Super dads vs. Super reptile

Last weekend we headed to a wedding out of town. We piggy backed this trip as our "last free weekend until after soccer season" trip. We stayed in a hotel, swam, shopped and ate. And now, we are gearing up for Brad's season to start on Wednesday!

But, before we left, we had a surprise visitor! It was crazy last Saturday morning. Brad was packing up the car, I was feeding Max and the girls were so excited they were driving us crazy:) Connor (our skiddish Cocker Spaniel) was barking incessantly in the backyard. He does this quite often. It's usually because of something in the backyard. Usually something like a beach ball, the blow up swimming pool or a balloon inside the kitchen that he can see. He's weird like that. However, it's NOT usually for something like this:

Yes, that would be a SIX FOOT SNAKE on our back porch! Holy moly. I remember saying, "What's Connor barking at?" Brad walked over to the back door and said, "A huge snake, holy cow!" I didn't believe him until I walked over and saw that there was in fact, a HUGE snake staring down Connor and Connor staring it down. I have never been more thankful for a quirky dog that barks at things in our backyard! Brad got a shovel and walked into the backyard. We put Connor outside of the gate. This guy quickly got his "snake game" on. He followed Brad wherever he walked. I've never heard a snake hiss like this one. It was so loud. Almost sounding like locusts in a tree. After a couple of jabs with the shovel, and the snake striking at the shovel, the snake was mad...and Brad was a little freaked out:)

He called our neighbor Brent who came over with his shovel, too. These two guys were pretty funny to watch. They stood there staring at the snake trying to figure out a plan for almost five minutes. Finally they decided on one.

Brad grabbed two old towels and an axe. He threw one towel over the snake and then a second towel, which had a hole in it that the snake conveniently stuck his head through. Brent was able to pin down his head and Brad whacked at it with the axe. The creepiest part was that it still moved. Even with it's head separated from it's body. Gross. The guys were pretty proud of themselves, which they should be! The girls were fascinated with all of it. We didn't let them watch the slaughter (ha!), but they wanted to see the snake after. It ended up being almost as tall as Brad! Morgan kept saying it looked like it was from the zoo. I agreed and said that is where all snakes should live:)

I am so thankful that we found this before Brent and Linsdey came over to feed Connor that night! We're pretty sure it's a rat (or chicken) snake. So, if Connor had been bit, it wouldn't have hurt him too bad. I don't think I need to see another snake exhibit for a long time. This guy gave me the heebie jeebies. It confirmed (not that we had been thinking about it) that we will NEVER have a pet snake!!

Night #2

Well, unfortunately, night #1 didn't end when I thought it would. It actually continued for one more hour! TWO hours of screaming off and on (and trying to console off/on) until I finally ended up re-swaddling him and...giving him his paci. I know! I caved. But, I was tired. Max appreciated the comfort though. He went right to sleep until 6.

Night #2 is underway. The girls went with grandparents (again, woo hoo!), so Brad and I had a date with Max. We got home kind of late, so it will be interesting what Max does tonight. So far, he's been crying for 40 minutes. It's muffled screaming (if that's possible), so I know he's trying to stuff his hand in his mouth. Poor guy. As I put him to bed, he got his hands around his mouth. I gave him a kiss and said, "You may not want to do that...the paci isn't going back in after it falls out buddy."

The only plus is that it's Brad's turn to get up with Max tonight:) I'm hoping to get a little more sleep. I'm sure Max will sleep all the way through the night tonight, just for Brad. Some kind of male bonding or something.

Deja vu

Look at that sweet, precious face (photo by my super talented bff, Kara). That wouldn't be the face of a baby waking up at night every couple of hours...after he teased us sleeping so good for a while. Or the face of a sweet baby boy by day and confused, unable to self soothe baby boy by night. No, not that face. Never.

It's time. It's time to "ferberize". It's only fair, since both of his sisters went through the torture, I mean, training.

