Jumping into Christmas

I wonder when exactly Max will understand what Christmas is all about. Right now, he understands that Christmas lights are really "purty" and punching the ornaments on the tree makes a great sound. I tried to tell him about Santa, but he just started repeating everything I said, which is a great indicator he has no idea what I'm talking about, but he'll humor me. I am actually grateful for this because he has no demands for gifts, and I'm fairly positive he'll go bonkers over the box of dinosaur bandaids I bought at the dollar store for his stocking.
On the other hand, I'm excited for my kids to be excited about Christmas. Both boys got to meet Santa at our ward party and both were less than impressed. All that waiting for a candy cane? You can't quite make out Max's expression, but he's furrowing his brow and glaring at Santa.Joey and I celebrated our 5th wedding anniversary today. I'm pretty sure Joey was demanding 4 years ago that we take a cruise on our 5th anniversary... yeah, that didn't happen. Instead he's working nights right now and I'm blogging. Normally, I'd be pretty upset we didn't get to go on a date, but things are a little different now. I'm just really glad he's got a few full nights of work this week. I've tried (not always successfully) to think of it positively. It really makes you get your priorities straight when every penny counts. I really think it's made us pull in tighter and appreciate more family time.
Luke had his 4 month checkup this week. He's 97th percentile for height and 75th for weight. I can't help being shocked at the difference between Luke and Max in size. I think it took Max about 9 months to reach Luke's 16.5 lbs. Luke has a healthy appetite and is all around a great baby. I am also happy to say the barfing has significantly decreased. Here's Luke in his jumper (thanks Aunt Sarah for letting us borrow it for a while). I didn't think he was old enough for a jumper, but he constantly tries to jump while standing on our laps. And the kid is a porker so our arms were dying! As you can see, he's a pro...I'm thinking future circus trapeze performer. Oh and if you're wondering why he's in the bathroom, it kept him occupied while I gave Max a bath.

I'm a big kid now!

I've been dreading taking Max out of his crib ever since it dawned on me that we'd need the crib for Luke. I put it off as long as possible, but after many nights of Luke getting his fat arms stuck in the slats of his all too small cradle, I knew it was time. I figured it wouldn't be too much of a shock to Max since he's so accustomed to climbing in and out of his crib. We finally got everything sanded and painted last night. Max was pretty eager to help set up the bed and immediately took the first jumps on it... too bad the mattress wasn't on the frame yet. He also threw a big fit when I made him get off to put on the sheets. Even with all his excitement, I thought he might make several trips out to the living room after being put to bed. I am happy to say he didn't make a peep all night! He even went down for a nap just now without a fight. I wish I could say the same for Luke, what a stinker!If I've learned anything about Max these past two years, he can't be pushed into anything. He wanted a big boy bed, so he went willingly. I'm sure if I had tried this a few months earlier, he would have fought me tooth and nail. That's not to say he didn't immediately climb into Luke's new crib and throw a fit about it being his bed too. I'll choose my battles.


Luke had a first this week also. He started cereal. I thought he'd be more excited about it than he was. Everyday at dinner he wants to be up at the table with us and smacks his lips as he watches us eat. I guess I forgot how disgusting rice cereal is. Why do they make everything for babies so nasty? Even the smell of formula is revolting.

So here is the before. Look how excited he is

During...Poor Guy!

And After. Guess it's not that bad after all.

Ow, my freakin' ears!

While watching "Destroyed in Seconds" with his father moments ago, Max exclaimed, "Oh crap!"

It's a fine moment in the Light house.

Playing catch up again

Seems like it's getting harder and harder to keep up with this blog. I can't believe Luke is almost 4 months old. He's getting so big! He's rolled over 3 times from his belly to his back. He can hold his head up like a champ, especially if he's watching TV. He also loves to sit up straight and refuses to lean back and relax. He's such a happy baby and loves to snuggle with his mommy. He also seems to be working on his bottom front teeth. He growls and gnaws on my knuckle like there's no tomorrow. Now if only we could get him to stop puking! Not only does he spit up like a bubbling volcano all day long, but he hates the car and cries to the point of puking... it makes trips real fun.
I forgot to post a picture of the boys' Halloween costumes. I made Max's costume from scratch (He's Max from Where the Wild Things Are, in case you live under a rock. And FYI he's Max from the book, not the movie). Whenever I do a sewing project, about half way through I ask myself, why did I want to do this? I broke my needle and being the resourceful rural woman that I am, I used hot glue to finish it. Joey's costume was a little impromtu tribute to life in Dayton. Oh, and Luke is a horse, not a cow... it was a common misconception during the trick or treating process.

