Updates and Whatnot - Halloween through Christmas 2009

So, it's been roughly 9 months since I last posted here.... nine months of our 3rd Halloween, Thanksgiving, andChristmas, a new year, Valentine's Day, Easter, Spring and, of course Max's third birthday. In addition, Max has moved up into a new classroom at school, become *mostly* potty trained, and continued to develop his very social and precocious personality.

For Halloween, Max decided that he wanted to be Woody, from Toy Story. He still loves stories - movies and books both. We went to Savers (my favorite thrift store) and managed to find a toddler Disney brand Woody shirt. To that we added a black vest, cowboy hat, and a sheriff's

badge, and then the boots and jeans we already owned. The final touch was Papa's bandana and voila, Woody! We went to two Halloween parties with lots of kids and successfully wore him out! Unfortunately, my camera barely had a charge, and I only got about 3 pictures before it died. Here he is, all decked out:

For Thanksgiving last year, we were at my folks'. We spent Thanksgiving day with their friends, Mark and Sandee where Max got to pet a deer, play with Cinco the chihuahua, ride on the four-wheeler, and play with the older girls (quickly becoming one of his favorite things). Max and I went with Grandma to the Mason craft fair, and Max got to sit on Santa's lap.

For Christmas, we were at Mimzy & Pappy's with the whole gang. Max got to go to Mimzy's earlier in the week, and then Clint and I joined them for the weekend. Max and Bella had adorable footsie pajamas for Christmas morning and had the best time together. Max got lots of cool tools, and a really exciting dress-up set with all sorts of costumes - a frog, a pirate, a fireman, a baseball player, and more! We got to visit with Mimi and Gramps, too, who gave Max his favorite Thomas the Train blanket that he sleeps with every night. It was one of the best Christmases we've had, and so fun to see the kids enjoy their family and each other.

It has gotten late, already... more updating tomorrow!

I'm baaaack....

Alright, alright... I'm officially blogging again. It's been almost a year, and so, so much has happened. I will try to hit on the highlights tomorrow.

Mostly, I have a terrible memory. I realized the other day that I couldn't remember my baby (ahem, BIG three year old) boy's first word. So, I came back here tonight to dig through and find it. There is not a specific post dedicated to it, but it appears to have been "mama" or "papa." Regardless, I realized that there is so much that I will forget shortly, and I need to write it down. Since I Definitely don't have time to scrap book, it looks like I will be blogging, again.

But right now, bedtime. So that I can get up and think at work tomorrow.

Pretty Accuarate, for a Cookie

Clint stayed home with Max on Friday, because he came home early on Thursday with a fever (and no other symptoms of illness). Because he was feeling or acting ill, they had a pretty darn fun day together. I, on the other hand, had a hell-atious Friday, and was not in the mood to go home and work some more in the way of feeding my family. So, we went to our favorite Vietnamese restaurant, Kim Phung. At the end of the meal, they serve fortune cookies.

Some people are pretty particular about their fortune cookie methodology, believing in the endless wisdom of the Fortune Cookie Writer and the Fate that brings them their message. That aint me. However, this time, they were pretty dead on. For all of us.

For Clint, our fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants, express-whatever-emotion-you-feel, constantly-changing-and-evolving Papa: "Be patient. Good things come to those who wait."

For Me, the every-activity-must-be-scheduled, every-possible-contingency-planned-for, and-for-no-reason-whatsoever-will-we-even-consider-deviating-from-said-schedule-and/or-plan Mama: "now is the best time for you to be spontaneous, Serendipity."

And for our spit-fire of a two year old who thinks he is King-of-the-World son (whose future might be just a bit too wide open to predict right now): "You are fiery and adventurous."

Ahem. Well, then...

Weiner-Whack

Max is on a serious movie kick and usually asks to watch a movie at least once a day (often first thing in the morning). So, we've seen the Lion King once or twice around here, recently (and by "once or twice" I mean "enough times to have the script dedicated to memory"). For this reason, Clint was singing the intro to "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" yesterday afternoon. He was wandering around the kitchen singing "A weema-wep, a weema-wep..." when Max piped up with his own interpretation of the lyrics. Only Max's version was ever-so-slightly more inappropriate. Max's version of the lyrics sing "A weiner-whack, a weiner-whack..." Aren't boys fun? I can already envision the calls I will one day recieve from his teachers.

Um..yeah. So, it's July.

Right. And I haven't posted here since May. What can I say? We've been busy...

I got laid off in early May, so I spent a little time resting and a lot of time job-hunting. Luckily, I found a job in just about 3 weeks, and I love it. It's perfect for me, and the company is great. But we have been busy, and tired! At the same time, our hard drive crashed, and we lost many, many pictures... Back up your hard drives, people! We haven't tried to recover, yet, so we don't know what (if anything) we might still have.

This summer, we have had lots of new and exciting stuff. Max moved up to the Orange room, which is the 2 year old classroom at school. He moved up with quite a few of his friends, and also gets to be with some slightly older friends. It's all very exciting. In his new class, he is potty training (very exciting for Mom), and swimming twice a week (very exciting for Max).

