A year ago today...

We were awaiting Max's arrival, impatiently. I was due the 23rd and went on time with Fox, so I figured I'd do the same :) or was just hoping! We had our favorite Cedar Rapids pizza Tomaso's with the Rabes on Friday night. Sat came and seemed like he was going to come, so we went back to their house to take Fox in case we ended up at the hospital...but ended up doing a lot of walking with lots of contracting..but no Max. Went home that evening, had my mom come down and then starting regular contractions about 4:30am. Called L&D and drove to Iowa City, to the U of I Hospital. Was checked and said 5-6cm. We started walking and walked for a long time! Got in the tub for a while, then on the birthing ball. Finally he was ready and I had two long pushes and he was out in less than two min. I was able to help pull him out and up onto my chest myself..was a really special experience! My sweet Max was here and safe and healthy, 7lbs 15oz. We had a great experience at the hospital and were blessed to have my mom come and stay with us and keep Fox. It was special to have time with just Max. Also to have the Rabes visit us and kindly bring us Chipotle :) Great friends!

Tonight we celebrated Max and his first year of life! Mom is here visiting and the Johnson's came over as well. We couldn't have a party for Max without his fan club (Caleb and Cooper). Grilled, homemade strawberry cupcakes, big boys playing in the little pool and enjoying the beautiful weather in the backyard. Loved seeing Max so happy sitting with Daddy, Grammie and Emy! What a blessing he is to us. Can't believe he's a year old already. Thank you Lord for this precious gift! We give him back to you and pray he would know you and follow after you! I love you Maxy...my sweet Max Millard!

Max is 8 months old...how did that happen?

Wow, my little baby Max is already 8mos old! Time has flown by with him, like many probably experience with their second child. He's a really sweet boy. I was just looking at him today as I was feeding him some sweet potatoes and thinking of what kind of person he's going to be. He seems like he'll be a funny guy...and a snuggly one! I think it's a product of number two...I snuggled and held him more than I did with Fox, seems like with Max it was more laid back. With Fox I think I was just trying to keep him alive! ha

Max and Fox both got whatever respiratory bug that was floating around here about a wk after we got here and since then he's been pretty whiny. He has his two front bottom teeth and seems like he's getting a few more...hopefully why he's so cranky! Instead of a cry when he is fussy he kind of growls... :) sounds funny, but that's the best description I can think of! I'll have to get a video of it.

Max is pretty trim compared to Fox...the brut! He nurses four times a day and just started liking solid foods and has a jar at lunch time and dinner time. He takes two naps and sleeps wonderfully at night! He sits up great and rolls around but isn't crawling or moving much more than that. He really likes his brothers toys and things that aren't really toys at all!

My parents (Grammy and Farmer Papa) came to see us during their vacation, which happened to be the second wk we were here. Fox was super excited to spend time with them and have them stay at his "Texas house." It was great to have them come down! The weather was really nice and they drove down to Galveston for a few days. Think they enjoyed their time..and especially getting to see the boys!

Excuses...but no real good ones!

So I haven't updated the blog in...forever! Since October it's been a bit busy. Between learning how to do life with two boys, one of them being in the Very curious, implusive 2 1/2 yr old mode and Mike being very busy at work I didn't have much extra time to sit and think of something to write. Hopefully now after we've moved...yes we moved since my last post, I'll start blogging again! Stay tuned!

We're havin' a party!

So...since we went to Texas in August, Fox has been pretty interested in trying to go poo poo on the potty. We stayed at our friends house while we were there and their 3 1/2 yr old Caleb uses the potty...so Fox got in on the excitement and was pretty interested in doing the same when we got home. We've been asking him if he wants to sit on the potty and he does, and tries to go but had yet to accomplish anything...until tonight! Just before bed he kept telling Mike "I go poo poo on the potty" so he took him over and tried to go, then got off and repeated the process. Third times a charm cuz then I hear (while I'm sitting and feeding Max) "mommy..." which I replied "he did not!". Sure enough he went! Boy did he try too :) He was very excited. Ever since he started to try we've told him we'd have a party when he went on the potty.
Many times during the week he'll randomly say "I go sit on potty, go poo poo and have a party!". Heard through Dr. Phil's method of potty training to have them get a phone call from or call their favorite character/hero when they go...well since we were at the Johnson's, Fox has been a big fan of Mickey Mouse (Mickey Mouse Clubhouse to be exact). So Mike told him that he could call Mickey when he went on the potty. It was so funny...he was so excited! So Mike did what any great dad would do...did his best Mickey impersonation and called my phone to talk to Fox. We changed the ringer since Fox knows the ring when "daddy" calls, also Mike was in the basement so Fox would be ruined for life :) Fox was so happy and loved getting a phone call from Mickey! Someday he'll be crushed to find out his own dad called instead of Mickey. It was so sweet, he also got a special treat since we wouldn't be having a party at bedtime. Mike got him a little bowl of ice cream with sprinkles on it! As a side note...I read that if you put cinnamon on your child's ice cream that it helps suppress the blood-sugar spike they get after a sweet dessert!
So I guess we'll be having a little party tomorrow...which to Fox just means singing and a cake :) My little guy is turning into such a big boy! He's so sweet and helpful but has way too many of my sayings right now :) I mean really...what 2yr old says "no, no, not today" and he's started calling us mom and dad a lot instead of mommy and daddy, Mike doesn't like it too much :)

