Polar Express

The Polar Express Train Ride to the North Pole in Williams, AZ was just so much fun! We headed up the day after Riordan's birthday about 10 am.

The children hardly napped at all they were so excited as were Mike and I.

We arrived at 2pm and were able to immediately check in. Williams is a small town, reminded me of home growing up before the 'expansion' began. The hotel had a big fireplace in the lobby and was all decorated for Christmas. The staff was so amazing and nice. We dropped off our things and went exploring. You could tell the lights that were strung every where were going to be so beautiful at night.

We met the German's for dinner about 4:15 at Max and Thelma's, and it was a bit stressful. Teagan had had it, she was so tired and the boys were too. So we went back to our room to give her a quick nap and began to dress the boys in their special Polar Express PJ's. Our moods started to lighten and the excitement came back! They were so cute!

We went back out at 6pm, it was dark, everything was lit, it was cold, and it was so pretty! It was like we stepped in a magical wonderland. We took some pictures and then headed to our train that was about to board. Coach F on the Polar Express. Hanging out the door was our 'chef' talking to people passing by. Caden at this point started to get anxious. He keep saying he didn't want to get on, and to take him back to the hotel. He was under the impression the train ride would be like the one in the movie. So we board, Caden crying, and me trying to console him that I promised it wouldn't go fast.

Once everyone was boarded we began to pull away from the depot. Caden started to calm down and cookies and hot chocolate came out and he was perfectly fine. He started to tell us how much he loved the train ride. We brought our copy of the book to read along as it was read on the speaker prerecorded by Liam Neeson. Riordan was a bit of a wiggle worm, but he shared his cookie with Teagan. SO sweet. And Teagan was an absolute wiggle worm and wasn't happy if she wasn't eating a cookie or attached to me in the baby bjorn.

The ride to the North Pole was about 30 mins. When we pulled up Santa was on his sleigh waving to everyone! Caden and Riordan were so excited!We were there only a few minutes and we turned back. Our chef told us that Santa would be visiting soon so let's sing his favorite song, "Santa Claus is coming to Town".

As soon as we started to sing, in came Santa! He was so beautiful!! The look on the boys faces were absolutely priceless and worth every little aggravation on our trip. Santa handed out bells to each child and they were a big hit with the Malloy's. Even Teagan got one. Santa then proceeded to the next car. After that we sang Christmas carols the rest of the way back. Our chef was really into his singing and made it even more fun.

We tried to stay up a little later once we walked back to the hotel, but all the children had had it. So off to bed we went. It was a restless nights sleep though, everyone was coughing (I think our room was actually a smoking one, it was very stale smoke smelling) and I had a stuffed up nose.

We left about 8:30ish but not before we got to see the SNOW FALLING!That was the icing for sure on the trip. We did drive through Sedona on the way home which was very beautiful. I finally feel I have done some exploring after living here a year. We initially were going to go to the Grand Canyon, but because of the snow we were pretty sure it would be too cold and we wouldn't be able to see much.

Polar Express Pics and More

Riordan's birthday party

I'm back tracking. A lot to catch up on!

Last Friday we had a small Blue's Clues party for Riordan

It was so much fun!! The Tripp's came over as well as the DiStephano's!

We had pizza, Blue's Clues Cake, and watched Frosty..

Thanks you guys for making his 2nd birthday so special!

Riordan doesn't like it when people sing so he got mad during his birthday wishes but soon was okay when he tried 5 times to blow out his candles!

So cute!


Riordan's Birthday Pics

HAPPY BIRTHDAY RIORDAN!!

I can't believe he's two today!
He is such a funny little boy...
Very independent when he wanders away A LOT,
but if you leave the room boy does he get mad and sad!
Mike and I took him to lunch yesterday to Chili's while Caden was
at school. We all enjoyed it so much! He got one of those frozen kid drinks and couldn't have been happier! I was singing Happy Birthday to him as we walked in and when I was finished he looked at me and says "Cake"
WOW He's getting it! So of course I try it again this morning when he woke up and sure enough he looks at me again and says "Cake" again!
Well cake is what he will get and a Blue's Clues one at that! And a huge Elmo singing balloon and hopefully some more from Party City.
He's favorite things are:
Backyardigan's, Blue's Clues, Go Diego Go, Dora, Fish (Nemo), saying Neigh, Moo, Woof, Meow, and Quack all in appropriate sounding voice, he loves dum dum lollipops and calls them 'Pop', Milkies, his brother, and his sister.
We have some friends coming over tonite to help celebrate! I'm pretty sure we will be having some Chick Fila! :-)

