Max's Birthday Party

Our little man is officially 2! (And based on his behavior this morning, feels like he needs to live up to the "Terrible 2" reputation. Grr..... You'd never know it from the picture above though!)

His party had an Elmo theme and I took my first crack at making cake pops. I found the recipe here and even though they didn't turn out as cute as the professional's pops, I was quite pleased! We also had a cake that he was delighted with too. (I needed a back-up in case the cake pops didn't work! And believe me, they were work!) We had lots of friends and family there to celebrate. And to play freeze-dance with. It was so fun to see all of them dancing around to "C Is For Cookie" from his new Sesame Street CD. I don't think he could be any happier, or spoiled with toys, than he was on this birthday celebration.
Thanks for all of you near and far who are such a blessing in his life!
Cheers,
Christy

Max is 2 years old!

2 years ago, early in the morning, on a drizzly Fall day, our lives were changed forever. Our son Max was born! To the tunes of Bob Marley, Brentt and I, Jordan (his birthmother), and Grandma Sue all welcomed him into this world. There was so much joy in that room!It seems crazy to me how quickly 2 years flies by! Now, his personality is coming out and we are learning that is a fun, smart and loving boy. A little stubborn (no doubt those terrible two's have begun.) but he is such a gift!Happy Birthday, Max!

That Giggle!

It would be hard for me to decide what I like best about Max at 22 months old but his giggle is very high on the list. Watch this video of him - So Cute!

This is one of our favorite games to play. (Pardon the video quality please. It's hard to be the camera operator and the airplane operator at the same time.)

Thanks for checking in!
Cheers,
Christy

Max-Love

I don't have much to say about these pictures. I am so in love with Max. (I think God plans it this way before they hit the terrible 2's)
He is just so sweet, charming, and a little silly. Pictures say a thousand words, right?Thanks for checking in!
Cheers,
Christy

Happy Tax Day!

We have 3 great deductions on our taxes. This one just happens to be labeled. Happy Tax Day!
Cheers,
Christy

Catching up

Now that we are (mostly) all healthy, I am starting to catch up on life. All the snotty and vomit covered laundry is done, I've Lysol-ed nearly every space the kids have touched, homework is caught up and we even have food in the fridge! Life is good! I'm even having a bit of time to scrapbook! (but I'm sacrificing my sleep to do it.)

We've had some nice moments in the last few weeks too. Here are a few pics I wanted to share.
Sam wrote me a love note all on his own. His first one too! I love it! Expect a scrapbook layout on this soon. ;)
Here are the kids when we went down to the bay for a picnic one night a couple weeks ago.
The morning after that, Max had a good soaking in the kitchen sink. We rarely bathe him there but he had so much fun, I couldn't resist the naked baby photos!

Then, just this morning he fell asleep in his car-seat. I think it is so cute how he sucks on his little lovey when he falls asleep. So angelic...
Thanks for checking in!
Getting crafty this weekend... ;)
Cheers,
Christy

Peek - a- boo

Today, I really am blogging to hide from the laundry. ;) Last week, I had a laundry helper who was playing peek-a-boo. He is such a ham!

Here is a video. (Sorry I don't know how to turn it right side up.)

Its sunny and 75 degrees today so I'm feeling guilty that I am inside. We're off to the beach for a BBQ soon. Thanks for checking in!
Christy

Lil man walking!

By popular demand, here is a video of Max walking. Finally! Click here.

He's been walking for a couple weeks now but he still prefers to crawl because he is so much quicker. He is so cute when he knows everyone is watching him! ;)

So one of my New Year's resolutions this year is to keep up with Max (and the other 2 too) and hopefully lose a few pounds in the process.

I actually have 12 New Year's resolutions. I break them up by the month and some of them seem so simple and dumb but here is January's: Put away the Christmas stuff. Sadly, I still haven't finished it yet....but the day is not over! And I still have 7 more days of the month too. Here is to procrastinators!

Cheers,
Christy

Max loves to dance!

I caught Max dancing again last week and finally got it recorded. (p.s. check out his new "faux-hawk" hair-do)

Click here to watch it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UuJ0vLACkCA

Such a happy, entertaining guy! He is almost walking too. He'll take about 5 steps before he falls down to crawl faster. It;s such a fun stage!

Girl Scout party today. Sam's Christmas program tonight. Busy, busy, busy. Now, taking time to enjoy our sunny, 85 degree day. What a December treat!
Cheers,
Christy

So stinkin' cute!

Max just got these new PJ's from Grandma Sue & Jordan for his birthday. I couldn't wait to share these. He looks so stinking cute... and he knows it! Such a ham!

Thanks for checking in!
Christy

Halloween

Normally, we are REALLY into Halloween but this year, not so much. Kids were sick a lot in October and we have been so busy. Nonetheless, we had fun and the kids loved their costumes.

Well... Max only loved his costume for a couple minutes then he made every effort to just get it off. You should have heard the yells of frustration! I couldn't bear it so after a few photos, we just took the costume off.

Sam loved being a pirate. The funny thing is, he dresses like a pirate about once a week throughout the year anyway. He thought getting candy just for being his usual Pirate-self was just fabulous. Now to deal with all the sugar...
Trick or treating in our neighborhood is fun but I think Maddie and Max would rather have been playing with the firetruck ride-on. (Still one of the all-time favorite toys in the house!) They both groaned a little when I told them it was time to stop playing and get costumes on. Weird.
She just adores him!Now, onto "The Most Wonderful Time of the Year!" The kids are at such fun ages and my parents and brother will be here this year, it will be an amazingly wonderful season! Can't wait!
Have a great day!
Christy

Whew!

October is such an exhausting, joyful month for us. We celebrated Max's birthday at Oma's Pumpkin Patch and then went 2 more times for school field trips. Needless to say, we are pumpkin-patched out but we really love that place.
We've gotten to see so many people in Max's birthfamily and got so many amazing photos.
If you read our blog, you know our motto on adoption and life: "Never too many people to love our kids."

I just love this photo below!

Max was really excited to open presents! It took us forever because every time we unwrapped it, he wanted to play with it right away.
Sam's favorite thing about the patch is the sand pit. Really. He played in it until the sun went down. Madeleine was in constant motion playing with friends that I didn't even get her photo at the patch.
Max wasn't really into eating the cake at his party. He loved that his highchair was in the wagon (a little improvisation on forgetting the chair for the booster).
The hayride at the pumpkin patch is always fun.
Thanks for checking in!
Cheers,
Christy