Malachi's first Christmas

Malachi's first Christmas was great. Everyone showered him with love and toys, toys, and more toys. We started off the week of Christmas picking up Grandma Jodie from the airport. It had been almost four months since Jodie had last seen Malachi and she couldn't wait to see how much her grandson had grown.

Jodie definitely spoiled me while she was out her. She took care of Malachi the whole week she was here. I didn't feel as bad for leaving him to make dinner, do laundry, clean house, or even just shower because he had Jodie to provide him with all the attention he wanted. Malachi's favorite thing to do with Grandma was cuddling and Grandma enjoyed it very much.

Malachi enjoyed helping Mom open all his gifts. Of course we had to pause and let Malachi play and touch everything before moving on to the next present.

We spent Christmas day at my mom's house in Denver. My mom finally got her picture of the three generations. In the picture are my Grandma, Mom, little brother Devin with his girls; Lily (sitting by me) and Nikki (on Devin's lap), Andi (the girls mom), Malachi, and me. It was fun trying to take a picture and getting all three kids to look at the same time.

One of Malachi's favorite new toys is the play station Uncle Mike got him for Christmas. Instead of the walkers most of us grew up with they now make a "play station". It's a lot like the walker on top, but has a saucer on the bottom. Malachi can sit or stand if he wants. His feet don't touch the bottom yet, but if he leans to one side or the other he can get a foot flat on the bottom. It is fun to watch him in it. He gets so excited about the toys he bounces and jumps towards the toy he wants. It was a great buy on the Uncle's part.

Over the last week Malachi has learned to roll over on to his belly, so now he rolls back and forth. He is also starting to sit on his own, he loses his balance and falls over after about a minute or two. He is also teething and drooling all over the place too.

We thoroughly enjoyed our Christmas seeing family and friends, hope everyone else has too. Love you all and have a Happy New Year!!

Packer game

Chris's one request was for Malachi to wear his Green Bay Packer gear before the Packers were done for the season, since they didn't make it to the playoffs :(. Doesn't Malachi look just like his Dad?

Malachi rolling over

He rolls over a lot quicker usually, sometimes he takes a little encouraging.

Thanksgiving, a little late I know

(This is a little long so please take some time to read and enjoy the pics)
Thanksgiving week was a lot of fun for Malachi and I, but not as much for Chris =(. Malachi and I took off Wednesday after Chris went to work to drive to Denver and spend the night so I wouldn't have to wake Malachi up early to drive Thanksgiving morning. Thursday (Thanksgiving) my Mom, Dave, JP, Malachi and I all drove to Greeley for Thanksgiving lunch at my Aunt Stephanie's. Malachi was in awe of JP and couldn't stop starring and smiling at him, it was so cute. While at my Aunt Stephanie's Malachi got a little fussy, I think he was overwhelmed with all the people he didn't recognize, but he eventually calmed down and was great the rest of the time.

My one task was to get Malachi to laugh for everyone, well he was a little distracted be everyone so he wasn't paying attention to me. When we were living to head home I finally got him to laugh, then everyone else started climbing in the truck and he was distracted again. We got back to my mom's around 6pm or so and I didn't feel like getting back in a car for another hour and half so we spent the night again; poor Chris home alone for another night. There was suppose to be some snow Thursday into Friday, but there wasn't and I had packed enough clothes for Mac and I to stay until Sunday, for our second Thanksgiving dinner with the other side of the family, in case it did snow. After talking to Chris Friday we decided I should just stay until Sunday anyway and spend some time with my mom. Chris was enjoying the quite house and bed all to himself. So our two day, two night trip turned into a five day, four night trip away from home.

My mom and I had a blast. We went Christmas shopping and baked all day Saturday in preparation for Sunday. I made homemade dinner rolls (Chris Lycan's recipe) for the first time. My mom and I were a little scared how they would turn out, but luckily they were great and Chris approved of them. My mom made three pies, two stuffing's, a cranberry dessert, prepared yams (yuck), and a lot more. She even made dinner, BBQ ribs, she definitely spoiled me while I was there. That morning I made steak and eggs for breakfast, yum. Chris was missing out. My mom was also enjoying the time she got to spend with her grandson, trying to get him to laugh, but not succeeding.

