4 Great Years...

Yesterday was our 4 year anniversary. We celebrated on Saturday. It was so nice to go out together, just the two of us. We haven't done that in a long time and it was a nice reminder of how much we really enjoy doing things just by ourselves. I am so lucky to have Ryan and I can honestly say that he is my best friend. We love our friends and we love our families and we are blessed to live so close to many of them, but if we didn't, it's comforting to know that we like being together enough that we could keep one another entertained and happy. Ryan popped in our wedding video before we went to church yesterday. It was nice to watch it and remember that very special and freezing day. Max has only enhanced our relationship as will our other little one who will be joining us in a few short months. Oh, what was life like before all this bliss?

29...the countdown begins

Flowers and my new hair iron (girls...it's a step up from the CHI!!)My husband knows how to gift me.

I turned 29 yesterday. The countdown to 30 has begun. Somehow I'm not as fearful of it as I once was. All the 30 and 30+ people that I know are simply fabulous and all have great lives. A special thank you to all who gifted, called, emailed, text...Mom, thanks for the annual birthday jingle (although I expect something a little more creative next year). A very special thank you goes to my darling husband who always makes the day so special for me. Thanks for attempting to get my "to do" list done and for the beautiful flowers and gift. Thanks for babysitting Max so I could go shopping with the ladies. Another thank you to my always wonderful sister, Jolea, and her husband for waiting around for over an hour to eat at the Cheesecake Factory with us and to Mark and Jeff, who I can't imagine not having in my life. You all made 29 a very special day for me.

Who needs a brush and paint when you have a chip and BBQ sauce? Max takes painting to a whole new level at the Cheesecake Factory. Thank you Max for being so good and patient at my birthday dinner.

Apples to Apples

Enjoying a night time "apple" -- aka, plum

Okay--it's obvious to most that Max favors the Loveless gene pool. He looks like his Daddy, except for those BLUE eyes. Those are mine. But there is no mistaking a few characteristics that are distinctly from his Momma--one of those being his love for fruit. You might remember a certain craving of mine a few months back--Costco nectarines. Apparently my love for all things citrus has found it's way to Max's taste buds. First it was apples. He loved them but couldn't really chew them very well, so the nectarines were a viable substitute. Sadly, the season for them passed but not to fear--Momma dear found that Costco was now carrying purple plums. Again, Max seemed satisfied. Now that those are out of season, we've gone back to the Granny Smith and he has since gotten his eye teeth and all is well. To Max--they are all apples. Really, he calls them all "apples". In fact, most of the time he just helps himself to the fridge and finds one himself. He usually wants an apple right before bed as well. On Halloween, after a few pieces of candy, he asked for an apple. Isn't it strange how such an affinity for fruit can bring a parent such joy and pride? I recall feeling the same way when we discovered that he loved steamed broccoli. It makes me feel like I'm doing my part to end society's health crisis. Now, if I just wanted fruit over Halloween candy....

PJ's, apples, and a smile

Baby it's Cold Outside

While we haven't experienced a major dumping of the white stuff yet, I've realized that most days have been just too cold to let a child (who's already sporting a dripping nose) have his way in the great outdoors. I knew this day was coming and I have been trying to think of activities that he would enjoy and that would distract his one track mind from Finding Nemo (seriously, he would watch it on repeat all day). The first thing he says when he wakes up in the morning is "Nemo" and it's the last thing he says before going to bed. I'm fairly certain it occupies most of his thoughts during the day and a few days ago he started speaking "whale" so I knew I needed an intervention and quick. I remembered that I had picked up some cheap finger paints a few months back and stored them for just this purpose. I rolled out the poster paper, stripped him down to his diaper, and let the boy explore his artistic side. He loved it. Lately all he wants to do other than watch Nemo is color, so this was heaven for a little boy who loves to color and loves to get dirty. With plenty of indoor days ahead of us, I'm desperate for some more activity ideas to do with an almost 2 year old...Please comment...before I start speaking "whale".

It started out so innocent

Ooh, this colors your body too!

Body-Finger painting...by Max.

Not to worry. It's nothing a little bath time won't fix!

Look-Alikes

We had another ultrasound yesterday to get a better picture of the heart and vessels. All looks perfect and it was so fun to see a much larger-more baby-than skeleton picture of him. We got a pretty good look at his face and it sure does look a lot like Max's ultrasound did and even of Max as a newborn. He has the same cheeks and chin. So we are thinking he is going to look something an aweful lot like this...

