One Month of Adelaide

It's hard to believe that Adelaide has been around for a whole month already. She's a fun little baby. Generally pretty mellow and content and happiest when she's being held. By my calculations, Adelaide is weighing in around 11 and a half pounds and measures 23 inches. She's still a big baby, which is good, because she's hearty enough to withstand Zara's affections.

Here's a few photos of Adelaide at one month:

Last Saturday, we hit the Provo River Trail to go on a family walk so I've included a few photos of our walk as well.

Bridal Veil Falls

David and Zara running along the trail.

Adelaide just hung out in her stroller. 

Adelaide's Blessing

My cousin got married last week and his nuptials prompted several family members to come into town for the event including my parents, grandma and several cousins. We wanted to take advantage of their presence and decided to bless Adelaide at my aunt's house last Sunday, on Father's Day. My dad, Uncle Mark, and several cousins and cousins-in-law were able to participate in the blessing.

David blessed Adelaide to be a good example to those around her, including her siblings, and to get a good education so that she can achieve anything she wants to in this life.

I really liked being able to bless Adelaide at home--and not in church--and to have it just be an intimate moment with family members.

Adelaide with Great-Grandma Hayman

Zara loves being a big sister. 

Andrew Harrison (cousin), my dad, Zara (she was not a blessing participant), David (with Adelaide), Mark Harrison (uncle), Justin Marshall (cousin's husband) and Justin Harrison (cousin)

Our little family

By the Numbers

Today is our 5th anniversary. We had a nice family breakfast before David departed for work. He's flying to Maryland tonight for a job interview so we won't get to do anything incredibly special today, so it was nice that he went to work a little late so we could spend some time together. The big number 5 (so long, I know!) had me reflecting on the other numbers of our relationship. We've done some pretty cool things in our years together. So here's our marriage, by the numbers:

7 years together, 5 years married

Our Wedding, 6 June 2008, San Diego Temple

One honeymoon to the Big Island of Hawaii

2 Crazy Children

Adelaide Grace Malone, born 20 May 2013

Zara Hope Malone, born 31 August 2010

 3 Moves (Hawaii, Korea, and Utah) and probably a fourth one coming up!

Gyeongbokgung Palace, Seoul Korea

Pali Lookout, Hawaii

4 Countries Visited (Korea, Taiwan, China, and USA)

Great Wall of China, Beijing China

Sun Moon Lake, Taiwan

1 super awesome cross-country road trip

Sequoia National Park, California

Vicksburg Civil War Battlefield, Mississippi

Route 66, Oklahoma

4 degrees (AA in Korea, BS in Accounting, MBA in finance for David and a MA in American Studies for me!)

1 house (a condo in Hawaii)

5 cars (2 in Hawaii, 1 in Korea, and 2 in Utah)


It's been a wonderful 5 years. I'm looking forward to the next 5 and many more after that!

Newborn Love

Whenever I imagined my future life with kids, I always pictured them as older children. I had never spent much time around young, young children and even though Zara is almost 3 years old, I still [mostly] have no idea what to do with her. But I do look forward to having older children, who can talk and read and reason and to teaching them from my vast amounts of wisdom and knowledge. (Ha!) I think that time comes around the age of 8, so in the meantime, I'm just trying to survive the early years.

I do, however, LOVE the newborn stage. Love it. Having sweet Adelaide around makes it even more difficult to practice patience with Zara's more colorful antics (especially her current insistence that she do everything herself...even when she realistically can't). And best of all, Adelaide never talks back and never throws tantrums....and if she does, it's generally solved by offering her more milk. Zara is not so easy to appease these days.

I love newborn cuddles and snuggles. I love the way Adelaide burrows her head into the crook of my neck and how I could sit and hold her for hours and be perfectly content. I love the little grunts and groans and snorts she makes when sleeping and I even mostly love her cries for milk or a diaper change. I love watching the various expressions that flit across her face as she sleeps and dreams, from pouty faces to angelic smiles (which show off her little dimples). I love the way she stretches and how she gets milk all over her face when she eats.

It's just too bad that newborns have to grow up. Mostly, that's a good thing. Newborns are a lot of work, but while it lasts, I really enjoy it. My friend, a photographer, needed a newborn model for her etsy shop (where she sells photography props) and I was more than happy to volunteer Adelaide. These are a few of the photos she took of Adelaide last week. I'm still waiting for her to send me the proofs (without her tag) but I just couldn't resist sharing the adorableness that is Adelaide.