Samantha's Birthday

I am late posting these, a death in the family threw me behind in everything.... not I am playing catch up. She didn't have a real great birthday party because the death of my grandmother. But at least she was only turning one and won't remember it. Her outfit was so cute on her!!! And now she is walking all the time, not justtaking a few steps. She is growing really fast!!!

~Malania

It's A Sad Day

My grandmother (my mom's mom) passed away on the 19th in a car wreck. I didn't know she was going to Missouri, she didn't tell me. Her and I have had a hard relationship for the last year, her husband (my step grandfather) passed away last December. My heart breaks for her. I wish things had been better this last year for her and for me. I wish things were different. I am still in shock. Today is her funeral, planning her funeral has been a hard thing to do. I have never had to plana funeral before. And now I am grandparent less. I have two living grandparents left (my dad's mom and my mom's dad) but I have no relationship with either of them and haven't in years. I feel bad for my children, they were close to her and she loved them so much. Someday the pain and sadness will lessen and the good memories will shine through, but today is a sad day. This past week has been so hard.

Early Christmas Gift

The kids have been asking for a puppy for a while now. David and I started thinking abouut. We knew we wanted a big dog, one that would be friendly but also one that the boys could play with, and then a small dog also- a lap dog. So we got the kids a doberman and a mini schnauzer puppy. The doberman is 9 weeks old, his name is Justice Lee and he is the calmest puppy ever!!! And the mini schnauzer is Julia Nicole and she is 7 weeks old and full of engery and loves to play!

~Malania

What a WEEK!!!

Wow, this has been a LONG week and it is only Thursday!! Sunday night to Monday morning, Samantha only slept 3 hours all night, she wasn't feeling well; just coughing and congested some- I didn't think anything major since she had NO fever.... was I wrong!!! I took her and Michael to the doctor on Monday. Michael was going because he passed out on Friday for the second time in 6 months. Michael had to do blood work (which was normal) and an EKG (which was normal) but he will be seeing a specialist on next Thursday to see if they can figure out what is going on. For Samantha when we got back to an exam room, I felt of her and she was hot so they took her fever and it was 101.8 and she didn't have a fever at all when we left the house, 15 minutes before that!! So they ran a flu test (which was negative)and a RSV test(also negative) and did a chest x-ray- she has pneumonia!!!!! I couldn't believe it!! Poor baby! So I took her back to the doctor and she got a shot. On Tuesday, Devin was coughing badly so I took him to the doctor, and the doctor couldn't find anything wrong with him. And Samantha got a second shot then, since she still wouldn't eat much at all, and was only having 2-3 wet diapers in a 24 hour period. On Wednesday no one went to the doctor. But on Wednesday afternoon, Garrett started limping. He has been complaining that his leg hurts, so I thought it was just a pulled muscle or growing pains, but on Wednesday he would barely walk. So this morning he went to the doctor and they did x-rays and those came back normal. So we are not sure what is going on with him, could be a pulled muscle or growing pains still. Hopefully will not be back at the doctors off for a week or two. And hopefully this week will end SOON!!! Crazy week. We are hoping for a better week next week.

~Malania

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Happy Thanksgiving!! I have so much to be thankful for. I hope everyone has a wonderful day!

11 Months Already!!

How can it be that she is 11 months old?!?!? Where has the time gone. I must be getting old, I am starting to sound like an old person... you are growing like a weed. LOL! I guess I should start planning her party.

~Malania

Mr Cutie!!

He loves having his picture taken, which is a good thing. And I'm sure it won't last forever, so I will enjoy it while it does. :)

~Malania

Yay!!!!

Yay it worked! Thanks Cindy!!

~Malania

New layouts????

Ok, I need some new layouts for my blog... I am sick of the one I have, but don't like my other choices with blogger.com. So is it possible to get a different layout someplace else? Any one know? If you know of some place to get different layouts, please send me a message. Thanks!!

~Malania

Well Halloween is over and now it feels more like Fall to me. With Thanksgiving just a few weeks away, I have started planning our dinner and also Christmas. I am about half done with Christmas already and want to finish the kids up next week of the week after. I don't like shopping at all in December! Way too crazy for me! Going grocery shopping in December is crazy enough, everyone has to act like that can of green beans is the last one on the planet! I think everyone just needs to calm down and enjoy the holidays. Embrace them. Make memories! But we are an impatient society so I think those days are behind us. So for anyone out there reading my blog, here are some fall photos that I took recently, I hope this helps you enjoy the season!

~Malania

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween everyone! I hope everyone has a wonderful and safe day!

~Malania

Halloween Pictures

Ok, I didn't see them on my blog so here they are!! I am pleased with them. :)

~Malania

He tilted his head on his own.

Same picture has the first one, just in color.

My Blessings! :)

Halloween is Coming!

Wow, I can't believe that it is already Halloween time, this year is almost over with. How can that be? I must be getting old! Halloween is in 2 days now, the kids had a Halloween party on Monday, and Michael has one tomorrow at school; that the kids and I will be going too, and then Saturday night we will be trick or treating. Yay free candy!!! LOL! Last year we had so much candy, it was crazy, but the boys had a lot of fun. I just hope it isn't raining, it has been raining all day here. But it is suppose to be clear and not to cold (60s as the high that day). Tomorrow night or Saturday morning we will make a haunted house, I will post pictures after that is done. My kids are being- Michael is Buzz Light Year (his 3rd time), Connor is Mr Incredible, Garrett is Woody, Devin is Lighting McQueen, and Samantha is Minnie Mouse. They look so cute!! I can't remember if I have posted pictures on my blog of them in their costumes, I will look and see in a minute. It should be interesting with Samantha this year, I am not sure if she will like the costumes, plus it will be dark, and she is teething, so it may be very interesting. LOL! At least she isn't walking!! Next year should be a lot of fun, chasing her around. I hope everyone has a safe and wonderful Halloween!!

