So, the last time I posted, it was Monday, February 7. I didn’t mention that we started reintroducing Maximus to solids on that day. He ate nothing but rice cereal for days until the bumps around his eyes went away! Poor kid. But now that we are reintroducing solids, he seems to really love them! As of right now, he is okay to eat rice cereal, oatmeal cereal, sweet potatoes, and peas. He gets red bumps when he eats barley cereal, apples, bananas, and pears… We’re not sure if he’s allergic to carrots or prunes or not right now. So, he does not have a super fun variety of foods to eat!
By the end of the evening, Melissa and Cody finally got to be with their baby! It was a hard day for all of them, but luckily everything turned out okay. Here is the picture of baby Boston McKay that Melissa sent us:
Here are some photos we got on Tuesday, February 8:
Bath time!
Here’s a picture of little Max from Wednesday, February 9... He was trying so hard to get my spaghetti!
Also on the 9th, Max developed a fake laugh. I couldn’t quite figure out what it was until the next day, though! It almost sounds like he is coughing, but not quite! So when he did it on the 10th, I looked at him, and he just had this look in his eye that said, “I dare you to tickle me…” So I did. He started laughing hysterically! It was so funny. He doesn’t usually like being tickled, but I take the opportunity to do so now every time he fake laughs!
On Friday, February 11, Max and I went grocery shopping. We tried to do the crazy coupon lady thing… But we didn’t really save that much money… But oh, well! We tried! Here are a couple pictures from Max in his hat that day:
On Saturday, February 12, my grandparents stopped by our house to bring Max a Valentine’s Day gift. They got him some cute stuff that he loves! Later that evening, we went to my mom’s house for dinner. Here are some pictures we got during the day:
Max playing with his monkey in his jumperoo!
Max in his walker at Grandpa and Grandma Mann's house!
Maximus with Grandpa and Grandma Mann!
On Sunday, February 13, Max played at the park for the first time ever! We went to Nielsen’s Grove Park in Orem after I got home from work. It was kind of cold, so we didn’t stay long. But Max really enjoyed seeing the ducks and swinging with me. He was pretty indifferent when I took him down the slide, though! Here are some pictures:
Daddy and Max by the duck pond!
Mommy and Maximus on the swings! We had to switch what side we were facing after a minute... The sun was too bright!
Maximus and Mommy on the slide! The expression on his face doesn't change, HaHa!
Daddy and Maximus at the park!
Monday, February 14, of course, was Valentine’s Day! Maximus’ very first one! My dad had invited us over for dinner that night, but we thought it was a little strange to have Valentine’s dinner with parents… And we already had our own dinner planned, anyway. Usually we have crab legs and chocolate covered strawberries at home. But, we decided to mix it up and go with a roast this year. I had a lot to do during the day, so I’m glad we did something easy! And of course, since I had so much to do, Max tried to make things just a little more difficult than usual… LOL, I’m totally kidding. But how else was I going to introduce this picture?!
Anyway, as I was getting brownies and Valentine’s Day cards ready to deliver, my dad texted me and I instantly felt really bad for saying no to dinner… Here is what was in the text:
She Said Yes!
That’s right--my dad finally proposed to Michelle!! We are very excited for them and offer a thousand congratulations all over again! And they asked me to photograph their wedding. Of course I said yes--but now I need to figure out how to be a bridesmaid as well as a photographer… HaHa.
Anyway, Max and I delivered Valentines to my family (we skipped Ryan’s--we were seeing them on Wednesday and I figured I’d just make them a fresh batch of brownies then!) and then we went home for dinner. Ryan and Max gave me a three rose bouquet and a dancing, singing monkey. Max and I gave Ryan a single rose bouquet and some chocolates. Ryan and I gave Max a stuffed monkey and a toy ball, which he LOVED! Of course, he turned into his regular camera ham self as soon as I tried to get a picture of him enjoying it!
Max and the monkey we gave him!
See what a stinkin' ham he is?!
We got a card for Max... On the front of the card, it reads, "This Valentine will totally put a smile on your face!" On the inside, there's a smile you can punch out and the card reads, "Attach to face just below nose, and have a really happy Valentine's Day!" Here's Max's smile!
Daddy with a smile on his face!
Max playing with his ball again!