Max went pee pee on the potty yesterday for the first time! He loves sitting on his potty, and makes lots of great grunting noises. He also says, "cool," with a sheepish grin everytime he toots on the potty, something he does not get from me. He still likes to climb anything he can get his hands on. He's also pretty big into his train. No one taught him to say, "All aboard!" like this, but I ask him to say it when I need a good laugh.

Foot pursuits and heating pads

So right now it's very quiet around the house. Max is at a friend's house and Luke is sleeping peacefully in his swing. You would think I would be enjoying this time, and I would if it weren't for the stabbing pain in my lower back. You see, it all started Monday morning around 11:00. About this time every morning, Sesame Street ends and so does Max's attention span. I quickly throw on his shoes and kick him out to the backyard to burn off energy. It took a while for me (and Max) to feel secure enough to send him out on his own. We had to clear and childproof the yard so he could have some freedom... backfire! I'm not sure how this qualifies as a milestone, but on Monday at 11:00am Max climbed over the 5 foot fence behind our house. As I went out to check on him, I caught him running across the ditch and onto the 3 foot fence that borders the busy road behind our house. I screamed at him to stop and I got a very nonchalant, "Okay, Mommy." from him. However, to Max, "Okay" just means, "that's nice whatever you just said, but I'm going to keep doing what I'm doing." I attempted to climb the fence (yes, I'm out of shape too) but quickly realized I would have to climb back over it with an unwilling toddler. So I quickly ran to the garage, hopped in my car, and squealed out of the driveway and around the corner just in time to see him get over the fence and start to run toward the road, all the while my baby is laying on the floor screaming in the living room. The kid is C-R-A-Z-Y! I really don't know what to do to contain him. I thought our yard was big enough, but apparently not for this free spirit.
My back has been a little wacky ever since lugging Luke the Puke around. I think the stress of pulling my toddler off the fence, acerbated it. It was a little throbby that evening, but then yesterday morning I attempted to get up quickly off the floor to answer the phone and SNAP! I looked just like an old person in the cartoons that walks around bent over at the waist. It was a little alarming to find I was unable to get up... then Max jumped on my back. Awesome. My wonderful friends took my children and I made an adventure-filled trip to the Chiropractor. Anyone else have their chiropractor check their facebook page while working on you or make small talk about how they're filing bankruptcy? I don't think I'll be making a return trip to him anytime soon. In the mean time, I'm walking around with heating pads and ice packs tucked in my waistband trying so hard not to make any sudden movements or heaven forbid, sneeze.

Monkey Max is Two!

Most days I find myself trying to calculate exactly how many days I have until Max enters kindergarten. Nursery has given me a taste of what school could be like... hours of quiet!!
Today is different, I'm feeling a little nostalgic.

Two years ago today I was pretty sure this baby was not going to come out. Max's dramatic entrance should have tipped me off that we were headed for trouble. The moment the doctor announced he was, in fact, a boy, he peed on me. From birth, he has had a mind of his own. He has to do things his own way, in his own time... not that I know anything about that. I never would have guessed that the same person who woke up every 45 minutes for the first two months of his life, peed through every piece of clothing, and refused to take a bottle would turn out to be one of my favorite people. These past two years have flown by, and I can't help missing my fuzzy headed little monkey baby who could only sleep snuggled up on my chest.

Happy Birthday, Monkey!

Randomness

So I wish I could post pictures from Luke's baby blessing but alas, pregnancy left me with crap for brains. We didn't take a single picture the entire day. Just another thing for Luke to present to his therapist in the future. Thanks to all the family that came to support us that weekend.
Here are some random pictures instead.

Turns out Luke is scared of the camera. I took many pictures, with and without the flash, but every time I got this wide eyed look out of him. He is really getting cute. He loves to smile and show off his dimple. He coos and squawks a lot. Best of all, he sleeps! We are up to 6 hours consistently at night. I'm sure lots of babies out there do it better, but in this house, that's a record. We tried formula the other night out of curiosity and Mr. Piggy didn't even flinch. Luke is already wearing 3 month clothing (which Max was wearing at 6 months). I'm picturing him sitting on Max as soon as he can catch him.


I had a milestone of my own. I made a trip to Michaels with two kids, bought everything I wanted (at half off, no less), came home without a tantrum, and decorated with what I bought. Ok, it's not the grandest floral arrangement, but I love looking at it because I was able to do it with both boys. It's proof that I can do this mom thing!


