The Adventures of the Mallons

Teri Ann Cusick Turns 60

2012-01-23T12:06:00.000-08:00

October 3rd 2011 my mom turned 60! To celebrate we had a house party complete with Taco Truck, margarita machine, fire pit and photography by the famous Mindy Webb

Beautiful flowers by Zlotziver girls & cupcakes made by Dena Zlotziver!

Me & My hot hubs

Sisters

The BFFs

Amy & Bryan

One of the guests shares my mom's birthday & made this sign for her... we had guests sign it with a little birthday love! My mom ended up hanging this in her laundry room :) Great reminder of how much she means to so many people!

Ice Cold Corona & Limes in addition to a professional margarita maker that we borrowed from a family friend provided perfect refreshments!! We did have requests to make the drinks stronger but I did NOT oblige because... well we were wanting to have fun, not get everyone wasted! Ohhh & I did make a bunch of Jello shots... even more of a reason why making the margs stronger was not important!!!

Our Family photo... missing Aunt Deborah... I had this printed on a large canvas and gave it to my mom for Christmas... she had never seen any of these photos so I also gave her an album of them!

Amy arranged for this taco truck to pull into my parents driveway for 3 hours of all you can eat food! We had a choice of Tacos or quesadillas- chicken, steak or carnitas... plus they had a great array of sauces! Yummm it was a really fun way to have a no mess catered event!!!

The guest list consisted of life long friends, family, neighbors and our friends that have known my mom through our friendship! It was a great turnout!

Macy was excited for Berla's party but after the attention was not on her for a while Macy appeared all decked out in her princess gear.. complete with crown, wand & high heals... her tutu was added later in the night!!

YES, this happened!

I created two posters with 6-0 in photos of my mom from her younger years and over our childhood.

The only thing I could not get to was her baby/childhood photos because they were WAY back in the garage and I was not about to spend time digging during the time I was supposed to be setting up!

Ms Princess in action... directing her friend like the boss she is!

Mom & her girls!

Mom & Dad... so cute!

We had such a fun time celebrating my mom!

60 is the new 45 for sure!

Happy 1st Birthday Grace

2012-01-22T22:42:00.000-08:00

Grace Alora Brown was born on January 21st 2011... how crazy is it that she' is ONE!

I remember the day she was born and how excited we were to meet her!

It's been very special to be near to her and watch her grow and watch her and Macy grow up together!!!

This tiny girl is full of spunk as these photos show you! She has so many faces that make you crack up! She was walking well before 1... which isn't surprising since she has two older brothers!!!
She's definitely a girl who knows what she wants and goes to get it :)
Don't be deceived by her size

The Cake!

Grace's mommy let her dig into her cake for a few seconds and then cleaned her up a bit... it was messy but she had FUN!!

Happy Birthday Gracie Pooh!
We love you so much!

Lacey & Lightroom

2012-01-19T17:29:00.000-08:00

Lacey

I spent Sunday hanging with the girls... it was such a nice treat to have breakfast, shop, celebrate Lacey & her baby girl and then go out for some yummy greek food. Big shout out to the hubs who didn't even mind at all!

Lacey looks amazing and only has a few weeks left until her baby is due!

I can't believe it... I looked like THIS at 34 weeks and you never saw another photo of me again because that is how HUGE I got... Lacey is all baby and I'm so excited for her as she enters this new season of life!

Lightroom

I'm trying to teach myself a bit about using it to enhance the photos that I make mistakes on...

As I'm learning from blogs, Lightroom is a great user friendly program

I do not feel bad that I'm using it

Below you can see a bit of what it can do for my photos

Especially as I'm learning to get good lighting

2012 the year of Photography

2012-01-06T19:20:00.000-08:00

So... I've decided to jump into a pretty expensive and time consuming hobby.... Photography!

I'm lucky to have such a wonderful teacher... Mindy of Mindy Webb Photography! She's taken our family photo and tons of photos of Macy. She's also my friend who made it into our Christmas card this year because she let me in the delivery room to yell at her while she gave birth to the beauty pictured below :)

Mindy has graciously allowed me to borrow her Nikon D80 and her 50 mm lens to play with & is helping me make sense of all this photography stuff... this last week Mindy left me with the camera & the kit lens to play with while she was using her 50mm lens at a newborn shoot. I played with indoor lighting and camera settings w/ the kit lens... NO AUTO SETTINGS FOR THIS BEGINNER!!

Below I'm sharing the first photos I took SOOC (straight out of Camera), no editing.

I'm sharing them for two reasons:

1. So I can look back on when I can look back on when I couldn't take photos properly and I can laugh.

2. Because Lucy Marie Webb is to die for and I want to gobble her up :) She's teething so everything is going in the mouth!

These two are yucky in terms of the lighting but Lucy was so cute on Macy's PB Kids chair!!

This final photo was taken when I finally got my hands on the 50 mm... ahhhhh I love it. I don't want to play with the kit lens anymore! I bought my own 50 mm lens and it's on the way!!! The lighting is totally yellow & needs help but again... this is the first sharp photo of Macy that I shot with the 50 mm lens... I'm keeping track of how things change as I learn :)

iPhone photo dump... 11/24-12/9

2012-01-01T15:50:00.001-08:00

Ready for Christmas

Nativity

Our Tree... no ornaments for us this year... Matt's request!

Macy Turned THREE

Macy woke up to balloons all over her room...

She had a blast playing with her pink & purple balloons all day...

Gracie-Poo

Macy loves HOPIE. Hope was my flower girl & the first baby that I really watched grow up from birth. It's very special that Macy and Hope play together. Hope is SO GOOD with her!!!!!!

Matt & his fellow coaches after the win that sent them to the CCS Finals...

Macy at the Pioneer Championship game... she had a mug of hot chocolate to keep her warm!

Paleo Bacon Wrapped Sweet potato fries... YUM

Macy working out with Daddy

Homemade Lara Bars... Yummmm!

My beauty on Thanksgiving with her new barbies...

Thankful

2011-11-24T11:21:00.001-08:00

It's Thanksgiving so I'll take a moment to tell you what's been going on.... whoever reads this silly blog.

All the faces of Macy... she can go from grump to goof in 1/2 second.... Last night's quote was so priceless that I"ll write it here....‎"Mommy I hit my knee on the bitch"... I said "Ohh you hit your knee on the BENCH" and she smiles and says "Ya the bitch"... I then say "BEN-CH, BEN-CH, BEN-CH"... she says "bitch bitch bitch" and runs out of the room to play.

I've been working at both Mountain View and Los Gatos Campus's of El Camino Hospital these days... They are two totally different places and I've been appreciating the change of pace that each one brings! Above is a photo of the music therapy guy playing an Adele song for me at work... fun little break... sorta awkward... really makes me wish I could play the guitar... def on the list of things I hope to be able to do in my lifetime!

Minnie Mouse has come to live with us... PINK Minnie Mouse to be specific! Macy loves her and sleeps with her and takes care of her! This makes me realize that DisneyLand might be a good idea pretty soon... maybe for Macy's 3rd birthday.... that is coming in TWO WEEKS. Ahhh!

Macy and I had a date to the mall and enjoyed a kids hot chocolate. She was in awe of all the "characters" throughout the mall that she recognized. It kinda grossed me out. I haven't been to the mall in ages and it was pretty ridiculous....This also brings up the fact that we're doing Christmas differently this year! (FYI if you were expecting a gift from us haha) www.adventconspiracy.com will explain a bit more but basically we're giving to those who really NEED, instead of getting more of stuff that we don't! The statistic that you need to know is that Americans spend $450 BILLION each year on Christmas... it would take $20 billion to give every person in this world access to clean water... What will you do with that info?? DO SOMETHING!

Photobooth fun at my old friend's wedding! We had a whole night away thanks to my mom who stayed with Macy! We stayed out with old friends until 2:30am... that's almost when Matt gets up for work in the morning. Had a blast dancing and having a night out!!!!!

Paleo Pumpkin Pancakes... Yum! I'm currently eating Paleo in an attempt to help my body return to normal hormonally... this means no sugar, no gluten and no dairy... there are a few exceptions like Maple Syrup, honey, eggs and clarified butter... No processed food... it's been really good and hard. I am off coffee and drinking Zen Green Tea instead... I'm sleeping so well and just feeling good. Thanksgiving dinner will be a "Cheat" meal but I already can tell that I'll lay off the sugary stuff and eat the stuffing in moderation- so I don't send my stomach into knots!

We're blessed with so much... I'm overwhelmed by how lucky we are... I love the question... What if you woke up in the morning to realize everything you didn't thank God for the day before was gone?

Almost 3?

2011-10-30T19:35:00.001-07:00

How is it so... In about a month my beautiful daughter will be 3... She is such joy & has given our life such a new purpose.

Since our trip to Tahoe we have been doing tons... One big thing we have done is complete our 9 week course to become a licensed foster/adoptive family. We have a few requirements to finish & then we'll be in our way to opening our home!

We also are full swing in football season. We have been going to Fright night games & cheering for daddy! Macy loves to watch the cheerleaders & dancers but is slightly scared of the mustang mascot. She also enjoys a hot chocolate at the games.

Children's discovery museum continues to be a favorite weekly place of adventure & exploration. We love to meet our friends & we even had the chance to go see Mickey & Minnie at CDM when they were here for Disney on Ice!

Speaking of Disney on Ice... Macy got to go with two of her friends to see Disney on ice! Her 1st show was the wiggles concert & they have been her fav for a long time but Macy LOVED the Disney on Ice show sooo much better! It was a dance fest for most of the show. I loved to watch her eyes light up as she waited for mickey & minnie or the next princess to come out. I created a video with my new iMovie app. Enjoy: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o3mS-rHxNA8&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Lake Tahoe 2011

2011-09-03T11:46:00.000-07:00

Commons Beach Farmers Market & Park

We arrived Wednesday afternoon... enjoyed a simple dinner and relaxed. Thursday morning we got going to the farmers market in town. We stocked up on fresh veggies and salad for our dinners. I also got a handmade basket from Africa- LOVE!

After some shopping we walked over the park to swing & then down to the water to put our feet in...

Did I mentioned that I LOVED this farmers market... what a beautiful thing!

What a view from the swing!!! I mean, how can you beat this??

Macy did not want to leave!

Dani

Dani is my uncle and aunt's dog... she came along for the trip and Macy loved her!

She was a big help with Dani's... at dinner time and play time...

I was really impressed with how Macy wanted to play & without gentle Dani was with Macy!

Macy was especially good as bossing Dani around ;)

"Off Dani" or "Sit"

The Bear

Have you heard the story? Well if not here you go... we were warned to keep all food out of the cars... we were warned that there had been bears IN others cars... We followed directions but after a trip to town I forgot to roll up Macy's window....

I was grilling in the front. Macy was helping Aunt Deborah feed the dog Dani. They ran and told us there was a bear in the driveway... we all came running, excited to see a bear!

As we came to the back window we saw this bear cub climbing INTO MY CAR! There was serious panicking and therefore no steady hands to take photos at that moment (Darn). To give you an idea of how panicked I was... Bear climbing into car, I grab my keys to turn on the panic button, instead I repeatedly hit the lock button. Anyone have a Toyota? Then you know that the small beep of the car being locked is a tiny noise. There I am, freaking out, trying to get the bear out and I'm basically making the smallest noise I can!

