things are heating up!

We live with a kid.  No longer the parents of a baby!  No sir, we are not those people.  We have a KID, thank you very much.  According to him, there isn't anything he shouldn't be allowed to do or say.  A friend's mouth dropped open the other day after not seeing him for a week.  "He had a growth spurt," she said.  And I was sad, because Jon had said the same thing the night before....but I was too close to the situation to notice myself.  Le Sigh.  My baby continues to melt away and fade into this funny little boy who says the funniest things.

He loves to parent Jack lately.  He repeats all of the things we say to him, but to our cat.  Maybe he needs to feel in control about something?
"Jack, get down!  No, Jack!  Jack, timeout!!"  (my favorite was when he woke up from his nap yesterday and commanded her to come get him)

He's obsessed with Bob the Builder, and trucks & tractors.  Which is so classic boy, and I just love it.  The blackened fingernails at the end of the day are a little unsettling, but nothing that a good bath won't clean away.  So totally worth it to have a rough&tumble kid who would rather dig in the dirt for an hour than be inside.

a smattering of camera pics:

1+2. making the most of a sunny, warm day by taking a ferry ride.  He loved it!  Can't wait to do it again with Jon there too.

3. Max & Mom adventure day in the city.  We rode the monorail, hung around the space needle, hit up a candy store, got Potbelly's sandwiches, and ran around downtown.  He was such a trooper!!  Holding my hand when he needed to, and just taking in the sights and sounds.  LOVE having my sidekick with me.

4.  His favorite favorite thing at the moment.  At the zoo, park, childen's museum, anywhere he can find one...he WILL drench himself in the drinking fountain, and not allow other kids to use it without throwing a fit.  Oy.  (and yes, that is a shirt that I sewed for him!  haha, I've become an obsessive sewer, but more about that later.  Maybe obsessive seamstress looks a little better written down.  MAX has become an obsessive sewer.  More about that later too).

5.  Still a cuddler.  Moments when I still glimpse my baby.

6.  Favorite snack.  He finishes by handing me back a polka dotted apple, and I just wish it's the kind of thing I could scrapbook for the future.

24-month onesies, anyone??  Max has developed a nervous habit of constantly reaching down the back of his pants, absentmindedly.  Watching tv, reading a book, just standing around....he's got his right hand DOWN his diaper.  Gosh.  The cherry on the top of this not-so-sweet development was when he approached me last week with something to give me.  And he kindly put a turd into my open hand.
We made a trip to costco to sweep them of the biggest onesies we could find, and now Max lives in them.  If we forget to put one on him, we pay dearly later.

There's one of the three shirts that I've sewn for Max so far.  Haha, I am learning as I go....as all the decals came off in the wash, and that collar is big enough to be an 80s-shoulder shirt.  I took the collar off to reattach it, and need to find a different method for applying appliques.  Otherwise, it looks like a real shirt :)  

My friend, Jacq, has gotten me all inspired to sew clothes for Max (and gasp!maybe someday for me), and it's all I think about lately.  For anybody who still reads this dusty blog, you may have noticed that the blogs I read on the right hand side are now PRIMARILY sewing blogs.  I'm a woman obsessed.  It is so much fun!!  And I don't even care that it ages me about thirty years, and may sound a little hokey.  

I've reached the limit that my trusty "Pixie" (you are seeing that correctly.  That sewing machine will run you $37.95) will take me, and am anxiously awaiting Jon to give me the green light to upgrade!!  I have some dear friends who have loaned me machines in the in-between to give me a better idea of what I'd like, and to let me get some projects done.

So, anyway.  That explains my instagramming as of late.

Oh, that's just Max and his girlfriend, Ellie.  

Or, maybe she thinks that Max is her baby doll.  And Max allows it as long as he can play with all of her toys.  Whatever, it's a cute system of playing and hugging that they've got worked out.

Ellie's mom, two other friends, and myself will be leaving (fleeing) town for the Bethany women's retreat coming up in 3.5 weeks!  It'll be my first time away from Max for over 12 hours or something crazy like that.  I'm sure it will be difficult when it comes to say goodbye, but we are all sure counting down right now!  And Max is gonna LOVE his time with dadda, whom he adores.

See?  ADORES.  He's even started wearing sunglasses like Jon now.  He just loves it when daddy's home in the evenings or on the weekends.  I love watching them together!!

Spring has finally seemed to arrive in Seattle, and we are thrilled about it in this house.  Afternoons seem to fly by when we can be at the park for hours.  whew for that.  And more sunlight, more daylight, flip flops, a reason to shave legs again.....welcome spring.  Stay a while.

