Pink.

As some of you may know, my mom was diagnosed with breast cancer this week. It's been pretty emotional, but I am confident that the Lord will give her (and us) strength throughout this process. We do not know what stage or if the cancer has spread and we will not know until after surgery. She is having a double mastectomy on Wednesday, which we are all extremely anxious for. She is being extremely positive, which has helped me stay calm...for the most part. Philippians 4:6-7 says "Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus" I have found so much peace in this verse these last few days and though I go from freaking out to being extremely confident, I continue to put my trust in the Lord. Please keep my mom and our family in your prayers.

Kai showing his support by wearing pink :)
Actually he found this on the floor and wanted me to put in on him...
I know, he kind of looks like a girl, but he doesn't seem to mind!

Santa.

Yep, we took Kai to see Santa last night. I really wasn't all too worried that he was going to cry and freak out-that really isn't his personality, but you really never know. Thankfully my assumption was right-I guess he hasn't really developed "stranger danger" yet. At first he wanted to get down and then he got all curious about it him, but you could definitely see the uncertainty in his eyes. I'm pretty sure he asked Santa for a puppy...

How Much is that Doggy in the Window?

WOOF WOOF! The one with the waggley tail...

Malachi just LOVES dogs, which has not always been the case, but somewhere between May and now he's just in-love with them. I realize that we live in an apartment and having a puppy wouldn't be good for either party, so for now we will wait and just make random trips to the "Pack 'N Mail" down the street...they have this huge Yellow Lab and every time we go in he runs right up to MJ. Yes, we are on a first name basis :) He's such a brave little sucker too - he'll just run right up and stick his hand out for MJ to lick. It's cuteness. But for the time being our little nugget is going to have to continue loving on this little plastic puppy. His name is Phillip Johnny Bob and Kai takes him for walks around the apartment daily...and then he shoots him through the basketball hoop. On second thought, maybe he isn't ready for a real puppy :)

Giving Phillip Johnny Bob some love...

Exhibit 1: why he isn't ready for a real puppy :)
(taken on my phone so it's a little blurry)

Tis the Season!

So starting around November when all the talk about "Christmas being right around the corner" began, Brian and I decided that we weren't going to be putting up a Christmas tree this year. For one, we aren't even going to be home on Christmas day and two, we were absolutely sure that Kai would tackle the thing on several occasions, thus, making the whole point of putting a tree up more dangerous than fun :) But as Thanksgiving passed and all the hustle and bustle of Christmas began, I started to feel like a big fat Grinch without the tree. I mean seriously, I had no decorations, no Christmas festivities and I was just being a darn grouch! So while Brian was in Dallas I whipped out that little Christmas tree with all her glory and fully intended to put it up while he was gone, BUT then I decided that it would be pretty fun to have Brian home to do it too, so Kai and I just sat and waited (not to mention that we both were sick, with little to no energy...) And boy am I glad we waited!! Brian and I had soooo much fun putting up the tree with our little man - just the sheer pure joy of watching his face when those lights first lit up was worth it all, even if the tree only lasts a day (we'll see how tomorrow goes hehe) His face, the excitement, the curiosity, all worth it. Not going to lie, I got pretty teary. It was just priceless!

Helping Daddy get the tree out.

This is his interpretation of "helping" :)Kai's reaction when we 1st turned the lights on - priceless.LOVED the lights! Completely enamored.If they only tasted as good as they looked...Doing a little bit more investigating...Earlier today I decided to use some of my leftover pumpkin mix to make some bread (leftover, as in, unopened cans in the cupboard, not open since Thanksgiving in the fridge...just to clarify). As I got to work on the food, Kai got to work making a nice big mess in the kitchen. Eventually he started getting fed up with me not paying attention to him so I pulled up a chair and let him play on the counter...which he eventually discovered the drawers, which led to an even bigger disaster in the kitchen. Oh well, it was worth it - the pumpkin bread, delish and I got some quality QT with my little man. It was a pretty darn good day!

A little mess never hurt anyone :)

What a big helper!

Ps. 9 days until I go to CO!!! HORRAY!

Barf.

