Bedtime

Lets just say it was a good thing we exercised tonight because I was much more relaxed and could handle tonight's bedtime.

We had been outside and we came in and it was already 7:20.  Bedtime is 7:30.  So I get Max his bottle and while he is sucking that down Mally and I are going to pick up toys.  Toys are finally picked up.  I usher kids towards their bedroom while dropping Mally off at the bathroom to go potty and brush her teeth. 

While I am getting Max in his jammies we take a moment to blow on his belly and send him into fits of giggles.  He giggles so easy and so hard – I love it.  Finally get him dressed and put him on the floor.

Meanwhile I think… wow it is taking Jesse a long time to put the outside toys away.  Wonder what he got distracted by.

Mally is still in the bathroom and has moved onto brushing her teeth.  She also decided that she needed to clean the toothpaste so she was filling up my toothpaste with water and cleaning out the cap.  Oh so helpful. 

I grab the humidifier to fill it up – both kids have had head colds that have been lingering on and on and on and on.  I’m filling up the humidifier and I hear Max crawling down the hallway and don’t think anything of it.  All of sudden Mally yells “HE IS PLAYING IN THE WATER!!”  I drop my humidifier and run for the bathroom!  Sure enough.  He is bent over the toilet just a splashing away with a huge smile on his face and when he sees me and knows I am going to stop his little fun he lets out a squeal.  Oh and to really gross you out… Mally didn’t flush!!!

We then wash him up and get him all clean and put him in his crib!  Decide to call Jesse and see what is taking so long… the downfall of having your own business in your back yard is it constantly hangs over your head and he was out there working trying to finish up on a few things.  I fill him in on all the chaos he is missing and we laugh.

Brush Mally’s teeth, get her jammies on, put Max in his lazy boy recliner (he has been sleeping in the bouncy seat to keep him elevated during his head cold), read Mally’s bible story (she requested Jonah and the big fish), prayers and good night!!

Na-night babies!  Momma loves you!!  : )

Maxwell– 12 Months

One year ago today I was cleaning my carpets trying to work little Max out… and it worked!  And he was a good boy and waited until all my carpets were fresh and clean before he was ready.

He was such a little peanut when he was born!  To think that I had to take him back after his first week appointment because he wasn’t gaining what his doctor wanted him too.  Now he is a big growing boy!  : ) 

I had to take him off whole milk.  He got a massive diaper rash to the point where he was bleeding.  He was having about 7+ dirty diapers a day.  I never called my doctor – I just took him off whole milk and put him on lactose free milk and the bleeding stopped and the diaper rash cleared up.  I don’t know if this means he will always be lactose intolerant or not.  He still eats cheese and doesn’t seem to have a problem with that.

I have been trying to teach him to say some new words… milk – he has been working hard on that one and just about has it.  More – he just continues to point and grunt.  Thank you – he just grabs whatever I am giving him and “Mmms” or he chomps on his cracker like he hasn’t ate in days.  Mally – he says “Maa-Eee” in the sweetest little sing-song voice. 

He is crawling everywhere.  He stands up next to anything and walks along furniture.  I’ve been trying to get him to push things and he doesn’t seem to have much interest in it.  Except for Mally’s doll stroller which tips over and then I get him something more sturdy to push and he gets angry and then won’t push anything.

He is a little lover.  He will be playing so good, but he will have to take a pit stop to come climb on me and bury his head into my shoulder and then crawl away.  He still lays his head on my shoulder when I am holding him.

He hasn’t been sleeping very well.  He is waking up a lot for his nuk.  The trouble is he is lazy and won’t look for it – and cries until we come in there and find them for him.  He use to not care about them during the night, but all of sudden he needs them.  Makes me wonder if we have some teeth issues still going on.  He also is liking to wake up before 6am!  And if you try to make him go back to bed he screams and cries…and then I have to ask myself (since Mally and Max share a room) do I want two kids awake before 6am?  And I usually answer no, and get him up.  Mally doesn’t hear him cry [and he cries loud] but she can hear the train that is about 2 miles away!  Makes no sense to me!  : ) 

He has a hot little temper too.  If something frustrates him he gets angry and won’t have anything to do with that toy/item that is making him mad.  He waves both arms around and hunches down and cries.

Then he has complete opposite moments and he will giggle and giggle and giggle until he can’t giggle anymore.  And he will be so chatty and happy and you just want to eat him up.

Loves to sneak in the bathroom and play.  I swear he has a little radar that tells him when one of us forgot to shut the door.  Saturday night we gave them both baths downstairs and we bring them upstairs and Max had made a beeline for the bathroom and before I got to him, he had stuck his fresh clean hands into the toilet!! 

We are getting him to pick up toys at night before bed. We can hand him a toy and tell him to go put it in the toy box and he will crawl it over and throw it in… literally throw it too.

