Merry Christmas

Life just doesn't get any better than this. . . we enjoyed the holidays with our wonderful family and Max just had the best time ever! The festivities began on Christmas Eve with my family. It was great to see everyone. Being the only kiddo under 13 in the family, Max was the star of the show. We don't have too many pictures because he wouldn't sit still long enough. He was too busy running around the house exploring.

Max was so excited Christmas morning to see that Santa had indeed arrived. He didn't know what to play with first! The easel won out until he had every magnetic letter on the board and then he moved on to his new kitchen. He was so excited about the kitchen that we couldn't get him to open anything else! Once he finally opened his play food he was in heaven. I love the way he is storing his Spanish rice in the microwave. The rest of Christmas morning was spent in our new home enjoying the beautiful snow and each others company.

At lunch time we were off to the Dull's for more celebrating, and of course presents! Max always loves seeing his cousins and yesterday was no different. Max got tons of fun stuff. Including a baby that we are hoping will help him to prepare for the arrival of baby number two, although is anyone ever really prepared?

The festivities are still far from over. We have three more events planned for today and tomorrow. Unfortunatly all three of us are a bit under the weather, so we may have to play it by ear. We hope everyone had a wonderful holiday with friends and family!

Sugar Cookies

Max had such a fun night. We made sugar cookies - thanks to the Trader Joe's Decorate It Yourself kit. Max mixed everything together, or at least he turned on the Kitchen Aid. He cut the dough out. He loved using the little cookie cutters, I think his favorite was the snowman.

Even more fun than the cutting was the decorating! Max worked hard with Daddy to sprinkle each and every cookie perfectly. The holidays are just so much fun, especially when we get to share them with Max.

Big Brother To Be

Our big boy will be a big brother this spring. Baby #2 is due on May first and we are thrilled that our family is growing. Max is well aware that there is a baby in mommy's tummy. He kisses my belly button and says he loves the baby. Although when we ask if he is going to be a big brother he is quick to say no. We will have to work on that.

Things are going well with the pregnancy. We had the big ultrasound last week and everything looks great. We didn't find out the gender - we loved the surprise with Max and are looking forward to the surprise again.

As preparation for baby's arrival we had Max's big boy furniture delivered yesterday. He is so excited, he could have climbed up and down the ladder of his bunk bed all day long. We had to drag him out of his new room. I only hope that he will be this excited when it is time to sleep in his new bed.

Tis the Season

Nothing says Christmas like a nativity and a Christmas tree. With the chaos of moving that is about all we are putting out this year. Max has been so excited about the Christmas trees he is seeing all over the place. On Friday morning I explained that we would be getting our tree that day. Max was all excited. We hit the local tree stand and found a pretty cute tree if I do say so myself. Max was so proud to help daddy hold up our tree.




Once we got home it was off to bed for Max while I fought with the lights on the tree. He lit up in the morning when he came downstairs to see his very own 'tee'. Today we spent decorating the tree with some very special ornaments. The only ones Max cared about were the three choo-choo cars, I guess I shouldn't be surprised!

Here Comes Santa Claus

What a fun morning. We met up with Brian's siblings and four of our nieces and nephews at the Museum of Transportation. We started out in the Creation Station - Max had only one thing on his mind - the train table. I'm sure he will be thrilled when we set up his train table again at the new house. He played with the trains the entire time. A cute little girl came up and he even shared his trains. He handed two trains over to her without prompting - maybe he can learn to share. We tried to get him to wear a Santa hat and he wasn't to wild about it.

The Creation Station wasn't the only attraction. The big guy himself made an appearance - by trolley rather than sled but it was still pretty cute. We waited on the trolley to see Santa up close and Max was so excited. Then it was time for him to sit with Santa and of course he wasn't nearly as excited. He did pose for one picture with Santa - and mom of course.

Now we are gearing up for the big move tomorrow. Hard to believe, but after five years of talking about moving tomorrow is the day!

