Called On Account of Rain

So we didn't end up going to the fair on Tuesday as planned because we got, you guessed it, even more rain. Ugh. It actually worked out to our advantage, however, because Darreck only had to work until one on Wednesday, so we were able to take Kayla while Max stayed with my mom. It brought back some great memories I had from the fair when I lived here before. I went with my friends every single year and rode almost every single ride. Unfortunately, I'm starting to get more and more motion sick the older I get, and Darreck and I went home and collapsed afterwards feeling more than just a little sick. It was worth it though! After calling Kayla a wimp a couple hundred times, we got her to go on almost everything. Her favorite was the bumper cars, Darreck's was the tornado, and mine was the hang glider. I firmly believe that men were meant to fly. The only reason we don't have wings is because Heavenly Father gave us big brains instead. And that is why, despite them making me sick, I love rides.

Laugh to Keep From Crying

It's been another eventful week, but most of the things were things that we'll look back on in a year and laugh at. It all started Sunday when, after our peaceful family dinner, it started to rain. After a few hours, we found out that the basement window wells at my parents house had been filling with water at an alarming rate. The troops headed outside and started to bail the house out. I've never been so happy to be the one in charge of my crying baby! I tried to get some pictures, I honestly did, but dad's camera hates me. Anyways, dad, mom, and Darreck all jumped in the window wells and started tossing out buckets of water. When they came in, they were completely drenched! I had to fight so hard not to start laughing because you could just see in their faces that they were not having fun. Unfortunately for me, I couldn't even enjoy the work I had gotten out of. I felt to sad that it was raining so hard. I thought we left this all behind in Moscow- apparently not.

Monday went great until we had to install our wireless router for our Internet. Darreck and I started about seven and it took Darreck, my mom, my dad, me, and some random tech support guy until ten to actually get it working. There has got to be a joke in there somewhere- how many college educated adults does it take to install an "instant install" router? Luckily, it worked eventually and our week-long Internet dry spell has ended. Yeah!

Tonight I'm going to the fair to ride the rides with Kayla. I'm pretty much the only one who is willing, poor girl. That should give us some awkward pictures that I'll post later.

Happy 2nd Month Birthday

Yeah Max! Our little mad-man-Max turned two whole months old today, and he's getting SO big. That's not just a mom speaking either- he really is a big little boy. He had his two month checkup and shots (boo-hoo!) last week and he was, drum-roll please:

13.5 pounds (93rd percentile)

23 inches (65th percentile)

15 inch head circumference (18th percentile, poor little head)

The good news about all this is that, since his head is so tiny compared with the rest of him, he's doing a great job sitting up with help and holding his head up during tummy time. Other milestones: he's smiling in response to almost everything we do, he's started giggling, and he's making more pre-speech sounds ("cooing" to all those non-developmental psychology majors). Unfortunately, he also discovered the TV today when I left it on after his nap for background noise. As much as I tried to turn him away from it, he would search around until he could see it again. After telling my mom that there would have to be no more TV in our house, she told him he could come watch cartoons at her house. He LAUGHED like he understood, not even kidding. Ugh! I just feel relieved that he's getting in some happy awake time now. I'm starting to see the light at the end of the colic tunnel, and it feels amazing. It's so much fun watching his personality emerge little by little every day.

All-in-all he's a pretty amazing little person, and we're so incredibly lucky to have him as our son. Lots of Love Maximo, and HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!!

Great Things in Great Falls

Just to let everyone know, our move went great and we are settling in here in Montana. It seemed like it took us forever to get out of Moscow on Friday, but we eventually got on the road and had a more or less successful trip. Max wished we would have stopped and lived in Lincoln instead of driving one more hour to Great Falls, but we were mean parents and made him push on. We beat my parents to their house Friday night (they were just returning from their trip to Alaska) and stayed there that night. Bright and early Saturday, the industrious First Ward Elders' Quorum helped us move into our new place. Mom and Dad found us a nice apartment and we're starting to get more and more settled. There is still quite a bit to do before we're entirely unpacked, but it's going a lot faster than all the other moves we've made.

