Our Super Fun Weekend!

Mabel, Weston & Max hang out at Nana & Pappy's House

We had a really fun weekend last week! We went to Pennsylvania to Matt's parent's house and the best part was that my sister's family came too and so did my brother, Josh. Mabel (4) and Weston (2) had a great time at Nana & Pappy's house while the grown-ups went to the Pennsylvania Renaissance Festival. Max's Aunt Sara and her boyfriend, Adam, came over and helped Matt's parents all day Saturday. I think the kid's favorite activity was swimming in Nana & Pappy's pool. I don't think Mabel had ever seen an inground pool in someones yard so she was amazed. She was also excited about the "magic bed" she got to sleep it (pull-out sofa)!

The Renaissance Festival was fun. I always enjoy seeing what some of the patrons consider renaissance costumes. You get $4 off your entry fee if you come in period dress and let me just say that I didn't know cleavage could be hoisted that high. Also, I'm not sure a French maid costume counts as "period dress", thank thee very much.

A fun time was had by all. Here are some more pictures of our weekend.

Oh, and on another note - congratulations to Kyle & Tavia on the birth of their little girl!

Some things to remember

Dear Max,
You are 12.5 months old now. So many things have happened over the last year, I wonder how many of them I've already let slip away from my memory. Tonight as I was reading you bedtime stories I was thinking of how much I love our bedtime routine and it occurred to me that a few months or years from now, our routine will be different and I wondered if I would remember the specifics of why I enjoyed our time together. So here are some things I love doing with you so that one day we can both look back at this and remember:

At Bedtime:

• I love reading you Goodnight Moon and pointing out all the objects as they're named.
• I love seeing you get excited when I ask if you want to brush your teeth. It's even better when you stick your finger in your mouth and pretend you're brushing.
• I love holding up two books and having you reach for the one you want to read, and I love that usually the book you choose is Max's Birthday.
• I love when you put your foot up over and over again for me to kiss when I'm nursing you.
• I love when I say, "You want to cuddle Mommy?" that you let me hold you and rock you and rub your back and sing to you, even if it's just for a second.
• I love singing to you, especially "Mama's Little Baby", "Hush Little Baby", "Jesus Loves Me" and of course, the "Belly Button Song".

Other times:

• I love taking you outside or to the window to look for airplanes and seeing you get so excited when we spot one.
• I love seeing you sit in the hallway yelling, "Ah! Ah! Ah!" to hear the echo.
• I love seeing you toddle around pushing your green push toy, looking so proud and accomplished as you amaze yourself that you can actually walk.
• I love seeing you pretend that everything is a phone and how you hold the object backwards to your ear (or rather behind your ear) and then shout, "Haaaaaaaaaaa!" over and over.
• I love how excited you get when I ask if you want to take a bath.
• I LOVE how you like to cuddle anything soft and will almost freefall onto things that look cuddly to you like Mama Bunny or the down comforter.
• I love how you tilt your head to the side and grin when anyone asks, "Are you so cute?"
• I love how you get so excited to see Daddy and reach for him and how you seem to feel content and secure when we have a big hug with Mommy, Daddy & you.

Most of all, I love you. I hope to make many more lists like this as you grow so we will always remember the little moments that add up to a life well-lived.

Love, Mommy

When Door Locks Attack

Here's the punch line of this story - the lock that my father-in-law Doug worked so hard to install last week on our front door (think hotel-style latch for super safety) is the "now defunct lock Doug worked so hard to install."

