Easter 2014

We spent Easter down in Cedar with my family. It was so much fun. This is first year I have done any activities with the kids for Easter. 

Friday night we colored Easter eggs. The boys had a blast. 

We colored the eggs then put stickers and tattoos on them. 

Levi loved the colored eggs. He spent some time transferring eggs from one basket to another.

 We started out Saturday at the Kolob Regional Easter egg hunt. It was the boys' first egg hunt and they enjoyed it. Every kid was allowed only 12 eggs so it was not a free-for-all chaotic mess. Even Malachi got into it and drug aunt Cari around putting eggs in his basket.

Next, we rolled our Easter eggs. Levi loved tossing the eggs down the hill.

We initially left Malachi at the bottom, but he wanted to be in the fun and he tried his best to climb up the hill to us. He did not make it far on his own due to the rocky/bumpy terrain.

We tried a second hill in pile of mulch. It was so soft the eggs lasted forever before they broke.

Saturday evening we had an Easter egg hunt in my parents' backyard for the kids. Grandma had lots of fun toys for the kids. Malachi technically got the bubble lawnmower, but Levi quickly took it over. Levi then "mowed" the lawn for over an hour until all the bubbles were gone.

Sunday morning I had an Easter basket for the kids. Levi does not like candy and Malachi is too little for candy for it was basically all toys. The following days Levi kept telling me he wanted to Easter bunny to come and leave more eggs and toys for him :)

April

Adrian had to take a test in Kirksville the first of April. He drove back to Kirksville with two of his classmates who also live in Utah. From Missouri he continued on to Michigan where he scheduled an OB/GYN rotation in Farmington Hills, which in just outside of Detroit. He is still in Michigan now and comes home in 1 week. His initial impression of Detroit was a bad one. He had to take the public transportation bus from the airport to the hospital which took a couple hours. He said the neighborhood was really sketchy and he was the only hispanic in bus full of black people. He seriously thought he might get robbed. 

Adrian wanted some experience in a big teaching hospital, that is why he chose to go to that particular hospital. His experience has not been as good as his OB/GYN rotation was here in Utah. Here in Utah he was one on one with the physician and first in line to do anything. In Michigan, there are residents and other students who take priority to do things. He has not gotten to do much and has not felt like this rotation has been worthwhile. He works 12 hours every day and even had to do a week of night shifts. The only upside is that it has been good for him to get that experience in a big teaching hospital so he knows what to expect for residency. 

Adrian has been stuck in a dorm by the hospital with no car. Our good friends from Ogden, Eric and Amanda Turner, now live 15 miles from where Adrian is. They have taken him in and he has spent every weekend with them. Adrian says they have made this rotation bearable.

Since Adrian has been gone for 4 weeks, the boys and I have spent some time down in Cedar with my family. With Adrian gone, I can't work, so there is not much keeping us here in Clinton.

After we came back from Cedar my car was a mess inside and out. The boys helped me vacuum and wash the car. They were both great to grab a rag and help me wash the car. Even Malachi liked to dip his rag in the bubbles and wipe the car. Once we were done washing the car, Levi gave Malachi's walker a good scrub down.

While I washed the car, Malachi liked to push the stroller around. At one point the stroller kept knocking him down and rolling completely over him.

We've had such beautiful weather. We've spent a lot of time outside. We go on a couple walks a day.

 Levi is such a stud sporting his new sunglasses and backpack. Levi always rides his bike if we are outside walking somewhere. He has gotten really good balancing on it and he loves to go fast.

 Malachi likes to push his walker when we go for walks. He is also starting to like to ride Levi's old bike. He is just tall enough to be able to push with his feet. He also likes to sit in the stroller and enjoy the ride.

We frequent the park almost every day. Levi loves to play in the sand. Sometimes that is all he does he at the park.

Malachi likes a good swing ride. He loves to go fast and high. Levi always likes to push Malachi. Levi used to really love the swing when he was smaller. But, I put him in the other day and he panicked and did not like the fast wind in his face.

Levi likes to go down and up the slides. 

I've been trying to teach Levi how to spell his name. He doesn't know letters yet, but he likes to scribble up and down and "write" names. He will scribble while saying random letters and when he is done with a name he will say the name. Then he will continue on until he's "written" everyone's name.

Levi's never been a fan of peanut butter, but I did get him to eat a peanut butter and jelly sandwich the other day! I was very surprised.

With all these piles of boxes appearing, Malachi has become quite the climber.

How cute is this pirate?! 

In other news, we are moving again. For Adrian's 4th year, which starts in June, he will gone a lot. He will be gone for audition rotations, away rotations and residency interviews. So, instead of me being alone here while he is gone, we are going to move to Cedar so I can be close to family. He is wanting to do his critical care rotations in Las Vegas, so Cedar will be closer anyway. We are moving June 1st. In the meantime, I have to pack up the entire house by myself while managing two energetic kiddos. Oh, and we need to find a place to live in Cedar too.

Malachi turned 1

This handsome little man turned one on March 12th!!
He's such a joy having in our family.

He's a pro at walking and walks everywhere now.

He loves animals. He will stare at dogs, cats and ducks we see. If a dog is barking at us, he will "woof" back at it. He's good at imitating sounds.

Does not say any words yet.

Copy cats Levi's screaming. They will go back and forth taking turns screaming and will both laugh doing it.

His favorite things are rocks, balls and cars.

Loves to be outside. He would be outside all day if I let him and he always protests when we come in.

Loves his bath and loves to splash.

Sleeps 10 hours at night and naps twice a day for about 1.5 hours each.

Addicted to his binky. He always protests when it's taken away. If he wakes up at night he will cry out until I come in and find his binky for him.

Drinks whole milk now. He's not a fan of it. I'm lucky if he drinks 1.5 cups a day when he should be drinking 3 cups. He's also off the bottle and only uses sippy cups. He has to pick up the sippy cup himself, if I hand it to him he usually swats it away. 

 If Levi ever leaves his chocolate milk sitting around, Malachi will steal it and drink it.

Likes to peek through this fence's cracks every time we pass it.

Likes to flip through books and likes flap books the best.

Loves his blankies and teddy bear. He totes them all around and has to have them so sleep.

Prefers finger foods and especially loves bread.

Knows the actions to pat-a-cake and does them with any nursery rhyme I sing.

At 12 months he was: 

29.5 " tall

21 lb 14 oz

Really loves his papa!! If Adrian is around he will cling to him.

His hair doesn't go anywhere but up, despite the length.

Has 4 teeth with a 5th one coming in.

He is into all the drawers and cupboards and likes to empty them.

His left ring finger that got sliced a couple months ago has healed really well. The fingernail never fell off and it looks normal now. There is a faint scar and his fingernail is not square on top anymore, it is slightly turned in.

He's moved on up to size 4 diapers and size 12M clothes.

He most frequently gets complimented on his eyes and long eyelashes.

His favorite room is the bathroom. He always dashes for it if we leave the door open.

He swats at things he does not want. He's just started to swat at Levi if Levi gets close and is bothering him. He also reaches for things he wants and just started to use his pointer finger to point.

He knows "more" and "milk" in sign language.

He's such a cuddly/snuggly boy.


We had a small party for Malachi's birthday. We had friends over to celebrate and it was a fun time.

We couldn't get Malachi a balloon without getting Levi one (Or so Levi protested). And Levi ended up with the "Happy Birthday" one.

The birthday boy was entertained by all the people walking around.

Here's his personal birthday cake. 

He did not really eat any cake. Just kind of played in it and tossed it on the ground.

All the other kids helped him open his presents