Thankfully it worked... He climbed out and backed up. BUT THEN HE CAME BACK. This time we had some common sense (Amy) and I was handed a pot and pan. I stepped outside and began banging them together. Amy told me she wished she took pictures of me doing this because I was so intense. However, anyone who has seen a scene in a movie where a bear rips a car to shreds would react slightly "intense". Especially since this was our NEW car!

These prints remain on my car TODAY. No damage done! I'm using them as an excuse as to why I haven't washed my car yet ;)

Boys Golf/Girls Lunch

Pretty self explanatory.... Uncle Andy treated Matt & Bryan to some golf on the Tahoe City short course while the girls went to Jakes on the Lake for a nice lunch... I will add that their salads are a RIP OFF... tiny apple walnut salad for $9 (TINY).

PS you might notice the lipstick. Macy likes to get it and put it on... I don't mind and I always watch her do it. No harm done... also good photos to show her boyfriend later ;)

On the water

The adults (minus my mom & aunt) went out sailing with my sister's God father on his boat.... We all had a chance to "drive", enjoyed some beautiful wine and watched the sunset as we were sailing home.... Macy also wanted to go on the boat...

We had one of those peddle boats available so we lathered up and went for a family ride. Macy was super bossy (surprise) and was determined to "steer" us... Matt and I peddled and Macy would yell "Faster Faster, Peddle faster!" We spent lots of time going in circles but Macy was having fun so we didn't care!

Macy's First Date

Joey is a 7 year old boy from San Diego. His family was renting the house next to ours. Our piers are next to each other so we shared a part of the beach. When we came back from our family boating time Joey invited Macy to jump on his boat and go for a ride....

She said YES. Anyone that has seen my child at Happy Hallow knows she's not the most adventurous. She won't even get on the tiny cars that go round and round without screaming to get off. But go figure, she gets on a boat with a boy she doesn't know IN A LAKE... at first Matt stayed super close.

Then the got pretty far away!!! Matt was slightly nervous and I thought it was pretty cute ;)

Joey was small for his age and Macy is clearly tall for hers... the difference is vocabulary! Joey was talking and Macy was just saying "ah huh". Pretty cute!! She didn't freak out at any point during the whole ride!

I even got a smile when they were coming to shore haha!

Ohhhh Tahtee

Macy has a LOVE relationship with Tahtee.

When Tahtee is around, she trumps Mommy- hard to do!

She wants to do everything Tahtee does and she wants Tahtee to do everything I would do.

"No tahtee do it" was a phrase I heard many times!

Simplicity

Staying right on the lake allows you to sit in the living room and feel like you're doing something! We had extended coffee time in the mornings, shared in the cooking responsibilities (and cleaning), and just did whatever came to us in the moment.

During the afternoon while Macy slept we were able to lay out, read and swim/jump!!

Tahoe water helps with any "afternoon slumps"... No need for coffee!!!

Did I mention that Bryan and Amy are crazy....

Well Bryan is really the crazy one- Amy is learning!

I definitely took my turn jumping off the pier and I really did feel like a carefree kid- GREAT FEELING

We swam out to the boats and back & then would let the sun dry us off!

We kayaked, peddle boated, and just played!

Super fun to spend time with Amy & Bryan... we don't do it enough and need to do it more!

Matt's Golden Birthday

28 on August 28

Started the day the night before... drove to Nevada for a few hours

Matt, Amy & Bryan spent 3 hours at one HOT craps table.

There was cheering, high five-ing and chest bumping (jk about the chest bumping).

Each of them walked away with at least $250 (after taking out what they put in).

I was impressed but I'm not much of a gambler!

I'm glad Matt made the money he needed to go Jet Skiing ($100/hour = nuts) as a birthday present to himself ;)

Made french toast for breakfast... we lounged... went to Sunnyside for lunch where the balloon man made Macy a crown, Matt a birthday hat and Bryan a Giants baseball cap. Super fun!! We sang happy birthday and shared one of their HUGE slices of ice cream cake- DELISH!!

Macy was excited to have some tiny friends over for Daddy's birthday party that night...

Matt honestly had the best birthday party he's ever had- we celebrated for a full 24 hours!!!

We enjoyed grilled steaks w/ mushroom wine sauce, chicken, veggies, salad, garlic bread & mashed sweet potatoes for dinner!

Matt had his own personal filet minion thanks to Bryan!!

Aunt Deborah made a yummy chocolate cake after dinner & we sang for the 2nd time!!

Then we started a fire on the beach and enjoyed smores- complete with Reese's peanut butter cups in place of the regular chocolate. DIVINE!

Goodbye Tahoe

On our last afternoon Matt rented his Jet Ski for one hour while Berla, Macy & I shopped and shared some froyo! I didn't get a chance to take photos of Matt tearing up the water but He had a lot of fun & I'm really glad he got to do all the things he wanted on this vacation/birthday celebration. He works so hard for our family & I really wanted him to have a relaxing & adventurous time!

We were so sad to leave. Our six days were not enough but the longer we stayed, the harder it would have been to leave! It was a beautiful trip- full of fun & family bonding. We sure did miss my Dad- definitely not the same without him!! I'm ready to plan next years trip already!!

My camera ran out of battery and memory card space for a few days... we used my sister's camera so I'm Missing photos from : sailing, paddle boarding, Macy swimming with Daddy & the bonfire.

Mindy Webb Photography: Macy Jane 2 1/2 Years Old

2011-07-27T17:59:00.000-07:00

My amazing friend Mindy Webb took the following photos of Macy (and a few of Matt) on a beautiful June day a few weeks ago. I've been blown away by her talent and the moments she captured of our ever growing/changing beauty!

Be sure to check out the deal Mindy is offering to my friends at the end of this blog!!

Mindy took us out to a beautiful location and shot these priceless photos of Macy at 2.5 years old

Macy was a great sport and lived it up in front of the camera... thanks of course to chocolate chips & the promise of a "Prize" after she smiled pretty ;) In case you're wondering the "prize" was a chocolate milkshake from In and Out!!!

I always think I can capture these kinds of moments with my own camera but I'm always wrong.

Taking a small bit of time and letting Mindy do her thing is so worth it... these are truly photos that I want to plaster my walls with!!!

It's wild to look back at the photos she took of us and Macy in December 2009 Click here to see them

The photos with Matt in them were not planned, thus the beard, but they are some of my favorite.

To watch my husband and daughter giggle and love each other provides me with joy beyond words!

I pray that Macy would truly have such high expectations of what a Man of God looks like because of her Daddy! I am always so impressed with how he handles her, loves her and cares for her!

What a character... these "props" were not planned but really show her silly personality!

I love this series of photos and can't wait to get them framed!!!

Such an adventurous girl who also loves a little hand holding (literally and figuratively)

Special Mini Session Offer:

Only 10 sessions available!!!

30 minutes with Mindy at a set outdoor location

10-15 full resolution digital images on a disk

Rights to print & use photos however you'd like (it's nice if you tag her in them of course)

Here is what you do:

Find Mindy Webb Photography on Facebook and "like" her.

Then leave a comment mentioning this deal to claim 1 of the 10 spots!

Only $50 if you mention MACY (reg $60)

Homemade Chocolate Peanut Butter Froyo

2011-07-17T14:40:00.001-07:00

In addition to being a post about my new favorite part of the day... this is my first post from Blogger on my phone... already feeling like I"m not going to like it... however, in my attempt to document life more, it might be necessary to use it... I can't figure out how to make the photo flip and also the quality is horrid!

Onto FroYo... Did I mention that we're doing the Zone Diet... it's not really a "diet", it's more of a focus on the way we eat... balanced & fresh... focused on good protein, fresh carbs (fruits and veggies) and good fat- avo, nuts, olive oil... It's been really good for us to plan our meals, be intentional, do this together, and eat 6 meals per day! I feel a constant sense of contentment.. instead of crashing at 3pm... instead of going for a coffee, I go for my snack! Instead of going home starving and grumpy (which was happening most days) I have a moment to get dinner going without becoming a CRAB (ask my husband it's not pretty).

On day 1 I realized that "dessert" was going to be an issue. I knew that I liked dessert but didn't realize that I needed to have a sweet in the evening... the first few days I didn't have anything then Matt bought me an Ice Cream/FroYo maker and we discovered a Zone Dessert... It's become my happy moment at the end of the day!
So... in case anyone is interested in trying a dessert that has good protein, carbs (yes chocolate is included) and fat... Try This...

One container Fage Greek Yogurt (From Costco of course)- 24 grams of protein per CUP

One scoop unflavored soy protein powder

2/3 cup chocolate chips melted into 1 cup milk

3 Tblspns Peanut Butter

4 teaspoons Fructose (by the stevia at whole foods)

Splash of Vanilla

I typically mix the melted chocolate & milk with the protein power & fructose in my VitaMix first Then add peanut butter & Vanilla
I let that cool a sec before adding the Greek Yogurt in the VitaMix for a final whirl!

The mixture will look like this (above)... I put half back into the Yogurt container to be used tomorrow. Then get the FroYo Maker going and pour in the smooth mixture of yogurt chocolate, peanut butter & let the magic happen!

Takes less than 20 minutes to become a great FroYo that is smooth and has a great chocolate peanut butter taste, but it's not super sweet! It's definitely NO Haagen Dazs Chocolate Peanut Butter ice cream but it's something I can indulge in each night & know it's Zone ;) Plus Macy can have it without me feeling I'm starting a bad habit.. she loves it too!
Brings happiness to my day!!

Is that weird?

I fell off... so this is LONG

2011-07-14T08:41:00.000-07:00

November 7th was the last time I wrote down a little blog about the latest with Macy. November 28th was the last time I signed onto this blog and gave you the details into our great little Thanksgiving Party that our couples group put on...

Today. July 14th, 2011... my aim is a quick update (haha quick, ya right)... Macy was almost two when I posted last... She's 2 years 7 months now... five away from her 3rd birthday. AHHHHH! It's hard to make time to blog because I want to do it well, choose the cutest photos and write down the funny things that I've noted about her... but time is very hard to find these days... Matt and I both work, we are over a couples ministry that is growing, I'm still attempting to participate in Macy's playgroup, we spend time with our families, friends and we attempt date nights and quality time when we can!

In December we celebrated Macy's 2nd birthday with a Gymnastics Party! Macy had 14 friends come play at the little gymnastics place down the street from Berla & Papas house. I made alphabet crayons for party favors and they started as a good idea but turned into a much better gift than a favor. My fingers hurt from peeling wrappers, breaking crayons & then pulling them out of the silicone mold after they were melted & set. I put my new kitchen aid mixer to the test and made cupcakes & frosting for the parents and kids and Macy's pink flower cake!

In December we started the search for a home to buy, on Dec 30th we closed a deal on our new home... My dad was our Realtor and he went to bat for us over a beautiful 3 bedroom 3 bathroom townhome at the edge of Willow Glen and Downtown SJ. It's a great development that is only 2 years old & is full of young professionals and families... The house was in foreclosure and you would never have known it... It looked almost like it was not lived in!! It came with all appliances (again less than 2 years old) and we ended up with a deal we could never hope for again... I really can say that it was from God & we're loving our home!! We have a Bedroom & Bathroom so COME VISIT all your far away friends!!

