Max Corbin Collings

March for Babies

2010-04-12T19:08:00.000-07:00

After our amazing turnout at the March of Dimes walk last year- I am even more excited about the walk this year!! Last year Team Max and Hunter raised over $500 and sold approximately 70 shirts. We had a team of walkers of almost 30 people. We were impressed with the generosity of family and friends. This year I have been blown out of the water. I have sold 130 shirts so far, there are online donations of almost $400, and... we still have time left!! All I can say is WOW. I expect to write a check for over $1000!! WOW. Thank you is not enough. This cause is clearly important to us...

Click here to visit our team website and feel free to come walk with us!!

A little more balance...

2010-03-16T13:12:00.000-07:00

That's what I'm hoping this new addition does... adds some balance. I am outnumbered 3:1 in this house and a baby girl will only play to my advantage. Baby Girl Tatum will join our lives in early August. Because of Max being born so early I am taking a few extra precautions. I would love to say that I am being pampered and having all of the household chores done for me by my wonderful, loving hubby. But, come on girls... we know that is just in our dreams. Being pregnant is exhausting and truthfully all I want to do is sleep and eat. However, an almost 2 year old does not fit into that plan. Life goes on as normal as before- work, cleaning, cooking and laundry... with the exception of frequent ultrasounds and weekly shots of progesterone. However, that wonderful hubby of mine doesn't complain when my answer to what's for dinner is "I have no idea" or when the laundry sits folded in baskets for days. We are so truly excited to have another baby, boy or girl. We have two nieces on Clark's side of the family, but on my side... 5 boys. Five crazy, full of energy, always hungry, loud, and not-so cuddly boys. Needless to say my family will be VERY disappointed if the doctor is wrong!! Sure they say "we'll just be happy with a healthy baby" but we know the truth. I do have to admit that decorating this baby's nursery and now actually getting to browse through "the other side of the baby store" has been pretty fun!!

Max has turned into a little man. He eats all the time but the best part is hearing his request. "Snack" is the most amusing thing to hear, he crinkles his nose and very nasal-y says "naak." Eat just sounds like a very long "eee" sound, cookie: "ccccookkkkkie" and drink: "deek." He knows who people are and loves to point out in public that I am his "mama" and Clark is his "dada." He also knows dee and dad-dad and hates to see them leave. He runs everywhere and is so busy all the time. He loves cars, balls, reading books, saying animal sounds and pointing out his body parts: eyes, nose, ears, toes, fingers, teeth and belly. He mastered fit throwing and attempts it in public any chance he gets. I have to admit that more than once I have felt like "that mom who needs to control her child." In record time Max can get out every toy he owns, scatter and mix them amongst the floor then proceed to play with them. They are not as much fun individually.

One of our favorite things... kisses!

Splash Zone

2009-12-14T18:10:00.000-08:00

He is turning into a goofball... the second one cracks me up, it looks like he is trying to cover himself for the camera.

Cheese!

2009-11-20T19:02:00.000-08:00

Max learned this week how to do two things: throw a massive fit- a kicking, screaming, red faced fit and say cheese for the camera. Clearly one of those is more appealing! Here he is in action, cheesing it up.

Recognize Max's sweater, Becki?!

So hard to decide

2009-11-10T18:22:00.000-08:00

Seriously, how do people decide out of multiple pictures exactly which 2 or 3 to post? I clearly cannot. Here is Halloween, about a week overdue.

I mean, how could you resist seeing this sweet face?

or this crazy face?

Or this skeleton studying a pumpkin?

He would be so sad if you had...

He may not care too much if you miss this

Come on, boys don't wear wigs, do they?

But I'd say for a wig-wearing boy...

he pulled it off very well.

(Thanks to Aunt Crystal for making the amazing Thing 1 and Thing 2 costumes. They looked adorable.)

2009-11-10T18:21:00.001-08:00

Looooong Overdue

2009-11-07T11:56:00.000-08:00

I don't even know where to start. You know how when you let something go for a while then it starts to get overwhelming to pick it back up? Like cleaning out a closet or your car, doing laundry, or... ahem... blogging. Well I have lots to update and I can't think of a better way than with pictures of my adorable little Max!

But first...
He will be 17 months old on Monday. Wow, time sure is flying by. Here are a few of his new skills:
-Walks everywhere and occasionally tries to run, which is hilarious. He trips a lot and usually has bruises to show for it!
-Words. Mama, dada (also the form dadadadadada said in a very high pitched voice, one of my faves!), deeeee, tee (aka tree- which he loves to point out in the car or in our living room he'll run to the window pointing), deen (drink), nana (banana), chtshk (please- you really have to be listening for this one, or have asked him to "say please"), O (hello), and then the usual jabber that has no meaning at all!
-He knows what it means to go bye-bye, go night-night, and eat. When it is meal time he'll go to his chair and point up at it. When we say night-night to him he'll grab his blanket and come to us, or he'll run from us- depending on his mood! Bye-bye always results in huge, full arm waves and excitement.
-Throw balls. He'll take them over his head and let go, they either go behind or in front, but never too far! Sometimes he holds it straight in front of him and squeezes his hands together until the ball rolls out of his hands and flying into the air. He loves this!
-Fake laughing. If we are laughing at something he'll always join in, and if he is trying to get someone's attention he'll start chuckling. I'm pretty sure he learned that everyone likes a laughing baby. :) It does take a lot to get a real laugh- serious tickling, sneezing (fake or real-they are all funny), or chasing him are our usual tricks.
-Hugs and kisses. Few and far between, but occasionally he'll run up with his arms open for a hug. And even more rarely he'll lean in, open mouthed, for a big kiss!
-Mimicking. Everything. He'll lick his fingers when I do, wipe his hands together when Clark does, and make faces back at anyone. We should start being more careful...!!
-Dancing. Let's just say that at Quiznos yesterday I was holding him on my hip and he was shaking his head and trying to bounce in my arms to the music. He loves it and especially loves the attention he gets when he does it!
-Honking. Yeah, I'll explain. He thinks that everyone's nose honks when you squeeze it (please, no one ruin this for him... if he squeezes your nose, just let out a honking noise:)). He loves to run from person to person and honk our noses. Lately he has started honking his own. His honking sounds like "mok mok." Precious!
-"All done." He used to do this a lot, but not so much anymore. When he's done eating or ready to be done with something he'll hold his hands up, palms toward the sky and say "ah da."
I really think anyone who knows this kid is lucky!!

See, looooong overdue!

Now for some pics...

Time to eat! I got him to smile by fake laughing!

Fun Run!! Fun times with cousins... until the ride home (Becki, you know what I'm talking about!!)

Park days.

I had a birthday a couple weeks ago and we celebrated by heading to dallas! We went with my parents and Maddie (our niese). She is 7, almost 8, and is every bit a little girl!! We shopped, found a pumpkin festival at an arbetorum, went to the aquarium, ate yummy food, and dreamed of big houses in nice neighborhoods. We had a blast and Max did amazing. So adaptable! Clark got me a new camera for my b-day and I LOVE it! Thanks everyone for the birthday wishes, the cards and gifts and for being a part of my life! Enjoy the slideshow of our trip.

Pumpkin Patch

2009-09-27T18:22:00.001-07:00

Yesterday was a beautiful 70 degrees, sort of cool, sunny and breezy fall day. It was a perfect day to visit the pumpkin patch. Max went last year with his cousins and grandparents but he rode in his car seat and probably slept the whole time! This year was much more fun. He walked around, looked at animals, ate apple donuts, drank apple slush, picked a pumpkin, and drove the horse drawn carriage we rode (well, the nice cowboys let him hold the reigns!). It was a blast, we can't wait to go back with his cousins!

Looking at chickens

Our ride to the pumpkin patch, very curious about the earth moving.

On daddy's shoulders, walking through mud to pick a pumpkin.

Max's first pumpkin!

Headed back, "driving the carriage"

Side note... while we didn't cheer much for the Chiefs today, we did cheer for Max. He decided that today he would stop crawling. He stands up when he falls and without grabbing on to anything! He was so proud of himself. We would say "yay, Max!" when he would stand up, then he would clap, squeal, giggle, and repeat! What a fun age. Well except for the fit throwing, short naps and throwing food on the floor. That part is not so fun. But, I know, "part of having a kid!"

Not quite as planned...

2009-09-23T17:37:00.000-07:00

Scenario #1
Bikers for Babies was Sunday. I got home from work, changed clothes, got Max up and dressed, packed the diaper bag with cereal, milk and yogurt puffs. We headed out, excited for pancakes and lots of motorcycles. When we arrived we were a little taken back by the lack of signs. We found an area for cars to park and started walking toward the speedway entrance. We quickly found out there was only one way in... about a mile walk around or to drive. We walked back to the car and started following traffic. Only to find out that we had to register. We head back to the parking lot, I get out and go to register. I quickly find out there is a registration fee. Ok, I brought some cash for pancakes and maybe a t-shirt. "How much per person?" I ask the lady. "$40.00" she tells me. "Per car?" "No, per person" "WHAT??!!" I say, "that's $120, that's ridiculous- we're not even riding, I'm not paying that much." "Well that's your decision." Says the ~~nice~~ lady. "Yes it is."

Scenario #2
So, I decided I would work last night. I planned to take Max to PDO (parent's day out-basically a pay-by-the-day daycare at a local church) for the day. He has some separation/mommmy attachment issues anyway... I had hoped that Max would sleep until at least (his normal) 7-8 and would be ok skipping his morning nap. They follow a schedule at PDO and nap time is at 1pm. No biggie- sometimes Max's schedule is rearranged, he'll miss a nap, and it won't phase him. I was so sure of my plan that I decided to stay at work until 6:30 instead of my scheduled departure of 3am. Max got up at 6, instead of 7 and didn't sleep well according to Dee. Go figure.

Obviously I am all to familiar with things not going quite as planned. I work in an inner city ER for crying out loud. However, things that I plan and have "all worked out" in my head are supposed to go as planned! Sunday morning we came home Max and I slept, Clark mowed, we all watched the Chiefs lose, ate buffalo wings for lunch, loved on our beautiful baby boy, had ice cream for dinner and went to bed early. Turned out ok by my standards! Today, I decided to go ahead and stay home with Max. He needed a good morning nap and 2-3 hours of sleep would be enough for me to make it through the day. He ate breakfast, played a lot, pooped, drank milk. All criteria met for nap time. I put him down after a few sleepy minutes of snuggling with blankie and I immediately went to bed at 9am. 9:20am: Max is playing in his crib, talking and banging on the wall. I am furious with him. I had been up 25-26 hours at this point and I just want him to cooperate. Obviously I am not furious, but frustrated, tired, and wishing my little ~~angel~~ brat baby would just go to sleep!! Then it hits me! PDO opens at 9 and is first come first serve, BUT- you can check your child in until 10am. So I jump up and call them, "please tell me you have room left in the ~~brat who's not following mommy's plan~~ toddler room." I also tell them my sob story of the hours I have been awake and how he won't go to sleep. They nicely tell me they are happy to rearrange the kiddos so they will have room for him. I pack his lunch, get him dressed and race there. They were awesome!! When we picked him up they tell us that they put him in the nursery for a little while this morning but he still wouldn't nap (how nice of them to try!). He ate lunch really well, slept for almost 2 hours on a strange cot in a room with 8 other kids and played well! I am taking him there once a week. Decision made! They were so willing to make arrangements for him, they moved him around based on his needs, and best of all... I got 4 hours of sleep!

Sometimes plans don't go accordingly, but at least for me "not quite as planned" turned out better than planned!

Pics I took from the car at Bikers for Babies

Pics from tonight. Daddy felt that "Who you callin crabby" jammies were in order!

Waa-waaa

2009-09-19T14:21:00.000-07:00

That is what I am listening to right now. Max has been fighting a nap for over an hour. Ugh. Quick post and I'll go rescue him!

Here is the winner of the last post. With a 3-1 victory photo #2 won out, but I did take a tip from "rock the boat" Crystal and edited the pic a little more. I think it turned out cute and it looks a little more like he's holding a sign. Thanks for the input!

Really quick... Max had his 15 month check up yesterday. He is exceeding the expectations of a "normal 15 month old." He says 5-6 words, walks, drinks from a cup, puts objects in and out of other objects, understands words, and throws fits!! YAY Max! And at 23lbs and 31 inches he is in the 25th percentile for height and weight. Wow! Just don't ask about his head... it was still WAAAAYYYY off the chart! haha! Off to rescue my screaming baby!

Viewer's Choice

2009-09-17T19:55:00.000-07:00

On Sunday we will be attending the Biker's for Babies Event at the speedway. For anyone with a motorcylce -it is not too late, for all others -it is not too late! Man, that's luck... anyone can still attend!!! Now, Johnny Dare (a local radio DJ) is a very big supporter of March of Dimes and to say thank you the local March of Dimes group is making him a picture/story book of local families. We are sending an email with a little story but we are also supposed to send a picture of our kiddo holding a thank you sign. (these signs are computer generated... oh well)

So, calling on friends, family, regular blog viewers, complete strangers... give me an opinion and...
Help me decide!!!

I guess I should mention the pic will also be in a slideshow at the event. And Max may have had his picture taken on a Harley to be displayed on a poster! Thanks Dr. Holcomb!!!

And, yeah, I am getting better at the blog decor. Only took me 45 minutes this time... :)

2009-09-14T20:33:00.001-07:00

Where have you been?

2009-09-14T19:16:00.000-07:00

Ahem, I guess I mean where have I been?! Well I guess I have been busy chasing a one year old, cooking, cleaning, doing laundry, working, resting, NOT getting on the internet, and the ongoing remodeling that is happening in our house! Well I am happy to say that projects are coming to a close. My eager to keep going husband is working on a new list of things to do: paint the living room, paint our bedroom and re-tile our bathroom. AAHHH! It's never ending!! Those projects will not be started immediately but he is on a roll and is eager to keep going. I am definitely not complaining, I am loving all the upgrades, just getting tired of the messes! Thanks Clark for all your hard work :) The basement is pretty much finished, we need a vanity and would really like to find one less than the ones at Lowe's/Home Deopt. We are patiently looking, after all the room is only being used for toys at the moment. Clark also laid new tile at the bottom of our stairs (was linoleum) and it looks great! I promise to post pics but I really want it to be a wow moment... so I am waiting for the couch to come in... ordered it today. Gonna have to wait 6-8 weeks.

On to more important things... Max.

A couple weeks ago Max and I took a trip to Great Grandma and Grandad's. We left on a Monday and stayed through Thursday. We had SO much fun hanging out with them, Aunt Becki, Brice and Rider. Brice loved to play with "Paw-Paw," Rider loved to eat and sometimes sleep, and Max loved to get into EVERYTHING. He opened every cabinet, got out every toy, found sharp objects and cut himself, crawled into empty end tables that Grandma cleaned out for such purpose, stole Rider's binky, and ate like a pig. Brice hung outside a LOT, ate lots of fruit, slept well on a blow up mattress, always let Max have the "car," got stung by a bee, took a nap on grandad's lap, picked okra, pretended to eat cherry tomatoes, and was a very helpful "big boy." Rider ate cereal, took bottles/boobs, got his binky stolen, slept, laid around, cried, was the only one held by Grandma, and was a peaceful sweet, cute boy. All in all it was a blast. We ate great food (catfish and okra!), learned to can tomatoes, shopped a little, and enjoyed the company. As long as we are welcome we plan to make these trips at least every other month. Enjoy the slide show pics!

Saturday we went to the NICU reunion at OPR. We saw a lot of our favorite nurses and a lot of the families we met last year. It was so amazing to see all the babies so grown up. Really we didn't get much chance to meet the babies while we were in the hospital, we spent a lot of nights in the parent room with the other parents. It was fun to see everyone in a MUCH better element and to see all the healthy kiddos. We met up with our great friends Michelle and Billy with Hunter for lunch at Friday's (yum) before we went. We miss them since they moved out to the country! We will never miss our time in the NICU but we met some amazing people and it was a great day to reconnect. Sunday is Biker's for Babies and while we no longer have our beatiful Harley we plan to go out, eat some pancakes, look at some nice bikes, and support a very important cause that made our 2008 summer have a pretty darn good ending.

Headed in, If you look close you can see Hunter, he looks so cute!

Max on Daddy's shoulder

Walking to Miss Kelli. We loved her!

I love his face in this picture. Hmmm, I think I remember her...

Playing in the ambulance

Moms and their boys

Boys playing

(I didn't take many pics after walked in. I wish I had one of Cassie, another fave nurse, because she is adorably 29ish weeks pregnant!)

Now that Max is 15 months old (+5 days) here is what's happening:

He is walking VERY well. Our only hold up is when he falls down he doesn't get back up. He will walk and walk and walk though for pretty long distances.

He has his first pair of Nike's. First Chief's hat. And a growing fall wardrobe.

Drinks from any kind of sippy cup. All milk and water, I'm mean and never give him juice. Sometimes he gets diet dr. pepper and coke zero, though :)

Eats fairly well, sometimes throws a fit until he gets what he wants. Just when I say he is picky he'll eat something odd like okra (he loved it). Finally ate red meat the other day- porcupine meat balls. They were pretty delicious!

Says lots of things. Lots that I don't understand. Sometimes I think he says "thank you," he says "da-ee" instead of "da-da," "mama" is heard minute-ly, please sounds like "chsske" and he smiles huge when he says it, "aahhuughha" means one of two things: "no that's not what I want, figure it out or I'll make the noise again" or "you guys made me mad and are going to let me have my way or go crazy." He instantly waves when he hears hi, bye or night-night. He understands bye-bye, hungry, eat, cookie, and milk. I'm sure there is more...

Has a "blankie," a brown and white striped one that I got long before he was born. In fact it may have been one of the first baby things I bought. He never really cared about what he went to bed with, besides his binky, and one night I put the blanket over my shoulder on the way to bed and he laid his head down on my shoulder and closed his eyes. The snuggling continued every time I would hold the blanket and he did it with anyone holding the blanket. Now we fight over who holds it because we want the snuggles!

Well, sorry for the "time off" but I'm back and with good intentions of being a better blogger. Enjoy the pics, I'm off to bed!

busy busy

2009-08-27T18:15:00.000-07:00

Well with the exception of me fighting off the cold/flu symptoms at the beginning of the week we have been one busy and productive family!

