Lost in the Woods

Max is my little middle man, in between Gus and Cash, and I feel like some times he might get the shaft because he is in the middle and the other two demand so much attention. Well recently, Max has made sure that he gets the attention he needs. On the 5th of July, Paul had the day off work, so he decided to take the boys fishing at the cow pond in the forest about 3/4 of a mile from our house. While they were fishing, I went running on some trails with my brother and sister in law, Kevin and Alison. So we dropped Paul and the boys off at the cow pond and left on our run. We were gone for about an hour and when we returned to the cow pond, Paul and the boys had already left, so we headed home. When we caught up with Paul, he only had Gus and Cash with him, and he proceeded to tell us that Max was nowhere to be found and he had not seen him for a half-an-hour. I panicked initially, but then Paul and I said a prayer, and I was able to think rationally. Everyone split up in different directions looking for Max, and I ran home on the trail thinking maybe he went that way. I grabbed our cell phones when I got back to the house and then ran back out to that cow pond where I figured they would have found him by now, but they hadn't. By then, he had been missing for at least 45 minutes, so I called 911 thinking they would have to get search and rescue out there to look for him. When I got ahold of the dispatcher, I said that we were in the forest by Mountainaire and one of our children had wandered off. She immediately asked me if it was a 3 year old boy and a flood of relief washed over me. She said that he had been walking on the trail, and some hikers found him and took him back into the neighborhood. They said when they found him, he was just crying and walking, and when they got closer, he just layed on the ground and cried. I am so glad they told me this, because when I met them to go get Max, he didn't even seem like he was even slightly scared. He was all smiles, and when I cried and gave him a hug, he just looked at me like I was crazy. Then, when we tried to tell him that he needed to stay with the family, he kept saying that he didn't want to stay with dad. He was being such a stinker, so I was glad to hear that he was actually scared, because I don't want him to make a habit out of this. It is really funny though because now he knows how terrified we would be if we ever lost him and he uses it against us. When he is really mad at me he tells me that he is going to run away and never come back. I expected my kids to threaten me with this at some point, just not when they were 3 years old. I just love this kid so much, and I can't imagine what life would be like with out him. I am so grateful Heavenly Father trusts me to raise these little children who were his before they were mine. Sometimes I feel so inadequate.

Here is a funny picture of Max with a bug catching net over his face. We just could not stop laughing about how ridiculous he looked. He looks just like an old lady!

This is pretty much what he looks like after any project. He is definitely my messiest kid. I think Cash is cleaner and better at eating with a spoon and he is two years younger. Also, Max still drools which is quite comical at times.
This is a picture of Max after we went on a night hike this winter in the woods with the boys new head lamps. We kept trying to pull the head lamp up higher, but he would just pull it right back down over his eyes again. Gotta love this kid. We're so glad he's a part of our family

On a separate note. I am now 7 and a half months along in this pregnancy and we are all getting excited to have a new little girl in the family, although I am a little nervous since we can't even keep track of the children that we already have!