Happy Halloween from Green man, scary man, dinosaur and Amy Farrah Fowler and Sheldon

I couldn't get our act together this year and come up with a family themed costume.  I know how important this is to people, so I apologize.  The kids are getting older and want to do their own thing and frankly, I'm exhausted!  Getting our kids in costumes at ALL was a major accomplishment.  We ended up spending Halloween with our good friends in the neighborhood and had a BLAST.  Such a large, fun crew!  Maddie decided to be "green suit" person (I was baffled by this) and Jacob wanted to be something scary.  I picked up the dinosaur costume for Dex at JBF and Mark and I decided to go as Amy and Sheldon from Big Bang Theory.  Our costumes were SPOT ON.  Too bad none of our friends watch that show and none of them knew who the heck we were.  I dressed up as a nerd for nothing!  It was fun nonetheless and I just love our little village out here.  They are something special!

 Channeling Amy Farrah Fowler and Sheldon
 (see below for the real thing!)

Baby hair!

It still baffles most people that we have a son with curly red hair.  In truth, it baffles me on a daily basis.  I obsess over his hair.  When I'm getting ready in the morning, sometimes I'll comb it down wet and then lightly dry it with a hair dryer and he looks like a different kid!  But come noon time, his head is mess of red curls and really, I couldn't love it anymore.  His first haircut is going to destroy me.

I used to do little mini photo sessions in the backyard with Maddie and I'm ashamed to say that this is the first time I've done them with Dex.  But I do love these pictures, and they have inspired me to do this more often!

He is 7 1/2 months old in these pics.  Notice Max always wanting to be around the baby :) :)

Meet Max!

Ever since Christmas Eve of last year, we have been missing Wrigley terribly.  Due to his high level of anxiety, especially around children, and a couple of close calls when it came to biting, we decided to start looking for a new home for him last Fall.  On Christmas Eve, we got a call from a man that was looking for a playmate for his black lab, Sadie, and wanted to surprise his wife on Christmas.  It all happened so fast.  He came over with his dog and Wrigley and Sadie romped around in the backyard for a while.  We all hit it off and he decided to do a 2 week trial with Wrigley at his house to see how he would fit in.  When he drove away with our dog, I had never felt such anguish.  I was heart broken.  So were the kids, especially since we had not prepared them for it (bad parents!)  He called me 2 weeks later and said Wrigley was a great fit for their family and they were excited to give him a loving home.

Ever since that day, we have been looking for the "perfect" dog.  That has included 2 fruitless trips to Houston and back to look at specific dogs, a 2 week trial with a little holy terror beagle we named Curry (which we promptly gave back after she chewed, peed and pooped on everything even though she was supposed to be house trained!) and countless hours at night scouring the internet for the right one. 

Then came Max.  He's a lab mix and is 15 months old.  While no dog is perfect, he's pretty darn near close.  His biggest fault?  Peeing when you come home because he is so darn excited to see you.  He can't be close enough to you or give enough kisses and he has the perfect amount of energy.  Jacob and Maddie love him to pieces and even though I still miss Wrigley a LOT, this dog is growing on me too. 

Meet Max (or as we affectionately like to call him Wrigley 2.0 because he looks a LOT like Wrigley!)