Minute with Max Volume 22

I love you, Buster

After bath last night, Max was his usual post-bath fussy self. He was laying on a towel in his room while I was getting his pajamas and diaper ready. Charlotte came in, knelt down beside him, put her hands on his face and gave him a big kiss. She said, "I love you, Buster. I don't ever want you to go away, even when we're dead." (She's been talking a lot about "dead" lately - not sure where that's coming from) Then she just sat there while I got him ready for bed, touching his head, holding his hand.

If 3 year olds really correlate the feeling of love with the word, "love", I firmly believe Charlotte loves her brother. It is an amazing thing to watch develop.

Easter Weekend

On Good Friday, we headed down to the lake to spend Easter with Judd's parents. The kids were pretty good in the car and we got there late afternoon. Not far behind us, the Crowes arrived - we were all excited to see them - but Charlotte was THRILLED that her cousins were finally there. She was attached to their hip all weekend.

On Saturday afternoon, after we had finished lunch and Max went to sleep, I sat down and was talking - then looked out on the back porch. Charlotte was just chatting away to Katie. She was using hand gestures and laughing - just having a big kid conversation.





Charlotte came down with a cold on Thursday, I asked Judd if he thought we should go down to the lake - he thought we did. So we went. Friday night her cough was pretty bad and Saturday she was really congested. But, she insisted on doing everything the big girls were doing and would NOT take a nap! It was pretty frustrating. So, you can imagine her mood during the Easter egg hunt at her grandparent's church.

This sums it up:


Things started to look up when the cupcakes were dished out, though.


We took her home that afternoon to try to force her to nap. It didn't work. Judd laid down and watched some TV with her - but then she looked at him and put a big smile on her face and said, "I'm in a good mood now Daddy - can I go swim at the dock?" She was right - she was in a much better mood the rest of the day. She crashed about 7:30 that night.

We went to the sunrise service on Sunday morning, then came back to the house to take some pictures and relax.



Poor Max - what's he gonna do with all these girls???



It is a good thing their dad is so hilarious:


After a big steak lunch, we all packed up and headed home. We all went to bed about an hour early on Sunday night! Once again, a wonderful Easter at the lake.

6 months

Stats:
Weight: 17lbs 8oz - 50-75%
Length: 27.5" - 75-90%
Head: 17 3/8 - 50-75%

He peed all over his doctor today during his appointment. She was checking around to make sure he had 2 testicles and it shot out all over her!

At six months he:
- sits for long periods of time playing by himself. He'll just sit and look at toys for 30 minutes! (It's awesome! I don't remember Charlotte ever doing this)
- eats solids for lunch and dinner, but not that into it.
- laughs and smiles almost A LOT!
- thinks his sister hung the moon
- no crawling or scooting, but I think we'll see that by the end of the month. He gets his knees under him, but doesn't really go anywhere.
- he absolutely HATES being on his tummy, will only stay on it for a couple of minutes - hence the no scooting or crawling.
- does not sleep well at night - is up about 3x per night. It's driving me crazy.
- had just about the loudest high pitched cry I've heard on a baby.

He's just a bundle of cuteness and LOVES to cuddle. I can't wait to see the changes that the next few months brings!

Happy Easter

We spent the weekend down at the lake. We had a great time, but after 2 nights of about 5 hours sleep, I'm exhausted. Seems little Max wasn't quite sure what was going on and decided to party all night. So, I'm going to bed, but have been dying to pop my card in the computer to get this picture off of my camera.

The dress that Charlotte is wearing is a dress my mom made for my little sister Rachel. Rachel is now 25. So, this dress is 22 years old? When my mom gave it to me I asked her if she still had the duckie pattern. She did. So, she set to work making Maxwell a matching outfit.

All I wanted out of this weekend - besides awesome family time (of course!) - was this picture. This makes me SO happy. It will be printed large for my walls.

Happy Easter!!

A Magical Age

At Charlotte's 3 year check up, they gave me a hand out explaining some things about a 3 year old. Just some tips for disciplining, etc. At the bottom it talked about how this was the beginning of a "magical age". That their imaginations would really start to grow and they would start pretending.

At the time, I scoffed and couldn't imagine a time with her that would be magical. Around the time she turned 3, we had a rough couple of months. Multiple full blown tantrums daily. The likes of which I hadn't seen before from her. She would just be SO furious. The more people I talked to, the more I heard that 3 was way worse than 2 ever was for their children. Changing classes at school could have affected her more than I thought - or it could have also had something to do with a certain someone coming into the picture as well:



But over the past month or so, something has happened. She has turned into this little girl. This wonderful, delightful, funny (oh so funny) little girl. Judd and I have commented numerous times over the past couple of weeks about how much we just want to be with her. When I was in Boston for those 2 days last week, I found myself really missing her.

Now, we still have tantrums - but they are few and far between. We still have some moodiness and whining, but it is much less frequent.

I'm really starting to see why this age could be called "magical". She walks around talking and singing to herself. She is awesome at pretending, and LOVES to play with her dollhouse. (Especially with her dad)

We have been having lots of fun lately being "fairies". She was a party fairy a couple of weeks ago and threw a huge party for her baby dolls. She wasn't the best hostess, though - I'm not sure the dolls were ever offered any of the hor o'dourves.







Then yesterday, her teachers gave her a magic wand and gloves in her Easter basket from school. This morning she picked out her fairy outfit, complete with gloves and magic wand. Then, she went around granting me whatever wish I wanted. When Max took his nap, we spent almost an hour cutting out fairy wings from a cardboard box and decorating them. She wore them around all morning.





