things i love....

since i found out i was pregnant i feel i have become increasingly negative. i haven't been feeling well most of the time and i don't like acting like that....so i'm stealing an idea from my dear friend carly....here is a list of things i love....(this is more for me than you....i need to be positive)

1. waking up to "mama, mama...let's read" or "mama, let's go see the dinos"
2. christopher andrew bovard
3. laughing
4. hot showers
5. sunny, hot days
6. kids
7. maxwellington bovard
8. finding a great book to read and knowing in the first chapter that you will love it...
9. the office
10. crocs
11. watching max do anything....
12. play
13. nina, sasha and their parents
14. swimming
15. ceiling fans
16. taking pictures
17. biting my nails
18. my office at work
19. coming home from work
20. talking to people
21. green
22. summer
23. finding killer sales
24. brushing my teeth
25. college memories

these are a few of my favorite things....i feel quite a bit better...we need to take more opportunities to state what we like and appreciate about life...corny but true

a few funny things...

first some photos from recently. bek, chris, and i took the kids to the zoo. super fun

day...this is the bum of a polar bear in the water...nina was un-phased and

max was un-impressed. we loved it. 

they both loved this part...so cute...

max got this wagon for christmas. it's cute but not so much fun for the zoo.

super hilly and they both were in and out...they do much better walking on their own. 

they looked cute though...

alright, i wanted to share some of max's fabulous statements as of lately...

"oh mama, that's so stupid"

"maxwell bovard, we do not use that kind of language in this house."

(two days later...and completely to himself)

"that paper is so stup-oops, i can't say that word anymore."

his use of the term...."actually"

"those are bushes actually. those over there are trees"

or

"mama, that's not a unicorn, that's a horse actually."

or 

"actually i didn't even have any fruit snacks today" (untruth)

(to anyone who will listen)

"i bought that at target and it cost thirty-nine nine."

most things that i buy from the "dollar bin" at target cost $300 according to him

"who lives in mama's belly?"

"i do" 

"really, you live in mama's belly?" 

"no mama i live in pittsburgh, the baby's in dere."

"ok mama, i need to draw or paint something RIGHT NOW"

he has become increasingly interested in dinosaurs...i had just told someone of his indifference 

to them and now he doesn't stop talking about them. i bought him the movie "land before time" and his comments about that movie are hilarious.

"c'mon guys let's watch the dino movie"

"yikes...sharp tooth."

"that egg bounces far. oops, it cracked...oh my gosh...little foot"

he has seen the movie 5 times and he still can't believe that egg is little foot. 

(he licks people he loves because when he asked me why the mama licks little foot after he's born, i told him that it's because she loves him very much....well, he loves dinos, they do that....therefore, he will now do that...we are all licked often.)

he continues to amaze us on a daily basis. 

as for us, i am still nauseated pretty much all day. it's gotten A LOT better. i don't that it's eased up but i'm coping better. i was a WHINER for awhile....

chris continues the job hunt. pray for him...he doesn't like the bank...it's definitely time for a change....

dumbest posting ever

ok....i'm in shock. chris and i love law and order. one time, during a rather unpredictably delightful ending chris said "Thank you Dick Wolfe." well, tonite....it was a rerun....i hadn't seen it before. i had been really sick all day...queasy, stretching, discomfort....typical first trimester stuff...so i layed around ALLLL DAAAY....

well, bekah is visiting us and she and chris knocked out early....i had some last minute energy and was able to make it through to the end....holy crap....i am not a huge TV fan. i love the office and law and order but i'm not ridiculous...we don't have TIVO and we don't videotape shows....

i am in shock...tonite was an episode with the "seventh heaven" dad...OMG (gosh). unbelievable ending....i hate that i'm blogging about a TV show but i had to....

i choose hope...

last tuesday we found out that i was pregnant....bean #2 is officially on the way...

i realized how "numbers based" i was that night. i always get paranoid when people announce their pregnancy at 6 weeks. i did that with max...i was too excited. then i experienced some painful losses from friends and realized that those "numbers" are important. i put in my head that...

