Max and his cow

We recently discovered Max has a strong love for his little cow toy.  We put him in his little chair and he just sits there and laughs at it and trys to grab it and pull it to his mouth.

Brotherly Love

berry pickin'

I woke up at the crack of dawn this morning (nine is really early for us all to be ready and out of the house) to take the boys berry picking.  I knew it was going to be 100 degrees today, so I wanted to get out there early before it got too hot.  Turns out it was already 83 degrees by the time we left the house, so that didn't work out as well as I wanted it to.

First we swung by my parents house to pick up some containers to store the berries in.  The blueberry place where I went a couple of weeks ago with my mom and sister is right down the street from my parents house.  We stopped by there first, but apparently they are only open on the weekends, which put a little damper in my plans.  So we headed up the road a ways, to a berry place on Kerslake Rd.  The lady that was running the place said we could pick raspberries because they would probably be gone by this weekend.

We tied our buckets around our waists and started picking, or atleast I did.  I think Wyatt was mainly eating everything that he picked and Max was just chillin in his stroller.

We didn't get very many berries because it was really hot out and Max started screaming, but it was still fun, and we have fresh raspberries to eat for the next week.

bouncy, bouncy, bouncy

So I pulled out Wyatts old bouncy chair and sat Max in it just to see if he liked it and he LOVED IT!! He sat in it for a good half hour and just looked around at all the toys and chewed on a few of them and was just content to be sitting up.  I really want to get him a bumbo so that he can sit up more often.  He loves to sit, he tries so hard when you prop him up with blankets or pillows to sit straight up with no help from anyone.  It's the cutest thing ever because usually he ends up face planting it into the bed.  Even tho I really want him to stop growing and stay my little baby forever, I can't wait for him to start sitting up and crawling and being more mobile.  I know Wyatt is going to love it when he starts crawling.

Anyways, after I pulled Max out of the bouncy chair and I took him in our bedroom to give him a bottle.  When I went back in Wyatt's room to check on him, this is what I found.

I guess he was a little jealous that his baby brother was using his toy and he decided he wanted to be a baby again, too.

Guppy

So Max officially has a new nickname. Guppy. I'm not really sure why we chose Guppy, but he is constantly sucking on his fists or his blanket or your shoulder, arm, or hand, and sucker fish just isn't as cute as Guppy. 

So he is now stuck with the nickname Guppy.  I love it :)

sandy river

We spent the day down at the sandy river today with our friends Mark and Becky and their son Liam.  It was really hot, but alot of fun.  Max already loves being outside and loved dipping his little feet in the water.  Wyatt had a blast with his buddy (they are only two weeks apart), just playing in the sand, throwing rocks, and watching the little baby duckies swim by.  

It was fun to spend the day as a family, and even tho I love Max being my little baby, I can't help but think how much fun next summer is going to be when he can run around with his big brother and play with the other kids.  I don't want him to grow up because it's already going by so quickly, but I still look forward to watching him grow and start crawling and talking and then walking.

I love summertime with the kids because even if there is nothing to do and we have no money, the boys (mostly Wyatt) are happy just being outdoors and enjoying the sunshine.  I'm taking them berry picking tomorrow, which I think Wyatt will love, but I do plan on doing that early in the morning because its supposed to be over 100 degrees tomorrow!!  But we love eating fresh berries and I think that Wyatt will have fun picking them.

Anyways, here's a few pictures from the river today.  I didn't bring my camera with me or I would have more, because I already had about a million things I had to cart down to the water with us, but I did manage to steal a few from my friend Becky's camera.

Little Max, loving sitting on my lap in the water so he can dangle his toes in the river.

Wyatt and his buddy Liam, all dirty and covered in sand. Typical little boys.

Me and my two little boys.

the adventures of potty training

So we are officially in the potty training stage with Wyatt.  We have tried to get him in this stage several times before with no luck.  This time he started it all by himself.  He came up to me in the bedroom on Saturday morning and said "mommy I go potty'' and proceeded to take his diaper off, climb up onto the toilet and go pee.  I was so ecstatic I nearly peed my pants.  I discovered some leftover candy in my purse and gave him a piece and told him that everyone time he went potty in the big boy potty he would get another piece.

