30 for 30

So, tomorrow, November 1st, I will be 30 years old.... WHAT?!?!

How can that be? Seriously, didn't i just graduate from college, and just get married.... and just have 2 kids. I guess I have lived a lot of life between college and now, but for some reason it doesn't always feel like it! I mean surely, I am not the only mom of 2 kids that, on occasion looks around her living room at the kids and the toys and the mess and thinks "Who's life is this?"

Since 30 seems to be the dreaded number by many ladies my age, I thought I would make a list of 30 things I am so thankful for, in my 30 years of living...

1. My precious Savior - who "sought me, and bought me with his redeeming blood"! 30 years, or 30 more would be unbearable without God's grace daily!

2. My hunky husband! He is seriously handsome, and sweet, and smart, and a hard worker, and he loves Jesus more than me! I mean - seriously y'all - he is upstairs right now wrapping like 100 gifts that he has thoughtfully chosen for me.... I do not deserve him!

3. My son! He is handsome like his daddy. He blesses me every day with sweet kisses and hilarious commentary on life! (With the occasional tantrum or two). He was the first to call me Momma and I am wild about him!

3. My baby girl! She is lovely and full of life! SO smart and so much personality in all 18lbs of her! Who knew you could love 2 kids so differently and so deeply? The joy she brings my heart is overwhelming!

4. My parents - who have honored their wedding vows as an example to me, and who selflessly, to this day, love me and encourage me and remind me daily of who I am in Christ.

5. My siblings and their spouses! Watching them love my kiddos is a feeling I never knew existed! Plus they are pretty fun to hang with - glad I get to do it forever!

6. My community group - so awesome to do life together in our home each week! The ladies in our group have quickly become my closest friends and I love meeting together to talk about Jesus and laugh a lot!

7. Life long friends - you know who you are - we have done some serious ice together - with memories from elementary school or GULP - Middle school, being single, getting married, becoming new moms.... and they still love me - bless their hearts!

8. Coffee - good coffee - amen.

9. Louisville, KY - I have moved away and come back - but this city is home forever! All 4 seasons, great restaurants, sweet friends and great memories! I really do hope to raise my children here.

10. Sojourn! Our church - it has reminded me of the sweet taste of corporate worship in a way I had forgotten. So glad to be apart of this community!

11. Local restaurants - this maybe falls under Louisville BUT - Harvest, Rye, Game, Four Pegs - to name a few - you ROCK!

12. Fall - Pumpkin patches, cooler temperatures, Pumpkin flavored anything, Halloween - my favorite time of year!

13. Our house - I love this little house that we have labored in and changed and made our own! We brought both out babies home here... it is always a relief to walk through that front door!

14. The Jesus Storybook Bible - never a dry eye... from me at least ;)

15. Hulu and Netflix - seriously - I love to veg out!

16. Popcorn - you know, the fresh popped kind - with real butter - yes sir!

17. Sweet Tea

18. Fort Myers, FL - where we spent the first year of our marriage - there is something magical about that place.... it is always so exciting to take a trip there - I can close my eyes and feel the sun on my face and the smell the salty humid air... it takes me back to a sweet time in my life.

19. Mentors - Throughout the years - women who have invested in my life in different seasons as far back as I can remember. Women, who probably don't know it, but come to my mind on an almost daily basis as the wisdom they poured out on me is used still to this day.

20. Graeters Ice cream - Coconut almond chip mmmm

21. My kitchen table - a hand-me-down from my parents - it has been painted, refinished, chairs have been recovered - it has had -an apple carved into the top with a knife by my baby brother 18 years ago.... it has been laughed at, cried at, and eaten at... it is well loved - I cannot imagine feeding my family dinner in any other seats!

22. My husbands job - being self employed is hard work, but the benefits and blessings are great! Love my hard working man and his flexible schedule. (Trust me - he puts in the hours ;))

23. Wednesday night movie night with my man - every week!

24. Writing letters back and forth with the love of my life - something new we have picked up. It has been like falling in love all over again.