Here's what caused Max and me to be out front in our jammies for 45 minutes this morning: We waved bye to Matt as he left for Richmond this morning. I closed the front door and locked and latched it. Then we played for a couple hours. Finally, it was time for a bath and a nap, but before we went to do that I thought I'd take Max out to the deck to look for planes. We are in the flight path for Dulles airport so there's almost always a plane to see. I proceeded to close the sliding glass door when all of the sudden, the safety bar fell from the standing position into the horizontal position, locking us out from the back. I frantically hoped that I hadn't latched the lock on the front door and peered through the SGD to see, yes I had. So, after a few words that I hadn't planned on teaching Max were muttered under my breath, I rushed down the deck stairs praying I hadn't locked that door. ARRRGGHHH, yes I had. When did I become so diligent with our personal safety??????????? Then I remembered I had placed a lock box with a spare key on the fence, so I congratulated myself for doing something right and got that and prayed that the safety latch had miraculously jumped off. No such luck, but at least I had 2-3 inches of room to work with.

I swallowed any pride I had left and went to my next door neighbor's house and they spent 45 minutes helping in any way they could. Just when I thought a call to the locksmith or maybe even the non emergency police was inevitable, Sam (my neighbor/hero who I had only met in passing prior to this morning) was able to get the latch off by pounding it with a wrench. There's a nice messed up patch in the wood from all of that, but it was cheaper than a locksmith and got Max and I back inside much more quickly. Oh and Max also had a nice smelly dirty diaper while we were out there. But I guess I don't care as much about my car as I do my house, because my car was unlocked and I was able to find a diaper and some wipes in it. See, I knew my messy car would pay off eventually!

So that was our adventure this morning. Hope your morning was better than mine!

First Hair Cut & 12 Month Stats!

Before: I don't know why people were starting to say, "Oh, she's so cute!"

After: Definitely a boy!

We went to Cartoon Cuts and he did great. They gave us a certificate for his baby book as well as a little Ziploc bag of his curls to keep. It took all of about 5 minutes to take him from baby to little boy. Thankfully the stylist left the curls in the back! Here are some more pictures of our playtime today.

We also went to the doctor for Max's 1 year check up today. He weighed in at 25 lbs (up from 22 lbs at 9 months) and 30.5 inches. He was in the 75th percentile for everything. Way to be consistent little guy!

Another Birthday Shot

Mommy & Daddy with the birthday boy. Doesn't he look thrilled?

Daddy Time

The main reason we moved - so Max could have more Daddy time! It's definately worth it.

Birthday Party Recap

Mommy & Daddy prepare to make the cakes - one for Max and one for everyone else
Mabel, Max & Weston play with the new toys
Max enjoyed the frosting and couldn't have cared less about the cake
Max tries on Grandpa Allen's glasses

Max had a mostly great birthday! We had a yummy dinner of strawberry spinach salad, grilled chicken and baked potatoes and of course cake and ice cream for dessert - but I forgot to take any pics of the cake! I was hoping Max would dig into his cake with abandon, but instead he carefully got all the frosting off with his hands and then licked his fingers. As usual, he enjoyed all the attention being on him. Later he had his first bowl of ice cream ever. He loved all the junk food, but we paid for it later! He was up 1/2 the night, my guess is he had a tummy ache. I later thought about it and realized he probably had the adult equivalent of a whole tub of frosting and a 1/2 gallon of ice cream for his little body. That's enough to make anyone sick.

He got lots of fun toys and our house was pretty well put together after moving two days earlier. It was a special time with family and a few friends. Check out the rest of the pictures here.

Happy Birthday Max!!

Max climbs in the cupboard at our old house.

Wow! What a year this has been. My favorite phrase, already repeated at least 20 times since yesterday is, "This time last year I was _______________." So..... this time last year Max was 5 1/2 hours old and we were ecstatic and in disbelief that Max was finally here. He is such a blessing.

We are having a small (is 17 people small??) birthday party for him at 5 p.m. today at our new house. We are all moved in and most of the boxes have been unpacked and is feels very homey. We love it!

Party report coming soon........

If We Are The Body

A couple of weeks ago in church the youth performed this song and it really spoke to me. I had never heard it before. There's nothing like hearing the under-10 set speak truth to the grown-ups. I don't know if it'll speak to you or not, but if you have a minute, give it a listen. I know so many people who are turned off by church and it's a shame that some of us who call ourselves Christians have been the reason for that. We tend to forget what we're supposed to be about as the body of Christ and all too easily turn into a "club" for those who fit our mold.