So Thankful!

We have so much to be thankful for - today and every day. Top on our list is our amazing little man and our wonderful families. We are lucky enough to have all of Brian's siblings in town so Max is getting lots of fun cousin time. In fact he took cousin's Andrew's crazy glasses and wouldn't take them off.

After a wonderful lunch with the Dull's we were off to my parent's house for a second dinner. Max enjoyed dinner but I think he enjoyed sitting on the couch watching TV with Nonna and Nonna. Notice how he is rubbing his chin - this is the new thing he does when he is thinking about something. He cracks us up with his little thinking chin rub move.

Yet another wonderful holiday with our wonderful family. We also closed on our new house yesterday. How did we get so lucky!?

Life with Nonna and Nonno

Our house is officially sold. We have been living with my parents for about three weeks and things couldn't be going any better - although we did have to outsource the cat to a neighbor after a pretty ugly cat fight our first night.

Max just loves all of the extra attention, and Brian and I must admit it is nice to have Nonna take care of baths and dressing Max in the mornings. I think Max is going to be in for a rude awakening when we move into the new house he no longer has four people devoted solely to him. He loves Nonna's little train, although he spends most of his time trying to make it derail.

He also loves snuggling on the couch and giving Piglet kisses. Today Max and I spent time making cookies for Nonno Mason's birthday. He loved pouring in all the ingredients - I think the eggs were his favorite.

All in all, things are going very well. We close on the new house the day before Thanksgiving and we plan on moving in that Saturday - Brian was willing to move on Friday, he might miss all the black Friday deals!

Happy Halloween!

I'm feeling a bit guilty this year. Last year I slaved over Max's costume for a month and he was the cutest little scarecrow ever. This year I didn't have time to make anything but luckily my sister in law came to the rescue with a cute little train engineers apron. Unfortunately Max wasn't too into wearing it. We visited a few friends and while Max wasn't too excited about wearing his costume he loved carrying around his pumpkin. This is a little funny because he still has no idea what candy is. His favorite prize was a purple straw with green Frankenstein heads.

Things have been crazy busy for us. We close on the sale of our house on the 9th - woo hoo! Then we close on the new house the 24th. Fingers crossed that all continues to go smoothly! I can't wait to celebrate the holidays in our new house.

Firehouse

I feel so behind on my blogging. Trying to sell one house and buy another is not easy work! We have been able to squeeze in a little bit of fun time along the way.

After Gymboree a couple weeks ago the Webster Groves fire department had an open house. Max, Brian and I headed over for some fun the trucks and some snacks. They had a little wooden fire that the kids could spray. Max was so excited standing in line and waiting for his turn. He just couldn't wait to get to the front. Once it was his turn he picked up the hose like a pro. As soon as the water turned on he wasn't so sure about it anymore.

He climbed on the fire truck and gave the gas mask a dirty look. He wasn't too sure about being in the big truck without mom and dad. He also wasn't so sure about posing for a picture with dad. Even though he looks a little reluctant, he really had a great time.

Bath Time

Max and I were playing outside tonight. It was time for bath so I told Max we had to go in. He was immediately a little man with a plan! He ran under the deck, where he knows momma can't get him. I would go around to the other side and he would run away. It took 15 minutes, and lots of laughing, before I finally caught him. He just gets more and more fun every day.

Monkey Man - Post Op

Today was a tough day. We are dog sitting for Max's Grandma and Grandpa. Somehow Monkey Man ended up in the crate with Callie today. Needless to say he wasn't a pretty sight when we got home this afternoon. Max cried about Monkey Man's boo-boos. He kissed each rip with tender loving care.

When daddy got home he worked his magic. He is quite a surgeon - maybe he missed his calling. Monkey Man is now, more or less, back together. You might notice that his right arm is now shorter than his left and he looks as if he had lipo on his inner thigh. There wasn't too much daddy could do with the ear situation. Max was happy that Monkey Man was available for his usual night time snuggles.

