Birthday party!!

In early December, we attended the 3 rd birthday party of my Goddaughter Hannah. The kids had a great time. My great friend, Hannah's mommy, made sure the day was one to remember. She made homemade gingerbread houses for the kids to decorate. Sonja was so happy about being able to decorate her own house. For months, everytime the Betty Crocker commercial for the cake decorating set came on she would say "Mommy!! Maybe Santa bring me that for Christmas!" Anyway... with Lizzy's help they made a great gingerbread house complete with candy cane arches at the front doors, M&M chimney with a Teddy Graham Santa, mint chcolate chip roof and Cherry frosting snowbanks...yummy. All of the kids were given goody bags with lots of fun stuff.
Here are some pics.

Max getting ready for some serious gingerbread decorating!

The two cuties Gracie and Hannah decorating their gingerbread house. Don't they look like little angels??

Sonja with her goody bag and Tinkerbell head piece.

Max looking at the goodies in his goody bag. The gingerbread house Sonja and Lizzy made is to Max's left.

In case you're wondering, the headgear max is wearing is the latest in Shrek wear!

The wide smile I fell in love with will stay... Well at least for a little while longer!!

Max was scheduled for his lip repair, PE tubes, palate revision and some nasal work for December 4th. We were going to go to Syracuse on the 3rd to stay over night and be easier for the day of surgery. Our arrival time at the hospital was to be 6:30am.
On the 3rd, we received a call from the Dr's office that the surgery was canceled as the Dr's father was critically ill and he was flying to see him. Later in the day, the hospital called to review the surgical orders with us. I told them we were called and the Dr canceled the surgery. She said moments later that she was just informed of the Dr's cancelation.
On the 7th, I was called by the Dr's office, as they had to reshedule what was supposed to be Max's post op appointment. I'm sad to say the Dr's father passed. On Monday I will find out when Max's surgery will take place.

As far as his sugery being cancelled, I'm not at all sad. As a matter of fact I'm glad!!! I was sad though thinking about Max having the surgery and having the face I fell in love with be forever changed, never to be seen again, not to mention the pain he will have following surgery. You might think I'm crazy but for those of you that have a child born with a cleft, you know exactly what I mean! I know... I know.... It's best that he has the surgery and I know that he couldn't live as full and happy of life if he was never to have it..... BUT... I cry when I think of not ever seeing his sweet little wide smile again! That is a part of Max and a part of him that I fell in love with!
I also feel sad because Max will know what is going on, more so than he did with his first procedure. I think he will make a big stink when they take him to surgery. If he does, I'm going to see if I can take him down to the surgical suite in hopes that it won't be as traumatic for him....we'll see. So.. for now... I get to engrain Max's face into my memory a little while longer, taking in his little expressions and facial movements that soon I will never see again.... forever changed.....
Here are a few pictures of the two peanutheads and the faces I fell in love with!!

The peanutheads! Max's shirt says "Always happy" and he in fact usually is a happy little guy. Sonja loves Max and is more tolerant of him than before. She's growing up so fast... too fast!

I love this one of Max with his cute little crinkled up nose and sweet crooked smile and Sonja tickling Max's chin!

Sonja giving Max a hug, Max just taking it in!

Awww... this picture makes me want to scoop them up and give them a great big hug.

The Cinderella shoe!

Just a little story from the "Motherhood Files".

Recently Sonja had been picking her nose! I kept telling her that it is not polite to do that. Well, she continued to do it and then one day she said "My nose hurts Mommy!". I told her that it's probably from her picking her nose and that she should stop it. As her nose picking continued she also decided that I needed to blow her nose for her after her nose picking session. This went on for over a week. One day after one of her sessions she approached me to blow her nose. As she was blowing she did so very hard. When I took the tissue away I noticed something in her nostral. I brought her closer so I could see what it was. Lo and behold a tiny Cinderella shoe from her miniature Cinderella was what I saw!!!!! I asked her what it was doing in her nose? She said "I don't know!". I asked her if she put it there (as if I didn't know)! She of course said "Yes". I asked her how long it had been in her nose because this nose picking thing had been going on for over a week! She said "I don't know....I think a long time" in a whiney kind of voice. I told her that she could have hurt herself by doing that and she should NEVER do that again. She promised she wouldn't. Thank God it came out and no damage was done. Kids!!!

Our Thanksgivings!

This year we celebrated two Thanksgivings. On Thanksgiving day Dan's Mom and Dad invited us over to their home. Visiting from Canada was Great Grandma Green, Dan's grandma and Dan's Auntie Pat. They kindly invited my Mom over also. We had the traditional feast and watched the kids play and dance.
The following Monday we had our second Thanksgiving here at our home. My sister, her daughter Ana and boyfriend Billy came along with Dan's parents came. My mother was unable to come due to her health but I sent over a plate for her to enjoy at home.
We have much to be thankful for. Grandma is 89 and in good health, relatively speaking. My Mom's health has improved slightly. We are blessed with two healthy and happy children that I thank God for everyday. I have a wonderful husband that is also my best friend. I have my best friend and sister Vicky, with which we share the same mind sometimes. I have many good friends, Heather, Mimi, Karen, Nancy G, Carol, Suzi, who I don't know what I would do without, although I don't get to see them nearly as much as I'd like. I am blessed richly!!!!