So, here we are, at 2 am, on night #1. It started at 8 pm. Max screamed for 45 minutes. I went into his room every 10 minutes and rubbed his head and said "It's oooooookay. You can do this. I love you." He finally settled down and slept until 1:30 am. And, here I am, in the living room listening to my son scream off/on as he tries to figure out how to get back to sleep. It's been almost an hour this time. And, he's blessed with a strong set of lungs. Maybe someday he'll put them to better use!

I love my kids. I love them when they aren't sleeping well (I'm a zombie loving them, but I still love them). I love (and like them a whole lot more!) them when they sleep all the way through the night.

It's silent. I think he's done. I'm off to bed, crossing my fingers and toes session #1 is officially over!

Summer Fun

We've had a fun and busy summer! It didn't go exactly as I planned out in my head (wasn't really considering having a newborn, ha!), but was fun nonetheless. June seemed to fly by. It started with Mallory's birthday, a visit from our California cousins, then off to DFW for 11 days at my parent's while Brad was gone, a visit with my youth pastor's wife/youth group friends and lots of family time.

All of these pictures are in reverse order. I don't want to waste naptime changing them, so we'll start from the end of June and go to the beginning!

After such a busy month, it was nice to have some slow days at home. Just a normal day in our house with two girly girls. Reading books in tu-tus, with tank tops to match!

I got to have a mini reunion with some old youth group friends in Waxahachie. It was a great visit! I brought Max along to introduce him to Ruth, my youth pastor's wife. She has been a huge part of my life through mentoring and ministering. I loved seeing her, Bruce and lots of old friends I don't get to see often enough.

The girls got to play with Julia and Johnathan while I played with my friends. They also got to attend VBS with their cousins. Apparently, Morgan can't go to Waxahachie without adding drama. She passed out asleep on the floor of her VBS room with a 102 degree temp and then threw up when she got to Jason and Jenn's house. We felt awful and had no idea it was coming! Luckily, it was a one time thing and she didn't infect anyone else.

Brad is a soccer coach. He coach's a men's college team during the fall, starts recruiting the weekend after Thanksgiving and ends in April, takes May off from traveling, works several different soccer camps during the summer, and has about a week off before it all starts up again. It exhausts me to type that out. He is a hardworker, that is for sure. What is more impressive, is that even with all he puts into his job(s), he still gives 100% at home. For instance... After working for 10+ days in 100+ degree heat and babysitting teenagers all week, we came home to this:

Brad immediately wrestled, tickled and took the girls on horsey (or stallion, as he likes to be called!) rides all around the house. It's impressive. I'm a thankful mom and wife to have him. The girls and Max absolutely adore their dad. He's by far the funner and funnier parent.

While Brad was slaving away in the heat, we stayed cool at Mimi and Grandpa's house for eleven days! We had a lot of fun swimming, playing with more cousins, meeting old friends, attending more VBS and getting in some quality time with grandparents. I tell the girls all the time how lucky they are to have two sets of grandparents that we get to see so often. Both sets of mine lived out of state. I'm thankful to have two sets that love my kids and get to see them often!

We take showers at our house, but the girls love taking baths at M&G's, so a bath it is. Grandpa gave them a new hairdo this time (and Mallory has some sleepy eyes from the flash)!

Kelly and Wade get the "super aunt and uncle award"! For three nights straight, they arranged their schedules to pick up the girls and drop them off (and feed them dinner at CFA with their own kids as well) for "Summer Spectacular". The girls absolutely loved it! It was their first VBS experience and it was a specatacular one...heh heh. My dad and I came on the last night for the big show. It was pretty amazing!

I always joke that Morgan looks more like Kelly's child than mine. Here's a little proof:

Max got his first dip in the pool...and loved it!

Wearing a hat like Grandpa to take a walk to the store. Morgan's a little ghetto:)

I took advantage of being in the metroplex for so long by seeing lots of friends! My fun friend Marla had us over for a playdate. The kids loved playing with Shepherd, Owen and Marley!

