Dear Max & Jake,

Happy birthday Max! I still cannot believe that you are 3 years old. You had a wonderful birthday party and all your friends were there! I had a hard time deciding what to do for your birthday, everything is so expensive and we really didn’t want to spend a lot of money. On the other hand, it was so hot that we figured having an outdoor party would be miserable. About a month before your birthday we discovered a new jump house in Southlake, you especially loved it since there was a Batman inflatable. When I looked into having a party I saw that it was going to cost at least $200 to have a birthday party on the weekend and that was only inviting 10-15 kids. After a lot of research I ended up booking your party at the Jump Zone for only $99 including up to 25 kids and all paper products and utensils included! I got such a good deal because we had your party on a Friday morning, it was actually great because it wasn’t crowded and pretty much all of your friends were able to come! Even Emery and Kade came all the way from Midland to come to your party. Robbie, Kenzie, Logan, Trevor, Kendra, Lauralie, and Oliver all came from church. Then Dani, Jessie, Avery, Alecksandra, Creighton, Catherine, Madolyn, Brenden, Grayson, LD, Grant, Cameron, Riley, and Bradford also came! It was so neat to see all of your little buddies that we do play dates with together at your party. You were also lucky that Aunt Joy, Uncle Bucky and Aunt Jojo also were able to make it, and of course Nona and Papa were there along with Mama, Dada, and Jake.

After all you kids jumped your heads off we headed into the party room to sing happy birthday to you and eat some cake. Did I mention how nice it was that I didn’t have to do ANYTHING! The Jump Zone set everything up and cleaned everything up, it was awesome. So anyway, you loved your Batman cake and blew 2 of your 3 candles out, you needed a little bit of help reaching the third one, so I helped you a little so that you wouldn’t spit all over the cake. After we ate cake you got to sit in this big blow up chair to open all your presents. So there you were, looking like a king ripping into each of your presents. You got lots of great stuff, including several Batman toys, it took you 20-30 minutes just to open everything! Your big gifts this year were your train table, the Batcave and Joker’s Fun House, and all of the characters that came with it. You are a lucky boy, and very blessed.

On Saturday we went with Nona and Papa to the Rainforest Cafe for dinner and then you and Jake got to get a stuffed animal at the Build-A-Bear workshop. Jake choose a black bear and you helped him choose the Buzz Lightyear outfit. For your animal you choose an owl and then put a vest and tie on him as well as a pair of glasses. When you and Nona went to make his birth certificate you decided to name him Hootie! Jake’s bear remains nameless.

Aunt Bethany and Emery and Kade came the week of your party and we got to go swimming with them on Wednesday. We had a lot of fun and then on Thursday we went the the Southlake town center and ate at the Cheesecake Factory. We had fun just walking around and the four of you loved the water fountain, but after about 10 minutes you were all red faced so we went to Barnes and Nobel to cool off and look at books. We managed to get a few pictures of the 4 of you, but it was difficult to get all of you to be still for more than 2 seconds.

We did a lot of swimming this month and I have made you two practice your swimming and floating so that you guys won’t forget everything you learned. We finally remembered to take our little 2-foot slide to Nona and Papa’s house and Jake loved going down it. In fact, Jake just kept getting out of the pool and going down the slide until I finally put it up so he would stay in the water. Jake, you are such a little booger. I must say that I’m really proud of you two little goof balls. Everything I have read says that it is impossible to teach really young children the concept of sharing and taking turns, but I completely disagree. I refuse to constantly referee things and you two have pretty much figured out how to play together and get along. If I hear crying or squealing I tell you guys that if you don’t work it out then I am taking whatever toy your are fighting over away and neither of you are going to get to play with it. So far it is working and you two constantly play together and I’m very thankful that you are buddies.

