Happy Easter!

Yes, I know Easter was in March of this year.  I know I’m late.  No worries.  At least I got them in.  
 Annual Easter Egg Dying.
 Malachi…while trying to take pictures and hold him at the same time.

 Mark hides and the kids attack.

 “Hm, what is this thing and why are they hauling it around?”

 I love his face!  He’s still not a big fan of grass on sock or bare feet.
 The kids decided to hide and Mark had to find them.
 I made hot cross buns on Good Friday.

 I made Zoe and Ceili Rain’s Easter dresses.  The girl standing by Zoe has a skirt out of the same fabric.  Totally not planned.  Miss S. joined the picture because she matched!  I think they all look beautiful!

Look closely, that’s Liam.  In a big Magnolia tree.  Zoe got higher than that but I was more concerned with her getting down in one piece (she slipped climbing down ya’ll) than I was about snapping a picture.

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To the Zoo

Ceili Rain’s birthday fell during the week.  That meant she had to wait a few days until her actual party.  We decided to make the day special by loading up and going to the zoo.  It just so happened that that day was the day our Mother’s Helper was scheduled to come.  I asked if she wanted to venture out with us and she willingly agreed!  Brave soul.

 Up first on Ceili Rain’s agenda:  Feed the giraffes.
 Except she wouldn’t feed them.  Thankfully, Miss C did!
 Malachi loved seeing them.  He grunted and pointed the whole time.
 Liam, aka Mr. Adventure, willingly fed them.  He didn’t like the tongue licks though.

 Then we had to see the stinky elephants.  Bryant has a stuffed elephant for his cuddly (of course Ceili Rain’s is a giraffe…do you see the theme?).  Bryant was thrilled beyond belief.  He was very intense watching them.

 One of my personal faves is the Kangaroo Walkabout.  The kangaroos are right there by you!  This time an amazing docent was there with a kangaroo hide to touch.  Liam was the only one who was willing to touch it for awhile.  Surprisingly, no one has a stuffed kangaroo for their cuddly.

 Ceili Rain got a stamp.  Big four year old birthday girl!
 Malachi, sling, and me.  Thanks Miss C for documenting I was actually there!
 The gang’s all here!

As a reward for surviving the zoo with seven “monkeys” and a mama bear, we rewarded Miss C with funnel cake.  She was very thrilled!

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PJ Day

Contrary to popular homeschooling myths, we don’t do school in our pjs.  All the time.  We do occasionally have pj days but those are a lot less than our dress in real clothes days.  So, when PJ Day at Bruster’s rolls around, it’s quite the celebration.

Especially when it falls on your youngest’s birthday!

 He enjoyed every bite.

Our neighbors ventured out with us (that’s the cause for extra people in the picture).  As a bonus, Grandmere and Papa went with us too.  They were with us at the last PJ Day but that was a couple of years ago. Sorry, missed getting pictures of them.  But they were there!

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First Haircut

If you looked at Chi’s basket pictures, you will notice he is not lacking in one major area.  Hair.  It was with great trepidation, that I decided to cut Malachi’s hair the week of his birthday.  My main reason for being so hesitant was the curls.  The boy has some beautiful sweet curls in the back of his head.  They are gorgeous I tell ya.

But, he needed a trim.  The poor boy was starting to look like a girl.

Off to work I went.

 This is precut.

 Okay, he really has curls.  It takes a few days after washing and they come out but guess what happened when I trimmed it in the back?  It got curlier.  One day I’m going to trim it all around and see if the whole head of hair goes in to curl mode.

Yes, this was quite an adventure.  I think I did this the day the house flooded and Mark was trying to talk to the water clean up guys and the kids were running around everywhere.  I’m never one to run from a challenge.

I will get pictures of those curls.  I promise.  Just be patient it may be a little while.

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Sneak Peek, Spring Pictures

Tracy ventured out with us last week and braved all the bugs and such to get some spring pictures for us.  We have taken note.  Bug spray is a MUST around our neighborhood creek in the spring and summer.  A must.

Anyway, we thought you all would enjoy a sneak peek at the pictures she got.  I have to say I can’t wait to see the rest!

 You might have to click on it to get a better reading on the signage.  Or just look below.

We are excited, thrilled, surprised, and thrilled to announce that we will be adding to our bunch in December (or January)!

