27 October 2011

Children of the Corn

It's Halloween and Fall. We felt an immediate need to introduce Max to the most important holiday of the year. So we took him to Wheeler Farms' Halloween Festivities!


Pumpkins! Cute winter hats! Kids are just the most precious in the Fall.


Scary decorations...


I CAN'T LOOK! Please be a dream, please be a dream...


Far,s have tractors and stuff. What do you think about Max's interest in tractors these days?


Well...


Let's just say it is in the strong to ridiculously strong category.


Horsey!


Animals mostly just memorize Max to the point that he almost can't function.


He wasn't really feeling these corns. Did I mention he brought Monkey with him that day for protection? Recently Monks is going most places with us. And sometimes Froggy.


Corn. Caitlin "stole" some for decoration in our house.


Children of the Corn...scary indeed.

19 October 2011

Happy Birthday Sonya!

Ellen, don't be so depressed - its your daughter's birthday! That's right, Sonya was having a birthday and we were there to celebrate. This was due partly to the fact that the Henneman's decided to celebrate with some other friends up here in Evanston, making the commute to the party tooootally doable.The centerpiece of the party was this little critter - a pinata. Completely unbreakable this thing was. Even the adults struggled.Elmo. Not sure why I'm including this in this post...maybe because Max is obsessed with Elmo and everything is Elmo, Elmo, Elmo. Natalia takes a few worthy cracks at breaking this mother open, but to no avail. Birthday girl Sonya also took some solid wacks - but still no candy! Who would save the day?Maybe with a little daddy Scott assistance? Nope...still nothing.Super Max to the rescue!!! Hooray Super Max! Show that pinata whats up!Alright, I don't want to give the impression that max did it. In fact, I think it was the little girl bending over getting candy that finally cracked open the beast and spilled its sugary guts all over the lawn for the children to eat like zombies on human entrails. But whoever did it, Max reaped the benefits - so who cares? Here he is double fisting some suckers.Later Sonya opened some presents, including the bubble gun that we got her - which honestly she seemed pretty pumped about. So we feel good about that. It was great to see our friends Scott and Ellen again. Despite the fact that we live in the same city, the 45 minute commute can just seem so far and finding that perfect time for both families to get together is harder than you'd think. But we both need to try more.

Oh, and Happy Birthday Scott.

18 October 2011

Don't Mess With My Domain

Max has a new domain. Caitlin has created the perfect world for him right there in his very own bedroom. He has a new rug to drive cars and trains on, a huge storage facility for all his toys to keep them organized (party because Caitlin wants it, but Max also loves organization and order), a new chalk board to draw on and a big bed with LOTS of pillows. Man life is good.

Coming back to Evanston has been a great transition for Max. While he struggled a bit with me being gone an additional 3-4 hours a day than before, he has come to finally sleep. He sleeps all night in his crib and he takes naps in his crib for the first time since he was born. For Caitlin, it is a welcome change. Way to go Max! He's also eating more and with some more diversity. This kid is really growing up.

17 October 2011

The Sun Set

I realized that I never truly gave a proper good bye to Florida. The fact is, it was truly inspiration that we were led to Florida (it really was - re-read this post). Without Florida we would never have:
Healed from our wounds in the sunniest, most enjoyable environment for becoming whole again. While I was pissed for the first four months I lived in Florida because my shoulder injury kept me from enjoying it fully, I now realize that I could not have asked for a better place to have gotten better.Taken so many pictures of this beautiful woman by the ocean, a place that I love. I have always loved the ocean (I wanted to be a marine biologist for a good portion of my youth), and living next to it for 9 months was a gift.We would never have seen Max blossom in so many ways as he stood out on our balcony. He learned so much about the world from that balcony - cars, big trucks, fire trucks, airplanes, big bikes, sun, rain, plants, wind - you name it, he saw it from that balcony. It was his own special world that he loved for the entire time we lived there.I wouldn't have gone to Ultra Music Festival with my homie Mitch. It was awesome, we had a great time, and it made me appreciate my disappearing youth. I'm so glad I am unaware of my age.We would probably have never gone on the best Mulcock family vacation ever!!!I would not have gotten to see Max's expression when he saw dolphins, whales, walrus's, and sting rays for the first time. Its as if his mind had been blown 1000x in a millisecond. I didn't think he could appreciate it at such a young age, but he did. Even today he said walrus three times. We would never have learned how to fit in in the jet setting world of South Beach. Also, I may not have worked so hard to have that body...but since I had to show it off so often, it was worth maintaining the figure.And obviously and most importantly, we would not have met such amazing friends and people we'll love and miss forever. I'm not going to post pictures of everyone, but you know who you are. And Max. Max would never have benefited as he did from knowing these boys. Wow, I think this is the main reason we had to move to Florida...so Max could meet these amazing kids. I don't think Amber and Britt really know how much we loved having Max association with such wonderful, kind, energetic and special kids. I miss watching him play with them.
Florida, we miss you.
- love, Jeff

