mail

i love getting letters and cards in the mail. they are so much more personal and special than getting an email. but don't get me wrong, i also enjoy getting emails too... i really just love hearing from friends and family, since we all live so far apart. i need to be better about sending things to others. i'm pretty good with getting christmas cards out on time, but i often forget about all the other special holidays and occasions.

i got this a few days ago from my friend kitra. she was my supervisor and hired me for my first job out here. we worked together for a year. the photo is of her new baby dylan. he's 5 months old and is so cute and chubby!

and i got this one today from my friend haley. she is married to danny's good friend paul. they live about 2 hours away, so we don't see them often enough. she made the flower out of cut paper, with the help of her adorable daughter gracie.

i really appreciate both of them. thanks ladies! happy mothers day to you as well.

*update 5/9* my mom and dad always send me a mothers day card. i received this one from them today. mom said that the picture reminded them of me. how nice. they also sent a hefty donation, to go towards our disneyland fund

thanks guys. i love you both!

checkup

malcolm had his 15 month checkup yesterday. his dr. says he looks and is doing great! he now weighs 21 lbs 4.5 oz. is 30 inches long and his head is in the 60th percentile. haha, his head size has always been way ahead of his body! he sure seems to be getting a lot bigger. sometimes i look at him, and think "who is that baby?" like he has changed, and i don't even recognize him. i remember thinking that when alanna was growing too. funny how much they can change in such a small amount of time.

waiting to be seen by the dr.

danny is home

danny got home this morning around 3 am. he says the trip was great. good friends, good hangouts, good eats, good stores, and good music - apparently trial swept every other band away, and were amazing! i wish i had been there. he brought alanna back some pretty awesome kidrobot and uglydoll toys. and he brought me these from chicago diner:

holy crap, i'm gonna be sick!

alanna went to the dentist today. NO cavaties! she sure does have a sweet tooth, but always seems to avoid getting any of those lil' buggers. but here's one thing that she can't avoid much longer...

dun dun dun... BRACES!! yikes.

so i guess we'll be making an appoinment soon for a consultation. she is not stoked. she's bummed about having braces and glasses, haha. looks like we're gonna have to go to the eye dr. as well, for some contacts. holy crap, i almost have a teenager!!

the price of children

my mother sent me this in an email today. it made me cry. i thought i would share it with all of you...

The Price of Children

The government recently calculated the cost of raising a child from birth to 18 and came up with $160,140 for a middle income family. Talk about sticker shock! That doesn't even touch college tuition.

But $160,140 isn't so bad if you break it down. It translates into:

* $8,896.66 a year,

* $741.38 a month, or

* $171.08 a week.

* That's a mere $24.24 a day!

* Just over a dollar an hour.


Still, you might think the best financial advice is don't have children if you want to be "rich." Actually, it is just the opposite. What do you get for your $160,140?

* Naming rights. First, middle, and last!

* Glimpses of God every day.

* Giggles under the covers every night.

* More love than your heart can hold.

* Butterfly kisses and Velcro hugs.

* Endless wonder over rocks, ants, clouds, and warm cookies.

* A hand to hold, usually covered with jelly or chocolate.

* A partner for blowing bubbles, flying kites

* Someone to laugh yourself silly with, no matter what the boss said or how your stocks performed that day.


For $160,140, you never have to grow up. You get to:

* finger-paint,

* carve pumpkins,

* play hide-and-seek,

* catch lightning bugs, and

* never stop believing in Santa Claus.


You have an excuse to:

* keep reading the Adventures of Piglet and Pooh,

* watching Saturday morning cartoons,

* going to Disney movies, and

* wishing on stars.

* You get to frame rainbows, hearts, and flowers under refrigerator magnets and collect spray painted noodle wreaths for Christmas, hand prints set in clay or Mother's Day, and cards with backward letters for Father's Day.


For $160,140, there is no greater bang for your buck. You get to be a hero just for:

* retrieving a Frisbee off the garage roof,

* taking the training wheels off a bike,

* removing a splinter,

* filling a wading pool,

* coaxing a wad of gum out of bangs, and coaching a baseball team that never wins but always gets treated to ice cream regardless.

You get a front row seat to history to witness the:

* first step,

* first word,

* first bra,

* first date, and

* first time behind the wheel.


You get to be immortal. You get another branch added to your family tree, and if you're lucky, a long list of limbs in your obituary called grandchildren and great grandchildren. You get an education in psychology, nursing, criminal justice, communications, and human sexuality that no college can match.


In the eyes of a child, you rank right up there under God. You have all the power to heal a boo-boo, scare away the monsters under the bed, patch a broken heart, police a slumber party, ground them forever, and love them without limits. So, one day they will, like you, love without counting the cost. That is quite a deal for the price!!!!!!!

