Friends

As all of you know Malakai is an only child. Eric and I have strived to help him not act like the typical spoiled brat only child. You know...the only everyone hates in Highschool because he gets whatever he wants and has no concern for the people around him...

We have focused on getting him involved in events (church, preschool, basketball, Tae Kwon Do) with other kids. Trying to teach him that there are other people in this world and he doesn't always come first. Everyday it is a struggle, but with God's help, we will succeed! With all that being said, Eric and I decided that we thought it was time for him to start being able to invite friends from church and school over and/or to go places with us.

Last week we were watching TV and an ad for "Escape From Planet Earth" came on. Malakai brought up the idea of going to see it (more like "Mom I need to go see that!") Then much to his surprise we asked him if he wanted to bring a friend. His eyes lit up! After much discussion, we let him invite 2 of his friends at school (Gus and Miles). After contacting the parents, unfortunately Miles wasn't able to go.

 Gus and Malakai have been in the same class for almost a year now and they were also in the same small group within the class. I'm actually sure Malakai knew how to spell Gus' name before his own!

They were so excited to be going to the movies with each other!

 

After the movie Eric and I got a chance to chat with Gus' parents while the boys played in the lobby. They are hilarious together! They did the typical happy playing, to pretend fighting, to one of the getting punched, to both of them ending up in tears and all the way back to playing again! They can make a game out of almost anything! Both sets of parents agreed that we will have to do this again!! Next time we don't have to actually go watch a movie, just show up and let them play in the lobby!

 

This is such a fun stage of his life! Seeing him interact with the world around him and watching all the things Eric and I have taught him come out is amazing. It is that moment when you think to yourself "He gets it!" I love when we are out and about and he notices some one from church or school. He always wants to say Hi! Or when he asks for something and says "Please" and "Thank you" without being prompted! He even told an elderly lady that she is suppose to hold the door for people! (We are working on the respecting your elders!)

I am so glad I was inspired to re-start the blog again! I just love being able to go back and see all the things that I had forgot about!

*~*FlAsHbAcK~*~

Last year at this time we were with these special people!

 

 

We were blessed to be able to head down to Florida to spend a week with my Grandparents! Unfortunately, this year we are not able to go, but it is fun to look back at the pictures and dream of the beach and sun again!! We had the chance to meet all of their friends (and every last one of them was so inviting and kind!), walk along the beach collecting sea shells, visit the zoo, and relax!

This year, Malakai is missing his Great Papa and Grandma something crazy! Everytime we go to the restaurant Malakai asks when Greant Papa and Great Grandma are coming home! One day when we were in the office, he picked up my Grandpa's mouse pad amazed that Papa forgot it. He said "Mom, Papa forgot this. We need to bring it to him!" He will be one happy kid when Great Papa and Grandma come home!

 

First Snow 2013

We finally got snow!! The first couple days we had it, the temperature was too cold to really do anything outside. Once the temp. was higher, Malakai wanted take full advantage of it!! (and he did!)

 

 

We have a local nature area and they were having snowshoeing on their trails lite by tiki torches. It was such an awesome experience!! 

 

Malakai wasn't exactly sure on how to walk at first, but he soon learned. We spent nearly an hour out on the trails!!

 

We are so blessed!

 

I have been inspired to "restart" my blog again! I miss being able to look back at things I've posted. Our lives have changed so much and this is such an awesome way to keep track of everything! Facebook is fun and we can post pictures on there, but there isn't any real story to what has been going on. This way, we will have our story and will be able to share! So, to "catch-up" on the many things I haven't put on here, I plan on doing some "flash back" posts! Hopefully that will help me to get everything up to day!

Day 4

Day 4

Malakai is just so much fun! His appetite is better, it really must have been a one day thing. Thank God! I think I'm starting to get used to his eyes being different. I was worried that I wouldn't like them or he would just look weird. It is so true that a Mother just loves! I think being able to see his eyes is the best thing, they are just SO beautiful!


I thank God all the time that Malakai is such a fun son! He is always smiling and laughing. I can't get over how different this week has been compared to what I thought it was. I've said, probably a hundred times, that I thought we were going to be sitting around. We have just had so much fun this week. Wednesday was more like a bonus day to hang out with him, than a day I missed work to take care of a sick child!


