Nostalgic Film and Flashback Friday

It's been so much fun looking back in time on Fridays!  Unfortunately we've owned a digital camera only since 2008, so my digital library isn't too extensive.  Well, our hard drive is almost full...but that's because Mav was born, ha!

Looking back, it's funny to me that I resisted the digital change for so long.  I've been into photography since high school (it all started with my 11th grade weather photography project...nerd, I know).  I remember receiving my first "fancy" camera for my 19th (or 20th?) birthday.  It was a Canon Rebel DSLR, but it only took film and I loved it!! 

There was something just so awesome and sort of nostalgic about still using film--but the coolest thing to me was the painstaking decision of whether or not to snap a picture.  There was only 24 exposures available.  I would carefully zoom, re-position, zoom, and re-position about 30 times before I actually took a picture...if I took one at all, ha!  No memory card to haphazardly fill and delete later. 

I actually still had a roll of film left in that camera that I discovered months ago.  Now the roll is sitting on my dresser and I keep meaning to drop it off and the drugstore.  I better do it soon, they might be getting rid of the machine to develop film, ha ha!

I have a huge album of photos taken with that camera.  Most of which I've been able to scan into the computer.  Ironic?  :)  Here are a few...

Those bring back lots of great memories of wandering about town, just me and my camera.  Crazy to think that at one point in my life I had time to do that, ha!  But I wouldn't trade my life now, for anything-ever in the world.  Maybe once I retire I can return to wandering aimlessly in the name of photography...on my Hoveround. :)

How about a few flashback photos?

Speaking of having lots of time on my hands--this is from January 31st, 2009.  I made my infamous, made-from-scratch-crust apple pie.  Just for the heck of it.  It's been so long since I've made this, I'm afraid my crust making skills have declined.  My mouth is watering!

Below is one of my favorite pictures of (almost) all of my bestest bestie friends in the whole universe!!  This was January 20th, 2010 (Marcy's birthday!).  Lexi was in town to meet Maverick and visit with all of us girls; plus she stayed with me for a few days to give tons of new mommy advice.  I love these girls SO much.  God has truly blessed us with keeping us so close-knit for many years, over many miles of land (and back).

This little guy was almost 2 months old!  (and the reason why I look so exhausted, ha!)  I can't believe those shoes were too big on him there.  They are now in his keepsake drawer, and they look so tiny!



January 24th, 2011--apparently Maverick was training to be a Deejay. :)

And now we've caught up to 2012.  Maverick is such a big boy compared to last year!  I know I'll be saying that for the rest of his life...at least until he goes to college, ha!  This is Mav rockin some new clothes before church last Sunday.  Don't let the innocent Nordic hoodie fool you, there are skulls and cross bones in the design...do you see them? :)

Showing off his fancy new Nikes.  To be honest, I haven't super cared or been impressed about the "quality" of kids shoes until now. (aside from the normal "do they fit?")  I think we might have to stick with Nikes for Mav's running/playing shoes from now on.  You can really tell they take care to design and manufacture their kids' shoes just like adult athlete shoes, which is why they are so expensive.  We got these for 75% off, so we'll have to keep our eyes peeled for more sales like those!

Have a super wonderful weekend!

A spare minute to post!

Okay, so can I tell you how WONDERFUL it has been to discover Mav's new schedule?!

It is like a new life for him, and us.

He has been sleeping twelve hours straight from 8p-8a.  Let the peasants rejoice! :)

Of course there are still moments of needing to go in and soothe him occasionally...but nothing like the drama before.  And most importantly--he has been doing great going all day without a nap.  No crankiness, tantrums, etc.  Which makes me feel more at ease about taking out the nap.  I guess Maverick is just ready for it a little early...we'll see!  If not, that's cool too.  Just want the best for our little guy! 

However---there have been a few days that he's fallen asleep during the day on his own accord.  Which is fine, too.  We've pretty much figured out:  no nap = 12hrs at night; and 2 hr nap = about 10hrs at night. 

So there is a 2 hr give in either direction...we'll take it!!  And Mav seems to be doing alright with it.

Anyways...on to the important topic! :)

Have you heard of the show "Downton Abbey"?  Well...I'm sort of addicted to it. (thank you Jo)

I have to admit...I was a little scared away due to a particular scene in the first episode...but as weird as this may sound...you kinda have to push past it and later on you realize how it makes sense with that character.