We have been working with him for over a week now.  He isn't completely potty trained yet, but we are slowly on our way.  Shane was brave enough to take him out in public in his big boy underwear, which was followed by an accident which was to be expected.  Whenever he gets distracted or he is too busy playing to remember that he needs to go potty, he has an accident.  So for now, he has been wearing pull-ups, and I have been trying to remind him every hour to go try to sit on the potty.  I'm just so excited for the day when I no longer have to change his diapers!!

back to the craziness of Kaiser

So today was my first day back to work.  The only thing that made it easier to leave my two little boys and return to the fast-paced business world was the fact that my little sister is going to be taking care of my kids.  I'm so grateful for the fact that she is going to be watching them until she goes back to college in September.  It's so much easier to leave your children with someone who is family and you trust with all of your heart.  

She is amazing with both of the boys, in fact, during Max's colickyness (I don't think thats a real word) it was only her and I that could calm him down.  So as far as anyone being able to give me a break from my screaming infant, she was the only one who could.  And she was nice enough to come over for an hour every day and let me just get out of the house and take a breath.

Anyways, today was her first day spending most of the day with them and I know she did great.  She even managed to get some things done around the house for me, of which i am very thankful for.  I know that it will be hard to find someone else that I am so comfortable with when it comes time for her to go back to college.  But for now, I am just enjoying the fact that I know everyday when I leave for work, that my boys are in good hands.

work

So I'm sitting at work right now, my first day back and I'm already bored. Now don't get me wrong, it has definitely been nice to get out of the house and be around adults, and see all my old co-workers, but I miss my babies! I wish that instead of working three days a week, I could work five days and just work shorter hours. That way I'm not gone all day, and I would get to spend more time with my kids every day instead of spending four days a week with them. I know that we could never make it on one income. We pay over 1600 dollars a month in just our house payment and HOA dues. Then on top of that, we have over 700 dollars a month in car payments and car insurance. We are also still paying off Wyatt's hospital bills and our Yamaha bikes. And the list of bills just go on and on. I know that if we weren't in debt and we just had our house payment and cellphone, cable, electricity and HOA dues, we could probably make it on one income. That is going to be my big goal for the next six months, to try to pretend like we are still on a tight budget and put most of my paychecks towards paying off our debt.

Anyways, I just realized how not interesting this blog is, so I will just say that it was my first day back to work today and it was the same old pharmacy that I left three months ago. Not much has changed and I didn't forget how to do anything. It seriously just feels like I took a week off of work and now I'm back. Like it doesn't even feel any different at all.

Auntie Carly's b-day

Carly's Birthday. July 21st, 2009. 20 years old.  It's amazing to watch your baby sister grow into such a beautiful, young woman.  I am beyond proud of her and everything she has accomplished.  Not only is she the first in our family to graduate from highschool, but she continued on to college and completed her freshman year at OSU.  She has found an awesome boyfriend, who is nice and respectful and treats her like a queen.  He adores my boys and Wyatt is pretty much obsessed with him.  My baby sister is extremely motivated and driven, and I know she is going to do great things with her life.  She is an amazing sister, and a very giving person, as well as an incredible aunt to my two sons.  I love you, Carly and I'm so glad that we have such a close bond.  Sisters by chance, friends by choice.

Now as for our night out with our family and her friends I just have one word.  Insane.  Wyatt was pretty much out of control the entire evening and would not calm down or stay seated to eat his dinner.  Shane had worked 12 hours that day, so he was not much help, but I know that he was exhausted.  And Max decided his colic should pay us another visit just in case we forgot what it was like to not be able to get him to stop crying.  So, nonetheless, it was a very interesting night.

mommy and auntie time

We spent some more time up at my parents house this weekend.  My sister is home from college for the summer and starting next week she is going to be watching the boys for me when I go back to work.  Anyways, we had a lot of fun playing with the boys in the little pool and the water table.  Wyatt loves his Auntie Carly and I'm so glad that she is going to be able to watch them for me. 

Even Max joined in the fun.

The water was a little too cold for him, tho.