In January we moved into our new home... Macy got her big girl twin bed (Bunk beds, but we only set up the top bunk for now), and we were able to unpack stuff that we had not seen since we lived in LA.. OVER 2 years... There were only a few martini & pilsner glasses that didn't "Make it". I was thrilled to have space to create "Our Home" & unpack all our boxes. We transitioned slowly because we were working while moving so at first only the basics moved in. I"d say that 6 months in and I still have a lot of decorating that I'd like to do. I have so many family photos, wedding photos, Macy photos that I want to hang along the stairs. We have some very tall ceilings so I'd love to get some large art (Hello $$) to hang on those walls too.

Macy had made some huge developmental changes in the past 8 months... She's now sleeping well in her big girl bed, she got her first big girl panties in January and since then has moved away from diapers to only pull ups during nap or night time. I'd really give her all the credit because I just followed her lead. She has turned into quite a character... silliness has given way to singing songs and dancing to any music playing! She's funny and can joke around. She LOVES to go swimming, paint at the Children's Discovery Museum (this is not new), and play soccer. She has been going to JourneyLand at church and has mastered "Jesus Loves Me" and enjoys praying with us at night before bed, or when we see something that moves us to pray!

January also marked the birth of Macy's cousin Grace. Macy has loved having the role of being the older one (She'll make a great sister some day). She is so gentle and loving towards Grace and loves to help her Aunt Jen take care of "Gracie Poo"... yes this is what Macy calls Grace!

Macy has continued to enjoy really interacting with her friends at playdates, Baby Boot Camp and from church. We have had visits from "Old Friends" & M also loves her time with her Tahtee (My sister Amy) and her cousins Kairi and Drew Drew. She spends lots of time with both sets of grandparents as our only form of "Childcare"... I can't explain how thankful I am to be able to work 4 days/week and know that Macy is with one of her parents or grandparents!!!

Macy went on her first Easter Egg Hunt this year at church. She also enjoyed dyeing eggs with Grandma Ray! Macy started playing soccer with a group of her Las Madres friends... They have size 1 soccer balls, Macy got her own PINK one (surprise surprise), and she enjoys running fast and listening to the "Coach" blow the whistle to go. She actually has good ball control ;)

In May, Macy went on her first Pony Ride. She also won two contests in one month... First was a BabyBuzz photo contest... we won a $50 gift certificate to the adorable boutique. They sadly just closed their Willow Glen store and moved to Los Gatos :( The second was for First Five Santa Clara County (http://www.first5kids.org/). Macy was appointed the role the be the "Face of First Five SSC" for the month of June. She was featured in their materials and was their profile pic on Facebook.

May was also very special for ME. Macy's new tiny friend Lucy Webb was born and I was blessed with the gift of watching her be born!! It's been something that truly impacted me more than I would have ever thought. I have such a horrific birth story with Mace that it was a gift to see things go well and "naturally". Supporting Mindy and seeing Lucy be born was not a planned event but I think it was something God had for both of us!! I'm so thankful that Mindy allowed me to be there. It's also been a beautiful bonding experience for our friendship... New level for sure ;)

June included building forts, playing at the park, face painting all on her own, Lupe the Elephant moved into the Children's Discovery Museum, raking leaves & planting a garden in my parent's backyard, and just continuing to talk so much more (surprise!). Macy is a big helper in the kitchen, she vacuums her own room and will swiffer the bathroom if I attach the wet wipe ;)

July has been fun so far... Matt & I have been really intentional about date nights. Matt is coaching football, we're eating Zone style and starting to do Insanity together. We've been swimming a lot, took a trip to the beach with Macy's friend and we are looking forward to a visit from Dic N Babu!! They are coming to celebrate our wedding anniversary next weekend because we have the same Anniversary weekend! Look forward to celebrating and catching up with them. Hope more blogs to follow.

I will leave you will some fun things I've been keeping track of that Macy says or does:

April 24- While driving to the beach I looked back at you and you were playing rock paper scissors all by yourself... and I did not teach you that game ;)

April 26th- before your nap we were discussing our plan to go to the park with Kora, you got so excited and said "ohhh my cousin". You must think that cousin means friend!

April 30th- this was the first time you told me "Mommy stop talking" while I was talking with one of your friend's moms. You continue to say this to me on a daily basis. Now I have asked you to say "Excuse me" and you'll say "Wooze me mama".

May 11th- you called somersaults "Ass salts"

May 12th- you put your imaginary friend Sony in time out for hitting

May 15th- while daddy and mommy were in a serious talk you say really loud "Stop talking" and put your hand out to signal stop. It seemed you were trying to help us realize it wasn't the time to be having the kind of talk when you were right there! You teach us a lot!!

Just now- "Mommy Look my blue eyes!" I say this to you when I'm trying to get you to pay attention.. you're such a parrot!

Hope you made it to the end. Wowzers!

Aly

Couples Group Thanksgiving & Ministry

2010-11-28T17:15:00.001-08:00

Friday the 19th of November our couples group from church... made up of approx 12 couples married under 10 years.... got together for a pot luck thanksgiving meal and then switched modes and made sack lunches for the homeless... then delivered them!Dinner was fabulous... Harry and Mindy's living room was emptied of their furniture and filled with tables and chairs from the church office and then filled with 20 friends...
It was a relaxing evening with no schedule to follow or material to cover... there were even two kiddos (Macy included) to play with.
After dinner Spencer brought in this basket of food and two cases of water... our dinner tables were transformed into a work station intended to help us put together 40 brown bags of food!

Everyone jumped right in and played a part in the assembly line

Each bag contained:

1 peanut butter and jelly sandwich

Harry cutting the cheese ha!

1 Granola Bar, 1 water bottle

1 turkey and cheese sandwich

A few baby oranges and some dessert were also thrown into the bags...

Macy was a HUGE helper!!! Michele, Christy, Richelle and Deanna making more peanut butter and jelly sandwiches!!

Macy helping Mindy assemble the turkey and cheese sandwiches!!

Ryan & Cory made sure the bags had everything they needed.

Brandon made slips of paper with John 3:16 written on them as an encouragement to any who we were able to meet and provide a sack lunch to!

In the end we left Harry & Mindy's house @ 10pm and headed into downtown SJ to let God lead us to whoever he wanted... Did I mention it was POURING rain? Did I mention that most people were dressed for a nice evening in?!

Forty Bags of food were put together and passed out by our group... The total cost was $86 to feed 40 people with a solid meal of two sandwiches, water, an orange, granola bar and some dessert (leftover from our meal). It was a great remind to us of what a large impact such a small sacrifice can make!

I believe this will be the first of many such experiences our group will have...

Thankful Days 8,9 & 10...

2010-11-10T13:35:00.000-08:00

So I'm not as good at this as I'd hoped... at the same time I'm also giving myself some credit since I am a mom, a wife, a friend, I have a job, I'm doing a bible study, leading our young married couples group and the time change has thrown me off more than it ever has before!

Day 8 I'm thankful for MY JOB.... I went to work today (Monday the 8th) and it's always a chance for me to realize that many people are facing major health issues and crisis with regards to life and death! I work all over the entire hospital... from Labor and Delivery, NICU and Maternity to Critical Care, Stroke and regular Medical unit. I see a lot of hurt, a lot of sickness , some really difficult situations and of course I see the end of life! Some people don't think about how blessed they are until something is wrong... but I have the pleasure of serving people in some of the toughest times of their lives... I am thankful that I get to learn from them and to take home a perspective on life that reminds me I AM NOT GUARANTEED TOMORROW....

Day 9 I'm thankful I get to see LIFE THROUGH A TODDLER'S EYES... life is so exciting to them... they are learning to communicate, to figure out their emotions, their likes and dislikes, they are developing their sense of humor and ability to let loose and have fun. They are sponges, picking up words, songs, mannerisms and rules of life... I am so privileged to watch Macy learn about life.. to hear her say WOW, to get excited, to laugh and dance and sing songs, play in the leaves and help me "cook" (cook) and wash dishes. Sometimes I get tired and sometimes I need a coffee break but having Macy as my daughter is my biggest accomplishment in life and I'm so amazed by her!!

Day 10 I'm thankful for COSTCO...I just got back from a very long trip... it's a one stop shop... I can grab some Christmas gifts/decorations/wrapping paper, Stamps, warm fleece PJs for Macy, a new book for me, the newest movies, the most current magazines, a fab selection of wine, beer and the hard stuff, of course the food, TP, Paper Towels and Paper Plates, Coffee, Shampoo, furniture and Diapers!!! Then of course you have all the samples, food court, THE RETURN POLICY ROCKS, and if you have an Amex Costco Card you get 3% back on all your purchases.... ON TOP OF ALL OF THIS...it's the place that provides employment to my husband, good health coverage to our family and an environment that allows us to come see Matt at work and people are happy!! Even though Whole Foods just opened across the street.. I will keep shopping at Costco ;)

Today I'm triple thankful... My job, Toddlerhood and Costco!!

Day 7... Thankful for Rain

2010-11-07T12:01:00.000-08:00

Today I'm thankful for RAIN... mainly because I bought Macy rain boots and a raincoat two weeks ago when it was sprinkling and she's been talking about them ever since. After we got home from church this morning we went out to play in the puddles... above you see the photos and below is a great little video that shows her enthusiasm for the wawa! I'm sure it will be clear why I'm thankful for rain today!

Day 6

2010-11-06T16:04:00.000-07:00

I'm thankful for social networking... included in this area would be Facebook & BLOGS... I appreciate arguments against Facebook and how it's created a warped view of "friendship" but for me I love being able to stay up to date with friends all over the world. I appreciate how you can share videos and websites and word can spread quick about interesting, thought provoking and life changing things/or not so life changing things!

I also include BLOGS on this topic of thankfulness because I love learning from others- mainly in the area of creativity!! Specifically I've found this blog http://www.onecharmingparty.com/ that I'm obessed with!! On this one site I found the rainbow cake and party favors for the kids that come to Macy's birthday party. I LOVE IT!!! The other great thing is that this new amazing blog (check it out, you won't regret it) is that it is connecting me with lots of other new things... www.etsy.com/shop/lillybelledesigns is my new fav place to order personalized baby gifts or specical things for little kids (who still wear bibs). I found LillyBelle Designs and had her make Macy a special bib for her 2nd birthday!

I'm thankful!!

The 25 days of Thankfulness

2010-11-04T16:07:00.000-07:00

I have quite a few photos to upload, edit and post but for now I wanted to jump on the "THANKSGIVING THEME" wagon and start posting what I"m thankful for as a way to welcome Thanksgiving this year. I'm starting this on Nov 4th so I have some catch up to do!! i'm also doing tomorrow's since I'll be at work ;)

Nov 1st- I am thankful for GRACE... God's grace is the only reason I can give thanks for anything else in my life. I have been changed by his love and GRACE and my past crap is washed away and BOY AM I THANKFUL FOR THAT!!!!!!!!

Nov 2nd- I am thankful for my FREEDOM... I have the freedom to think for myself... learn for myself... and have my own opinions... I am free from oppression of any kind and I'm thankful for all those who fought and continue to fight for my freedoms- even to the point of giving their LIVES.

