We hurried home from Austin and just barely made it in time to grab the kids clothes and get them dressed in the car for the photo shoot. I didn't get to spent as much time prepping (or doing hair) as I would have liked but it all turned out okay.
I snuck in a few shots while the photographer was taking the pictures (the next three pics).
Emmalyn was ALL ABOUT the animals. She had no fear and wanted to touch and hold them.
Max on the other hand... you can see here that he was far more hesitant!
She just kept asking to hold them:)
No ducklings were harmed in this photo shoot (even though it looks like they were!)
This is such a huge different from last year when we took these pictures and I had to beg and bribe him to be in them.
Just the tiniest, littlest, most cautious touch...
LOVE!!!!
Again, just touching the animals with his fingertips.
My favorite picture. Siblings! (This type of affection from Maxwell is not common but I'm grateful when we asked him to put his arm around his sister that he did it.)
He's feeling way brave now! (But still not holding on very well... )
don't worry - we quickly saved the duckling
Finally! She gets to hold the duckling!
Love this beautiful, bold girl with her little curls, her big eyes and her baby face.
I celebrated Mother's Day at Maxwell's school on the day after Mother's Day with a breakfast for the two of us.
This is how we get him to smile without it looking like he's in pain - laugh and smile. It isn't a very genuine smile but at least it's not a grimace.
The tables were all set up nicely and it was a nice way to spent some time with Maxwell
Opening up a cheese stick by yourelf? Genuine smile.
He also had a present for me.
We took the kids to the neighborhood park after work since it was so nice. Love the long, sunny days of late spring! And Love finally having a park so close!
Peter helping Maxwell be brave enough to go down the big slide
woah, that's some static!
crawling baby
walking a little big with dad's help
Emmalyn loves going down the little toddler slide at the park. She's got no fear and is so bold. I can't get over how brave she is because it seems like Maxwell only started to like going down slides when he was 3.
Warning - I have posted a bunch of videos on this blog. I can't help it - its much more fun if yo can see her trying to walk rather than me just tell you about it.
Video - I captured Emmalyn walking on video. It's so exciting!!!
Video - Maxwell is too busy dancing to bother with his sister walking
Bedtime routine still includes the ipad
Emmalyn drumming at Brittany's
I tried a black bean burger for the first time ever at work. It was delicious!
Maxwell showing off the present he made me at school for Mother's Day. It's two hot pads with his hand print as the petals of a flower. I love it and I love that he let his teacher put paint on his hands!
Video - Emmalyn trying to walk a few more times
Video - Maxwell trying to get Emmalyn to walk to him. I love how he says her name. Pretty cute big brother.
Video - Maxwell being a "great" big brother. Oh man, he just doesn't have that nurturing personality.
On the 13th, Emmalyn turned 13 months! She began walking just 3 days ago so we can say she started walking at one (rather than after that).
The laughing smile
Sweet smile
silly smile
She is LOVING being at the park. I need to send her to Britt's with shoes so she can get down and walk around.
Max still doesn't want to swing normally
We went to chick-fil-a for an end-of-season "party" with Maxwell's soccer team. It was our last time with this team because we have signed up with another team for the next season. The new team will be coached by Max's friend Evan's dad so I am hopeful it will be a better experience that this season. Heck, if we can have regular practices it would be a big win.
Not wanting to go play with the kids in the play area. Instead he wanted to sit here.
Oh man, a participation trophy. I am not a fan of participation trophies. Why give them anything?
May is a great month. Spring is in full swing. The weather turns solidly into swimming weather. I get to celebrate my anniversary with Peter, my birthday, and mother's day. It's a great month!
My little ray of sunshine
I had a diet coke with lemon at work - in honor of my mom (it was her soda of choice)
Uh oh. It's amazing how quickly this can happen.
Video - Her cute "bye" along with the perfect wave
Lucky Maxwell got the rare treat of some Cheetos's. Look at those messy fingers.
We were invited to Avery (Maxwell's friend in the neighborhood)'s birthday party. It was a gymnastics party. Maxwell was too timid to do anything. His little sister on the other hand, she found something pretty quickly that she loved to do.
After like an hour, we finally got Maxwell to do something. He refused earlier, even with Peter and I offering to help him do stuff. So eventually we got him to talk to one of the "coaches" and she was really good at engaging him while the rest of the kids were enjoying some food. That warmed him up a little and he at least sort of participated after that. Peter thinks he just needed to feel comfortable with the adults/coaches and also didn't want to be embarrassed because it was stuff he's never done before and didn't feel confident he could do it.
