Maloney Bologna

Baby Blessing and Updates

2012-01-17T15:43:00.001-06:00

December was a full month and I am sorry that I didn't document more of it. We had the baby blessing at church and Cullen's first Christmas.

I am so thankful that I am able to stay home with Cullen. Sometimes I do feel like I have nothing to talk about but the baby, but I would rather stay home to take care of my baby and be a poor conversationalist than go to work and have lots to talk about.

I have decided that it is my job to take care of Cullen and find ways to save money since I am not bringing home a paycheck. I clip coupons and shop sales about once a week. Sometimes I save a lot and sometimes I only save a little... but every little bit really does help. I have started making our bread from scratch. Sometimes I make it in the bread machine and sometimes by hand. It depends on what recipe I am using. If you have never made homemade bread, I would definitely recommend trying it. It is quite satisfying to eat anything made from scratch, especially bread. We are also doing very well with eating at home instead of grabbing fast food all the time. After almost six months of recovery, I finally feel good enough to cook again. While I was in my last trimester and recovering from my c-section, I rarely felt like doing anything, much less standing at the kitchen counter for an hour or more everyday.

Here are some pictures of the baby blessing... I will add some from Christmas later on.

Cullen's First Thanksgiving

2011-12-04T17:57:00.000-06:00

This Thanksgiving, we stayed at home. We ate a small Thanksgiving dinner and spent a few hours outside, "camping" in our backyard. It was fun. Cullen loved it. Here are some pictures.

Cullen is 4 Months Old!

2011-11-30T18:32:00.000-06:00

Our sweet little Cullen turned 4 months old on Monday. It is hard for me to believe that it has been 4 months since his birth... it is just as hard to imagine my life without him. I sing "You Are My Sunshine" to him quite often because he lights up my life so much. People ask me all the time if he always smiles so much and the answer is yes. He loves it when people look at him and talk to him. He usually will talk right back. Lately, he talks all the time: to his pacifier, mobile, teethers, other babies, etc. He did well at his check up. He is on the tall side and the light weight side, but the doctor isn't too concerned. The pictures below were taken about 3 hours after he had his shots. He is so good! I hope you enjoy the many faces of Cullen :)

14 Weeks

2011-11-05T00:58:00.000-05:00

Here are some pictures of Cullen in his bear outfit that Grammie made. He still has room to grow into it, so you might see more pictures of him in it later.

Another Halloween Picture

2011-11-01T17:09:00.000-05:00

Halloween Party

2011-10-31T10:48:00.000-05:00

This year, we were unable to do our normal thing for the trick-or-treaters... but we found other ways to have fun with Halloween. We threw a Halloween party for our small group. It took two weeks to decorate the house and it was worth it. The main feature of the party was dinner followed by a couple of silly party games.

Grant and I served a full course meal including punch and hors d'oeuvres, tomato soup, bread, pot roast with carrots and potatoes, salad, and pumpkin spice pudding for dessert. According to the Emily Post etiquette book, it was not a formal dinner because we did not have servants. Grant and I served the meal to all 20 of our (adult) guests plus we served ourselves.

At the party there were 22 adults and 4 babies. Unfortunately, I was very busy with the meal and did not get many pictures of our guests. The costumes were great! We had so much fun! Hopefully we can do it again.

Beach Baby

2011-10-25T16:36:00.000-05:00

Cullen went on his first business trip with Daddy a couple of weeks ago. While Daddy was working, Cullen and I went to the aquarium for a little while. He seemed to like it.

After work, we all went to the beach. Cullen hated it because of the wind. We still managed to get some good pictures.

12 Weeks Old!

2011-10-25T13:13:00.000-05:00

This sweet little boy of ours is already 12 weeks old! He started teething at 9 weeks and is still working out getting those two front teeth down and possibly a couple more in the back. Nursing really hurts his mouth, so I hope these teeth break through soon! At Cullen's 1 month check up, he was in the 82 percentile for weight and at 2 months, he was in the 36 percentile for weight. The dramatic shift in his growth chart was a bit of a concern so later this week, he will be going in for a weight check. Please pray that he has gone up a little on the chart. I don't think it looks good since he has been having trouble with eating lately, but I could be wrong.

I have recently realized that almost all of the pictures that I take of Cullen are in his carseat. I sit with him in the backseat of the car and have found it to be a convenient time to take pictures. You can tell that we take him lots of places. As long as he doesn't have a dirty diaper and it isn't feeding time, he seems to enjoy it. What a relief!

Driving around in Corpus Christi

This is what it is like now when we go out to eat with our friends.

It is just so easy to get him to smile!

5 generations

His normal face without anybody talking or making faces.

8 to 10 Weeks Old

2011-10-09T19:02:00.000-05:00

Some more pictures of Cullen from weeks 8-10. He is talking more and more everyday. I am starting to forget our life before he was born. I just love him so much!

Big Yawn!

He just can't keep his eyes open for my phone's camera flash.

We call this move the "ET."

With friends at our small group. We are missing one baby.

Daddy reading the Bible to Cullen.

7 Weeks Old

2011-09-17T12:34:00.000-05:00

Cullen is 7 weeks old. He smiles all the time now and has a vocabulary of "oh, oo-uh, agoo, & agoo-uh."

Cullen with one of his sweethearts. Julia is 1 week old, Cullen is 6 1/2 weeks.

Morning playtime with Mommy. The camera flash makes him close his eyes.

This is what happens when Mommy and Aunt Sarah get the camera out.

