Pray for Stellan AND our New (ish) Chandelier

You may remember me talking about Praying for Stellan here in November. He was supposed to die in the womb at 23 weeks with a terrible heart condition, but through the fervent prayer of thousands of blog-reading Christians, God performed a miracle and gave MckMama her precious baby boy back. He was born full-term without ANY heart problems...or so we thought. Stellan is now 3 months old and is TERRIBLY sick in the hospital. He has Supraventricular Tachycardia (SVT) and his heartrate remains in the mid to upper 200s. I have joined a prayer vigil and will be praying for Stellan exclusively from 5:00a.m. to 6:00a.m. tomorrow morning. Yes, this means I will have to get up early to pray, but can you give me a better reason to stay in bed? I didn't think so. Please pray for this precious little boy and that the Lord will have HIS way in this situation. I don't want anything that God doesn't want and I want ONLY God's will in God's time for this precious little boy. However, I am going to pray that God's will is to heal him completely. Additionally, my prayer will be that God will continue to be with his mother and father, and their 3 other children.

James 5:16b states: The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.

John 9:31 states: Now we know that God heareth not sinners: but if any man be a worshipper of God, and doeth his will, him he heareth.

Psalm 145:19 states: He will fulfil the desire of them that fear him: he also will hear their cry, and will save them.

***Today's Original Post which was QUICKLY pre-empted by a MUCH more important one!***

Let me start out by saying how embarrassed I am. Remember this post? Yeah - from October of 2008? 5 months ago? Remember I said I was going to re-do our Chandelier in the kitchen? Yeah, I just finished. True, we've been a little busy, but COME ON - this is ridiculous woman!

Oh well. I finally finished and I'm moderately happy. What do YOU think?

Here's a couple BEFORE shots: (Yes it really was that ugly)

And now the AFTER:

First of all, yes our chairs to our pub table are on the table - we just swept and mopped our kitchen. Our kitchen is painted yellow/gold (although it turned out more yellow than gold and I'll probably be changing it soon) and is decorated in the French Chef theme. B/W Check and Red/White Check accents.

I spray painted the chandelier itself with black high-gloss spray paint and bought 5 plain lampshades. I then got red/white grosgrain ribbon and hot glued it onto the seams of the lampshades. I cut out little black flowers and hot-glued those onto the ribbon. Then, I used a gold sharpie and put some simple decoration on each lampshade. Finally, I hot-glued the crystals to the inside. I'm not completely thrilled, but I don't hate it either and it's certainly better than what we had! This'll do until we get all of our bills paid off and can buy a new one!

NO MORE BABY FOOD!!!

Things have been going SO well for the last few weeks that I just KNEW we were bound for another bump in the road. The last few weeks, Malachi has been going several nights in a row sleeping all night. Now, for most 10 month olds you wouldn't think much about this, but it's been a LONG time since we've seen him sleep all night. (October - before he got REALLY sick - to be exact) Until then, he was sleeping through the night consistently for at least a month to a month and a half. But, when he got sick, that all changed!

We were JUST starting to get back into a good routine and he had slept through the night for 4 nights in a row when Thomas and I spoke TOO SOON. He woke up 3 times Monday night into Tuesday. But, when he finally went to sleep, he woke up in a pretty good mood Tuesday morning. So, it was off to daycare! Tuesday afternoon around 4:30, Lolli called and Malachi had 100.5 temp. I ran to the Dr. with him and the Nurse Practitioner told us that both ears looked red and his throat looked yucky. He wasn't particularly acting sick, just kinda whiny. (Hindsight being what it is - usually Malachi isn't whiny, so maybe he WAS acting sick...haha) So, we got on Augmentin and Mommy stayed home with him Wednesday. It really wasn't that bad. He was overall in a pretty good mood, played quite a bit and never got particularly fussy. Wednesday night was a BIT better, as he only woke up twice and went to sleep pretty quickly after both times. However, Thursday morning his cough sounded TERRIBLE. So, I called the Dr. again and we went back at 1:30. It scared me because it sounded an AWFUL LOT like his RSV cough did. I was TERRIFIED. They had done an RSV test on Tuesday and it came back negative, but I was worried that they just couldn't get anything from the swab. Turns out, it wasn't RSV and his right ear already looked fine. His left ear was still a little yucky, but, given the circumstances, his FIRST ear infection wasn't all that bad! **LORD, please let us not have ear infection issues...PLEASE!** Friday he was back at daycare and he woke up twice both Friday and Saturday nights. However, last night, he woke up at 11:00, was back asleep by 11:20 and we had to wake him up at 7:00 this morning to feed him! He must have woken up and played for a while last night because he was turned the complete opposite direction from where I put him down and was on his tummy. Needless to say, the phone books under the end of the bed don't do any good when your baby turns around and his FEET are on the HIGH SIDE! haha