Darreck started work first thing Monday morning, and he's really enjoying getting to know his co-workers and clients. I think this job is going to be a good fit for his skills and interests. We're both just incredibly thankful for the opportunity. Many of the friends we graduated with are having a hard time finding work in this economy, and we feel fortunate to have found a job that Darreck is going to really enjoy. Yesterday he went to the Children's Museum and today they got to go swimming. What job could be better than that?

I'll keep everyone updated and put up more pictures of our new place soon. Until then, lots of love to everyone!

S'Wonderful, S'Wednesday

I love Wednesdays! It's my only day that I get the car and make Darreck ride his bike to work, so I make it my mission to make every second count. My normally routine is ward Mommy and Me in the morning and then New Mom Group at the hospital in the afternoon. Since it was our last Wednesday in Moscow, today was particularly important as I said goodbye to many of the friends that have been by my side as we've welcomed Max into our family.

At ward Mommy and Me, I was the ringleader today, and we all walked up to the park. It was quite the sight, our never-ending parade of strollers. We let the kids play, or in my case sleep, then headed back home for cupcakes. The weather today was perfect and I thoroughly enjoyed getting to talk with everyone one last time.

When I was first invited to Gritman's New Mom Group, I was reluctant, thinking it might be for the struggling new mommies, but I gave it a shot and ended up as a regular. All the women there provided such good advice, and their honesty about the realities of first time parenthood made me feel a little less crazy. It was also nice to make some friends and get the opinions of some women outside of church. Of all my weekly Moscow activities, this will be the one of the ones I miss the most. It was great to have a place to bring Max where no one cared how much he cried!

As we approach our last day here, reality sets in a little more each moment, all the things we'll be saying goodbye to. For just today, I'm letting myself dwell on that.

Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!!!!!!!!

A big thanks to our friend Bruce Hinchey for the wonderful family photos he took of us last night in the Arboretum. It was great to get some family pictures here in Moscow so we have something to look back on from our time here. It also helps that the Arboretum was our absolute favorite thing about Moscow. The pictures turned out great and I can't wait to share them with all of you!

In other news, we're gearing up for the big move this Friday! We're slowly starting to pack up the house, and it's a bittersweet process. The closer I get to leaving Moscow the more sad I get about leaving, but we're both really excited for the possibilities that are ahead back home. Darreck is super psyched to start his new job, and Max is super psyched about all the attention he's going to get from Grandma and Grandpa (at least he will be once he realizes the benefits). Anyways, I'm sure it's going to be an emotional week ahead.

Last but definitely not least, Max has been sleeping for 7 hour stretches recently, but last night he really slept through the entire night. He went to bed as usual at 10:00 and didn't wake up until 7:00. I'm not sure how we got such an AMAZING boy, but we sure do realize how lucky we are!

Watch out Elgin, here Max comes

This Saturday we had the chance to go to Elgin, Oregon one more time before we moved so Max could meet all of Darreck's family. We started out the day early after his five AM feeding and got to Elgin a little after 10:00- Max, going through a growth spurt, wanted to stop and eat every hour. After our customary walk to the river, Max got to meet both sets of Darreck's grandparents, Darreck's Aunt Karen and Uncle Joe, Darreck's Uncle Terry and Aunt Stephanie, and Darreck's Great Uncle Doug and Great Aunt Nanette. Eastern Oregon was beautiful, as usual, but it was a super hot and muggy day. However, we muddled through the weather and enjoyed an awesome family picnic- I don't care what the weather is like as long as I get to eat Granny's food. All in all a great day and a very successful trip. Hopefully we can continue to get up there frequently after we move. Darreck has such an amazing family! Max, Darreck, and Max's namesake- Grandpa Deloy Hale

Max, Granny, and his second cousin Joey- Terry and Stephanie's youngest

Max absolutely LOVED Grandpa Hale- then again, how could you not love him?

