Silly excitment.

***Warning: This blogs contains pictures of messy, food covered child.***

I have been know to be "that mom." The one that jumped up and down screeching at the top of my lungs at the grocery store when I sighted his first little tooth popping through. The one that makes a fool of herself more often than not, because of excitement over my little Man. So last night I had another moment. A moment of pride as I watched my son take one more step toward becoming a little person. You may think this is insignificant, but to me it's a big deal. Does that mean I need to get more of a life? Let me know.

I normally give Max a utensil with his dinner and try to encourage him to use it. Any attempt at me feeding my very independent child leads to him hitting the spoon or fork away and food spraying everywhere. He HAS to feed himself or a fit of epic proportion happens. So I give him the spoon or fork and he uses it as a catapult. He would have been a great addition to a castle seizing team back in the middle ages because he has some range when catapulting his food. Anyway last night he actually used it as was intended!! I was excited, cheered, jumped up and down, and basically made a fool of myself over something that may be so insignificant to some. Oh and of course I grabbed the camera so here is my mashed sweet potato covered boy.

If pictures allowed you to hear what was happening at this moment, you would hear me cheering. He was totally like "No big deal Mom."

Messy Max

Concentration.

Hmmmm... Try again.

Giving the right hand a try.

The dreary and the dreamy.

The past couple days have been full of tears, tiredness, slobber, snot, with a little cranky mixed in. We have three more teeth that are rearing their little ugly heads through Max's red swollen gums on top of a cold. So I have one adorable little sick boy who is more than a little miserable. I will happy when teeth number 9, 10, and 11 are all the way through and he is all the back to his smiley little self!

To counteract the crankiness, I took Max outside because he loves being out there and I wanted to snap some pictures of Max enjoying the fall. It definitely worked! He had a great time until Hayden dog knocked him over with her wild ways. After that we had to come back in and warm up and wipe away all the snot.

Cheese.

My cute little owl!

This looks fun!

"What's this?" which is Max's new favorite phrase. It is pretty much all he says.

This reminds me of when he was small and squishy and still a baby!

Such a sweet little grin! With more teeth coming soon!

He was so proud of himself!

Petting Hayden Dog and then she knocked him over and he cried!

We love October!

This month has been a blast so far and we like when we have fun, because the days go by quickly! With each day that passes we are one closer to seeing GB!

Vandalizing.

What a weekend. What a fabulous weekend. My family spent it celebrating the best university ever at homecoming. There is so much pride and tradition that I could not be prouder to be a Vandal. Plus the university has a special place in my heart, because it is where GB and I met (and fell in love) as well as my parents and his. Who knows, maybe one day Max will meet his future wife there. Just the sound of the fight song brings goosebumps to my skin and watching Max clap along brings a smile to my face.

Homecoming parade!!

Walking through the most beautiful campus around!

Getting ready to cheer on the Vandals with some of Mommy's best friends and bridesmaids!

Snoozing during the game because he was so worn out!

Wooohoooooo!

College was so much more than a degree to me. I mbet some of the most amazing people and had great experiences. I shared tears, laughter, love, smiles, cheers, and so much more. I will never forget what U of I gave me and I couldn't be prouder of being a Vandal.

I-D-A-H-O! Idaho, Idaho, GO GO GO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hello??

There have been so much growing and learning in our home recently and it is really fun to watch. The latest is the telephone. Max thinks everything can be a telephone. He places the object behind his head instead of on his ear and then repeats his version hello over and over. It kinda sounds like yo, yo, yo, yo. Then he passes the phone onto any person who is close so they can talk on it as well. This kid cracks me up. Like I said before 13 months has really been my favorite age.





All I say is ring, ring, ring and he runs to pick it up!



Changes.

I am officially employed! Max and I survived my first day of work yesterday, but oh boy did my heart melt when I walked in and he ran to me yelling "Momma" and then patted my back when I picked him up. I think that it will be a great fit for our family to have me subbing, but it makes me sad to be away from my little guy! When I was sitting in the classroom, I started daydreaming about having a class of my own and I am excited for the future.