Everyone has now gone back to school, including me. I am teaching on Tuesday and Wednesday mornings and Nona is coming over to watch you two. You guys are having a blast with Nona and I know that she enjoys spending time with playing with you. Last week she took you guys to “toddler time” at the library and you came home with little paper clocks because they were teaching how to tell time. Now Max is constantly asking me what time it is and what we do at that time. It goes something like this, “Mama, what time is it?” and I say, “It’s 1 o’clock.” Then Max says, “What do we do at 1 o’clock?” and then I say, “Well, it’s almost time for nap.” This goes on and on and on and on and on. Max, you ask a lot of questions and you pretty much talk constantly. I know I am just getting paid back because my mom and dad say that is exactly what I did. In fact, my dad lamented that once I had learned how to talk I never shut up. I was always very curious and inquisitive and I still am. Max, you are definitely the same way. One day in the car you were just asking me question after question and I was just so tired of it that I told you not to talk until we got home, we were probably two minutes from the house. After about 10 seconds you whined and said, “Mama, I just want to talk!” I laughed and told you to talk to Jake, you then said that you didn’t want to talk to Jake, so I saw your cup in your cup holder and told you to talk to your cup. You looked at me and smiled and then picked up your cup and said, “Hi cup, what are you doing?” It was funny. I figured if you can talk to Batman on the phone all the time then you can talk to your cup. Okay, I got off topic. So when everyone was talking about going back to school I asked you if you wanted to go to school and you replied, “No Mama, I want to stay home with you FOREVER!” It was so sweet. The way I see it, there are only a few precious years that I have to be home with you boys, you will be in school for plenty of years so why rush it? I think school is great and I know that it will be good for you, but right now we are making huge sacrifices so that I can stay home with you and it just doesn’t make sense to pay to send you off to school right now. You are around plenty of kids and I’m not worried in the least that you need help in that area. In fact, I think too many kids only know how to interact with one another and don’t know to interact with adults. Anyway, I could totally get off on a tangent here but I will save this topic for a blog post on my own website. Basically, I am not going to put you in school this year, enough said.

This month Dada had to go out of town to Boston for work and we really missed him the week that he was gone. I took you both with me to pick him up from the airport when he came home and you both loved seeing all the airplanes! Dada brought home a new “bobo” for Jake (that is what he calls penguins) and he got a hammerhead shark for Max. The first night he got home after his trip Max was wearing his Batman pjs and he came in the kitchen and said, “Dada! I tooted in your chair!” Max, you were acting a little hyper and crazy and when Dada told you it was time to eat dinner he told you that you needed to calm down. You looked at him and replied, “Batman NEVER calms down!” You say the funniest things. Like when I asked you “Who do you call in an emergency?” and instead of saying, “911″ you thought about it and said, “Batman!” Okay, so anyway, I need to get pictures taken for Max turning 3 and for Jake turning 18 months old and we are planning on doing that over Labor Day weekend. The other day I actually thought about taking a picture on Sunday morning before church and I got a great one of my 3 favorite guys. I sure am a lucky girl!

Jake still drags his blanket around rubbing the tag and sucking his thumb, it is so cute. He also loves Bobo, his penguin, and lately he has been wearing sunglasses. It is really cute, even if he wears heart-shaped ones that he got as a party favor from a girl’s birthday party. Jake, you are such a funny little boy and I love your precious curly hair and your sweet smile. You are definitely a boy, but you do have a sweet side. You give such good hugs and sloppy kisses and unlike your brother, you only have to be asked once and you never deny your mama a hug and a kiss. I love to snuggle with you and just hug and kiss on you. Even though Max is 3, he is still very much a mama’s boy. While he might deny other people affection, he NEVER denies me when I want a kiss or a hug. If he accidentally steps on my toe or hurts me while playing around he will come hug me and say, “I’m sorry, Mama, are you okay?” You are such a sweet and caring boy. I’m so proud of you, Max, you finally stopped going #2 in your pullup! Unfortunately, your bowels are like clock-work and you’ve always pooped in the morning. I have taught you to stay in bed until I come get you, so you usually poop in your pullup, even though you are completely potty trained during the day. In an effort to get you to poop in the toilet I told you that you can get up and go poop in the toilet and then get back in bed and wait for me to come get you. We used fake money as a reward system and you can buy different privileges with your money. Well, it has totally worked and now you are pooping in the toilet in the morning and then getting back in bed and waiting for me to come get you. You earned a trip to the jump house and I even let you bring a friend, you chose to bring Robbie. We had so much fun and then we went to eat at Cici’s. I let you have a dollar so that you could “play games” and you bought a fake mustache. It was so cute and hilarious!

Summer is pretty much over and I am so ready for the fall. I’m ready for cooler weather, walks to the park, feeding the ducks, and visiting the pumpkin patch. You two are at such a fun age, and even though staying home is still challenging, I am truly enjoying it!

Love,

Mama

A little couch jumping

Dear Max & Jake,

This month I am changing my newsletter format. Instead of writing an individual letter to each of you I am going to start writing one letter a month to both of you. You two are such buddies that I feel like I am repeating myself a lot in your monthly letters. I think it will be easier on me to just write one letter a month and it will also be easier to categorize the letters by month and year instead of how many months old you are.