The owl hat that Grammy (my mom) made. It will fit perfectly when it is cold outside.

Roll Over! Plus 5 and 6 Weeks Pictures

2011-09-09T22:18:00.000-05:00

Today, Cullen rolled over from belly to back for the first time! I always thought it was no big deal, but now I know that he has gone from just being to doing lots of stuff. He smiles at us everyday after every feeding and diaper change. We love him so much we can hardly stand it! Here are some pictures of our boy.

5 weeks old... We're trying to show how much Cullen looks like me when I was a baby.

6 weeks old. First time in a Bumbo seat.

Cullen with his alien that my mom made for him.

Thoughts on Cesarean Delivery

2011-09-07T11:12:00.001-05:00

Tomorrow will mark six weeks since I gave birth to my son, Cullen. It is weird for me to say that "I gave birth" because I did not push him out of my body the natural way. But the truth is, I did give birth to him. Vaginal deliveries are hard, yes, but so are c-sections. I feel that so many people try to diminish a woman's birth experience if she had a c-section. It would be nice if every baby could be delivered safely by vaginal birth, but that is not the way life is. There are actually people out there on documentaries saying that mothers who give birth by c-section do not have the correct cocktail of hormones in their body to love their baby. What makes it even worse is I have spoken to people who actually believe it.

Yes, I do feel betrayed by my body because I had to have a surgical birth and I am working through the process of forgiving myself... but that is not the end of the story. I love my baby, I LOVE my baby, I LOVE MY BABY! I loved my baby before he was born. I loved my baby before he was conceived. I love him so much that when my doctor told me that it was possible for him to be hurt or killed in delivery, I allowed myself to be cut open in a very unnatural way to deliver him.

In my heart of hearts, I believe that my doctor and I acted in my baby's best interest. It was not a delivery of convenience. I am not "too posh to push" as they put it in the documentary The Business of Being Born. Who in their right mind would choose to have major abdominal surgery on the day they get a baby?

I am sick of trying to prove to others that my c-section was the right choice. I have a healthy baby who survived the birth with no broken bones because I of the decision that I made. I survived the delivery because of my decision. I set my "fantasy birth" aside to ensure that me and my baby were safe.

-------------------------------------------------------

C-sections are hard on your body and your mind. You can have a healthy baby and still be upset about the delivery and recovery process. I think the emotional recovery from my c-section would have been easier had I known what to expect. I spent hours online and in childbirthing class learning about the delivery and recovery process of a vaginal birth, but only a few minutes learning about c-sections. I don't want it to be like that for my friends and family who have a c-section. Below are a couple of helpful articles to read after, or before if possible, a c-section.

Recovering From a Cesarean Delivery
http://www.babycenter.com/0_recovering-from-a-cesarean-delivery_221.bc?page=1

Emotional Recovery From a Cesarean
http://www.plus-size-pregnancy.org/CSANDVBAC/csemotionalrecov.htm

C-Section Recovery is another helpful resource
http://www.csectionrecovery.com/

To my friends and family,
Please call me if you find out that you will be having a cesarean birth. I will talk to you about what happened to me and how I felt about it. Some of my friends have recently shared their experiences with me and it made me feel so much better.

4 Weeks Old

2011-09-01T11:49:00.000-05:00

Grant and Cullen on his 4 week birthday at our Thursday night group.

Cullen all ready to see our friends at Kaleena's baby shower.

Cullen on his 1 month birthday. First day at church! He did so well.

Pictures of Cullen from Last Weekend

2011-08-24T15:34:00.000-05:00

We took Cullen to his first concert on Saturday. It was a classical choir concert. He did very well. Look how cute he is all dressed up!

3 Weeks

2011-08-19T11:33:00.000-05:00

As you have noticed by now, we are going to have a lot of pictures of our little baby on this blog. I am thankful that we have a way to share pictures with our family even though we don't live in the same town.

Cullen smiles at us sometimes and it has started to be on purpose.

Cullen in his elephant outfit from Grammy and Paw Paw.

First tub bath.

Cullen likes to play pirates just like daddy does.

1 Week and 2 Week Pictures

2011-08-18T13:12:00.000-05:00

Pictures from Cullen's first two weeks:

2 Weeks

Cullen with my doctor.

'Monster Hands'

1 Week

Hospital Stay/Homecoming

2011-08-18T11:54:00.001-05:00

Our stay at the hospital went very well. We were really blessed to have great nurses and doctors taking care of us while we were there. I am especially thankful, still, for my friend Mandy for coming in to work especially for our delivery. We were also felt very loved by all of our friends and family who came to visit us and share in our joy. We have pictures of almost everyone who came. I am sad to say that we did miss a few people due to our near brain dead state from lack of sleep. I won't be sharing all of these pictures because of the amount of time it would take to upload all of them... here are a few of just us while we were still in the hospital.

Father and son... I love this!

Cullen's special hat.

New mommy.

Deep in thought.

So tiny!

"We got ourselves a family!"

Here are some pictures of going home with our new bundle of joy.

Birth Announcement

2011-08-15T19:12:00.000-05:00

We are loving every minute with our new little boy. I have yet to get the birth announcements printed, but this is what they will look like.