I gotta get to sleep, but just a note that in the past week we got word that we WILL, in fact, be moving down to Portland again in May like last year.  Jon's work was supposed to be such that he wouldnt need to be down there so much, but there was some rearranging, and he's back on in force at his client down there from mid-May to the end of June.

I was a little surprised at first to change my expectations so suddenly, but it took me about two seconds to rally and get excited.  I LOVED our stay down there last year!  It was like a vacation..staying in a sweet apartment, having housecleaners, living in the pearl district!  I'm determined to be proactive about planning our weekends down there this year.  I want so badly for us to get out to the coast, maybe even for an overnight, and let max run amok on the beach.  

Also waiting in limbo for some other potential, life-altering news from Jon's job.  I am not a fan of waiting games, but suspense adds a little flavor to life, eh?  I hope to know something soon!  That's my way of ending this post on a cliffhanger...


[ALSO, A PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT THAT IT'S AMY BINDER LIU'S BIRTHDAY TODAY.  I LOVE YOU GIRL.  HAPPY 3-1!! that is all :) ]

checking in...

I am so excited to think that we are pretty much through the thick of winter.  Gosh, is it tough to keep an active little guy entertained indoors during the cold months, when all he wants to do is dig in the dirt and swing & slide.  His favorite things, hands down.  He's also a big fan of wagon rides with his sweet friend, Ellie.  Basically, I cannot WAIT for spring and summer, so he can just be a rowdy kid.  So excited for weekends at the blueberry farm, where he can ride around with Poppy on the tractor (another favorite obsession...tractors and trucks)

He's a pretty picky eater...not willing to try a whole lot of new stuff.  Although, if it's on our plate, he wants it!  On his plate, not so much.  I've got my work cut out for me trying to figure out how to round out his diet, because he's not a huge fan of vegetables.  He'll eat fruit all day long, but I gotta work some greens in there somehow!  I know you can hide it in lasagna and stuff, but he's not a huge fan of pasta either.  So, I need to get creative...  he does love black beans and olives.  We spent the last couple of weeks visiting my mom & dad, and his grandma taught him the proper way to eat black olives:

January was a seriously BRUTAL month for our little family.  Jon & I both got sick just before Christmas, and I dont think illness left our house until February blew in.  It was awful!  I went to urgent care twice for myself, twice for Max, and Jon had his fair share of being out of commission too.  We just passed it around and around.  We experienced croup for the first time...and it scared the living daylights out of us.  Not much sleep was granted anyone.  So thankful that we are healthy now, but those six weeks were a blur.  Here's Max as we got ready to go to urgent care one morning:

I gave up a few weeks ago, trying to keep us inside and warm.  Whenever I can, I try to let loose with him and let him get down and dirty, even if the weather isn't super conducive to it.  It makes bathtime later so much more fun for him, and it's a great way to pass these winter days.

He had his first chance to play in snow last week, back in Wisconsin.  Maybe he needs some more opportunities to do so, but he wasn't super thrilled about it :)  We went sledding with the cousins, and it was pretty cute to see them all together again!

We all ended up at an arcade together.  It was simultaneously hilarious, and exhausting to chase Max around.  The boy does love him some skeeball, that's for sure. 

he won a whopping two tickets :)

cousins on the carousel...

all dance dance revolutioned-out....

Our flight home was one for the memory books, as Max took the opportunity during take-off to pee through his diaper completely, onto me, and onto our plane seat.  I was frozen, totally not sure what to do.  The flight attendants were still buckled in, we were really really not allowed to get up.  I had to wait about ten minutes like that to turn on my call light...and when the attendant came to let me know that she couldn't help me quite yet, I simply lifted my boy up to show her the disaster beneath.

Her mouth formed a perfect O, and she ran up to the cockpit to ASK THE PILOT'S PERMISSION for us to get up early to clean up the disaster.  She was not so subtle in showing how dumb she thought I was for not bringing a change of pants for myself.  I always used to!  I think I got a little cocky from never having needed it, and also didnt have the spare room to bring them.  Okay, I'll never make that mistake again, I promise.  Whatever, they dried in four-hours time, by the time we landed (although it happened again an hour into the flight.  what the heck!)  I feel like I handled the situation with composure...or maybe I was in shock.  Probably more that :)

I've never been the parent who counts how many words he's saying.  All I know is it's a lot, and he's constantly saying things I didn't know he knew.  He's putting two & three words together at a time, and constantly making us laugh.  I may have let him use the iPad kind of a lot on our trip to the midwest.  It was a bit of a lifesaver for me on those long travel days, and cold snowy days inside.  One of his favorite apps is called AlphaTots, and he's really darned good at finding his way around that game.  This morning Rachel came over and played with him for a while, and I nearly fell out of my chair when I saw this happening.  I ran and grabbed my camera so fast.  Please humor this proud momma, and don't judge my nerdy commentary in the background :)

We are on iPad lock-down now.  The kid needs a technology intervention, for sure (but then again, maybe I do too...)