25. Nord's Buttercream Donuts!

26. Christmas music - it is right around the corner!

27. A quiet house - after the kids go to bed and the only thing you can hear is clothes spinning in the dryer.

28. SLEEP - I have seriously been missing sleep over the past year or so, but I hope my 30s bring a new season of rest (aka my daughter sleeping through the night HA)

29. A dishwasher waiting to be unloaded - I don't always remember this one - BUT it means this house is filled with full bellies, and a reminder that we have all that we need and more! Plus it means I didn't have to wash them myself ;)

30. And finally for 30 years of ups and downs, of seasons of plenty of seasons of want, for laughter and tears and changes... all of which taught me and molded me into who the Lord is still making me today.

Here's to 30 more!

~Brooke

Matching piggies

I thought this should be documented! Heading to the beach tomorrow and Camille got her first pedicure - from me of course! Now we have matching piggies! The first one of many I am sure! Love having a sweet baby girl to share the girly milestones with!

Family life

It has been a while since I posted a family update! Things in the Malko household are going pretty great! As normal and crazy as ever. Life is so different with 2 kiddos on the move! Camille has been crawling since she was 6 months old (whew... This Momma wasn't ready for that) and she is busier than ever! She crawls FAST, pulls up on anything and everything and does a tiny bit of cruising! She has also recently figured out how to go from crawling to sitting and back to crawling again. She is into everything and  plays pretty well independently! She had 1 tooth, her bottom left. Lately she has become quite attached to her momma, especially if she is sleepy. She says "mama" which is her only word right now. She babbles baba a lot though it doesn't seem like she has related it to anything yet. She is the happiest baby, especially when she first wakes up! Going to get her from her crib is one of my favorite moments! She lights up and squeals when she sees us walk in her room :)

Anderson is almost 3!! I cannot believe it. I feel like over the past 3 months I have watched my baby completely fade away and transform into this little boy. It has honestly been really sweet. He is so smart and observant. He says the most surprisingly witty things, and has gotten a little sassy.. I think it comes from having such good understanding but not quite knowing how to use it appropriately. We are working on that ;) he loves to sing and LOUD - especially in the car! His favorite is the "Songs for the Book of Like" cd that Sojourn collaborated with other churches to create. It is so sweet to hear him sing such deep theological truths in such a precious voice! I could seriously listen to him all day... I basically melt every time we are in the car. He loves planes trains and cars, Jake and the Neverland Pirates, his "baby doggy" and pretend play. He loves to bring me presents (random toys) and when I ask if I can keep it forever, every time he says "no mom, it's to borrow, borrow means give it back". Haha. He also loves to "talk cars" with all of his hot wheels. He is the funniest most loving little guys - even though he is sometimes a little too rough with his sis. But it is the absolute best to hear them laughing and playing together!

Jon's business is going super great! He is so busy but still finds plenty of time to love on all of us :) we love his flexible schedule and appreciate so much his self discipline and commitment to work hard to provide for us. We are all headed to Destin, FL for vacation tomorrow, and are soooo looking forward to this vacation. Then next weekend we head from Destin, to Fort Myers to visit Jon's family! We cannot wait for his grandparents to meet Camille and to see how grown up Anderson is.

Here are a few recent pictures...

BLUUM July 2013 Review

I am WAY behind on posting a review for our July BLUUM box! I received it about 2 weeks ago! Let me start off by saying I was blown away this month by bluum's customer service. I had a concern about my box, contacted them about it, and within 24 hours was contacted back. They then proceeded to go above and beyond to make my bluum experience nothing short of amazing! This really impressed me! I love a company that stands behind their product and puts the customer first!! A+ BLUUM!!

Onto my box contents. I am going to make this short and sweet since their are a million other reviews out there that beat me to the punch! Here is a look inside my box....

I didn't go through and price each item this month, but just for a frame of reference, the funktion wristlet is for sale from the retailers website for $39!

That has to put the value of this box at well over $50!!

BLUUM subscription is $25 a month! 

Sign up with this link: http://bluum.me/14uSApw

And As far as I can tell the code PAMPERS will still save you up to 50% off!!

By using my link I will earn BLUUM points! So thanks if you do ;)

You have until this Saturday, August 10th at midnight to sign up if you want to get the August box! After that your firsts month will be September!

~Brooke

July Citrus Lane Box Review

We got our July Citrus Lane box for a 40 month old boy today in the mail (I upped his age a bit). Anderson was sooo excited to open it but I did manage to get a few pictures in. We were very pleased (and pleasantly surprised) with our box this month! Here are our contents...

