Wednesday, May 22, 2013

fun in the sun

we pretty much got in the pool everyday here.
we loved it.
casey was the fun parent getting in all the way, splashing around with everyone.
i was the boring mom making sure max was covered in sunscreen and a hat and not too cold and not in the sun for too long.
i'm so funnnnnnnnnnnn.
but really, maxson loved it too (except on the 2 days where it was a little chiller [note: slight breeze and 93 degrees instead of 100...] he would make large grunting noises the entire time:)
one of my brothers came over with his family a few different days which added to the fun :)
here's the plethora of pictures we took over the week of swimming, because a baby's first swim cannot be overrated!
yeah, and i totally forgot the whole swim suit for maxson part...swim diaper it was!!!
it's charlie banana.
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other notes:
-my parent's pool is awesome.
it was built as a pool for handicap access so there's a whole ramp that goes down the side of it,
it will be sooooo awesome for the kids!
-funny the difference a few degrees in the weather will make for swimming.
-sunscreen has to be one of my most favorite smells in the whole world.
-children make swimming so much more fun
-maxson is pool lover, i think the future brings fun things for us in there :)

Monday, May 20, 2013

still gone

did you know we're in arizona visiting more family?
yep.
and swimming everyday!
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Sunday, May 19, 2013

THE BEARD

we have reached the end of an era.
actually we've reached the end of the 3 months time that casey said he was going to grow out his beard.
the first 2 months were really fun for us both, just a fun change.
the third month took quite a long time for us, i'd say.
my favorite months of beard growth were the 5th and 6th picture, roughly the 5th and 6th weeks.
it was funny looking at casey during dinner and seeing all this food in his beard,
i think he was pretty tired of it.
i asked him to use conditioner and shampoo on his beard once to see if it would make it softer, it didn't.
we took a picture about once a week and it's fun to look at the growth (and to see how much maxson has grown!)!!!!
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and of course, we had to cut it off in stages.
man, looking at that first picture, he looks almost homeless, ha!
the second picture is quite handsomely-rugged-looking in my book that i really like.
a few friends/family members were just certain casey should keep the foo-man-shoo mustache for at least a few days...
YUCK!
and on the regular mustache, all he needs is a red hat to be mario!
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after casey had fully shaved off his beard, it definitely took maxson a little while to know who casey was again.
he wasn't just throwing out his smiles easily like he did before for casey.
it took a good 15 minutes of mostly blank stares at casey while he was pulling out all the tricks from the bag to get him to smile.
maxson finally realized who he was though i think :)

it's still taking me a little while to get used to his baby face.
it just looks so different!!!!!
it's been 3 months since i've seen that clean face so it's a surprise to have it back!

Saturday, May 11, 2013

happy mother's day!

happy mother's day!
to my wonderful mother and casey's wonderful mother.
the 2 greatest women to influence our lives.
we love love love you both!
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we're lucky enough to spend the day before mother's day with casey's mum
and the day after with my mum.
the love they have given to us is always infinite,
and now that i'm a mother, their love means so much more and i am now so much more aware of their sacrifice.
there truly have been so many other wonderful mothers in our lives that have influenced us,
and today we thank and honor them!

and now because of our little maxson, i've been given the greatest gift of being called a mother too.
there's is nothing, nothing i would rather be doing in my life,
it truly is the greatest calling.
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my SIL shared this video with me and i want to share it with you!
do enjoy and happy mother's day!!!!



Friday, May 10, 2013

what we're doing.

playing with cousins in indiana!
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and celebrating little brielle's 1st birthday!
(see more pics i took of her on my SIL's blog!)
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saturday plans:
dental school graduation ceremony!
(for casey's brother:)

ps- 2 of the babies hit some pretty big milestones on friday:
we've got a baby sitting up by himself and a little 1 year old taking her first steps!

Tuesday, May 7, 2013

banana, sweet potato, carrots, and peaches.

so right there around 5 months,
we decided little maxson was ready to try a few solids here and there!
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we started with just a few spoonfuls of rice cereal, he wasn't too enthralled with it.
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but a few days later while i was eating a banana he kept grabbing at it,
trying to put it in his mouth (like he does with everything else:)
at first i pulled the banana further from him,
but then i thought "wait, i kinda want him to eat solids"
so after he stuck the banana peel in his mouth and sucked on it for a few seconds i thought,
heck, why not!
i broke a piece off my banana,
mashed it up nice and good,
plopped maxson in the bumbo,
put a bib on and we went for it!
he practically loved from the get go.
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it was fun feeding him the exact food i was eating myself.
i just really liked it.
i'd love to make my own baby food but i'm just not sure it's in the cards for us, we'll see.

