July was such a crazy busy month! So many firsts… Let’s dive in and see what happened!
Max is a crazy little explorer… He’s so fast! I opened his closet door this morning and he crawled right in onto his old car seat. He tried to get over it and into his old toys and things he doesn’t use anymore…
He also likes to open and close his toy box... He has so much fun!
My crazy boy at dinner!
We walked over to the fireworks stand in front of Macey’s that night to buy a couple and let Max see fireworks for the first time… He did not like them…
So cute! So excited!
Wondering what Daddy is doing...
His reaction to the loud noise...
And here come the tears... So sad!!
And Daddy rescued him! Poor baby boy!
Poor baby... He hates fireworks so much!!
Daddy lighting more fireworks!
So done for the night!
My brother turned 19 this year! It’s so crazy that he’s that old! We went to my dad’s to celebrate with him that day.
Trying to wake up Daddy!
Ready for breakfast!
Yummy bananas!
Me and my baby!
The birthday boy!
Uncle Corbin ready to blow out his candles!
My baby boy eating some cake!
I realize it's not the most practical way to help teething, but it seems that letting Max chew on me is the ONLY thing besides teething strips (which were pulled off the shelves of retail stores) that seem to ease the pain! He bit me so hard this night, though, that he actually drew blood!! He's a little vampire...
Another fun event of the day: Max licked an outlet! I was so glad it was covered. Not that simply licking it would have hurt him, but it freaked me out to imagine what’s to come next!
Just thinking about my sweet little baby lights up my day! I am so blessed to have him and his father in my life. J
For Max’s first Independence Day, it was CLOUDY!! I was sad we woke up to grey skies. But it was still a nice day! We went to my Dad’s house that evening to do some fireworks with him, Michelle, Brooke, Klay, and Sean. After that, we went to Discovery Park in Pleasant Grove to watch the city show. It was a little cold and rainy and Max fell asleep while we were watching, but overall, it was a pretty fun day!
Playing in the toy box!
Playing in the crib!
Happy Independence Day!
My cute little July baby!
Gettin' saved by Grandma!
This is definitely my dad!
Grandpa bookin' it!
Walking with Grandma!
Max LOVED chasing around the neighbor's cat!
Parachutes!
You'd think he'd at least be okay with the smoke bombs!
Hating the fireworks... :-(
HaHa, that neighbor's cat...
Grandpa lighting fireworks!
Max actually did start enjoying the fireworks by the time we were basically done with them!
It rained!! On the 4th of July!!
My baby sure loves Grandpa!
Me and my boys waiting to see the fireworks at Discovery Park!
We bought two boxes of Otter Pops for Max's birthday... This is what my freezer looks like!
I usually do my make up in Max's room... Kind of a pain, but he loves playing with it and watching me put it on!
Crawling around with my make up!
Max crawled in the laundry basket! His way of helping me, I guess! His tongue cracks me up!
Walmart called me that day and left a voicemail saying that there was a problem with my order… I couldn’t figure out what the heck they were talking about! I finally realized that the only order I’d placed with them was an order for three 6-foot subs--I’d placed it for Max’s birthday party for which about 70 people had RSVPed yes! So I called them back and they had written down Friday the 9th instead of Saturday, so they were trying to figure out which day I needed the sandwiches for. They scared the crap out of me!
I spent the whole day on Friday getting things ready for Max’s birthday party… There was SO much to do… I made so many cupcakes. 102 to be precise--but I dropped one, so I had 101. I made three different kinds--chocolate, lemon, and cotton candy to go with Max’s rubber ducky theme. I also made Max’s smash cake. My sister came over that evening to help me with goody bags. THANK YOU again, Brooke!! We filled up 90 bags with popcorn, rubber duckies, bubbles, and tied them off with friendship bracelets or fun bands. It took FOREVER!!
It was kind of cool to think back to a year ago on this day. I got to see a 3D picture of my baby boy and learned that I was going to be induced that day! I thought he’d be born that night, but it took over 31 hours for him to arrive! I’d do it all over again just to have that amazing little boy in my life!
I can’t believe my baby is ONE!! How crazy is that?! He woke up that morning and got to open one of his presents from Mom and Dad first thing…
Good morning, birthday boy!
