Thanks Brooke, Jason, and Parker

The other night Morgan took me to see Hairspray for my birthday and Brooke and Jason watched Max for us. It was so nice to go to a movie on our own!! We heard that Max and Parker had fun, too! Thanks again, guys for watching him!!

Morning at Westgate

This morning we took Max down to the Westgate. It's where the Stadium is and they have all sorts of shops, places to eat, a theater, and a cute little splash pad. Max was a little hesitant at first, but once he saw others playing in it, he went right up to the water. He got splashed pretty good and had to be coaxed back in, but he was LOVING it and did not want to leave. He was pulling some of the funniest faces when the water would shoot up around him!! I wish we had wireless internet so we could download more pictures, but with dial-up, well, I don't have all night!!

Max has been doing great since we've gotten back from Utah. Only woke up once last night! YAY! We try to really wear him out during the day, but usually we end up just wearing ourselves out. Ah, the joys of parenthood!!

He did do something extra cute the other night. While I was reading him "Guess How Much I Love You" and when I read the part "I love you as high as I can reach!" part, he raised his hands above his head and kept doing it throughout the story. It was the sweetest thing I've ever seen! He really is starting to do a lot more copying and it is making me really watch what I say....

Newport Trip

We had such a great time in Newport with Morgan's family this past week!! Max absoloutely loved the beach and of course, Disneyland. He got to ride the teacups, Kasey's train, The Haunted Mansion (which he tucked his head into my shoulder for most of), Dumbo, Monster's Inc., Peter Pan, Pirates, and the Jungle Cruise. He REALLY loved the Electrical Parade over at California Adventure. Poor Lindsey, Morgan's sister, couldn't go on most of the rides because she is pregnant so she got stuck with babysitting duty...thanks again, Linds! Next time, I'll watch the kids and you can go on all of the rides!

We had a lot of fun at the beach, too. Max is quite the beach baby! I didn't think he would like the sand too much, but he got his shovels right out and started throwing sand left and right. He sure loved following his Uncle Logan around, at least until Logan bit his finger. ;)

We also got to ride beach cruisers to Balboa one day and Max rode in a trailer behind Morgan. He was really chatty and seemed to like it, but of course fell asleep once we got to the shops!

Thanks, Mathie's, for the wonderful time!! Hopefully we'll see all of you again soon!

Check out my Slide Show!

Fun at the zoo!!

We got to go to the Zoo with Grammie and Grandpa Mathie while we were up in Utah last week. It was so much fun! Max really liked the monkeys, elephants, bears, and penguins!! But his favorite thing of all was his Uncle Logan!! Uncle Logan is the only one Max lets him hold and he just can't get enough of him. See you in California, Uncle Logan!!

Oh! And thanks Grammie Mathie for all of my new animal toys!!

love- Max

Lunch at The Gateway

We sure had fun with Gramma, Aunt Jenn, Aunt Liz, and cousin Kathryn at the Gateway!! Thanks for my new Dinosaur book, Gramma!!

Hanging out at Gramma's!

Max had fun playing at Gramma and Papa's while me and Morgan were in Lake Powell. Looks like he had a ball!! We sure missed him and were glad to get back to see him. He didn't want anything to do with me but went right to Morgan. Then when Gramma left to go to a wedding, he said "Gramma" and reached for her. I think he's punishing me for leaving him for a whole week. Or else he had too much fun and when he saw me thought "I guess the fun is over!"

"Dad, I'm ready...put me in!"

" I hope they call me on a mission"

Max getting ready for church on Sunday

Can someone please turn out the lights??

(this is how we found Max one night when we went in to check on him)

Swim swim swim

Max and I have had quite the week! First of all, I just want to say that I am the worst mom ever, as evident in this picture of Max with a black eye...I walked into the bathroom and he was in the bedroom and somehow fell and hit the bedframe. Saddest thing I've ever witnessed. Why does it seem like it's always harder on the moms?!

Something Morgan and I have been loving see this week is Max and Bandit's relationship growing. Max will follow Bandit around the house trying to make him hug him and rub his face in his fur. Bandit puts up with it, and especially loves it when Max walks around the house with one of his dog treats. Max has learned not to eat them but to tease Bandit with them. He is "ruffing" pretty good and when we ask him "Where's Bandit?" he looks for Bandit and starts "woofing." Such a smart kid!

Other than that, we have been swimming every day and pretty much enjoying this hot weather! Today we went swimming up at Siri's pool (compliments of Siri who is vacationing in Utah!) with Parker and Brooke. Morgan came over for a minute before getting back to studying for his last final (yay!) scheduled for tomorrow. At home we get in the pool a lot, too. Max is learning to love the water and is very brave in trying new things. He'll even paddle a little bit when we lay him on his tummy. His legs go as straight and stiff as boards, though. That's always funny to see!!

Just to warn you: now that Morgan is going to be home for the summer, count on a lot less blogging from me. I'm going to spend every second I can enjoying his being home!!