Tuesday Clark and I painted our almost completely rennovated basement... I will show pics when it is more complete and... ahem... a little cleaner :) I also managed to get Max's closet cleaned out and his clothes organized. I washed all of his new fall stuff, packed away spring/winter stuff (yeah, a few months late), and picked out a few things to share with cousin Rider.
Wednesday Clark finished some touch up on the paint and I got down and dirty in the kitchen. Truthfully I did no cleaning at all, but lots of rearranging and organizing. You see, a few weeks ago we ordered a hutch for our kitchen with the hopes of moving some dishes over and gaining some much needed space for food. Well we received said hutch last week and got it all in place and decorated over the weekend. It was such a mess rearranging contents of cabinets but I am SO happy with the results. I moved some tupperware, baby dishes and plastic cups into a lower cabinet for Max to be able to play with. We now have some very organized pantry space and one pretty new addition to our kitchen. Here are some pics:

Today we didn't do quite as much, Clark slept in since he has to work tonight, I hung out with Max and fed him a huge breakfast, played, and then Max ~~begged for a~~ was forced to take a nap. We went and ate Thai food for lunch, bought a toilet at Lowe's, ~~easily put Max down~~ fought for another nap, hung a light fixture, made zuchini apple bread, made dinner, hung things on the kitchen wall, played some more, then put Max to bed ~~without a hitch~~ and listened to him cry for 25 minutes. Did I mention today was not an easy sleep day?! The good thing is once he fell asleep his naps were good. In fact I woke him up from his 2nd one because it was dinner time, and probably I woke him too late which made bedtime more difficult. Oh well, he can't be perfect all the time...? ha.

Here are some of my favorite pics from the week:

"Don't mess with Texas" I love this shirt!! We bought it about 2 weeks before Max was born, we took a trip to San Antonio. Who knew he would be here so soon after that trip?! Anyway, he loves to sleep in it and I love his bare legs!

Toys all around him, basically baby heaven.

Clark hates this picture, they are women's sunglasses. I think it's hilarious.

Fun times with daddy

Last but NOT least, a video of little walking Max. It is very hard to catch a 14 month old walking, so please ignore the poor lighting and the fact he is standing still the first half. He does take some very sturdy steps!

one step, two steps, three steps, fall

2009-08-16T18:40:00.000-07:00

The days of crawling are still here. I think sometimes Max is practicing for Baby Olympics, specifically the 'crawl sprint'. However, walking is in full force around these parts. He lets go of an object and, instead of sitting down, takes 3-4 steps at least. He still isn't standing up on his own, he uses a prop, but he is getting sturdier and sturdier. He sometimes even uses small toys to help him stand up... I think he just needs to realize he can do it on his own. Enjoy the pics!

Hey mom!!!

Aren't I cute?

I'm going to let go!

I did it!!! Here I come...

Yay for me! (making car noises...aka raspberries... is a type of celebration!)

Time to go enjoy a relaxing night of TV and slumber!

lightning

2009-08-12T18:58:00.001-07:00

It was like lightning... all the hours I spent editing different banners and just thinking it was a glitch in the system. Nope, the dang picture had to be saved as a jpeg file. Duh. Oh well, now you will be able to enjoy all my wonderful creativity!!! Pretty cute I think!!

So, first of all... yes, I do have some VERY exciting updates to give you. However, all I can think about today is some VERY sad things. I know this economy flat out sucks, but to be totally honest no one in my immediate group of family/friends has been too affected. Both of our parents, our siblings and our friends all seem to have recession proof jobs. By the grace of God Clark and I have about the safest (yet most dangerous:)) jobs possible. Thankfully, and I guess not so thankfully, people will always need safe streets and emergency health care. We have been fortunate enough to be only minimally affected by this recession. So, just today we found out someone close to us (will remain anonymous) is struggling a LOT. He is a single father trying desperately to save his house. Tonight we talked with a guy working on our house (more on that later) that a couple years ago ran an extremely succesful, million dollar business, making over 200k a year. Now, he works 80+ work weeks on odd jobs, again, to just save his house. To top it off, his wife left him 3 weeks ago. Did I mention he has 3 young daughters? What a struggle. There isn't really any quick fix for these people but it does make me pray even harder for an economy turn around. Or maybe lighting could strike and all there problems could go away (it worked for my banner trouble:)).

More sad, yet not economy related, news. A very good friend of mine from nursing school, Tiffany, lost her grandmother this morning. It was a peaceful passing and they all know she is in a better place, but I know her family could use some thoughts and prayers. A girl named Katie, whom I've NEVER met... only read about... had her baby a couple days ago. While pregnant she had a very life threatening battle with a brain infection and was in the ICU for days. Luckily she fully recovered and with no suspected complications to the baby. Well, her baby was born not breathing and possibly with no brain activity. I cannot even imaging what they are going through.

Ok, let's lighten it up...

MAX IS WALKING!!!!!! Well, it's not really as exciting as it seems all typed out in caps lock and bold and stuff. It's exciting, yes, but it's only a start. He will take consistent steps, maybe 5-6 from person to person or table to chair, etc. He does not make any attempt if the destination is more than he is in the mood for. Trust me, his mood does matter. For the most part he is an extremely happy kid, but he wants his way when he wants it. And oh, does he tell you about it. Tonight we went to Grandad-E and Grandma Dee's house for dinner. Max was in his high chair eating when Dee got home. He fussed until she talked to him and then he finished dinner. Immediately after he was through eating I took him to the bath tub. He was fine at first but as soon as Dee walked in he started flat out crying. I thought it was because I wouldn't let him stand up (he tends to fall and get black eyes when he stands in the bath tub, so I try and stop him) but I soon realized he was just throwing a fit. A fit. Because he hadn't yet been held by his Dee. Quickly I washed him off and gave him to Dee. He snuggled right in and was done with his fit. You know, right after he got his way. Spoiled? Make up your own mind.

So... at 14 months Max is...

Walking 5-6 steps at a time.

Saying "mama" "dada" "uh-oh" and "mmmmmaaa" (I think his attempt at his name) he also babbles a ton and sometimes sounds like "nana" or "baba" but I can't tell.

He is a waving fool. We took him shopping today and he smiled and waved at anything resembling a person. He does the whole arm flap version of the wave, I love it. I especially love any attempt at an impression of his wave from adults. Let me tell you- when a grown person flaps there arm up and down- it's weird. Keep this in mind when you are waving back at a one year old. On second thought, don't, it's keeping me entertained :)

He is still eating 3 meals a day with 3 sippy cups of whole milk. He is getting better at holding his own cup (ahem... his aunts will be glad to hear this:)) and does it about 95% of the time. He is still quite the eater and expands his menu daily. Blueberries, peas, peaches, muffins, pb&j, chicken nuggets, mac and cheese, yogurt, green beans, cheerios, french fries, ice cream, teddy grahams. Not a fan of mexican, italian, or french toast. He'll be reformed soon enough, after all, he won't have a choice.

On haircut #2, which went far better than #1. He got the back and sides cut with clippers and it is shorter, which means less fuzzy, and so so so adorable. He got to watch a Baby Einstein and eat a sucker while he got his grooming. A really good plan because he sat perfectly still. He looks so grown up though:(

Napping and sleeping is unchanged, and for the record, amazing! He stays up until 7:30 or 8 and sleeps till 6:30 or 7. Sometimes 7-7 and sometimes 8-6. Morning naps and afternoon naps usually average 3 hours combined. I'm not going into any more detail to say what typically happens or how they normally work because I am superstitious. At least about sleeping schedules.

He still loves to play with cars, but has started expanding to other toys. He likes putting toys together and inside each other.

He can drink from a straw. Kind of a fluke, but he was playing with one of Clark's cups and was biting at the straw. Then all the sudden he got a taste of the yummy coke zero that was available. Now he is a straw drinking maniac, even has a straw sippy. What a big boy!!

And a few more of my fun "color splash" photos.

Hope the lightning bolt strikes you in a good way!! Good night!

fun with color

2009-08-06T18:35:00.001-07:00

So, I am not a very creative person. I have a very big desire to be and sometimes I surprise myself. For example I like to blog and have been trying to revamp my blog for a while. I have thought about changing the title and even had a few good ideas. My problem is the stupid "banner." I am not exaggerating when I say I have likley spent 4+ hours working on it and everytime it looks ridiculous. Whenever the time comes that I figure out the glitch it will be a more generic name (so our family can grow... and no, I'm NOT pregnant). Ok, back on track... my creativity... Today I purchased on app on my iPod called "color splash." It lets you add those touches of color to a black and white picture. Anyone with an iPod touch or an iPhone should get this app. It is awesome. So easy to use and deceivingly makes me look talented and creative. Check it out:

Probably my favorite, I already really like the picture and the color splashes make it so fun.

Such a cute picture of Brice. At first I just had the shorts in color and then I realized he was eating a cheeto! The orange looks awesome!

I think this could be used as an advertisement for Discovery Toys... These cups have been in the top 10 toys for Max since the first day we opened them.

And a cute beach pic.

Max and I went to the pool with our friends Paige, Cooper and Carter today. The boys have so much fun in the water (well at least Paige's boys do!). Max enjoyed the picnic lunch of pb&j (one of his newest faves) and sitting with me on the chair while we sun-dried. Did I mention I forgot towels? I pride myself on being such a prepared mother.

Too much fun for one day.

PS: Dear Max, please sleep later than 5:30 tomorrow. While I did enjoy your 3 hour nap I would much prefer a later wake up call.

2009-07-31T14:20:00.001-07:00

"Relax and Enjoy"

2009-07-31T08:02:00.000-07:00

"Relax and Enjoy" was written on the chalkboard as you entered the house. We added a "...that's what she said" and really set the mood for the week!

After 2 long days in the car we arrived at "the ocean's house" as Taylor would call it. The house exceeded our expectations. It was a beautiful, modern, million dollar ocean house. And it was ours for a week. Now, 8 adults and 5 kids seems like a pretty good ratio. But when all but one of the kids is in diapers and only 2 are walking it made for a pretty exhausting week. The two big boys were always into something entertaining: climbing in laundry baskets, pushing empty strollers, hiding in closets and playing duck duck goose with anyone sitting on the floor. The two one year olds enjoyed playing with toys, "borrowing" sippy cups and binkies, sleeping and eating (well at least Josiah did this for sure!). They both were the easiest by far, with 2 naps a day and sleeping till 7 or 8 each morning they adjusted very well to "beach time" and owned up to there first vacation! Baby Rider was a typical 3 month old. He slept, ate, laid on the floor, sat in the shade, and cried a little. He made his momma happy with some good naps and a few good nights.

Overall we went to the pool the most: nearly every day. We went to the beach twice to swim (a few more times we walked but didn't get in). Max did NOT enjoy his first experience with his feet in the sand. He grew used to it by our last trip and sat playing with toys for quite a while. On day 2 of vacation we were headed to the pool when I noticed that Max was burning up. Clark and I got him out of the car and immediately decided to take him back to the house. Motrin, tylenol, and a nap later he was as good as new. Or not. His fever kept coming back for 3 long days. It must have been some virus because we started antibiotics hours after his first fever and it didn't budge. As long as we kept him drugged he was fine, and really he still slept well and when fever free didn't even act sick.

The adults had only one rule. Kids in bed NO later than 8. And it worked out every night. On a few occasions Taylor would come wandering down the hall dazed and confused. He had this look like "why are you all still up?!" After 8 we would cook dinner, eat in peace, play cards and games or just sit and relax. We played our own version of Chopped. Each day one couple would get a list of 4 secret ingredients and had to prepare a meal for everyone in around 2 hours. (The best catch was no clean up and no kid duties for that night!) Clark and I got lemon, garlic, sour cream, and spinach noodles. We made our take on Filet Oscar: Sirloin Oscar... the filet was &18 a pound (did I mention you also had to pay for the groceries?!). We made a delicious crab bearnaise sauce for the perfectly cooked sirloin and spinach noodles with a toasted garlic basil cream sauce. Fancy, huh? It was the winner by a hair, second to Shrimp Scampi with the best noodles and garlic lemon sauce. The other 2 runners up: Grouper with an avacado fruit salsa and smashed sweet potatoes & "Armadillo Eggs" (cream cheese stuffed jalapeno inside a chicken breast then wrapped in bacon) with a peanut butter adobo sauce (first place for creativity) and jalapeno spoonbread. We had no lack for delicious food or good company.

Here are some of my favorite pictures from the trip:

"the ocean's house"

Max's first trip to the beach. His face is too far away to see the screaming.

Toes in the sand.

Second trip to the beach. Still kind of under the weather, so sleeping soundly in the stroller.

Third trip to the beach... finally warming up to it!!

Dinner at Toucan's. Max learned to feed other people and thought maybe Monkey wanted a puff. Aaahh!

Clark and I with our ocean view

Day 2, hour 18 of the 19+ hour car ride home. Max had EVERY toy in his lab... including daddy's police badge. Hope Chief Corwin doesn't see this :)

As far as the car ride goes, Max did surprisingly well. We brought along Baby Einstein, snacks, plenty of toys and lots of patience. Turns out we didn't need the patience. He was SO good. We maybe had 30 minutes total in the 4 days in the car where he was unhappy. Clark and I are not much for car rides so we plan on using the airport for any upcoming trips. But it's good to know our little man can make it both ways... as long as it's to somewhere fun!!!

Click here, here or here to read more about our trip as the other's post!

2009-07-31T07:54:00.001-07:00

little sleep... lots of fun!

2009-07-16T07:23:00.000-07:00

I hate working weekends. I hate working nights. I do love being a nurse, especially in the ER. But mostly I love being home during the week with my crazy little man. Monday is the worst day of the week, I usually sleep 3-4 hours before Max gets home.

This Monday was a lot of fun, however. A friend Carie and I took her daughter, Cooper, and Max to this great water park near our houses. It was surprisingly cheap to get in and it was so fun!!! Cooper is so stinking cute with her sassy swim cover up and her high pony tail (I can't wait for a girl!!). She and Max enjoyed staring at each other and sharing lunch- but aren't much for playmates yet. Mostly it was fun for Carie and I!!!

I especially love that Max was so worn out from the water park that he slept 2.5 hours when we got home!!

Monday was also Max's cousin's birthday. Josiah turned one!!! You can check out Crystal's blog by clicking here. The party was full of fun party hats, cousins, good food, presents, and a birthday boy with a shirt to prove it!!!

With only 3 days left before leaving for vacation the rest of this week is consumed with laundry, packing, trips to the store, and getting some things done around the house. As soon as Max wakes up from his nap we are going to Babies 'R Us and Target... 2 places I LOVE!!! (Ever notice how Bed Bath and Beyond is the "dangerous store" for newlyweds and Babies 'R Us for new parents?!) Daddy is mowing the yard later today and I am getting a pedicure... YAY! Then the rest of the night... packing. I am working friday night and sunday night, we are leaving town at 4am sunday morning. Hoping to drive while Max is still supposed to be asleep and maybe get some peace out of the first half of the trip!

One more picture, because I think it's colorful and probably one of the few family photos we have!

favorite toy + 13 months

2009-07-09T08:31:00.000-07:00

Ok, second post today. I didn't feel like the topics fit together, so I made 2. Besides, Max is 13 months old today!!!! Back on track... Max clearly loves cars. Specifically car sounds. But he especially loves his police cars. He has 4 of them in all different sizes: S, M, L, XXL; and I find them pretty much all over the house. The day Max had his surgery Clark and I brought the large version, it has a few buttons on top that make siren and engine noises. When we went with him to the recovery room he was extremely irritable, I guess from all the drugs. He had gotten plenty of pain meds and was just feeling a little disoriented. If it was just me and him in our little curtain room he was ok, but as soon as he saw one of the nurses he would start to fuss. Clark tried to cheer him up by getting the car out and playing. Max was so pitifully cute. Mid-fuss he let out the most pathetic tthhpthffthpthf. You get the idea. Then back to crying. It was like he was saying, "I know I'm supposed to make this sound and I really want to- but I don't feel like it." We laughed so hard!! Anyway, here he is using the coaster as a tow truck and the windowsill as a racetrack. He's pretty innovative for a 13 month old.

So many blogs update with monthly milestones. I haven't done this to date but no better time to start than the present...

We are working SO hard to get him to walk. Vacation is a week and a half away and the beach will be much more fun upright. He will stand by himself as long as he doesn't realize it. And the other day he actually made a forward motion with one foot. Completely by accident because when he realized he was independently standing/moving he fell to his knees and took off. He will walk while holding my hands and sometimes will do it just holding one hand. Almost there buddy!

Morning time kept creeping earlier and earlier. Max is an excellent sleeper and would usually get up around 7. Well lately it was 6:30, 6:15, 5:55, so on... Well, I enjoy sleep entirely too much for this. We got some window tint to darken the room and voila. He has slept until 7:15 or later!!! (yes, Becki, I will probably jinx myself too). Nap time is even getting better, yesterday he took TWO 2-hour naps!!! YAY!!!

Eating and drinking is something I write about a lot. However, I need to point out that a couple weeks ago we went to a sippy cup, encouraged MANY more table foods and increased reflux meds. Since then we have had NO (knock on wood) projectile puking episodes. Whew!

Well, nap time for the morning is ending, thus is blogging. Enjoy the double posting and Happy 13 months MadMax!

fun with cousins on the fourth

2009-07-09T08:20:00.000-07:00

I realize this is a few days late but I figure these pictures are too cute to not post!!! We sure missed seeing Max's other cousins, Brice and Rider, (and their parents) but we had fun playing and eating hot dogs with Taylor and Josiah. Clark and I missed out on fireworks due to that oh-so-fun thing called work. We hear Max did not enjoy them AT ALL. He's such a baby.

Aren't they precious...

...?

or trouble?

Taylor

Hot dogs!!!

"I'm better... and hungry!"

2009-07-03T19:17:00.000-07:00

Well yesterday Max was still only about 85% himself. He slept amazing the night after surgery, I'm sure a combo of anesthesia meds and the pain medicine we gave him helped, but he slept more soundly than ever before. He didn't crack a smile until the afternoon but he was playful, crawling, and HUNGRY!!! He was a bottomless pit. To put it nicely. Before breakfast he drank some pedialyte, I was so worried to jump right into "normal" food and then get sick. Anyway, he normally eats breakfast at 8, well he woke up at 6 to a soaking wet bed (and a 15lb diaper) and by 6:30 he could wait no longer. He had banana, cereal, yogurt puffs and milk. Took a very early morning nap. Ate biscuit, egg, bacon and more milk. Went to the store with mom. Came home and ate his weight in puffs. Took another nap. Drank more milk. Went with mom to pick up his one year pictures (which are awesome!). Then ate hot dog, mashed potatoes, banana, peaches and cookies. Then more milk. Today was not much different, a little picky at lunch and only one breakfast, but still a very hungty little boy! And his table food aversion is much better! Here he is eating strawberries this morning. With a smile I might add.

Here are some pics from the day of surgery. He looked so stinking cute in the gown. It was too long so when playing in the waiting room (during our 4 hour wait) we tied it in the back in very 80's fashion!

And, "if you aren't going to feed me or get this surgery over with... I guess I'll sleep."