We went to the 4th of July Springfield meeting a few weeks ago. I must say, I was pretty nervous about taking the two of you. Not only was I dreading the 7 hour drive, but I was also a little worried about the 4 of us staying in a hotel room together. I must say, you two exceeding my expectations! The drive was really no big deal at all. The two of you watched movies on the portable DVD players, but Jake also stayed occupied by looking at books and eating lots of snacks! We had a great time at the meeting and I really enjoyed getting to see lots of friends that I hadn’t seen in years. I loved singing out of the new song books and the singing was nothing short of amazing.

When we came back from the meeting you guys started swim lessons right away. I found out about this program by stumbling on the website www.infantaquatics.com. This program is incredible. They teach what is called survival swimming which is called swim-float-swim. The first day you and two were swimming under water. The lessons are one on one but only last 10 minutes, but it is an intense 10 minutes. After the first day you both were hesitant about coming back and the only thing that you looked forward to was getting a sucker afterward. Jake, you pretty much cried the entire swim lesson and Max, you were constantly trying to bargain and ask if you were done every 30 seconds. We went to swim lessons Monday through Thursday for 3 weeks. The program usually takes 4-6 weeks, 5 weeks being the average. After the first week I could tell that Max was making more progress and kicking a lot while swimming. Max, you are great at floating, but for some reason you hate it. Jake, you absolutely hate being on your back and you first started trying to float while holding onto your feet, we have no idea how you maintained your balance enough to do it. After only 3 weeks of swim lessons you both were ready to graduate! I couldn’t believe it, and neither could miss Jennifer! She told me that having a student finish in 3 weeks is rare, and it is really amazing that both of you finished in 3 weeks. Jake went from not floating very long, to flipping over on his back and floating the instant he hits in the water. Jake, you still don’t kick much, but I’m no longer worried about you falling into the pool and drowning because you know to flip over on your back and just float so you can catch your breath. Max, you have done absolutely awesome with swimming and I am so proud of you! You are swimming underwater longer and longer. You will try to hold your breath and swim as far as you can just so you won’t have to flip on your back and float, but I still make you sometimes just because I don’t want you to forget what you learned. The other day you swam 3/4 the length of the pool! Your breath control is getting better and we have been swimming almost every day since we got done with swim lessons.

Jake, you are talking more and more! You say lots of words, here are some of the words I can think of  that you just started saying. Drink, truck, Jojo, bird, airplane, baby, eyes, mouth, Batman (even though it sounds like batba, we know what you mean), and you also say “batba” for Spiderman. You love Spiderman. Just 2 nights ago you said “Max” for the first time. I was putting you to bed and Max wanted to help me tuck you in and you were saying “night-night” and then you reached your arms out and said “Mama” and I hugged you. Then Max gave you a hug and I asked you, “Can you say, Max?” At first you just kept saying “Mama” but finally I repeated it one more time and you said it, clear as day, “MAX!” I cannot explain the look on Max’s face when he heard you say his name, he was beyond excited, it was absolutely precious. In the past month you have started to really enjoy books, you even try to “read” them to yourself. You also still love penguins and we got a penguin book at the library the other day and you have made me read it to you at least 15 times in the past 2 days! I can tell that you are learning so much by being read to. You point to the pictures and what to know what the names of things are and your vocabulary seems to be doubling every month. Watching you and Max acquire language has been one of the most remarkable things about watching you grow.

Max, you are getting so excited for your birthday. You know it is coming up soon, but you have no concept of time. You will tell people that your birthday is August 8th and when people ask you how old you are you tell them, “I’m going to be 3, but I’m just 2 right now!” Even though it’s not your birthday yet, you just got one of your big presents, a train table. You and Jake love it and I’ve already had to break up a few fights over playing with a certain train or you being scared that Jake is going to break something, which I don’t blame you because that is definitely a legitimate concern. You are having a Batman birthday party at Jump Zone in Southlake and you are very excited about it. I’m excited too because this will really be your first birthday party with your own friends. Even though we are having it on a Friday I think we are going to have a good turn out.

In the last month, Max, you have started making a “mean” face. It is pretty funny and you are very expressive. Jake has started to take notice and now he makes a “mean” face too, it is really cute and not mean at all. Max, we have started practicing writing your name and you want to practice writing letters and stuff all the time. We have also started memorizing Bible verses and working on some pre-reading activities to help you learn new words and letter sounds and things like that. At first I thought it would be hard to get you to focus and do some of the things with me, but the first day we did it you asked if we could do more. You just love learning and I am taking advantage of that. I hope you continue to love to read and learn, I sure do! I am staying very busy with my class and everything, but this summer has been great and I have had a blast with the two of you. This summer has been the best one yet! I remember last summer being kind of difficult. Jake, you were still pretty little and I couldn’t do much with you. We didn’t really get to do that much last summer, I’ve definitely enjoyed all the time we’ve been able to spend outside enjoying the sun!

