MAX ATTACK

Big Boy Undies

2007-03-29T05:17:00.000-07:00

So I think we are about to embark upon a great adventure. An adventure that in the end might result in the appearance of my first gray hairs. We have begun potty-training Max. It's amazing how confusing the whole process can be for a two year old. I mean, as adults we don't even think twice about where we will relieve ourselves when we get the urge for the call of nature. But for a two year old it's really foreign to them. We bought Max two potty seats a few weeks ago. A regular one for the floor and a seat cover to go over our regular big people potty. He has shown tons of interests in both and is willing to sit on both for a while, although NOTHING productive has occured with either seat. So yesterday I picked him up some big boy undies with Cars on them and made a big deal about how cool it was to wear thm and how only BIG BOYS get to wear them. He put them on and wore the first pair for almost TWO hours before anything happened. (During that time I consistantly put him on the potty every thirty minutes or so). So finally he acted like he needed to pee, so I rushed him to the potty chair and he just sat there with this wierd look on his face. He wouldn't pee in it, but he did work up a fantastic FART that he was quite please with himself for producing. Finally I figured that I had misread the pee signals and let him get up. So he walks to the other side of the room, got the weird look on his face again and PEED, right on the carpet and in his new Cars undies. GAH!!!!!! I calmly explained to him that we have to pee in the potty, not on the floor and that we had to take the Cars undies off because he had gotten them wet. He was such a heartbroken boy because he couldn't wear "Queen" anymore. He tried putting them back on, but I had to take them downstairs to wash. And we went back into diapers for a few more hours. Later that evening I let him put another pair of undies on and he did quite well for some time. He suddenly became obsessed with his other potty seat in the bathroom and he spent a good hour sitting on the potty off and on and putting toilet tissue in the toilet and then flushing it and waving it good bye each time. But alas when the time came to actually use the potty, he decided that the floor was the most logical place. *SIGH*
SO alas, we will try it all again today. He has to eventually get the idea that pee goes in the potty. Eventually.

The Scary Lawn Mower

2007-03-27T05:10:00.000-07:00

Yesterday evening Curt decided to mow the lawn for the first time this year. Max thought it was really exciting, but scary at the same time. He kept an eye on Curt the whole time and was getting a little nervous about the whole process. I'm pretty sure the loud mower scared him a bit. But it was pretty funny watching him watch his Daddy mow.

Gotta go check on Daddy, outta my way dog,

Curt was on the other side of the fence. Max would watch him from a safe distance and thought it was just the coolest thing

WOW!

There's Daddy!!

Yikes, he's coming my way with that THING!

He watch the rest of the mowing from the back steps

I don't think it can get me from here,

Nanana Boo-Boo

Hehe

At one point he thought it would be much safer INSIDE the house watching from the doorway, you know, just in case

That thing is SCARY!

After Curt put the mower back in the garage Max went running after to him

You're safe! It didn't eat you!!

High Five

Silly Kid

Hugs

Swinging with Daddy

Weekend Pics

2007-03-26T18:56:00.000-07:00

Max and I went to Morehead over the weekend for a friend's baby shower. On Saturday we went to the shower first and then we went to my mom's for a while. Afterwards we went to the city park with Nathan, Sabrina and Tiphanie so Autumn and Max could play. It was a very fun day! We stayed all night at my dad's and then early that morning my dad took Max across the road to look at the farm animals. The goats were being especially friendly! Max, as usual, loved watching the goats and chickens. Although I think the chickens got a little too loud for him and kept telling them to be quiet, lol. We left at about 10am and went for breakfast at Hardee's with my dad.

Autumn outside at my mom's. She had been outside all day and was loving it!! Such a cutie!

Max swinging at the park. Like his chicken legs, hehe! Totally kidding. I love his little legs!

Autumn sliding

Swinging with her daddy, my brother Nathan

Autumn in her stroller. She loves riding in it and being able to see everyone

Max and his Mommy! Not sure what Max's face is all about, hehe

At Dad's the next morning. That's not his house, it's the neighbor's house. He is the one who has the farm that Max loves to visit. My dad lives behind me across the road.

The goats, excited as we came along...

They didn't scare Max at all. He has always loved animals. He's just like Curt in that way,

My boy *swoon*

Watching the roosters and hens

He thought this little one was cute, he called it the "baby".

Trying to feed it a blade of grass. I told him he probably shouldn't do that cause they might get his finger too

I would offer you a mudpie...

2007-03-23T16:04:00.000-07:00

But it appears that Max ate the last one,

Curt and Max were out in the yard while Curt was working on the fence. A little while ago Curt comes running in with Max and takes him straight to the bathroom for a bath. Max just kept chewing the whole time we are laughing at him. I was like, "Is it that GOOD?!" I couldn't resist taking a picture.

Creepy Park

2007-03-23T08:43:00.000-07:00

We went to a nearby town yesterday evening because Curt had some work he had to do there. Max and I found this park nearby and it was the creepiest park I've ever seen. It was like something out of a scary movie or something. It was surrounded by woods at a campground. It had an Amityville Horror type vibe to the whole place. Spooky...
Climbing

Maybe it's because I have a morbid fear of clowns, but does anyone else think this slide looks a little frightening?

Reflection on the slide

The swings

A climbing tunnel

Playing Peek-a-boo around the trees

It was funny, he thought I couldn't see him behind little trees.

Spooky tree

Dirt

2007-03-23T08:40:00.000-07:00

The other evening Max played in the dirt for the first time. I think it was good for him because typically he is VERY particular about stuff on his hands. He loved it though. His hair isn't really as red as it looks in these pictures either. The sun was setting in the sky behind him and it was reddish-orange.

What's this???

Lesson in Manners

2007-03-21T08:13:00.000-07:00

Our two Chihuahuas like to follow Max around when he is eating in the inevitable event that he drops part of his food and they get a quick snack. Yesterday Max had some crackers and was enjoying the instant company from the dogs who wanted part of his snack. So he stood up and held it out for them, but held it back just enough saying, "Say Please!"
Now that would be some dog trick, eh?

Where did my baby go?

2007-03-14T06:20:00.000-07:00

Max and I took some time yesterday to go to the park. It was such a nice day, the nicest one so far this year. It got up to almost 80! He had a blast! It's so fun to watch him turn into this little kid. He looked so much older out there yesterday. It just amazes me that he has come so far in a year. This time last year he only had a month's worth of walking skills, now he's running faster than me!!
Who's this big kid?

Looking up at all the other kids

Going through the tunnel

Caught up in the chains

Climbing up like a big kid.

Making me nervous! He was so high! I had to get him down before I had a stroke!!

Gotta go check out the rest of the park,

Resting on a hill

Trying to get up, it took a few tries because the hill was so steep

Time to go back and play!

Playing in the big sandbox

Sunshiny Day

2007-03-02T14:16:00.000-08:00

It was supposed to rain all day, but instead we have nice bright sunny skies. It's super windy though, so we weren't able to stay out too long. Plus it's still a bit chilly. On Wednesday we went to the zoo and ever since then Max has been wanting to go out constantly. He woke up this morning asking to go outside, lol. I took some pictures while we were out there. Just some normal snapshots

I have no idea what he was laughing at. I think he was just so giddy to finally be able to play outside again!

He found a big rock and carried it around for a while. That was his favorite thing to do last summer.

Taking a minute to examine the rock

Thanks for looking!

MDO Outtakes

2007-02-27T05:51:00.000-08:00

I went yesterday and did a test setup at Max's MDO program. I will be taking the real pictures starting next week. I used Max and Curt's nephew James as the model children. These are some of the outtakes from Max's shoot. Curt's sister Andrea came to help. She is coming next week to help too. She is really good at making the kid's smile. The whole time she was working with Max he kept saying to her and laughing, "You're funny!!!" It was pretty cute!

Super Cheesy Face

Not sure what this look is about, it's like he is trying to model or somthing

He kept trying to attack me with the flower, "I'm Gonna Getchuuuuu!!!"

Calm

Max Videos

2007-02-23T19:28:00.000-08:00

I sold our sony digital camera to Curt's sister Andrea. It was the camera we used for video. It wasn't great quality, but we got some cute video clips out of it. I feel sad that I'm not going to be able to get video on Max for a while. A digital video camera is next on my list for sure. I was going through some of the videos of him today. I wanted to share few of my favorites.

This was taken last month sometime. One of his favorite things to do is watch videos on the computer. His most favorite video in the "manha manha", an old muppet show clip. Here he is watching it,

Just a cute funny video. Again, I think it was taken in early January or late December. It's just a random video, no real point to it really lol.

