Christmas fun!

We've had a really nice Christmas season so far. Christmas Eve we went over to my mom's for dinner (she brought my grandmother out) before heading to church. Church was interesting since we have no nursery and Max tried to sing louder than the entire congregation but I guess its good we're always entertained right?

A new rider to keep at mom-mom's

This works a little better...

All dressed up for church:

Christmas morning was a bit confusing for him. Santa had a pile for him and he was very happy to get his special new toys but he's still not into the opening of them a whole lot. And each time we opened a gift it had to be completely opened and played with before we moved on to the next one (his cousins need to teach him a few lessons:)). Then of course the gifts kept coming all day from the grandparents and Uncle Kris and Aunt Wendy who sent theirs in with my mom. My mom and grandmother and Nate's mom and step father were all at our house for dinner (which we ate during nap time, so Merry Christmas to me for an uninterrupted hot meal:)) and it was a really nice day.

We couldn't get him to wear hats quite as easily as last year but a quick, "Santa came" photo...

Is all this for me?



Yes, we had to read the book before moving on to the next gift...

The paper is still more fun!

Merry Christmas daddy, I mean Max!





Its a little overwhelming, and I kinda want breakfast...

Just the right size!

Then mom-mom and mom-mom mom-mom came over!

Time for them to open gifts...





Saying hi to his "Uncle Kris" Airforce bear!

We needed a few more big things!

Then Grandma Melody and Grandpa Jeff came with MORE gifts!!!

Grandpa Jeff likes the Hess vehicles as much as Nate & Max!

Open it faster Grandma!

Then Saturday morning we packed up (side note: next year if you want to see us, you may have to come to us cause I can't imagine packing for 2 wee ones, plus I love having lots more family around and being able to host more Christmas dinners!!) and made a few visits with Nate's friends before ending up at Grandpa Ken and Diana's for another great Christmas dinner (and of course more noisy toys!).

Max and Hayden, ready to race on their matching bikes!

Then Sunday my extended family all met at my grandmothers, its always a fun time to try to get as many as can come together! Max with his 2nd cousins at mom-mom mom-mom's:



And this was after we straightened up.... but this saga continues with some upstairs remodeling, pictures to come!

We were lucky, besides the loud display in church on Christmas Eve, with all the confusion he really has been such a good boy over the travels and during the whole holiday season. He truly is our best Christmas gift every year!

Then of course we still have one more big visit this coming weekend to Aunt Ellie's to see his cousins and their new kitties!!

First Snow to Play in

Well, despite plans to go visit the Brown's in VA this weekend, the snow and poor Luke's strept throat kept us home. The only nice thing is that we had no plans and all the C'mas stuff is pretty much done so we just get to hang out and enjoy the snow. And we get some extra time to start moving some rooms around upstairs!

This is the first snow Max has actually gotten to play in; obviously he was too small last year. I think it took longer to get geared up than we were actually out, but luckily since he's in diapers, I didn't get the "I have to go to the bathroom" as we were walking out the door!

Of course we had no idea what he would think of the snow but he LOVED it.... I think he giggled the whole time we were out. It was too deep for him to walk so he crawled around it in but he had a blast for the short time we were out.

Getting his new boots on (not too easy on his fat little feet!):

Almost ready to go dad...

This stuff is cool!

Since it was still coming down and pretty cold (and the fact that Max had his snots covering his face) we didn't stay out too long. I'm sure we'll have plenty more chances to play in it. And in fact, it was so exciting that for over an hour Max layed in his crib this afternoon and never fell asleep. He's now upstairs laying on the couch with daddy watching a car show. Hopefully he'll get some nap in cause we've never skipped a pm nap so we could be in for a long evening....

Added 1/2 hour later.... nap seems to be a success:)

Santa

We decided to take a family trip to the mall to see Santa this Saturday. I wasn't sure how we'd do with Santa this year (last year he was too young to know what was going on) but he did ok. There was no line so he didn't have time to think too much, which was probably a good thing. He was a little unsure, I think it kinda looked like a fatter grandpa with a bigger beard but he seemed ok with him!

Don't forget to tell him what you want!

I guess he's not so bad mom....

I just had to compare, what a tiny little thing he was last year!!!

