Baby Malik!

In the wee hours of the morning we waited.

 

Little baby Malik was born At 3:50am, March 7th, 2010. 

 

  

He's a Precious 9 pounds 2 Ounces at 39 weeks, 5 days. Beat Rylee by 2 ounces at 38 weeks. They already have a lot in common. 

 

  

  

  

  

Even Rylee loved her new (and first!) Cousin!

Yes, he's precious. I'm so SO excited to be an Aunt, and Kenny to be an Uncle

 My Brother and Andrea will make great parents. I'm so excited for them!!

The Toddler Stage

That is the stage we are in now. You know those years they call the "terrible twos"? Well, it's a lie, just like "Morning Sickness" Is a lie. It's "All Day Sickness" and it's the "Terrible Toddlers."

Rylee hit that 'terrible two' stage all too early for me. I knew it would happen. I could see it coming. It hit in full force the last few days, though.

I attributed some of it to her probably teething again. She's only got 4 teeth and all her peers have 8+, I'm not worried about her development at all - I just figure it's high time for her to be teething again and I'm pretty sure she's got another couple trying to break through. If the last year has been any indication it could be well over a month, though, before we see any relief on the teething front.

However, there has been a major shift in her attitude. I couldn't believe it at first. We do our best to be very consistent in our discipline, so she does not get confused and knows that there is a very clear line between what is right and okay for her to do - and what is wrong and not okay.

Just a few days ago she started deliberately hitting me - in the face - she definitely knows better. She has also started that toddler thing where she looks at you before she touches/does that forbidden thing, makes sure I am watching, I tell her "No No, Rylee," and she deliberately does it anyway. Then turns and runs away to hide from punishment.

It makes me so sad to have to discipline her so often. She is growing and stretching her wings. Finding herself and pushing boundaries. So, we are letting her. All the while teaching that there are indeed consequences to her actions - the good ones as well as the bad ones.

It does stress me out, though, when she screams and screams and screams because she repeatedly does what she knows is not okay. Causing my blood sugar to skyrocket - then I become short-tempered with the short-tempered baby. I need to remind myself of this, and do my best not to stress it. She is a child and children will behave this way. It's in our nature. I just need to sit back, be patient, and take it all in stride.

My sweet sweet, always happy, very very good little baby girl was replaced by a monster today! Where did this little missy run off to?

"I Love You Baby..."

"...Oh, pretty baby, now that I found you, stay
And let me love you, baby.
Let me love you.

You're just too good to be true.
Can't take my eyes off you.
You'd be like Heaven to touch.
I wanna hold you so much......"

The Cutest Pregnant Girl Ever.

We had a very fun photo shoot today.

Such fun subjects, My Brother, Andrea and My Nephew-To-Be!

Sweet Baby Love

Seriously one of my favorite pictures.

A really great break from the insanity this week. That baby can come anytime now, or he can wait 4 more weeks. Whatever works. We got the pre-baby pictures done finally!

Every.Single.Moment.

In case you haven't realized it yet, I love taking pictures of my little girl.

She's just so darn cute and such a huge part of my life, I can't help but document it all the time.

Maybe someday, She'll have a sibling so I can document the two of them laughing and wrestling and fighting together.

But for now, I have her. I love her with all my heart and enjoy every.single.moment.

Say What!?

My baby is 10 months old already!? No way! I don't believe it!

....well, actually, I kinda do believe it. Every bit of it, and I'm still loving it!

I am really glad I've taken the time to really cherish every moment of my adorable daughters babyhood.

She has recently taken to shaking her head "no" and it's SO cute! She is starting to learn cause and effect, so sometimes that "no" shaking is purposeful. Other times it's just because she's enjoying the act of it.

Still not walking but is coming ever so close. I can't wait until she does. Seriously. No, I'm not crazy. What most people are not understanding is that she still insists on being held and in my arms as much as she can be - even though she can crawl around everywhere. She's getting much more adventurous and is crawling away from me at times - but those moments are few (which I'm okay with. I do love her dependency on me.).

She still says "mama" with cute regularity. No "papa" yet. We were sitting with her a couple mornings ago trying to get her to say papa and she'd look directly at Kenny and say "mama!" It was awesome. I think she says "numnum" for food, but it's undetermined if that's purposeful yet - still cute, though!

Ever more curious about things in life, like cows!

Oh Sweet Winter!

It's definitely letting us know it's trying to make its grand entrance!

It's only a little into October and I feel like I might need to break out my winter jacket! YEESH! SO COLD HERE.

It's "fine" during the day this week when the sun is out and there is no wind. Just need a light hoodie. Put that wind chill factor in and OH MAN it is COLD.

THEN, that blessed sun sets and it gets even COLDER.

I make a point every year to try and make it as long as possible without wearing my winter jacket. Why? I don't know! I just like the mind over matter that it takes to get my body acclimated to the temperatures. I usually make it till sometime in December. I don't think that's gonna happen this year.

I've spent the last few days trying to find Rylee a winter jacket. A month ago when we had NO extra money there were cute ones (also when it was still 90º here). Now there are none when we have a little extra.

I have also spent the last few days trying to find her some reasonably priced snow boots that are bendable/not hard-soled. You'd think they'd do that for petite babies. Rylee is a small baby, not quite walking yet but will be come time to wear those stinking boots. We get real winters here too, not a light dusting of snow that shuts Seattle down for the week.

I have a feeling this winter is gonna be crazy like last year, the winter that Rylee brought in. But it's starting MUCH earlier than it has. Maybe it won't stretch as long into what should be our Spring time? That would be awesome. Heehee.

My baby will be a year old in 2 months. I cannot believe that. I remember allllll too vividly how AWFUL I felt this time last year. Praying I didn't throw up while at work because of heart burn. Trying to work with my back that was trying to snap in 2 because of my 9 pound baby in the making. Trying to not dye from my broken ribs thanks to my sweet gymnast. Yes, that was what was happening this time last year.

This time 2 years ago I was pregnant with our twins and just finding out. We had only been married a few months. It was a crazy time in life. The last 2 years have been intense and I am in the longest stretch of "unpregnancy" as I have been in since marrying my love.

Ya know, I am just fine with that!!!

I feel like we're starting to get things a little more figured out right. Rylee is growing and learning. We're getting our debts paid off and thinking about actually getting Kenny back to school. I'm working more regularly. Yes, things, though still tumultuous, are coming along quite swimmingly.

My best friend is getting married. Gotta start working on Christmas presents, and Christmas Cards, and a "newsletter" from our humble little family. Yes, these last 2 years have been "Banner Years" for us. Much to be thankful for. Much to remember. Much to come.

I should be sleeping now. "Sleep when the baby sleeps." Yeah Right.