Snow Right

I love the winter. Snow, cold, warm clothes...you name it. Sure it eventually gets old, but through February I am all about it. But we hadn't had any snow until just recently. So the first day it really snowed I wanted to get Max outside.


It was the first time he would put on gloves and it made all the difference. Max had a love affair with snow that night. I must admit, it was one of those perfect, quiet, magical nights in a snowfall.


He wasn't too sure footed at first, but he quickly figured snow out.


Mama and Max, loving an adventure.


Max figured out snowballs within minutes and wanted to get my head over and over with snow. He thought he was so funny getting dad cold.


I got back at him through tickles.





Our neighborhood was made for snow. Tree lined streets, mansions made of brick, parks. Even though Max's hands were frozen and snot was running all over his face, we couldn't get him to come in. Eventually we had to bribe him with cookies, to which he succumbed.


Finally, nothing better than a warm bath after an hour in the snow. If you look closely you will see snot running up from his nose to his forehead.

I'm Stackin'

Mittoo continues on his string of getting gifts as they roll in from the holidays and his birthday. Of recent addition was this set of big blocks and magnetic pipes/balls. If he looks a little possessed in this photo, please recognize that it is cause he is OBSESSED, not possessed. He loves these things and can't stop connecting them. He even likes to make letters out of them, like A, X, N and L. You can't blame a kid for loving his toys.It has gotten to the point that he doesn't really like to leave the house because he never can get enough toy time. Between his trampoline, blocks, race cars, trains, magnets, big bikes and puzzles...the kid could care less if he sees the light of day.

Partners in Birthday Crime

An image like this can only imply one thing - A Birthday Party!!


The theme? Dinosaur Train party! For Max that could only mean pure happiness because this meant there was cake....shaped like a train...with candy....and dinosaurs all over it. Holy Heaven on Earth.


Man of the hour - William. Max and William were born within a week of each other and live a block from each other...they are buds in the way that new two year olds are. It means they don't scream "no" and rip each others eyes out. That means they like each other alot!


Max, entertained by balloons.


And making faces at his dad...a rare moment that he even looks at the camera when I have it.


Now, with a cake train as fabulous as this one, put at a level children can reach it, it was amazing to watch the kids and their restraint slowly unravel. First they stared and played with the plastic dinosaurs.


Then Max went in just to sample some candy...just a bit won't hurt?


Then licorice pieces started to disappear...


Alpha, while stronger than the boys in her restraint, was no match for the colorful goodness before her.


Jane. Precious beyond all things imaginable.


Peeps, talking shop and pretending they don't want to devour the cake as much as the kids do. But they do.


Proud mom Lauren sits with William for the big blow out! Wait, not diaper blow out but candle blow out.


Birthday joy perfection captured in this picture.


The kiddos were amazingly willing to be rounded up for some pics before the final cutting started.


Trust me, this would only last so long.


Then the big man of the hour got his first piece and took a bite! Success! Cake was amazing as it looked!


Right Max? Oh wait, sorry, didn't mean to bug you while you work on one of the three pieces you devoured.


Dinosaurs are pretty gangsta, and so are tattoos.


Mess with me and I'll get all TriTops in your grill SUCKA!


Even the sweetest of kids look more gangsta with a tattoo.

Happy Birthday Big Dub! You are a great friend!

Turning Two Ain't All That Shabby

New Years Eve...Max's birthday. While that will be at times a curse, right now it's great. It means he gets a week or more of presents and we get to throw a party every year and celebrate instead of watching a countdown on TV.


Caitlin pulled out the stops considering we decided to do this last minute. My contribution? Getting Domino's pizzas.


We may or may not have covered our apartment with multicolored paper chains. Also, we may or may not have recycled them from the ward Christmas party.


Proof...New Years Eve.


Max loves cupcakes, so we put two candles in a yummy sprinkle cupcake and sang! With some coaxing he blew out the candles...and maybe a little support from dad.


This about where Max went from having a pretty tough day and hating any mention of his birthday to being pretty amped.


I think it was the sugar from two or more cupcakes.


It wasn't just us - Max had friends! Like Parker!


And the Watt's fam in da house!


And Alpha!


Just when you thought he couldn't get any more presents, he got more.


A wooden train set Mama??? I love YOU!


We kicked it with the homies for several hours, talking football like dudes do. Okay, I kind of tried to steer the conversation whenever possible to techno music.


The ladies doin what the do.

Happy Bday Max. Can't believe yo butt is two!

Will the Gifting Never End?

When we got home from Utah Max was pretty excited to see his crib, his room, his toys, his life. But it didn't take more than about 15 seconds for him to realize that there were presents under the tree. Those presents had been there all December and he hadn't touched them...but now that he was converted and a professional present opener...he couldn't wait.
So he went crazy on his birthday presents! Dada gave him a bunch of new toys for his bath since I give him a bath every night. He got wind up fishies, a basketball hoop, and some bath crayons. Nailed it.Mama got him the most radical gift, which was a Little People car station. He couldn't believe his eyes when he saw it. I believe he exclaimed, "Oh my goodness!" when he saw it.I had that sucker set up in a flash and he was at it for a solid 40 minutes. Just putting the cars up and watching them go down, over and over.More exploration of the cool garage features.And one happy boy as he plays with his new bath toys. Now he says, "SLAM DUNK" every time he's in the bath and puts the balls in.

But if you can believe this, there were even more presents to come with his birthday party the next day! More on his week of partying up next.

You Better Work iPad Blogging Tool or Max Will Knock You Out!

This is just a test. My blogging app on my iPad has been useless since ios5 came along, rendering me ineffective at blogging. The fix just came through, so here goes nothing.

Just know, BlogPress, Max is coming after you if this doesn't work. Don't mess with a kid with a dinosaur tattoo.


More on this cuteness later.

The Motherload

I recognize that there will be a time when Max can't wait for Christmas morning and will wake up at some ridiculous hour so he can go open presents. But that time is not yet. For now, he probably would have preferred to sleep until 9:30 or 10pm. But there were older kids, so we got Max up at 7. He was a bit confused and angry at first, but that didn't last long.First, we had to show him something special:A Christmas tree with a ton of presents under it. That was the first step in waking the kid up.The second step was getting him to open his first present - a Little People race car thingy. That woke him right up and from that point on, Christmas was ON.He wanted to play with everything the second he got it - no waiting!Dada also got the presents of his dreams in his stocking - gigantic Mountain Dews. Santa Clause knows me so well, its scary.For other kids, Mountain Dew isnt' everything. Some people actually want ice skates and candy and stuff.Other kids got tepees, allowing Max to go in and have a blast with cousin Will.But the true cowboy was Sheriff Benjamin, ready to rope some steer and tame the west.But it wasn't just about cars. Max also connected with his inner Super Why thanks to some great gifts from Nana and Papa. SUPER WHY stuffy and an amazing cape so Max could go on adventures with Super Why every day!Buddy Will got a Superman cape as well. Kid of steel.So cute.Our two superheroes proceeded to play, play, play and play some more with all their toys and gifts.Our unborn son, Gus, got a future stocking as well. I'm so glad Caitlin's family helped me convince her that this was the right name for our next child.Yes, it was an awesome Christmas. With Max having a birthday and Christmas right next to each other, he really racked up on presents and is now a full convert to both.