We're still working on projects around the house. Joey worked on the spa this weekend, working out the kinks so we can sell it finally. He tried to convince me we should keep it, but I'd rather have the money. Here is Max doing his part.


Lastly, here's a picture of Max, back from camping over night with his daddy. It's amazing how less than 24 hours can produce that much dirt. He says his own prayers at night now. His favorite phrase right now is, "Thanks...that's nice!" I guess he's trying positive reinforcement on us. He also has discovered his love of bubble bath. Randomly throughout the day he'll smile and tell me, "I got bub-bows." Whatever gets him through the day, I guess.

Max gets a DUI

From one month

For some unexplicable reason, Max has decided he can, in fact, eat meat and vegetables. For two nights he has eaten his entire dinner! Okay, so we bribed him with strawberries, but he ate a whole meatball the other night! I can think of worse things than bribing your child with fruit. As a side note, I have tried bribing him many, many times before, he just has decided to take me up on it finally. He also said the prayer before dinner last night. Well... okay, he mumbled a few words and ended it with an enthusiastic "MEN!" I figure if anyone can, God can translate Toddler. Yes Max is starting to mature, so much in fact, he has tried to drink his first beer. We were at the park yesterday (mind you I was in the car feeding Luke while the other responsible parent was in charge of Max) when Max decided to cozy up to a nice man with a beer can at a picnic table (I'm pretty sure Joey was nearby...maybe). Max helped himself to the man's beer (Joey assures me he didn't actually get any in his mouth) and in the process of trying to chug it, spilled the can all over the front of him. We drove home with our wino of a toddler in the back seat saying, "I love you, man! You're the best!" Okay, I made up that last part, but he certainly reeked of alcohol on the way home.

Luke, however, has decided to just say no to the stuff, as beer is high in calories. He's up to 10 pounds already, and gaining. He's started cooing and I'm amazed I have a baby with a longer attention span than my toddler. I know people say their smiles aren't real at this point, but he really has some mischevious ones. He's probably formulating evil plans to use on Max at a later date. I haven't captured them on camera yet because I have my hads pretty full all day. In fact, I'm feeling pretty guilty about the gazillion newborn pictures I have of Max and the ten I have of Luke. I'll just have to buy Luke's love when he get's older.

Campout

Joey and Max are off to the Father and Sons campout tonight. It's interesting how my perspective has changed. Things seemed so much harder with Max as a newborn. I would have cringed at the idea of being left alone with him overnight. Many nights I spent bouncing him in his bouncer with my foot trying to figure out something to make him stop crying. Now, the thought of being alone with Luke for the night sounds peaceful and easy. I don't have to chase him around anywhere and his demands are relatively simple. Oh yeah, and he doesn't know the word, "No!" yet. I just hope Max makes it home in one piece and doesn't try to run away to be raised by bears.

Baby Luke

It seemed like I was never going to go into labor with this baby. I never really put any stock into old wives tales that were supposed to put you into labor, so I never tried them. Thursday, I was fed up. I did not want a repeat of Max and sit at home contracting (but not enough) for two days. Joey came home from work and since it wasn't stifling hot anymore, we went for a walk. I was actually keeping the pace, and by the third block, I started having contractions 10 mins apart. We got home and it continued. What would be the logical next step? Well, go to Taco Smell, of course. I did not want to be in the hospital for-ev-er starving, so I loaded up on a quesadilla (yeah, yeah, not the smartest). By the time we got back home from Taco Bell, my contractions were about 5 mins apart. We decided to head up the hill towards Reno, making plans with my mom and sister along the way. Because it's me, my contractions stopped as soon as I got on the monitors. I tried my best to stay positive in case she sent us home thinking we could go to Farmer's Market and I could get on that nice bungee contraption to make the baby fly out. Finally I got some really hard contractions and she let us stay.
We arrived at St. Mary's at about 7:00pm and Luke James Light was born at 3:00am exactly. He is a hefty fellow weighing in at 8 pounds, 15 ounces and measuring 22 inches. I think the heftiest part is his umm... sack. Apparently he has retained some fluid there, so his diaper is a little snug around the racket ball-size...balls. He seems to be a pretty calm baby and is content to be a blob. We are keeping our fingers crossed he stays this way. He has two chins, no neck, and a full head of hair. At the moment he has deep blue eyes, but I think that will probably change(I don't want to get my hopes up).
I'm doing good. Recovery has been a TON better this time and surprisingly no tears or sutures to heal from. We've had great nurses this time and now we're just waiting for the okay to get outta here!

