Tuesday, December 17, 2013

An ordinary night

Sometimes it's the simple things like pizza and ice cream for dinner that make your toddler behave. Easiest night in a long time. Dinner, bath, and bed went smooth. 

Here is Max showing off his ice cream to me. It's the same mug (got to love that 80s yellow) that I ate ice cream in as a child. 


Wednesday, December 11, 2013

Oh, Christmas Tree

We decided to ditch our artificial tree this year and get a real tree because it seemed like a lot more fun. Well, we were half right...

Sunday, December 8, 2013

Trip to the Farm in upstate New York

We made a trip to New York in early November to visit my family.  Max enjoyed the farm and it was a great opportunity for us to get exposure to the cold before the Dallas winter arrived in early December.  We were prepared (clothes-wise) for this ice storm that hit the metroplex and Max got a chance to use his mittens and boots once again.  Here is a slideshow of some of the photos that we captured on our trip.

Wednesday, November 20, 2013

It's A Baby...

Camille Daphne Faison
So...IT'S A GIRL! Once again, we both had a gender preference and we both wanted a girl this time. We found out last Monday that it will indeed be a girl. However, the doctor that told us also disclaimed that he has gotten it wrong 6 times in his 28 year career. I think those are pretty good odds. We are extremely excited for the Spring to arrive, but we can't get past this Christmas without acknowledging her presence. We've come a long way from this time last year and are feeling great about what the future has in store for us. All 5 of us.

Saturday, October 5, 2013

The Faison's Presents...


WYLIE, TX – Max Faison (as himself) and Lucy (as herself) find themselves in unfamiliar territory as the new kid on the block enters their lives. Just when they thought they were set in their ways, Max gets evicted from the crib while Lucy comes to the realization that even more food will find its way onto her floor.  Follow these two on their wild escapades as Max, for the first time in his life, becomes the Big Brother.

What we're trying to say is...WE'RE PREGNANT!

Sunday, September 29, 2013

Maximus and Mommy

I cherish my one-on-one time with my little man. We have a good time running errands and making fun stops along the way. 



Thursday, September 5, 2013

Daddy and Maximus

We had a fun filled Labor Day weekend. We started the holiday off right by eating a chocolate chip cookie in the car. Max spotted it and I didn't fight him for once.  He was so darn happy and cute eating it that the mess was worth it. 

On Sunday, Max and Daddy enjoyed a morning shower together which later resulted in my little baby looking like a boy. Max kept showing me that he looked like Daddy or maybe he was just trying to point out that Dad put his towel on wrong. Either way, they look pretty darn cute ...

I swear I was around this weekend but was never captured on camera. But sometimes a mom just needs to get pictures of her boy learning to be a man from the best man I know. Here they are distracted at our lunch spot. What is it with boys and video games?!


We closed our Labor Day with a great meal on the water of Lake Lavon in Wylie.  Max was trying to feed the fishes all of our dinner so Tyler was trying to be the distractor. He did a good job of it. 



Thursday, August 22, 2013

Daddy's home

Tyler is home which means LOTS of quality family time. Last night our neighbors invited us out to dinner at Mr. Wok where they had preordered the Peking Duck. Since we had it in Beijing last fall, I had pretty low expectations but this tiny family restaurant in Plano proved me wrong. We met the owner/chef who carved our duck table side and then took the bones to do a stirfry. It was delicious and a place I know I will be returning to again very soon. 


Friday, August 16, 2013

Colors

Max has always loved art from the day that Ms. Nicole painted his little hands and feet when he was an infant.  Max was sent home from school on Wednesday due to tummy troubles which left him home with Mommy on Thursday as well.  Aside from the bad horrific diaper duty, we had fun together doing puzzles, playing on the iPad, watching Curious George snuggled up in Mommy & Daddy's bed, and painting. 

Saturday, August 10, 2013

Trip back to the motherland (Alabama)

I know this post is coming almost a month late but here are a few photos from our trip back to Alabama. It was a full 5 days of family, family, and more family.

We started our trip off right by going to our favorite breakfast spot in Dallas on our way to the airport. Max was happy to have Daddy joining us because the last few times to Benedict's it has been just been mommy.

Then we got on a plane and made a scene when we efficiently got Max from point A to point B. A stewardess even took his picture saying it was a first. 

We went swimming ...

And hung out with cousins ...

Showed off our love of bowling (especially the hand dryer). 

Went to the pier and got up close and personally with some fish. 

The trip was jam packed and there are so many videos that these photos just don't do it justice. 

Friday, August 2, 2013

Potty Doodle all Day

Yesterday, I had big news awaiting me at daycare ... Max went to the potty. 

Both teachers said to put him on the potty if he was dry every 2 hours like they will at school. So this morning, even though he had a wet diaper, I put him in the potty and it happened fast and naturally ... He went to the potty again! So fast that when he pointed to the toilet paper I made a quick remark "that we have to potty first" and then realized he had in fact. He and I were very proud. 

Saturday, July 6, 2013

July 4th

July 4th was a day of firsts.  I'm not going to lie ... I got teary-eyed at every event.  I'm just one proud momma and feel that we are in the beginning stages of just more awesome stuff to come.

