Five and a Half

Maxton is 5 and a half years old. Everyone out there with a newborn? Don't blink - just don't. I can't believe how fast time is flying. He starts Kindergarten in just 5 months. AHHH!! School age!

Anyway, what can I say about Max at 5 and a half?



He's totally come into his own. He knows what he likes and doesn't and STRICTLY sticks to the things he likes. His likes include video games, tv shows, baseball, bubbles, oatmeal, board games, pancakes, waffles, ice cream, raw veggies, legos, bike riding (finally!), his dad, Bennett, his best friend Quinn, short sleeve t-shirts, gymnastics, reading, weapons, dress up, and helping in the kitchen if it involves knives or fire.



He has recently decided that he dislikes hugs and kisses, especially from MOM. So sad. He's just too cool for them. He's also gained a competitive edge the past six months and must be the winner of all things. Games, running, etc. We're trying to humble him a bit while continuing this burst of confidence because it's nice to see him feeling so proud of himself, but also not so great when he loses and it's someone else's fault.





He continues to be extremely sweet, but has also started rough housing his brothers more than usual. There's a LOT of boy energy in him and that's new. When he was little he was always really calm and that's not the case anymore. The great news is he's quick to apologize and typically does not repeat bad behavior once it's discussed with him.



He's started READING in the past few months and mommy is THRILLED! Such a fun accomplishment! He does such a great job with it also. He's also starting to spell a bit (no more spelling words for us) and is counting to 100 easily (and loudly!) He writes his name and his family member's names and can write numbers 1-20. I'd say he's ready for K and while I'm nostalgic about the quickness of time, I'm also really excited about what's ahead.





I just asked him what he wants to do for work when he grows up and he said, "Nothing. I can't tell you."

That made me laugh. He's really funny. He doesn't love jokes or "typical" humor, but he's got this funny way of making our whole family laugh. I wish I could describe it better... he's just goofy and quirky.



He LOVES sharing a room with Bennett and misses him greatly if Ben naps without him or something. He's a people person and prefers to be surrounded by others. Good thing theres a lot of Lincolns!





He started t-ball this spring and is working VERY hard on mastering cartwheels at home. He'll join gymnastics again this summer and keep with t-ball. I'd like to get him playing an instrument as well because he used to adore music and we've lost that a bit in the past year.





He's very inquisitive. Always asking a question and wanting to know more about how the world around him works. If we don't know the answer he gets irritated, often saying, "Mom, you have to TELL me!" Haha! He likes information to be accurate as well and he will correct you if you're wrong.



He's anti-girl right now, so I'm not his favorite person. When I get an "I love you" or some Max sweetness I feel VERY special.



I like that he strives to be better at things and is gaining confidence. When I do something that makes Max smile, it makes me feel like a million bucks. There's a strong desire in me to make Max happy. He's the child I worry the most about and there's positives and negatives to that, but mostly I think it's because he's my first and everything with him is new territory for me.



He's all boy now. Big boy, too. I'm so insanely proud of the big boy he's becoming. Sometimes I get a glimpse of "man" and it both freaks me out and excites me. I hope he'll still want to hang with his mom when he's grown and I hope I get to see a lot of Max's smiles for the rest of my life.

What I Read: February

I'll Give You the Sun

This is a YA book about twins who experience a tragedy and learn to come into their own through art, loss and finding their way back to each other. It's quirky and I struggled with the writing style in the beginning, but quickly began to adore it. The story is one that reminded me how painful and messy and beautiful life really is. By the time I was done, I didn't want it to end. 

All the Light We Cannot See

Ok... so, I'll start by saying that this book has over 7,000 reviews on Amazon with 4.5 stars and I've heard RAVE reviews from everyone I've ever heard has read it (nobody I know personally, but book bloggers, podcasters etc..). I expected to LOVE this book. I was intimidated by it because it's over 500 pages (my typical book length is around 400) and the synopsis sounded boring. Plus, it's a WWII novel. I'm not a big history buff and typically shy away from period or war pieces. BUT, this was my book club book so now I finally had a great reason to just get over myself and read the damn thing. 

