i spy.

I spy - stripes and a pit full of rainbow colored balls.

I spy an outrageously, adorable, striped, hooded someone.

city girl.

i'll keep it short and sweet, i'm a city girl. simple as that. now don't get me wrong, i don't need to live in new york city (big lights will inspire you, ear-worm!, sorry who can resist alicia keys?), but i like access to paved roads and the convenience of a starbucks or target (let's get real, we don't even have to choose!) on every street corner. i don't mind traffic, really i don't, unless someone hasn't napped in 6 days or there's a hungry infant screeching at the top of his, very powerful, lungs. so sue me, i loathe traffic. but i don't mind the city.

well two weeks ago my city peeps headed to the country. the hill country that is. we went to fish and feed fresh produce to llamas and donkeys (i am not kidding), we went to get some fresh air and hang out. just us. no tv's and computers. no busy schedule, a few paved roads and no target. just us and the country.you know what? we had a blast. we were busy the entire time we were there but we did nothing but relax. we had so much fun. the llama was a hit, even though we stood afar while brave aunt emma did the feeding. we only caught one fish, but it was bigger than mason and max, maybe even combined. we threw him back.part of me kept thinking "it would be so awesome to raise the boys on a place like this, in the country". rewind. the country? seriously marci? you are going to raise boys in the country? okay, okay, i got a little blinded by the fun. it was fun. seriously. i enjoyed my fresh air, i enjoyed us, i enjoyed the calm, quiet country. so maybe, just maybe, i could live on a farm,
so long as this guy didn't.for what it's worth, even the hillcountry has starbucks. so maybe i could be cut out for that.
seriously mom, you are going to move to the country??
okay, even max called my bluff; BUT it was so. much. fun.

yoga rolls.

max scoots and moves and rolls like crazy but he hasn't quite figured out the whole traditional-hands-and-knees crawl. apparently, crawling is for babies. teeny, tiny, babies. not chubby infants who have better things to do all day. like eat. and play. and be ridiculously cute and chubby and lazy.

no no, people crawling is out. yoga is in. baby yoga. presented by yogi max.
max the yogi thinks downward dog is more developmentally appropriate.clearly it's working. i mean look at those slim leg rolls.
what a delicious appetizer to those adorable dimply cheeks. bon apetit!

01.23.2010

it was 78 degrees and super sunny, but not hot like most sunny southern texas days can be. nope, not hot, just perfect.
perfect for playing. for jumping.
perfect for being a boy.

what a boy he is.

homecoming.

disclaimer: this is almost always an inaccurate method of birth control.

okay, you were forewarned. if you come down with baby fever please consult a physician.


Mason, February 2007Max, June 2009

TOLD YA!

rock a bye.

last night i had both boys fed, bathed, jammied up and in their beds by 7:40. i was so proud, i did it all alone, since daddy m was working out of town. i checked on everyone before pouring myself an extra large glass of reisling and more than once said outloud "damn you are such a bad ass" and "wow you've got this double kid thing down". i kept looking at the oven clock, 7:43, 7:45, this has to be wrong. this is too good to be true.

well it wasnt wrong, i was just a bad ass, with two soundly snuggled boys, a tall glass of wine and a warm spot on a cozy couch, alone. it was 7:59 the minute i got situated, one second after my first sip, i heard the first night cry. it was max, it was a muffled fuss so i thought "i'll give him a few minutes and see what happens, maybe he just had a quick bad dream (about a shortage of milk)" but the cry didn't stop and became a pissed "mom where the hell are you" type cry. then i thought oh shit maybe his leg is stuck in the damn crib slat again. you'd think with how plump and luscious it is it wouldn't even fit through, but it does. 8:04 i gave in, i'm coming max.

turns out no appendages were stuck in between the crib slats, my spoiled rotten baby just wanted a snuggle and a bit of warm milk. i scooped up all 17 lbs of his blubber and sat in the glider i rarely use. the room was dark with just a little light peaking through the rocket ship nightlight. he put his chubby, soft, somewhat chilly hand on my cheek and was instantly soothed. i fed him and he gobbled it up, slowly drifting to the land of nod. i thought, that was easy, maybe too easy? oh well he's drowsy it's time to get back to my reisling. just as i stood up to lay him down, i heard it. a muffled cry of hysterics for daddy. great 8:11 and mason is up. too easy indeed.

i shouted down the stairs "mommy didn't leave come upstairs to max's room". no quicker than i disclosed my location was there a 3 foot almost 3 year old in super hero jammies pitter pattering in to a nursery he always refused to sleep in. all the talking and yelling of my whereabouts woke up the little snoozing maximo. of course right? i mean who did i think i was getting off that easy, on a night home alone, you really thought you were going to drink wine for hours before bed, alone. ha. we'll show you mama.

i sat back in the glider, though this time it was warm and familiar. baby on the left, big boy on the right. we sat there together and rocked. and rocked. and i sang and mason rubbed his hair, twirling it between his soft as infant hands through it. he touched my cheek, eerily similar to how baby had just ten minutes prior. this big boy isn't so big, he's still my baby. he wants to rock too. so we kept rocking. we were comforted by the sound of waves crashing on rocks. we were rocking and gliding away. i closed my eyes and tried to stash this memory deep in my brain to a place i could pull the file out and remember it when i was dancing (and probably sobbing) with my big boy at his wedding. will his hands feel as soft? will he still look at me like i'm his hero? i held him closer.

