Cousin Lovin

When I FINALLY got around to uploading pictures from my camera (which for the record has had a serious vacation as of late, I almost never take pics anymore) I found this little gem.

I like to call it....."The Line of Love"

I went out to Porter and Lanas one day and of course Mayzie is everyones obsession.  She truly brings so much joy to my ENTIRE family, it's awesome. Well, when I came back from a trip to the ol' toity, this is what I found.  A literal LINE of kids waiting for their turn to hold Mayzie.  How adorable is that?  They were willing to stand in line for a TURN to hold my sweet baby.  That is Tatum holding her, followed by Dane, then of course Maggie, Owen, Olivia, Crew (who is far to small for a real turn) and the couch was rounded out by Morgan and Max.  And, for the most part, they did a pretty good job of sharing Mayzers.

The other thing I love about this picture?  As I looked at it, I realized that 4 out of the 7 kids in it are all wearing hand me downs from eachother.  Maggie is wearing clothes given to her from Brooklyn.  Crew is wearing clothes that were Max's and Morgan is wearing clothes that were Maggies (never mind that she's a year older than Maggie.  She comes from my sister Dixie who only makes wee tiny, skinny kids) and Max who is dressed entirely by Jayce.  We are SO, SO blessed and lucky to have cousins to give us clothes, and then I'm only so happy to pass them down to the next in line.  I honestly don't know what we'd do if it weren't for all the hand me downs.  My kids might forever be destined to be nudists, or only sport bad wal-mart clothes.

Clothes whores and baby lovers,

Allyson





A rare moment in time.....

ICK! I just have to say, I reallllllly don't like the "new look" of blogger, it drives me nuts and I can't find anything.  And yes, i realize I never write posts, so this is my problem. But still, I can complain if I want to.

So, what else is new....it's June which = the craziest month of my entire life.  I'm tired, I'm worn out, I'm overwhelmed and my house looks like an atomic bomb went off.  Pretty much the norm.

However....last Monday morning I found just enough time to make a "quick" trip to Costco for a stock up the pantry mission.  As we know, my kidlets lurve them some Costco and I made them SWEAR on their little lives that they would behave. And by behave I mean, stay by the cart, no running ahead, raising ruckus or begging me to buy something, or anything.  We were on a mission.

What can I say?  They delivered.  There was a little bit of "ice skating" on the concrete which ended with some falls, but nothing too bad. They did great and therefore earned a little lunch at the Costco "cafe" (we seriously love us some lunch there).

There we sat, the four of us lunching on our salad for me and pizza for them and delicious bottle for Mayzie.  The kids were uncharacteristically calm and GOOD! They actually just SAT there and ate.  They didn't fight, they didn't whine, they didn't jump up and down.  It was surreal actually.

About halfway through our lunching I noticed this lovely older woman looking our way.  She was sitting a table over and one up from us.  She was saying something to her cute little old husband.  When she caught my eye she said "they're so well behaved."  I laughed and said, "well at least this time they are." The cute man turned and said something, but to be honest, I have no idea what he said, I just smiled and nodded.  Anyway a few minutes later they got up to leave.  I noticed them whispering to eachother.  Next thing I knew, that adorable little ol' man in his shorts and knee socks walked over, reached in his pocket and placed a quarter in front of each of my kids and said "I think you two are pretty swell."  IT.WAS.AWESOME!  They hardly knew what to do with themselves.  Well fine, they pretty much  just didn't even really understand what had just happened.  All they saw was a big, shiny quarter, which equals MONEY for their piggy banks.

I tried to use it as a wee teaching moment.  You know....act good and behaved and you get rewarded.  I'm not sure it has sunk in.  But, it made this mama feel good none the less.

Lucky for you...I always have my camera.  So, here it is.....Our "rare moment in time."

Enjoying their smoothies

I especially love Max's pizza covered teeth in this shot. HA!

P.S. the shirts they're wearing are what they made in their summer preschool class.  FUN!

Days and moments like these make this whole parenting gig beareable.

A Birth Story.....Mayzie

Wait, what?  My kid is 2 mos. old you say?  How did this happen?  And all of you waiting so painfully long for her birth story.  My sincerest apologies!!!