I didn't HATE it. But, I certainly did not love it. I don't know that I can even say I liked it. It moved along okay... and was sort of interesting sometimes? That's it, guys. That's the best I can give you. Why this book gets rave reviews is beyond me. I'm glad I'm done reading it. 

Defending Jacob

How much can I say about a book without giving too much away? This was the PERFECT book for me to read after the aforementioned snooze-fest above. I needed something compulsive and in present times. If you loved the Serial podcast, I think you'd LOVE this book. Let's just say my jaw dropped more than once and I'll leave it at that! It's only a $3 kindle purchase right now, so if you read that way then go for it! It's worth $3 for sure! 

The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie

I listened to this one and I have to say... it felt a little like torture. I made myself get through it because I'm stubborn like that, but MAN - it was rough. It's a murder mystery and I just didn't care about any of the characters at all. I know quite a few people who have loved this book, but I just couldn't get on board. 

This is Where I Leave You

I've heard mixed reviews on this book, but I liked it a lot! I haven't actually laughed out loud from a book in a long time and I was laughing so much that Ritchie asked me what was so funny on several occasions. If you're sensitive to women being objectified and just general "female bashing" I guess (spoiler alert - his wife cheats on him which leads him to sort of generally feel negatively about women.) then you might not like this. If you're able to understand the context and read deeper into the reasoning behind the language, then you might find it hilarious, as I did. 

Bennett at 3 and a Half Years

Bennett turned 3.5 last month and I've been reflecting more and more on where each boy is at in their development and I so miss recording it. Poor Crosby has literally had nothing documented of his first year. In any case, I want to keep up at least every 6 months with where they're at. So, here's what I know about Bennett right now and some of my favorite pictures of him from the past 6 months.





Bennett is SUCH a three year old. Happy one minute, melting down the next. He has a whine that sounds to me like nails on a chalkboard. I'm pretty bad at just giving him WHATEVER it takes to stop that sound immediately. Bad mom, I know. When he's happy though? He will light up your life.



He's sweet and snuggly and easy going. He loves to play with trains, legos, "shooters" (ugh), balls, tinker toys, the matching game, Sequence, Jenga, Go Fish, puzzles and books. He loves being read to and really enjoys getting new books from the library. His favorite thing is probably dressing up in costumes. He mostly prefers to be Elsa or anything that involves a dress. I think he's the most beautiful princess.



I love that he's fully his own person. He's not easily influenced by what others want to do or play with. He just wants what he wants and he's not afraid to express that. He LOVES being around others and playing with friends, but if they're not doing what he wants, that's fine, too - he'll do it anyway! He's learning to share with his baby brother, a task proving much harder than it seems :)





He's tracing larger letters (ones that take up a whole page) and can recognize some numbers but not many letters yet. He loves to do "school work" as long as I don't help him or ask him any questions. So.... basically I'm choosing not to worry terribly about what he knows or doesn't know. I figure he'll get there eventually. He can count to 13 without help and his 1:1 correspondence with counting is up to about 5. He's dressing himself with ease now with the exception of his socks and shoes.





It would be a marvelous thing to report full potty trained status but alas, I cannot. He can pee in the potty without assistance, but he's still pooping in his pants. Again, I'm trying to remember that he will get there. Bennett cannot be pushed into something he doesn't want to do. He's stubborn and self-assured. Bribing isn't working.



Bennett likes to change his clothes about 6 times a day and prefers pajamas to all other clothing choices. But, he also likes to accessorize sometimes. Hats, scarves, gloves. He enjoys them all.



He has enjoyed gymnastics and is looking forward to soccer in the spring. He LOVES preschool and always looks forward to going.





He's adventurous. He'll try pretty much anything once. He may never do it again after that, but he's always game to try. He does try to keep up with Max in regards to sports and physical activity and in most cases, he can easily keep up. He's a very physical child and needs to exert his energy daily. Sometimes this means at bedtime he's going crazy and jumping and climbing because he didn't get it out earlier. Whoops!



