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!

We're ready for you, Santa!

I found this sign hanging on our office door.
While Erik was finishing up, Max and I set out milk and cookies for Santa. I know Max won't know any different now, but it's fun to start traditions. We don't have a fireplace in our house so we set it near our Santa display. I hope he can still find a way to make it into our home!

We wish you and your family a very Merry Christmas and best wishes for a Happy New Year! I have a feeling 2009 will be a good one!

Santa Lucia...take 2

Gail sent me a picture of Vivian as Lucia. My camera (phone) didn't work out so well that night. this was during her entrance to the music. Thanks for the picture, Gail!

Santa Lucia

On December 13th we were able to celebrate Santa Lucia with Grandma Gail and the Boer's. I was introduced to this holiday a few years ago and was finally able to see it in action this year. Vivian dressed as Lucia and Ethan was a star boy. Vivian was thrilled to wear the Lucia dress and it was fun for us to watch, she did great!

We had a great meal afterwards and rice pudding for dessert. We opened presents and just had a really nice evening. It was a great kick-off to our holiday season.

Max opened his birthday present from The Boer's and he got his very own pair of big boy jammies! They are a little big but are so cozy. He's standing very well on his own now and has taken a few steps. No more than two at a time for now. He seems to think it's more of a fun "falling" game. Max had his one year check-up and here are the stats:

Height: 32 inches

Weight: 23 lbs 4 oz

Head: 18 1/2 inches

He's growing all over and doing great! He's not loving the change to regular milk...but I am! Formula is pricey!!!!!! He'll adjust. Since turning one he's changed into a sneaky and mischievous little man. He already throws tantrums (and objects), he's clobbered me several times (and his hands are huge so it hurts!), he drops his head to the floor when he hears no and does a fake cry with a droopy lip and all. Excellent performance! He sure is a charmer though.

Man, I love that kid.

Happy FIRST Birthday Max!

Today Max celebrates his first birthday! I can't believe he is already one, it really does fly by. I can't imagine life without this little boy and feel so lucky that he is a part of our family. He has the funniest personality and makes us laugh every day. He is very 'boy' and loves to explore. He loves cars, wheels, his dog, his cousins, babies, wind chimes, learning new things (and expects you to clap when he does), balloons, slides and so much more. He makes everything fun! I took this of Max this morning after he woke up. We had balloons leftover from his party yesterday and this boy LOVES balloons. He got tangled up in them and crawled around trying to get them off of him. He's officially ONE in this picture!
Since our computer crashed I had to steal some pictures off old blog posts. Here is is at just a couple weeks old as I tried to take a cute Christmas photo. Then, I couldn't capture the right shot. Now, I think it's adorable.

Max at about 20 minutes old. He's so chubby, but what do you expect at 12 lbs 3oz? He had rolls everywhere, even on his face.

Yesterday we had a great party for him at Andrew's Park. It was pretty cold but I think everyone had a good time. Max's family and friends all came and Erik and I were so thrilled with the turnout. Thank-you to everyone for all your help and time to come to Max's party. He was exhausted and it took about 30 seconds for him to fall asleep last night.

We've been practicing blowing for the big moment, which he can do, but wouldn't perform. He wasn't happy until he saw me doing it. Luckily, his cousin Teagan was able to blow out the candle for him. He hadn't taken a nap yet and we were pushing 3pm. He fell asleep, snuggled in his grandma's arm, shortly after.

Happy Birthday Max! We love you very very much!

Thanksgiving, from Max's point of view.

Hi everyone! My Mom thought I should write our Thanksgiving from my point of view. It was my first and I think I really like this day. Everyone kept saying I was sort of there last year. And I remember a little of me trying to get there, but I was just so warm and cozy. The noise level was too much so I just "knocked on the door" a little...I think you call it ding-dong-ditching.

Well the night before my cousin Kirra came over to spend the night. She must live really far away because it took a loooong time in the car to get home. There were a lot of cars on the road though. She played with me so much that night I thought I was going to explode. We got to eat Chinese food and watch movies. Then I fell asleep. I just knew there was more fun going on though so I thought I'd fool them to think I'd sleep all night. Nope. I was up and ready to party by 3am! And I let everyone know. The next morning went okay though and Kirra let me take a picture with her. I love her. Then my Mom and Dad wanted one with me. That wasn't so fun.
We had to get in the car again and I wasn't happy about it. I tried to sleep a little and that didn't work. My nose kept running and my throat was so itchy. I gave up and just cried.


Kirra to the rescue! She started playing with me again and that solved everything. I want her to live with me forever, she is so cool!


When we got to my Grandma and Grandpa's house it smelled so good. I was so happy to be there. There was so much food! There was a big bird in the oven...don't worry, not the big yellow one. I think he's safe on Thanksgiving.