Birth Story

2011-08-02T14:29:00.000-05:00

On Wednesday at our weekly appointment, we found out that we would be having Cullen on Thursday morning by c-section. We called our families and several family members ended up coming down that night. Wednesday night, I slept less than 3 hours. We woke up at 3:30 and arrived at the hospital at 5:00 in the morning on Thursday. My friend, Mandy, met us in the pre-op area. Mandy was my labor and delivery nurse. She was awesome! It was so nice to have a familiar face there when I was so terrified, especially at the parts where Grant was not allowed to be with me. At 7:15, my doctor was there and I was sent to the operating room to get my anesthesia for the c-section. The surgery started shortly after and Cullen was born at 7:55.

The whole thing scared me a lot. I was thankful for my friends and family who had been through c-sections telling me about their experiences. In anticipation of Cullen's arrival, I tried to learn as much as I could about the delivery process, but I did not anticipate a c-section and did not try to learn anything about the process. Now I feel foolish for not studying about c-sections. Somehow I thought it was something I had control over. Ha!

40 Weeks

2011-08-01T21:16:00.000-05:00

This was me last Wednesday, July 27, the night before Cullen was born. On that morning, I had my last prenatal appointment with my obstetrician. My doctor did the normal examination for 40 weeks pregnant and found that my body was not progressing. Softening had started, but absolutely no dilation, and Cullen was no where near his exit point. Often, babies who are still high in the mother's body are too large to pass through the pelvis. This was the case for us. Cullen is not a big boy, the issue was with my bone structure. We had a long talk with the doctor and decided it was the safest option to deliver Cullen by c-section. The thought of surgery scared me and for the next 19 hours, all I could think about was being awake on the operating table.

More of our birth story to come in the following post.

Waiting...

2011-07-25T14:35:00.003-05:00

Not much happening around here... we are just waiting for Cullen to make an appearance. Last week at our OB appointment, our doctor guessed that we would be going past our due date because I have not progressed very far. We have another appointment on Wednesday. Hopefully we will be a little further along in the process. If Cullen has not moved down any further, we will have a sonogram to check his size and make sure he is not too big.

Crystal's Baby Shower

2011-07-25T14:26:00.004-05:00

We threw a baby shower for my friend, Crystal, last week. Here are some pictures:

Birth Announcement

2011-07-18T16:22:00.002-05:00

Of course, this was all Grant's idea... The real one to come sometime, hopefully soon.

35 Weeks

2011-06-28T10:56:00.004-05:00

This past Thursday, I reached 35 weeks of pregnancy. This past week I also entered the "pre-labor" stage. Pre-labor supposedly starts around a month before real labor. It's not much fun. The good news is that it is a big signal that the baby is coming soon. We are physically ready and hopefully mentally ready. Our suitcase and the car seat are in the car... all we need now is a baby.

Last week we went to childbirth class and did our hospital tour. I think our hospital will be great. All of the Labor and Delivery rooms are huge and completely private. The recovery rooms are also all private. 2 to 6 more weeks to go!

Our Maternity Pictures

2011-06-22T21:50:00.009-05:00

We had our pictures taken today. We didn't have all of these printed, but they gave us a disk with all the pictures, so here are my favorites.

34 Weeks

2011-06-22T17:54:00.003-05:00

Last Thursday, I reached 34 weeks of pregnancy. Everything is still going well. We had an appointment with our doctor on Monday and everything is good. I have had a bit more swelling than before, but I still have good blood pressure.

We have been very busy ever since I finished with work. I cannot think of one single day that we didn't have something going on outside of Grant's job. We have been out of town for baby showers and have been doing lots of stuff to finish getting ready for Cullen's birth. My mom came to visit and washed all of Cullen's clothes! I am so glad that I don't have to worry about it. We started childbirth class last night.

Here are some recent pictures:

Maternity Pictures

2011-06-22T17:18:00.001-05:00

We had some maternity pictures taken today. I will upload some more poses a little later, but here is a preview...

Church Baby Shower

2011-06-08T13:06:00.010-05:00

My wonderful girlfriends at church threw us a baby shower last weekend. Our nursery is going to be a camping theme, so they decided to stay with the theme for the shower. We received so many wonderful gifts! It is really going to be a big task to put everything away. We are so blessed to have such a wonderful church.

32 Weeks

2011-06-08T12:06:00.004-05:00

Everything is still going well. We had a sonogram this past Monday. It was good. Cullen was exactly the right size... to the day. My doctor said that never happens. He was estimated to be 4 lbs 4 oz. My belly measurements are good and my weight gain is a little on the high end, but still normal. The good news is we decided to go with a jogging stroller instead of the traditional 4 wheeled stroller. Hopefully I will feel like going for walks a couple of weeks after Cullen arrives. Our hospital bag is all packed now. I'm starting to think that I shouldn't have packed yet because it has made me that much more anxious to deliver. We had a great baby shower last weekend with our friends from church. I will put up pictures from that a little later.

In other news, I finished up the school year last week. Friday was my last day of work. I will be staying at home with Cullen. I am so glad to have time off before he is born. There have been lots and lots of things that I wanted to do before he comes, and now I have time to do them.

I know everything I say and do is about the baby right now, but I have no apologies. Being pregnant is my life right now and that is naturally all I think about. I think God makes mommies like that because making/getting prepared for a new human is a big deal. I am so excited to get a baby and super nervous to deliver a baby.

30 Weeks!

2011-05-20T22:32:00.002-05:00

Yesterday marked 30 weeks of pregnancy for me. I have read that this means that if the baby were born this week, he would have a 90% chance of surviving. I am trying to hold out for 8 more weeks. I don't feel desperate to have the baby just yet, but I am sure my day will come. I am very excited to meet little Cullen. Grant and I talk about what we are going to show him and teach him all the time. I can't wait!

