Maxwell: Room Transformation

While attempting to put away and organize all of our Christmas treasures, we were inspired to officially upgrade Maxwell to a big-kid bed. You may remember several months ago when he insisted on sleeping in the guest bedroom, but with the crazy amount of visitors we've had lately he was content with returning to his toddler bed. We wanted to give Max the same amount of space Lyla has in her room, so we decided to transfer all his stuff into one of the larger rooms upstairs. I know I'm probably the only one who cares about fairness right now, but guaranteed ten years from now they will be the ones with a tape measure out comparing room size. Oy! First world problems.

Kirk disassembled the changing table and what was left of the crib in Max's room. He moved them into the attic and I felt overcome with a bit of sadness. I have so many mixed feelings about my kids growing up. This parenting gig has suddenly taken a victorious turn down 'Easy Street' being a no diaper and no crib household. I know I've been here every step of the way, but somehow it's a strange feeling of unfamiliarity knowing my babies have turned into little people. In no time at all, they have acquired essential human abilities, like communicating their own thoughts. Crazy how that works, lol. 

Meanwhile, we got Max's new bedroom arranged, leaving behind some of the old "baby" decor. He seemed very pleased with his new space. He was quiet upstairs for quite sometime later on when I went to check on him. I found him laying on his new bed looking at a book and I felt a little bit of my heart crumble even more. It's such a privilege watching him transform into such an independent little dude. He also likes to sleep shirtless these days. Kirk typically sleeps with a shirt on, so I'm curious where he picked up that habit from. Regardless, still very funny.

The room is still a work in progress, but you can get the idea from the picture below. I predict it will remain incomplete until Kirk & I can agree on the bedding, apparently we have conflicting opinions on interior design. Hehe! I suppose we could resolve our issue by letting Max decide on his own bedding...what a wild concept that would be! 

Christmas: 2015

We had such a wonderful Christmas! There were a few years in a row that Christmas brought on a lot of feelings of sadness for me, but my kids have most definitely helped me rediscover the magic that surrounds this beautiful holiday. We enjoyed Christmas Eve at Kurt & Olivia's, followed by preparing for Santa's arrival with cookies & reindeer food, then a Christmas movie at home. Kirk really wants to get the kids hyped about watching 'Home Alone' on an annual basis, which I think will be a great tradition. Max was especially interested in the movie, seemingly fascinated with the main character, Kevin, and his bravery against the bad guys. However, about half way through the movie Lyla stated that she was ready for bed because Santa was coming. Per her request, I tucked her into bed and she fell asleep in literally under two minutes.

Santa, along with his elves, stayed up for several more hours perfecting the presentation for Christmas morning. I had to laugh at myself because my own anticipation kept me awake much longer than I desired. I finally fell asleep and woke up at 6:00 a.m. eager with excitement, once again. I bounced back and forth between reality and dream land until 7:30 a.m. when the kids [finally] woke up. The first sound I heard was a loud expression of surprise from Lyla in the living room, I sprung out of bed to find her perched on the couch clinging to the 'My Size Barbie' delivered by Santa. I think Taylor caught a video, as she was the one who followed her down the stairs in the morning. Kirk and Max followed behind me, but Max was still very groggy. He perked right up upon seeing his gifts from Santa. I had to help both of them out to discover the treasures hidden in their stockings --- aka the best part. I guess I will give them a couple more years to figure that part out. And the madness unraveled from there. It was seriously so great. The morning was filled with true joy & we were all so very spoiled.

I have to stop to tell a quick story about the gift Lyla & Max picked out for me, with limited help from Kirk. He claims he was nothing more than their ride to the store and form of payment. I was teasing Lyla a few days before Christmas, asking for a hint to my present. I gave her ideas to tell me if it was something I would wear, something to eat, something for the house, etc. She finally said, "okay okay, I will give you one hint. It's something slippery." The moment she said that, Kirk started busting up laughing. I remained dumbfounded, circling around the idea that it must be something for the bathtub or shower. As he continued to laugh, Kirk urged me to think a little deeper. Well it turns out they got me slippers. Hahaha! Slippery Slippers. Oh man...so funny. I'll never forget that one.

