4 Years

3 Years, 2 Years, 1 Year.

Malachi

I was just talking with a friend who mentioned that I haven't blogged in a while. I used the excuse of needing a new camera(or just getting our two fixed). She reminded me that you don't have to have pictures to blog. Later in our conversation we were talking about some of the struggles and triumphs of raising Malachi. I told her that when I go back and read my blogs from the hard times it makes me realize how far he's come. And she said I should write down those triumphs so I can look back on those and be grateful for the positive changes. So, thank you, Betsy! I needed a little kick in the pants. I love reading about my life through past blog posts. I'm not much of a journal-er, but this is a great way for me to remember my wonderful life.

Malachi really is doing exceptionally well - especially considering all of the positive changes. I was asked by one of his church nursery teachers today if he screams a lot at home. If I'd been asked that question 9 months ago, I would have said, "YES!" But today I hesitated. Sometimes he does. Not all the time. This week he did a lot because Ian was gone for 6 days and I ran out of patience on day 2... so you can imagine what Kai's week was like. But overall, I can say that he's not much of a screamer. He's learned most of the rules in the house and even though he doesn't always obey them, he does a pretty good job for a 2 year old. He still gets sent to time out more times than he or I would be okay with, but the nice thing about that is that he actually stays there.

As long as I look for the silver lining, I really can't complain. And the best thing I can say now is that he is a genuinely happy kid. I couldn't say that last August when we brought him home. He is sweet, loving, funny, and happy. He tries my patience, but what two year old wouldn't? I was just so blessed to have an angel of a son in David, that any normal kid would seem like a holy terror in comparison... and many days Malachi does.

I am very grateful that Malachi has his sisters and brothers to play with. He loves running around with them, playing hide and go seek, tag, wrestling, and any other physical game. We've tried to go to the YMCA pool at least twice a week this summer and Malachi is my little fish. Last Friday he was jumping in and swimming to me. One time when he got out to jump to me he changed his mind. Instead of jumping feet first into the pool like he'd been doing, he just leaned forward and kind of fell head-first into the water. It looked like a combination of a dive and a flip. And when he came up he was oh so proud. I've been working on better form, so he can actually move forward when he swims, instead of flopping all over the place. But that boy just LOVES the water!

His speech is continuing to improve. Friday night we were watching a movie and he leaned his head back on the couch, looked at me, and said, "I tired, Mommy." So cute!

So, there you go, Betsy! I blogged! And I'll try to do it again soon! Thanks for the kick in the pants, I needed it!

Is This Real Life?

Have you ever been sitting on the toilet - while two of your kids are brushing their teeth, two are finishing dinner - and after flushing, stand up and look at yourself in the mirror and think... Is this real life?

I know I shouldn't have to point the obvious out to myself but as I looked in the mirror and noticed my fading dyed hair, expanding waistline(no I'm not pregnant), and over-all slobbish look I just had this realization of who I am.

I am that mom. That is me. I'm the one who just finished yelling at her kids to finish their dinner. The same one who went on the toilet, with the door open, while two of her kids brushed their teeth. I'm also the mom who is dreading the daily bedtime battle and that I am doing it by myself. I'm the one who will go tell Malachi to take a bite for the 567th time tonight. Also the one who will tell Mckenna that the towels don't have to be folded perfectly, to just put them back on the towel ring. I'm the one who will then sigh as she hears Emma and David running around upstairs instead of putting their jammies on. She's me.

Don't get me wrong, I like being her. She's fun, she's outgoing, she's got a great husband who has a great job, four kids who are gorgeous and sweet, a beautiful home that she loves, friends who will drop anything to help her, and family who is always a phone call away. She's happy.

But she's a mom. She's not JUST a mom. She realized years ago that to put the word JUST in front of the word mom is nearly a sin. The word MOM is a strong one. For many people it means many things. For me it means many things. Yes there are times when MOM sounds like a four letter word. And there are times I wish I could push the mute button right before the word MOM is said.

But there are other times when the word MOM is followed by the sweetest words, the softest hugs, and the smooshiest kisses. There are also times when the word mom brings to mind feelings of remembrance. Like what it felt to become a mom. Or the one person in the world who I first knew as mom. Or the woman in my life who became my mom-in-law.

So... back on topic here: I like being the mom. It's just at moments like today when I realize I have lost all privacy, self decency, and for today - all desire to keep up appearances - that I look at myself and remember who I am. And take a few seconds to mentally whine to myself about my naughty kids, messy appearance, missing husband(church), and expanding waistline, before focusing on the fact that my Ethiopian son has enough food in front of him that he is choosing not to finish. My Mckenna Rae has just spent ten minutes folding the bathroom towels so they look pretty. My Emma and David are playing together. PLAYING. TOGETHER. My husband is serving in our church. And I am healthy and in shape. And I am happy.