I think we are over it

I think....
Riordan was sick yet again this morning but we all feel better.
We went to see wonderful Dr. Sudha on Monday and got strep tested and all turned out negative! What was really interesting was weights on the children!
Caden: 38 lbs, he's a rail!
Riordan:32 lbs and not even two until Friday! He's very tall though and is losing his Buddha belly and I think he stepped back just as the scale was setting, but he is quite heavy to hold ;-)
Teagan: 19 lbs exactly! She's so petite! And that was with all her clothes on and a very wet diaper LOL.
The boys were both well into 20lbs by 8 months!
We are going to have to buy a new car. Mike has the white truck and left me with the blue truck. It's on it's roters for brakes and has a check engine light again. I have to say we got what we asked for, to make it till December! So we are checking out used cars online... not sure though what we want!

"Always look on the bright sideee of LIfe!"

It's been our theme song since the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade. I tivo'd it since we were at the Tempe Towne Lake park that morning and Caden and Riordan watch it everyday since then! Caden's favorite scene is when the cast of 'Spamalot' performed. So everyday we sing this song and boy were we singing it this weekend!
Because everyone, but myself got sick! Flu I'm pretty sure. Riordan began on Saturday during the day. Then Caden in the middle of the night all night. Teagan so far only has the fever, but Mike this morning while driving to pick up his associate. The children all got flu shots in October, so I think if it weren't for those we'd be worse off.
So you say the bright side right? Well, if it were to happen this was the better weekend since next weekend is Polar Express and then the following is Disney!!
I'm flat out exhausted but I'm sure I don't feel bad compared to all my family. What Caden missed this weekend was Church and his T-ball party. Riordan, Mike and Teagan missed my MOPS dinner Saturday night. I still stayed busy, I also had the Angel Tree program from Church to check out the gifts brought in for the family's I am overseeing. That was really neat to see what the kids will be getting. I hate to miss the party, it's the day we leave for Disney...
Today we are taking it easy and our new housekeeper is coming. Our previous one hasn't worked out because of reasons unknown to me. But they were two hours late on Friday, after I spoke we them at 10:00 and they said they be at the house no later than 11:30. So out we went so they could clean. We stayed out a long time, till 1:00... Get back and they still hadn't come! I was just about to put them down for a nap when they showed up and I told them that I couldn't use them now , blah blah blah. If they had called and said they were going to be so late then we would have stayed out longer... Well it's probably a blessing in disguise because they wouldn't use the products I had...

Isn't this odd

Our high today will be 57. Back home in GA? Mid 70's
Our low tonite 30!!! There was frozen water on our grass this morning
and I had to turn the heat on last night... Low for GA 59!!
Yes dad I'm letting the water drip ;-)
And 57 is not like 57 back home, it's more like 47 with the openess and nothing to shield the valley from the weather. Boohooo right? Well noooooooooo.
I love it, keeps the Christmas Spirit alive from me that started in GA when we were home is was cold like this. Funny when we came home I was back in shorts. I LOVE SWEATER WEATHER!!!!!

World Vision

Every year we pick an organization to donate to throughout the year and especially for Christmas. This year we have donated funds through World Vision and we donated extra for ourselves, in lieu of gifts, to the families of Darfur, Sudan.
Also, in lieu of gifts this year, we donated in the names of our parents to the Maxium Impact Fund. Merry Christmas !!!!!;-)
We are blessed so much already as are our families and there are so many people in the world just struggling day to day, that it was an easy decision.
Normally we donate locally, but I have felt a tug to Darfur for sometime now. I hope that I have inspired you as well to give a little extra, or ALL in the spirit of Christmas to your favorite organization. Or if you would like more info, World Vision has programs that benefit people all over the world including the US. Just some of their means of donating are through a gift catalog, you can sponser a child monthly, contribute to basic needs, and emergency needs.

