Friday, September 23, 2011

Our Littlest Guy

We are so proud to introduce Jonas Brandon! He joined us at 10:41 on Thursday night, September 22nd - his due date! He weighs 8 pounds, 12 ounces and has a crazy conehead just like both of his brothers did. More pictures of Malachi and Elliott meeting him will be coming soon!

Thursday, September 15, 2011

Updates!

Whew, it's been a while and I must say we've been busy around here! I've definitely had that nesting instinct and a major burst of energy that apparently come at the end of a pregnancy. My to-do list is steadily getting shorter and I think things are ready for another little man around the Allsop home. Here's a rundown of what we've been up to:

Obviously I can't take credit for the work here, but our basement is finally being put back together thanks to my mom and Aunt Laura. They devoted a few days of work to get the walls repaired (we used a PVC roofing material on the bottom of the walls so they are waterproof in case it floods again) and I am SO thankful to have this space back in usable condition! We still need a couple doors hung and trim around the doors, but it is a safe place for the boys to play again...which means fewer toys all over the rest of the house!

I assume the play area will always look like this (or worse) but at least it's in the basement and I can shut the door! Notice Malachi's art wall in the back. He's quite proud of that and I'm currently thinking up ways to make it an even better gallery for him.
While mom and Laura were busy downstairs, I took the time to pull out all the baby clothes and get them washed and ready for our little guy. I also reorganized all of Malachi and Elliott's clothing to get ready for fall and moved Elliott over to Malachi's room. So now it's official - not only is Elliott in a regular bed, he's on the bottom bunk in his new room! I'm afraid to say it, but they have done a great job sharing a room so far and I can only pray it's always this easy!
Since Elliott transitioned so easily I felt free to go ahead and prep the nursery for Boy #3 (can you tell we still can't decide on a name?). I gave up on the idea of making all new bedding and instead made a few minor alterations to what we already had. Here's a little peak at some of the decor I made to go above the crib. I'll post more pictures when his room is all finished.




This end-of-pregnancy extra energy has also come with some majorly clumsy and uncoordinated moments. First I fell down these stairs last week. I slipped at the top and bounced the rest of the way down. The baby is fine, however my tailbone is still pretty sore - which I'm hoping won't cause any problems during delivery.

And this week I shut my thumb in the car door. I'm still not quite sure how that happened but I do know that it turned black and blue immediately and is extremely sore. I never realized until now just how important your right thumb actually is!


Other than all of that, Malachi has bronchitis and has had to be home from school a few days this week. So much for his first full week of school every day! We're just praying that Elliott, Erik and I can stay healthy so that we can welcome our new little boy into our family soon without much more drama! Today I am 39 weeks and at my ultrasound on Tuesday the baby measured 7 pounds, 8 ounces. My doctor doesn't seem to think I'll make it to the next appointment, but we'll see what plans this little guy has for himself. We can't wait to share exciting news with you all soon!

Saturday, September 3, 2011

Kiddos on the Beach

Just one more picture from Kiawah:

GranMols wanted a picture of all the kids, which is quite a feat with seven ranging from 3 months to 11 years old! This is the best we got - good job, Kels!

Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Big Boy #2

Malachi's not the only kid around here going through big changes...Elliott is now in a big boy bed!

In a few weeks when the baby arrives, Malachi and Elliott will begin sharing a room so we thought it would be a good idea to go ahead and convert the crib into a toddler bed to give Elliott some practice before moving him to the bottom bunk. After three nights and two naps I can hesitantly say it's a success! After reading books and praying he walks to bed by himself and climbs in. (I think it helps that he loves his blankie and it was never allowed to be out of the crib.) When he wakes up he stays in bed and yells for us until we come into his room and then he climbs out. I can only hope it continues to be this easy!

Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Off to Kindergarten

We survived day one! It was rough to get up a lot earlier than normal, but Malachi was so excited that things went very smoothly yesterday morning as we got ready for the very first full day of school. We even had time to snap a few pictures! On the way Malachi said at least three times how excited he was and how cool it was to be going to school. I walked with him to his classroom and was able to get a few more pictures before hugging and kissing him goodbye. I even made it out of the building before I teared up a bit!


I think Elliott enjoyed having lots of solo attention yesterday, but he was excited to see Malachi when we went back to pick him up. Malachi's assessment of the day: "It wasn't as fun as I thought it would be, but it was good." Apparently he didn't get to fingerpaint in art class because they ran out of time which is what prompted this response. However the first thing he said this morning is that tomorrow is his second day of school so I think he did really enjoy it and is looking forward to going back. This week and next he goes every other day and after that it will be every day. Pretty nice that they ease them in like that...and I enjoyed sleeping in a little more this morning!

Sunday, August 28, 2011

The Big Day

Tomorrow is the big day - Malachi's very first day of school! Last week he had orientation and testing, but beginning tomorrow he will be there all day without us. When I asked him if he had fun at orientation his response was that it was kinda boring since he only got to stay for one hour. I guess that's a good sign?! We really like his teacher, Mrs. Hobbs, and think he'll have a great year.

I'll update tomorrow with all the stories from day one!

Saturday, August 27, 2011

Kiddos Galore!

Before heading south to Kiawah the boys and I got to spend a morning at the Knisley pool with my longtime friend, Heather, her two girls, her sisters and their girls. This was my best attempt at a group picture. Emmalyn was already napping and Annie didn't want to get back in the pool. Thank goodness Malachi and Sophie were able to corral all the little ones!