Other changes in our life are...

• Increase of babbling and words. For the past two days Max's new favorite word is "Yeah." This is normally said at the top of his lungs. His favorite thing to do is stand below the grape bowl and stand there pointing and screaming YEAH until someone gives him a grape. I am interested to see what his next favorite word will be.
• Fall. It is hard to believe that less three weeks ago we were in the 80s. I am loving that the leaves are changing and the weather is changing. Plus I am wearing my Halloween socks so that must mean Fall is here.
• Wheels on the Bus. Max has started mimicking so much more than he used to. He does the motions for the Wheels on the Bus going round and round as well as the wiper on the bus going swish swish swish. My kid is just like his dad so social. We go to Books & Babies at the library every week and he has to go up to every kid and "talk" to them, which is so precious to watch.

I think 13 months is my favorite age so far!
Here is to the changes in life and embracing them with open arms and a smile on your face!

Life happens!

I was having a bitter moment/pity party for myself earlier because I was thinking of everything GB was missing and how much I was missing him. And then I realized that wasn't getting me anywhere. Life is passing by whether I am on board or not so why not enjoy. In the words of a sweet friend, "Life is too short to be anything, but happy."

So this is why I am happy. I have a husband who I am so proud of and who I can't imagine life without. I am mommy to the sweetest little boy around! I swear he gets cuter by the day and is learning so much. It is amazing to watch.

Ok.. enough of the sap...

•  I am happy because today is National Coffee Day and coffee is my best friend. I found a new coffee stand that I adore.  
• There is sunshine in my life and laughter in parks.
•  My favorite TV shows are back on air which makes my days go by quicker.
• I am one size away from my prepregnancy pants and less than ten pounds, which means I have lost over 50 pounds. Go me!
•  My son is currently taking a 2+ hr nap. That definitely makes me happy.
• Fall means soup and I do love a good bowl of soup.
• Fall means winter comes soon and winter means Christmas and Christmas means watching White Christmas over and over again. Heaven.
• I bought Max's Halloween costume and I LOVE it! He is going to be adorable!
• Hot tub. Enough said.
• I have Hawaii to dream about.
• My friends are the best in the world and I thank God that I have them in my life. Near and far, they rock.

Life is too short to be anything, but happy so happiness here were come!

Fall means glow in the dark skeleton jammies!

Swinging!



Such a cutie!

He is getting so big!

Family takes on a new meaning.

When I married my husband, I new my family was changing. No longer did family mean mom and dad, but it meant husband soon after it meant Max. However, what I did not realize is that when I married GB I also married into a completely different family. An Army family. I know that sounds so cliche, but it is true. I have been away from GB for months now, but I have also been away from my Army family and that has been hard.

I never expected to meet such amazing people or to form such bonds with them, but now they have impacted my life so much I can't imagine who I would be without them. This past month Max and I have been visiting with some of my Army family and was fabulous to not only have something to look forward to, but to reunited with such amazing people. The only downfall is that it made me miss the rest of my "Alaska Family" that I didn't get to see more and GB of course!

Max and I traveled to Reno and San Francisco to visit with Miss L! I could not tell you how happy I was to see her smiling face at the airport.

Checking out Alcatraz!

We had issues getting with all three of us looking so this is as close as we came. SF is in the background!

I told Lauren the only thing I had to do in SF is eat sour dough!

Checking out the beach!

Max loved the zoo!! <3

Such a silly one!

L and I enjoyed a night on the town in Reno!

Then after a week home and a birthday celebration for a certain adorable one year old, we packed up again and headed to Kansas City. Max made it to his 7th and 8th state. That kid is a great little traveler! Being with J and her little miss who was born 5 hours before Max was fabulous and I can't wait to move in with them while we figure out housing in Ak! The little ones played and argued and were adorable! J and I talked and just picked up where we left off. I can't even explain how comforting and happy it was to be with them!

And unfortunately the photo uploader quit working for me so no picture from the Kansas City part of our adventure. Someday soon!!