Nov 3rd- I am thankful for FAMILY... I have an incredible husband, daughter, parents, sister and Family in law. I am grateful how everyone in our family brings such flair and fun... I am so thankful that my family knows me inside and out and yet continues to love me ;) despite my fun attitude issues!!

Nov 4th- I am thankful for KIDS SONGS with hand motions- there is nothing like distraction when it comes to my almost 2 year old... If you're happy and you know it, Head shoulders Knees and Toes, Ring around the rosie and The Hokie Pokie are 4 of the greatest songs ever!!! These songs make Macy so happy and it brings me so much "mom joy" to watch her be silly, dance around and try to sing!

Nov 5th- I am thankful for SESAME STREET... they have managed to create some very creative and entertaining children's songs by pretty cool people... Some of our favorites I'm particularly thankful for are: Set your Piggies Free, I love my Hair, ABC's by Tillie and the wall and the song by Will I Am!! I find these get stuck in my head but I don't mind ;)

Macy's Birthday Present

2010-10-20T16:07:00.000-07:00

Some of you may know I went back and forth on whether or not to buy the Pottery Barn Kids Kitchen for Macy's 2nd birthday... USED of course... this set new would cost $1000 plus tax! I'm not that crazy! I found a 2 year old set on Craigslist and drove 40 minutes to San Ramon to pick it up! Sorta nuts but totally worth it!

Macy's birthday is December 9th so we're more than 1 month away... however, she is not yet old enough to understand gifts at your birthday or christmas time so I figured... might as well start playing ;) During her nap yesterday I brought them out of my car and cleaned them... not that they were super dirty but they were USED so just to be safe I used lots of clorox wipes!!

I set them up and then heard her yelling "MOMMY"... she didn't ever go down for her nap yesterday. I got her out of bed and showed her the SURPRISE. She was amazed... She went to work right away making "Numies" for all of us. She would blow on it and tell us it was HOT... just like we do with her food!!

She brought all her clean clothes down the hall and put them in her new washer and dryer set!!

BEST DECISION EVER...

Twins!!!

2010-10-20T15:43:00.000-07:00

Macy and her Daddy are quite the pair. Matt has impressed me so much with his ideas and fun things he like to do with Macy. She LOVES her Daddy and asks about him all day long. She now assumes he is either at work or nigh night ;)Matt is a die hard niners fan... and this means looking past their 1-5 record... every week we watch the Niners play... matt puts on his red shirt and Macy puts on her jersey...
A mom on the Las Madres search and find website was selling this Alex Smith jersey for $5 so I couldn't pass it up! I'd much rather get a Frank Gore jersey for her. Macy says "Daddy" and points to her jersey time someone comments on her outift... as to say "I'm wearing a jersey like Daddy".
One of the other things they do together is share graham crackers and milk. They dip the graham crackers in the milk and ENJOY ;)

This Sunday Matt combined the two- Niners game while eating Graham Crackers and Milk!
Macy even fed some to Abby and Elmo- her favorite sesame street characters!

Macy cheers at the game and watches with interest when football or baseball is on- which these days is almost daily!!!!!!

I'm so in love with these two! I'm thankful that Macy has such an attentive daddy that ADORES her as much as she adores him!!

Adventures at the Pumpkin Patch

2010-10-14T14:27:00.000-07:00

Last year I dressed Macy up as a cute LadyBug for Halloween. We had a Las Madres party and went trick or treating with Macy's older cousins but at that point in time Macy was not participating... This year is the first time she can actually participate so I thought we should go to a fun pumpkin patch out in Morgan Hill called Uesugi Farms and make a day out of it....

Only problem is that today it was 90 degrees outside. We spent an hour here and then retreated to the car!! It was a quick trip but it was fun to have this first as a family. There were lots of FALL colors around to get you thinking of the holidays... despite the weather feeling like SUMMER. You will see that the heat made Macy's cheeks very rosie!

Above: Pumpkin Hill

Below: Macy is almost 3 feet tall @ 22 months old!

We checked out some of the little features of this farm that make it more than your standard "Pumpkin Patch" on the side of the road!

Here is the 1 photo I am actually in!!!!!!!
The have a largest pumpkin contest here and below were likely some of the contenders! These bad boys were HUGE!!

The Hunt for Our Family Pumpkins

Macy picked out a baby pumpkin...

She helped me pick out a Mommy Pumpkin

Then we searched for a Daddy Pumpkin...

Ultimately Daddy found his own pumpkin...

Macy got distracted....

You may think she's looking at the flowers but she's really looking at the BEES... she has a fascination with them so this year I think she's going to be a BEE for Halloween.

Macy kept picking out tiny pumpkins and throwing them into our wheelbarrow... In the end we took home a Daddy pumpkin, mommy pumpkin, Macy pumpkin, Big Papa Pumpkin (Blue), Grandmommy Pumpkin (Cinderella), and a few minis to represent the rest of our family!

In the end... we all had a blast and Macy pooped out immediately!

Macy's First Time in the Ocean

2010-10-06T15:58:00.000-07:00

Matt's parents live in Aptos so we like to head over as often as we can on our days off together. It's crazy but Macy has never been into the ocean so on this particular day we decided to go in!! Despite the warm weather the ocean water here is ICE COLD so I wasn't trying to get Macy to go swimming but just play around.

It was a beautiful Sunday afternoon... lots of people out at Rio Del Mar... fresh air and clear skies...
The waves were HUGE, the lifeguards were driving around warning us to keep ahold of our small children... kinda freaked me out but I got over it. Macy wasn't trying to run from us anyway.

Here is Macy walking down to the water for the first dip of her toes..

She was interested but a little scared... as clearly shown in the first video!

Then she moved onto some sandcastles....those didn't last too long since Macy doesn't love to have her hands dirty!!! In the second video you can see that once Daddy introduced the idea of cleaning her hands off that's all she wanted to do!

In the end she had SO MUCH FUN and she did not want to leave!!!!! It was such an enjoyable day spent with Matt's family... we need to do it more often.

Excuse the bikini clad babes in the background... I'm too lazy to photoshop them out ;)

I had so much fun watching these two... I took my turn too but since I'm the photographer of the family there are no photos to share ;) I probably wouldn't post them anyway!

Macy is such a goof... she was doing this all on her own...

Macy went with NO NAP on this particular sunday. She was delightful and fun to be around... I was totally impressed! She fell asleep within a matter of seconds on the car ride home.

Mommy & Dic

2010-09-26T18:19:00.000-07:00

Macy came running into the kitchen this morning with an old college photo of me and my best friend Nicole (Two blog posts ago I discussed our trip to visit Nicole and Clint in Colorado Springs). I asked Macy who it was a photo of and she said DIC and MOMMY. I immediately pulled out my camera and got this video... All that to say, Macy continues to mentioned Babu and Dic during the day and when I ask where they are she says "nigh nigh". We miss you two!!!

Video Catch Up

2010-09-26T18:07:00.000-07:00

I've had a number of great videos stuck on my phone... you have to use wifi to upload videos and I couldn't figure out the password to our wireless... I KNOW- ridiculous! I just uploaded five- four of them being older videos of Macy figuring out life.I know I'm her mom so of course I'll say this...but... Macy is so smart ;) She is figuring out her emotions and how to express them and also what it's like to be a girl. Above you have Macy showing you her happy and sad faces. Below you have my girly girl putting on lip gloss.. which she found in a bathroom drawer... in the end she had lipstick ALL OVER her mouth but she was proud of herself.Below is a long video of Macy running through the water feature downtown Livermore when we went to visit the Emlyns. You'll see Brynn running through the clip and also a little peak of Jodi flying Brynn through the fountain. We had so much fun... this video will eventually move to the blog post about our visit with them!Finally is a video of my messy eater.. she's a doll no matter what but this "dirty girl" look is pretty normal for meal time... I'm fine with it because she's a good eater of healthy foods and I don't want to make her hesitate because she'll get dirty!

Gratitude

2010-09-23T16:58:00.000-07:00

I entitled this blog Gratitude because the photos below overwhelm me with a sense of gratitude to God for this amazing little girl. I am thankful for a lot in my life and I don't acknowledge it enough but the way this little girl amazes me is beyond words.

Matt took Macy to California Kids Sports Center today, it's located right near our house. They have a $5 open gym time each day and so he took her for the first time today. He said she LOVED the balance beam. He sent me this photo while I was at work and I honestly stopped for a few minutes trying to figure out how the baby that I waited so impatiently for, the one who allowed me no sleep for almost 1 year, my feisty string bean has turned into this almost 2 year old little girl who is so adventurous, loving, wild and funny!!!!! I'm having yet another mom moment where I'm completely overwhelmed by motherhood- in a wonderful way.

Posing ;) I put Macy in this outfit so she could match her new vans... they are still too big- I realized this when she was falling multiple times- but I had to get a few photos! I honestly dress her in things I wish I could wear and look cute in... this is not a look I could pull off haha!

Not sure where she learned to smile like this but it's hilarious!

Below is the BEE I made Macy... Macy has a new love of BEES... My dad takes her out looking for bees... Sesame Street's word of the day was "Pollinate" so there were lots of bees and she loved it... she'll even walk around saying bzzzzz.

Video

Macy being Macy... best way to describe this!

Adventures of the Mallons... in Colorado

2010-09-17T16:22:00.000-07:00

We just returned from a 6 day trip to Colorado Springs to visit some of our very best friends in the whole world! We used to live LA together but now we are 700 miles away!!! I tried to capture some of the fun we had on video and through photos...

Macy rocking Nic's hip hop shoes!

The boys played video games every night until 1am... while we talked and sipped wine or margaritas ;)

Above: The Peters live in a great community that has a pool and clubhouse area, as well as a SCHOOL and parks..
Below: Our little family photo overlooking Colorado Springs!

Swimming!!!!

We were able to enjoy VillaSport, where both of the Peters work! Macy LOVED the kids area!!!

We loved sharing our funny little girl with Clint & Nic, who had not seen Macy since she was 5 months old!! They need to have their own baby soon!!!!

THE ZOO
I jumped up and down, literally, when I saw all of the giraffes!!

Matt and Macy were able to feed one of the giraffes!

Macy was totally into it!

The BFFFFFS

Love it!

Exploring the little African hut...

I was surprised she so willingly came out of the tiny door

Zebras

The View from the Zoo... such a great spot for a zoo... the animals seemed to be in much more realistic living situations compared with some zoos where the animals look sad ;) Being in the mountains allowed for the animals to seem happier!

Elephants

This Peacock followed us.. did I mention I don't like birds...

This Lion was having a stare down with Clint... I'm not sure the animals liked Matt and Clint very much....

Porcupine

Chipmunk

Moose

Nic and Macy looking at the African Lions- which were sleeping... BORING

Gorilla Obsession

We were almost done with the zoo experience when we saw a sign for "Gorillas & Hippos" so we decided to suck it up and go see a little more.. I'm so glad we did!!!

The Gorillas were in a huge mountain side exhibit, with some areas where they could come right up to the glass...

Matt and Clint wanted to get up close and personal with this one gorilla and let's just say, He wasn't interested in being bothered!!