And as a bonus, I got to see Marla twice! My sister is now friends with her, too. Cool, huh? We had a late night treat at The Cheescake Factory for dessert.

Cousin swimming! They had so much fun!

Even Connor "got" to swim!

We had a playdate with some old friends from high school, Melanie and Jennifer. We did this last year and I'm so glad we did it this year, too. Next year, we'll add two more babies to the mix!

It was a special treat to have my cousin, Amy, here from California! She and her daughter, Audrey, came along on a business trip with her husband, Paul, to Austin. She braved the Austin traffic and headed south to spend the afternoon with us. The girls loved playing with Audrey and I loved talking about mommy stuff with Amy. I'm sure they didn't love the heat.

July seems like it's been just as busy! I can't believe our last summer before we're on a school schedule is about to end. Craziness!

Two weeks

In two weeks, I'm going to be missing this face around the house:

I'll be missing an extra voice playing "honey", an extra set of (very) helpful hands, one less person to drag in/out of Walmart, having to tell her to stop giving so many kisses to Max, one less snack to make and most of all, I'll be missing being with my biggest girl all day long.

I always thought I would be sad about kindergarten, but lately I've been more excited for Mallory than sad. I'm not naive to think I won't be sad the first day...or week, but I really, truly am giddy for Mallory. She is so, so ready to start kindergarten! I can't wait to pick her up and hear all about it!

Last Friday night, she and I went on a special "back to school date" to buy school clothes. It was just me and her, which doesn't happen very often. We ate at Cracker Barrel (her choice) and drove to Round Rock. It dawned on me that this was her first time to go shopping. We've run in and out of stores before, but have never bought a bunch of clothes at one time, just for her. She loved it! She wanted to carry everything around and try everything on. I tried to let her pick out most of her stuff, with a few helpful hints from me:) I had one very tired girl after two hours of walking around. We finished up our date at Chili's for a chocolate shake and Mallory got her second wind. I loved having time with just her and me.

I want so badly for her to have a great year at kindergarten. There are so many parts of this coming year that make me nervous. Will she make friends easily? Will her teacher be a second mommy to her? Will kids be kind to her on the playground? Will she be kind to other kids? Will she miss us while she's at school? Will Morgan miss her best friend?

Lately, Brad has been the one talking about how much she's grown up. We just can't believe how fast the past five years have flown by. Now it's time for us to put on brave smiles and send her off into the world!

Max - 3 months

What a chubs Mr. Max is turning into!!! I'm loving squeezing his chunky thighs and crack up at his "muscles" in his arms. The double chin and cheeks are adorable as well. Love it. It's probably the first thing people notice...how big he is!

This boy loves his tummy time! Good thing, too. He has a little flat spot behind his right ear. Morgan had the same thing. We're trying really hard to keep him off his back while he's awake (easier said than done some days!). We've had to move toys around to make him look to his left in his car seat and chair. I'm thankful I have two really eager helpers at Max's side at. all. times. to make this a little easier:) I kind of caught a roll over on camera. He hasn't attempted a roll from back to tummy yet, but sometimes ends tummy time with a roll.

He still prefers to be swaddled at naps and bedtime. He's taking 3 long naps during the day and then a little catnap around 7. At night, he'll sleep from about 8:30-1:30, eat, wake between 5-6 (I either re-swaddle him or feed him) and then wake up between 7-8 for the day. He's starting to do what Morgan did, where he wakes up off/on because his paci falls out. I've been tempted to do the "ferberizing", but think I'll wait another month and see what how he's doing then. Morgan was 4 1/2 months and it worked great...also started her thumb sucking, but helped her sleep 12 hours at night and nap better.

