the prayers of a little boy

chris just came down and told me about max's prayer that evening. he really loves to pray and he spits out some hilarious stuff....tonite was no exception

dear Lord 

thank you for 

letting me take daddy's eyes and swallow them

(he loves to "eat faces" because then we can't see or hear or talk)

thank you for

the boogers on the wall

(those that he wiped on the stripes on his wall)

and thank you for 

this crazy day....

what a funny guy.

i love the hot weather...

memorial day parade...talia was so cute but the heat...whew...it almost did her in...

max and his pals playing in the sand...notice the slide that takes them to the beach

memorial day fire...we welcome any reason to have a fire in the yard...

max and his pal pierce at the parade...candy central

i just love this girl. she loves me. she asks her mom to fix her hair like mine. and she wants to be like me when she grows up....it's a huge responsibility to have an admirer. i have to be a better person...not only for mine but my niece too...

i won this huge assortment of games in a raffle....it was fabulous...we have had soo much fun

games, candy, popcorn, dvds, and a $50 gift card to the pirates. (tickets or merchandise) 

i was sooo excited...

my little beckham

seniors at wpsd. the home ec teacher asked me to bring talia in to show the child development

class how to give a baby a bath....they were adorable...

chris' sweet grandma...she loves them so much.

these are the random geese/ducks that come into our yard. they are ducks but all the kids call them geese or gooses...they seem a little ferocious...so we keep our distance...

darling talia

i never thought that i'd want a second child much less a daughter. we were nice as a family of three. max was the center of everything. how could i even love someone as much as max...he had my heart. everyone reassured  me that i would but i had serious doubts.

besides girls they just seemed like too much work...fussy, naggy, whiny, etc...boys...low maintenance and super mellow. but max needed a sibling and God chose a sister. well talia is nothing like i'd assumed...she doesn't fuss, she hardly cries, she is SUPER smiley and loves to chill with us...she doesn't require much. when she wakes up in the am, she tosses and turns for about five minutes then she starts smiling. she doesn't like to eat right away so we just lay in bed and she coos and we talk for about 20 minutes. she stares so intently at you and she seems so sincere...tough to explain but she just seems like she's trying to know you...she loves to stand up. she could do that all day if WE had the stamina for it. she's almost sitting and has AMAZING head and chest strength. she was keeping her head up so early...she, like max, hates "tummy time"...so rolling over may come a bit later than expected...when you get close to her, she grabs your face and kisses you. it's fabulous-slimy but fabulous...she is hooked on her big green hospital pacifier. we swore we'd never use a paci with our kids after seeing nina struggle with surrendering it but...you really don't have a choice. she needed it...

tals is giggly, she fakes having a cough for attention, and she has changed our world. we went from muddy fingernails with max to painted toenails with talia. from steelers jerseys to sundresses. 

and as i lay here staring at her...i realize that in the midst of life being what it always seems to be in this house, chaos, the quiet moments in the morning make me grateful for the life we have. we are so blessed to have such amazing people in our lives. 

sweet wells

this picture is a year old. this time last year....he was a different kid. he was still the babe he is today but he has definitely developed an edge since last summer. he's sassy...but i love him...

when he was 18 months old he spoke his first word..."wall"...in six months he learned an unbelievable amount of information...he knew colors, letters, shapes, numbers, family relationships, animals, dinosaurs, trucks, etc...he loves things...he loves his sister. he loves us. when he prays i get tears in my eyes. he thanks God for us and for his friends. he is so kind...

he also is rough and looooves to wrestle. he hurts me at least 3 times daily. he really loves to be outside and play hard. he loves go fish and uno. he loves snacks. he loves peanut butter. A LOT....he moves talia's chin to talk for her. his favorite "field trip" is to the dinosaur museum. he looooves WALL-E. he thinks that the story of adam and eve is hilarious because her name is Eve...just like WALL-E.  his favorite Bible story is Jonah. he knows it front to back. he loves the library. he loves self checkout in the library. he is only snuggly in the morning and at night...during the day he almost has to be hurt to let me hold him. he loves the steelers. he can name all the lead players by number and name. he calls his pediatrician "dr roethlisberger" even though his name is Dr Romberger. he changes his clothes about 3-4 times a day. he changes when he wants to become someone else...a jersey when he wants to become a steeler, an astronaut shirt, a teenage mutant ninja turtle, etc...tons of "dirty" clothes. currently he is obsessed with planets and fruit snacks. he loves saturn and talks about the solar system...he is incredible...

he says the funniest things i've ever heard....like this....

chris: max do you remember the day when you were born? 

max: yes 

chris: what was it like?

max: i was like, "where's outside?"

max: hey mum, the flyers suck

chris: yeah, they do but we don't say that word

max: oh, ok sorry

i hate it...i can't remember anything else...ugh...hopefully more will come back later. 

long story short I LOVE MY BOY!!!

more review

well, i have been HORRIBLE about keeping up with the blog...i've been following everyone but facebook is so much easier for quick updates...this is tough to play catch up...so forgive the massive pictures to summarize several months...

first realllly warm day...great fun...

first day back to work...we made a bread bear...super sad day...

chris started playing dek hockey...he's really fast and quite good...

easter sunday...such a cute day...the kids were jumping like crazy...

we were making Easter crafts at our house...we made ressurrection cookies

seriously...what a face...

my jumping tree monkey

babe

she's going to be 2!!! how fast time has flown by...

in johnstown, we have the world's steepest vehicular incline...we brought the kids there the day before easter...great photo op...

max loves letters and phonics...he sounded out our names and picked the letters...granted it's all backwards but i was reallllly impressed...he liked the "i" by the "e"...he is fabulous...

my fam

my mom and sister say she looks just like my baby pictures...i must have been a real babe. 

she is the best smiler ever...super sweet and very loving...she gives kisses by grabbing your face and pulling you in. she smiles if you even look at her. she ADORES max. she watches him all over the place. she really loves him sooo much. she just started eating cereal. we couldn't love our kids more...chris was right...adding a kid doesn't divide love in half...it really does somehow become 100% for both...fabulous