Field Trip to the Farm

Today was Max's last field trip for this year's preschool.  We went to the farm up at the local high school.  The high schools here in Harford County have what they call a Magnet Program.  Which means, each school has a specialty.  The high school nearest our house has an agriculture program, so they have their own farm.  I was actually suprised at how much they had at the school.  Two sheep, two alpacas, two bunnies, two cows...no it's not Noah's Ark...they do have three horses and some chicks.  We learned a lot on the trip and got to pet the animals and feel some of their fur that had just been sheared off. 

This was the biggest horse I had ever seen.  I think his head was bigger than some of the kids.

I love this picture of Max with Ernie Alpaca.  He wouldn't go any closer to it, especially since the teacher that lead our tour said they spit.  I think it's hilarious that Ernie is looking over Max's shoulder posing. 

 This boy LOVES tractors!!!

 Welcome to the farm Good Shepherd Lutheran!

The Easter Story...by a 4 year old

Here's Max telling us all the Easter Story using the eggs they used in preschool this year.

Happy Easter!

The Easter Bunny came!  He brought some great loot!

Sissy was pleased as punch with her new squeezy toys...although she doesn't like when they squirt her. Hee hee!

 They loved looking through every thing they got..I think Allie has her mouth fully of jelly beans.

This was the first attempt at a picture of them in their Sunday Best, but the sun was too bright for brother's eyes and he wouldn't sit still.

Much better after church and after the egg hunt at Grammies!

Indiana Visit and an update on Allie

A month ago we went to Indiana to visit our favorite people!  I didn't get many pictures because, of course, my camera was full (usually it's because my battery is dead).  Here are a couple that did seem to capture quite a bit of all that we did that week.

Allie and Max on the airplane:

 Ella and Allie with their Valentines from Grammie and Pop:

 Allie pushing her baby (Ella) on the tractor:

OK, this needs a little explanation.  My Grandma recently moved to a independent living facility and has her own beautiful apartment.  This is her bed.  She's 90 and she gets into this bed.  I couldn't believe how tall the bed was and had Max stand next to it as a reference.  It just seemed so funny to me.  I think I would have a hard time getting in that bed.

Here's a picture of my adorable Grandma Helen.  She is such a beautiful, kind lady and I'm so glad my kids know her.  Allie wasn't so sure about the new surroundings so she wouldn't participate, but Max loves to get in on the action.

Pop's Daycare...they are all playing so nice!  We couldn't believe he could get all three of them to sit nicely at the table and not fight with each other.

Tyler's Tender is a cute train themed restaurant that has a working train inside.  The train brought our food (Allie pointed at the train and so sadly whispered "Fry Fries" as it went by her with someone elses food.)  She wasn't so thrilled with the train ride. 

Also, I just realized I didn't update on how Allie is doing with her walking.  Infants and Toddlers came out and said she had no confidence in her feet and ankles.  She has hyper mobility in her joints and her ankle bone nearly touches the ground when she's standing.  She has small feet for her size and they still have that baby puffiness to them.  So she's just scared that her feet and ankles are not going to hold her up.  They recommended that we buy insoles for her shoes and see how that helps.  They told us it wouldn't be an immediate fix, but it would possibly give her the confidence she needed to let go.  She's been cruising the furniture since about October, but just would never let go.  Well we ordered the inserts, they came very quick and a week and two days later, she was walking!  Unbelievable!  We were in Indiana and Poppa Legs kept working with her.  He finally got her to stand by herself in the middle of the room.  Then all the sudden she just stood by herself.  The night before we were to come back home she stood up in the middle of the room (for I think the 2nd or 3rd time).  I looked at my mom and asked if she thought she would be walking by the end of the week.  Grammie no sooner said "I don't think so" and Allie took 5 steps across the room to throw herself on my bed that was on the floor!  Funny all this happened while in her feety jammies, not in her new Stride Rites or her insoles that Grammie got her.  Such a stinker!

Quickie update

Allie is still NOT walking.  This is a sore spot with all of us.  It is so frustrating and upsetting.  We can't figure out why she just won't let go of anything.  Sure, she walks around the furniture and she will push things around, she just won't let go.  She will even walk holding one of our fingers, so we are not holding her up so much, but she just won't let go.  It think all of us have had dreams that she is walking, but no luck.  Infants and Toddlers is coming in February to evaluate her, hopefully we will be able to call and cancel that appointment.  She will pee pee on the potty a couple times a day, if we are home and she has the chance.  This all got started because she stood up in the tub and told daddy she had to go, he put her on the potty and she went.  So we are working on it.  She has been BINK FREE for two days (hopefully Grammy won't give in today).  This is amazing because I feel like she is getting all her teeth at once, but it needed to happen.  Her face is really rashy all around her mouth and we are guessing it is because of that bink.
Max has been doing really well.  He is just a really funny kid, still, always and hopefully forever will be.  There are definitely moments with him.  For instance, he HATES dinner and fights us about it nearly every night.  The problem is, if we just let him not eat, he gets up in the middle of the night crying that his tummy hurts.  Oh the joys of parenting!  He got a Kidz Bop CD for Christmas and knows every word to every song.  He remembers everything and tells us all the time he is an elephant.  He loves school and next year will be going three days, all day.  I think he will strive in that environment and do great things. 

