Moment with Daddio!

 Spending time with Max is a joy.  Lately, we have been working on being consistent with him when he, on purpose, does something wrong.  We know he is only 2 1/2 and need to be patient, but there are certain things he does that he knows he should not do.  There are the days when I feel like we're progressing, and then the next day, we'll be back to square one.  It seems like whatever Tim or I say to him goes through one ear, and out the other.  Until one day...

There is nothing I love more than Tim and Max spending some quality time together.  Well, I love to be there too, but it is sweet to have my boys grow closer one-on-one. I came home from running an errand one afternoon (by myself, hardly ever happens...thanks Tim!) to Tim and Max playing hard.  While I was gone, Tim had been trying to put one of Max's trains away, but it somehow slipped from his hands, and ended up being thrown across the room.  Max immediately said, "Daddio, time out!"  (In Max's sweet little head, Daddy had just thrown the train across the room, which is a big no-no...)  Tim, trying hard to look somber, went to time out.  After a while, Max told him to go and show him what the 'no-no' was.  Then in a demanding voice Max said, "Daddio (that is what Max calls Tim these days), pick up the train!"

Tim did as he was told.  After that, Max said, " Daddio, say you're sorry." Again, Tim did as he was told.  Max then came up to Tim with a big grin on his face and proudly said, "Thanks for minding!!"  

I'm sure that same night Max threw his fair share of trains across our house, but at least our trying to be consistent stuck with him enough for him to discipline his Daddy.  Gotta love it!  Max is such a sweetheart :).  

Blessings

I have so much to grateful for right now!  This past week I have reflected over a lot and can't believe how blessed I have been in my life.  Yes, it is not near perfect, but it's not supposed to be.  Here are some of my thoughts I've had this week:
1.  First, today is 50 degrees and GORGEOUS!  I have been praying for good spring weather for a while, and this weekend has been fabulous.  We have been outside pretty much all day yesterday, today, and will be tomorrow.  Our neighborhood is perfect for walks/runs/bike rides...all of which we have done this weekend :).  I am so blessed to live in such a safe pocket.  If you drive 5-10 minutes from our house Cleveland starts to look not so pretty.  Thanks to my sister Elise for directing us to the best location we could have asked for!
2. I have an amazing husband.  He takes the Step One exam this coming Wednesday and has worked his medical-school-rear-end off!  It will be the biggest test of his life. Tim is so self motivated and hard working.  All week he has been up at 5 or 6 and studies till 6 or dinner.  I know he'll knock this test out of the water!! Even though this week has been crucial for his test, he still made time for me, Max, and his church responsibilities. What a guy, eh?!?! You totally have this Tim!!
3. There is this 2 1/2 year old booger that I get to hang out with everyday who makes me laugh, cry, lose sleep, jump, so frustrated sometimes, read stories, play hide and seek, color, dance, sing songs, have nervous break downs when he runs into the street, play soccer, make cookie dough, snuggle up nice and warm, pop popcorn, and most of all the happiest mom on earth. These past couple of weeks, I have heard of a couple of tragic stories where families have lost their toddlers or babies due to sickness or unknown causes.  I am so so thankful for our healthy and crazy Max.  I have kind of been sentimental this week and find myself just crying tears of joy for what a blessing he is to me and Tim.  I love him so much!
4. Another huge blessing is that the sweet little bean growing in me is healthy and strong as well.  We found out that last week that Max is going to have a little BROTHER!  I am so excited, I can hardly stand it!  Yes, someday a girl would be nice, but I can't wait to have another buddy for our family.  Our ultra-sound was a success, and things looked great with the babe.  I am 20 weeks today and feel great!  Now Tim and I need to agree on a name, not one of our strongest suits.
5.  We get to go and see our wonderful families in about 2 months, and I can't wait!  I am so blessed to have them in our lives and that they actually want us to come home.  We are counting down the days!!  I might have told Max a little too soon about the airplane ride and fun things we're going to do.  It is all he talks about...!  My dear dear friend Michelle is going to get married to her high-school sweetheart and we will be able to go while out West!  I'm so happy for them and can't wait to be there on her special day.  Tim will have no homework or school obligations while we're visiting, so it will be a true vacation for all of us!
6. Lastly, I am so blessed to have a loving Savior who lived, died, and was resurrected for all of us  Teaching Max about the true meaning of Easter this week has been a sweet experience.  "Jesus went night night 3 days and then woke up! An Angel moved a big rock and He came out of a cave..."  Max didn't quite get the tomb idea, so Tim adapted to calling it a cave.  Max will come up to me at random moments and say, "Mama, what happened to Jesus?"  He is a sponge when it comes to teaching him new information.  I love teaching him the stories in the scriptures and gospel principals.  What a blessing the gospel is for our family!