And we all watched the newest Shrek movie before bed! It was a good day. Oh, and I forgot--I snapped some cute pictures of Max in honor of Valentine’s Day!
I sent this picture in a message to my family and friends! The message read, "Happy Valentine's Day from one handsome devil and his parents!"
Max in his "Romeo In Training" shirt and a kiss on his cheek from Mom!
Ugh... I don't look good in these ones, but Ryan and Max do!
Anyway… Here are a few pictures we got on Tuesday, February 15:
Max's cookie from Grandma Mann!
We cheated and let him try a little frosting... He didn't like it! He surprisingly does not have a sweet tooth at all thus far!
On Wednesday February 16, we finally were all over our colds and well enough to go meet Baby Boston. That day was such a crazy day for me! Max did surprisingly well for not getting a ton of attention from me, though! I was in the kitchen cooking all day--I wanted to make dinner for Melissa and her family. So, I made a soup that I grew up loving, potato rolls, and cheesecake bars. I of course forgot to bring them the salad we picked up--we didn’t realize that until the next day! But, oh, well. We also brought them brownies and Valentine’s Day cards from Max. We all sat around and visited for a while and I held Boston for a bit. It’s amazing how small he is compared to Max! Max never weighed less than eight pounds outside of the womb, so it was weird to hold Boston and know that Max was never that small! Max is probably about three times the weight that Boston is! When we set out to head home, the weather was really bad, and Max was really fussy. He cried the whole way home and we had to drive really slow… And the storm apparently fried our internet router, because it didn’t work when we got home! Ryan replaced it over the weekend, though. Anyway, here are photos from the day…
Max suddenly has this foot obsession... My feet, your feet, his feet!
Max has been scooting a little here and there for weeks, but on Thursday, February 17, I decided that he is now as mobile as he can be without crawling! He will try to crawl but will try so hard that he rolls over. So he gets back on his belly and tries so hard that he rolls the other way! So now if he really wants something, he will swim at it, scoot a little, but usually ends up just rolling!
I get this feeling from time to time and I know I got it on this day. I don’t know if all moms get it or if I’m just weird, but the love I have for my son completely overwhelms me sometimes. When this happens, all I can think about is how incredibly blessed I am to have this little angel in my life and how grateful I am to know him. I’m not a religious person (and I never will be), and I’m never quite sure what I do and don’t believe in, but at moments like this, I wonder how it could even be possible for God to not exist… It’s amazing how a child can open your eyes to new things. Just thinking of the love I feel for my son can make me cry. Nothing in this world could ever compare or express this feeling! I snapped this photo the moment I felt it this time:
I had a photography job that day also. My step-dad’s niece, Tracy, was looking for someone to take her daughter’s five year old pictures, and lucky for me, she thought of me! I haven’t had any real photography jobs since before Max was born, so I was glad to have the opportunity to get back into the game! Anyone who would like to check out the blog and my photos, click here.
When I got home from the photo session, I fed Max his dinner. He started rocking a little, which totally reminded of my brother, Corbin, when he was little. By the next morning, he had full blown Corbin’s Syndrome!
Anyway, here are some more photos from the day:
Practicing standing!
Max LOVES his stuffed animals!
Max doesn't like Gerber's Puffs... HaHa! This isn't even as sour of a face as he usually pulls when I give them to him!
Here's a picture of Max's eyelids with the bumps... He gets it after eating certain foods, so we assume it's an allergy! But we'll be talking to his doctor about it in April.
I can’t really remember anything special that happened on Friday, February 18, but here are some pictures!
I didn’t get any pictures over the weekend, but Ryan had the President’s Day off (Monday, February 21), and we got our tax return on Friday, so Ryan decided to start our floor! Our carpet has been in terrible shape since before we moved in. You have to be careful when you walk near the wall and tile in front of the door because staples poke out of the floor. And the cats have been clawing and ripping up the carpet for ages! So, before Max starts to really crawl and also before he starts walking, we wanted to make sure the main floor was a safe place for him to play. So, Ryan and his brother, Josh, ripped out the carpet and started installing the pergo! Josh couldn’t stay the whole time, but we appreciated his help. They did a great job! Ry got the main floor from the front of the house all the way to the pantry that day. Here are some of the “Before” pictures (and only as I began to upload these did I realize I didn’t get any of our terrible linoleum pictures in the kitchen and bathroom… Oops!)…
Ryan and Josh, hard at work!