You two little boogers are my best buddies and my constant entertainment. You are both so sweet and I’m having a blast being with you and playing with you everyday. All the money in the world could not replace the time I get to spend with you two and watch you grow.

Love,

Mama

Jake Swimming

Jake’s Clothes Test

Max Swimming

Max’s Clothes Test

Dear Max,

Summer is here and so is the heat! Over Memorial Day weekend we got in Nona and Papa’s pool for the first time this year. The shaded areas were a little cool, but you didn’t seem to care. You absolutely love the pool and you kept telling us that you didn’t know how to swim. You really wanted to be able to just get around in the water by yourself, and for that reason we have decided to put you in swimming lessons. I found a lady that lives in Bedford that teaches the swim-float-swim technique which is referred to as “survival swimming.” You don’t start lessons until the beginning of July, but you will have one-on-one instruction for about 10 minutes Monday through Thursday for about 4 or 5 weeks. I know you are going to do great because you don’t seem at all scared of the water and you really want to learn how to swim. I’m really excited that you will be able to swim completely on your own by the end of the summer! In the meantime we bought you a little blow up pool for our backyard and you Jake have really enjoyed splashing around in it.

We took a trip to Midland this past month for Emery’s 3rd birthday. You and Jake did great on the trip there and when we got there we put you and Emery in separate twin beds in the same room. I was unsure how that was going to work out, and I had every reason to be skeptical. The first night when we put you both to bed Emery showed you her little turtle night light that she slept with. It is really neat because it is like a stuffed animal turtle with a hard shell that has star cut outs all over it. When you turn the light on it projects stars all over the room and it changes colors. Aunt Bethany told us that Emery always slept with it at the foot of her bed and assured us that it turned off after 45 minutes. We put you two little boogers to bed around 9pm and around 12:30am I heard a bang. I walked in there to find Emery in your bed with her pillow and the two of you just sitting there pushing buttons on the turtle to make it change colors. Apparently, if you keep changing the colors the turtle doesn’t automatically go off. I ended up threatening you and Emery and staying in there until you were both quiet. You absolutely loved that turtle! Uncle Ty told us he got it at Dillards, so when we got home I used a gift card that I had to buy you one. We turn it on for you every night before you go to bed, but we put it up on your dresser where it is out of reach. We really had a fun trip and you, Emery, Kade and Jake had a fun time just playing together. Emery had a fun princess themed birthday where we ate hot dogs, busted a pinata, and ate cupcakes. You really enjoyed the cupcake and you decided to eat it top first.

A few weeks ago I found a little lego table at Toys R Us that was on sale. I figured I would get it for your birthday and that you and Jake would really get a lot of use out of it. It is just a cheap little plastic table that also had a hard top you can put on it and it comes with two little chairs. After it rained almost an entire week I decided I would go ahead and put it together so you and Jake could play with it. You both LOVE it. You enjoy putting the legos on it, but more than that, you both have started to love to color. I bought you some crayons and coloring books and I just love watching you and Jake sit there with your little crayon boxes. I don’t worry about you coloring on the table since it is a plastic table that can just be wiped off. I actually found some of those little “painting” pages that just require water, so you and Jake “paint” with water on it too. I usually give you each a little container with some water in it, but Jake always drinks his. He’s so funny.

We’ve been busy going to the gym and you and Jake have both started coloring pictures at the gym for me, we probably have 3 new pictures on the refrigerator everyday. I also bought a little responsibility chart for you that has little magnets of all the things you are supposed to accomplish each day. Many of the things involve chores; like making your bed, picking up toys, and helping me do stuff. The rest of the things have to do with behavior; such as being nice, sharing, not whining, and saying “please” and “thank you.” You are doing a good job on your chores, but you have some work to do on the behavior side of things. There are times when you and Jake don’t share, or sometimes you get an attitude. You really like getting to put a little magnet on each thing when you do a good job, and when you don’t get to mark one off we always talk about it. I don’t know that you completely comprehend all of it, but it’s good to start early. We’ve had to work on talking nice, obeying the first time, and not having an attitude. We have really started to immediately punish this behavior with a no-tolerance attitude. You know how you are supposed to behave, so we aren’t warning you anymore, you get an immediate punishment that gets your attention. I can tell a big improvement in the last week.

