the next day, it snowed.

After Max's afternoon nap, he's usually NOT in the best mood. I usually try to remedy this with a change of pace. We walk over to a neighbor's house, play at the playground, whatever. Today being no exception, we just needed to get OUT, despite the fact it was raining a little. 

He perked right up at the mention of going outside.

Unfortunately, by the time he was bundled up and we got Max and his car outside, it was starting to snow. But I thought, since we were out there, why not just see what happens.

This happened. The funny thing is, I think he was more mad that I was in his way trying to take a picture than he was about the snow. Regardless, we went in.

He didn't like that idea one bit. 

Maybe tomorrow will be better, little guy. 

a little cute and a whole lotta funny

cute....

{click to enlarge}

I love you, silly.

{Picture of the Day}

this guy

wakes up cranky. 

hence the tear, dripping over his nose.

Too bad I didn't the camera in time to catch him laying like this, screaming at me. it was funny. You would have liked it.

Children's Museum with the Rands Boys/ Tylerisms

On Monday, Max and I went to the children's museum with Tyler (who was more excited than Max) and my Dad ( who was a very good sport). As soon as we got there Tyler went NUTS, running wild all over the place! I loved it. He was way too excited to check out one room at a time. So after about a half hour of sprinting here there and everywhere, he seemed to have an idea of the best rooms, and spent most of his time playing in the ball room and at the water center.

 Max was pretty chill, unfortunately he's a little too small for much of what the museum has to offer, but give him six months, it's going to be a whole new ball game. I'm thinkin' season passes. So fellow moms, let's unite in pass purchasing this fall. What a perfect winter outing!
Dad and Ty, thank you so much for coming out to stay with us last week. We had a blast! I love you guys. Thanks for the fun. 

....Scroll down for a GREAT Tyler stories....

{climbing}

{sliding}

{Max and "pops" as I like to call him}

{my brother Tyler. He's the best.}

There are of course, numerous moments of every day you spend with Tyler when you would like to just laugh forever at some of the things that come out of Tyler's mouth. Every time he speaks to Max, he calls him "Maxwell" or "little buddy" it melts me. Especially when he scoops him up and talks to him face to face and tells him that he is a handsome little prince. We miss this guy already!

I have narrowed it down to the TOP TWO Tyler moments of the trip. 

{THE LONG GOODBYE ... or so he thought.}

On sunday, we went down to Provo to be a part of Jordan's big day- he was ordained an elder!

We spent some time afterward just shooting the breeze in the lounge area of Stover Hall, which is so chic by the way (but it was the only place I was allowed).

We talked about Jordan's upcoming mission, where he will go, how he will open his call, what we're going to do with his stuff when he leaves. You know. The usual.  Then we talked about who would be the most upset when we said our final goodbyes to Jord. All votes go to mom, but Mackenzie and I came in second, and Dad said he would cry, but not fall apart (like the girls). We then Turned to Tyler.

"Ty, are you going to cry when you say goodbye to Jordan before his mission?"

"mmmm, No." (nonchalantly)

"why not?"

"Because I'll see him real soon" (in his typical singsongy voice)

We then explain that when Jord goes on his mission, that we won't see or talk to him for TWO YEARS. He accepts our explanation, seemingly unfazed. 

Later Jordan walks us out to the car. Everyone says their goodbyes, leaving Tyler and Jordan. 

Let me paint a picture for you. 

My two brothers. About the same height, Tyler in one of his usual Adidas get ups. Jordan in his usual button up and skinny jeans. They stand about a foot away from eachother, hands straight down at their sides. They each have this funny little smirky smiles on their faces. It's a Tyler face. 

"Goodbye Tyler"

"Goodbye Jordan"

 

...pause...

"See you in two years!" (upbeat)

I LITERALLY CANNOT REMEMBER THE LAST TIME I LAUGHED THIS HARD. I think I almost fell over. For real. We all about died trying to suck in some air as we laughed and explained that he didn't have to say goodbye to Jordan for his mission yet. HILLARIOUS, SWEET, SILLY BROTHER, I LOVE YOU. How boring life would be without you to entertain us!