This is one from last summer. I don't even remember this. It's really funny how he keeps crying randomly. Our baby has changed so much! I can't believe how grown up he seems to me now

Late Night Sledding

2007-02-18T07:19:00.000-08:00

I know that the rest of the country has been getting lots of snow and I probably have sounded like a whiner for complaining about our lack of it. BUT yesterday evening it started snowing here and by 9:30 we had a couple inches. Today it was supposed to warm up and melt, so Curt and I decided that when an opportunity presents itself, we should take it. So we bundled up the boy and went sledding...at 10 o'clock We went to a popular sledding place which is a golf course and it's lit partially so we could see where we were actually sledding. There were several other people there with their kids as well, I guess we weren't the only crazy ones, hehe. Max LOVED going down the hills!! He giggled the whole way! We didn't stay too long, but we were able to go down the big hill a few times. It was SO worth it!!
Oh, and all these pics were taken with my old faithful Sony camera. Didn't want to take my canon sledding ya know, lol.
Max getting ready, all his layers before the snowsuit

Even though his face looks unenthused, I swear he was having fun, lol

We had a hard time getting him to keep his gloves on

Coming back up after going down the big hill

Being pulled back to the truck

Red cheeks

I'm sure you are all thinking that Max has some crazy parents for taken him sledding at night, lol

Happy Valentine's Day

2007-02-16T13:11:00.000-08:00

Sorry! I've been slacking lately when it comes to keeping up with Max's blog. Things have been really busy. Hopefully I'll get back to posting regularly soon!!
But for now, here are some pictures from Max's Mother's Day Out Valentine's Party. They had Ronald McDonald come and do a magic show. It was really cute! Max didn't care too much for him, but it was still cute. Then they all went back to their classrooms and had lunch! It was a fun day!
Valentine's Party Pictures HERE

Our Snow Day!!!

2007-02-01T13:33:00.000-08:00

We didn't get much snow, but enough to satisfy my snow craving, lol. We are supposed to get another inch tomorrow, so hopefully some of it will stick around till Saturday so Curt can come play in the snow with Max too. Max really liked the snow, although, he wasn't quite sure of what to do with it at first. So he used he's usual rule for things he's not sure about...he ate it, lol.

Getting ready to go out. Not thrilled with the gazillion layers he had to wear

Mom, it's cold, do you realize that?

What am I supposed to do with this?

I guess now's a good time to tell him about the "yellow snow" rule, lol

Finger lickin' good!

I think I'm going to go on a snow diet this stuff is so yummy!

Ok...that's when I had to stop him from tasting the snow. No eating snow off the truck...we have some standards, lol.

His sled that he got for Christmas

He's trying to get out of it here but he couldn't because he had too many clothes on, hehe

Mom, would you put the camera away and help me?

More pictures to come later this weekend IF we get more snow!! Hopefully there is a snowman in our future!!!

Future Picaso

2007-02-01T13:26:00.000-08:00

I finally let Max paint. I've been nervous to try it because he stills tries to put stuff in his mouth all the time. But he was super bored yesterday and I had been working on getting two picture books ready for someone, so I felt guilty for being so preoccupied. I got the paint out that I had used to paint my belly for Halloween when I was pregnant, lol. I need to go get some kid paint now I think. He did really great with it and kept it on the paper for the most part. I will definitely try it again!

Not quite the exact shade or bluey-orange he was trying to accomplish,

That looks more like it

Ahh Yes,

A genius at work

Look at those exquisite brush strokes!

I wonder where he gets his artistic inspirations from

Using the other hand, it's a new impressionist technique

Get your colors mixed just right.

This had a little bit of everything

All done

2007-01-29T07:39:00.000-08:00

Motivational poster created on flickr

Trains and Beef on a Cold, Cold Day

2007-01-29T05:37:00.000-08:00

Sunday we went to a Train Expo thing they were having here at the convention center. We thought it would have more for Max to play with and see, but it was really more for train hobbyists. They did have anything Thomas the Train you could imagine and they had a gazillion different track sets you could buy, so that was cool. Plus we were able to get some track clips for Max's set. We didn't stay too long, because Max wasn't feeling too well and he just wanted to go back to sleep in his stroller. Here are some pictures

I only took two train pictures, it was neat to see all the different railroads and villages set up. Some of them were VERY elaborate!

An old man doing balloon animals for the kids

Max got a blue dog. He looks thrilled, no?

Wearing his train shirt and being a very tired boy

Back in the stroller

Walking around the building

Back in the car. It was SO cold here yesterday! Sometimes it was only 0 degrees. Cold, cold, cold! So we bundled Max up in his carseat.

Stopping for lunch. Looks appetizing doesn't it? Max tore Curt's sandwich apart looking for all of his tomatoe slices.

Look at all that BEEF!!

Super Hero PJ's

2007-01-29T05:12:00.000-08:00

I got Max a pair of pj's the other day at the Disney Store for only $4! They are having a super good sale right now if anyone is interested. Anyways, he thought they were SO cool and had to put them on as soon as we got home. They are from the movie "The Incredibles" which he LOVES! So as soon as he realized what cartoon they were from he had to watch it with his pj's on. It was cute! That's the first time he's ever paid attention to his clothes!
I love the fact that they have a six pack on the belly!

Doing Super Tricks

Don't you like Curt's fancy slippers, hehe

Not exactly a Super Fit

My First-Born

2007-01-26T04:50:00.001-08:00

this one was cute and different - had to do it, lol...

1. WAS YOUR FIRST PREGNANCY PLANNED?
Not at all

2. WHO FATHERED YOUR CHILD?
my husband Curt, there's no denying him, Max looks JUST like him, lol

3. WHAT WERE YOUR REACTIONS?
For the first few days I was very upset because I was still in college and Curt and I weren't married. But I knew that everything would work out so I got excited after a few days and starting thinking about baby names!

4. WAS ABORTION AN OPTION FOR YOU?
Not at all

5. HOW OLD WERE YOU?
22

6. HOW DID YOU FIND OUT YOU WERE PREGNANT?
I had gone to S.C. with my mom and sister to visit my brother and I was supposed to "start" while we were there. The day I got back to Louisville, I made Curt stop at Walgreen's to get a test just so I could stop worrying about it. I KNEW it was going to be negative. But boy, did I get a major shock!! Tip for others taking a pregnancy test and you don't think you are ready for a positive, don't take the digital test. There is nothing more shocking than seeing the word, "PREGNANT" staring you right back in the face! HA!

7. WHO WAS THE FIRST TO KNOW?
Curt

9. WHAT WAS YOUR DUE DATE?
january 8 or 10, 2005

10. DID YOU HAVE MORNING SICKNESS?
OMG, YES! Although I wouldn't call it morning sickness, it was more like ALL day sickness. I had it for the first 5 months.

11. WHAT DID YOU CRAVE?
Nothing really. I wanted Little Debbie brownies sometimes, but I wouldn't say I craved them

12. WHAT IRRITATED YOU THE MOST?
People wanting to touch my belly. That was weird.

13. WHAT WAS YOUR FIRST CHILDS SEX?
boy

14. DID YOU WISH YOU HAD THE OPPOSITE SEX OF WHAT YOU WERE GETTING?
Not at all

15. HOW MANY POUNDS DID YOU GAIN THROUGHOUT?
about 35

16. DID YOU HAVE A BABY SHOWER?
Yep

17. WAS IT A SURPRISE OR DID YOU KNOW?
We found out the sex at our first ultrasound. I don't think we could have waited the whole pregnancy

18. DID YOU HAVE ANY COMPLICATIONS DURING YOUR PREGNANCY?
Not really, I had a lot of back pain in the end

19. WHERE DID YOU GIVE BIRTH?
Louisville

20. HOW MANY HOURS WERE YOU IN LABOR?
I never really went into labor. I got sick from an infection, and they had to induce me because I was running a high fever and Max's heart rate kept dropping. But from the time I got to the hospital and had him it was a total of about 13 hours

21. WHO DROVE YOU TO THE HOSPITAL?
Curt

22. WHO WATCHED YOU GIVE BIRTH?
Well, I didn't really give birth, but Curt was there and a bunch of doctor's

23. WAS IT NATURAL OR C-SECTION?
c-section unfortunately

24. DID YOU TAKE MEDICINE TO EASE THE PAIN?
Yep. I got an epidural because my contractions were induced with pitocin. OH my word do those HURT!!!! But I would have needed medicine anyway because I ended up with a c-section.