On a another note, you are so sweet. You will come up to me and hug me and give me a kiss and say, “I love you, Mama!” I love seeing you initiate affection on your own and me not always asking you to give me a hug. Sometimes in the morning you come and snuggle with me while you watch cartoons, I’m cherishing these moments because I know there will come a day when you won’t want to anymore. You and Jake are such buddies and you do everything together. The two of you love to color, play blocks, chase each other, dance to the Elmo radio, walk around with your blankets over your heads and run into stuff, spread the library books out all over the floor, climb on the couch and throw all the pillows into the floor and then jump off the couch onto the pillows, get a wipe and blow your noses, and bug and annoy each other. We went to Razoo’s for Nona’s birthday lunch and you both got balloons and played with them non-stop. We were glad when you both went to bed so that we could pop them and throw them away.

We had a great trip to the zoo this week. We took the wagon so that you and Jake could get in and out easier, and you both had a blast. The entire time you talked about seeing the Elephants, but then when we saw them you were pretty bored watching them just stand around. We really enjoyed watching the hippos because they were blowing bubbles in the water and then coming up and shaking their ears. The penguins exhibit was really cool too, and Jake just LOVES penguins. There was one penguin that kept swimming back and forth right in front of you and Jake and you thought it was so funny. I think we spent the most time watching the chimpanzees. They were chasing each other around, swinging from the ropes and tackling each other, you and Jake were just fascinated by them. You kept pointing to different ones and saying, “Look, Mama! Look at that monkey! He’s being a silly booger!” As we were leaving the zoo we went into the gift shop because I wanted to buy Jake a penguin stuffed animal. We ended up finding one that had a little leash and a stick so you can pretend you are taking your animal for a walk. It is hilarious. Of course you wanted one too so I let you pick one out and you chose an elephant. On the ride home from the gym you and Jake kept sword fighting with the sticks. You are such boys.

I found out a few weeks ago that our crib had been recalled because of a structural thing. The manufacturer went out of business so it said that I could take it back to the store where I bought it. Since we aren’t having any more kids we decided we would use the money to buy bunk beds. The plan was that we would find bunk beds that could be separated into two beds and put one together for your room and then let Jake sleep in the Lightening McQueen toddler bed for about year before we put both beds together for you boys to share a room. I found a bunk bed set that I liked off of Walmart.com that has a twin on top and a full on bottom. Then I found some cute Paul Frank monkey bedding and ordered it. We took the 3 year old crib with teeth marks in it back to Target and got $270! I talked them into giving me cash so that we could put that money towards the bunk bed set that was $300. So Dada put the twin bed with rails together for you, since you will end up sleeping on the top bunk, and we gave Jake your car bed. That day we tried to put you and Jake in his room to nap since we were still putting your bed together. For over an hour we just heard the two of you giggling and then we would randomly hear a bang. Dada had to go in there and take your stuffed animals away because you were throwing them, and then when we were done with your bed we put you in it so that you could actually take a nap. You really love your new bed and Jake is doing surprisingly well in the toddler bed, especially considering he is only 14 months old!

We have a busy summer ahead and we’re excited to be going the 4th of July meeting in Springfield in a few weeks. I’m really hoping we get home in time to see the firework show that the city puts on because we can see the fireworks from our backyard. I’m super excited about you and Jake taking swimming lessons, and then before you know it we will be having your 3rd birthday party! You already told me that you want a Batman birthday party, and when we went to Toys R Us to get a birthday present for someone else, all you wanted to do was play with the train table. You kept asking me if we could buy it and I told you that maybe someone would get it for your birthday. You told me that you want to show it to Dada, so I’m sure a trip to Toys R Us to look at the train table is in our future. Maybe if you’re a good boy some of us can go in together and get it for your birthday, I know you and Jake would get a lot of use out of it. I love you very much, especially when you are sweet and obedient.