So, yes, this is real life. And I kinda like it.

4 Years

Gone From My Sight

I am standing upon the seashore. A ship at my side spreads her white sails to the morning breeze and starts for the blue ocean. She is an object of beauty and strength. I stand and watch her until at length she hangs like a speck of white cloud just where the sea and sky come to mingle with each other.

Then someone at my side says: "There, she is gone!"

"Gone where?"

Gone from my sight. That is all. She is just as large in mast and hull and spar as she was when she left my side and she is just as able to bear her load of living freight to her destined port.

Her diminished size is in me, not in her. And just at the moment when someone at my side says: "There she is gone!" there are other eyes watching her coming, and other voices ready to take up the glad shout: "Here she comes!"

And that is dying.

-Henry Van Dyke

2 Years

3 Years

Today has obviously been a tough one, and there have been other completely unrelated things that have made it harder. However, there have been some very sweet and tender moments that remind me that I am loved, watched over, and so so very blessed. Many big changes have happened in the past four years and there is not a single time I haven't wished my mom could experience it with us. But through it all I have a best friend of a sister, a husband who adores me, children who are my whole world, and friends who go above and beyond the definition of friendship. When my parents left this world they left my sister and me in good hands. And thankfully the two of us share a bond that has been made stronger with each passing year. I love my sister and she has become so much of the woman my mom was. She is strong, she is beautiful, and she doesn't ever let anything get in the way of her dreams. I know in some ways I am also like my mom. And I will spend the rest of my life with her as my hero. So as I finish this post, I hope to inspire those of you who knew her to emulate her amazing qualities in your own life. And for those of you who didn't... then Cowgirl Up!

Fire in the Hole!

Wow. That's the best word I have to describe the past couple of days. It's been rather eventful. I posted some ambiguous comments on facebook about my kitchen fire, so I thought I should go into more detail here.

Yesterday Mckenna and I were making cookies in the kitchen. I had a candle that had burned down to the bottom of the jar, but had left plenty of wax on the sides. I took the wick and the little metal wick holder out of the jar and put the jar in the microwave to melt the wax down. I just assumed that candle jars can handle microwave heat, since they're meant to handle hot candle heat. Mistake #1.

It had been in the microwave for a little while(2 minutes?) when Mckenna said, "MOM! FIRE!" I looked in the microwave and sure enough, there was a fire. The glass had broken, wax had spilled all over and was now flaming. I opened the microwave. Mistake #2.

The flames got bigger. I instinctively blew on the flames. Nothing happened. I grabbed the sink sprayer to spray the fire with water. I then hesitated because you're not supposed to put water on kitchen fires. Then I remembered that that rule is for grease fires. This didn't seem to fall into that category so I sprayed the fire with the water. BIG mistake #3.

The flames shot to the ceiling immediately. I told Mckenna to go outside. For about half a second I had the thought that I should grab the boys, call 911 and go outside. Then the smart Megan kicked the already so stupid Megan and grabbed the fire extinguisher from under the sink. The stupid Megan thought she should take the time to read the directions on the fire extinguisher. The smart Megan pulled the pin, aimed at the microwave and pulled the trigger. Fire extinguished. I did it again just to ensure there was no more flamage.

Then the fire alarms went off and I realized my ENTIRE downstairs was covered in smoke. I ran through the house, unplugging fire alarms, turning fans on, opening windows, and closing the upstairs bedroom doors. By the time I went in the backyard to check on Mckenna my hands were shaking like crazy. Luckily she wasn't too freaked out, like I was. I told her she did the right thing by telling me there was a fire, but then she needed to "get low and go." So we talked about that for a while which kind of helped me to calm down.

So since that happened, I've dropped my phone in my smoothie(totally dead), David peed his pants at the gym(emptied the WHOLE bladder), Malachi busted out of the house and was about to run in the street when Mckenna grabbed him, my period with all its lovely cramping started, and the 3 ibuprofen I took out were left on Malachi's changing table when I went to the gym. And then, to make myself feel better, I said something really nasty to my friend's ex husband on facebook. I think I need a vacation... Do you think I could find a hotel with a chocolate hot tub?

Blog Revival

Well, I've finally updated the blog layout... Hopefully this is a sign of things to come! I'd like to get back to blogging. Both of our cameras have been broken for months and it's hard to motivate myself to blog without pictures. I was reading through some past posts a while ago and realized how much I like having our life written. I have such a horrible memory and it's nice to be able to go back and read about the things we do in our crazy life. So, I'm not promising anything fantastic and amusing, but I would really like to get back on the blogging train. I do apologize about the lack of pictures for a while. Maybe this will also motivate me to actually get the cameras fixed!