We are in a crazy separation anxiety phase, and it's been hard for me to go to church or playgroups or anything.  I know it won't always been this way, but it's tough at the moment.  Missing my church, and other stuff!

So there's a little update on life.  I'd like to do something fun this summer for my 30th birthday, but I can't decide on what yet.  I think a getaway to a beach is an order...hmm...

Giveaway...

THIS is truly a giveaway I'd love to win.
And Jami Nato is a girl I'd truly love to be friends with in real life.  You should read her marriage story if you're blog surfing and have a spare minute (or twenty).  It's real stuff, full of real hope.

Anyway, sign me up to win!  I want some swag!
-kara

#letsgetpraisy LinkUp!

Come on, Jami!  Give me a couple extra points for being the first person on instagram to copy you before you even created this contest :)  Please?

Oh well.  Here's my entry for "letsgetpraisy," which is pretty much a line of God t-shirts just waiting to happen.

chelski vs. the grand arsenal

(I was out of title ideas)

Can I give anybody who is thinking about bringing their 1.25 year old to Disneyland some advice?
Wait six years.
Don't do it.
Don't do it alone.
In fact, just don't do it.
Haha, what a trip.  We didn't realize until the flight back that he was busy teething his molars, so that was quite the "Aha" moment.  Poor kid.  We pushed an overstimulated, screaming kid around the happiest place on earth for a little less than two hours before we counted our losses and peaced the heck out of there.  There was no It's a Small World.  There were no magical encounters with Mickey Mouse.
In fact, there are no pictures of any kind because that was lit-terally the last thing on our minds to do.
I'd like a do-over someday :)

Jon was a sweet ol' chap and sent me back to the park for about six hours by myself for the Halloween festivities, while he took care of Max back at the hotel.  Apparently, part of his corporate training "seminar" included riding the Tower of Terror and other rides and fancy meals....so it was nice to get a night off after such a long week of watching/flying with Max alone.  I can already look back on the experience and laugh.  He slept & napped well while there, so I definitely had that to be thankful for.

I've been trying to make the most of fall with my kiddo, and now that Halloween is behind us, Thanksgiving is approaching.  I'm excited!  We took Max out to a pumpkin patch a few weekends ago, and that was another experience that I just don't think he was totally old enough for.  He is SUCH a busy little boy.  It takes all of Jon's & my undivided attention to make sure he's not endangering his life or some other shenanigan.  It makes outings like this pretty difficult.


He got really into painting a little pumpkin I got for him, and then after I carved it for him and stuck a little green light inside, he played with it incessantly til the day it molded inside-out :P  He couldnt get enough of taking off the lid, taking out the light, putting the lid back on, etc etc.  He is so so fascinated with taking things apart and putting them back together.  Cute little developmental milestone.

The shot below is of my mom's foster mom, Pat, and her husband Jeff.  They were so so sweet to pick Max & I up from the hotel we were staying at, and take us window shopping at Knott's Berry Farm for an afternoon.  I had SO MUCH FUN catching up with them, and am so thankful they were finally able to meet my boy.  I'll be in touch next time we come down to see all of you, I promise!
I took Max to my church's Harvest Party last weekend, and dressed him up in this cute diddy my mom SEWED for him.  Yes, she is super talented.  Jon was busy that evening, so I took Max in an effort to do something cute and memorable...and again, realized that he was just too young for it.  Gah.  I know next year will be a totally different ball game, but there are just so many things I'm excited to do with my munchkin, but all he really wants to do is stick his fingers in light sockets :)
Here was costume #2 for actually Halloween day :)  What a sweet boy, he was.  I had my expectations set at a much better place, and he actually LOVED trick or treating up at the community center up the street!  He loved seeing the other kids running around, and got the hang of holding up his basket for candy.

