24 September 2012

Scarf Swap!

I participated again this year in the Scarf Swap 
through Meredith Tichenor's blog, and it did not disappoint!

She paired me with Cherry Wood who I soon realized was at ACU the same time I was!
(We've both gotten married since then, so I didn't realize who she was at first.)
Cherry is just the cutest thing and and a great momma to two adorable boys. :)

It was fun to get to know my fellow Wildcat and discover that we have very similar tastes.
We both love to shop at the same places,
but I know how shopping works with little ones in tow (ie: it doesn't).
So I decided that I would get her something 
from a place she maybe doesn't get to shop as much as she'd like:

J. Crew!

Cherry, I hope you love your scarf! It was so fun shopping for you. :)

Cherry did a great job shopping for me, for sure!
I received this little beauty in the mail last week:
Love, love, love it!
Can't wait for cooler temps so I can show it off. :)

18 September 2012

15 Months

Time is flying by, folks.
I feel like this kiddo's going to be starting high school in the blink of an eye!
He's 15 months going on 15. :*)


We went to the pediatrician for little man's well check last Friday,
and he weighed in at 26 pounds, 6.5 ounces (91st percentile). He measured 33 inches tall (97th percentile). Like his cousin Garrett, I think Max will be giving his Uncle Alan someone to look up to!

Max got three shots at his appointment, after which he screamed like he has never screamed before. :( Once he calmed down enough for me to get him to the car (without pants, no less), he kept pointing to his legs and wanted me to take the bandaids off. I guess he's not a fan of Bugs Bunny!

We also went to the cardiologist last week to check Max's subaortic membrane, and his murmur (caused by the membrane) is definitely louder than it was almost a year ago when they detected it. Other than that, there were no significant changes though surgery is still a possibility.
So we'll go back in six months to keep an eye on it.

Max is still sleeping about 11 hours at night, though a little less soundly than this mama would like. :) Naps are all over the place (some days 2, other days none), which I feel like is yet another sign we need to move to one nap. So this week we are taking the plunge!

Little man now has 16 teeth! The pediatrician joked that he is part shark. ;)

Max is sometimes using a fork or spoon at mealtimes,
which makes things quite exciting - you never know where the food is going to end up!

Max has had a serious growth spurt this past month, as evidenced by his stats and the fact that he does not fit in any of the clothes he wore on our vacation. Thank goodness for Just Between Friends!

Max has added "sleepy," "bird," and "thank you" to his signs this past month.
He is also saying "night night" (sounds more like "nah nah"), "ja" for giraffe,
"di" for digger or dog (depends on which one he sees), and "bye."
I am amazed at how well he can communicate things to me,
but there is still a whole lot of babble we've yet to make sense of!
It is amazing to see how Max follows directions well (most of the time).
He really wants to help around the house - with vacuuming, laundry, and even the dishes!

He will actually hold our hands now (mostly), something we wish
we'd worked with him on before we went on our trip!

Two weeks ago, Max got a nasty stomach bug and so graciously shared with Clay and I.
(The family that pukes together, stays together, right???)
He really liked the coconut water with mango that I gave him to help rehydrate.

Little man absolutely loves remotes, any kind of truck or car, Daddy, puzzles, and reading books.
Oftentimes when he is quiet, I go into his room to find him turning the pages of his Bible!
He has also learned that he likes to hold Mommy and Daddy's phones,
mostly just to press the button and make Siri come on. :)

Max also loves to give hugs, especially to his cousin Jaxon!

We are really enjoying this stage with little man, seeing him learn so many new things
and having fun with him now that he likes to imitate what we do. :)

09 September 2012

First Family Road Trip: Week Two

After one week of being on the road, we finally made it to Wisconsin!
 (This was our ultimate destination, we just planned lots of extra stops along the way. :))

We only had a few hours in Madison and initially planned to rent bicycles and ride around one of the lakes, but our hotel had an amazing pool area (with water cannons!) that we utilized instead!
After a quick swim, we walked around the square near the capitol and practiced climbing the stairs. :)

Clay insisted that we eat lunch at The Old Fashioned and that we try some of their fried cheese curds,
which were very yummy! After lunch, we ran across this cute little toy store that sold kid-sized cheese heads...but as you can tell, Max wasn't as excited about it as we were. :)

Then we spent a few lovely days in central Wisconsin with my parents!