We went to the aquarium yesterday.  I was pointing out different fish to Max and tell him their names and asking him if he could find them in the tanks.  When we were nearly through, he said "Mommy, how do you know about all these fish?"  I hated to tell him their pictures and their names were right above their tanks.  I think all of our favorite was seeing Calypso the three finned sea turtle and of course the dolphin show.

Merry Christmas.

These were the treats that were left for Santa, Annie and Elfie (our two elfs that came to visit through the month of December). 

You can barely see it, but there is also a key there.  See, we have no fireplace, but we have an ornament that has this little poem attached:

Our stockings hang upon a wall. 

We have no fireplace at all!

You see the problem is quite clear.

Santa, how will you get in here?

We heard a legend.  Is it true?

Of magic only you can do.

We'll leave out this special key,

and mark it "Santa" so you can see. 

Your magic makes the key fit right,

so you can get inside that night.

Thank you Santa, here's our key.

The milk and cookies are on me!

Well, they must have been Nice!  Santa came and left quite the stash of loot!  This is the scene when the kidlets arose!

Here's Allie's

  and Max's

They were pretty happy with all their loot.  It took Momma at least 30 minutes to get all the packaging off, but it was worth it!

Visiting the man in the red suit

Well with Birthday and Christmas celebrations in abundance we nearly missed going to see Santa. Allie probably would have been happier if we did. She did not like Santa at all. Max has always loved Santa so he was excited. The mall here has a great display for kids. There is a giant mailbox and when you put your letter in snow puffs out, there is a naughty/ nice meter to let you know what Santa thinks, and it snows every few minutes. So neat!

Max could have sat and talked with Santa forever.  Momma was anxious because of the long line waiting and watching, but Santa didn't seem to mind.  I asked Max what he told Santa he wanted and he said he wanted "all the toys in the book".  Santa asked, "Even the girl toys?"  "No, Silly Santa"

This was a much happier Allie after she pouted through getting her picture taken!  She kept taking her hand off the candy cane and it looked like she was smoking it.  It was hilarious, everytime I tried to get her picture, she would put her hand back up.

Celebrating with the Chicagoans

Well, once Grammie and Pop and Auntie and Ella got here we of course had more celebrating to do. This is where it gets a little crazy because there are birthday and Christmas celebrations happening all at once.  We tried to keep the birthday special by doing that one day and Christmas a different day, but at this age, I'm not sure it really even mattered.

Somehow I missed getting a picture of the adorable kitchen set Grammie and Pop got, but all the kids had fun playing with it and digging through the bucket of food. 
It was so fun seeing the three grandkids play together.  Especially the little girls.  They just love each other so much and it was so fun to see the "girlfriends" get excited to see each other.  Every time one of them got up from their nap or up in the morning they wanted to go see where the other was.  It was so funny.

There was never a dull moment!  Grammie and Max even managed to make a gingerbread house!



More Birthday Celebration

Isn't it fun how when you're 4 your birthday doesn't seem to end.  For Max it was like a month of Birthdays.  Except, when it's over, it's over and then we have a 4 year old that wants toys every day until next December. 

On his birthday we went to dinner at Brooms Blooms.  For friends and family that aren't local, this is a farm that makes and sells their own ice cream and they also have a lunch and dinner menu.  We love everything there.  They also have a train display at Christmas time so it was just the perfect spot for the birthday boy's dinner. 

Everytime anyone asked Max what he was doing for his birthday he would tell them he was going bowling.  We aren't quite sure where he got this idea from, but Grammie and Pop felt they couldn't deny the kid bowling.  So that's just what we did.  A couple of his friends came with us and we had a great time.

Four Year Old!

I can't believe it!  We have a 4 year old!  For the past couple weeks he has really been focused on being a "big boy".  As excited as I am to see him growing up and experiencing new things, I really just want him to stop.  I want him to stay little and always be my best bud! 

He is such a great big brother and loves Allie so much and she loves him. She gets so excited when she hears him coming.  I think sometimes she will jump off the changing table while I'm changing her because she's so excited he's coming.  She also gets really upset if he doesn't come, sometimes I have to call him in to come talk to her just so she'll stop crying.  She loves being around him.  I hope that lasts, although I'm not that naive.  I just want them to be friends and watch out for each other. 

We are going out to dinner tonight to Brooms Blooms.  Max loves their icecream and they have a train display set up right now for Christmas, so perfect for a 4 year olds birthday!  Tomorrow we are going bowling and his friend Landon is coming.  He is so excited he can hardly stand it!  He has told everyone he is going tomorrow for his birthday! 

He did get to open a few small things this morning before preschool.  He was really very excited.  OH!  And this 4 year old loves Mater!  (Check out the slippers)

Happy Birthday Buddy!  We love you!