Rub-a-dub dub, Max in the tub

Max is obsessed with standing up - he does it almost 100% of the time he's awake. This becomes a little frustrating when he's in the tub! But I try to laugh it off. He seems weirdly strong for a baby (or maybe this is just a difference between boys and girls?), and I have to use a lot of strength to get him to sit down or cooperate for diaper/clothing changes! Either way, he sure is cute.

General Conference weekend, Oct. 2014 edition

We spent both General Conference days at Monka and Ampa's house. Millie loved the sighting of Elsa and Anna on Saturday (Sarah had to work a birthday party), the constant stream of treats, and Monka's awesome craft supply. Max loved playing with the cord on Ampa's computer and having more legs to grab onto to stand up. We took a walk on Sunday between sessions and ended up at the park near their apartment. It was funny to remember being together last year for Conference in October! What a difference a year makes.

This picture especially made me remember last year. There's an almost identical picture of Millie and Ampa! 

Conference weekends are the best. I love the traditions, family time, and especially taking time out of normal life to hear the words of the Lord's servants.

10 on 10: October 2014

1. A little morning makeup (notice the blue eyeshadow on her forehead). Also, what on earth is that face??

2. The ottoman is coming along! The issue of only working on it during naps is that it takes a long time to see any progress. Someday I'll finish it.

3. Cutting foam for the side of the ottoman - this felt very violent for some reason!

4. Post-nap snuggles

5. Max pulled this mirror over himself and it cracked! It scared him but luckily no pieces came out.

6. That little pink stick caused a lot of tears and 2 timeouts in 1 day.

7. Making sure everyone was all set for family pictures the next day!

8. Max has become more of a thumb-sucker lately when his binky isn't around. He's sucking off any extra food, I guess!

9. Millie walked into the bathroom to find Max standing up in the tub and she was laughing so hard about it, which Max loved.

10. Pocket loot from a day of Mom-ing: one earring, a piece of gum, a popped balloon, a screwdriver bit, and part of a fruit snack wrapper. Not a bad representation of the day!

Tyler's trip to Utah

Tyler got to attend Brady's wedding in Utah! It was a quick trip (he left on Thursday and returned Saturday) but he had a great time. He got to see lots of family, eat at a few of the places we miss having nearby, and of course celebrate Brady and Courtney!

Saying hi to Mitchell after football practice.

Brady and Courtney, about as newly-wedded as two people can be!

Cafe Rio, of course.

Magleby's Fresh.

Tyler got to stop by our first apartment! The little basement of this house holds a lot of great memories for us.

"But what do you DO all day?"

Sometimes I feel like I have to defend myself for being a stay-at-home-mom. I'm one whose self-esteem is at least partially tied to how much I can get done in a given day, and there are 2 small people who determine exactly that. Some days when asked "what did y'all do today?" I have a hard time answering. Not because we don't do anything, but because what I do doesn't really seem significant sometimes. "Well, I fed and clothed everyone constantly and kept our house from drowning in diapers." You know what I mean? I know that there's deeper meaning and importance behind it than that, but I'm not always confident enough to say it like it is and not be afraid of judgment from others.

A few weekends ago I was at a baby shower and someone (who is not a mother yet but plans to be a SAHM too) asked me what I do all day. But it came out like this: "So, I know you take care of your kids and stuff, but... like, what do you DO all day?" I don't even remember what I said. I tried not to get defensive. But it got me thinking... what DO I actually do? So I wrote it all down one day, almost down to the minute. It was a fun exercise! Nice to see where the minutes actually go. The day turned out to be really really busy, but really good too.

Tuesday, September 23, 2014

5:47 - wake up to my alarm and get ready for my run

6:00 - meet Sharon outside and run!

6:40 - arrive home. This was a little earlier than usual, so I got to stretch and read my scriptures before the kids woke up

6:55 - Max wakes up and I nurse him and e-mail some pictures from Tyler's phone to myself

7:00 - Tyler leaves for work. I finish nursing Max and play with Max on the floor

7:15 - I jump in the shower and get ready for the day while Max plays in his bouncer seat

7:45 - I get Millie from her room (not sure why she slept in so long!), change Max's diaper, and get Millie breakfast

8:00 - I put Max down for a nap, eat breakfast

8:20 - Tyler calls and I make the bed and tidy our room while talking to him

8:35 - Max wakes up, I get Millie and Max dressed and do Millie's hair

8:50 - I feed Max and load both kids in the car

9:10 - We leave the house, I call Mom while we drive

9:25 - We arrive at the library, go to story time, return our books, and get new ones

