3rd week of October - All dressed up with nowhere to go

Two of my region managers gave me this beautiful plant arrangement for "Boss's Day".  It was nice of them!  (4 months later it doesn't look as good...part of it is dead...and I'm tired of having to babysit it.  I just am not good with live plants.  So today, in fact, I gave it away to someone who will give it the love it deserves.)

Fun with playdough

This is my tomato plant now.  It's not doing well but I've kept it alive.  It even still is flowering.  I continue to hope that one of those flowers will turn into my first tomato.  Until it freezes, I'm not giving up.  I've put too much effort into keeping it alive.  I want tomatoes!!!

(Note the basil at the bottom is doing well!)

Another view to show how the bottom of the plant is ravaged but it's still growing at the top.

3 dudes in sunglasses

Max often sleeps on TOP of his pillow.

Peter helped Max take a nap.

Enjoying some pizza at the FC Dallas soccer game.

It was a gorgeous day for a game.  Max had fun watching.

That night we took Max to a Storytelling Festival.  I was hoping he wasn't too young to enjoy it.

He did a good job sitting quietly and paying attention, for the most part (iron man and snacks helped), but he was a little young to appreciate the story telling.  I think we'll wait a couple years.

Peter indulged his pregnant wife and let us go to a new place for dinner.  They had Neapolitan style pizza which was just okay.  The dessert - a nutella pizza was the best part. 

You can tell how much these two like each other.  :)

Iron man joined us for dinner, too.

We bought this cute suit for Max but never had a reason to use it.  Peter pulled it out of the closet and put it on Max.  Boy, did he look handsome (even if the pants were a little long)!

Is this smile good enough for you, Mom?

Landen hung out watching Max's photoshoot.

Taking a treat break

At swim lessons this week, Max put his head under the water multiple times to get a ring that was placed on the steps into the pool!  This was the first time he'd done that.  I was quite excited.  Also, I dunked him under the water without blowing in his face.  Up to this point, I've blown into his face before putting him under water because it causes a child to catch their breath and not breathe.

He can now take his footsie one-piece pajamas off by himself - getting more and more independent each day.

October 13, 2013 - Pregnancy Update

Yeah, I am 12 weeks...almost out of the first trimester.  Here's how it's been going...

I am still nauseous most of the day (and night) but only throw up 3 or 4 times a week, though.  It's so much more manageable than last time and less intense.  Plus, I think I am better at dealing with it (or getting some saltines in my stomach faster).  Peter and Brittany have been awesome and taken over all the changing of Max's dirty diapers since that's something that is really hard for me to make it through without throwing up.

I am feeling more tired but mainly just completely unmotivated to do anything.  I am not as sensitive to smells as last time, but still don't like strong smells, especially smells of food.  I can't stand even the thought of eating most meats like last time except for ground beef sometimes (think hamburgers).  Nothing really ever sounds "good" and usually I am just eating whatever sounds tolerable.

Because I haven't felt good and had much of an appetite I've lost like 1 lb (last time I lost 5 lbs).  Despite having lost weight, my belly is starting to grow...ick...it's not bad, mainly just noticeable to me and Peter.  I started this pregnancy 10 lbs less than when I was pregnant last time.  The doctor has given me a goal of only gaining 15-20 lbs...if I can make that happen, that would be great!

My first doctor visit went well, as I blogged about.  Peter and I saw the baby and heard the heartbeat.  After checking my blood, my doctor put me on progesterone.  I take it at night but I have found if I stay awake too long after taking, it makes me dizzy like I am drunk or something.  It's pretty crazy how much it affects me.

We still haven't announced to the world about the pregnancy, yet.

I am nervous about two kids, stressed about two kids, and feel like I am not ready.

I have been focused on loving hard on my Max... it makes me sad to think it won't just be him anymore.

I have my next doctors visit this week.  I seriously can't believe it's been 12 weeks already.

2nd week of October 2013

Max coloring with his left hand.

Max coloring with his right hand.  That's right - he uses both of them.  

Still not sure whether he's going to end up left handed or right handed.

We were BOO'ed by a neighbor.  They were quite kind and even included stuff for all 3 kids.

Peter really likes Ghengis Grill (mongolian bbq).  We went the last time I was pregnant and the smells were too intense plus I couldn't handle looking at the raw meat.  Ever since then, it takes a lot for me to go there.  Somehow I had a strong moment and agreed to go back (while in my first trimester!).  I dealt with the smells and just didn't touch any meat.  I had a great time at dinner with my boys.  Max takes effort to be entertained but he was happy, cute, and even ate some food so it was an enjoyable meal.  

I am happy with the way my flowers did in my front yard this year.

It's starting to look a little wild since it's so late in the season, but there still is a nice amount of color so I don't want to pull them.

I did have to do a little trimming because the lantana was taking over the lights and everything else.

Front yard

Man, how the neighborhood has changed in the 1 year and 3 months since we moved in!!! Click here and here to see what it used to look like.