From Luke James Light

The Final Countdown

We are now T minus 5 days for countdown. I think I'm finally ready. Last week was a mad rush to finish my online education class. This week is actually the last week of the class, but with my "bag-a-bulgin'" as Sarah likes to call it, I didn't want to take any chances. I asked my instructor to work with me just in case I went into labor. She eagerly said, "Sure, what'd you have in mind?" I asked for a simple extension on my final just in case I went into labor. She responded to my email with an ever so helpful, "No, you cannot have an extension. You can just finish everything a week early, ok?" Not ok! So as I raced around BSing my final assignment, Max had to intervene. He somehow plugged the laptop adapter into the outlet (child plug covers are no match for him), tripped the breaker, and shorted out my adapter. With no battery and no adapter I was freaking. Outsourced Dell support to the rescue. I have no idea what the Middle Eastern woman said half the phone call, but she nicely overnighted me an adapter and I finished my ridiculous class! Now we are just waiting for this baby to arrive. The next date that my doctor said she would induce me is on the 3rd, so atleast I know I only have to make it until then. For now, I'll just settle for running through the sprinklers with Max.

2 weeks to go :(

I'm too huge, it's too hot, I'm too sweaty. That is all.

Fruits of my labor

I bet you thought I went into labor. Ha! No, something much more fun and less painful. Our garden is producing! I discovered my first zucchini baby last night. I can't bring myself to chop it up, maybe it's the mother in me. Hopefully we'll have it with dinner tomorrow night. My peas are going crazy, too bad Max doesn't eat peas... or anything else for that matter. My knee-high-by-July corn is growing little tassels. I'm so excited that I actually can grow things! Apparently I grow weeds just as well as vegetables. I'm taking a very aggravating education class, so pulling weeds sort of gets rid of my frustration... and maybe it'll send me into labor.
In the spirit of melon growing, here's a picture of me at 36 weeks. Ugh, can't wait for that watermelon to drop!

Max's World

How was your Sunday? Mine was great, I started it off by getting up too early. I ate a nice bowl of cereal, which I found is made better if you just dig through the milk with your hands in a swirly pattern. We went to church and I've decided that instead of listening to my parents tell me to whisper I should proudly announce my demands in a progressively louder manner. I tried to reach my goal of shouting, "SNACK," and "JUICE," at least 150 times. Then I entertained myself by trying to tickle the deacons as they passed the sacrament. They didn't respond, but I gave them my compliments for the excellent bread as I smacked my lips, "Mmmmm, num yummy." I then decided that pants should not be a mandatory part of church. The more my parents tried to pull them up, the more I demanded they stay off. After mooning the family behind me, I noticed the cute girl in front of me. She gave me the eye, so I made my move... and slapped her on the head. I think she was playing hard to get, she just stared at me and then cried. I made it up to her by wiggling my way into her pew to hold her hand, and steal some of her crayons. I came back to my seat and it was jumping time. I did my best Van Halen impression as I shouted "JUMP," every five seconds. It was then I realized Mommy's hair needed some touch ups. I did my best, but I don't think she appreciated my volumizing technique. Phew, it was a long day. I think I'm going to make up for it by not taking a nap and saying, "NO!" to any question I am asked.

-Max

Wanna come play?

What do you do when your grass finally grows in? Flood the yard with an inflatable pool, of course.

Water, Baby!

Joey hasn't had much work lately. In fact, he stayed home yesterday because he didn't have anything to do at work. We thought we'd make the best of it and plan a family day. We planned to run a bunch of errands and then go swimming at the swim center in Minden. I had a sneaking suspicion that Joey would get called in just because we made plans. I'm psychic. As soon as we finished our nutritious breakfast (the pregnant lady wanted donuts), Joey's radio went off. I wasn't too disappointed because he needs the hours. By the time Joey got off work, I was so bored I agreed to drive to Minden, with a huge headache, AND wear a swimsuit in my whale-ish condition.

The trip was well worth it. Max is a natural water baby! He went underwater a few times without crying, which is funny since he acts like we are waterboarding him when he gets a little water on his face in the tub. The only time he got the slightest bit bratty was when Joey went off the high dive and Max was dying to get a turn. I better get him into swim lessons before he takes his giant leap when I'm not looking!

