Nola, say 'Cheeeeese!'

Man, I love this face!!

Miss Chloe Mackenzie!!

It's a girl!!!
Chloe Mackenzie Malmberg
May 19, 2012
8:10 pm
6 lbs 15 oz

Oh man, I am so happy she is here! I don't think I have ever been been so excited for a baby to come! I had to hold myself back throughout Nickie's whole pregnancy because my excitment was pretty intense. I think maybe I am so excited because it's a baby that I get to truely enjoy, without it being mine! I have been the one in the family having babies lately, so I'm used to having to do all the hard work too. With Chloe, I get to love, snuggle and spoil her rotten, and at the end of the day, I get to give her back to her Mama. Yay! With that being said, I could have easily walked out the hosptital with her in my arms, after she was born. She is amazing! She is beautiful and petite, just like Nola was :) She has Nickie's nose and the most perfect face. Honestly, I am so in love!

Enough of me rambling on and on about how beautiful she is - look for yourself! I am so proud of you Nickie, (and Clint, of course) She is every bit worth it. Love you Chloe!!

8 month stat!!

Weight: 16 lbs 7 oz
Diaper size: 3
Clothing: 9 month sleepers, 6 month shirts, 3 month pants
Teeth: bottom two

Favourites:
FOOD - avacados, bananas, peach stars
TOY - elmo teething toy
SONG - ABC's
ACTIVITY - crawling!

Loves:
- his jolly jumper! He can litteraly spend hours in that thing! If he is cranky, we poop him in and he's happy as a clam :)
- crawling. He loves to be moving, just like his sister did at this age. He can sit up on his own, however he rarely does it because he wants to move!
- kisses. We spend a lot f ime kissing those cheeks, and he loves it :)
- his big sister. He loves Nola so much! The way he loks at her is awesome. The best part? Nola loves him too! They play together so well...at least for now. I'm sure once Robbie can stand up for himself, that will change quickly.
- eating! He has a huge appetite and he will eat darn near anything in sight!

Dislikes:
- getting his face wiped. He cries somethin fierce when I come at him with a face cloth! It doesn't help that he has been sick and has a perma-runny nose.

What's new:
- Crawling! He has been army crawling since the middle of April, but on Sunday he finally did the traditional crawl. And boy, he's fast.
- stairs...oh boy. He can climb the stairs. He climbs into the kitchen, he cries, I put him back in the living room, he climbs into the kitchen, he cries...well, you get it.
- sitting up. He can sit up on his own. I don't exactly know when this started because he doesn't do it too often. He'd rather be moving around!
- bottle feeding. About a month ago, Robbie started biting me while he ate. After it happened a few times, I talked to my Dr about it and he suggested I put him on the bottle. I didn't want to, so I kept nursing and kept getting bit. Finally, about a week ago, he bit me so darn hard I got tears in my eyes. So, on to a bottle he went. At first I was sad, but I bond just as well with a bottle as I do nursing. And 8 months is a pretty good stretch, in my opinion. He is happy and so am I :)

Mommy loves:
- his facial expresions. Oh my, he gets the BEST looks on his face! The picture I used for this post is a typical Robbie face. He also does a Klingon face, where he srunches up his nose. When he is happy, his whole face lights up!! When he cries, even his eyebrows are sad. He is so amazingly cute!
- snuggles. He is active, so snuggles only happen when he is going to sleep or if he is sick. I love rocking him to sleep. I am enjoying each night because before I know it, he'll be big like Nola and won't want to snuggle to sleep.
- watching Nola and Robbie play. Nola is such a little Mother, bringing him toys, giving him hugs and kisses, and telling him it's okay when he's crying.
- watching him explore! Now thats he's mvng around so well, the world is his oyster!

I'm actually doing it!

I would never say I have been a 'fit' person, so when I started exercising in the new year, I didn't really think I would get too far with it, but...

