Keeping Up With the Joneses

I've noticed that a lot of my posts lately are about Mason or Max, but have I mentioned how much I love this Myles kid? He says the cutest things, can quote every word of his favorite movies (Toy Story 2, Jungle Book, and Thomas and The Magic Railroad), loves/hates the villians of each plus the Big Bad Wolf, loves wrestling with Mason, kissing Max, and holding hands with his mommy. He likes to sneak into mommy's side of bed and when she kicks him out, sneaks back into daddy's side. He loves fruit snacks, yogurt, and bananas, and cereal. He couldn't possibly eat a graham cracker without dipping it in milk (if they don't have milk in nursery he saves his cracker until he gets home). I absolutely adore this boy!

We've had a busy few weeks with ups and downs, but mostly ups :) In addition to having grandpa Goates come visit and go to the zoo with us, we've been doing lots of other fun stuff. Max is continuing to grow up and add so much love to our family. He and Mason have a special bond and for about a week or so, Max would only smile when Mason talked to him. Eventually he started smiling for the rest of us, but I'm pretty sure Mason is his favorite. We joke that he smiles when Mason approaches and whimpers when Myles gets near (we're still teaching Myles to be gentle with the baby). A cute story--yesterday I left Max asleep downstairs while I got dressed upstairs. A few minutes later Mason came up and said "Mommy? Max was crying so I fed him a bottle and tried to burp him but I couldn't get him to burp, so I think he has a tummy-ache. Will you help me?" We spent some time with cousin William this week and these silly hats that Grandma brought them. Mason and My...

We do. And so did the neurologist today who thoroughly examined Mason and was amazed that everything checked out just fine. She sees no need for more assessments with an occupational therapist, neuropsychologist , physical therapist, etc. unless we see problems in the future which is pretty unlikely. I wish I could see the look on the faces of all the medical professionals who attended to Mason after the accident if they heard he is just fine neurologically and there is almost nothing to worry about. I feel like this puts a very welcome end to doctor's visits, worrying about if he is "normal", and walking on egg shells with him. We are so grateful. I also have felt as I've reflected upon the accident today that the real miracle in all of this is that we are going to be "together forever". It is hard to put into words, but today that feels very miraculous.

think of how much fun we would have! This weekend we: Kept working on canning/preserving all of the fruit we were surprised to find grew in our yard. Pears, grapes, nectarines, plum, and apples. More than we ever imagined. . . so with the guidance of the internet, my mother-in-law, and a few friends I've made jam, canned pears, raisins, and fruit leather. Next year maybe I'll tackle grape juice and applesauce. Even after giving away more than half of the fruit I had my hands full! Went to the grand opening of a new theme restaurant in Orem called Pirate Island . It was a great experience for the kids and surprisingly inexpensive (expecially if your kids aren't into the arcade yet). Had a BBQ and marshmallow roast at Aunt Jessica's. Jessica and Daniel were kind enough to babysit all three kids while we went on a date and then had us over the next day for dinner! Went to Payson's Onion Days and had a blast. Again, Mason loved the rides and Myles loved the snowcones...

A week after Max was born we got family and individual pictures taken (as my mom pointed out, one week post-partum is probably not the ideal time to document my appearance in a family photograph but whatever). Our wonderful former neighbor Michele Reyes did a great time as always.

I had a hard time deciding which birth announcement to send out. This is my alternate (and my favorite) but I'll be sending out a different one in which the picture is bigger.

This morning we took the kids to the dentist. It was Myles first time and he was so excited. . .until they started working on him. The day before we practiced sitting in the chair, opening his mouth, etc., but when they started doing his x-rays he freaked out and it took 3 of us to hold him down (I took the picture before he freaked out). After that he wouldn't sit in the chair or open for the dentist so Marshall had to hold him on his lap and they had to pry his mouth open. Anyway, the reason we took him was because one of his baby teeth has just never come in. The x-rays weren't good enough to tell for sure but it looks like there is just no baby tooth there (he says it is genetic--any family members have this problem?) and so we just have to follow-up again in 6 months to make sure there is a permanent tooth coming in. The reason we took Mason was because in April when he went to a different dentist they found 2 caveties that he said needed to be filled "right away...