That's what Kai has been doing all day. Just running around puking his brains out. Poor kid. I knew something was wrong when he woke up at 10p last night. I let him cry for a little bit and then went in and gave him some cuddles. He kept giving out little burps so I assumed that his tummy was bothering him...and apparently I was right! We were up for most of the night...well, at least I was. Kai slept on and off - typically I have a hard time falling back asleep if I know he's going to wake up again. He woke up for the day around 7a and chugged his milk. Yep, mistake #1. He only ate a single bite of his banana and wanted nothing to do with any food so my suspicions grew that his tummy might be bothering him. He was being a super snuggle bug so, having not slept that great last night I assumed he was still sleepy. I put him back down and he was OUT...for 20 minutes and then the tears came. Blood curdling screams with lots of tears. I went in and instantly smelled my worst fear. VOMIT. I hate everything about it. The smell, the texture, the smell...oh goodness. So I strip him, strip his bedding, wash my hands, wash his face and hands and put clothes back on him and make the bed. The funny thing is, he was acting perfectly normal. Running around, screaming, laughing, playing and then he'd stop dead in his tracks, open his mouth and it would start pouring out. So nasty. Now I don't know why, but my motherly instinct told me to catch it...silly me. So here I am with a cup of curdled milk puke in my hands and a kid covered in nastiness. The smell OHHHHH the smell. Gag.gag.gag. Finally I clean everything up and take Kai back to his room. I can tell he is just exhausted. This time I just rock him and give him extra snuggles. It's amazing how snuggles can make you feel better - everyone knows that!! It's not long before he (we) passes out. And then it's not long after that he throws up all over me, all over the rocker, all over the floor, all over himself, all over everything. Clean clean clean. Barf, strip, clean, repeat. That has pretty much been my day. I think he's been in about 3 different outfits already and its only noon. He's finally napping and it's been about 40 minutes so we'll see how long he'll go. What I would give to be sick instead of him...poor little nugget.

Colorado is my Home.

I am homesick. There is just no getting around it. And honestly, I'm not sure if this is bad, but I'm not even that homesick for my own family. I mean, yes I miss my sisters and parents a bunch, but there's just something about Colorado that takes over all of my "homesickness" for home. Maybe it's the amazing college memories I have from there or the friends/family that still live there, but I just always long to go back. I just miss it. Plain.and.simple. I really miss my friends - you know the ones that you don't see very often but when you do it's like you just saw them yesterday, and you can laugh and talk about nothing for hours on end or they can just pop in and even if you were in the middle of doing something they wouldn't feel weird about just making themselves at home or helping you out. And I miss Brian's family (and no I'm not just saying this because they might read it!) They all live in Colorado and they are so much fun! Brian's mom has 3 younger sister just like me and it is so fun to get together with them all!! They get together for the holidays/birthdays/any days and just have a good time. I'm really just babbling and throwing myself a pity party. But I miss Colorado and want to go back. The.end.

How could you not miss girls that make this face?
(Even though Kula doesn't live in CO anymore...boo)

Mom Knows Best.

So the other night Kai was just being a pill. Looking back it really wasn't all that bad, but for about an hour he was being pretty needy and clingy and I couldn't do anything right. He wanted to be held so I picked him up, he wanted to be put down so I did, but then he got mad that I put him down and wanted to be picked up again. Ugh. It was just exhausting. Finally I called my mom, more so to give myself a break. We chatted for a bit before Kai just started getting fussy (like the fake fussy, not the I REALLY NEED SOMETHING fussy). Out of frustration I just said, "seriously I don't know what to do with this kid" to which my mom responded, "just let him run around naked for awhile." Duh. Why hadn't I thought of that?!? The kid loves being naked. Sure enough, I stripped him right down and BAM, the fussy boy was gone! It was AMAZING...until he peed on me, but that's another story :)

As a little side story, when Kai was running rampant stark naked in our apartment, I remembered that I needed to try on his swim trunks for when we go on vacation. I thought one pair MIGHT fit him so we tried them on right then and there. They fit, which isn't why I'm telling you this. I tell because to see him with those trunks on WITHOUT a diaper was absolutely hysterical. He kept grabbing himself and doing these different movements while looking down at his ahem ahem. His facial expressions were so stinking cute and you could just see the curiosity in his face. Unfortunately I did not get this on video or take any pictures BUT I might have to do it again just so I can share it for you all to see.

