Another year has come and gone and we have had a wonderful time! Malachi has gone from a baby to...gasp...a toddler! He is a delightful, energetic, smart, ornery boy. God has been so faithful and truly never left our side. I have loved to see the way he has answered prayers for our little family. Being a mommy is a life of trusting that He knows what He is doing and entrusting my son to Him. I find I have to live by the song that says,
"I need You, O I need You, every hour I need You.
My One Defense, my Righteousness, O God how I need You!"
What an incredibly joy and what an incredible responsibility being a mommy is. When I see all that he is learning and how quickly it happens, the more I see how each moment, each word I say, each hug, each training time, each smile, each encouraging word, each Bible verse, each EVERYTHING matters. But then I have to remember that it isn't all up to me.
I plant the seeds...He WILL make them grow.
Malachi has an incredible memory for songs and books. Even after I have song a song or read a book one or two times he can "help" sing it or read it the next time. He loves the ABC YouTubes that I have saved for my students. He's always counting numbers and singing the ABC's. He loves to jump and run. We are really working on obeying "all the way, right away and with a happy heart." :) We are working on "memorizing" a few verses (or portions/paraphrases of verses). Our first one was "Love each other", then "Obey mommy, honor mommy, it is good for me." Right now we are learning "Unto us a child is born." We'll add more to it as the Christmas season goes on." :) I figure you can't start too young and I want good things going into this head that remembers and takes in so much!
Hope you enjoy this trip down memory lane of late 2012 and all of 2013. I pray you will be blessed by these pictures of my little guy :) Merry Christmas!
December 2012:
Just before Christmas last year 18 Millers/Schoonvelds went on a Western Caribbean cruise to Jamaica, Grand Cayman and Cozumel. Malachi did a great job and of course was well known around the ship. We thoroughly enjoyed each of the ports and had such a fantastic time.
 |
| 4 of my 5 handsome guys |
 |
| Paradise Island - Mexico |
 |
| With cousins in Jamaica - first time at the beach |
 |
| Chillin' |
 |
| Starfish! |
 |
| Malachi's first Christmas |
 |
| Playing with Grandpa - this picture is even more special as this was Grandpa's last Christmas with us. |
January 2013:
We had an January Christmas with the Miller side. Malachi was on the move and we enjoyed watching our Indiana Hoosiers play great!
 |
| Playing with cousins at family Christmas |
 |
| Just hangin' out at church with Daniel |
February 2013:
Malachi's birthday month! He started talking and could add the "i" at the end when you spelled his name :) One of the first things he said after Mommy and Noah ;) was "Thank you". He would surprise everyone at stores when he said it :) He took his first steps the night before his first birthday! I love his first birthday pictures taken by Annie Hill. I can't believe that my baby boy is growing so fast and I love the way his personality is being revealed!
 |
| Mommy and Malachi |
 |
| LOVE! |
 |
| 12 months old! Feb 28 |
 |
| Feb 28 - My Malachi's birthDAY |
 |
| Birthday playdate with Elijah |
 |
| Malachi loved his cake! |
March 2013:
 |
| Malachi's party - with cousins! |
Since Malachi's birthday is so close to the end of February, we had his first birthday party in March. he had a great time with our family and friends and Malachi loved his cake!
 |
With Mommy's friends (Malachi's Aunties!)
|
 |
| Malachi's Birthday Party |
 |
| Hoosiers - Big Ten Champs! |
 |
| Mr. Silly Face |
 |
| He thought he was so funny grabbing Mommy's Coke :) |
Easter 2013:
So much fun with family on Easter Sunday!
 |
| Silly cousins! |
 |
| The Easter who?? |
 |
| Happy Easter, precious boy! |
April 2013:
A fun trip to Iowa with our friend, Lori was a great say to start the month! Then we got to celebrate Grandpa and Helen's birthdays. Grandpa celebrated his 95th birthday.
 |
| One of our favorite places with some of my favorite people! |
 |
| Trip to Iowa |
 |
| Oh this handsome boy is goofy! |
 |
| Birthday party for Grandpa and Helen (Aunt Jo pictured here) |
May 2013:
What a sweet time celebrating Mother's Day with my silly boy! We also went to Miriam's dance recital - well, mommy went to the recital and Malachi stayed with Uncle Sean ;) He also had his first haircut while we were there.
 |
| Mother's Day |
 |
| Tried twists in Malachi's hair :) |
 |
| Playing with cousin Miriam |
 |
| Fun in the sun |
 |
| Miriam's dance recital |
June 2013:
Summer vacation! I enjoyed so much being home with my guy! We got to the pool as much as we could, but the summer was a bit cool. We went to story time at the public library and did our first summer reading program :) Of course we went to see Grandpa and Helen every once in a while too. Grandpa and Malachi did a great job of entertaining each other ;) We also celebrated Daniel's 9th birthday!
