Christmas 2011... and the Days that Follow (Warning: LONG Post)

What a fun Christmas! Sweety the Elf made a GIANT mess in Max's room on Christmas Eve, his last night here for the year. Not cool. He pulled all underwear, socks, sweaters, etc. out of his drawers and put them all over the room. Clean up for me!

Christmas Eve we did the traditional thing at my Grandma's with my mom's side of the family. Appetizers for dinner (turkey meatballs here! And they were delish!), gifts exchanged, memories shared. It was a fun night. Karlie and Samantha even put on a dance routine for us much like Kelly, Erin, Jill and I did back in the day. They were cute!

That night Max left "boobie" cookies (in case you missed it, Max helped me make peanut butter blossom cookies with the Hershey kiss in the center, you know? When they were done he said "those look like boobies" so we now lovingly refer to them as such"), oatmeal butterscotch cookies and chocolate milk for Santa. He was also sure to spread the reindeer food on the lawn. Then he was out like a light.

Once that happened (about 9pm) my dad and our friends Jason and Jim came over to help Chris heave the HUGE basketball pole and hoop into the secretly-hidden-by-cut-tall-grass-cement hole to be a gift for Santa. I was surprised how easily they completed the task. It took like 30 minutes! Now of course Chris and my dad spent days prior putting it together, mixing cement, securing brackets, etc. but there it was Christmas Eve and the project was complete! We tied a big red bow on it and trailed a thin blue ribbon from the hoop, through the garage, into the house and over to the tree for Max to find the next morning.

Max woke us at 7 (he had been awake a lot longer) and Christmas began. I am willing to be all the money I have that we have the cleanest Christmas of anyone. Sure, we have one child, but I mean Max is so careful and very patient. He opens one, puts the wrapping in the trash bag, talks about the gift, allows us to open one if we want then repeats. No free-for-all in our house! Very organized. :)

The blue ribbon intrigued Max but not till all the gifts under the tree were opened. Once he decided to find out what that thing was he was thrilled to find the hoop! It was 29º but he went out and shot anyway, with no coat! We had awesome weather that day and the next so games of "HORSE" and "Around the World" were in order.

Later we shared gifts with family and had dinner at my mom and dad's. It was a great day!

On the 27th we were scheduled to be at Dayton Children's Hospital at 8:45 am for a 10:45 am surgery for Max. Bye, bye tonsils and adenoids. I was so nervous; Max was not. He woke up at 6am "excited" to get his tonsils out. Chris and I did a great job of making him feel like this was very routine and not a big deal at all. Max was so brave! The two hours prior to surgery went quickly too; we were constantly being asked questions, having Max's vitals taken, etc. and before we knew it, it was time for "the drink" to make him relaxed. Took 30 minute to kick in but man it worked. He was so giggly and "saw double". They wheeled him back to the OR just 15 past his scheduled time and 30 min later the ENT came out and said he did great! RELIEF!

Now, if you get easily grossed out skip this paragraph cause I'm going to tell you what the surgeon said... First he said there was minimal bleeding which was great. He also said he handled anesthesia well (later we find out he did not come out of it so well though). Then he said when he cuts the tonsils he then has to reach in with a tool to grab them to pull them out. When he did so he said Max's just oozed pus and food particles and build up. My hands went to my mouth. I wanted to see that though!!!! Anyway, sounds like tonsil removal was definitely the right thing. Gross!

Max had his stuffed animal with him that he borrowed from his teacher to help him be brave. He also wore his Steelers jammies which garnered much discussion among nurses and staff. Who knew!? Once out of recovery we saw him and he was SCREAMING and crying and delirious, speaking in tongues. Scary stuff. He hasn't had much pain since but he sure looks and sounds awful.

On our way into the hospital

Hugging the fat frog from his class

Loopy drug kicks in!

Relaxed from the loopy drug

Forcing a smile on our way out.

Here's hoping in the days to come we all (especially Max) get more sleep and he has a speedy recovery!

If you made it through all this congrats! My hands hurt!

It's Christmas Adam, 12/23

I thought that was hilarious when I was younger, calling the day before Christmas Eve "Christmas Adam". Hardy, har, har.

Been a busy week here at home!

On Monday night we headed out for the 35 min drive to Clifton Mill (near Cedarville, yikes) to see the light display. We'd never been but heard it was great. We learned that everyone over the age of 7 has to pay $10 to get in. RIP OFF! Max wouldn't let us "lie" and say he was still 6 even though I tried to convince him it was ok because he was only 7 by a few weeks. (So honorable, I should take a lesson!) Anyway, the reason I say it's a rip off is because even though the lights are absolutely stunning (there are 3.5 million of them) and the little village is cute, it's so small! It's not like there is much of anything to do other than gawk at a few things and leave. Woodland Lights in Centerville gives you a bigger bang for your buck if you ask me. But anyway, we went and saw and Max loved it all. That was the point!