**For some reason my link isn't working - go to YouTube and look for If We Are The Body by Casting Crowns if you'd like to hear it. Will try to fix this later. : ) **

Happy Anniversary To Us!

We're back! Maybe you didn't know we were gone. We just got back from a whirlwind 27 hour getaway for our 3rd anniversary. We went to 4 wineries and then to the Mimslyn Inn in Luray, courtesy of Matt's parents. I think they knew how much we needed a little getaway. Nana (Matt's mom) arrived Monday and hasn't stopped going since arriving. She's been playing with and caring for Max AND packing up practically our whole house while he naps. We move one week from today and most people thought we were insane for going on vacation at this point, but I don't think it could have been timed any better.

If I get time, I'll post more about the wineries and hotel, but until then, here is a slideshow of our trip. Long story short, we LOVED Linden Vinyards, were bummed at the deterioration of Oasis (the site of one of our most romantic dates ever when we first started dating and now it's embroiled in a bitter family fued that is having a really negative effect on the winery) and we had some time to remember why we married each other in the first place. Life gets so busy sometimes that it's easy to let the day to day stresses take priority over everything else.

The hotel was very grand and Matt tells me he wants to write a review of it for the blog, so you'll have to wait for that.

Enjoy the slideshow and I hope to post more soon!

We're Moving!

We got final approval for the new house and we'll be moving on August 21st! I'm so excited and also a bit daunted as I'm realizing what all this entails. Actually, I'm doing my best to remain in denial because I will surely have a nervous breakdown if I think about the fact that we're moving in two weeks AND I am having Max's birthday party at the new house two days later. Thankfully it will just be immediate family so I know they won't hold it against me if the place isn't ready. In fact, I know they'll help me finish unpacking so that's good! Here is a picture of the house and a link to interior pictures.

Sweet Boy

I think he's eating some clover here. The child eats anything and everything. I could definitely place if there were an Olympic event involving jumping from a seated position clear across a room or yard to prevent something from making it into Max's mouth. If I don't make it to him before it gets into his mouth it's pretty much a lost cause. I pray that it's nothing poisonous or sharp and I know I'll see it on "the other side"! You might suggest that I just clean more thoroughly or not sit more than 6 inches away from him to prevent this, but this little guy has super-vision as well as a pincer-grasp that would make Mr. Miagi jealous (remember him catching the fly with chopsticks in Karate Kid?) We all have our gifts, I guess.


A few more:

Why Would a Realtor Rent??

As I alluded to in my last post, many people express surprise when they hear that we currently rent our house and are planning on renting again. Those that don't outright ask "why?" are sometimes secretly wondering and, I think maybe, just maybe they think it means we must not be very good Realtors if we "can't afford to buy". The truth is we could definately buy something right now, but there are many other things to consider other than just whether we can afford it right now. So here is some info on why renting is sometimes the best choice - maybe it will help you or someone you know in trying to decide whether to rent or buy sometime soon.

Why renting is better for us:
1.) First and foremost, with our constant involvement in real estate and tracking the market locally and nationally it is our opinion that next summer/fall would be a better time for us to buy - more house for even lower prices! Since we can wait, we will. We anticipate home prices will fall at least another 10%, but we don't have a crystal ball so we could be wrong! Some people HAVE to buy now and now is still an excellent time to buy, but next year looks to be even better. Since we don't have a house to sell, we don't have to worry about the value of our house plummeting even more in the next year.
2.) Matt's job - the UMC has an itinerant system, meaning they can move their pastors whenever they want to, usually in the late spring. We don't think Matt will be moved next year, but we don't know for sure.
3.) Buying can be a great investment, but you should usually plan on either living there for 5-7 years minimum or be able to and interested in renting it out if the market won't support selling the home at that time. Markets such as the one we saw from about 2002-2005 when you could buy a place and sell it the next week for thousands more are extremely rare. The 5-7 year timeline is a better guideline, though also not foolproof.
4.) When you buy a house you are responsible for sometimes costly upkeep such as replacing the AC system, roof and appliances. Personally, it's been a load off my mind to not have to worry about that in the last year and a half having a new baby and going to one income.
5.) Between us, Matt and I have owned 6 homes (8 residences if you include the duplexes) and been landlords for 4 of them. It has been a great experience for us and we lucked out with our timing, thankfully, but we are comfortable kicking back and being tenants for at least one more year.