I have still been having lots of Braxton Hicks contractions. Don't worry, they are not very close together. I have noticed that certain things will trigger them: climbing stairs, getting too little sleep, sitting or standing for long periods of time, and bus duty. Yes, bus duty triggers contractions. I guess because it really stresses me out to be in the gym with so many screaming kids. Thankfully, I only have to do bus duty 8 more times! I still have pain in my tailbone and have started having pain in my hips as well. All of this is supposed to be normal, so it is just a matter of being uncomfortable. This past week or so, I have been getting a little heartburn. We'll have to see if this means Cullen will be born with lots of hair.

As a side note, our friends Triston and Dale had their baby girl last week! We were all very excited for them. Everything went very well and they are already at home. Also, did you know that all four of the other women who were pregnant this year in our small group had or are having girls? Grant keeps teasing all of them that we will take the one with the largest dowry for our son.

Grant plans to start staining the built in unit for the nursery next week. Sometime shortly after that, our nursery should be just about done and ready for pictures.

Below are my weekly belly pictures:

Baby Price

2011-04-30T21:01:00.002-05:00

Our friends, Clifton and Michelle, had their baby girl a couple of weeks ago. She was a very beautiful newborn. I can't wait to see her again!

27 Weeks

2011-04-30T19:03:00.002-05:00

I reached the 27th week of my pregnancy on Thursday. Also on Thursday, I went to the lab and did my glucose screening. The results aren't in yet, but I will keep you posted. Lately, the pregnancy fatigue has been returning. I am going to bed a little earlier every night. Also, I have been having lots of Braxton Hicks contractions. I have told my doctor and she says that it is fine as long as they don't get too close together. She also told me that I probably need more rest when they are closer together. I know that is true! The good news is, I only have 5 weeks of work left... not just for the summer!

On Friday, I submitted my official resignation with my last day being June 3. There are lots of things that I will miss about my job, but I am really looking forward to being home. I love being home. I love to cook and hope to learn to love to clean. Between work and being pregnant, I am too tired to do anything once I arrive home. I am mostly looking forward to spending more time with Grant and the new baby.

We finally settled on a name for the baby: Cullen Quinn. Both names are Irish. Cullen means 'good-looking lad' or 'handsome.' Quinn means 'counsel' and 'descendent of Con' with 'connotations of intelligence.' Con was an ancient Irish king who is listed as an ancestor of the Maloney family.

We have another appointment with the doctor on May 10. As far as I know, it is just a routine appointment. In about 5 weeks, we are supposed to have another sonogram. I am really looking forward to seeing my baby boy again.

Here are the latest belly pictures:

24 Weeks

2011-04-10T19:11:00.002-05:00

I am 24 weeks as of Thursday. We have a check up tomorrow. Everything seems to be going smoothly. We have been nesting in a big way. The crib is all set up, the room is painted, we have started picking out other decor for the room, we have new drawers in the closet, and Grant is working on making a custom built-in shelving unit. We have also fixed up the backyard. We really want to be able to spend lots of time with our children outside. I am not ready to post pictures of the nursery yet, but here is a picture of me.

Triston's Baby Shower

2011-04-05T17:49:00.003-05:00

We had another baby shower at church about a week and a half ago. Here is a picture of the hostesses with Mommy. Triston is near the middle wearing black and white. I love these girls.

The latest preggo pic with my friends from September to April.

Celtic Festival Fun

2011-04-05T17:13:00.002-05:00

Here is what we do for fun (p.s. we didn't dress up but lots of people did):

Update

2011-04-03T17:15:00.004-05:00

I am 23 weeks pregnant right now. Things are going pretty well. I am not sick at all anymore, just a little tired. I wear out so easily doing normal stuff. I feel the baby moving around all the time now. I am extremely ready for school to be out so that I can get some more rest and check off some more things on my baby 'to do' list.

I had to buy a new wardrobe of maternity shirts, but my regular blue jeans still fit! I normally buy jeans to fit my hips and just wear a belt to make them fit my waist. My waist has definitely caught up with my hips now and I don't have to wear a belt.

We picked out a paint color and Grant painted the nursery green last week. I will put up some pictures when we can put the bedding on the crib.

We went camping about a week ago and I think I did pretty well. Grant did all the cooking and I helped only a little. For those of you who don't know, Grant and I love to go camping. While camping, Grant likes to do all of the outdoors activities like fishing and hiking and I like to cook over the campfire. I did miss the cooking, but sitting out and being lazy was fun too.

Our garden is doing pretty well. We have eaten lots of radishes, lettuce, and spinach so far. I am anxious for the squash, tomatoes, onions, and bell peppers to come out. I will be making a lot of ratatouille this summer!

Here are some belly pics for those of you who have been asking:

Oh Boy!

2011-03-09T20:31:00.000-06:00

Weenie Roast

2011-03-08T16:48:00.006-06:00

We had a weenie roast with our small group last weekend. It was lots of fun! Unfortunately we only took a few pictures. Here is what we do have:

More Pictures

2011-03-06T18:57:00.003-06:00

17 weeks

18 1/2 weeks at my friend, Michelle's baby shower.

My pregnant friends, due September through March.

19 Weeks

2011-03-03T16:41:00.003-06:00

We can feel the baby move now! Morning sickness is almost completely gone and as long as I get good sleep, the fatigue isn't bad. I can't say that I feel wonderful, but I feel a lot better. Here is a picture of what the baby is supposed to look like right now.

