2 MONTHS OLD

Our little Malik was 2 months on August 14Th. That was also our 5 year anniversary. We had a lot to celebrate that day! Malik is doing so well and is such a sweet little baby. He rolled over for the first time on the 14Th and proceeded to do it a bunch of times for Grandma, but only a couple of times for me and Donovan! He had his first haircut the beginning part of August, as requested by Donovan. He was bald in front and had a ton of hair in the back, so we just wanted it to be a little more uniform! He is a very happy baby, always smiling and talking! His slobbering is getting a little out of control! He is trying so hard to laugh, but he just can't quite figure that sound out yet. We love him a lot and have fun with him everyday!

We are leaving today to move to Las Vegas! It hasn't been too stressful packing up and we had some great friends come and help us. Donovan's BFF Gabe came into to town to help, as did my sister Talena. We are so excited to get down there and start our new lives! We will miss the friends we have made in Utah. And we can't say enough how much we love and appreciate all that Donovan's parents have done for us. Remember, you all have a place to stay in Vegas if you are ever in the area!

BIG MOVE!!!!!!!!

For those of you who have not yet heard, we will be moving during the first part of September to sunny LAS VEGAS!!! Donovan received a job transfer. We have been wanting to move down that way for a while, so this transfer is a great thing for us! We will miss all our friends in Utah, but are excited to reconnect with those friends in the Las Vegas area. And don't fret...Donovan's family still lives here in Provo, so I am sure we will be able to visit occassionally. And now you all have a good excuse to get out of the cold and come visit us!

OUR SWEET BABY

So, Malik is almost 6 weeks old now! The time is just going by so quickly! He has already taken his first airplane ride, gone to 3 movies, had his baby blessing, and a ton of other "firsts".

Right after his blessing, his hair started to fall out, but not in the normal way! He still has a ton of hair in back, but he has none in front, so he looks like a little old man! And he either has a bad case of baby acne right now or a little bit of a heat rash. It has been really hot here in Utah!

Here are some more pictures of him! He has already changed a ton, and we just love him more and more every day!

More Pictures of Malik

The last set of pictures that I put up were from the hospital and the ride home. Here are some good ones that we have taken over the past week. So many cute ones, I really have a hard time just picking them out! My mom was here to help the first week and it was great. The first night after she left was rough, but Donovan and I have a pretty good system for nighttime now. And he is just the sweetest little baby, he is so snuggly and fun already! Enjoy the pictures!

Malik is Here!!!!!!

So, after 9+ months of waiting, we finally had our little boy! Malik James Bates was born June 14th, at 10:52 am. He was 8lbs 13 oz and 21.5 inches long. I went into the hospital at 4am on Sunday morning and was already dialated to a 6! So, I very quickly got my epidural, and it was a breeze from there! I pushed for 2 hours, but probably would have only had to push half the time, but he was sunnyside up (face up)! Donovan was great and helped me the whole time and cut the cord. He even had bad abdominal cramps that night because he was unconciuosly pushing with me!

We are home now, and I am pretty exhausted. Donovan goes back to work tomorrow and I am sad about that, butit must happen.

I am going to insert a bunch of pictures now. I hope everyone enjoys them! He is a really cute, pleasant baby!

IT'S NOT A TUMOR!!!!!

So, this baby just does not want to join the world! It's too depressing for him! I'm almost convinced that there is no baby in my belly, just a large tumor with a heartbeat! BUT...my doctor promises me that there really IS a baby in there, and he really does want to meet me and Donovan! I just know this kid is going to be huge and I'm really nervous about it. My due date is officially on the 10th and my doctor said today that he will induce on the 17th if I make it that far. Let's just hope the little guy decides to join us on his own shortly. I have been trying to take really long walks, drinking special tea, and just about every other trick in the book. Any other advice would be greatly appreciated at this point.

If I haven't had a baby by tomorrow (who am I kidding?), I will do another post about our little trip to Park City this weekend. It was fun and we were able to see some friends we hadn't seen in a while! More tomorrow!

AAAWWW!!!!!

Okay, so I am a really bad blogger! Maybe I will get better with the little one on the way, but I just don't know! I just come up with lots of excuses not to update it! My latest excuse was that I couldn't find the computer cord for our camera. Not a good excuse, all I had to do was look in Donovan's "Drawer O' Wires". He really does have a drawer, just full of random cords and wires that we will no doubt need one day! Anyway...

I am now officially on my maternity leave, and it feels SO great to not have to worry about going into work. I really like my job, but it was getting kind of stressful there at the end! I am trying to fill my days with social activities, organizing stuff, and I have been doing a TON of cleaning! I think Seven Peaks (the water park across the street) opens this weekend, so that would be a nice distraction as well!

I had a doctors appointment this week and I am dialated to a 2. Things are progressing well, but I think that I am still a good week or two from droppin' this kid like a hot record! We do have a name picked out, but you will all have to wait to hear it!

So, I am going to post some "belly pictures", which I think I just look fat in! And I am going to also post some pictures of me with my infamous diaper bag! I love this thing and cannot wait to use it! I hope that I am ready for all this, but I don't really think that is ever possible! Wish me luck!