Merry Christmas

Saint Nicholas Day!

As Eastern Orthodox Christians, we celebrate feast days for particular Saints. So Yesterday we celebrated the Feast of Saint Nicholas December (6/19). Yes, yours truly--the real Saint Nicholas. It is traditional for the children to receive Coins (chocolates) and other treats in their shoes on this day. Our family also opens stockings on this day...so here is a picture of Arseny's shoes filled with his "treats" and one of Matthew with Arseny opening his stocking. On the wall along with his icon, we made a Saint Nicholas calendar (we put on a cotton ball for every day starting on the 1st of December until he had a full beard--December 19) this was fun! Read the life of the historical Saint Nicholas here.

"Do you like my hat?"

"I do. What a hat! I like it! I like that party hat!"

Hop on Pop

God Grant You Many Years!

On this last Sunday December 9th we had Kyra baptised at Church. She was baptised Kyranna (and is also named after) her Patron Saint--Saint Kyranna of Thessaloniki. A baptism is always a beautiful event so here are some pictures to Share! May God Grant her Many Years!

Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow...

So it snowed here recently in Walla Walla and we've had some good fun with a sled recently. It's hard on moms when it's cold outside because little ones get cooped up in the house and can't get outdoors as easily. So the times we do get outside take some prep work. This includes a snowsuit, hat, boots, and gloves. The only problem is... Arseny doesn't want to wear ANY of these items. For some reason he's terrified of his snowsuit and hates his gloves and boots. The only thing he will wear is his hat which he successfully puts on backwards everytime. So When we were going outside for a mommy and Arseny snowday, I calmly explained that if he wanted to go out he had to wear all items. The contemplation on his face was priceless! So began the tantrum and I'm sure you can envision a mom calmly stuffing her toddler into a snowsuit with all limbs flailing about.

We finally got outside and Arseny found that it wasn't so bad but the gloves were still and issue. He didn't like the way they felt when he rode his bike. He'd go to put his hands on the handlebars and inches before he touched them he'd scream and shake his hands because he wanted those darn things off. Everytime I turned around he was trying to get them off and a couple of times he succeeded but we'd go inside if he did take them off, have a "talk" and then he'd come back out with them on and we'd start all over again. It was exhuasting...and this was supposed to be a fun time with mommy to make a snowman and ride the sled. It turned out Mommy made the snowman and Arseny rode his bike on the sidewalk but was mad because the snow made it so the bike wouldn't go. OHHHH as you can guess a nap shortly followed this event. So here are our pictures of our snow day...keep an eye out in the last one...you'll see you know who finally getting those nasty gloves off!

Everyday Fun!

Wow, time flies when you're having fun! Well--a month has gone by so quickly and Kyra is already 6weeks old. We're starting to get into a routine and I think Arseny realizes that she's here to stay...yep I think we'll keep her. She is an absolutely wonderful baby. She seems to be content 90% of the time which is a blessing from up above. God must have known I needed an easy one considering Arseny cried for the first 6-8 months. So we've been keeping up with the everyday things. We've been trying to take some pics to send to Grandma and Grandpa to show what everyday life was like so here are a few...

Kyra being extremely content...big surprise
Arseny loving his Sister
Arseny brushing his teeth (at all times of day)
Arseny eating (wearing) Spagetti
...and two little munchkins loving a ride in our double stroller (this was before it snowed) so stay tuned for snow pictures.

Adjusting

Well, week one was a whirlwind and week two was a little harder and now it's the end of week three and Matthew and I are feeling it. We officially are the parents of TWO children. Why is this so hard? People say going from one to two is the hardest thing you'll do...I think they may be right. I've learned this week (my first week at home with Arseny and Kyra alone---Matt went back to work) that you can do absolutely nothing but take care of kids. There is no getting online, cleaning the house, or making some various baked goods (not that I ever did anyway), even going somewhere downtown with the both of them can turn into a disaster--as I found out! If you attempt any of this it usually ends up an unfinished task and usually 2 out of the 3 of us are crying for some reason or another. Instead...we play ball, watch various educational videos, play with toys, read books, go for walks (thank you double stroller!) watch more videos--and try to hook up with other stressed out moms so that our children can play and get tired so they'll take naps. Speaking of naps...you might be thinking that I would somehow have some free time during naps...think again, for some reason these little guys sense that when one is sleeping that they (the other) must wake up. I kid you not...it's happened all week! My rant here is not ill intended...it's actually humorous at times (you have to make yourself laugh) and I think that I'll remember this time years from now and be happy I had the experience---It doesn't last forever.
So this week however, Arseny has...fallen off the couch after being told not to stand or jump on it repeatedly, has learned to climb up on EVERYTHING (he learned to use his step stool), then he stole a fork out of the dishwasher and boogied through the kitchen as fast as he could only to fall with it in hand (I was sure that one was a trip to the ER---although both eyes were intact) he's been confined to the stroller everywhere we go because when given the liberty to hold my hand and walk he pulls the old limp fish trick where he unsuccessfully tries to get away from me. He's been pulling hair, saying NO extra loud, and I could go on but he's basically just doing a very good job at being a one and half year old. However, he's struggling to figure out how to share mama with that little baby. I know all of this is normal with a huge adjustment but it's been a terrorizing week. Needless to say, I have spent the little time I've had thinking, reading, asking other moms and looking into how I can work to smooth over this transition and keep my very strong willed toddler entertained. I know it will get better---hopefully just soon TGIF! Daddy is home for the weekend!

