3rd week of June - Father's Day

Love summer flowers!

I DON'T love when I have bug infestations on my crepe myrtles and I have to figure out how to deal with it.  It reminds me I'm really an adult now.

The kids doing workbook during the day

Fun with boxes

Maxwell helping me fold the towels and wash cloths.  He loves helping me do it and I feel like it's a parent win!  He folded the whole loud by himself.

Kindermusik fun

Another Saturday, another soccer game, another smiley-happy boy.  He has this big smile on his face the whole time when he's playing with Preston.

These two are having so much fun playing together.  It's comical watching them carry on conversations as they are running around the field.

I took the kids shopping at the dollar store and they picked out presents to give to Peter for Father's Day.  They sure picked some interesting things.  :)

Happy Father's Day!  

We sure love this guy - he's a great dad!

Playing "War" to pass the time while we wait to get breakfast

Little Miss was not a happy camper

She just wasn't in a good mood so we appeased her with the ipad

Maxwell got an oreo pancake (let's face it - - it was basically dessert pretending to be breakfast) and he was in HEAVEN.

She's not always happy but she's always perfection.  

Cartwheels in the pool

Enjoying a delicious brownie next door with Mr. Chris.  He loves to spoil the kids.

Emmalyn tried on Ms. Mary Ann's readers.  (She always wants to wear glasses so she can be like Maxwell.)

Maxwell had his first week back at school during spring break.  He was really excited to go back and see his friends and he's been wanting to keep working on the school work he hasn't finished yet, like his pin punching maps.  He loves school and learning.

While Maxwell was at school, Britt took the kids to see another program at the library.

Britt took the kids to a play place in a fast food restaurant so they could run off some energy after picking up Maxwell.  Clearly she was into it.

Playing around

My old boss and friend Colleen was in town.  We ALL love spending time with her.  :)  She and Maxwell played rock/paper/scissors and slap.

Loves for Uncle Joe.

Emmalyn wakes up at 6:10 am consistently.  She wants to immediately nurse but at this point, I'm just a pacifier and she goes back to sleep within minutes.  

The kids have magic powers of waking up within minutes of each other even though they are in totally different rooms and can't hear each other.  It's crazy!

She now says "thank you" if you tell her she's cute or beautiful.  She's recognizing it as a compliment, which I always say we respond to with a thank you.

She says "swim soup" in place of "swim suit"

Emmalyn likes to watch the "Whip N Nae Nae" video when she's brushing her teeth.  She loves to sneak Max's tooth brush and suck on it (gross).

Emmalyn will baby talk by saying "yay, goo goo ga ga" when she is happy.  She still says "butt head" when she's upset with you. And she has no problem with going on timeout for it, it's not a punishment to her. 

Maxwell is doing great at being a helper.   

Lately, Max likes to watch the video of the song "One Step" from Aladdin or "Defying Gravity" or "Popular" from the musical Wicked at night right before bedtime cuddles.

Max gets to read book during "rest" time after he has rested for awhile.  He will go through a chapter book for an hour.

He's so loving and always tells me he loves me.  He and Emmalyn are starting to engage and be nice to each other.

End of March, Beginning of April 2016

These cookies are my favorites - They are a banana, oatmeal, chocolate chip.  They are delicious.  The texture is so chewy almost like the top of a muffin.  YUMMMMM

Humidity = curls

It's crazy how curly she is

Video - Emmalyn singing the Jeopardy Theme Song.  We watch it each night so she's a pro!

Since coming home from Seattle, Maxwell keeps score just like Uncle Clay w/ everyone's initials.  This is the score sheet he put together for playing baseball. (Maxwell and Peter)

When Maxwell does Math that doesn't come quickly (like 9 plus 7) he will use this method - "9 in your head and 7 on your fingers" and then counts on his fingers to get the number. When he says the head part he hits his head.

He's reading his new chapter book - I love this series called "Hey Jack".  It's perfect for just starting to read chapter books.

Playing together

Maxwell dancing in his room while he watches the "whip n nae nae" song and learns the dance.  He's pretty cute when he does it.

Not happy to be in daddy's car because she has to still be in the rear facing infant seat.  At nearly 2, she's ready to be out of it.

He's all into reading right now.  I loved walking in and finding him like this on his bed.

A rare thing - Maxwell actually sitting in a swing instead of laying on it with his belly?!

We had a playdate with a few of Maxwell's friends from pre-school.  Joshua, Preston, and Lucas.  Maxwell played with them a little but more spend time playing by himself.  It's still good to see him engaging with friends a little though.

Sweet sleeping baby.  Note her hand tucked into her shirt?  Just like Maxwell used to do.

Peeking over our neighbor's fence.  We have a picture of Maxwell doing the same thing.

The weather is changing and swimming weather is getting closer.  Maxwell got into the hot tub next door for the first time this year.

Part of spring means it's time to plant flowers.  I had a great helper who not only helped me pick out the flowers but plant them too.  He loved his superman gloves.

Look at how long that hair is getting!

Spring days = time at the park

My little dare devil

So much personality and spunk

Our regular picture spot at school - I tried to get him to smile

He tickled himself in order to give me a genuine smile.

This week I registered Maxwell for Kindergarten.  Peter and I have really been struggling with deciding whether to send Maxwell to Kindergarten in the fall or hold him back.  Since he turns 5 so close to the cut off date, it wouldn't be uncommon to hold him back.  If he were to go to school, he'd turn 5 only 3 days before school starts.  He's already little for his age, he will certainly be little in his class because there will be kids in there that are already 6!  Here in Texas, you will find parents holding back their kids that turn 5 in May and June just so they will be bigger and do better in sports.

I worry though that if we hold Maxwell back it won't be fair to him intellectually since he's already so far ahead in that area.  It's hard to know what to do!  Sometimes I wonder if he's mature enough to move on (like when he barely plays with the other kids at the playdate.

Anyway, it's hard and we don't know what to do.  So, we registered him knowing that we can always change our mind and he doesn't have to go.  Then, at least, he can go if we want him to.  I can't believe he's old enough to go to school!

Video - Peter gets the best giggles out of Emmalyn.  She is so fun to play with.

Maxwell put together this course for him to practice his soccer skills with.

Watching Maxwell and the other kids in the pool.  I think I'm going to need to sign her up for lessons soon.  I don't want to have to get in the pool with her but it's clear she wants to be swimming too.

 

She is certainly starting to look more like toddler and less like baby.

She calls all her fingers "thumbs".  Her two bottom two-year molars are barely popping through.  She says "yes" with the cutest lisp so it sounds like "yeth".  She has crazy tantrums and is scratching now.  She will just SCREAM.  She purposely does things that she knows will upset Maxwell.  She won't let her "piggytails" stay in.  I even tried a trick that Ashlee taught me about twisting her hair around and that didn't stop her.  It's so frustrating because it is just a wild mess if it's not put up.

When she gets in her car seat, she HAS to buckle her chest strap by herself.  She can now JUMP! for real. :)

I got some new tennis shoes.  I went and got shoes fitted to my feet at a nice store in hopes that good shoes will help keep my pinched nerve from coming back.  It's been many many months since I've focused on walking/running and I feel like my foot is finally healed (which is good because at one point I was feeling like surgery would be my only option).  I will give these shoes a shot and start moving, hopefully with no pain!  These babies are a size 7.5!!  I was wearing like a 6 before I had kids.