Party Time!

So, this party happened last Saturday, the day before my little boy turned 1. It was a good turnout for the brutal cold snap we were experiencing. Note to self: five space heaters + 1 fireplace do not a shelter house heat (in 4 hours time anyway).

To start the day, Max got his first haircut. He didn't pitch a fit, so I will consider this a success:

Then it was PART-AY TIME! (notice Max was all about the kisses that day!)

Some of the peeps:

Some of the gifts:







The Cake:





He was being "Mr. Clean" so Poppo stepped in to help...

Did it help? A little : )


I guess we should have had Kolten demonstrate first!!

All partied out. The End.

A Year Long Journey

Happy Birthday Max!

Our dear Maxwell,


Today you are one year old. How has so much time passed? How did you get to be such an amazing little boy? Where has our baby gone?

This past year has been wonderful. You have come so very far from the preemie we took home from the NICU. You have spoiled Daddy and Mommy unbelievably. You gave up your own pacifier when you were 4 months old. You decided on your own that you would rather be layed down to bed and fall asleep than be rocked to sleep. You are currently showing less and less interest in your bottle. Shots don't hardly bother you. In fact, unless you're tired, not much bothers you at all. There are exceptions to that of course, no one is perfect : D

While it's still "fresh" in our memory, here is your birth story:

Mommy traveled to Denison with Aunt Jill for her first baby shower. They left after work on Friday night (4/25/08), and arrived in Denison a little before 8 o'clock. We got all our stuff inside, and while Mommy was waiting to use the bathroom she felt a rush of fluid. At first she felt embarrased thinking that she had her first experience with losing bladder control! But she soon realized that this was not the case. Her water had broken!

Mommy called her doctor to let them know what was going on, and then Aunt Jill took Mommy to the Crawford County Memorial Hospital to be evaluated. It was around 9 o'clock when they confirmed that yes indeed, Mommy's waters had broken. They quick hooked her up to fetal monitoring to make sure you were okay, and checked to see how far dialated she was. We had 2 centimeters. Mommy was given a couple doses of antibiotics and magnesium to try to slow or stop the labor. Then, the doctor approved the transfer by ambulance to Des Moines (at first they wanted to send us to Omaha because it was closer, but thanks to the fact that the doctor on call in Denison had been classmates with Mommy's doctor in DSM, we got to go "home" instead!).

We were leaving Denison around 10 o'clock; the ambulance ride was pretty quick, making it from Denison to Des Moines in under 1.5 hours. And that included being pulled over in Carol County! Yep, that's right, our ambulance was pulled over on the way to Des Moines. This would only happen to us : ) Anyway, we got to Des Moines and Daddy met us at the hospital with Gma and Gpa Hanson.

They checked Mommy again and it was determined that labor was progressing instead of stopping, so we were moved to the labor and delivery room. Mommy was going through the regular rigamaroll, and when they check to see how we were doing around 3 a.m., the nurse thought Mommy was fully dialated! So Dr. Johnson was called and the NICU Team arrived, and the nurse was wrong! By this time, Mommy had been awake for, oh, about 27 hours and she was EXAUSTED. So, she asked for an epidural so that she and Daddy could rest. It took a litte doing, becuase Mommy kept throwing up from all the stress, but the epidural was finally complete. Aww, sleep!

After Mommy got a couple hours of rest, Gma Hanson came in to visit with her. Soon after, Mommy's labor started to progress towards the finish line! Yeah! So the doctor was called back to the hospital, and the NICU Team was called back to the room. The normal progression of delivery was proceding. As you came out, at 7:02 a.m. it was discovered that you had managed to wrap your umbilical cord around your neck a couple times. Perhaps that's why you decided you needed to come out 6.5 weeks early.

While not dangerously early by any means, this was all scary for Daddy and Mommy. We spent 18 days in the NICU with you. Watching over you, encouraging you, cuddling you when we were allowed, caring for you when we were allowed, crying with you. Someday you will understand the word stressful, and sweetheart, having your baby in the ICU is about as stressful as parenting gets! All parents have a profound love for their child, but having a baby that has to fight to survive from the first moment, it just turns your world around and you forever look on with a completely different perspective.

Thank you for blessing our lives. We love you.

Mommy and Daddy

**More to come later on his b-day party. Check back, you won't want to miss it!**

In 11 Days...

...Max will be 1 year old. Crazy, huh?

Max had his last round of Synagis today. I was once again reminded of how lucky we are, what a great baby we have! Max gets a pretty hefty dose of Synagis becuase of how big he is. Two big shots actually. And you know what? Hardly any crying, and none of it "serious". Not to say it isn't painful, but he handles it so well. His cries start when they poke him, and are done as soon as I can sit him up after they put the bandaids on. Jealous? Yeah, I thought so.