The house next door is getting close to being done.

A two year old tornado.  It's mind boggling how quickly it can get this messy.

Here's my two "boo" buckets ready to be delivered to 2 lucky neighbors.  I know this is supposed to be a fun thing but man, it just irritates me and stresses me out.  I don't need another "to-do" added to my list nor do I want to spent the time shopping for the stuff.  Call me a Grinch.  :)

Mr. Cool - loves wearing his "eyeglasses"

Max is talking so much now!  When you ask him a question and he has to think about the answer, he says "ummmmmmmm" while he's thinking.  He also says "How 'bout"... for example if we ask what he wants for breakfast he will say "Um....... How 'bout oatmeal?"  He has started saying "yes" instead of "yeah".

He's made improvements with knowing his colors.  He still defaults to an automatic answer of "yellow" but when I ask him to think about it then he will usually get it correct then.  That is, unless the answer is Red.  He's having a hard time with that one because he can't remember the word.

He surprises me by saying Spanish words he's learned from the TV show Dora.  He loves Dora (which he calls "Dora and Boots").

He's aware of what the word "scared" means and will let us know when he is scared.  For example, he's scared of the baby doll I got at a consignment sale and he will tell us that when the baby is around.

He still has the habit of touching his nipples as a method of self-soothing.

He can feel the beat of music and will dance to the beat.

Maxwell loves singing the ABCs.

He really likes watching Jeopardy.

We taught him the numbers above 20 once and he retained what we taught him and is now remember them!

Hayden is working on learning the sounds each letter makes and because Brittany practices with Hayden when Max is around, Max is also learning the sounds.

Max loves everything soccer.

Lately he's been waking up at 5:30 am, ugh!!  One day it was 5:08.  Much too early!

Rarely do we have to remind him to swallow anymore so he won't drool.  We usually only need to remind him when he's playing really hard or watching the iPad.  When we do remind him, he will swallow and then use his pointer finger to wipe the drool up and away from his chin.  It's a really sweet gesture.

I had another parenting "fail" moment.  Max was running around in the morning without his diaper, no big deal.  Well, all of a sudden he starts pooping!  He's NEVER NEVER NEVER done this before.  So, I basically froze and didn't know what to do.  I started telling him to stop, which of course didn't work and only served to freak him out.  So now I had poop on the floor, a naked boy with a poopy bum, and an extremely sensitive pregnant nose and stomach that made me start to gag.  I seriously didn't know what to do.  So, I did what I always do when I don't know what to do - I called for Brittany.  (I would be lost without her!  She's just amazing and calm.)  She came to the rescue and took care of Max and the poop and I let her.

I am typing this months later and rolling my eyes at myself.  Why can't I just take care of it?  Why does it have to be a big deal?  It's silly how I can go from being so capable at work to being so helpless at home.  Sheesh.

UPDATE:  Peter has reminded me that it was him that helped me with this situation, not Brittany.  Whoops.  My memory isn't just as good right now.  :)

Building Castles - First week of October 2013

October is going to be a fun month!

Video - Max counting to ten in Spanish

Thank goodness this kid is cuter than me!

I love it when he wears vests

I tried to build Max a fort with the alphabet squares.  He called it a castle.

Peter showed me up by building a MUCH BETTER castle.

Hey there, slick! (I seriously love that creamy skin tone with just a little bit of rosy cheeks!)

Another castle built by dad.  Max loves playing in them.

It was my favorite work activity of the year - Casino Night!  I look forward to this night every year.  This year I only got a few things in the silent auction (I realized that we probably wouldn't be doing very many "activities" in the coming future...baby coming and all...so I didn't go after many of the things I would have normally).  As usual, I played pretty conservatively and didn't make much "money".  Peter learned how to play craps while I stayed at the blackjack tables and did pretty well.

At the end of the night we put our few raffle tickets in the bags.  I tried to be strategic and go for the less popular items.  Then they did the drawing...and I WON SOMETHING!!!!!!!!!  Not only did I win something but I won the biggest prize (biggest = worth the most money).  I won a night in the CROSSMARK Suite at the American Airlines Center during a Stars Hockey Game (NHL).  I get the suite all to myself and my closest 11 friends.  It's a pretty sweet prize!  (It's ironic that we put most of our tickets in for other prizes and only put in *1* ticket for the suite!) It's fun to be a winner!

Max looking pretty tired in his car seat.

All of a sudden he put on this huge smile.

Less then 2 minutes later - this is what we had...

Max working on building his own castle all by himself.

He did a great job of stacking and understand what would and wouldn't be stable.

Pretty proud!

Video - I love his reaction when the blocks fall, just a little bit of frustration and a "hey, what you doing" and then he just starts over.

...still going

I was impressed with how many towers he got to a good height plus how many different types of blocks he used.

Still crossing his feet all the time

Eating out as a family