Yes, it is early.  Yes, we just found out.  But we believe every life is a gift and choose to celebrate it as long as we have that life.  Malachi and this baby will be 22 months (almost 23 months) apart.  That’s the biggest gap yet.  And we (meaning I) was just settled in enjoying our blessings and getting used to my baby not being a baby when lo, and behold, God gives us another one.

My first doctor’s appointment is this week.  I’m almost 100% that I’ll have my progesterone checked since it was low with the last two pregnancies and I had to go on supplements for the first trimester (not fun but willing to do what needs to be done to keep this little guy, or girl, growing).  So, please pray that my numbers are high.

A couple of prayer requests to go along with that:
1.  No subchorionic hematoma.  Not sure if the doctor will want to do an ultrasound so early but either way, whenever one is done, please pray there is no blood clot anywhere near the baby.
2.  VBAC.  Yes, no doubt about it, I want to try a VBAC.  I have a wonderful and amazing bestie who just so happens to be a L&D nurse who has VBAC’d.  She’s agreed to be a doula for me.  I’ve done this whole giving birth thing without a c-section six times but I know having her there comforting and supporting me will help.  Not to mention our laughter and conversation will distract me from the pain. One of the big VBAC prayers is that I can go in to labor on my own (which I haven’t done since Zoe was born).  Inductions are just not good for VBACs and I would really like to avoid that this time.  I am trusting the Lord to provide.
3.  My mystery pregnancy rash.  I got it very early with Malachi and it continued up until 30 weeks.  It just so happens that at 30 weeks I started drinking a Mama’s brew tea that had raspberry leaf, nettles leaf, peppermint, and alfalfa in it.  I’m already starting with this mystery rash again (really, they should name it after me).  I’m smathering myself with lotion twice a day and drinking one cup of tea a day.  Praying that this works to combat the rash before it gets really bad.

Thank you for your prayers for us and this sweet little blessing growing.

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Sharing…

My children have been in a sharing mood this month.  I wish I could say that sharing revolved around toys.  Alas, it didn’t.  It revolved around germs.  Bryant started with a virus that included a cough and a fever.  He had it a few days and then Zoe got it.  Then Ceili Rain.  Then Ace.  Then Liam.  Then Josiah.  Then Malachi.  Malachi and Ceili Rain kept it the longest which meant a trip to the doctor.  There we discovered that Ceili Rain had pneumonia, an ear infection, and wheezing.  Malachi was just diagnosed with wheezing but the doctor thought that he might actually have pneumonia but it was hard to tell due to the wheezing.

Mark, who has an immune system made of steel just had a cold.  And I.  Well, I had it for three days and it included a fever and the lovely cough.  And it was all during testing for Zoe, Ace, and Liam.  Still working on recovering from that one.

And that.  That is the reason I did not blog last week.  Without further adieu…here’s a smathering of pictures to make up for my week long absence.

Simply adorable!

 We live in a neighborhood with new construction.  We’ve learned that with new construction comes scheduled power outtages.  This power outtage meant no television time before nap, so we made up our own “entertainment”  using the hand puppets.  These stories were quiet interesting.  And that’s all I have to say about that.

 I’m telling you this kid is too cute!

 See.
 And sister is a tad silly.
 Okay, so is Big Brother.  Do you think we take their pictures enough?
 Ceili Rain was trying to avoid rest time by sitting by Mark and asking all sorts of questions while he graded math.  Mark, was a big enforcer as you can see from his silly picture.
 Slides and a baby with a lot of hair.
 Miss Maggie, Tracy’s beautiful girl in her birthday dress that I made.

 We purchased several discounted cooupons for frozen yogurt.  When the expiration date was looming we decided to haul the kids for yogurt dates.  It’s been over a month and I am still full from all that yogurt.  Apparently, so was Ceili Rain.

 The week before Malachi’s birthday he got a virus.  I’m guessing it was roseola again because he broke out in a rash the day of his birthday but had no fever.  One of the benefits to fevers…cuddles and rocking my babies.

 Another fun side to new construction.  Giant sand piles.  Yes, we are that weird family.
 They were playing “King of the Mountain.”

And the grand finale…Look who is now apart of the Upright Club?

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Play Kitchen

Well before Christmas, I started a hunt for an entertainment center to convert in to a play kitchen for Ceili Rain.  Yes, it was Pinterest inspired.  There were several designs but this one and this one were my main inspiration.

I landed this television stand at a Online Yard Sale for $25.