Our tree

Thanksgiving week and weekend

What a whirlwind week. We've tried to do downtime as much as possible, but it has been busy!
Tuesday morning our new handyman came and finished the work our previous handyman didn't finish. Tuesday night I went to the grocery store and you would have thought an ice storm was coming! No eggs, bread, and low on milk. It was quite a sight. That night we put up our new FAKE Christmas tree and it is so awesome! I'm so glad we got it. It's a very good knock off of a Fraser Fir.
Wednesday, I can't even remember! LOL
Thursday morning we went with our neighbor's to Tempe Towne Lake Park, where we had breakfast in the park. It was a beautiful morning with lots of yummy food and mimosas. We were there for about two hours and then needed to head back home to cook our food to take to the Tripp's home for Thanksgiving dinner at their house. We spent it with them and their friend's Penny, Ivan, May, and Izzy. We had a great time and created a lot of great new memories.
Friday morning we got up and began to unpack finally and clean our very dirty house. I made a taco soup, and John and Amy came over to spend some time with us. We ended up in our neighbor's driveway. They pulled out their fire pit, the kids roasted marshmallow's, and we just hung out. It was nice. We started plotting our idea's for decorating the house on Saturday.
Mike got on a ladder people! And strung the whole house! He did such a great job!. We got out our Santa on a train, the presents, got some new candy canes, and decorated almost every bush we have with lights. It took us all day until that night till about 10pm! Our break for the day was decorating the Christmas tree.
I had a young man at Target, who checked me out on my second visit there that day, tell me it wasn't worth it. I said that it absolutely was when I have 3 children 3 and under and it makes them happy. He said touche'. Bah humbug. He must of been tired and having a bad day.
Sunday we headed off to church, and then came home for a nap. I can't remember the rest of the day, must be because we did nothing ;-)

Pictures

247 pictures from GA! View at your own risk ;-)

Our trip back home

It was so great. It went too fast. It was too short. But it was worth it!
We flew in Thursday night to Birmingham, AL, late. The boys were so excited to get on the plane. As we began to taxi, Caden asked to get off the plane. He was so scared, probably for about an hour. Then he began to settle in, watching DVDs on daddy's computer and playing his leapster.
We flew Southwest, which is no assigned seating, but family's with at least one child 4 and under can go on first. All the Malloy boys on one side and Teagan and I together across the aisle. She cried both ways half the flight. We will be getting her a seat as well, if we fly again anytime soon. I was fortunate in the fact on the way out there and back, no one sat between myself and the person at the window ;-) As we were descending, Riordan's ears hurt really bad from the pressure and he was so upset and would point to his ears. Poor baby.
Thankfully at Birmingham International, once we got off, it was a short walk to baggage and right across from baggage was our car to rent at Hertz. Took us a little longer than expected to find our hotel, so once we were in bed it was 2 am Eastern time.
We got up about 7 to get breakfast and get going to Atlanta to my nephew's and niece's Grandparents Day at their school. It's a program they do annually and it ends with the grade school children's semester project. Alabama is an hour behind Georgia so we had time on our side. What wasn't on our side is traveling with three children three and under. We really enjoyed the drive, 2 1/2 hours, over. Fall was in full bloom. Every thing was so vibrant with color and so crystal clear. I immediately became very homesick for the South and was trying to remember why we moved to Arizona in the first place.
We didn't make it until almost noon and everything was pretty much done. But it was a nice reunion with my parents, and my older sister and her children. We went to Susan's house for Fellini's pizza (yummo!) and the kids all caught up and played together. It was a beautiful afternoon, the sun was out to warm us up , but the shade was a bit chilly.
Afterwards we went to our hotel, Friday traffic still stinks!, and took a little nap before we met up with friends and family who came to see us at the hotel bar. It was so great to see everyone!! All the kids ran around the atrium, and us adults got to catch up. Thank you Natalie, Annette, Adam, Mark, Caroline, Curtis, Susie, Diana, Mark, Sascha, Allen, and Mom, Jen, and Susan AND Garrett, Isabel, Camden, and Rylee, for coming to us! Mom and Susan took Isabel and Caden for a swim while we caught up with everyone. Since we stayed on AZ time we were able to stay up with the kids till 10 and then go to bed. We were zonked since we had about 4 hrs of sleep the night before.
Saturday we went to my younger sister's, Jen, home in Cartersville, to see her newly laid floors by Matt, her hubby, and to just spend some quality time with them and their son Garrett. Again, a beautiful drive, I kept rubbing my eyes because everything was so bright and clear! Makes you realize how dusty the Southwest Desert is.
A quick stop at Chick-Fil-a ( I know surprise surprise) and we headed to my parents house. We wanted to stop at our old neighborhood, in Bentwater, so badly but there wasn't enough time. We got caught in traffic again, going south on I-75. It was a good time for the children to get a car nap though.
Mom had a Thanksgiving feast catered for us! She made her famous turkey, gravy, and stuffing. It was so good! Grandmommy Carol, Matt's mom, made a Diego coconut birthday cake for the boys! It was so beautiful and the boys loved it, as all of us did! It was so nice to spend a little birthday time with the family. To end the night we had a fireworks show on the back porch and sparklers. I told mom there's nothing like celebrating all the holidays of the year together! ;-)
Sunday morning we came back to my parents house to spend time with them before we headed to the aquarium. The sun was out, but holy smokes it was frigid! I was beginning to remember why we liked Arizona so much.
Small car nap for the children and off we went to the Aquarium with mom, Jen, Matt, and Garrett. It was so amazing and so glad we took time out on the trip to see it! We met up with Sascha, Allen, and Rylee too, and cutie little Rylee wanted to stay with us ;-) Walking back to the car, Centennial park had their Christmas decorations out already. It was just so beautiful. Homesick, again and still fighting back tears. But now the sun was down and it was just ridiculously cold and I was missing the warmth of Arizona. Caden's teeth were chattering, and all our hands were frozen. We made it back to the hotel to meet my dad and we had dinner there.
We had such a nice trip. Full of fun and laughter! Mom and Dad came down Monday morning to see us off. We got some good pictures of all of them together with the children. Our flight back was eventful to say. Teagan cried again half the way home, and at half the way home mark, Riordan got sick everywhere. Thankfully I packed extra clothing for him. Caden loved the plane ride home though and can't wait to get on a plane again. We think it will take a little while to recover and we are excited about our car trips coming up, to the Polar Express the weekend of the 9th, and Disneyland the week of the 17th!
We can't wait to go back and see my dad, who can't fly, and the whole family.... I wonder when we can go back ;-)

