Oh, somebody had a birthday...

Our Maxster is a whopping 1 year old! Hard to believe??? Trust me, I know. I spent a happy, weepy day with my little man yesterday. I just couldn't stop the tears from forming as the memories came flooding in. I guess that means I'm a mom. :)

It was a great day! The night before, I had a mini-breakdown because we didn't have crepe paper and balloons to decorate for a birthday our little dude isn't even going to remember. You don't have to tell me that I was being a little nutty - I absolutely know it! But my husband heard and heeded my cries. We came downstairs in the morning to find that Dad had woken up mighty early (4:30 was the word I was given later! I really don't deserve this wonderful man), ran to the store and bought crepe paper, balloons, a "1" candle and even a beautiful vase full of tulips for the nutty mom! All I could get from Max for the first ten minutes was the noise he makes that sounds like a breathy "Wow!" as he pointed to every balloon and string of crepe paper. It was awe-inspiring, really! You had to be here to appreciate the awe of the crepe paper. :)

Max got a special pancake breakfast while Mom sang every birthday song she could think of (and, thanks to primary, that's quite a lot!). Then we decided to open the present from Beth and her Men. It was quite a long, fun process. You know, pulling the tissue paper out, trying to get to the bottom of the bag...it's a lot of work! He received a really cute outfit (featured in the pictures below) and some great books. We LOVE books!

Next came Maxwell's first encounter with cow's milk. He liked the taste just fine, but is used to a warm bottle. We tried cold and in a sippy cup first which went okay, but then he wanted to do the kind of chugging that only a bottle can accomodate. So we dumped it into the bottle. Not warm, not drinking it. I heated it up and finally he went to town.

A nap refreshed the little dude (and allowed Mom time to wrap some presents) and then we had a good lunch and went out front for some good bubble blowing and play time. It's always sad when outside time comes to an end. :(

Dad got off of work early to go to the park (such a great man!), but Max was already down for nap #2, so I took around the rest of his party invitations and bought the present Grammy and Papa Dan sent the gift card for me to buy. When I got home we got all of the presents together and it was gift-giving time! He loved it all...well, all of the things that Dad picked out since that was the fun stuff. Mom picked out the shoes and clothes and socks. Although, he really liked the hanger his sunday outfit came on. :) Not nearly as exciting as a huge killer whale, a Safari Party, wooden blocks or the ride-on toy that makes tons of noise (thanks, Grammy and Papa! Thanks a lot! :) ). The one thing we forgot to pick up is a basketball hoop, but we think that will be a gift for the part-ay.

After a call to Grammy and Uncle Mak on the videophone, we put the new forward-facing car seat in the car and headed out for a night on the town. Actually, we picked up some Taco Bell and went to a cool park with a "Tot Lot" not far from our house. Max was in heaven! We played for a while and then decided it was time to head back home. We got home and did a web cam call with Maggie, Grandpa Mick, Aunt Meg and Uncle Adam. Lots of birthday songs for Max! Next came a bath and then a call to Papa Dan on the videophone. Bedtime soon followed because we had a very tuckered-out little man.

I closed the door after I put him down and was filled with emotion. I thought of how fast times passes and that before I know it, I will be saying goodnight to my teenage son. I won't have just rocked him to sleep, but I hope he will still let me kiss his head and tell him how VERY much I love him. I hope he always knows that I love him almost more than my heart can hold. (If you're wondering if typing that brought the tears again, the answer would be yes.) I am so grateful to be a mom. To be Maxwell's mom. What a good little dude! I love him more than I ever knew I would...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MAXWELL TYLER!

Here's to many, many more years of happiness!

Our Walking Machine!

Last Thursday Max decided to let go of the couch and go it on his own! Ever since then he walks around and across the room over and over, just because he can. The walking began with him clasping his hands together and holding them above his head (we assume for balance purposes), but now he just walks like he's been doing it all of his life. Except, of course, for the occasional spill because a book or toy annoyingly gets in his way. It's really amazing how fast something like this happens! We've been waiting for the day since he took those first steps two and a half months ago...but now it's here and there is no going back! It's okay, I guess, for my little dude to grow up (tear, sniff).