We enjoyed doing absolutely nothing except spending time together and playing with our new toys on Christmas day. It was so great having Kirk home for some extra time off. We finally made ourselves look presentable and headed over to The Stouts for dinner. The kids ended up swimming afterwards, which is a Christmas first for all of us. I learned from my Google research it was the warmest Christmas day in Houston since 1964. I will always vote for a white Christmas, but swimming was still a rare treat, especially for the kiddos. We are so lucky that we've been able to experience the best of both worlds.

I can remember back to my childhood and my parents would let the Christmas madness linger around for nearly a week. My brother and I would take such pride in our piles of loot, as if we had won the lottery. Maybe my mindset will be like that when vacation mode is centered around the kids school schedule, but for now it is basically opposite. You can call me names if you want, but the piles begin to make me feel insane. I most definitely embrace the chaos on the first day, and even the second day I tell myself messes are fun, but the third day rolls around and I'm ready to wrap it up. Since we decorate the day after Thanksgiving, I feel like once it's all over I almost look forward to putting my house back to normal. Nothing against Christmas, I just become overwhelmed with all the extra clutter. Plus...it's time to switch gears to Lyla's birthday in one week. Hello!!!! We are super duper pumped about that.

Here is a link to a short YouTube video from Christmas morning: https://youtu.be/9i7Gl5r1beM

We hope everyone had an amazing Christmas! We hope you filled your happy tank to the brim!

Cookies Made With Love... & Possibly Saliva

The Kindness Elves have been with us for a little over a week now, helping us spread Christmas cheer in various ways. They have made some suggestions that Lyla has been apprehensive about, such as donating her neglected toys. She tends to favor their suggestions that don't require parting with any of her treasured belongings, like this morning when she found their note with an idea to make cookies for the neighbors. She was definitely on board with that one. Max hasn't shown much interest in the daily notes from the elves, but he still goes along with whatever we are doing. So that's how we spent our Monday! Olivia came over to help us make the treats and I'm glad she did. Lyla & Max contributed when it came to combining ingredients in the bowl, but it turns out they are more interested in eating candy kisses than helping to unwrap them! And we had close to one billion to unwrap. Thanks for your help, Bya! And for the reindeer antlers!

Max's apron covered in red velvet cookie dough reminded me of the TV show Dexter.

The cutest reindeer posing for a photo before heading out for cookie delivery.

Merry Merry Christmas!

FOUR MORE DAYS!

Christmas Festivities, Etc.

We had such a fun week making memories with family & friends. Charli invited us over on Wednesday to decorate gingerbread houses. She  cut out the house pieces from the scratch-made gingerbread, making her own house smell amazing. We constructed the houses while the little people eagerly awaited the decorating phase. Meanwhile, they tested all the decorating options laid out in bowls in front of them. I think they may enjoy eating candy without restriction more than they actually enjoy decorating the houses. I admired Hali as she meticulously followed a pattern by placing each candy in a specific location on her house. She even designed a rainbow front porch, adding some very nice curb appeal. Lyla & Max aren't quite to that stage of the game yet, but I guess you could say I'm looking forward to it. I should probably just make my own house if I want to be so particular about how it looks. Haha!

We joined our friend Jordyn later on in the week for a Christmas party at her school. This was extra eventful for Lyla because she got to visit a Kindergarten classroom, including real live students and even a teacher who slightly resembled Barbie. As we approached the classroom door, I watched as her bold-excitement became clouded by the undeniable shyness that exists inside. She went from asking if she could tell all the kids she is already four, to a sweet baby clinging to her momma. I have to giggle in situations like this because 1. it can be so baffling watching her disposition completely transform and 2. I know how she feels.