Pretty in Pink

So early on Friday Morning, we checked into the hospital and knew that in a few short hours we would be meeting our daughter for the first time. It was scary but exciting. Everyone right down to the nurse who just wheels you from one place to another was so warm and caring. I was nervous about having another C-Section and staying at the hospital as I would have preferred to have a more natural and comfortable atmosphere but it turns out that my babies will all be born by C-Section and so I'm becoming more comfortable with the hospital routine. I must say I was pleasantly surprised at the wonderful care we received at St. Mary and felt very taken care of by all the doctors and nurses that assisted us.

Kyra (which is what we'll call her) is doing great! She eats and sleeps and rarely cries...at first I thought something was wrong with her but come to find out this is how most babies are their first weeks of life. Arseny on the other hand cried and rarely ate or slept, GOD IS GRACIOUS! I'm glad I had the hard one first ;) Recovering has been and will be a long process, I'm trying to lay low but it's hard when you're home...you tend to want to pick up the toys or the maccaroni and cheese that's on the kitchen floor but you have to just let it go. It's easy to forget that you had major surgery.

Arseny is doing really well despite all circumstances. He spent a lot of time with daddy while I was staying in the hospital. He was a little afraid the first time they came to visit, I got a little bit of the cold shoulder but he perked up after a little while...he was afraid of the IV's in my hand and would hide his face if the nurses tried to talk to him. Now that we're home he's just a peach. We thought he'd have trouble with me holding the baby but it turns out that he has a major problem if DAD holds the baby...that was funny. Over all he is not jealous at all and shows much love toward his little sister. He's very curious about her and we let him touch her "Gentle" and he gets really excited about this. Whenever he refers to her or sees her he changes the tone of his voice to a really sweet and light sound, points or reaches for her and says "dee da" sister?... baby? we're not sure but it's really cute. We let him play with her blanket and take her hats and socks. We also let him jump in and explore her bassinette. I think all our hard work preparing him with the baby doll and talking about it has really paid off. They're going to be best friends I think ;)

Matthew is off from work, glory to God! So we are lucky to have some great quality family time. Although it's been a little hard getting used to two little ones. We each have one to watch now and it can be a juggling act at times. Over all Matt has been Super Dad and I can't imagine trying to do this without him. We also have such great friends and church family who have helped us with Arseny and brought us meals, prayed for us, visited and just have been supportive through this whole process. I'm so amazed and can't imagine not having this support network of wonderful people. Thankyou to everyone! We're all doing well and we'll keep you posted on what's new. Thanks for stopping by and checking in on Malenky's World. Anna

...SHE'S HERE!

Well, guess who made her grand entrance into Malenky's World?

Kyranna Magdalene Harrington was born last Friday October 26th at 8:33am. She weighed in at 7lbs 14oz and was 19 1/2 inches long. She is a beautiful and big healthy girl. I think she looks like Matthew. More pictures to come!

...Still Waiting

So what have we been up to?

Well we're still waiting for our newest little Harrington to arrive...4 days until D-Day but who's counting right? Well aside from the obvious we're just trying to keep our normal schedule around here. Arseny is adding to his vocabulary. Today he said his first "name" (of someone else other than MAMA) He has a friend we often spend a lot of time with who's just a little older than him and just absolutely adores--his name is Asher and today we went and played with Asher and he kept saying it in the car---very cute! Arseny has also been very curious about cats and dogs lately...funny today we went on a walk and a neighborhood cat followed us 4 blocks home and he thought is was the greatest thing. Then later this morning we went to the coffee shop and met up with Asher and they played ball with the next door winery's dog who would fetch the ball and then drop it at their feet. He was in hog (or shall I say dog) heaven....cats and dogs galore today!

Matthew is working away busy with his job...I'm just hanging in there trying to prepare for our little girl and we're all looking forward to the holiday and Nativity season. I'm sure we'll have more pictures than ever to share once we meet our little girl. For now here is a pic of Matthew and Arseny going on their evening run (Matt and Arseny go on a jog after Matt gets home from work) and of course Arseny rides in the Jogger "Arseny's bike" and then the other picture is just one of me 9 months along---we realized that we didn't really take any pictures of me pregnant this time around so we snapped a few.