Everyone pitched in…

…and this was the finished project.

One happy birthday girl.

We used paint that we had on hand.  Including chalkboard paint.  We put a hook on one side for the apron and an old frame I painted on the other with chalkboard paint there.  Mark split the solid door and put a stable shelf in.  He moved the hinges to the bottom to make an oven.  The other door, Mark busted out the glass and put a solid piece of wood in.  He also added another shelf to that drawer for the fridge.   I used leftover fabric for the curtain and just put in a gathering stitch and used my hand dandy stable gun to adhere the curtain.

Mark used the old door pull holders for the stove knobs. He cut out a ‘J’ for the faucet.  I found a bowl at a thrift store for 25 cents.

Total we probably spent about $35 on it.  That look on her face is priceless!

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Happy Birthday Ceili Rain!

 Three days after Malachi’s birthday, we celebrated our second princess turning four!  Her birthday fell in the middle of the week but her best friend’s birthday was the following Saturday so we decided to do a joint party for the girls!

So, here are the celebrations!

Ceili Rain opened some family gifts on the day of her birthday.

 And she had ice cream.  See.  I told her we would wait and do the cake for her party, but that we would have an ice cream bar on the day of her birthday.  She was good with that.

 Granddaddy and Ge came up in the middle of the week with her presents (and Malachi’s).

American Girl dolls are always a hit in our home.  This is a good time to mention that when Ceili Rain is extremely excited she gets really quiet.  I was a bit worried about her not liking the gift but she did the same thing with another gift!

Party day dawned!  She asked for a giraffe cake.  Thanks Pinterest.  So, here it is in process…

 And here it is complete.  That’s Megan’s cake on the side.  She asked for a hippo.  During the party we realized we should have had a Safari party with all these animals.

I stumbled upon a link to a website with animals that you could stuff at home.  Kristina and I were game for it.  So were the umpteen other kids we invited!  It turned out to be a great idea but it was all hands on deck to stuff twenty animals!

 Waiting in line.
We got little shirts and fabric markers to decorate for the animals.
Mark has nice handwriting.  He got to be in charge of the birth certificates.
Stuffed and ready!
 Present time!

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Malachi in a Basket

Before Malachi was born, there was pinterest.  And one day, I stumbled upon a year’s worth of a baby in a basket.  Accept it was the baby on top of clothes in a plastic basket.  I loved the idea but simplified with my pretty basket and Malachi’s crib blanket.
Here’s a look back at Malachi in a basket.  We could also call this Progression of Moppy Hair.
 Newborn

 Two Months
Four Months
Six Months
Nine Months
 Twelve Months
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One Year

March last year, we welcomed a beautiful brown eyed brown haired little man in to our family!  And we are so blessed to have him.  Mark says, “He came in to this world wanting to see where he’s going and he’s continued that way his whole first year.”

Since he’s our little monster (in a cute way of course), we had a monster theme celebration.

Ceili Rain deemed herself my kitchen helper on cake baking day.  Well, technically she is.  Fridays are her day to help me.  Either way, if I am in the kitchen she is right there beside me.  

 Tada!  Big monster and baby monster.  These were finished around midnight the day before his birthday.  The only reason I was able to stay up that late was because a neighbor came over to help me prep and keep me awake to finish them!  I think they turned out rather cute.

 Obviously this is pre-cake cuteness.
 The scrunch nose smile is always a crowd pleaser!
 I think someone said cake!
 Just checking to make sure it’s okay to eat this stuff.
Sugar coma
While Malachi feasted, his “friends” and siblings decorated goody bags.
 Malachi loved his gifts but I think his friends loved them even more!

 This is Ace with his best buddy Jack.  I’m not sure who took this picture but I absolutely love it!  Jack’s had a couple of rough years and to see them just hanging out being good friends…Well, it warms my heart.  Especially since Jack’s mom is my best friend.  Bonus!

 By the time my parents came up to celebrate Malachi’s birthday, he had gotten the hang of the present thing.  I think he totally loved it too!

I worked super hard to make Malachi a cute little monster hat (my nieces can vouch for that).
We did our best to get a picture of the hat on the baby.  This was the best picture.
And this is how he preferred the hat.

A preview of his  basket picture.  He had to sit up in it and rock!  I’ll share a look back over Malachi tomorrow.

Here are his stats from his 12 month check up.

21 lbs 3 oz (25%)
29 inches tall (27%)

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