Max tends to have a fearless attitude and no problem adapting to new situations, especially if sugar is involved. However, I could tell he felt confused, as he wavered back and forth between mimicking his big sister [like always] and joining the party! I think Max generally chooses to copy anything Lyla is doing, but he couldn't understand why she wasn't joining the fun. She was simply too busy over-analyzing to realize she was missing out. She was like a leach to my leg for quite awhile, but she eventually warmed up and had a great time sitting at Jordyn's table enjoying the company of the other little people. She is still talking about how great it was. She claims she will be ready for Kindergarten when her time comes under the one condition that I remain in the classroom. I'm afraid that's not how it's going down, my dear child. Luckily we still have more time to build up a little courage!

We went ahead and adopted two extra children on Friday, giving their parentals the night off. It's remarkable how long Lyla & Jordyn can keep themselves entertained when they are together. They have a lot of fun together. My only gripe is Max easily gets left out of any game they are playing. He found me multiple times exclaiming the girls were being mean. Lyla is usually really good at taking her little brother under her wing, so I had to remind her the importance of that job. Poor Max eventually gave up and found more enjoyment out of helping me take care of the baby, Gianna. He is such a sweetheart to her. It sorta makes me want to have one thousand more babies, then my brain gets in a fight with my uterus, blah blah blah. It's interesting to me how jealous he used to act if I was holding another baby, whereas now he just wants to help. To my surprise, now he is very protective of his Dad. Kirk was not allowed to hold the baby. Ha!

This week also included an advent-calendar hijacking by the little brother, commonly known as Hulk Smash. I bought each of the kiddos one of those cardboard countdown calendars revealing a chocolate on each day. It's nothing special, I think we just picked it up randomly at the grocery store one day. Anyway, despite my efforts, Max destroyed his after the first few days and it was game over for him. In contrast, Lyla reminds me every morning about her calendar. We find the next number in the countdown, she enjoys the one little morsel of chocolate and then puts it away. She has been so disciplined with this silly advent calendar...more than she has with anything else in her short four years of life! I've been really impressed. Well. Somehow Max located her calendar and helped himself to every remaining closed door. We caught him red handed in my bedroom, chocolate leaking from each side of his mouth. As you could imagine, Lyla lost her mind over it. You would have thought Christmas was cancelled if we didn't complete the entire calendar properly. She was devastated, while Max basically remained clueless about the crime he committed. I had the idea to fill the empty molds with melted chocolate chips and luckily it worked to reverse Lyla's sadness. The chocolates look nothing like they did before, but for her the world is good again. We really dodged a bullet with that one.

We spent more of the weekend snuggling on the couch, watching Christmas movies. I can't say for sure what makes me happiest about Christmastime, but the assortment of festive movies is definitely high on my list. Then we celebrated [Uncle] Jordan's birthday on Sunday at the notorious Top Golf. Lyla gave him 27 kisses, followed by 27 spankings. He declined  her offer for a foot massage. He's a hater like that. ;)

As always, good times with some of our favorite people!

Final Visitor of 2015

My Grandpa Rick & Becky were able to sneak down for a visit & we enjoyed spending the past few days with them. I'm always amused while watching Lyla & Max and their persistent methods of convincing people to join their world of pretend. They had Grandpa eating at the restaurant, getting check-ups, and playing multiple rounds of hide and seek. Lyla was also excited to impress him with her simple addition skills & ability to spell her own name. Grandpa has always taken a lot of pride in all of his grand kids and any of their academic related achievements. 

Grandpa decided the kids were ready for the true test of will power known as "the feather trick." The object of the game is to lay very still as a feather, or similar tickle device, is lightly pulled across your face. I can still remember fighting the urge to laugh and itch my own face when I was little. I think my kids are pretty lucky for the opportunity to have such fun-loving relationships with their great-grandparents and make similar memories as I made with my grandparents long ago. 

We visited not one, but two quilt shops, at the request of the quilt-shop-connoisseur, Becky. In addition to all the quilting, she has also made 162 pillow cases over the past year that have been distributed to children in need all over the globe. That's some serious charity work, I don't know why Grandpa refers to the sewing/quilting obsession as a cult. Haha! I think Grandpa and the kids agreed the quilt shops were a boring experience. Surprisingly, I find browsing at fabric enjoyable, although I don't even sew. Perhaps I should start...however, as warned by Grandpa, membership to the cult is not cheap. Afterwards, Grandpa got ice cream for the kids, which helped them forget all about the torture known as quilt shops.

