::max the tonsil-less::

On Friday Max was lucky enough to get to go down to Albuquerque to get his tonsil and adenoids out.  He was very brave about it, Kris and I were pretty impressed with him.  It didn't hurt that he was comfortable with the doctor, who likes to wear Vibram toe shoes into surgery.

On our way down from Santa Fe the sunrise was gorgeous.  It was rainy and misty and there was a big double rainbow arching over the road. It was enought to make me glad we had to get up so early.

Also, the first thing that happened when we got of out of the car at the hospital was that Kris saw a nurse he used to work with at the surgery center in Santa Fe.  The surgery center closed a few months ago which was very sad, but turns out that a bunch of the nursing staff went down to this hospital in Albuquerque and got jobs.  So most of the people that worked with us had worked with Kris at one time or another.  And we were well taken care of.  The post-op nurse was especially sweet and gentle with Max.  It all combined to make me feel very comforted and made the whole situation much less stressful than it could've been.
The fact that we left Sandy home with our babysitter also helped a lot.

Max did well coming out of anesthesia, but I did feel bad for him.  I remember that feeling and it's just kind of creepy.  The doctor gave him a cute little fuzzy monkey before surgery, and when he woke up the monkey was the first thing he asked for.

He also did well on the way home, and was delighted to put together the lego set I got him as a reward for making it through.  He also put together Sandy's (because of course I had to get something for Sandy too.)
In fact, his energy was way up the whole rest of the day and he seemed really good, almost just normal--Kris and I were waiting for the crash but it never came that day.
(Sorry Sand for posting the doofy picture)  Sandy had a great time with the sitter and was very happy and content when we got home.


Max snuggling a humongous alligator that Kris got "for the office."  I have a feeling it's going to be a premenant resident along with it's twin brother whom Sandy is currently sleeping with.  Oy.


And of course Lucy needs a minute in this post--she wore her fox PJs to bed that night and was happy to do it.
And happy to spit and kick as much as possible.  In fact I couldn't get a picture of her feet where they were both in focus because she was kicking like crazy.

It was the next morning that the crash came.  Kris was gone early for a Young Men's fund raiser, and I had both Sandy and Lucy in my bedroom pretty early.  I was thinking that Max must've been still asleep and he must've been getting such great rest!  I finally went out to check on him and found him sitting in the living room watching a show and crying because his throat hurt.  Obviously I got him some pain meds and all improved.  Silly kid.

He's doing well today and I think given a couple more days he'll be back to his old self.


We're so glad to have this over with and behind us!  We've gotten some pretty big stuff done or started this summer, and this is not the least of those.  Just blow Max a kiss from wherever you are and it'll help him feel better.

::car washing dudes::

I can't really remember where this idea originated, maybe one of our babysitters?  But anyway, the kids love to make car washes.  They get out big boxes of hot wheels cars and then they ask me for every different sized bowl I have.  THEN they ask me for my basting brush and all the different little kitchen tools that might help.  They fill the bowls with water and sometimes soap (against my wishes usually).  Then they start splashing everywhere and cars get really sparkling clean.

The floors are always soaked and there are usually two or three sodden towels by the time they're done.  And Sandy is drenched.

These photos are from July. Usually Max is at school or someplace else important, so he doesn't get to join in the washing. This time, not only did he get to play, but he set the whole thing up while I was busy doing something else.


And he was the boss--do wash this car, don't wash this one.  That doesn't always go over well with Sandy, but sometimes.



While setting up, Max even added some soap. Which is really not too delightful for me, but for the boys it adds to the realism of the washing simulation.


It was a good washing day.

This photo is from back in May. Right after we got the squiddy pool toys that Sandy's using there. We thought they would make absolutely perfect car wash octopuses and so he requested a car wash immediately. As you can see this is serious business.   We used cake pans and muffin tins this time.


I'm hoping this someday translates to boys washing my REAL cars, but unless we can get some 5 ft rainbow squid I doubt that's going to happen anytime soon.