6 wks is when you tell your family

12 wks is when you tell everyone

20 wks is when it becomes public bc you can't hide anymore

37 wks you can deliver

40 wks is really 10 months!!!

1 year is when they can try milk and sit forward in the car

these have becoming paralyzing numbers for me...i fully support people wanting to hold on to these numbers....especially those who have experienced loss but i was becoming troubled by them....

i didn't want anyone to know....

then, i had to tell people in "authority" at my school. my job isn't always safe (aggressive kids) so i had to let them know that i wasn't available for that anymore....whew....

then, i told my family....my dear sister in law posted it on facebook and friends found out so the general announcement has gone out!!!

then, i found out that bekah is having the major surgery next month that we were, in the backs of our minds, hoping wouldn't ever happen....

this lead me through many tears to choose hope.

i can't live through this pregnancy with fear and worry about what may happen and i can't live through the next month worrying about the possible outcomes of my sister. 

"we are not a people without hope" 

the sooner i believe that...

busy weekend

we had a crazy weekend....trying to balance family activities, responsibilities and the penguins....wow....it's been a wacky weekend....max and i crashed at 730 last night...

friday was the series kick-off so chris went with my brother and their friend dan to the arena to watch it on the big screen outside...apparently everyone in the free world was there so they ended up at a sports bar...max and i relaxed and played games. we had a fun night....saturday i went to the special olympics all day with some of our students from school. it was a terrific experience. i really like all of the staff from my school that volunteered so it was a fun day. max dragged chris to the dinosaur exhibit again. he loves those dinosaurs right now. all he talks about is big dinos, little dinos, "carivores" and his personal favorite the "t-rex". he is enthralled by the history museum and has gone at least 2 times a week for the past month....he begs for it every time we drive through oakland. he just started this new interest about two months ago. he still loves his trains and cars but dinos have become very important. 

sunday was  a fun mother's day. we walked and chris ran for "race for the cure". we had another great time with wpsd (my school---western pa school for the deaf) pal's and stacy joined up too. altogether we probably walked 5-6 miles instead of the standard 3.2 of a 5K because parking was tricky....then we ALL got together with my parents and chris' parents. it's so cool when we can all get together....some fun gifts too. roses, pictures, a great book from max, and a target giftcard. we are all big with gift giving...we still do easter gifts, valentines, christmas, birthday, etc...i know a lot of families stop doing that when you are adults but none of us can stop...we love it too much...

no pictures right now...but i'll add some soon....happy belated to all you mama's...

this kid is so fun!

we've had a really interesting few weeks. max has been HILARIOUS!!! since he was 

about 16 months old, he's been able to pick out books by the title. it's

hilarious...now, he's been finishing every book. he has been doing that for awhile

with finishing sentences but now he's "reading" the books. he skips words, 

doesn't care about punctuation at all. he does an amazing job...

he gets his memory from his dad.

this is a baseball game between the boys.

this is max on the day he came back from bunna and poppy's house (my parents)

i gave them clothes for warm weather but it ended up at 55 degrees...

he's wearing bekah's sweatshirt...he went straight for his zebra

we have been looking for a good water table for a long time. we finally found

one at aldi's. tink told me about it and then bekah bought one....then i got

one....it's fabulous....he loves it.

this is his "happy earth day" shirt...

his latest stance... 

"why you do dat mama?"

when he was small i used to lay him down in the water

and hold his hands. he LOVED it. he would tilt his head to the side

and sip the water. we would crack up. we caught it on film a few times.

however, now he's gotten brave and now lays back by himself

and just lays in the tub. we, AGAIN, were cracking up, watching him

sip the tubby water.

note: we asked the doctor a looong time ago if this was likely to give him ear infections. he said that it was highly unlikely...so, full speed ahead...he needs to be a fish like his mama. we are going to swim from sun up to sun down SOON!

tonite was the hardest night i've EVER had putting him to sleep....he fought me for an HOUR! part of his issue could have been these boots. they seemed so hot! he refused to take them off. (i'll going to sneak them off when i go to bed)

i was always so enthralled by toddlers who marched to the beat of their own drummer and their moms who let them. is it all of them?? i hope this continues...