And because I happen to love this face...

I will share it.

Two for one

2009-07-01T19:02:00.000-07:00

Well today was long, exhausting and frustrating but very succesful. Dr. T was unable to be there for the ear tubes but an ENT, Dr. N, from children's stepped and got the job done! He had his hernia repaired first followed by new tubes in both ears, "normal sized" tubes by the way! As you can tell from the last post we waited around a long time in pre-op. Four hours to be exact. Max slept a little, played a little and fussed a little. He was actually very patient and super sweet and cuddly! At 3:30 he was taken in and at 4:30 his surgery was finished. He had his IV placed after 3 sticks and they drew his one year labs for us so we could avoid another poke at an outside lab. He was awake and pretty much ready to go by 5:30. In recovery he chugged water and sprite, came home to applesauce, bananas and yogurt puffs followed by a sponge bath and kisses. We didn't give him milk because, well, we didn't want puke. He fell right to sleep and despite some fussiness he did great! His pain meds are helping him sleep and we hope tomorrow he'll be a little perkier. I'll post pictures from today when I get them loaded.

In other BIG and EXCITING news... Max is totally off a bottle!!!! After a few weeks of bad reflux and increasing his meds we decided to start really encouraging table foods and less milk (oh yeah we switched to whole milk...shhh don't tell his ped:)). So I decided that we would give him bottles at night but during the day he could only have a cup. Now up until this point he has thought of sippy cups as play toys. Well he did great, so great we gave it to him the first night, too. And so on. And now... He's a pro!! Good job baby boy! You make me proud!

I'm so glad the day is over and hope it's the last time we have to give our baby to a ~~stranger in a hallway~~ nurse going to the OR.

We love you Max!

Waiting game

2009-07-01T11:06:00.000-07:00

I hate that phrase because a game should be fun, and waiting is not. We arrived here at children's in the same day surgery area at 11:15 today after keeping our one year old away from milk, cheerios, bananas, and everything else he loves in the morning. It is now 1:10. Max is doing surprisingly well and in fact just fell asleep in his stroller, a seemingly impossible task any other day. So as we sit and wait - I blog. I will update when he is out.

fun in the sun

2009-06-25T18:05:00.000-07:00

I haven't posted in a few days because Max and I have been having entirely too much fun!!! I don't even really remember what we did last week it was so busy. I do, however remember the news we got from the ENT. Max had a regular check up on Monday and we found one of his tubes was "clogged up." For 5 days we put peroxide drops in his ear to try and dissolve the blockage. Friday we found out that it was clear but there was tissue growing behind the tube in an attempt to "reject" it. Out came the tube. In the office. Max screamed. The good news is that his already scheduled surgery for next week will now be a dual surgery. Dr. T (the ENT) will sneak in the OR first, pop in some new tubes and then the general surgeon, Dr. S.P. will correct the hernia. More about that later...

This week Max and I have been to the pool almost every day. Monday and Tuesday we went to the YMCA:

he enjoyed himself.

Yesterday Max's great grandparents were in town and wanted to spend some time with him. After a long morning, lunch with mom and dad:

and an appointment:

he was in for some ~~fun~~ napping. I think he did wake up in time to play and hang out with them for an hour or so. Thanks for the break guys! We love you and it was great to see you!!!

Today Max and I went to the park/pool with Max's cousins Cooper and Emma and Uncle George. It was great to see the kids and they love to see "baby Max." All of them had a blast at the pool. Max got a new floatie that allows him to sit more in the water, and with the shallow pool he could actually walk around. He loved it. He was so worn out today I couldn't keep him awake in the car much more than 5 minutes. He did take a nap when we got home but it only lasted a little over an hour. He was VERY cranky this evening.

Here is Max with his favorite new expressions (and his adorable new shoes)...

So, about his surgery. If all goes well (and no emergencies occur the morning of that would obviously take priority over our oh so non-emergent surgery) then both procedures will take place at the same time. When Max had his tubes placed in January he was taken in and basically just sedated for the quick procedure. In fact, we barely had time to get a drink, sit and get cozy when they called my name. This surgery will be minor, yes, but a little more invasive. This time he will have an IV, a breathing tube, and an incision. :( I am ready for it to be over. So, Wednesday July 1st: please pray for no emergent surgeries that will prevent both from being done, that Max does well with the IV, the breathing tube and the anesthesia meds, and that his recovery is fast with little pain and discomfort.

And now... Max finally said "dada!" In the car he acted like he had known how to say it for a while. He said it over and over and smiled and laughed. So precious!!!
Enjoy :)

By the way, we have been trying to get him to say this for a while, as he says "mamama" all the time. Every time we try to get him to say a new word he grins and says "mama." Well today after he learned dada he wouldn't say anything else... What a brat!

new look

2009-06-16T19:52:00.000-07:00

Do you like the new look of the blog? The background was easy but I have spent over an hour working on a banner for the top... no luck... maybe another day. Maybe.

Max's birthday week ended with a birthday party at Chuck E Cheese's. I was skeptical about spending 2 hours there, but it was surprisingly fun. We actually didn't even leave until almost 8. Max had fun playing on the car...

And eating cupcakes...

Secretly he didn't eat any of the cupcake, Aunt Crystal helped him out by smashing it in his hair and on his face. He got cleaned up and changed into his pj's then proceeded to fall asleep on the way home. He smelled so good the next morning I could have eaten him!! Then he got a bath. In the morning. He smelled great, but was very sticky.

Max had a great weekend with daddy and I am glad to be home with him pretty much all week. We are looking forward to some sun and time outdoors!

Strawberries, avacado, banana. All 3 foods Max has started to eat in their raw, fresh form. He loves them! He put the banana in his mouth today, looked at me and laughed. Too stinking cute. Avacado gets a funny face, but he keeps eating and eating. And strawberries are hard to pick up so I put them on the spoon and have him get them off the spoon. Apparently this is hilarious. He laughed EVERY time.

Enjoy the new look.

birth'week'!

2009-06-10T19:15:00.000-07:00

If you asked my dad he would tell you that when it comes to my birthday it is no less than a week long celebration. I mean, who needs to fit all the potential fun into one day?! Well, I plan on teaching Max all of my great ways, starting with birth'week'! Today we took Max to build a bear (see next post for our adventure!). We made him a dog that we named "Primo." It is pretty cute, and is currently sleeping well in Max's bed. He got to ~~kiss~~ slobber all over the heart and push the pedal to stuff the bear. Next we groomed and fluffed Primo before getting him dressed. We got him complete with a kennel (cardboard box) and a birth certificate. It was really fun and the pictures are adorable!

I don't know how I forget to mention some of the adorable things Max is doing these days... First things first, he says Mama. I am so proud! It's more like mommomm, but we all know what he means. He also says uh-oh, but only when we say it to him first, very cute! Next... ayayayayaya, kind of Indian like. It's my favorite because his face is hilarious. He shows his gums and crinkles his nose. Last, not really a word, but he can make car noises. Ok, well he is just sticking out his tongue and making raspberries, but he gets on the ground and pushes his cars around while making this noise. He has also been known to push other things around, ie: remotes, phones, tape measurers, etc while making this noise. Below is video proof:

And one last thing, Max has tooth #3. Finally. He is a slow teether. Forgive him.

And... because I hate pictureless posts:
Max in the morning, he probably thinks every morning is Christmas. I put all his toys away every night and EVERY morning he gets them out, laughing and smiling like he is seeing them all for the first time!

2009-06-10T19:14:00.001-07:00

A whole day year older

2009-06-09T17:59:00.000-07:00

This is where were one year ago today. Staring at this tiny baby and being so amazed that he had 10 fingers and 10 toes, hair, eyebrows, eyelashes, fingernails and healthy lungs. I still stand by the phrase "ignorance is bliss." If this weren't true I think I would have been very stressed and worried. However, we were not. We were mostly bummed that we would spend the summer in a hospital :). This year on this day we did things a lot different. For starters, I slept last night (Max tried to keep this streak going by being awake from 2-4 coughing), I didn't have to walk through a hospital to see him, he got to wear clothes (his 1st birthday shirt to be exact), and we got to snuggle and spend ALL day together!! It was great! He sort of slept in after his long night. We got up at 7, watched cartoons and then ate breakfast. After his morning nap we met Grandma Dee for a birthday lunch. We braved the pouring rain and went to the plaza. After a yummy lunch with a very well behaved little one year old we went and ordered Max's birthday cupcakes for his party on Friday. Recently (thanks to Nicole!) we learned about an amazing cupcake shop called Cupcake a la mode. We survived terrential downpour for this one, but it was oh so worth it! I ordered 24 cupcakes in flavors such as chocolate strawberry, pb&j, cookies and cream and chocovanilla. I ~~might have~~ definitely got some for Clark and I tonight. (yes, I planned on giving Max some but he decided to cough himself into yet another episode of "loosing his lunch" if you catch my drift). This cough I keep talking about is making me WAY more miserable than him. It sounds awful but he 1)doesn't have a fever 2)is playful and acting completely normal 3)is eating fine and 4)has not gotten an ear infection. So, he must be fine! It is almost as bad as the time we took him to the ER, though.

Some comparison from last year. This picture was taken about a week after we came home from the hospital, I estimate him to be about 7 1/2lbs here.

Here is Max with "monkey" now, at around 20lbs.

Max this morning when I told him it was his birthday!!

Lunch with Dee

After lunch and the cupcake store (and almost getting washed away in the flooding of downtown) I rushed home trying to keep Max awake. I wanted him to take a good nap in his bed. My hard work paid off, he slept for 2 hours!!! We ended up waking him up so we could run some errands. We got a baby gate and other household safety items. When we got home Max played with monkey on the floor while I got his dinner ready. He ate chicken sticks (basically baby hotdog, kinda gross really) and carrot chunks with a yogurt for dessert.

I love this kid!

Happy 1st Birthday Max!!!!!!

Pictures

2009-06-02T19:06:00.000-07:00

Click here to get a sneak peek at Max's one year pictures. And to see the photographers blog. She did a great job and we had so much fun with Max!

Today was Uncle Darren's birthday so Becki planned a surprise dinner at Jack Stack BBQ. The food was delicious but Max was a brat. He was tired and that's pretty much all it takes. We thought we were keeping him occupied with goldfish until he choked a little and puked all over the floor. After that we tried very hard to entertain him without food, only to fail. He wanted to be playing or carried around. We ate in shifts and left promptly after. Sorry Darren we had to eat and run but Happy Birthday anyway. (and good job to grandad for actually keeping it a secret!)

2009-06-01T18:31:00.001-07:00

A year ago today...

2009-06-01T18:11:00.000-07:00

I can't believe that a year ago today at almost this exact time I was being admitted to the hospital for the first time. Who knew that in a mere 7 days I would be meeting this beautiful face?!

Well I will tell you that I plan on making this summer much better than last. Last year we spent countless days in a NICU room: washing our hands, reading charts, meeting nurses, waiting anxiously for the doctors to make their rounds, meeting other families, drinking the free mini cokes in the parent room :), getting excited over "good days" and bummed over "bad days," eating out every meal except breakfast (which I don't think I ate at all), enjoying moments of sunshine as we walked to and from the car, waiting on the slow elevator up to the 4th floor, watching all the "term" babies leave with their balloons and flowers, feeling like tripping the dad as he pushed the cart of flowers and balloons, making countless trips accross the city to see our beautiful and strong baby boy fighting so hard. As awful as it was, it passed, it is a memory, and it was SOO worth it!

Max is starting to stand on his own for 5-10 seconds. He will push his walker across the room, then get stuck under it...

I wish you could see his face, he was less than excited about being pinned.

Just a few more cute pics of playful Max...

One of Max's favorite people is his Grandad-E. He gets really excited to see him, flaps his arms, smiles and squeals. If he doesn't immediately get attention from him he's throw a fit, and believe me, he has mastered a "fit." Well, this summer while Grandad-E is out of school Max will get to spend a lot of time with him on Mondays when I am sleeping or thoughout the week when I am working. Today when I saw Max after 5 hours with Grandad, well... I had to laugh. Poor kid looked like such a mess and it was hilarious. I love him being a boy, he is supposed to get dirty, right?! He was covered in food from lunch and snot from his recent cold. I would never complain, he was fed and happy. However, I did clean his face and change his clothes :).

Max would like to wish his friend Hunter a happy 1st Birthday today!!!! Hunter was born at 27 weeks and we got to know his parent's well as the boys spent the first 2 months of life right next door to each other.

Enjoy the slideshow with pictures from the March of Dimes walk. Only a month late!

Going to Grandma's

2009-05-22T19:32:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow Max is taking his first out of town trip without mommy and daddy. He will be flying out at 7am with Grandad-E to go see his great grandma and grandpa in Illinois. He is SO excited! I used to love taking trips to see them in the summertime, I would get to fly by myself and spend a week or more there. Then on Monday there will be a carload of people coming back to KC :) Grandma Dee and Grandad-E will drive home with Max, Aunt Beckie, and Cousins Brice and Rider. They will be staying for a little over a week! YAY!

Max has been doing much better with his eating phobia... He still won't feed himself the foods that are soft, cold or squishy but he'll eat them if you put them in his mouth. Since last week he has eaten chicken and veggies, green beans and rice, beef ravioli, lasagna, and turkey and rice. Also some not so baby foods... fruity cheerios, yogurt (I would venture to say that he loves this more than puffs...), pasta salad, black olives, pepperoni, oatmeal cream pies:), cheese and rice. He is way more accepting of new flavors and textures and I am sure that with a few more teeth he'll take off and we can STOP buying baby food!!

He is just as active as ever, we went to PT on Monday and he blew Michelle away. He was crawling everywhere (even off the playmat), standing up and dancing and just being plain cute! He has started to cruise around the furniture, mainly going after things he is not supposed to get: cell phones, iPods, computer, remotes, etc. But, hey! At least he is moving! He has also learned the word No! and heard it more than ~~once~~ a hundred times! Along with No! comes learning to throw fits. If he is getting something he isn't supposed to and I say no, he sits down, turns bright red, makes the most pittiful face and cries without taking his eyes off of me. Also, no tears. He has managed to make it work about 70% of the time. What can I say? He's got me and his daddy right where he wants us!

Standing fool.

Fried. Nope, no light sockets near by.

I love this picture, he will stand and look out the window instead of playing with toys. The other day Clark and I went outside and looked in at him... he was very amused by this!

**********SPECIAL***********

Mohawk Revisited!

getting around

2009-05-13T16:47:00.000-07:00

Max is totally out of control! He can not only crawl anywhere he wants to go but he has now mastered standing up against just about any object. He can shimmy up the leg of the coffee table. Scale the front of the entertainment center. Squeeze up the leather of the chair. Stick his fingers into the holes of the laundry basket. Scale a rock wall. Ok, I made the last one up, but maybe he could if he tried! He has mastered it. And he has the bruises to prove it. I have always learned throughout nursing school and now working at a children's hospital that bruises in various stages of healing can be signs of child abuse. Luckily his are all in very bony places and if you ask me I think they are pretty stinking cute. He looks so tough!

The newest thing we have been working on is eating more solid foods and having Max feed himself. I mean you would think with the way he inhales the puffs that he would love feeding himself. Ha. I wish. He is doing a little better, but honestly 90% of the time he acts like I am either trying to poison him or give him rotten eggs (which kinda sounds like poison!). He makes this sour face and pulls back shaking his head vigorously. It sounds funny, and it was, for about the first 100 times. Now, it is just plain annoying. He will eat a lot of things if I ~~force~~ gently place them in his mouth. I have tried a lot of tricks with no luck. He only likes the baby foods that are sweet: Apples and Chicken, Sweet potatoes and Turkey, yellow and orange veggies, and EVERY fruit/dessert item available. I can't say I blame him, I do love dessert, but he is entirely too picky!!! We tried spaghetti with some success, he didn't care for the chunks when eating from a spoon. He occasionally eats mac and cheese. He gags on anything new and if it isn't one of the above mentioned he fussess the entire time he is eating. We made homemade food: mashed potato and peas... not having it. Melon puree... this one he loves, of course!! Jello... also loves. Ravioli... nope. Yesterday he ate bread, cheese and some roast beef with only a few fusses. The biggest problem - he finds it horribly repulsive to touch the food himself. He won't eat it unless I feed him. He'll grab it then let go like it is on fire or covered in slime. He's a mess. Anyone else's kids do this? Is it a phase? It is driving me nuts!!!!!!!!! Some of his faces are cute though.... :)

This is watermelon. He was feeding himself so well, but gagged a little on a bigger chunk. I cut it a little smaller and he wanted nothing to do with it... aggh!

Vegetable Beef Dinner. This is the face I get.

Feel sorry for me!!

He had about a 5 course meal tonight by the time I found something he would eat.

As for us? We had T-bone steaks, potatoes and salad for dinner. Nothing fancy, just put some steak seasoning on the steaks and grilled them. Potatoes any way, we love them roasted but tonight had a fussy baby so we pan-fried them quick. Then salad with toasted asain sesame dressing... yum-o! And after all the fussing I could sure use some Sheridans. They should deliver.

Good Night!!!

storms...

2009-05-07T18:46:00.000-07:00

Well, I have had a long and boring day sitting in a trauma conference and I really had no intention of staring at the computer screen. But, I am unable to watch all of my favorite thursday night shows due to the ~~annoying~~ very important storm coverage. So... here I am.

Last week on Friday morning GG passed away. She peacefully rested in her hospital bed and took her last breath with no more pain. Her family is of course sad and will miss her, but the memorial service was very nice and we all know she was ready to go and be done with her struggling.

Max's last visit with GG:

This picture is of Max on his way to Taco Tuesday on Cinco de Mayo. He passed out on the way, then stayed up the whole way home! I wish I could put pics from my phone on here (well, guess I should say I wish I knew how!) because I have a very funny picture of Max livin it up. He got an array of party favors, a corona hat, a corona light-up necklace and a tecate tequila maraca. Yeah, we think we are teaching him some very good lessons early on... And in the picture he has the hat on backwards and the maraca in his hand. He was so entertained by the toys we ~~might have~~ definitely stole them for future playing!

I love how he has is hand on the monkey so gently... if he were awake that monkey would not be handled gently at all.

Yesterday Clark and I decided to take Max to a park and see if he liked swinging. He asked Grandma Dee for a playground for his back yard and we wanted to make sure he would have fun.

What do you think?

I say go for it!!!

This makes me sooo excited for summer: playing outside and swimming. We have a lot of making up to do in the fun department after last summer!

