Our Summer!

So much is going on, we are so busy it seems like.

In June we wrapped up our school year. We are still working on a few things this summer, but feel satisfied with where we ended. The kids went to a couple of VBS's at several different churchs around. They all had a blast and it was nice to be able to just spend some one on one time with Emma.

At the beginning of July Abby and Reagan went to Pine Lake Primary Camp from Wednesday through Saturday. It was hard to let them go, but they had sooooooo much fun and it was a great experience for them. It is so neat to see them doing the same things I did as a kid, and camp is one of my best memories. Learning about God and making friends, swimming, campfires, canoeing, carpetball, counselor hunt and so many other things, such a wonderful memories being made. The same week Eli got to go to mom and dads ("Grandma and Grandpa Camp") where he went fishing, took apart an engine with my brother Andy, picked black raspberries with Aunt Stacia, and Grandma took him and got light up sneakers! Emma and I sorted clothes, purged some different areas of our house (still much more needs to be done) and just hung out.

On July 10th the kids ran the Moonlight Chase. Abby and Reagan ran the mile race and Eli ran the 1/4 mile. Abby's time was 9:05, Reagan's time was 9:36, and Eli ran a good race (they don't time the 1/4 mile officially, but I think he ran around the 3 minute mark). Then we went over to the McGimpsey's and watched the 4 mile race, ate popcorn (the best ever) and had fun hanging out with my family and the Hansels.

The kids had swimming lessons the last 2 weeks, Abby was in level 3, Reagan was in level 2 and Eli was in level 1. They had lots of fun and learned alot of new skills, and they all passed to the next levels! They were so excited!!!

This week is the Johnson County fair. We went Monday night and the kids did the tractor pull along with the Barker kids. It was a long night, but we ended up going to Dane's Dairy for ice cream so it was worth it:) Today was kids day, so I took the kids back around 1:00 and we met the Barkers there. We let Abby and Kaylie go off on their own for the very first time. It was a little scary, but they knew their boundaries and knew the rules and we met back every 20-30 minutes. They had a BLAST! It is so fun to see them growing up, bittersweet to know that in a couple of years, they won't need to be walking around with me, they will want to be off with their friends. Reagan and Brandon wanted to go off on their own to, but they are only 7, and that is just a privledge that comes with age. We will be going to the fair the next couple of days and will stay for the fireworks of Thursday night.

Next week we are doing a Backyard Bible Camp in our neighborhood park with some of our friends from church. We have a ton of kids in our neighborhood and it is exciting to see what God is doing here. Part of the BBC is that we will be hosting a BIG block party the last night, food, games and an inflatable slide! I really hope that we can be an example of Christ to our neighbors, please pray for that.

So that is my update for now. I am hoping to get some pictures posted soon, but I seem to keep saying that...someday!

More Eli!

Last Thursday we dropped Abby off at gymnastics then decided to stop at Menards to play on the playground they have set up there and I needed to look at some gardening things. We were getting ready to leave, Reagan had slowed down to look at something so I stopped to wait for him while Eli walked about 15 feet ahead of me. Eli then stopped to look at the water fountains there, not a big deal. Then he thought that he would touch one of the big carved decorative rocks, you know the ones that weigh a ton and have really sharp edges, and somehow he knocked it over onto his finger, crushing it and splitting it open. There was tons of blood and I could tell his finger was already starting to bruise. So the customer service lady called a manager to come with a first aid kit, then she offered us a papertowel to catch all the blood that was dripping on the floor. Once I got the blood flow slowed down and ice on it I could tell that it was going to be a trip to after hours at the drs office. He was still crying, which is always an indication that it is bad, he has a really high pain thresh-hold and can pull himself together if it is not to bad of an injury.