Enjoying our St. Patrick's Day breakfast.  Given that green is both me and Tim's favorite color, we do not take this holiday lightly.  Max was in heaven to see that
the leprechaun put marshmallows on his green pancakes...they were the first things to
go off his plate, imagine that?!?!

Silly boys before our green dinner!

Happy Easter everyone!  Max and I made this very professional bunny rabbit
mask. My lack of artistic ability is pretty sad, Max is starting to draw better than me.
Oh well, I knew the day would come...!

Brrrrrr....

We are cold.  Freezing in fact.  I am most certainty thankful for all four seasons, but there comes a point when winter gets a little old.  Every day I faithfully look at the weather forecast hoping for a 40 degree day here or there, but with little success.  So despite the great weather, I have tried to fill our days with distraction.  Even though we're lacking in the vitamin D department we have much to be thankful for and we can still be happy, right?!?!  Max sure makes us forget the gloom outside and has us laughing right and left.  He is so sweet and is such a bright spot in our lives right now.
A whoot whoot for my hubby real quick: Tim finished his last "school class" of med school today. Crazy. We find out later today what his rotation (working in hospitals and clinics) schedule will be like for all of year 3, so we are pretty anxious!  He has some tests in a couple of weeks that completely wrap up year 2 of med school, and then he'll take a solid month to finish studying for the BIGGEST test of his life. He takes it at the beginning of April.  It is called Step One and will determine a lot of our future.  If he does really well on it, he will be a competitive applicant for Orthopedic Surgery when we apply at the beginning of year 4.  Orthopedics is one of the most competitive fields out there, so it is crucial he do well on this test.  Tim has been studying for this Step One test for over a year.  He does anywhere from 150-200 + flashcards DAILY going through all of the material he will be tested on.  Not to mention the 1 hour segmented tests he takes several times a week with test material on them. I'm sure he will rock the test, he deserves it!
Sometimes I sit watching him go through the flashcard after flashcard quietly mumbling to himself as he says the answer and want to throw up.  He works so so so hard and is so motivated, it really does make me sick... no not really!  I am so proud of him and am so blessed to have such a diligent student as my husband and as Max's Daddy.  Way to go very soon to be Dr. Ashworth!!
Here is some of Max and the happy spot he is to us:

Big Boy Bed!!!  

On our way to Kalahari, an indoor water park resort about an hour away from our house.  Some of
our friends found a really good deal on groupon and we stayed for two days and one night and
had a blast!  We will have to make this an annual tradition while living in the Cleve!

Making a Play-dough snowman with Daddy.  I got home from somewhere to find
that Tim had done a photo shoot of him and the killer snowman (the odd looking colorful figure to Max's right).  It is moments like that,
that make life really, really good :).

Max's "fake" smile he does more often that not for pictures now...lovely.  

Valentine's Party!  So I mentioned being sick of the cold weather...well, I decided
to organize a V-day Party with our friends to brighten things up a bit and we had a blast!  It was kind
of crazy and included A LOT (Max probably had
one pound ...) of frosting inhaled by toddlers, but so so worth it!

More of the V-day Party.  Since our house is about as big as a doll house, I opted
to do it at our local Institute Building.  That carpet was covered in frosting after, but we
got rid of our evidence pretty good!

It is crazy to think that I could be the mother of doctors.  I have no doubt that this 2-year
old right here will follow right after his daddy.  Max is SO into doctor everything right now.
Here he is checking Tim with Tim's stethoscope.  So cute!


Here are some videos of Max and his adventures :)  Life is really good now and we are so blessed,
I hate to be a pessimist about the weather.  I will not be sad when we can start
playing outside though!!

There is Sunshine in my Soul Today!

So Today, Max and I went to Costco.  We hadn't been in a couple of months, so we basically bought the whole store.  The line took forever, and I was anxious to leave since we had somewhere to be at noon, and it was 11:30am.  To make maters worse, I realized I forgot something and had to leave my place in line and run to the very back of the store to grab it.  (It may or may not have been a Rotisserie Chicken...I know, not necessary, but...well, it was necessary.)  After going through the line again and checking out, Max and I booked it in the parking lot with my HUGE cart full of everything.  While we were running like lunatics, something in the bottom attachment of my cart started to fall without me knowing, and a man loading grocery carts stopped me to let me before I ran over it.  He then said, "Ma'am, let me help you load these groceries into your car and you worry about your baby.  Free of charge!"  I just looked at him in awe and said, "Okay!"
He then proceeded to break out into song at the top of his lungs and load my groceries into the back of my car.  I was so grateful for him, he not only saved me time, but made my day!  After I had buckled Max into his seat and turned my car on to heat us up, I thanked him.  Then in his booming singing voice he sang to me, "Not a problem, have a WONDERFUL day!"
Here is this man who loads and unloads grocery carts at Costco for a living and was happier than I had been all week.  What an eye opener this was to me about being happy and optimistic no matter what your circumstance.  Life is better that way.  Thank you Costco Man for your wonderful example and selfless service!