since then i've introduce a new something every few days.
he didn't blink twice at sweet potato or carrot (well actually he'd make a sour face at first like "what's this?" with the first 2 bites but then he was fine after that)
we just tried peaches though and he wasn't as thoroughly entertained.
took him quite a few spoonfuls to enjoy it.
i have to hold both his hands with mine while i feed him unless i want his fingers all up on the spoon and in his mouth getting nice and messy,
that's pretty cute.
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solids are a fun new adventure, for sure.
but it's also kinda a hassle, ha!
it (already) takes a bunch of time,
his mouth is quite the moving target,
he we both get all messy in the end,
i have to remember to actually feed him stuff other than just nursing,
and did i say it take a bit of time?
but it's fun and we all are loving it :)


Monday, May 6, 2013

hop on pop

one afternoon, maxson decided he was too cool for sleeping.
i needed a mommy break and gave him to the daddy.
not too long after, i came back downstairs to a book reading session.
it was so tender.
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not too long after reading books, maxson finally fell asleep on the couch :)

Sunday, May 5, 2013

maxson: 5 months old

here we are at 5 months!
let's see what this cute little boy is up to.
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we just  started a few solids and it's been so much fun!
he doesn't care too much for rice cereal, always gives us that really sour/questioning face and stops eating it all together after a few spoonfuls.
banana on the other hand!
i can't feed it to him quick enough!
i'll write more on it later :)
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remember on his 4 month update i said how he finally rolled tummy to back?
since that day, he's done it a total of 7 times.
ha.
not sure if that really means he knows how to do it, but he has done it nonetheless.
back to tummy though?
constantly flipping to get to his tummy.
that's where he spends most of his time when on the ground these days.
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he now plays and reaches for toys while on his tummy.
it's fun to watch.
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speaking of reaching things,
he now takes his paci out of his mouth with his hand,
he'll then try putting it back in his mouth, but it goes in sideways,
it's precious.
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we just got an exersaucer (which takes up SOOO much space!) for him,
and he LOVES it.
putting him in it made him grow a few months in a blink of an eye.
suddenly he went from playing on the floor or in a seated like position to a standing like position.
he springs up out of it and loves it.
the following 2 smiles are ones he always gives me while in the exersaucer and i'm in the kitchen,
they're kinda fake looking but SO adorable when he does them!
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sleeping?
eh, it's a toss up these days.
ha, no consistency except inconsistency.
sometimes he fights me to go to sleep, other times it's a breeze.
sometimes he takes 2 really long naps and a third cat nap, other times it's struggling to get four 30 min naps.
sometimes he sleeps 7-9 hours at night and then another 3 after that, other times it's up every 3 hours ready to go at 6:30 am, ooy.
at least he's super cute when he's awake.
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he'll easily smile and laugh at us these days.
melts my heart.
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he also jabber/squawks like crazy.
the noises are seriously so cute.
sometimes he makes noises when he's just playing/bored, trying to get my attention, talking back to me, or i swear he's teasing me with some of them.
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he loves diaper changes.
we bring him up to the changing table and he's immediately happy.
he laughs when we take the diaper off and re-snap a new one on.
he stills attacks my arm when i'm putting a new diaper on, it's just like his thing.
he's also begun to play with the lowest rain drop that he can reach,
it's cute watching him arch his back to try and reach it/catch it.
looks like we may be taking that drop away soon so it doesn't all come crashing down!
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on that note of diaper changes,
he really likes when i have to take a shirt off his head.
he pushes his chin to his chest,shrugs his shoulders, squints his eyes, and gives me the biggest closed mouth smile.
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his fist?
still always in his mouth.
he loves it.
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casey is definitely the favored parent for calming maxson down to go (back) to sleep.
i don't know if casey has more patience than me at it or if he's just better and maxson responds better to him.
either way, i'm so grateful when casey is available to actually help at those times.
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he's definitely found his toes.
his cloth diapers create a little too much bulk in the waist area to allow him easily to grab them, he still does sometimes, but it just takes him more effort.
so when those beloved diaper changing sessions come it's like there's a magnet connecting his feet, hands, and mouth.
the happy baby yoga pose means so much more now.
sometimes i'll try replicating his leg movements next to him, and, um, yeah it's way too tiring after about the 4th movement.
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his 5 month photos were SOOO fun to take.
we amazingly had great lighting, he was in a great mood, and casey was right there next to me making him smile and be happy.
it was the hardest thing going through and keeping only my favorites.
we're starting to see a little personality peep through and i love it!