~Anyways~ this show is so BEYOND fantastic!  I can't even begin to describe how epic the writing, character development, cinematography, wardrobe, etc, etc, ETC(!) is of the show.  I hope it is around for a long, long, time!  It seems like anything that is genuinely great isn't on for long though.  Boo!

And since Maverick fell asleep at SEVEN o'clock tonight, I'm all caught up on the first season!!  I can't wait to watch the 3 episodes for season 2 this week (errr...maybe tomorrow night?!), so I can be current for the new episode on Sunday.  I'm thinking we need to plan a weekly DA watch party. :)

Also, I probably love this show so much because I (not so) secretly wish I was British Aristocracy.  Kinda like how I (not so) secretly took a vacation day off work to get up at 3am to watch the Royal Wedding...

Would you tell his Lordship that I've tired, and have gone to bed?

Really Random

Sometimes life is SOOOO frustrating!!

Well, just government policies and beaurocracy.  It would be incredibly boring to yammer on about it all...but it would feel so great just to complain about a few things.

Government offices are just plain inefficient. 
Not opinion--fact. 

And so much waste of taxpayer time and money. (it's like they know it too...and seem to enjoy it)
 
Example #1267: Window clerk no. 4 walked 15 feet away to use a phone (a corded phone, with said cord needing to be hopped over by those that walked by) to call Window clerk no. 7 who was sitting 3 chairs away, originally.  I wish I was making this up.  I have tons of examples from this past week alone...it's bringing on a stress headache.


The Gateway Clean Air Program is a bunch of bunk, and just a sham to make money. (Kinda like when a road is built, but then completely torn down and redesigned 2 years later.  Really?  You didn't think about it the first time?)

Even before our current fiasco, I totally believed this.  Don't get me wrong--I love the Earth and the human race, and want them to stick around for a long time.  But the program itself needs a lot of revisions to be effective, without needless cost to citizens.

Need an example?  Gladly! :)

So our Jeep Cherokee has a microscopic leak in the fuel evaporation system.  Microscopic.
And this microscopic hole is keeping the Jeep from passing the emissions test, because it is coding the Check Engine light and the computer.

A microscopic hole that has absolutely NO effect on the Jeep's exhaust, emissions, or even overall performance.

However, the GVIP has decided that if the Check Engine light is on for any reason, it can't pass.

Soooo how much money does it take to find this microscopic hole that does not have any effect on our Jeep's emissions?

Well.  Let's see.  The average auto serviceman has to completely flush the fuel lines and take apart the fuel evaporation system to find the microscopic hole...which is a lot of labor hours...and if they find it at all...should set us back $300-$400 at the minimum.

To find a microcopic hole that doesn't effect our Jeep's emissions.

Grrrrrr.  It's just frustrating.  Because it's uneccesarily making our lives harder.  We can't renew the plates on that Jeep until it all gets fixed...and it's making life a little crazy trying to get 3 people to 2, sometimes 3 different places at the same time.

Okay, enough of the grumbling.  Just needed to vent.  And really, I need to look at the positives to stay sane and most importantly--be so very grateful for what we have.  People have survived on a lot less, and we truly have been blessed with so much.  Too much. 

How about an update on Maverick?  Because you know, he never gets talked about on here. :)

Well, he LOVES his cousin Noa.  Like, they are the bestest of best buds.  Granted they've only known eachother for almost a year...but I can already tell they are totally going to be those cousins that you think are brothers until they tell you otherwise.

Noa came over to hang out last night, and had the grandest of adventures with Mav.  I tried getting a few pictures of them wearing fireman helmets, riding Mav's bike together, etc.  But couldn't quite get a good shot.  This was the best one, and even then its blurry.  They're just too wiggly and my lighting is just too bad at night.

We also rearranged Mav's room into a more big boy room.  With every "baby" thing we moved to the basement...the more my heart wrenched, ha!  It was mostly out of necessity.  He has a ton of new toys from his birthday and Christmas, so we purged his toybox.  I kept holding up all these little soft toys and said, "Remember when he couldn't even grasp it?"  Sniffle sniffle!