Putting on the down comforter

So, for us you know it's cold when the down comforter comes out! I would probably sleep with it all year, but Mike gets too hot with it on, so I wait as long as possible to bring it out! It's only October 7th but it is officially cold here because we got the down out last night! Brrrrrrrr! It'll probably be out for quite a while too. I don't think Mike let me put it on until January when we were in TX :) Highs in the mid 50's and lows in the 30's, it's a little below avg for October.

I'm going to play catch up with the blog...so keep looking and going down on the page. I have 5months worth of info and stories to share about!

Last wk both boys got sick. Max first, we went to the doctor for his 4mo checkup (weighing in at 16#3oz btw) and he was congested and drooling a lot, he checked out ok but by that afternoon he started with a cough only when he cried so I gave it some time. We went back into the doctor Thursday and he had croup and an ear infection on top of that. Poor little buddy. He was still pretty happy and sleeping at night. He recovered well and seems to be back to himself!
On Friday we went to Minneapolis to meet my parents for the wknd and go the the Twins vs. Royals game..the last series in the Metrodome. My brother Arik and his oldest son Oliver came up to join us, we had a great time at the game! Friday night however Fox started up with the terrible sounding cough that Max had a few days before. Plus he had a fever. It was a very long night...up pretty much every hr with Fox and all in the same hotel room(mom,dad and the four of us!) not sure if anyone got much sleep! By 3am I took Fox into the bathroom to read books and have the steamy shower on to help his cough. I was pretty sleepy at the game that afternoon! Saturday night we had separate rooms...good thing for mom and dad! It was pretty much a repeat of Friday night, except Maxy slept all night! Which was pretty amazing considering Fox was crying so much. We drove home on Sunday after lunch and Fox was still pretty sick so I took him to the doctor on Monday and he had the same thing as Max...croup and an ear infection...same ear even! So with antibiotics in both little guys we are on our way to better health...for now :) Fox is still coughing runny nose so that limits doing much at church which is pretty much our outlet of socialization these days! But it is fall and cold/flu season around here so I think many people are the same. I think God was just wanting me to work on my patience and compassion this wk :) I'm wondering what he has in store next wk?!?

Love my little family

Just putting up a note of how grateful and blessed I am with my sweet boys and selfless husband! I am amazed at the blessings God has given me and the grace that he extends everyday..so undeserved. Max is just a happy little guy with the brightest smile it often brings tears to my eyes just seeing him smile and happy! Foxy is a ball of energy :) he is definitely 2! He's generally a happy guy himself...loves to help, sing and play with trucks and trains. Mike...well, he's great and doesn't get as much attention as he should around here :) He's my best friend and often under appreciated and probably taken advantage of by work and me. I just wanted to take the opportunity to write how much I love him and how much I appreciate and recognize all that he does for me and how much he helps and loves me and the boys! Thank you so much for striving to be better, you inspire me to do the same. We had a missionary speak in church today and he really helped remind us what it's all about...(paraphrasing)

1)First priority in life...to know Jesus(not just about him). Without the person(of Christ) behind the doctrine it becomes lifeless. Not to have a commitment to a set of unshakable truths(which are important) but to the person of Christ. He also challenged us to be mentored by Jesus. I never really thought about that, but that's what we should be doing when we read the word. Getting so close to Christ that we know him and can think of his words and thoughts to help us get through things and make choices. It was encouraging and exciting to think of it that way and helpful.
2)Sent into the world as his representatives...how well are we going to do that if we don't know him? The "world" is out our "world", our life...neighbors/kids/co-workers. Anyone God has placed you around.

Just some things to ask yourself...Do you know him, or even want to know him? or do you just know about him? I want to know him and have him transform my life. Only there can I experience true joy and peace and in turn have those things transform my family! Exciting stuff :)

How could he be 4 months old already?!

Max is 4months old now...time definitely goes faster the more children you have! My sweet little boy is certainly getting bigger. He rolled over for the first time yesterday too, but have to say it probably helped that he was on the soft mattress of our bed. He is a very sweet and happy little guy! Smiles and laughs all the time and doesn't get bothered by too much. He likes to have people around and facing out so he can see what's happening! I think he's starting to teeth a bit, because he is chomping away on everything and drooling like a madman!