The child will eat ANYTHING. He's not picky, although lately he's shown much more preference for certain foods (toast, cereal with milk, fruits, chicken and rice, etc..) as opposed to just eating whatever I give him. He's a pretty adventurous eater and will try anything once. He likes spicy food and hummus and things that Max won't touch.

A terrible photo for its quality, BUT this is my boy on Christmas morning. Pure joy.

I really GET Ben. He's completely my child. Looks like me, acts like me. It's easy for me to empathize with ALL of those big emotions because I have them, too. This makes the relationship between Ben and me pretty easy. I don't raise my voice or lose my temper as often with him. He brings out the patient side of me (well, most of the time - I'm so far from perfect it's not even funny).



He'll say his best friend is Kira and he's been hugging and kissing Crosby A LOT lately. He tells me he loves me and says he needs a hug often. He's starting to not want kisses anymore (thanks a lot, Max!) but I sneak them in and he doesn't seem to mind. He loves to help, sit on my lap and be by my side.


I'll leave you with my favorite photo from the past 6 months. A Daddy and his boys. Bennett kissing him. Bennett, giving love. That's how I always think of him, so this is the perfect last image.

Ben is treasured in our family and I often think he'll be the link for the bond between his brothers. Because, I believe, anyone can get along with Ben. He's just so likable. And loving. He provides something in our family that is irreplaceable and I hope he feels loved and valued every single day.

House Tour: Kitchen

Our kitchen was my least and most favorite thing about this house when we bought it. I hated it for everything it was.... maple cabinets, gross smells coming from the cabinets, hideous blue laminate countertops (Are they laminate? I don't even know - they're just ugly). BUT, I LOVED it for its potential. The layout is great and there's lots of storage. Plus, I could totally picture it all white with new countertops and some subway tile etc.. We just had to move in, clean it up and redo the whole kitchen! Easy, right?

Ha!

Here's where we're at now, about 6 months after moving in:


Here's the view from the playroom.

Pros: Lots of light, easy access to the kids, and open floor plan!

Cons: Everything else.


We have this eat-in dining area with a lot of extra storage. Don't mind those seedlings we're working on for our garden. They're not usually up there. This extra counter space and cabinetry we wouldn't be able to function without. It's awesome!


Our pots and pans also hang over there. I've always loved displaying these and our cookbooks up top there.


This is the far end of the kitchen towards the formal dining room.


This is standing back by the fridge.


Lots of lovely blue counter space! The space is great! The counters... not so much.


Here is standing back the other way. In the past 6 months we've done a few things. The dishwasher and cooktop are new, the island has been painted this green color and given some amazing hardware. That's it though! SO much more to do!

Some of my favorite things:




This little area is just really decorated and colorful and I love it.



That's it for the kitchen! I'm HOPING to start the white paint this weekend so fingers crossed I'll have a good "after" shot soon-ish.

Sorry for the crappy iPhone pics. Life, you know?

Our Master Bedroom

I feel like our room is done enough (as done as it will be for awhile now) to show you all!

When we bought our house this room was a lovely pale pink color. Which matched the rosy pink carpet quite well. The bathroom is also pink, with a pink countertop to boot! So, while I don't mind some pink accents, this room was clearly taking pink to a whole new level. I painted in a creamy white shade and did a gray/blue (shocking right? I mean, I never use this color!) accent wall behind the bed.












I know the photos are too big. Sorry! We still need to do some (a lot) of things to this space. Aside from new carpet (or hardwood? We can't decide) we also need new baseboards, doors and casing. I'll show off the bathroom another time. Perhaps while we're redoing it as a before/after. I'd also like to do a few smaller things. I'd love a gold frame around my book wreath and I'd love some frames surrounding the window for our black and white family photos. The dresser needs some decorating love as well.

My favorites about this space are the bedding and the large window and our walk in closet. The space feels the perfect combo of warm and light to me. But the carpet is disgusting and needs to go. And the brown doors are not my fav either. Baby steps!

More of the house to come soon I hope!