Santa and Max 2008:

Thanksgiving

Well, we did miss Thanksgiving number one at my grandmothers because Max was still all snotty and coughing and although I think it was probably all just teething (top 2 teeth finally breaking through!!!) we thought he'd be more comfortable at home. It wasn't a total loss. I got all the Christmas decorations up inside (which is about half of what would normally go up since we're baby-proof this year) and made a nice roasted chicken (it was $18 cheaper than turkey the night before), potato filling, stuffing and green bean casserole dinner. We had a nice relaxing day.

Then the Browns came up from VA and we had a big family weekend. Saturday we got our real Thanksgiving dinner at Grandma Melody's and had a nice visit with all of them and Grandpa Ken Sunday. It was even really nice outside Sunday so Max finally got to breath in some fresh air and play in the leaves.

Another great "Free" find from Aunt Ellie! He LOVES his new ride!

A huge help in the kitchen as usual...

12 weeks....post Thanksgiving dinner:) And a glimpse of our heightened little baby proof Christmas tree this year. I fit more ornaments than I thought, just miss the real pine smell!

13 1/2 month update....

Since we don’t do the monthly George shots and updates I just thought I’d give everyone a quick, update on Max these days!

He’s walking all over the place. It took longer than I thought between his first steps and him actually walking up a storm but this past week he’s finally mastered it and is officially upright most of the time. He has quite a vocabulary…. Includes book, ball, balloon, box, button, bus, mama, dada, woof, hot and probably more I’m forgetting. He knows what a doggy says, what a duck says and what a sheep says (and manatee, assuming Nate is making an appropriate manatee sound for him to imitate….). He is very particular about placing and organizing things (NO idea where he gets that fromJ). The best part of what he does now is he pretends and teases. He’ll pretend to hand you something and take it back. And he’ll pretend to be eating off an empty plate or tray or even off my hand the other day. He has such a HUGE imagination, its just amazing to watch him play sometimes.
One of his other favorite things to do find belly buttons, which we didn’t realize was an issue till his little friend came over Friday night and the first thing he does is walk up to her and lift her shirt up…..something to work on….
And of course his all time favorite thing to do is dance!!! Who can blame him!

BUT…. our biggest hurdle now is that the poor thing still only has 2 teeth. We think he’s been teething pretty hard the last week but I still haven’t seen anything come through. I’m afraid he may get 10 at a time (which would put him up to about where he should be!). So hopefully they’ll come in soon and be over with.
He is still taking 2 good naps. It kinda messes up a day but its nice for me because I get to do chores during the am nap and then sleep with him during the pm nap (seem to need lots of extra sleep these days). And we’re almost done with the bottle, he gets about 3oz first thing in the am which I keep cutting back so my goal is to not take bottles to FL at the end of January. He’s eating ok. He’s kinda picky but he doesn’t like to eat the same things all the time which makes my head hurt trying to think of things to feed him. And he’ll also LOVE something one day and hate it the next so its hard to keep up. But he’s mostly off of baby food now so that’s nice.

So now we’re just getting ready for the holidays, which I’m looking forward to because I get to eat all my holiday meals with maternity pants on, lots of extra room!!!

Our big news...

Well, since you've all been asking!!! You're kid turns one and suddenly everyone wants to know when the next one is coming. But we're very excited. We wanted them close so this will be about 20 months. We're due in June so I have a long way to go....So far everything is good. I feel awful, tired and sick but a little different than I did with Max. I'm still trying not to get my hopes up too high for a girl.... just as long as the baby is healthy! Max needs to share some of his attention anyway:)

Max's first hair cut

So it was time.... the hair was out of control and my hair dresser offered so I took her up on it. He wasn't such a huge fan. He liked the big chair and the cool drape but once the scissors came out he ended up on my lap and I had to hold his hands down so she could just get a quick cut in. All I wanted was the ears and front trimmed so it was a success.

For those who thought it was awful to cut his hair already, here is a good before shot:

before scissors:

starting to wonder what is going on....

and the after shot, MUCH better!!!

This just cracks us up when he does this, can't get any closer to your toys huh.... (and yes, he's holding a lolly pop but he didn't know it was candy... of all the things he puts in his mouth, he never tried with this!!)