Love,
Mama

Dear Max,

I have decided to get back in the gym and it has really been a great thing. Being a stay at home mom, teaching part-time and working on my masters has been keeping me extremely busy and somewhat stressed. Last month was VERY stressful. Mainly due to the health scare we had with Jake followed one week later by a forehead gash that required stitches. The thing is, life is stressful in general and I’m not that great at dealing with it. I’ve been feeling down about myself on top of being stressed and I finally made up my mind to do something about it. Exercise has always been a great outlet for me so I’ve made it a priority again. To be honest, I have always enjoyed working out and I’ve never had trouble finding the motivation to work out. The problem has been time, more specifically, time to myself. When you were around 9 or 10 months I tried taking you to the gym with me and it didn’t work out so well. You were a very clingy baby and you would cry if anyone but me, Dada, or Nona held you. You were, and still are, a mama’s boy. On top of that you had separation anxiety, so when I took you to the gym the first time they had to call me after only 10 or 15 minutes because you would not stop crying. At that point taking to the gym just stressed me out more because then I was worried about you getting upset and crying. Needless to say, I haven’t even attempted the gym since then. Now that Jake is a year old and you are almost 3 I figured it was time to try again. I worried more about you than I did Jake because he is easily distracted and he will usually let anyone hold him. I basically made up my mind that I was going to keep taking you until you got used to it because I knew it would be good for me, and good for you to learn to be away from me. The first day you cried when I left and off and on for the 30 minutes that I exercised. My plan was to just leave you and Jake for 30 minutes at a time and slowly work my way up to 45 minutes or an hour. So the next day you cried when I left but they put a movie on and you were completely fine the rest of the time. After that, I started giving you an ice breakers mint before going into the Kids Club so that you wouldn’t cry. It worked like a charm. Now when I take you to the gym you tell me that you want a mint so that you won’t cry. Now you want to go to the gym and you love playing there. The Kids Club is huge and there is a ton of play equipment, toys, blocks, and kid movies. It has been great for you and Jake to interact with other kids and you both like the two ladies that are usually there. It’s so funny because now you ask me if we can go the gym.

The weather has been pretty nice except for some occasional rain and Nona has been taking you and Jake on walks in the stroller and we’ve made some trips to the park in the wagon. We got the wagon last year but Jake wasn’t old enough to use it at the time. We’ve really enjoyed using the wagon this last month and I know we will probably wear it out this summer.

You are still very into playing cars and Jake loves to play with you. The two of you will get in the entry way on the tile and play “crash cars”. It is so fun to watch the two of you playing together. We put all the cars in the entry table and you guys have a lot more cars then we realized. We found this really cool How Wheels ramp with cars that floats in the bathtub. It has made bath time very fun and it even shoots water out of it. We also found Frank from the movie “Cars” and you were so thrilled to find it.

We were given the movie “Toy Story” this past month and you’ve really enjoyed watching it. The other day when we were looking at the discount isle at Wal-Mart we found a little Buzz Lightyear action figure for $5. I bought one for you and Jake so that you wouldn’t have to share. Now that Jake is older he doesn’t really like you taking things away from him and sometimes you have trouble sharing, especially when you get something new. It’s funny because you are always telling me that Jake doesn’t want something when he is clearly hanging on to it for dear life. I can already tell you two are going to have somewhat of a love-hate relationship. The thing is, you really do love each other and you are almost always playing together. It is pretty rare for you and Jake to do your own thing. As Jake is getting older he’s able to do more with you. Sometimes you get frustrated when you want to play catch with a ball because he just picks up the ball and runs off with it, probably because he’s scared you are going to jerk it out of his hands, I don’t blame him. I keep telling you that you have to teach Jake how to do things and sometimes you are very patient with him. He desperately wants to be able to keep up with you and the other day at McDonalds he actually climbed up to the very top of the play equipment trying to follow you. Honestly, I didn’t think he could do that by himself, but he constantly amazes me by the things he does. I ended up climbing up there with him so that I could make sure he safely got down the slide because there is no telling what he would have done if left to his own devices. The other day Jake woke up from his nap and you were still asleep so I was the only one he could play with. I could tell he missed you and he was ready for you to get up. I finally heard you make some noise so I said to Jake, “Let’s go get Max!” and he ran to your room smiling and giggling. When I opened the door he climbed right into your bed and jumped on you and you looked at him and smiled and said, “You silly booger!” I can’t imagine you two not having each other and it really makes me sad to think about kids that are only children.

You and Jake are always making each other laugh and it just melts my heart. Jake is so crazy and will start shaking his head and bucking wildly in his car seat or in his high chair just to make you laugh. The more you laugh the crazier he gets. The two of you like to put blankets over your heads and run around wildly and you are always tackling Jake. Thankfully Jake is really tough and usually just laughs but I know there will be many wrestling matches in the future.

With every passing day I love you more. You are starting to test us and show a little attitude and there are times that I just want to drop you off and let Papa deal with you. The thing is, I love you enough to discipline you because I care about you. It’s my job, and God has entrusted you and your brother to your father and I and we take that very seriously. Raising you and Jake is the most important job that we will ever have and it starts now. You are learning to obey the first time, to speak kindly and respectfully, and to use self control when you don’t get what you want. Training a child starts when they are born, and while it is very trying at times, we will never stop teaching you, because that’s how much we love you.

