Max is 6 (and has been for 2 months)

Before this boy turns 7, I thought I should introduce you to his just turned 6 year-old self. No one wants to miss that.  Let me tell you a few things about Maximus, Maximoose, Maximillian (none of which are his real name): 

This boy is super loving and affectionate. His primary teacher even tells us how he lays on her lap and rubs her arm while she teaches. We thank her for not being outwardly creeped out by it.

Max loves, LOVES his baby. He had a friend over a few weeks ago and his friend said, "Let's go play ball outside." Max's reply, "Ummm. . . let's go look at my baby sister." That pretty much sums it up.

Every, EVERY time it is job time, he is tired. Too tired, to be exact. Amazingly enough, he can be tired, even if he just woke up a half hour ago. That's what the mere mention of work will do to Max.

This boy is our quietest, which doesn't say much, except that every little bit helps in this house. We love that.

He is totally opposed to trying new things, but when he does, he is great at them. Reading? Took us forever to get him to try it, but in kindergarten his was one of the top few readers in his class. Now we need to work on that bike riding thing.

Doesn't like candy. Any of it. Makes bribery difficult, but the dentist easy.

Max is seriously a good lookin' kid. And I'm not biased. Really (heh heh). If any boy could be "pretty", this is your boy. Just look at those eyelashes and blue eyes (well, these pictures won't help you with that!). But then I think "handsome", because no boy wants to be a pretty boy. He is, though.

Here are the traditional handprint and self-portrait (complete with 4 heads):

And here are the answers (in his own spelling--next year the 'creative spelling' might not be as cute) to his yearly questionnaire:

How old are you?  6
What makes you happy?  Plaing (playing)
What is your favorite animal?  Dog
What is your favorite thing to eat?  Pizza
What is the yuckiest thing to eat?  drit (dirt)
What is your favorite thing to do?  Play with frends
What is your favorite T.V. show?  Mario
What are you really good at?  bilding Lagos (building Legos)
What is your favorite movie?  Dragin Train (How to Train a Dragon)
What is your favorite color?  green
What is your favorite song? roomr hasit (Rumor Has It)
Who is your best friend?  Luke
What do you and your mom do together?  go place
What do you and your dad do together?  play cach (play catch)
Where is your favorite place to go? TraFaLga
What is your favorite book?  if you give a mooce a mufin (If You Give a Moose a Muffin)
What do you want to be when you grow up?  Dad

We lovey, lovey our Max!

Layla: Day 4

Now that our little "lady boy" (as Sawyer calls her--still not quite used to the whole "girl" thing) is 2 1/2 months old, I thought I would start posting some of the fun newborn photos I took of her. It actually took me this long to get around to start editing them--and there are more than a few--so she may actually start talking by the time I get through them all.

She was not the easiest newborn to take photos of--that girl does NOT like her clothes off. She's got that modesty thing going for her. She would also wake up at the slightest movement, so we only took a few of her cute mug. Here she is at 4 days old. My how time flies (*sob*).

And just for fun, I'll share this little scene I came across. Spiderman meets Power Ranger meets Dr. Seuss. Their desire to read is conflicting with their desire to fight the bad guys, so they are taking a break from saving the world.

It's a Blessing

We had a good start to May with Layla's blessing--kind of bittersweet knowing it was to be the last of six (count 'em, six--and, yes, the last) babies that Rich has taken to the front of the chapel in their little white outfits. I'm thinking I might just be pretty sentimental with every "last" with this baby, so prepare yourselves for sappiness from here on out!

We are pretty lucky to have such a good, supportive family (and friend--just a shout out to my FAB friend, Heather, who is just like family). It was freezing and they humored me with a picture (or 5) anyway!

Here is the series of gotta-have-'em shots on the blessing day and the post-blessing get-together. And just for the record, she is such a good baby. Someone must've known that I needed one that would be nice to us. You know, bein' on the brink of insanity and all.

(Seriously, are all these ours??)

And this final shot is to show that a person (especially one like me) can go almost three years and not notice a physical feature between two cousins that is pretty much identical. Just LOOK at those eyes. Matchy-matchy genes! Oh, and the identical feature of darn good looking, too.

Daughters

"A daughter is one of the most beautiful

gifts this world has to give."

-Laurel Atherton

BELATED, YET WORTH IT

Happy Easter . . .

. . . from our little chick.

The Newbie

I've always liked the idea of documenting the "birth story" of each of my children, but have never made it   happen very well. I guess I was a little preoccupied at the time? This time (being our last time), I made sure to make it a priority and keep the camera out and handy at all times. Well, not all times--this is a family blog, you know. 

I'd like to thank the anesthesiologist for making it possible for me to be the patient and the photographer (Rich helped a little) at the same time. Epidurals are magical things.

We arrived at the hospital on Friday, March 23rd, at 8:15 a.m. for the scheduled induction. Can I just say how wonderful Pitocin is? It is. I love being able to plan something out that isn't typically very predictable. 

They hooked me up at 9:15 a.m. and just three short hours later we had a beautiful (yet somewhat purple) girl to call our own. We are so glad to finally have our little bookend baby here!

Without further delay, we'd like to introduce . . .

Layla Adair Wilcox

8 lbs. 7 oz.

19"

I haven't seen one of those little stick-on bows for a long time, folks--maybe that's why they added an extra one!

Don't adjust your monitors. She came out a little purple and bruised from her swift entry into the world. Only five minutes of pushing will do that, so we were told.  

The kids are pretty excited for her to join their ranks. Well, except for Max, who asked Aunt Jenni how to spell "kind of" when making a card for her. We think he likes her now . . . 

And, now, for the many faces of Layla. 

We feel very lucky.

What Do We Have Here?

Mom: "Hey Owen, what are you drawing?"
Owen: "Uhhh. . . these are all the weapons that I know of."
Mom: "I certainly hope so."

After four boys, Rich and I have realized that they are drawn to this kind of stuff, no matter the other "peaceful" things you encourage them in. They make weapons out of anything--food, Legos, their hands. Wars, wrestling and weapons. . . the three 'W's. They fill our days and are actually entertaining most of the time. And in one more day, we are adding a girl to this mix. Heaven help her.

Should I be concerned? No. . . I just told him to check out other books from the library that aren't under the category "Military Technology" and we will be gooood.

Plus, he is one of the best kids that I know of. And I know a lot of them.