Ryan FINALLY has vacation days to use this year… Of course, we most likely won’t be taking any lavish, week long vacations this year, so Ryan is using his days here and there so he doesn’t lose them. On this particular Monday, he took one of those days and we took Max to Utah’s Hogle Zoo for the very first time! We had a lot of fun spending the day together. Max focused very hard on the monkeys and the elephants, and he got really excited and started bouncing when he saw the baby elephant. We each took him on the carousel. He seemed to enjoy that, but he REFUSED to look at the camera! Ryan and I grabbed a slice of pizza for lunch… It was pretty disappointing for the money! But we still had a nice day. And Max’s absolute favorite animal at the zoo was, of all things, the SQUIRREL! He loved that thing… Coming in a close second was the prairie dogs!
Looking at the monkeys with Daddy!
Daddy and Max seeing the elephants!
The baby elephant!
Max was really excited when he saw the baby elephant!
Maximus "measuring up!"
Ryan and Max!
The rhino!
Daddy and Max looking at the rhino!
This monkey was pretty funny... He kept running along the glass and slapping it, scaring all the kids!
Max and Daddy!
Max and Mommy checking out the giraffe!
Mommy and Max on the carousel! The little girl who sat by us was only a couple weeks younger than Max!
Daddy and Max on the carousel!
The squirrel Max liked so much!
Smiling at the fishies!
Daddy and Max with the prairie dogs!
Mommy and Max seeing the prairie dogs!
Just little Max, all on his own! ;-)
"Pop" goes the weasel!
Prairie dogs!
Max and Mommy on the train!
On Tuesday, May 3, Max finally figured out how to pull up! I was so proud. He tried ALL morning in his pack ‘n’ play and I felt so bad--there is nothing in there for him to grip as he tries! But he kept trying and later on when I put him in, he figured it out! He pushed his hands against the mesh and “walked” up it! It was amazing!
Max also tried cantaloupe for the first time that day. He seemed pretty indifferent about it! I tried blending it to make it easier to feed to him, but apparently, cantaloupe turns completely into a liquid when you blend it! So I tried mixing it with some yogurt for him… Max doesn’t like cold things, though--not unless he’s feeding it to himself. So, he dumped it out on the floor for me… Little goober!
Sleepy little guy!
After learning to pull up in his pack ‘n’ play the day before, Max figured out how to pull up in his crib! I walked into his bedroom after his nap and found him just like this!
Ryan recently decided that University of Phoenix was a better choice for pursuing his education that UVU was. After dealing with a really crappy counselor who quit his job and neglected Ryan’s paperwork, Ryan FINALLY actually got to start school again on May 5. Max and I made this fun little card for him that day to tell him how proud we are of him!
I was pretty excited to wake up this year on Mother’s Day and know that I am a mom! It is the best job I have ever had! I am grateful for the opportunity I’ve been given to be a mom. I hope that I am doing a good job and that I continue to do a good job. I hope that my baby will always love me! He and his dad are my whole world! For Mother’s Day, I had wanted to take some family pictures. So, we got all dressed up and everything, but sadly, by the time we were ready, the rain was just too bad to even try! So we decided to try again another day. Ryan made me cookie dough pancakes for breakfast that morning and he gave me a cool new book to put my recipes in! Max gave me “The Lion King” soundtrack. I love my gifts! My boys are both totally awesome!! We visited my grandma and then spent the evening with my mom that day. I had a pretty great first Mother’s Day!
Since we were dressed up, I insisted that we TRY to get a couple pictures… These are the family pictures we got on Mother's Day!
On Monday, as I walked out the door to go work, my ten month old baby boy cried to see me leave for the first time ever… Totally broke my heart!
Tuesday was Melissa’s birthday! We didn’t get to see her, though--Ryan worked during the day and I had to work that night.
Here are some pictures I got of Max that morning, though!
Playing with his work bench!
Kaylee had to get her appendix out that day, too! So we made her a “Get Well” card.
Here’s another picture of Max that day… Pulling up on EVERYTHING, like I mentioned before!
I had to order pump supplies that day, also… I learned that our deductible is $3,000 and that our insurance pretty much pays for NOTHING until that deductible is met… Which means we are paying out of pocket full cost for a LOT of stuff… Ugh!
Ryan snapped a few pictures of Max that night… Here are a few of them!
When I got home from work that night, Max was still awake. He’d taken a late nap and was not interested in sleeping. As soon as I got into bed, he crawled away from Ryan straight to sit with me. It was the cutest thing ever! I feel bad that he misses me, but I like knowing that I’m missed when I’m gone!
More pulling up… Silly baby!
I decided I wanted to make a blue rubber ducky cake for Max’s birthday, but I didn’t want it to be plain old boring vanilla flavored for him… So, I decided to experiment with cotton candy flavor! This day was my first attempt at the flavoring… I just added the flavor to a vanilla cake mix and vanilla frosting, but afterwards I decided that it would taste MORE like cotton candy if I made the cake from scratch and replaced vanilla with cotton candy extract… But, Max enjoyed the first attempt, anyway!
My amazing little boy also learned how to climb stairs that day. He just started and didn’t stop until he got to the top--14 whole steps! Can you believe it?! He’s amazing.