My Little Pumpkin

We went to the Pumpkin patch recently. It's a fun Fall outing! Klickers here in Walla Walla always has great holiday and seasonal set ups for families. You can go and get your Pumpkin in the fall, they have wagons for hauling and a huge hay bale mountain with a slide down it for the kids to play on. During Christmas time there are of course trees to choose from and actual Reindeer out at the farm there.

So at the patch Arseny and Matt of course went down the slide and climbed on the hay bales and then explored the Pumpkins. Afterward we went and got Hot Chocolate downtown as a treat. It was a lot of fun! Here are some pictures of our outing.

"Fair Days"--Kiddie Rides!

How could I forget the Kiddie Rides??? This was the best part. So we totally intended not to put Arseny on any rides thinking that he was too small. However Emma was riding the rides and as we entered "kiddie land" to find Emma and her mom Arseny threw up his hands with glee and just squealed with delight. He saw all the lights and music and kids and of course Emma riding rides. Matt and I looked at each other with a "what do we do" look??? So we searched around and saw that on the Carousel a parent could accompany little ones. We bought our tickets and Matt and Malenky got on. I thought for sure he would cry and want off but boy was I wrong. All I saw going round and round (as I was trying to get pictures) was a big GRIN from dad and smiles ---all smiles from the Malenky. I don't think I've laughed that hard in a long time. It was just precious to see.

"Fair Days"

So every year around the Labor Day Weekend the SE Washington Fair happens here in Walla Walla. Every year we don't go! People who know Matt pretty well tend to know that he doesn't really like the fair---I know, party pooper---however this year it was a little different. We had Malenky!!! and we wanted to make an outing of it. So earlier in the day Arseny and I went to the fair with our friends Denise, Asher and Selah while dads were at work and checked it out. He rode the John Deere Tractors through the Hay Bale Maze and then of course didn't want to get off. Then we went over and checked out the roping and riding of horses and hay bales. In the picture above our friend Gustavo is trying to rope the hay bale steer but Arseny is in the way taking "the bull by the horns" it was fun but very hot so after a good nap at home we trucked on back in the evening with our friends the Philos to visit Old McDonald's farm and check out the kiddie rides. I thought the dad's complete with strollers in the picture above was quite funny as we were passing the animal barns---OH how things have changed! Then Arseny got to see all the animals at the baby animal farm. Here's Matt and Malenky staring down the Llama...we weren't quite sure if it was going to spit or not so we stood back a little bit. Then Arseny got to pet the baby horse, and he saw goats, pigs, bunnies etc. He LOVED it! So did we, it's amazing how excited you get for your children when they get to experience something for the first time. Amazingly we got in the car to go home and Matt said "that actually wasn't too bad and surprisingly pleasant" I couldn't believe it! We did have a really good time!

So what's going on lately?

So what have we been up to lately... nothing really exciting, we're just trying to get through the remainder of August and into September and we're almost there! In the mean time we've been doing a lot of playing in the house (too hot and muggy outside this week). Here's Arseny with his bucket--and yes that's pregnant me drinking starbucks (gasp) I tried to crop it but it didn't work... Anyway, Arseny loves his little red bucket we got on vacation and tends to pack it around everywhere. It's fun to look inside it every once in a while to see what's in there---often it will contain everything from goldfish crackers to tennis balls and other trinkets he finds...by the way "KOH" was the mystery word last week. Matt and I couldn't figure out what "KOH" was. We knew it was associated with "want" and "more" and finally Arseny added the "KER" to the end. He's been trying to tell us "Cracker" "KOH KER" So now he officially has a new word and we don't have to play the guessing game anymore when he's asking for goldfish. He's also learning how to eat "big boy" sandwiches which he prefers ---He lets me know if I happen to forget and cut them into bites. He's also is still spending a lot of time hanging out with his baby. He and baby spend quality time in the pic above relaxing in Daddy's big chair. Oh and if I haven't mentioned it before...Arseny loves Balls any kind...it was actually one of his very first words. Anything that remotely looks like a ball gets squeals of excitement and we get to hear all about it "ball, ball, ball". At the same time we're working on what's ok to throw and what's not ok to throw in the house. Trucks are not ok to throw but Nerf balls are ok......so mom won the best mom and wife award one day when at walmart I went looking for nerf balls and I just happened to pick up a 2.99$ over the door nerf ball and hoop set. Now Arseny and Dad play regular games of hoops whenever they can. All for the price of a Happy Meal! Happy Daddy and Happy Malenky = Happy Mommy!