::weird boys::

These are my weird little boys that insist on wearing footies pajamas always. Even in the hot and sweaty summer. Just looking at them makes me want to swoon from heatstroke.


They were dressed for bed and having a movie night in this photo--maybe some Donald Duck cartoons, I can't really remember.

 And here are my weird boys eating lunch the other day. There are these magical straws that I get at Target for the boys. When they're put into milk, it magically becomes flavored. The boys love these straws. I think I had Max really believing they were magic for a while but he's just too dang old and smart for that now. Anyway, not only are the straws good for drinking and magic, but of course they're also great for bubbling.



I realized the light was cool and took a picture, then I realized that all my junk was all over the table. So I went ahead and moved it and got this much better scene.

I didn't even notice Sandy's delighted expression until Kris pointed it out to me later that day. Max is busy bubbling and Sandy is celebrating his already bubbled cup.

 My boys are so dang goofy.

::fuzzy caterpillar follow up::

Today we met up with the fuzzy caterpillar friend again--or actually maybe it was our fuzzy guy's younger brother or cousin. Not sure. But he rode into the house on Sandy's shoulder and the boys were over the moon delighted with him.

He was running circles around Sandy's neck.   Mostly on his shirt, but sometimes on his neck meat too.




When he would hit a patch of skin, peals of squeaky giggles would fly. "He's sooooo tickly!!"


See his squeezed shut eyes and wide open mouth in this one? So cute.

After a few more circles I sent the boys and their friend outside. They carefully replaced him back where he was found. I'm glad my boys are so sweet and careful with nature.



And in other news yesterday Lucy decided she was ready to start rolling over for real. She can totally do it on purpose now--back to tummy. But every time she pulls it off she's still really surprised and proud. It's so cute when she smiles super big and is so pleased with herself.



I love her little skirt.  Dressing her is so dang fun for me.  And it's lovely that she's too young to have opinions about what she's wearing.

::danger danger::

Kris and I found Sandy like this the other night when we checked on him on our way to bed.
Taking a photo with the flash disturbed him and he mumbled a little bit and rolled over. But of course, the light saber didn't budge.
(Note how sweaty he is--the kid insists on wearing fleece footy pjs even in the summer.  Nuts.)

Kris and I were laughing so hard. And then Kris went to just leave the room--he was going to leave his baby sleeping with a sword on his neck--what the heck?
I took it off. And luckily the rest of the night was uneventful.

This is a guy that loves swords. He pretends to be a Jedi, Jake from Neverland, a tough guy.  He likes to sleep with the swords, carry them around, eat meals with them next to his plate and sometimes whack people with them--though we try to keep the latter from happening as much as possible.
But I do draw the line at holding a sword under his double chin all night. It's just dangerous. Call me crazy.

::::

One of Kris's ortho patients at the office--a cute teenage boy--told me that Lucy looked like "a cute girl version of Winnie the Pooh."
I love it--couldn't be more accurate as far as I'm concerned.
Now me, on the other hand, not quite as cute as Winnie the Pooh. But I'm ok with that. Everyone thinks I'm cuter when I'm hanging out with Lucy.

::more max & lucy::

I just can't quit with these two. They're so cute together and Max is so attentive to her.

Today we were reading scriptures and Max was holding Lucy. I had to keep shushing them because Max kept making Lucy laugh. Stinkers.
Then they just kept up the cuteness after the scripture reading so I pulled out the camera.
The color and light in these photos looks a little funky because it was right at sunset time and the sun was blazing in our western windows. It just seems like it wasn't that long ago that Max was our only baby. It's crazy that now he's big enough to (sort of) take care of our Lucy. Max was incredibly amused when Lucy started bending herself double and sucking on her toes. He was giggling madly.

And while those two were doing that, Sandy and Dad were reading a bedtime story in his room.  The end and happy Sunday!