Way to go, Max!

He did it. Our little guy turned six! Max was able to celebrate his birthday three times over the course of a week, and loved it. He shared Grandma Burnham's birthday party in Arizona and got tons of fun gifts from his cousins. On his actual Birthday we let him pick what special dinner he wanted, at home or out. Smart boy picked out, at Red Robin of course! He got to order a special drink, an onion ring tower, and a free meal that he was too full to eat. His favorite part was being sung to and getting a special ice cream sundae. What more could a kid ask for? Well, besides a party with his friends. We told him we had celebrated enough, but that he could have a low key party a few friends (meaning we didn't want a whole theme party where we had to entertain kids for hours.) He picked a pizza movie night which seemed perfect. It was a little more crazy than we had hoped, but the kids had a ball. (Note to selves: Don't invite older brother's friends to six year old party!) Max felt pretty special and that is what it is all about. And just so I remember in the future, here are six things I love about my six year old Max:

1. He is always thinking of Jack and is so generous
2. He always walks around with his arms folded
3. He loves to play with Lucy and she LOVES him to death
4. His smile is contageous, and actually all of his facial expressions are great, they make me smile
5. He totally prefers Daddy for everything (yes, I admit it, I love that!)
6. He has the bladder that must be the size of a watermelon...he can hold it forever!

Love you, Max!

Happy Valentine's Day

We veered from our long standing Valentine tradition today. We have always made heart shaped pizza for Valentine's Day. Max is having his birthday party tomorrow and wanted to do a pizza movie night with his friends, so I figured we don't need to have pizza two nights in row. We made heart shaped pancakes instead and it just wasn't the same. We just didn't feel the love! It was actually a fun day, school parties for the kids, and party at home because Byron got home early and was on call but home all night. Now that's a Happy Valentines Day! Here are a few pictures of our little sweethearts. I asked Lucy if she wanted to hold Sam. She was standing up and just stuck both of her arms out like, you bet, I'm all over that! I don't think sitting on the couch was as cool as she thought, but she still held him and thought she was such a big girl. Hope you felt the love today. Happy Valentine's Day!

The Blog Hole

So here we are in the blogging world. How in the heck did we get here? I was adamant about NOT succumbing to peer pressure that "everyone's doing it" and "it'll make you feel good". My take was this: we spend way, way too much time on the computer as it is, we are already pretty good about keeping up with far away friends and family through email and smugmug, and what in the world would we have to say that would interest anyone? (Don't forget the fact that the basement where the computer is located is FREEZING.) So how did we get sucked into the BLOG HOLE?? A few things happened, and honestly, now I'm a blog addict. First of all, we got a laptop computer for Christmas. Suddenly my aversion to long computer sessions has vanished. I can work in my bed, on the couch, at the kitchen table .... anywhere, and it's warm! In the past, Byron would come read his book on the floor by the computer where I was working, just so he could be near me and better "hang out" for the evening. Now he can hang out by me much more comfortably. Second of all, I threw out my back. That is a whole other story, mostly an embarrassing story about people coming into my messy house to take care of me, and riding around the airport in a wheelchair while holding two babies. We'll save that lovely bit for another time. But while my back was out I found a bit of time on my hands while lying there in bed. I figured, if Byron is really going to do this blog thing, we've got to do it right. I don't really know what "right" is, but I figured it had something to do with getting lots of blog links in our "friends" list. :) Between being down and out on my back, and all the nursing sessions where I am forced to sit down for a bit of time, and going on vacation for a week, I have found myself with way more computer time on my hands than normal. Each time I am pulled back into the blogging world, wondering, who has posted something new since yesterday? What new pictures will there be? Who will I link to today that I haven't yet seen? It is all very intriguing to me, and very addicting. I have loved hearing the updates of my friends and family, the little episodes of their lives that I would otherwise miss. I have laughed out loud, been uplifted and inspired, and have even had tears come to my eyes while reading about YOU! So I am wondering: Now that my back is better and life is resuming full force with a newborn and a 17 month old, not to mention the 6 and 8 year old, will I still be able to live in the blog world like I want to? I have so many other "better" things that I "should" be doing, when really I just want to check out if Natalie posts another entry about panties!! I know the whole lecture about moderation in all things and I've heard it all about the dishes still being there when you're done, but really, how do you all do it? How do you live in the blogging world and still function in the normal world? I still haven't figured out what we could post that would even be slightly interesting (ok, the wheelchair in the airport might be a good one), but I figure that maybe finally I will at least get some record kept of part of our lives and I know I will feel good about that. Unfortunately for you it may be awfully boring, but well, here we are!