What has happened?

Don't worry, I haven't slipped and broken both arms leaving me incapable of typing, I haven't fallen into the volcano that is nearby (known as Mt. Rainier) or been deported back to South Africa. I'm ok, really. Compared to the excuses mentioned above, my real excuse...ehm...reason sound pretty lame. But the truth is I just have been trying to keep up with the dishes never mind my blog. Sorry, Cameron wrote it into our wedding vows that clean dishes and clothes are a must. :)


Every time I think about everything I need to update you on, I get more and more overwhelmed. Not to worry, eventually I will tell you guys everything that's been going on...here's just a little bit to whet your appetite. Malone is crawling...yes, she is everywhere. But even more importantly (or more scary?), she is pulling herself up onto things and is standing and unfortunately, falling as well. That is also part of my time dilemma. I feel like all of a sudden I have to be with her constantly for fear that she will split open her lip, get her eye poked out by the coffee table's corner or pull the tv onto her (not likely if anyone has ever seen our bohemoth of a tv). I realize she has to learn and my fears are somewhat irrational but it just takes a little more time to keep an eye on her and hold her hands while she is wanting to walk everywhere.

Excuses, excuses, I know! Just know that the Schaefer clan loves you all dearly.

Minor Parenting Victory, grass and noggins

I love Malone. I love how silly she is. I love her little smile. I love when she gets the hiccups like she has right now. I love hearing her trying to tell me a story. I love it when she holds my face with both her hands and smiles. Agghhh, it warms my little heart just to think about it. And now I love that she is sleeping in her own crib and through the night. With this new and recent adjustment I feel like so much more has changed in her than just her sleeping location. I feel like she's more grown up. Like she's one step closer to going to leaving the house and going to college (I don't even want to think about Kindergarten at this point).

Is every step of her growth and development going to be this bittersweet?

In other news, I have to tell you what a rock star husband I have. He spent all last weekend (with the help of some friends and one really nice neighbor) preparing our backyard for topsoil, laying the topsoil, fertilizing, and laying sod in our backyard. He worked so hard. I was impressively impressed with his yard work skills. I, on the other hand, felt like a total loser who just sat on the steps and watched. Granted, I was put in charge of Malone (much harder according to Cameron although I think he was trying to be nice). Still I felt like this was totally something I should've been helping with, out there sweating, getting sand under my nails and mud on my face. Anyways, the grass is laid. Now we just have to put up a fence and finish our patio. Here's some pictures of the "sod party", our nice green grass and our sad little patio.

In even more other news, Malone has adopted a Yoga Crawl as her means of transportation. Let it be known that I think she's the inventor of the Yoga Crawl. As you can see in the following video, she does not crawl on her hands and knees like most babies. Instead she gets on her hands and her feet with her bum in the air, very similar to a yoga pose whose name I cannot remember and then she goes into the yoga pose, "downward dog" although Malone is less graceful and instead just jumps forward onto her face. Nonetheless, she is on the move.

And for our last story of the evening, I took Malolo to the doctor on Tuesday for her six month check-up. And did we have a heck of a time. The doctor came in and started checking her out and at first she was a bit cranky (darn appointments right in the middle of nap time) but then all of a sudden she started laughing hysterically at the doctor. I think it was a bit of a nervous laugh but funny nonetheless. In fact, so funny that I was laughing hysterically as well all the while the doctor looked at us like we were coo- koo. Despite the jokes, Malone is healthy and strong with a bit of a big noggin (65th percentile for her head circumference). Apparently, she's smart too! Isn't that what a big head means?

Sorry, one more addition. We went to something called Seafair on Saturday. Long story made short, ever watch "The Deadliest Catch" on Discovery Channel? For those of you who have no idea what I'm talking about, its a tv show that chronicles the adventures of crab boats fishing in the REALLY cold, crazy waters near Alaska. Anyways, we got to go aboard "The Northwestern" (one of the boats) and meet the Captain and the crew. It was pretty awesome. We got to go aboard because one of Cameron's pilot training classmates did a fly over for the fair and got us VIP passes. Fun, huh?

Well, I better go before Malone has my hair for dinner...ouch!!

Videos Galore

As promised here are some videos of our little munchkin.

We were sitting in the livingroom while Christelly played with my hair. Suddenly she got Malone laughing so hard!! It was really funny.



Malone with blankets/rags over her head. And then she laughs like its really funny that she can't see anything. Here she was playing with a rag and trying her best to crawl.



There you go. Enjoy!