Opening his first birthday present!!
Waiting for Daddy to set up his car!
He LOVES it!!
My little birthday boy helping Mom with laundry!
Riding his car again!
I've heard it from others and I definitely have to agree that birthdays can be difficult... Max refused to take his nap before the party, which caused him to be a very, very grumpy little boy...
My brother had to work during the party, so he came by early. Max doesn't see him very often... He did NOT like him that day at all!
It cracks me up how much he did not like his Uncle Corbin that day!
Running away from Uncle Corbin!
Ryan's mom also stopped by before the party started, but Max wasn't any more keen on seeing her than he was Uncle Corbin! He's usually not so grumpy... I blame it on lack of a nap!
Max had a rubber ducky party, in case I failed to mention that!! Here's the punch bowl!
Lincoln playing with my Grandpa!
Jaxon and Branson!
Max getting to know my dad's cousin, Roxsan!
My grandma's sister and my grandma!
For the first part of Max’s birthday, we just socialized and mingled and ate. We didn’t have any big plans!
Max's birthday dinner! Punch, chips, fruit, sub sandwiches, cupcakes, and otter pops!
Amber and Cozy!
Klay!
My mom's family!
Ry and Max!
April and Nathan!
Mel, Nix, and Gene!
My boss!
Ty, Cam, and Amber!
My dad and Michelle with my cousin, Mya!
Some of our guests!
Pinata time! I apologize in advance--I may have missed some of the kids and I'm not naming names here on the blog--it's too hard to see who's who in HTML!
Also, we’d like to thank Ryan’s Uncle Joel for helping us out with the pinata!
The birthday boy was a little too little to really enjoy the pinata!
Candy!!
Poor little guy fell asleep during the pinata... :-( I had to wake him up by swiping a wet wipe across his forehead so he could do cake before it rained!
Cake time!
The cake! It was a rubber ducky cake. :-) It was also cotton candy flavored!
The sleepy, grumpy, birthday boy!
He was not interested in blowing out his candle!
He was definitely not very interested in digging in... Still too tired!!
It started raining, so pretty much everyone went home before we did presents. Just my dad and some of his family stayed!
Max in his new wagon from Grandpa and Grandma!
Max had some pizza since he didn't eat much for dinner earlier!
Max's new toys!
After Max finished eating, we let him try out his cake again… Things went MUCH better the second time around!
I love this picture... Look who's one!!
He loved his cake the second time around!
Daddy wants some cake, too!
And here comes an even bigger mess!
Such a mess!
Max playing with some of his new toys after cake!
My baby boy--the sweetest, most amazing, most lovable little boy ever--had an amazing day. Thank you so much to everyone who came to his party and helped us celebrate his first birthday. Thank you also to my grandparents for letting us borrow your tables and chairs! Thank you to my dad for letting us use (and keep) the volleyball net! Thank you to my Uncle Hal and my dad’s family and Michelle’s family for helping us get things ready and thank you to Ryan’s family and my family for helping with clean up! You guys are all so awesome. Thank you all for the amazing toys and gifts you gave Max! Thank you for EVERYTHING!! We love you all. J
Also, if anyone wants copies of the pictures or would like to see more (I don’t upload all of them on the blog), get in touch with me! I have them all uploaded to Snapfish and have a group room you can order from. Or I can also just get you a disc or something!
Before the big day was over, tooth number nine also made an appearance--his top left first molar! It was quite an eventful day!
To celebrate Max’s birthday with just Mom and Dad, we took him to the zoo on Sunday. He had a lot of fun! The dinosaurs were actually functioning this time. Sadly, it rained again that day! Crazy July weather… But oh, well. We still had fun! We brought Max’s new wagon and pulled him around in it. That thing is going to be a lot of fun!
Before we headed to the zoo, Max of course had to play with my make up… He has countless new toys, yet my tube of mascara is still more fascinating than anything else in the world! Once I hid it from him, he was willing to give the new toys a chance!
So excited for the zoo!
This was the cutest thing EVER! Ryan bought some French fries for us all to share while we were at the zoo and Max tried to feed ME for the first time ever! It was the cutest, sweetest thing ever!
