Wedding Anniversary

Yesterday marked four years of wedded bliss and 11.5 years together. Almost a dozen years together seems like a long time, but it's not when you are truly happy. The four year anniversary is the fruit and flower year in the traditional standards. That screams giving each other an edible arrangement...aka no fun! I asked Andy to think outside of the box and please don't resort to fruit on a stick. I am very proud of him for being very creative this year. He got me a bouquet of flowers...

And four bottles of wine. One bottle for each year we have been married. Plus each bottle has a meaning. BTW...wine is made out of grapes, so he covered both fruit and flowers. 

I tried to cover both categories but was not successful. I struggled with the flower gift, so I gave him two gifts in the fruit category.

Nothing like a strawberry topsy turvy and a bottle of orange flavored vodka to say happy fourth anniversary. Is it bad that we both got each other alcohol as a gift?

We ended the celebration with tuna steaks seared on the grill with fresh zucchini. Yum!

Memorial Day Weekend

We kicked off the holiday weekend at the Children's Museum on Friday morning. I enjoy this place because Max usually has a great time here. 

After that we went home for a nap then the doggie store to get Max's BFFs treats. This is the first time I took him to the doggie warehouse and he loved it. He pointed to everything squealing doggie and putting it in our basket. I had to be sneaky and put the items back without him looking. The dogs do not need a giant stuffed Garfield to play with.

On Saturday we went to the zoo for a couple hours in the morning. We went to feed the giraffe and Max did not want to feed him. Instead he just smiled while I did it.

We did selfies together this weekend.

On Sunday we were supposed to go to the Cubs game since they were in town, but we decided not to because Max was winey and his mouth hurt. That made it sound like a bad idea to take him to see the Cubbies play. So instead we met our friends at the Westin to intrude on their staycation. We hung out at the pool for a few hours. Max is pretty shy, but he had a blast at the pool. 

After pool time we met our friends at a pizza place, but as soon as we pulled in the parking lot Max projectile vomited all over himself. It was his first time puking and it was pretty gross. Needless to say we did not stick around for dinner. We headed home to take care of Max. Andy dropped us off so I could give Max a bath while he went to the store to get crackers for Max to eat. He returned with six grocery bags of stuff to help his tummy. Hey, it's our first time with Max vomiting and he wanted to get him whatever would make him feel better. After bath we just snuggled with Max while he drank pedialyte and ate ramen noodles. Anything to get the boy to eat since he didn't eat much all day. We don't know what was wrong, but he was perfectly fine all day on Monday. We spent the day just hanging out and playing. Trying to keep it low key for Max to make sure he is all good to go to Ms. Marie's tomorrow morning. 

Fun Photos

"Just playing a little golf while I work on my swing...no big deal!"

Shooting some hoops!

Playing with his wagon. His toy that he pulls around with him everywhere. He fills it with balls and cars and takes them on tours of the backyard.

Playing with his best friends, Izzy and Madison.

Cute pictures of Max on the slide.

Crazy Saturday

This past Saturday was a crazy day with lots to do. We were on the go from the time I woke up. I started with an early morning workout session. Then we drove south to look at another house, but it was a fail. The living room was smaller than the one we already have...no bueno! We headed home on our long journey north. We were hoping the big man would nap for 40 minutes, but he didn't. We got home and packed up the house to head to the Montelucia to see our good friends who were in town. While on our way over, we realized Max did not take a nap so we knew we would pay for it. Or, at least we assumed so.

We hung out at the pool while a cabana filled with a bachelorette party was whooping it up behind us. They were doing shots and popping champagne. If that didn't make me feel old, I don't know what will. During this time, Max was pretty crabby because he was tired. He just kept burying his head into me while trying to take a nap. He does not snuggle like this anymore at all so I soaked up every second of it. I had to pee, but I did not care. I was getting mommy snuggle time. The last time he did this, he was a baby. It melted my heart.

Max slept for an hour and a half while we all chatted by the pool. Max woke up a new man and was ready to rock. We headed to dinner at the resort which is not super toddler friendly...ok, not toddler friendly at all, but we made it work.

He got mac 'n cheese for dinner.

And he played with his veggies.

It was a great day seeing our good friends hanging out by the pool. 

Kitchen Helper

I have blogged before about how much Maxim is a big fan of the kitchen. He always wants to watch what is being made and he wants to help when he can. We would hold him so he could see what's going on, but this started to get tiresome as he keeps growing. Recently I purchased a kitchen helper for him so he can safely watch and help when he can. This is a hot item because everywhere I tried to order one it was always back ordered for months. I am not interested in waiting that long so I finally settled on whatever I could get. It wasn't my first choice but it gets the job done, and that's all that matters.

Daddy put this together last Friday, and of course Max wanted to help. He also climbed on this thing before it was fully assembled and he was giggling with happiness. 

He pushes this thing all around the kitchen to do and get what he needs. We had to put the kitchen knives away instead of having them on the counter. No matter how many times I told him not to grab the knives, he did not listen so they had to go. 

He loves his new contraption. I hate the size of this thing because it's not like we have tons of room, but it does help with Max being able to wash his hands and "help" with cooking. He also loves to use this stand to give himself easy access to the nanas...aka bananas.

We are teaching him about the stove being hot and why it's important that he doesn't touch it. He understands and listens to that, but not the knives. Go figure!

Happy Mother's Day

I hope all my family and friends had a fantastic Mother's Day because you deserve it. I know my day/weekend was perfect for me. 

I kicked off the weekend with a few of my close friends for a day at the spa. It's our annual get together that we do. I had a much needed back massage...can I say amazing!?! Following the spa services we hit up lunch and then hung out by the pool for girl/mom chat.

This morning I woke and Max brought me a present. It was a Kendra Scott necklace that he picked out by himself. He told daddy "I like that one." That just melted my heart. 

The card had his hand print on it. Andy and Max experimented with finger paint on Friday. I guess Max had blue finger paint all over himself and it was quite the mess to clean up...so I am told. Following my gift, we headed to breakfast and then Max's favorite place, the train park. He just loves this place and I love taking him there to see his face light up like a Christmas tree every single time. This time we spent time on the playground since it wasn't packed full of bigger kids and this was the first time that happened.

A family selfie while we waited for the train to take off.

We then spent the afternoon playing in the backyard. Max was having a ton of fun playing with the doggies and he sat on them and wanted to go for a ride. Uhm...no. He's tried this before and we have to keep telling him that he cannot ride the doggies. This time we let him long enough for a picture because Izzy really doesn't care. 

They finished off the day with a home cooked meal made with love. Max even "helped" make the twice baked potatoes. It was a great Mother's Day and exactly what I wanted. I got a beautiful necklace that was hand picked by my handsome little man and I had a fun family day with my two favorite guys!