25. WHEN WAS YOUR CHILD'S BIRTHDATE?
january 5, 2005

27. HOW MUCH DID YOUR CHILD WEIGH?
7lbs 7oz

28. DID YOUR CHILD HAVE ANY COMPLICATIONS?
Nope, he was perfect!

29. WHAT DID YOU NAME HE/SHE?
Max Riley

30. HOW OLD IS YOUR FIRST BORN TODAY?
He just turned two this month. I can't believe it!

Oceans and Carebears

2007-01-12T12:36:00.001-08:00

I love my son's world. Any world where medieval dragons and '73 Firebird Trans Ams can coexist sounds like a wonderful place to me. The imagination of children is so awesome to observe. In their minds anything is possible. I miss that about being a kid. One of my favorite games as a child was sitting on my parent's bed and pretending it was a giant ship and having to save all the helpless people (my collection of stuffed animals) in the ocean. My sister and I would play for hours on the bed, throwing my grumpy carebear into the sea and having to rescue him from the most dangerous sharks, who sometimes took the shape of my older brother. I remember when I felt too old to play pretend games. That was a sad time for me. I wanted to go to Neverland with the Lost Boys and stay young forever. I would soon learn as you get older the amount of reality that hits you comes with a great sense of stress and obligation. I want to protect Max from that for as long as possible.
So today I sat with him on the floor. I drove the shiny red firebird and he stomped on it with his dragon. It was wonderfully blissful and it's moments like those where I am able to return to Neverland.

2 Year Appointment

2007-01-09T11:24:00.000-08:00

Max had his two year appt today!
His weight is up, I knew he had a growth spurt!!
He weighed right at 25 lbs (up from 21 lbs at his 18 month) and was 33 1/2" tall.
The doctor said he is doing great with his growth, motor and verbal skills. He asked questions about how he interacts with other children and how he does socially. He did say that one of the best toys to get a child at this age is a tricycle or something he can learn to pedal. We have one already, but I thought that was neat that he suggested that as a toy. He does want us to take him to his first dentist appointment this year and we should introduce the potty to him, although it's ok if he isn't potty-trained anytime soon.
He observed Max for a while and then said, "He's just different than other two year olds. He acts older, like a three year old." I'm not exactly sure what he meant by that, but I'm guessing its a compliment.
They pricked his finger to check and see if he was enemic (he's not), but boy did he hate that!!! He SCREAMED while they were getting blood from his finger and then screamed for about 5 minutes as we waited in the waiting room for the results. I'm sure he scared all the kids waiting out there.
Overall it was a great appointment. We talked about lots more, but those were the highlights.

January 5th, 2005

2007-01-05T05:12:00.000-08:00

Today is a big day for my boy. It's the day he officially becomes a kid and no longer a baby. Today is Max's 2ND birthday! I know! I can't believe it either?! So much has changed this pass year with him! I don't think I have ever laughed so much in one year as I have this pass one! He brings us an infinite amount of joy! Yes, of course he has hit the terrible twos, and has had some memorable meltdown moments during his second year. But it's the laughter I remember the most, and there has never been a shortage of that.
He has become such a beautiful and great person. I know that there is not one single thing in my life that I am more proud of than that little boy. When Curt and I first found out we were having a child, two years and 9 months ago, it wasn't too long after that that the sheer terror of becoming a parent hit us both. How were we going to be able to have a child and not mess it up?! That seems to be the pattern of kids lately. It's their parents' fault that they are delinquents, overweight, addicted to drugs, pregnant or all of the above. Now we were about to be given a child to ruin. The thought scared the bejeezus out of both of us. But thankfully, I feel like we've at least gotten off to a great start. Lucky for Max, we get comments pretty often on what a great kid he is. My favorite compliment of all is when someone tells us that he is a cool kid. Of course he is going to be cool, he is his father's son. He likes "Star Wars", motorcycles, and his favorite character is Dory. He walks around with a backwards hat and my sunglasses trying to be the hippest toddler on the block (which in this neighborhood, he most certainly is). He has become the epitome of cool. And he is well-behaved, a feat I'm not sure how was accomplished. He couldn't have a more un-disciplinary set of parents than Curt and I. But he listens to us, for the most part, and that makes me happy.
I'm sad to lose the baby in him though. I doubt he'll ever really not be my baby boy. This morning as I was sitting on the computer before he woke, I heard him call for me in the bedroom. He had woken up and realized that no one was around. I crawled back into bed with him and he curled up against me and I wrapped my arms around him. I sung "Happy Birthday" to him softly as he drifted back to sleep. I could have laid there all day, snuggled up with my baby boy. But he eventually rolled back over and wanted his space back. I can respect that. I want my space too a lot of times. I know that later as nap time comes around, he will crawl up next to me, and we'll snuggle and maybe I'll let him watch "Nemo" or "Cars" today as many times as he wants. I'll give him a small cupcake for lunch and I'll sing him "Happy Birthday" at 2:03pm, the precise time he took his first breath two years ago. I probably won't be able to see him while singing, because I'm sure that there will be tears filling my eyes. They are happy tears though, wonderful and beautiful tears. Tears of accomplishment. Tears that celebrate life.
Always find time to celebrate life. Today I will be celebrating Max Riley's.
Happy Birthday Baby Boy!!

Finally!! First Haircut!!

2007-01-04T13:06:00.000-08:00

Well, I wouldn't technically call it a real haircut, more like a little trim, but we'll be official and call it his first haircut. Curt wouldn't let me get a real little boy haircut yet, which is fine, I'm happy with the little curls. But he had a rat tail and it was starting to look shabby. So I took him in today since tomorrow is his birthday. My friend Casey cut it and she put it all in a little card that says, "Baby's First Haircut", which I find funny because he isn't a baby anymore, lol.

He didn't like the cape at all, nor did he want to sit without me. Thankfully a lady there offered to take pictures.

Discussing what kind of doo he wanted.

You can do whatever you want if I get suckers. He didn't stop crying till he had grabbed 5 suckers out of the basket!! FIVE!!!

You're not messin' with my curls are you? The chicks dig those!

The little bits of hair. This is all that she cut off. Not much, lol!

All done

Max has his own personal stylist now, lol.

See ya later!

I'll be back in about 2 more years!!

You a real man?

2007-01-04T09:06:00.001-08:00

Last night while Curt was drinking a glass of lemonade, he was playing with Max and putting it on his belly. He would ask Max, "Are you a real man?", meaning, could he stand to have a cold glass on his belly, lol. When Curt would ask him, Max would lift his shirt and then Curt would put the cold glass on his belly. By the time we thought to get it on video, Max was pretty much done playing, but he does do it once in this video,

Here is another random video of Max playing with the light

But I said "Please!!!"

2006-12-31T06:33:00.000-08:00

Max has become quite the polite little guy. Whenever he asks for anything he always says please. But now he thinks that because he said please, he should automatically get whatever he is asking for because he asked nicely. It's quite funny really!
Max, "Cookie?"
Me, "No cookies now, you haven't had breakfast yet."
Max, "Cookie Please!"
Me, "No cookie."
Max, "PLEASE!!!"
Me, "No."
Max, *meltdown* because he thought "please" was the magic word.

All Day of Max

2006-12-31T06:26:00.000-08:00

We went to Villie and Ray's yesterday for a while. I stalked Max with my camera to practice some new settings.
Here are some of my favorite pictures
His model face

In the car chair on wheels

Walking with Daddy

Bye Mommy

Cutie!

Trampoline jumping

Safe landing

Silouette

The whole day in photos here

It was a Very Merry Cars-Christmas!

