36 months

He is officially not a toddler anymore. At his 3 year appointment the doctor said he looked great. The fact that he is potty trained is exceptional for a child his age. She wants him to work on his balance, so I guess we'll start doing some yoga moves. :) He is 40.5 inches (95%) and weighs 36 pounds (85%).

Max's 3rd Birthday

This boy had a great and busy birthday. I left early in the morning to do the Rodeo Run downtown (I'll post about that soon)!! While I was running Shawn was being super-Dad getting the kids ready for the zoo. Justin, Lisa, Isabel, Angela and Sebastian all met up at the house. When I was done with the Rodeo Run my friend Laura dropped me off at the zoo. Yes, I was exhausted, but we had a fun time at the zoo. The weather was chilly so the animal were out and about and frisky. The kids loved it! 

Playing with the drums in the African exhibit

Always fun at the slides

Brushing the goats

 After a few hours at the zoo we were all pretty tired so we headed back home for part 2 of the party. We   kept it simple with pizza and cake but we had a great time. The kids were played and played and played. Once Max saw his cake he was ready! We all sang to him and cut into the cake. Then Max was ready to open up all of his awesome gifts. We are so blessed to have great friends and family surrounding us, some in spirit, but we felt the love!

Proud parents - we cannot believe 3 years ago we held our little boy for the first time

He LOVED this cake!

CAKE!!

Happiness is.....

Messy girl!

Sweet Isabel

Jaxen had a good time!

Olvia playing

My future is so bright, I gotta wear shades

Maddie was ready for new toys too!

Bubble fun!

Enjoying his new race track

Look who got a big boy bike!

My helper

Rodeo Run 2012

So I finally did it, the Houston Rodeo Run! I have wanted to do it, but it always lands on his party day. So this year I thought, just do it...and I did. I ran it with my comadre Laura and her neighbor (and new running buddy) Ruth. It was a great day to run. The weather was cool and cloudy. The crowds were crazy and I was a little disappointed that the 5K didn't have a timing chip, but it was still a fun run. Best time ever. Under 33 minutes, 10:15 minute mile....woohoo. A year ago was my first 5k and I did that one in about 37 minutes witha pace of 11:51. Looking forward to next year. :)

Until next year!!

Max's school birthday party

I succeeded and made the cookies I promised Max. I found them on Pinterest (my latest obsession) and here is the link if you have extra time on your hands and want to bake here is the link for the frosted sugar cookie recipe.

I went to Max's school and he absolutely LOVED it. His face lit up when he got to wear his special hat. Then all his friends sang to him, so sweet! The cookies were a hit too. Great day....here are some pictures!

Birthday Week for Max

So Max's 3rd birthday is right around the corner, and he is so excited. He is ready to have everyone sing the happy birthday song to him. He sings it all the time! He knows that he will be 3 soon, but can't hold up 3 fingers quite yet. He is so funny,  smart, kind, stubborn, thoughtful, polite and mischievous all at the same time. The other day he says, "I have a think....uh...I have a idea". At that moment I thought to myself, he is growing up and I was amazed at his vocabulary and the fact that he will self-correct. Being a teacher for 6 years I know that is a good trait to have. 

He loves going to school and talks about his teachers and friends often. He is 100% potty trained and pretty much has been since the August. He LOVES his cars, they are his prized possessions. He loves his sister, he makes sure to tell people that she his sister,  "My Mayi, not your Mayi, my Mayi". So sweet! I always say when they aren't fighting they are playing. It's always one or the other!! Some days he eats great, others not so much. He loves to say "I need to eat, so I can be strong like dadee". Which is another thing, he used to say daddy, now he says Da-dee. Shawn says he sounds like a little British boy. He is very tall for his age. He has to wear 4t in pants because his legs are so long :) All around he is a great kid, laid back and fun to be with.

We've had a pretty busy week so far. Monday we got a surprise visit from my Dad and Uncle Alex. My kids loved it, Maddie was so sad when he left. You can tell she has him wrapped around her little finger.

Tuesday Max went to school and came home with this cute Mardi Gras mask. Disregard the messy shirt, we had pizza for dinner.

 

We also had an afternoon playdate with friends. Riding bikes in the cul-de-sac was so much fun. Max kep talking about it and how they had to stop and get on the sidewalk if a "truck"came. Can you tell we live Texas?? 

We had a great Ash Wednesday. Took the kids to the park, ran for a bit, dealt with a tantrum and kept on trucking. We had a fun visit to HEB. It started off with Maddie screaming, then Max chimes in and the stares begin. Thank goodness they quieted down, but I love that they have fun together. 

After naps I took them to Ash Wednesday service and they got ashes for the first time. I wish I would have taken a picture, but I didn't. I was proud of all of us for actually going and sitting through the whole thing. Usually Maddie starts getting loud and rambunctious. We got home and had a healthy dinner and started making some cookies for Max's school party. Only problem is that I never read a whole recipe before I get started. I just make sure I have all the ingredients. Well Max was so excited to bake them, but I failed to see we had to refrigerate the cookie dough overnight. Ugh!! Hoping I can wake up early and make them so he can help me sprinkle them before I have to take him to school. No rest for the weary!! The fun doesn't stop there either. We have a fun weekend planned full of family!!

Here are a few bonus shots from the past week:

Us lately

I've been a little neglectful of the blog. Not that I've been "too busy", I just haven't had the gumption to do it. So here goes a quickie picture blog.

We've been enjoying this beautiful Texas winter with visits to the park....

 The kids got their faces painted at Chick-fil-a story time....

 We had a great time celebrating Suzy's birthday out at her house. All the family (minus Justin who had a training that day) came out and enjoyed Mexican food and cake. Maddie loved the swing!

 Lazy mornings here and there.....