Milestone?

So I realize this isn't your traditional "milestone", but I really think it was ground breaking. Okay, maybe not "ground breaking", but you know what I mean. We don't really hit up fast-food all too often and when we do it's typically Chick-fil-a because Kai just LOVES their nuggets and for awhile that was all we could really get him to eat (stinker). Well Saturday afternoon I was really wanting my coffee (yes, I'm addicted, thank you) and we were all out. Brian was out of town and I hadn't really gotten ready for the day and, well, let's face it, I was a lazy bum. So instead of running to the store to pick up more coffee I hit up McDonald's for a nice hot cup of $1.00 coffee. As I was pulling up to the drive-thru I thought, you know, Kai does need to eat lunch, I'm being a little lazy this morning SOOOOO bam, he gets his very 1st Happy Meal. Being the picky eater that he is I was a little nervous that he wouldn't eat it, so I got him the nuggets and gave him a french fry for the ride home. Well in the short 5 minute drive Malachi pretty much ate 1/2 his fries. At this point I was starting to think that 1. the fries are probably all over the backseat or 2. he's going to have a massive tummy ache from all this grease, I'm a horrible mom. Well when we get home, lucky me, the fries weren't all over the seat, they were all in his tummy. We get inside and I cut up his nuggets and he devours every.single.one. Then he continues on his fries and finishes all but 4 or 5. It was jaw dropping really. For a kid that doesn't eat a whole lot I was pretty impressed! But then again, that is probably why most of the nation is obese. Ugh. Oh well, he liked it and I'm glad he got a couple extra (hundred?) calories for the day. Not to mention he LOVED his Happy Meal toy - transformers, he totally digs it.

Mechanic.

Since I can remember Kai has loved wheels. If he sees anything with wheels he wants it...IMMEDIATELY. Right before his 1st birthday we had gone to visit my sister Allison at work. She was working at Teavana in the ohhh-so "glorious" Maine Mall and Kai had not yet started walking. Well the mall wasn't very busy and Kai was sick of being carried around (though he loves being in the Beco...highly recommend investing in one if you have a kiddo) so me, not being the most over-protective germ freak of a mother, let him crawl around for a little bit (let the judgments begin haha). Literally as soon as I set him down he took off like a you-know-what and chased down the Fed-Ex guy with his big cart full of packages and BIG wheels. The Fed-Ex guy was super sweet and let Kai play with the wheels and then he'd slowly move onto to the next store so Kai could chase him down. Anyway, that is where Kai's love affair for wheels all began...
Side note: As you can imagine Malachi's hands, knees and feet were all disgustingly filthy after crawling around on the mall floor sooooo I probably wouldn't recommend it...though I would definitely let him do it again :)

So fast-forward to the present day. Malachi still loves wheels and will sit playing by himself with a car, truck or train for quite some time. I even have this one car that you shake and the longer you shake it the longer the wheels will spin...it gets really annoying at times, but Kai LOVES it. Every time the wheels spin he gets this excited look on his face and starts giggling. Lately though, he's been obsessed with his little riding car thingy. To ride on? No, of course not. To carry, yes, literally carry, it into the kitchen, flip it upside down and play with the wheels. He'll sit there turning that thing over and over, spinning the wheels and just talking to himself. He's also been really into carrying everything. And by everything I mean, everything that he's not supposed to be carrying. He'll pick up his stool and carry it, his car, his bag of blocks, his wagon of building blocks, and yesterday we had to pick him up diapers (we use disposable for night and cloth during the day) and he carried his box of diapers around. And I'm not talking "attempted" to carry - he literally carried it. Now, that being said, obviously he doesn't get very far, but still. The.kid.is.crazy.

This is mid-fall while carrying his car...

He just decided to stay down and play...

Flipping it back overFlipping it again...Yeah, nothing to do with anything.

Side note #2: It's really funny when he's carrying something and falls. He gets so frustrated - but he picks himself back up and tries again :) Yeah, he's one tough nugget.

Just A Picture.