Whoa! From a size 13 to a size 8! I still can't believe it! I wish I would have measured myself and taken 'before' pictures, but I honestly didn't think I would do it. I figured I'd maybe lose a couple pounds, be satisfied and then stop. I am now 5 lbs below my pre-pregnancy weight!

I want to try to describe how I feel but I'm not too sure if I can truly convey it with words. Weight loss is about SO much more than seeing the number on the scale drop. Don't get me wrong, it feels pretty good to see teeny tiny numbers on the scale, but thats not what keeps me going to the gym each night...

What keeps me going is me.
I am worth it.
And guess what?
You are worth it too.

So long Facebook

I have a confession. I, Jess Walton, am a recovering Facebook addict.

For quite some time, I have been a slave to my FB account. I would spend countless hours each and every day doing absolutely nothing, on Facebook. I would find myself becoming irratable and moody after sitting in front of the computer for so long, yet I would continue to go back.

Last week, my friend posted this as her status,

'Do something worthwhile today.'

I obeyed and I deleted my Facebook account. And honestly, it has been the best decision I could have made. Now, my days are full, FULL of things that truely are 'worthwhile'. I play with Nola and Robbie together, and seperate. I make healthy meals, clean my home, enjoy my kids, visit with my husband and even have time to sink into a good book. I had never realized how valuable my time was, and now that I have, I want to use it wisely.

Long story short, I have a life again and we are all alot happier.

And he's off!

Robbie is crawling! On April 13th, at 6 1/2 months old, he army crawled across the living room for one of his toys. After a month and a half of frustration, today, May 27, he got up on all fours and crawled around! Go Robbie!!

Vacation Part 1 - Fernie

At the beginning of May, we took a little family vacation up to Golden to see Jodes, Ryan, the boys and sweet, new baby Abigail! On our way there, we drove through Fernie and stayed the night with GG. Nola is ALWAYS excited to stay with GG, and it's no wonder why. GG takes such good care of her. She has 100% of GG's attention! Also, Uncle AJ and Auntie Sarah came over for supper, and they showered her with tons of love.

Here are a few pics of Nola and GG before bed. They were so cute together, snuggling and reading books. My baby and her namesake :)

Vacation Part 5 - Calgary!

On our way home from Golen, we drove through Banff, on to Calgary to visit Dori and Brad. We had a delicious BBQ lunch at their house, and then headed down to Fish Creek Park to enjoy the sunshine. By the end of the walk, Nola was running out of juice, so Doug put her on his shoulders. About 15 minutes after she went up, Doug says,'Uhhh...is she asleep?' Sure enough, Nola is slumped over on his shoulders. She woke up (kind of) as I was trying to take a picture. She is just so sweet. Needless to say, she passed out as soon as she got in her car seat.

It was such an awesome family vacation. Can't wait to do it again!

Vacation Part 4 - The Nesbitt Residence

I just have to start out by saying how much I love the Nesbitts. Honestly, they are the best! Jodi and Ryan are so warm and hospitable, and the kids are simply amazing. Can you believe that with a 3 1/2 year old, a 2 year old, a 20 month old, a 7 month old and a newborn, there we NO fights. I am no exagerating...NO fights!! They all played so well! I just had so much fun with them. Just thinking about it makes me smile :) Love you guys!!!!

Vacation Part 3 - Hotel!

I can't believe it - I totally forgot to take a picture of us in the actual hotel room. Shoot! Oh well, what can you do. Nola loved it in there. She had tons of fun jumping and crawling all over the beds. She was also a big fan of the continental breakfast. Each morning, she was so happy to go have a pancake :) Her and Robbie are just too cute together! Man, I love them!!

Vacation Part 2 - Swimming poodle

This was the first time we have stayed in a hotel with the kids, and it went really well! I was pretty nervous, but the kids didn't wake each other up! Yahoo!

When we first walked into the hotel, Nola noticed the pool. She gasped, then ran to the window to look. 'Mommy! Daddy! It's da swimmin poodle!' She was so excited! Jodes, Ryan and the kids came over to the pool and we had a blast!