(I was so loving that curl in the middle of her face this morning)

(It is so funny to me that I was given such a girly girl. I'm not sure I ever played with a doll growing up. But, I'm embracing my inner pink, glittery girl and rolling with it.)

I'm loving every minute of this new phase she has entered. She brings so much life to our house every day. Sure, we still have our moments, but overall, things have been going pretty smoothly around here during the days. Now, if we could just get Max to sleep at night!

Bumper

I wish someone would buy this poor kid a bumper for his crib.





(We do have the one that actually matches the bedding. I just have been on the lookout for the breathable version)

Mommy & Me Egg Hunt

Yesterday, Drena hosted an egg hunt. The storms from the night before made way for a gorgeous morning. The grass wasn't too wet, so the kiddos were able to "hunt" for eggs outside.

We munched on doughnuts and muffins while the kids played and the grown-ups visited. Max sat around looking cute.



Then, the eggs were strategically hidden.

Everyone lined up and then they were off!



Charlotte had been practicing all morning with her Dad - she was a pro at this point. There was just one small problem. When she realized that these eggs actually had candy in them, she became distracted. She would pick one up, shake it, then open it to see what was inside. Meanwhile, the kids around her were scooping up the eggs.

After she managed to get a few, I gave in and she ate some candy. I think if she had only found one egg she wouldn't have cared too much - she was just thrilled with eating candy before lunch. Thanks for the egg hunt Drena!

Minute with Max Volume 21

Catch Up

4 posts so far for April. That is pretty awful. We have been super busy with lots of travel the past couple of weeks. That combined with my little part time job with inkspotworkshop.com and a photography session last weekend - has left little time for this blog. That makes me pretty sad. I realized this week that I missed Minute with Max last week. Don't worry, I have a good one to post tomorrow for this week.



Spring break for us was good. We just hung out Monday and Tuesday. We had some play dates, had a picnic at Stone Mountain, and stayed in our pajamas all morning, it was nice and relaxing.

Wednesday morning Max, Charlotte, and I flew up to PA to be with my parents for a couple of days. It was my first time to travel with both of them by myself. It went pretty well. We made it through the airport just fine - Max in a baby carrier and Charlotte walked along beside me. The plane ride was good - Max slept and Charlotte watched numerous shows on the iPad while eating her peanuts and drinking apple juice. Mom came to pick us up after she was done teaching.



We had a nice visit with my parents. Both of my parents had to work, but we were able to visit with them a lot in the afternoons and evenings. I took Charlotte over to their Monkey Joe's on Thursday morning. We visited my mom's classroom on Friday morning. There was a visit to Chick-Fil-A and to the "ice cream store". Charlotte mostly followed my mom around the house each afternoon "helping" with whatever chores my mom was working on at the time. She also may have been tickled by Granddad a bunch.

After a somewhat stressful Friday afternoon of not knowing whether we would get on the flight or not - we got the last 2 seats. whew! Judd met us at the gate when we landed and took us home.

Judd left for Lima, Peru on Sunday. I had plans to fly up with Max to Boston this past Tuesday. Kristina Young of Kristina Young Photography, offered to mentor me for a day. I took her up on it. Luckily, Judd's mom was able to come and watch Charlotte for me on Tuesday and Wednesday. I took Max with me.

So, Max and I flew up and made it to Kristina's house around lunchtime. We had a whirlwind trip - I think I was there for less than 24 hours, but I learned a lot. I worked with Kristina at IBM and have followed her blog for a while. It was so much fun to meet her family that I see online so often. I was able to visit her new photography studio that she recently opened. I was even able to briefly take part in a newborn session she shot there Wednesday morning. Unfortunately, Max was really cranky Wednesday morning, so I held him more than I held my camera.

We flew standby home. It didn't go as well as I would have hoped it would. The flights from Boston to Atlanta were all oversold. So, we ended up having to connect through LaGuardia in NYC. Not fun. Add in some weather delays and we ended up traveling from 11:15AM to 9:15PM. I'm not sure I've ever been so happy to pull into the garage.

Max is now a little under the weather and hasn't been sleeping well. He ran a fever the night we got back from Boston. I took him to the doctor the next day and he had the beginnings of an ear infection. His first. Poor guy. We have been giving him his first doses of antibiotics, so I hope he is on the mend. He is pretty darn pitiful when he is sick.

I came back from my parent's house to fully bloomed azalea bushes in our backyard. Charlotte said, "want to take my picture by them?" Why yes I do!

Spring Break

We had a lovely spring break that included a trip to PA. More to come about that. For now, a pic of one of the cutest babies I know.

Taj Ma-Laundry

It's finished! The guys wrapped up the new laundry room on Saturday morning. It is better than I thought it would be. Judd calls it the Taj Ma-Laundry. Compared to where I was doing laundry, that's about right.



The space is 5'x 8'. On the left when you walk in, they ripped out a garden tub and shower and put the washer/dryer. On the right, we replaced the toilet, sink, and mirror. The walls were painted a calming blue. On the floors we put laminate tile. (we are planning to redo the entire kitchen floor in the next year or two - we'll replace the laminate tile in the laundry with the new kitchen floor) Judd hung the shelving last night above the washer/dryer. With that shelving and the empty laundry closet in the garage - my storage space has doubled in this house. I couldn't be happier about that! Time to buy more junk?? :)

The guys that we hired to do the job were fabulous. They were on time, polite, and really nice. But best of all - they finished when they said they would! If you need the name of a contractor - let me know - I'd love to pass his name and number to you.

This remodeling stuff is addictive! Now that this is finished, I can't wait to get started with the next project. I just wish our budget felt the same way!

Minute with Max : Volume 20