He moved away a few times but they the Gorilla finally had enough.. He started to run at them and when he passed one of them he HIT THE GLASS... This happened on 4 separate occasions... providing us with lots of laughter and a good reality check for Matt and Clint- that Gorilla would have kicked their a$$ :)

Clint in a stare down... right before the Gorilla smacks the glass right where Clint is sitting!

the BIG guy... he knew he'd could kick the you know what out of both "men" and he didn't even move when we were staring at him through the glass!

Last night in Colorado Springs

Sweet kisses and cheesy smiles!

"Pound it"

Butterfly Kisses

Our wild woman is quite the cuddle bug!! I love that she'll grab my face and kiss me or just come and hug me randomly! Such a sweet little lady I have!!!

Plane Ride Home...
Macy's first experience with Play Dough, Stickers & Markers!!

I do have to give a big THANKS to all the Denver Airport folks because it was the smoothest experience of my life! Having a toddler can make flying quite stressful but from the moment we got out of the car to the time we landed in San Jose it was SMOOTH and easy and kinda makes me want to do it again soon ;)

Videos of the trip

The Amazingly Long Tongued Giraffes

My Kissing Queen on the Plane

A small taste of the Gorilla Attack ;)

We had such a wonderful time visiting the Peters! We loved their home, their company and their little life in Colorado Springs. Macy misses Babu (Clint) and Dic (Nicole) already and she says that they are sleeping if you ask her where they are!!! Can't wait to see you two again soon!!!

Flying through Summer...

2010-09-09T17:07:00.000-07:00

We have had a very fun and FAST summer. No huge trips or things to report about but life continues to fly by and Macy just keeps getting older, bigger, smarter and more beautiful!
We were able to visit with our good friends the Emlyns before they left to lead the Cowboys DTS in Wyoming. Our girls are only a few months apart and they played so well together. They kissed and hugged and played together all on their own- no coaxing from us!!!

Above: Brynn feeding Macy some fishies!

Below: Now time to hug! This is zoomed in, they were at least 30 yards away from us playing together.

Macy is a kissing & loving machine... I love that she has become so affectionate!

Macy & Livi are old friends... if you look back on our blog to our Tahoe trip last year you can see Oliva and Macy back then... they had so much more fun this time!! Terri and Liv came for a visit and we had a great girls weekend during a very heartbreaking time in our lives... We miss Terri and Liv so much and we hope that someday they will be able to live in California!!!

Macy has a new obsession that is driving... she will ask to drive randomly in the day... and when she does her silly hand motion to drive and says something sounds nothing like "drive", I know she means she wants to drive MY CAR, not her cute little Cozy Coupe that we bought her!

We've enjoyed the mild summer weather with picnics and playing outside most of the time. We have done a lot of sprinklers and water table play at home but have had some fun times at Las Madres playdates or with our fav mommies and babes.

I've loosened up a little about what Macy eats. I give in occasionally when it comes to yummy treats because I love the look of enjoyment she gets!!

She's also totally independent with her eating... I let the messiness happen and then throw her in the bath or outside to play in her water table or the sprinklers on a hot evening!!

Things change so quickly... this summer has flown by and it's amazing to think that we've been back in California for a year already. It's football season again and Matt is back coaching varsity @ Pioneer. I'm worknig at El Camino Hospital a few days/week. We're moving forward on our remodeling plans and the craziest part of it all is that we are going to have to move out for 6-9 months!

I will try to stay more on top of updating this blog!!!

Macy the Musician

2010-09-03T14:41:00.000-07:00

There is really no need for words when it comes to this video. Macy is a character @ almost 22 months old (this Thursday). I like to let her explore and be silly and her imagination has taken off.. she plays pretend all the time and I love it! When I saw a box set of kids instruments I knew it was right up her alley... so far we've only taken out the maracas... I can only imagine how she'll enjoy the drum or jingle bells...

Blogging Failure...

2010-09-03T14:11:00.001-07:00

You know when you neglect to do something for so long that every time you go to do it you feel overwhelmed by guilt and the task ahead of "making up for lost time"... well this is how I feel about my blog... well our family blog... I HAVE NOT POSTED A BLOG SINCE APRIL 4TH... it has been 5 months of fun and changes in our family and I cannot believe I've failed to document it...

I would like to blame it on our laptop... I have used our laptop for photo editing and normal day to day Internet fun in the past but it is currently at the computer doctor and I'm forced to leave the comforts of the couch and use the desktop computer in the office... HOWEVER, I cannot blame the poor laptop- who may never return- The truth is I have a blogger app on my phone and I could easily upload my photos and more easily edit them on the huge screen of this computer but again.....I've failed.

I have a ton of photos on my camera & on my phone.. and I have multiple hilarious videos that I've had every intention of posting for your viewing pleasure... I promise, now that I've taken the first step to accept my screw up I will be working on a FIVE MONTH LONG blog update...

Stay Tuned.

End of February

2010-04-04T22:16:00.001-07:00

February has been a great month... Macy has become so affectionate & more comfortable giving love to everyone... she tries to give kisses to the mom's and babies when we leave playdates ;)
The end of Feb marks the beginning of Macy walking totally independently!!

We had Anne-Rut come stay with us... she's our YWAM friend who is now back living at home in Norway! She came for another YWAM friend's wedding but also spent four days with us!! She came to Maryland when we were there and was able to meet Macy early on but this was a fun time for Anne to be re-introduced to Macy.

Macy LOVED playing in Anne's purse. Anne let Macy play in her purse so she took her up on this option during the whole time Anne was here!

February's Mama & Macy Photo

Thanks for visiting... UP NEXT: March Madness

Macy's March Madness

2010-04-04T21:36:00.000-07:00

Since Macy started walking independently at the end of Feb, March was her first month of total freedom. She's only gotten more and more brave with her walking, running, climbing & getting off of things... this is fun to watch but is definately scary at times because I know this means more falls and more tears.

These are the first photos I took of Macy off and walking like a proud woman. She is focused and excited about her freedom. We've enjoyed simply walking around together. She rarely holds my hand anymore.

Brynn & Macy

Macy and I went to visit our YWAM friends Jodi & her daughter Brynn. Brynn is only 3 months older than Macy so they are now looking more similar and doing many of the same things. If you look back I posted a blog about Macy & Brynn this past summer and it's amazing to compare them!

We enjoyed spending timein Livermore with the girls. Jodi and I had coffee while the girls ran around in a little grassy downtown area. They switched snack trap cups and ate each others puffs... hilarious how they both agreed that what the other one had was better.

Once our coffee time was over we moved onto fun in the fountain. Brynn had played here before and loved the water so we went to play too. Macy was interested in looking but not really playing in the water- it also wasn't very warm so I don't blame her.

Finally we ordered Greek take out for lunch and while we waited we strolled downtown Livermore. The girls were hilarious together.... they created a play area out of a storefront iron gate. Then they held hands and walked down the street... so "melt your heart" precious.

Other fun times in March

Macy loves the park now that she can go where she wants. Specifically she loves the slide and swing. She doesn't climb yet, well I guess I don't let her try so maybe she can but she doesn't climb solo yet... so I usually fling her up onto the slide and let her come down. She enjoys swinging and has been known to want to "try" all the swings... funny but kinda annoying when she wants to switch swings

First time eating dirt.... happend while I sat next to her! I just assumed she was playing in the flowers, not eating the soil... after a minute of silence I paid attention and this is what I saw...

Then I asked "Macy, why did you eat dirt" and she gave me this look... which translates to "I don't know".

Below is a photo of Macy with her older friend Mia. Mia is 3 and she is the older sister to one of the little girls in our Las Madres group. Mia likes playing with Macy because she's the oldest baby in our group so she can hold her own... Mia is hilarious and talks to Macy like she herself is 3 years old.

Mama and Macy time is more precious than ever these days because I've been working approx 3 days/week. It's been good for me to have ALY TIME... time to build my resume, time to help people & time to wear professional clothing. It's also been great for the time I am home... I just LOVE my time with Macy... I feel like there is less down time and more play time because I am cherrishing my time...

I hope to blog again before a "April Update" but at this point I can't promise anything... like I said before my time at home is much more "MACY" centered.

Happy Easter- I'm so thankful that the love of Jesus conquered the grave!

Macy and Mama go to Washington

2010-03-15T23:20:00.000-07:00

The plane ride to Seattle....

went better than I could have imagined. Macy ended up with her own seat. We sat in the row with an 11 year old girl who Macy LOVED. The girl, whose name was Effie, was like an in-flight babysitter. They played. They read Macy's book. They played with the peanut packets & they watched the wiggles on the portable dvd player.

Out to breakfast....

I let Macy eat some of my pancakes. For those of you who know how intentional I am with Macy's food this may come as a surprise. It was a special treat and Macy gobbled them up. She even used my adult fork!!

MEGAN....

was the reason we went to Washington. She's one of my college roomies, bridesmaids & one of my most special friends ever. I was so happy to be able to share Macy with Megan. Megan came out to Baltimore when Macy was first born but it had been almost a year since we'd see each other!!! Macy fell in love with Megan right away, I was not surprised by that!!

During Macy's naptime we embarked on some much needed and appreciated "creative time". Megan showed me how to make an adorable birthday/anniversary calendar. She also made me a beautiful journal that I'm using to write to Macy about all the funny things she does these days. I'll give the journal to Macy when she is a teenager.

The Crisp Outdoors....

We got out and walked/hiked each day while I was in WA. It was a bit chilly but BEAUTIFUL. We took one 3 hour walk that I thought might be the end of me because Macy had a melt down and was cold and screaming for me to help her and I could do nothing. It was one of those moments when I wanted to start crying and make it all go away.

We also hiked down to the waterfall where Megan's husband proposed! It was a great day and this time it wasn't too cold for Macy. Hiking down was ok but hiking up the mountain with my 24 pound baby+KeltyKids backpack on my back provided an incredible workout.

Just another photo to provide proof of the fun that Macy had!

Plane ride home...

went amazingly well again. I thought I'd have to hold Macy on my lap but as the passengers loaded the plane everyone seemed to avoid me and my toddler!!! There were only a few people left to sit down and i still had TWO open seats in my isle. Finally a nice dad sat with us. He has two teenage boys and said he loves kids and always wanted a girl!!! He was great with Macy. For the most part Macy watched Wiggles & we read some books and sang some songs. It was so easy!!!! I'm so thankful!!!

The only part of the trip that was hard was Macy was going through a teething episode so she was not sleeping well. She got up at 5am the day we left for Seattle, 5am the first day in Seattle, 4am the second day in Seattle, & 3am our third day. I don't know what was going on but I was TIRED. Thankfully I drank a lot of coffee & Macy played with Megan a lot.

I'm so happy we went to Washington. It was such a breath of fresh air to just spend quality time with Megs. Our next trip will be to see the other bff in Colorado!!

UP NEXT: Macy's Friends

5 Questions

2010-02-26T13:40:00.000-08:00

I got this from my lovely friend Mari who I'm always so impressed by!! She's a super mom of 2, going on 3. I know I need to update my blog with photos and stories from current day but this was something fun and I'm at work killing time until I go home- I'm done seeing patients today!

Question 1: Where were you five years ago?

1. Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia... honestly one of the most beautiful places I've ever been!
2. I was just starting my study abroad adventures and learning how to be independent from my best friends and my boyfriend (now my husband). Going to a public university was so very different from APU life.
3. I was living with three crazy aussies who I'd never met before, in our little Helen Street House & falling in love with the australian life & FOOD (nutella, tea, CHIPS w/tomato sauce, works burgers, sausage sandwiches, meat pies and sausage rolls)
4. it was the middle of SUMMER and I was tan and spent a lot of time at the beach.
5. It was a crazy time in life and I was on a wonderful & life changing adventure!

Question 2: What is (was) on your to-do list today?
1. Work
2. Pick up Matt from work because we still have only 1 car!
3. Start looking for our 2nd car ;)
4. Hang out with my crazy daughter
5. Couples night out- we're going bowling!

Question 3: What five snacks do you enjoy?
1. Is coffee a snack?? if so COFFEE is my major indulgence!!
2. Tzatziki & Pita- snack some days, lunch others days
3. Luna Bars
4. Apples & Nutella or Nutella on anything!
5. Chocolate Covered Almonds... filling and chocolatey ;)

What 5 places have you lived
In order:
1. San Jose, CA
2. Azusa, CA
3. Newcastle, NSW Australia
4. Pasadena, CA
5. Baltimore, MD

Question 5: What five things would you do if you were a billionaire?
1. Allow my husband to devote all his time to coaching football & build an athletic training facility for football players- the ultimate dream for him
2. Build a small community where all our family was in the neighborhood & there was a guest house for our friends to come visit/stay for a LONG TIME.
3. Adopt a lot of kids from different countries & travel/serve in those countries regularly.
4. Give it away for others to give away
5. Renovate YWAM LA because they do amazing things and those trailers need to go ;)

Now everyone post your 5's!

Twelve Month Old Funnies

2010-01-20T23:06:00.000-08:00

Macy is now 13 1/2 months but these are all photos from when she was 12-13 months old. She can walk but chooses to scale walls and use the assistance of a finger from any person willing to provide one. She also SCOOTS all over the house. She never did crawl but she's recently picked up this little scooting thing that gets her wherever she needs to go. Then she pulls herself up and gets into EVERYTHING. We have not offically babyproofed (shame on us) so I find myself following her around saying "No" or taking things away that aren't for babies ;) At one year Macy has turned into quite a diva. She's picked up the word "No" and shakes her head while saying "NoNo No" in her tiny raspy voice. You can't help but laugh but at the same time you don't want to encourage it. I try to say yes yes yes to her and she just says "No" back.

Macy has a hilarious personality. Above she's playing in a box with Manty and Below she's feeding another little boy some of her "num nums" (more commonly known as puffs). The feeding of the little boy happened at a baby shower and Macy continued to feed him... she is constantly doing new things that make me giggle and feel amazed by her ability to understand.

Macy has a thing for wearing Granmommy & Big Papa's glasses. She has now created her own baby sign for glasses. She signs glasses and then signs please or more... it's amazing how she is communicating by pointing and mimicking.

This doll face is a performer in the making. She moves and grooves to music and can give a cheesey grin almost on cue.

I call this one "grandma macy" and I think she looks so silly.

Macy got a baby stroller from Aunt Rhonda for her birthday. She enjoys putting things in it (not just her baby) and pushing it around the house. I can't believe I have a baby old enough to do this!

Macy loves to splish and splash in her bath. She entertains herself for as long as I leave her in there. I look forward to the summer when we can do baby swim lessons because I'm sure she'll LOVE it.

Macy does fake laughter where she will laugh and put her hand over her mouth like she's super polite. I caught the end of it in the photo below. It always cracks me up, and that makes her do more fake laughter, which makes me laugh again and this continues until I move on ;) She definately enjoys being the center of attention.

Macy is waiting not so patiently for her bath to fill up... this is a normal look that she gives when she isn't pleased with the situation ;)

Life with this little girl is so much fun. I love waking up each morning (when she isn't teething & had me up all night) to play and giggle and dance and sing. I am so thankful for the blessings that she brings to our lives. Thanks for reading the rantings of a proud mama. Next time I'll update you on me and matt too, but for tonight there isn't much to tell!

Love, The Mallons

Our Family Photos/Happy 2010

2010-01-02T12:09:00.001-08:00

Mallon Family December 2009

I am so luck that this is my family!

We love being silly!!
Macy's giggles are my favorite sounds... she is such a daredevil

What did we do when Macy wasn't around? Life is so much more complete now!

These two people make my world go round!

I love the butterflies and warm/fuzzies that this man still gives me after almost 9 years together! I can't wait to see what our future holds!!

Macy Jane- 1 year photos
Macy loves buttons and the small details... she's very inquisitive

Hello BIG BLUES

A few more of Me & Macy!!

So there you have it... these aren't even all the good ones but I don't want to bore you with more and more photos only I can tell the difference between ;) Mindy did such a great job and I look forward to using her again for more Macy pics and Christmas Card photos in the years to come.

I didn't break out my camera for Macy's 1st Birthday Party or Christmas this year... I'm sad that I was so lame but it was a whirlwind time of year... I'm going to have to plan a bit more next year so Macy can have her birthday party before the Christmas crazies...

New Years this year was low key. My parents went to Palm Springs and Amy went to Tahoe, while Matt, Macy & I stayed home. When we woke up on January 1st 2010 we quickly discovered that my mom's little red convertible beetle was stolen while we slept. STOLEN from the driveway of our home. We're still processing this event and we're pretty sure it was our neighbors who are renting the house next door. There is drug activity and a lot of really bad stuff going on there and my new job is going to be to get rid of them and make sure the two kids that live there are safe!!! It's been infuriating and frustrating and scary. We're praying that we have the correct attitude about the whole thing!!!

Happy New Year from the Mallons.

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year

2009-12-30T13:20:00.001-08:00

This is our Christmas/New Year card, I will be posting more pictures from our photo session with Mindy soon... but for now...

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year

Happy Birthday Macy

2009-12-27T14:34:00.000-08:00

On December 9th 2008 Macy Jane Mallon changed our world forever...

One year later I can't imagine living my life without her

We used to cuddle all day long...

Now we play a lot, sing songs & dance!
Macy would sleep all day, and ANYWHERE...
Now she only takes 1 nap!!!!!! These are pics of the milk coma face... Now we get lots of great looks... smiles, laughs & the infamous "dirty look"

Here is Daddy and Macy together for their first picture

And Daddy and Macy Now!
Macy all snuggled in ready to go home from the hospital

We can barely get her to sit still now...
Wow what a year it has been... the greatest year of my life.... the wildest for sure but the most rewarding and joyful year. I praise God for the blessings of Matt and Macy and I hope that these photos bring you a few smiles too...

Love, Matt Aly & Macy (12 months)

**All current photos are from Macy's 1 year photo session with Mindy Webb**(www.mindywebbphotography.com)

Practice makes perfect

2009-12-07T20:29:00.000-08:00

We had our family photo session scheduled and I wanted to see how well Macy would do with sitting in a baby chair and playing with props... so I started shooting some pics
Here are 13 of them... then I edited them with photoshop... and now I'm convinced I want to be a photographer... just kidding

Here is our impromptu practice photoshoot

I am pretty sure I have the cutest baby ever ;)

Enjoy

UP NEXT: Macy Turns 1

World AIDS Day

2009-12-01T12:09:00.000-08:00

Today is world AIDS day.

While it's mostly about awareness...

I'm all about tangible ways you can DO SOMETHING!

Our church is putting on an AIDS Benefit this Sunday.

The purpose of the day will be building Caregiver Kits for World Vision

These kits will be sent to Zimbabwe, Africa

They will be used by those who care for people with HIV/AIDS.

We have 1,000 kits to put together.

We need people to come help put them together this SUNDAY.

If you can't help in that way then how about this...

Each kit costs $29.50 and the Journey is looking for people to sponsor each kit.

Please check out these links for more information:
http://www.talkinchurch.com/kitBuild
http://www.worldvision.org/content.nsf/getinvolved/caregiver-kits-church-volunteer-activity

Matt and I are so blessed the life we live and more specifically by our daughter. She is the greatest gift we've been given. She's a healthy, happy and growing girl.....we want to raise her to know that we are PRIVILEGED to live here in the USA. While we are so blessed we are called to help others who do not have the things we have. We want our lives to be examples to her of what Christ's love can do and therefore we're starting here... While we aren't in YWAM and ministry opportunities aren't on our schedule, they are right in front of us and so we're going to take this opportunity to GIVE and SERVE.

Thanks for taking the time to read about this!

Aly, Matt & Macy

Our Photographer

2009-11-27T17:47:00.000-08:00

Mindy Webb Rocks!!

She has a preview up of our session with her on Wednesday...

http://mindywebbphotography.com/wordpress/

Here is the deal... if we get 20 comments posted to her blog about our photos by next week then we get a surprise... now if you know me at all you'd know that we must get 20 comments because if there is a "surprise" to be had/won I definately want it ;)

So follow the link. Check out some of our photos & be sure to COMMENT!

Cheers!

Aly, Matt & Macy

UP NEXT: Mommy's Mini Photoshoot with Macy

Fordyce Fun

2009-11-26T16:23:00.000-08:00

Before I had a family of my own I used to watch the Fordyce kids... all five of them. Now Jennie is off to college (tear) and there are four at home ranging in age from 5 years old to 16 years old.
Matt, Macy and I moved in to stay with the kids for a few days while their parents were in Hawaii. It was such fun and they were a big help with Macy. It was so special to see some of my favorite kids in the world all together!

Hope was especially funny when it came to Macy. When I picked her up from school the first day she made me and macy walk around to a few of her friends to show them the baby, she's say "Hi friend I have a REAL baby".... then we'd move to the next friend and she'd say the same thing... "Hi other friend Look, I have a REAL baby". Each morning when Macy would see Hope she'd start smacking her lips together (her way of asking for kisses). Hope would kiss Macy and then Macy would ask for MORE. SO CUTE!!

PS. You may recall these kiddos from our wedding! Will & Hope were part of our flower girl/ring bearer team. Jennie was a bridesmaid & Daisy sprinkled the roses down the isle before I walked down... they are family to me!!!

NEXT POST: Photoshoot Practice

What we've been up to....

2009-11-15T11:41:00.000-08:00

Eleven Months OldI can't even believe it. I wish I could slow time. Macy is less than a month away from being a year old. I'm honestly freaking out... this year has flown by!
Macy takes five to ten steps all on her own. She's developing great balance and learning how to fall down without freaking out.
Another favorite thing she does... if you say "PU Stinky" she bends over and smells her feet....

Cuddle Muffin I've been waiting 11 months to have a cuddley baby... she's finally arrived!

Macy gives kisses and loves all the time. Each night we say nighnight to the whole family and she either gives very nice loves or pretends like she is going to and then turns away to get a reaction.

Inquisitve 11 Month Old

Macy's Spot: standing on the couch looking out the window

This is what she was watching... the gardeners outside

Macy is interested in EVERYTHING... I can no longer drink my coffee without her wanting it... she's my girl... interested in what's going on and already LOVES coffee ;)

Niners Game

Daddy went to the Niners game with some of his friends... Macy had to rock her jersey in support of the niners...

Since we were all dressed and it was not too cold out we went to the park to play in the warm sun. I of course had to take pictures of my little lady with the park in the background.

My moms group would play at the park twice a week up until November. We have since moved our playdates inside so we had to take advantage of being outside in NOVEMBER.