17 weeks

2011-02-16T22:31:00.001-06:00

We had an appointment on Tuesday. No word yet on the sex. We have our big sonogram appointment in three weeks. There is still time to vote pink or blue.

Pregnancy Pictures

2011-02-06T14:22:00.004-06:00

3 weeks

5 weeks

12 weeks

13 weeks

Must Read for Expectant Fathers

2011-02-06T14:14:00.002-06:00

Grant just got a gift from Sarah and Patrick. It is the perfect alternative to What to Expect When You're Expecting for men. It contains information all the way from foot massage to breast feeding. I highly recommend it for your husband.

Boy or Girl?

2011-02-03T22:07:00.001-06:00

I am 15 weeks today! It won't be long before we find out the sex of the baby. Now is your chance to guess if we will need pink or blue clothes :) I have created a poll. Vote on the left side of this page.

Is it just me, or is she getting fat?

2011-01-04T19:37:00.002-06:00

Today I am 10 weeks 5 days along. I started showing overnight. I am glad that we are telling, otherwise people would start to wonder about my belly with all the pizza and donuts I have been eating lately.

Me as a Preggo

2011-01-03T16:17:00.002-06:00

I am definitely different and not as much fun lately. I stay in bed all the time! I have also found that I do have cravings, but none of them very strange. My first craving was broccoli... that lasted about a week. Since then it has been all kid food all the time... or maybe it is just all carbs all the time: mac and cheese, pizza, french fries, sweet potato fries, and some protein, steak.

Whoa Baby!

2010-12-27T11:36:00.001-06:00

I Love Vacation

2010-12-21T14:18:00.002-06:00

It has been so nice the past two days because I have slept in. I am a much happier person when I get lots of sleep. I am definitely not one of those people who can get just 7 hours a night. I know my blog is boring right now, but I don't have much to say. Maybe after Christmas I can play catch up on posting some pictures.

Merry Christmas :)

Dry, Dry, Dry

2010-12-14T15:52:00.001-06:00

Waiting on the rain. Will it ever come back?

ARTreach

2010-11-16T18:08:00.002-06:00

Go here to find out about ARTreach happening this Saturday in Austin. It is a fun way to get cool stuff and help out people who really need it.

Help, I can't see my own blog!

2010-11-15T16:50:00.001-06:00

Somehow, I am unable to pull up my own blog. If you know my email or facebook, please send me a message with any suggestions.

Our Halloween

2010-11-03T16:59:00.005-05:00

Some of our best friends spent Halloween weekend with us. We had so much fun! Saturday, we did Trunk or Treat. Sadly, I have no pictures. Sunday, we did Halloween at our house. Pictures speak louder than words.

Cute Babies

2010-11-03T16:29:00.002-05:00

See my niece and nephew in their Halloween costumes here. My mom made the hair and I made the shirts. It is amazing what you can do on Powerpoint.

Halloween Preview

2010-10-28T23:20:00.002-05:00

We are doing Pirates this year. I am more excited about Halloween this year than I was last year because I have been making our costumes. Pictures to come next week!

How sad...

2010-10-21T16:16:00.002-05:00

Well, it looks like that cute blog I wrote about won't be doing any more pictures :( You can find out why here.

Cute Blog

2010-10-11T18:54:00.001-05:00

Have you seen this blog? I love it!

New with us

2010-10-02T13:59:00.002-05:00

We are getting excited for Halloween. We plan to have a pirate ship in our driveway. Also, we will be taking the bubble from last year up to our church event and make it a black light room.
We still love our house and we are still slowly unpacking and organizing everything.
I am working lots lately because the school dedication ceremony is next week.
We are finally starting to feel like we know our way around in our part of town.
We still miss our friends that we moved away from last year and our family back home. I wish I could convince everyone to move here :)

What's up with us?

2010-09-11T22:12:00.003-05:00

We have a new niece and nephew!!
We bought all the materials to create a raised garden bed
We also bought some plants: jalapeno peppers, serrano peppers, poblano peppers, sweet tomatoes, raspberries, blackberries, and blueberries. We got a great deal since it is the end of the season. Everything was at least 50% off!
My sister is moving back to Texas!!
Halloween is next month and our theme for the driveway is pirates.
We are prepping to host my family for Thanksgiving this year. I am determined to make my own turkey.

Blog Update

2010-08-05T09:12:00.002-05:00

Reading Chez's blog inspired me to update mine as well.

Our summer in bullet point form:

We bought a house around the corner from where we were. We love it!
I took a two week course in Orff Schulwerk, an approach to teaching music. It was eye-opening and I can't wait to use what I have learned.
We went to North Carolina to see my sister.
We spent lots of time with our family in Texas.
Grant built a fire pit in our back yard and is dreaming of cooler weather to build a stream/waterfall/pond.
We spend just as much time in our yard as we did in the other house with the pool. It helps that we have a great deck and lots of trees.
Our cats love going between inside and outside through the pet door in our new house.
This week, I have been setting up my classroom at the new school. I am so happy to have my very own room (last year I was on the stage).

KitchenAid Ice Cream Maker Attachment

2010-06-24T18:07:00.001-05:00

I bought the ice cream maker attachment for the KitchenAid stand mixer. I love it! My mom and I made ice cream last weekend and it turned out to be really good! i would definitely recommend it.

Why Kitchen Aid is Amazing

2010-06-09T20:29:00.003-05:00

You can buy accessories like this:

AN ICE CREAM BOWL!

