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December 22, 2008

Xmas Update #1

So sorry for the very long delay in updates. I have been trying to put together a slide show of the pics. Unfortunately, I haven't been very successful. Oh, well. I'll keep working on it and if I can get it to work you'll finally see the fruits of my labor. And, since I can't get it to work, you get more pics than is healthy for one blog post : )

Max's first Xmas celebration was in Denison with Mommy's family the weekend before Chrismas. Everyone was there, Aunt Jill and Uncle Matt with Sheldon, Evan, and Kolten. And Uncle Kevin and Nicole. A full house for sure. The kids were extremely well behaved so everyone had a lot of fun. In no certain order:


Mommy, Daddy, Max (or is that one of Santa's elves?)


Mommo, Poppo, Max (yep, definitely one of Santa's elves!)


Mommo, Poppo, Sheldon, Evan, Max, Kolten (that look is too funny!)


(Minus Max)


Matt, Jill, Kol, Nicole, Sheldon


This little elf sure is excited to be wrapped up for Xmas!



Evan Joseph, are you a present or a lump of coal? Today and always you are a precious gift!


My Shel-bel; sure looks sweet to me!


Kol, what a joy you are!


Max at home, playing with the first Xmas gift he opened.


At that wraps up our first Xmas update. I'll post again soon with the next Xmas celebration with Daddy's family! Thanks again everyone, for making Max's first Xmas special. And thanks for stopping by!

Check Back Please

Check back soon! I have lots of photos to show you from our weekend. I'm going to see if I can figure out how to post a slideshow. This will take a little time though.....

So, to keep you in awe of my miracle baby:
My baby who only weighed 4 lbs 14 oz when he was born 6 1/2 weeks early, is now 20 lbs 4 oz a week before his 8 mo. bday! To say he has made up for lost time is a understatement. He must know how much his mommy loves to kiss his chubby baby cheeks and strives to provide me with more to gobble up :~P

December 19, 2008

Today in Iowa

It was a cold snowy day when we woke up this morning...at 5:15. So Max and I enjoyed some oatmeal as we watched the weather.


Excited for the bowl of oatmeal you can't see...

Mommy multitasking, taking a picture and feeding the baby : )

A "See-Food" Diet


My happy boy.

From Uncle Chris' bday...playing the drums with Daddy.

December 16, 2008

"Duke" and other Merriment

Duke is our first ever live tree. He is about four feet tall and very round. Mike cut him down the Sunday after Thanksgiving. It even fit into our trunk! Max and I played with the 8 week old Boxer puppies while Mike was doing all the dirty work. I am saddened to say that only one person took a guess at my mini contest. For shame people, for shame. On the other hand, JILL, being the only brave soul to take a gander, is the lovely recipient of, well it was going to be coffee. But Jill is one of the few people I know who does not drink coffee, so I will have to come up with something else. Jill, any requests?


(yes, that is a Santa hat topping our tree) Duke:



Max got this letter in the mail:


The letter came with this sign:


Max: Mom! Look what I got Mom! I was worried that Santa might miss me, but no way will that happen now. How cool is this Mom? How COOL is THIS!
Me: The coolest Max. Now show Mommy the sign and look at the camera...


Daddy and Max sit near Duke and Rascal (our rascally rabbit cat).
Max is showing Daddy where to hang his Santa Sign.

December 15, 2008

ELF

Our Lil' Elf.
Oh, so warm and cuddly. My snuggle bunny.

Thanks Karyn, for sending me the pics to post!

December 13, 2008

Update #3

Here are some Christmas Card Out-Takes:





December 12, 2008

Update 2

Stupid Blogger isn't working right.

I have a video or two to demonstrate the indisputable genius of Max, but blogger won't load them. I'll try later.

Anyway, Max has been rolling over consistantly since the day after Thanksgiving. Don't know if it was the entra time with Mom and Dad, Grandma and Grandpa's kitchen table, or if it just clicked. It was quite the relief when he did it though. Mommy was starting to worry about those gross motor skills falling behind!

Max also sits up. Well, not on his own from the floor yet. But when you sit him down he will stay in the upright position instead of just laying down on his legs. This developement has definitely made playtime more fun. And if his current actions are anything to note, his next step will be from sitting to crawling/or playing on his belly. We'll see how that goes and let you know : )

Update 1

I did say updates within the week, so Friday counts! The holiday season brings busy times in our household. I'm sure with yours to! Since we last met, we've celebrated Thanksgiving and 3 birthday's. Okay, so only one of the birthday's celebrated has occurred, but the other two are within the month. I'd send you to another site to see pictures of the party, but this other site is still priviate (ahem, JILL!) so you'll have to suffer thru without. Or take it up with the responsible party : P My friend Jess was in town with her daughter Isabel, so we got to see them breifly while in Denison. They live in Ohio, so we take what we can get! We have also had a visit from some other out of state friends, Zach and Sarah and their son Ryan. That was a great evening, we hadn't seen them in 3+ years! Their son Ryan, now 2, had liver cancer so it is a great to see him so big and healthy. Max was enthralled, although I think Ryan could have done without sharing his mom! It's always great to see a kid kick @ss, but it especially hits home this time of year. Max also spent a day with Aunt Karyn while Mommy was Chrismas Shopping. She has some great pics of their day together, I'll have to steal her memory card and post them this weekend....as we celebrate another b-day, Uncle Chris!