Oh my!

I just looked up the weather back home. Are you guys freezing?! ;-)
I'm not sure I have enough warm clothes! Near freezing for the low and won't break 60 for the high while we are there!!!

Tip Toey Joey

So I just got these shoes for Teagan, but had to hunt them down. I first discovered them at Babystyle but for a month they haven't had her size. So I found this great website Buckets and Spades in Australia,and they were so awesome! Zlata actually is who helped me out and she got the balling rolling so fast! I submitted my order, I got a price with shipping, payed via paypal and vavoom! They are here! I just ordered them a week ago. The price with shipping was the same as it would have been here in the States, actually I think it was cheaper to go overseas!! Oh they are so adorable and will be pretty much her everyday shoe. They are extremely soft and look so comfy. I want a pair! They are made by Tip Toey Joey I will be a returning customer for sure!

The countdown begins! ;-)

We leave for Atlanta in four sleeps! I'm started to get really excited and have really begun my mental list of what to pack and what I need to find LOL.
This was absolutely one of our busiest weekends by far!
Friday night Mike had poker with his buddies, he was home at 11, so you know what that means.. no winnings ;-)
Saturday all the Malloy boys went to Caden's t-ball game, while Teagan sat with Ms. Kim and I went to a friends very beautiful and fun baby shower!
Back home we met, and then off we went to one of Mike's clients home for a pig roast. Yep, it was my first actual pig roast. the boys devoured the meat!! And Caden was so funny when the pig was being carved he was yelling pig snout!! Had to be there ...
We made it home about 5 and crashed on the couch for the rest of the night. I was in bed by 9.
Sunday morning, church as normal, but not normal is we went to a friends house for a cookout and no one got their naps. They lasted till 4! Riordan fell asleep on the way home, Caden and I watched Incredibles and soon fell asleep. We woke up about 6:30ish and went outside to play with the neighbors. I think that sent them over the edge. They are so worn out and cranky, trying to have self control, but just not working out. Hopefully they will be sound asleep very soon...

A long day

No naps, but I wanted to get this in...
We went to the Riparian Institute Reserve Water Park today for a Dino Dig and Shoreline Adventure. It was super neat!! The children learned a few things about fossils and dug in sand for dino bones, then we went over to the bridge and fed the ducks seeds (do not feed bread! i forgot why though LOL) and the turtles. While feeding the ducks, Riordan was yelling as loud as he could "Quack Quack" at them ! Absolutely hilarious and a much needed laugh for mommy considering he wasn't being cooperative at the dig site. He was stubborn and mean to his brother and then crying pretty much the whole first part of the dig session.
We had lunch under a ramada, where being out of the sun was nice and cool. In it, it's still pretty hot. We came home, and the boys decided no naps. I know this because Riordan has learned to get OUT of his crib!!! He so wants a big boy bed. Crys when we move him from Caden's bed to get in his crib. Loves being under the covers. So I need to convince Mike that we need to get him a bed and soon.
Teagan today has began to army crawl!! She is so cute, she has such determenation to get where she wants! She has been on all fours and rocking for about 2 weeks now, but today she was moving like it was nothin'. It won't be long now when she puts the two together. She has four teeth and can self feed cherrio's! Such a genius ;-)
Caden, my funny little guy. OH my everyday he makes me laugh. Today all I heard was "I want" about a thousand times. So when he was saying this at one point I said, "I want a million dollars". That little goose goes without skipping a beat mind ya, "Here's your million dollars" pretending to hand me my loot, "Can I have a treat now?" I couldn't stop laughing. And his big boy achievment today?! He finally can blow his nose!!!!!!! I know the little things right. It has been a battle for us, I don't know why, but he has got the concept down finally and thinks everytime he does it he deserves a treat. Just like a puppy ;-)
I love my children, they are so much fun! Thank you Mike for working so hard so I can always be with them! These little moments I cherish and they will stay with me forever...