Also on the 21st, I started doing some research on Max’s allergies. I wanted to see if there was anything that could link the allergies together. The only thing I found that link apples, bananas, and pears is OAS--Oral Allergy Syndrome. I’m not sure if Max has it or not--if he does, in addition to apples, bananas, and pears, he could also be allergic to apricots, melons, hazelnuts celery, carrots, avocados, cherries, fennel, kiwi, nectarines, oranges, peaches, potatoes, tomatoes, cucumbers, zucchini, legumes and grains, peanuts, tree nuts and seeds, certain spices, Echinacea, chamomile. So, I’m having a hard time knowing what to do. I’ve been told that not all allergies show up in a test at Max’s age, so I’m wondering if we should wait to take him to the doctor or not. I think we’re just going to wait until Max’s 9 month check up, and then we’ll ask his pediatrician what to do. Ryan and I recently realized that Ryan frequently has rashes under his eye as well, and he gets sick quite often when we eat… Anything! So, I’m wondering if he has food allergies that we don’t know about, we should get him tested to find out what he’s allergic to. Then we could pinpoint more correctly what Max is allergic to… Anyway, this is me thinking out loud…
On to the 22nd! I found out that day what Ryan and Max were planning to get me for my birthday and I was very, very excited! Anyway, here are photos from the day:
:-) Mismatched socks.
My boys!
Poor little Max has been teething again. He wakes up during the night crying because his mouth hurts and he doesn’t go back to bed unless I pick him up and cuddle him. Daddy can try it--but only Mommy can soothe him back to sleep! The night between the 22nd and the 23rd was one of those nights. He was so hungry at lunch time that day but just couldn’t keep his eyes open. He was eating peas, which he LOVES, but couldn’t finish them!
On Wednesday, February 24, Max and I had to drive to Salt Lake for the first time ever--without Ryan!! I was worried Max was going to be fussy… He didn’t have time to eat his full lunch time bottle before we had to leave. But he did really good the whole way there! It’s a major pain to go places like this without an extra person, though… I had to lug Max in his car seat up a flight of stairs (there isn’t an elevator available to people who don’t have a handicap) with his diaper bag. They had me checked in as soon as I got there and after lugging everything to our room, the nurse weighed me and took my blood pressure and A1c. I was excited about my weight--I am ALL the way back down to my high school weight--even less than when I got pregnant to begin with! Anyway, I met with a new doctor this time. His name is Dr. Dave Douglas. He is Julie Patterson’s replacement (she’s the one I really liked last year). He was surprisingly nice… I can’t believe how different the doctors in Salt Lake are compared to the ones I’ve seen in Provo! I explained to him that my blood sugars are running high and that it looked like sometime in the past couple months, my basal rates were somehow adjusted (maybe after a battery change or an alarm on my pump--I haven’t checked them in a long time). I used to get at least .6 units of insulin an hour, and now all of my rates were either .3 or .4. Unlike the doctors in Provo who would have said nasty things to me and called me completely irresponsible, he helped me correct the problem. Looking at my numbers, he told me he could tell that my body was very sensitive to insulin (as opposed to previous doctors who told me I was never getting enough insulin for a girl of my size), so he wanted to change my rates .05 units at a time. And amazingly, since I’ve done that, my blood sugars are in the 100’s when I wake up now instead of the 300’s and 400’s. Imagine if they’d upped me to .6--I would be going into shock at night! He also was completely fine with signing my driver’s license papers, even though my A1c was slightly high (9.1%). And he told me to come back in three months or earlier if I felt like I needed to. The only thing that bugged me about him was that he asked me to start taking vitamin D without telling me why, and he told me that he would put me on blood pressure medication that day if it weren’t for the fact that he was sure I was planning on having another kid or two. Blood pressure medication? I just turned 23! I had just lugged my baby in his car seat up the stairs and was nervous about meeting a new doctor and about whether or not he would sign my papers! I am never relaxed when I see the doctor… Ugh.
Anyway, after the appointment, I had to go to the diagnostics lab downstairs and give them a urine sample and let them draw my blood. I’m not sure what for--I guess I’ll find out if they call me. Max had started getting hungry while we were there, though, so I fed him part of a bottle while we were waiting for my turn. He slept the whole way back! I’m glad the appointment went as well as it did and that Max did so well!
