farming

Lately Max has been tagging along with Andrew to do some farm work. He has his own little set of coveralls and everything. The other day they were getting ready to take a load of beans to the grain terminal when I saw this scene out the kitchen window:

Max likes to go to the terminal because he gets to ride in the big truck, and once they get there he gets popcorn. It is nice that Max can get out of the house once in a while--Play Doh is fun and all, but the fresh (even if it is cold!) air is good for a little person.

january in pictures

January is over? What? I have a feeling that this year will fly by. If having a child makes time go fast, having two must make it go faster still. I am still so excited about taking a picture a day: it is such a simple way for me to document our lives, especially the little everyday things with Max and Cora.

I am in the process of working on my album for last year. I have all the pictures, and am currently putting the date on the back (in the future I think I will have it printed on the back at the developer) and slipping them in the album. I am leaving a space every page to write the details of the photos so someone can pick up the album and see what everything is without me having to explain everything.

I thought about doing a digital book, (Blurb is my favorite place for these now) but I would rather do an "old school" album with real photos and paper (maybe some paint and stitching!) rather than sitting in front of the computer forever. It was so satisfying to have that whole stack of 365 photos in my hand!

Maybe when I get the album all done I'll have a little show and tell. At the rate I'm going (time is a precious thing around here these days!) it may be next February!

monster drawing

Max draws the best monsters. Super cute. The other morning he was drawing our family as monsters. I assumed that included all of us, but when I asked him who was who I was a little surprised.

The little monster who I thought would be Cora was not her at all. Max informed me that was my camera. I guess he is so used to me carrying around the camera and not so used to Cora yet.

Too funny.

right now

Right now Max:

Loves playing Play Doh
Loves "tending" different things (aka "pretending")
Draws the best monsters
Thinks the baby monitor is a two-way radio
Doesn't like lunch or dinner, but adores snacks (it's all in how you word things!)


Right now Cora:

Likes to watch the little birds fly around her baby swing
Gives the cutest wrinkled nose, sideways smiles
Grunts like a little piglet
Loves to be held and cuddled
Loves her pacifier

Right now I:

Am eating peanut M&Ms. Why do they taste better when they are in Valentine colors?

if I had an extra hour (or ten)

I don't know if any of you reading like Martha Stewart, but I do. Not so much Martha herself, but all the ideas that her "empire" of workers come up with. I love it when her magazine shows up in my mailbox every month--everything in there is always so beautiful. Also, the monthly calendar in the front is good for a laugh. It tells you what Martha is doing every day. Yeah right, like Martha cleans out her own chicken coop.

Where was I going with this?

Oh yeah--one thing that Martha provides is an endless array of projects to choose from to keep one busy. I currently don't have any time for creative projects (does laundry count as a project?), but if I did I would make some "scrapboxes". So neat! Not really a new idea, but I love how these have been put together--very cool. Click here to watch the video.

details

I love the detail pictures. I love pictures that are super close. (Max has grown up with my camera inches from his face--Cora will probably suffer the same fate.)

eyelashes

fingers

Lovely.

cute conversations with Max

Today Max and I had a couple cute conversations. Please note: There are grammatical errors due to the fact that Max is two. They are on purpose, just so you know.

Conversation 1:

Max: "What she saying?" (Talking about Cora, who was squirming and grunting in my arms)

Me: "I don't know, what do you think she's saying?"

Max: "Perfect. She's saying you perfect Mama"

**I did not make this up, he really did say it, and my heart grew about three sizes.**

Conversation 2:

Me: "Max, lets go to the potty."

Max: "OK, put the hammer down!" (We were not hammering anything, but that is what we say when we need to hurry.)

Me: "Go Max!"

Max: (During the potty process) "We make a pretty good team."

Me: "Who does?"

Max: "Me and you Mommy!"

**I was sure Max probably got the "we make a pretty good team" phrase from Dora or some other TV show, but when I asked him about it he told me that he learned it from Papaw Max.**