Malachi learned a few things while we were in Denver. He now rolls over from his belly to his back. It's hard to keep him on his belly now. He is also eating fruits and veggies with rice cereal twice a day. So far he likes green beans, peas, carrots, bananas, and pears. He hates sweet potatoes and squish. It so much fun feeding him too, he makes the cutest faces. He also learned how to hold his own bottle and knows what his bottle is. You can't let him see a bottle, even an empty one because he wants it.

Sunday rolls around and its snowing! The news didn't say anything about snow Sunday morning. It started at about 6am and didn't stop!! There were a lot of road closures, one preventing my Uncle to make it down. Denver roads weren't to bad, but if you went north or south of Denver the roads weren't so good. I called Chris, who worked until 3am and had to wake up at 8:30am to make it to Denver by 11am, telling him the roads weren't great and asked if he still wanted to drive up. After five hours of sleep he wasn't in the mood to be told he woke up for nothing, plus he missed his family, so he came. It took a little longer than the regular hour and half, but he made it and said the roads weren't horrible just everyone being cautious and driving slow. We missed my Uncle, but everyone else still made it.

It was fun, we saw my nieces, and my little brother, Devin, who I don't see very often. Dinner was great, and we had a blast spending time with family. Time came to go home. We didn't catch a news report of the roads before we left, but figured CDOT had enough time to clear roads, plus it wasn't snowing anymore, in Denver anyways. We hit the road at 4:45pm knowing it would be a slow drive due to weather and road conditions. Needless to say we didn't realize the roads would be as bad as they were, how much traffic there would be the Sunday after Thanksgiving, and that is was still snowing south of Denver. We had to pull off at the one rest stop between Denver and Colorado Springs to feed Malachi, which took two and half hours to get to. We ended up spending an hour there because everyone was getting off the highway to wait it out and have a potty break since traffic wasn't moving. Then the cars were getting stuck in the rest area and everyone was helping everyone get out, because there was only one way out and cars were blocking it. We finally got back on the highway and it was moving a little faster, we think the traffic let down a little since it was after 8pm ,which was nice. We finally made it home at 9:45pm. It took us five hours to get from Denver to home. The best part was after we passed North Academy on I-25 and there was no snow, anywhere. Oh how we love Colorado weather, you never know what to except, even if you are the weather man. Chris has decided to never travel the Sunday after Thanksgiving again.

Other new things Malachi is into are wrappers, food bags, and big cups. I think he likes the noises they make. It's really funny listening to him talk into the cup.

Love you all.

Four month check

Wow, is Malachi growing. He is now 15lbs 2.5oz and 26in long. We can now start Malachi on some solid foods. The doctor recommended starting him out on rice cereal first, not in the bottle so its a thicker consistency. It was funny to watch him make faces, I don't think it's his favorite thing. He got his second round of shots and isn't taking it too well this time. He is running a bit of a fever and not acting himself. We have to watch his fever for two more days, if it doesn't go away then the doctor wants to see him. It is already starting to go down so we aren't too worried. A fever is one of the side effects of the shots and they say it's common.

What a crazy October and November it has turned out to be. It hasn't snowed until today and that lasted 10 minutes. Yesterday it was 71 degrees too. This is the first time it has dropped below 50 degrees in weeks. I don't mean to complain, but what is a winter without snow? Hope everyone is doing well.
Love, The Donatell's

Malachi giggling/talking

You need to turn up the volume and listen. Malachi giggles in the beginning and then talks the rest of the way through. Sorry the picture isn't all that great, it was taken at night on the camera which doesn't have a light on it.

Malachi Talking

Ok, so it's been a while

It has been a while and I apologize. We have been sharing our laptop cord with Chris's sister and the laptop is where all our pictures are. So I have now updated our desktop computer and am starting to put pictures on it so I can post whenever I want.

