Florida

Since Nate's mom, step dad and Grandma have had the wonderful opportunity to rent a beach cottage for two months in Indian Rocks Beach, FL, we were lucky enough to get a nice trip down there to visit! The cottage is just one alley way in from the ocean and it was very quaint and just adorable. Nate's grandma from CO had the upstairs, which is a bit smaller but perfect for her and Nate's mom and step dad had the downstairs (which had an extra bedroom for their visitors) complete with a big screened in front porch and a nice back "yard" with a deck.

Unfortunately we didn't have the best weather but we did have one nice day, Friday where we got the opportunity to go visit my Grandmother who was only about 25 mins away and go swimming in her pool and got to have a picnic outside and play in the outdoor shower. Saturday and Monday were rainy (though we found a really nice mall with a sweet indoor play place Monday in Clearwater) and Sunday it didn't rain but we had a very cool visit to the zoo; but we did have a nice time. Its always nice to get away and have moms and grandmas take care of you:)

Max did good on the plane ride down. He slept most of the way and woke up in time to eat lunch and watch the landing. When we got there was pretty nice too, we went right to the beach. Max just LOVED the beach and sand and water. He wasn't bothered at all by it being cold and would have jumped right in if Grandma wasn't holding him back! He also LOVED the sand, playing with it, eating it, rolling in it, digging in it....

Swimming at my grandmother's condo pool. Luckily the pool is heated, it was cool when you got out cause of the breeze!

We had water dripping out of the low nozzle there and of course there is always something to shovel!

Of course he doesn't mind the cold water dripping on his head....

Our back yard picnic, complete with burgers and dogs!And then a nice sun set on the beach!

This is one of my favorite pictures from the whole trip, walking down to the beach that evening with Great Grandma. It was so nice to get those few days to visit with her. Each night we got to go up and have Max's bath in her apartment because there was no tub downstairs and we always went up and visited a little first. It was so great to see her again!

Sunday it didn't rain so we had planned to go to the zoo. We figured there would be less breeze inland but it was COLD. Its an awesome zoo and Max loved the animals but I think even they are tired of the cooler weather!

This was so cute, the baby feedin with mama!

The penguins may have been happy...

Max's almost twin!

Max's favorite part was getting to feed the giraffes, he LOVED it and it was pretty neat how you were at their level!

And the 2nd best part was getting to pet the goats.... we have to work on "rub" as opposed to "slap"....

Max thinking he's a big kid at the indoor mall playground and riding on the firetruck!

Never too cold for the beach right?

Some family shots, Max was in a cheesin mood!

Some more cute ones with Great Grandma...

The plane ride back didn't go quite as well as the way down. We timed it for his pm nap and
had him all fed and played out (they had another indoor playground at the airport!) but he never did fall asleep. For some of the time he relaxed and watched his Ya Gaba Gaba on the I Touch and read some books but then he got rather rammy but kept his frustration outbursts to a minimum considering how bad it could have been. Of course we were all happy to be home (and in separate rooms again). Max has still been sleeping a ton to catch up on his sleep. So now we're back to snow instead of sand. I love the warm weather but to me there's not much difference between 35-65 degrees so if its going to be cool, it might as well snow, which its doing right now for sure!

Baby Girl Swanson

We had our 20 week ultrasound today...and all signs point pink! She was a little unsure at the beginning so I patiently waited towards the end for her to really confirm it was a girl and it is. I'm so excited and we're so blessed that, although she was quite feisty and the technician warned us what a stinker she already is, she is very healthy. She had trouble finding all the parts she needed right away cause baby girl kept moving and then waving at us but she found everything and it all looked good. We learned from Max that the womb is definitely where the personality starts and is rather accurate! One of each is just perfect. If we win the lottery (or HGTV dream home, which is more likely since we don't play the lottery) we'll have a house full of kids but for now, we're perfectly happy and complete with one of each!

(PS: You will all have to wait for a name again, some things have to be secret!)

Nate showed Max the pictures and he just said "Max" cause he thinks every baby is Max. But he does know where the baby is and will point to, and want to see, my belly. Although I think he kinda thinks that there is a baby in everyone's belly....

So now I have the task of sorting out 2 huge trash bags full of clothes and seeing what a girl may wear, what I want to keep for some possible nieces and nephews and what I want to give away to some friends who are expecting. I'm excited to get up there and sort things out because the baby stuff is just in random piles in the attic and its kind of driving me crazy!

Of course this is what this sweet little girl has to look forward to.... a CRAZY big brother!!!

(Silly hat Grandpa and Grandma Diana gave him for C'mas)

(Mom's slippers, he was able to take steps in them!)

20 week shot, gotta love this picture... my stomach somehow comes to a point, the curtains look "shiny" and of course Max's face...