It's always fun for me to listen to the countless number of stories Grandpa has to share about his own childhood and reflections of being a parent. I become increasingly more intrigued by how the world is perceived through the eyes of the older generation. I can't help but wonder about what daily life was like for people 50+ years ago. I'm grateful my grandpa is still around to answer some of my questions. He claims he is going to work on getting some of his stories on an audio file so we will have them forever, maybe being reminded on my blog of how AWESOME I think that is will help motivate him to get started. 

Grandpa, I think you should start with the story about how you got stung by several wasps when you were younger and found an isolated area to wait for your unavoidable death sentence. Spoiler: He survived the attack. He compared that story to one about me, around the same age as Lyla. I had a bladder infection and refused to tell anyone that anything was wrong. Apparently, he could hear me as I sat and cried behind a closed bathroom door, pretending everything was just fine when I came back out. I don't think I've changed much, in that regard. According to Grandpa, it's nothing more than a genetic trait. Haha!

The Kindness Elves

The idea of 'Elf on the Shelf' has never really appealed to me because I didn't really see the point of using an elf to threaten the consequences of bad behavior. If anything, the elf seems to promote bad behavior by his, admittedly hilarious, acts of mischief. I can't say I've never used the phrase "Santa is watching" in moments of crisis, but I really prefer not to. We would rather encourage the thought that we give because we love someone, not because they have earned it. I love Santa and appreciate he wants children to be good. And there is nothing that compares to that Christmas morning magic. But for us, bringing in a tattle-telling-elf just seemed like a lot of extra work, knowing we wouldn't actually follow through with reporting any bad behavior to Santa. That guy is coming no matter what, not to mention the magnitude of spoiling that occurs from all the other loved ones in our kids lives. 

Kirk and I decided to avoid the 'Elf on the Shelf' concept all together, agreeing it just wasn't a sensible option for our family. Although I do still enjoy seeing photos on the internet of elf scenarios others come up with. This year I read about an idea known as "The Kindness Elves" and this rendition of the elf game really seemed to align with how we choose to celebrate Christmas. These elves "do not play pranks or make messes at night, they are giving and gentle and full of love's light." I adopted some elves via The North Pole and they magically appeared on our doorstep with a letter explaining, "Santa sent us to you to help spread Christmas cheer." Their letter goes on about how Christmas isn't all about toys and finally concludes with, "So give back to your loved ones & those in need, we are here to help you think of lots of good deeds." Yes, a little cheesy, but you get the idea. 

Lyla asked for my help making a house for the new elves.
I suggested that she jazz it up a bit, but she claimed the elves like it plain.

Also, I feel like elves belong in the same category as clowns...
always looking slightly creepy no matter what.

There is no denying our family lives in a world of abundance, but it's my hope the good deeds of these elves will help us avoid turning [spoiled] rotten. I've found the balance of keeping my kids thankful and kind is often like walking a tightrope, which is okay because they are still learning. They are blessed beyond measure in all things, both tangible & not. I'm hoping this is a tradition that will continue to evolve as the kiddos get older and hopefully help keep their sense of entitlement from exploding around Christmas time.

My theory: Spoiled = Okay. Spoiled Rotten = Not Okay.

Anyway, if you see any mention on the blog about our elves, now you will know what it's all about. The kids named each of their elves --- Elle & Bean. Lyla opened the box and exclaimed, "Oh my gosh! I've been wanting an elf just like this for years and years." Lol. She is such a dork. We will spend the next twelve days with them and we're excited to experience the simple acts of kindness they have to share. 

In the event any aspect of the plan backfires, I will certainly share the stories of failure which should at least make for a good laugh.

Merry Christmas! 

Short Stories

We are in full Christmas mode over here & fully anticipating the arrival of Santa, 

but in the meantime I wanted to share a couple of recent memorable events with the blog.