We went hiking last week before it started to get colder and it was a really nice warm day. As you can see we need to invest in a hat for Malachi, but Dad was nice enough to share.

Not a whole lot has been happening. Malachi has just started to laugh recently and he is a talker. He will talk all day, especially if he has his giraffe. When I get a good video of it I'll post. Malachi is a little camera shy. We are trying to teach him to roll over. He does it on his own sometimes, but freaks out and rolls back on to his back. He is doing really good on his tummy. He likes to get up on his knees and then kicks his feet. He has crawled over his boppy and few times, its so funny to watch. He doesn't realize he can use his hands too. Malachi has also started sleeping regularly from 11pm to about 9am. He has his 4 month check up on Thursday so I can fill you all in later.

Chris and I have been doing great. Chris is enjoying being back at work, though they will start having a few problems soon. El Paso county has turned down the one cent sales tax increase for next year that was suppose to help the Sheriff's Office budget for next year. Now they have to lay off 32 deputes and eliminate some programs that were offered to the community. The office is already a little short staffed, but now they will really be out numbered in the jail. Please pray for Chris's safety at work. Chris's schedule will also change the first of the year. Chris will be working days from 6am to 230pm and have Thursday- Friday off. (He'll have Thanksgiving and Christmas off next year =))

I have been doing great also. I love staying home with Malachi and being able witness to all the things he is learning how to do. I am in a women's bible study with our church. We are studying Becoming a Woman of Prayer by Cynthia Heald. It is an amazing book and I have come to understand prayer a lot better. My Medical Transcription study as been put on hold for the time being. The lesson I'm on has lost my interest and I have found other books to read and things to do instead. I am trying to discipline myself so I don't get to off course with it. I also recently cut my hair or "chopped it off" as Chris would say. The long hair just wasn't cutting it anymore. My hair goes to about my shoulder and is layer up to my cheek bone. It is much easier to take care of and I can still put it in a pony-tail.

We are looking forward to the holidays coming up and spending more time with family and friends. I will do better in posting more often. Love you all.

Malachi's two favorite things

So Malachi has found his hands and loves putting them in his mouth. One hand isn't enough, he needs both hands in his mouth. He a figured out how to pull his binki out and then inserts his hands. You can always tell when his hands are in his mouth because he goes from being quiet to "smack, smack, slurp" from sucking on his hands.

I think he is going to be a blanky boy. When we forget to give him a blanky he cries, but as soon as he gets it in his hands he is happy. He loves to pull it up over his eyes and then he just talks and talks just minding his own business. He is going to be a talker.

And he is just so cute. He looks more and more like his dad every day.

And this is "Good morning" smile and stretch. I had to take pictures so Chris could see how cute Malachi is when he wakes up in the morning.

Malachi is also starting to roll over on his sides. He isn't quit sure how he is doing yet, but soon enough that will be all that he will do. It's amazing to watch him grow.

Two month check

On Thursday Malachi went in for his two month check up. He is a growing boy too. Malachi now weighs in at 13 lbs 4 oz, 24 in long, and the circumference of his head is now 41.5 cm. He is a big boy. The sad part about his check up was getting his first set of shots. One oral vaccine, and three shots. Malachi liked the oral one, they make it sweet, and he was sticking his tongue out for more. That all ended when the nurse poked him with the first shot, Malachi can scream. It was so sad to watch. Malachi didn't cry for to long after he received all his shots, he did a great job.

Oh, we also asked the doctor about giving Malachi "tastes" of certain foods. See while we were on vacation Chris give Malachi raspberry jam, syrup, and coconut flavored frozen fruit bar. The doctor said that Malachi is still too young for those types of food and to especially stay away from sugar. So what does Chris do today, he puts Malachi's Binky in his protein shake and then puts it in Malachi's mouth. Dads', what can you do?