Love,
Mama

I bought Backup Buddy from the cool kids up in Oklahoma City a week or so ago. Unfortunately, I was about 2 weeks too late.

Nobody told me this site was down. Rhonda noticed it a few weeks ago. Renae noticed it this week. Immediately, I go check all the sites under my Internet empire and this is the only site that’s down. Weird.

I go check my backup database log and it had been a few weeks (about 2) since the last database backup. I have weekly scheduled database backups set to email me the file. I went back and found the backup file from a few weeks ago.

I go check the files on the server and something has changed. Very odd. I give MidPhase Hosting a shout and ace pronto, they tell me something has happened via cpanel or FTP (if you don’t understand those terms, don’t worry – it’s geek talk for somebody with password ability had messed with things). Unfortunately, that somebody with a password is ONLY me. I send them my backup database and presto, chango – a cool kid at MidPhase named Derek Smith fixed me right up. Just another reason that if you don’t do business with MidPhase you’re an idiot. Too harsh? Sorry. I’ve been a MidPhase customer for about 3 plus years and they never have failed me. Yes, sometimes sites go down. Anybody who tells you their sites NEVER go down is a liar. All hosting companies have problems every now and then. Expect it. NOT all hosting companies respond well though. MidPhase does. Click on that affiliate link below and sign up if you need hosting. You won’t regret it. And we’ll make a few bucks to help us defray our expenses.

After that scare I promptly install the terrific plugin produced by the same guys who produce iThemes Wordpress themes. BACKUP BUDDY.

If you’ve ever tried to migrate a Wordpress site from one domain to another, or move it to another server – it’s a royal pain. Been there, done that. BACKUP BUDDY not only makes backing up your ENTIRE WORDPRESS SITE (not just the database, but all your plugins, your settings, etc.), but it also allows you to migrate sites, or create a basic site to use as a template for other sites and upload that to as many sites as you want. The possible uses of this premium (that means it ain’t free; you have to pay for it) are vast.

Once I got things back up and running here (well, once Derek got it done), I immediately installed BACKUP BUDDY and backed up this entire site. I also installed BACKUP BUDDY on every single Wordpress site I run (quite a few of them; I can do that because I have the developer’s license for the plugin).

BUY BACKUP BUDDY. Click that picture at the top of this post if you want to buy the plugin. Yes, that’s an affiliate link. Yes, I’ll make a few bucks off of it. NO, you won’t pay more by clicking that link. We all win!

The lesson:

1. Have a great host. Click that affiliate link and buy MidPhase Hosting.

2. Use Wordpress.

3. Buy and use BACKUP BUDDY. Click that affiliate link right now!

4. Sleep better at night.

Randy
aka Belvadere / TGR

Dear Max,

We have had a very busy month! The big event of the month was, of course, Jake’s birthday! After your 2nd birthday party you really started to get the idea that birthday parties are fun. You know that when you have a birthday that you get cake, play fun games, and you get new toys. You have been really excited for Jake’s birthday and you could not wait to see what new toys he got. The Friday after Jake’s actual birthday Dada took the day off and we had a fun day with you boys. We went to an indoor play park, the Rain Forest Cafe, and then the Build-A-Bear Workshop. It was a fun filled day and the four of us had a blast!

The next weekend Uncle Ty, Aunt Bethany, Emery, Kade and Aunt Joy came for Jake’s birthday party and spent the weekend. You hadn’t seen Emery since Labor Day, but the two of you just giggled at each other then and I knew y’all would have a great time playing together. On Friday me, Ty and Bethany took you four kids to the zoo. You and Emery had a blast watching all the animals and you both loved riding the train. Although I was expecting Jake to sleep, he didn’t, but he really had fun too. Kade slept almost the entire time, but I’m pretty sure he had a good time, haha.

On Saturday morning we got an appointment to get pictures taken. We wanted to get a group shot of all of us together and then several different ones of you kids. When we got there it was a little busy, but they had some blocks that you kids played with until it was our turn. We did end up getting a few good shots of all of us together, but poor Emery got a little scared during the process so we had a hard time getting her to smile. We did end up getting one shot of you four kids together. We got the best one, and that isn’t saying much. It was quite the circus. I also got one of you and Jake together and then we took some individual shots of all of you kids too. I must say that you are one of the most photogenic people I know. Anytime I have gone to take your picture I always have such a hard time deciding on the ones I want because they all end up being so good. I just love pictures and I know that I will never regret getting too many pictures.

