who lets scared night stalkers slip into his side of the bed because "it's probably much more comfortable than his own bed" and doesn't count the number of chocolate milk "sippys" that are given once he is home. He is the epitome of Mr. Fun who suggests outings such as a couple hour trek to the zoo with an infant and a toddler because it he knows how much fun they will have. He is who everybody can't wait for to come home. He is a wonderful dad and s...

Halynd is 11 months old today. I can't believe she's already been in our lives for almost a year! What a sweet baby girl she is! So far little miss is: *17.6 lbs. (5th percentile) and 26.5 inches long (7th percentile) *She stands by herself and has attempted to walk, but realized crawling is a whole lot faster. *She is switching from the bottle to the cup Mmm MMmm :) *She drinks water, apple juice and soy milk from her cup. *She sleeps from 7:30 pm-7:30 am, and only wakes up every once in a while. *Takes a morning nap from 9-11 and and afternoon nap from 1-3. *Has four teeth completely in. She is working hard on her top two left. *She eats anything. I have not found anything she doesn't like. She made a funny face with squash, but still ate it :) *Loves Malachi and tries to hug and kiss him. *Says: Mama, Dada, Chi Chi, Dada, Hi, waves bye bye and her favorite word to say is Dada. Even when he's not around. Punk. *Loves to get her picture taken, smiles all the time, giv...

She started walking on May 17th! Big girl! Our kiddos are getting SO big! Halybug started walking on Monday (May 17th). She has a long way to go with balance, but she is trying and self motivated-and that's important! Mr. Chi is growing up so fast. He worked for almost an HOUR on Friday on a single picture of a dinosaur. He just sat happily with his box of crayons and baggie of markers at the kitchen table-coloring away. He worked very hard on it, so we hung it up on the fridge! He was so excited to show Donovan all the colors (I'm pretty sure he used all of them). Summer is just around the corner-next month! I hope the weather will proove this! So far, it's been pretty cool for this time of year. I think the temp is mainly in the 70's so far. We have a few projects that we are going to plan to get finished before summer is through. First, we are going to organize our garage! We will be getting book shelves, because that is about the only boxes we have left in there. Th...