I'll try to give a brief mini update...

Ian's still at Bank of America. He's happy to have a job, but somewhat bored. Hopefully he'll be able to move up or over or somewhere that fulfills him and our bank account at the same time. He's also still working with the youth in our church as the Young Men's President, but recently resigned from teaching early morning seminary to the local high school kids. It was just too much. We're happy to have him around the house more and though he misses it, I think he's happier too.

Emma is doing well in school and at home. The change in her diet a year ago has made a world of difference. She still has her moments(and sometimes days...), but overall, she's much better behaved, and much happier! She's still tearing through any book she can get her hands on and talking our ears off when her nose isn't in a book. She's ridiculously creative and always coming up with new art projects or science experiments to try. Alone time is her friend. Being the oldest of 4 can be frustrating to her and she usually asks for alone time at least once a day. Sometimes she just needs her own space for a while. I know how she feels...

Mckenna is still my little sweet thing. She's been a bit of a whiner lately, but we're hoping it's just a phase that will pass sooner than later. She loves kindergarten and ADORES her teachers. I think they think pretty highly of her too. She also(not surprisingly) has more boy friends than girl friends. I love to hear her talk about her day on the way home. It's just so fun to hear what is exciting to her. Homework is just beginning to challenge her, so we might have to come up with some kind of reward system soon. Her newest love is a hat we got free at Chipotle. It's tan and has a little pepper on the front. She wants to wear it every day to school. Kind of kicks cute hairdo's and hair bows out of the picture, but it makes her happy and she's just so cute with it on.

David might be at the tail end of his terrible twos. Either that or he's gearing up for the horrible threes(ok I know there's no such thing, but there could be... somewhere...). He's just been such a sweetheart lately. He'll come and give me a hug, or clean something up and then say, "Mommy! I just make you happy!" Many times he'll say it with such excited sincerity that it brings tears to my eyes. He's such a lover. He likes giving bear hugs and "big" kisses. He'll grab my cheeks, smush my face onto his and hold it there for a few seconds. And he's always very pleased with himself post-kiss. I think he's the one we'll have to watch out for in high school. I adore him and know that any girl who gets one of those kisses will never want to let him go.

Malachi is adjusting wonderfully. That seems to be the question I get asked most often. "How is Malachi adjusting?" I never know how much detail people want so I always say, "He's doing really well," and then see how much more they want to know. I could say... He's not screaming hysterically when he wants something. His language has exploded in the past two weeks. He's calling us Mommy and Daddy and has THE MOST adorable little voice ever. I can't even list how many words he says now, because there are two many. His best word is, "Showwwy," (sorry). Wonder why he's so good at that one? He loves giving random kisses and hugs. He adores dogs, hates nap time, will drink any liquid(including Gymboree bubbles which he tried in nursery today) until you make him stop or he pukes - whichever comes first. We got together with one of his buddies from Ethiopia this week. What a sweet reunion that was! It was a little boy who was in his group, also named Eyob, and the same age as our Malachi Eyob. We had many pics of the two of them together when they were in Ethiopia. It was so fun to see them play together. And I loved seeing the other Eyob's older brother Abel. He and I were buddies at the orphanage. Loved him. And I think he was excited to see me too.

I am (obviously) a very busy momma. Besides the usual mommy duties(carpooling, cooking, cleaning, park days, etc) I've been canning a lot this winter - applesauce is this week, I still hit the gym regularly, and have been slowly trying to become more organized. I was recently called as the Nursery Coordinator for our church. I'm in charge of 4 nurseries that have about 10-20 kids in each. When Sundays roll around I can get pretty busy!

We've lived in this home longer than we've lived anywhere since being married, and I'm loving it. I love our home and I have so many amazing friends. There is always someone to do something with. I love the area and I adore Arizona weather during this time of year. The only thing I'm not liking is the flu season. I feel like we've been sick for three months. Between school, church, and the daycare at the gym, our kids are exposed to soooo many germs that it's impossible to have all six of us be healthy at the same time. We're pretty much just used to functioning with sore throats and runny noses. We better have a healthy summer!

OK, so it wasn't as brief as I'd hoped, but now I'm not so intimidated about blogging! I won't feel the need to fill y'all in and then I can blog whenever I have an inkling! I'll hopefully come on here after Malachi's well check appointment this week. I'm excited to see how much he's grown since he's been home. It's been 6 months!

Hope everyone has a fantastic week!