Buckle up.  Here...we...goooooo

It shall be stated for the record that I SWORE this time I was going to wait until nature just took its course and I went into labor all by myself. I wanted to have that "moment" like they show in the movies.  You know the one...just minding your own business and suddenly your water bursts all over the floor and your rushing around in panic trying to get to the hospital in time.  Or just out of nowhere a giant contraction hits and your doing the crazy breathing and rushing to the hospital.  I was gonna do it.  I was gonna wait... no induction.  Enjoy the whole process, etc.    Phlbbbbt!  You know me....patience....non existent.  Frankly, you hit that last couple of weeks and all you can do is BEG the child to get out of you!

Sooooooo.....

I went to my Doctors appt. on April 2nd, I was dilated to a 4 and 80% effaced.  
'Cause I'm cool like that, my body all prepping itself and all.  So He stripped my membranes and we discussed when he could induce me.  However, really I wasn't planning on waiting around for this induction.  Jere was losing his ever loving mind.  Couldn't study, couldn't focus, couldn't do anything.  He was OBSESSED with this baby being born.  And at this point...so was I.

I had a couple of pretty big contractions that afternoon after the "stripping", but that was it.  I swore I would NOT do the castor oil this time, but finally I gave in and made the orange soda and castor oil concoction.  I somehow gagged it down and waited for it to do its magic.

You guys.....I took it at 4 p.m. and I didn't even so much as toot, nor feel a rumble in the jungle until after 8 p.m.  It was wierd, and disconcerting.  But finally, I had a nice visit with my toilet and things seemed to be working in the right direction.  I started having consistent contractions about every 3 to 5 minutes starting at 9 p.m.  We were watching "The Voice" and just timing contractions.  Jere was super antsy to head to the hospital. I myself was not.  I kept assuring him we could just do this whole "laboring" part at home.  Finally, at about 11:30 we headed to the hospital.  They checked me, still at a 4.  Told me to "walk".  So after 45 minutes of doing lunges, squats, running up and down stairs, jogging in place (in the chapel for privacy none the less, 'cause NOONE needs to see that bidness) and walking I went back and I was at a 5.  They decided to admit me and see what happened.

We spent the rest of the night in our room sorta sleeping, sorta not.  I continued to have contractions, but just run of the mill, not real painful contractions.  Just before 6 a.m. I decided I needed to go to the bathroom.  I called the nurse and told her I needed to go.  I was laying on my side and when I went to move to my back to get up I heard and felt a loud POP POP!  It was the strangest feeling.  Then there was a little bit of liquid on the table.  I told the nurse what happened, she checked me and said I wasn't that wet, so my water didn't break.  I said "are you sure cause it's running down my leg right now and I'm not peeing."  I went to the bathroom, there was lots of bloody show and the trickle down my leg continued.

The nurse said she didn't think my water had broken so much as it had sprung a leak.  Whatever the case, it was enough to change my contractions to for realsie and painful.  At that point I was at a 6 to 7ish range.  I said, let's do this epidural STAT!  The guy came in and did the epidural, except it hurt and it's never hurt before.  He no sooner finished the epidural than I felt some immediate relief.

I got all settled back on my bed, the nurse walked out the door and then I may have seen the face of God. I had a contraction that hurt so bad I thought I would die.  I literally felt like my bum hole would explode.  Now remember, I've been induced with the other 2 and had epidurals...I never really FELT anything.  So I was ouching and breathing through this saying "why does this hurt, why does this hurt sooooooooo bad?  I have an epidural."  Jere called the nurse back in.  She asked if I was feeling a little more pressure.  "A LITTLE more pressure? Sister this is FAR more than a little pressure."  So, she checked me and wouldn't you know, in about 10 min. I had gone from a 7 to a 10 and that baby was crowning.

AWESOME!!

TWENTY FIVE MINUTES LATER my doctor came in.  He was on his way but traffic was bad.  So for 25 minutes I had to endure those ridiculously painful contractions.  Poor Jere thought I was gonna break his thumb right off.  I might have too, cause it was intense.  Apparently I transitioned way to fast and that epidural did a whole lotta nothing.  Good thing I'm a rockstar and I don't yell.