Update

Our grass is growing great in the backyard inspite of several mini flash floods from all the thunderstorms. We lost a little of the seed that hadn't germinated yet, but it will be easy to fill in. We don't have rain gutters yet, so we have huge run off ditches running through our garden. Surprisingly we haven't had to weed the garden much, which is good since it's getting harder and harder to bend over!


Speaking of weeds, Max continues to grow like one. He's talking more and more too, repeating everything we say... guess I should stop all the swearing. He especially loves words that allow him to spit (big surprise) like "chip" and "sheep." He just really loves those ending consonants. I tried to capture him on video talking, but he's a little camera shy. Please excuse the messy face and milk mouth. It's a lot easier to video him when he's stationary and the only time he's somewhat stationary is when he's eating.

Lookin Out My Back Door

After blood, sweat and tears, Joey got the grass planted and the sprinklers working in the backyard. I also got our garden planted after perfecting the art of squatting with a ginormous belly. Our only challenge left is keeping Max from destroying our hard work. So far he's already ripped out the drip system.

From May26

From May26

From May26

Your fork's ringing

I really wonder what life is going to be like with another boy in the house. Max's new "thing" is spitting. I think he picked it up watching us brush our teeth, but he ran with it. No matter where he is or what he's doing, he takes a moment to spit. He also likes to spit in disgust if he doesn't get his way. It's attractive. He spits in his sandbox, he spits in his food, he even spits in his shoes. (sort of sounds like a Dr. Seuss book) We took him to the park and as he was climbing the steps of the slide, he paused halfway up to spit. It was a blustery day and his spit sprayed right back into his face. I think boys are just predisposed to be gross.

Max is pretty funny. Last night at dinner (I use the term loosely because dinner to Max means throwing his food everywhere but his mouth) he picked up his fork like a phone and held it to his ear with his shoulder. He was talking to someone he really liked because he was laughing and talking gibberish excitedly. He lied to his friend, "haha yeah... mmm rice num yummy!" He didn't take a single bite, so I can only determine he was sarcastically telling his imaginary friend how horrible my cooking is. He then finished his fork call with a good spit.

Squash, Anyone?

From Mothersday

I am happy to report that my gardening efforts have not been in vain. My little seedlings are sprouting! The only ones who haven't shown their little green heads are my watermelon plants. My dixie cup planters have worked fabulously, except they have this fuzzy white mold growing on the outside of the cups. It's probably not healthy, so I hope to get my sprouts in the ground this week. I have a feeling that we are going to have more corn and more peas than I ever want to eat.

Besides being the mother to my little sprouts, I was given the royal Mother's Day treatment for breakfast... well as royal as it gets in Dayton. Notice the lovely ice cream scoop sized butter and fancy garnish. Nothing says I love you like grapes on lettuce.

From Mothersday

The force is strong with this one

Come on, the resemblence is uncanny! This was one of our baked potatoes from dinner. Ok, the picture is a little out of focus, but really it was like he was there telling me, "It's a trap!"

Hostage Situations and a Green Thumb

Joey and I have realized we really need to start some good habits early with Max. We've always been pretty lame about Family Home Evening. We've tried a little harder lately to have a family activity with Max on Mondays. This Monday, Joey decided that Max needed to learn about Jesus. Joey thought we could show him a picture of Christ so in the future Max isn't the kid who stands up on his chair during sharing time and says, "Who's Jesus?" (Ok, he'll still be the kid who stands on his chair and yells, but atleast he'll know who Jesus is!) Joey got out the picture from his primary binder and we all sat on the couch for a nice little lesson. Joey showed Max the picture and immediately Max tried to grab it, and not in a gentle, I-just-wanna-look way. They wrestled and there were cries of panic on all sides as Max tightened his grip on the picture. The more Joey tried to take away the picture, the more Max crumpled and ripped it. It was like watching a hostage situation, only with a picture of Jesus at stake. Eventually Joey won, but at the cost of the picture. I have to say I'm a little disturbed Max had such an instinct to grab the picture and destroy it.
In non-related news, I started some seeds for our vegetable garden. You sort of have to improvise when you live in the sticks and can't just make quick trips to Walmart. I figured if it works for first graders, it can work for me. I filled a bunch of dixie cups with dirt and planted my seeds. I planted a lot because judging from my record, about half should die. If I end up with any sort of vegetable by the end of the summer, I'm going to count it as a success. Of course while I was planting my little seedlings, Max got a hold of the hose and made himself a nice little mud puddle which he quickly drenched himself in. At first he laughed and said, "Is cold," but that quickly turned into a whine of, "inside!" Even Max has his limits, I guess.

