Pictures from May

Mason finally showed interest in playing with dirt again!  I obviously didn't expect this when we went out to play in the backyard that day, which is why his clothes look way too nice for this activity. :/  But there's no way I was going to make him change his clothes and risk him losing interest.

He asked me to fill up that big blue bucket with water, and then he proceeded to dump dirt in to make muddy water.  He ended up pretty messy, but mostly on his clothes and feet.  I could have easily just changed his clothes and hosed off his feet.  But in true clean kid form, he *insisted* I give him a full on bath immediately following this activity.

Which brings us to bathtime.  Only as of recently have these two started taking baths together.  Up until then, Mason was against it.  I don't know why.  Except that he does have a thing about personal space.  Now Mason LOVES bathtime with Max and gets sad when it's over.  He even helps pour water over Max (a little too much).

I think it's SO cute seeing them in the tub together!

I really like this picture.  I think it's seeing Max's naked baby body in a big room with lots of toys and seeing how little he is.  And realizing he won't be this little for very long.

Many Family Nights these days are visiting parks on evenings when Daddy needs a break from studying.  We have  a really nice time as a family at parks.

We call this the stink bug.  Mason used to always sleep stink bug style too.  I think it is so cute.

Is there anything better than a sleeping baby?!

Max is always happy when he wakes up.  I love it.  It's like the second he opens his eyes he shoots up and thinks, "I am so incredibly excited to see you!  This is the best day EVER!"

Mason and Max love to slide together over and over.

I just love my boys.

I told Mason to smile.  Marcos told Mason to stick out his tongue.  Who do you think he listened to??

Finally got smiles. :)

They are starting to have so much fun together.  Mason's fun is pretty rough, but I'm always so surprised at how tough Max is.  They both climbed into this big tub and thought it was hilarious.  This picture was a split second before they both leaned forward and tipped over onto their faces.  They still thought it was pretty funny. :)

Walking

Max is walking!  I'm not sure how I feel about my baby walking already.  Max will be 10 months on Friday.  It's a little sad that he's growing up so fast, but I'm happy that he will be able to defend himself from Mason pretty soon.  And they'll be able to play together better.  That makes me happy. :)

And yes, the background theme music is Jake and the Never Land Pirates.  Haha.  We had to put it on Netflix for Mason so he wouldn't interfere with the video.  Speaking of Mason, and not to take anything away from Max, but I thought it would be fun to post the video of Mason taking his first steps, too.  Mason was 11 months.  I actually don't think I ever posted the video of Mason walking....oh well, better late than never.  And it's kinda cute to see them both at around the same age.

9 Months

Max recently turned 9 months old!  Ya know, 2 weeks ago.  His 9 month well baby checkup turned out to be a sick baby check up.  (Fever + crying all night = ear infection.)  In this case he had a double ear infection.  Luckily I knew the signs and got him hopped up on antibiotics and ibuprofen quickly and he started to feel better.  I always know when my kids have ear infections when they cry all night.  My boys always sleep through the night unless something is wrong.  (Thank you, Babywise, I owe you my life.)

Max was 20 pounds 3 ounces at his appointment a couple of weeks ago.  Babycenter says that puts him between the 25th and 50th percentile.  He's growing just like Mason did, really fast in the beginning with higher percentiles, then leveling out to average.  I think he is absolutely perfect.

Max is such a happy baby with oodles of personality.  He's just got this sparkle in his eyes, and people stop to tell me how adorable he is everywhere we go.

Max crawls everywhere and pulls himself up on everything.  No matter what I'm doing....the dishes, brushing my teeth, getting something from the fridge...you can always count on him to be be right there crawling to standing up my pant legs.  Basically, any time I move I'm knocking him over.  This is new to me, because Mason didn't truly crawl until he was around 10 months and then started walking at 11 months.  He kind of bypassed the traditional crawling stage.  Max is always moving and constantly grabbing everything and has a ton of energy.

For the past week I've been like, Why is Max doing this funny cry?  Why does he scream whenever I put him down?  Why does he keep waking up during his naps?  Why isn't he interested in eating when I know he's not sick?  Why has he been spitting up so much when, thanks to solid food, we have been past that phase?

Teething.  Yep, all signs of teething.  He got his first 2 bottom teeth in at the same time.  And he was so miserable, I'm like...Wait--do I have a newborn?  Sheesh.  It was bad.  And of course I don't really know what's going on until AFTER the fact and I actually see the teeth.  Duh.  Then I'm like, Poor baby!  Sorry I've been so confused and disgruntled with your behavior!  Mason got his teeth really late.  He turned 1 and still didn't have any teeth.  Then he'd get like 4 of them in at a time.  It was crazy.  For almost everything, Mason was way more difficult than Max, but this time Mason wins.  I don't remember any real problems with Mason and teething.