So I dropped Reagan off with Chris to finish off the day at daddy's work and took Eli to the dr. Once she got it cleaned up, she didn't think it would need stitches, but they still had to numb it because a bunch of fatty tissue had oozed out and they needed to clip it off before they could put the butterfly bandages on. So he ended up with 5 butterfly's and a bid bandaid on it. They said that we could take the bandaid off the next day and the butterflys would work themselves off in 5-7 days. Knowing how rough Eli is on everything we opted to keep bandaids on until Tuesday. With an hour of taking off the bandaid the butterflys were gone, and he wasn't picking at them.

His finger looks pretty good. He still has a pencil erasure size blood blister on the tip of his finger and two more at the edges of the cut, but new skin is growing in and it looks like he will just have a small scar.


Last night Chris and I were laying in bed talking when Chris heard someone in the hall. He went out to find Eli asleep, with his pants down peeing on the laundry! Chris kept telling him to stop but since he was alseep he didn't respond so he finally had to grab a towel and move him to the toilet, where he finished

Oh Eli, my Eli, you are one wild and crazy child!!!

Eli

Eli is riding his bike without training wheels!

The other day I walked outside and he was putting scotch tape on his bike. I asked him what he was doing, he said "I am making it look really COOL!" Yep, gotta love the cool looking scotch tape:)

Emma

Emma:
- has 4 new molars. All came in within 4 days of each other.
-is walking all over the place.
-opens her mouth really wide so you can see her teeth, then giggles :)
-is making kissing sounds.
-started blowing kisses tonight.
-can say what almost sounds like her name, my mom thought one of the other kids was saying it on the phone today, but it was Emma.
-slept through the night last night! From 9:30pm to 8:30am!!! Oh how refreshed I felt this morning!
-started sleeping in her crib in the room with Abby 3 nights ago, I hate her being that far away, but she was waking up every 2 hours and it was really affecting me. But with the monitor, I hear every sound she makes, and Abby brought her in the first night at 4 am, so I know that if I don't get her immediately, Abby will ;)
-is trying to decide if she needs 1 or 2 naps a day.
-loves her big sister.
-gets really annoyed when Eli gets in her face.
-laughs at all the funny things Reagan does for her.

Catching up

I am on a mission to get this blog up to date. I will be posting some current things and hopefully in the next week do an update that includes the last 6 months.

Food for Thought

The group I was involved with while I was in college just had a retreat for their freshman group. In an e-mail update they sent a couple of the topics that the speaker touched on during the talks:

No compromise for God. A handful of students were committed to deleting all of their "shared" (not purchased/stolen) music from their iPods, after hearing a message on what it means to live a life of "no compromise" for God.

Zeal for God. Other students were excited to stay up all night with their Connection Groups, seeking the Lord in prayer, because they longed to be zealous for the Lord.

Living all aspects of life for God. Many students were challenged to glorify God in all aspects of their life, including class attendance, study habits, work ethic, and relationships. They began to think differently about turning in their homework assignments, asking themselves, "Did I do this with such excellence that I could sign God's name on this paper?"

Do I do everything I can so that I could sign God's name on things in my life? I know the answer to that is NO, but it should be my desire. If Christ came a visiting to my front door, I don't know that I would want Him to walk in and see how I live my life. I want to be able to open the door and freely invite Him in, and in that regards, I need to be free to let any guest in, not be living in a way that I am embarrassed or ashamed.

I desire to be zealous for God. A couple of things I need to do: I need to refocus and redefine my goals. Something I read this morning was:

"Over time, the world has become like a neglected room. People bring in things that don't belong. They arrange priorities in ways that hinder potential. Lives become dull, overcrowded, and ineffective. Self-improvement projects offer little help."

It was refrencing a home improvement show/make-over show. Things look terrible, but then they work and build up suspense, until the final "reveal." God did the same thing through the Old Testament, then in the New Testament, the big reveal came: Jesus!

My desire is that Jesus would be revealed in my life every day.

Isaiah 40:5The glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.