2006-12-27T07:08:00.000-08:00

Well another year has come and gone. Max got more cars than he knows what to do with. Someone told me that they knew a person who used cars as rewards to potty-train their son. I think that's a great idea and maybe I will take some of his gazillion cars and use them for that.
On Friday we left Louisville and went down to Morehead to visit my family. We stayed with my dad and I made cabbage rolls that night to take to my mom's for the next day. Max had a blast with my dad, whom he is crazy about, and got a little too excited and was really hard to calm down for bed. We did finally get him to sleep at around midnight. On Saturday we woke up and went to my mom's for Christmas dinner and opened presents there. There are just 3 little kids in our immediate family, Steven, Max and Autumn, so they were really spoiled with gifts from everyone. They had a blast opening their presents and even Autumn, who is only 7 months old, really got into the commotion. It was the cutest! Max was good about opening his presents, but if he got half way into it and it didn't have anything to do with cars or trains he would toss it to the side and move onto the next one. Silly kid is OBSESSED with them right now! It's insane. He did get some really neat stuff from my family. On Saturday he got a tractor with a trailer, a big stuffed blue bear, playdoh, a read with me dvd thing, another book to go with that, a $50 giftcard to Wal-mart, a thomas the train load-n-go thingy, wooden letter blocks in a wooden cart, some leap frog magnet letters and numbers, a blow-up sled with a rope to pull it with (I cannot wait for snow!!!) and some clothes. Later that day we went up to my Aunt Charlotte's to visit with them for a while. Some of my cousins were there and my grandmother and another aunt. At their house, Max got a train mega-block set and a ball from my aunt Villie.
We had to leave to drive the two hours back to Louisville after all that. Curt was oncall for work, so we needed to get back into the city just in case. On Sunday, we went to Curt's grandparents and parents houses for Christmas Eve dinner. Curt's dad got Max an insanely huge car set to keep at their house. It has 50 cars in it!! There were SO many!! Max loved it of course, because we all know that he only has one thing on his mind lately, and that's cars, cars, and more cars. Those kept him occupied for most of the evening. Later Curt and I came back home to set up Max's Santa gift. Curt's parents watched him for us thankfully! Otherwise we would have been up till the wee hours of the morning trying to put that thing together. It looked so nice set up! I couldn't wait for Max to see it when he got up on Christmas morning.
On Christmas morning I got up first at 8am and got on the computer for a while. Max and Curt slept in for another hour. Finally after Curt got up, we went ahead and woke Max up to see his presents. We couldn't wait for him to see the big table in the living room!! He walked in and his eyebrows got all scrunched up. He was like, "what's this big thing doing in our living room??" It was hilarious!! He did start to check it out soon after that though, and realized that it was fun to play with. It has this motorized train on it, and every time we would turn it on, Max would get nervous and run over and hop on the couch. He's not so scared of it now, but he didn't really like it at first. He opened the rest of his gifts from us, both sets of the Cars movie characters, more little cars in his stocking, the movie Ice Age 2 (which he immediately had to put in and watch), two packs of markers, a wooden farm animal and some abc flashcards. He was mostly interested in all the cars and the two drawers on his train table. He kept putting all his cars in there and closing the drawers and then he would open it back up and climb in the drawers and sit in it.
I went and got breakfast at Hardee's because we haven't had food since earlier the week before. We just hadn't been home. Next year I will be more on top of things and have a better breakfast plan :) We started to get ready to go over to Curt's parents when Max decides to puke all over the floor. He's been doing that recently for no apparent reason. I really hope it's not the same thing as last year when he was vomiting all the time and we could never figure out why. But we finally made it to there house about an hour late because we had to clean our carpets and furniture. After dinner we all kinda relaxed and watched Charlotte's Web while some people napped. Then later we opened gifts from them. Max got a cute bear with clothes, a hot wheels semi with lots of little cars in it, more cars, some clothes and a book. Overall it was a nice day!
I have a ton of pictures, of course, and they can all be viewed here, Enjoy!!
Bowling Family Christmas and Christmas 2006

Cause it's Christmas and all...

2006-12-20T23:11:00.000-08:00

It's Been One of Those Days

2006-12-19T17:14:00.000-08:00

Video's for you!

2006-12-11T18:04:00.000-08:00

Just a couple videos from today. Sorry about the dark quality, but I think Max's infectious laugh helps! Please excuse the messy house, it's all Max's fault, hehe...
I'm Gonna Get Ya!!
I think this is the funniest thing I have seen in a LONG time!
Making out with Reesie the Chihuahua

He's the best kid

Winterfest...for the rest

2006-12-10T09:09:00.000-08:00

We decided to get out of the house last night and go to the Iroquois Park Winterfest that they have every year. It's where they have lots of lights set up along the lawns and there are a ton of activities for kids. We went in and sat down for the theatre shows first. Local dancing academies get together with their students and put on the cutest show of dancing and singing. Then we decided to check out the various activities that they offered for children; Sit on Santa's lap, reindeer rides, little elves workshop, the big bear house, storytelling tent. Quite the variety. Last year Max was still too little to enjoy any of it so this year I thought...THIS is the year. He's gonna really love it! I couldn't wait!! I had packed my camera for all these really cute photo ops that I just knew I would get!

BUT this is the face...the general overall reaction from the boy,

Not amused. He could have cared less and he wouldn't let us put him down so we had to carry him through the whole thing. We decided to skip all the potential photo ops and bypassed all the wonderful wintery activities. We went back and watched a couple more performances and then headed back home. Yee Haw.

This is boring. Can we go now?

Watching the performances

One show

Another performance

Snowman in lights.

Fit Face

2006-12-10T09:01:00.000-08:00

Seriously, is this not the most awful face?

Max has this new face where when he gets upset or mad, he will bring his lips in really tight and it's just awful...a face only a mother could love...maybe.

His new obsession is coins. He wants to play with money all the time, he can tell you the difference between a nickel, dime and a dollar coin. He puts them in his pockets, daddy's pockets and likes trying to fit them in anything with a slot. Today he was demanding we get the coins off the fishtank and before we even had time to react, he was throwing a fit to get them. Apparently the squishy lips mean "milli-seconds" is all the time your gonna get before he blows a fuse. Geez...it's a good thing he's cute...sans the awful fit face.

Old Videos

2006-12-08T04:22:00.000-08:00

I just found my charger to my other camera so I downloaded the videos on it. They are over two months old, but I thought they were funny and cute. If you are interested here they are, I'm trying to get Max to name the animals in his book. He normally would do really well...until I turned the camera on, lol. Oh well. I think these were taken at the end of September...
This one is hilarious cause he keeps calling the kitty "poopie"
Video 1
Video 2

In the Spirit of Christmas Pasts...

2006-12-07T11:46:00.000-08:00

Here are some pictures of Max's first Christmas. He was such a baby then! *swoon*

Merry Christmas!

2006-12-07T11:41:00.000-08:00

Away in a Manger

2006-12-06T05:52:00.000-08:00

Max's MDO had their Christmas Program last night. Max's toddler class was dressed for the "Away in a Manger" song. They all looked so cute dressed up as the nativity scene. Max hated everything about it, lol. When they first came out on stage with everyone he was crying and you could tell he was asking for Mommy and Daddy. I went up as close as I could to get a picture, but he saw me and started crying even harder so then I felt really bad about leaving him up there.
Then his class got up and did their little part and it was the cutest thing!

They put a crown on him and he didn't like that

Trying to get the crown off

Get OFF!!

There!

Here, you can wear my halo...

Let the meltdown begin...

After that he was so upset that once the song ended I went and got him. Poor guy had a bad case of stage fright I guess, lol.
We went left early and went on home. Here are some snapshots of him next to the Christmas tree.My flash didn't go off, so I just desaturated it a lot cause the color was so messed up on the original.

He had to have that wipes case there, lol. He can be SO funny sometimes

Can Towers

2006-12-01T22:38:00.000-08:00

These are some pictures I took of Max a couple days ago while I was cooking dinner. He was playing with the cans in the cupboard and I thought it was so cute, because I used to do the same thing when I was little. My mom has a couple pictures of me asleep next to my can "castles". It's always so neat to see your child doing something that you've done, lol. Here are some pictures of him playing with the cans and then some random ones
Building a tower

Looking for the perfect can

Steady hand

Taking a break to hug his puppy

Trying to ride his tricycle. My dad got that for him months ago and he still doesn't have the strength to push the pedals by himself. He's getting SO close though!

I think it's funny how Curt has his hand right there to catch him, like he is learning to ride a real bike, lol

Sneaking a nibble before we sat down for dinner

Going after Daddy's rolls

Got it!

Little stinker started putting his noodles through the crack of the table. So I put the camera away and took his plate away too, *sigh*

Thanks for looking!

A-B-O's

2006-11-27T17:35:00.000-08:00

Max has been trying to sing his A-B-C's, which is the cutest thing EVER! Gosh, at every stage in his life I keep saying, this is my favorite stage and then he does something new and I say, "no, THIS is my favorite stage!" It just keeps getting better and better!!
Anyway, we are working on the alphabet and when he sings he has to add the letter "O" in every 3 or 4 letters, lol.
"A-B-C-OOOOH!!!"

"G-H-OOOOH!!!"

"X-OOOOH!!!"

There's some serious cuteness going on in this house right now!

Splish Splash

2006-11-27T17:15:00.000-08:00

Just some bath and bubble pics!

Thanksgiving 2006

2006-11-27T17:10:00.000-08:00

These are pictures from our time in Morehead. We went there on Friday and came back last night. It's always so much fun there and Max just really enjoys himself! He's become quite the Papaw's boy! My dad is by far is most favorite person there! My mom is working on changing that! I had a lot of fun taking pictures of my neice Autumn who is almost 7 months old. She is just SO cute and her personality is really coming out! I love it! I took my baby fairy wings down there and got some pictures with her wearing them!
Me and Autumn

Standing outside with Daddy's help

I love those blue eyes!

