Before Anderson Arrives... I need your help!

Before Anderson arrives I have several SEVERAL things on my to do list. I need to get our bedroom upstairs finished so we can set up the nursery, sew a few more pillows for the nursery, enjoy 1 more baby shower, get rid of TONS of clothes Jon and I do not wear, have a yard sale with our pile in the basement, actually figure out what we still need before our little man arrives, finish our cloth diaper stash so we have enough for him, and the list goes on...

BUT, I could really use your help on one thing. I want to make ahead some meals that I can freeze and pull out after he is born! Do you have any good make ahead and freeze recipes? If so post them as a comment! We love to try new things and I am hardly ever organized enough to make ahead a meal, so my list of make ahead and freeze meals begins and ends with lasagna! Can't wait to try all your recipes!

Maternity Pics

We had so much fun getting our maternity pictures taken! I was kind of nervous about them because what girl wants to have her picture taken with 20+ extra pounds on her?!?! We haven't gotten all of them back yet, but Jason has posted several on his blog if you want to see what we have seen! Can't wait to get them all and post some on our blog! We love what we see so far!


~Brooke

I won another giveaway!!

I'm so excited - I won another giveaway! I signed up for a giveaway hosted by The Minimal Mom Blog and I won!! I will be receiving this adorable nursing cover which I am so excited about! I don't have one yet. Thanks Cambria - the author of Minimal Mom :)

Baby Shower Fun

I had such a wonderful Baby shower hosted by my sweet friends Alyssa Laing and Lindsey Poenie! All of our friends were so sweet to celebrate with us and to provide so many wonderful and adorable and necessities for baby Anderson! Here are a few pictures from the shower - these are actually from Alyssa, I still need to upload the ones from my camera!
Mom sis and I:

The hostesses and I:

Friends!

And more friends!

We have another shower coming up on August 22nd hosted by my sis and my mom's sweet friend Lynn Ringo! It is so fun to celebrate this new chapter in our families life.

Another exciting thing is that we ordered our infant car seat last night! It is a "babies r us exclusive" and keeps going in and out of stock which was making me so nervous that it could go out of stock and we couldn't get it to bring Anderson home! So we used some gift certificates and a coupon and ordered it last night. Can't wait for it to arrive.

Jon and I have also been excited about the new life stage and have spent hours talking and planning ways that we can really make Christ the center of our family, especially for our son. We are really excited to pray through this and seek wisdom from the Lord and others he has placed in our lives as we implement changes in our home to better honor and demonstrate Christ to one another and our friends, family and neighbors. We have really enjoyed some of the baby classes Baptist East has to offer, and are excited for the up and coming conference hosted by Southern "Connecting Church and Home". We really want to take advantage of every opportunity to parent and lead our family the way God has created us to do. You can join us in praying this for our family and especially for Jon as he leads us in this direction.

I know I haven't posted any belly pictures in a while, BUT on Saturday we are having maternity pictures taken by the wonderful Mr. Jason Coobs! Jason also did our wedding pictures and we were just thrilled with them. SO keep your eyes on his blog next week and maybe you will get a sneak peak, but once we recieve them I will definately be posting some belly pictures :)

Online Bargains!

I have several websites that I check everyday for bargains! Right now one that I love is offering a special that if you sign up you get a free $10 shopping credit! It is a bargain site that updates with new deals daily and has clothes, accessories, household items, vacation deals, etc that change daily! It is called RueLaLa, but you have to have an invitation to get the $10 so follow the link below, sign up, and you get $10 FREE! Here's the Link:
http://www.ruelala.com/invite/bmalko

And while I am at it here are some others I love to check... follow the links to sign up for great daily deals...

http://www.zulily.com/referafriend/?15664 (Carries items for moms and children)

https://www.theminisocial.com/myaccount.php?invitation=49499 (Carries items for moms and children)

http://totsy.com/join/brookemalko (Carries items for moms and children)

http://www.gilt.com/invite/brookemalko (Carries Items for men, women, children, home, vacations, etc!)

Happy Bargain Shopping!

Delinquent Blogger

I know that I am totally a delinquent blogger. I have neglected our blog for quite sometime now for no particular reason other than I have wanted to post pictures but have been so busy that I haven't loaded any onto our computer in a while. In fact, we have been so busy we have not taken nearly as many as we should. My friends (particularly Jenna Hellekson) have been reminding me of my delinquent tendencies, so I gave into the peer pressure and decide3d to update the long overdue blog!

We have had so much going on lately! Conferences for me at work, Jon being so busy at work, and attending a conference himself! Baby stuff is also so consuming, not to mention trying to get our house ready for Anderson's arrival!!