Anywho...Doctor sits down, says give me a push which I happily did and out popped Mayzie.  No real effort at all.  She had a healthy cry and looked quite big.  He said....this is a 9 lb. baby. After they cleaned her up, they weighed her and she was 8 lb. 13 oz. to which the dr. replied....she's 9 lbs. they just dried her off. Hahahaha  He also told me I had a little tear, and then proceeded to put in TEN stitches.  Good thing that never really hurt me.

So that's it.  I actually had a baby without being induced.  It was quick and easy, other than that horrid pain one birthing a baby has to endure.  HOW do women choose to go through that pain without epidurals?  OY!

That night and the whole next day in the hospital she just never really cried.  She was so calm and so serene.  I could hear the baby in the room next to me crying alllllllll the time.  I finally said to my nurse....my baby never cries.  She just smiled and said...they come how they come, you're lucky.

Hours after she was born. All ready for visitors.

Our new family of FIVE!!

Look how handsome Jer is.

The kids were SO excited to meet their new sister. They can't get enough of her, to the point of mauling her on a regular basis.

Heading home for the first time.

I know, could you just die over her cute carseat cover?  I love it so.

And lucky I am. She continues to be the BEST baby. She is just mellow and happy. She rarely cries, she sleeps fully through the night and has since 4 weeks. She wakes up happy, never crying for food, and smiles all the time.

We're so grateful that little Mayzie chose to come to our family and is a part of our life.  She makes each day a little sweeter.

And just because i can....a few of my favorites from her newborn baby shoot.  Could you just eat this girl up or what?

I'm sorry, but I die from the sweetness every time I look at this.

The photographer declared her her FAVORITE baby EVER because she literally slept through the entire shoot.  And that was a lot of jostling for different positions, headbands, table covers, etc.

Perfect baby i tell ya, PERFECT!

Allyson

Man the Pumps!

Listen.....can you hear it?  It's coming from the distance. There is a faint pounding of the drums. Perhaps a plaintive yet primal yell here and there.  Hear it?  There it is.  It's a war cry.  Angry La Leche Leaguers are not happy with me.....I'm going down people, going down.

Ok fine....there are no disgruntled boob milk crusaders.....YET!  But, I'm about to admit some things here, and well, it's not gonna set me in good standings with nursing moms of America.

Picture courtesy of Google Images

Heaven knows....if THIS is what my nursing experience looked like, this would be a different blog entry.

Let's get one thing straight.  I think nursing is great, I think it is grand.  I think it's absolutely amazing that our bodies can produce life giving nutrients for wee babies.  I do, I really do. 
As a sidenote: I am however completely opposed to nursing past 1 year, it creeps me out.  And the recent photo on TIME (totally creeptastic) did nothing to alleviate those thoughts.
HOWEVER....when you've been cursed blessed with bodacious ta-tas roughly the size of King Kongs fist it's just not so simple.  In layman terms...Double D's that have somehow become overgrown G's (you read that right, G'S).  This does NOT make a pretty picture, nor a tidy feeding time.  Simply put....nursing boobs SUCK! (you see what I did there?)

And worse than these boobs is the effort it takes to try and nurse said wee infants.  Due to their largesse I can't just primly pull out my hooter hider and plop a kid on the boob.  Instead, I pretty much require toplessness, so as to hold and manipulate my massive mammory.  It's disturbing when the boob is literally bigger than the entire infant.  Somewhere under said feedbag is the child and if you're not totally careful, paying attention and not holding up, back or whatever the boobie then the baby could quite literally be either crushed to death or suffocate.  Can you imagine?  Death by boob?  It isn't pretty.  Never could I nurse in the mothers lounge at church, or under a blanket at a friends house.  I can't stand and do something else whilst baby is suckling.  Instead, it is a full on undressed, sitting, holding awkwardly, aching neck kind of ordeal.  BUT, I am always willing to try it.