Max's favorite things to eat right now are yogurt, bananas, applesauce, string cheese, and Cheerios.  To get him to eat avocados or anything else not on this list, I have to mix in yogurt with it or he won't eat it.  In general he's a good eater.  He prefers to feed himself and not be spoonfed.  Which is the exact opposite of my 3 year old. Lol.

Happy 9 months 2 weeks Max!  We are so blessed to have your sweetness in our family.

Pictures with Santa

Poor Mason.  He cries every single year sitting on Santa's lap at our Ward Christmas party.  This year we couldn't even get him on Santa's lap.  Maybe next year?  You can tell by Marcos' face that we (along with about 30 people in line behind us) were cracking up.  It sounds sad, but I promise if you were there, you'd be laughing too. :)  My poor, sweet, sensitive little man.

Max on the other hand just loves to be held, and pretty much doesn't care who is doing the holding.  "You want this big red bearded stranger to hold me?  Sure, Mom.  Whatevs."

Buddies

Marcos and Mason are such good friends.  I have so many pictures of them having fun together that I decided to do a post with some of them.  Mason lights up when Marcos enters the room.  To him Dada=FUN!  The only person who can match and exceed Mason's energy level is Marcos, and they have all sorts of adventures together!

They slide together

They examine spots on the carpet together

They play with the hose together

They wrestle together

They slide again together

They play doctor together

They get haircuts from Grandpa Louie together

They drive the car together (just pulling into the garage :)

They play at the bounce house place together

At the temple together

They basically just love being together!

Max Anthony

I realize I haven't even done a proper post adding this little guy to our family blog...and now he's already 4 months old!  (Can you say, second child?!)  Sorry Max.  Being the second born myself, I completely understand. :)

Max was born July 24, 2012 at 5:50pm.  He was 7lbs 8oz and 19.5 inches long.  Mason was an emergency c-section, and for various reasons I had to plan another c-section with Max.  Unfortunately, I went into labor 2 days before I was scheduled to have my c-section.  The good part?  I know he was fully ready to get outta there and I wasn't pulling him out beforehand.  The bad part?  I had to go through hours of unnecessary labor and pain when I knew he had to come out via c-section anyway.  (I had eaten breakfast that morning not knowing I was in the beginning stages of labor, and had to wait 8 hours after eating until they could do the c-section for safety reasons.)  The hours of waiting was the worst part.  My labor pains were bearable, especially when I was sitting up and not on my back.  But I just had to breathe through it all and wait.  And wait.

Finally they prepped me for everything and I don't really enjoy talking about the rest as it gives me anxiety just thinking about labor stuff/surgery while awake/etc.  But long story short....they let Marcos watch the c-section because he is a medical student, the baby came out with no complications, and I survived it all.  I'm not a fan of c-sections, but this one was at least WAAAAAY better than the emergency one I had with Mason where I was put under completely and didn't get to see him come out and was worried about his welfare.  I never had cause to worry about Max during labor/delivery, and I got to see him after he came out.  I felt truly blessed.

Mason has loved Max since day 1.  He kisses him and nuzzles his head.  His only problem is that sometimes he shows too much "love." :)  When Mason first visited with Max in the hospital, he would look at him with wide eyes and smile and "oooo" and "awww" over him.  Mason seemed to know from the start that this baby was different from other babies he'd encountered--that this baby was OURS.

Mason's least favorite thing is when Max cries, and he will often show Max toys and say gently, "It's okay, baby Max."  Mason even shares his toys with him.  (For now) :)

At first I was a little sad I wasn't having a girl, but I honestly could not be happier than I am with my boys.  They are AWESOME.

Welcome to the fun, Max.  We are so happy to have you!

Wild Animal Park June 2011

Earlier this summer while visiting my family, we went to the Wild Animal Park.
They've since renamed it and made lots of upgrades to the place, but to me, it will always be the Wild Animal Park!

The tram ride is SO awesome!
They made it a lot nicer and you can see the animals so much better while you're out on safari!

Family picture in front of the elephants.  We have to tickle Mason to make him smile for pictures. :)

Mason looooved the petting zoo!
He walked right up to all the big animals to pet them and wasn't even scared.
We were pleasantly surprised.

Classic picture on the rhino!