Max with Pennie and Bryan, looking cute and slightly goofy as usual

Our Grumpy Brussels Sprout

Okay, so to explain the title. We've decided that Max has two opposing sides- think Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. I've always called him Sweet Pea, but he's sometimes less than sweet which has earned him the auspicious moniker Grumpy Brussels Sprout. But, for once, this blog post is not about Max.

Actually, I'm writing today because we finally got a start date for Darreck's new job! Happy days have come at last! We got the choice of our start date and chose July 20th. That gives us a week and a half left in Moscow, and I'm already overwhelmed with the thought of having to pack, yet again. We've really got to stop moving. Anyways, we're super excited about this particular move, and hopefully it will stick.

We are so excited to be going home after three years in Moscow. My first stop will probably be Target, but I'm also looking forward to a Zandy's run. We will, however, be leaving behind some great people here in Moscow. I'm sure we'll miss our ward and all our friends we've made at work. I'll also miss the Arboretum, "our" nightly walk loop, and all of campus. Hopefully we'll get to take Max back here one day to visit the city he was born in. Until then, back to bigger and better things.

Life's a Walk in the Park

It could not possibly be nicer out right now. The sky is blue and it's a perfect 85 degrees with a slight breeze. So, we decided to go and hang out at East City Park after church. We took a short walk and then just lounged around on the grass for as long as Max would let us. I could spend everyday like this. Maybe someday I'll get the chance to- I have always imagined heaven as a perpetual perfect July day. To anyone who reads this today, get off the computer and get outside! That's where I'm going right after Max wakes up from his nap. It's way too nice of a day to waste indoors.

Happy 4th of July!

We have had a GREAT 4th of July! We woke up after a good night sleep- Max has been getting better about that- and immediately hit the ground running. We took a drive in the country to take some pictures of Moscow for Max. We want him to see where he came from, even if he doesn't get the chance to live here long. After the drive, we took a walk downtown and had some lunch at the Co-Op. However, the highlight of the day was the BBQ held at our old bishop's home. It was probably our last ward activity here in Moscow, and we had a great time!

Here's Max with the two other May babies from our ward- Beckham and Kyleena. While we were chilling with the babies, the older kids were living it up on the slip-and-slide.

The fireworks display was pretty pathetic, but it had to be baby and toddler approved. Darreck was disappointed that he didn't get his pyrotechnics fix for the year, but we've been trying to stick to a loose bedtime with Max. Maybe next year!

Hope everyone else enjoyed their holiday! All-in-all a great day for the Hales, now we're counting down the days until our next family three day weekend.

It's a hard life when you're six weeks old

We finally stalked our doctor enough to get into see her last night! Let me explain...

Our doctor is notoriously hard to get into, but she's totally worth it when you finally do get some face time. I was still very worried about all the stomach problems Max was having, but our doctor was booked, like, three weeks out. That's half his current life span! So, I figured out when she was taking her rotation at Quick Care and we smoked her out- so to speak. After an hour and a half in the waiting room we got Max into see her and she confirmed my suspicions that he has reflux. We got him a prescription for Zantac, and he already seems to be doing better! We also found out he has conjunctivitis- a really long word meaning goop in his eye- and he's also on topical antibiotics for that. The funniest part of the night was when he spit up all over the doctor, proving our story that he can spit up with the best of them and, therefore, has reflux.

We also learned from the doctor visit that Max is now 11 pounds 14 ounces! He's the size of a three month old, no joke. His new nickname is Baby Beluga.

In other news, Darreck got the job he applied for with the Center for Mental Health up in Great Falls! He has been assigned as a school counselor at Chief Jo Elementary, my old school. Mom and dad are helping us in the search for a place to live up there, which seemed to doom the last job. Hopefully looking for apartments really isn't cursed! Darreck really wants to do this job and it seems pretty set in stone, but I still can't get over my gun-shy mentality. He's also looking to start the counseling program through MSU-Northern this fall, but it's going to be tight getting in his application in time. If he can't start fall, he'll just wait until winter semester so no biggie. Either way, things are definitely looking up!