Ok, sorry. I'm so tired. I will have to save story #2 for tomorrow. 

a serious conversation

~something sweet, to make up for the ickyness of previous posts~

Every morning Max wakes up EARLY. Between 6:00 and 7:00 usually, which is absolutely torture to me! So our morning routine is all about distraction- first we lay in bed and I nurse him (while I sleep) and if I'm lucky, he goes back to sleep too. When he doesn't, often I unplug the phone on our night stand, cuddle him up to me, and let him play while I rest, hoping he doesn't decide to slam the reciever to my head. Here is Max in my bed, playing with the phone. He loooves phones these days, I even caught him talking into a thermometer today.

Did I mention my dad is in town?

Sooo proud of himself, pulling the "funny face!"

work it baby, work it. 

Germs.

don't touch that.

You know, germs are a funny thing. We all have them, fear them, sanitize to prevent spreading them, yet we cannot see them or really know where they are coming from. Toys have them, I suppose. So do shoes, lollypops dropped on the floor, or anything that comes out of (or even near) the garbage can. If it falls out of or was ever inside one's nose, it has germs. If you cough on it, germs. But really, no matter how many times you wash your hands, they're everywhere, and you can never really be sure how your kids get them. 

Here are 3 occurrences this week in which Max has definitely, definitely, DEFINITELY been exposed to germs.

The first, and arguably worst offense:

On Monday while taking pictures of all our wild kids with Laci and Chelsea, I set max down in front of a cute brown door on an old brick building. there was grass dirt, little puddles and other miscellaneous clutter laying around. Which must explain why I didn't see it.

There I was, snapping away at my smiling round cheeked boy, watching as he leaned over and reached his little hand down so he could crawl away. My eyes followed his fingers, down past his new blue shirt, past his jeans, over some rocks and onto A DECOMPOSING BLACK BIRD. 

{cue gagging noises and dry heaves. in fact, feel free to throw up fully now.} 

How I didn't see it, I don't know, but I didn't.  None of us did. I guess it just blended in with the dark dirt. Anyhow. I saw it and gasped just as he set his chubby hand on that filthy germ infested piece of rot. Immediately I scooped him up and yelled to my friends 

"MAX JUST TOUCHED A DEAD BIRD!" 

I am sure this was followed by all other sorts of expletives and other such unrepeatables. I don't really remember, as I am still trying to blot the whole experience from my memory. Thankfully, my friends came to the rescue, offering a plethora of baby wipes and reassurance. I think the most comforting thing was Chelsea, who said, "Really Jessica, its okay if you want to cry right now. Because I probably would." The best part was that she was serious. I didn't cry (though I considered it), but after a few minutes, I did scream. I had to. 

Second offense. Of course, it happened at church, and of course it happened in the NURSERY. 

Danny and I BOTH work in the nursery at chuch. Why? I don't really know, but we do. We had it worked out so that during the winter flu, cough, cold, snot, GERM season, one of us would go to nursery and the other would watch Max. ELSEWHERE. But, spring is here, and we decided it was time for a fresh start. We both stayed in nursery with Max this week. Big mistake. He survived the madness, was tough when he got clobbered by a big kid (twice. on purpose) while he sat innocently catching the bubbles, he didn't cry when all the other kids did, he didn't even get upset when the other kids took his snacks. Success, we thought. Wrong. 

We were getting all of the toys put away, waiting for the last few stragglers to come pick up their kids. Max was holding a mini etch-a-sketch, the last toy to go into the basket. When I took it away, he freaked. Ooooooh he was mad at me. He wanted that etch-a-sketch. I bent over to pick him  up and noticed he was still clutching something tightly in his hand. I peeled open his clenched fist and saw a little brown clump of something. 

No. It can't be. 

I smelled. 

It is. 

He was holding a little piece of poo. I checked his diaper. Nothing. The poo did not belong to Max. Max's diaper was clean. I had just changed it myself. MY KID WAS CRUISING AROUND THE NURSERY WITH A HANDFUL OF SOME OTHER DISGUSTING GERM INFESTED NURSERY KID'S POO. 

Again, I announced it. Again, pandemonium. Check the other kids diapers. Nope. Dig through the toys? Desperately search for the hand sanitizer. 

The only thing I could think of was the smell. We had noticed it earlier in the day, but couldn't find our culprit. The smelly kid must have reached down for a scratch, then touched the etch-a-sketch. Can't think of any alternate scenarios. Don't really want to.

Last, but not least in terms of germ exposure.

Found Max splashing in the toilet bowl again this morning. 