10 Months Old

How can it be???? Where did my baby go? Samantha is 10 months old now. That just seems crazy, time is going by way too fast. I do have her first birthday already planned, and I have the outfit. :) Yay!! She is just now getting over her 4th ear infection, she has been sicker then the boys ever were, and she is only been breast fed till 9 months. Here are her 10 month pictures.

Been Busy

Well life here has been busy. With homeschooling Connor, taking Michael back and forth to school, doing normal everyday chores, doing a couple of photography shoots and now starting to sell candles- no wonder I stay so behind on my blog. If you want to see my pictures they are at- photographybymalania@blogspot.com or on flickr under photographybymalania. I hope you check them out! I am still learning but also having a lot of fun along the way. I am now also going to be selling candles- Gold Canyon Candles and I would love for you to buy from me. They are wonderful smelling candles, and I sell more then just candles, there is body products, cleaning products, pods and warmers, etc. You can email me if you are interested in any of my products.

But enough about that. The kids are all doing well. We are all so happy it is fall break!! Even though we have only been back from vacation for about 4 weeks, we need a vacation. Michael is doing well at school, he is a little lazy at home but the teacher doesn't have any problems with him. Connor is doing well with homeschooling. I do need to get him around more children, so that is my goal for this month. He is starting to read now and his writing has gotten so much better. Garrett is a happy 4 year old. He knows all of his alphabet and is trying to get writing done. Garrett loves books and has a wonderful imagation. Devin is a normal 3 year old boy- in charge of everything. He is still not sleeping in his bed all night, he ends up in mine. He does know most of his alphabet and numbers to 8. But he would rather play and that is fine. And for Samantha- what can I say- she is a baby still and likes everything her way. Her sleeping is awful, she is getting up 2-5 times a night every night. She has started rice and oatmeal cereal. Sometimes she likes them and sometimes she doesn't. She is saying mama all the time now. She is also trying to say bubba. She can climb the stairs super fast already and she thinks it is so funny! It is pretty cute. :)

I guess I will end now and try to post more often. I know I have said that before. LOL! But I am hoping to take the kids to the pumpkin patch and also the zoo while on fall break, if it doesn't rain all week, so I hope I can post about those two things this week.

Have a wonderful fall break to everyone!!

Happy 9th Birthday Michael!!!!

I was going to post this yesterday, but I lost track of time. But yesterday my oldest baby turned 9 years old! I still cannot believe he is 9 and next year he will be in double digits! When did he get so old, when did I get so old? LOL! He had a really great birthday and has a party planned for Sunday, which should be fun. Happy 9th Birthday Michael!!! I love you!

Vacation Part 2

A few more shots from our wonderful vacation!!

Our Magical Vacation!

These are a couple of pictures from our wonderful magical vacation!! I didn't think I would like the ocean, but I loved it! I would go back in a second. Walt Disney World was awesome!! And I enjoyed watching the Braves play two games, and WIN!!!

Connor's First Day of School

Today was Connor's first day of school. He walked right in and went to his desk and put all his stuff on his desk and sat down. He didn't cry a tear at all, I did though. I took a couple of pictures and let him adjust to his room, and then David, I and the other kids went to the hallway and made sure he was ok. He did great. I was so excited to see him after school! It was a long day. Connor told me that he had no one to play with at recess and no one to sit by at lunch. :*( My poor boy was all alone. Michael said that when he went out that he saw Connor sitting out under a slide by himself. :**( Michael doesn't get to play with Connor at recess. I feel so bad for him. I hate to stalk the school but I think I will go by during Connor's recess times tomorrow. I hate that he is lonely. Connor had homework on his first night, he had to write his name. I guess we will see how tomorrow goes.

First Day of School Part 1

Well today was Michael's first day of 3rd grade!! Wow, 3rd grade, how did he get so big! On another note, how did I get so old... LOL! Last night was meet the teacher night, so we knew who his teacher was... we like her. But Michael only has one friend in his class, the rest are in the other class so today was a little sad for him, the sad part is - is only friend in his class is moving away soon. I feel bad for him. I am glad he gets to see his other friends are recess and PE. I know most of the other boys in Michael's class and I know how the parents are so I don't think Michael will be friends with anyone else in his class.. he tried in 1st grade and one of the mothers made her son stay away from me and Michael right in front of us both. :(

Connor got to meet his teacher last night, he was really shy and nervous. I hope he does well on his first day on Monday. He had a screening today and did well. He told them October 1st as his birthday, that is Michael's birthday. But other then that he did great. :)

Here are pictures of Michael.

Part 2 coming on Monday.

Airplanes

Wednesday afternoon all of us went to the city to eat, and well we were in the city we went to Tinker Air Force Base and saw the airplanes. David was with us for this. Yay! We have been wanting to take the kids for a while, but David hates the heat and I don't want to stand in the cold. But Wednesday it was cloudy and only in the 80s, so we decided it would be a good day to go. The boys loved it!!!! They were so amazed by the planes! David enjoyed it too!! I thought it was neat and had fun watching the kids. I took some pictures (big surprise there, right?) LOL! Here some of them are.