I love my Max.  We are just entering a new stage of tantrums and "NOOO!"  Oh my goodness, I thought we had more time until we got here!  It's been really tiring lately to having him getting into everything he isn't supposed to, and then start yelling, "No no noooo!" when I try to stop him.  I'm sure many of you who have walked this road are chuckling by this point, maybe thinking things such as Welcome to parenthood, sweetheart... or maybe, Settle in.  You'll be here for a while.
I'll stop guessing what you're thinking.
Jon & I are kind of baffled about the whole discipline thing.  No matter how often you've thought about it in your lifetime, and kind of think you know where you've settled and how you'll handle it when the time comes...we finally arrive and feel like a couple of foreigners in a country with no knowledge of the language, and no guidebooks.
Except there are guidebooks, I guess.  Only it's really difficult sometimes to understand how they apply to your child, and if you agree totally with everything they say.
Anyway, that's filling my days, and I'm trying to grow a tough skin about it.  My sweet and snuggly kid is definitely still there, but he's developing this additional personality now of getting very frustrated at trivial things, and talking back to me a bit.  Mercy.

So, what is he up to now, at 15 months (today!)?  Well, he's speaking in full sentences, if you can believe that.
We just don't understand what those sentences mean at the moment ;)  We are in love with his baby-speak.
Let me see if I can remember all the intelligible things he's saying at the moment....here's a short list:
Nana [banana]....only it's kinda pronounced naynay.
Ahppo [apple].
Mow [milk].
Ah done [all done].
Ahgull [uncle].
Hallo.  Bye.  Momma.  Da.  Nigh nigh.  Car.  Go go go!
Tee Tou [thank you]...said whenever give takes or gives an item.
Uh oh...said whenever he deliberately throws an item on the ground.

And then our favorite, which makes us shake our head and giggle.  It happens whenever he wants Jon or I, and more specifically...when he wants something OF us.  It's a demanding word, meaning....Mom or Dad, I want you NOW.  He gets this ornery look on his face and shouts "CAR!"  Weird, I know.  Only he shouts it in an angry Boston accent, so it comes out like "Cahhh!"
He does this every morning when Jon is getting ready in the bathroom with the door closed.  Max will shout it through the door, and I laugh and say, "Car, Max would like a word with you."  Just one of those funny Max-isms.

I took him to swimming lessons three or four times.  It was super cute to see him try to blow bubbles in the pool and learn to kick his feet, and whatnot, but that wasn't going the greatest since it meant blowing through his morning nap.  I thought we could pull it off since he's within the range of dropping that nap, but this kid is adamantly holding onto it.  I know it sounds crazy to try to push him out of it, right?  Just let the kid sleep!  But actually, most of his buddies (read: my buddies with babies his age) have dropped that already, so he remains on an opposite nap schedule as them.  It translates into not getting to see my mom friends unless there's a special case.  Also, it would help him make it through mops mornings if he was in the habit of staying awake all morning.  So, I tried to maybe prompt him to drop that nap...and it's pretty clear at the mo that he's not having it.
Fine, little man.  You can keep your nap for now.
But believe me, this excuse will not fly in high school.

He is starting to actually read books more and eat them less.  My little daredevil likes to go down giant slides by himself now, giving me panic attacks, but I'm trying to let him flex his wings a little bit.  He LOVES to help me cook in the kitchen when I have the patience to let him.  And have the back strength to hold him.  I'll open a cupboard and point to which spice I need, and he'll pull it out and help me shake it into the pot...he likes to stir with a wooden spoon, and wash & dry his hands.
I think we're finally emerging from Round 2 of separation anxiety...it was kind of a bad spell, but he's now made it through MOPS and a whole church service in the nursery without being called out.  Such a welcome relief for a tired momma.  Just some things he's up to...

Max has done quite a bit of traveling in his short life, and I gotta say...I'm not comfortable flying everywhere with his birth certificate in order to prove he's mine.  I know myself, and that I will most likely lose that document if I do...so when I needed to go update my driver's license, I took my mini-me along and scored him an i.d. card of his very own.  It's a show-stopper at the ticket desk in the airport..especially if there's all females working.

Also, Max was called a She yesterday at a baby gym.  We're off for his first official haircut this afternoon (I hope).  Jon tried to lop off his mullet the other night, and now he looks like some neglected child with an abominable haircut.  Hopefully a photo later of that experience :)

from the hotel bathroom

Traveling with a baby is a funny thing. When he goes down for a nap in our hotel room, where do I go? What do I do while he fusses himself to sleep in his pack & play?
The answer is that I play on my phone on the cold bathroom floor. The unglamorous side of vacation :)
Nighttime is even worse, as he goes down at 7:30, and then I look for quiet things to do in the dark. Haha, I know I'll remember fondly, and miss, these days of raising a baby.
So hello from Disneyland! Jon has a work retreat here this week, so max and I flew down yesterday to join him for a few days. A great way to do vacation on the cheap!
Our flight was really great! Max is really starting to understand that we are going on a "pane" (as he points his chubby finger to the sky)...and did astonishingly well on the trip. Thankful for only a two hour flight instead of the usual four!