Failed to mention...

...I failed to mention in my last post how we wished that the other Holt women were with us in Ohio during Annie's visit!  It would have made it pure bliss!  I am so lucky to have such amazing ladies in my life :)

December!

Happy 2013 everyone!!  Excited and a little nervous for the new year, but mostly excited :)  We had so much fun in December.  It was my first Christmas away from family.  Truthfully, I was dreading it for months.  I am surprised and very pleased to say that it turned out to be wonderful.  Stress free, travel free, and lots of times with my boys, friends, and ward members.  A huge bonus was that my little sister Annie came for 10 days right after Christmas, so that helped curb the homesickness a ton!!  Tim had 2 weeks off of school.  Of course if it were me, I would tuck my school books into a far corner and dust them off after the break.  Tim had a different idea and still worked hard.  He played hard too, so that's good. Good thing he is the one in medical school and not me, eh?!?!  Max was brainwashed by me the Christmas season and loves everything from baby Jesus to singing "We wissshhh U a Missmis Missmiss... and a pappy oooohh yar..." Here are some pics from our fun times!!

Seeing Santa Claus at our ward party!  I guess compared to last year,
no emotion is better than too much, right?

Last years picture with Santa Claus!

Making Christmas sugar cookies with our friends Beau and Mallory...very interesting...but fun!

The first pee on the potty!  Unfortunately, he is still very much in diapers. 

You have to start somewhere though!  

We went to an awesome "12 Days of Christmas" life-size board

game that is right by Kirtland. Max was a little too young to play,

but he loved all of the Christmas Trees, music, and hot chocolate :)

Went to see the AMAZING nativity exhibit at the Kirtland visitor center.  It was so neat :)
Our ward hosted the night we went and it was complete with Luke 2, Mr. Kruger's Christmas,
singing Christmas Hymns, and cookies.  Classic.

Our humble Christmas decor :)  Next year our tree will have a skirt!

More of the decorations.  I attempted to make one stocking and ruined it.  Thanks
to my extremely talented Mom, the other two were made and the one I attempted was fixed.
Thanks Mom!!!

Watching Charlie Brown's Christmas (thank you Grandma Ashworth!) complete with Tim's to-die-for  (literally) homemade popcorn :)
These two boys are addicted!

Merry Christmas!!!!!

Tim and Max playing in the single digit snow storm.  I'm so glad Tim likes to go out and
freeze his buns off, because I sure don't.  Max is lucky to have such a good Daddy :)

 Some Christmas loot complete with fireman boots, football sweater  (both
purchased at an AWESOME consignment sale in Kirtland), and fruit snacks. He's a
happy boy!   

Annie came!!  That girl completes me, I tell you what.  We are so much alike,
it might be a little unhealthy.  We partied it up with good food, shopping/lunch (thanks to Tim's babysitting
services), psych, chick-flicks, games galore, and  a lot of laughing.  Max adores Annie, and she is so sweet to him.
She put up with our weird ways and was such a treat to have!  I cried the whole way home after
dropping her off at the airport.  Max is still wondering why she isn't here, but is starting to
accept it because she is back at school with Cosmo.  We love you Annie!!!
We went to Kirtland and had a tour in the freezing cold :)   

After a night out on the town!

I scream, you scream, we all scream for ICE CREAM!  Grim was a champ to sit in the back
with piece-of-work-2-year-old and an ice cream cone :)

"Boo boo on eye...hit head chair!"  There is beauty all around, when there's love at home...
I promise this is our motto, despite what you all may be thinking... 

Snow-ba-bear.  Max's right hand man.  Let's hope he lasts this next year...

Merry Christmas!!!

It has been a fabulous year! We have been in Cleveland for 1 1/2 years now and have loved our experience so far. 

Max has gone from walking, to running, to jumping.  He loves wearing his fireman hat, running around our house ("ready set go"), reading stories, being a strong football player, skyping with both sets of "bamas' and bampas', and going on walks outside.  He is such a fireball, and we love him!!

Tim has stayed busy with med school, Board studying (which he will take April 2013), being a great Daddy/Husband, and dislocating his shoulder (no more basketball for this guy...)!

Canda spends her days baking/cooking, chasing after Max, running, storytime, and enjoying every moment with Max and Tim.  We are so blessed and so thankful for this season to celebrate our Savior, Jesus Christ!  Have a very Merry Christmas and a wonderful new year!!!