So, I know you all are wondering how the March of dimes walk went? AMAZING!!! We had over 50 people turn up to walk and we raised at least $700. (I don't know the exact total, but hopefully they will let me know.) The bbq was a lot of fun as well. We went through 50 hamburger patties, at least 50 hot dogs and I won't even tell you how much beer. (those of you who were here know...) BIG THANKS TO EVERYONE!!! We are very blessed to have such great friends and family to come out and show their support. And Grandma Dee had a birthday mixed in with the day so we all enjoyed some birthday cake as well! Again, we cannot thank you all enough!

Today Max spent the day with Miss Paige and her boys Cooper and Carter. She agreed to babysit last minute so Clark would be able to sleep (remember, I had a class ALL day!). Thanks Paige, you are a lifesaver!!! I have to tell you, too, Max came home looking like a true boy, ~~dirty~~ needing a bath! It was adorable, he is really tough and rugged now!

Growing up

2009-04-30T18:42:00.001-07:00

Today was a big day for Max. I know I mentioned yesterday that I found him standing in his crib. Well, this morning there he was again- trying to crawl out of his bed. Now, chances are that he would have been fine, but the railing hit him at about his chest and with the right momentum and bounce he could have been on the floor. To make me rest easier (and allow him to "cry it out" at naptime) I lowered his bed all the way to the lowest setting. And, he got his mattress flipped over to the "toddler side." Yes, the toddler side. Sadly I no longer have a baby.
First thing in the morning (well, lately he has been getting up around 6 but I encourage him to play in his bed, or I don't know sleep, till 7 at the earliest. He does pretty well, this morning he woke at 6 and around 6:20 I re-binkied him and wrapped him up and he was quiet until 6:57), anyway... first thing after 7 we get in our bed and we watch cartoons. Anyone who has kids seen "special agent oso?" It is stupid, but Max will watch it off and on, this morning he laid still for 8 minutes! WOW!! Ok, so after cartoons we get up and Max eats breakfast, oatmeal and a bottle, then he plays on the floor. First thing he did on the floor... CRAWL! On hands and knees, not tummy and elbows! Sadly, again, I no longer have a baby. I have a toddler.

Max took a great nap this afternoon, which ended up being a huge blessing. Clark got up around 2:30 and called his dad only to find out some bad news. GG (Max's great grandma) has been sick for a while, in and out of the hospital with pneumonia and then complications with antibiotics. Well, she was scheduled to go home today with hospice. They had put a hospital bed in her house and set up the oxygen and other supplies. She basically has really bad lungs, diagnosed with COPD and CHF, and is just not strong enough to fight off these infections. Today she took a turn for the worst and started to have a lot of trouble breathing. She is confused and struggling. They called hospice to the hospital and are going to work on keeping her comfortable while she spends some time with her family. We took Max up to see her and it is so amazing what great medicine a baby can be. She asked us if we could just hang him up in the corner of her room! Oh, GG, your sense of humor is what we love and what we'll miss! And of course your cooking, your stubborness, your love of your grandkids, the way you over-buy all the kids Christmas presents, how much you love to talk on the phone and gossip about all the natives of Platte City:), but most of all your love for your family. Please say a prayer for all of her family. She is certainly a legacy to them and she will be missed greatly but will live with more comfort than she can probably remember.

Dinner tonight was pretty good, click here for the recipe I used.
I used a jar of spaghetti sauce instead of the butter sauce; and used wonton wrappers and not homemade pasta dough! And... I had alot of the meat mixture so I made a few fried ones as appetizers. They were SO good! I just pan fried them in olive oil. The other ones maybe cooked to long but the dough was kind of gummy. Still tasty, though, next time I will just fry them and make something else for a main course. They were fun to make!

Going to pick up our March of Dimes shirts tomorrow! YEAH!!!

I'm trying!

2009-04-29T20:02:00.000-07:00

I know, I said I was going to try and post more often. I just keep finding something else that needs to be done. If only I had a nanny... :) I'm trying I promise!!
Well I am getting really excited about the March of Dimes walk, I just hope no one brings the swine flu with them! Ok, nothing to joke about, but really, it's getting more press than it needs. I am watching a "swine flu survivor" story about a man who had it over 30 years ago. AND, Mr. Obama wants to budget over a million dollars to help "fight the flu." COME ON! Wash your hands, use sanitizer and don't go to Mexico, you'll be fine! I'll take a million dollars to spread that piece of advice.

Back to business, I updated the Team Website... check it out to find out some exciting news about the t-shirt sales!

Max is totally on the move, he is all over the place in the living room. I no longer have to get out toys for him, he knows where they are and he gets them all out on his own! He had toys all over the living room today, my little boy is so big :( And, breaking news, I went in his room today after one of his naps and... are you ready for this?... he was STANDING. Yeah, pulled all the way up onto his feet and was holding on the side of the bed. He continues to be a puff monster. Clark was feeding him puffs tonight and gave him a handful on his tray. About 2 minutes later Max started fussing, I mean asking, for more. Clark was looking everywhere around him for the puffs, just assuming they had fallen. I had to convince him that he truly had eaten them all in that short amount of time! He loves to eat!

Cute pic from aunt Becki's :)

Dinner tonight: (yay me I finally cooked!)
Oven fried chicken (portions for 2)
2 boneless skinless chicken thighs (we love the thighs, but you could use breasts)
1 pint buttermilk
Place chicken and buttermilk in a bag for at least 1 hour

1 cup bread crumbs
1 T seasoned salt, I love "cookies" from HyVee
2 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp salt

Mix together. Take chicken from buttermilk into bread crumb mixture and dredge completely. Place onto cookie sheet sprayed with pam, then spray the chicken with pam. Bake at 400 for 25-30 minutes, turning once halfway through cooking time.

I made buttermilk mashed potatoes (I just got a big thing... it's really affordable!) and corn. Very tasty, and of course Clark liked it!

Tomorrow night... homemade ravioli! Stay tuned!

Home Sweet Home

2009-04-24T06:57:00.000-07:00

Max and I got home from Tennessee yesterday around 2. We had a very nice time visiting and meeting the new baby, Rider. However, it was by no means a vacation and I am sure ready for one of those! Max did very well while we were there, he slept all night, EVERY night (sleepy boot camp was a HUGE success!), played like crazy with cousin Brice and even took good naps. We wish they lived closer so we could hang out more often... but they just had to go and move...

Max has the 2 cutest bottom teeth and seems to be working on a mouthful more, or at least it seems that way with the buckets of drool he is producing. He is officially doing a military crawl, and not just short distances. The boy can move. If a toy is worth it - he will get there. He is really good about playing on the floor by himself, in fact he would even play with Brice and Aunt Becki. But as soon as he sees his momma he wants me to pick him up or give him 100% of my attention and be on the floor with him. What can I say, I am pretty fun (to Max at least). Max is also enjoying finger foods more and more, he can eat those gerber puffs for hours (ok hours would be a little long to sit in a high chair, but he LOVES them). We got a new "veggie dip" flavor and he seems to really enjoy putting as many as he can into his mouth at once and then later burping and shoving his stinky little "veggie puffed" hands in my face. The smell lingers a little. And it isn't very appetizing. Lately we have been working on cutting out a nap in our day. So far it works as long as the morning nap is longer than 30 minutes. As I type we are going on 35... SHH!! Don't wake the baby!

So, I have been a really bad poster lately and I am going to try and post during nap times. Night time I am very tired and usually trying to pick up the house, do laundry or just relax. I am making it a personal goal to get more blogging time in!

I have some really exciting news to share! Earlier this week I turned in our t-shirt orders for the March of Dimes walk and we sold an amazing 96 shirts! WOW! With the money Clark and I will donate per shirt sold this is almost a $500 profit we get to donate!!!! Amazing, and this is just our first year. Also, Hunter's mommy, Michelle, has a friend who is hosting a pancake breakfast at her house to raise even more money. I am really excited to go eat pancakes, too!

Spoke to soon, Max just woke up. I'll post a new slideshow later of some pics from our trip. Happy Friday!

Pray for Kayleigh

2009-04-22T07:20:00.000-07:00

I know most of you have seen the link on the side of Max's blog and have visited this site. Today Kayleigh is recovering from her "final surgery" before going home after 10 long months in the NICU. However, this morning Kayleigh will not wake up and the doctors are saying she may be brain dead. Please help her family by praying, I cannot even imaging what they are going through. Click here to read more.

2009-04-15T14:31:00.000-07:00

Happy Easter

2009-04-12T17:42:00.000-07:00

Isn't this the cutest little face?! This morning we went to church with Grandpa E and Max had a great nap in the nursery to prepare him for lunch. We all went to Outback with Grandpa Jim and Grandma Cathy... yummy! Max was semi-well behaved. I fed him puffs for the first half then he ate his squash and his bottle like a champ! After lunch G-Jim and G-Cathy were nice enough to come over and watch Max so Clark could take a nap and I could go to the store and get some laundry done. Max was so good for them, in fact, he slept THE WHOLE time. 2.5 hours to be exact. What a good boy... He did get to play and show them how cute he is when he got up. He impressed them with his spin moves and his scooting. He is slowly getting there, he consistently pulls up to all fours and then plops back down!

I got a shot at the tooth the other day... only one is in, the other is SOO close. I love the added bonus of puffs stuck to his face, if he knew they were they he would attack! He likes to shove them in his mouth with both hands, it is hilarious. And he eats handfulls in seconds, I have to portion control already!

Here is Max playing with Charlie, I think he has gotten over being sick of the camera and now he cheeses it up! He will hold a pose and a smile till I take the picture, I love it!

Max has not been sleeping well at night lately, it's like we are going to get one or the other... good day naps or good night sleep. SO, this week is "sleeping boot camp." I am determined to cut this behavior out, even if it means I am up all night listening to him scream! Tuesday Max and I leave for Tennessee, we are both very excited to get there!! I am a little nervous for my little terror to be on a plane, I even downloaded a Sesame Street episode to my iPod to hopefully get a 5 minute distraction. I will of course bring lots of puffs, because if all else fails he is quiet when he eats!

I get yet another Sunday night off!!! I did only get about 2 hours of sleep this morning after work so I am headed to bed, yes at 8:15! Goodnight!

Welcome Rider Matthew

2009-04-05T17:39:00.000-07:00

Max would like to welcome his new cousin, Rider Matthew. He was born 4/4/09 at 11:44pm weighing 7lbs 13oz. Mom, dad and brother Brice are all doing well. Becki said, and I quote "having 2 kids is so much work." Oh, sister, you aren't even home from the hospital yet!! She has promised pictures so I will share when I get them.

Max would also like to share some exciting news of his own... he has 2 teeth!!!! WOW. We have been working on them forever, and one day he got one, 2 days later a second. I can't wait for them to grow in! SOOO cute. I have tried and tried but he will barely let me see much less photograph them, we'll keep trying.

He has been doing so much better with nap time. We have gone from consistent 30 minute naps to at least hour long naps, sometimes 2 hours!!! Today he slept so well and still wanted to go to bed early, maybe he is growing. Or maybe, just maybe it is because he was up all night last night, well at least the first part of the night. Poor grandma Dee had to drive to Tennessee today after being up with the little stinker. Thanks to grandad for helping out so she could sleep. He finally went to bed around 3 and then slept in. Tonight his pj's say "I'm in charge" -soo true, maybe if I acknowledge it he won't try and prove it at 1am.

As promised, the t-shirt design...

Anyone wanting to purchase t-shirts just send me an email at bethnclark@gmail.com with what sizes and I will get them ordered. I would love to have the money by April 21st, but don't mind getting it on the day of the walk. Also, if you would just like to donate and not walk you can do so from our team website (see the link on the left side of the page near the top). THE WALK IS LESS THAN A MONTH AWAY, WE NEED TO GET SOME T-SHIRTS SOLD AND SOME DONATIONS. So, all you grandmas and grandads, great grandparents, aunts, uncles, friends, cousins... remember what we went through last year and help us prevent that from happening again. Anything is appreciated and t-shirt profits will of course be donated. Sorry for the urgency but I am starting to stress. If you are planning on walking you can go ahead and make your donations online and they will count the day of the walk. Just a suggestion... "thank you"... love, Max

I am getting a much enjoyed night off tonight but I am VERY tired. Please enjoy the new slideshows below... aren't they great?! There will be much more of these to come, they are EASY and take up less blog space!

playtime

2009-04-05T17:36:00.001-07:00

bff's

2009-04-05T17:35:00.000-07:00

a day off

2009-03-31T19:41:00.000-07:00

So, in 2 weeks Clark and I finally have a night off together. It's true, the last night we had off was the night we went out for a friend's birthday, so this is also the first night in OVER 2 weeks we have been home as a family! If only we didn't have a million things to do and we could sit around and enjoy it... We have a number of projects going on -it is ridiculous. We have been working on our basement for over a year, it was planned out to be done before Max was born. He didn't give us enough time! Thankfully we, I mean Clark, has gotten a second wind with it and there is an end in sight. Next, we have the yard, which will forever be a work in progress. We want to put in a sprinkler system, get rid of weeds and grow grass (this one is a priority :)). And plant new flower beds after cleaning out the dead ones from last year. I am pleased that my daylillies appear to be alive for year 3! Woohoo, that is a record for me. The next project is the garage, also a continuos project. Clark decided to buy my dad's old truck to "fix up" over the years and to drive to and from work since he works in the ghetto. So... we have to make room in the garage because I will NOT have 3 cars in my driveway! We are going to buy some shelves this week and hopefully make a little extra room. I am also starting to decorate Max's bathroom, more "kid-friendly." I made a very cute wall sign/towel hanger upper for the wall. We put up some cute bath time pics on one wall, I need a new shower curtain and towels now (don't worry, I will post pics when it is done). ON TOP of all this, Max and I are headed to see Max's new cousin (and Darren, Becki and Brice) in a week and a half. I have to get going on gathering all the baby items I have borrowed. Oh, and I have to work! WHEW. Are you tired? If not, come help me! Haha.

Enough about me, Max is doing great!! He is getting to be such a big boy. We had to move a shelf on his changing table hutch because he is so big I needed more room to change his diaper. Then... we lowered his mattress down becuase he is starting to pull himself up on the side of his bed. Today he pulled up onto his knees. I did not want him learning this skill in the middle of the night... unsupervised! I think his ears have finally stopped draining, I think. We are done with the oral antibiotic and have a day left of the drops. I am nervous to stop.

Today I scheduled his hernia repair surgery. July 1st. Thankfully he will not have to stay overnight and they tell me this is very minor and he will only be uncomfortable for a day or so. I will be glad to get this over with...

Here is one of the pictures from bathtime tonight, we put this one in the frame!

I have a funny story to share... Last week on friday night, I put Max to bed and let him "cry it out" (I still don't know how I feel about this, but I am trying everything to help with sleeping during the day). After he cried for about 25 min I went in and re-binky'd him, he went right to sleep. In fact at about 9:45 I went in to check on him and he hadn't even moved! Somewhere around 11:30 he started to cry. Now, I tried to let him "cry it out" for about 10 minutes and decided if I wanted to sleep that I should go in and check on him. I went in and started to cover him back up, that's when I noticed what was wrong with him. He was covered in pee. Pee on his jammies. Pee on his blanket. Pee on his sheet. Pee on his mattress pad protector. Pee on his mattress pad. Guess where there was no pee... his diaper. I have to admit that it was really cute. I un-buttoned his jammies to find his diaper undone on one side and completely not covering what it should. Here it was, all his glory, shining right at me. He must have rolled to every inch of his bed, "marking his territory" if you will. It really is amazing how NONE of it ended up in the super absorbent size 4 diaper he was sleeping in. Lesson I learned... you need more than one mattress pad. I bought another one the next day, just in case.

Going to enjoy my time with my hubby now :) Good night!

2 hours

2009-03-26T18:40:00.000-07:00

2 hours... this is usually the total amount of time Max naps in a day. Well, today he took ONE nap that was 2 hours!!! Not to mention his short little naps this morning. I had him awake for over 3 hours so I thought he would take a really good nap. I put him down at 2, at 2:30 he woke up. I went in, wrapped him tight and put him back down. He woke up at 4:10. WOOHOO!!! It was so nice, I know it was a fluke and will probably be weeks before happening again, but oh my, how nice. Yesterday at the ENT Max had his ears cleaned and we started him on a new antibiotic drop. Also we are doing another round of the oral antibiotic. The drainage is still improving but is not cleared up, in fact the doctor seemed very surprised at the amount of drainage we still had after 5 days of 2 kinds of antibiotics. Poor kid, I can't imagine how miserable he would be without the tubes.

Ok, I am very proud to show this off...

I worked long and hard on this and I happen to think it turned out very well!! Feel free to email this flyer to anyone you think would be interested in walking. Also, I updated our team website to include info on the events of the day and t-shirt info. Please check it out and sign up to walk. This includes you Jim and Cathy, George, Christy, Becki, Paige (yep your hubby is off and you can come!! Bring your boys!) - anyone who wants to at least show they are a part of our efforts. You don't have to "walk" - just donate and support. Hey, you can still get a shirt without walking but not without joining our team!

I just wanted to say thanks to some of the "commentators" we have been having. I really have no way to reply to you except through here! I just want to say thanks to my faithful followers and to the not so frequent ones. I love hearing from people who I don't even know read! Keep commenting, I love it!

I have some TV shows to watch then bedtime. By the way, I worked last night and tonight we ordered pizza. I will get back on the cooking streak next week... I hope!

car trouble : (

2009-03-24T18:42:00.000-07:00

Today started off early but good. Max was really happy this morning, took a couple good naps, we went to the gym, had the house cleaned, ate taco bell (yep after working out I am free to eat anything!). Then... the car wouldn't start. Our whole little family was loaded in the car, diaper bag and all ready to go the grocery store. We tried jump starting it, and then the keys got stuck in the ignition. Really??? After multiple attempts to get it started we successfully got the keys out and took the other car to the store. After dinner and a couple hours of charging the battery Clark tried again with no luck. He just went to advance auto parts and had the battery checked, it is definitely the problem, what a relief. He is on his way home to try out the new one, please work! Max was pretty good the rest of the day, he took an early afternoon nap and it was short so tonight he went to bed about 6:30, pretty early for him. He had his photo session of the day in his high chair after dinner with applesauce all over his face!

His ears are still draining quite a bit so we will go see the ENT tomorrow and, yuck, have the wax sucked out again. Last time this was the cure so I am hopeful we have an end in sight to this round of illness.

YEAH!!! The car started, what a relief!