On our way home though we suffered a tragedy. Chris hit a deer. We saw them coming and even though he tried to slow down we nailed the second deer trying to cross the two-lane highway in the middle of nowhere. Hit him square on! And it was a good thing. Had he hit the corner we would have spun down into a ditch. The only thing we did was jar forward. We saw guts fly. Max witnessed the entire thing. It was eerie. After hitting the 'reindeer' Max went into hysterics. He cried so hard and his heart was so nervous that he kept yelling "MY HEART, MY HEART!" Amazingly my heart didn't race at all! So unlike me. I think it's because I had Max to worry about instead of myself?? So Max kept screaming how "Daddy killed a reindeer" and "You're going to be on Santa's naughty list" and things of that nature. I couldn't help but start laughing, especially because we were all ok! So then Max breaks into jolly laughter, still complaining of his heart, then the next thing you know he is slumped over in his booster fast asleep! So bizarre! It was quite an adventure and he was excited to tell his friends and teacher about it on Tuesday. Chris's car is now in the shop was some major damage to the radiator... he is driving a navy blue/purple HHR. Awesome. I won't ride in it. (snobby)

Max also had his Christmas party at school this week. It was major. Organized to the tee. (not by me so I'm not bragging) He had such a fun time and afterward his friend Abby came home with us and stayed late into the night. It was a great kick off to the break!

Today I got a letter in the mail from Springboro Schools. It was addressed to me and Chris. I guess "giftedness" typically isn't assessed until 3rd grade but this year Max's teacher felt very strongly about having him tested in 1st grade. The principal gave the "all clear" and testing began a day or so a week for a few weeks in reading and math only. The letter today stated that according to the Gifted Services Coordinator and the State of Ohio (woo!) Max is gifted. The criteria states you have to score above a 95% on the testing to qualify and he got 99% in both reading and in math. So I have learned that once you test "gifted" you are always placed in "gifted" classes. That's great for his academic development, sure, but I sometimes wonder if it's ok for social?? I guess we'll find out! Regardless I'm super proud to brag about him. He is a smarty pants for sure. We've always known that! The thing that really made me chuckle on the letter was it reads "Graduation Year: 2023" HAHA! I guess they use the same form for all ages so they have to fill in the year? Good grief! Let's not rush!

So tomorrow is Christmas Eve and we are busy with church and a big family gathering at my grandma's. Sweety the Elf will make his final appearance and then during the night rush off to be with Santa for the year. Max dreads that. He has loved Sweety so much this season!

Have a great Christmas Adam, All!

The Christmas Season

We are having a lot of fun with our elf, Sweety, this season. Ever since he arrived on Max's birthday looking for Sweety has been the first thing Max does in the morning (then he promptly reports his findings to us at 7am). Most of the time we find him in some inconspicuous spot around the house (like hanging upside down from our mistletoe as seen above) but a few times he has gotten into mischief as well. He toilet papered our great room and foyer one night while we slept; he got into Max's candy stash and devoured about 20 pieces of candy and left the wrappers in a trail as evidence; this morning we found him head first in a box of Apple Jacks. What a trouble maker! He's so fun!

This weekend we had a chance to go see Santa as well. Max was very nervous at first because he just didn't know what to ask for. Guess that's what happens when your birthday is just a few weeks before Christmas? He climbed on his lap though and asked him for Mario and Sonic at the London Olympic Games for the Wii and for a basketball hoop for outside. Santa made no promises but did say Max was definitely on the "nice list", of course! Phew!

This Christmas break we have Max scheduled to get his tonsils out. We first saw an ENT back in October after his 23842387423 sore throat and fever virus this year. The doctor took one look and said they need to be out; they are full of divots and pits that apparently just collect bacteria. Well I wasn't convinced so I didn't make the appointment for surgery but sure enough, just a week after seeing the ENT he was sick again. So I called and said "book him!" but our doctor was full over Christmas break! We were trying to minimize the amount of days Max would be out of school since he has already missed 9 (yes, 9!!!!) so instead we switched to one of the partners in the same practice; he could take Max's case on 12/27.