I figured everyone was probably wondering where Eric was!! He usually stays on one end of the camera! Here is a goofy picture of those two!





This is the first picture that I can remember where Malakai had red-eye! I don't know if it is because his eyes are open more or if it is just a fluke. I would like to think that it isn't a fluke!! Everyday I can see an improvement in the healing. His bruising isn't bad at all and keeps getting better. The swelling is virtually non existent!


I would like to thank all those who prayed for us during this journey. God has really carried us through and made it so much better than I feared. He has been so good to us and we give Him all the glory!

Day 2 & 3

Day 2 of this journey was MUCH more active than I could ever imagine it to be! I had envisioned us sitting on the couch and taking naps all day (the perfect day off)! Malakai was acting like a normal 2.5 year old. We went to our local Farmer's Market in the morning, took a nap in the afternoon and then went grocery shopping in the evening. Sometime between nap time and grocery shopping he said to me "Momma, I see better" That completely melted my heart. It really makes all the crazyness worth it!


The only thing we have to do right now is put this cream on his eyes 3 times a day. I don't want to do it because I'm afraid I'll pass out. So we got up super early so Eric could put it on before work. Then my mother-in-law put it on in the afternoon. Eric was also kind enough to do it before Malakai went to bed. Surprisingly enough, Malakai will sit right back and let us (Eric) do it. After it is on, he will walk around saying "I'm not touching my cream!"

Day 3 was my first day back to work (also known as the longest day of my life)! Malakai did really well except his appetite was not normal. He didn't eat nearly as much as he normally does. This really worried me because he is and has always been such a good eater! Eric said not to worry because he has been through a lot and sometimes people just don't want to eat.
**He did start eating much more on Day 4 :)**

Surgery

After about a year of check ups and insurance approvals, Malakai was finally able to have surgery.

Background info:
Just a little background information for those who don't know! When Malakai wasn't even a year old our pediatrician sent us to the eye doctor because he noticed that Malakai's eyes weren't opening properly.

Dr. P (the eye doc) wanted to wait until he was a year and a half to double check. After the 1.5 appointment, we started the process. Dr. P recommended that we see a different doctor within their practice because he did a lot more of these types of surgeries. Dr. B saw him around September of last year.

The first surgery that he recommended was really invasive and not a permanent one. They would tie Malakai's eyelid up to his eye brow muscle with a string, under the skin. Then his eyelids would open farther via his brow muscle. The major disclaimer on this surgery is that the string is only temporary and at any point one of them could break. At that point, depending on his age, they would do another surgery. This one they would replace the string with a tendon from his leg, to make it much more permanent.

God had a much better surgery for us!
After waiting, we had yet another appointment with Dr. B. This time Malakai understood what "Look up here" meant and was able to respond to the best of his ability. Dr. B said that the muscle was working more than what they thought originally :)
Dr. B recommended a better surgery. I could give you the medical name for it, but I don't know how to spell it :) Basically, it is an eye lift :) (not really, but that is what we call it for fun)

With this surgery, they cut across the eyelid, detach the muscle, roll it back and reattach it. Leaving the remaining muscle attached to make adjustments if needed. Simply put, they shorten the muscle that lifts the eyelids. This surgery can be reversed if there are any complications. While the doctor is doing the surgery he has to guess at how short to make the muscle. Dr. B has been doing this for many years and said that he was really good at guessing :) He can go back in and make adjustments if needed. Obviously, we don't want the have to make any adjustments!

Malakai the night before the surgery:
As you can see in the next couple pictures Malakai's eyes are barely open. This is a normal look for him!

The Day of Surgery!
Our long awaited day started extremely early! Eric and I got up around 5 to have breakfast and get completely ready. Malakai wasn't aloud to eat or drink so we wanted to take him right from bed to the car! We then had to make the 40 minute drive to the surgical center. Malakai is quite the trooper! He did not complain one bit!
He thought the lion pj's were cool too!! We actually had to wait until the sedative kicked in before they took him back. They wanted him to have the sedative because then he wouldn't remember even leaving the room. This is just in case they had to make any adjustments, they didn't want him to be scared next time! So after a few silly moments with him, he went right into the nurse's arms and they carried him back. (The scariest thing ever!)

(We didn't take any pictures with our camera until we got home because of the flash. We did take a couple with our phones, but I don't know how to get them on here.)