We have been swimming out at a lovely (and, more importantly, cool) swimming hole called Krause Springs, where we also went for our very first camping trip. It was awful for Clint and I (loud, obnoxious neighbors and the twin air mattress instead of the queen), but Max had a good time. Next time, we will go on a less busy night, but probably not until, oh, October, when the highs are only in the 90s.

Max went to visit Grandma and Grandpa at the end of May, but he only stayed for a few days. He got to take lots of rides on the tractor, play in the pool, and see the cows, but he missed his Mama, and came home early. I was happy to have him home! Last month, Max went to visit Mimzy and Pappy and stayed for the week. He was busy, playing with cousin Bella, going to the beach for the first time, going to his first Astros game, and so much more. He didn't want to come home...but I was pretty sad without him!

Max is making such fun strides in his thinking and play. He is really starting to play much more imaginatively. He is also really in to movies, right now. He asks to watch a movie just about everyday. During the very, very hot weekend afternoons we have been having recently, I have been happy to indulge him!

He is also definitely going through his terrible twos. He can be obstinate, bossy, refuse to listen, and throw tantrums at the drop of a hat. All compounded when he is tired (which is almost every night after school). But he can be oh-so-sweet...at moments.

Every year for the Fourth of July, there is a fun parade at school that Max finally got to participate in this year. We don't have a bike, yet, for him to ride, so he got to borrow his Uncle Bill's (a friend of Clint's) skateboard. Max was in heaven, as he thinks Uncle Bill is super cool, and loves the skateboard. I think his teachers were less-than-thrilled, but he managed to come home all in one piece.

Alright, enough words for one night. Coming soon... pictures!

Easter, Birthdays, and Grandparents

Alright, enough of poop being the top post. We have been very busy bees, with Max's birthday, Easter, and visits to and from Grandparents. Fair warning: serious backlog of photos in this post! For some reason, I don't think I'll hear any complaining...

Max's school was closed for Good Friday, so Max and I went to Mason to visit Grandma and Grandpa for Easter (Papa had to work on Saturday, so he didn't get to go). After a string of really nice days, it was overcast, cold, and cloudy for our visit. :( But, we still got in an egg hunt!

A serious hunting face.

Max found lots of eggs!

We played in the sandbox that Grandpa built for Max. And, of course we rode on the tractor. When Grandpa decided the tractor needed a rest, Max played on the tractor and with Grandpa's "glubs."

"If I could just get this key turned..."

"I wonder when Grandpa will take me for another ride?"

There were also adventures with Grandma & Grandpa's neighbors, Mark and Sandy, and their dog, Cinco the Chihuahua. Cinco and Max entertained each other by fighting over who got to sit in the little chair! We came back to Austin on Easter Sunday, and Max's birthday was the following Monday. For his birthday, he took cookies to school and we made pizza for dinner!

Clint and Max share milk and a cookie.

We were supposed to have a big party for Max's birthday the next weekend, but it got rained out. But Mimzy and Pappy still came to visit, and brought with them Auntdrea, Aunt Ree, and Cousin Bella! Max got a cool alphabet floor puzzle, rubber fireman boots, new books, and clothes. But more importantly, he got to see and play with everyone, especially Bella. Bella and Max had so much fun together at our house and the park!

The kids play in Max's bed.

Rockstar Max

Rockstar Bella

Auntdrea and Bella on the slide.

Max shows Aunt Ree his teeth.

Walking home from the park.

Then, after all that fun, Grandma and Granpa came to visit, and delivered Max his very own sandbox for the backyard! This has quickly become one of Max's favorite things, and promise of playing in the sandbox in the evening has managed to keep him out of trouble for an entire week at school. Behold, the mighty pwer of sand.

Poop-a-palooza

Yesterday, instead of taking a nap, Max decided he was going to have his own little festival in his room. He must have been inspired by SXSW going on in Austin right now. Max decided to call his festival Poop-A-Palooza and, instead of featuring new music, it featured poop. And a steam cleaner.

I won't go into all the gory details...OK, who am I kidding? You didn't have to smell it or clean it, but you will get to hear about it. Max was supposed to be taking a nap-something he'd been revolting against for a good 2 hours. I had gone outside to work in the yard, and Clint had followed me out for a moment. When we came back in, we were both trying to figure out who had stepped in poo... I kicked my shoes off in the tile kitchen, and decided to go check on Max, who was being awfully quiet...Had he gone to sleep?

That was when I discovered that no, he had not gone to sleep. In fact, he had decided to dig through his trash can and remove several poopy diapers that he had strewn all over his room. The carnage required the removal and washing of all bed linens (including a pillow), the steam-cleaning of carpets, and the washing of almost every other surface. And two washings of the child. You could say it wasn't a big hit.

On to something cuter... Max fell asleep reading a book, back before he decided naps were for chumps: