Baby Baby



Before





After

So, yes, we've had a baby!  Here are the vital stats:

Eli Grant Malley

8 lbs. 7 oz.

20.5 inches

May 12, 2011

Who knows what time it was--I was doped up

Big blessings this year!  Eli was born, Christian was baptized on Saturday.  Jonathan gave the talk on the Holy Ghost at the Stake Baptismal Service.  It was great.  He tailored it for all the little ones getting baptized and spoke right to them.  I was a really proud wife, but with my husband, that's always the case.  He baptized Christian and he also baptized my friend's daughter.  That was really special. 

People ask me what it's like having five kids.  I'll tell you:

Fun

Fantastic

Loud

Smelly

Stressful

Funny

Spiritual

Mundane

Extraordinary

Spectacular

Messy

Silly

Sticky

Happy





Family Home Evening

Let me just start off by saying the Primary Presidency in our ward is AWESOME!  Last Sunday, they gave each of the kids a blue pillowcase.  The seam at the end was covered with a red ribbon with gold lettering that said, 'I Know the Scriptures Are True.'  In the center was a yellow pocket sewn to the front and surged around the edges with a poem ironed on:

Precious memories are mine to keep

If I read the scriptures before I sleep

Inside the the pocket was a copy of the New Testament.  Inside each New Testament was a bookmark someone had made on the computer from nice paper.  I don't have that one in front of me or I'd describe it here.  The kids each received this, and they have all been so excited to read their New Testaments. 

So, last night for FHE, we sang the Books of the New Testament song.  We made up a cheer for the scripture of month (last week the presidency gave each child a laminated copy of the year-one page-with a magnet on the back showing the theme, scripture, and song for each month).  The scripture was part of a verse from the Book of Mormon, but it was totally appropriate for studying the New Testament.

"...feast upon the words of Christ;

for behold, the words of Christ will tell you all things what ye should do."

2 Nephi 32:3

We talked about where we find the words of Christ in the scriptures.  Then Christian gave us a scripture from the New Testament he'd chosen beforehand:

"And when they were come into the house,

they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him:

and when they had opened their treasures,

they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense, and myrrh."

Matthew 2:11

Then we had ice cream.  It was totally fun!



Froggy Potty

This is our Froggy Potty.  Cute, huh?  Love him.  And today, so does Scarlet!  Two times just this morning!!  Once in the underwear, but two out of three ain't bad, right?  Maybe, just maybe, she'll be potty-trained before Kindergarten.  Ok, so she won't be in Kindergarten for almost 3 years (darned November birthday!), but still, sometimes potty-training seems a little, what's the word?  Oh yeah, ETERNAL.

We have the family coming over today, Jonathan's parents.  We're holding a garage sale for Jonathan's aunt who lives in town.  We're loading everything over here tonight and having the sale in the morning.  Hopefully it's warmer out tomorrow than it is this morning.  It was 26 degrees here, in San Antonio!  The high is supposed to be 60 tomorrow so that's definitely tolerable.  I'm thinking I'll be making chicken and dumplings for lunch tomorrow-YUM!

Washin', Washin', Washin', Keep those Loads A'Movin'

Not our laundry

All hail the return of Mount Washmore to the Malley household!  I try to do at least one load of laundry per day, just to keep up, sometimes two.  Well, I fell off the wagon...again.  I'm thinking it's at least twelve loads.  Anywho, at least when they're clean, I'll be going through everything and doing a Goodwill haul.  Lots of Goodwill hauls for us.  We just went through some closets.  How do I accumulate so much...never mind...  Scarlet helped me sort the laundry this morning.  Great chore for a three year old.  They're actually really good at it, surprisingly, especially if there are a lot of laundry baskets.  I need some new ones.  Mine are a little beaten up.  I'm thinking I might get some bins from Home Depot or somewhere.  They seem to hold up better than the traditional baskets, plus they're cheaper.  Haha!  As I like to say, "Mommy wins!!"

"Sicky Pup"

This is my FAVORITE baby expression that any of my children have uttered.  Scarlet still can't say it correctly and I don't want her to.  I dread the day she finally gets it "right."  I even call it that sometimes.  It makes me smile.  Is that bad parenting?  I'm sure my education professors wouldn't have been in favor of it.  Another favorite "word" the kids have used is "conkulator" instead of calculator.  It always made us laugh.  Then there are just the out-there expressions.  Christian used to say, "Kill that fire!" whatever that means.  We think it started when he was outside playing with my mom.  She was straightening us our back patio and he was pretending to shoot things.  We think she introduced him to the phrase, "Ready, aim, FIRE!" and somehow he translated it into, "Kill that fire!"  Kids say the darndest things!

Welcome Back, Welcome Back, Welcome Back...or, Random, er, Crap

Ok, so I guess it really has been nearly a year since I've written in this thing.  I guess I've been busy.  Maybe I'll do better this year, maybe not.  Judge me. 

The kids just got home from school.  We're doing Family Home Evening tonight since it was a holiday on Monday.  Not a holiday from FHE, but well, I guess I don't think of the week starting unless that's when school is in session too.  Of course, this doesn't really have any relevance in the summer.  Whatev.  I'm thinking tonight we'll have a lesson on the sacrament.  I'd like for the kids to have more of a focus on the Savior during the sacrament, rather than their coloring books.  Maybe I'm being unreasonable.  It's not that I think they're not getting something out of the meeting.  I know they are, but we can always improve, right?  Maybe?  Well, anyway, that's what I think we'll do. 

One thing I do know, right now, I'd really like a nap.  Christian will probably need one soon.  He informed me when he got home from school that he woke up at 2:17 this morning.  Wha??  That explains the empty bottle of Fresca in the toy closet.  Oh yeah, right after he told me when he woke up, he goes, "Fresca's gross."  Ok, so why did you drink the entire bottle?  When did you decide it was gross?  I wish he'd figured it out sooner, cause I could really use some right now. 

You know how scent memory is really strong and can take you right back to a certain place in time with a certain smell?  Well, Scarlet needs a change and I swear that I could be driving past a hog farm in central Illinois.  Lovely.  On the bright side, she occasionally decides that the toilet is a good thing to use...as I said, occasionally.  Hopefully we're on the path from casual use to habitual use-which, in the case of the toilet, is a WONDERFUL thing.

Yes, Virginia...It Really Does Snow in Texas

I used to live here. Lubbock. It snowed there today. This is what it looks like there now. Above is Mackenzie State Park. Jonathan and I used to come here a lot and talk when we were dating. We also used to feed the ducks and geese with Ethan and Christian here when they were teeny tots.
This is part of the Lubbock Metropolis skyline. Impressive, isn't it? I know you're thinking, "Wow--it's just like New York City!" (I hope that came out in your head in the same voice as the Pace picante commercials)

And yes, some goofball is actually snowboarding here. My dh says, "There is a little hill in Mackenzie Park, isn't there?"

Ah, yes, the geese. I wonder if the evil one who chased me at Godeke Park 5 years ago is in there. You're lucky you're only in a photo, or I'd be after ya, turkey! (bwahhahahahaha, .....it's funny cause it's a goose, but I said a tur-Oh never mind)
This owl is a Harry Potter reject-they turned him down for being too Texan.
I like to imagine him singing "Frosty the Snowman" in an opera voice. It's his own roadshow.
Sigh....nothing like a West Texas sunset. I'm lovin' the "pillar of light" effect.
A final bow...(no pun intended)