Also, he kept climbing his changing table and jumping off it...giving me a heart attack. We weren't using it as a changing table anymore, so we just needed to figure out where to put all the stuff we were keeping on it.  We moved his little blue sofa from the living room into his room, where the changing table was.

We scooted his bed over to the corner to make room for the little toy shelf that was also crowding our living room.  In case you are wondering, Mav likes to put those boppy pillows there so he can lands on them when he jumps off the bed.  At least he is being cautious? (!)  Sigh.

This corner used to have the bookshelf and 3 plastic shelves (like the black one in the first picture holding diaper supplies) where the toybox is now (the toybox used to be crowded next to his bed).  The black plastic shelves was our storage system for Mav's clothes...but that only works well with tiny baby clothes.  So now all of his clothes are hung in the closet.  Like a big boy.  Sniffle sniffle.

I am bummed I had to move his wall map decal so high, but that little stinker kept peeling it off and it has torn in a couple spots.  I'll keep it up there until he is old enough to peel & stick the states on like it was designed. :) 

Our basement is now overtaken with baby stuff, ha!  We're hoping that someday we'll get to use it again, but its nice to know that should God have other plans for us, there are lots of people out there who could use it.

We might have a breakthrough!

Don't want to jinx it...but I think we may have solved our months-long bedtime battle with Mav...

This will be the 4th day in a row that Mav has been sound asleep by 9:30pm, without all the drama!!



New Cars jammies!
What a cheesy smile :)

So, what has been the secret?  Well.  No nap.
I don't even know if its good to cut out the nap with a 2 year old...but it seems to be the golden ticket for us.  Hey, every kid is different...right?  He is getting his 10 hours per day, just all at once.  And this all goes without saying that this might not even work next week, ha!

Before, Mav's naptime was pretty inconsistent.  Sometimes it was 2-4p, sometimes it was 3-5p.  Heck, sometimes it was 1-3p, or even 3-6p.  (I'm not even kidding when I say that on the days when he slept until 6, I would swing him around to get him to wake up...and it barely worked, ha!)  Whenever he naps, he would only sleep 7-8 hours at night...plus getting him to go to bed (and stay) was a complete nightmare.

And add on the molar teething...yikes!
(side note--Mav is like the worst teeth grinder in his sleep.  We can hear it over the monitor, and it makes my stomach churn.  I have no idea how he still has teeth left, ha!  The doctor said he should grow out of it, and it's most likely due to teething pain...and there is nothing we can do, aside from a personalized mouthguard...which is only needed if there is actual tooth damage)

He acts so goofy for the flash on my camera!

The first couple of days with no nap, he was a mini terrorist by 7:30p.  We're talking: pulling clothes off hangers in his closet, throwing blocks, stripping down naked and running circles, tugging at curtains, and unwinding a full toilet paper roll into the potty.  (the last one was SO much fun to clean)

If it wasn't so awful in the moment, it would be hilarious.  And really, it was pretty hilarious.  Straight out of a scene from Kindergarten Cop or something, ha!

But today, he has been in a great mood all day...even close to bedtime!  Tonight he was all smiles as I was tucking him in.  Now all I have to do is tuck him in, rub his back for a couple minutes and he is out like a light.  And he stays in bed, asleep, until about 7:30-8am.  Hallelujah!

Of course, we'll see how long this lasts.  Probably have to figure out a new strategy next week. 
As I've found out...that's how parenting goes. :)

Flashback Friday, well Saturday now

Last night I was reading a couple other blogs, and they did a Flashback Friday theme.  I thought that would be cute, too!  I picked out some photos and thought about what to write for after when Mav went to bed...but then it never happened.

Maverick didn't go to sleep until 3:30am

3:30 AM

Yep.

Still battling the separation anxiety PLUS cutting his 2 year molars.
No bueno.

Guess what time he woke up?  7:00am. 
No rest for the weary.

You know the teething diarrhea that doctors say doesn't actually exist?  Well, that's a bunch of gump.  Ever since tooth #1, Mav always gets it.  The 2 yr molars are no exception.  And this morning it showed up in full force.  All over my shirt.

With ALL that said, we've actually had a great day.  We spent the morning/afternoon celebrating one of Mav's buddies' 2 year birthday.  All the kiddos had so much fun, and all of us grown ups celebrated that we're finally at a stage where we can sit back and relax while the kids play (all of our kids are about 2-3 yrs old).  That is until we all start having more kids I guess, ha!