March might be too long to wait, don't you think Grammy and Papa??! :-) She is just so yummy!

It's beginning to feel like Christmas!

Oh yes it isssssssssssss!
My absolute favorite time of the year!

I have that Christmas feeling already in my tummy ;-)
I think especially since we are going home for a visit.
It's going to be nice and crisp and hopefully some fall leaves left on trees!

As I sit here, I hear Caden saying his prayers and thanking God for specific family and friends. He is looking through his Bible, he doesn't know I know this(because if he did he would hide his face and blush), and he just sounds so sweet! Teagan is bouncing in her bouncy and Riordan is finishing up Caden's breakfast ;-)

Starting to think about all I need for the trip. Mom is getting us a booster/highchair for Teagan and Jen is getting us our air purifier/white noise for our hotel. Can't do well without either!
Thankfully our hotel is near a Kroger, so we can get necessities there once we get in. I'm going to try and pack as light as possible. Quit laughing Mike! :-)

We have heard from just a couple of our friends if they are meeting up with us at the hotel Friday evening. Yes this is a jab directly at you if you haven't responded to the email we sent out weeks ago! We hope you can make it!!

I have my small list of things I must see/get/eat. Ru San's King and I Maki to start, A Georgia Grille Smoked Chicken enchilada, that awesome all over SPF Lotion at Natural Body (no one sells an allover SPF lotion out here! How weird too!), go to the Georgia Aquarium and see our fish scales we purchased for the boys early last year, stop by Mike and I's old hang out, Garrison's, to say hi to whoever is left working there, and to stop by our old 'hood's at the Condo and
Bentwater to see how things have progressed and who's still around. But most of all we will be spending time with the family!!

We are going to have so much fun!!

Now my big decision is to buy a 'live' tree and finally purchase a fake one. I like to put our tree up the day after Thanksgiving, so when I did this last year it was dead, soooooooo dead, two weeks before Christmas! I have to say the idea of not having to vacuum up needles is quite appealing, but where the heck am I going to store it? Maybe no one will notice if I leave it up all year long....

Pics from last weekend

More pics

Trick or Treat?!

What a great weekend we had last weekend, very busy AS USUAL, but we had a great time!
T-ball on Saturday, then a friend's birthday party right after the game, and then Saturday nite met the Tripp's at Cheeburger Cheeburger with our 6 kids!! Hilarious and a good time ;-)
Then I went over to another friends where we scrapbooked... well I tried to get caught up on my shutterfly and definitely enjoyed the company. Sunday, church, and then our church festival where we worked for an hour, like last year, in the toddler room and then played outside on the bounce houses... The weather was absolutely perfect, however we didn't wear our costumes because the boys would have been super hot.
Tuesday for Halloween, we went to the Tripp's house with some friends, had pizza and then got ready to got out trick or treating.
The odds started piling up against us Malloy's. I had a severe headache, forgot our glow sticks and our pumpkins, the camera isn't working right thought it was maybe the battery was low (but now, the flash is not working properly) and then on our second house Riordan walked right into sprinklers that were running! He was soaked! Now if anyone of you know Riordan well, he can not stand to be wet and I thought for sure at this point we were going home. I just waited for him to start screaming. BUT he didn't and didn't care and went right up to the house and got his candy ;-)
After that, it was the best memory yet for us with our friends! I love their neighborhood, gated and the traffic drives so slowly with plenty of houses to go to. I think we hit all but one street!

Here's some pics to share! Caden and Riordan start us off after a fun day at Mother Nature's Farm/Pumpkin Patch. Then Daddy and the Malloy children lounging it up on the couch, Teagan's 'never lost' thumb, and Rub a dub dub, three Malloy's in the tub!

Chase Field Tour

Yes I know it's been too long. But my excuse is Teagan actually needs attention now that she rolls everywhere and eats food, and the boys are always into something and I'm keeping up with the house, being a good wife, cooking AND cleaning! :-)

We have been doing a lot however!! These pictures are from Chase Field, where the Diamondbacks play. We had a tour and it was absolutely the best time I have ever had with all of our friends and their children. Our tour guide was ever so patient with all of us too and pretty much let us do what we wanted (within reason ;-) I'm so glad Mike was able to come because we wouldn't have been able to go ...