Mohawk

2009-03-23T17:37:00.000-07:00

This weekend was pretty rough for little Max. Friday he started running a fever and I noticed a little drainage from his ears. I quickly started his antibiotic drops (here we go again with another ear infection) as well as tylenol and motrin. He was pretty puny, slept a lot, and was so sad! Poor Grandma Dee didn't get much sleep friday night as Max woke up often and kept running a fever. Saturday I got the oral antibiotic filled (the ENT gave it to him last time but we didn't end up needing it). He has slowly felt better and today he was more his old self. He still isn't feeling well enough to play and entertain himself... but wait, did he ever do that?! Ha, I wish. This morning when Max got home he took an hour and half long nap, what a miracle. He was in a pretty good mood all day. After his bath tonight we had a little fun with his adorable blonde fuzz we call hair. He got his first hair-do, a mohawk!! Enjoy the cute pics...

Off to bed...

CUTE

2009-03-19T18:34:00.000-07:00

Probably the cutest picture that exists.

Ok, so you might think by the looks of this picture that Max was happy and in a great mood today... not so. In fact this was one of the fussier days we have had in a while. Tomorrow I am going to try and keep him awake longer in between naps and focus on 2-3 really good naps. I have got to figure something out... This morning he woke up with a really runny nose. Ugh, never ending. I don't know if it is a cold or he is teething. I hope it's teeth because we just got over a cold! So I am wondering if at night he is waking up more because of his reflux, he started to wake more when we laid his bed flat a few weeks ago. So, tonight we put the wedge back in and hopefully the slight incline will help with the runny nose and the reflux. Please... something work!!!!!!!!

So, last night I got some cute pictures of Max eating a bottle and it got me thinking to his first bottles. How small they were, yet they looked so big next to him. How little he would eat at a time, at one point less than an ounce! And how long it would take, there were nights that we would have limit his eating time to 30 minutes. Not anymore!!! He eats about 6 ounces a bottle and in less than 10 minutes. We sure have come a long way!!!

Another trip down memory lane. Max's 2nd or 3rd day taking a bottle (I can't remember). Look how tiny he was... it looks like I'm holding a doll.

Comparing the first bottle, 3oz, compared to his bottle now, 9oz!!

Max eating out of his big boy bottle! He loves to help.

Hope you enjoyed the "scrapbook" moment!

Has anyone out there watched the Office from tonight yet? Michael Scott can't quit!!! Oh no!

Made a really good dinner tonight, and forgot we had plans to go out with Grandma Cathy and Grandpa Jim. It was nice to see them and I know they love to see Max. Thanks for dinner!!! I saved the dinner for tomorrow...

Chicken and potatoes, a crockpot creation. (By the way, all servings are for 2 good eaters:))
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can cream of potato soup
1/2 c chicken stock
2 big baking potatoes
salt and pepper (for Rachel Ray fans "s&p")

Place the chicken on the bottom of the crockpot, stir together soup, stock and potatoes and cover the chicken with them. Sprinkle with s&P, cook for 6-8 hours on low. We taste tested it before saving and it is very good... we will be enjoying it tomorrow!
I told you I wasn't gourmet... it is easy, that is all I claimed!

Long weekend ahead, everyone enjoy yours!

Social baby...

2009-03-18T18:58:00.000-07:00

Max really loves people. I came to this conclusion long ago when he learned to smile. He would smile at anyone who even glanced his way... you could also call this flirting. The one thing that consistently takes away his smile? The camera. Clark and I tried so so hard to take some really cute pictures tonight, and while we did get some we didn't capture the happy adorable Max. Anyone who has met him knows the smile I'm talking about, cheesy and heartwarming all at the same time! Too bad I have no proof.

...nope, he hasn't been drinking.

Charlie... Max's new favorite entertainment.

Tracheomalacia, this is what the pediatric ENT says is the cause of Max's chronic wheeze. I don't know what I've said about it in the past but Max occasionally has an expiratory wheeze, like when he gets out of the bath, playing on his tummy, after he eats, etc. His ENT that placed his tubes wanted us to get it check out, so off we went today. Now, I added a link to the website I thought was the best... some of the others were good descriptions of more serious cases... Max's is NOT. In fact, the treatment is growth. He obviously has no developmental or growth delays so it is not an issue. So, feel free to click and read, but please don't google it, some of the other info is far more severe and kind of scary. Now, to get this diagnosis poor little Max had to be tortured! Ok, ok it wasn't that bad, but he was so sad. The doctor used some nose spray that was lidocaine and afrin... then put a tiny tube with a camera down his nose and into his throat to look closely at his airway. She saw nothing wrong with his upper airway (larynx), so by exception we got to tracheomalacia (the lower airway). Max also had a PT appointment today. It was nice to see Michelle, since we are only going once a month it had been a while... we missed her!! He got fussy pretty quick, a combination of hungry and tired can be miserable. By the way, we spent close to 4 hours at children's mercy today, and daddy couldn't go... it was a long afternoon!! He surprisingly didn't fall asleep on the way home though, so when we did get home he went down for a nap. He fell asleep all on his own and for about 30 minutes. Can't complain. He stayed awake a little later and even played a little after his bottle... normally his bottle makes him milk drunk and he can't stay awake for anything!! I swaddled him tonight, I give up on weaning him out of it... he just needs to sleep and if it helps then I'm using it. We'll see how it goes. And now for some more pics...

Bathtime is always so fun, tonight he was especially enjoying the water being poured over his head. He was leaning back for more!

Playing after his bottle... (he was being very goofy)

Tonight for dinner I made "tex mex fried rice," I stole the recipe from Rachel Ray. Clark did not enjoy it, so we had a lot left over. Anytime I make too much for dinner we call Grandma Dee and Grandad. They came and got it and I hope enjoyed it. I happen to think it was pretty tasty. Instead of the steak she used I cooked a roast in some tomatoes in my crockpot, cut it up small and stirred it in the rice. I also made the black beans and put the rice over the beans (omitting any raw tomatoes or onions of course!), topped it off with cilantro, lime juice and sour cream. Yum. Then we had ice cream for desssert (yes I know there are 3 s's in my spelling of dessert... remember learning how to spell dessert and desert? "dessert has 2 s's because you always want seconds" I always want 3rds!!! haha!) Oh and I have a new morning love... caramel drizzle coffee with french vanilla creamer. It's folgers, too, nothing fancy. You gotta try it.

Well, I just had to go rock Max back to sleep, up once already. I better get to bed!

Goodnight!

Happy St. Paddy's Day!

2009-03-17T18:49:00.001-07:00

So I can't believe it but I haven't taken any pictures of Max since my last post. What?! Next time I take some (tomorrow) I'll have to make up for it! I have been working so hard to make a flyer for our March of Dimes walk. I am getting nowhere. I wish I could find one already made up and just get copies. Guess I'll keep working. Still no great ideas for a team name, kinda dissapointed in my blog readers... hmm hmm. As for Max, he is doing great. He is officially scooting across the floor. Today he scooted about 4 times toward me for a total of about one foot. Haha, he'll get there. He has not been sleeping well at all lately. I have been trying to get him out of that darn swaddle blanket so I'll put him down without it and when he wakes up I wrap him up. The first couple nights went great, he made it about half way through the night. Since then not so great. The last 2 nights he has woken up several times early in the night. Last night once I fell asleep he didn't wake up until 6 (which is way too early- but better than getting up every hour). Hopefully we get back to the wonderful sleep habits he used to have, I don't know what to do... any helpful hints???? Well, I better get to sleep, last night I stayed up too late and 6 was pretty rough. Watch for new pictures tomorrow!!

By the way I added a link to the left that takes you to our March website. PLEASE JOIN IN!!!

Little Swimmer

2009-03-13T18:35:00.000-07:00

As promised... some pics from our super fun night out. The other couple are our good friends Amy and Kris, Kris was the birthday boy.

Today Max and I had his first swim lesson!!! We went to a new water park called Coco Keys, it is an indoor park attached to a hotel. Max and I were invited by some of my friends from work, and while it was probably a little excessive for the first swim, it was a lot of fun. He kicked and splashed in the baby pool for about 45 minutes. We took a break to let him warm up and eat, then we went around the lazy river. He only lasted about one and a half times around but he laid across the tube and kicked his little feet like crazy! Too cute. I can't wait for summer to let him swim outside and in one of those super cute baby floaties! Ok, I have to go on a rampage for a second... if you are taking your kids to a water park and you don't intend on following them around all day (which is ok past a certain age:)) then please instill some basic people skills. For one, please inform your children to observe the no running rule, especially when running in and out of others. Second, if there is a fountain in a baby pool it is probably for looks. NOT for stepping on and spraying the table near by with clothes and towels, or spraying the infant sitting innocently in the pool. Third, some lazy river rules. While waiting in line for tubes, size does not matter. Just because you are small and can squeeze to the front of the line to get a tube first does not make it ok. FIRST COME FIRST SERVE. End of story. And while swimming though the river, if your tube does not fit through a crowd of tubes it is not ok to pick it up and go over the crowd or to attempt to dunk the tube and swim under. The tube is full of air and it WILL come to the top, probably before you get past everyone that is in your way.
Yes, my children will be well behaved. If Max knew any better he would have been so embarrassed of me today. After waiting in line for a tube for a very short time I started to notice that there were quite a few kids sneaking to the front and taking the next tubes (you have to wait for someone to exit and be done with the tube before you can get in... for a VERY short river). After about 10 minutes of watching this happen and the lifeguards doing nothing I felt it my place to help out. Oh yes I did. The main problem was one group of kids, and I had no problem telling the little brats to get to the back of the line. One of them even tried to steal a tube from an old lady!!! I could not let this happen. So, lesson of the day, kids in water parks need leashes.

We really did have fun though... and the girls I went with had very well behaved children.

Isn't he cute in his swim shorts?! Don't be fooled, he is NOT asleep in the stroller pic, just looking down. Max does not sleep in public, too much going on I guess.

He is getting to be such a flirt these days, he will smile at anyone who talks to him. By the way, his head ultrasound was wednesday and he did great! The results came back perfectly normal... and perfectly big! We knew they would, but now the pediatrician will be at ease!

Update on the March of Dimes walk... thank you to the 2 people who visited our website. Max's best friend Hunter is going to join in our race. His parents Michelle and Billy are great and we feel that joining forces we will be able to raise more money, get more walkers and of course have that much more fun!! Anyone with good ideas for a team name let me know... I am not creative. Mad Max is cute but I am having trouble with Hunter... Happy Hunter? Not so cute! HELP!!!!

Save the date

2009-03-11T18:34:00.001-07:00

May 3rd everybody!!!! We are going to do a March of Dimes walk in downtown KC, Power and Light district at 10am. Clark and I are going to get t-shirts made (kid sizes too for anyone needing them) and the afternoon after the walk we will have a BBQ at Grandad and Grandma Dee's house. ANYONE is welcome and encouraged to come. We are going to have a great time and help out a cause near and dear to us. Our team name is Mad Max, click here to see our team website. And please, please, please join our team on the website to show your support for little Max. How cool will it be to show him in 10 years all the people willing to be a part of something for him?! Donations for our team are accepted online but also the day of the walk or you can give them to Clark and I. Also, let us know if you are wanting a shirt (size and quantity). We are very excited about doing this and I will keep you updated on the blog.

Ok, so Max... he is doing great. He got a little mini vacation from mommy this weekend. I had a brain lapse when scheduling shifts at 2 jobs, I ended up working fri, sat, sun, mon. YUCK! Clark and Max had a very relaxing weekend together. Ha!! Max apparently had so much fun he wanted it to continue well into the middle of the night. Maybe he was just trying to get as much trouble in to 4 days as possible. Clark reminded me a lot how tired he was, like I was foreign to the whole 24/7 baby care. It is good for him! Nothing really new to report... he is definitely trying to scoot, he picks his butt up so high in the air that I think he is going to try to go from lying on his tummy to sitting. WOW!

Saturday it was really warm here and we got Max dressed up in a super cute outfit with plaid shorts!!! He even wore his mini deck shoes. We had to call Grandad and take him to lunch so he could see his protege!

looks like a shoe model... what a proud mommy I am!!

Yes, he loves these rings, he seems to be playing with them in a lot of pics.

Clark and I got to go out last night for a friend's 30th birthday. We had such a good time! I'll try to post some pics tomorrow. Needless to say, I was already tired from working and I got something like 4 hours of sleep :( Good thing wednesday night has no good tv shows!

Good night everyone...

Beautiful weather

2009-03-05T17:53:00.000-08:00

Today we had the most beautiful weather. I think the high ended up being 81 degrees!!! We wore short sleeves, took walks, rode with the window down, played outside... it was great! Max loves to be outside but officially hates to be hot. He was miserably fussy from about 1:00 on. It may have been the shot, the short nap, the new car seat, who knows, whatever it was made him MAD! He decided to get up at 6:30 this morning, I didn't feed him until 7:30 and then he went down for a nap around 8:40. Here I am thinking it was going to be a great nap... nope. He felt like 45 min into his nap would be a good time to poop. Yep, poop woke him up. Then we were on the go until his doctor's appointment at 12. He really only took cat naps in the car the rest of the day. Needless to say he is passed out right now!

Max playing in the floor this morning, before the fussiness started...

What a big boy sitting all by himself!

Here he is falling over, if you look close you can literally see motion lines of him falling!

Clearly the fussiness has started...

Max on the scale.

As I said earlier Max had a peditrician appointment today. Overall it went well. He weighed in at 17lbs, down from the 10th percentile to the 7th, still pretty good! Only a little over a pound since the last visit but if you remember the week after we last went to the doctor he got sick, had his ear tubes placed, and since has been non-stop active. This would explain that. His height stayed on the same curve, somewhere around the 3rd percentile, ha! What a shrimp. His head is around the same.. the 90th percentile. Geez, kid! I know I am his mom and I'm biased but I don't think his head looks all that big! Looking at the chart, the 10th percentile and the 90th are separated by less than 2". He still has a pretty big soft spot on his head so next week he is going to have an ultrasound done of his brain through that. The ped and I agree that he does not show any signs of problems so sedating him for a CT in not necessary, we'll just take advantage of the huge hole he still has in his skull!! I'm sure he won't hold still for this but maybe if he's sleepy he'll do okay. Moving on... his ears looked great, she said there was very little drainage at all on the right, I haven't seen any. Hopefully this means the infection is clearing up, whew! She seems to think his motor skills are just above that of a 6 month old, which is better than we should expect so I am pleased.
Max got his last synagis shot today. I'm sure he is so happy to hear this, as am I. Today was the worst he has done with a shot to date. He got so mad, not upset, mad. He held his breath, screamed, coughed, gagged... and threw up. Everywhere. Poor little dude needs to completely kick this cold so his gag reflex can calm down!

Mommy and Max waiting for the doctor

This afternoon Clark and I took Max for a walk, this is a great way for us to keep him busy for 30 minutes. He likes it and it's good for us. After our walk Max and his daddy went and jumped on the trampoline! Isn't this just precious!

Tonight for dinner I made a barbecue chicken pizza... not a really exciting recipe but it's my version. I marinated the chicken in broth and bbq sauce, cooked it for 45 min at 350 in some of the marinade then shredded it. I made a homemade pizza crust, ok a little ambitious, it turned out great! A store bought one would be just a good! So, pizza crust, a little more bbq sauce, chicken and cheese. Baked at 475 for 12 min. Easy and good.

Thanks for the comments last night! For anyone who doesn't know how to leave one you just click below where it says _ comments. Then scroll to the bottom and type where it says "leave a comment." Simple.

Going to watch the office now...

Updates + Big boy seat

2009-03-04T18:05:00.000-08:00

Max is definitely getting over his cold, he sounds so much better when he is breathing. Sunday night he was home with Clark and didn't sleep well. Monday I started to notice some gross drainage from his right ear. The ENT told us that because of the tubes an ear infection will present with drainage. We started putting drops in and I called the ENT's office to let them know (they requested I do this). Yesterday they called to check on him and I informed her that there was still a lot of drainage and that I could see it in his canal and I was worried that the drops weren't getting in far enough because of it. She had me bring him in today and they sucked out the wax. Yes, I said sucked out wax. It was so disgusting, but his ear is clean. Anyone who knows me knows that a dirty baby is NOT ok! Have I ever mentioned how much I love the ENT doc? They always get us in and out so quickly since he's little and impatient! They are so friendly and helpful and I really feel like they listen to me. Anyone needing a good ENT let me know and I'll give you a referral!!
Now, I feel the need to share about the kid with the most sensitive gag reflex. Sunday I was getting ready to leave for work but was helping Clark by feeding Max first. He was bites away from being done when he started to cough a little. A little turned into a lot. A lot turned into vomit. Non-stop till his little tummy was EMPTY! I will not be able to eat chicken noodles for a while! He did the same thing last night but this time was just milk, all over his bouncy seat. Then, tonight while eating he coughed a little and only threw up a little, whew. I think the kid doesn't know when to stop eating, so he overeats, so when he coughs he can't help but gag a little on his overflowing belly. I guess I am going to try and feed him less baby food and only when he hasn't had a bottle in a while... we'll see how that goes. Clark and I are sick and tired of cleaning the covers to his various seats! Sunday night I hurried and gave Max a bath while Clark cleaned up the kitchen. I was on my way out and noticed a pair of latex gloves on the table. Clark admitted that he had gone to the garage and gotten them before cleaning. What a dork! I also have to tell you that he came into the hallway more than once to "get some fresh air" in between gagging! Maybe someday he will be desensitized, probably not though.

On a less disgusting note, we got Max a new stroller last week, an umbrella stroller that weighs about 11lbs. It is so great! He loves it and so do I, it is easy to push, easy to load and unload out of the car, etc. It is great! Of course it is a lot cuter in real life when Max is in it. He makes anything cute!

Monday was Clark's birthday so we decided to go out for a delicious dinner. Thanks to Grandma Dee for keeping the little man! We went to one of our favorite places... M&S Grill. They have an amazing filet and we love it with the "oscar style sauce"... crab with butter... YUM! We ate too much, then had ice cream. There goes my workouts for like a week. Oh well, it was delish. Now, speaking of monday night, did anyone else watch the bachelor? What a jerk!! You need to read about what he did to poor Melissa. His favorite line seems to be "you can't live life without regrets." Yes, but that doesn't mean you can stomp all over everyone just to make yourself happy. UGH!

Isn't this a cute picture of Max? Don't mind the slobber and snot all over his chin and nose. Max was a wild man today. He kept getting super excited over everything, squealing and flailing his arms. He cracks me up! He is taking great naps, too. Woohoo!! My hard work is paying off, the only downfall is now he hates to snuggle. I knew it would happen so I just take advantage of it when he lets me (like tonight:))

Today we installed the booster seat into the car, Max has by no means "outgrown" his old carseat but he has grown to hate it! He doesn't mind it as long as the car is moving but when he is not in the car he wants OUT (and it weighs about 28lbs with him in it - hard to carry!). He was kind of fussy when we tried it out but I think he will really enjoy being able to see out the window and to sit up a little more. We'll see.