A little background....with Maggie I was completely prepared to be a nurser.  I wanted to give that child the best.  Unfortunately my ginormous tracts of land could barely produce a trickle of life giving light.  I would pump and pump and pump and MAYBE get an ounce between 2 teets.  Maggie also could care less about eating, so I had to force her to eat and since I was worthless, it was mostly formula filled bottles.  I tried to stick with it for 3 mos. but it just ended in a sad sorta way. Wah Wah wah wahhh.   Then came Max.  This time, I actually produced a little bit more milk, but not much.  I TRIED to keep him on the giant breastacle, but before 3 mos. he pretty much flipped me the bird and moved on.  Along comes Mayzie.  The girl latched on like an Olympic gold medalist.  She was a pro at birth.  I was feeling quite optomistic....I seemed to be getting much more milk and we had figured out a way for her to feed without imminent suffocation death.  Things were moving along nicely.  I even FINALLY understood what this whole "letting down" of milk was.  I'd never felt that with the other 2.  But indeed, this time, the factory seemed to be in prime working condition.  Zing, Zing...there it was.  My nipples zinged, must mean the milk is in.  And regularly through the day, or when the baby cried, there would be that ZING!  Rather uncomfortable at times if you ask me.  My boobs were spilling over any and all bras I owned.  I looked freakishly misproportioned. YEP, nursing was happening.  THEN....the fated blood clot.  They put me on heparin shots for almost 2 weeks.  Guess what....no nursing in that time.  I pumped and dumped faithfully.  I was determined to keep up my supply and make this nursing thing work.

My supply was decent.  The milk was there.  The shots ended and then I was back to nursing.  Only, here's the thing.  She has never quite latched the same.  She will give me a cursory suckle, but it just is NOT the same.  But you know what?  I'm also perhaps the worlds laziest nurser.

I admit it.....LAZY NURSER right here.  I mean really, WHO has the time for this, stop everything, sit and nurse this child for 40 minutes every few hours?   I've got things to do, places to go, kids to take care of.  At least you tiny boobed women can nurse places, or multi task whilst nursing.  But not me, not possible.  So, I find myself more and more just pumping and then giving her the bottle.  I will nurse once in the early morning and once at night.  Now, the pumping is getting less frequent and the actual nursing, maybe once a day.  Because frankly.....bottle feeding is just WAY more convenient.  There, I said it.  Hate me all you want you breast feeding purists.  But, I prefer to give my kid a bottle.  And it's OK!  When you experience breast feeding at my udders size, then come and talk to me.  It's a whole new ballgame. 

I guess what I'm saying is....breast feeding just isn't for everyone, and apparently I'm one of those people.  (Though I won't lie, I do enjoy what precious little moments we do have while she nurses, it's sweet, just not working).   I want my "regular" large sized funbags back, not these grandeose, out of control poke someones eye out things that I'm currently sporting.  I like to be able to feed my child wherever, whenever I want.  I like that anyone else can feed my kid.  Bottles are JUST FINE.  They're OK!  And know what else?  My kids are just as smart and just as healthy as your breastfed kids.  So there!

Yep....I hear it.  Man your battle stations........La Leche is a comin.

Boobsteaks and baby barf,

Allyson

Oh.My.Gawwwwwsh!

Right...so we abide by a simple rule in our faith, and in our home. 


"Thou shalt not take the Lords name in Vain."

No saying "oh my God" around here.  It makes me cringe, it hurts me.  Of course i've grown up this way, it just is what it is (hence it being a "simple" rule).  So, I'm teaching my children the same thing.  No need to ever say that phrase.  It's offensive.  Equally annoying/offensive or just stupid is the phrase:  OMG.  I HATE it.  It's so irritating.  And my children have picked that one up from their Auntie Julie and or the general stupid public.  So, I'm constantly telling them to not say that, or stop saying it and trying to correct it.  Max has cleverly started to say "OMX" because somehow that isn't annoing.  Silly kid!

Max has NO problems telling complete strangers that they're not s'posed to say that.  In fact, one time at a restraunt, he was doing a little nosey nosing and the girl sitting in the booth behind us uttered that phrase.  He stood up on the seat, pointed at her and said "YOU CAN'T SAY THAT."  She looked confused, not knowing what offense she'd committed.  He then said..."You CAN'T say oh my God." To which she apologized profusely, I giggled and apologized to her for his bossiness and all was well.  Yeah, it sorta defeats the purpose of him not saying it when he always DOES say it to tell on people.  ::sigh:  We'll get there someday.

And as we're all perfectly aware, Maggie has NEVER had an issue just busting out the swears or the inappropriate phrases of life.  Though she always steered clear of the "god" issue.  However, in her old age and maturity, she has learned to keep it all in check.  We simply deal with charming words like Fart, butt and vagina.  Whatever.  Better than dammit, shit and douche I say.

Anyway.........