 |
| Playing with Grandpa - He was laughing hysterically! |
 |
| Story time at the library |
 |
| Boat ride! |
 |
| Celebrating Daniel's b-day! |
 |
| My little burrito |
 |
| Zoo time with Claire |
July 2013:
Fourth of July, trips to Elkhart, the Dunes and swim lessons! We had a fun time with the Schoonveld clan for the 4th of July. We went to Brook for the parade in the morning and then spent the afternoon in Indy. Malachi had swim lessons for the first time too and he enjoyed it - most of the time ;) We got to visit some friends on a weekend get away - however, the poor little guy had hand-foot-mouth disease while we were there. He was quite miserable but as usual he was quite a trooper and was able to get rid of his pacifier over this time (because he couldn't suck on it). We had such a wonderful summer!
 |
| Visiting Grandpa and Helen |
 |
| Small vacation: playing with a kitty at Theresa's |
 |
| So HOT! Playing with my friend's little girl, Bella |
 |
| Indiana Dunes - HOT! |
 |
| July 4th |
 |
| Playing with Elijah |
 |
| Swim Lessons |
August 2013:
Summer vacation was over :( It was very hard for Mommy to go back to work because she had to leave Malachi at daycare. He had some separation anxiety during this time but quickly got back into the rhythm of things. I soon found out that I had an amazing group of students who have knocked my socks off both academically and behaviorally.
Not only that, Malachi now is 18 months old!
We also had a fun time having cousin pictures taken by Annie Hill.
 |
| This crazy boy is 18 months old! |
 |
| Love LOVE the cousin photo shoot! |
 |
| Happy 1 1/2 bday! |
 |
| Love these three kids! |
 |
| We had trouble getting him to stand still so Mommy got in a couple of shots too :) |
September 2013:
Auntie Melissa (my very dear friend) got married!
We got to go see lots of football games and it was still warm enough to play outside!
 |
| At Auntie Melissa's wedding! |
 |
| Malachi and his daycare friends :) So cute! |
 |
| Malachi watching one of his two favorite football players :) |
 |
| Saturday fun at the park! |
October 2013:
During my week long fall break we went to San Diego, California! It was Malachi's first time on an airplane and his first time to meet cousins Kevin, Joy, Mary and Jason!
 |
| On first flight to California! |
 |
| Sunday at the beach! |
 |
| Love! |
 |
| Learned to love the beach :) |
 |
| Park, by the beach, sunset! |
 |
| Legoland! |
 |
| Met Kevin and Mary for the first time! |
 |
| So sweet! |
 |
| Cousin love! |
 |
| Malachi's other favorite football player! |
 |
| Visiting Grandpa - one of our last visits |
 |
| Malachi and Mommy after church! |
 |
| Wearing an outfit that was cousin Connor's |
 |
| Tractor with Caleb :) |
 |
| Halloween - seeing his favorite neighbors |
November 2013:
November 2 was a sad time for our family. My Grandpa Miller passed away. He was a great guy who loved Jesus, his family and farming. He is definitely missed. I'm thankful for the many visits and pictures that Malachi had with him. Malachi still says "Grandpa house?" "Grandpa chair?" We'll have to talk a lot about him so he can remember him - just like we do for Grandpa Larry and Grandpa Mim. I'm sure Grandpa Marvin told them all about Malachi when he got "home" to Heaven.
 |
| The first time Grandpa and Malachi met in March 2012 (with Aunt Jo) |
 |
| Reading with Helen and Jake |
 |
| Sitting at the desk at Grandpa's - taking a water break ;) |
 |
| Out cold! |
 |
| Cousins |
 |
| Wrestling with cousins |
 |
| M & M at Grandpa's funeral |
 |
| Video monitor reveals my boy attempting to get out of his crib! Yikes |
 |
| Chilling out reading books :) |
 |
| So big! |
 |
| Watching teddy bear NOT get out of his crib :) |
 |
| My sick baby boy :( |
 |
| Having his "noisy" |
 |
| Thanksgiving - hanging out with the big "kids"! |
 |
| Watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade! |
December 2013:
 |
| At Colts game with my friend, Lori |
 |
| Go Blue! |
 |
| Learning about "Mary", "Joseph", "Donkey" and "Cow" :) |
 |
| My handsome Santa! |
 |
| My wiggly boy! |
So many wonderful memories! So much growing up - for both of us ;) I pray that TRUE story of Christmas will grip your heart and you will understand this great grace and love He has for us. I'm learning more about that grace and love more and more as I love and train my little boy.
Merry Christmas everyone! We love you!