**These videos were taken last week, he's gotten even better!**

Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary....

We're hoping we have a little bit of Mary's luck with our very first garden!

(However, we would prefer vegetables over silver bells and cockle-shells)

This is something we've been excited about since we first bought our house...growing our very own vegetables! We've planted yellow squash, peas, onions, tomatoes ("big beef" and cherry), jalapeno peppers, bell peppers and cucumbers. Now we're hoping that Washington gets enough sunshine to help these little seeds fill the measure of their creation -getting enough rain isn't really an issue!

We planted on Saturday night and Sunday afternoon I found Tyler out back looking at where we had planted our little seeds. He was disappointed not to see anything sprouting up and declared our vegetables doomed to failure. He was joking, of course, but I made him pray for our vegetables last night anyway and I won't let him say anything negative about our garden. :)

Here are a few shots of our front yard. The backyard still needs a lot of work, but we love the front! It's been fun to see what's sprouted up this spring since there has been a lot of planting that has gone on before us. We've ripped out a few things, but really love most of it. The only thing I really want to add (besides the vegetable garden) are some tulips.

Some pretty trees in the backyard....a blossoming cherry tree and some other nice tree with obnoxious roots :)

Keep on the lookout for pictures to be posted soon of our abundant vegetable garden!

So I entered a contest....

It's hard for me to post this knowing that Mark is going to read it! :) I am not that great of a writer (although I really love to write), but I clicked on my friend Veeda's blog and saw this:

Have you heard about the Mother's Day writing competition? You can win a trip to New York to be on The Early Show on CBS. Meet Mitch Albom, author of Tuesdays with Morrie and The Five People You Meet in Heaven. Oh, and there's also a cruise prize involved.

I read her very inspiring story which brought to mind an inspiring experience from my youth and made me want to write an inspiring story of my own. Now, I don't know if it will inspire any of you, but I thought that since I shared it with people I don't know on some web site for a competition, I could also share it with my friends and family.

Only leave your comments if they're nice... :)

Our Little Secret...a time my mom stood up for me in an unexpected way

I came home from school in a flurry of excitement. I threw open the the front door of our little 3 bedroom house that always seemed so big to my little 8-year-old eyes and went looking for my mom. I was always excited to come home and tell her everything about my day at school. And she was always there to listen.

I was in the third grade and I loved school! I didn't love to do the work or learn new things - you know, the school part - nearly as much as I loved recess and talking. Almost every report card came home with good grades and a note on the side from my teacher, "Talks a little too much" or "Needs to talk less".

I was a "Chatty Cathy" and I loved my friends. My mom had taught me to be kind to everyone, so I felt like everyone I met was - or wanted to be - my friend. And so it was that everyone in the 3rd grade loved me and I loved them. I was happy to live in this oblivious world. I never knew that kids could be mean or cruel; it never occurred to me to treat anyone that way and I was certainly never treated that way by anyone else.

On this particular day after school I made an announcement to my mom, "Mom, I am the most popular girl in the third grade!" I knew that it was true. Everyone wanted to sit by me, every boy wanted to chase me at recess, every boy who didn't take to chasing me came instead to my rescue. My wise mother who didn't want to squash my self-confidence, who knew that I would repeat this announcement if she agreed with me, who did not want others to laugh or treat me unkindly for saying something so brash, responded with this simple statement, "That's wonderful, Dana! Why don't we keep that a secret between you and me?"

A secret! A secret to be kept between me and my mom! I will never forget the joy that swelled in my little girl heart so much that I thought my chest would pop. So much joy because my mom agreed with me! She thought that I was the most popular girl in the third grade too! And if she thought it, I knew it had to be true. I went to school the next day and looked around at everyone, wanting so much to tell them what I knew...but it was a secret. So I smiled to myself and only said it in my head. I never said it aloud.

I've always felt that was the perfect way for my mom to quietly stand up for me. She stood up for me to keep anyone from standing up to this belief that continued on for several years (you know, until high school and hormones and cliques) and helped me to be the kind of friend and person that I am today. And I think I'm well-loved and pretty popular these days too!

