Welcome to cold and flu season in the Hale household! I got it first and now Darreck and Max are starting to suffer. Bad timing, as usual considering we just moved, yet again, but let me back up first.
My first symphony concert was last Saturday, and it went spectacularly well. Well, at least I played well. It was an interesting concert with a guest violinist who played Wieniawski. The fun part was we got to play a symphony by one of my favs, Shostakovich, and, even though the counting was mind-boggling, it went pretty well. We also did a Smetana piece. He's a lesser known composer who I discovered in college and absolutely love. How could I not? He's a Slav nationalist composer, but enough shop talk.
This week opened with our big move to another apartment in the same complex, one that isn't in the basement. Actually, this one is on the third floor and has tall ceilings and a decent view. However, it is on the third floor, and we do have a piano. It's a miracle Darreck is still talking to me. Now I get to start decorating! I'm redoing the living room and getting everything from Real Deals. If you live in Great Falls and haven't been, you've got to go! If you live in Moscow, there's one in Spokane. I'll post some pics as we buy stuff. In the meantime, I'll be settling into our fifth, yes fifth, apartment of the last three years. I never learn.
I would love to say that this month has been extraordinarily good, but it hasn't. However, Halloween was a very calm and relaxing way to end what turned out to be a tense month. We had our traditional waffle dinner and took Max trick-or-treating to a whole three houses. The best part was just getting to chill out with my family and enjoy Max's first ever Halloween in a very low-key way. It's amazing how I've begun measuring time in Max's firsts. Up next will be Max's first Christmas (Thanksgiving only half-counts as a holiday). I think I'll spend my time looking forward to Christmas rather than looking too hard at the past few months. Gotta keep moving on. I know that there is a reason why we are where we are and doing the things we're doing, even if that reason is elusive as of yet. Heavenly Father has a plan much better than anything I could come up with. Just have to wait and watch it unfold.
For mom's birthday, we got to go to On the Border, a really good new Mexican place and then walk around some stores. However, as usual, the best part of the night was just getting to spend some time with the family. We've been so blessed to move back and get to spend so much time with my family. They are such amazing examples to Darreck and me, and we couldn't ask for better grandparents for Max. We got mom New Moon, the second book in the Twilight series, for her birthday. As much as we both hate to admit it, we've both fallen in love with this uber-hyped up series. Actually, mom got quite a few books for her birthday, most of them, however, were not sappy teen romances. I am so lucky that both my parents instilled a love of good books in me. I just hope that mom enjoyed her day as much as the rest of us did! 
As for Max, he is getting big so quickly. I know it's cliched, but I really can't believe time has gone so quickly. It seems like just yesterday that we brought him home. His favorite activity is still eating, and we've yet to find a food he doesn't like. He's also liking his new-found ability to scoot around, but he still stubbornly refuses to roll over. Every time we help him flip he gives us this look that says, "what's the deal? Leave me alone!". I think it's pretty safe to say that he'll be skipping the rolling phase and going straight on to crawling. He can already pull his knees under him, so it's just a matter of time. Despite what everyone seems to be warning me about, I'm actually looking forward to when he gets mobile so that we can do more together. Motherhood wouldn't be fun if it wasn't a challenge. Actually, the biggest development with Max is that, day by day, he is getting to be less challenging, and that has been a long time coming. All the sleepless nights and colic crying for hours on end seem a little hazy to me now. It's like coming out of the fog and into the light. Everyday he smiles and laughs a little bit more and cries a little bit less. I finally feel like he's responding to us positively, and the feeling is addicting.
In other weekend news, my parents were gracious enough to take me on the annual Parade of Homes, and I was in seventh heaven. I'm not sure what my obsession with houses is all about, but there is nothing I like more than looking at open houses and studying floor plans. Probably why I worked for a realty company for almost two years.
With Max, we took him off his medicine for reflux, despite the doctor scoffing at our suggestion that it may be the cause of his problems, and life has been much better the past few days. He's sleeping much better and his stomach seems to be improving, also. I think he's finally happy because we're introducing more foods to him. From day one, Max's favorite activity has been eating. Squash and bananas are the favorites of the week. I've been going on baby food making marathons, and I'm really having a ton of fun doing it. Now, if I could just work up the motivation to cook for the big people in the house, we would really be doing well.