The girls are still obsessed with their brother. As much as it is gets in the way at times, I love that they love him so much. And, he loves looking at them and smiles at their crazy faces/sounds. Mallory is hilarious. She cannot walk by or see Max without giving him at least 4 kisses and then put her face by his and say "Cheeeeeese!"! We constantly have to ask her to get out of his face. Her reply? "I can't help it! He's too cute!" Agreed.

Max is much, much more alert and awake (and happy) for longer periods of time. This makes errands and meals out of the house so much better and less stressful (not having to hold a screaming baby is awesome!).

He's a fan of the Bumbo! Probably not a fan that it's purple, but oh well.

I try not to compare my kids all the time, but when you have three, it's hard not to do! Mallory is for sure the typical first born, rule follower and more serious. Morgan is FOR SURE the second child, do anything to make someone laugh...and keep doing it goofy girl. Max seems to be more on the serious side. He definitely smiles a lot and talks to you, but he's not overly smiley and has a serious side...a lot like the biggest sister. I love his little smile. It's a little flirty when he gives it to you and so, so sweet.

In about 6 months, Max is going to love playing with his friends! We've got Cruz, Pax and Micah that will be his little buddies. They were all born within 6 months of him. Here's a picture of Micah and Max. Micah and his mom came from Abilene for a boys/moms only visit last week.

Although it's not quite as cute to dress up boys, it is funny to see what his sisters pick out as his "outfit". Max was given this football jersey by the president of UMHB. We'll call it a soccer jersey:) Morgan has been dying for him to wear it for about 3 months now. She told everyone she saw that #1 she picked out his outfit and #2 he's the Cru!

We love our Maxers!

Ju-ust the two of us....

I apologize for getting that song in your head, ahead of time:)

Three more days until I see these three cute faces:

It's just been me and Max since last Friday. I totally forgot what it was like when I only had Mallory at home...quiet!!! I'm trying not to get used to so much free time during the day with all of Max's naps:) It's been fun, but I'm ready for some background noise in the form of girly squeals and pretend play.

I've really enjoyed my time with my buddy this week. We haven't done much. There have been many naps on the couch together, a playdate with our friend Pax, the carpets were cleaned, a crafty sleepover with some girlfriends (that didn't result in any Martha-worthy crafts unfortunately), I'm up to Season 3 in the Cosby Show on Netflix and now I'm awaiting Kara and Micah's arrival! There is a 12 pack of Cokes and a box of Ding Dongs in the fridge:)

Max, I hope you haven't gotten used to the calm, quiet house! In a few days you'll be smothered with kisses again and probably get bonked by a toy (or body part!).

2 months of Max!

We have loved seeing Max change in the last month. He's no longer the "baby blob" and his personality has started to come out! We have real smiles, real cries and a really sweet baby boy!

Max had a BIG growth spurt about two weeks ago! He seemed to go from newborn to chubby baby in a matter of days. The rolls and cheeks are growing everyday...and I love it! Morgan had legs that looked like an opened can of biscuits...loved them! I can't wait for Max to have that cuteness, too. At the doctor on Monday, he weighed 14 pounds, 8 ounces!! Hilarious. The girls weren't even close to that at this age!

He got his first round of vaccines. Max totally spit up the Rotavirus vaccine (the nurse caught it with her hand!) and then cried pretty hard with the shots. He's the first to get fussy after shots. Guess that is a boy for you:)

Probably the thing that most people comment on is Max's hair. It really looks like we buzz it! He's been a fuzz head since birth. I thought for sure it'd fall out like the girls' hair, but it's holding strong...a little thinner in front, but still there!!

The smiles are coming more and more each day. They were pretty tough to get out of him at first, but now he'll give you one without much effort. They started out a little like Elvis, a lip curl on one side. Hilarious. My mom found a trick that makes Max smile every time...clapping his hands. The girls love to do that to him...a lot.