Quandary

I've been informed that I'm in the "fun" stage of pregnancy. I'm not exactly sure what is so fun about it, but I am happy to say that I can again eat chicken and my nausea is all but gone. Of course every time I say that I end up waking up with a stomach ache in the middle of the night. I can't believe how the time has flown by! I have about 14 weeks left. I think it's gone by so fast because we're still trying to figure out how we're going to handle two crazy boys. We also can't figure out what we are going to name this little guy. We can't seem to agree on any name, and just end up creating lame name combinations with our last name like Flor Escent Light. So, against my better judgement, I'm asking for help. Joey suggested asking for a dollar from everyone to make a suggestion, then giving the winner the pot... We are not doing that, but if you'd like to help us out, feel free to give us some ideas!

Max can now open the front door. Fantastic.

Happy Easter!

Although we all are still recovering from a nasty cold virus, we had a great Easter. The Easter bunny brought Max some toys to use in his sandbox. He was excited about most of it except for the plastic bendable bunnies. I'm not sure why he hates them so much, but he immediately chucks them across the room as soon as he sees them. Which we learned when he threw them over the pews at church... along with his juice. Thankfully, no one was sitting immediately in front of us!
After church we went to the Pyrahs' for a yummy dinner and Easter egg hunt. Max opted out for the rocks instead of Easter eggs, much to Joey's dismay. Joey was counting on eating all of Max's candy.

We've got spring fever!

Literally. I think we need to buy stock in Kleenex. I don't know what we have, but I think we just keep passing it between the three of us. I can't wait for warmer weather so we can get fresh air and get rid of this bug!
Amidst the sneezing and hacking, we've made some progress on the backyard. I won't go into the concrete fiasco... let's just say now the motto around here is, "Heather is always right." It seems like the ground isn't too hard, and we've found lots of treasures from the previous owners including a spoon, a butter knife, a triceratops, a marble, a canteen, and the list goes on. I'm thinking some little boy was trying to become survivor man in the wild of the backyard. Here's some updated pictures.

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Is anyone really surprised?

It says "I M A BOY" if it's too blurry for you.

(I was going to lead up to the big reveal, but I realized you would just skip to find out what I'm having anyway.)

I think the most frequently asked question since I started telling people I was pregnant has been, "Are you going to find out the sex of the baby?" It's a generally common question to ask, but anyone who remembers the fiasco after Max entered the world understands why there are snickers after the question is posed. Neither Joey or I could stand to let it be a surprise (ha!), so we decided we would still find out the sex of baby #2. Now, I know that I will still be a little skeptical until D-day, but I have reasons to think this time it's more accurate. First, we did NOT go to the ghetto imaging place we went to with Max. Second, no one told me last time I had to drink 32 oz before the ultrasound (sooooo happy I didn't pee my pants). Thirdly, his bits were quite obvious and this guy is not shy! Lastly, the technician was much more knowledgeable and friendly. Here are the first naked baby pictures. Joey and I were just happy all the body parts are accounted for and everything looks normal. Max, on the other hand, was very unhappy with the whole process because he wasn't allowed to play with the ultrasound machine.

A few of my favorite things

Yesterday was a good day. Max went to nursery for all of church! Technically, he's not actually 18 months, but the fact that he makes a bee-line for the nursery room in any church building is a sign to us that he's more than ready. Of course since I dropped him off, there were no tears (he only has attachment issues with Joey). I got nervous when the nursery leader poked her head into Sunday School looking knowingly at me, but it was only a really stinky diaper. That might not sound like a big deal, but Max is a bit of a shy pooper (yeah, yeah TMI) so he must have felt pretty darn comfortable in there! Sending Max to nursery for the majority of church is one of my new favorite things!

Another favorite of mine is our growing cupcake business. I made these cute spring chicks for some friends who had birthdays.

These are some monster cupcakes I made today for a preschooler's birthday. I think Jim Henson would be proud. They were super easy too.Lastly, my favorite thing to hope for is our backyard. Joey worked all weekend getting ready to pour our cement patio. I cannot wait for grass and a garden! Max loves going out to play in the dirt, but I would rather be playing on some grass. Hopefully we'll have the majority of the yard done by the end of the summer.

For Sale!