Happy Mothers Day!

midnight monster party

malcolm's sleep schedule is awful. absolutely awful. it always has been. but this past month it has gotten so much worse. he stays up way too late. he has his days and nights mixed up. when he was first born, everyone kept telling me that he would figure it out, and that it would eventually correct itself. but no, not in our house. i'm lucky if i can get him in bed by 1 am. some nights he stays up until 5 am. it sucks so bad. when we asked the dr. for advice, he recommended a book. but seriously? do i really have time to read a 500+ page book? no, i don't. it is really hard for me to find the quiet time (and concentration) to get through it. i'm only on page 83. i know i need to start getting him up earlier. but it seems impossible. i cannot function on 3 hours of sleep. and if i do get him up before he normally would, he just falls back asleep and takes a crazy long nap. i am very frustrated by the whole situation. i know i can't be mad at him, it's not his fault, because i am the one who is facilitating these bad sleep habits.

i need help! i want some normality to my life. i want to be able to leave the house before 2 pm. most importantly, i want malcolm to get on a healthy schedule.

he sleeps with me, on the futon in his room. it has been like 8 months since he slept in his crib, and even back then it was only about 3 or 4 hours at a time. so i would also love for him to sleep an entire night in his own crib. but we need to work on this late hours situation first.

last night he was a little wild thing! every time i turned around, he was getting into something. he cracks me up, and i love him to death, but last night was pretty much my breaking point. i have got to do something about this... pronto.

here he is sitting in the book shelf

then he climbed under the computer table

and then i look, and he had climbed into the drawer of the coffee table! haha, what a funny boy.

i had to help him out of it, he was stuck in there


if i fit, i would totally sleep in his crib! mama cat loves it, she's probably used it more than malcolm

15 months

malcolm is 15 months old today! wow, time flies. seems like it was just yesterday that he was sooo tiny and fragile. and now he is getting so big and fearless. and learning and trying new things everyday. he is so much fun to have around.

here he is at only 2.5 months

i took this one today while he was napping. he loves to take his morning nap in his bouncer seat, but he has almost outgrown it... how am i ever going to be able to shower and get ready for the day without it!?

we went to old navy today and malcolm was very patient while alanna and i tried on clothes. i got him some super cute swim trunks, and a matching sun hat (not pictured). i tried to put the matching flip flops on him, but he cried, so i didn't get them... i think the part between his toes scared him. i can't wait til we can go to the beach!

we also went to target and got him his first fork. he loved using it at dinner.

mmm, soy nuggets!

this is the face he makes when he is full (usually there is a bunch of food in his mouth and it falls out into his lap, haha)

this past month:

• he finally cut his 4th tooth. he now has 2 on top, and 2 on bottom.

• he took his first trip to the ER, and got his first stitches.

• he has graduated to size 4 diapers.

he has also learned:

• to say "mama", "papa", and "baba" pretty good (plus all kinds of other baby gibberish).

• to stand up from a sitting position, all by himself (no more wall or object to help him out).

• to crouch down to look at &/or pick things up. it melts my heart.

• to climb up onto the futon in his room (he's been able to get off of it for a few months, but now he can get up there all by himself). he also climbs into the fridge, and onto the bottom shelf of the microwave cart, haha.

• to recognize little creatures in our yard, and he gets excited to see them (like squirrels and fuzzy caterpillars).

• to give the following on command: kisses, hugs, high-fives, and head-butts! (pretty awesome)

• to spin himself around in tiny circles.

i'm sure there are lots more things that i am forgetting, but my blogging time is limited. i love how he understands me now. i can totally tell when he understands what i am saying, and it is great! like when i say "let's go change your diaper", he grabs onto my finger, and walks upstairs with me to his room. it's these little things that make me happy.

treats

this box arrived at our door today, yay! (thanks kelly)

so awesome... but they were meant to be for danny, and he left late last night for the weekend. sad, i know. so i stuck one of each treat in the freezer and i'm keeping my fingers crossed that they will still be good when he gets home on monday. looks like i'm a single parent for the next four days. just me and the kids. danny, we miss you already!

while the folks are away...

...the kids will play!

on friday, danny's mom and dad went on an overnight camping trip with their two dogs. so we took lucky dog and the kids out to their house for the evening. we don't have a fully fenced yard, and lucky never gets to go outside without being on a leash. they have a very nice, large fenced yard, with lots of grass, and he loved being able to run around. malcolm loved exploring too. alanna and danny had fun playing badminton. and i just loved spending some time outside with my family in the nice weather.

lucky grazing

danny calls these his "kanye west" shorts







malcolm had lots of fun, but was so tired by the time we got home and were ready for bed, that he fell asleep on the floor! this photo is kinda dark and blurry (taken by the light of the tv). pretty funny.


tonight we met up with dan and vicky for dinner. here's a cute one of malcolm and his grandpa.