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So that's it - that's the story! I just want to add that I am so thankful for a wise and wonderful Momma. I included that picture at the top because I hope that Max also is blessed by some of your wisdom, Mom. Love ya, lady!

Spring! and Easter in Spokane

Well, we have returned from Eastern Washington where we spent Max's first Easter Sunday. It wasn't what we had planned, but turned out to be a really fun day! Tyler got off of work early (he had to work on some "emergency" situation in Spokane on Easter Sunday and the two days that followed...kind of a bummer) unexpectedly and came to Riverfront Park where he found Max and I blowing some bubbles on the grass. We were so happy to see him! We walked the park, played on some playground toys, rode the carousel (really cool carousel built in I think 1909 - Max was lovin' it!), rode down a cool slide, watched the birds for a long time...Max was really tuckered out after all of that activity. It was fun to get away from our normal routine for a bit, even if Ty did have to work. We ate out enough that I won't want to eat out again for a long while. Great Easter overall! I gave my guys their easter baskets on Saturday night since we thought Ty would have to work all day Sunday and the camera was far away in the car and we were tired....so no pictures of that. So sad! Oh well...

I'll start off with some recent pictures from home first and then get to our Spokane trip.


A thoughtful pose...










Nope, not oreos...bona fide dirt!










I came in to check on him during a nap and found him in this position...booty to the sky!












First day in shorts! I love his little legs...I took a lot more pictures than this!













Riverfront Park in Spokane, Washington! Such a cool place! I'm so glad the weather was nice.

Maxwell's "Everest"

Even the greatest climbers need a little help sometimes...I'm sure of it! :)

All Geared Up!

Max trying on Dad's helmet while in his Sunday afternoon "lounge wear"

I LOVE this picture! It was a fluke that it came out this way. :)

Well, on Saturday a lot of cash was shelled out of our pockets...and filled the pockets of Cory & Jake and Silverdale Cyclery.

We bought my bike for the triathlon off of Craigslist from a really nice couple, Cory and Jake. We drove about 45 minutes and met them in a parking lot where I dashed gracefully around on my soon-to-be-acquired bike. Okay, what really happened was that I got on the bike and immediately started to look like a 5-year-old who just got her training wheels off. Hey, I haven't been on a bike in a LONG time and I was wearing flip-flops. :) Tyler, I'm sure a little embarassed, said, "She hasn't been on a bike in a long time" But, thankfully, the wife (whose bike it was) said that she was the same way when she first got the bike. Come to find out, they had purchased this bike while training for a triathlon too! And then we find out that she is from Hawai'i and he is from Littleton, CO! He and Tyler had a mutual friend, turns out. Then they tell us their inspiring story of the triathlon. She was very similar to me at the beginning of their training - even less experienced in some areas (hadn't ridden a bike in 12 years, couldn't swim a lap without panicking...). It was so nice to talk to someone who had been where I am now and then completed the triathlon without incident. Now she is training to run a half-marathon!

Later that evening we went and bought the rest of my cycle garb at a local bike shop, Silverdale Cyclery. Helmet, padded-bottom cycle shorts, cycle shirt, clipless pedals and shoes...we're ready to bike! Now we are looking for a bike trailer for Max to ride in while we're training. All that's left after that are some sunglasses for both me and Tyler (a MUST according to Eric Harr whose book on triathlon training we are reading :) ) as well as some good running shoes for me. This has been a pretty pricey endeavor, but these are things that we will use post-triathlon as well, just for our enjoyment. A good investment, I think.

Now the pressure is on! No backing out! And my pledge to Tyler, my super supportive, handsome, wonderful husband is that I will cease all (or most) of my whining from here on out. He's spent a lot of dough on this and has been a great trainer despite my restistance at times! I love you, Ty. You may have to remind me of this pledge when we are in the middle of our upcoming 45-minute runs and you won't let me stop even for a second. :)

I will now leave you with an inspiring quote from my husband's favorite 'motivational' web site, despair.com :)
"Ambition. The journey of a thousand miles sometimes ends very, very badly"

Troublemaker! :)

Pump up the volume!