everyone was breathing deep, in sync, quietly but audibly. max would exhale and mase would take a deep breath in. euphoria. i went to kiss the top of max's head and it smelled strongly of johnson's lavender calm. all to quickly i remembered june 23, it smelled like newborn. he's grown so big, he's changed so much. i kissed his forehead and again tried to stash this memory in the same file where i could pull it out when he was running off the soccer field, sweaty and i'd kiss his head. it wouldn't even smell like second best to newborn head johnsons lavender calm. he would be all grown up. would he still love to be hugged and held tight? would he still look at me and smile so big that my heart felt like imploding? i held him closer.

everyone was still. no more hair twirling, restless moving. no more crying. i didn't want to move and not for fear of waking them up so i could get back to my surely warm by now wine. i didn't want to move because i realized i wouldn't be able to rock them forever. i held them as close and tight as i could and took a deep breath and opened my eyes to study their perfection. it was 8:40, a wholw hour past bedtime and i thought this is too good to be true.
i had the best seat in the house, the glider.

max's 6 month appt.

well really 6.5 month. he weighed in at 17 lbs 11 oz and 28 inches! his weight is right at 25-50% and his length is closer to 75-90%. i suck at math but basically daddy m said that it meant he could be a quarterback instead of a linebacker. to mama it meant he's just perfect. 6 months brought 2 teeth (just in time for christmas!) and lots of giggles. mr. max is a banana loving, self feeding, no nonsense kind of baby. he is the best napper i know. he also owns the best set of cheeks. oh, and one of the two best smiles i've ever had the pleasure of witnessing.
it was really funny at the pediatrician's mason got so mad that max had to get shots. he continuously told the doctor "you are not nice to my brudder". word up mase, shots are mean. and sometimes max is a mean muggin' infant. he was a little excited he wasn't the patient though, brotherly love and all.

some humorous advice the pediatrician gave us (well humorous to me) was to wean to a sippy cup at 10 months and no paci after 9.

clearly he's never met this kid; mason-proclaimed pacifier addict, dorm room decor, my toddler will be in college with a paci. yea, yea, yea. sorry doc ;)

slow down maximo. please. i'll buy you any car you want when your 16, if you wait to turn 1.

birthday country.

we have a lot of birthdays coming up. well just two, but that's half of us. daddy m's is just three days away. luckily he won't need much in regards to a party. he politely declined a moon bounce and cotton candy maker. no fun daddy m.

mason however is turning three. that's right...3. my little boy is all grown up. well maybe not all grown up, but he's so not a baby anymore. we had a little chat a few weeks ago about him growing up. he insisted when he was a big kid he'd have a mustache and big hands. HA! seriously. i have high hopes for three, i mean two was fabulous (95% of the time) i can't begin to fathom what three will bring!

we've decided to celebrate with a dinosaur themed party. in nana's backyard (per usual) with a ridiculous dino cake and a huge dinosaur bounce house. what else does a 3 year old need? well besides their mustache of course ;)

oh and here's birthday 1 & 2 for the mase man. because i love picture posts, duh.

resolutions.

i usually don't do resolutions. mostly because i have all these awesome ideas and aspirations and then don't start them. obviously if you don't even start resolutions you can't complete them, right? that's why i just don't do them. then whatever i do accomplish throughout the year is a success, not a "whoops didn't get to the gym 6 days a week" or "damn i didn't remember to (fill in the blank)". i thought about it and well frankly that was a boring, lazy, basically shitty outlook. so out with the old, in with the new, resolutions are being made this year people.

so far i have three.

1. graduate. finally. a year and a half late. in this instance it truly is better late than never.

if all goes well and the plan sticks i'll be wearing a cute graduation cap in december.

2. spend more time with the boys one on one. michael is a boy too. so he counts. while i'm being optomistic that i'll have time to do anything like this i'd like to add that the one on one time should be of some quality substance, not laying in bed watching Yo Gabba Gabba.

3. cook more. therefore allowing us to eat at home, the four of us together at the table.

sorry subway you were a good friend in 09 but we are hoping for less of you this year.

so here's to 2010. a better year than before, because i'm aiming for big things to happen. i figure i'll atleast accomplish 1/3 of my goals and maybe even half of the other twos. all these fractions are making me hungry for pizza. can my resolutions start tomorrow? i don't make pizzas ;)

happy new years!

well hello 2010 so nice of you to join us. i got the boys tux outfits so they could bring in the new year in style, in bed.

because i'm that mom. can you even handle that cuteness??

much of the photoshoot was spent repositioning max, bribing mason with m&ms and pizza and daddy m making funny faces, ridiculous noises and me snapping away in hopes of getting just one decent shot on our last picture of 2009.i ended up taking nearly 130 pictures, seriously, mostly they ended up like this. is this the foreshadowing to my new year?

i guess it's going to be loud, if max has anything to say about it.

CHEERS & HAPPY NEW YEARS!

slacking.

I've been a major blog slacker the past week or so. It's just so nice having Michael home and not working. We've gotten to spend a lot of time together just playing with the boys and we even got a couple nights out on the town this Christmas holiday! Yay! Anyway if anyone is reading I'm still here and promise to blog better this January!