On a side note, I am thoughorly dissappointed that nobody has taken a guess at Duke. I'll give you until Sunday, I expect at least two of you readers to take a gander at this. If you ponder it, I'm sure it's not that hard to guess (if you know us!). I really will make it worth your while. <--Look at me, resorting to begging and bribary to get some interaction from y'all. You guys are better than that!

Max enjoying the Thanksgiving meal. He was especially fond of sweet potatos and stuffing. YUM!

Giving thanks with Great-Gma Bernie and Great Uncle Red.
Proof of our visit with Jess and Isabel. (Isn't she darling!)


Zach, Sara, and Ryan.



Ryan giving Max a hug. (Please ignore me in this photo, they can't all be good!) Aren't his eyes amazing?


And that's my lunch hour folks! I'll try to get more up Saturday and Sunday. Remember to guess on Duke by Sunday when all is revealed!

December 8, 2008

Give me a Ticket

Give me a ticket, I've been a negligent blogger. I told you it was going to get busy! I solemnly swear to take more time and keep the updates coming. Perhaps I need to enlist Mr. Hanson to help share. Starting this week...sometime. We have lots to share, so be sure to check back!

And because I was reminded this weekend that not everyone is getting updated (verbally anyway!) of the latest Max news, here are some previews to check back for:

Rolling over!

Sitting up!

Duke! (A special prize to anyone who guesses correctly what I am referring to here! Leave your guess in the comments.)

November 23, 2008

Joy

Babies are joy. No one can make your day brighter than a baby. I know I'm a little prejudiced here, but Max brings so many people joy. People we don't even know. We were in Sam's Club today, babies everywhere, but who do people stop? Us. To let us know how adorable Max is. To smile at Max, and be smiled at in return. When this kid is happy, EVERYONE is happy.

We've had a busy couple of weeks here. It's hard to know that it's just going to get worse during the holiday's. Especially since I have my joy here in my lap making me giggle as I type this out for you. What the heck am I doing in front of the computer when I could be playing with Mr. Max? Good point. I'm going to quick spread some of the joy Max brings with a few photos and then enjoy the time I have with my baby joy while he's still, well, a baby. Oh, by the way, he got his second tooth yesterday. #2 is right next to #1.

Ladies and Gentlemen, I present to you the previous two weeks in photos : )

Max all bundled up for the cold in his...monkey hat and gloves!

Kolten and his favorite cousin.

Grandma Hanson's B-day party sure wore the boys out!

Bringing the JOY.

I don't think Rascal quite finds Max a joy yet....

Lounging with Daddy.

My reason for rushing home after work.

Happy Birthday Grandma Pam!

"Homemade" double decker Oreo cookie....a whole other category of joy.

Max's thoughts..."another picture mom? I'm gonna let Aunt Karyn hold the smile this time."

Our favorite nurse Barbie came over to suck up to me. It's only fair. Everytime she give's me shots she has to come visit me at home to make it up to me.

Adam get's to come with Barbie to suck up to me. I think he's pretty cool.

Bounce.Bounce.Bounce.Bounce. Oh, JOY.

November 18, 2008

What takes so long?

There are so many things that we wait for that seem to take forever.

Baby

Christmas
Vacation
Teeth

The last one is finally here. Max got his first tooth last week. A picture you say? Not hardly. Do you know how hard it is to get a baby to open his mouth wide enough, not to mention long enough, to photo a tooth?

We also finally finalized the delivery of Synagis to Doc's office. My baby will be protected from RSV.

The wait is finally over.

November 11, 2008

6 Month Check-Up & Other Cool Stuff


WARNING: The following contains a little information and many pictures.
Goodness, our little boy is getting so BIG! We had a milestone visit with Doc yesterday. The little monkey has some new stats:


6 Months: 17 lbs 11 oz 27 inches
This is in the 50th percentile for both weight and height. Go Max!

The poor fella also got 6 shots. Big thanks to our favorite nurses Christina and Barb for making the process quick, if not painless. He took them all very well. He is beginning to understand that something bad is going to happen when we start to hold him down. The crying doesn't start until the first prick, but is over almost as soon as the last needle is out. He's still a little fussy today, but I'm chalking that one up to the flu shot part of the process. Hopefully he's feeling more himself soon. I miss my happy little baby already! Am I a horrible mommy for enjoying the extra cuddle time though?


Here's the damage...


Here's the baby despite the damage...




And now some old cuteness to share:


The mobile that Mr. Hanson built for Max.


Max enjoying for the first time the mobile that Mr. Hanson built.

And First Prize in the New Food that Baby Loves contest goest to......CARROTS!

Uncle Chris came to visit.

He taught Mom and Dad to make a really cool, tasty meal. It looks pretty too! There was baked brie, and cherries, and crunchy toasted bread. Mommy forgot about the roasted garlic, but it was good anyway.

All that cooking really wore me out! Good thing Uncle Chris was there to cuddle me and provide a built in drool rag : )

The monkey in his Halloween outfit. Little Monster indeed.


Uncle Red took Max around to meet all the residents of Little Flower Haven (nursing home); I daresay he was the highlight of the week for them!

Even though he brightened everyone's day at Little Flower Haven, Max made his visit specially for Great Grandma Bernie.

We ended the visit and evening in Earling with cuddle time with Great Grandma Renie.