On July 4th, I made a promise to Max to not run any errands on our holiday.  We started the morning off going to Max's first parade.
In the shade waiting for the parade
He was so excited the day just couldn't be any more perfect.  We sat under the tree lined streets in the shade surrounded by families.  Max did what he does best, people watch.  Since this parade was in the wealthiest parts of Dallas, the people watching wasn't too entertaining (at least to me).
There was even a petting zoo.  Max loved the bunnies.
Max took a nap on the way home and I made lunch.  When he woke up we got dressed and went to the pool.  Last week, Max showed signs of wanting to swim versus being just held in the pool so I purchased him some floaties at Target.  It was the perfect day to try the floaties out in case I needed to buy something different before our trip to Alabama soon.  As you can see in the video below, Max took to the water with a new found freedom.  No more baby stuff (i.e. mom holding him on her hip) for our kid.  Max swimming ... first #2

Tuesday, June 25, 2013

Gifts and a little more

Our house has been a little chaotic recently. Tyler came home a couple weeks ago unexpectedly which was a nice surprise especially since he was home for Father's Day. And when Daddy comes home it is all play. Our daily rhythm / schedule was thrown out the window. Max and I are still trying to adjust. It's also hard to have him here for more than just a weekend and then have him leave. Still not used to it. 

Since I've failed to post any pics or stories recently, I thought it was finally time to blog. For Mother's Day I received a one of a kind masterpiece, a necklace of my favorite Max artwork. It still makes me smile every time I see it. So glad I have the necklace which might outlive the cheap construction paper the real chicken is on. 

For Father's Day I had been a little sneaky. Tyler had dropped off his bike to get repaired and I went to pick it up for him (without him knowing) and purchased a cart for Max. Our neighborhood pool and playgrounds are a short 1/3 mile however Tyler said the trek is just too far for walking. ;) So I fixed it.
 
Max has been kicking up his vocabulary skills a notch and everyday there are multiple new words. It's about time! The kid still won't speak in front of strangers but Mr.Chatty can't hold it back when riding in the car with just mommy. I treasure those moments and wish I could bottle up his voice forever. There is something about his voice that warms my heart. I can't get videos of Max talking because he puts up the wall. I've got to have Tyler rig up the car with mics so we can capture it. You would hear "looook" which is super drawn out and makes me smile every time I hear his twang. I ask him questions about his day where he proceeds to say "yeah" and "NO". For how long he draws out "look" you would be shocked how quick he can yell out "no". He has his "I did it" and "all done" mastered. We have been working on our manners where Max says "peas" (in place of please).  Thank you is still foreign. But one day he will do it just like this morning where I set him down from his changing table and ran off screaming "school!" That was our new word of the day. Can't wait to see what he says tomorrow ...

Tuesday, June 4, 2013

He is still my baby

There are times when my little man still reminds me that he is my baby and not fully a toddler. During mom's run this week, we made a pit stop at the playground. He is in a phase that he carries around a stuffed animal but luckily not any particular one. So we took lamby on our jog. 



Wednesday, May 29, 2013

Everyday Should Be Zooday!

I was able to have a couple days off in Dallas over the Memorial Day weekend, so we decided that It would be a great time to take Max to the zoo. He has been extra interested in animals recently because of several books he "reads" every night, as well as many of his toys. He mostly loves dogs and trucks/tractors, but in his eyes every creature that isn't a human is a dog...and sometimes a "Looshee," as he calls his big sister. He was extremely excited from the moment we passed the entrance with the life-sized giraffe statue. As we walked from our car to the entrance, he pointed out one "dog" in the form of a pigeon and another in the form of a squirrel.

Things heated up when we actually made it inside the zoo, only to find a giant picture of a wild beast in an advertisement poster. That's how we knew we made the right decision. There were a lot of ups and downs throughout the day. He would get pretty excited and overjoyed at statues and pictures and a little cautious with the real deal. I think his favorite part was the tunnel that led to the "Giants of the Safari" where there was music and lots and lots of pictures of animals. However, the highlight for all of us has to be Max actually feeding the [real] giraffe. Check out some pictures below. 

He went straight for a "Looshee"

On the prowl for some big game!

This giraffe ate right from our hands. Max was AWESOME!

Future Emperor

Watching Mr. Lion take a nap up close

Roll Tide!






Tuesday, May 21, 2013

Silly Bath Hour

My iPad survived its little spill into the water so I had to share the last few photos it took because these photos were the ones captured that I would miss the most. Note I will be backing up my iPad very shortly and more often!

Welcome to silly bath hour ...
















Saturday, May 18, 2013

Indoor playtime

I've been wanting to enroll Max into Gymboree for a long time and today I finally made the commitment when he was running through our house screaming. I called Tyler telling him that I was already exhausted at 8:30. He then reminded me about Gymboree.

Don't you love when kids get into a play area that you paid for only to get them to do this ...

He started off shy
I finally got him out of the corner and the playtime ensued. I'm pretty sure I had just as much fun as he did. Max didn't let me down with his dancing skills when the music was turned up. But he wasn't thrilled about the color parachute and stayed by my side. In due time, I suppose.

Can't wait to go back again next week. I think it will be a perfect place to burn energy on those hot Texas summer days!



Aside from the balls, the tunnels and tubes were his favorite.




Today's lesson ... hard and soft

Friday, April 26, 2013

Love of water

Maximus has always enjoyed playing in water. We have never struggled getting him into the bath as evidenced by these photos.

Tyler and I will be visiting fountains and slip & slides this summer for sure.





Thursday, April 4, 2013

Straight Chillin'

Max has a certain air of coolness around him these days which he doesn't get from me. As always, he just sits back and enjoys his surroundings.

Tuesday, March 19, 2013

Spring Time

One of these chickens is not like the rest ... And it would be Max's chicken.