 

After exploring the local farmers' market (I am so very jealous!),
Max and his "entourage" headed over to the Stevens Point Children's Museum. :)
 
 
 He loved sitting in the boat and paddling with Grammie. :)
In fact, he would drag the giant paddle with him all over the museum!
(We have decided we'll have to find a Max-sized paddle, perhaps to put in his stocking?)

Wisconsin is dairy country, so of course we stopped by a creamery!
There is one down the road in Rudolph, where - surprise!
many people send their Christmas cards to be postmarked.
 We got a basketful of cheese for under $20 - we couldn't believe it!

That night, my parents watched Max while Clay and I went on a date.
 Thanks, Mom and Dad - your recommendation was great!

 Since the weather was absolutely gorgeous (lows in the 40s, highs in the 60s),
we spent lots of time outside enjoying it!
On Sunday afternoon, we hiked through a nearby sculpture park and nature preserve.

 

Those three days went by way too quickly,
but we sure enjoyed our time in Wisconsin and hope to visit again soon
(but not when there's three feet of snow on the ground)!

Next up was the Minneapolis/ St. Paul area.
We spent a few hours at the Minneapolis Children's Museum,
which had LOTS of steering wheels for Max to play with
and a fun Curious George exhibit.
 
 Little man shocked his mama and climbed up the rope ladder
in the above picture - I couldn't believe it!
Afterwards, we stopped by the Mall of America
 ...and the Lego store, of course!
Clay was disappointed that everything they sold was a choking hazard,
but soon enough he'll be able to buy Star Wars kits for little man. :)

As we headed further south, our next stop was Des Moines.
There was a really neat sculpture park near downtown,
so we stopped to let little man burn off some energy.

 
Afterwards we perused the Des Moines Art Center,
by which we were pleasantly surprised. (Sorry, no pictures were allowed.)
Max especially enjoyed the acoustics. :)

The next day we drove to Omaha, where we spent the morning
at the Henry Doorly Zoo, which was really cool!
(We like to think we're hard to impress.)
There were some neat exhibits (an indoor desert?!!)
and we saw lots of animals up close - it's usually too hot in Texas
for them to do much. Max loved watching the gorillas and saying, "oooh oooh."
Max also took his first carousel ride!

 


 There was a really neat "excavation" section for kids (it was shaded - thank goodness)
and Max loved digging in the rubber pebbles, even if he didn't unearth any fossils. ;)
Couldn't have said it better myself!

That afternoon we stopped at the Omaha Children's Museum
where Max found every single steering wheel in the place. :)
 


 Who doesn't need their carpet mowed?

At this point in the trip, we were getting a bit homesick
and decided to drive on through to Kansas City instead of spending the night in Omaha.
The next morning we checked out the Kemper Museum of Art.
Again, no gallery photos were allowed, but they had this fun statue out front!

Next we stopped by the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art
and were totally surprised by its expansive collections.
We had planned maybe a couple of hours there but ended up spending about 4
and still didn't see it all!



We stopped in Wichita next and spent a few hours at the Exploration Place.
They had an awesome Star Wars exhibit with all kinds of props from the actual movies
and lots of sciency experiments (like build your own robot and watch him work)!
 
 Not everyone was on their best behavior...
 
Then we hopped in the car and headed down I-35 towards home!
7 hours later (we got stuck in Oklahoma City traffic)...
and we were home again at last!

This was definitely not the most relaxing of vacations,
although we sure did make some memories that will bring us laughs for years to come!
Here's to many more crazy family road trips. ;)