Here are some things that have happened in the past few months...

• 2 Years! Well since the last time I updated was May 7th, I guess since then Jon and I have celebrated our 2 year wedding anniversary. We went to dinner at Vincenzo's - a wonderful fancy Italian restaurant here in town. We had a fantastic time talking about the wonderful, and not so wonderful things we went through over the past year, and looking forward to this year in ways we can better serve one another!
• Jon and I started to feel Anderson kicking around 19-20 weeks (very shortly after my last post). Now he is HUGE and kicks constantly all the way up to my ribs now, not only can we feel him but we can see him which i enjoy the most! I love the feeling and wouldn't mind if he moved around all day every day! It is so neat how he recognizes us - particularly Jon, and he moves differently when Jon talks to him than anyone else! I reallyt think Anderson can even recognize the feel of Jon's hand when he touches my belly!
• My little brother turned 18 and graduated High School - this is unreal to me!
• Jon and I took a trip to Orlando with Highview to serve at the Pastor's Conference for the 2010 Southern Baptist Convention. It was such a wonderful and exciting time as our pastor served as the President of the Conference. We (particularly Jon) were able to meet some incredible godly men who have impacted God's Kingdom in a lasting way! It was an honor to be a part of something so much "Greater Than" us! If you want to check out the "Backstage Videos" that Jon filed check them out here.
• Jon sold his car - this seems to be a small hobby of ours - I guess we have joined int he family business - haha. We have been trying to cut our budget back so that I can stay home as much as possible with Anderson. Once it was sold he purchased a "new" to us cheaper car that he loves and is having a ton of fun driving and doing small fun inexpensive things to make it nicer! He got a 1991 Mazda Miata. It is red and gets unbelievably low gas mileage and is one of the most reliable cars ever made! We are having fun zipping around town with the top down and were blessed to find one for so cheap and in such good shape!
• Jon installed a new bathroom sink into our little bathroom that was in desperate need of a makeover! We put in a pedestal sink that looks incredible, have 1 coat of paint on the wall, and are in love with it already (pictures to come)
• We went to Fort Myers to visit, take our family vacation, have a baby shower and participate in a wedding! We just got back last week. We were in Fort Myers from July 10th-17th and had a wonderful time with our family and friends! Jon and I were even able to get away just the 2 of us for 2 nights and 3 days at the Jupiter Beach Resort just north of Palm Beach for a babymoon! The Scroggins' Family recommended the place to us and we LOVED IT! We also enjoyed getting to visit First Baptist West Palm Beach and to have lunch with the Scroggins and Brandon Shields! Also while we were there Jon was in his great friend Ray Flowers' wedding. It was a great ceremony and reception and a fun time for Jon to spend with his oldest friends! Another wonderful part of our trip was the sweet baby shower that my friend Meg threw for us! I had such a wonderful time catching up with so many sweet ladies that I miss seeing so often! Jon and I are so blessed to have so much love and support from our family and friends that live 1000 miles away!

Some things we are looking forward to:

• Baby Shower #2 this Sunday! My wonderful friends Lindsey Poenie and Alyssa Laing are hosting a shower for some of the girls our age and I am so excited to celebrate our little man! We have another shower coming up in August hosted by my sis and sweet family friend Lynn Ringo as well!
• More home renovations - Jon and I have a plan to finish the upstairs in about a month so that we can move upstairs and finally set up the nursery! I'm getting kind of nervous about it since....
• We only have 10 weeks left in our pregnancy!!!! I cannot believe how quickly it has FLOWN by. We cannot wait to meet our little man!
• We have our 1st baby class at baptist east this Thursday night, and several more to follow in the weeks to come! I am excited to learn all that we can to prepare us for Anderson's arrival!

Whew - that was a lot of updating! If you have stuck with me this long I am impressed! I will try to be more consistent updating! You can join us in praying for the rest of our pregnancy, that Anderson develops completely, and that our delivery goes smoothly. We plan on doing natural childbirth, and I am equal parts excited and nervous, so lots of prayer for that would be appreciated! We have been so blessed throughout this pregnancy and have been praying prayers of thanksgiving for the Lord's provision and the way he has used our family and friends to show us so much love and support! The Lord is so faithful!

Belly Pictures

I know that these are long over due, and we haven't taken many, BUT my belly hasn't changed THAT much - the bump is relatively small - or at least it was in these pictures, I feel like over the past few days it has changed quite a bit so you may be surprised when I post next weeks - I'm going to be more constant and taking them and posting them now that things seem to be changing more quickly.