Little Fairy

Sweet Girl

Daddy's Hat is a little big

This is what I miss about not being at home. There are the most amazing sunsets all the time and we used to go out almost every evening with my mom and watch the sun set over the hills. It's a great childhood memory of mine. I'm so happy I was able to capture one

Max riding my sister's wooden horse in front of her tree

There are lots more photos in my gallery if you are interested. I encourage you to go look at my neices fairy pictures! I can't wait to try them on her wearing just a diaper! And there are lots of pictures of Max on there too!

Morehead Thanksgiving

And here are the pictures from Curt's family's dinner on Thursday
Stucky Thanksgiving

Mine

2006-11-27T11:03:00.000-08:00

My Odd Child

2006-11-19T19:30:00.000-08:00

We put the Christmas tree up today because we are going to be gone most of Thanksgiving weekend and I love having the tree up soon after Thanksgiving. Anyways, Max was a royal pain while we were setting it up, he busted two bulbs on the lights, he kept taking down the balls everytime I put one in his reach, trying to climb under, the works...BUT there were a couple ornaments that I put up that made me feel better about it all once I saw his reaction to them, lol. He kept trying to eat them like they were candy. He kept asking if he could have a bite, and I didn't really know what he meant, so I said sure. Then he started trying to bite two of the ornaments. It was SO funny, I was trying hard not to laugh because I didn't want him to think it was ok to go around eating ornaments. But I did get a few pics of him trying to eat them,

Day at the Downs

2006-11-19T19:05:00.000-08:00

Yesterday Curt's company had all their employees come to Churchill Downs for a day at the races. It was a lot of fun! If you've never been to the Kentucky Derby or Churchhill Downs, you have to go sometime in your life. It's such a great tradition here in Kentucky and always so much fun!! We used to go to the Derby before Max was born. Yesterday was just a regular race day, so we were able to take Max as well. He loved it!! We knew that he would, Kentucky is horse-country and aside from "doggie", "horsie" was one of his very first words. So he was in heaven!!!
Out on the balcony, waiting for the first race

We were on the 6th floor, here is Max by the balcony

The middle of the track

What could possibly be making him cry???

Churchhill Charlie, the racetracks mascot, Max didn't care for him one bit!!

Getting tired in the afternoon

Off to sleep for a while in the stroller

Down at the paddock, where they bring the horses through after and before races.

Waiting for the horses to come through

I think I see one Daddy!!

Wow, a horse!

He was amazed!

Playing with the table numbers

Trying not to pose with Mommy

One of my winning horses, I thought the name was HILARIOUS!!!

Watching a race

This is fun!!

His face during a race

The money! We actually came out ahead as far as winning money. We didn't bet on any horses, but every race we did a drawing for the "comeback horse". That's the horse that comes back across the finish line after the race is over. We put a dollar in the pool and then draw a horse. Whosever horse is the comeback horse they win the pot! I won four times and Curt won once!! It was so cool!!

Fishies

2006-11-16T07:34:00.000-08:00

Here are a few pictures I took last night. Curt and Max were checking out the fishtank and I thought it was a cute moment.

He kept asking for Nemo

Giving the fish a kiss

Mommy, do you see the fish too?

First Major Boo-Boo

2006-11-12T19:57:00.000-08:00

Max had his first major boo-boo tonight. He was running around being silly when he slipped and fell into the bottom of the computer chair. He has a little puncture and a knot instantly appeared. It looks terrible! It was almost 10 o'clock when it happened, so it's kinda hard to keep him awake now like I've heard you are supposed to do with a head injury. Here is a picture I took right after it happened. Is this typical for a goose egg bump? This is our first time dealing with something like this. It looks so bad in real life.

I kept him awake for an hour, I'll try to check him throughout the night. Poor little guy!

2006-11-03T07:21:00.000-08:00

Just in case you're all out of ideas on what to get Max for Christmas, here is the coolest thing since sliced bread,

How sweet is that?? Man I wish I were a kid again sometimes!!

2006-11-03T06:03:00.000-08:00

Halloweeny Night

2006-11-01T07:02:00.000-08:00

Well, we had every intention of going out and trick-or-treating, but we ended up not getting to go. We took Max to Curt's great-grandparents and his parents. We went to this big firestation that was having trick-or-treating there, but Max fell asleep on the way there and wouldn't wake up, lol. We carried him asleep to the firestation from our car, but when we got up to the building there was a HUGE long line wrapped all the way around the building. So we decided not to wait, since Max was asleep in Curt's arms. So we went to Curt's parents where we ate dinner with them and Max played with some little cars there.
It was still a fun night, and now I can be thankful that Max doesn't have a ton of candy that I would have to eat.

We stopped at Curt's great-grandparents first

He had to have the candy instantly

The only time he wore the hat

Playing cars on Curt's dad's lap.

Fall 2006

2006-11-01T06:59:00.000-08:00

I finally got to take Max out on Monday to get some fall pictures. I was really running out of time since it has been cold and rainy here for a while and the leaves are all falling off the trees.
Here they are. Silly kid will look anywhere but at me! Oh well, these are as good as they are going to get this year, lol.

Mommy, you know how much I hate taking pictures

Look a leaf! This is the first time he has really gotten to play outside since the leaves have been on the ground. He was so confused as to why they were on the ground, lol. When the wind would blow he would run around saying, "uh-oh!"

Looking off in the distance (really he is just ignoring me, lol)

Not going to look at mommy

Down the path

I'll make her think I'm looking at her, but really I'll move my eyes! She'll never know, hehe!

Look Mommy!!

Oh and just a picture of how thin his hair is! It has gotten thicker in the past few months, but it's still so thin! Curt won't let me cut it because he says that it would look like he didn't have any hair then!

4 More

2006-10-30T04:20:00.000-08:00

Because Mandy doesn't think I have enough pictures of the boy, lol.

Tiph's Wedding Part 1

2006-10-25T07:06:00.000-07:00

My sister's wedding was on Saturday and it was so great! Everything went perfect for her! Except for the hour and a half before the wedding that she spent bawling because she was about to have a nervous breakdown, lol. She was SO nervous!! But after the ceremony she relaxed and we had a wonderful time!! I'm working on her pictures now, but I thought I would post some of Max from the weekend! He was so cute in his little tux! He didn't do any ringbearing duties, but that's ok, he still had a blast. He was sick on Thursday and Friday, felt great all day Saturday for the wedding and then spent the whole day yesterday vomiting, go figure.

Me getting my hair done

Max helping blow up balloons in the reception room

Handsome

My mom brought him this little hat and he loved it!! He ran straight to the stage and started dancing around! My little performer!

Where'd Max go?

During the formal pictures he kept getting behind them. I'm trying to get him off stage...

Trying to get a good picture of the two of us! He was much too busy to stop!

I really like this picture of me and Curt

My beautiful sister!!!

That's all for now. I'll work on getting pictures posted of Max's little cake mishap later. He put lovely little finger holes in the cake icing when no one was looking! It was hilarious!!

Ringbearer is Sick (updated)

2006-10-19T05:47:00.000-07:00

Max has a temp of 102.5 and I'm sure it is higher than that because he wouldn't let me keep the thermometer under his arm and the numbers were still rising. Poor little guy! Please send some positive thoughts that he just has a little bug or something and its not another dreaded ear infection. Although I'm quite nervous about what it might be, the ONLY time he ever runs a fever is when he has an ear infection. He's never ran a fever with a cold or anything.

We are leaving to go out of town in the morning for my sister's wedding and and will be gone through Sunday. At least my meds have started working for my UTI so I feel lots better. I would hate for my sister to have 2 members of her wedding party sick!

Update:
I took him to the pedi cause he is acting so sick! Very high continuous fever, even with Motrin. She said that he has a virus. He hasn't had one of those in a long time. It's always his ears that we are dealing with, so this is kinda new for me. She didn't encourage taking him to the wedding, but we really have no choice. So I'm hoping that its just a 24 hour thing. Maybe Curt can keep him away from everybody during the ceremony so he doesn't get anyone else sick. I don't think he'll be doing any ringbearing this weekend.

The Tale of the Great Green Pumpkin

2006-10-16T06:54:00.000-07:00

I promise this will be the last picture post for a while! We just had a great busy weekend!