Mason's most favorite thing by far, though, was the lorikeet exhibit.  It's a large, caged enclosure you walk into that's filled with colorful lorikeets that land on you.  You can buy little cups of nectar (for a pretty penny of course) and the birds land on you as they drink the nectar.  Mason really likes birds and was excited that they landed on him even though he seems stunned in the video.  We just laughed. :) I think he was afraid that if he moved the bird would fly away off of him.  And he wasn't thrilled about the flapping by his face at the end.  But he didn't want to leave, it was so much fun.  P.S. When these birds poop on you, it's clear poop.  So it's not AS gross as normal....and they have very nice washing stations upon exiting complete with soap and paper towels. :)

More petting zoo.  He wasn't even afraid to walk up to these full size deer all by himself.

Marcos and I in front of the beautiful landscape and big hot air balloon.
  We had such a great time!

Mason Turns 2!

Last week Mason turned 2!  I cannot believe I have a 2 year old!  Mason is such a good kid.  Pretty goofy too I must say (but I'm not surprised considering his parents). ;)

3 Funny Things About Mason:

• He does a great fake laugh.  If you say, "Mason, laugh!"  He'll laugh "HA-HA-HA" in forced but real way that we happen to find hilarious.
• He walks like an old man.  If you say, "Mason, walk like an old man!"  He'll hunch his entire body forward at the waist and take careful tiny steps forward.  (He started doing this walk all on his own, because he thought it was funny.  We simply labeled it.)
• He will smell your feet.  If you say, "Mason, smell your feet!"  He will put nose to toes and make dramatic sniffing sounds.  He will smell anyone's feet you tell him to and he thinks it's hilarious.  Marcos gets credit (or blame?) for teaching him this.

These are just some of the very important things one must teach their child.  Mason makes me laugh everyday.

We don't have much room for entertaining in our apartment, but we have a great little park in our complex where I held Mason's birthday party.  It was perfect!  Mason and his friends loved playing on the playground and blowing the bubbles I brought.  Here are some pictures I snapped of our wonderful party guests.  

Marcos and his cousin Annette

Chiara, Courtney, and baby Eva

Kathy, Ira, Colin, and baby Asher

The Michie Family

Miles and Andy

Thanks for coming everyone!  We had so much fun with you!

5 Years!!!

Back where it all began...

In June, Marcos and I celebrated our 5 YEAR anniversary!!!  That is so crazy to me!  I guess time flies when you're having fun, and being married to Marcos is definitely fun.

We took a trip down to visit my family in San Diego.  Special thanks to my Mom for watching Mason so we could go out and celebrate!  First we went to the San Diego temple, where we got married 5 short years ago.  We did sealings, and it was so incredibly special and a perfect way to celebrate our anniversary!

But the fun wasn't over yet.  Then we went to an amazing Churrascaria for dinner.  It's a very nice Brazilian steakhouse in downtown San Diego called Rei Do Gado.  You pay a pretty penny and then, on top of a salad buffet, you get ALL YOU CAN EAT MEAT that they bring to your table on skewers like this:

Mmmm....

They carve off a juicy piece onto your plate.  They have so many different kinds of meat they bring around to your table until you tell them you're full!  It's such an experience.  We enjoyed trying all the different meats.  We LOVED the bacon-wrapped filet mignon!  I'm not even a big meat person, but I ate so much and had so much fun!  Best meat I've ever had.

Our other favorite of the night were the sweet crab legs!  Marcos also had fun talking with the waiters and waitresses in Portuguese (he went to Brazil on his mission).  It was really fun for him to converse with them and ask them questions about the food and such.  I smiled and pretended to know what they were saying, like the white girl I am. :)

Something he remembered liking from his mission were chicken hearts.  These are chicken hearts.  Marcos asked the waiter (in Portuguese of course) if they had any chicken hearts he could try.  The waiter said it'd be a few minutes to cook them, but he'd bring some out.  I don't shy away from trying new food, so I chewed one.  Notice I said CHEWED and not ATE.  I just couldn't swallow it.  It didn't taste BAD.....it just tasted...WEIRD.  Marcos liked them, though.

This is us before we started stuffing our faces with amazingly juicy and flavorful meat.

And this is us after we're so full we're practically sweating meat juice.  Gross, I know, but if you've ever eaten meat until you're bursting at the seams, you know exactly what I mean.  Marcos ate a TON of meat "to get his money's worth."  He was so full he didn't eat for 2 days after.  Now THAT'S a good meal!

And an exceptional anniversary. :)