Attention All Readers: Pictures of the new house will be posted soon! I know I have built a heap of anticipation in your hearts. But now, I am taking on my motherly role and trying to teach you a little bit of patience. :) Cameron is on a little trip and accidentally took the camera along (a collective "Boo!" is in order). However, Malone and I are having a great time, playing with one another, reading, taking walks and just enjoying our time together. Since last week, she has become a rolling master, no longer safe on the couch, bed or anything she can roll off of. This is exciting because it is a pretty big sign of her growing like she should, however, it means that she is well on her way to becoming mobile and no longer "safe". But we are excited about her new skills and try to work on her sitting up and crawling skills. So far, she is getting the hang of crawling backwards, however, forwards is still a bit frustrating to her no matter what I dangle in front of her.

OK, so since I don't have anything exciting to report on I thought I would tell you some random things about Malolo and I.

1. Sometimes when people ask me how old I am, I instinctively want to say 22. Why, I don't know...maybe because it as a big year? I don't know.

2. Malone's favorite toy right now is her brightly colored KEYS. They are the magic keys that will soothe aching gums, provide entertainment and unlock the door to sleepy- time in the car.

3. I just discovered that I don't like to watch Dr. Phil. Somewhere, Cameron is rejoicing.

4. I don't think Malone has a very developed olfactory system. Why? Sometimes in the morning when she wakes up and is all googly, we like to play. She never seems to flinch at my morning breathe. Either she's a really good actor or can't smell very well.

5. Cameron always accuses me of being a fake coffee drinker. He says that I drink Starbucks just because its cool, because I never finish my drink. In all reality, I love my tall- upside- down Caramel Macchiato. I just can't guzzle it down like him. And, its almost like a snack to me, not so much a thirst quencher. Sometimes, I get busy and forget about it (if we're at home) or sometimes, I just get full.

6. I have a secret (I guess not so much anymore) theory that there's a lot of people in Colorado who pretend to like outdoorsy stuff because they live in Colorado. My friend Sarabeth always makes fun of me for this theory. However, this is the first time I might admit to being wrong in my theory. I like Washington. Washington is outdoorsy. I miss outdoorsy stuff. I'm excited to take Malone to the mountains.

7. I have childhood memories that no one in my family remembers.

8. Yes and Lolo loves her daddy.




There you go folks. Hope life is going well for you. It is for us :)

crawling and old navy meltdowns

I'll try to make this quick since I have a baby who just fell asleep and is already making noises of waking up. A few things of interest for this week: crawling...or attempting to, an Old Navy meltdown and being a single parent. First things first, our wonder-child is attempting to crawl at the ripe old age of 2 weeks. Is this normal? Below, you'll see a video of this marvel along with hearing her version of what baby dinosaurs sound like. Perhaps she'll be crawling around in a few weeks (a possibility if she really is the child prodigy we think she is) or she'll just be exercising her legs like this for a while. Either way, she loves her tummy time and looks absolutely adorable attempting to crawl.


Did I mention that I have officially been a single parents for the last few days as Cameron is enjoying some Air Force training at the beach in Florida? The things our tax dollars pay for! I have no idea how single parents do it. It is crazy! If I manage to get out of my pajamas and find a way to eat lunch, I consider it a victorious day. Not to mention that exercise time with Mommy isn't exactly as much fun as exercise time with Daddy. I'm sure Malone is getting sick of just seeing my face all the time. All that to say that we miss Cameron very much.

Lastly, I attempted to take her on our first outing alone the other day. For any new mom, the idea of still wearing maternity pants because nothing else fits AFTER you have already had the baby is not a very exciting thing. Hence, I decided to go buy a pair of cheap pants at Old Navy to feel like a normal human being again. I took Malone, fed, changed and sleeping. I towed along the diaper bag and the stroller, figuring this will be the easiest way of getting some shopping done. By the time I got to Old Navy, took out the stroller, attached the bar to fit the car seat in the stroller, while still nervously keeping an eye on my newborn (I'm trying to be a good mom and not leave her unattended :), attached her in her car seat to the stroller, she awoke and started crying. But gosh darnit, I was determined to make this shopping trip work. It was probably a bit of me trying to hold on to my independence that now is long gone. So I took my crying newborn into Old Navy and even managed to find some jeans I liked. Then the "I'm just waking up in a strange place" little cry turned into full blown hysteria along with the little goat cry (the one where her little chin quivers). People were staring, I was trying my best to calm her, jeans falling over the the side of the stroller. It was a mess. I ended up handing over the clothes I wanted to try on to a sales associate who could see the desperation in my eyes and took pity on me and we left. I must say I felt a little defeated after our Old Navy meltdown. Am I ever going to be able to leave the house again? In any case, not sure if its bravery, stupidity or necessity, but I'm going to try again today, with a trip to the grocery store.

Oh...little Missy is awake and in need of some nutrition, so I need to run. I'll try to keep you all updated on how the grocery store trip went. I leave you with a most beautiful sight that I get to see every day (and for right now, every minute)...