1. Cockroach Victory

My fascination of cockroaches is probably equivalent to my fear of them. These pesky insects were never an issue in Idaho, but now I face them on a very regular basis. Well, after nearly three years of complaining about it, we finally scheduled an expert to come spray the habitat these creatures call home. However, it seems all this has done is create more madness, causing roaches to emerge from all cracks & crevices of our home. They warned us this may happen, but these freaks are seriously coming out from the depths of the earth since the spray-of-genocide happened. Luckily we are mostly finding them on their backs in a lifeless state, so at least that means the kill juice is working. It's not like we have an infestation or anything like that, just a random beast every once in awhile  --- typically in the bathroom. Hmm actually I'm probably in denial. We have likely, unknowingly, been coexisting with hundreds of roach families since they are literally coming out from everywhere now! No no no. Yuck. Ignorance is bliss. Anyway, the point of this story has nothing to do with me, actually. I think cockroaches are super creepy. Moving on.

It was after bedtime and the kids were already tucked in bed when Lyla started yelling for her Dad. I had left the house for a couple solo errands, but Kirk figured the sounds of Lyla were the typical nonsense that occurs on a nightly basis. To his surprise, Kirk entered her room and learned she was actually screaming about the presence of a cockroach on the wall. According to Kirk, the roach was so large it required a double take. He claims it was the biggest roach he has ever encountered --- and that says a lot, considering he is a Texas native. As he battled the cockroach to his death, Lyla watched wide-eyed. Kirk was victorious. He settled Lyla back in and as he left the room said, "Nobody messes with my Lyla girl." Lyla fell to sleep. Life was good again.

I returned home & Kirk filled me in on the details of the post-bedtime massacre. I was slightly disappointed he failed to take a photo of the godzilla-roach, considering he is well aware of my obsession. I think I became fixated on their anatomy after we captured nearly ten critters in a mason jar once, over the course of several days, before I decided it was setting a weird example to keep cockroaches in a jar as trophies of some sort. I accused Kirk of exaggerating the size, embellishing the facts, stuff like that. He finally drew a picture for a visual comparison and its body extended to about four inches long. However, I was still questioning the legitimacy of his story. Regardless, assuming Kirk was giving an accurate version of events, it seemed this sucker could have been the big daddy of the colony and clearly had a strong resistance to the kill juice from earlier in the week.

Now onto the point & cute part of this ridiculous story. Lyla woke up the following morning and I interrogated her about the cockroach story. I attempted to grill her for facts the night before, but sadly for me she was sound asleep, probably dreaming of cockroaches. She confirmed there was a rather large cockroach crawling on the wall in her room, she called for Dad, blah blah blah --- then she told me the sweetest thing. She said, "Dad got the cockroach out of my room and said nobody messes with his Lyla girl." She had the biggest smile on her face, glorifying in the fact that in that moment Kirk's one and only purpose was to protect her. It was adorable. She mentioned it at least two more times throughout the day. She is pretty happy about having such a heroic daddy.

I still can't get her little voice out of my head... "Dad says nobody messes with his girl." 

I love that girl. I hope she uses that line on boys when she's older.

Well. That story ended up being long enough to justify for its own post. The above could be summarized by stating, Kirk killed a cockroach for Lyla and afterwards he said, "nobody messes with my Lyla girl." She was quite pleased with this statement. Lol. Oh well. The next one is short and sweet.

2. "Bo" vs. "No"

If you are around Max often, then you know that when he says "bo" it means "no". For the longest time he refused to say "no" even though we all knew he was quite capable. He recently learned we adult creatures think it's pretty cute when he says "bo" and have even adopted the lingo for ourselves. He tends to work against the things adults find enjoyable and has worked very hard to correct his pronunciation. He is definitely in the stage of doing the exact opposite of what is expected of him, so reversing his vocal habits was a real treat for him. He now takes his time to articulate the sound each letter makes in the word "no." It even makes his nose scrunch when he does this, but I'm not going to tell him that's an equal trade for the adoration I had for "bo."

Max, we will miss you saying "bo" but hearing you say "nnnnnnoooo" is surprisingly just as great. Unless of course it's 5pm and you've said it [to me] 100 times in the span of one day. I have a hard time finding it cute at that point. Hehee. I still love you though!