6 am

for some reason, mr max wellington chose to wake up at 6 this morning. he hasn't done that in a long time...now the dillema, should WE get up or should he read in his room til WE are ready to start the day. today we gave him his little DVD player....we NEVER do that....we just wanted more sleep...he has been watching thomas in bed with us for awhile and talking about how terrific trains are....it's times like these that i am so thrilled to simply know him....i wish i had my camera...what a sweetpea. 

he really loves thomas...i never wanted him to love thomas per se, but trains of other sorts were fine. i just feel like that commercialism and the fact that it is NOT a cheap hobby made thomas really undesirable. being unable to control his grandparents, he now owns most of  the thomas videos and trains. i find myself buying him the trains too...when they really love something...whether it's trains, dinosaurs, cars, etc..it's really tough not to indulge that....especially when you love someone so much....

wells

max stayed at my parent's house tonite...

i cried

i am not good at sharing him....

i'm it!!!

i've been tagged....

1. what was i doing ten years ago??

hmmm, i was 20....feels like forever ago....i was at geneva. junior year....i think that was my favorite year....what were we doing folks???

2. 5 things on my "to-do" list...

1. paperwork and billing

2. phone calls on misc bills

3. pick up maxy

4. make dinner for my brother and sis-in-law...finally back from russia

5. put away the clean clothes

3. snacks i enjoy

1. clif bars

2. pretzels

3. goldfish

4. fruit

5. fiber one bars

4. five things i'd do if i were a billionaire...

1. buy my dad's store and give it to someone so he could retire

2. pay off my school loans

3. huge tithe to church

4. donation to geneva's theatre dept

5. have 6 six kids

5.  my 5 bad habits....

1. nail biting...

2. puking out whatever pops into my head

3. snacking without paying attention

4. not making lists enough

5. hmmm, i guess being late....

6.  places i've lived.

1. johnstown, pa

2. beaver falls, pa

3. pittsburgh, pa

4. lawrenceville, pa (listed separately because it truly is a place of it's own.)

5. that's it....

7. five jobs i've had...

1. tony's subs (thanks dad for making my hours 7-10 every am in the summer....

2. barista at starbucks, waitress at eat-n-park

3. TSS --- so glad i woke up from that nightmare....

4. wife and mum

5. school counselor 

8. who's next????

1. carly

2. stacy

3. julie

4. jak

5. cyd

i never do this stuff....what a fun little walk down memory lane.....

funny morning

i was getting ready for work this morning...it's our lazy morning....and wells says "i wanna watch thomas, mama, pleeease!" he was watching big, big world on pbs because that's what he does when i get in the shower....i said "no, thomas this morning, soon it's time for breakfast." he said and i quote

"aw man, i can't watch it. aw man!" 

i almost peed my pants. 

i love this age...

MS bike ride

in june i am doing an 150 mile bike ride. it's for MS. I am fundraising for research funds. i need to raise 250 bucks. if you feel like making a donation please go here. MS RIDE

if not financial support, please pray...i'm gonna need it.

new blog

my sister bekah just started a blog...check it out. she's so cute. 

she called it "bekahninabekahnina.blogspot.com"

why?

because max calls them that...

sick day

i'm home from work sick today. i have a horrible headache and i've been nauseated all day. i'm so tired  and it's so beautiful outside. ugh!!! please don't comment and ask if i'm pregnant...

because i'm not! i'm just virus-ridden....

daytime TV....wow!! i'm watching what apparently is the today show...however, it's 230....