We met with the new ENT today, Dr. Jeff Adam. I LOOOOOVE him. He was so wonderful with Max and very attentive to our questions. And by him asking Max questions he learned that Max is a swimmer and his favorite stroke is backstroke. Dr. Adam perked right up! Turns out he too is a swimmer. In fact he swam through college and was on the 1968 U.S. Olympic Team! How cool is that? Max won his heart easily and thanks to this connection and instant bond we could tell we were in great hands! We love the extra attention this gets Max.

Only 18 days till Christmas!!!! Enjoy!

Thirteen.

I don't have a picture of just the two of us from this weekend when we celebrated so you'll have to settle for one taken in August by my good friend, Ashley, as we ring in year 13 of marriage! That's right, 13 years ago today, December 5th, 1998, we were hitched...

1) by a Reverend who talked about the end of the world during the ceremony and made me scared...

2) during a heat wave in December where we broke a record (which since has been broken again) with a temperature of 70 degrees so my sleeveless dress was no problemo...

3) as we celebrated with 150 of our closest family and friends...

4) and after which we got to drive away from the church in a very plush Rolls Royce and thought we were soooooo fancy...

5) and planned our great escape to Hawaii... aloooooha!

It's hard to believe that many years have gone by. So much has changed and still so much has stayed the same. We know how fortunate we are to have each other and to be in a relationship as blessed as ours has been. Here's to another 13 years... and more!!!! Happy Anniversary to us!

Happy 7th Birthday to Maxwell!

Max is 7 years old today. I feel like 7 is old! Do you? Makes me sad. Yet I'm so happy with the boy he is!

I think back to the struggle of pregnancy, the early labor at 23 weeks, the months and months of bed rest-and-worry-and-wonder-and-hope-and-prayer, the due date of Christmas Day, the fact that he came 4 weeks early, the week in the NICU, etc. Max is a miracle and it's no surprise to me at all that he has the sweetest spirit of any man, woman or child I have ever known. No one else can bust into my room at 7am and still put a smile on my face. No one else can make me laugh so hard at the funny things he says. No one can impress me more with the things he knows. No one else can cheer me up just by dancing! Max is one of a kind for sure!

To celebrate "7" we had his party with friends last weekend (as you know from the previous blog post). It was grand! We celebrated with family on Sunday evening; we had slices of pizza and cookie pie for dessert and Max wished big as he blew out his candles...

This morning, on his actual day, he woke up to find Santa had sent a surprise... his own "Elf on the Shelf". If you're not familiar here's how it works: The elf is magical. He can listen to Max but cannot talk. Every night he flies to the North Pole to report to Santa on all the good and not-so-good things Max does, then magically reappears in a new spot in our home for Max to find the next morning. Max can tell him his wishes knowing he will report directly to Santa himself. It's a big deal in "kid world" and many of Max's friends have elves as well.

Max, while Chris and I still slept, woke up at 7am and found his new friend sitting on top of the tv on the wall in the great room. Along with the elf came a book in which Max could write the name he chooses for his elf. Max found it and named the elf long before we were awake. His name? Sweety. Yes, with a "y". Not "sweaty"... "Sweety". If that doesn't show what kind of tender heart Max has then I don't know what does!

Before school I snapped a few pics of him wearing his new "7" shirt I ordered from an Etsy seller to wear on this very day. Later we surprised Max at school with a visit during lunch. We brought him Subway to eat and cookies to pass out to his classmates. He was so surprised! :) After school we promised him a trip to Toys R Us to spend his birthday money and then dinner out at his place of choice. As you know from my last post, he chose Golden Corral. I tried to convince him to go to The Greene... the huge lighted tree, camel rides, The Cheesecake Factory or Brio... LOL! Didn't work. The Corral it was. He invited Austin to join us and they had such a fun time!

So another year is in the books for Max. He is such a good boy! He loves school, is generous, shares, cares about his friends and others, shows respect and is so smart. We couldn't be more blessed!

Happy birthday to the sweetest boy I know!

Max's Pancake & Pajama Birthday Party Brunch

This morning at 9:30, twelve 6 and 7 year olds joined Max in celebrating his 7th birthday! And they celebrated in comfy, cozy style... in their jammies! It was a Pancake & Pajama birthday brunch, complete with pancakes, scrambled eggs, muffins, donuts, yogurt, fruit and toppings galore.

Max woke up at 6:30 and changed into his new 'rock n roll' flannel jammies and counted down the minutes until it was time for his friends to arrive. He was so excited to have long-time friends, school friends and teammates all here together to have some fun. Here he is patiently waiting by the front door at 9:15...

