Days 167-177: A little catch up

11.2.2012 - 11.13.2012

I've been swamped lately and it just dawned on me I haven't blogged anything at all for ten days. I don't have a ton to share other than iPhone pics, but I'll throw them all here!

I've been doing a "thankful" project with others on instagram so many of these photos come from that theme.

Thankful for wet wipes.

Thankful for Skype. Many days with Grandpa and a long talk with Jordan in Okinawa!

Our sunsets have been unreal.

An outing to the pet store.

My sleepy bug.

A new-found love for the vacuum.

Max got sick in the car (and three more times after being home) so I had to strip him out of his outfit in the car. He thought he was pretty cool though.

After the bath and before three more throw up sessions.

Daddy got to come with us to Lollipop Park.

Day 166: The biggest hugs

11.02.2012

Technically Carl had the day off today, but spent the morning in a training class. We went and met him for lunch because Max took an early nap in the crib (yay!) and so we could be out around lunch time. 

Silly and adorable shot of what we call "the biggest hugs". When Carson is being grumpy you just tell him that you don't want the biggest hugs and he turns into a giggling mush ball.

And I only take this photo of Max eating because it is something new for us and a quirk I love. Carson still to this day will not dip anything in anything when eating. He JUST started letting us give him ketchup with a hot dog or corn dog. All the baby books say to give them fun things to dip food into to help them want to eat, but not our child. So I never even thought to offer anything to Max until he started wanting what I had. Now he demands it anytime we eat. I have been making him lunches around being able to give him a dip. He had already eaten at lunch today, but a chicken nugget and ranch made him as happy as ever. You know he's happy when he starts doing kissy lips and offers kisses the whole time he's eating.


Some of my precious bug during his nap today. Normally he naps in the swing or on my lap so I can't take any pics of him.

Day 165

11.01.2012

A view from my bedroom window of Carson out playing with all the kids on our street.

This is actually from Halloween, but I didn't instagram it until Thursday. Max's post-nap hair looks like this 99% of the time. He starts to sweat literally as soon as he falls asleep and then who knows what happens.

Day 164: HALLOWEEN!

10.31.0212

In general I'd say Halloween is at the bottom of my list for favorite holidays. But somehow with these kiddos around it is making my fondness a little larger. 

I knew long ago I wanted Max to be dressed as Max from Where The Wild Things Are. When we decided to name Max while I was pregnant this book became something I would read to Carson to show him what his brother's name would be. The outfit is adorable and Carson said he wanted to be a Wild Thing with him.

But then we were at Costco a few weeks ago and he spotted a SWAT costume with all sorts of police toys to go in the vest. He was instantly sold. Granted, he didn't know what SWAT was, but definitely that it was a "cool police officer". I showed him SWAT later while watching The First 48. :)  I couldn't believe how many people stopped and commented on his costume throughout the day! It seemed so basic, but I guess it was kind of unique. I was also worried that we'd have a hard time seeing him in the dark wearing all black, but that white SWAT really stood out. 

Earlier in the day we tried to go out and play, first to the library (which was closed even though their site said open....) and then went to play at the mall. We passed by this big mirror and took the opportunity for a silly action shot. Max refused to wear his costume that morning and someone asked us if he was in stripes as the prisoner. LOL  No, he wasn't. 

I was so happy when Max kept the costume on to catch the last of the day's light for a quick photo or two. I die at how cute he looked!

Not going to cooperate for Mommy though...

We could not believe how well Max was keeping up while trick or treating all by himself. He would run right along with Carson and squeal and wait for Carl to scoop him up and take him along to the door. He walked for almost an hour while carrying a semi-full bucket without a single complaint. He seriously seems to just love to be part of the action, especially if it is outside. 

And again, we tried for a quick pic of all of us and Max wanted nothing to do with it. It seems to be a Halloween tradition at this point.

Carson's insane haul for a 4-year-old.

Day 163

10.30.2012

Nada.

Day 162: Harvest fun

10.29.2012

Carson's out of preschool this week so again I'm back to finding ways to be productive while keeping them entertained. Today we headed to a kids fair thing at a local garden center. The boys had an absolute blast. Carson got to go on a train and Max spent the entire time in a "sandbox", but with dried corn kernels instead of sand. I didn't have a desire to drive all the way out to the pumpkin patch again this year so it was a good substitute. Before that I had some killer savings at Target (I love saving money!) and we got lunch and a movie. Granted now I'll be staying up tonight to work, but I would be an idiot to complain. 