Max decided to wake up at 5:45 a.m. this day… He wanted to play! Silly baby. I guess that can happen at any age--well, up to my age, anyway, since that’s as far as I’ve gone! I hate waking up in the middle of the night feeling like I should do something besides sleep. It’s worse now that I’m not the only one doing so!
Maximus tried French Onion Soup on Friday, too. I was amazed that he actually liked it!
Anyway, here are a couple photos from the day…
"Helping" Mom with laundry!
Here are some pictures we got of Max Saturday morning…
Pulling up!
That evening, we had dinner at my dad’s house. We started introducing tomatoes after Max turned 10 months, and my dad had some salsa and some chips. I took a little bite of a chip with salsa on it and decided it was mild enough for Max to have a little… BIG mistake! Poor little guy just got this awful look on his face and started bawling!! I tried the salsa again later and it was much hotter than it was the first time I’d tried it. So sad…
When we got home from my dad’s that night at 9:00 p.m., there was a car parked in Ryan’s spot. We were pissed. We had to park in a guest spot and carry our sleeping baby and all our bags all the way around the corner! And we couldn’t leave the car there--cars are up for grabs by the towing company if they are in guest spots after midnight (unless you get a parking pass--but should we really have to get one when we LIVE there?!). Ryan knocked on three of our neighbors’ doors. There’s a guy who is probably close in age to us who lives with his mom two doors down. Ryan knocked on their door and could see the guy and his buddies in their basement playing games. They wouldn’t answer. So, we decided to have the car towed. One of the other neighbors decided to have the car in her spot towed, too. We were really irritated. And it sucks that they had to go pay to get their cars back, but visitor spots are clearly marked, as are owners’ spots. I didn’t feel bad. But, family and friends, be warned: these neighbors would gladly do the same thing to us now, so DO NOT PARK where you are not supposed to!!
Gavin tried to run away... :-)
After a few days of being chased by Max, the cats started warming up to him and started to enjoy being petted (a.k.a. mauled) by him!
Max has learned how to hug. He doesn’t do it often, and sometimes he’s actually just chewing on your shoulder, but he does know how to hug! And he gets better at it every day.
On Sunday, we finally got the family pictures I’d been wanting to do for Mother’s Day. We didn’t do them for long, though. It was windy and that was not a good combination with my hair and lipstick. And then Max tipped over on the concrete and bumped his little head, so we were done pretty shortly after that. But we did get a few good ones!
Converse!
Max and Daddy!
Max and Mommy!
Maximus and his rubber ducky!
With the little guy pulling up on anything and everything lately, you can imagine that we’ve had quite a few bumps and falls… He is such a crazy little monkey! Most of the falls haven’t been too bad, but we’ve had a few that have brought on the tears. Poor baby.
I got a few shots of Max that day despite the thuds, though--I’ve been wanting to get some cute pictures for his birthday invitations! The first few are of him chewing on a straw in the high chair…
Here are the invite pics!
I had an appointment with my endocrinologist in Salt Lake on Thursday. I’ve been having these crazy low blood sugars that hit me out of nowhere--just like they did when I was pregnant (and no, I’m NOT pregnant!). So, my husband wouldn’t let me drive that far on my own in case I dropped while driving. But he couldn’t get the day off work, so my sister went with me. I am always amazed every time I see the doctors in Salt Lake… I have had so many better experiences with them than I have with the doctors I’ve seen in Provo! My A1c was 8.3%, which is not good, but at least it’s down a little from last time. My doctor wanted to put me on a continuous glucose monitor (CGM) to help figure out why I was going low so often. That’s about all we talked about at the appointment. My sister hung out with Max while I had my appointment and I took her out to lunch afterwards to thank her. It was also payment for her cutting my hair! On our way home, though, my blood sugar did drop. Luckily, I wasn’t on the freeway when it happened! She bought me a juice at the gas station to get me up. She’s just awesome like that!
Max and Aunt B at Zupas!
I also observed that night that Max seems to have started outgrowing purees… He doesn’t eat them very well anymore! He’d much rather have a real solid food these days!
I had to refill my test strip prescription the day after my appointment with my doctor. $300 for a one month supply because my insurance refused to cover ANY of it until my deductible was met… Ugh. Luckily, the pharmacist switched me to the generic brand since I already had a generic meter, so I only paid half the amount. But it still really sucks!
Okay, so he’s not ACTUALLY walking on his own, but you should see him go when he holds onto your fingers! There is no stopping him! Max LOVES to walk!!
We’ve had all of Max’s books and toys in totes for a while now rather than in his toy box, and I love it that way! It is so much fun to watch him sort through the box and pick out the books and toys he wants! His room is pretty messy because of this, but I love it, anyway!
On Monday, May 30, Ryan and I celebrated our seven year dating anniversary! It’s so crazy to think we’ve been together for that long. We didn’t do anything to celebrate, really. We both had the day off and just spent it together with Max. But that’s how we do things in our house and we like it that way!! Seven years ago on this day, I was having a pretty rough day. Ryan invited me over for a “Girl’s Night” with this guy named Isaiah who we worked with… LOL! We watched “The Crow” and ate freezer-burnt chocolate ice cream. We’ve been together ever since!
Anyway, I think that about does it for May! I’m missing a couple memory cards, so don’t be surprised if you see more pictures from May in another post! ;-)
