Wednesday, January 27, 2010

So yes, they really ARE crazy....

Last night on the phone, my dad tells me he's going to send me some "interesting pictures" and he couldn't wait to hear my reaction to them.

Now, those of you that KNOW my parents, know that "interesting" could mean a variety of things...never say never.

So, I innocently informed my father that our internet service at home had been acting shady, and that I likely wouldn't be able to access the pictures until I was at work the next day.  I pointedly asked if that would be a problem (hey...I don't want to get FIRED!).  He assured me that it wouldn't be a problem.

When I saw that the email subject was "Crazy Us" my mind jumped to all the possibilities...did they go sky diving, bungee jumping, or any other "crazy" thing I could think of.  They've already been shark diving, so I was pretty sure that wasn't going to be it this time...

I know you are all dying of curiousity now....so, this is what the pictures were of:









Apparently, they came across this 'little guy' on one of their bike rides.  Not an uncommon sight in Florida.  But who in their right mind gets that close to a gator?  The answer...my parents.

I told my dad that yes, they were in fact, CRAZY.  I also informed him that if my son was ever allowed that close to a LIVE alligator that I would be revoking their duties as grandparents... :)

Monday, January 18, 2010

Video Updates

Here are some fun video updates of life with lil Max.  He is such a character -- so full of energy, new words, excitement and silliness.  Enjoy!






Tuesday, January 12, 2010

Randoms

I haven't done a real 'update' type of post for awhile, so here are a few randoms of McLife...in words AND in pictures (ones I found that somehow never made it on here...)

Trainfest -- back in November. Max had such a fun time watching the trains and trying to figure them out...

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As you can see, he thought that there had to be something UNDER the table making them work...

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We discovered that big Max can work with wood...we salvaged this table top from an old coffee table and Max made and stained the base to match:

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Max and his buddy and our neighbor, Owen, watching Wall-E in that creative way that only boys could come up with...

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Max giving a cheesy and cookie-filled grin after eating one of Granna's infamous Turkey cookies:

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Max made out pretty well from Santa this year. The jury is still out for whether or not he was really that 'nice' and NOT so 'naughty'...

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My xmax crafty for the year. I found the tutorial HERE, after a friend tried it out first with AWESOME results:

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My very first completely homemade POT PIE. I used the recipe for PW's new cookbook, and it was really REALLY delicious!!!

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And finally, here's a belly shot at 25.5 weeks (since some of you have asked). McDuex is moving around like crazy, my belly has finally 'popped' more, and the Braxton Hicks contractions have started. My OB says everything looks great, and we are doing well. He also said that if he had to predict a longer vs shorter labor, we are likely in for a short labor (is that even possible??), so I guess we'd better pack a birthing kit in the car -- just in case! :) (If you don't know lil Max's birth story, check it out HERE or HERE.

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(excuse my tired look, we took this picture before coffee this morning...hot off the presses!)

Monday, January 11, 2010

Resolutions

This year, I decided to go resolution free.  That's not to say that I don't have things I want to improve in my life, or things that I'd like to change....

But, making a resolution just seems so NEGATIVE to me.  You spend all this energy finding something WRONG with yourself, and then you try to find a way to fix it. 

And every year, so many resolutions focus on weight loss, or exercise or something similar.  I can't really commit to a weight loss program until May (although I'll be blessed with SOME weight loss at the end of April... ), so I had to rethink the whole resolution thing this year.

Some of my other girlfriends from the internet realm decided to do the "One Word" tradition this year. I first heard of while reading Ali Edward's blog. Essentially you choose one word that you want to focus your attention on, or that symbolizes your goals/hopes for the year.

This year, my word is
APPRECIATE:
ap⋅pre⋅ci⋅ate  

-- verb, -at⋅ed, -at⋅ing.  1. to be grateful or thankful for: They appreciated his thoughtfulness.
– verb (used with object) 2. to value or regard highly; place a high estimate on: to appreciate good wine.
3. to be fully conscious of; be aware of; detect: to appreciate the dangers of a situation.
4. to raise in value.

I have so much in my life to be grateful and thankful for.  I want to spend less time wanting, needing, wishing, or thinking that I need to have something I don't have already.  I am blessed to have so MUCH in my life:

1.  A loving, caring and nurturing husband (who does dishes and vacuums, is a GREAT daddy, loves me and isn't afraid to tell or show me on a daily basis, and who works hard to support his family *usually* without complaint).
2.  A smart, wonderful, curious and beautiful child -- who never ceases to amaze me with something new he has learned, or how much love he has in his heart.
3.  The blessing of another child in our family -- I can't wait to meet this lil boy and for him and Max to become best buds (fingers crossed).
4.  Wonderful and supportive parents who I can go to for ANYTHING, who love my husband like he is their own son, and who are wonderful grandparents.
5.  Loving and awesome in-laws -- we wish there wasn't the physical distance between us, so that we could spend more time with them.  Lil Max ALWAYS enjoys spending time with them.
6.  A comfortable and spacious house with a mixture of old and new.  We've built so many wonderful memories and had so many 'firsts' here, it will be sad to leave this house (and that time will eventually come).
7.  A challenging and rewarding career and job.  (Sometimes too challenging...).  I love the feeling that the work that I do during the day teaches my child about being responsible on so many different levels -- and I especially love the feeling that I make a real difference in the world by doing what I am doing.
8.  A healthy (mostly) family and, so far, two non-eventful and easy going pregnancies.  If the worst I can complain about is someone tap-dancing on my bladder, I've got it pretty darn good!!
9.  A strong and reliable support system of wonderful women who I am blessed to call my friends.  Grade school, high school, college and beyond.  I love these ladies, and they have never let me down.

My goal for the rest of the year is to find the 'silver lining' -- to try to not complain so much or to focus on the negative -- but instead, to find the aspect of the situation that I can APPRECIATE.  And, every night ( or at least a couple of times a week...let's not set ourselves up for failure here...) I'd like to journal what I am most appreciative of.

Maybe I can even get big Max to pick his 'One Word' this year....if he does, maybe I'll even let HIM blog about it!  ***GASP***

Sunday, January 3, 2010

ABCs

Lil Max has always enjoyed singing, but usually he likes to sing along and won't sing on his own. Today, when we were out to lunch with some friends, he wowed big Max and I by giving the entire table a rendition of his ABCs and Twinkle Twinkle Little Star -- who knew he could do the whole song ALL BY HIMSELF? We sure didn't!!

So later tonight when we were home, we tried to get him to do it again for the camera. Thankfully, he complied! You also get to hear a little bit of his bossiness right in the beginning when he tells us "No singing!". :)

You can also see a bit of my belly in this clip -- McDuex seems to have popped more this week!!

This child seriously amazes me. I love him so much! But, watch for yourself!? Isn't he just adorable! (No bias... of course....)