Pictures of Molly Grace

We know that we've been terrible about keeping up to date on pictures, so apologies to those that have been looking for them. We've pried our eyes open long enough to get these pictures of Molly's first few days up for your enjoyment. More to follow, we promise...

Pictures of Molly Grace

Hanging out, November and December 2008

Ok, so for my second post in as many days - and this will probably never happen again (unless I get locked in the office, if Max shuts the door on us). Lots of these pictures are of Max doing things he loves - playing with our shoes, and some of his favorite toys - the gears, Tato, and his puppy dog. We had an early Thanksgiving feast with some friends from college, most of whom have joined us in the baby world, and we have to take their group picture every time we're together. Abbey made the cute festive bibs - and the other side is for Christmas! She's so crafty. :) And then there's the picture of the "kids" playing Rock Band - Josh, Jumin, Rick, and Wen - who've been friends since they could walk (ok, almost that long).

In December, we taught Max to appreciate the fresh smell of a real Christmas tree, and I hope we can carry on that tradition for many years - that and not buying a minivan (hee hee). I took him out one day for a walk in the snow in his snowsuit, even though we did not have mittens yet. And then we had to come inside - BOO HOO! He really makes me pay when he's not ready to come in - which is every time. Once the ornaments were hung on the tree, he would walk around and kiss each one. We also had to learn a hard lesson about the advent calendar, that we only do it once a day - too bad it was too late once I had shown him what it was all about. He comes downstairs every day and hurries over to the tree saying "wights!" and then to the garland on the stairs - "wights!" - so we can turn on their lights. Thank God for LEDs! He also loved his "baby Jesus" in the "house" with the mommy and daddy, giving Jesus hugs and kisses all the time. We're also thankful that the nativity set we have is unbreakable - he really likes the sheep and of course, the baby Jesus (isn't that every kid's favorite in the nativity?).

Christmas itself was overwhelming for our little guy with love outpouring from all relatives. He was so excited when we finally got to open the presents under the tree, and patiently tore off all paper from each one. As always, it went by so fast and I already can't wait to watch him (and his little sister) next year when we celebrate.

Have fun looking at the pictures, click here. Until I post again (hopefully before new baby arrives), love to all of you!

Rockies game, Disney World, and such

So since it's still 2008, I thought I would get on here and post some pictures. I cannot keep up with this blogging thing! You may ask, well what do you do when Max is napping? The answer is, napping! We are due with baby #2 on May 16th 2009, and since I can't sleep at night (getting up sometimes twice to eat!) I have to catch up during the day. And no, I don't sleep better at night if I don't nap. I'm just cranky pants. :) We found out today that Max will have a little sister, hooray! I'm still trying to get used to the idea of having a baby girl - how fun and different it will be!

As for Max and his antics, he has greatly expanded his vocabulary and I stopped counting, but I'm sure there's over 100 words in that gigantic noggin. Some of our favorites are "samwich", "oguts" (yogurt), and "weben" (eleven). He can count to eleven, but leaves out some unnecessary numbers like 5 and 8 (for now). He also loves to sing - Veggie Tales, Elmo's World, and "boom boom" for the "Santa Baby" song (Eartha Kitt version). We are still laughing every day.

Some of the pictures included here are from a trip to the corn maze, another not-so-lovely CU tailgate (he's gonna have to warm up to those), and a fun Rockies game, complete with snacks of course. He finally joined the walking world on September 20, and hasn't stopped since. We in fact just got back from our walk around the block, where I finally learned to follow him with the stroller so that when he runs out of gas at the bottom of the hill on the return to our house, it's not such a haul of a screaming child back to the house. He's never ready to come back in. :(

In October we took a fun trip to Orlando for Disney World - and learned that we should not come back until the youngest is at least 3 yrs old. We had to give in to the pacifier for the week, not knowing what the reaction would be on any particular ride. And boy was it blasted hot! We still had fun with the Gampp family though, and ever since Max has been saying "Brenna, Reid. Brenna, Reid." They are his best pals.