PA Farm Show

Its been so cold we've been putting it off but we had a feeling that Max would really like it so since it went above freezing today we decided to take him to the famous PA Farm Show. For those not from the area, it is as weird as it sounds but its a huge deal and it is pretty amazing (and smelly!).

First we went for the food but I made sure Max had already eaten dinner because with only standing tables its not a very baby friendly place to eat. They are famous for some foods, including their milkshakes which Max couldn't get enough of daddy's!

I have to step back and talk about what may have been the best part of the night, we parked in the far lot and had to take a school bus shuttle. Max is obsessed with buses. We watch them every day (they pick kids up and 2 corners near our house 3 times a day!) and anytime he hears any loud vehicle outside he yells "bus" and runs for a window to be picked up. So needless to say it was his dream come true to see so many up close and then actually get to ride on one!

But besides the bus he loved the animals. He just pointed and was amazed at all of them. He did have a great time so I'm really glad we took him.

New room pics

As promised, here are some pictures of our re-modeling. I feel like it was hard to get them right but its the best I could do.

We moved our bedroom over to the guest room and my mom got us a new duvet cover for Christmas so that is a nice bonus to our new room. Its a bit smaller but we have the closet now and everything seems to fit ok. Eventually we need to get a ceiling fan but for the winter its not a big deal. (Notice all my pregnant lady pillows already)

And here is Max's new car room. Right now its just a play room. We have more toys, pictures and of course all the clothes and stuff to move over from his nursery yet but I was just happy to get so many of his new toys and the downstairs toys up in this room. Nate is working on painting a little table we have for him, as well as the little white chair that is in there and we just borrowed this changing table from some friends today so I need to get that set up. We have the crib picked out at Ikea (it goes from crib to toddler bed to regular double bed with a new mattress so it should be a good investment!). But for now and prince has 2 rooms to play in. Those storage bins are the best because he can see in and reach them and we can carry one or two downstairs if there is something we want to play with instead of keeping it all downstairs. If only I could get him to put his toys away in them now.....

The crib, when we get it, will go on this wall here. We're not in a huge hurry but want to get him transitioned well before the baby comes so we don't have an issue with the baby taking his room!I know.... its not exactly "back" but its 10 better than it was the night of Christmas. We got a lot of stuff upstairs (the riding toys just work better on the hard floors and where there is more room!) So for now I will just enjoy it like this until the summer when we get to bring back down the swing and bouncie seat and play mat, etc....

In other news.... I haven't heard for sure but I'm guessing my brother has made it to Afghanistan after a week's trek across the globe so please keep him in your prayers for a safe deployment!!! We love you Uncle Kris!!

Trip to DC/VA

To end out Christmas holiday season we took a trip down to DC and VA.

First we went into the city Saturday morning to the Natural History Museum. It was SO cold and windy that Nate had to let us off at the door because you couldn't even walk a few blocks outside (well, he had to of course but I didn't want Max out there!). But he loved it; he liked the animals the best but just likes being out and about. We also met my old boss there in the museum cafe for lunch and she walked around with us for a while too, it was a nice visit. Unfortunately it was crowded and stroller central so I didn't want to be one of those annoying people trying to snap shots without other people walking in front so we have no museum pictures but that's ok.

Then we headed out to visit with Aunt Ellie, Uncle Josh and cousins Emma and Luke; though I think Max's favorite part was their new kitties, which he loved! We had a nice visit with lots of good food. Of course Max has decided that he doesn't like to sleep in pac&plays anymore so he did end up in bed with us which is just awful because he moves around SO much and we had no room and were slapped and kicked all night (not to mention its already getting uncomfortable for me to sleep as it is). But other than being a little tired the next day we had a great time.

(Some of these are Ellie shots, as you'll probably be able to tell!)

His favorite thing there ended up being the pom-poms from craft box, but Jake liked playing with them too...

He was shoving them down the slit and seeing where they went!

The cats were very tolerant, thank goodness....

He might like to eat like kitties eat too...

He's also now learned how to run and boy is running fun!

I had brought his nice Christmas outfit down for a photo shoot but apparently sleeping a real bed does wonders for his already crazy hair. Of course Aunt Ellie couldn't resist a photo shoot anyway and got some great shots! (I can't believe how old he looks, makes me want to cry!)

Random side update about the Maxwell.... just before Christmas he finally gave up that morning bottle, yay! He's still taking two naps and I just gave in and am fine with it. Its too cold and miserable to do anything anyway and I like having one nap to get chores done and one nap to sleep myself! He finally got his 5th and 6th teeth in at the top, the two next to the middle ones but that's still it for now. He's eating well and sleeping well (as long as its in his crib) and doing great!

I'm huge, way bigger than I should be but its mostly belly so I guess that's ok. We get our ultrasound on the 19th and are very anxious!! I'm not feeling sick anymore which is a blessing but still kinda tired and lazy which I guess it to be expected.