My patient patient.

Erik had his surgery this morning and is doing great! Not much to say and no pictures. He is recovering nicely and is enjoying his pain meds. :) No cast, just a big bandage. Hopefully this will cure his issue, time will tell. We rented a bunch of movies and love that it's raining so we can all relax. Thanks Grandma Mills for playing with Max this morning while were were out!

Control your temper!

Here is Max reading us our mail...

And here is Max riding his "bike". Usually the bucket covers his whole head. This morning he walked to his toy buckets with his arms out feeling his way around, head completely covered.
He's getting a little more comfortable with walking. He can take about 6 steps now, and again, expects you to cheer afterwards.

I was talking to my Mom this morning and we decided he was a one year old stuck in a two year old body. With two year old mannerisms. And two year old tempers. I wish I could get one of his many temper tantrums on video. It can consist of banging his head against the floor, smacking himself (or you, depending on who is near) in the head, throwing his toys (including his big trucks), chasing after the toys he threw to throw them again...then coming to you for a cuddle.

When I was a little kid, my Dad said to me one day, "Juli, control your temper." Having 4 siblings hear that too meant I never heard the end of it. Ever. Now my kid has it. I was hoping he'd have Erik's (lack of a) temper. Nope. He's all me. Poor kid. Poor me. And waaaay Poor Erik.

Big A, little a, what begins with A...

Artichokes and Artwork! A...A...A!

It's been a while since we've updated the blog. It's also been a while since we've had the camera out too. But Max hasn't forgotten his modeling skills. We had artichokes for dinner a few nights ago and Max was eating them like a pro....until I got the camera out. It was really hard for him to see a camera and not smile, and just eat. So the eating was put on hold for a little bit so he could show off his monster teeth. (Notice the mayo on his cheek, he loved them!)


Last Friday night we took a trip to Napa and watched Kirra's basketball game. During the game Max was sitting on Kelly's lap and coloring with a pen. So that encouraged us to try it out at home with crayons. He thought it was pretty cool. This masterpiece took him about 20 minutes but he did use a variety of colors. He was really into putting he crayons back into the box, and dumping them out, and putting them back into the box, and dumping them out...you get the "picture".

As for everything else....

Erik is starting school again tomorrow. He had a nice winter break catching up on sleep and enjoying more than one day off a week. We found out on Tuesday he will be having surgery on his wrist. It's a worker's comp thing and has been receiving treatment for about a year or so, with little to no relief. So it's surgery time. It should be a quick outpatient procedure. But, will most likely involve a cast up to his elbow. And 6 weeks off work. (Help me!)

I have been working at my parents office for a couple months, part time. Just helping them out on a project. It makes me appreciate even more that I can stay home with Max. Working Mom's need way more credit then they get. The days that I am at the office are so much more difficult. It involves so much more planning; getting me and a baby ready to leave by 8, sometimes (like last night) not getting home until after 6pm. I'm glad it's just part time, and the extra cash flow is great. I don't know how Mom's do it 5 days a week. A big pat on the back for you! (Don't get me wrong though, staying home can be really sucky sometimes too. But I figure if you can do it in your pajamas, it can't be that bad, right?)

And Max. Where do I start. He's had a rough few weeks. He had a double ear infection and a bronchial infection. Which we think was causing all the throwing up and restless nights. He's much better now and the last three nights he has slept all night. Unfortunately those night's he has woken up SOAKED from his chin to his knees. There is always something, right? He is such a funny kid. He loves loves loves dogs and playing outside. The Kapele's got him a "bike" for his birthday and he scoots around on that thing like he was born to do it. I have pictures, but on my phone and I don't know how to transfer them yet. He has 4 molars now and I think two more are coming. OUCH!

We are still house hunting and looking at a few places. It's really odd to walk into a house and think, 'Could I make this my home?'. We had to ditch our first agent who turned out to be a total bonehead. We like our new lady and she seems really motivated to find us what we are looking for.

I think that's it for now. We hope you are all enjoying 2009...more to come...

Christmas 2008

Once again we had a really great Christmas. Last year we didn't do much because Max was just a few weeks old. This year (and from here on out) was totally different.

On Christmas Eve we went to Lubor and Ariane's house and had a great celebration. The kids all had fun and it was exciting to see them open their gifts. Lot's of good food, including a nice surprise. Lubor recently visited his family in the Czech Republic and was able to bring back some of his mother's famous cookies. Mmmmm...they were delicious!

Christmas morning came early and Erik and I woke up first, jumping around the living room asking each other when we should wake the kid up. Soon after, Max woke up on his own and walked out with smiles. He had fun opening gifts and playing with his new things. He enjoys ripping the paper off of the packages, with a little assistance. He helped us open things too.

Then he took a break. A short break. Max is the type of kid that does NOT want to miss things. He paused for a moment before returning to his busy schedule. Not letting go of his new favorite trucks.

After Christmas morning at home, we went to Napa to celebrate with the Mills. Ryan, Melissa and Addy were up visiting from San Diego. Here are Max and Addy getting a box ride from Kirra.


After presents and games, including decorating plates that my cousin Jennifer sent up for the kids to design, we ate! And ate. And ate.

The day after Christmas we went back to Napa and enjoyed a great hike at Skyline Park. It was really cold, but it felt great. Here is the crew eating lunch.

And us after lunch looking at Lake Marie. Thanks Kelly for taking all the pictures!

We spent New Year's Eve at the Kapele's house, with the Kaai family too. We had fun playing the Wii, playing Bingo, eating and laughing. Thanks for having us over. we left just before midnight and made it home to watch the ball drop. Max is a little night owl and fell asleep shortly after...then we could finally go to bed. New Year's sure has changed for us!!!

Happy 2009!