I wish I knew exactly what his barriers were because it's so hard as a parent to see things that you know your child would enjoy and yet they won't even try them. Maxwell is such a great kid and there are some really outstanding things about him. I know my parenting can make an imprint on who he ends up being as an adult and I don't want him to jump into anything but I also don't want him to be scared of trying new things or be scared of failing. I really hope I can help him learn to overcome this.
Getting ready for the "snowball" fight (Maxwell is sort of with the group)
Look - he's doing it!
He was good to go with the parachute, but he'd played with a parachute before at Kindermusik
Birthday girl and Maxwell
This is his "cheese" face
We wrapped up the day with a swim in the hot tub at Mary Ann's. Maxwell was excited to swim and I also let him wear a pair of flippers we'd been given. He had fun!
Want to try it out, Emmalyn?
Noooooooooo!
She loves playing with this playset
Peter made Maxwell a "car" he could drive. He had a lot of fun playing with it.
Our regular Sunday trip to Costco.
Hi momma!
Sometimes I have to pinch myself because it seems so crazy that these two cute kids are mine ...I'm someone's mom!
Emmalyn got to take her first big girl bath! She loved splashing but kept trying to stand up which just stresses me out.
Maxwell was chosen as the star student for his class so that meant he had to bring a poster with pictures of himself. I had seen other posters outside the classrooms at the school. There were some where the child clearly didn't do anything to put it together and then there were those that didn't look a perfect but you could tell the child had a hand in creating it. My thought process is, who is this poster really for? THE KIDS. So who cares if it's perfect. I wanted Maxwell to create the poster and then have pride in what he did.
He did a great job of putting stickers on it, glitter glue, letters, and choosing where to put each picture.
Glitter glue hand print
It worked!
He did a great job on his poster
(not sure where his other shoe is)
He was so proud - way to go buddy! (Next time I need to start working on the poster much earlier than the day before it's due. Sheesh - - it's like I was in school all over again. I clearly didn't learn my lesson about procrastinating.)
Maxwell's sleep routine now has to include socks. He doesn't like to sleep without socks on. He gets ready with his 3 P's - Potty, Pull-up, and Pajamas. Then we brush his teeth. He gets to play the iPad for a few minutes and then we read some books followed by cuddling and singing songs and turning on the sound machine. When I turnout the light and go to leave, he says, "Good night, don't let the bed bugs bite, I'll see you in the morning light, don't let the super heroes get you."
Maxwell definitely wants a partner lately. He wants someone to shower with him, play with him, and he wants to help me. He loves to brush his teeth.
The other day he asked to workout with Brittany because he "needed exercise".
At swimming lessons, he has a great backstroke with good arms. His front stroke is improving but there's still lots of room to grow. It used to be that when he was doing his front stroke he would roll onto his back when he needed a breath and now lifts his head back so far ends up going vertical and losing all momentum.
Maxwell, like everyone, has some bad habits. His bad habits are saying "oh my gosh" a lot, wiping his hands on his shirt, picking his nose in bed, and playing with himself when he's pooping. Hopefully he will grow out of these bad habits.
Emmalyn sorta says the following words - more, diaper, Leah, banana, yea, yes, max, dad. She says "Momma" a lot - to get my attention and to communicate. She sweetly gives me kisses a lot, loves Brittany and Joe. If I had her to someone else, she will scream so hard she will start to shake. She's a little drama Momma. She's learned her first body part - her belly! (She sometimes will get "hair and "toes" but not all the time.)
Emmalyn is very chatty and talkative especially in the car lately. If someone is in the shower she will stay outside the shower, begging to join. Diaper changes are tough right now due to so much squirming and fighting. She also fights taking her vitamins.
Emmalyn has not been wanting to nurse for very long lately. I don't know if that's because she quickly is able to get the little amount that's there or if it it because she's not interested in nursing anymore. It more seems like the second option unless she's using me as a binky to go to sleep,, which she has been doing in the morning once I bring her into our bed. She doesn't always want her 4 oz bottle of breast milk anymore but loves drinking water out of a sippy cup. I gave her some cow's milk this week and she tried it but didn't like it.
Both kids like asparagus which I think is pretty awesome!
Wife, Mom, and Career Woman. Trying to succeed at all three. Enjoy cruising, time with friends and family, and sleeping. Busy life doesn't leave time for as much fun as in the past but that's okay, it's still a good life.