10:18 - We leave the library and head home

10:30 - Get home and realize that Max has fallen asleep in the car. Instead of getting both kids out of the car, I just leave it running and grab my grocery list and a snack for Millie from inside. We head to the grocery store
10:55 - finally arrive at the store. We were stuck waiting for a train. It was actually nice because I wanted Max to sleep!
11:35 - drive home, unload and put away groceries, feed Max
12:00 - Get Millie lunch, make and print an agenda for my (last, sadly) YW Presidency meeting, and frantically clean the house
1:00 - put Millie down for a nap (2 books, 2 songs)
1:15 - put Max down for a nap
1:30 - a delivery man rings the doorbell and I silently pray that Max won't wake up. My ottoman foam came! Happiness
1:35 - Everyone comes over for our meeting. Max wakes up during it and Millie is singing in her room the whole time
3:00 - Meeting ends. I get Millie from her room, change Max's diaper and feed him, get Millie a snack
3:20 - I call Nana about some forms I had received in the mail that she apparently knew about, then ended up doing some research and calling the Harris County Appraisal District about a homestead exemption, then e-mailed my pumpkin chocolate chip cookie recipe to a friend
4:00 - We went to Sharon's and the kids bounced on the trampoline for a bit
5:00 - Grabbed the mail and went home, the Schiller kids came over to play for a little while
5:25 - Made dinner for and fed 5 hungry kiddos
6:20 - The Schillers left and I fed Max
6:40 - I ate dinner myself and cleaned the kitchen a little bit while waiting for Tyler to come home
7:05 - Left for a YW activity. Better late than never
8:20 - I arrive home and we have scriptures, I feed Max, sing to Millie, and put Max to bed
9:15 - I fill out a few tax forms while watching "Guess Who" with Tyler and fall asleep towards the end of the movie.

It would be interesting to do this on a less busy day to see what I fill my time with when it's not dictated for me, but I was happy to see that my day wasn't a waste! I feel so blessed to be able to stay at home with our kids and do, well, whatever it is that I do.

Little things

Aunt Sheila sent some shoes home with Tyler, and Millie is obsessed. "Mom, they're FANCY shoes!!"

We were at Target and Max fell asleep in the stroller, so suddenly I wasn't in such a rush to leave. We wandered the isles and Millie was so excited about everything we saw, especially things with princesses. It was a fun, semi-one-on-one time with my Millie.

We're still working on sharing. Sometimes I find little surprises like this when Millie has friends over and there's something she wants to hide!

We met Charlee, Maggie, and Delilah at the park on Friday. We got to feed the ducks while we were waiting for them and they made Millie very nervous!

Daddy came home from work early and we didn't mind one bit!!

Weekend at Monka's

Tyler went to Utah for cousin Brady's wedding. Since he was gone for a few days and Sarah was performing, we decided to spend the time with  my family and watch Sarah too! It was just a ward talent show, but it was fun to be there. I even saw someone I knew from high school who now lives in my parent's ward. Small world.

The kids were so good at the talent show. Sarah was the last act and the show was looong. They were troopers.

She sang "You Never Remind Me" by Linda Eder. Sarah was awesome, as always.

Too excited to be wearing her Frozen jammies for the first time to hold still!

Millie learned to use scissors and glue, and she's obsessed. I love all the messes she makes.

We went through all the American Girl/Bitty Baby stuff and separated each person's doll and the clothes that go with her. It was a long morning of texting pictures to each sister, making sure everything was going where it was supposed to go! 

Max helped Umpa build some IKEA shelves. Or at least kept him company.

Max || 6 months

Max is just blowing our minds lately. He seems to have suddenly grown up. We can't believe he's already 6 months old!

His first swing at the park. He was padded by blankets on both sides but didn't love the experience!

Kind of caught a smile.

Sometimes it's still crazy to me that we have 2 kids!

He had his first solids about a week before his 6-month mark. Max has 4 teeth now and is quite the biter unless I feed him in the dark and total quiet, so let the weaning begin!

He has taken to it pretty well so far. Now if I can just get him to drink formula we'll really be in business.

 Max is getting to be really fast, and he follows me all around the house. And sometimes pulls on my pants.

Teething is rough. He has the two bottom centers and two on the top, the ones just outside the centers. Very weird.

A thrilling game of "Follow the Broom." 

Other things about Max:

-He is still very much a Mama's boy, and still very much a snuggler. I love it!

-I used to just rock or walk around with him in my arms until he was pretty much asleep and then lay him down, but he always fought sleep and it took a long time. One day I rocked him and sang a song to him, then lay him in his crib and left, and he went to sleep totally by himself! Some days are better than others, but we haven't had to "sleep train" at all like we did with Millie. It's so great.

-Max wakes up once in the night to eat, somewhere between 4:30 and 5:30 usually. The earlier I put him to bed, the later he sleeps in. His daytime schedule is always changing thanks to teething, but we try to get at least one long nap in per day.

-He is quickly getting a competitive side - it's so funny to watch. Millie is still getting used to him being mobile and is always moving things away from him so he can't get to them. If there's something Max wants and he knows she's going to move it, he crawls so fast to beat her there. He's going to give Millie a run for her money!

-Max's 6 month stats: 

Weight: 19 lb 12 oz (85%)

Height: 28.5" (98%)

Head circumference: 17.95" (96%)

 We love our sweet Max!