For Halloween Max was a pirate and I cannot believe he 1)let me put makeup on his face, and 2) wore his hoop earring and bandana for a good 20 minutes before ripping them off. He did okay for trunk-or-treating, but once we found the rocks they were much more fun. I mean, come on.

Click here to see the pictures, and I'll get up some more soon! My stretch goal is to finish up 2008 before 2008 is finished.....

June, July, and August!

Hi there! We had a busy summer having lots of fun. Grandma Shook retired and we had a big party for her in June. Then, we had a vacation in Kauai with the Gampp family and enjoyed the beach and pool and relaxation. Max is still not walking, though very close - he goes all around while holding on to our fingers. He's saying more words every day, up to about 15 by now, so we're quite proud! He loves his "books", and his "button" which he shows proudly to his friends. He always has lots to say, telling stories and having conversations without speaking a word of English - right now we like "Koke", and "Kow", and "Bwee". I'm sure they mean something important. Enjoy the pictures! http://picasaweb.google.com/dgampp/MaxJuneJulyAug

Max is 1 year old already!

Hi everyone! We've been having lots of fun in May with Max's birthday and our trip to Ohio to visit the Gampp and Maxwell extended families. Max also went to his first Rockies baseball game, and it didn't go too well - every time we made a good play or hit a home run and the crowd cheered, he started crying hard! Too spooky. Plus, no room to explore, even though we brought toys to play with. So we'll probably wait until another couple years before we try that again....

Max's birthday party was a huge success, so much fun. It was perfect weather outside, and he loved the ice cream more than the cake! Didn't get messy though, boo. He got a whistle from Gma and Gpa Andrews that he loves to blow on, and all kinds of noisy toys that Mommy and Daddy just love!!! He also likes to play in the pool, as long as the water is warm enough. We're having all kinds of fun. No walking yet, but he's pulling to standing so it will come soon enough.

Out trip to Ohio was also lots of fun. Max got to ride the tractor at Baba's house with Uncle Russell, and had his first taste of Hickie's burger, which is Daddy's favorite place to eat. The only bad part of the whole trip was flying home - this child is a champion fighter at not going to sleep, so he screamed and fought three different times until we just got the toys back out and he finally gave in about 30 minutes before landing - of course. So next time you're on a plane with a screaming baby who won't fall asleep, have sympathy, they may also be champion fighters. :)

Click here for pictures.

An Update on Maxwell.....

So here we go again - more pictures of Max. Yes, we do other things, but they seem to be quickly forgotten when trying to keep up with this little guy! He loves going to the park and swinging in the swing, and the day after my previous post, started crawling to beat all other crawlers before him. He's super fast, and sometimes it's a race to get the doors shut (office, bathroom, other off-limits areas). He also started making the silliest face like a big Cheerio when we were taking his picture - of course doesn't do that anymore, but it was fun while it lasted! He also likes watching daddy play soccer (okay really, playing with his pals Brett and Lillian are higher priority), and had a great time on his first Easter Sunday at church with us. It's nice to look at these pictures of him totally happy today, because right now he is cutting his first top tooth and not happy at all. Hopefully he will be back to normal in time for his big birthday party coming up on Saturday!

Hope you enjoy these pictures, just don't drool on your keyboard.... click here.http://www.flickr.com/photos/9755477@N05/sets/72157605059409291/

Trip to Georgia, more fun at home

Hi everyone! Max and I recently took a long weekend trip to Georgia to visit great grandparents and aunts. Max's great-aunt Sue turned 60, and we had a great time celebrating. Our little guy is getting bigger every day. He's just started crawling a couple knees, not cruising all over the place but we're sure that will happen soon. We put up the gates so we're somewhat ready. He's also learning what "no" means, and not liking it one bit! He still melts our hearts every day.

To see pictures from that trip and more, click here.