Ryan took us to Hobby Lobby that night, since we’d never been there. I love that place!! It is a thousand times cooler than Roberts! Though I didn’t actually look at a scrapbooking section… But they had TONS of picture frames! And lots of cute home décor and stuff. Anyway, I snapped a picture of Max looking at a big mirror there, so here it is along with a couple other pictures from that day!
Max LOVES this toy!
Max and Mommy!
Here are some pictures from Friday, February 25...
Goofy goober...
Diaper changes are becoming more and more of a wrestling match! I tried to get this one off him but he rolled and tried to squirm away!
On Saturday, February 26, I stuck Max into one of his 24 month sized onesies… It FITS!! Of course, I think the Gerber brand of clothing runs a little smaller than other brands…
Max in his Batman jacket!
Max playing with his ball!
Ryan finished the rest of the main floor that day, except for the bathroom! But he couldn’t get more done that day because I had to go to work.
On Sunday, February 27, we got Max out of the house earlier than we ever have before! Ryan’s brother, Josh, has been called to serve a mission for his church. His farewell at church was this day--and church starts at 9:00 a.m.! But we managed to partially feed Max some breakfast before church and it wasn’t until the end that he started acting hungry again. Josh did an AMAZING job on his speech! He was very funny, and yet very solemn. Ryan and I do not consider ourselves members of the church, but we support him wholeheartedly in going on this mission. He is doing something he believes in. You could see that he believes in this while watching him and listening to his talk. Josh is a good, strong person, and we are very proud of him. Teaching people who want to accept the beliefs of the church into their lives is a good thing, and accepting God into your life in any form is a good thing as well. So we support him in spreading good throughout the world.
Max did pretty good during church. It was his first time being there. The singing seemed to overwhelm him! But he liked seeing the other kids and he stared very intently at the speakers. The poor little guy did have a somewhat rough day, though. He didn’t nap well all day and he was and still is teething!
After Josh’s talk, we hung around to talk to some of the family afterwards. It was nice to see them--Grandpa and Grandma Oleson, Brenda, Dave, April, Nathan, Traysen, Brielle, and Hannah. Max was being silly--he’s going through this phase where strangers make him shy sometimes, so he’ll snuggle in when someone he doesn’t really know talks to him. So funny and so cute! I loved it. He did it quite a few times at church before he was so exhausted he completely passed out. We had been invited to dinner at Ryan’s dad’s house, but after the speech, it was seven hours away. So we decided to go home and see how we felt when the time got closer. I tried to feed Max a bottle while we were watching a show, and Max decided that he wanted to watch, too. So, he knocked my hand out of the way so he could grab his bottle as he rolled to his side to see the TV. He was sucking on air, but he fought me when I tried to help him! Then we tried to take a family nap, but Max wasn’t into it… So I let Ryan nap and Max played in his room while I sorted laundry and got it all put away! Then we did decide to go back to Ryan’s family’s house for dinner. It was nice to see everyone for a while! Anyway, here are some pictures we got of the day!
Maximus and Mommy!
Maximus and Daddy!
Playing in the jumperoo!
All dressed up!
Standing on Daddy!
Poor baby... This is the first real nap of the day he got! And it was still pretty short! And pretty late!
Max's lint toes from his new black socks!
On Monday, February 28, I snapped these pictures of Maximus…
I love this! He looks mad but he's not--he's just trying to hold a crunch and going to have to flatten out in a second!
Max in his Spongebob pajamas!
On Tuesday, March 1, Max tried toast for the first time ever. Plain old white toast… He wasn’t a huge fan! He also actually tried to hold his own sippy cup and drink from it! This new one is a little longer than his old one… He can get it into his mouth but he can’t figure out how to lift it so he can actually get the water out of it! I also managed to get his hair styled into a decent Mohawk that day--his hair if finally actually getting long enough to style! I’m excited… ;-)
My dad and his fiancée, Michelle, came over to our house that evening. They took us out to dinner because they wouldn’t be able to come to our house the next day for my birthday. We went to Iggy’s! It was very nice of them to take me and my little family out. No one had no idea what to get me. I didn’t really want anything unless it helped us improve our home! So my dad offered to buy me a new toilet… But I want the ones on the main floor and in the basement to match the one in our upstairs bathroom! HaHa. So, I wound up with a Home Depot gift card! Now I can buy my own new toilet! Or paint for our next project… Or new shelves or something! Thank you, Dad and Michelle, for dinner and the gift card and for coming to see us!