Hard to believe that that is now this...

Shrunken Brain, Shrunken Calf Muscles

So as some of you may recall, a few 6 months ago I was 10 miles into my training for a 1/2 marathon. Interruption: Pregnancy. Granted it was a planned and much wanted pregnancy. What wasn't wanted nor anticipated was the 3 months of awful morning, afternoon, and night sickness that thrust it's ugliness upon my once very in shape self. Soon my runner's high was replaced by a new comfort--my sofa. From July to September, there I lay...day after day, just counting down the hours til my next dose of anti-nausea meds could be inhaled and until my husband came home to relieve me of my parental duties (which were less than stellar due to the fatigue that plagued my world). Gone were the dreams of putting all that training to the test in Provo Canyon, and soon enough, gone was the definition in my calves and the longevity in my lung capacity. Why is it that "In-Shape" takes so long to achieve while "Out-of-Shape" takes what seems like mere minutes to take over? It really is one of life's great injustices.Finally, a light...mid September brought a welcome surprise. The nausea dissipated, the couch looked uninviting, and I had a strange energy that seemed somewhat like a ghost from Pre-Pregnancy Past. That energy wanted to redo, repaint, redecorate, refinish everything in my house. I think my energy frightened Ryan and our bank account so he came up with a way to redirect my energy. He signed me up for a 5K at his work. Granted I had not run for a good 4 months now, but I laced up my runners, threw on my orange Xango shirt, loaded my 30 lb kid into the jogger and for some reason had no reservations about running a 5K at 5 1/2 mos. pregnant, with no training for months, all while pushing my brute of an almost 2 year old. Did I mention that while you are pregnant, your brain shrinks like 3%? It's true...because Dr. Oz said so on Oprah; it's the only logical explanation for my uncharacteristically calm state while displaying such irrational behavior. Oh, yes, I could have walked the mile trot, but that's not what Ryan signed me up for and 3.2 miles seemed like a walk in the park after my training just months ago. Ryan was in it to win it, so he went on up ahead, way ahead. I ran with some 50 year old lady from Sweden who runs marathons. We only walked about 1/4 of a mile during the entire race and finished in just over 30 minutes. Thanks to my shrunken brain, I didn't give any forethought to the way I would feel for the next week. Let's just say that things hurt in places I didn't even know I had. But when it's all said and done...I can always tell this new little one coming to us "Look what Mommy did when she was pregnant with you!" Which will be followed by Ryan saying "Mommy was missing a portion of her brain capacity; she's lucky she didn't leave there on a stretcher."

Halloween Review

I have to admit that I'm feeling like a bad mom. All my friends blogs all said they didn't really take their kids Trick or Treating because they didn't need the candy. Some even alluded to the fact that their little ones had never had a piece or tasted their first piece that day. My kid on the other hand figured the whole thing out after two cars at the Ward Trunk or Treat. By Halloween I think he knew exactly what was coming. Friday afternoon we went to Ryan's work and let our little fireman trick or treat on just his floor (my version of toning the candy down).

Max loves visiting Daddy at work, which isn't that often, so it was really a "treat".
He loves Daddy's desk...so what's it going to be...a Fireman or an Accountant?

Afterwards, Max and I popped a squat on the lawn to check out the loot. In my defense, it wasn't much. Mainly smarties and suckers.

The Muslim, the Witch, and the Fireman

As dusk drew near Ryan took Max to just a few of the neighbors and a quick stop to the Uncles house before we headed out to Jolea's for one incredible Halloween Bash. Our good neighbors, Matt and Krista, even came out to join in the fun. I have to say that Jolea really outdid herself this year. The Beatty house was the scariest one on the block. The food was awesome and the kids really enjoyed the games. It was a long day, but well worth the memories and watching Max enjoy the magic of the season.

BOO HOO...No ZOO

I am determined to do holidays differently this year and in years to come, meaning, I want to pick a few things for each holiday, load up my family, forget that the laundry isn't done and there are dishes in the sink, and go out and enjoy whatever it is we want to do. Last year we went to Gardner Village to see all the witches. I believe that I enjoyed it more than Ryan and Max who was pretty little still. He had no idea what we were looking at.