He has a few split seconds were he will stand on his own.  We caught it on film! 

He points at everything!  He is really getting good at letting me know what he wants.  The other night he followed me into the kitchen and sat on the floor and pointed to the cupboard where his cups are kept and attempted saying “milk”. 

He still eats like he may never get another meal.  He by far eats more then Mallory!  He is one hungry little man!

He has gravitated to the cars.  We have a few cars around here and he will take them into the kitchen and “mmmm” them around on the hard floor.

I can’t believe a year has gone by, but then again I can’t really remember life without him.

Isn’t it amazing how much they grow and change in one year?!

Mallory at 12 months.

A Sunday at Home

 

It is not very often that we are home on a Sunday.  We travel back to our hometown for church and then since we are “home” we stop by to see our families before we head back.  Usually not getting us back to our house until sometimes well after supper.

We decided to just stay home today.  Max is working on more teeth and I didn’t get him to sleep until after 10 the night before.  (Bedtime is 7:30)  Mally was also up late… which means Jesse and I were up later.  : ) 

My parents came to visit us on our lazy/relaxing day at home.  Usually when we have these rare Sundays we take full advantage.  We stay in jammies until late.  Showers are rare.  Naps are often.  Thank goodness they texted us a warning.  : )

It was really windy, but warm out so I suggested that Mally try to fly her kite again.  She was all for it and started hopping around with great excitement. 

We have flown our kites a couple times now, but it is way too hard to take pictures, fly a kite, and keep Max entertained… all why trying to capture it on film.  Since we had an extra set of hands today – we got some pictures.

Jesse gets Mally’s kite up really high so she can hold it.  She is running to get into position. 

Jesse has to stand guard with her.

Because sometimes my kite likes to come visit her kite.  We both tend to get distracted while flying kites.  Girls.

Max sits in the middle of the field and watches…

points, and yells.

Mally got tired of standing so she had to sit on Jesse’s knee.

Max gets a turn.

I love that you can see Jesse and Mally in the background flying their kite.

Jesse keeps telling me that Max needs a haircut… I think he is right.  He is getting a bit shaggy.  I’m going to have to make him an appointment this week.

Mally Rae!

It was a good, windy warm day for kite flying.

Jesse’s parents missed us today too – so they called to check in on us and the kids.  Mally is becoming a phone talker and she talked their ears off!  It is so funny to listen to her on our side.  I’m not sure if they are able to understand her.  But at one point she is playing peek-a-boo with Max and Maggie while she is talking to them. 

It was a good lazy day and now we are ready to get back to business tomorrow. 

Doctor Frey

Doctor Mallory Frey that is!  This girl is all about playing doctor.  Sometimes I have to be her patient.  Sometimes I have to be her nurse.  Sometimes I have to be the doctor.  Sometimes I just don’t want to play doctor, but I do.

Today was a very huge special day.  Katherine brought her doctor bag for Mallory!!  When Mally spotted it, she came running and yelling “MOM LOOK!”  Katherine has brought the doctor bag before, but this time she said Mallory could have it.  She doesn’t play with it anymore.  So special of Miss Katherine!

Before the doctor bag we pretended a lot.  For awhile we were using one of those mini-hand held fans (that was broken) as the stethoscope. 

Oh and we always had to use a pretend cell phone as our phone to call our patients (Daisy, Minney, Mickey & Goofey) to make sure they were coming to their appointment.  Then we had to type on the pretend computer. 

We had balloons floating around here for awhile [until Jesse wanted to teach Mally what happens with balloons when you let them go outside… well she was all for it and real excited… they went outside… Jesse let his go and then Mally let hers go and they watched them float higher and higher… well she was not impressed when they were not coming back.] and if our patients were good they would get a balloon tied to their wrist to take with them.

(She is fresh from the tub – that is why she has wet hair.)

Here is a video of Doctor Mally in action.

Warning though – don’t let her take your temperature.  She was attempting to take the dogs temperature tonight!

Easter

Mally and I colored eggs on Friday while Max was taking his morning nap.  It brought thoughts back of last Easter when Mally and I did this and I was pregnant with Max not knowing that he was going to be born the day before Easter and having Easter in the hospital.  (The hospital served an Easter meal for all of us.)

She liked dropping them in and then checking on them to see how they were doing.

When I went to assist her in getting an egg out I noticed something floating in one of our cups…

Her bandage!!  I didn’t realize what was going to happen next when I giggled and pointed…

She does not like bumps and scrapes.  She scraped up her finger this week on a bike and constantly needs a bandage on it.

“Hold me.”

The face she makes when she is dropping the eggs into the water – funny!

She did this every time.  Waiting for a big splash.

We were all dressed up and looking so nice this morning that we stopped quick and took two pictures.

Happy Easter!