Right after surgery they let him wake up and then brought us back. He was screaming for us! I instantly started crying. Seeing my little baby all wrapped up, with his eyes WIDE open, was something I NEVER thought would happen. Now his crying and being in pain didn't help any either. Since the surgery was just completed, he was literally crying blood. (Yup, it was that nasty!) I tried to hold onto him, but he was so strong and was trying to sit up (which he wasn't suppose to do because he had his IV in and wasn't fully awake). I ended up giving him to Eric. The room that we were in was really little and with the three of us and a couple nurses in it, it soon became super hot. I told Eric I needed to get out of the room to get some fresh air. I didn't even make it to the door before I started seeing black spots! The nurses sat me down with some kind of smelling salts to keep me from passing out!! I couldn't believe that was happening to me!
After I started feeling a little better, I left the room and went outside. I called some family to tell them that everything had gone well! This was all I could stomach to do at this point!

They let Malakai sleep for about another 1/2 an hour. When he woke up this time, he was A LOT more composed (and so was I)! They let him drink some grape juice and he ate a few crackers.
At this point they let us check out and head home! Right as we were leaving Dr. B popped his head in the room, just to peak at his eyes and he said they looked right on (meaning hopefully we won't have any adjustments)!

I was on driving duty because Eric said the last thing he needed was me passed out in the back seat! They had also warned us that the medicine that they gave Malakai could make him throw up (yup, another thing I'm not that great at handling and another reason for me to drive!) So, with the driver's window all the way down, we headed home. I really tried to stay in my own world and not look in the rear-view mirror (not because I'm dangerous like that but because I didn't want to pass out while driving!) We got about 10 minutes into the drive and I heard a very odd sound coming from the back. Instantly, I prayed that the van wouldn't smell like vomit. Well, not even a couple moments later that prayer was answered. The grape smell from his juice filled the van! After his little vomiting, he fell right to sleep.

We safely made it home and Malakai desperately wanted to eat. We didn't know how well his stomach would handle food, so animal crackers it was! He and I cuddled up on the couch with a bag of crackers and watched the Cars movie.


This is the first picture of Mommy and Malakai with his new eyes :)
We are all in such amazement at how different he looks!
I think I covered the day! Feel free to leave any questions in the comment part!

Wordless Wednesday

*Frozen*

We love being able to freeze things at our house. Recently I learned that you could freeze grapes. Within the past couple months they were on sale for super cheap, so I decided to put my freezing "skills" to the test :)

All you do is wash and separate them. Lay them out on paper towel. Take a paper towel and lay it over top. Put your hand on top and gently roll them around. Once they are dry, you put them in freezer proof containers. Once they are frozen they taste awesome!!
I'm also always looking for great snacks for Malakai to enjoy. I don't like feeding him a lot of sugary junk. I was skimming the internet and found a great recipe for him to enjoy.

You take a handful of frozen grapes and a 1/4 cup of skim milk. Put them in the blender and blend until they are smooth (there will be some skin chunks). When it is finished you have a very close version of sorbet. (For those of you on Weight Watchers, this is only 1 points plus!)

This is gonna be a wonderful treat all summer!! He like is even better when he gets to make it himself!

What type of things do you like to freeze?

Books

Life can be so busy sometimes and we all get caught up in the whirl wind. One way that I like to relax is to read. I do my best to take time out at night to read and unwind. Some nights I will read for an hour or so. Other nights, I might read for 10 minutes :) Then there are those mornings that I wake up still sitting up!!

Here are only a few of the books that cover my bedstand:

First there is my Bible. Eric actually got me a new one for Christmas. It is a NIV/Message side by side study Bible. So far I really enjoy having both of the translations right next to each other. Second is a book by one of my most favorite ladies, Beth Moore. I love reading anything by her. Right now I am reading 90 days with Jesus. So far it is really good! The books in the front include a couple books that I can't wait to dive into, my journal, some notebook paper, and a day-to-day devotional.

What is on your bookshelf?

Getting back at it!

I really do miss blogging!! I love being able to keep all of our friends and family up to date of what we've been doing.
It has been interesting to sit back and see what God has been doing in our lives the past few months.