The other night we were on a family outing to Best Buy

  SIDENOTE:  Jere purchased our first ever flat screen telly with his graduation present money from my parentals and his Mom.  We've had the same 22 in. television for 9 years, which incidentally was bought with winnings he got from a karaoke contest.

when Maggie decided that she had to go to the bathroom or death would be emminent!  Off we went in search of the Loo.  Upon our arrival, our nostrils were greeted with a rather unpleasant aroma.  No really, it was pretty offensive.  I tried to ignore it and move onward.  But Maggie was having NONE of that.  Her olfactory nerve was severely O-ffended and she was gonna let the world know
it.  Not ok people, NOT ok to offend Ms. sensitive sniffer.

At first there was just a big exclamation of:

"Ewwww!  It stinks in here!  What IS that smell?"  "Ewwwwwwwww gross!"

I grimmaced  smiled and said, I don't know, it's pretty gross though.  She agreed and then wouldn't drop it.

We made our way into a stall, and then her "dramatics" really kicked in.

With flourish and flair she plugged her nostrils and said with increasing intensity...

"Oh my gosh!"
"OH.MY.GAWWWWWSH!"
"Oh my Jesus' real Dads name."
just take a moment to process that will ya?

At which point my brain did a flippity flop and kapow, I processed the absurdity of that phrase, chuckled and promptly said......perhaps THAT isn't the best phrase to use.  However, 10 points for creativity.

Seriously....what 4 year old mentally processes the reasoning behind that phrase and just blurts it out on the spur of the moment?  She freaks me out sometimes.

Speaking of freaking, that word "freaking" which shall heretofore be known as the "f" word has also been banned from her vocabulary.  She was wont to use it at every turn and it was getting a bit much.  I mean c'mon...hearing a 4 year old say "I'm so freaking mad." well it just disturbs.  She was using it every chance she got, to the point it didn't even make sense in the sentence.  A stop had to be put to it.  It took one time of her getting soap in her mouth and she's been a regular "lady" ever since.  Now she just says..."oh my gosh, I almost said the "f" word Mom." 
Whatever...I totally get it, I speak like a Mormon sailor.  I clearly need to get my "freaking" and "seriously" habit in check, right next to my dammit that was put on the shelf long ago.  Nothing more eye opening than hearing your kids talk and realizing they're only mirroring you.  Shame spiral commences.

Hmm Hmmm ::clearing throat::, we'll just hope that she can hold on to the innocence of THAT being the "f" word for many more years.

"real names" and stinky loos,

Allyson

What's in a Name?

As I stated before....Mayzie was first suggested to us on accident sort of by our friend Marissa.  She was working on a school production of Seussical (MANY months ago) and that name was fresh in her head.  When she said it, Jer and I sorta perked up, looked at eachother and went...hmmmmmmmm.  So, we kicked it around for all those months, Mayzie or Marley, we just couldn't decide.  Finally, as the story went...Mayzie chose her own name and the rest is history.

No matter what the first name was, we ALWAYS knew that the middle name would be Lies'l (LEE-Sull), no matter what.  We have a darling, wonderful, talented friend that we adore whose name is Lies'l.  And SHE is our little Amazing Mayzies middle namesake.  Why is she worthy of this honor?  Well let me count the ways....

1. She is incredibly brave in the face of great adversity
2. She is strong!
3. She is driven to succeed, no matter what.
4. She is very funny (wait, that should be above strong, as it's the most important attribute)
5. She is incredibly kind and loving.
6. She has the voice of an angel

We've known Lies'l since she was a punky little freshman in highschool.  We've watched her develop and become this amazing woman that she is.  We've laughed with her, cried with her, cheered for her and loved her, and it just seemed like the most perfect thing to do....give our baby her name.

The Friday after Mayzie was born, Lies'l made her way down here from Flagstaff (ditching classes to do so) so she could meet her little baby namesake.

How is THAT for preciousness!

Mayzie loves your a lot "auntie" Lies'l.

Oh, and hey....our beloved, rockstar, world traveling, violin player friend, Taylor happened to come along for the meeting too!

LOVE these two kids.  So thankful they're in our life!

My "Devil" Did It......

In the immortal words of....well, I don't know whose words these are at the moment, but just go with me here.

