Wow!

It has been 2+ months since I checked in last! (Well-I actually keep up with everyone else-just not my own blog!) To say things have been nuts around here would be a gross understatement.
Lets recap the last 2 months of 2010 and the first part of 2011:

• October: super busy!
• November: Cody got new job. I was put in charge of closing our movie store.
• December: Christmas. Packing. Quit my job. Packed some more. Apartment hunting. Moved. Started new job for me: full time SAHM.
• January: Got moved in to apt in Fort Smith. Max's 2nd birthday!

And here we are. We finally have the last box unpacked and (pretty much) everything where it is supposed to be. We still don't have any real living room furniture, but that will come in time. It has been quite the adjustment. One that I still struggle with at times. I am not used to being so far away from my family and the routine I knew. But it is coming together and I am starting to enjoy the new place. Instead of going into tons of detail at this time, how bout some pictures! Here is what we have been up to!

Oh! Did I mention that Max has done some serious growing? Well my little guy is not so little any more. He is now 35 inches tall and 27 lbs. Not fat, but definitely tall! He also had his first haircut, five days before he turned 2-I couldn't put it off any longer. :-( He is quite the talker now. Lots of words but still no "r" or "f" sounds. This means that "fly" is "sly" or "truck" is "chuck" He can count to 5 with a little help and will sub in the right letters ,usually, if you do the ABC's with him...like if you say a,b,c,d,e..? he will say "s" (his F). So, everyday is new and amazing for him-I will never tire of seeing the world through the eyes of a toddler-priceless!

October 2010=Favorite Month!

October has always been a busy month for our family. This year has been no different. We have been going non stop since the first of the month and a family wedding. Cody's mom tied the knot (it took me 3 tries to spell "knot" correctly...) down at the lake on the 2nd. Tons of fun, family and...shall we say stress? Yes. Whenever there is family involved there is stress. But good times.
Ooops-I forgot the parade! We actually started the morning of the wedding off with Max's first parade! He thoroughly enjoyed it which was no surprised to me, it had horses, firetrucks AND tractors all in a row! It doesn't get any better than that in his little world!
(and isn't his little hat just KILLER! I love that he will actually wear one-boys in hats=CUTE!)
Then wedding.
Then mommy and daddy's birthday. Yummy


Then on to general October fun. Leaves. Cooler weather. Playing with chalk, glow sticks and reading car magazines with daddy. Our 4th anniversary was stuck in there somewhere. It kinda got pushed aside-we have bigger fish to fry. More on that in a bit. (NO, I am not pregnant!)

My little pumpkin with his first pumpkin!Good Bye (almost) October, until we meet again next year!

Thanks for the award from The Sparacino Chronicles:A Writing Adventure . You are supposed to list 7 random things about yourself and pass it on. Enjoy!

1. I ALWAYS eat any chocolate candy "deconstructivly". This means that I will eat a Kit Kat by eating all the chocolate off the outside first and then eat the wafers from top to bottom, one at a time. This applies to all other candy bars. (Snickers are tricky!)


2. I cannot stand eating bananas because they give me "fuzzy teeth". Laugh if you want, that is what I have always called it and no, I cannot describe it-if you have to ask, you wouldn't understand!


3. I am compulsive about how the bath towels are folded and have finally succeeded in getting Cody trained properly. Now on to Max...
   
4. I would prefer an early, quiet morning to sleeping in late every time.


5. I love to cook with fresh garlic but I can't stand to have the smell on my hands for days and days. Enter: Kitchen gloves-for garlic and jalapenos only-I am not some weird sissy who won't touch raw meat-ie-Cody+raw chicken!


6. I really have no interest in ever owning a dog-they always want to be my friend-yet they lick their own butts...hmmm...pretty much gross.


7. I have never ridden a roller coaster of any kind. Open to it-just never had the opportunity.

I am passing this along to:

Better Than We Could Pray For

Joy, with a side of chaos

Our Ordinary Life

Snot

(Note: gross out factor-pretty high)

Yep-snot. Its that time of year. I like to think I am girlie but tough. I think Cody likes to think he is manly and tough but I would like to set the record straight...manly: yes. tough: still undecided.
He has his father's DNA all the way. Mark (my FIL) is a great man and a wonderful father/grandfather but his most obvious fault (other than his penchant for making me insane by somehow cornering me with words which is infuriating-lol) is that he has an EXTREMELY weak stomach. Dirty diaper=RUN. Spit up=RUN. Snot=RUN. Vomit=Don't even mention it! I can count on one hand the number of times Cody has voluntarily changed a dirty diaper. (he is great with just wet) You would have thought that our trip down Pyloric Stenosis Lane would have gotten him over the yuck-but alas. (Back story: When Max was newborn he would projectile vomit EVERYTHING out of his stomach quite often, getting progressively more often until he was diagnosed at 7 weeks. It was an easy fix-simple surgery and 2 nights in a children's hospital, but the weeks leading up to this were FILLED with copious amounts of slimy, stinky spit-up. Cody handled it fine)
Fast forward to today.
Enter: Cold Season, aka-Snot Season
Max has been dealing with a bout of gross. No other real problems, just lots of snot.
This morning Cody took Max outside so I could finish getting things ready for the day unassisted. So sweet. As I am finishing up and I have both hands full of 2 lunch boxes, 2 sippy cups of milk, a diaper bag, my phone, keys and trying to shut the front door I hear... "EEEEWWWWW-Mommy, this is tooo gross! Clean up on isle Max! Grab a tissue now! EEEWWWWW!!!" And yes, that was Cody. My poor little boy (max) was standing in the middle of the driveway looking quite confused with both hands full of snot and more just dripping from his raw little nose. I did rescue the little guy but I just had to share. I have a wonderful husband and Max has a father that couldn't love him more but...Come on! Man up Cody! lol *sigh*

That is all.

Be glad there aren't pictures!

Bits and Pieces

I have learned that I am not going to be able to keep a cohesive blog, it will always be just bits and pieces. But I guess pieces are good too, I mean, I love Reece's Pieces and York Patty pieces. So...here are some "pieces" of us.








Last night Max climbed into this basket. (after unfolding and scattering 14 baby blankets that I can't bring myself to store away) He then proceeded to read his current fave book, Who but a Father.

And bath time is once again fun-thanks in large part to bubbles...although all he really wants to do is eat them in scary amounts.

He sacked out, like really sacked out one day. It makes me sad to see how full my arms are in this pic in comparison to...

We went to the parish wide rummage sale (something I really NEVER do...I DO NOT go to second hand yard/garage/rummage/ sales. No prejudice just never liked it.) But we went this year and one of the parishioners saw Max climb on this cow and ride. She bought it for him. He loves it. Thus it is in my house. Thank you. Did I mention that it moos? No? It moos.

All 4 of us girls got to go out for a night of bowling and dinner. (with our dudes) Thanks mom and dad for watching Max, sorry he was such a pill. :-/

He loves tractors-just so we have that covered...

Here he is trying on his new fall jeans and shirt...and hamming it up all the way!

I call this his Waldo shirt-for some reason he really likes the whole stripy look-he was sitting there just rubbing his hand on the stripes like they were bumpy or something. Dunno-but it was cute.

And although there are no pic to illustrate, he has begun to improve his communication skills. My youngest sister has tried to teach him a few signs. So far the only one he has stuck with is "more" and he uses it ALLLLL THHHHEEEE TIIIIIMMMMEEE! Other than that, he also says please, tractor, key, dad, mom, out, deer, baby, Paul (an older gentleman with a red tractor), P, Nananan for Nana and Nonnie, Ieya for Yaya along with variations of all my sister's names. So we are getting there.