Below are a few pictures taken at Dan's parents house.

Max, Sonja and Great Grandma Green. In this picture Max is trying to wink at me. I think it's so funny because he crinkles up his nose, squints both eyes and smiles a little smile, all the while saying "Eeee".

Sonja and Max with Dan's Auntie Pat, also from Canada. The kids just love her! Sonja remembers her each time she comes and runs over to give her a big hug. Max on the other hand just watched from a safe distance at first ; ) As you can see he quickly warmed up to her.

Sonja, Nana (my mom) and Max. Max looks like he's saying "Uncle Sam wants YOU!" doesn't he? It seems he frequently does the finger pointing thingy when he gets his picture taken. Why? We don't really know but I think it's cute!

Dan, Great Grandma Green, Max and Sonja. Sonja decided she wanted to show us her belly-button!

It was great to see Grandma and Pat on our American Thanksgiving.

I'm a big kid now!!!

It's a little personal but Max is peeing in the potty!!
On October 19th Max peed for the first time in the potty! We thought at first it was just luck but he has since gone in it many times. I think he saw Sonja using the potty and thought "Hey! I can do that!" Some times he forgets to get himself all in (if you know what I mean) and gets a little on the floor. After he does it he jumps up off the potty and waves his hands in the air and yells "AYYYY!" It's pretty funny. On Mondays, Max's speech therapist comes to our home. It was close to the end of his session and suddenly, Max whips down his pants and pull ups and sits right on the potty (we keep the potty close these days) and proceeds to pee right in front her! He did his usual "happy pee pee dance" and she applauded along with us! It was a little embarrassing but thank God she thought it was cute too. She was pretty amazed! I'm not sure if this means he'll be trained anytime soon but it's a start! I think it's pretty good considering he just turned 2!!!!! Good job maxie boy!!!

Trick or Treat!!!!

The peanuts!!! They had so much fun on Halloween. A few days before, our local Walmart had a Halloween parade. We decided we would take the kids. They had people walking around with treats handing them out to all of the trick or treaters. At the different departments (sports, photo, etc) they were giving out treats too. As you enter the store, they had a guy there taking pictures of the kids dressed up in the costumes and they were developed and you could pick them up in the evening. Max and Sonja thought it was pretty cool.

Our sweet little angel Sonja. I fell right in love with this costume when I saw it. You can see it has feathers on the trim and halo and also real feathers on the wings which Sonja was thrilled about. Intermixed with the feathers was irridescent pieces and maraboo feathers. It sparkled like little diamonds, even in the dark! I figured, what better costume to have with a soldier than to have an angel watching over him!!! Everyone commented on how cute they were and especially on how beautiful Sonja was. Many also got the whole "angel watching over the soldier's" thing too!

We took the kids to the streets otherwise known as "Halloween Row" in town where people really get into it. Many people sit out on their porch and hand out treats. There were "haunted houses" and of course Sonja wanted to see what they were all about. Sonja and Max weren't even afraid! As a matter of fact, they would say "HI!" and wave to the people dressed up as monsters etc. I think watching Scooby Doo is the reason they are not afraid. They pretty much know that there are people under the costumes. We saw many of our friends on our journey and then before going home we visited family.

They were so excited because people were giving them CANDY!! Sonja would say "Come on! We have to get some more candy!" They used their best manners and Max was saying "Trick or Treat!" too!

Max couldn't stand still any longer. He's a man on the move!!

MAXIE RUIFU TURNS 2!! YAHOO!!!

Max celebrated his 2nd birthday with his friends and family. The theme for the party was pirates. All the kiddies were given pirate hats, swords, eye patches bandanas, and a moustache/beard combo disguise. The kids put them on and hammed it up a little bit. They looked so funny, especially with those fake moustaches and beards. Max likes to dress up in his cowboy and pirate costumes so he knew just what to do. It was pretty crazy and everyone had fun. Pizza was served and all of the kids were given a pirate goody bag to take home along with a pirate cup. Most of the pirate cups were left behind so now we have about a dozen red and black pirate cups!!! Oh well.... the kids are happy about it at least! It was great to see the kids playing together and having fun. Here are a few pics of Max's big day!!!
Our handsome little pirate.

Cousin Ana doing her own thing and making a "stand out" statement in her "Paublo" costume.

SHIVER ME TIMBERS!!! Who are ye Matey? Oh... it's SONJA!!!

Friend Gracie makes a good pirate even in a dress!

Daddy, you sure make a cute pirate but I like your red beard and moustache better ;-) !!!!

WALK THE PLANK YOU SCALLYWAG!!! Chase striking a scary pose.

Cousin Luci in her pirate gear. She also does the best pirate dance you have ever seen!

Arrggghhhh Matey's!!!! Cousin Drew and Aunt Becky don their pirate gear and ham it up for the camera.

Max was so excited when he first looked at his birthday cake he started giggling. It was so cute. After he stopped giggling he just looked at me and had the biggest smile. I think he didn't know what to make of all of the hub bub surrounding him....but I know he definately like it!

Max's pirate cake

Max had more cake ON him than IN him! Here Max and Uncle Deano ham it up for the camera.

Max getting some help with unwrapping his gift from Grandma.

Max immediately slipped right into the sleeping bag Grandma made. He loves it! He always tried to get into Sonja's but now he has his OWN!

What a cutie patootie!