I want one.

http://www.walmart.com/ip/KitchenAid-Ice-Cream-Bowl/8065419

Buying this house...

2010-05-10T18:38:00.004-05:00

We close at the end of this month. Moving date is still up in the air. I am kind of sad to leave the pool in our current back yard, but happy to leave the actual house. God definitely led us to the house we are buying (or maybe just away from the one we live in).

Want a Dog or Puppy?

2010-04-03T17:47:00.005-05:00

We found this mama dog and her three puppies close by our home. We left them where we found them because we cannot handle a dog with our cats. Let me know if you want one.

Saw this on Christmas Day

2010-01-09T11:35:00.003-06:00

Look at the top of the car.

White Christmas

2010-01-09T11:19:00.001-06:00

Us during the Texas Blizzard of '09

My Christmas Present

2010-01-08T23:12:00.002-06:00

What happened?

2009-12-20T08:20:00.001-06:00

What happened to It's Hip to Save??? I am going through withdrawals.

Thanks for visiting us!

2009-11-13T18:09:00.003-06:00

Our friends, Sam and Sarah, came for a visit a couple of weeks ago. We had lots of fun with them at the pumpkin patch and at the Tea Gardens. We miss our Austin friends and look forward to having all of them down at some time.

Halloween Night

2009-11-03T18:43:00.002-06:00

This is what we had in our driveway on Halloween:

Congratulations!

2009-11-03T18:42:00.002-06:00

Congratulations to Sarah (my sister) and Patrick on their recent engagement! We are so happy for you!

Still playing summer catch-up

2009-11-02T22:37:00.002-06:00

Our friends Andrew and Kaleena are out of the country in El Salvador. Luckily for us, they have Skype and we still get to talk to them and play our nerdy board game online.

Corpus Christi

2009-10-27T16:53:00.004-05:00

This summer we spent a month in Corpus Christi while we waited to find out where I would work. We had lots of fun and did pretty much everything there is to do while we were there. Here are a few pictures:

The Lexington, "Blue Ghost"

A sea turtle at the Texas State Aquarium
Jellyfish at the aquarium
Old bridge that used to cross the bay
The big bridge in Corpus
Dolphin at the aquarium
Seagulls on Mustang Island
Sailboats in the bay
The Atlantic Coquinas were really thick this year
We went to a sea turtle release at the National Seashore while we were there

Magic Kingdom

2009-10-01T19:10:00.005-05:00

My favorite park! I could have easily spent 2 days at this park!

Cinderella's Castle

The Mad Hatter's Tea Party (the spinning teacups)

The River Boat (from Huckleberry Finn)

Funny poster outside of one of the shows

Downtown Disney

2009-09-13T17:14:00.003-05:00

We went to Downtown Disney a couple of times while we were in Orlando. It was good entertainment and it wasn't as exhausting as the parks. It mainly had places to buy Disney souvenirs and restaurants. We didn't really want to spend lots of money on the video game park and Cirque du Soleil, so we stuck to window shopping and eating.

These are some pictures from the T-Rex restaurant. It had really neat atmosphere and great food. The food was a bit pricey, but we somehow managed to spend under $20 for our meal. If you have ever been to the Rainforest Cafe, T-Rex was a lot like that. We sat in the ice cave where there were "fossils" embedded into the wall. Every 30 minutes there was a light show with sound effects to simulate a meteor shower. It was lots of fun and I definitely recommend it.

Here we are with the Rainforest Cafe and some lego statues in the background.
The sea monster and dinosaur below are made from Legos.

This was a really good looking statues outside of the Rainforest Cafe.

Disney's Animal Kingdom

2009-09-09T20:00:00.004-05:00

The park was the best zoo that I have ever visited! Here is the African Safari ride.

The famous tree of life. Notice that there are animals carved into the trunk. P.S. The tree is fake.
We thought all of these signs leading up to the Everest ride were funny.

Time to play summer catch up

2009-09-09T19:59:00.001-05:00

We are finally getting settled in our new place and have our own internet connection! Now I can play catch up on our whirl wind summer!

Maloney Update

2009-07-01T19:40:00.002-05:00

Things new with us:

1. We went to Disney World to celebrate graduation

2. We have been at the beach enjoying life

3. I have accepted a job, I start in August

4. We will be moving away from our town very soon

We will really miss all of our friends when we move and hope that everyone will come and visit. Of course, we will be back every once in a while to see everyone.

We have a weak internet connection where we are staying, so I will have to upload pictures later. I would rather not give out more info on where I will be working since my blog is public. Feel free to call or email me if you are curious.

Anniversary

2009-06-03T16:16:00.003-05:00

Today is our 6th anniversary! We went to the gazebo we were married in and talked about what we could remember from our wedding day. It was fun, but now I am at home alone. Grant had to go on a trip for work :(

We went to Disney World last week. I will put up some pictures one I find a new charger for the camera battery (I left it in our hotel room). We had a ton of fun and I can't wait to go back!

Graduation

2009-05-21T16:05:00.002-05:00

My graduation is tomorrow. I am so excited! Commencement is on Saturday and I am singing at it with the choir. It will be awesome. The guest speaker is Robert Rodriguez! There will be fireworks shot off from the tower after the ceremony.

Be your own travel agent!