AND.....today is Max's 1 1/3 birthday. Screw half-birthdays.
Max is 16 months old. :(

He kept trying to pick these up and never attempted the small ones right behind him. Got to give him credit for ambition!



And I must say I was a tad shocked when I came across this photo. In intense light like this I love shooting with it spilling into the frame. The boys usually don't cooperate though. I die over how big and handsome Carson looks here. He is turning into such a smart and lovable little man.

Day 161

10.28.2012

I don't have any photos for yesterday. It was a good day though! My mom "forced" me to go get a massage since I haven't for over 2 years. It was really nice to get out. I even got to go grocery shopping alone afterward! haha  Then we did some cleaning and watched football with the fam. But alas, no photos.

Day 160

10.27.2012

Friday was a rough night again so we were way sleepy on Saturday. Carl had to work again and we went out for a little shopping with Grandma. While I got ready Max didn't have the energy to do anything but this. He really was tired.

Day 159: Cleaning house

10.26.2012

Well, Friday I spent the day cleaning out our bedroom and bathroom. This was the only photo from the day. Must have been an interesting one!

Max found a binky somewhere while I was cleaning stuff out and ran around like this for a while. I have to admit it was adorable! It made him look like a baby again. I can appreciate it since he didn't really take binkies to begin with.

Day 158: Book Worm

10.25.2012

Max has opened his eyes to the world of books.....and you'd better watch out. Whether you like it or not, you'll be reading and pointing out everything for as long as you can stand while he squeals, "whaaaaadat?"  Carson had a big board book of 100 first words at this same age and wore. it. out. Like, pages were all torn to shreds and we eventually had to throw it away. We couldn't remember what it was called and I randomly stumbled on it in the back of a stack at the store a few weeks ago. Sure enough, it is a huge hit for Max too. He opens the first page and immediately points to the picture of a motorcycle and says, "Ba!" for bike. He does the same thing every time we walk in the garage and he sees the motorcycle.

Thursday was a big snow day. Blah. I am not a fan.

Dropping the monster off and waiting for the doors to open.

When we get home Max gets some quiet time to play by himself. 

He loves to put on the fireman hat and cape and run. We have to yell "Super Max!" when he does it. :)

And of course, the remotes are always being hunted.

And then a snuggly nap.


On the way home from picking Carson up we had to stop for literally at least 50+ deer to cross a main road. It was fascinating to watch them all panic and follow each other right out across a big bend. Luckily everyone saw them and stopped on our side and no one came around the blind bend going the other way. Carson thought it was awesome to see a handful of them that morning, but this took the cake.

Day 157: Grateful

10.24.2012

Grateful. Not.
Well, at least one of them is.

Day 154, 155, 156

10.21,10.22, 10.23.2012

Our weekend flew by and now we are just going with life. I have been struggling to work in between entertaining Max and remember this being a really challenging time with Carson too. Taking him to and from preschool has really screwed up Max's naps, which isn't helping anything, and I'm lucky to get one work break during the day while he sleeps at home. Granted all my work can be done at any time of the day, but it is sooooooo hard to stay up and work at night. Right now that seems like the best option since that's when it is quiet and I can focus.

I'm trying to stay positive, especially on an extreme lack of sleep. Max wasn't sleeping at all for the entire last week so hopefully we're on the up swing. But who are we kidding? I haven't slept a full night in WELL over a year. 

Sunrise from my window.

Day 153: Our turn

10.20.2012

Saturday was time for our family photos. I thought (way too optimistically) that the boys would be cooperative. Max is easy going and Carson understands he needs to behave to get the things he wants. Well, Max went nuts out in a new place and Carson was off in his own world. They both wanted nothing to do with it, but we managed. Everyone thinks it's just their kids at sessions when I'm shooting, but it is EVERY kid, I swear.

Day 152

10.19.2012

STILL a sick little baby. This has been 5 straight days with no relief. :(

Today was parent's day at preschool. I had a split second to take a couple quick pics and didn't even look where I was shooting. We had to make these neighborhoods and had paint EVERYWHERE. I brought my real camera, but didn't dare touch anything because it was such a mess!! That's our house in the middle and his buddies on the sides. We even had to draw the Jeep in the driveway.

Day 151

10.18.2012

Max was still sick. We still didn't sleep. The end.