New Shed

Chris is outside working on the shed. He has been building it since the beginning of Sept. It is getting close to being done. I need to post pics of the progress. He has been working so hard to get it finished. When it is done he is going to clean/clear out the garage so we can actually park in there :)

Laundry

Abby is such a great helper when I am doing laundry. She has helped with 2.5 loads today - moving things around, starting new loads and laying out the dry clothes that need to be folded

A TOOTH!

Everyone has been telling me that they think Emma is teething because of all her chewing/drooling. I haven't thought so because all of my kids tend to teeth late, like not getting a first tooth until 10-11 months.

Not Emma.

She was just gnawing on my finger when I felt a sharp little bit in her mouth. Poking through her bottom gum is a sharp little tooth! It has broken through all the way across, and not a single fuss from her. No crying, temperature, no biting me when nursing, no symptoms at all!

YAY Emma!!!!

It's my birthday!

Today is my 35th b-day. Chris, Emma, and I are heading to Des Moines for the day through tomorrow. Lots of shopping will happen. Maybe a movie, depending on how Emma is doing. We were going to go to the Twin Cities, but decided that we would take the kids up in late October or early November instead. We just couldn't justify the cost of a rental car + hotel + shopping, so a quick overnight is what is planned. And we can take the Jeep the 2 hrs to DM. We didn't want to put that many miles on it up to MN.

Chris let me sleep in this morning and then when he heard Emma stirring he went and got me an iced mocha from the coffee shop and a beautiful card + a gift card from Corridor Coffee. I LOVE my coffee and coffee shop.

cloth diapers

Check this out - she is giving away 3 bg 3.0's + babylegs!

http://www.clothdiaperblog.com/feed-your-stash-3-bumgenius-deluxe-aios-1-babylegs/#comment-11396

Boss

Boss died tonight. We are not sure what happened. He turned 1 at the beginning of June. He is now at the vets office in the freezer until we decide what to do. It is $200 for them to figure out what happened (blood tests, checking out his heart, etc.). He had been chewing on a rawhide and hacked a little of it up, but seemed fine. Then he didn't want to come inside, so we left him in the yard. When I went to call him in an hour later, he didn't come, so I sent Chris out to get him. Boss was laying on the side of our house dead. Abby was still awake, so we got her up and told her, then she went to see him. She wanted us to take him to the vet to make sure he was dead. We ended up waking Reagan up so he could say goodbye. He is very attached to our animals. Ei will be very sad, he loved his "Bossy" and will miss him alot, but we also knew that he would be up the rest of the night if we woke him up.

I am feeling really guilty right now. I know there is nothing that we could have done, besides not giving him the rawhide, and we don't know if that was what happened or not. The vet said that the extreme heat we are having along with the high humidity can cause boxers hearts to swell and fail, other dogs too, but it happens more in boxers. I just hope he didn't suffer.

Boss at 8 weeks


Boss and Shelby in February

Funny things they say...

Reagan has been full of funny comments lately.

"HyVee, shop HyVee - where you can get lots and lots of Viagra!"

Me: Do you want a hair cut?
Reagan: Sure, but can you do it like Uncle Jim's?
Me: Ummm...he doesn't have any hair on top.
Reagan: I know, none on top and some around the edges.

Here is Uncle Jim (with Emma)






Looking at the picture we have of Emma on the computer he said, "Mom, I really like this picture, if she dies we can look at it and remember how cute she is." Then I walked into the other room and started crying. But it was really sweet. Here is the picture:

Happy Birthday Abby!

Eight years ago I gave birth to my first child, Abigail June.