The two-hour party was a wild and crazy time and Max loved every single minute. We had brunch, of course, on purple tablecloths, played a few silly games, decorated pillow cases and had a pillow fight, put a movie in the theater room and just played! Max was so thrilled to just have all those friends here and while opening gifts was sure to say "thank you" to every single one of them, genuinely. We were so proud of him!

Next up, a family pizza party tomorrow night and then on his actual bday, the 30th, lunch delivered at school topped off with a trip to Toys R Us to spend some birthday money and dinner at the place of his choice. Lord help me because his choice is Golden Corral. Gag me. Of all places! I'd rather eat McDonald's.... but it's not my birthday so... :)

Slacker.

I am a total slacker. I've been so very busy with work I have neglected my poor blog. A lot has happened since my last post on Max's first day of school. Shame on me!

First grade is going very well for Max. He is a great reader and according to his teacher has mastered all the math skills so far. He aces all his spelling tests. (and they are tough!) He has made good friends (mostly girls, go figure) and is learning lots! He says his favorite things about first grade are: 2 recesses and lunch in the cafeteria (he literally buys lunch every day, much to my dismay)

One funny first grade story: Max got off the bus one Monday and showed me his library book. He said "I got the same book as my gf". So I said "what's a gf?" and he said "girlfriend" so I asked "well what do you do when you have a gf?" His reply, "anything she says". ;) By the way, her name is Abby.

Max started and finished his soccer season already this fall. They were the K&W Dragons and they were mint green. Max had a great time with Daddy as the coach but the team didn't win but one game. They came in second to last in the league. Ho hum. This year they played on a huge field and most of the kids were too tired to even run by the third quarter. We lucked out with great weather this year though; no freezing cold games to worry about. It was a fun season!

Winter swim team is something new Max joined this year. It was a try out program and he made the cut. It is SO hard core. He swims three nights a week for an hour straight. No stopping. It's no joke. Max missed the first swim meet due to croup (ick) but had so much fun at the second meet. He swam a 25 (one length of the pool) backstroke and 25 freestyle and nailed them both. Swimming is something he really loves; I'm worried he may get burned out with winter swim though because it is so serious and doesn't involve as much play as summer swim team. We'll see... He's really good at it so I hope he sticks with it! (ps Abby is on his team)

Halloween is tomorrow so today we spent the morning at the SCCC Halloween brunch. Max has known for almost a year he wanted to be a vampire this Halloween. He typically chooses his costume a year in advance and seriously doesn't waiver. He is already saying next year he wants to be a zombie. ?? Anyway he loved the contests (limbo, hoola hoop, costume, dance), the food, the friends and just dressing up! It was a good test run for tomorrow, Trick or Treat! He also had a parade and party at school (more pics to come if I ever get around to writing another post! ha) so he'll be vampired out by November 1.

And speaking of November 1... it's the official start of BIRTHDAY MONTH for Max. Having his birthday on the last day of the month means we celebrate all month long! WOO! He just got finished going through the new Toys R Us catalog and circling about 34234 things he would like for his birthday and Christmas. Good grief!

Enjoy the pics! Happy fall and Halloween everyone!

New School. New Teacher. New Bus Stop. Here Comes First Grade!

I have been both excited for and dreading this day all summer... the first day of school. My baby was headed to first grade. That means away from my side all day long. Sad for Mommy. Exciting for Max.

In a whirlwind this week we got to attend orientation, "Meet the Teacher" (she is awesome,

btw), and send Max off on the bus. Max is very excited about going to the "big kids school" with kids in grades 1 through 5. He is also thrilled at the idea that they get TWO recesses!!! Oh, and the subject he is most looking forward to studying is art. FYI.

This year the bus was scheduled to come to our house at 7:30 am. School starts at 8:45. Uh, no. So when I told Max I would have to take him to school he got upset (he loves the bus) and said "MOM! I can handle it" Well then I learned you can have one other address registered with transportation so we made his pick up stop be in Fieldstone; a busy bus stop full of friends and a much later (8:20) pick up time. I'll admit, I was happy for him to have friends to distract him from the possible anxiety associated with the first day of school but at the same time I was sad we wouldn't get to share a private moment at our very own (lonely) bus stop at the bottom of our driveway. After seeing him this morning though, this was definitely the way to go! He was so happy; a little timid but still happy!

So it's begun... first grade! I remember what I wore the first day of school, who my friends were, what my teacher was like, and where I sat in her class. I'm positive Max is already making lasting memories. First grade rules!!! Enjoy the photos!

Max and Kenleigh... BFF

Hayden, Kenleigh and Max

Max and Kenleigh hang back and let the other kids go first

... and they are getting on!