Seein' the giraffes!
This dinosaur made Max a little nervous!
Mommy and Maximus!
Daddy and Maximus!
Max was more interested in looking at the food than the animals!
He really wanted to play with the umbrella!
Elephants!
Trapped in the rain... Had a bottle while we were waiting for it to stop! And then it didn't...
Trying to stay dry on our way to see the monkeys!
Look how wet the wagon is!
Rained out and heading home!
Monday morning, Max was sleeping, so I got in the shower. I kept hearing these weird thuds and movement. I kept telling myself it was just the neighbors being loud--we can hear their TV when they turn up the volume and we can hear them run up and down the stairs all the time. But the thuds started getting louder and all of a sudden, the shower door started moving like Max was pushing on it. I freaked out--I thought maybe he’d somehow gotten out of his crib and had managed to not to see that the gate was open at the top of the stairs and made it all the way to the bathroom. What a nightmare that would be! I took a breath and pulled open the door… It was Ryan! He ran home from work for a minute and gave me a heart attack!
When I got in the car to go to work that day, I had to laugh… I found this in the passenger seat…
My husband is such a nerd… I sure love him!
Here are just a few fun pictures of Max I got on Tuesday!
I went downstairs to print thank you cards to send to everyone after Max's birthday. I was gone five minutes! I came back upstairs to this!
His new friend, Scout, from his Grandma King!
I love his face in this one... He's so silly!
On Wednesday, Max had his 12 month check up. I was really annoyed… We didn’t get to see the doctor until 45 minutes after our scheduled appointment!
Length = 30.75 inches (79.02%ile)
Weight = 23.52 pounds (60.85%ile)
Head Circumference = 18.19 inches (44.21%ile)
The doctor said Max still has that hydrocele, but he didn’t mention anything about surgery. We’d have to wait another three months and see how things looked then. Other than that, he’s perfectly healthy and growing well! The doctor also said we were welcome to start whole milk instead of formula, but that it would be okay for him to use formula until he was 15 months, too. We tried whole milk with dinner that night and I was amazed--he did so well! I thought he’d fight it and that it would be a difficult transition, but there were no complaints! No fussiness, no side effects. Nothing! My sweet baby is growing up so fast!
Already trying to climb!
Playing outside with my baby!
I killed a fly using PAM on Thursday. It fell into my dishwasher. I got it out, but I definitely rewashed all of those dishes…
Ryan’s been in this health class, and he suddenly wants NOTHING to do with meat! So we ate a lot of meatless dishes for a few months starting in July. It was funny--he made fun of me for going vegetarian with my friend Chalyse for a week in high school. He’s such a carnivore! But learning about what happens to your meat definitely is an eye opener and can definitely change your mind about how you feel about it!
On Saturday, we took Max swimming for the first time ever! We went to the Scera Pool in Orem. It was a pretty cool pool! Max didn’t exactly enjoy it at first, though! He started to like it when it was time to go, of course!
Sitting in the pool with Mommy!
Drying off! He's so cute!
Mommy and Maximus!
Eating churros!
Daddy and Max!
Poking Mom's camera... This is probably why there are ugly black spots on the lens now that I can't get rid of!
His first sip of Coke! He's an addict now!
Max always rubs his head when he has crumbs on his hands... Here's some cinnamon sugar from his churro!
Mommy and Maximus at dinner!
Daddy and Max at Blockbuster!
I had this horrible dream during the night that Max had climbed out of his crib and ripped off the baby gate at the top of the stairs… I hate dreams like that. So rarely do I remember my dreams--I HATE that I remember dreams like this!
We’ve loved Max’s wagon! We went for so many walks all summer long with that thing! Max loves it, too!