So that's pretty much it for why we are choosing to rent for another year. I hope this provides some insight to any of you who are making the choice to move any time soon. Feel free to e-mail me for more specifics if you have any questions! ** Shameful Plug Alert!! (Hey, my baby has to eat - okay?!!!!) **By the way, I do still have my real estate license and I still work part-time with my dad. If you need any real estate help, let us know. I've been doing real estate since 2001 and my dad has been in real estate since he retired from the Air Force 20 years ago. I can't believe it's been that long. We've seen all kinds of markets, so don't worry - things WILL get better with the current housing market. At this point, I mostly give referrals to my dad and I help with the clerical things, but I still show the ocassional house and write the ocassional offer or rental application. I'm willing to be more invloved for friends, so keep us in mind!!

Mi Vida Loca!

I keep trying to find time and inspiration to write a new post, but things are a bit nuts around here right now. In the last week and a half we've decided that we should move to Manassas to be closer to Matt's church. Since then we have been praying and talking and driving the neighborhoods we're interested in and looking at several houses. These are the times it's great that both of us are licensed Realtors. We are able to check the system ourselves, look at houses whenever we want to and write offers and rental applications without waiting around for someone else. We have an application in on a nice end-unit townhouse in Manassas that's a 4-6 minute drive from Matt's church. We should hear in a couple days if we get it or not. Regardless of if we're accepted, we've put in our 30 days notice on our current home, so we will be homeless as of August 31st unless we find something. Good times!*

On top of that, Max had his worst night of sleep since he was a newborn last night. He was awake from 11 p.m. til after 4 a.m. What made it extra fun was the routine we developed over those 5 hours - 1.) Max cries pitifully and in pain, from what I can't tell 2.) Mommy goes in to rock him, nurse him, etc., 3.) Max calms down and falls asleep 4.) Mommy puts him in crib, goes to guest room next to nursery and begins to fall asleep for 5-10 minutes 5.) Max wakes up and cries pitifully and in pain again 6. ) Lather, rinse, repeat for 5 hours. I was really perplexed about what the matter was as I have never seen him like that for that length of time. He was also rubbing his head a lot, so I thought maybe he had a headache or that he had another ear infection. We went to the drs. this morning and we learned that his molars are arriving!

So that's the latest with us. I will try to post some new pics soon!

* For those who may be wondering why Realtors would rent instead of buy, we are thinking of buying next year once prices come down even more. Anyone else who'd like to discuss the market, shoot me an e-mail. It's a favorite topic around here.*

FunTimes

We're back from our first summer vacation since we got married! We had a great time - we first drove 5 hours to Weston, WV for Joseph & Amanda's wedding. It was so much fun staying at the same hotel as my whole family (the Allen side), the Hewletts and Mike & Rossana (friends from church). This was also our first night away from Max. Matt's parents came down to our house and took Max with them back to Pennsylvania where we met up with them the next day. I had a bit of separation anxiety, especially when Max reached over to me and said, "Mama" very clearly for the first time ever just before we left! It ended up being good that he wasn't at the reception as there wasn't much room for him to crawl around so he would've been miserable.