That evening before bed, Max actually started pushing up onto his hands and knees all by himself for the first time ever. I was SO excited! He’s getting so close to crawling!
Anyway, here are photos from the day… Are you sick of that line yet?!
Here goes the sippy cup!
Max and all his yummy breakfast food!
Max's cute little Mohawk!
Max keeps doing this head tilt thing lately... I'm not sure why. Maybe it's part of teething, like instead of pulling on his ear, he tilts his head? He pulls his ear, too... I don't know!
Wednesday, March 2, I turned 23... HaHa. Not very exciting. Though my husband gave me a very nice day! He took the day off work and let me sleep in while he took care of Max’s early morning routine at 6:00 a.m. I didn’t even realize I’d fallen back asleep when he was walking into our bedroom with a plate full of breakfast from IHOP at 7:19 a.m.! Stuffed French Toast, scrambled eggs, bacon, and hash browns! My usual choice breakfast from them! ;-) It was very sweet. He also brought me orange juice and a pretty bouquet of flowers!
After breakfast, he asked me what I wanted to do before our 2:00 appointment… I told him I wanted to go to the eye doctor! He didn’t think it sounded like a fun thing to do for my birthday, but I was really excited about it! I had been on the same pair of contacts for at least two months and they were scratching my eyes like crazy! And I hate my glasses. So I was thrilled to go and actually get a new pair of contacts!
That appointment took WAY longer than it should have, though… We got there at 11:00 a.m. and didn’t leave until after 1:00 p.m.! And we had to be in Salt Lake by 2:00! So we had to run home, make Max a new bottle (he had to eat at the eye doctor’s office because we were there for so long), and rush to Salt Lake. We made it a little late, but we got there.
My 2:00 appointment was at Art City Tattoo with Jason! Ryan and Maximus gave me a tattoo for my birthday! My sister, Brooke, and her boyfriend, Klay, hooked us up (thanks again, guys!). I was really excited--I’ve wanted to get Max’s footprint on my back since before he was even born! Of course, the hospital didn’t get Max’s newborn prints, and the only pair we have is from when Max was three months old. So, the print ended up looking pretty big! But oh, well. The text also had to be quite a bit bigger than I wanted it to be, but I think it still looks pretty good. It looks a thousand times better than my first tattoo looks! I’ll have to go back and have Jason touch that one up for me one of these days… I’m still trying to decide if I want to get the letters filled or not on this new one… Anyway, here it is!
After we got my tattoo, we went to Rusted Sun Pizzeria with Brooke and Klay. Ryan and I weren’t super hungry, so we split a calzone. Then we had to run home and wait for guests to arrive!
My grandparents and my Uncle Hal came over first, then Brooke and Klay, and then my mom and Russ. No one else was able to stop by, but that was okay with me! My grandparents gave me the Magic Bullet, which I haven’t had time to try out yet! They also gave me some bowls, a gift card to get some shoes, and a shirt. I got cash from my uncle. And I got a Pizza Hut gift card and some candy from Brooke and Klay. And my mom and Russ were taking me out for dinner the next day, and they are planning on taking all the family on vacation this year as a birthday/Christmas gift. Thank you, everyone who came and thank you for the gifts!
Anyway, we had Cola Brownies and Ribbon Bar Cheesecake. I’d made dessert the day before since my dad couldn’t make it--so Ryan was mad I made my own cake. But I didn’t mind! I like homemade cake better than pre-made, store bought cake! And here’s what I did to the cheesecake… ;-)
HaHa! I thought it was funny! ;-)
We’re not very good at getting everyone’s picture on our own birthdays… Playing host and hostess makes it a little more difficult! But here’s what we got!
After everyone went home and Max finished his dinner, the three of us went to Tepanyaki. It was yummy, as usual! Max was pretty funny. He was a little flirt as always! The fire seemed to startle him a bit, but he didn’t get fussy or nervous about anything else. He was actually pretty excited the whole time. It was fun to watch him watch everything! Though at the end, he kept sticking his tongue out and I swear it was three inches long! I don’t know if it was because of teething or if the smell of our dinners just made him salivate like crazy and made him hungry!