On a side note, Monkey Man II has been ordered and should be shipped shortly.

Apple Picking

We met up with Brian's sister and her family today for some apple picking fun. Before we headed out on the tractor ride to the orchard we met up with a few hungry goats. Max loved feeding the goats. He didn't quite get the idea that he needed to open his hand, but he had fun none the less.

He also loved trying out the big slide with daddy. Max wouldn't have loved to slide again and again, but daddy didn't like how hot the slide was.

Then it was time to pick some apples! We boarded the tractor and headed out to the orchard. Max was so cute walking around with his apple picking bag.

It did get a bit hot as you can see by Max's flushed little pink cheeks. Now I just need to figure out what I'm going to do with all of these apples!

Back to School

I guess it is obvious by my lack of posts that I am back at school. With almost two weeks under our belts, things are going smoothly. We are all back into our routine and things seem to be going well. Max and I did celebrate our last day of freedom with a trek to the zoo. So fun!

Max has started with his new therapist. Ms. Lori seems to be working out really well. So well, in fact that we have given up our weekly time with Ms. Gina. I actually teared up at the end of our last session. She was such a help to our family and she did such a great job with Max. Unfortunately, First Steps wouldn't make the needed changes to our therapy sessions so we had to switch. In the long run it will be great. Max seems to be thriving in the clinic setting.

Things have also been pretty crazy at home. The house will officially be on the market a week from today. We have filled out all the disclosures and signed all the necessary paperwork. It has been a long road getting things ready, but now that we are all set is was worth it. The dining room is once again a dining room, so Max's train table has been stashed in his room. Today he actually moved it away from the wall himself because he couldn't walk all the way around it. Hopefully soon his train table - as well as everything else - will have lots of space to spread out! Keep your fingers crossed for us!

Never Leave Home Without

a sippy cup, a snack cup, a rubber duck, the lighthouse book, and of course a rubber snake. Max cracks us up carrying all of his favorite things around the house. He just gets cuter every day!

Peaches,Yum!

We headed to Eckert's on Saturday morning to pick peaches. Max had a great time. From the tractor ride out he was in heaven. While he did like picking a few, he loved eating them! He had three before we got back from the field! He is a little peach eating machine!

We are already thinking of apple picking this fall - at least then it will be cooler!

Our Little Picasso

Gymboree has a summer special where you can add an extra class for just $10 a month, so Max has been going to art class in addition to his play class. I wasn't too sure how it would go since Max often likes to do his own thing, but he really loves it! Today we made teapots. He loves to use the paints and does a pretty good job.

At the end of class they read a story about the topic. Max gets out his little cushion and joins the group to hear Ms. Emily read the story. My only complaint about art class is that they want the kids to put glitter on everything! My minivan sparkles like you couldn't imagine.

Museum of Transportation

Since Brian worked all last weekend he took the day off today. This morning we headed off to the Museum of Transportation. I don't know which of my boys liked it more! We began at the Creation Station. Max thought that the magnetic trucks were pretty neat.

He also liked the cardboard ice cream truck. He found a key on another table and before he climbed into the truck he ran over and picked up the little blue key he found. he was a bit upset that he couldn't find a key hole to put it in.

The highlight for Max were the trains. He enjoyed the train ride - although mom and dad thought it was a bit weak. He also loved wandering around the train yard. Too bad it was so hot! Overall we had a great time and I'm sure we will return!

Grant's Farm

What a wonderful morning! We met another couple and their two kids to explore Grant's Farm today. We were there when they opened, so we didn't have to wait in line for the tram - which of course Max loved. There were tons of animals out today too, the tram came within a foot of a buffalo.