The pic of Caden is in the dugout saying 't-ball' Our friends Cayden and Macie in the dugout too, who's mom is Heather! Funny huh?
Notice that it's actually chilly in AZ in the morning and at night now. Faster than it was last year thankfully! The summer wasn't as rough as I thought it would be. Caden has been playing t-ball again, color red, so guess what.. we are the Red Sox's! Surprise right? Been hanging out with our next door neighbors too who are just super, they have a 12 and 10 year old and 1 year old puppy, weiny dog, I can't spell it right so I won't try. Tucker is his name and we kept him last weekend and he is just the sweetest dog and Sully got a lot of good bonding and playing with him!
Been going to the park, Chick Fila, and just the usually errands. We have a lot coming up, so more pictures to come!
Enjoy the rest of these from Chase Field

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

WE ARE COMING TIM AND FAITH!!!!!

wouldn't you know

That the first time we give Teagan solids she sleeps horribly and then last night as well.
I really think though it's because she has post nasal drippage going on. She is constantly coughing/gagging, Riordan was doing that last week, and not keeping milk down on occassion because of the constant hacking.
When she gets Triaminic she's does pretty well.
So we haven't done solids since Sunday and waiting for her to get over her cold. She was up for 2 hours straight last night, but I couldn't get out of bed, Mike did.
Turns out that I have figured out that I have beginning symptoms of Post Partum Depression. Last week sent me over the edge.
Not only did I not get out of my pj's but twice, seriously in 9 days, but my milk supply went down way low on Thursday. It killed me to see my daughter try and nurse and nothing be there. Thankfully she is supplemented on nursey days at church or when we go on dates, so I was able to successfully meet her needs.
I have had PPD before, realllllly bad after Riordan, so I know what to look for now. I was in serious denial when I had it with him.
Getting into a running routine was what got me going with Riordan and then I ended up pregnant with Teagan LOL. So I will do my elliptical and get back to running, but will avoid making another baby ;-)
I have too much on my plate as an individual, wife, and mom. I also have another health issue that I have tracked since Teagan was 6 weeks old and notice it's aggravated by stress. I'm in the process of getting another doctor since the one I have thinks my issue is exoskeletal... quack.
So because of everything going on in my life, yesterday I resigned as Prez of MOMS Club. An immediate weight was lifted off my shoulders and I had full support from my friends. I, for once in my life, am putting my needs first before others and let me tell you, it's empowering.
I'm not worried about how others may feel about my decision, because I know in my heart that I gave it my best shot. This is not the time for me to be supporting 45 other women.
I need to focus on my health firsth, my marriage, and my three beautiful children who need me to be healthy and happy.

Check out the necklace around Riordan's neck, it used to be Mike's! Teagan sitting pretty, and working on that Christmas photo, these aren't it but so adorable!

Catching up

So since last post, a lot has gone on.
One subject I can not yet talk about, partly because it's so absurd it will get my blood boiling because of the horrible lies it entails, and partly because we have sought legal consult and until it's settled then the world will know what we are going through.
However, Tuesday was a 'fun' day for me. I am officially now an Arizonian after over 2 hours at the MVD. Being there for an 1 1/2 got me the pleasure of the system going down. Thankfully God had my back and hooked me up with a wonderful woman, who could tell it wasn't my day (again you will find out hopefully soon), and took pity on me. Even though they weren't issuing original license at that hour because of a gliche in the system, she was able to set me up as far as to being issued a license number. Then whispered to me, to call back in an hour, it should be up, and then come find me and you won't have to wait in line! So with my 'break' I visited my friend Kelly, aka who was formally known as one of our two awesome sitters for the boys, in the hospital! She had delivered her baby girl Ava Elizabeth the day before via C-Section after 36 some hours of labor and 1 1/2 pushing! Ava had tilted her head just perfectly enough that she wasn't coming out. However, she is healthy and beautiful! 9lbs 5 oz and 20 1/2 inches long, I believe Riordan and she will live happily together ;-) Just teasing Megan!! She was born on her due date! I wasn't able to meet her, my main objective was to check on her. She was getting a sugar drip because her sugar levels still hadn't stabilized yet. They are home now, and doing great! I can't wait to meet her and bring them a yummy meal.
So after the visit, I headed back to the MVD and found my girl after being there for 20 mins, she was on break, and she totally took care of me with absolutely no waiting after that. I'm ever so grateful to her!
While I was at the hospital, I got a call that Caden got sick at school. Seeing that Mike's car was in the shop, and I was on the other side of town, his teacher, my friend, brought him home! I tell you it was the most amazing feeling to know really how well cared for he is! I was completely blown away by the wonderful sincerity and treatment he was given, not that I would expect any less, but boy it just touched my heart to know what good hands he is in when he goes to school.
Turns out it was the beginning stages of croup, he was having a hard time breathing and gets sick when he does, asthma related. The next night, he woke up at 1 am vomiting, short of breathe, and croupy. I ran a steam shower for him, gave him treatments, but he turned gray. Off to the ER he went with daddy. There they gave him meds and treatments and he was able to come home. He still has a bad sounding cough, but it's productive.
Riordan got the snot rockets on Wednesday. Then I began to pray for Teagan not to get sick.
Friday night she got a low grade fever. I thought for sure we were all staying home from a friends birthday party. Turns out I'm pretty sure she's teething because she had her first diaper rash the next morning and can not keep anything out of her mouth! No fever, still chewing on everything and likes it when I put pressure on her gums.
Speaking of Teagan, she had her first day of solids today! Rice cereal! She was a champ! She's been sitting with us for a month at the table, practice her mouthing technique, so she was more than ready. Caden was able to witness it as well as Daddy, and Caden kept saying 'Good job Teagan!' She ate the whole darn thing.
I think my stress level is back to normal and I can start to focus on whats going on around me more.
This week is simple with just school, MOMS night out to the movies, a puppet show, and then FAITH HILL AND TIM MCGRAW on Saturday! I can't wait! We have Suite tickets, because of Mike getting making it a work event! Going to get my roots done that morning and Mike is taking the kids to a birthday party and then I will be fashionably late tee hee hee.
Should be a good week.