This year he has definitely picked up on Halloween and it's symbols (except he has no idea about the candy thing yet). Every time we pass a pumpkin or spooky yard scene he pulls out his "spooky voice" and says "Ha-yo-een!" He even knows where the holiday isles in WalMart and Costco are. Now that Christmas is starting to take over the stores, he's a little confused as to why the spookies are being replaced by large trees with twinkles on them and a why Jesus is suddenly showing up every where wearing a red suit and hat (yes, he thinks Santa is Jesus...at least it's not the other way around.)

So at the beginning of October we decided that we would just go to a few holiday events that Max might enjoy. We took advantage of CornBelly's $0.93 night and took Max to that. He loved the slides and running around in the big fields, but a lot of the things were still to big for him. The other event we wanted to take him to was BOO at the ZOO held only today. You dress up your little one in their costume and take them the the Zoo for trick or treating and fun. We haven't taken Max to the Zoo yet, and where he is so into animals right now, we thought it would be a great morning outing today. Apparently so did everyone else. As we were nearing the Zoo at about 10:30am and we saw cars waiting and parking as far back as a mile from the Zoo and we just looked at each other and thought...no way. As we drove by the Zoo and realized that the line of cars extended the other way for a mile as well and we saw the hoards of strollers, little monsters, and frazzled parents; we were pretty sure Max wouldn't be getting a close up of any thing at the Zoo besides someone else's backside. So we canned the Zoo idea for this weekend and headed on up to Park City and did some shopping.

Max had no idea what was going on so he didn't mind. We will tap off the Halloween season this week with a ward party on Tuesday and a big bash Jolea and I are planning for Friday. I'm sure it won't take our little fireman long to figure out the real TREAT that comes from Halloween.

Favorite Weekend Moments

Friday we went to Tooele and went out to this pumpkin patch.

Ryan finds his perfect pumpkin

Three pumpkins for 3 bumpkins

Max loved running down the dirt paths and all through the pumpkins...he kept saying "Halloween!"

Another favorite moment...Max has recently discovered a love for coloring (which we are grateful for since he used to just eat the crayons). Wonder where he got that from? (Actually, I've never seen him color and I thought it was just adorable)

IT'S A....

BOY! I will be out numbered. We are so excited. I think I am the only one who guessed we are having a boy. Ryan is dreaming of fishing trips, BYU season tickets again, and soccer games. I am really excited that Max will have a little brother and that they will be so close.Aunt Jolea watched Max for us while we went in. We stopped at a little bakery on the way home and picked up some little hints to tell them what we are adding to the family!
I think Sarah wanted us to have a girl, but she should be used to being out numbered by now!

We couldn't be happier. The little guy was giving the tech a bit of some trouble; he didn't want to get off his tummy, so we will be having another ultrasound next month to get a better picture of some of the organs. All looks well and healthy!

Happy Birthday Mom!

A very happy birthday shout out to my mother, and Max's Nana...I love you mom!

I think I need to watch more football...

Sometimes I find myself wondering how it is that I have come to know so much more about the game of football yet Ryan still knows nothing about horses or dancing (with me, not in general). Then he does things like clean the bathroom, dishes, laundry, dirty little boy bum--all in one day as he often does--and I think...I should be watching a lot more football with him. Then he surprises me with my favorite shake while he and Max are out grabbing some groceries for me. I think I will never catch up.

Craving...Addicted

I cannot get enough of the nectarines from Costco. I've been through a dozen already. Just bought another dozen tonight. I love Costco for many reasons, but this is my latest addiction. I suppose I could have worse cravings. I craved citrus fruit throughout my pregnancy with Max too. With him it was oranges.

Good Max, Bad Max

Good Max...

loves to play outside. He loves to go out back and pick strawberries out of the garden patch. He loves to watch his little shows in the morning and sing Twinkle, Twinkle, Blue's Clues, Wiggles songs, the Sunbeam song, Baa Baa Black Sheep, and many more. He loves to count to five (although out of order). He loves to bring mommy and daddy books to read to him. He loves to ask for and eat Popsicles with Dad at night and to shake his little booty to every jingle. Good Max loves to play with Uncle Mark and Jeff and all his cousins. He loves to give "loves" to all and wave to anyone driving by. He loves blocks and balls. Good Max loves to look at and softly touch his baby cousin, Cole. He loves going to the store and on any outings with his family. Good Max says all sorts of words now: Mama, Daddy, Mar (Mark), Jeh (Jeff), Grandma, Grandpa, Nana, all animals (although he refers to them my sound rather than by name), banana, strawberry, apple (which means all other fruits that resemble apples), Popsicle, cheese, juice, Show, balloon, vacuum, and pretty much anything else we tell him to say. Good Max helps clean up his toys when asked and is a generally happy child.