IS IT NOW THE ALLDAY SHOW?

haha.

they just had these "antigravity performers" on the TV....if i'm not mistaken, i think that these wild guys were jumping on, what i'm sorry, appears to be those prosthetic legs that runners use. i had to choke back the laughter because it would only increase my head pain. then the new "fourth hour" host...kathie lee gifford, comes out with hoda (what?) on these prosthetic legs. kathie lee almost bites it and i'm dying....it was hilarious!! 

i am feeling a little better...maybe laughter IS the best medicine. 

disclaimer: that last statement seems to be a classic "mom blog" statement. 

the intent behind that was pure sarcasm. 

weekend fun

max is becoming more and more fun! we are able to do so many more activities with him now. he loves being outside so we try to spend a lot of time doing different things. we went on a bike ride on saturday and then a bonfire at my brother's house. he loved both. he conked out before the actual fire but he loved "raw" marshmallows. we had a great time. we were up too late but it was worth it. we napped and played outside on sunday. 

it's so amazing to have some nice weather and blue skies

on max's thumb there is a black dot. that is a ladybug. this rare moment was captured on film. he was flapping wildly to get the bug off of his hands. i don't know how we caught this picture. he looks soooo at peace with the bug on him...not quite the real story...
i cut his hair. the first time. i never was willing to do it because i am not good at it. well, that's not fair, i've never done it before. i just know how much i love my hair and i would hate someone to wreck it. especially if it's short. 

i don't have a healthy grasp of "it's just hair, it'll grow back!" 

ps...if you have an IKEA near your house...go for breakfast. it's cheap and great. we love it...

april fools day

what a fun day. i pranked the 10th grade kids at wpsd. it was a blast. i flashed back to two years ago when i called my parents when max was 3 months old to tell them that i was pregnant again. my dad and i quote "oh my gosh, well, uh, i guess you'll be moving home." he said later that he thought he had a mini heart attack that night. it was so fun. i LIVE for that stuff....

i am the first to admit that i am a blog stalker. i LOVE looking at people's lives...so fun....last night for the first time, i was recently wowed by the simplest thing....COLOR!! look for more of it in my blogs...

spring break

who needs this?

when you can have this?

this past week i was on spring break and it was terrific!! max and i had such a rip roarin' good time. we hit the children's museum, science center, library, playgrounds, playdates....the whole nine yards. we had a great time. it was nice to be off. i read a lot, slept a lot, exercised a lot!! it was really great. the weather was pretty good...two yucky days but most were super nice. bekah came to visit and we had a huge bonfire at my brothers....chris and i spring cleaned and got rid of loooottttsss of stuff....we went biking, running, walking...i'm not exaggerating, we had a BUSY week. it was a really eventful week....

some pictures from our weekend"mama, go see the dinos again?"

we have a membership to the science center that includes the history museum. he LOVES the dinosaurs. it's so great because we can go for an hour if we want. i'm so cheap, if we paid $28 for the day pass, we would stay til we dropped. but the membership allows me the luxury of going post-nap til close....

i thought this was so cute....too bad i caught the wall seam. it looked so genuine but the camera delayed and he walked away...

the "circles" room at the children's museum. he wouldn't get out of this tire. he wanted to have his snack in the tire...he did. it didn't say "no eating or drinking" in the tire...so i figured we were safe...

max and nina were soaked as usual after the water play...this was what nina did for the first 10 minutes. i was laughing so hard...she just loves being IN the water....
sorry this is blurry. max was taking over my role as the horsey. he walked all around the house with nina as his jockey. this was before they crashed at my brother's house before the bonfire. olga and sasha are in russia. we stayed to keep my brother company on their first night away...we drank cheap wine and had a huge bonfire in his backyard...so fun...

now, back to work...only 2 months till summer vacation....yay!!

long time no blog....

i was having a horrible time because when i started this blog, it wouldn't stop underlining this text. i got frustrated and chris taught me how to "edit Html". how interesting...

anyway...life has been crazy 'round these parts since my last blog. bekah's been in and out of the hospital getting various procedures. work was nutty for awhile, max got sick (see last blog) and stayed sick for two weeks. my in-laws moved and we helped many days. and max grew and grew. he is talking and playing sooo much. we've been enjoying him soooo much. he has been a joy since he was born...now that he's talking, we have been hysterically most of the day. chris showed him his "clavicle" and max calls it a "baccicule" and we have him repeat it a 1000x a day. he also tells hilarious stories. he will try to explain things that happened as "uh, um, well, because..." he can't get past that and it kills me everytime. 