"Free at last, free at last, thank God almighty we're free at last."  And by "we" I mean Jere, and by free I mean....deeply in school loan debt, but at least DONE with a bachelors degree.

On Wednesday Jere graduated from ASU (Gooooo Devils) with a degree in Theatre with an emphasis on directing.  This is a HUGE accomplishment and one that I am very, very proud of him for.  As he likes to say....."I didn't graduate from highschool, so this is BIG." Not to mention, he is the ONLY person in his family to go to college.  Yeah, it's true, Jer got his GED, and that was because I told him I wouldn't be marrying anyone that didn't at least have THAT under their belt.  Listen people, there are REASONS it took us three years of dating before we made it to the alter.  He had crap to take care of. hahahahaha  But, I'm totally off subject here.  We are talking about the fact that my man is now a college graduate!  WOO HOO!  He will begin his Masters program in August, but having accomplished graduation once....we know this masters is totally doable.  Two more years, we've GOT this.

This degree was a culmination of many years of stops and starts with school.  A lot of blood, sweat and TEARS!  A lot of encouraging, prodding, plodding and plain sleeplessness. Ultimately, even with me full of reservation and fear, Jere threw down and said "I'm DOING this, I'm going back to school and getting THIS degree."  I am so very, very proud of him for fighting through, never giving up and working hard to accomplish this dream.  In the course of the last 3 years he has become a really great director, he has learned much and I can't wait to see what the next 2 years bring.

Sidenote that has nothing to do with anything:  My kids are out front planting apple seeds because Maggie is SURE that if she plants these seeds and waters them she will grow and apple tree.  Ah kids and their unblemished view of life.  So sweet, so innocent.  At this age I myself was sure that if I swallowed apple seeds a tree would grow in my stomach.  Therefore, I was quite careful not to swallow seeds.

Back to graduation....I give you pictures.

 Outside the arena, just before he went to line up.  No, don't anyone mention the short sleeves he's sporting.  He had the gown for over a month, tried it on when it came in and never thought that perhaps something was amiss, UNTIL he put it on for the ceremony.  Silly boy!

We had most excellent seats....me, Julie his sister and Blaine our friend.  Don't think Jer was excited do ya?

 How cute is he, all smiles and excitement.

 I took a pic of him getting his diploma on the jumbotron, because 1.  he was too far away and I was looking at him walk AWAY from me, and 2. my camera is the suck and makes everything look black when the flash goes off in there.  UGH!

After the ceremony.  Which, for the record was about the most boring 2 hours of name reading EVER!  BUT, we do these things to show our love and support for the awesomeness of graduating!  Anyway, this is Jers Mom and sister Julie.

 Woo freaking HOO!  He finally got that ellusive piece of paper!!

 Isn't he cute?  I k now......he is!

A shot of the whole fam in front of my parentals.  They kindly watched the kids so we could "enjoy" graduation on our own.  And if by enjoy you mean sitting in wee seats that my extra wide, post baby hips barely fit in and my long legs did NOT fit in as they were hitting the guy in front of me the whole time, then yes....enjoy we did!

Couldn't be prouder of this guy!

Congrats Jer Bear!

I sure love you!

Bring on the Masters!

Has it been so long really?

CUH-learly I haven't done my blogging best lately.  I mean for the love...I just signed on to write an entry and there is a whole new setup going on.  I was so confused I just sat and stared at my screen for several minutes trying to process what had happened.  Obviously Blogger missed the memo about how I don't do change.  Sheesh!  This blogging silence is just embarassing.  I wish i could tell you why....but I've just got nothing.  I mean, my kids are still as absolutely sassy and funny as ever, and often I make mental notes to remember something so I can blog it.  HA!  My life is still ridiculous and there are things to share for sure.  I just don't feel clever, or funny or motivated AT ALL!  In fact, sometimes I worry that something is seriously wrong in my brain, because I can NOT seem to pull it together and be alert or "smart" in any way.  And I won't even discuss my driving as of late.  Nope, NOT gonna discuss that at all!  Jere would probably take the keys away if he knew how spacey I've become.  OY!  The other day I went back in my archives and read a few entries.....I used to have stuff to say.  I even cracked me up a couple times.  UGH!  I hope I can find my "cool" sometime soon, cause dangit, you're missing out on some funny kids and ridiculously tantrumy moments.