What a big boy!!! We love him SOO much.
Tomorrow Grandma Dee, Uncle Brad and cousin Taylor are going to see Darren, Becki and Brice. We are very jealous!! We are going to see them in April, Max and I get to stay for 10 days!! Exciting! (Becki- we need to skype soon!)

One more thing, I need some comments people!! Blogging is fun for me, yes, but it is even more fun when I know people are reading and enjoying. So, tell me what you think!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Here's a topic... I am really trying to be a good "housewife" since I am home most of the week. I have been making lots of good recipes and I could share them if anyone is interested. I mean, I am NO gourmet cook, but they are easy (I have a needy 9 month old) and I get no complaints from my hubby so they must be good. I will share if anyone is interested.

fun with daddy (and the remote:))

2009-02-28T14:57:00.001-08:00

Isn't this just too cute? If you look closely you can see one of the batteries for the remote sitting on the table!! Hey, he doesn't care!

Sick baby :(

2009-02-27T19:04:00.000-08:00

Yesterday the cough that Max had for over a week turned into a full fledged cold. In fact in the morning he was coughing so much he started to wheeze again, I called the pediatrician and they couldn't get him in until 2:30 (it was 11:00). We decided to not take any chances and have him seen sooner. We went to the ER at Children's Mercy, yes my new place of employment as well. I have only done one shift but I was supposed to work yesterday. Let's just say that the call I made to let them know my baby was sick and I may not be in got us VIP treatment. Now, I believe that even without my VIP status we should have been seen soon, but hey... it didn't hurt! We got right back, avoiding the urine smell in the waiting room. The doctor checked him out and basically said that we did the right thing, but, he wasn't currently wheezing and his oxygen level was perfect. He said to keep an eye on his breathing and that the cough was what he needed to do. Poor little man is miserable, or is he? I mean, he sounds like CRAP, but he is laughing and playful. Kids are awesome like that! We have the vaporizer going full blast all night, he is covered in baby vicks and he is dosed with motrin at bedtime. Last night he did pretty well, he woke up a couple times, but 4:45 he woke up with snot bubbles. After we sucked out his nose, changed his diaper and mommy rocked him, he slept until 7ish. Clark put his binky in his mouth then and he didn't wake up for good until 7:45. Can't complain, really. Today he is doing a little better, he is really fighting his naps because his cough wakes him up so much. He has been asleep since 7 and right now is making NO noises! Shoot, I hope I didn't just jinx myself! Here is the "sick" little boy playing in his jumpy seat today...

Ok, ok, for the exciting news of the day. We have been saying for a while that we needed, wanted, a new kitchen sink. When we built our house we had to be really careful spending money on upgrades since we were living on one income. Well, our sink served it's purpose but the faucet was awful. The sprayer hasn't worked for over a year, the water comes on when it feels like it, and, ok that's it, we just hate it!!! Today we decided, after Clark tried to get the water on for 3 minutes, to use some of our tax return on a new sink (yeah us, we haven't spent any of it so far!!). Guess we should thank Max for the sink then huh? ha! Our precious little tax return!!! So, here are a few pics before, during and after.

The old one...

Big hole + Clark, my super handy husband...

Looking good!!

WOW!!! I love it!!!!

Well, who knows how the night will go, better get some sleep!

"My kid will never get that..."

2009-02-25T18:10:00.001-08:00

I know anyone who knows Clark has heard him say that he would never give Max anything that would turn soggy or mushy in his mouth. He has been so grossed out watching other people pick up saliva soaked food and clean up the mess it left behind. Well, as we all knew he would one day give in. Today was that day. Max got a "biter biscuit." It was pretty nasty, I can't lie. Max thouroughly enjoyed it and it entertained him all the way through us eating dinner. So nice to eat in peace! As you can see, he made quite a mess!

Nap time continues to go pretty well, he is only taking one long nap in his bed each day but that is mostly my fault. I keep him so busy we are only home for one nap. Max went to the gym daycare this morning where they fed him (a big step for anyone who knows me... I let a stranger feed him!) and he took a nap. Then we went shopping for daddy's birthday present. When we got home he slept for an hour and a half! Plenty of time for me to shower and eat lunch. We have really been enjoying the nice weather here. We went for a walk last night and tonight. I can't wait for it to be warm for good! That's all for today, I work tomorrow so I apologize in advance for no post.

Leaps and Bounds!

2009-02-24T17:38:00.000-08:00

I know I said a couple weeks ago that Max had learned so many new thing so fast but he hasn't stopped! He is so different each week. Last week we started the nap thing and I don't know but I think it has made a huge difference. He used to nap for about 30-60 min, now he is napping almost 2 hours at a time! He is so well rested that he doesn't get nearly as fussy as he used to. Now, every time I talk about how great he is doing or how happy he has been he gives me a day where that reverses. I hope tomorrow is good!

Last week Max and I went shopping all day on Thursday... he was SO good. It was a long day but he was patient. We came home to a clean house (thanks to my self indulgence... a cleaning lady once a month), later Thursday night we went to Paige's house (one of the wives left home during the ski trip!). We had yummy dinner and watched a chick flick. Perfect way to spend a night without the hubby! Then I worked all weekend- friday, saturday and sunday... yuck. Needless to say last night I was too tired to make a post. Sorry to any avid readers!

Yesterday Max had an ENT appointment and I was curious to see what he said about the tubes. He pulled out a nasty "blood clot," it looked like a scab. Other than that he said they both looked great! Yeah! Then we went to PT and hung out with Michelle. We love her!

Ok, so I said leaps and bounds, I'll elaborate.

Scooting...?
Sunday when Clark got home we were playing with Max on the floor. He was reaching so hard for toys while laying on his tummy. There was a yellow ring just out of reach so he pulled his legs under him and lunged forward! I make it sound much more dramatic and graceful than it was, in fact a couple of the times he accidentally picked him butt up too high and flipped himself over. You could totally tell he was trying to move forward though!!!

New noises...
He always has been a noisy little man but lately he is conversing. He will sit in his car seat and just talk and talk. He also loves to squeal. Clark always thinks he is getting upset but when you look at him he is smiling so big! He isn't too big on laughing but he loves to get excited. He flaps his arms and shakes his head. It is too cute!

Sitting up...
Not only is he sitting up on his own, he is sitting in high chairs and carts at the store! I got a really cute thing that is just a piece of fabric that velcros to the front of a cart (I also put it on high chairs) and it has toys attached. If I pad around him with a blanket then he can't fall back or to the side so he sits and plays with the toys. He has been so much better at restaurants because of it. Grandma Cathy must have read about my unsafe bath seat last week so she brought over a bath chair for Max. He seems to really like it, he tries to reach for toys in the tub a lot! Thanks Grandma Cathy!

Rolling, rolling, rolling...
As you can see in the picture below he rolls all over the living room! I put him down the other day and went up to wash his bottle out. I looked down and he was gone! He rolled all the way across the floor. Too funny!

Eating...
Max has always been a good eater but he gets better everyday! This picture is too cute, he doesn't quite get it that it has to be open first!

Yesterday we set up our web cam on a program called Skype. Now we are able to talk to Becki, Darren and cousin Brice all the way in Tenessee. It is so cool! Anybody out there with a web cam let me know! I don't think Brice knows what to think of it but I love it!

Sorry again for the days without posts, I will try and do better! Good Night!

Fun times :)

2009-02-18T17:53:00.000-08:00

First an update: Max and I are still working on a routine. This morning we dropped Clark off for his ski trip and went to the gym. When we got home I put Max down for a nap, he fell asleep very fast and slept for almost an hour and a half. I had to wake him up to get ready for lunch!! This afternoon was a different story... He took a catnap on the way to get his flu shot and when we got home I tried to put him down but he screamed for an HOUR! I gave up and let him stay awake, he was one fussy kid though. I gave in and fed him early, and surprisingly he ate very well. Then he had a bath and was laughing and playing in the bathtub. After the bath... back to grumpy kid. Grandma Dee and Grandad came over to bring me dinner and Max finally went to bed around 7. Whew! He wears me out.

The fun part of the day was going to lunch with Kelli and Cassie. They were some of my favorite nurses from the NICU and they loved Max. Max was not sharing any smiles but they still enjoyed him. We went to the new gymboree outlet and the carter's store and I got Max some new stuff. He outgrows stuff so fast! Here are some pictures from lunch, Max has good taste in girls, huh?

Max and I have a big day of shopping tomorrow!!! Better rest up...

Working on a routine...

2009-02-17T14:44:00.000-08:00

Max proved last week when he was with his daddy that he has gone from spoiled to rotten. Clark had to drive around to get him to nap. I know that most people would say, "we've all done that." Ok, fine, once in a while. But, every nap for 2 straight days... poor Clark! I had decided I was going to get the book Babywise, but looking through it I think it's very focused on newborns. Who thinks about this stuff that early on?! I am going to use some of their methods... cycles of eat, wake, sleep... in that order. Max loves to fall asleep with a bottle in his mouth, so now when I feed him at night I will wake him up, for just a second, and then put him to bed semi-awake. I am also weaning out the swaddle blanket. He is rolling so much and getting out of it anyway so I guess it's time to remove the suffocation hazard. Today was our first day with all of this, Max did great! He slept until 7:30, ate, played and then got fussy. I put him in bed awake and unswaddled. I went in after 10 minutes because I could hear him playing. I rolled him to his back and put his binky back in. Seconds later he was out! Woohoo! He slept maybe 30 minutes, ate cereal and we went to the gym. After we got home he had a bottle and fell right to sleep when I put him down. Around 4 I laid him down again, this time he screamed for 5 minutes. I was going to wait 10 but he was really worked up (and I'm a sucker). I flipped him over, binky in, and... OUT! This time for almost an hour. He was still fussy this evening, and went to bed around 6:45. I am expecting an early morning... :(

Max is fighting off a little bit of a cold again. I can't tell if it is actually going to go anywhere or just be a sorta runny nose and a cough. Last night he freaked me out a little, after his bath he had a coughing spell that made him wheeze. After about an hour he was fine but I had already made up my mind to make sure he was ok. I took him to urgent care and everything checked out perfect. His oxygen levels were good and his lungs were clear. He did have some fluid behind his right ear and the doctor said the tube looked a little "out of place." UGH! We have an appointment with the ENT monday so hopefully we will get this cleared up. Poor Max, he sure does have bad luck.

He is rolling everywhere these days. This morning he was playing on his blanket while I was washing his bottle. I looked down and couldn't see him, he rolled all the way to the coffee table. What a goof. He sits almost all by himself too. We put the bebepod chair in the bathtub (even though it says, "never use as a bath seat" I was with him the whole time!). He is way too big for his bathtub and he loves to sit up. It was ok, hard to wash his man parts and butt though.

These pics are from his occupational therapy yesterday. He gets cuter everyday.

He showed her how well is eating from a spoon. Then he got controlling and took the spoons. He wanted to do it himself!

I got Max a new sippy cup today and he actually figured this one out. He did so great holding it up himself too! He had apple juice all over his shirt but he sure did enjoy it!!

Clark is leaving for a ski trip in the morning so it is just mommy and Max for the next few days. We are doing all kinds of fun stuff, lunch with Kelli and Cassie (fave NICU nurses), shopping, flu shots.. ok some not so fun stuff too. Hope Clark has fun but we will miss him around here!

New toy + cute pics

2009-02-12T19:35:00.000-08:00

Yesterday Max was pretty fussy... ok, really fussy... for his daddy. When I got home from work we went to babies r us to get diapers and decided to get a new toy, hopefully to ease the fussiness! Here he is in his new jumper, it took him a while to figure it out, but he seemed to enjoy it!

Today he did better, Clark kept him busy with outings and a walk! At least when I got home he wasn't screaming!! We took these pictures after his bath and he was being SOOOOO cute!

Don't you just love him?!! Clark and I took advantage of our new revelation... eating out after Max's bedtime! We went to dinner with Tiffany (my friend from Nursing school) and her boyfriend Paul. We had a really nice time and Max was amazing! He woke up for a while but sat in his car seat completely quiet and calm. I don't use those words to describe Max very often! Well, I am very tired so I am going to bed. Tomorrow is the last day I have to get up early... yeah!!
Hope you enjoy the pics!

Busy Mommy

2009-02-10T18:37:00.000-08:00

I am very sorry to my blog readers for the lack of posts. I would like to use the excuse that I am just sooo tired at night, but the reality is I have been going to bed almost immediately after Max! Last night after I put him to bed I took a shower and fell asleep probably by 9! I am not even getting up that much earlier but at least I am getting good sleep! I didn't get to see much of my sweet boy over the weekend... I would wake him up, take him to Grandma Dee's and go to work. When I got home from work on Saturday he was asleep, Sunday Clark kept him up and I got to spend about 45 min with him before bed. He was all smiles and it was so great! Monday I had the same morning routine but I got done (with my first day of orientation!) at about 3 so I was able to see him, and Clark :), all evening. Today Max stayed home and Grandma Cathy came over. He NEVER sleeps past 6:30 anymore, except today. He slept until right after I left! What a brat.
When I got home from work we went to see GG. She is doing a little better. She has moments where she gets confused so they are going to keep her close to the nursing station. Her leg is healing well and her kidneys are better. Hopefully she will get some energy and be able to do more activity.
Tomorrow is the same as today, Max will get to hang out with Grandma Cathy. Clark and I are so blessed with awesome parents and Max is one lucky kid to have people who are willing to put up with him!!! Well, I have nothing else to post because we haven't done anything exciting lately. Hopefully soon...

-back to the Biggest Loser!

Teething :(

2009-02-06T18:59:00.001-08:00

Fun in the bebe-pod chair.

These pictures are from yesterday. It's funny at first he really liked the chair and then he quickly changes his mind. I think at one point he bit too hard on the toy! His sad little face is very fake... He is teething for sure, lots of drool, everything in his mouth and fussy more often than not. Hurry up teeth!!!

Today Max has been a "happy teether." He really only took one good nap and didn't go to bed until almost 8, with the exception of a few fussy moments he was a happy kid. The weather was SO nice, Max even got to wear short sleeves! I love his chubby arms! Even though he was born in June he didn't get to enjoy much of the summer. By the time he came home it was starting to cool off and he was still so little he didn't get out much. I think he likes the fresh air, he's not crazy about wind in his face. He makes a gasping noise like he is choking on water, yeah he's dramatic!

Look at the bubbles! Max also ate like a pig today, a big bowl of cereal... mixed with apples, pears and bananas... the combo fruit he didn't like the other day. He ate every bite of his sweet potatoes and banans tonight, then took his whole bottle. I think he gets his eating habits from his dad! (ok, I like to eat too)
Well, I have to work at 7am tomorrow since I have orientation at Children's all next week. Boo. I hate mornings and I have to work the next 9 days straight, 7 of which are mornings. Please be good Max!

I know a while back I wrote about GG (Clark's grandma). Not too long ago she moved into an assisted living facility while she underwent treatment for lung cancer. Just this week she fell and broke her hip. She surprised everyone and tolerated the surgery well and her leg is healing great. Unfortunately her kidneys are now failing and she is requiring some assistance to help her breathe. She is in a really critical state right now and could use some prayers. If it is her time, then pray she goes without pain. If not, she needs help healing and bouncing back quickly. Her body is frail and cannot take stress well. Also pray for Clark's family as this is really hard on them. Thanks!

Good night!

Nothing New

2009-02-05T19:21:00.000-08:00

Today was a pretty boring day... we were supposed to have direct tv installed this morning but they were "missing a part." They said they would be back later and that they would call when they knew what time, at 6pm they showed up! At least it was in time to watch my Thursday night tv! Priorities. Max was pretty fussy all day. I can't tell if he is teething, growing or just spoiled rotten. Either way he wears me out!! He ate very well and played very little. Thank goodness Clark was home today. So, there is nothing new today. Boring is good! Hopefully he sleeps well, he has been waking up at least once a night to be rocked a little. I just had to go up there, it takes less than 2 minutes though, so I won't complain. 10-12 hours is a long time to go without seeing his mommy! I'll post some new pictures tomorrow. Good night!

2009-02-04T19:06:00.000-08:00

Today was a very fun day for Max, and mom and dad! Max and I had lunch with some of my friends, one of which has a 3 month old. It was very fun to see them and the baby... she is soo adorable. So calm, quiet and relaxed- the opposite of Max lately! Then we had to go get Max's RSV shot. Ok, this part of the day was not so fun. I hate when he gets shots. He weighed in at 16lbs even! Which is great, except now his RSV shot is so much it has to be split into 2 shots. He did not like it at all!

These pictures are from a couple days ago, he had rolled over and was making some really funny faces.

Ok, the funnest part of the day... Our friends from the NICU came over for dinner. We met Billy and Michelle right away when we entered the NICU. Their son, Hunter, was born the week before Max at 27 weeks. The boys almost shared a due date. We really lucked out meeting them, the boys were right next door to each other for 2 months. Out of all the positives from the NICU this definitely ranks close to the top. We really enjoy hanging out with them, they are so down to earth and really good people. It's really fun to see the boys progress together! They are so different! Hunter has 2 teeth... so cute, he is sitting up really well, he loves to eat and he smiles at everything! Here is a picture of them playing.

This is a blackmail picture for the boys first dates! It was really funny when we laid Hunter down and they looked like they were playing footsies. Billy didn't like this very much!

Well, all in all today was fun. Max is still fussy from teething but hopefully will cut them soon and move on! Going to watch Top Chef now, good night!

Finally some good news!!!

2009-02-03T18:24:00.001-08:00

It seems like everytime we take Max to a doctor's appointment they always say "he looks great, but let's keep an eye on..." Well, today Max saw the eye doctor to be re-evaluated for ROP (retinopathy of prematurity- caused by being on oxygen while the eyes are still developing). In the NICU his eyes were "maturing right on track" but with Max there is always a curve ball! Well, he told us there was no sign at all of any damage and to top it off he has some normal near-sightedness (difficulty focusing on far away objects) and lacking any far-sightedness- which would be abnormal. Best News... statistically he will never need glasses. He gave us a 75% guarantee even! Woohoo Max! He got his daddy's eyes for sure, color and sight!

I forgot to mention, speaking of doctor's appointments, Max saw a surgeon last week about his hernia. The first doctor that saw him said "it looks like a hernia, so let's get him scheduled for surgery." A few minutes later another doctor (the one we were supposed to see) came in and in detail explained why a hernia could cause the fluid in his testicle and what the other causes could be. Basically, if the testicle gets bigger when he is mad, crying or playing and is smaller when he is sleeping or resting, then there is still an opening in the abdominal muscle (definition of hernia:)) and he would need to have it repaired. The other possibility is that some fluid got trapped in his testicle before the muscle closed up and it will just absorb over the next year or two- we would not see a change in size in this case. Which leads to... we are just going to keep an eye on it at home and watch for the signs that would prove it is a hernia. If we see those signs we are to simply call and they will schedule him. The good news is that they won't do the surgery for at least a few more months so that he will be bigger and stronger and not have to spend the night in the hospital. The only time I can remember to pay attention to the size is when he is playing in the bathtub. I think I see it change sizes, but I could be crazy. I am going to try and remember to look in the morning and then throughout the day and see what happens. See what I mean, "he looks great, but let's keep an eye on...!"