Of course of one of the highlights of the farm is always the goats. We tried the goats last year and it went okay. We didn't want to take Max inside, so we jsut fed through the fence. Last year Max also thought that the bottle was for him and not the goats. This year we went into the fenced area and at first Max thought it was pretty fun. With a little help from mom he was happy as could be feeding a cute little goat.

Then Max wanted to be a big boy and feed the goats by himself. This probably wasn't the best idea. These goats were aggressive. Before we knew it about 10 goats were attacking Max demading his milk. Poor guy got a bit overwhelemd and this is how our trek to the goat pen ended.

Max recovered pretty quickly from the trauma of the goat pen and we enjoyed the rest of our mornign at the farm. While he wasn't too wild about sitting in the stands for the elephant show, he did enjoy watching 'Bud' do his tricks from the sidelines. Overall it was a wonderful morning spent with great company. It really doesn't get any better than this.

Clear the Roads

Max is a man on the move! Last year one of Brian's coworkers passed on a motorized Jeep for Max. We finally think he is big enough, so we took the Jeep out for a spin tonight. At first he wasn't doing too well. He just wanted to press all of the buttons - he really liked putting the Jeep in reverse. Then he realized that by pressing the gas peddle he could make it go. Once he had that figured out, he kept trying to press it with his hands. After 20 mintues or so he finally figured out how to use his feet to work the gas and he was off! We chased him up and down the alley for almost an hour. It was too cute! I think his favorite part was trying to run down dad. I have a feeling the Jeep will be coming out again soon.

Library

Max and I have been making treks to the library every week this summer. While he isn't a fan of story hour - I swear there are like 25 kids there - he loves to play with the puzzles, color pictures, and pick out books.

He will sit in the rocker in his room and read and read and read. I think his favorite author is Donald Crews - what little boy wouldn't love someone that writes about trucks and trains? Uncle Tim came over for dinner tonight and Max wanted him to read all of his library books. I think Max takes after Momma on this one.

We also had a big appointment for Max this past week. On Tuesday we went to a neurologist to discuss Max's speech delay. I have been thinking for a while that it is something a bit more than just a typical speech delay and the doctor confirmed. He believes that Max has something called Apraxia of Speech. Basically he knows what he wants to say, but the message just isn't getting from his brain to his oral muscles the way that it should. It makes if very difficult for him to produce sounds and put sounds together. The doctor we met with was wonderful! He really took his time to get to know Max and help us piece together what is going on with him. He reassured us that we are doing everything right, but that Apraxia is not something that can be fixed over night. We are looking into changing some of Max's speech services - in fact we have an evaluation at the Center for Hearing and Speech on July 15th. We have no doubt that Max will get there - he will speak. It just might take a little extra help.

Summer Fun

I haven't posted in forever! Things have been really crazy around here. I'm taking 12 hours worth of credit this summer, we are looking into some changes on Max's therapy, and we are preparing to put the house on the market Sept 1st. Lots of changes in the Dull household.

Max continues to be his fun little self. He is loving all the time we are able to spend outside. He loves going for walks around the block, either on his bike or with his golf clubs. He usually makes it all the way around, but the other night he got a little too hot and made me carry him the rest of the way. We haven't ventured any farther than one block because he gets really, really heavy!

Since it has been getting really hot, we have also been spending some family time inside. We had 'doh' time at the kitchen table tonight. He had lots of fun making bananas with Daddy. He even pretended to feed the bananas to the pets. Sierra and Chewy weren't too sure. So fun. We really are lucky!

Flips

We made another road trip to Columbia this weekend. This time to celebrate our nieces fourth birthday. We headed to the town gymnastics center. We weren't too sure what to expect. Max had a great time! He loved jumping into the foam blocks. I was terrified he would end up head first and not be able to breath, but he did just fine.

He also practice climbing over and crawling under the balance beam. Max's favorite part was hanging from the bars. He was able to hang for a few seconds before falling to the mats while laughing like crazy. He kept standing up and asking us to list him for more and more. I think he just liked falling to the mats. It was too cute.