Do you find yourself unable to reach the dark recesses of your cabinets? Are you too frightened to uncover the dust bunnies waiting for you in the nooks and crannies of your cupboards? Are you frustrated when you are missing the lid to your favorite Tupperware container? Have we got the tool for you. He's lightweight, flexible and comes in many shades and smells. We can't guarantee the tool will do what you want, in fact it IS guaranteed he'll do the exact opposite of what you want. But rest assured that if you want to know what lurks in hidden places, this guy will find it. He's also great at climbing to those hard to reach shelves on your bookcases and crawling under your bed. Order now, he's going fast!
*Caution: he will most likely eat whatever he finds and emits foul odors at least twice a day.

Look What I Can Do!

I guess Max thought it was too bright in the living room, so he took it upon himself to fix the blinds. I'm still not sure what to do about him climbing on the couch. I wasn't able to grab the camera in time to capture his backward summersault-faceplant when he slipped off the top of the couch. I wonder what the neighbors think of the boy standing on the couch, yelling and banging on the window.

After!

So here is our new furniture. I'm still not done with the whole room. I don't care much for the pillows that came with our couches, they seems too southwestern for me. I'm keeping my eyes open for fabric to cover them and match to curtains. I always get nervous when I pick things out at a store and am not positive how they will look in my house. Joey and I were both relieved that they work so well. Our table doesn't have the leaf in it right now because it would take up the whole dining room. I'm also not sure about the lazy susan that came with it, but it sure is fun spinning food toward Joey! The only downer was that the delivery men (they blamed it on someone else) dropped the table top and crunched a corner. We'll get our new, new table in a week or so. Now onto finishing the backyard and tiling the floors!

Before...

When Joey and I got engaged, we looked at furniture for our first apartment and realized we were dirt poor. Luckily, we came into lots of donated furniture. In fact, in our first apartment we didn't have a single new piece of furniture. Joey found our huge, green, feather-shedding monstrosity at work... which was a disaster cleanup company. They mostly dealt with sewage leaks and mold, but lucky for us this was just a fire damage job. Some rich person with horrible taste out there had this couch custom made complete with pea green flower print and fabulous dust ruffle. We never smelled any smoke on it and the people who owned it got a nice chunk of insurance money. Since then, it has served us well... aside from the feathers scratching us and going up our noses and the cushions sliding off daily. I can still picture Joey standing on his dad's truck lifting it up to our window (it wouldn't fit through the door) to Matt and me. Then having to drop it back out the window when we moved to Dayton.

I'm not just posting this to show my love for my couch, but to rejoice in the fact that by tomorrow it will be gone and so will our dining table! In their places, we will have STORE BOUGHT furniture that matches! Hooray! So here is the before picture of our living room. Stay tuned for the after picture.

What the cup, Cake?!

As some of you know Sarah and I are starting a cupcake business. Halloween was pretty much our first attempt... and there was a lot of error going on with our trial. I had my doubts if we could make it in the cut-throat world of confections, but Valentines Day was booming for business! Here are a few samples of our work. Sarah said in all we made 152 cupcakes...but I was spent long before that. We have a website for our company http://www.whatthecupcake.com/. You can also email orders and questions to whatthecupcake@yahoo.com.

Tracking Bigfoot

By 8 o'clock I usually crash on the couch watching some stupid reality show after eating some rocky road ice cream. I keep asking myself, "Why am I so tired??" I know I'm pregnant and it's supposedly like running a marathon...blah, blah, blah. I know what the real reason is- M.A.X.



I try to explain to people just how mischevious he is, but I can never express it fully. Either that, or I'm just a big whiner and people don't want to listen to me anymore. Either way, I try desperately to document his behavior on film, but it's all in vain. It's like trying to capture Bigfoot on film, no one believes it's real. Of course Max just loves the camera, so whenever he hears the whir of the lens popping out, he drops whatever he's breaking and runs over to breathe heavily into the lens. For instance, here's a video of him. What I was trying to get was him pulling the suitcase out of the closet over to the bed to create a step stool. He wanted to grab whatever random item I had placed on the middle of the bed out of his reach. Now, I realize this is pretty ingenious of him to figure out his own solution, but his inventions always come with some bodily injury risk.



Exhibit B: I had to get ready this morning to go deliver cupcakes, so I set up the gate in the doorway of the bathroom and headed for the shower. In the 10 minutes I was in there (I sped up as I heard various crashes and squeels) he had knocked over a lamp, unfolded all the towels I had just folded, taken the heater vent out of the hole (I don't know what he threw down there), pulled out the drawers of Joey's closet organizer, and somehow changed the time on my alarm. Not to mention earlier this morning he pulled the table runner off the table knocking over the roses Joey gave me, getting water all over the place. I find myself saying to him, "This is why we don't have nice things!"