Saturday afternoon was Jake’s birthday party at the park. Unfortunately the wind was blowing like 25 miles an hour and ended up ruining the party. Jake’s adorable smash cake got blown off the table. I frantically called the cake place and begged them to make me another one so Jake would have his own cake to make a big mess. I thought the Paul Frank monkey theme was so cute and the big cake was adorable. You enjoyed your piece of cake and your party favor bag. Everyone really loved the sunglasses and we got some good pictures of you kids wearing them. You helped me and Jake open his presents quickly before they got blown away. You were very excited to see what he got and I had to keep telling you that we couldn’t open the toys and play with them until we got home. We all walked over to the pond and attempted to feed the ducks, but they didn’t seem too hungry. You and Jake always end up eating the bread whenever we feed the ducks, so it was still fun.

A couple of weeks ago you and Jake got sick, again. One morning you woke up with a fever and I could tell you didn’t feel well. You and Jake both had a snotty nose. Your fever only lasted a day or so, but Jake had one for 3 days in a row and he was acting very clingy. Unfortunately, you were both sick during our meeting with Barney Owens. I stayed home with Jake and you and Dada went to the meeting Friday night. It was funny because Dada told you that we were having a meeting and that Barney would be preaching. Your first response was, “Not Ronny Wade?” You were very intrigued with Barney and you wanted to shake his hand and you wanted to talk to him. Since I was home taking care of Jake I didn’t get a picture of you and Barney together, thankfully Michelle got one though. You really took a liking to him and I think he thought you were pretty cute too.

Now that the weather is finally warming up and you and Jake are both over your cold we have been able to go outside more. On the days I have to teach Nona usually takes you and Jake for a walk and you both love it. Nona told you that you could go for a walk when Jake woke up from his morning nap, so you just burst into his room and woke him up. I don’t think he was too thrilled about it. We also got to have a play date with Oliver Carr this week. He just moved into a house that is only a few miles away from us so I know you three will get to play together more now. We went over to his house and ate lunch and you boys had fun playing in his room and making a mess. It seems that Oliver loves balls as much and you and Jake and you three had fun getting every single one of them out. You also share a love for Sesame Street and Elmo, you enjoyed playing with is Elmo microwave toy. Oliver’s mama, Emily, got a great picture of you boys together. It’s so great that many of my friends have kids around you and Jake’s age.

As I mentioned last month, potty training is going great. The only new development is that you have started to pull your diaper off in the morning. I’m not happy about this at all. I have had to change your sheets 3 times in the past week and half because you have pooped in your diaper in the morning and then pulled on it and made a mess. We have had to put you in footed pajamas so that you can’t mess with your diaper, we have also had to start threatening you. I told you that if you put your hand in your diaper or pull on it that you were going to get a spanking and that we wouldn’t let you watch one of your shows. After we run out of diapers I guess I am just going to have to put you in a pull-up at night. When I took Jake to the doctor for his 1 year appointment I asked the doctor about you potty training and the issue with you pooping in the morning before getting out of bed. He assured me that this problem should resolve itself and told me not to worry about it or try to get you out of bed early with the hope that you will go in the potty. I will say that in the past few weeks we have had a few days where you didn’t poop in the morning but ended up going later in the day, and you did tell us you needed to go and went in the potty with no problems. I’m still just ecstatic that this whole process has gone so smoothly and that you have pretty much done it on your own.

Up until now you haven’t really watched a movie. We have a few Disney movies but you haven’t really had the desire to sit and watch one all the way through. When you had the flu in the fall we let you watch “Finding Nemo” but you still never really watched it all the way through. When Emery was here she wanted to watch “Cars”. We have this movie, but you’ve never seen the whole thing before, just parts of it. Ever since you saw it with Emery you have wanted to watch it. You have also really gotten into the different characters, too. Aunt Joy bought you 3 of the cars that you pull back and then they go on their own. She got you Lightening McQueen, Tow Mater, and Ramon. You love them and you like to get all your cars out and line them up. Uncle Ty and Aunt Bethany got you the Hudson Hornet and it makes noise and goes if you shake it. You are starting to play with your cars more and you and Jake love to just push them around. You are still a master at puzzles, and you love your big legos and blocks too. Books are your favorite and you still love going to the library and getting new ones. You are starting to really enjoy Bible stories and we have several different books that we read them from. I also found these cool books at Sams that have magnetic pages and magnets that go with them. One of them has words spelled at the top and you have to find the right letters that spell the word. I am so amazed at how well you know your letters and letter sounds, you are already laying the ground work for learning to read and I can’t wait for that!

I’m looking forward to school being out soon and really having a great summer with you boys and spending as much time outside as possible. I love you!

Love,
Mama