BAD MAX...

says "No" much, much more now. He will do the exact opposite of what you tell him all while staring you right in the face, or worse, wait until you turn your head and then do it. Bad Max pinches, bites, and hits on occasion...and not just when he is upset...he will do it when he is playing and excited. Bad Max continues to pick Mom's face, not just her eyelashes. He got a mole the other day and a bloody mess ensued. Bad Max still is having a hard time consistently sleeping through the night in his own bed...although he is doing better.



The other day Mom and Aunt Jolea went to Roberts to buy some craft paint. Bad Max opened a bottle and poured it all over his good clothes and Mom's bag. Mom had to strip him down in the bathroom and carry him out in his diaper. It was the one time I didn't pack wipes or an extra diaper. It got even better when we realized we were locked out of our house. We spent the afternoon at Jolea's...waiting for Daddy to come rescue us. The picture above shows what happens to little boys who ruin their clothes with paint and have to borrow from their cousin, Sarah.



Obviously anyone who has had a 21 month old knows that Bad usually just means curious. So while Mom and Dad have had to give and take a few more time outs than we would like, we love both Good and Bad Max. It is so fun to watch his little personality form and all the new things he is soaking up.

Where in the World is...

While my once very faithful blogging habit has somewhat wavered, don't think it's from a lack of worthy blog material. I have just been a slacker. Our home computer is a piece of junk so I have to wait to use the good laptop when Ryan isn't using it. By the time he comes home, the last thing I want to do is to muster up the energy to boot up, wait, download, wait, then try to get the creative juices flowing to post something even remotely worthy of reading. So here's my attempt to convince the rest of you that life for the Loveless' hasn't slowed and only gets more interesting as our Max nears his second birthday.

Outings: Yes, we do go places, other than WalMart and Costco...occasionally.

Swiss Days 2008

My darling sister, Jolea, introduced me to a little festival held in the mountain valleys of Midway, Utah a few years ago and I anticipate Labor Day weekend every year for that particular reason. It's full of cute boutique stuff, lots of food, music, parades, etc all in the middle of this quaint mountain resort town settled by the Swiss pioneers. This year Jolea could not make it so somehow I talked Ryan into going with me. He, Max and I got up early and we drove to Midway. I found a couple of cute things, we had a chicken and swiss sandwich, watched some entertainment and called it a morning. It was a good day.

State Fair 2008

My first trip to the state fair (if you don't count the Rascal Flatts concert I attended like 6 years ago with college friends there). We decided to go for family night last week. We knew there were going to be lots of livestock there; Max has a slight infatuation with barn animals of every kind right now. He knows all the sounds they make and we knew that he would love it. I was very tempted to devote an entire blog post to the many musings of the State Fair...I had to refrain from my natural instincts to pull out the camera for all kinds of blog worthy material including State Fair attire, State Fair love, State Fair crazies...you get the picture. So while I have only family fun to document, don't let that fool you. I went in part to capture the good trash that every State Fair provides.Max loved riding the pony as long as Daddy was holding on tight. He even showed off his rodeo royalty wave.He also had a strange fascination with all of these cut out boards. He loved them!

Max was begging for the big, yellow slide. While his face showed fear, he loved the thrill and wanted to do it again!

PJ's on...we are ready for the ride home! What a great night it was. Max was enthralled by all the lights and rides and Dad and Mom indulged in homemade ice cream and a caramel apple! I think the State Fair has won us over!

BYU FOOTBALL @ UNCLE MARK'S

Our weekly outing has taken us just five houses down the street. Since my husband's good conscience wouldn't let him buy season tickets this year (leaving his pregnant wife and son home for 6 or 7 weekends while he indulged himself in football heaven), we have made the weekly trek down the street where the entire family can indulge in our guilty pleasure...BYU football is back and is making us very happy. What doesn't make us happy is that our cable provider won't pick up the Mountain, the only station that televises all the games. Thank goodness Mark lives close. Max even knows where all the spatula and Tupperware cupboards are now. We feel very at home there. I have my husband and he has his family and we all have the game. Win, Win, Win.