He's pretty serious, too. This isn't surprising. It seems he has a lot of his biggest sister in him (personality included!). He enjoys looking around and taking everything in. So far the one thing he does not like is when the car stops. My dad took all three kids to Sonic while Mom and I got our nails done. He came back and said Max had earned his new nickname (Brad had just started calling him "Mad Max")!! Apparently it was quite a sight. Grandpa had to back the car up, get Max out of his carseat and try to soothe him while paying for the girls' slushies. The carhop said, "Wow, you've got your hands full!"

We were at my parents for 11 days while Brad was working out of town. I had very low expectations of a routine during this trip (i.e. not having a routine!), but Max picked up some good habits that I hoped would stick around! He started sleeping 5-6 hour stretches at night. I was only having to get up once to feed him. So far, since we've been home, it hasn't been quite as long. I'm ready for the big 12 hours, but will take the 5-6 whenever it comes for now. He's also pretty good at taking two long naps, with some catnaps thrown in between. He loves to be swaddled and gets "sleepy eyes" almost instantly!

Max is one lucky boy. He has two sisters that absolutely adore him. Morgan is hit or miss somedays. But, Mallory, oh boy! She would hold him all day long if I'd let her. She is in his face giving him kisses and hugs anytime he's awake. He gives her big smiles and "talks" to her a lot. They both ask about him as soon as they walk through the door. Mallory especially loved riding next to him in the car (she and Morgan are usually in the "back back") on the way to Ft. Worth. I loved it as well. Now that she's in a booster, she can reach over and put his paci back in:)

We love our baby Max! There isn't a day that goes by we don't thank God for three healthy kiddos! Our life is full (sometimes of chaos!) and fun.

Happy birthday to Mallory!

So, it is officially official. I am the mom of a five year old. A soon-to-be kindergartener. A girl, not a little girl, she tells me all the time. A girl that can get dressed by herself, comb her own hair, have her own opinion about what she wants to wear, buckle herself with a seatbelt, have actual conversations, add numbers, spell a handful of words and is so excited to finally be five!

It's hard to believe it was five years ago when we saw this sweet face (which looks a lot like her little brother's face):

And now, we get to see this sweet face everyday:

Her choice for her birthday dinner? Subway. Yes, Subway. Of all the restaurants she could pick from, she chose Subway. Hilarious.

After dinner, we walked over to BJ's for a birthday pazookie (which is free on your birthday, fyi):

The day of her party, decorating some princess cupcakes:

Her first time to ride in her booster with a seat belt (a big deal for her and me!):

And, on to the big party! Last year, several friends and I were talking about parties. We tossed around the idea of doing a joint party together, and then a brilliant idea came to us...rent out Lions Junction! It was hands down, the easiest party ever! Mallory had a pretty fun party last year (Oreo the horse), but this one might have taken the title (don't you agree, Karen?). There were five of us that rented it out. We barely made a dent in the amount of people you can invite. We had the entire park to ourselves, complete with lifeguards. The only prep was making cupcakes and buying drinks. It was so, so easy. If any Temple friends want to join in next year, I think we'll do it again! Probably until they don't think it's cool anymore:)

She was SO excited (and I barely saw her all night!):

The birthday kids: Joshua (6), Mallory (5), Kate (5), Bella (5) and Maddie (3)

We had one big "Happy Birthday song" and then everyone dug into the cupcakes:

We had the park until 10 pm. I didn't think we'd last that long, especially with Max. But, we ended up closing down the park! About 5 till 10 I looked over and Mallory is by herself in the kid area, sliding over and over and over...with three lifeguards watching her (and so ready to go home)! She was a prune when she got out. To say that she had a blast is an understatement! In fact...the other night we were reading the girls' devotional book. It was talking about exciting days and what your most exciting day has been. Mallory said, "Mommy, my birthday party at the water park was my most exciting day EVER!" I loved hearing that, and knowing that it was true!

So now I will try to soak in the next two months. I'm afraid I'll be a mess when August comes. It's such a weird emotion. I'm so glad she's a big kid, but so sad to lose the littleness. Sigh.