Our little campers

We decided to brave it and go camping with all three kids this Memorial Day weekend.  We went with our good friends, Andy and Sarah and their little baby Madeline and Sarah’s cousin and her family.  Saturday morning we took the trek up to Whitehorse Lake, which is south of Williams, AZ.  Aside from the wind during the day and the frigid temperatures at night, we had a great time.  We took a walk down to the lake on Sunday and the kids got to see more frogs than they ever cared to.  Let’s just say Lauren’s favorite animal USED TO BE a frog. 

There was a lot of great campfire conversations with our friends and amazing cookout food.  Andy and Sarah were more than prepared for this camping trip with every camping cooking gadget and food imaginable.  Which was good, because it took all of the room in our truck just to pack for the family of five and our drinks and snacks. 

Here are a few pictures from our mini-adventure!

Lauren playing bartender in the back of Andy’s truck

“Hey, Mommy! You want a cold one?”

Baby Madeline

Andy taking a break from cooking up some amazing food!

My happy lil’ camper!

 

Auntie Sarah helping Molly with her shoes.  She also volunteered to take Molly to the bathroom multiple times, which is quite the task with the level of funk those bathrooms have.  Thank you Sarah!

Molly attempting to hold baby Madeline!  Molly’s face in this picture is actually clean compared to what it was most of the weekend. 

 

We were watching our friends dog for the weekend, so Sam got to come camping with us.  She LOVED it!  And, she is the best. dog. ever!

Getting packed up.

Daddy’s helpers.

Mommy is usually not in the pictures because I’m always taking them.  Which, in this situation would have been quite alright.  But, I thought this was a cute picture of my girls.  Aaron is snuggled in the Ergo.

The deconstruction process.

The ride home was very quiet.  Wreck-it-Ralph was on…

 

 

Toothless

 

 

 

 

On May 8, 2013, my big girl Lauren lost her very first tooth. It was already very wiggly and it started bleeding at school so Miss Bell, her kindergarten teacher pulled it out. This marks such a big milestone in her nearly 6 years of life. I feel like she was JUST a baby. And, now she's 4 more school days away from being a first grader and she's lost her first tooth. She's such a big girl and I'm so proud of her.

P.S. She lost her 2nd tooth on May 19th. 

Five months

The day after Molly turned 3, Aaron turned 5 months old.  I love watching him grow.  But, and I know I have said it over and over, they grow way too fast.  He’s putting everything in his mouth these days.  But, prefers his own fingers.  He’s not a huge fan of the pacifier like the girls were.  He loves to just sit back and observe.  He focuses on things like he’s trying to figure them out.  But, faces are his favorite thing to look at.  He could stare and smile at people all day long. He loves to grab at faces and noses and mouths too.  But, his fingernails, even freshly trimmed, are like sharp talons!

He’s sleeping in his crib for a little while at night.  Even though it is way easier just to keep him in bed with us (I still sneak him in bed with me in the middle of the night).  When I pick him up in the middle of the night from his crib, his little arms wrap around my neck and he snuggles his face into my neck.  It totally melts my heart.

He adores his sisters and does well at daycare.  He makes “ba-ba” and growling sounds and has started mimicking our mouth movements.  He’s still only getting fed breast milk.  And, he is a great eater (his thighs and cheeks are proof of that).

 

We love you, Little Man!!

Molly is 3!

It’s amazing how fast the years pass us by.  I was looking at pictures of just 3 years ago when she was just born.  And, I remember how I wondered what she would be like when I held her for the first time.  Would she walk in the same footsteps as her big sister, Lauren? Or, would she have a completely different personality and do her own thing? 

Well, Molly, you are a surprising little girl.  So full of happiness and humor and excitement and kindness.  You are your own little person.  You have a smile that lights up a room. And, your laughter is contagious.  You love playing with your sister and friends.  But, are also content with playing alone and having your own personal quiet time.  You make us laugh everyday with the surprising things you do and say.  And, our lives would not be complete without hearing your little Molly voice everyday!

We love you so much!

Happy 3rd Birthday, Molly Shea!

This is the first time Molly would get in the pool this summer.

She ended the summer with no floaties, swimming on her own.

Month 4

As of March 27th, Aaron Phillip turned 4 months old.  I’ve completely lost track of his age in weeks because he’s my 3rd baby and I’m working full time.  SOOO, in order to keep things simple in my life, we go by months now.  Don’t judge…you’re lucky you get a blog post………weeks late.

Any who, he weighs in at a hefty 13 lbs, 4.2 oz. and is 24 1/4 inches long! 

He’s probably the happiest baby I’ve ever met!  Only cries when he needs something and smiles the rest of the time.  He likes to put his fists in his mouth and has recently discovered that his feet taste pretty darn good too.  He will try to put toys in his mouth by using his fists to grab at it.  But, hasn’t quite gotten how to use his open hand to grab toys yet.  He growls when he’s putting things in his mouth.  He’s so verbal and expressive! I love it!  He loves being outside and going for walks.  And, he was pretty impressed with the pool when he got to put his feet in for the first time. 

He’s still not sleeping through the night.  AND, he’s pretty much sleeping with me every night and nurses himself to sleep.  Again, don’t judge….I gotta do what I gotta do to get as much sleep as I can AND, he’s my last baby!  I’m going to enjoy every minute.  Even if those minutes are spent sleeping while snuggling together.

Here are a few 4 month pictures of my little man!

 

 

March Madness

Don’t be jealous of how crazy we get here in the Malone house!  Just a few pictures I took of the kids on a Saturday morning and Dennis and Aaron snoozing on a Sunday evening.  I know, I know….we need to tone it down a notch with our madness!

Big boy in his pink Bumbo

The girls very involved in their Disney Junior….yes, Molly still has a binky.  No, I don’t know when I’ll make her give it up.  She’s just now getting the potty thing down.  One major life change at a time.  :)

My three little loves.

I don’t know why I always just blog about big life events.  Because, our routine, everyday life if pretty big AND just as sweet.

Three Months have gone by

On Feb 27th, Aaron turned 3 months old.  He is such a happy baby which shows from his constant smiles and giggles.  He likes to suck on his fingers, sometimes to the point of gagging himself.  And, he has started to hold his feet with his hands.  He loves going for walks outside and watching his sisters play.  And, he squeals and kicks his feet and waves his arms like he’s about to take flight when he sees anyone he loves……which is pretty much everyone.

Mommy went back to work on Feb 19th, so he has started to go to Tutor Time with Molly.  It took him a little while to get used to the bottle.  But, he has wonderful daycare providers that are very patient and loving with him.  So, he’s a champ at it now!  He seems to be happy at daycare.  Even though it breaks my heart every day to drop him off.  At least I know he’s in good hands.  And, his big sister looks in on him during the day, too.

We certainly love this baby boy!

 

We made a red velvet cake with cream cheese frosting for Valentine’s Day…..Daddy’s favorite!

Lauren working diligently on her homework.  She got an amazing report card.  She knows all of her sight words.  She can read now.  And, her teacher says that she is giving her more challenging math problems and she is very ready for first grade!!  Way to go LoLo Bug!

And, then there’s my Molly! I couldn’t make it through the day without seeing a smile from this little girl.  I can’t believe she’s almost 3! She seemed to grow up in an instant when Aaron was born.  She’s doing such a great job with her potty training at daycare.  We are so proud of our girl!