So yesterday after all the fence drama was over, we decided to carve our pumpkin that we got the day before. Because all the pumpkins in the fields were not that great we decided to go with a different kind of pumpkin this year. Has anyone read the "Spookly the Pumpkin" book that came out this year? It's about pumpkins that aren't perfectly round and then in the end all different colors of pumpkins start growing? Great children's book! You should definately get it if you get the chance!

Hence, The Great Green Pumpkin!

Watching Daddy start the carving

Silly me, I thought the inside was going to be green too!

Pumpkin Guts

What are you doing?

My little helper bringing me a box to put the insides in

He wanted to help too! I didn't think he would because he hates having his hands dirty!

Dropping them in the box

Picking the perfect mouth

Smile!!!

Our little shepherd standing gaurd over our newly unprotected yard

Watching Daddy make the eyes

Ooh! Stickers!

He had to wear the stickers too

Silly Boy

A plane in the sky

Pumpkin's all finished!

The boy and his green pumpkin

Giving the pumpkin a kiss. He kept hugging and kissing it, it was so adorable!

Big Hug

Oh, I just love my pumpkin

And I just like this picture with his hat on!

Once upon a time there was a fence...

2006-10-15T16:25:00.000-07:00

Then it got ran over by an 80 year old man who ran a stop sign!
Yep, that's what happened to our yard at about 12 today. An old man, ran a stop sign, hit a truck and then proceeded to take out our entire fence. Yet, he managed to miss all 3 of our cars, 2 electric poles and a giant tree.

The course he took, I still don't see how he missed all the cars and the poles. You can see how far up into the yard he was by looking at the tire tracks by Curt's truck.

He hit the back of our neighbors parked car and totaled it. But he barely missed the big tree that was right beside it. He took a small piece of the tree out. It could have been much worse for them. (Clare, this is the exact spot you were parked when we stopped at our house)

The truck he hit. That's the front of our house on the right.

The old man was driving the green car. There were two other people in the car and I think the lady thought she had broken her hand.

I just keep thinking about what would have happened if we had been in the back yard. The car came into our yard and wiped out the fence and almost hit Curt's Tahoe. Our dogs always stand next to the fence when they go outside and I don't even want to think about what would have happened if Max had been outside. It brings me to tears just thinking about it. *shudder*
The man had insurance thankfully, so we should be able to get the fence replaced. We are SO ready to move though. There are always wrecks at the intersection in front of our house. It was just a matter of time before something like this happened.

Huber's Farm

2006-10-15T14:47:00.000-07:00

We went to a place yesterday called Huber's Farm and Orchery. We've gone every year for several years and I think we've created a tradition, so yay!
It was a bad year for pumpkins here because we have gotten so much rain. Most of the pumpkin patches were ruined. We took a tractor ride out to the patch, but didn't really find a good pumpkin out there, so we ended up just buying one in the market there.
There were lots of other things there to do. Here are the pictures!
Eating lunch first. Whenever we get crayons at restaurants Max wants us to stand them up so he can knock them down. He never colors with them, lol. Wierd kid!

Max and I riding in the little cow train. The seat part was lined with hay. It was SO uncomfortable for me and I was picking hay out of my butt all evening!

On the slide

The Petting Zoo part. Max LOVED the goats. We stayed there the majority of the day. He kept wanting to feed them and got so excited when they came up to him.

We went on a wagon ride where they took us out to a big pasture and let the goats come up to the wagon so you could feed them. This was a big hit for Max.
The goats running towards us

There was also this little house built out of hay, called the Witch Hut. Max kept running through it, he loved it!

Curt and Max getting ready to go down the big silo slide. That was a ton of fun!

Max and I

Shooting apples at the target in the water

Finally in the pumpkin Patch

Max thought he had to kick them all

I love how Curt was keeping a good eye out for where Max was going at all times

I really like this picture

Max could have cared less about the wagon ride. All he kept asking for was his milk and paci the whole time.

His height this year! Will do again next year and see how much he's grown!

We did end up with a GREAT pumpkin, but you'll have to wait till after we carve it for pictures! I can't wait!

We were on the news...

2006-10-13T07:42:00.000-07:00

For all of about 5 seconds, but hey, it was tv time! Not going to complain!
If your interested in watching the video here is the link. We are at the very end! It's about the cold weather in Louisville today. We were at the zoo for the Halloween event when they stopped to interview us. I sound like goofy and Max is the super cutie in the green bug costume!
Enjoy!!
http://www.whas11.com/sharedcontent/VideoPlayer/showVideo.php?vidId=94428

Zoo Boo!

2006-10-13T07:33:00.000-07:00

We went to the Halloween Zoo Party last night and it was SO cold!! Max was a little unsure of everything going on at first, but as soon as he got his first piece of candy he started loving it! He wouldn't let us put the candy in the bag. He wanted to hold each piece. It was so funny! He was get so mad if we tried taking it away from him! So we had to trick him with a little bite of tootsie roll after he got each piece. Then we could sneak the other candy away from him and put it in the bag. It was a lot of fun!

His first piece of candy that he got was a tootsie roll. He held onto it for dear life!

Can we eat it?

I got candy!!

This is so cool!! Everyone is just giving it away!

Notice he is still holding it?

Yummy!

Come on Mom, the other kids are going to get it all!

No time to pose, I've got to get more candy!

Oooh wait, what's that?! I bet he has BIG candy!

Pfff, he doesn't have anything

With the velcro closed, that didn't last too long

On the carousel

Thanks for looking! I really hope it warms up a little. It was freezing last night.

Shoes

2006-10-12T18:56:00.000-07:00

Take a walk in Mommy's shoes

Cranky Bug

2006-10-06T19:05:00.000-07:00

My kid hates the camera, but I now find comfort in knowing that it's not just mine he hates! These turned out ok I guess. He would not wear the headpiece at all and anytime the ladies would try to make him laugh he would throw something at them...sigh.
Oh well, here they all are

I brought M&M's to bribe him, but they didn't work too well and they ended up all over the floor.

Since I got 2 free sheets and $10 off another sheet I was only out $8 total on pictures, so I got this frame. After Halloween, I can take these pictures out and put the ones of Curt and Max in it to match my Mother's Day frame.

Random

2006-10-01T06:33:00.000-07:00

Here are some random pictures of Max from last week.

Mr. Stucky, You have another call...

My life is SO stressful! So many people to talk to, grandparents, aunts, cousins...It's hard being so loved

Yes, I love you all too. And yes I would love a new toy car!

Hi Papaw, it's nice to babble to you too! Hold on Aunt Tiph!

Hold on, I'll get you the number to Toys R' Us, I have it on speeddial

Here, you take this one, I'm busy getting my Christmas list straight with the grandparents...this person just wants to hear me coo, that's so 12 months ago

And just a few from the park the other day

This is his mean face,

BUG!

2006-10-01T06:30:00.000-07:00

I decided to get Max another costume yesterday. I just couldn't resist it! It was such a boy costume!! He didn't like it at first and hated the head piece, but Curt and I put the antennae's on that made it fun for Max. So we spent the next hour playing with the headpiece, lol. He kept going up to the costume afterwards and saying, "Bug, Bug!" I can't wait!
Here is the back

He didn't like it at all at first!!

But, Mommy and Daddy showed him it was fun to wear!!!

Please excuse my horrid face and hair, it was a lazy Sunday

He had to put it on after that

Big Bug Head!

Perfection

2006-09-29T20:49:00.000-07:00

Gosh, I just love this picture. He is seriously a perfect looking child, but then again I also have the mommy goggles on, but don't you agree?

Zoo Too!

2006-09-26T13:39:00.000-07:00

We went to the zoo yesterday and I was able to renew my membership. We weren't able to go at all last month because our membership had expired. This time of year is the perfect time to go! School is back in session and the whole zoo is almost empty. So much more enjoyable for those of us pushing strollers around. Max had a great time. He loved the gorillas which he calls "Monkies". He FREAKED out when the gorilla walked up to us on the other side of the glass! I wish I could have taken a picture of that, but he was terrified!!
Anyways, some pics of the day
Checking out the new playground they built. It was AWESOME!!

Going through the tunnel

Maybe...

Up the big boy stairs

A sillouette of a gorilla sitting in a tunnel

Max was ok with the gorilla's until they started moving.

Run!

The Analyzing of Lunch

2006-09-26T13:19:00.000-07:00

Max grew up yesterday. He is now a little boy to me. While he was eating his lunch, it became so real how independent he is. No longer that baby who I used to nestle in my arms for hours every day. He can do things on his own, think on his own, has his own ideas about the world. I feel a new responsiblity now. I know that I only have one chance to create a person who is free-thinking, compassionate towards others, and curious about the world around him. There is a lot of pressure when it comes to parenthood. Everything I do now, I have to analyze how it affects him and what the consequences might be with his understanding of it. How does he interpret the things that happen in the world? How do I explain the world to him?
Anyhoo, all that from some juice in a cup, a hotdog and an apple.