And these egg things. I thought I might like them...wrong...they are so gross. That's my warning to you. I think it's a joke because all the big people laughed at me when I tried to wipe it out of my mouth.


Then this happened. This is my Aunt Carla and my Grandma. Aunt Carla got this silver bottle that sprays whipped cream. The ladies were playing with it and said something about it tasting like heaven. I have another picture of Aunt Carla putting it in her mouth but my Mom said I couldn't put it up here. She said she was just going to send it to Uncle John because it would make him happy. Why would he care if his wife is covered in whip cream?

There were all sort of toys and books there too. I got to hang out with my Grandpa and tell him all about my life. We played with trains and their dog too. Her name is Daisy and I like to kiss her. On the mouth. It makes the big people make funny barf noises. I just do it for them.

This is my cousin Payten. She liked to be naked that day. That pretty glass she is holding was really cool. I didn't get to use one though. It is something called China and it belonged to my Great Grandma. It's never been used here before. I liked it, it was shiny and the big people put the food on some of it. Then scooped it up with more gold things, like a shovel. I think it would make a crashing sound if it hit the floor. Maybe I can try that next year.

This was the quietest time ever at my Grandma and Grandpa's house. All the other kids came over for pie after we ate and it got louder again. That was so cool because I got to dance and sing and play with all the big kids. This picture is of the table, I thought my Grandpa was funny. My Grandma started a new game this year. We played ...um...I'll call it Thankful ABC's. Every person had a letter and had to say something they were thankful for, that started with that letter. The big people played it while they ate and they sure thought it was funny. I don't know why, I was too busy stuffing food in my face.

It was a really fun day. Thanks to my family for being so cool!

No spoilers here

For all of you Twilight haters, today is going to be a tough one for you. You will have to deal with all these happy girls and their childish crushes and blogs because their imaginary boyfriend finally made it to the big screen. And he sure made it big.

I went last night for the midnight showing with, what, 7 girls? I lost count after the second hour of waiting in line. I loved to see all the different types of fans. Old, young, girls, boys. Such a good group. Interesting conversations and people watching, it went by so quickly. Even the drunk group that smelled up the theater entertained us when hammered #3 took a spill down the stairs in the last 5 minutes of the movie.

Everyone was there for the same reason, and as far as we could tell, everyone loved it too. Here's my review:

If you didn't read the book, you will not like it. I would say you'd think it was cheesy, but it is. There's no getting around that. But you just won't get it. I think you need to experience Twilight on paper before you see in on the big screen. I think the actors did well and everyone was cast well for their part. All these suspiciously good looking people. Good music. The special effects were decent. And the love story was sweet, again.

If you've never heard of it then you must be living on Mars (although I think even they had the premiere last night). It's a sweet love story that is FICTION ! The haters can't get past the fact that it's not real and we all know it. But it's fun. It's fun to dream a little and watch people be romantic. 5 theater's were PACKED! In VACAVILLE! It was exciting for a lot of people. Lots of fun cheering and Twilight shirts.

I fell in love all over again last night. With Edward.

I can't wait to see it again. And for all you haters,

"BITE" ME!

The latest

Max and I hung out on the porch for a little bit today and enjoyed the nice fall air. He was a little more into the cars driving by. He did like all the falling leaves and showed me every leaf he picked up. It's such a pretty time of year. Our street is lined with trees of all colors, it's so nice. Messy, but nice. A few nights ago we went to watch Jordan's last football game. After the game Grandma and Grandpa took us all to Fenton's. One of the BEST ice cream places around. Max got his own cup and wanted to show everyone how he can do it all by himself. He always has to do it all by himself. And expects an applause when he does. Thanks to G and G for the fun time!

Recently Max has been into boxes and baskets. We have two shoe boxes out for him and he tries to fit himself inside. Then gets angry when he doesn't fit. The video below was about three minutes into his task. At the end you can hear his "Hi" into the phone too.

Here is another thing Max is learning. Erik showed him how a few nights ago after throwing a complete fit for being put in his high chair. It ended up keeping him busy long enough to finish dinner. I had him going a few days after this with coins in our change jar. One in the mouth, one in the jar. That didn't work out so well. This is a little clip of him trying with Cheerios. I sound stupid at the end so ignore it. He HAS learned Eskimo kisses, but as I was filming, I cut it off right before he started shaking his head.

We've been messing around tonight and Max sure has some wild hair on his head and up his...well, you know.Erik shaved his head last week too...I love it! He looks so hot!


This kid was WIRED for about an hour. He had Erik and I laughing pretty hard. He has such a funny personality.


We had a little photo session earlier today too...

Pumpkin Cookies

I made these pumpkin cookies last night. They are delicious!

Then, I let Max lick the spoon.

(The chunks are his leftover dinner-chicken, beans, etc. FYI-the cookies should not be lumpy :))