Max continues to do so well with his feedings. He LOVES oatmeal, bananas and applesauce. Doesn't seem crazy about peaches, definitely didn't like the combo pears, apples and bananas. His face was hilarious, he acted like it was sour and I think he almost gagged even! What a goof. He pretty much is ok with any veggie so far, just has a love of carrots. Still doing awesome on the new formula. We got him a sippy cup today and the handles fit on our bottles (thanks aunt Becki for the tip!) so we are working on him holding the bottle. He looks so stinking cute trying to get it in his mouth! He is also still rolling like crazy. Yesterday at OT he rolled once in an hour. I swear at home I can't keep the kid on his back anymore! What a brat, he didn't feel like showing off. At occupational therapy Ashley works on more fine motor skills so he showed her how well he is holding toys and putting them in his mouth. He did ok with food for her, again he didn't want to show off!

Yesterday Max started to seriously get a tooth... ugh! Drooling, fussy, and diarrhea. What a joy! He is doing better today because we kept up on tylenol and motrin. Hopefully he'll sleep good. Last night we went to dinner with some friends, Bart, Paige and their boys. We had a really nice time and best of all Max slept through it. I think we found the secret to going to dinner... timing. If we go early he is awake and fussy. If we go around 7:30, he is supposed to be in bed and he will sleep. It was so nice to have him there with us but not being a pain!

By the way he is doing so great without his monitor, ok, I am doing great without it! It is such a relief and a weight lifted. One less reminder of his past. I like to think of him as a "normal" baby. I am no longer going to worry about explaining him to anyone. His size, his development, etc is PERFECT. He is sooo adorable, so sweet, and has come so far to be held back with excuses. I just love him! I know Clark and I look at him all the time and think how lucky we are to have him here and we could have never imagined a love like this. It also really has made us appreciate and love each other that much more. We are a very blessed family!

Enough mushy stuff! Good night!

Rolie Polie

2009-01-30T17:04:00.000-08:00

Max is rolling!!! Yep, both ways... he rolled over in his crib the other day, as Clark said though, "it didn't count." Well today he rolled from his back to his tummy over and over again on the floor. So many times that we were able to catch in on camera...

It's funny to watch him throw his whole body the other direction to get enough momentum to pick up his head. He has a lot of brains in there and they are heavy! He is having such a great week, I can't even believe the progress since Monday! What a cutie he is!
Max and I officially did nothing today. We hung out around the house and made dinner, played a lot, ate and slept (well he slept). When daddy got up he played with Max for a while, this is when we got the video. Then after we ate we all went for ice cream! Max ate carrots and bananas for dinner. Daddy tried to feed him tonight and he did pretty good. He fed him his carrots and part of the bananas, he is just learning to be patient! He has a really funny method to getting the "chin dribble" back in his mouth. Maybe someday he'll let me video it, probably not though! Also tonight we had to empty the diaper genie... so gross. I hate that smell, and since trash day was yesterday we get to enjoy it in our garage for a week. Gross. Maybe next time I should plan better! Well, I am going to enjoy yet another Friday night alone... Good night everyone!

Mommy and Max

2009-01-29T17:25:00.000-08:00

I just love spending the days with Max, don't get me wrong it can be exhausting when he is in a bad mood or doesn't feel good. But, when he is happy he is sooo much fun!! Max and I went to lunch with Grandma Dee and he flirted with everyone. Anytime someone would walk up and talk to him he would give them big smiles! The waitress at lunch carried him around for a little bit and he got her a lot of attention. Then Max and I went to Walmart, I really hate that place but it is very cheap! He was in a great mood all day! He ate squash for dinner, another veggie he used to hate. He ate the whole container plus a whole thing of bananas. I just kept feeding him and he kept eating. After his bath he got to wear his robe around the house. Since we don't have to mess with the monitor strap we can lather lotion all over him and he can lay around naked (Max loves this!). This is the first time he has worn the robe and I think he liked it!

Big blue eyes

He was a little fussy getting to sleep tonight, but he only slept about an hour and a half all day so I think he was just really tired. Hopefully he'll sleep a little later tomorrow... yeah right! Well, I am going to catch up on some tivo tonight and hopfully get to bed earlier than the last 2 nights. By the way, if you haven't seen Biggest Loser, you need to. I just love that show, it makes me want to eat for some reason, but I love the meaning behind it. This week the "biggest contestant ever" got kicked off. He is 19 or 20, I can't remember, anyway... when they get eliminated they show them now -in an update. Wow! He looked great. You all should watch it. I love TV! The Office is on now, it's a re-run, but it really doesn't matter, still hilarious! Good night!

Bye Bye Monitor

2009-01-28T18:10:00.000-08:00

Well, as the title reads... we are done with the apnea monitor. After a solid 3 weeks of not even a false alarm beep the NICU doctor feels Max is ready to graduate. The thought of this used to make me so nervous but I don't even really think about the monitor anymore. My thoughts have changed from, "I hope the monitor doesn't beep" to "I hope Max doesn't wake up till 7!" He is really a very good baby and I shouldn't complain but lately he has been waking up around 6. I am NOT a morning person so I don't know where he got this from. I am hoping as he gets bigger he will enjoy sleeping in as much as I do! Max must be growing because he was a pain in the butt today. As soon as he would eat he would fuss again, I would try to play with him and he would start fussing. The only time he was happy was when he was eating. Which by the way, he has continued to do very well with. The formula is amazing and the kid is loving his veggies! He ate a whole thing (for Gdad, a "thing" is approx 1/2cup) of sweet potatoes and half an applesauce, and only half because I stopped him. What a pig! I think he would have eaten all day if I would have let him. In fact, at one point I had to give him a few ounces of apple juice because he just wanted the bottle in his mouth SO bad!

Other than keeping up with the day to day life of Max for family and friends to read, I am also doing this blog as a scrapbook for myself. I am not artistic at all so this is an easy and fun way to remember. I wish I would have known about the blog world when Max was in the NICU so I could remember all the milestones there... but I didn't. So, occasionally I'm going to post NICU pics for our enjoyment!

These are from the day of Max's baby shower. He had to get a blood transfusion this day because he had filled pages up with his apnea/bradycardia spells. *On a side note I read a few other blogs and it's funny to me when people are worried about 2 or 3 spells. It was nothing for Max to have 10-20/day. I think 6 was one of the best days we had for a while! Everyone's perspective is different.* Anyway, he got his transfusion while I was at the shower and when I got back his pants were on backwards... what did he do while I was gone...! They also gave him a diuretic (Lasix) with the blood to help get rid of extra fluid. Well, I was holding him that evening and the little man peed all over me! The transfusion was supposed to give him more energy and decrease the spells. I never did notice a difference, he was checked at least twice a week for infection and was always fine. He just liked the attention of the monitors beeping when he had one. All the girls came running... sounds like Max may have known what he was doing all along!

Before the IV... sleepy head

After... still sleepy

Pants on backwards :) ... still sleeping after the blood

And later that night, still sleeping... see? no magic bursts of energy!

Some pics of the baby shower... thanks Aunt Becki! It was awesome!

Also, thanks to Aunt Crystal, she made an amazing video for us that we played at the shower. I know it had everyone crying and it will be watched for years to come. If anyone can think of something memorable that happened in the NICU or would like to see specific pictures just let me know. Like I said, I am not artistic/creative so ideas are appreciated!

New Baby

2009-01-27T18:42:00.000-08:00

Max has done a complete 180 from last week at this time and I am so happy! Saturday afternoon Max had another episode of projectile vomit... and 2 hours after his bottle. As Grandma Dee and I cleaned him and the mess up we were talking about when all the volcanoes began. We agreed that he has spit up more since we have been adding more formula to his bottles. Since the frozen breast milk will only last so long we are needing to find a formula that is easier on his tummy so when he is on all formula he isn't miserable. We switched to Gentlease, for babies who have gas or are fussy. Max isn't really either of these, but the formula has "partially broken down proteins" so I thought it might be easier on him. And so far so good! He has only spit up once, Max and Clark were visiting GG in her temporary home and Clark said the room was very hot, maybe that made him sick (anyone who has ridden in the car with Clark knows he can't be hot, or "he'll throw up," too funny, Becki you'll like that one! Max is more and more like his daddy every day!). The next improvement is the reaching for toys. Not only does he love his toys but he loves anything in front of him, including the remotes, cell phones and our drinks. Typical baby! This afternoon I had Max in his crib while I put some stuff in his closet and when I turned around he was on his tummy... he rolled over!! Clark says it doesn't count because his head is elevated. Clark is jealous he didn't see it, cause it counts! His head was up, he didn't roll down hill or anything. He has also perfected the tummy to back roll, he no longer leads with his abnormally large head. Now he picks up his butt with his feet and knocks it over. He is going to be rolling all over soon! However, the most improvement I have seen happened tonight. I almost always try to feed Max baby food and usually whatever I can get in his mouth he'll eat, but getting it in is a tricky process. Tonight, Max ate a whole thing of green beans and half a container of bananas, and he opened his mouth!!! That's right, never once did I have to force in the spoon! I know he got full, too, because he got a bath right after the food and then wanted his bottle and only took 3oz before passing out! Lately I have had to give him his 6oz and then rock him to sleep. He is doing so great and I am SO glad! He still has his fussy moments, but it is so nice to see him feeling great and making such great progress.

His ears are also doing great, I haven't noticed much drainage and he is definitely hearing everything. Just now I was downstairs doing some laundry and hit the wall with the basket. He immediately woke up crying and wanted his binky! I don't know if anyone has noticed or not, but Max has a new binky! For so long he really wanted the vanilla scented "soothie" binky, but only during the day and only when he was sleepy. All of the sudden when we changed his bottles he didn't want anything to do with the vanilla binky. I happen to have a few different ones in his diaper bag and when we were in Tenessee I tried a new one and WOW! All of the sudden he wants it all the time, he has even woken up early in the night (9 or 10) for me to put it back in his mouth. Too cute! I just love him so much and I get so happy for him when he learns or discovers something new. There is nothing better that watching someone so innocent learn things for the first time.

This picture is hilarious! If you look closely you can see that Max's hair is standing straight up. Clark was rubbing his head with a fleece blanket...

I finally remembered my camera for Max's PT appointment the other day so here are some cute photos of him playing with Michelle, we love her!

Good Night!

Max gets his 5th sense :)

2009-01-23T21:08:00.000-08:00

Ok so he could hear before, but not 100%. And now... he can!!! Max did so great during his surgery. The procedure took less than 20 minutes, no joke, we barely had time to get drinks and something to eat before they called out "Max's mom."
He woke up at 5am the day of surgery and over the 5 o'clock hour (he couldn't eat past 6) he ate 10oz of pedialyte. I tried to stretch it so he wouldn't get hungry too soon and he did great! We got to the hospital and waited in the waiting room for a little, and in pre-op for a while, but once he realized he wasn't getting food he just passed out. It was so cute, he was laying on the table and looking at his glow worm, I rubbed his head for about 10 seconds and he was out! Then it was finally his turn, and while it was pretty hard to hand him over to the nurse I think I did well. I must admit 3 months in the NICU taught me lots of love and a strong trust in medical professionals. After his surgery we waited almost all day in an observation unit for a room in the hospital.
*On a side note... Max also decided to share his tummy ailment with Clark and he got hit with it on Wed night and it extended into Thurs morning. He was not in any shape for going to the hospital with Max and I, and quite honestly I can only take care of one baby at a time. So, of course, Grandma Dee to the rescue! She was there to help, probably a good thing, she is not a patient waiter and this way she knew what was going on at every second! Plus she is an awesome grandma and is soooo helpful. Thanks mom... I mean Grandma!

Here are some pics of the day.

Waiting room

Pre-op: How cute is this gown? Seriously!

Loving on Max

Asleep on the exam table and paper... only a baby could fall asleep here.

After surgery.

This t-shirt is hilarious, it won't fit him till his 3rd birthday though!

Getting wheeled to his room...

Passed out on a pretty lady!

Bath time... he splashed water EVERYWHERE!!!

So, all in all, everything went very well. I do have to complain a little about the room we stayed in. Tiny. Loud. Bright. Recliner bed. As if that is not bad enough, the night shift nurses were awful. I felt like we were such a hassle and to top it off they decided Max needed to be in isolation for VRE (some bowel bacteria that I promise we would know if he had...if you catch my drift...). They said it was because he "came from another hospital," wait a second... you mean the NICU at Overland Park? 4 months ago? Really? How ridiculous, if this is the case then EVERY baby should be on isolation because no baby is born at children's, thus they all "came from another hospital." Oh well, we decided this just kept their rude germs off him! I slept terribly, maybe got 4 hours of sleep. But our amazing day nurse was back and discharged us home at 7:45... thanks Christa! By the way Christa carried him around a little WITHOUT a gown on. Ok, enough complaining. I promise though, we will not be put on that unit again without a strong fight! I had to go to work today at 10, and while I was rushed this morning on little sleep the day was actually really great. I worked with some great people and Max got to spend the day with daddy. When I got off at 10 I was able to come home to an empty house (Max is with Grandma and Grandad... again!... I promise they don't mind... I hope!). I am catching up on the blog, my tivo shows, and my wine! Great end to a kinda busy and stressful week. Back to work this weekend :(
Oh one more thing... update on the job interview a couple weeks ago. I officially have a 2nd job. I will be working in the ER at Children's Mercy PRN (as needed or when I want to work). I am looking forward to this opportunity and I feel now, being a mom, that I need to take care of babies again!

Back to my shows and wine... Good night!!

Catch Up

2009-01-21T18:50:00.000-08:00

So, I apologize for the lack of posts! We were in Tenessee over the weekend as you can see from the last post and Max had to keep things interesting! Let me start of by re-capping the events:

Friday night Darren stayed home with the boys and Becki took my parents, Clark and I to the Bluebird Cafe in Nashville. This is a place where aspiring and well-known singer/songwriters perform. It was well worth the drive and the late night, we all really enjoyed it and agree that this was a place we will visit every time we go to Tenessee.
Saturday we decided to go to downtown Nashville and explore. This is when we learned that going to Tenessee requires planning! We spent the whole day trying to find places to eat. It was exhausting!
Sunday we went to the Kix Brooks Vinyard. It was a lot of fun and the wine tasting was very nice!

Sunday afternoon Max started to get sick. He started with the vomiting and by morning it was both ends. Poor baby got a lot of pedialyte on Monday and we didn't go anywhere. He was still pretty puny on the plane ride home, but luckily he wore himself out and after 6oz of pedialyte he slept the whole way home.
Then last night, Max gave me whatever he had. Yuck. Thank God for Grandparents, they came to get him since Clark had to go to work. I was able to get some much needed rest and though I haven't felt 100% today I have a wonderful husband who got less than 4 hours of sleep so he could help me with all of Max's appointments.

OT was his second appt and it went well. He was very hungry and got to show Ashley how well he is eating these days. He then got tired and didn't make it much more than 30 minutes. He doesn't play well on command! I don't blame him, I don't like being told what to do either.

We went to the Pre-Anesthesia Testing center and officially got his surgery scheduled for his tubes for tomorrow! Yeah!! Tomorrow morning we have to be there by 8:15 and he will get them done around 9. We will then spend the night to make sure he has no problems with the anasthesia. They are keeping him because he was preemie and is not quite 60 weeks gestation. I just hope he doesn't get too mad at me in the morning when he gets pedialyte again... he really hates that stuff!

So, he seems to be feeling better today, still having watery poop and some diaper rash but he is not nearly as irritable and is eating a lot better. He ate 8oz at bedtime tonight! That is normal Max!

Better get to bed, we have to get up at 5:30 to give him his meds and pedialyte bottle. Sorry again for the lack of posts, I planned on doing it last night but obviously wasn't feeling up to it! I'll post tomorrow and update on the surgery.

Good night!

Hello Tenessee

2009-01-16T13:41:00.000-08:00

First off, Max is finally doing so much better after his recent ear problems and colds. Yesterday he finally started acting like his old self, playful and happy all day! He took 2 good naps in his bed and was very good at the gym daycare while mommy got to get a little workout in! I thought last night might be rough when he got up at 11 (I hadn't even gone to bed). I got him back to sleep and went there myself, just in case we were up all night... Well, I had to get up before him to get ready and finish packing!! Yeah Max! He did very well on the plane, we got him to take a little bit of bottle during take off and then he slept up until landing, at which point he flirted with everyone around. He really surprised me, considering the ENT said he may be in a lot of pain due to the fluid in his ears. Yeah Max! So we are in Tenessee now, hanging out with cousin Brice and Aunt Becki. There new house is beautiful and we are looking forward to some fun times here. Max is currently asleep in his car seat so I am going to enjoy my time and relax!!

Doctor's appointment

2009-01-14T18:42:00.000-08:00

Well today we went to see the pediatrician for Max's "6 month check up and shots." He is actually a little over 7 months but the NICU forgot to give him all of his shots at 2 months and he got them at 3 instead, therefore we are a month behind. No biggie. Anyway, he weighed in at 15lbs 14oz! Holy Cow, he is not struggling with weight gain at all! He went from the 4th percentile to the 10th! He is still in the 4th or 5th for height, but maintaing his own curve. His head, well... it's big! I don't remember exactly where it fell, but I think it jumped from about the 10th to about the 50th! Dr. R wants to keep an eye on it to make sure it doesn't keep getting bigger too fast so at our next RSV shot we'll have them measure. I think it just means his brain is getting big, after all he has learned a lot of new things over the past 2 months! She also was a little concerned that he may have a hernia. It is VERY common in preemies and it is really not a big deal. His left testicle has fluid in it and sometimes it's just that, but sometimes it means hernia. We will go see a urologist at children's to follow up. Yet another appt at Children's! (By the way, sorry Max for talking about your testicles on the internet!) She was pretty pleased with his development. He is grabbing at things very well, this is a 4-5 month skill and since he is 4 months corrected that's right on target. She also said that at 6 months she expects occasional rolling and sitting with support, so he is ahead on that one. It's hard to keep track, but pretty much the rule of thumb is that developmentally we go by "corrected age" (he was 3 months early so we subtract 3 months from his "actual age") and for things like, "motrin at 6 months" or "baby foods at 6 months" we go by actual age. While feeding him baby food incorporates a developmental milestone that we don't expect till 6 months "corrected" it doesn't hurt to try and he thinks it's kind of fun as long as it is something he likes! Dr. R encouraged us to keep trying the baby food but not get frustrated yet because he is still getting everything he needs from the breast milk/formula. Sorry for the lesson, but these are things I did not know before becoming a mom much less a preemie mom!
Lastly at our visit he got his shots... Let me tell you that the first round I had to witness was bad, really bad. The RSV ones are awful, but it is just one shot. Today he got 4! It was the worst!! He cries real tears:( He won't settle down:( And he has been miserable all night:( I fed him an all formula bottle around 4 (practice for our trip) and he did pretty good until just when we sat down to eat at 5:30. We put him in his excersaucer and within minutes he had puked everywhere. He basically made a trench of puke around him because it pooled in the toy part of the excersaucer. Yuck. He was pretty fussy for about an hour and I finally gave in to the "bedtime routine." He got a bath, ate 7 ounces of milk (no nasty formula) and got all his medicine. We added a little motrin to his cocktail and he fell asleep on me so peacefully. As you should remember I love this part of the day! I am just hoping he sleeps well tonight.
No other news I can think of. Tomorrow will be a busy day since we, I mean I, will have to get laundry done and most of the packing done for our trip. I hate this part but I am excited to see Becki and Darren and of course Cousin B, who by the way apparently loves the laughing baby video! Too cute!