Before Daddy left we got some shots of the two niners fansI love how Macy looks adoringly at Matt... melts my heart!

Mommy Makeover
I chopped & highlighted my hair Playing in the Trunk

sometimes a little creativity is needed

like when Mommy is stuck in the bank and Daddy has a crabby baby!

Soccer Star

We went to the park to celebrate our nephew Kairi and niece Emily's 9th birthday!

Macy had her first chance to play soccer!

From the looks of things, she's a natural!

Up Next: Who knows... something fun and cute

Macy's 1st Halloween

2009-11-12T12:57:00.001-08:00

I had to work on the Friday before Halloween so my mom took Macy to our LM playdate at the park. It was our Halloween Party. All the little kiddos came dressed in their costumes and everyone brought a spooky treat to share. I was sad to have missed it but a few moms sent me some adorable pictures of Macy.
In the evening of Halloween we went trick or treating with Macy's cousins Kairi, Hallie, Emily and Mileah. Macy obviously doesn't eat candy so most people looked at me like "what? you're using your kid to get candy?" We only went to a few houses before it was Macy's bedtime.

Macy was a good sport about having her head covered. We took her to the mall dressed up and she did pretty well. Everyone seemed to love my little ladybug!

My little ladybug love! I love this picture

Below: Macy and her little friend Kora. She was an owl! Kora's mommy made her costume! Isn't she so sweet!!!

Below are some pictures of the Mamas trying to line up the babies for group shots. You will see that some just laid there, others weren't too interested and others (macy fits here) just started crying!

We're not big celebrators of Halloween but Macy was sure cute in her LadyBug Costume!

UP NEXT: What we've been up to...

Dancing with the Wiggles!

2009-11-02T21:38:00.000-08:00

The Video is self explanitory!

Macy is the funniest girl I know!

UP NEXT: Halloween!

Around here EVERYDAY is Funday!

2009-11-02T21:14:00.000-08:00

The New Look

Macy is learning how to show different emotions through her facial expressions not just through crying. If she doesn't like something or doesn't quite understand what you're doing she gives you a dirty look... as seen in these three pictures.
She does not cry or whine when she makes her "WTF" faces... I realize she is picking up on MY facial expressions and dirty looks... wow I have to watch it. Next thing you know she'll be mimicking my words...ahhh!

Youngest 49er Fan
Macy had a "My 1st 49er T-shirt" shirt. She rocked it and looked adorable. However, this was not enough for Matt. While shopping at Babies R Us he found a real Gore JERSEY Onsie and had to get it for Macy.
She did wear it with jeans and a little red bow in her hair but after her nap this is what she looked like playing around the house.

Go GORE!

Mama & Macy Play with the Camera

I decided to play with the timer feature on my camera. I set it to take three pictures in a row... these are some of the fun ones we got.

I suppose this is a way to get pictures of me and Macy... I'm always behind the camera!

We have SO much fun. We laugh so much EVERYDAY. You're welcome over anytime to join the fun! Everyday is FUNDAY when Macy is around!

Up Next: Dancing with the Wiggles Videos

Macy's Baby Doll

2009-11-02T20:54:00.000-08:00

Hey Mama look!

Macy didn't know exactly what to do with the baby at first.

Then she started recognizing the baby's facial features. She found her MOUTH

NOSE
Giving the baby her hair bow!
Found her EARAfter checking out all of Baby's features Macy needed to get a little taste of Baby's toes... this is funny HOWEVER I'm now worried that she may try to eat one of the babies at our playdates :( The other day she grabbed one of the babies toes and I thought "uh oh!"

Macy's Baby has become part of our everyday life. She has an outfit on now too! Macy and her baby watch Elmo in the morning while we have coffee. Macy and baby take naps together and Daddy tends to bounce Baby to sleep while Macy watches. Macy kisses Baby on her mouth and then she kisses Mama the same way, WIDE OPEN MOUTH style!

UP NEXT: Approaching 11 Months

10 month old things!

2009-10-26T15:11:00.000-07:00

Playing on Manty's computer while daddy relaxes in the background... benefits of living together as a big family-Macy gets TONS of attention!

Intensely watching... she loves to watch the dancing/singing Wiggles or Mommy dancing/singing around the house... both are equally entertaining... BUT most entertaining is Mommy singing and dancing like the Wiggles! Those little tunes are catchy! My GoofNot sure what is going on but the point is, Macy is a character! My little precious ladylove... she plays so nicely on her own!

Macy has been taking her socks off a lot lately... when she wakes up in the morning they are off, when she is nursing she pulls them off, when she is sitting watching the Wiggles or Elmo she yanks them off... she's good at it so that's all that is important ;)

Macy LOVES little kids. She always says "ooo ooo ooo" when she sees a small person who isn't paying attention to her! Evie is an independent woman and walking all over the place. She was so cute with Macy, calling her "baby" and giving her kisses! Little kids are so funny!

Cuddling Daddy on the couch.. watching elmo of course! Macy has become a lot more affectionate lately. She gives kisses and cuddles... I've been waiting almost 11 months for this...

NEXT POST: Macy's First Baby Doll

Pumpkins in the Park

2009-10-26T14:41:00.000-07:00

A few Saturdays ago I went with Macy, my mom (Granmommy), my sister (Manty), my sister's boyfriend (Bryan) & his niece (Evie) to a fall festival in a park in downtown SJ called Pumpkins in the Park. Aside from being a HUGE pumpkin patch, there was live music for kids, food and little play stations sponsored by the Children's Discovery Museum. Macy and Evie were too little to enjoy the play stations but they loved the pumpkins and the music!

I also wanted to get some pictures of Macy with the pumpkins. I brought her Halloween costume with me but it was too hot to put her in it. She is going to be a ladybug!

Macy walked around and watching all the little kids. She LOVES people that are her size! She did lots of investigating! Evie is mobile so she walked herself. It was so fun to watch them together. Evie calls Macy "baby" and she gives her big juicy kisses on the lips. Such a crack up!

Investigating the Pumpkins

More walking.... Evie was trying to sit on the pumpkins ;)

Macy copied Evie and tried to sit on a baby pumpkin
It was very bright out and even though it was October, it was still in the mid 70's and clear! ahhhh it's so good to be back in California!

My photoshoot didn't go as well as I'd hoped but I think I got some pretty cute pictures!

If only she showed me some teeth for this one!!!

Here is one of Evie and Macy.

My musical baby... pounding on the huge pumpkin.

We had a great afternoon. I am loving all the fun things we get to do now that Macy is exploring and investigating EVERYTHING. I love to watch her learn and try to figure things out.

NEXT POST: Macy's 1st Baby & other 10 month old things

A wholelotta 9 month pics... a little behind!

2009-10-20T12:50:00.000-07:00

My ham! Hello blue eyes
You should hear the noise that accompanies these looks!!

Just lay there and look pretty!

Playing outside in the evening breeze became a huge part of our day in September. Macy has become quite the climber. She needs some help to get up but she LOVES standing up and moving around.

Macy LOVES her Manty Mamy.

Eating raisins together

Playing alone is happening more and more and I LOVE IT!

I'm picture crazy but Macy doesn't seem to mind!

My wild child with her wild hair and wild smile ;)

Macy started eating puffs! She's great at feeding herself now.

I love this goofy smile

So many cute pictures... have I gone overboard?

Playing at the park at our weekly playdates is SO MUCH FUN. I have met some amazing moms and we LOVE playing with their adorable children.

Bathtime fun continues! She loves to splish splash around!

She LOVES attention... surprise surprise

I caved... I bought Macy another Sophie! She was so happy and immediately started gnawing on her! Sophie is such an expensive teething toy but SOOO worth it!

Spaghetti Squash... another new food

My real life little lady- no longer my babylove, she's my ladylove!

NEXT POST: Pumpkins in the Park

Macy's Baptism

2009-10-18T12:51:00.000-07:00

There has been a lot going on. The purpose of this blog is to talk about Macy's Baptism but first a few updates. Macy is 10 months old and doing so much! She is hilarious! Here are a few new things:

*Walking around with the help of holding one of our hands

*Taking two-four steps between two people

*Pretending to talk on the phone when you say "hello hello" by holding her hand up to her ear

*SLEEPING sooooo well

*Feeding herself almost all meals/Drinks from her sippy cup

*Watching Sesame Street and dancing to Elmo's World and Murry

*Pointing at things when you ask where they are

*She grabs her toes when you say "This little piggie went to the market"

*Drinks out of a straw

*Watermelon is her favorite food

*She drew me her first picture when I was at work this week!

*Plays a game in her high chair where she pretends like she is going to drop her Sophie or her sippy cup and then we say "No No No don't drop it" she brings it up with a smile and laugh

*Wiggles away from people when she wants to walk

*She is learning where her eyes, nose, ears, mouth

*She knows where to point the remote

*Says Dadda & Nana (my mom does not want to be called Nana) but no Mama yet!

Ok enough of that. I just want to document this stuff because it is changing so much lately!

Today Macy was baptized at our church the Journey (www.talkinchurch.com) We met with the Pastor to discuss the difference between dedication or baptism and why they don't do dedication but instead infant baptism. We don't believe that this baptism was a salvation thing for Macy but more of an outward expression of our desire to have God lead us in the raising of Macy. We are passionate about raising Macy to know about Jesus and his love and sacrifice for HER. It is our hope that one day MACY decides to publicly display her belief in Christ by being baptised once again. We are so blown away by this little girl. I go on and on about it all the time but it's only because I'm so in awe of the gift of motherhood!

We were so happy to have my parents, sister Amy, Matt's parents, sister Jen, brother in law Jason, nephew Andrew and nieces Hallie & Emily there. Ivan also joined us and that meant SOOOOO much!!!!

It's a happy day! We're enjoying life and we're thankful for this season of peace and simplicity! I also started working two weeks ago. I'll be working a few days/month in hospitals in the area as a covering medical social worker. It feels so great to be using my education & helping people... BUT this last week I worked 35 hours in three days and I feel like Macy changed so much while I was away.

That is all for now.

Love from the Mallons

My 2nd J.O.B.

2009-10-06T11:40:00.000-07:00

I must first start by directing you back to my previous post if you haven't already done so... Macy is entered into the Gap Casting Call- their search for the next Gap baby models. There is a link you can press.. it will show you one of her entries... there are FIVE total. You have to create a log-in and password in order to vote, but it is SO worth it! Gap will pick their 20 finalist but the voting this is for "fan favorite" and we could win a Beaches vacation. You can vote for each picture once a day EVERDAY until November 17th.

So point of this blog is to tell you about my new job. It is so from God (like all PERFECT things) and I don't know why I'm shocked at how perfectly it fits my situation. I've been on the search for a job for a few months now... and there have been a few jobs that have excited me but nothing comes of them... I've been pretty carefree about it since I'm LOVING my time with Macy. I've become very involved with Las Madres (our mamas/babies playgroup) and I am actually waiting for Macy to wake up from her nap so we can go to a playdate!!! However there has been this unquenched thirst for more. Something I have handed over to God and said "you know my desires Lord". I have a passion for service. I have a love of providing support and information to people in a time of crisis and when they find themselves feeling helpless and hopeless. However I know I have the best job in the world as a mother to Macy. My prayer has been for God to fulfill that thrist for a "job" if He wants my focus to be soley on raising Macy and nothing else. In my last ditch attempt at finding some sort of connection here in San Jose I emailed the mamas of Las Madres to see if anyone had info on medical social work jobs.