Sweet Moment

2006-09-22T11:29:00.000-07:00

Max just did the sweetest thing today. He climb up into my lap and started patting my face gently and said, "Pretty." *swoon*

Found the Culprit

2006-09-20T15:20:00.000-07:00

I now know why Max has been in such a bad mood lately. I just got back from the doctor and guess what, he has a freakin' ear infection!!!
I noticed some drainage coming out of his ears at the park today, so I called the pedi and they got him in. The doctor said there was so much puss coming out of his ears that she couldn't even see in them at all. Ugh. I can't believe it. I guess he's just suseptible to them even with the tubes. She gave me some ear drop antibiotics and a prescription for oral antibiotics as well. Hopefully he'll be back to his old self soon!

Worst Tantrum EVER!!

2006-09-20T06:02:00.000-07:00

OMG!!!! Max has spent the afternoon throwing the biggest, worst tatrum EVER!! I'm at my wits end. I know that he isn't feeling well, but geez, it was SO bad!
I had to go to Curt's grandparents to do some laundry because our dryer has decided it doesn't want to work anymore. He didn't want to be there as soon as we got there and wouldn't let me set him down or anything. Finally we leave to go eat lunch and he throws a huge fit in the restaurant, so bad that I had to get up and leave with him because everyone was staring and he was SO loud. I didn't want Curt's grandparents to be embarrassed either. Finally Max went to sleep in my arms and slept all the way back to their house and about an hour on their couch. He woke up and the tantrum began AGAIN! He was screaming and wouldn't take anything I gave him. I took him outside of their house so I could just ignore them and not look like I wasn't doing anything about it and because I didn't want them to have to listen to him. He stood at the fench and screamed for a good hour. He kept throwing himself on the sidewalk and rolling around kicking his legs. It was horrible. I was trying to completely ignore him. But how long is too long, ya know? His lasted for a good hour, just crying and screaming. Then he walked up to me and starting hitting me! I was beyond frustrated. I didn't know what to do. Finally I just picked him up and told them that I was sorry and that I would come back for my laundry after Curt got home from work. I was sick with frustration. What do you do? I felt so helpless. Curt's grandma said that he was spoiled. Is he? We aren't aggressive discipliners. I don't want to spank him, but I don't want a bad child either. Does anyone have any ideas? It was not a good afternoon....

Bathtub

2006-09-19T06:47:00.000-07:00

Sick boy decided that he was going to learn how to climb into the bathtub all by himself. Now I have to keep the bathroom door shut at all times! I don't know what I'm going to do when he figures out how to open doorknobs! Yikes!

Sick Boy

2006-09-19T06:46:00.000-07:00

Our little guy is sick :( He has been running a fever, is really congested and now has a cough. I hate seeing him like this.

We really need to get him some new pj's, lol

Blankie Boy, when he is feeling bad he carries both blankies around

Miss Penelope

2006-09-17T06:55:00.000-07:00

I took some pictures of our friends little girl, Penelope, while we were at the park the other day. She is such a doll, I can't wait till her Mom schedules a time for me to take some actual session pictures. She was born 5 weeks after Max.

When I took this one I couldn't believe how old she looked. I made the comment to Lauren (her mommy), when did our babies become little people?

Bernhiem Forest

2006-09-16T22:48:00.000-07:00

On Friday we went to this local forest park here called Bernhiem Forest. It is sponsored by the Jim Beam Whiskey company that is made across the road from the forest. It's a beautiful place and there are lots of neat structures throughout the forest and statues along the trails. I had never been there before but Curt had gone when he was a child. I decided to try some nature portraits while I was there. Nature isn't my favorite thing to take pictures of, but I had some fun playing with them in photoshop afterwards :)
Here are the pictures of Max first and then I will post my nature pics
This was his collection of acorns that he loved to gather. He called them his "rocks"

In b&w

I love this picture!

In B&W

In the Visiter's Center they had some crayons for the kids.

He looks so much older here. I think my baby is now a young boy

Coloring

Probably the cheapest building blocks ever, but he loved them! I think we should make some!

This skull was sitting on the table with the blocks, weird

Mommy playing with the skull

Outside

And as we were walking, Curt found a lizard and had to pick it up. He's such a big kid! I love it!

This statue was really creepy, but very cool! I took lots of pictures of it, I used a midnight black action on the first one and then added a few things of my own

A walking bridge
Urban Acid and added saturation here

Duotone on this

My personal favorite

This tree's leaves were already changed for the fall

A branch

Newport Aquarium

2006-09-15T06:48:00.000-07:00

Wednesday we went up to Cincinnati to go to the Newport Aquarium. We thought that Max would love it, but I think the big tanks were a little too intimidating to him, so we carried him through most of it. He loved the turtles though, and kept saying, "Turtle, Turtle."
Here are the pics from the day
Daddy and Max checking out the turtles

We sat next to this tank for quite a while. It was his favorite part

NEMO!!! He loves seeing Nemo and Dory

Is this not the biggest turtle you have ever seen in your life?!!!

Max and Mommy

The shark exhibit

In the tunnel

That shark was just laying there for a while, it was really cool

Petting the little sharks. They felt so icky, I didn't like it at all

Labor Day Weekend

2006-09-04T19:33:00.000-07:00

We went to my hometown for the weekend and just had so much fun! Here are some of my favorite pictures from the weekend, but to see more just follow the link!

http://Rileyart.smugmug.com/gallery/1852683/1/92967222
My nephew Steven

Checking out the goats

My niece Autumn

Hehe, check out those cheeks!

Sitting in the big boy chair

My dad and Max

aa

2006-09-01T20:13:00.000-07:00

Oh how I love that man...

2006-09-01T16:36:00.000-07:00

I never knew how much I loved you until I saw the way you loved our child

Pringles

2006-08-31T13:58:00.000-07:00

Earlier today the lady who usually does my hair called and asked if I would be able to take her little boys' pictures. In exchange for me waiving my sitting fee she was going to do my hair and makeup for free for my wedding. I thought, great deal!! So I went home and got all of my stuff set up and...she called and cancelled

So I plopped Max down and took some pictures of him. I haven't taken the time to get any of him in a while. He still won't look at me when I want him to, but he is getting better. Oh and I used Mr. Wolfie to help me get my settings right, lol. Here are a few:
Sweet Boy

Something's obviously funny!

I didn't notice that there was something on the front of my lense until after, so it's a soft focus!

Read a book

Bribery with a pringle

Yummy!

Thanks Mr. Wolfie for helping me get my settings right!

Little Tux!

2006-08-28T20:43:00.000-07:00

I tried Max's tux for the wedding on him. Can you say SUPER CUTE!!!!!!!!!

A teensy bit of unabashed bragging!

2006-08-25T20:12:00.000-07:00

Max has really suprised me lately! I bought some alphabet flashcards the other day from PBK's and I've been going through them with him. Today he was repeating some of the letters back to me and he would hold them and I would ask what they were and he would say the letter.
In his animal books he can tell me what almost every animal in that particular book is.
And right now, Curt is throwing different color balls across the room and telling him to get a particular color ball and he is getting the right one.

*swoon* my little man is growing up and I couldn't be prouder!! It makes me tear up to think about how little and dependent he was just a year ago!

Carefree

2006-08-23T19:40:00.000-07:00

You are young my son and you have not a worry in the world.

As you grow I hope that your life is as carefree as the days when you ran circles around the dog...just because it was fun at the time

Life is about having fun and welcoming each moment as it comes

Be carefree

Fly when you feel like it

You can be anything

Take your world in your hands

Love yourself cause you are beautiful and full of life

Make jokes and laugh often

Don't be afraid to be afraid of something

Know your limits and how far you can push them

Your life is what you make it and my wish for you is that it remains as carefree as you were today

My little Max Max, I love you!!!

Daily Reading

2006-08-22T12:32:00.000-07:00

Max has aquired quite the book collection in the past few months. But the boy LOVES his books!

His Space

2006-08-22T08:06:00.000-07:00

So yesterday I decided to give the boy his own space. A place where all his toys could gather and hopefully stay out from under my feet. I think the area turned out nice and the best part is that I can see him while I work on the computer.

I would like to try and build him a table and chair set. I want to paint it with an under the sea theme or jungle animals! Hopefully that will be a project I could finish by Christmas.