I was so relieved when Mav fell asleep on the way home.  FINALLY a chance to quietly relax on the couch.  Maybe watch something on Netflix that isn't Diego or Mighty Machines.

And then Mav woke up.

And never went back to sleep.
No matter what I tried.

Sigh.

BUT.  Life could be way worse.  Way, way, way, worse. 
And I am rejoicing in the blessings I've been given.
Even if they are cranky and poo-squirting. :)

So...how about some Flashback Friday?

Can you believe it?  Obviously its not the same hawk...but we've been having hawk friends visit (I suppose on their migratory journey) for a few years now.  In almost the exact same spot on the fence, ha! 

January 17, 2009.

Crazy to think Maverick was ever that tiny!  I guess he was about a month and a half old, all snuggled in his carseat and bundled up under his seat cover. 

January 13, 2010

Playing in the laundry basket.  I love that sweet face. :)

January 15, 2011

Sundays are Fundays!

We finally made it back to the early service at church today!  Between the holidays and waking up late...we either went to the 11 o'clock service or didn't go at all.  Nothing against the later service, we always like that one too.  But it's so nice to get out of church at 10:30am and still have most of Sunday open.  That sounds terrible, huh?!  Lol!

Mav used to be terrified of church.  He would start fussing as soon as we drove up to the building.  But now that he is a bit older & wiser, he knows there is SO much fun to be had. :)

After running down the hall, he knocks over the gate to get into his classroom, ha!  As a preschool teacher I know parents love to hear great things about their kiddos, so it always warms my heart when we pick up Mav after church and get a great report.  Today his teacher told us that he is always a gracious share-er.

I often wonder if my preschoolers' parents keep all the millions of drawings/crafts/papers that we send home...because I do!  Okay, maybe not all of them.  I did put this one in the keepsake box.  He colored it today during church.  I don't think he traced the number 3 though, ha ha!
 

Mav loves to color so much that he decided to freestyle a bit on the back.  And it's probably just me...but I think it looks like a fish. :)

Let's see...what else did we do today?  Sundays are usually our big laundry and tidying up days, then having the rest of the evening to chill and enjoy family time.  I don't know why, but I love having all my laundry clean and put away by Sunday night.  It just feels good to start off the week with all empty laundry baskets.

Mav did about 400 laps with his Towmater, ha!  It is actually a bubble machine...but we haven't given that surprise away yet.  It does make a really cool engine sound when you push it, I think that's why Mav likes it.

Maverick often requests "Horsey rides" and we often oblige. :)

We extra splurged on dinner tonight.  The kitchen was really clean.  Neither one of us felt like cooking (or dirtying dishes).  So we splurged on ordering pizza, and then extra splurged on Cecil Whittaker's pizza!  Normally our budget calls for Little Caesar's hot-n-ready pizzas...but we haven't had Cecil's (our favorite!) in forever and they had a good family deal.  Plus--Cecil's pizza is the best pizza to eat cold for breakfast.

We don't normally follow football (I should mention that pitchers and catchers report to spring training in about a month!), but we half-way watched the Steelers-Broncos game (we did watch the entire overtime though!).  Mostly I had to show Robbie what "Tebowing" was, lol! 

We "Tebowed" in front of the tv at the end of the game.  With the rest of Denver. :)

It's All Good

Robbie noticed that I had a whole bunch of hawk websites up on the computer and he asked if I was looking to adopt one, ha!  No...just trying to research about my new friend.  He (or she?) doesn't have a name yet.  This is probably the 4th time I've seen him on our back fence and I finally snapped a picture of him.  Wish it was better quality, but I didn't want to scare him away.  I still have no idea what type of hawk (I assume hawk?) he is.  To me, there were hundreds of different pictures on Google that looked like him.

An old friend/acquaintance of mine from high school is traveling all the way to Austin, TX next month to run in the Livestrong Half-Marathon in memory of one of her dear friends who passed away from leukemia.  She set a personal goal to raise $500 for the Livestrong Foundation, and has offered to carry the name of a person to be honored/remembered for anyone who makes a donation.  I made a small donation in Robbie's honor, and she is going to wear his name while she runs.  How awesome is that?! :) 

I can't believe this summer will mark 5 years being cancer free!