We struggled to get pregnant, and after lots of tests and some medicine (2 years worth), Chris decided we were just going to trust God. I was angry. With Chris, with God, with my cousin who just had a happy beautiful baby girl, anyone who was pregnant. I was not fun to be around. But I knew that I needed to follow my husbands lead and God would lead us where he wanted us to go. The drs were ready to do IUI, I was supposed to start the meds to bring on af on Aug 1st. Chris and I (reluctantly (me)) decided that we weren't going to take the meds. I knew that he felt this was the right thing to do and I was upset about everything that I figured a couple of weeks wasn't going to make a difference. I remember on Aug 27 having lunch with some friends, one of who was newly pregnant and I told her that I was feeling off. I know there was something else that I was feeling but I can't remember now. Anyways she thought I should take a pregnancy test. My first thought was no way, I am not wasting any more money on those things. But on the way home we bought one, just in case. The next day was my 26th birthday. There was NO WAY I was taking a test on my birthday, I didn't want to see another negative. I had been temping and charting and at this point I thing I was a couple of days late, but I still didn't want to chance it. So on August 29, 2000 I took a hpt and it was POSITIVE! I cried. I thanked God. I excitedly showed Chris. It was the most amazing thing. To know that we took a step of faith, and God blessed us.

Abby is such a beautiful girl. She is loving and gentle with her baby sister. She is a great helper. She plays well with her brothers, including them in the things she does. She loves to spend time with her family. Abby is on the gymnastics team and works so hard to learn new skills. She has done so many new things this year. I enjoy homeschooling her, even when we have our moments. We love to shop together and spend time together.












I love you Abby-girl!

Not-Me Monday

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to http://www.mycharmingkids.net">her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.

I did not laugh at Emma (9 weeks) when she man-burped in church yesterday.

I did not have Chris buy the kids Totino's Pizza's so we could have the DiGiornos one all to ourselves.

I did not have to dry a load of laundry 3 times last week because I kept starting it and then forgetting to take it out before it got all wrinkly.

I did not keep taking pictures of my sweet baby when she was crying because her face was making me laugh, she was soooooo mad!

Things have been crazy around here, I haven't had much computer time since Emma was born, and what little time I have had has been spent just keeping up with e-mail and financial/budget stuff.

Emma was 6 weeks old yesterday, time is flying by. Last week she weighed 7 lb 15 oz. She is nursing great on one side, won't on the other side, but my body is doing a really good job at keeping up with her, I am even able to pump once a day, so I have a little freezer stash. But she won't take a bottle or a binkie, but we are working on it. We are using cloth diapers about 50% of the time, I am needing more diapers, they are so cute! She is sleeping 6-7 hours straight at night, I just need to go to bed when she does. Emma has started smiling, not consistently yet, but they are so adorable when she blesses us with one.

Here are a few pics:

She often sleeps with her eyes half opened.

She loves her bath!

Not liking diaper being wet or dirty!

Napping with Daddy.

Emelia - Day 1!

Introducing Emelia Grace

Emelia Grace Mallicoat (Emma) was born last night at 10:35 pm.

She was 6 lb 15 oz and 20 1/4 in long.

She is nursing wonderfully and is a quiet and peaceful baby so far.

Reagan's Birthday!

Reagan is 6!!!

My 2nd born child, Reagan James Mallicoat, turned 6 today, February 11, 2009. It amazes me at how quickly the time seems to go by. I remember watching him come out of me, and now he is so big and active.

He has such a tender heart and is so thoughtful of others. He is also going through a very sensitive stage right now.He is in love with the new baby. Multiple times a day he comes over and gives my belly a hug and a kiss and tells the baby how much he loves it and how he can't wait for it to come out so he can cuddle with it. At night the baby always gets a goodnight hug and kiss. He is so excited that he will be the one who gets to sit by the baby in the car, he just wants to help so much.

This year has been so much fun with him. His sense of humor has really developed, he enjoys playing jokes on people and is starting to tell jokes. Reagan loves to play games and read books. He is able to sound out many words, and will be all out reading very soon. He is very creative and loves to make up and tell stories.

This past year he has been taking gymnastics, played t-ball, took swimming lessons, wrestled, and took writing classes with our homeschool program. He learned to ride his bike without training wheels last summer, and LOVES to ride his bike.

