Reflections

With permission from Bella K Photography, for your viewing pleasure here is Max's First Year Milestones:

Photos and design by Krisi Stephens

I can't believe how far he came from preemie to 1 year old! And where we are now from then? WOW.

Growing Up - Mighty Max, 2 1/2 yrs.

Life with Max at 2.5 years old:

Things you love...

• Mommy : D you are a total mama's boy.
• Your blankets! Fortunately you don't have one specific blanket you are attached to, as long as it's soft/fuzzy you are good to go.
• Chocolate : )
• Mints (tic tac's specifically)
• Staying in your jammies all day.
• Pancakes (you see a syrup bottle and freak out!)

Things you dislike...

• Vegetables!
• Having your picture taken : ( unless I'm taking a crazy # of pics of Elly, then you want in on the action
• Having your diaper changed.
  
  
• You are in a size 5 diaper. I am hoping potty training goes better soon because it pretty well isn't going anywhere right now and I'd love to stop buying your diapers!
• You are transitioning to 3T clothes.
• You have a very broad vocabulary, and are pretty clear in your diction. Or maybe that's just me since I hear it all the time : )
• You are still a huge fan of going outside, and can now unlock the door so that you can get yourself there. Some scary moments result from this!
• You still DO NOT sleep through the night. Agh!
• You recently went to your first haunted house. Daddy says you did well. You woke up screaming two nights later though. Not your usual.
• You love flying. Or rather pretending to fly. Buzz Lightyear, airplanes, helicopters, fairies, dinosaurs...all of these things fly and therefore are imitated multiple times a day.
  Speaking of imitating, almost everything you see you try to do yourself.
• You are fearless. You are the kid parks were built for. There is one particular park that has a toddler area vs a big kid area (5-12yr); you have already conquered the big kid area. My heart stopped while you were climing...you were above Daddy and out of his reach! All by yourself!!!
• You are a great big brother! So kind to Elly and always wanting to make sure she has everything she needs. Your toy sharing could use a little work, but I suppose that will come in time.
• You are just an all-around great kid. most days Daddy and Mommy look at each other in awe and amazement. (we have days we look at each other and wonder what were we thinking too!)

We love ya kid! Stop growing up so fast, would ya?

Growing Up - Miss E., 8 Months

Life with Elly at 8 months:

• You have your two bottom front teeth!
• You love to eat solid food, especially with the teeth : ) You still eat regular baby food because you don't seem to quite fill up enough without it. It's two jars at lunch and dinner, and puffs for breakfast. You also will have rice husks, cheerios and other edibles for snacks in the a.m. and p.m. You are also still nursing like a champ ; )
• We have to sing to you while you're eating supper or it's almost a continual whine between (and during) bites. I totally do not get this.
• You are crawling! You love to go! go! go! (on an adventure...) You also pull yourself up to stand anywhere and everywhere. You are happy to have us hold your hands and walk from object to object too! (nooo!!!)
• You officially wear a size 3 diaper.
• You are still in size 6-9 month clothing, but I think we'd be okay to move you to 12 month clothes...especially sleepers.
• You're napping needs a lot of work! But your bedtime routine is magical : ) 7:30 every night you are ready to start winding down and are ready to be down for the night just after 8. I cannot tell you how much I appreciate this!!!!!

• You love to blow raspberries : D
• You are pretty much over the baby toys that your brother loved for so long. If it's not something Max or friends will play with you don't want to have anything to do with it. I cannot tell you how much I wish you were entertained in the activity jumper!
• You are talking more and whining less, although there is still a lot of room for improvement here.
• I think your eye color is pretty permanent : D When you wear denim, they are so dark blue, but when you wear purple they take on this lovely lavender hue. I love it!
• You have really started to imitate those around you! SO entertaining!

We ALL love you SO much!

(hoping this shows off the teethers a bit better!)

Elly moment: I was watching her crawl today. Obviously this has occured before, but I am usually on the floor with her, or watching her from farther away. Today I was standing just a couple feet from her as she was crawling towards me. It just struck me how small she is, (no, not really...she's right on target) or looks at least, as she's doing these big girl activities. I don't remember Max seeming this small as he worked his way up the skillz ladder. It was such a proud/sad moment. And now it's memorialized.

Pumpkins in Patches

We took our first ever, and now annual, trip to Patches Pumpkin Farm. It was a BLAST and I'm thinking we'll actually be going back this year just for some more cheap Fall fun. The pictures don't capture all the fun we had, but they do it more justice than words, so enjoy : )

See a pumpkin.... pick it up!


So big, and so mad!

Say it ain't so!

A great little petting zoo, and Max wouldn't touch any of them!

(he actually was more interested in the fake horse -not shown- than any of the real animals)

Max, Celina and Jack ready to head to the pumpkin patch.

BREAKING NEWS: Just the 6 of us.

(not funny? well, it's late for me and I'm not that into you ; )


How come the kids never want to cooperate when we have a family photo op?

Elly is IN LOVE with Celina. And of course all the kids love Mike!

Thanks to Anna, Jack, and Celina for helping us make this trip the success it was!