Sometimes I feel like we went from a tiny little train track with just one big circle to a much more intricate one with many different turns and loops, hills and bridges. In essence we went from the top picture (Malakai at Christmas!) to the bottom one (what happens when I leave Malakai and Daddy alone for too long!)
We may also have a little bit of our final picture in between.I'm really excited to get back into blogging and to keeping everyone up to date on our crazy life!!

(Please bare with me as I am trying to figure out how to update some of the design...it seems my brain has totally forgotten how to do that!)

Our 4th Christmas!!

Christmas is a wonderful time in our family! Combining traditions has been one of the most difficult things about it. Both of our families love spending time together. We are also trying to come up with our own traditions. This year we are going to do stockings and a few presents at our house in the morning. I am so excited to see Malakai's face and his reactions.

Another tradition that we have is making photo cards. Ever since Eric and I have been married, I have made it a tradition to make photo cards to send to all our family and friends. It is fun to think back at the old photo cards that I have created. The first one was with just Eric and me (we used a picture from our Honeymoon). The second was right after Malakai was born (he looks sooo tiny!). Last year we had two pictures on our card (one of them was of the three of us and the other was of Malakai's 1st birthday). I am soo excited to make my card this year. It seems like every year, I search all the sites to find the best design. This year I landed at Shutterfly. Not only because they are offering free cards to bloggers, but it seems they have an amazing array of cards!

You can also find great gifts for all those Shutterfly lovers in your life!

*calendars to http://www.shutterfly.com/calendars
*thank yous to http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/thank-you-cards
*holiday photo cards to http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery
*Christmas photo cards to http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/christmas-photo-cards



This year bloggers get 50 free holiday cards from Shutterfly. Learn more: http://bit.ly/sfly2010

We are so grateful for this promotion!! It definitely helps out with our Christmas budget

I hope and pray everyone has a wonderful Christmas!! Hopefully I'll remember to post a little more often :)

Tulip Time!

Tulip Time is one of my favorite times of the year!! Especially this year!! We got Malakai the cutest little outfit and we made sure we got our monies worth!

The first ones are either Downtown or at Centennial Park

He loves to run, especially when he sees "Chewy" (that is what he calls dogs because my in-laws have a dog named Chewy)

Hopefully we'll be able to have just as much, if not more fun next year!

Update #3!!

Boy-o-boy!! I am on a roll!!
The next two post are all about Tulip Time! We had SOOO much fun with Malakai this year!

1. Malakai took his first picture of his feet! Not so much a super important thing, but I just thought it was fun!!

2. Nummy Nummy...His very first Elephant Ear!! He absolutely loved it!
3. The three of us watching Fireworks! We have a similar picture from last year, expect I think it was the 4th of July.
4. His facial expressions were nothing short of hilarious!
5. Totally in awe of the fireworks :)
Hopefully in the next couple days I'll post pictures of him in his adorable Dutch Boy costume!!

Catching up (Cont)!

Here is a few more pictures of what has been happening!

1. This is Malakai's first Popsicle. He was extremely sick and this was after our 2 of 3 trips to the ER. He wouldn't keep any liquid down and he was terrified of anything going by his mouth because of the nurses. So thankful that he is all better! We never want to go through that again!

2. Malakai had his 1st and I'm sure not his last mohawk. I was so happy that I could finally do something with his hair. He is starting to really get some more in!3. Yes, yes this is what you think. I taught my 1 year old to do his own laundry!! Only in my dreams!! He loves to put his clothes into the washer. I just think it is so cute!
4. Malakai went to his 1st and 2nd visitation. To lighten the spirits we decided to go to the park after this one (that is why I'm not in my good clothes :))
5. He got his first skinned knee! It happened on the way to the park and once he saw the park, he forgot that it happened!! I think it hurt me more than him!
Well that is all for now. So much more to update on, so stay tuned!!

Way To Long!!!

It has been just WAT TO LONG since I have blogged. Life for our family has been nothing short of crazy. Somehow, God continues to make it that much more fun and interesting. Since I have been away for so long, I will be updating little by little in pictures.

Few major things that have happened!

1. The restaurant re-opened!! Above is my dad and gramps cutting the ribbon. Below is Malakai playing in a booth.

2. We've spent a lot of time together as a family. Below is Eric and Malakai.
3. My little man turned 1. Gosh, time goes way too fast!And this is only the beginning to my crazy past few months! More to come in the next few days!!

Wordless Wednesday