They say the darndest things

So last night Joey and I were talking about how eventually this little growing thing has to come out of me. I was saying I hoped it would be easier this time around. Then HE said, "Man, I just hope I'm not as exhausted this time. That was hard." Ummm... yeah, you poooooor baby, that delivery sure was hard on you!

Those Crazy Lights

This year is off to a good start. I realized that this is as good as I'm going to get at somewhat of a journal, so I thought I'd give an update on us. Plus, I don't do the whole Christmas letter thing, so this makes up for it!

Max:

Oh where to start. He had his check up and I bet you can guess where he fell in the percentiles. The nurse reassured me that he is very close to being in the 20% for weight... all 22 pounds of him. He is still tall at 33 inches. So tall in fact, that he can reach the top drawer in the kitchen and pull out carving knives. He loves pushing buttons (literally and non literally). He frequently changes the cycle on the dishwasher and tries to turn on the stove. He is a good helper though, he loves to close the dryer door for me... sometimes before I want him to. He can say a few words (I use the term loosely). He can definitely say "shoes," but I think he may be referring to his feet. He can also say, "hello," "knock, knock (which he also acts out)," "socks," and "cracker." Most of these probably would still sound like gibberish to the untrained ear, but I speak Max and therefore we get along... until Daddy comes home and then I'm chopped liver. he loves being with Joey and really loves tools. He could bang a hammer on the drive way all day if we let him.

Joey:

He completed his FCC license in December. The class was super expensive (not to mention the week off of work unpaid) but he did really well, like always. Yeah, that's right, he could be the announcer on a cruise ship or be a DJ on the radio. Actually, he needs it to work at Sierra Pacific (his dream job). He has turned in his resume there and hopefully his connections there will pull some strings! Joey's also been itching to work outside the house (no closet doors yet, ahem). He loves pulling out ugly trees and getting rid of weeds, which I am very thankful for! He just fixed our side gate that was barely hanging on. He's a perfectionist, but it's worth it. He wants to finish the backyard this summer, and is a little disappointed his pack mule (aka me) will be out of service by then. I'm still working on convincing him that I will be huge and pregnant and then have a newborn while he talks of camping trips and anniversary cruises.

Me:

Well, I get the question a lot of, "So... what do you do all day?" I mainly chase a knife wielding toddler around keeping him from ingesting poisonous substances. It's kind of strange to me, but I've had feelings of wanting to teach again... hmm, guess those stinky fifth graders weren't so hard after all! Seriously, I love staying home with Max. I love watching him figure out new things like how to use a fork. He has a great sense of humor. Yesterday we were playing in the backyard and I showed him how to hit the tree trunk with a stick. He seemed to think that was ok, but chasing me and trying to poke me in the butt with it was much more fun! I have been working on a couple projects myself. Toni and Jake (we all know who really picked it out) gave me this awesome magnet board that I got to paint and decorate. It was the perfect gift! I'm sure I'll get more crafty as the nesting instinct starts to kick in... hey, maybe I'll have a clean house then too!

Stink, Stank, Stunk!

I don't have much new to report, other than I think I'm going to go into hibernation until spring. I think I could really sleep that long. When I'm pregnant I turn into one of those dolls where when you lay them flat their eyelids automatically close. I've missed a lot of good shows this way and apparently I snore.

On one hand, I'm really glad I'm not teaching with this pregnancy. I remember when I was pregnant with Max I would fall asleep with my head on my desk during recess, not to mention having to breathe out of my mouth to keep from inhaling the toxic fumes 10 year old boys produce. On the other hand, I have noticed if I'm busy, I don't notice how incredibly disgusting I feel. If I was teaching at least I would have bigger problems than whether or not my food would stay down. I told Joey last night that it feels like my stomach is full of rotten eggs on a ferris wheel. I can't tell you how many antacids I've taken or how many foods I've tried to settle my gag reflex. All I know is if I even hear about anything BBQ'd I have heartburn the rest of the day! Basically, I'm down to hot chocolate and peanut butter toast.

I know it may shock my family members, but I'm an optimist at heart. I have searched for the silver lining in this stomach-acidy balloon. First, it must mean the baby is healthy and I've got prego hormones up the wazoo, right? RIGHT?!? Secondly, all I wanted with Max was fresh fruit and now that is all he eats... all 20 pounds of him. SO this baby has got to be a fatty... a fat, docile, sleepy baby. (Don't burst my bubble on this one, I have to hold onto some hope!)