Our weekend

It went fast! With family in town we just really tried to lay low since juggling three kids three and under and a whole bunch of adults is not easy. Not much you can do in Arizona in August. Naps and bedtimes are completely off schedule and grouchiness is in full effect. Goes with the territory and in the end all worth it. Number one priority was for the kids to get as much time as possible with everyone.
We had a great time, as always it wasn't long enough.
The family accommodated us and we had nights at our house and played cards and shared laughs. Caden and Riordan had a blast having so much attention from Grammy, Papa, Uncle Tim and Aunt Kelly and wanted to know when they are coming again.
We will hopefully get to make a Boston trip next year...
Riordan woke up yesterday morning with a fever of 102 and croup. He didn't have a cold and Friday night was cuddling with Grammy which if I hadn't had a couple of drinks and involved in cards, I would have realized it was the beginning. He's not and never has been a cuddler. He has only been really sick one other time when he was 2 months old and had the flu. He's had colds for sure, but that's easy to handle. He's had croup too, but to me it was never ever serious.
This time is was. He was miserable all day, totally in sick mode and just not himself. He cuddled a lot. We kept on top of his fever with Motrin and tried to keep it down. Seemed to be doing okay last night. Mike and I had a party to attend and Grammy was still up for babysitting so we went.
Came home to both the boys up and not happy. Riordan sounded horrible, he had stridor along with his croup. He fell asleep around 1:30 but was back up at 6 am. Low fever, but still miserable and couldn't get happy I finally called our awesome doctor who called back in FIVE minutes. She asked if I wanted to be seen today, but told her we could wait till tomorrow and she called in a prescription for him. She reminded me to do a steam shower with him and that crying actually was good because he would inhale more. Also said if I wanted I could do a treatment on him. Couldn't find the nebulizer so we did the aerochamber. No change.
Mike took his family to the airport with Caden, Teagan was asleep so we did a steam for 15 mins. He hated the first half, but finally was calming down ( he literally had been crying all morning) He payed attention to the books I was reading and was becoming more like himself. It was amazing and I should have stuck with it sooner when we were trying to do it the night before. We ended up doing two steams in 2 hours.
Mike came home with the script and when he woke up from his nap the croup sounded much better. Still a slight fever, but feeling confident that it will pass with the prednisone.
We go in tomorrow morning to get him check out, to make sure an ear infection isn't present and get his lungs listened to.
I just felt so bad for him and at the same time it was hard to tend to his needs along with Teagan and so I am thankful that we had family here to help out. Riordan, Teagan, and I stayed home yesterday while the rest went for pizza but we can definitely make that up another day.
We have a Peter Piper pizza party in a couple of weeks so that will be perfect!

And so it goes...

Like this:

We finally, after the move from Georgia, found the adaptor to charge our camcorder in the missing portable DVD case (it too had been hiding since the big move) YAY we can video the children again, but Riordan will notice when he's older that a phase of his life is missing LOL Middle child syndrome started already!
Missing now is the adaptor and car charger for the portable DVD.
Also found,the box of missing toys that included our cool puzzles and wooden blocks, yes missing since the big move in Georgia.
Lost now is the box that has my electric can opener, baking sheets, and waffle maker, and that was on this move!
But we did find the cord to the elliptical! :-)
Still not found is the blender, hand mixer, and other small kitchen items from the big move..
Thinking now that they never made it.

