Wreath on the Cheap

I have been wanting to make a yarn wreath forever. My parents are in town right now (which means lots of Max and grandparents time), so I thought I would see how things went! I followed this tutorial and it was actually really easy. It was pretty time consuming at first, but once you get going it's not bad at all. Especially when you consider that these babies are going for $30-60 on etsy, and I made mine for right around $5. Well, plus the few cents for Advil to ease the ache in my arm from winding yarn...ha!

Although the colors aren't my absolute favorite, I think it went pretty well for my first try. I will definitely make more in the future, and I think it would be fun to add different embellishments. My friend Erin made a cute one with snowflakes on it, but I can't for the life of me find it on her blog. Did I make it up or am I going crazy? Either is a very strong possibility...

Reading Time

Just doing a little light reading during bath time. Makes this librarian mom's heart proud...even if he's probably just trying to figure out how to eat it!

Sunday Snapshot

Hangin' out with Grumps...

Birthday Greatness

I have been trying to figure out what to do with my birthday money, because that's how I work. I can't stop thinking about it until every penny is spent. Maybe that's why Mike won't tell me where our savings account is (I kid, I kid).

Well, I am happy to report that I have now succeeded. I have spent every last penny. It's like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders. My pocket has stopped burning. I am free!

So what did I get? This pretty baby:

It's a Silhouette SD. I've seen them on some of my favorite blogs for awhile now, so when I saw a promotion on eighteen25 yesterday, I was sold. They totally got me. The SSD is similar to a Cricut, but without the individual cartridges. It will probably take me forever to learn how to use it, but I am ready for the challenge. Let the crafting begin!

Baby Talk

I am not one for baby talk, but I do have a few phrases that I find myself saying to Max alot- "can you say" and "yes he does." As in, "Can you say you love your daddy?" or "He loves to play, yes he does." While perhaps slightly goofy, I think this is fairly normal. But now. Oh now. I have reached a whole new level. I noticed it over Christmas, and it is not okay. Because now, I find myself just throwing these phrases into everyday conversation. When people ask me about Max (even when he's not with me), I find myself saying, "Oh he's so sweet, yes he is." Seriously. On more than one occasion. Even when the conversation is not about him. Oh my. I have even been know to ask people, "Can you say I want the tall skinny vanilla latte?" Okay, so I made that one up, but it's so close to the truth it's scary.

Then, last week, I realized I really am losing my mind. I have a habit of kissing Max on the head every time I pick him up, and I guess it has affected me more than I thought. Last week as I was cleaning I picked up a chair. And when I picked it up, what do you think I did? That's right. I kissed it then moved it to the other side of the room. Without even batting an eye. Awesome.

So...if you see me out and about you may want to steer clear. I may talk to you like a baby. Or kiss you. I'm not sure which would be worse.

Four Months

Max you are 4 months old! That seems like such a small amount of time, but at the same time it seems like you have been around here forever. I guess that's just the way it goes. We are having a blast getting to know you, and you are so fun. This month you have really started to love your daddy, and you laugh at him pretty much constantly.

Here are a few more things about your 4th month:

-You weigh 15 pounds 3 ounces.

-You are 26 inches long.

-You wear mostly 3 month and 3-6 month clothes.

-You usually take 3 or 4 naps a day. You stay up for about 2 hours at a time during the day, but you are really starting to stretch that out in the evening.

-You go to sleep between 9 and 9:30 most nights, and you usually wake up between 7 and 8 in the morning.

-You have started to pay much closer attention to your toys, but your favorite toy is a burp cloth. You will play with one and chew on it all day long.

-You are a drool machine! No teeth yet, but they can't be that far off!

And finally...a few 4 month photos. Okay...maybe more than a few. I guess I'm being a little indecisive tonight! The lighting was apparently horrible today when I took these, but that's okay. He's still cute.

Snow Day!

There's still snow on the ground here in Mississippi, but Monday was our official "Snow Day' around here. I have pretty much decided that I love snow as long as I am looking at it through the window, but we had to get Max's picture on his first snow day! Since he can't really sit up by himself yet, we pretty much just bundled him up, went outside and took a picture, and brought him back in. Ha! I'm sure any Snow Day 2012 we have will look much different!

Doesn't that face just say, "I am so excited about my first snow day that I can hardly stand it?"

Yes. It looks like we are standing in front of a white sheet. But it's snow. I promise.

There's a little smile.

Christmas Fashion

Thanks to his MiMi, a notorious baby clothing buyer, Max had lots of fun Christmas outfits this year. I'm pretty sure he only wore Christmas clothes and pajamas the entire month of December.Yes, I realize that some of the hats are a bit ridiculous. But you know I had to get pictures anyway!

Christmas 2010

We spent our first Christmas as a family of three at home in Mississippi. Since Christmas fell on a weekend and Mike had to be at church on Sunday, it just made sense to stay here. We didn't do much, since Max had absolutely no idea what was going on. Like I said all week, all the kid needs is a burp cloth to chew on and he's happy. We headed out after church on Sunday, and then the real holiday happenings began. Max did so well on the trip to Texas. Well...except for this:


This really was one of the only times he cried, though, and we only had to stop twice on the nine hour drive. That's a lot less than we stopped when I was pregnant with him, I'll tell you that.

We spent the week with our families, and the time went way too fast! Here are a few pictures from our week:

At our house on Christmas Day

With Mimi looking at what Santa brought him. Clearly super excited. Or scared.

No wait. Maybe this is scared.

Hailey and Zachry (my brother and sister) wearing our Christmas crowns. Because we're cool and British like that.

Mike and Me

We all got Sing-a-ma-jigs for Christmas. Weird little things. But funny.

My dad in his spot. The doctor tried to make him stay in the hospital during Christmas, but luckily he got to come home (he had surgery earlier in December to remove the cancer in his pelvic bone).

Looking at his new horse, Max (from the movie Tangled).

Whew! What a busy day!

With Aunt Amy at Grandpa's House

With Grandpa

Ready for Baylor's bowl game. Max pretty much called how that one was going to go when he wouldn't stop spitting up on this outfit.

With my cousin's kids. Second cousins?

This is my favorite.

No. This is my favorite.

Max with his good friends, Anderson, Caleb, and Eli. Anderson's brother EJ couldn't come to our McDonough/Vick reunion. These adorable boys belong to our friends Jessica and Erin.

Just because I can't stop laughing at this picture...