A goodbyn bento box with dishwasher safe stickers to decorate it yourself! This was a huge hit because Anderson Loves stickers! We decorated it together immediately! And he wanted a snack in it right away. He has been carrying it around all morning!

This car was the first thing he noticed in the box. It is a Melissa and Doug paintable wooden car that you put together. Kind of like a first model car. Her actually has done a bigger version of this before and loved doing it so we were thrilled to get this! He cannot wait to paint it!

A pack of freeze dried just bananas - these were consumed immediately as you can tell from the empty package. A big hit! I was happy because Anderson is such a picky eater but he loved these - in my book that means that any kid would probably love them!

Cool it buddy instant ice pack. A 2 pack if single use ice packs that do not have to stay in your freezer - great for the accident prone kiddo ;)

Last, but not least, a certificate for 10 free postgrams. I have never used these before but am really excited to try them. They are photo postcards that you design yourself and the photo pops out as a keepsake for the recipient! Great for out of town family!! 

All in all we were very pleased this month!  The total cost I estimated for this box is...

Bento box - $8.99

Dishwasher safe stickers - $3.50

Wooden car paint set - $5.02 on sale on amazon (normally $8.99)

Cool Packs - $2.99

Just bananas - $1.50

Postgram - $0.99 per card (10 cards)

Total - $31.90 and that is with the car sale price

Last month we were disappointed with our CL box, but after this month, the great products and how excited Anderson was, I think we will keep it up!!

Here is a link to sign up and a coupon code for 1/2 off! 

Link: http://ctrus.me/cSJD

Coupon: TAKEHALF

This makes your fist box only $12.50 - totally worth it in my opinion!

I will get a credit if you use my link, so thanks a ton if you do!!

The 4th

It was kind of a bummer 4th of July since it rained ALL day! We had fun at a cook out, turned "cook in" this afternoon with some friends from church... Then had pizza and fireworks at my parents house this evening (it was even sprinkling while we did fireworks). Last year Anderson wasn't a huge fan of fireworks, but this year he loved them! We even made a little vine video of him saying "wooo, 'Merica" haha it was pretty cute. If you aren't on vine, I highly recommend it! It is a fave phone app of ours! Here are a few pictures from our evening!

That tongue! He seriously has it sticking out any time he is concentrating:

There is that tongue again... And yes, his shoes are on the wrong feet! Haha!

I am hoping it is a sunny week because we have serious cabin fever from all the rain this past week! I even took both kids to the mall Tuesday to get out! We met Alyssa Laing and her kiddos... 4 babies in the mall is kind of crazy! But we managed to have some fun!! 

We cannot believe it is JULY! Life is flying by, and we are trying to enjoy all these sweet moments in the life stage that our babies are in - some days are easier than others ;)

Thankful for freedom, family, friends, and most of all faith in Christ! (How's that for some good southern baptist alliteration ;))

~Brooke

6 months old

I seriously cannot believe my baby girl is 6 months old today! (Partly because I keep thinking she would be 6 months on the 29th, not the 28th haha - I just can't seem to keep it straight! - he brother is September 29th). She is such a joy! Here are some baby Camille updates:

-she is so smiley! When she first wakes up she is just tickled and can't stop showing off that sweet toothless grin!

- she LOVES her daddy! If he is in the room all she is doing is trying to get his attention!

-she sits up great!

- she gets up on all 4s and rocks back and forth. She can move her knees but hasn't quite gotten her hand movement down yet, but full on crawling is in our near future!

- she loves food! (Total opposite of her brother). We haven't given her much more than table food to suck/ chew on. Apples, carrots, avocado, pears, watermelon, mango, mashed potatoes, and perhaps a few other things! She can't get enough and when we take it away she cries and cries!

- she laughs easy and is really ticklish

- she loves mommy to sing to her - you are my sunshine is her favorite!

- she loves her granna and lights up when she talks or sings to her!

- she has a tiny bit of stranger danger and does not like to stay in church nursery!

- she goo's and ga's like a champ! And when she cries it sounds like she says "ma-ma" which I think is pretty sweet because it sounds like she is wanting me :)

- she is seriously so pretty! Those BIG eyes and luscious lashes melt my heart (I think her eyes may turn green)

- she seems to love wearing bows and has never tried to take one off or acted like it bothers her- that's my girl!

I am seriously so in love with this little bundle! Her squishy legs are quite possibly my favorite thing ever, and I could just talk to her all day! I look so forward to developing a sweet relationship with my daughter. God is so gracious to have given us these precious children. Our hearts are so full!

I will do a little update Monday with some stats after our checkup!

BLUUM box and Citrus Lane box REVIEWS! JUNE 2013

Today I received my first BLUUM box, and my first Citrus Lane box! I was really surprised at how early they arrived! My initial thought on the boxes is that the Citrus Lane box was significantly smaller than the BLUUM box. Which was a bit surprising to me since they are the same cost. I will review the BLUUM box first. It is for a 7 month old girl....

The theme for this month is "sitting" which is great for us because that is exactly what stage our baby girl is in! The box was pretty heavy and packed full! I was impressed already on first glance.

Here are the Contents:

This book is so cute and comes with a rubber ducky bath squirty...

There are actually 2 Sippi Grips in this package, and they really have great grip on them so a sippy would not slip out of them! We will get a lot of use out of these starting in the next few months. I had another brand with my first and the sippys did sometimes manage to slip out!

These are baby sunglasses with a band to keep them from falling or being pulled off. We may use them, but they are not terribly stylish. The band however is soft and has a velcro closure so it can be adjusted to fit any head size.

I have never had a water thermometer for my children's baths, but I will most likely use it.. I just never bought one for myself.

The box also came with an Ella's Kitchen organic squeeze pouch, a vapur "The Anti-Bottle" water pouch for adults (or children), a parenting book called Brain Rules for Baby: How to Raise a Smart and Happy Child from Zero to Five, and a guide to early reading for your baby and toddler (an information booklet).

I loved this box! I was shocked by how many items it contained and that there were really no "samples". The parenting book alone is marked on the back as US $15 (which is what I paid for the whole box with a discount code). Here is the value (I googled each item):
Bath book and toy - $8.99
Brain Rules for Baby: How to Raise a Smart and Happy Child from Zero to Five - $15
Vapus "anti-bottle - $9
Ella's Squeeze Pouch - $1.99
Sippi Grip 2 pack - $15
KIdz Banz sunglasses - $17
Dreambaby bath thermometer - &7.99 on amazon - other providers offer it for $3.99

Total - $70.97 (using the cheaper price for the thermometer) - An excellent value at $25 for a one month subscription!

Now onto citrus lane...

This box was on the light size, which was a little disappointing considering it's already much smaller size. It is for a 34 month old boy. Here is the initial view

The card gives a list of what is inside. I was disappointed to only see 4 items.

The first item I saw was an iPlay sun hat. The one pictured on the card was a cute colorful hat, but mine was plain white - which i was not very impressed with. It is rather large and not terribly stylish. Not sure I will use it.

This is a Haba Toy sand castle mold, and again mine is more plain than any pictured on the card. It is ust basically a brick - a sandcastle wall is how the haba website describes it.

I loved this chalk, and so will Anderson! the gripper keeps their hands clean - which i really appreciate.

Last, a sample size of Episencial sunscreen.

Honestly, i was pretty disappointed with this box. it was my first so I was able to get it at a discount, but had I paid the $25 for the month I would have been very disappointed! Here is the cost breakdown:

iPlay hat - $7.99-$12 (differing sites)

Sandcastle mold - $4.74

Chalk - $4.56

Sunscreen - (2.7 oz full size is on sale for $11.85 So I will be generous and say this is worth...) $9

Total Value: $30 and that is using hte $12 price for the hat

I have a credit on my citrus lane account so I will probably get on e more month - maybe this was just an off month, but based on the contents of this box, I would not renew if I did not have the credit. It seems to me that the only thing my son will be excited about is the sidewalk chalk - which was the item with the least value. Sorry Citrus Lane, but BLUUM blew you out of the water in my opinion! 

Here is a coupon code to both companies if you are interested - you may have loved the things in my CL box, and if so go for it! Maybe next month's box will be great! But, I would HIGHLY recommend BLUUM! I was thoroughly impressed!

Also if you sign up through my links, I will get a credit to my account!! 

BLUUM Code: PAMPERS - not sure when this code expires! BUt I would pay full price for this box honestly!