Sunday we stopped at Cooper's Rock on our way to PA and stayed with Matt's parents for the week. We always enjoy our time there. It's a great little resort! Matt's mom always asks what we want to eat and has all our favorite foods on hand. We got to swim and relax by the pool and enjoy many adult beverages as well as take a few field trips. I loved the tour at Hope Acres Dairy Farm and I'd highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys factory tours or seeing behind the scenes. We even got a delicious scoop of ice cream at the end. We also visited the Shoe House - an adorable little house shaped like a shoe. Check out my pics to see more of the story behind this unique place.

Once we returned, I got to experience the other highlight of my summer - a get-together with all my best friends I grew up with in church and their kids, spouses AND parents! It was such a special time of reconnecting with lots of laughter.

It was so refreshing to get away and have more than two or three days to catch our breath and enjoy the wonderful family and friends we have.

A Boy and His Panda - A Love Story

I'm a Lucky Aunt!

How cute are Mabel & Weston? Josh took these pictures last week and I just had to share them. The one of Weston looks like he's straight out of The Little Rascals and Mabel's crazy side is evident in the next one. No matter how much they beat each other up, tackle each other and make each other cry it's obvious they love each other a lot!!

Indiana Trip

Happy Fourth of July!

Crazy boy!

My Grandma/Max's Great Grandma, me & Max

Max got his own seat for part of the flight home

We Survived!

Thanks for the prayers! We survived two plane trips and 4 days of a messed up schedule and now we're back home. Max didn't sleep at all on either flight, but he remained entertained by the books, toys and,most especially, the food that I brought along. On Wednesday he was awake from 4:45 a.m. until about 1 p.m. without a nap. I believe he got about 5 minutes of shut eye in there somewhere. He made friends with a little girl at the airport and they crawled all over the place and chased a ball and tried to eat disgusting things off the floor together (twist ties, half of a banana, ants...) He LOVED all the attention and activity at my Grandma's house and seems to be suffering from a new type of ADD - the kind where there are not enough people paying attention to you at home.

I was curious as to how Max would respond to his first experience with fireworks. We went to a park in Beech Grove and waited until about 10 p.m. for the show to start. He sat on my lap, started shaking a little and looked confused and scared, then immediately wanted to nurse and then fell asleep while nursing for the whole show. He even slept as I carried him most of the way back to my Grandma's house. I felt bad about keeping him up so late, but it was fun to go down to the park and see some of my Grandma's friends and hang out with my cousins and aunt and uncles.

In other news, Max is currently the king of TemperTantrumLand, but I think it's because he's getting ready to walk as well as getting some more teeth. I keep wondering if it's just that he's very advanced and is going through the terrible two's at 10 months old : ) . Anyone else have experience with this?? It's very frustrating and I hope it passes soon.

Thanks again for the prayers. I hope to post some pictures from the trip in the next couple days.

Off to Indy!!

Say a prayer for me tomorrow (7/2) at 9 a.m. and Saturday (7/5) at 11 a.m. Max and I are flying to Indianapolis to see my Grandma, cousins, aunts, uncles, 2nd cousins, etc. on my dad's side. We are flying with my dad and brother. We flew there when he was 8 weeks old and it was a piece of cake since he wasn't mobile. Ten months old is a completely different story! I am wondering how I'm going to keep him on my lap the whole time given his new penchant for what I have termed his, "gymnastics dismount" or maybe it should be the landing. When he doesn't want to be held he straightens his whole body and throws his arms straight up in the air so as to render him unholdable and to force the holder to put him on the ground and get in all manner of trouble - it looks a bit like an Olympic gymnast finishing a vault or coming off the balance beam.

So anyway, I don't have high hopes for a relaxing flight on either leg of the trip, I only hope that I do not become one of "those people" with the crying baby. I got prescription ear numbing drops for Max's ears since he is still getting over an infection and the doctor thought these might help any pain from the remaining fluid. I'm thinking that they might be better used by offering them to passengers if things go as I expect.

Wish me luck!