I was really, geekily excited to see crater lake from the air. I've always been fascinated by it, and am determined to visit soon.
We haven't visited the Park yet, just played in the pool and walked down Main Street, past all the Disney hotels. By far, maxs favorite thing to do is play in the elevator bay...




We met up with one of Kristen's dearest friends, now my friend!, yesterday. She brought her two sweet girls, and her cute baby bump also, along to play in the pool and hot tub. It was so good to see her!!! But it's so difficult to even think about taking pictures when I'm chasing max all around!! I feel bad I didn't get a shot of us, but thanks again Jen for coming to hang out with us!!!
This morning max and I ate breakfast at the Rainforest Cafe. I know I sound like such a lush, but when you're staying at the Disneyland Hotel with no rental car, there aren't many options for food except ESPN zone, a jazz restaurant, and a bunch of other pricey places. So, that's where we went, because I figured everything to look at in there would buy me some extra time to drink my coffee and eat my food. We were seated next to a giant gorilla, and I'll let this video tell you what max thought of the experience.



In a little while we are meeting some very dear family to us, who I haven't seen in over six years! It is my mom's foster mom who led her to The Lord when my mom was just 17. This woman changed history in my mom's life, sending her to Moody Bible Institute, where she met my dad...and so on :) I am so thankful that she followed the Lords leading in her life, to open up her house to my mom. I would not be here today if she hadn't! Although not related by blood, she and her husband Jeff are the last remaining grandparents I have on earth! I'm excited for them to meet my boy :)
Tomorrow Jon is finally done with work responsibilities and we're off to Disneyland. Hope to take max on its a small world :)
Gotta go!
[forgive the typos...I posted this from my iphone]

Location:S Disneyland Dr,Anaheim,United States

B E L O V E D

I barely remember life before Max, and what I do remember seems so pale. 366 days ago I was bringing my son into the world, and it seems impossible to me that the two babies above are the same boy!
Apart from the promise of eternal life, Max is by FAR the greatest gift that God has ever given me.  I just had three paragraphs typed out, trying to sum up the wonder and joys of motherhood...but it was seriously falling FLAT.  The deep mysteries of it all can only be understood by walking that path, and I will thank God all of my days for giving me the chance to live this out.
If I ever, for a second, try to imagine my life without my son in it....I lose my breathe, my heart literally beats painfully fast, and tears flood my eyes.  I'm not exaggerating.  Never have I loved someone so much more than my own life.
He brings me more joy every single day than I ever experienced in my life thus far, and I know past all doubt that I am insanely lucky just to KNOW him, let alone be with him all day every day.

I am so thankful for him.  For his adventurous spirit, even though it gives me panic attacks.  Even though I have to accept NOW that he will, undoubtedly, break his arm, his collarbone, his ankle, have stitches, and (God-forbid) a mild concussion.  He is THAT determined to climb and do everything.
I try to record his laugh in the audio track of my memory, hoping to never forget the deep giggle and hiccups his joy invokes.
It pains me to see the rolls in his inner thighs slowly disappear, or the roundness of his face melt away.  I thank God for the multiple chins he still has, and the way he buries his face in the crook of my neck when he's tired or kind of scared.

I love my boy.  It's so special to know that there isn't anybody in the world that loves him as much as I do.  There's something about that, that has drawn me closer to God as I better (but not fully) understand the ocean of love that God has for me.  For all of us.  It's so deep, so wide.  So all-consuming.

Gosh, I've had such a good day today, celebrating Max's life.  We've just been out and about, doing day-to-day things ("Costco run?  Really MOM???" thought Max), but I've looked for every opportunity to tell strangers that he's 1 today.  I couldn't help it :P  My love and pride for him is just oozing out the cracks.  We played a lot, he napped a lot, and he spent much time being rocked in my arms as he dozed off, while my eyes were squeezed shut, whispering prayers of thanks for him.

God, I know absolutely he belongs to you, and that you are entrusting him to me.  I don't lay claim to him, or dare call him "Mine."  He is your's, and you crafted him perfectly.  Oh man, Lord, I can't thank you enough for planting his life inside me, and then bringing him safely into my arms.  May he grow to know who you are by the words I say, and the way I love him, and the way I love others.  May my life reflect the lessons that I try to teach him.
Thank you thank you thank you for my little David [beloved] Maxwell.  He is the light and joy in my life.