Use my link to sign up! http://bluum.me/14uSApw 

CL Code: TAKEHALF 

Use my link to sign up! https://www.citruslane.com/invitedby/citrus.lane.966622

3 Months / 2 and a half

The past 3 months have to had been the fastest in my life. I seriously cannot believe that our girl is 3 months old! She is getting so BIG and  we are falling more and more in love with her each day! The house truly is sweeter with a baby girl around. Camille weighed 10lbs 11oz at her 2 month check up (which was about a week after she turned 2 months), but we have not had a weight check since then. We graduated her up to 3-6 month clothes on her 3 month "birthday". She can still sit into many of her 0-3 month clothes, but some are too short. She is LONG.

She can roll over from belly to back and does so pretty much any time we have tummy time. She goo's all the time and is very smiley. She is awake and alert most of the day besides a morning nap and an afternoon nap. Thankfully, she takes an afternoon nap the same time as her big brother most days - which mommy really appreciates! Camille still loves to be snuggled and held close and tight. She loves her activity mat and concentrates so hard to get her hand up and bop all of her toys. She is really good at it - better than I remember Anderson being at her age. She is a great nurser - eating every 3 ours during the day, and then doing a long stretch from midnight until anywhere from 4-6am! I cannot believe that I regularly get a 5 or 6 hour stretch! Anderson didn't let me sleep that long until he was like 10 months old! It is an incredible, unexpected blessing! And since I am such a night owl, it really is only waking me up once a night. We love our soft, sweet, snuggle bunny girl! Her sweet goo's and happy shrieks bring a new joy to our house. Seeing her brother love on her multiplies it by 10! Being a family of four is better than we could have imagined!

 

"I love to roll over"

 

 I think she looks so big in this one!

 

Not so thrilled to be getting her picture taken

 

This one made me laugh... looks like she is gabbing to a friend

 

Happy girl!

 

They love each other so much!

 

Anderson is 2 and a half now! I am AMAZED at how he has grown and matured since his second birthday. His vocabulary and ability to carry on a conversation blow me away daily. Just tonight he was making a joke calling everything at dinner a cookie - we had breakfast and he was calling the sausage a "meat cookie". Then he told Jon his Eggs were all gone and when Jon acted surprised he said "I am just jokin daddy" haha. He is such a little nut. He loves to help me cook. Literally EVERY time I am in the kitchen he pulls a dinning room chair in to be my sous chef. He does a pretty good job too. Anderson is also such a big helper. He is very neat and tidy and picks up is toys so well. One day when picking him up from Sunday School, his teacher said "Anderson is such a good cleaner. He is the only kid that helped clean up and he picked up all the crayons by himself"! So proud of our little man. He has been all about mommy lately, wanting me to hold him - I think this is because of how my time is now divided between two kiddos, but he has been really sweet about it and never acts jealous. He loves pretend play, cooking me breakfast with pretend toys, (he always makes me eggs and coffee). He loves me to play cars and make them have conversations with each other. He LOVES to play games. Uno Moo and Silly Faces are his two favorite "board games" - we play them each at least 3 times a day. He also loves to play domino's and he can totally match them! I was impressed when he picked it up so quickly. One thing that makes me laugh is how much he STILL loves his little push "popper". I really think of it as a baby toy, but he still plays with it daily. I think it is in correlation with his cleaning obsession, because when he is finished playing with it he often parks it with my vacuum - haha. Anderson is seriously the easiest, best toddler that I can imagine. We are so blessed to have such a bright, loving son. Our hearts are overflowing every day!

 

Here is our silly boy. He has the funniest little personality; keeps us laughing!

 

 

Oh yeah, I cannot forget to mention that Anderson peed on the potty for the first time. He sat on the potty one night for 45 minutes because he wanted a "prize" so bad. He cried when he had to get off to go to bed, so the next morning he wanted to get right back on the potty and sat there for another 15 minutes before finally going. He got a small Hot Wheels and was thrilled. Then he had 2 accidents and much to my dismay told me now that he had his prize he didn't want to go to the potty again! My mom tried to get him to go at her house and he said "Ganna, Andersin not do dat stuff" and laughed. So we are back to square 1! Here is the proud boy when he actually had potty success! (Sorry to those of you that may not be interested in seeing toddler pee) 

 

 

~Brooke