Was planning on cleaning it later today. 

Awesome.

in which max throws his food. a photographic series.

what a stinker.

by the way, anyone have any tips on keeping the food either in his mouth or on the tray of the high chair?

just the two of us

Yesterday Max and I went to Ogden to play with two of our favorite friends, Laci and Chelsea and their kids! We had fun walking around and snapping a few pictures. These girls were nice enough to offer to take a few of ME AND MAX!! Wow! It was so nice of them and I love having a few of Max and I together (for once!!). These were my favorite. Thanks Laci, you did such a great job! I love them. Although I must say, it was weird photoshopping pictures of myself!

I feel so lucky that Max is still a MAJOR snuggler!

nope, I'm not pregnant, but my coat makes me look like I am in this picture!

by the way, this is my new do

practicing walking! this adorable little belt was Danny's when he was little, and my brother Jordan got him the shirt (which I'm in love with) for his birthday!

as of late

Wow, I feel like I have been so busy lately! I think we have been on the go for the last month straight.  I have had a lot of fun taking lots of pics, traveling, and watching my crazy boy. Here are a few highlights from the weekend.

Saturday:

Max got to play with Asher! My cousin Scott, his wife Cassie and adorable little boy Asher came up from Orem. We haven't seen these guys in a while and we had so much fun hanging out with them! We are so excited to have our boys grow up so near each other and close in age. As you can see they love each other already!

It was also a very productive day: I took some pictures of their little family

And I got a little of THIS action!

Cassie, hairdresser extraordinaire, cut and colored my hair. Yaaaay! I was looking pretty sad there for a while. So maybe I am not quite as glamerous as Miss Holmes-Cruise, but it's the look we were going for bangs and all! Cassie seriously did a fantastic job, for once I really really love how my hair looks (seems like that never happens! I either like my cut, OR my color, this time I totally love both!). I will post a pic soon, but before I can do that, I would have to be on the other side of the camera. huh. If anyone needs a new stylist, try Cassie down in Orem, she is fantastic (and I'm picky)! Check her out here:

Family blog

Enizio blog

Sunday was so sunny, we decided to take Max on a walk with our neighbors! He and Heather had a swell time in the little red wagon. How cute are they? I think its love. Particularly on Max's part.  

Max the trouble maker. 

Lately, Max is into E V E R Y T H I N G. And I mean everything. If it can be opened, is wet or messy, has removable items (thing drawers of clothing), or could pinch his fingers or fall on him, Max is all about it. 

Perfect example would be...

I have heard boys will eat you out of house and home, but come on, he's only 13 months!

Particularly troubling is the fact that Max discovered the toilet this week. He always plays in the bathroom while I shower and get ready. On Monday he was up to the usual; opening all the drawers and cabinets and dumping out my basket of nail polish. All the sudden, I heard a SPLASHING sound. I turned around, and there was my baby, having an amazing time making waves in the bowl. 

Luckily, the toilets were scrubbed that morning, and I had lots of soap and hand sanitizer on hand. Shudder.

I made these yummy cupcakes on Sunday night and after the first bite, I swear it was like I was back in California! Brittany gave me the SPRINKLES cupcake mix from Williams-Sonoma, and it was almost as good as driving to Newport and getting one from the actual shop. THey were so yummy and came with the best cream cheese frosting recipe ever! Thanks Britt!

On Monday night, we had dinner with Nick and Kesha to celebrate St. Patty's AND Easter! We wore green (see our little leprechauns?) while dying eggs. Ha! We had a great time. The food was great and the company was unbeatable! I love watching Boss and Max together, they're going to be trouble in just another year or so, just wait! I was pretty impressed with some of the creative egg coloring too! Nick can make one mean easter egg. =)

So thats us lately. By the way, I do apologize for neglecting the photoblog lately! I have so many sessions to post its overwhelming! I have weddings, families, babies, sisters... the list goes on. Hopefully tomorrow I can get caught up! Ahhh!

oh and p.s. this was my favorite egg. =)

this face

this beautiful face

sees me first thing every morning, and last before bed each night.

brings me joy

gives me purpose

is the center of our world

makes me laugh.

in it I see 

Danny,

 myself.

our family.

 

eyes that melt me

framed by the sweetest little lashes

my everything.

but this face, 

this

face

puts me right

                         over

                                       the edge.