Just a little bit off the top, please...

Mom decided it was time for me to get a buzz cut. And since Jack's dad did such a good job on his buzz, we decided to ask him for help. We went over to their house and mom held me while dad shaved my hair off. It's not so bad, I guess. I keep rubbing my hair to make sure it's even but I think dad and Matt did a pretty good job. Overall, I'm satisfied. Mom loves it. She thinks I'm the cutest thing ever. She won't stop taking my picture and telling me how cute I am. It's so embarrassing!

Max feeding the ducks

This afternoon Max and I went to meet Morgan for dinner (and a buzz cut, more on that later!) We were a little early so we stopped by a park to feed the ducks. Max was going right up to the ducks and throwing the crackers (initially I would give him a cracker and he would eat it but after I showed him what to do, he started throwing them). He wasn't scared at all until the stupid pigeons started getting out of control! He did like the ducks so I'm sure we'll have to start doing that more often!

Almost out of school!

Max and I have started counting down the days until Morgan is done with school. Finals week is next week and we are really looking forward to Morgan having some time off! (I'm sure he is, too!!) Max and I have been pool bunnies this week, we've gone swimming almost every day, whether at home or up at our friends pool in San Lagos. He is getting better at playing in the sand and walking around in the water. Today he was flipping sand up into his hair with a sand shovel and it was really fun washing it out. It took me FOREVER!! But he was adorable and his friend Parker was there and they are just so cute together. They are so lucky to be so close in age and be able to grow up together!

A few new things Max has started doing would be: Woofing when you ask him about dogs, signing "water", shaking his head and saying "no", saying "uh-oh", and riding Bandit like a horse. It's so fun to see him learn new things each week!! Each month he's more and more fun to be around and play with. I'm really looking forward to this summer when Morgan can spend more time with us and get to be with Max and see all of his fun developments!

Check out my Slide Show!

Visit from Grammie Mathie

Grammie Mathie came down for a visit this week and we had so much fun! We did some major shopping and of course were spoiled rotten! Max took a little while to warm up to her but after a couple of days was putty in her hands. It was fun for me and Morgan to watch a bond grow between them!
The first day she was here we went to Paradise Mall in Scottsdale where she bought Max some cute new outfits from babyGAP and then we had lunch and she and Max rode on the carousal. After we came home and got her settled then headed back out to look for a stroller and eat at a little Mexican restaurant.
On Thursday we met Morgan for lunch and spent some time up in Scottsdale at the Nordstrom Rack where she bought me a cute new outfit:) We ate at Rumbi's and had to hurry back to make sure Morgan got to his last class on time. We stayed home that night with a Costco pizza and watched the Jazz win!! Go Jazz! Grammie helped me make new drapes for our 3 obnoxious living room windows and they turned out FABULOUS! We spent most the night measuring and remeasuring the fabric.
On Friday Morgan came home early from school so we headed up to the Scottsdale mall. We got sidetracked on the way up and spent a little time at the D.I. of Nordstrom aka Last Chance. There were a couple of good finds, but overall just very dirty. After we headed up to Fashion Square and had lunch and looked for strollers and a belt for Max. No go on either and by 2 o'clock Max was ready for a nap so we headed home. Then Morgan and I were lucky enough to have Grammie babysit Max for the night so we could go to dinner with our friends. We went to the Elephant Bar and had a great time! I really love Max more than anything, but sometimes it's nice to enjoy my meal at a leisurely pace instead of shoveling it in my mouth as I chase him around! We got home early and Grammie was holding Max in her arms while he drank his bottle and we knew he had finally warmed up to her. It was the sweetest thing!!
Saturday came too soon and Grammie helped us with a few decorating ideas for our living room and kitchen. Such an improvement!! It definitely was nice to have a fresh outlook and new suggestions. Our front/living room/kitchen look a lot better, so thank you Grammie!
It was sad to see her go but we hope she had a fun vacation and will do it again soon!!

Yummy chocolate cake!

Max slept through the night!!

Wahoo! Max slept from 8 o'clock last night until 6 o'clock this morning!! He didn't wake up ONCE!! And he did the cutest thing when he woke up! I went in to get him and he drank some milk and then got down on the ground and walked out of his room right to Morgan's office where he pushed the door open and went "Ugh?" He looked at me like "Where is he?" And I pointed to the bedroom so he walked down the hall and found Morgan in bed and was SO excited! I can't believe how much he loves his daddy!! It's adorable!!

Sleepy guy

This is my adorable boy drinking his bottle before bed. He still isn't doing great at night (I've decided to just accept the fact that he will never sleep through the night;>) but he is weaned and completely on milk/toddler formula. I can't believe how hard it was for me to give up. He didn't like it either, but it was time and he is doing so well. He doesn't even want me at night anymore. When he wakes up, he prefers Morgan, which is nice for me but not so nice for him...

Grammie's visit