2009-05-20T12:26:00.004-05:00

We are going to Orlando next week and I found some really great deals online. I frequently plan vacations that I would love to go on, but can't afford yet. I find great deals all the time on Hotwire and Kayak

Hotwire has very low prices but has the disadvantage of not knowing exactly what hotel you will be getting; their star rating system is pretty reliable. Kayak searches hundreds of travel websites for you to find the best deal and will give you a link directly to the website you wish to use. On both Hotwire and Kayak, you can sort the results by price, star rating, location, etc.

While trying to find a good deal on a flight, I recently discovered Cheap Airlines . By using Cheap Airlines, we saved about $150 more than we would have by using Kayak and several other travel sites.

On the move...

2009-05-16T22:00:00.002-05:00

We are moving! Where? We don't know yet. I take that back, we are moving all of our stuff into storage. We will be going on a working vacation (work for Grant and vacation for me) for about a month. After that, who knows where we will live. I have to find a job and I would like to live somewhere near my work.

We started packing this week and have gotten 33 boxes packed and stacked in the garage and almost all the laundry, including blankets and curtains, is finished. I think this will be the smoothest move yet!

Hopefully, we will have plenty of help when it comes time to load up everything and move into the storage unit and again when it comes time to load up everything and move into a new place (wink wink, nudge nudge).

It is finished!

2009-05-09T20:02:00.003-05:00

I am finally done with college. I am in disbelief! I have been ready for this for a long time. A new chapter of my life is about to begin and I can't wait because in that chapter, I will be getting paid. Please pray that I find a good job.

1 week!

2009-05-01T18:20:00.001-05:00

I can't believe it is almost over. I have a ton of homework to do before my last seminar class!

2 weeks

2009-04-25T16:30:00.000-05:00

I have only 2 weeks left of classes! Yipee! Summer is almost here.

4 weeks

2009-04-09T15:54:00.000-05:00

4 weeks left of classes!!! I can't believe it. It's almost over.

Things we have been doing lately

2009-04-05T15:26:00.005-05:00

I haven't posted any pictures lately, so I am playing catch-up with this blog.

We went to the river parade in San Antonio for St. Patrick's Day. Each float helped to dye the river green.

We have been hiking and fishing several times at McKinney Falls. Here is a picture of all the beautiful trees the first week the leaves were out.

I went to the shooting range for the first time and chickened out. I ended up sighting the whole time since the old-timey gun my husband has doesn't have a modern scope. The owner of the range is determined to end my fear of guns. The first and only time I have ever shot a gun (excluding air rifles) was this past summer at the Parks and Wildlife Expo. This is a picture of the ground in one of the shooting stalls. The range is an outdoor range.

Goodbye Redbox

2009-03-26T17:57:00.002-05:00

We are officially boycotting Redbox and you should too! A DVD we returned was lost and they have charged us $25 (full price) for a movie that we don't even have!!!! They also don't seem very interested in keeping our business as evidence from the customer service rep's attitude.

I was told that this could happen if we put the DVD in the case backward.

We could have had 3 whole months of Net Flix if we had known this would happen.

Busy, Busy, Busy, Excited, Excited, Excited

2009-03-23T21:46:00.005-05:00

I have several pictures that I have been meaning to post, but it is a little bit of an ordeal to get them on here since they are all taken with my phone... The pictures will have to wait.

Right now, I am gearing up for a long haul of busy weekends. I won't be off the hook until May 8. It's okay, everything that we are doing is going to be fun.

Today, I started at my new student teaching assignment. I have finished with middle school and am now on for elementary. The first day was great and I really love my cooperating teacher.

Starting today, I am counting down until the last day of classes... 7 WEEKS!!! Yay! I am not really counting down toward graduation, just the end of class. If you are interested, my graduation is on May 22 at 3 (this is where I walk across the stage with the College of Fine Arts) and commencement is on May 23 (this is University-wide and I will be on stage to sing with the UT choir, but they won't call my name).

As graceful as a swan...

2009-03-03T20:14:00.000-06:00

on the freeway.

This is a picture of a swan that I saw on I 35 this morning. Luckily I was traveling north, while the was traveling south. There was a pretty big back up of traffic behind it... of cars, that is.

Test results

2009-02-24T17:22:00.000-06:00

I PASSED!

Job Hunt

2009-02-21T13:28:00.001-06:00

I started applying for jobs today. Wish me luck!

Movies

2009-01-10T13:21:00.005-06:00

Grant and I like to watch a lot of movies, so I thought I would give a review of a few we have seen lately.

Australia: This one's story was okay, but what I really loved about it was the little boy that sings in it. The story has some adventure and some romance, but it manly just wants to show off how hunky Hugh Jackman is. It seems that he is posing to show off his muscles in every scene. This one is worth renting. I would like to buy it for the singing little boy.

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button: We saw this one right after Christmas. I really liked it a lot. This is one I will definitely want to buy. The story is about a man that ages backwards... he was born old and died young.

We saw Hancock in the theatre when it first came out, but recently rented it again. It was worth it. It is a comedy about a super hero who is basically a loser. I probably wouldn't buy it, but I would definitely watch it again.

I got Planet Earth for Christmas. I know it is not really a movie, but I don't care. We have watched the first 2 episodes so far. It is so good. The scenery is overwhelmingly beautiful and the commentary is not distracting. It is definitely worth buying.

Fun Weekend.....

2009-01-05T13:09:00.003-06:00

This was supposed to be a funny cartoon about being sick all weekend....

Happy New Year!!!

2009-01-01T12:40:00.002-06:00

We had lots of fun last night at First Night last night. I am so glad we were able to spend New Year's with such good friends. If you didn't go this year, you should definitely go next year. There were lots of fun events and some really great fireworks.