I had a very nice day on my birthday. Thank you to all of my friends and family who went out of your way to wish me a happy birthday via text message, Facebook, and birthday cards. You guys are all awesome! Thanks to those of you who were able to stop by and celebrate a little with me. And thank you so, so much to my husband for giving me such a wonderful day! Everything was perfect, and I seriously had to bite my tongue to keep myself from crying when I read your sweet card. You are the best husband anyone could ever ask for! And thank you to Max for--well, being my Max! I love you all!
My two favorite boys!
My pretty bouquet from Ryan!
And that brings us to today--Thursday, March 3. Max has been trying to crawl today! He has gotten up on his hands and knees numerous times by himself (after being assisted a couple times) and rocked and tried to get his body going! He is SO close, I can’t even believe it! In addition to this today, he decided to be a little trouble maker… He ate his carrots but apparently did not want the rice… He picked up his bowl, purposely turned it upside down, threw his spoon on the floor, and played with his rice… Goober!
My little trouble maker in action...
Oh, and I forgot to mention that Max wormed his way out of his diaper today...
My mom and Russ took my little family out to dinner at Outback tonight to celebrate my birthday. It was very nice of them--especially as they had another dinner lined up for that night! Fortunately, the other one was cancelled so they only had to eat once. Max was a ham at the restaurant… Instead of smiling for all the girls like he usually does, he just smiled at me! He drooled the entire time, too! Darn those teeth… Ryan let Max try a little bit of bread at the restaurant… He wasn’t a very big fan, though! Thank you, Mom and Russ, for taking us out to dinner!
Other notes about life lately… Well, I guess about Maximus lately! First, he has this new obsession with touching and feeling EVERYTHING… Rugs, carpet, faces, hair, fur, plates… Everything! Anything within reach has to be touched. It’s kind of funny to see him become so fascinated with every little thing! Second, Max has always been a kicker… And he shows no sign of letting up… He kicks us while we try to change him. He lifts his legs and thumps them down really hard over and over again when he’s excited. And most recently, when he’s upset, he now kicks like crazy. It’s almost like a temper tantrum! Third… He has his new walker, but of course he tries to bounce in it instead of walking. And he bounces backwards. He gets himself backed into a corner and then throws a fit because he can’t move himself forward to get out! And I help him, but he jumps right back into the corner again! And finally, I can’t remember what day, but Max said “bottle.” Maralee will vouch for me! We both heard him say it! Though I’m sure he still doesn’t understand, so it doesn’t count as a first word yet!
Anyway, here is my final thought of the day. I suppose I should tell you that I am part of an online “Mommy Group.” It’s a place to interact with other moms. We can ask each other questions and be excited for each other when our kids do new things, and most importantly, we can support each other through hard times. Less than two weeks ago, a 29 year old woman who is married and has a son Maximus’ age shared that she had recently found out that she had a brain tumor. She was scheduled to have surgery on February 28 and feared leaving her husband and son alone in this world. It has been devastating for me to think of this poor woman. It could just as easily have been me in her shoes, and I can only imagine how hard things have been for her. I can’t even imagine the possibility of getting sick and dying and leaving my son and husband alone in this world. After hearing nothing from her for about a week, our group finally heard from her today. She was in surgery for 12-½ hours and they were able to get all but 1% of the tumor out before it became necessary to stop due to the possibility of a stroke. She is presently in a lot of pain but she has survived! She was even pleased to announce that her son cut his first tooth the day of the operation. Thank you to everyone who offered her your prayers. I know I’ve been sending mine her way and I am counting my blessings every day that it wasn’t me this time and that she has survived this. Life is such a precious gift and I am so grateful to experience all it has to offer. Every day is just a miracle and the older I get, the more I treasure every moment I’m given.
I hope everyone is doing well. Thanks for sticking it out if you got this far in my post!
1 comment:
Aubrey-
Max is so freaking cute!! I'm Ryan's friend from high school & the one that you made sock monkey hats for at Christmas (I guess there could've been more...lol). I follow your blog and I love seeing the pictures of Max. He's so adorable! =)
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