This is Max's new "funny face!" He makes his eyes as squinty as he can and usually keeps them just barely open, wrinkles his nose, tilts his head back, and gives you a big fat faker smile. He does it all the time. We couldn't figure out the timing for the longest time! He does it when he's happy, sad, tired, you name it. He even does it on cue sometimes- if we say "Funny Face!" and mimic the expression, he will usually do it back!

I have noticed lately that he does it when he is trying to show you (or himself) that he's ok. For example, yesterday he was crawling over a big pillow on the floor. He got a little ahead of himself and bumped his head on the floor.  I immediately picked him up, he cried and snuggled into my shoulder. After a second, he pushed away, looked right at me, and did "funny face." I about died! He has done it in a few other similar situations too! Like after he finishes whining about something, like if he's thirsty and I give him a drink, boom. He also does it with lots of other people around, and he gets a big reaction. He put on a great show at the baby shower and for my family, pulling the face over and over again. Same thing yesterday at the neighbor's house, he probably did it eight times in one minute. We love our silly little boy and we especially love this new crazy face of his. Maybe I'm just a leeeetle biased, but I am pretty sure I have the most adorable baby on the planet. 

what a goober. 

Seattle: stair steppin'

While we were in Seattle, Max took full advantage of having free reign over Nana and Grandpa's two flights of stairs going up to the second floor. Unfortunately, their staircases are too wide to accommodate a baby gate, so we always had someone on stair duty.  He was in HEAVEN! Max is a slippery little guy though, he snuck up there a couple times before we caught him! One day he almost started to crawl down another set of stairs into the basement after the door was left open. I saw him about to take the plunge and YELLED his name from across the room and sprinted toward him. He literally was about to put his first hand down the stairs but when he heard me, he sat back up, looked at me and started cracking up. I'm glad he thought it was funny. Little stinker. Here he is on a supervised excursion upstairs with Pops. 

the big climb, supervised by Pops (aka grandpa).

Relishing in his accomplishment. It feels so good to succeed, doesn't it?

Peek-a-boo, Pops!

He's so funny. 

because sometimes you need a pick me up.

I rented a wide angle lens for the wedding this weekend, and had some fun playing with it the day after. Max happened to be exceptionally comical that day, so enjoy these. 

After a nice afternoon slumber, many babies wake up, stretch and yawn, then proceed to babble and play in their cribs for a few minutes, until they get bored and squeal to let you know they are awake. Not my Max. He wakes up like this. Always. 

COME GET ME IMMEDIATELY- I AM AWAKE!

(by the way, I must strongly suggest clicking on the first two images to see them up close. Way way way funnier. I mean sadder. Because clearly the two hours of rest was traumatic for him.)

and yes, I did torture my child for this picture. but don't worry, I only let him cry for a second. 

You should know that Maxwell has definitely become a curious little fellow. He is interested in everything, he will eat anything off the floor (even if he just ate a full meal in his high chair) he is climbing all over everything, and he is particularly interested in the contents of cabinets and drawers. I was getting him dressed this morning and I was digging through his drawers to find a certain pair of pants. I turned around to see this:

Apparently, he got stuck trying to climb in. After running for the camera, I helped him all the way in. He had a fabulous time finishing the job of throwing all his clothes out of the basket. 



My computer is in the kitchen. I do all my editing in there, because it's where everything goes on in our house. When I am working, I don't like to be left out of what the rest of the family is doing! I almost always feel a little hand poking me (usually on the bum) and turn to see him- holding onto the top of my stool, demanding to be picked up!




I love this silly baby boy, who is 13 MONTHS OLD today! He is a crawling machine, babbles all the time, and is the sweetest, happiest little boy in the world (except after a nap. =). While in CA three weeks ago, he weighed in at 18 lbs 14 oz, but we think he has cunked out since then, as he is doing MUCH better at drinking whole milk. We are done with soy, but he is still nursing. ANYONE OUT THERE HAVE ANY TIPS AS TO HOW I CAN WEAN A LITTLE BOY WHO IS MOST DEFINITELY GOING TO BE A BOOB MAN??? He is obsessed with them. He has now taken to putting his hand down my shirt when he is tired of a little sad. Appauling or hillarious? Sometimes I think both. =) I am having so much fun watching all the funny things he does. Although I am so sad at how quickly he is growing up, I have to admit:

I LOVE having a one year old!