Family Pics

We just got back from a trip to Utah where my wonderful and talented sister-in-law took some family pics of us. She did our wedding too and although I don't think I am photogenic, I think she does an awesome job of making even me appear that way! If you are ever in the area and want a family pic done where you can look gorgeous and like you have it all together, she can make it happen! Seriously, though, she is amazing and all this was captured even though Maddox was crabby and we only had a few minutes.

Here is the link for more of the pics!

http://www.jeanabirdphotographyblog.com/

It's a...

Girl!!! Yep, it really is. I was hoping for a boy so Maddox would have a brother to play with but now he will have a sister to beat up/tease and hopefully he will be more of a protector big brother at some point. Anyway, I am feeling a little more excited now. I have been very nervous about this baby and scared. Maddox was such a hard baby for me. From two months on he would never eat or drink anything. He still struggles with this but is just now starting to eat and drink on his own after we have had therapists work with him. I am terrified of getting another baby that hates eating and sleeping. All scared thoughts aside, though, I am still excited to have another baby; I just have more reservations this time around because I know how hard it has been for me. I do love motherhood, but I don't think that it has come that naturally for me. It has been very difficult and my biggest trial yet...and I think my next biggest trial is probably on the way, to be delivered right before Christmas! :) Or I should say, when I am being positive and not scared, that it is a blessing because babies are also blessings and Maddox has been a blessing. Funny that our biggest blessings often come from our biggest trials.

Family Vacations

My sister came out to visit for a whole month and brought her one year old son, Jett. Their first bath together Jett came out crying and Maddox had a blast. Maddox is more aggressive, but Jett knows how to hold his own...biting!

Playing in the flour...this is a classic Jett face. A huge grin and mouth open wide with drool coming out!

Cool dude! Eating mac and cheese!
One day Maddox was obsessed with wearing this bucket on his head.
After eating a pb & j, Maddox looked a bit like Joker.
Swimming at the pool just down the road. It was Maddox's first time in a pool. He LOVED it!
Valissa took Maddox and Jett to the playground one day and got pooped on by about four birds. Maddox loves to chase birds. She happened to follow a little too close behind.
We went to Mammoth Caves and took a tour call the New Cave Entrance. We descended about 14 flights of stairs through narrow cave passages until we got to the main cave floor. Brian was in charge of Maddox the whole way and they had a blast together.
Until Maddox fell asleep.
We also went up to King's Island in Cincinnati, OH. Maddox and Jett shared a stroller the first day and then second day we got them separate ones...you can see why. Jett bit Maddox several times and Maddox hit Jett several times.
Swimming at the pool at King's Island. Maddox loved this and kept walking into deeper and deeper water until it was over his head. Then I would grab him and he would get mad that I grabbed him. Seriously, I was just saving your life!
We also visited a nearby reservoir that had a park. Maddox loved this slide. It was really steep and he went really fast but he must have done it a dozen times!
Then we went swimming to cool off. Maddox just dove right in, clothes and all. He wanted to get to those birds! He eventually settled for throwing sand into the water.
My dad's family came to visit and we all met in Wilmington, OH.
Here is a pic of my uncle Gary, Aunt Debbie, and Dad.
Before we left, we stopped at this school and played ladder ball, a really fun game that you can get a Walmart really cheap. Here is Maddox saying bye to my dad.
Then Valissa and I were off to Malone, NY with the boys for a week. It was soooo cold up there, but nice and relaxing, except for when Jett fell down the stairs and Maddox chased the cats all over the place pulling their tails.

Karate Kid

Maddox has turned into a little Karate Kid. This is my nice way of saying he is a bully. He hits, kicks, throws, and head butts anyone and anything. He is the bully in nursery and I think they keep Jeff in there just to have someone be able to keep an extra eye on him. Today I had to put him in time out five times for pushing some kid over, kicking him in the rear when he was bending over and having him face plant and then there was hitting him several times on the head with his own head and his fists. Actual fists! I have no idea where this came from or how to stop it! Time out has no effect on him. The minute he is done with it, he goes right back to doing what he was doing, only he will look at me and see if I am watching. If I am, he will shake he head back and forth, like he is saying no and then do it anyway! I have to admit I have laughed several times, but it is not funny when he seriously is beating up on other people's kids! Any suggestions? The only ideas Jeff and I have had so far is time out and to do it back to him, but obviously we probably won't do the latter.

Another issue we have had come up lately is nose picking. Seriously, he is only 18 months old! He has no concept of picking right now. He is just fascinated with his nostrils. He found them because we are working with a speech therapist to help him talk and mainy learn how to eat better and chew, so in order to help him understand and remember to use his mouth, we taught him to touch him mouth and say a word. So when we are saying bird, we will touch our own mouth and say "ba, ba, bird" Then he will repeat it touching his own mouth. Only now instead of touching his mouth, he sticks his finger up his nose and says it. And it is not just a pick and flick. It is a very obvious I am digging for brain matter kind of pick. He has given himself two bloodly noses from sticking it so far up there! And then when I try to take it out he gets mad at me and tries to head butt me or hit my hand away OR he laughs and thinks it is a game. I am writing this smiling throughout all of it, and hopefully he will out grow most of it, but boy is he all boy.

I hope that everyone is having a great time this summer! We wish we could visit everyone, although I am sure not everyone would want us to visit right now with Maddox in this phase. So, with no promises or ideas as to how long this will last, to all of you who we will visit soon, consider this my warning to teach your children self-defense and to provide Kleenex for boogers. If he is set on the fact that he going to pick, perhaps I can at least teach him wear to wipe.