Swan Bites

2006-08-17T08:35:00.000-07:00

Max and I spent the day in Cincinnati yesterday with my best friend Mandy, her sister Jessica and her little girl Brittany. It was such a nice visit! I really hope Mandy moves closer to Kentucky when she moves!! Jess and Brit are moving soon and they are going to be only an hour away! So that's really sweet!
We went to Miami Whitewater Park, where we had some friends who wanted to share our fries.
Brittany, Max and Mandy feeding the swans

I'm pretty sure this is when one of the swans bit Brittany. Poor thing! It scared her so bad! She was through with the swans afer that. She wasn't going anywhere near them.

Showing me her "war-wound"

Ice cream will make any swan bite feel better

Of course, Max had to have ice cream too, lol

Sneaking a drink of Mandy coke. It's so funny because the cup is almost as big as him, lol

Princess Brittany trying on the flowergirl dress she will be wearing in my wedding in a few weeks.

Brittany took this picture of Max. Not a bad job!

Max's Halloween Costume

2006-08-15T17:31:00.000-07:00

A Lobster!!!!
I couldn't resist it when I saw it today! Now I just have to find some orange or red pants to go with it. He hates the headpiece, but hopefully he will like it better by Halloween

Perfect

2006-08-08T13:06:00.000-07:00

Sometimes I catch myself in complete awe of what Curt and I have created. Such a perfect being, this little boy of ours. Nothing in my life will ever compare to the moment I gave him life. Nothing.

Sexy Back (song)

2006-08-08T04:53:00.000-07:00

Originally Posted on 8-07-06

One more dancing video before I call it a night. Please ignore my total white girl head boppin' lol

Spidey Dance

2006-08-08T04:52:00.000-07:00

Originallly Posted on 8-07-06

I love this kid!!
This is him dancing to the opening music of the Spiderman movie.

Hot Zoo

2006-08-08T04:48:00.000-07:00

We battled the insane heat today to go to the zoo with my sister and her fiance. They came for the weekend so that my sis could help me put on my wedding dress and help with the bridal pictures. It was a lot of fun!

Max walking

Watching the penguins

See, this is why I want the rest of his hair to catch up so I don't have to cut it. He has awesome curls in the back when they are not totally frizzy. But if the rest of his hair doesn't start growing soon, he is going to have one fine mullet, lol!

The rare white alligator

It was so hot that this squirrel was just laying out on the pavement like this. I thought it was dead before we got up closer. I've never seen a squirrel lay like this!

Me being a wimp about some birds

Curt's friend

Gettin' some lovin'

The BEST part of the day. They let us come in a feed the giraffe and pet him. It was so cool! I've been there so many times this past year, and have never been able to do that!

They have such long eyelashes!

Silly giraffe

Bye bye Bo (that's what the lady said his name was)

Back at home with Daddy

MMMM Pizza!

Can someone get me some garlic sauce?!

2006-08-01T19:07:00.000-07:00

Sunday at the Park

2006-07-27T19:08:00.000-07:00

(Original Posted on July 27)
On Sunday we went to Cherokee Park and let Max play in the fountains and then we walked the 2 1/2 mile scenic trail, it was very nice and refreshing. Such a great day, not too humid or hot. If we had more days like that exercising wouldn't be a problem. Anyway, here are the pics from Sunday.

The playground

Running through the fountains

A lady and her kids gave this balloon to Max to play with. He loves balloons!

Playing with a dog

Once he was out of the fountains, he didn't want to wear a wet shirt.

Going down the slide

Playing on this bouncy thing with the big kids. He wants to do the big kid stuff so much already!

Swinging

Mmmmm, Raisins!!!

Afterwards we stopped by our friend's house. They have a little girl named Penelope, who is one month younger than Max. We joke that they are each others future spouses.
Penelope

Playing on the slide

Trip Home

2006-07-27T04:55:00.000-07:00

I went home to Morehead on Monday and Tuesday just for a quick visit. I don't know when I will have time to get back there before the wedding, so I thought I would go this week. I had a great time. I stayed with my dad, which I haven't done since I moved to Louisville. He lives in a fairly small house, so Curt and I could never sleep there because he only has a small twin bed. But Max and I were able to stay with him and have room to sleep. I love where my dad lives, its between two hills and it is so cool and peaceful, I just love it.

I rode my dad's four-wheeler with Max, very slowly of course. We went across the road to a big farm and picked blackberries and saw the ponies in the field. Max loved it.

I went to my brother's house and visited with them for a while. My neice Autumn is so cute! She is getting so chunky, I love it!!

Baby Toes

Max kept coming up to her and checking her out. He finally started calling her Autumn which sounded more like Auta, but it was still really cute!

A very proud aunt! I love that little girl!!

My brother Nathan and Autumn

Trying to show us that she can stand already, lol

My brother plays on a city league softball team and Monday was his last game. So I went and watched them play. It was fun even though they got slaughtered by the other team.
Autumn in the stroller

Max checking out everyone at the game

Warming up

Nathan

More pictures of Autumn, these were taken on Tuesday

This is the dress I bought her to wear to my wedding. So cute!

Today at the Park

2006-07-19T05:00:00.000-07:00

Despite the heat here are some pictures from the park today. It's not the greatest park we have, but its the only one in the shade.

Hi Mommy!!

Silly Boy!

There was a little fountain so I put Max in a swimmy dipe and let him cool off.

Too hot for shorts

Follow me!

Practicing his posing for his future career with GQ

This is my park! I decide who can come in!

Checking out the tennis players

18 Month Check Up

2006-07-06T05:01:00.000-07:00

Max had a great appointment today. I can't say enough how much I love our pedi! At all of his well checks she always stays and talks to us for about 30 minutes or longer. She covers everything and takes time to play with Max and interact with him. Today she had him show her animals in a book, had him point out body parts (i.e. nose, mouth, eyes) and then she kept refilling his cup with water for him (he has an obsession with cups at the moment, lol). As far as the appt she said that he is looking great, he has hit a plateau on his weight and will probably stay where he is on the charts, which is ok. Developmentally he is advanced for his age. I'm so proud! She talked to us about potty training and how we should slowly introduce things, but that he won't be ready for real training for about 6 months or so. She talked to us about discipline and how it is important to redirect them and to stay calm. And she asked about our wedding and asked if we were going to get away for a few days afterwards. I told her that we were planning on taking Max and she really suggested that we leave him with someone, she even offered to watch him, lol!!! I told her I wasn't ready to leave him anywhere yet and she said that I should consider it. So we'll see.
Overall it was a great appt, exept for the shots. I think that Max is starting to get the connection between the doctor's office and shots. He was so scared of the nurse and even started crying when they put him on the scale to get his weight He started screaming when the nurse came back into the room too. At least no more shots till he is 4. We go back in 6 months for his 2 year check up!

21lbs 6oz (0-5%)
31" (25%)
18 1/2" head (25-50%)

Perfect Day

2006-07-02T05:04:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was so much fun!!! We went to Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom and went to the waterpark there. Curt can get in free pretty much whenever we want through his work, so we got tickets and spent the day there. Max loved the waterpark! At first he wasn't so sure, but he got used to it. There were these slides that were fairly good size and I thought that he would be too small for them, but nope he loved going down them! And he went all by himself! It was awesome! Then we took him on a couple of the kiddie rides. We also got on the Giant Ferris Wheel. I was a little nervous at first, because it is so huge and I wasn't sure how Max would do, but he was fine and kept saying "WOW!!" over and over, lol! He also went on his first roller coaster, The Roller Skates. It is a cute little coaster where the seats are shaped like roller skates. It went pretty fast! I was so proud of Max for all the things that he did! I was scared to let him on most things, but Curt persisted and everything that I thought Max would hate, he loved!!!
And of course, this wouldn't be a proper blog post without pictures now would it, lol?
The Water Park, this was the toddler area called Barefoot Cove. They have several different parts for all age groups. It's really big.

Taking a break to eat lunch

He kept smiling and flirting with the cashier lady

Back in the pool

In line for the giant ferris wheel

He was soooo tired! I thought he was going to fall asleep on Curt's shoulder. He didn't take a nap all day!

The Giant Wheel

You can see Louisville's skyline in the background.

I'm actually more nervous about the ride looking back at the pictures than I was on the actual ride.
Max looking over the edge

He kept saying "Wow!" over and over! It was so cute!

Getting ready to go on his first coaster ride

Weeee!!!

On a carousel

I love how his curls are under his hat

In Mama's shades

At the end of the day, riding in the old timey cars.

It was such a perfect day!!!