Ughhhh

Midterms=Migraines

That's all.

Just Pictures

We are busy busy bees

We have been so busy around our home. Baby K has been growing in leaps and bounds and is accomplishing new things every day. She can now sit up briefly with no assistance, roll over both from stomach to back and back to stomach, repeats "mamamamama" over and over again, loves to play peekaboo, and she has FINALLY learned to like her jumper. Our little monster has also learned to blow raspberries, and screech at the top of her lungs. But we are so proud of her every progression and we probably spoil her too much.

I also recently returned to school. I am hoping to finish up my Bachelor's degree. But the great thing is that I was able to schedule all my classes online so I still get to stay at home with Baby K which is such a relief.

Malone is also doing well although he is a bit stressed. He submitted his proposal for his oral examination which is coming up in about four weeks. Aside from writing up his proposal which was about 30 pages long, he will also have to make a presentation of the research he has done so far along with the research he is proposing to accomplish before being awarded his PhD to his board of professors and any students who care to come. For this presentation Malone is responsible for providing refreshments to those who attend, so I am going to put together the best spread those professors have ever seen!

After his presentation his board of professors will have a private examination with Malone where they will each have the opportunity to ask him any questions they care to ask. And by any, I mean ANY. They could ask him anything about basic high school chemistry or biology or they could ask about the most advanced or obscure Biochemistry they can think of. Based on his proposal, his presentation, and his examination his committee will decide whether he has provided satisfactory progress to continue on in the PhD program. If they decide he hasn't, it is a possibility they could kick him out with a Master's degree. That would be extremely rare and is highly unlikely considering he has several publications in the works, but it is still a possibility. Assuming he passes their inspection, he will be allowed to continue in the program and *hopefully* will be able to finish up his PhD in just another year and a half. I feel confident in my husband. He's the smartest person I know and he has worked so hard for this. But I know Malone is extremely nervous about the presentation and examination because he struggles with public speaking.

Anyway, this is the crazy life we lead! But we wouldn't have it any other way. I'll try to get more posts up soon with some pictures.

Check out our A's!

So, yes. I'm well aware of the fact that I haven't posted in about... forever. I kind of abandoned my blog. But what can I say? I spend all of my free time snuggling my sweet baby.

Anyway, here are a couple of photos taken recently. We are showing our Aggie pride and ready for the new football season! I'll try to post some more later.

Absence

Sorry all for the absence! But at least I have a good excuse! These are the things we've been up to over the past few weeks.

Family

I have been debating about posting this. I don't really know why. But in the end, I count this blog as my journal so I felt I just had to put this out there.

June is a difficult month for our family. Exactly three years ago our son was born at 24 weeks gestation. He weighed 1 lb 8 oz. He passed away seven days after he was born. The doctors were amazed he made it that long. But I wasn't. Although I wanted to believe otherwise, I think I knew deep down that he wasn't going to be able to stay for long. I know that every minute of his life was a great struggle. I believe my son gave me those 7 days as a gift.

It's a difficult thing to find the delicate balance between grieving over his loss and celebrating his birth. Both Malone and I have been able to pick up the pieces and move on, but sometimes the grief will still pop up and take me by surprise. Especially today, his birthday. I find myself wondering about what he would have looked like and how different my life would be with a three year old little boy. I wonder about what Malone and I can do to help Baby K "know" her big brother.

Today was a little extra special and a little extra sad because we got to go visit his grave. We hung flowers and had a family prayer. I cried more than I have in a long time. But it was strengthening to be able to stand there with my little family and thank Heavenly Father for each other and for the chance we have to be together forever because of the fact that Malone and I were married in the holy temple in Nauvoo Illinois. If you would like to learn more about our belief in temples and in forever families, click HERE.

Baby K's "Honey Bear"

Three years ago when our son was born at 24 weeks we unintentionally started a little family tradition. You see, our baby boy was extremely premature so he spent his short life in the NICU hooked up to monitors and lines. The hospital wasn't exactly the most cheerful place, to say the least. So one day Malone and I decided to go to Build A Bear and create a little bear just for our little Gavin. Shortly after that he passed away. Now his little "Buddy Bear" holds a special place in our home.

After I became pregnant with Baby K we kind of held our breath for the first 24 weeks just waiting to see if I would be able to make it that far. When we hit that milestone we remembered that trip we took to Build A Bear for Gavin. We decided that we would take a trip to Build A Bear to celebrate our accomplishment and to purchase a bear for Baby K that would help her relate to her brother. We lovingly dubbed that bear "Honey Bear."

As Baby K grows, we are taking pictures of her with her Honey Bear so she can have a physical representation of her progression through childhood. These are her Honey Bear pictures so far.

Immunizations

Today Baby K got her two month immunizations. She really hated them. Poor kid!