This weekend, Thomas kept him home while I got my hair colored and cut Saturday morning. 4 hours and $170.00 later, even though I'm decently happy with my hair, I will NEVER go back to that hairdresser again. I had NO CLUE she was going to be that expensive - but, it's a lesson learned and when I was finished I came home to a happy baby and a happy hubby. We chilled all day Saturday, got up and went to church yesterday and then came home and chilled for the rest of the day! Overall it was a VERY relaxing weekend. We got our house moderately cleaned, ironed ALL of Malachi clothes (even his bibs) and got ready for this week.

On a VERY exciting note...Malachi is now officially on table foods! NO MORE BABY FOOD. Today for lunch I sent ravioli that I smashed up. Saturday he had chicken pot pie and mac and cheese. He's doing GREAT and starting to learn what to do with those chunks in his mouth! It's so cute to see those cute little teeth and hear the nummy nummy sound he makes with food that he REALLY likes! I'll have to post a video of that!

On the crawling front, it's not happening yet. He's getting up on all 4s, and despite the promising rocking, still isn't getting around like that. Ultimately, he continues to roll everywhere. However, he has now started turning in complete circles using his arms and one of his legs so maybe we're headed in the right (no pun intended) direction! At this point, as long as he's getting around, I'm not going to stress too much! We'll keep working at it, but he'll crawl when he's ready!

Thomas and I are both doing really well! We've started to listen to Dave Ramsey and are making some SERIOUS changes in our spending habits...It's ridiculous how much of our money has been wasted on stupid taxes like eating out, special treats and junk! We are now going to get ALL debts paid off (from smallest to largest) and we are putting ourselves on a plan that will HOPEFULLY allow us to get all debts (which REALLY aren't many, but I HATE owing people money), our student loans and home paid off in 5-6 years. Think we can do it? If we're careful and we stay motivated we will be able to call in to his radio show and scream "WE'RE DEBT FREE" sooner rather than later!! It's going to be SO liberating! We know that God will bless us for taking care of our money the way He wants us to, instead of spending it the impulsive ways that WE want to! Thank you Lord for allowing us the opportunity to live our lives according to YOUR will. Thank you for giving us strength and for taking care of our family so well!

A family party, breakfast, a nappy nappy...

Friday through Sunday was PACKED with lots of fun activities for the Allen family.

But, before I go into anything else, I want to congratulate my husband on making the most important decision of his life. Yesterday morning, Thomas stood before the congregation at our church, made a public profession of his faith and presented himself for scriptural baptism. He now has a personal relationship with Jesus Christ and I couldn't be more proud! I love you honey! (I'll be sure and post once he gets baptized!!)

Friday night, my Aunt Vi came into town and we went to Grandmommy and Papa Ken's house for dinner. It was snowing Friday afternoon, so we were a little worried about the roads, but everything turned out just fine!

Mommy and Mali in the Snow!

Hanging Out at Grandmommy and Papa Ken's House!

Mali and Aunt Dena

Mali and Aunt Vi

A Very Sleepy Buttons and Grandmommy

Look at ALL the snow - It was like this for 1/2 mile South and then it Stopped!

Then, Saturday morning, we all got up and went to Aunt Dena and Uncle Jim's house for breakfast! It was a SPREAD AND A HALF and we ate ourselves silly!! Before we got there, daddy had to jump out to help push a man's car who had run out of gas - he was TIRED after that! haha (In his defense, they pushed it almost 2 full blocks!)

Then, we got to Aunt Dena's house where we ate, and ate and ate and played with Mali...

Here is his first bite of Kiwi ever - he's not too sure about it!

Mali and his favorite Papa Ken!

After we ate ourselves sick, Mommy, Lolli, Aunt Kelly, Aunt Dena, Aunt Vi, Cousin Hannah and Grandmommy all went shopping all day. Daddy went home with Mali and took a nap.

This is his favorite sleeping position lately. He'll play until he's tired, then he'll just lean over and fall asleep - it's the cutest thing!

After a full day of shopping, Lolli paid for a hotel room at the Ambassador and all the girlies (minus Hannah and Morgan) hung out. We went to Leal's for dinner, played cards in the lobby, sat in the hot tub (and scared some kids, might I add...haha), played more cards (way to go Aunt Kelly...you did GREAT) and then TRIED to sleep...I won't go into the dirty details of that night, suffice it to say, we had a GREAT time!!! I am so blessed to have such great women in my life!

