And the plot thickens

As if life couldn't get more interesting like a soap opera in the Malloy household. Still won't post the exact details about last month's events yet, but know that the saga continues with our property manager of our rental at Topaz and she has been busted!!! by the owner and is now grasping at anything!! The owner of the house called us last week to match storys and let him know a few things that had been going on without his approval.
Apparently we may be a 'victim' again on her list. Bring it on, I say, lies get you no where and only hurt your integrity. The good always win. We have a great lawyer who just loves to nail landlords who's intent is do malicious wrongdoings.

Also, at 12:45 am our doorbell was rung. Mike was up and I had just gone back to bed, after noticing he wasn't there.
It was the Chandler police department! An anonymous call was made saying that we had a rambucious party going on at our house! We were all laughing. All the kids were asleep, lights out in the house, yet we were secretly hiding a gaggle of kids and whooping it up. We told them nope, not yet. Whoever called got antsy for we were having a party today LOL. He asked us to wait till his shift was over ;-) So whoever made that call either completely got the address wrong or was someone that wanted to cause chaos in our life. Didn't happen!! Was actually very comical.

Mike's birthday weekend

We still have one more day to go, but here are some pics he took to celebrate the day. Caden and I made him chocolate cupcakes and I cooked his favorite pork tenderloin and red potatoes.
Also, BIG ACHIEVEMENT FOR MIKE......
He put up our new outside lights! He is becoming handy and I LOVE IT!! Better watch out Mike, can't use 'I don't know how' anymore tee hee hee!
Look closer at Teagan's picture and you can see one of her two teeth ;-)

HAPPY 6 MONTHS TEAGIE!!

Holy smokes can you believe it?
Had her 6 month well check and she is 28 inches tall (97%), 18.7 pounds (85%), and 18 inch (97% and total Malloy noggin).
She cut her second tooth this morning and is almost sitting up unassisted!
She rolls all over the place, grabs toys, the boys, and any object with both hands, Eats oatmeal, stage 2 foods, and drinks perfectly from a sippee cup! She has been getting up on her knees a couple of times, but I'm not encouraging that ;-)
We got her the Bumbo chair and wish I had that with the boys. She loves it and it's great for me so I can actually get a few things done and she feels apart of what's going on in the house instead of being layed back in a chair or stuck in the jumper-roo if I'm in another room.
She will maybe be crawling when we go home in 2 months!
Tonite we are off to Caden's friend Allie's birthday party at Peter Piper Pizza. He's so excited!! As well am I!!

What a crazy week, AS ALWAYS, it has been.
I have joined a bootcamp with my girls and we are getting a good workout twice a week! Man it feels great, I feel light on my feet again, and actually feel slimmer! Speaking of, I forgot to mention that when I went in for mastitis I officially have lost all of Teagan's pregnancy weight! Now, if only it came of in the places it went on!
I also keep forgetting to mention that I joined another Moms group called MOPS, Mother's of Preschoolers at my church. It's twice a month for two hours and the children go in Moppets/or nursery. While they have fun with new friends, I get to enjoy uninterrupted conversation, eat yummy food UNINTERRUPTED, and spiritual grow with what the speaker is presenting that day. It's exactly what my spirit needed and craved. I still do MOMS Club, I can't give up my girlfriends and I'm now, along with another friend, planning Activities for our group. It's pretty fun and easy, lost of ideas are sent my way thankfully!
So this week was MOPS, Bootcamp, school, two playdates, and lot of running around getting things for birthday parties. Speaking of birthday's, Mike's 34th is this coming Friday! We have a sitter for Saturday night and all he wants to do is shoot pool with little ole me! And Sunday we have family and a few friends coming over to watch the Patriots game! FUN!
The weather has been absolutely awesome! We went to the park tonite, it was so cool out! I hope it stays this way. We took with us our neighbor's son Andrew who is 9 and the boys are already infatuated with him. Can't blame them, he's so much fun and so patient with the boys!
Tomorrow is church and then boot camp for me at the high school track.. OH JOY, can't wait ;-)

Here are some pics finally! Some close ups of the kids, Caden is wearing a crown he made a church, and Riordan wouldn't take a picture with all of us, but I have some cute ones of him by himself! He did let Aunt Jen hold him though! See the proof here.

September 11

A lot of things for September 11.

We have OFFICIALLY lived in Arizona ONE year. We arrived in the afternoon a year ago today at Uncle John and Aunt Amy's house.

Today is my dad's 78th birthday, my friend Aimee B.'s birthday (21 again), and Mike's friend Mike L. birthday!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY YOU GUYS!!

And of course it's the 5th year since that horrible day of 9/11.
My prays are with all those who were directly hit by the result of what happened.

1st tooth cut!

Yep, she cut it! Most likely in the middle of the night, because boy it was a hard one. But this morning when I got her I could see and feel the tooth. Yesterday I could see the white dots and it about to break through!!
YAY for Teagan! Hopefully from here on out it won't be so bad as we keep going.
Off to our previous neighbors house for some quality time in their 'new' house (they moved 4 months before us)!