I was given a contact at a place called DRG. They work with medical social workers in the bay area. I went for an interview (not knowing exactly what it was) and then BAM... I've got the most perfect situation. Basically I'm working as a covering Medical Social Worker in the south bay area hospitals. I take whatever "assignments" I want and I say "no thanks" if I don't want to work. My first job is Thursday, Friday, Saturday at Kaiser in the Emergency Room. Ten hour days. I'll get a good little pay check (this job pays WELL) and if I want I won't work anymore this month... but maybe I will.

I love that God knows my heart more than what I even prayed for. He knows that I want to be with Macy, I don't want to work full time. But he knows that I could use some ME TIME... some time where I can be just Aly and use my gifts he has given me... I don't need even a part time job, just SOME TIME... Who knew that such thing existed... I had no idea...

So there you go. I'll let you know how it goes... but until then spend your time voting for Macy in the gap casting call.
Love from the Mallons

Gap Casting Call... VOTE for MACY

2009-10-04T21:53:00.001-07:00


Some may say, Oh No you didn't. But YES I DID!!! I entered Macy into the Gap Casting Call... their search for the next Gap models! I know every mom thinks their baby is "model" material and super CUTE so humor me ;) Follow this link and visit the site to vote for Macy. She has FOUR photos to vote on. You can vote on all four EVERYDAY until the end of the contest. I'm very competitive and I love to WIN so HELP US OUT!!!!!!!!!!!!!! If you find yourself on the main page you can search for her photos by using my user name: AlyMallon (no space) Thanks for the support! Love Aly, Matt & Macy Jane M.	Contestant # 870177286
This email was sent to you by your friend to refer you to the Gap Casting Call. You have not been added to Gap's marketing list.

This message was sent using SocialTwist Tell-a-Friend
Report spam | Remove me

Winner Winner Chicken Dinner

2009-09-27T17:04:00.000-07:00

I want to be a WINNER... and therefore I am urging you to check out this blog... http://lolabboutique.blogspot.com/ She is a great writer and shares some of her really cool photography too!

She has a contest going on for a $150 Anthropology gift card and some other stuff... check it out! I did and then I had to tell YOU about it!

Good Luck. I hope you win... well I really hope I WIN but it would be ok if you won too ;)

Teething Biscut Fun!

2009-09-26T11:23:00.000-07:00

Macy is working on getting teeth #5,6,& 7 down right now. It is MISERABLE.
Sleep has been completely unreliable... even naptime is a struggle. At one point I tried doing ONE nap/day... that lasted two days and I was MISERABLE.

Eating has changed too. She eats a little but mostly she is whiney if she isn't hopped up on tyelnol. I've tried the teething tablets and she just thinks they are candy... they don't seem to do much for her at this point!

Besides the horror of the recent teething, there are teething biscuts, which she LOVES. These pictures are of her first taste of these hard, yet mushy when wet, treats.

At first she thought it was a toy so she hit it against her highchair tray. They I pretended to eat it and she got the idea. Once she had her first taste it was all a big mess from there.

I had so much fun watching her figure out this new treat. I also gave it to her when no one was here to share in the laughter so I shot these photos.

My blue eyed baby is still a teething mess but we're hanging in there.

More to come from the Mallons...very soon!

Painful Sacrifice: my personal reflections

2009-09-16T22:01:00.000-07:00

There won't be any pictures attached to this blog because it will be comprised of my words and a few links. However, I do have some new pictures and stories so another blog will follow in a few days. For now I'll stick with putting my thoughts down...

A few days ago my darling friend Mari Higerd started to breathe again... her husband Gabe returned after 15 months of serving in Iraq. Mari's strength and her ability/responsibility to raise their two beautiful daughters alone has been beyond inspirational to me... especially when I sit here overwhelmed by one 9 month old and supported by my very involved amazing husband! I started to imagine how it must have been for her... the LOVE she has for her husband to let him go and to really TRUST GOD beyond just saying "I trust God"... I don't think I could do it. I've been overwhelmed to tears when I realized how hard it must have been for Gabe to give up precious time with his daughters and to leave Mari, knowing how difficult it would be for her. Not simply "oh this is hard, this sucks" kind of difficult, but "I don't want to get out of bed, I can't do this, please just come back" difficult. The crazy thing is that this is normal for so many families in this country... there are those who are dreading the deployment, living through it and waiting for it to end, or hoping the next one doesn't come too soon (or ever). I'm the daughter of a Marine. I understand service to your country. I understand that freedom costs ... but it's really stung me hard lately to think of how privileged (could be called disrespectful) we are to be able to live our lives without having to think of what these families are going through and to simply take the gift of freedom and not stop to realize what it costs!

On top of the Higerd Family's story, is the story of David and Nicole Hart. Their story really explains what our freedom costs. They are a couple from YWAM LA. David left for his second tour in Iraq two years ago (Sept 2007)... three months later he was killed. I watched at a distance as Nicole tried to make sense of it all... her LOVE was gone... her dreams shattered... her purpose in question... her security tested... her life seemed shattered. I was broken hearted for her... again to imagine losing my LOVE...to know that it was possible must make one constantly worried...but then to have the thing you are worried about become a reality....The beginning of her journey is documented here (http://www.iamhart.blogspot.com/) and her words are powerfully heartbreaking...but out of the darkness God brought Nicole support through the American Widow Project (http://www.americanwidowproject.org/) which connected her with another young widow. This organization has brought up another reality for this country... a great number of young widows. AMP is a complete resource for these women and families. They were featured in the USAA (Military insurance company) Fall Newsletter in an article called Tragedy to Triumph(http://content.usaa.com/mcontent/static_assets/Media/dotcom_fall_2009.pdf?cacheid=2562377476) it is a beautiful and short piece about how motivated and amazing these women are!!! I'm so inspired and humbled.... Nicole's story hurts my heart, while she seems to be learning to embrace her new role as 'an inspiration and role model'... I still can't grasp how confusing and angry she must have been. It is yet another testament to how Jesus picks us up when we cannot walk another step! WOW!

So the purpose of this blog... to share.... to inspire... to awaken... and to express my thankfulness and personal desire to be aware/prayerful when it comes to this war.... the sting has been taken out of the reality of war by the media and by time... but we need to realize that our generation is 100% affected by this war... even if it doesn't seem like it now, we will see the effects for the rest of our lives! Take time to ask questions, read the stories and pray for God's peace for those families and soldiers that protect our FREEDOM.

PS I could go on and on about freedom/lack of freedom that many face outside our country... this is beyond the point of this blog but I do want to recognize that FREEDOM is not a reality for all.

9 months and counting...

2009-09-13T15:36:00.000-07:00

Park Playdates... happening twice a week now because I joined a mom's group called Las Madres. We are in the 2009 Willow Glen group because Macy was born at the end of 2008 and the kids in the 08 group are walking and some are even a year older than her! We play with other kids and the mamas get to talk and receive support, ask questions, just be out of the house! This week the group ended early and Macy was up for some more playing so we went on the swings again. She looks so tiny in the swing but she seems to enjoy this new experience.

Standing... pulling herself up and standing is Macy's newest feat! She typically uses people's fingers but occasionally she'll feel like a piece of furniture is sturdy enough for her. I'm working on letting her fall on her butt so she knows how to fall down, I know it's going to be a big part of this new stage of life!
One-handed standing... watch out this girl is under the impression that there is always someone there to catch her...

The New Look... those of you who know me may recognize this look... she may have learned it from me ;) She gives "What the H are you thinking" looks all the time. Another look, which I don't have captured on camera is the look when I tell her "No!". She scrunches her nose and shows me all her teeth in a look that says "You can't say No to ME!"

Happy 1st Sunday Football Day!
We enjoyed watching the San Fransisco 49ers WIN against the Cardinals! Daddy dressed Macy in her 49er shirt and her new bow (bought from Terri's Etsy shop http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=7635643).

She has super long arms that can reach pretty far but we're working on that whole "crawling" thing so I put things out of reach and try to get her to pull herself forward... so far we've gotten to "stare at it long enough and it might come to you" :)

Videos

Below is a new thing Macy does... she is quite the daredevil, as seen in her one handed standing, but proven even more by this video!!

This is a random video but it shows another new thing, KISSES. Macy will give kisses when you smack your lips... she's quite the mimicking girl now!

Still no stats from Macy's 9 month apt because we still don't have a pediatrician!

UP NEXT: Deep Reflection... some thoughts from ME

Macy + my new camera = TONS of Pics!

2009-09-06T14:02:00.000-07:00

I bought a new camera and I've been obsessive about getting pictures of my (in my opinion) beautiful growing girl! I had an OK camera and I realized how much I value a great photo of my ever-changing daughter... so we invested!!! I LOVE my new camera... which also takes video in HD... videos to come! The camera has tons of fun features and a 15x zoom! I swear every pic I take comes out perfect... the coloring and clarity is incredible... like a fine diamond.. haha!

I think the pic below is hilarious... it looks like Macy can walk all alone now but not yet... she loves to walk assisted by my two fingers and she pulls herself up sometimes, not too much of that yet! Still now crawling... I was a crawler but my sister was a 10 month old walker so I may have that going on here with Macy... she's not interested!
There were a few days of HOT HOT HOT weather here, not humid, just HOT. It was so hot that Macy wouldn't sleep so we played in the baby pool in the backyard. There are a lot of pics of our pool party...

Macy fell backwards and ended up all wet, which was not a bad thing in the heat!

Once the afternoon shade appeared the temperatures dropped and we played on the blanket... these pictures were taken with the "blue" filter on my camera so her eyes and the blanket stand out in a beautiful way.

Granmommy gave Macy a relaxing face massage... then she was ready for a nap!

After naptime Manty brought Macy back out for another dip.. Macy wasn't quite awake and ready for pictures (she's like her mama when it comes to sleep)

Matt has started football season as a coach of the defence for Pioneer High School (where we graduated from). This means each Friday night we'll be at a game, full of teenagers & cheerleaders & the band! This Friday was Matt's first game, they won 41-6! It was a fun night and Macy was so into the band music and the cheering cheerleaders. The picture below is Macy in awe of the cheerleaders. She was clapping and dancing!!

Eating Solo is another new thing of the month! While this is a messy experience most of the time, it is a proud moment for both Me and Macy... she loves the independence and I love that I can have a break while she eats!!!

Watermelon is a FAVORITE!

Playing with Manty is always a blast!

Elmo & Sesame Street are the new favorite! I had no idea she would even pay attention to the TV until one day she refused to nap and I needed SOMETHING... turned on Sesame Street and it was "Elmo's World". Macy started dancing and clapping and was a happy camper! We now have TiVo set for all things ELMO!!!

TODAY: 9/5/09 we are only four days from Macy's 9 month birthday! She will be 9 months old on 9/9/09!!! I have a small panic attack each time I think that she is 9 months old... I know I know, I do this every month that passes but 9 months is HUGE!

How do you not LOVE this face?

Can you say Teething?

UP NEXT: No idea because I'm officially caught up! I will likely post Macy and her 9 month stats and pictures once we get to the new Pediatrician!