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.....