Aunt Jen's trip

Was the best. I still can't believe my sister gave up her holiday weekend with her family to come help me out with the children while Mike was in ATL attending a great friend of our's wedding. She and Mike passed in the air and probably could have waved to one another LOL
On Friday we all went in to pick her up at security gate. Caden and I waited, sometimes impatiently, for her while Riordan wanted out of his stroller, and Teagan bounced in the Bjorn. Yay! We got her, stopped at the Starbucks for a quick snack and then headed to, surprise surprise, Chick Fila! Brought the boys home for a nap and then my friend Michelle and her children came over to play that night and eat pizza.
Saturday we hit the mall. The boys played on the indoor playground for almost an hour! We strolled around with no agenda and ate in the court. Back home we came for naps. Teagan slept till 6 pm, so when she got up and everyone had dinner we hit the Super Target.
Off to church the next morning, which if you read was very moving, and then home to wait for Mike to return. We had a big girls day planned! Mike got in about 1, we cut OFF her hair for Locks of Love, and then went and saw 'Trust the Man' and had a delicious dinner and amazing talk at Fleming's Steakhouse. And yes I introduced her to the Coconut Tears Martini AND the Chocolate Lava Cake. YUMMO!
Monday was departure day and a sad one. I can't remember the last time she and I got to spend time like that together. Had to be before the kids were all born. Talk about home sick. Which is another motivation to book this trip finally to Atlanta. Caden and Riordan cried and she walked inside the airport. Even candy couldn't stop their tears. We miss you Aunt Jen!!
Pics of our weekend to come hopefully tonite ;-)

Gearing up!

For the 3-day walk. What a long trip it has been already! In about 8 weeks is the walk itself. Today I ordered all my gear: waist pack, water bottles, mole skin, etc. Still on the list, portable sunblock and thorlo (sp) socks. I had lost my passion for a bit after having Teagan. Hormones...
But I have been re-motivated, think I mentioned it back a few months ago because a close family member was diagnosed. Also a close friend's mother in law was diagnosed this past summer as well. I had sent out a video of Inflammatory Breast Cancer and had never heard of it. That video is what alerted my friend to her MIL's issues! I know how we can hate forwards, but on something like that if you can just help one person, in the end it is all worth it.
This is what life is all about. These lessons in life and people I see, meet, watch, and love are what I use to continually build on everyday.

5 months later

I get mastitis! After all this time!
Most of you friends and family know that I battled this with both the boys and always suffered badly. BUT I was very very proactive this time. I noticed it Monday evening, but was praying it was just slight engorgement and no infection. The next morning the inflammation had spread. I dumped everything going on in my life, got on the phone with my OB, they called in the antibiotic, and I got into bed. I never developed the fever!!
Today I went in for a follow-up, confirmed it was definitely mastitis and that I was out of the woods for the high fevers. I'm still tender and a bit tired, but I can make it to the Disney show on Friday with the family! Yay! We are so excited. Well Mike and I are LOL. Caden doesn't know he's going, and won't probably until tomorrow night. Plus with our Disney trip soon to come, it will be a nice warm up.
And a drumroll please!!
The Malloy Family will be returning to Atlanta together as a unit in November for a quick visit!! We miss everyone so much and my dad especially. I don't, for some odd reason, have a picture of him and Riordan together so that is my main objective ;-) OF COURSE I miss the rest of my family too, so don't take that last sentence the wrong way tee hee hee.
So we fly in to Birmingham late on the 16th, drive over to Atlanta early on the 17th and fly back out on the 20th. Caden knows this and has asked almost every hour today, " Are we going to get on the plane yet?!" This is why he doesn't know about the Disney show yet.

And like lightning

It hit me today in church. That the path I walk is still the right one and was completely validated in the message in today's sermon. It was definitely good for my soul. The devil has been pounding me lately , making me lose sleep, and sick to my stomach. I laid it at God's feet once, but unfortunetly I needed to bring forth more. As we were singing a song, a man, near my sister and I, lost conciousness.
I began to weep and pray for many reasons. Life is too precious (and I've been saying this lately) to acknowledge petty untruth's. Man what an amazing congregation we have. Everyone began praying and gathering around him to lift him up. He was able to walk out, for most likely some medical attention, but I have never been so emotionally moved in all my years of going to church. It was definitely a combination of the sermon, the amazing vocalists singing ( I still have chill bumps) and this man. Was this a message to me to remind me of what I need to be grateful for and not worry about what others think? I think so...
I pray that his health is okay, and maybe he just stood up too fast and that is why he fainted.

Mark 12:29 says, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all you mind and with all your strength." (NIV)

The ultimate reward is Him.

I'm behind

Tim and Faith were so awesome, definitely a great performance and a concert that is good for any marriage ;-) They are so cute on stage!

Busy as always here! The children are all finally healthy and for the most part sleeping well. I just can't wait for a full night of sleep!

Aunt Jen is coming in today and Caden and I are absolutely beside ourselves!! The countdown started over 2 weeks ago ;-) She is here until Monday! Mike is gone until Sunday. He is in Atlanta for a good friend of ours wedding. I wish we all could have gone, but the wallet isn't giving lately. So instead I get to have a girls night with my baby sis. Movies and dinner! We both can't remember the last time just she and I had some good quality time together.

I have so much more to brag about with the children, but I must go prepare Jen's room and pick up the house a bit before Teagie Weagie wakes up. There is never enough time in the day, right?! And now she literally is waking up with her singing like she does every morning! So I may have to clean after we pick up Aunt Jen LOL