he is beyond sweet. he really loves people. he always says "nice yady" when i've been talking to someone in a store or other place. he says "nice guy" about men who smile at him or give him a high five. he is sweet. his disposition changes from supersweet to a bit defiant with me these days in a blink of an eye. "No!" "No Mama! Stop it!" "Right now!!" those are phrases i wish i could erase from his vocabulary. he repeats new words or phrases he hears all the time. at Easter dinner, my cousin spilled something and said "Crap!" he immediately said "crap!" shockingly the first time he'd heard it. adorable yet gross.

nina is so sweet too. she's so funny and she peed on the potty! i asked max if he wanted to try and he said "No, NINA do's that!" so we're not pushing it.

the picture below is max at gymkhana. he LOVES that place. every day he says "gymkhana today?" his beloved teacher, miss lexi, recently retired to another position and i've been so bummed about it because she really helped pull him out of his shell. oddly, she is now the church secretary at dave's (bindewald) church. we'll be visiting her there...

nina and max get along really well (sometimes they are aggressive with each other). that being said, they both LOVE sasha. she grins from ear to ear when she sees them. it's so cute. 

max tries to kiss them both all the time but they push him away. he's such an over the top lover!

our last snowman of the year....we hope!!!

the three not so babies anymore. olg and sasha are leaving for russia on friday and chris is following in two weeks. i'm happy that they're going. i just don't want them to like it too much!

thanks for praying

bekah had her procedure done and everything went well. she'll be back next week on Tuesday to have another one that involves the doctor putting radioactive dye in the cyst trying to collapse the walls around it to prevent it from filling up again. hopefully that will be successful. keep praying.

max just had a rough week. i was at work and erin, my sister in law was here at the house. i got a message that he threw up on my sidekick(please note: he did NOT throw ON my sidekick but the message appeared there). max pukes sometimes. he has a sensitive gag reflex. so i kinda blew it off. well, then about an hour later. i got like 15 messages all at once from erin and chris frantic because he threw up three more times. we sometimes have a horrible delay on our pagers....they think i'm being nonchalant but really i thought he threw up once.
so it was terrible. talk about mother of the year award...

when i got home he was as limp as a rag doll and white as a sheet. we went straight to the doctor's office. he immediately pepped up. i thought "oh no we have carbon monoxide in the house". i was so scared. (paranoia will destroy ya) the doctor quickly reassured us that it wasn't carbon monoxide or we would have serious headaches too. he thought max might have rotovirus. i couldn't believe that he was sitting up perky and talking to me in front of the doctor when he had been so limp and lifeless. then the doctor examined him and he threw up all over both of us. confirming he was sick. we gave him an ounce of water every 15 minutes and he really perked up. by 9 pm he was eating pears and crackers and talking a mile a minute like usual. chris stayed home yesterday and today so max can have a full recovery. what a week!!

ps...doesn't have rotovirus...no diarrhea. thank you GOD! puke i can handle poop up their back and down their legs....yikes....

bekah update

well bekah had her checkup. her cyst did fill up with fluid again. her brain was being shifted again. she is undergoing surgery tomorrow afternoon. they wanted to admit her but she said that she wanted to stay here (my house) with nina tonite. she's knocked out, snoring on the couch behind me but she's been really positive. same stressors, nothing definitely okay so it's a little stressful. my parents drove home to get some stuff for the week and possibly will get trapped in johnstown due to our unbelievable weather. pray that doesn't happen...

wow...it's only been a month since she was diagnosed with a brain tumor....it feels like four years.

our hats!!!

a boy's obsession with his hat continues. now daddy needs to wear his hat too...

he wants to be just like daddy. while daddy was out buying our new couch...see below

he put on daddy's iPod.

it was time for some change at our house. we finally gor rid of our old hand me down couch from chris's parents. you can see the monstrous size of our living room without a couch. max LOVED that.
this is our new couch. it's much cuter than it appears. we are going to follow a dear friends artistic genius and use blue and green in the living room. dark blue and lime green. dark couches cover a multitude of toddler sins.