Maxwell: 2.5 Year Old Check-Up

Weight: 31 pounds, 62nd percentile

Height: 36 inches, 75th percentile

This little dude had a check-up today. It was a simple visit, as no shots were required. He is a healthy little boy & the doctor recognized nothing worthy of concern. We are so grateful for our growing little boy! He is a little ball of energy that fits perfectly into our puzzle.

It feels like I haven't made one of these "doctor recap" posts in forever. I guess that's a sign my babies are growing up! It still seems odd that we are a diaper-free family. There is part of me that wishes I could reverse time and bottle them up just as they were, but the other part of me is relishing in the delight of having increasingly more self-sufficient children. As they grow physically & mentally, our experiences together continue on the same path of progress. The roots of our family are growing deep & I couldn't ask for anything better.

If you want to see the post about Max's previous check-up just click ---> here!

Grandpa Paul aka Boise Police

There are always happy times in store whenever my dad decides to visit Texas, although we insist he's due to bring Shelby along with him next time. Lyla seems to think Teddy [the dog] can simply sit in his lap for the duration of his flight next time as well. 

My dad likes to maintain his reputation as a low maintenance house guest, even pointing out that his newest tag line is "all I need is beer money and a coat." He claims he is going to print it up on t-shirts and make his fortune. He also put a spin on the notorious phrase about coffee by coming up with,  "don't even talk to me before I've had my first energy drink." I'm still laughing over that one because not only is it true about him, but it doubles as a mockery to all coffee drinkers like myself. My dad is the perfect blend of sarcasm and honesty. He never fails to make me laugh. He would probably be mad at me for exposing his ideas to the world, lucky for him I only have three blog followers. 

We visited Santa during his visit, which is the second time it's worked out for the old fellas to be in town at the same time. Lyla wore a crown to the mall --- as I mentioned earlier, all that ego building from Grandma Paula over the past few days has really gone to her head. Anyway, she removed the crown as we approached the Santa display and  I asked her for what reason. She said, "Oh, I don't want Santa to know I'm a real princess." I'm curious what her thought process was...maybe princesses don't get presents or something...I'm not sure. It was a funny moment, regardless of her reasoning. She requested some privacy upon sitting on Santa's lap and insisted Max wait from a distance. She asked for a Barbie [borrrring!] and Max requested a "little teeny tiny batman." It's pretty cute when he asks because he uses his thumb and pointer finger to illustrate exactly how tiny he means.  I don't think Santa will have any problem fulfilling their wishes this year. I'm fully anticipating the year one of them asks for a pony or some other absurd purchase. That will be fun. It will likely happen to me next year now that I called Lyla's request for a barbie boring. C'est la vie!

My dad made us the best pork tacos known to man, along with the most amazing green sauce that I could drink from a straw if it didn't light my mouth on fire. He joined us at gymnastics on Wednesday before we had to take him to the airport to return home. Max remains oblivious, but Lyla's reaction upon watching grandpa enter the airport doors was absolutely heartbreaking. We really really don't like goodbyes. 

We have full hearts & our stockpile of treasured memories has been replenished. We have so much gratitude for all the people in our lives who love us enough to travel such a great distance to see us. It happens so much more than I ever expected. I'm going to take the next few days to restore the normal functions of our household & detox from the insane levels of butter in my system. It also occurred to me that in the midst of all the commotion Max officially turned two & a half, meaning he's due for a well-check up. We will get that checked off our list, along with a couple other maintenance items before the end of the year. We are looking forward to one more set of house guests before our final countdown to Christmas. As cliche as it may be, it truly is the most wonderful time of the year! 

Note: I just realized the title of this post may seem puzzling. My dad, being the prankster that he is, always answers the phone as "Boise Police" when we call him. Lyla is onto his tricks now, but the first time he answered this way her eyes opened wider than you could imagine as she quickly passed the phone back to me. Lyla has since started answering my cellphone as "Houston Police," with a little encouragement from me, of course. I suppose the inherited habits of constant mischief carry on...