Me and Wyatt hanging out in the kiddie pool.

Nice looks.

Carly and Wyatt catching some rays.

Brothers.

All of us laying in the sun (minus Max, he was sleeping in the shade)

Uh-oh... here come the Mckenzie boys......RUN!!!

Definitely two of a kind.

wyatt's slight obsession with cars

Wyatt is definitely a little boy.  He loves anything to do with being a boy.  Playing in the dirt, riding his bikes, scraping up his knees, climbing on anything and everything, being loud and hyper, but the one thing he loves the most is playing with his cars and trucks. 

He would pass on eating, sleeping, watching tv, and probably anything else if you offered to play cars with him.  His only problem is he has a hard time playing by himself.  Since he has been the only child around here for two years, he is having a hard time adapting to the fact that mommy can't just get up at the drop of a hat and come play with him anymore.  I try to play with him whenever Max is sleeping and I'm not doing household stuff, but I've been really trying to teach him that he needs to learn to play by himself every once in a while too.

One thing that will be nice once Max is older is how good it will be for Wyatt to always have someone to play with.  I know that will mean he will also have someone to fight with and someone that he doesn't want to share with, but for the most part, I think he will enjoy having a live-in playmate.

I was thinking about how weird it is that I am now the mommy of two little boys.  I'm in still in awe of the fact that I've raised Wyatt for the past two years and he is still walking and breathing which has got to mean something, right?  I feel so proud when Wyatt does something that I've taught him.  Like count how many books we were checking out from the library today, or saying bless you to his little brother when he sneezed.  It's amazing how much they pick up in such a short amount of time.  Wyatt is not even two and a half and he is really starting to speak in sentences that you can actually understand.  And he can spot things and know what they are.  

My heart fills with love every time he accomplishes something he is trying so hard to do.  I love those moments that I get to share with him when something is so new and so exciting to him.  I feel like I get to relive these moments with him and experience new things again with him.  And I'm looking forward to being able to do that with Max, too.  

All in all, I love being a mommy.  It's the most amazing job in the world and I wouldn't change it for the world.  I love my boys, they are my everything :)

moving on up

So Max has officially graduated to size 3 diapers.  I don't know why this is such a big deal to me, but I feel like he isn't a little baby anymore.  For the past couple of days whenever you sit him on your lap, he has been lifting his head up and trying to sit up.  Although he is really far from being able to do it on his own, it's so cute to watch him try.  He also has been talking a lot more, and blowing raspberries, and he is enjoying tummy time now instead of it being something that he hates.  I can't believe how much he has changed in just a week.   It makes me sad to think that I have to go back to work next week and possibly start missing some of his firsts.  I hope he saves them for when I am home.  I'm only working three days a week, but I still feel like I'm going to miss so much.  When I went back to work when Wyatt was three months old, he was already rolling over.  So I guess in that way, Max is a little behind his brother.  Max hasn't even tried to roll over yet, but that doesn't bother me.   I know now that as soon as they get mobile and can roll around and start crawling, then they start getting into trouble.  So I'm fine with him being my little stationary baby for now.

riding bikes....what the mckenzie boys do best

Since it was 93 degrees outside today, we went outside at night when it was a little cooler.  Wyatt loves to ride his bikes out in front of our driveway, and usually Shane hangs out with him while he is riding, but we all joined in the fun tonight.  Max loves being outside too, and I don't want to jinx myself or anything, but he had a really good night tonight, so (cross my fingers) I'm hoping he is starting to get over the colic.  He was really happy all night and talking and cooing at everybody.

We set him on Wyatt's big wheel, just to give him a feel for it.  Since he is a Mckenzie boy, he is bound to end up riding a bike.  And he better start now, so he can keep up with his older brother and his daddy.

Wyatt loves riding all of his bikes, although he still hasn't learned how to pedal yet.  Which is why he likes his motorcycle so much, because its more of a balance bike and there aren't any pedals, he just pushes himself around on it.

And, as usual, Shane spent most of the time that we were all outside talking on his phone.  VERY ANNOYING! But hey, I can't complain, because at least he was home with us, right?

live, laugh, love....and drool