Anywho....I just wanted to talk for a moment about Max, because really, that kid is a HOOT!

He's that super cute kid on the right, in case you'd forgotten what he looked like. And yes, yes Jere does have EXTREME Sun Devil pride.

Max is my numbers kid.  He LOVES numbers.  He can count to 100, he can point out every single number and he does point out EVERY number he sees.  Addresses, phone numbers, numbers on cars, price tags, etc.  He asked Jere the other day for a math book because he just wanted it to practice his numbers.  He has memorized Jeres phone number and likes to call him regularly.  Then he will ask me who else he can call and bug me until I allow him a few phonecalls. 

His phone conversations go a little like this:

Person he calls:  Hello

Max:  What's your name (even though he knows who he's calling)

Person he calls:  says their name and then asks who he is

Max:  This is Max

And then he'll tell them a couple of random things and then say HANG UP!

Apparently I need to teach him proper phone etiquate now that he's a pro at dialing.

My hope is that he will be our math pro, as I am a math retard.  No really, I am completely incapable when it comes to math and numbers.  So, I'm pinning my hopes on this guy and his number obsession to "get it."

He has a steel trap of a memory and literally forgets NOTHING!  If you promise him something, or even mention in a brief passing whisper  at midnight that he can do or get something...you bet your sweet bippy he will bring that up the next day, or next week or next month.  "Remember that one time you said if I did this we could get a treat?"  There is no faking this kid out, he will call you on it every time.

Said to me yesterday:  "Mom.....I just REALLY love balloons."  I know buddy, you really do.  He's so random.

So the other day was ROUGH!  Don't get me wrong, he is still my nicer child.  He's more inclined to obey, to follow commands and just generally be nicer and happier.  However, he has a streak in him that is none to pleasant.  So, after a particularly bad morning, a lot of fighting, sassing and actual hitting of ME, he was banished to his room for a good LONG timeout.  After he'd sufficiently calmed down, and his allotted time punishment had passed, I went into his room.  We usually have a "discussion" at the end of timeouts to talk about why he was there, and what he would do to avoid future trips to time out.  So anyway, I walk in, sit down on his bed and he follows me to his bed.  I just sat there for a minute, not speaking when he finally says: "WELL, start talking."  I stared at him (and giggled on the inside) and sat in silence a moment longer.  He was getting agitated now...."starrrrrt tallllkiiiiiiiing."  So, I did, and he was of course sorry for his behaviour and all was well (for the next 10 minutes anyway).

He loves his baby sister more than words can say.  In fact, he loves her just a little TOO much.  He's like a slobbery dog in heat.  He is constantly all up in her face, hugging her, kissing her, "slobbering" on her.  Trying to feed her is ridiculous because Max is so busy accosting her.  It's ridiculous, and sad that at least 4000 times a day i have to say, STOP kissing your sister.  No MORE kissing your sister, or touching your sister, or coming NEAR your sister.  In case you were wondering....it never works.  He can't help himself, he tells me, he just loves her SO much!

Max is a doer.  Unlike his sister who just wants to throw her hands up and quit the moment anything requires even a hint of effort.  He has mastered the remote, he's a pro riding on a scooter now, he can get all around on the computer....all things his "big" sister can't or wont do.  Shoot, he's even willing to wipe his own bum, which is nearly a good 2 years ahead of his sister.

I just love his bright shiny eyes, full of joy and enthusiasm for all things.  Not a day goes by that he doesn't at some point, usually several times a day tell us he loves us.  He never stops moving.....he's jumping, rolling, running or moving in some way at all times.  It's quite exhausting to watch actually.  But, I wouldn't trade him for the world.

Oh, and one last thing.  The other day as we were driving down the road he blurted out...."we pray to god."  I said that indeed we do.  Then he said "we don't pray to Jesus."  I tried to explain how the praying "chain" worked.  And then he said "yeah, because we don' say...in the name of GOD amen."  Umm yep, 'tis correct little man, 'tis correct.  He surprises me all the time with the stuff he understands and applies.

Wait...I almost forgot.  My other favorite thing is...when something goes wrong, or gets messed up, he belts out..."Oh barnacles"  or, "TARTAR SAUCE."  It's hilarious every time.  Thank you Sponge Bob for those "swears."

Until next time:

Allyson