This is me on April 8th at 15 weeks

This is Jon at 15 weeks as well! haha! He will probably die that I posted this - he has NO belly bump ever - lucky man!

This is me at 19 weeks - the day we found out that we were having a boy!

A close up of Anderson right before we got to see actual pics of him.

Jon the right before we went to the Dr. to find out we were expecting a little boy - this picture was too handsome not to post!

Here is our little guy! Throughout the entire ultra sound he was making a little sucking motion with his mouth - he looked like he was trying to suck his thumb - he kept moving his little hand so close to his mouth but couldn't quite make it - you can see his hand and the blur motion of him trying to get it to his mouth in this picture....

You can see more of him in this one... my mom says his round forehead looks like mine and we all agree that his mouth and chin resemble Jon - that is our best guess so far - you can see his two little hands folded together near his mouth and at the right you see a knee and a foot above it. At the bottom you can see his little spine - so precious! We can't wait to meet him!

There are a few more pics on facebook if you click the link below you can probably see them but I think these 2 are the best!

http://www.facebook.com/?ref=logo#!/album.php?aid=2013850&id=176700075

This past weekend we registered at babies-r-us! It was really fun - my favorite things are the stroller and infant seat! I love the colors!

I feel like my belly has grown so much over the past week! I will take a picture tomorrow - I will be 20 weeks - HALF WAY! I can't believe how fast the time is flying! Continue to pray with us for this little miracle! That he grows healthy and strong, and that he will come to know the Lord as his Savior at a young age and serve the Lord faithfully with his life! Pray also for Jon and I, we are confident that the Lord will supply us with all we need! We just want to be the best parents we can and to worship the Lord with the way we raise our little man!!

I WON A GIVEAWAY!.... and just in case you hadn't heard it's a BOY!

I won a giveaway and it couldn't have been more perfect! Jon and I found out Monday that we are expecting Anderson James Malko, or sweet little man! We got to see him playing around in my belly! He weighs 10 oz and is about 7 inches long and we are more excited than ever to meet him!!!

Well, on Tuesday morning when I got into work I had an email from the blog http://www.thefashionablebambino.com/ that I had stumbled across and entered a giveaway on. I had entered it so long that I had forgotten about it. Well, I WON! And this is what we got...

http://www.kokopax.com/Products/city-classic-carrier.aspx

to see more pictures! We are sooo excited! And it couldn't have come at a more perfect time. We chose to get the stone color and are anxiously awaiting it's arrival, even though we won't be able to use it for a while! It is just a reminder that Sweet Anderson will be here before we know it!

My belly is also starting to get bigger - to those that don't know me I still may look just a little chubby, but my friends and family definitely recognize the baby bump. We have taken a few pics and I really will try to post some soon. Our lives are just so exciting right now and jam packed with preparation for all of these life changes! We would appreciate it so much if you would join us in Praying for Anderson, that he will be safe and healthy and that his mom will do everything she can to take the best care of him by taking good care of herself :) Also that the Lord will continue to prepare Jon and I to be parents - we are in much need of grace :)

Thanks!

The Diet of a Pregnant Woman

I haven't so much been craving weird or unusual things just very specific things like....

• Orange Juice - during the first trimester I drank OJ for 3 meals a day
• Eggs - or any Breakfast food for that matter
• BLT's - this is what I have for lunch nearly every day!
• Milk chocolate - which is weird b/c I normally prefer dark chocolate
• Green Beans - which I have never eaten before in my life but now I love them
• Grapes and Apples
• String Cheese
• A salad from the Outback - not sure why but this specif salad is what I want
• Bang Bang Shrimp Tacos from Bonefish Grill - this is a new one, but I have been thinking about them all day haha
• Root Beer - maybe this is because it wasn't until I was pregnant that I realized it was caffeine free!

Things I DO NOT want that I used to love

• Coffee - this is the main thing - i usually drink coffee every day and now the only coffee I could stomach is the fancy stuff not just a plain cup-o-joe.
• Diet Coke - i just don't ever really want it anymore
• Fried food - I can and have eaten it but I wouldn't pick it
• Yogurt - I know it is good for you but the thought of it isn't good

I have no idea why I want or don't want all these specific things, but as far as I hear it is common! Any Preggers out there wanna share what they love or hate??

Baby Crib

Tonight we went to USA Baby and ordered our crib! We are so excited! In less than 2 weeks we get to find out the gender, and it just feels like everything is going by quickly.... so exciting! Here is a picture of our crib - we aren't getting the other furniture pictured with it, just the crib its self... I love the round feet on the bed - it is my favorite part and what helped us to make the deciding choice on this crib! Can't wait to find out what we are having so that we can pick out bedding!