Today we had pictures taken of Malachi and they turned out so good. It will be a few weeks before we get them back, and we haven't decided if we are going to make them Christmas gifts or not yet. I don't know that I will be able to wait that long to show them off. Chris might make me though. That's all for now.

Ok, so it's been a while

So it has been about a month since our last post and family is starting to call asking what we've been up to. (This is going to be long, sorry, we have a lot of pictures for you.) We took a three week vacation and drove to Wyoming and Montana. Malachi was pretty amazing for his first road trip.
We had a great time in Wyoming. Chris (Lycan) work schedule was pretty light while we were there so we were able to spend quite a bit of time with her. Actually she spent a lot of time with Malachi. Chris L offered many times to do the early morning feedings allowing Chris and I to sleep in a little, and it was wonderful. She also took him many times and told Chris and I to enjoy the hot tub and we did very much. The Lycan's have a beautiful home in Wyoming. Their backyard goes down to the Platte River and at night you can see every star in the sky. It was amazing sitting in the hot tub listening to the river and starring at the stars.

Over Labor Day weekend we floated the river with Chris and Dave, which was a lot of fun. Chris L and I started out on a raft together, but I guess we weren't going fast enough for the boys because Dave hopped in the raft and had me float on the tube. Chris had to grab hold of me because the tube was bigger than me and I couldn't touch the water to steer. I stayed mostly dry until Chris decided he wanted to ride with me on my tube. My tube had a tarp over it so I didn't really touch the water. That all changed when Chris joined me. Stephanie, a friend of the Lycan's, watched Malachi while we floated the river. For some reason everyone loves Malachi, he's just so cute its hard not too.
We also went jet skiing with Stephanie and her husband. This is where we discovered Malachi has red hair. (Hence the photo to the left.) Lake Guernsey is a huge lake so Chris and I were enjoying ourselves on the jet ski. Chris decided I didn't get wet enough on the river so he threw us off the jet ski. I wasn't too happy, but what can you do in the middle of the lake but accept the fact that you are wet and get over it. Chris was having so much fun he kept "falling" in the water, on purpose. He only took me with him once. We got Dave to try the jet ski and he had a lot of fun too. Chris L on the other hand took a a lot of encouraging, but eventually she gave in, she had fun as well. We had a great time in Wyoming.

Tuesday, September 2nd, we left for Great Falls, Montana. Over Memorial weekend David and Chris decided they wanted to get a tattoo that represented their faith and would eventually become a Lycan-Donatell family tattoo for the men. They wasted no time in finding a tattoo artist to sketch it out and set up an appointment to have them done. Tuesday night we found the tattoo artist and Friday night we had tattoos, I gave in a got one too.

Chris and David's tattoos are three nails in a cross with Joshua 24:15 which says "... As for me and my family, we will serve the Lord." My tattoo is the Jesus fish with the Crown of Thorns design. They all represent our faith and can be used as great conversation starters in sharing our faith, the gospel, and witnessing to those around us.

We had a great time in Great Falls too. We realized how much we miss spending time with David and Melissa, and Kendi and Cory. We spent much time playing cards, in which the girls kick the boys butts, watching football, and relaxing. Chris and I are so glad we were able to take this trip to see and send time with our closest friends.

Over the last three weeks Malachi has changed a lot too. He started to sleep for six hours while we were in Wyoming and has continued to do so. It is amazing to get more sleep. He has a few nights when he only goes three hours between feedings, but those have been few and far between. Malachi is also awake during the day more. He is gaining great control over his neck and is smiling all the time. Another new thing for Malachi are his hands, he has found them and enjoys sucking on them. It's pretty funny when he tries to put both fists in his mouth. He has also found his thumb, twice now that we know of and has been sucking on it. We hope he doesn't take after his mom and become a thumb sucker, but at the rate he's going he just might. It is a sight to see though and when we get a picture of it we will definitely post them.

Malachi's two month appointment is on Thursday and I will post and let you all know how that goes. For now though enjoy these adorable pics of Malachi. And sorry again for taking to long to post, I will try and keep up on keeping everyone updated. Love you all.