Robbie and I have always said if we were to ever come into an absurd amount of money, the first thing we would do (besides hire a financial advisor) is pay it forward to Siteman Cancer Center at the Center for Advanced Medicine,Washington University where Robbie was treated.  At the time, Robbie had no health insurance and was awarded a full "scholarship" that covered care from the top surgeons, physicians, and oncologists in the country; all chemotherapy; all prescription drugs; all bloodwork; all ct scans, etc, etc.  It truly was a miracle for us.  And I know the Livestrong Foundation and Siteman Cancer Center work together to fundraise money for research and treatment.

Today it was also BEAUTIFUL outside!  66 degrees on January 5th?!  Loved opening the roof in the Jeep!  I jumped at the opportunity to take Mav out to the park in short sleeves, and to take some fun pictures.  I couldn't believe my eyes when I popped my flash drive into the computer and saw that I took 120 pictures.  Oops, ha ha!  Don't worry I won't upload all of them to this post. :)  Also, I had a little fun with our Photoshop software and tweaked the lighting a bit.

Didn't have to be told twice where to go!

Going down the slide!

Mav likes to go down slides like this, ha!

Last summer he loved to climb this big kid playground, and about gave me a heart attack every time.

(even though I was right behind him)

It's fun to see how much he can do by himself just a few months later!

Brave enough to go down the BIG slide?

Sort of...he still wanted to hold mommy's hand, ha!

Mav loves riding these little guys.

Now he can get on and off by himself!

Swings!

What a beautiful day!

I'm sure we'll pay for this nice weather next week with a couple feet of snow.

Party Animals...Sort Of

Happy New Year!

2012 is here!  I don't know why, but I'm really excited about 2012.  I think its because 2012 is a nice and even, balanced number.  Of course that really doesn't mean anything, ha!  It must also be the excitedness of a new year.  Although Robbie did bring up a good point...January 1st is just another day.  My husband is so inspirational. ;)

For the first time in quite a while, we didn't have any plans for New Years Eve and just chilled at home.  Mav is at a weird age as far as trying to get him to sleep in unfamiliar places (it doesn't happen), so we would've thrown a home party.  Except we've thrown a couple big parties pretty recently and we're pooped out from them.

So this was our NYE party this year--a cozy and relaxing night.  My house is terrible for pictures when the sun goes down.  I hate using the flash on my camera, but those silly cfl lightbulbs make for awful lighting no matter what the settings are on my camera.  Enough about that, let's get to the party. :)

Lots of tickle fights through the night!

Of course there was much fun to be had in the tent!

We enjoyed a mini marathon of King of the Hill.  Appropriately, this episode was about the Y2K apocalypse frenzy, ha ha!  Oh Dale.  Err, I mean Rusty Shackleford.

By now it was like 7:45...and I didn't know how long I would make it!  Pathetic, I know.

Mav enjoyed more playing in his hideout.  Don't know how much longer he will fit in there!

Speaking of that, I started a new tradition on a whim.  I marked Mav's height on his bedroom door frame.  I think people usually do this on birthdays...but New Years Eve could be fun too? 

You can sort of see it...up there near the door knob hole thingy.  He is getting so big!  (apparently bigger = more messy room, ha!)  At his 2 yr check up over a month ago, he was 36 1/4 inches tall.  So if you go with the statistic of two year olds being about half their adult height...Mav will be 6 ft tall.  Just like his daddy!

We played cars.  A LOT.  Aunt Johanna and Uncle Jon got Mav that nifty car mat.

It folds up into a storage box! :)

And what would New Years Eve be without pizza?

Some yummy cream cheese and crackers, too!

   

I ended up nodding off with Mav I think around 9:45 or 10pm.  We are SO wild. :)

Fortunately I woke up again around 11:30, just in time to celebrate the New Year.  And then I went back to sleep.  And dreamed of hanging out with Jimmy Fallon, ha!  I suppose that's what you get when you fall asleep watching Saturday Night Live.

Whatever 2012 may bring, I love that God already knows and is ready to walk us with us through it. 

The awesome, the bad, and everything in between. :)

Hope that your new year is awesome, too!