So, 11 days from his first birthday, Max weighed in at 22 lbs 15 oz. Such a long way away from the 4 lbs 14 oz. he started at!

What Up, Spring? What took you so long?

Max participated in his first Egg Hunt on Sunday. I can't say he was very interested in participating , but he had fun being outside. Thanks to some generous girls, he ended up with more loot than he actually "found".


Sheldon, Evan and Kolten had a little more individual luck than Max did (yep, Kole was enjoying the "fruit" of his labor).

His first hunt is fairly well documented, don't you think? I think the only way he'd be cuter is if he had bunny ears on himself : P

Max and his loot. Mmm, plastic eggs....

Max got 3 new sets of summer pajama's from Mommo and Poppo, and a cute new sweatshirt from Mike and I.

Jill, Sheldon, Kolten, Max, and myself all paid a visit to Great Grandma Bernie on Sunday.

(clockwise: Gr8-gma with Kole, Ggma with Sheldon, Max-Uncle Red-Kole-Shel-Ggma, Ggma with Max)

Hmm, do you think walking on stilts is in his future?

This is too cute not to share:

Max has spaghetti for the first time last week. He liked the noodles well enough, but he loved the sauce.

Today in Iowa

This is what it looks like today in Central Iowa:

If April showers bring May flowers, what do April snow storms bring?

Since it is so crappy outside, I thought we should make it as comfortable as possible inside, so...we had a pajama day : D Here is the little man late this afternoon. Any Lightning McQueen fans out there? Hello-O? Anyone?

This is not what I had in mind for Spring!

Would you like to dance?

Max loves to dance when he hears the Baby Einstein music. He likes and recognizes most of it, but is particulary fond of two songs. The first one I don't know the actual name, but it's on the Baby Monet DVD near the end when they do a quick season recap (the song playing in the video). The other is Head, Shoulders, Knees & Toes from the Baby Da Vinci DVD. He can be 3 rooms away and hear either of them and start bouncing to it.

Milestone of the Week: Max will now hold his own bottle....sometimes.

Max likes to lie back and watch television sometimes (say, for five minutes).

So glad we kept the Boppy out. Who knew we would have such extended uses for it?!

Daddy likes sharing his fruit with Max. It's one of the few times Max will actually eat a good quantity of fruit. Usually, he's more of a veggie boy. The pears recently have been awesome, just ask Max ; )

(the fruit shared in these photos was not strictly speaking shared...the pear was just for Max as Mike didn't want to give any of his sickly germs away)

This week has been not so fun for Mike and I. First, Max had regular cold sympotms from Sunday through Wednesday. He and I didn't get much sleep with him coughing through the night. He finally started feeling better yesterday. I felt like I was coming down with a cold Tuesday, and went out an bought some Zicam. It seems to have worked, becuase I hardly feel sick at all right now. Mike on the other hand, started feeling unwell the same time I did, but still feels extremely ill. I picked up some sushi tonight so that he could have some wasabi therapy. Then I sent him to bed with a muscle relaxer to get some rest. His work days have gotten to be hella long again. Today was the shortest day, clocking in just over 11 hours. Anyone feel like making him some good old fashion comfort food? Not one of my forte's.

Do You See What I See?

Update: I almost forgot to share! We went in for another Synagis shot last Friday; Max weighs 22 lbs 6 oz. BIG boy! It was so weird to hold Autumn (see below) after holding Max all the time. Sometimes I trick myself into thinking he isn't that heavy, but after holding her this weekend there's no more fooling myself!

I see a baby who can't avoid hitting his head every time he falls down. And he's happy anyway. Yea, I am that lucky.

I see a baby boy worn out from playing with Uncle Chris and Aunt Karyn all afternoon.

I see a baby who thinks screen doors are the greatest toy yet. Tastes good too.

I see a baby boy who can't take his eyes off the 6 month old baby girl that came to visit. Can't blame him, she is absolutely adorable!


I see someone trying ice cream for the first time. I think it's safe to say we will be making Dairy Queen a regular treat this summer!


I entered a contest at JoytheBaker.com to win a free tea cup and tea (I didn't win). If you know me, you know I hate to make final decisions. This was no different. I couldn't choose my favorite tea cup; I ended up submitting the first one I ever received. Since I had out an array of my favorites I figured I would turn my dilema into a photo-op. It turned out well, if I do say so myself. Ahhh, Ancient Happiness, yes you are.

I see a video of Max walking (and falling) with a little Kitty Cat action thrown in to boot.