Fun in the tub!

2009-01-13T19:16:00.000-08:00

Max and I started the day off by going to the gym... yeah me!! Then my precious little man took an hour long nap, in his BED! I was able to take a shower in peace, get ready and do the dishes before he woke up. He had a PT appointment this afternoon and once again Michelle said "he looks amazing!" He is SO close to rolling from his back to his tummy, he can already go tummy to back but only does it when he feels like it (sounds like his daddy!) He was able to sit on his own for almost 10 seconds. That is a pretty long time and he was even straight up, because as soon as he isn't straight up he loses his balance completely. He is also really interested in putting things in his mouth and grabbing at toys. I don't realize it day to day but it has been 2 weeks since his last therapy appt and he really is doing a lot of new things!!

Well, I don't have any new pics so I decided to do a "timeline of bathtime"

From his first spongebath ever... 10 days old

First time I saw him without any tubes, for a brief moment anyway... 2 1/2 weeks old

To his first tub bath... 3 1/2 weeks old

Not the first tub bath, but I LOVE his face in this one... to me it says "mom, quit taking pictures of me when I'm in the bathtub!" ...5 weeks old

You can really get a good idea of his size. By the way his "bathtub" is a plastic bin approx 12" x 18"

First bath at home... 11 1/2 weeks old

Just a few weeks ago, he's getting too big for his tub now! ...7 months old!

He's so funny now in the bathtub, he loves to kick his feet around and splash us. I think I get just as much water on me during his bath as he does! He hates to get out, he doesn't like to be cold or get lotion put on. Again, he takes after his dad so much. Clark thinks lotion is "disgusting" - except when his hands were very dry from the multiple daily scrub ins in the NICU! Then, and only then, it was ok!

I missed about 6 weeks there where I didn't take any bathtime pictures. Sorry Max!

Good Night!

Long Weekend

2009-01-12T18:44:00.000-08:00

Sorry for the lack of posts over the weekend but I already struggle to balance sleep and family time! Well, first of all, my last post "sweet boy" totally jinxed myself. That night Clark and I were up every 2 hours... he didn't even do that when he first came home from the hospital. Friday he was fussy, had a fever and a runny nose. I went ahead and started giving him his antibiotics again and by Saturday he was feeling better. Maybe the ears weren't completely healed, who knows. This video is from Saturday, it is hilarious!!! Clark is fake burping (you can hear it in the background) and like a typical boy, Max is lauging!

Max spent another bonding weekend with his daddy. And guess what? When I got up today the house was pretty clean- again, and the dishes were done- again! Thanks Clark!
Max had an ENT appointment today and Grandma Dee went with us. We already knew based on the last hearing test that there was still fluid in at least one ear, however, he still sees fluid in both. Due to the fact that it is causing even mild hearing loss and the recent infection...yes! I knew that would help... he is going to get tubes placed! I know I shouldn't be this excited about it because it is surgery, but I am glad to get over this hurdle. Well, as usual I am very tired after a long weekend at work (2 days a week is so rough!). Max is asleep and I am waisting precious sleep time. Who knows, I may be up every 2 hours tonight!
Hope you all enjoy the video, I still laugh every time I see it!

Sweet Boy

2009-01-08T20:32:00.000-08:00

Max was in such a good mood all day, I really can't think of any time throughout the day where he even cried. We got up this morning and went to the gym, when I picked him up one of the workers was rocking him and he was passed out... he just has to have attention! Then Max and I met Tiffany for lunch and we went to babies r us and bought him a few things as he is quickly outgrowing all of his 3 month clothes! After that Max and I spent the rest of the day/evening at home. We played with his toys, worked on rolling over (he is SO close to rolling from his back to his tummy), ate peas and applesauce, had a bath, and passed out on mommy. My favorite part of the day for sure. I can't stop thinking how at the end of the day, no matter what his mood has been :), that I must be the luckiest person in the whole world to get to hold this beautiful baby and hear him breathing in my ear. He is definitely the best cuddle partner in the world!

Some then and now photos.... WOW

Please make it stop!!!

2009-01-07T19:14:00.000-08:00

Well I know I have been mentioning how many poopy diapers we have had lately, and today I had enough! I was having lunch with my friend Aimee and we were sitting and talking when all the sudden I thought, hmmm.. his pants feel warm. So I proceed to reach my hand up his pant leg to see about this moisture and what do you know! Poop. Gross. I had to bathe him with baby wipes and change his clothes, and socks, in the bathroom at a restaraunt. I thought I was so prepared too, you see usually the poop comes up his back so I had a cloth diaper folded up inside his onesie so it would protect his clothes. All day the diaper stayed clean. Go figure. After all this we had to go to the doctor's office for Max's synagis shot (RSV vaccine) and I begged with the nurse to find a "binder" if you will for this brown water. I have tried bananas, cereal, extra formula, nothing is working. After checking with a doctor she said he is too young for the over the counter anti-diarrhea stuff and if I wanted the doctor could come in, look in his ears, and see if he still needed the antibiotic. The doctor said it just looked like fluid (well yeah, he has that) and that we could stop the medicine... YEAH!!! I am so hoping that we get tubes placed soon so that if we have another ear infection we can use drops. Then Max and I went to the gym. Clark and I have had this membership a while now but I am just now starting to feel comfortable leaving him in the daycare. He did great though. I worked out with a friend for about 45 min and picked him up. Chandra, my workout buddy, also brought her kids. They were so curious about him, wanting to know why he couldn't talk to them or go down the slide with them. Then they proceeded to tell him how much they loved him. Too cute. Max ate really well all day, I started to mix his bottles 1/2 formula, 1/2 breast milk to stretch the frozen milk as long as we can. He didn't seem to mind at all. He had sweet potatoes and applesauce for dinner and for breakfast had peaches for the first time. I think they were a hit because he ate every bite!

Finally decided to share a smile :)

Watching a little TV while playing in the exersaucer.

Good Night!

New Pictures

2009-01-06T19:14:00.001-08:00

As promised some new pictures, and I happen to think they are adorable!!!

Max laying in our bed :)

Photo shoot, he is being stingy with his smiles for the camera... I swear he'll be cracking up but by the time the picture is taken he looks like a deer in headlights! I think he's had one too many photos taken and is starting to protest!

Tiffany came over to play today!

Bath Time, once again not sharing any smiles with you all.

Max had a lazy day at home, he spent the afternoon with Tiffany- a friend of mine from nursing school. She was nice enough to come over and watch him for me while I went to an interview. I will tell you all more about that if and when I get the job, no need to waste time if I don't get it! He continues to make lots of messy diapers, these antibiotics are not fun. He had sweet potatoes and bananas for dinner and did very well, in the past he hasn't eaten sweet potatoes too well. Never know, I guess. He is in bed now, making sweet little noises. Enjoy the pictures!

By the way... feel free to leave comments, I like to know what you think about the pictures and if you want to hear about anything else just let me know!

Love my Daddy...

2009-01-05T20:23:00.000-08:00

Max had a great weekend with his daddy! Clark is not so used to sleeping at night and I think he is a little sleep deprived, but I must say that I am impressed and very pleased! I was only able to sleep about 3 hours today after work, but when I got up I had a baby with a full tummy, a house that was all picked up, laundry done and... nothing for me to do!! I hope he knows that now he proved he CAN take care of the house AND the baby and that from now on I will expect nothing less...!!! On Sunday Grandma Cathy and Cousin Maddie came over to play while I slept. Maddie is 7 and getting very sassy! She is so cute with Max and gets very proud when she makes him smile. Thanks to both of you for coming over to play and letting Clark get a little nap!

Max did not go to his PT appointment today, he is on antibiotics for his ears and that causes him to make lots of messy diapers. Just my luck he would have exploded all over the play mat. Gross. He was kind of cranky anyway and napped from 1 to 2:45, right when he was supposed to be there... and I got to stay in my pj's and nap with him!

Max and I got to spend some time with Grandma Dee and Grandad this evening, I think they missed him :)

Now, I forgot to mention this on Friday, a little baby etiquette for all of you: When you are in public and oohing and ahhing over a cute baby, verbal compliments are great. If the mom of the baby is working to get the baby to calm down or go to sleep and the baby is crying or fussing- just walk away. Please do NOT offer to take the baby to calm him/her down as if the MOTHER of the baby is not doing a good enough job. Yep, this happened to me. At dinner on Friday night we had a few people stop by and ask about Max or tell us how cute he is. But as we were waiting for our check an older couple walked by and the woman stopped and was oogling over him. Now, he wanted to eat his bottle really bad, and I wanted to get out of the restaraunt really bad. I was going to win, and we were trying to hurry and leave. Max was fussing and squirming and I was wanting to stand up to calm him down but the old woman was standing at the end of the booth and I coulnd't get out. I was being patient, letting him fuss while she got her baby fix. So she then decides that maybe she needs to take my poor, mistreated angel and calm him down for me. Yep, she says, "may I?," in a voice that said "you must be new at this 'mom' thing, let me show you how it is done" NO!!!! I politely said, "no thanks" and she realized I was totally put off and quickly walked away as her husband made some excuse about it. But seriously, NO!!! Maybe I am making too big of a deal over this, but with all we have been through with him I cannot imagine asking a complete stranger to hold their baby. Not to mention that she thought she could do a better job soothing him than his mother. I don't get it. Morale of the story: "oh what a cutie" is just fine to make the statement that you think a baby is cute!
Clark got me ice cream after dinner and I soon forgot about the old woman.

Good night! I promise I'll post new pics tomorrow.

Not a waste of time...

2009-01-02T19:16:00.000-08:00

Well it turns out that the doctor's appointment today was necessary. Max has a cold (which we knew), does NOT have RSV (which he shouldn't, he gets the vaccine) but does have a double ear infection. Poor baby! She said they were both mild but definitely infected. We have an ENT appointment coming up so hopefully this will be the icing on the cake for us to get his tubes placed. The fluid is somewhat cleared up because his last hearing screen was nearly perfect but there is still fluid and we don't need anything else to hold us up! Other than that we have had a good day. When we got home from the doctor the monitor company guy came to trade out our monitor (they have to download it for the NICU doctor once a month). Then we ate lunch and cleaned the house. Clark is such a helper these days, it is so nice and very much appreciated!! Thanks Clark!! Max ate his cereal this morning like a champ, he loves it mixed with applesauce. Then he had carrots for dinner. Two of his favorites so far. We had dinner with Zach, we went to the Uno Pizza place and it was delicious. Now the boys are playing guitar hero, Max is asleep, and I am sneezing and blowing my nose a lot. I guess Max wanted to share his cold and hit me hard today. Since I have to work tomorrow night I get to sleep in tomorrow, I am sooo excited! Max gets to spend the weekend with his daddy, pretty cute, huh? Well I don't have any new pics so just a random cute one for you.

Welcome 2009

2009-01-01T19:49:00.000-08:00

So last year at probably this exact same time I found out I was pregnant... Pretty crazy how much has happened in one year!
Max finally slept all night last night and Clark was home, too bad we didn't get to sleep all night. He is still on a heart monitor while he sleeps and I am guessing that since he is getting bigger his resting heart rate is slower. What this means to us is a night full of alarms on the stupid thing! It probably beeped 10-15 times saying low heart rate. For those of you unfarmiliar with this is it usually an issue with breathing that causes this. Each time it went off I could hear him breathing!!! He must have been in a very deep relaxed sleep and his heart rate went below the set limit. I talked to the NICU doctor and before adjusting his alarms she wants to make sure he isn't sick, so I guess we'll be going to the doctor tomorrow. Nurse mom listened and his lungs sound great and he acts fine so it should be a waste of time. Now if that sounds like an annoyance then you have NO idea. Since grandad and grandma dee are away we have Cami (she is really our dog, but clearly way too high maintenance to have with a baby). Cami is apparently afraid of the monitor beeps... She was walking around our room with her tail down, occasionally pawing at the door. After an hour and a half trying to get her to calm down we had to tie her to a leash to keep her on the bed. It worked, and we got to sleep. Clark is so mean to her and she still cuddled up with him, pretty funny since he really considered putting her in the car in the garage!! Well that's about all the excitement we have to share. Super excited for tomorrow night, we get to see Zach. He was the best man in our wedding and moved to florida. Now we get to see him about twice a year. Can't wait!
Good night!

Happy New Year!!!

2008-12-31T19:02:00.001-08:00

As I put Max to bed tonight I told him... "see you next year!" Yeah, I'm a dork. Max is still fighting off whatever little bug he had, now he just has a runny nose which makes him cough and sneeze. He doesn't act sick at all though, whew! Max has been waking up at least once a night to snuggle with me (and to get his nose sucked out). Last night he slept until 4:38 and then I woke up to him coughing and trying to breathe through all of his snot. After I made him scream with the bulb syringe he went right back to sleep until 7, took a bottle and slept (in his bed) until 10. Mornings like that make me love him more!! lol. When I went in his room at 4:38 this is what he looked like:

Mind you, he is always wearing pajamas... he has kicked his legs out of them. He is always wrapped in swaddle blanket... he has also kicked out of it and snuck both arms out. THEN, he is always covered tightly with another blanket... what does he do when I'm asleep?!! He looks angry probably because of the flash early in the morning, but you know what? He woke me up too.
Today when Clark got up we all went out shopping. Max got new diapers, size 2-3!, and some new clothes. He is quickly growing out of his 0-3 month clothes. So exciting to pack them away and compare the new ones to the old ones, like the preemie ones!! Clark and I look at pictures now and then of the NICU days and cannot believe our eyes. I know he was small but oh my goodness, he has quadrupled! His feet and hands are pudgy, his belly is enormous and he now has butt cheeks. Yes, that's right, when he was born he was lacking what most of us are not... a butt! We walked in his room one night when he was only a few days old and he was lying under the bili light with his little bum exposed. Except it didn't look like a bum at all, just a rounded area with a hole... haha. He is too cute these days, fussy and cranky sometimes, but CUTE! Clark and I are definitely in love. Clark is at work for a couple hours, hopefully he will make it home by midnight so we can ring in 2009 together. I'm not waiting up though!! He can wake me up if he makes it home. Max is asleep, which means it is my bedtime too, party night or not!
Quick update... GG is doing a little better, they are going to have her live in an assisted care facility for a while until she can take care of herself independently.
Kayleigh is also doing better, which is a welcome relief for her parents. Thanks for all the prayers, and for keeping up with Max!

Good night!! and HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

Poor baby!

2008-12-29T19:32:00.000-08:00

Well, I had the best "sick day" ever on Saturday. I had to stay home from work and snuggle with my baby all day! He did break my heart though, Max got up early and was not feeling well, throughout the day he had a fever and was just puny. He is learning so much from his daddy already! This picture is an idea of how active he was...!

He started to feel better and on Sunday I went to work while Max got to play with Grandma Cathy... he had so much fun! He still has a little runny nose but he is feeling so much better today. He got to eat bananas for the first time and he likes them very much. Aunt Becki would be proud! We also had a PT appointment today and he wasn't too playful due to his recent illness :) but Michelle (his PT) was impressed with his head control and interest in toys. He gave her some pretty cute giggles too, so maybe he is buying his compliments. He would learn that from his mommy. Grandma Dee and Grandad are out of town this week on a much deserved vacation... however, we miss them alot! Hope you are having fun guys! We got all of our Christmas decorations down tonight and I feel so much less cramped without the big tree in the living room! A couple of prayer requests for the night... Baby Kayleigh (a blog I read... see link) is fighting so hard to get better and she has hit yet another bump in the road. Please pray that she will recover from this new hurdle. Also we found out today that Max's GG (Clark's grandma Polly) is not doing so great. She has been in the hospital since Saturday and today the doctor's said that her heart is not strong and her kidneys are failing. This with her lung issues could be very bad. Please pray for GG and all the family.

Well, I better get to bed in case Max decides to wake up in the middle of the night again!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!

2008-12-25T21:12:00.000-08:00

Starting off the day with a nap...

Yeah!!! It's Grandma Dee!

Oh, Daddy... I'm soooo cute

Cousin Maddie and Emma
(cousin Cooper wouldn't sit still for a pic!)

Me and Grandpa Jim... "why does everyone

dress me up all the time?!"

Green Beans for the first time... LOVED them!

Great Grandparents and cousins on mommy's side

End the day with a nap...

Max wants to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas! Max tried to get up at 5:30 to open his presents, but when he realized that Santa did not stop here he went back to bed!! He did have a long day but took some good naps and never got too grumpy. He got lots of good toys and clothes (thanks to all of our santas out there!) and overall it was a wonderful first Christmas. We have had fun with all of our out of town guests... Great Grandma and Grandad, Great Uncle Mike and Great Aunt MaryJane, cousin Will, Aunt Becki, Uncle Darren and Cousin Brice... we are sad to see you go : (

Merry Christmas everyone!!! Hope you enjoy all the pictures.

Carrots

2008-12-22T21:23:00.001-08:00

I'm new at this so I had to put the carrots into a separate post.

Meet the family!

2008-12-22T21:08:00.000-08:00

As it is almost Christmas that also means a new year is coming. My goal for next year is to keep a better record of daily life. Max is growing so fast and he is doing and learning something new everyday. I am going to want to remember this someway and what better than to share it with loved ones! So hopefully I can keep up and others will enjoy watching Baby Max grow with us! I'll start with some pics of our "at home Christmas photo shoot!" ... and some pics of our first foods... carrots... followed by a bath in orange water!! Enjoy