Reagan also enjoys playing with the neighborhood kids, and they are teaching him about playing football. He is looking forward to warmer weather when they can all be outside playing again.

37 weeks

Today is Monday February 9th 2009.

Your due date is Monday March 2nd 2009.

245 days have passed since the conception,and you are 21 days before your due date.

You are 37 weeks into your pregnancy,and you have 3 weeks to go.

You are in the 3rd trimester.

When I grow up, I want to be...

Conversations at dinner tonight

Abby: I want to be a cheerleader.

Reagan: I want to be a football player and then a pirate.

Eli: I want to be Santa Claus.

Chris: I want to be the American Idol!

Cleaning and projects today!

My parents are on their way here right now!

We are going to finish up the kids school work right now, and then the projects begin!

I want to get the china cabinet cleaned off and empty most of it, that is going to be my new school cabinet. We just need more space so I can see what I have and then the kids will be able to have better access to their stuff without making a huge mess, which is what is happening right now.

Re-organize my plastics cupboard. It is OUT OF CONTROL! I can hardly put things away without something else falling out.

Dad is going to help Chris move the furniture from the garage to the basement. Then I can get the Yukon in the garage! This is a MUST before baby gets here.

I want to put the curtain rod up in Abby's room, and then the curtains. It will be so nice to have her room done.

The toys in the family room need to be organized and many put into storage. Chris got some boxes at Walmart last week and we are going to be using them on the shelves in the basement. With all the baby stuff coming out, we need the space. And I am sick and tired of looking at toys everywhere!

I need to pull the rest of the clothes out of Abby's drawers that are too small. Then I can see if there is anything she will need for next year. This is the time to shop for next winter, and between my mom and me, we should be able to have her set soon. And we are stuffing things in again and she is only wearing a few things over and over, so that is also an indication that we need to go through things.

Then the boys drawers, but that might be a different day.

I am already working on laundry, 2 loads done so far, 3-4 more to go, just of our stuff. Then to the baby clothes. They need to be washed and organized.

Then tonight I am having a mom's night out with my MOPS table! Chris and Abby are going to be watching the daughter of one of the mom's going and it is so sweet of them. And the little girl LOVES Abby!

36 weeks

Today is Monday February 2nd 2009.
Your due date is Monday March 2nd 2009.
238 days have passed since the conception,and you are 28 days before your due date.
You are 36 weeks into your pregnancy,and you have 4 weeks to go.
You are in the 3rd trimester.

89% of your pregnancy has passed, there is 11% left to go.

Baby stuff

We went for a walk this afternoon and I didn't have to many contractions. It was nice to be outside, 48* for a high, so much better than -30* a couple of weeks ago.

Things I need to do before baby gets here:
Get newborn clothes out of basement
Wash newborn clothes
Get Bassinet from mom and dad's
Plan a week or two of menu's and make sure we have ingredients
Wash pump parts
Call Jessie about swing, cloth diapers, jumperoo (won't need for a while), bumbo, and other stuff
Talk to Anna about cloth diapers
Charge laptop
Start packing my bag

Things I need to get:
Boppy cover
Changing table pad
New membranes for pump
Carseat
Nursing pads
New camera
Miracle blanket or swaddle blanket

Back at it...

Chris is at work, nothing like having a 6 day work week after time off. At least it is only a 1/2 day on Sat.

The kids are still in their jammies, but we are in the process of fixing that. Except I am here on the computer posting instead of helping them. Once everyone is dressed we will go downstairs, clear the newspaper off the table and start some school work. Abby is excited to get going because if she works quickly then she will get some computer time, and with 2 computers, I should be able to get both of them motivated and let them both have some time on the computer.

Eli already watched Letter Factory this morning while I showered, so he just has some coloring and a puzzle to do.

Reagan will do a couple of pages in his workbook and 1/2 a math lesson, coloring and a puzzle.