My friend Amber invited us over for her birthday on Thursday. Ryan had school, but Max and I took her the family pictures I’d taken for them. I felt awkward staying… I don’t really know Amber’s family or friends… I’m very socially awkward… As soon as we left, I felt really bad for not staying! It’s not as though we weren’t invited! And Max would have loved to stay and play. I decided I needed to take him out to do something since I didn’t let him stay… So I called my sister and her boyfriend! We met in Provo and pulled Max around in his Wagon along Center Street and Freedom Boulevard. Afterwards, we went to Cold Stone Creamery at the University Mall for ice cream. By then, it was getting late and Max was getting grumpy, so we didn’t stay long. But thank you again to Brooke and Klay for hanging out with us. And thank you to Amber for the invite and we hope you had a happy birthday! We’ll stay for sure next year if you invite us! J
We finally got Max’s ball pit set up! He has so much fun playing in it!
We went to Chick-fil-A for lunch and Max played in the play area for kids for the first time ever!
After lunch, we took Max to the Living Planet Aquarium in Sandy. It was his first time there!
Looking at fishies!
Stingrays!
Seahorses!
Checkin' out the penguins!
Towards the end, Max was ready for a nap and got pretty grumpy!
The aquarium was fun, but we thought Max was still a little young to really make it worth going. Maybe next time it will be more fun for him!
I worked in the morning on Sunday. I rang up this awful old man and asked him if he wanted to make a donation. I can’t remember what it was for--might have been cancer, might have been diabetes. I think it was diabetes. Either way, we got onto the topic of diabetes and he was kind of bashing on it. To put an end to his rudeness, I stated that I had type 1. He told me I shouldn’t have eaten so much sugar as a kid if I didn’t want diabetes! This man didn’t even know that there was a difference between type 1 and type 2 diabetes! I was amazed that someone could be so uneducated and that someone who WAS so uneducated could attack someone for having a condition which he knew nothing about! It’s really hard to be a cashier sometimes and not say things that will get me fired… But I think I did well. As much as I wanted to call him every name I could think of, I kept my mouth shut. But I was still very upset.
We walked over to Sonic when I got off work. Ryan sat on one of the tables while we waited for our order… This is what his butt looked like when he stood up! Luckily it washed off.
And this is Max trying to get out of his pack ‘n’ play!
I LOVE coming home to my baby when he is drowsy and cuddly! He rolls back and forth between me and Ryan in bed and snuggles with us and smiles! It is seriously the best thing ever!
Here are some fun snapshots I got of Max eating all day… ;-)
Such a multitasker!
I love his crazy facial expressions, LOL!
I was very impressed with my son at dinner... He LOVED the bean salad wraps I made!
It rained again this day. Isn’t it supposed to be hot and sunny in July?!
It was really weird to me that I was able to sleep until 9:30 a.m. on Wednesday… It was even weirder that Max slept that late and was still sleeping when I woke up!
We let Max try pretty much everything we eat. If he won’t eat it, we give him something he will eat. But we try to make sure he at least tries new foods! I made peppers stuffed with cinnamon bulgur for dinner this night and was surprised that Max actually really enjoyed it!!
Max was due July 28, 2010. By then, he was already 19 days old! I did baby pictures on his due date last year and thought I’d do his one year old pictures on the same day a year later. So here some of them are!
Running away from pictures!!
Here are some comparison shots!
After pictures, I took Max to Macey’s for some ice cream!
I was eating Jalapeno Cheetos and Max really wanted some. I kept fighting him because I thought they'd be too hot. He was persistent, so I finally decided he could try them and see why I wasn't sharing them with him. Instead, he downed half the bag all by himself! He LOVES them!
Snack time!
Ryan and I watched “127 Hours” after Max went to bed that night. We thought it was going to suck… When we went to Mesa Verde and Moab last year, our tour guide on the river told us that the guy this happened to was getting rich off of being an idiot. We were both pretty impressed, though. It’s not a movie I’d want to watch again, but I don’t regret seeing it. Yes, the guy is kind of an idiot. He made a bad choice. But he survived! If it had been me, I’m positive I’d have died! It was horrible to watch him slice through the nerves and to break his own bones…
On Saturday, my friend Amber invited us over for dinner. She’s married to Ty and they have a daughter named Cameron who is only six weeks younger than Max. It was lots of fun to watch the kids crawl around together! They are both just so stinkin’ cute!
Thank you again to Amber and Ty for having us over for dinner. It was great! We had lots of fun!
Anyway, that about does it for July… Hopefully I can catch up on August before another six months goes by!!