12 October 2011

Any 2 Boobs Will Do

The day after wedding:Sunday. We were all exhausted from two days of wedding partying. Caitlin and Shell thought it would be a fantastic idea to throw a big breakfast for the fam before everyone (mostly me) started taking off on planes to head home. We had cinnamon rolls and just talked about our adventures from the week and how crazy it was that Mike was married.It was good times with no glitz and glamour, just raw Mulcock fun.And delicious cinnamon rolls. While were sitting their talking, the doorbell rang. Mom went to get it and found a bag sitting on the doorstep. It was unmarked, so she assumed it was for Bree and Mike. Bree and Mike opened it - only to find enveloped with all of our names on them. We each opened our envelopes and found letters. So we started trying to spell something.There were lots of letters, so we stumbled at first. But something was starting to emerge. Eventually, we got this cryptic message! Yes, Any 2 Boobs indeed. We weren't sure what that was supposed to mean, but we assumed it was positive. Still unsure, we tried again and came up with this:And that's when it became evident: CAITLIN IS PREGNANT WITH BABY #2! She is due in April and was super, duper sick the whole trip - but she played it cool and no one suspected too much. We all huddled up with our letters and took the following family picture - or VIDEO! If you want a freakin' awesome surprise - watch this video now!!!

That's right! SHELL IS PREGNANT TOO AND DUE ONLY A FEW DAYS BEFORE CAITLIN! Shell would like to point out that she looks lame in this video because she felt awkward when no one freaked out immediately, but everyone was clearly dumbfounded, in shock, and full of disbelief. As proof that it had shock value, here is Pam with tears:
See - everyone was psyched.
An awesome moment that I was glad we all got to share together as a family without anyone missing! Congrats Caitlin and Shell (and Devin and Jeff for having awesome seed).

11 October 2011

I Ain't Clownin' - This Party Rocked

The next day was Mike and Bree's big reception back in Boise. Since they weren't planning on taking a honeymoon right after their nuptials, they decided to take the extra day to chill and get ready for the reception of the century! Max and Caitlin showed up basically looking amazing.The theme of the reception was carnival and their colors were carnival pink, purple and blue. It was mad awesome - they even had the best balloon maker I have ever seen in my life.Corey asked for a Goofy and he got it!Britt, on the other hand, asked for a penis - and he is not the kind of balloon maker to turn a woman down...so he made her one. She wouldn't let go of it for the rest of the night. Britt - always obsessed with male genitalia.Let's move from anatomy to treats! The cutest duck cup cakes ever to honor Mike and his obsession with ducks. Whats that? You don't know about his obsession with ducks? Well, then you don't know Mike a lick.Cracker jacks and other pop corn assortments.They had various delicious soda beverages to enjoy - Devin opted for the root beer to remember his own reception that involved root beer from the bottle.Big D doesn't pass up root brew ever.And Max does not turn down treats - EVER.One thing I loved about Mike's reception was the excuse it gave us all to catch up with old friends from our youth - like the Phelps.Some of our friends even have kids - big kids. It blows my mind how we are all aging.We paused at several moments amongst friends to photo with our relatives that we love.Mike and best bud Tom.Shell - feelin' up the plants. Looking at this picture, I'm surprised she didn't ask for the same balloon that Britt got.Hey its the Iversons!Shell, Pam and Stacey. Peeps.And other friends, like Jana!And E-Wood, bonding with Devin in ways they used to bond when roommates - through caressesTack on Ben and Nikki and bam you have yourself a party there sir.
In summary, I'm glad Mike got married because:
A) He brought awesome Bree into our family and we love her.
B) He gave us an excuse to party and hang out with people we love.
C) He scored me another trip to Boise in 2011. YES!