One event that really stuck out in my mind were the singing Tesla coils. Someone who was there already put a video of it on youtube. The sound is coming from the electricity.

Amanda's Senior Recital

2008-10-29T13:38:00.003-05:00

My Senior Vocal Recital is coming up in just a few weeks. It will be on November 22 at 3 p.m. at First English Lutheran Church (3001 Whitis Ave, Austin, Tx). I will be performing works by various composers including Brahms, Schumann, Haydn, and Debussy. It should last around 35 minutes and there will be a reception to follow.

Blogger Burnout

2008-09-24T19:43:00.002-05:00

Blogging can be lots of fun, but I am burned out for now. We have been doing lots of new and fun stuff lately and I have picture, I'm just tired of it for a little while, especially with all of my homework that has to been done on the computer....it was all I could do to write this short piece. I am a bit tired of the computer right now.

Anyway, give me a call if you want to catch up. I am into the phone since I don't have to do homework on it. Hope to talk to you soon!

Disney World, here we come

2008-08-18T17:35:00.004-05:00

We are leaving for Orlando on Wednesday night. On Thursday, we are going to Disney World. And on Friday morning, we are coming home. Our flight and hotel room were gifts from a time share presentation we sat through. I think we will be going to Epcot. Pictures to come after our trip! I am so excited!!!! I have never been to Disney World before.

"Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once and a while, you could miss it."

2008-08-15T15:09:00.008-05:00

I admit it, I skipped school on Wednesday. It was worth it. You should know that I hate school....especially summer school. Sometimes you need to take a Ferris Bueller day to stay somewhat, emphasizing somewhat, sane. Grant and I decided to get out and the only thing we could think of to do was to go on the Mission Trail in San Antonio. We just went to Sea World on Saturday and even though it is my favorite place in the world, we decided that twice in 5 days was a little much. In case you didn't know, there are four other Spanish Missions in San Antonio besides the Alamo. We skipped the Alamo this time because we have already been there on several occasions.

And now, here they are, for the first time on my blog, the less known San Antonio Missions (cue lights and music).

Mission Concepcion

Mission Espada

Mission San Juan

And now my favorite, Mission San Jose. There are little two-room apartments in the outer wall of this Mission. They were so cute. About every 5 or six apartments there was a wood-burning oven outside in the courtyard. Maybe we will move in to this Mission if I get a job in San Antonio.....seriously, it would be an awesome place to camp or have a retreat, but I don't think the park rangers would like that so much. This mission was complete with a working mill...pretty high-tech for the 1500s.

I definitely recommend going to see Mission San Jose. The others are okay if you have nothing else to do, but Mission San Jose is pretty awesome.

My Art Project

2008-08-11T22:00:00.004-05:00

In my art class I was assigned a project of creating a representation of power or sacred space. I could either write 4 pages about what it would look like or I could actually make it. I chose to make a representation of power. My picture is of God hand the reigns of the world over to mankind. Basically, what I am trying to show is that the world was created for man and given to him as a gift. I worked really hard on it and Grant helped me a lot. I hope you like it

A lesson learned

2008-08-08T09:00:00.005-05:00

If you have these

Get thisA lesson learned on our camping trip to Mustang Island. This stuff works on mosquitos that appear to come from the Jurassic period.

Grant bought some for a very high price from a travel health company when he got his shots for Costa Rica. It turns out that someone sells it on Amazon.com for about $7. I recommend it! It is in lotion form and therefore has less deet than the sprays. This company also boasts about its non-absorption into skin.

*Maloney Bologna*

Baby Blessing and Updates

Cullen's First Thanksgiving

Cullen is 4 Months Old!

14 Weeks

Another Halloween Picture

Halloween Party

Beach Baby

12 Weeks Old!

8 to 10 Weeks Old

7 Weeks Old

Roll Over! Plus 5 and 6 Weeks Pictures

Thoughts on Cesarean Delivery

4 Weeks Old

Pictures of Cullen from Last Weekend

3 Weeks

1 Week and 2 Week Pictures

Hospital Stay/Homecoming

Birth Announcement

Birth Story

40 Weeks

Waiting...

Crystal's Baby Shower

Birth Announcement

35 Weeks

Our Maternity Pictures

34 Weeks

Maternity Pictures

Church Baby Shower

32 Weeks

30 Weeks!

Baby Price

27 Weeks

24 Weeks

Triston's Baby Shower

Celtic Festival Fun

Update

Oh Boy!

Weenie Roast

More Pictures

19 Weeks

17 weeks

Pregnancy Pictures

Must Read for Expectant Fathers

Boy or Girl?

Is it just me, or is she getting fat?

Me as a Preggo

Whoa Baby!

I Love Vacation

Dry, Dry, Dry

ARTreach

Help, I can't see my own blog!

Our Halloween

Cute Babies

Halloween Preview

How sad...

Cute Blog

New with us

What's up with us?

Blog Update

KitchenAid Ice Cream Maker Attachment

Why Kitchen Aid is Amazing

Buying this house...

Want a Dog or Puppy?

Saw this on Christmas Day

White Christmas

My Christmas Present

What happened?

Thanks for visiting us!

Halloween Night

Congratulations!

Still playing summer catch-up

Corpus Christi

Magic Kingdom

Downtown Disney

Disney's Animal Kingdom

Time to play summer catch up

Maloney Update

Anniversary

Graduation

Maloney Bologna