Abby has reading, math, handwriting and then we will see.

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year to all my friends!

We had a very uneventful new years eve, the kids watched "The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything" and then were in bed by 9, Chris fell asleep with someone when he was cuddling, so he made it back downstairs around 10:15 to find me flipping through the channels, mostly watching home improvement type shows. So we hung out for a little bit, and then went to bed around midnight. Very exciting!

Today we again have no plans. It is so nice. Chris is at work, so it is really a normal day around here. Tomorrow we will be going to Waserbahn with some of his family, the kids are really looking forward to that.

As to my list from yesterday, not enough got done :(, but we will continue to keep at it and at some point this house will not be a candidate for the cleaning makeover shows that I like to watch.


ETA: Chris got home at 1:00 for the day, so he only had to work a half day, and he will get a full comp day for it, so that is good.

Today we are CLEANING the house! It is not a fun place to be in right now and I am going crazy. Everywhere I look there is clutter and unwrapped presents and mail and just STUFF! I would rather play on the computer all day, but if I don't get this taken care of it will continue to drive me insane, and that is a very short trip these days :D.

So far we have:
Eaten breakfast
Cleaned the Counter
Loaded and run the dishwasher
I have showered and gotten dressed

We need to:
Clean off the other counter
Clean off the kitchen table
Get kiddos dressed
Sweep kitchen floor
Pick up toys in family room
Take rest of garbage out before the trash man comes
Straighten up living room
Clean all 3 bathrooms
Laundry
Have kids straighten their rooms
Make lunch
Make supper
Pick out which movie the kids get to watch for New Years Eve
Vacuum
Empty Dishwasher

If I can get through the whole list before Chris gets home from work it will be a miracle, but that is my goal. I am hoping having a clean house will motivate me to start getting things ready for this new little one that is joining our family soon. We have a lot to do so I better get a move on.

Christmas Baking?

What are you baking for Christmas this year?

I am making:
PB Blossoms -done
Oreo Truffles -in process
Gingerbread cookies (per the kids request)
Chocolate Crinkle Cookies (per Chris)
Cherry Cordial Bells (maraschino cherries with a sugar cookie covering)
Peppermint Bark
Sugar Cookies (maybe)
Fudge

I am still trying to think of a few other things to make, so I might use some of your ideas!!!

WOW!

I got Chris to join Facebook and he is starting his own blog!

Dinner Prayer

Tonight:

Chris: Eli, will you pray for our supper tonight?
Eli: Sure, daddy.
Dear God, Tank you for only me tonight. Amen.
Me: (trying not to laugh) I think you should pray for the food too.
Eli: ummm, ok
Dear God, tank you for me and the food. (long pause)(sigh) Tank you for Abby and Reagan and Daddy and Mommy and Daama and Daempa and the food and unca Jay and aunt Missa and unca Andy and aunt Tacia and the food. Amen.
Chris: Thank you, that was a nice prayer to God.
Eli: I forgot someone.
Me: Who?
Eli: The baby, and Finny and Tash. And auntie Den and unca Tane. (pause) and the food. Amen.

All of us: Amen

A couple of minutes later as we are eating:
Eli: Tank you God for the food and the baby and mommy and daddy. Amen.

Chris and I again trying not to laugh, and this went on several more times until he was done with dinner.

Gotta love a boy who wants to pray.

Abby's gymnastics Meet

Abby's last gymnastics meet of the year was yesterday. She did great!


She got 5th on the bars!



Waiting to warm up on the bars





















Vault

Warming up on the bars.

On the podium!

99 Days and Counting!

Today is Sunday November 23rd 2008.
Your due date is Monday March 2nd 2009.

167 days have passed since the conception,and you are 99 days before your due date.

You are 25 weeks into your pregnancy,and you have 15 weeks to go.

You are in the 2nd trimester.

63% of your pregnancy has passed, there is 37% left to go.