Oh the Humidity!

Yep that's right, your read correctly.
Summer here is humid, full of overcast clouds some days and every day dripping sweat, the kind that rolls down the side of your head or the center of your back. Lovely right? Just like back home.. thought I was rid of it for good!
However, our temps are in the low 100's, high 90's which is definitely a nice break.
So it seems that we have the same weather as everyone else right now...

The boys jumping in the puddles, the rain at this point was slight, but still fun. We made a homemade banana split tonight and I barely got two bites out of it because they loved it so much. And Teagan in her new highchair/booster seat!! Such a big girl!! Next month we will begin solids!! She loves to watch us eat.



More pics only if your bored! 120!! been a long time coming, pics of the house after all the work was done and some stuff moved in, more pics of rain puddle jumping, riordan sad because the lightning came back and can't play outside anymore, random shots of the boys packing from the old house, random of teagan, banana split eating.. and more i'm sure

Speaking of

HAPPY BIRTHDAY AUNT JEN! (even though it was yesterday and I sent flowers, emailed a card, sent an email, and called two times and sang to you ;-) Just wanted to post it too!

We've been busy

Nope I'm not completely unpacked. It's been quite overwhelming. We've had so much going on and I can't keep up. Birthday party last weekend, Caden's procedure, school started, and then all the in between things.
Had to buy Teagan an exersaucer type thingy because she refuses to use the swing anymore, and will only do tummy time for about 10 mins. Impossible to get anything done with unpacking and then once I do, the boys go back and tear it up.
We had rain in the morning last week and the boys and I jumped in puddles in our backyard! It was so like being back home. It's the first time Riordan has seen/touched rain, he's always been asleep or it's been lightning to be able to touch it. He was so confused at first, trying to figure out where it came from, but once he saw his big brother playing in it, he was totally loving it. I have pics to upload on them and well and our house and all the children.
Mike has been working hard and a lot. His family will be here next Thursday and we are so excited to see them! It's too short of a visit though.
I just love love love our house and find myself enjoying being here and just living in it. I love doing our thing again, hanging ALL our stuff and finding permanent homes for all our junk ;-)
I'm finally getting on track for training... I went to the high school track last night with Michelle and Steph. My first time exercising in over a year and I walked 2 miles and ran a half. It felt so great, and I'm motivated now to get back on track and pay attention to me!!
Funny about living across the street from Basha High School. Makes our home feel even more like home. Most of you know I lived across from my high school my entire life. Nothing like getting caught in school traffic! Can't wait to hear the roar of football games ;-) We've meet three neighbors now and they are all so nice. We are so grateful!

Comments

For the longest time I couldn't figure out why my comments from friends and family weren't posting. I thought I had fixed it so that all could post. Well now you can, because ta da! I figured out finally I needed to republish my change.. Goober I know!! So all my comments were still in moderation and you are all published now and please continue ;-)

Thank you

I want to thank everyone for their prayers sent our way for Caden and I.V. Sedation. It went well, well accordingly I should say. And if you ever have to do planned I.V. Sedation on your child, have your significant other or parent or good friend with you.
The doctor told me exactly how Caden's body and mind would react to the initial amnesia shot (so he couldn't remember anything obviously) and for a very split moment in time I experienced what it's like to have probably a special needs child. I mean the life was gone out of his face, his eyes, and I panicked on the inside and started to pray that he wouldn't stay this way forever. He was trying to control movement, but he was like a newborn baby, but he wasn't soft like a noodle. They, the doctor and nurse, were there for me emotionally, asking constantly in the 5 minutes it takes to kick in, if I were okay. I was holding him the whole time till he lost conciousness. Right before he did, he muddered as best as he could "mommy". My goodness the experience still brings me to tears.
Coming out of anesthesia was a lot easier, again it went accordingly to what the doctor said was normal. Shivers, shifty eyes, blurry vision, and such. His first words, hardly audible or understandable was "what is on me" It was a Nemo blanket to help with the shivers. Second question "Where's my bandaid" feeling his arm where he had the amnesia shot. I couldn't believe he remembered he got the bandaid or that it was already gone for that matter, but hey he's had an obsession with them for over 6 months now. LOL
By noon, he was his normal, demanding 3 1/2 year old self. I was looking forward to him being in bed all day but he was ready to run a marathon! The energy you forget and how children bounce back... It was harder to keep him down since they say the body has to relearn to sweat after anesthesia!
Another cute thing was while he was recovering at home, watching cartoons he said he saw two Mr. Incredibles on the t.v. Now this was to be expected, but what got me cracking was he said he would like to only see one! LOL