Back row: Aunt Kelly, Aunt Vi - Front Row: Aunt Dena and Lolli

The Three Sisters - Not sure which one is the OTHER sister...haha

Aunt Kelly, Lolli and Grandmommy at Leal's

Aunt Gradena, Me and Aunt Vi at Leal's

Sunday was an ABSOLUTELY BEAUTIFUL day! After our VERY exciting morning at church, we came home and took a 2 hour nap - Then, Lolli called and said the weather was gorgeous. So, we decided to take Mali for a walk.

It was just a little windy so we wanted to cover his legs up!

He's gotten into this new habit of feeling his teeth with his tongue. It's hilarious...Sometimes he looks like he's got a dip in his mouth (that's not the hilarious part) and sometimes he looks like an old man...

Mommy and Mali on our walk!

Hanging out in Lolli's Back Yard!

Overall - even though it was a jam-packed weekend, we had a WONDERFUL time visiting with all of our family! We miss you Aunt Vi and can't wait to see you again - maybe we can head your way sometime soon to visit everyone there!!!

And, one more time, congratulations to Thomas. I feel so privileged to be your wife and I can't wait to see what paths God chooses to lead us down together! I will ALWAYS be here for you. ALWAYS!

OLIFE!!!!!

Mommy's Falling Down on the Job

Okay - I'm sorry - I know it's been over a week since our last post! I would promise that it won't happen again, but I'm not in the habit of making promises I can't keep!! Just sit back, relax, and enjoy the novel to come!

Things have been pretty crazy for us lately! I have been HORRIBLY busy at work with various projects. Lots of night meetings...etc. Thomas has been working hard and is enjoying his position at the City of Canyon VERY MUCH! I think his boss is grooming him to take his position (Director of Parks and Rec) when he gets ready to retire which will hopefully be soon! They LOVE him!!

We have also been helping some friends, Chuck and Leslie Martin, get through a rough time in their life. They have a beautiful little boy, Jude Landry, who was born almost 2 months early and was in the NICU for a long time. His HORRIBLE pediatrician released him from the hospital WAY WAY too early and Jude went downhill pretty quickly after that. Thankfully, Thomas, my mom and I were able to convince them to get a 2nd opinion after Jude got put BACK in the hospital. Turns out, Jude isn't breathing well and he has Pyloric Stenosis...the same condition they tested Malachi for when he wasn't holding any food down. He had surgery yesterday and is recovering nicely. It's just been a busy week trying to help them out for the sake of little Jude!!!

Malachi has been blowin' and goin' recently! Not only does he have 1 tooth...he has 2! Both bottom teeth have come through, rather painlessly, I think. So far...teething hasn't been that big of a deal for him! We are starting on solid table food, since we have to thicken up his regular baby food so much that he's used to the texture anyway! His first table food meal? Sweet potatoes...

I guess we won't be eating Yams at Thanksgiving anytime soon!! (His does take after his mama after all!!!)

Then, Saturday night, we went to Country Pride (Mommy's favorite restaurant) before we went to buy groceries at Sam's with Lolli and Pop and he tried some enchilada and french fries!

The Anticipation is KILLING me...

Almost There Mom...

JACKPOT!!!

Then, after some resting time - we needed to finish eating so Mali played with his friend...George (AKA - the REALLY cool bag Lolli got for us that just happens to be a Monkey on the front)

Don't you just wish you could squeeze those dimples!?!

After playing with dad across the table, we headed to Sam's...

Where I Chilled in the Basket...

(He actually ended up almost going to sleep in this position, despite the fact that it looks like he's being squeezed to death...I think he liked feeling safe!)

Our pediatrician, recommended 2 weeks ago that if Malachi wasn't crawling by 10 months...we would need to see about getting him into a specialist. We've been working hard at ALL of his milestones to get him to where he needs to be. BUT, he has traditionally been about 1 month to 2 months behind where everyone else his age is since he was so sick. PLUS, the kid knows how to ROLL anywhere he wants to get. And, if he isn't going to roll in the right direction, he'll push up on his arms, turn to the right angle and then roll to his toy/blanket, whatever! We asked the Dr. this last week how to KEEP him from rolling. What was his suggestion? Put pillows (couch cushions) on the floor next to the couch with a space JUST BIG ENOUGH for him to lay down flat, but not roll. We tried that Saturday morning and he screamed SO LONG that he cried himself to sleep and slept for 2 hours. BUT, Saturday night...we started making progress. He at least was REACHING instead of rolling and turning and rolling to get to what he wanted. Then, Sunday morning...he pulled himself forward to get to...well...I'll let you see for yourself...

I told you he took after his mama!