Happy 1st Birthday Max!

Max was born exactly 1 year ago!

This has been an amazing year for our little family thanks to this sweet baby.

We love you to the moon & back Maxwell Miles!!!

It's a...

GIRL!!!

She checked out perfectly!

Ultrasound pictures to come.

Max's 12-month Sneak Peek!!!

Check out the rest of them here.

We had so much fun with this shoot! We cannot wait for Max's b-day celebration next week!

Our sweet baby is about to be ONE!

16-Week Update

This was taken on July 23rd.

These ARE maternity shorts ;) They are super comfy!

Here are my Pregnancy Highlights over the past two weeks:

How Far Along: 16 weeks

Size of Baby: He/she is 5 1/2 inches long and weighs 3 1/2 ounces. About the size of an avocado.
Total Weight Gain/Loss: I gained 3 1/2 lbs. (I went to my 16-week OB appointment and this is what I had gained since my 12-week appointment.)
Maternity Clothes: I wear mostly dresses, which are not maternity yet. But, when I do wear pants/shorts, they are usually maternity.
Gender: We find out at the next OB appointment! Woohoo!
Movement: He/she is a little mover & shaker! I can really feel the movements when I sit/lay down. So exciting! It just makes me smile each time I feel him/her move.
What I Miss: Breathing!!! I cannot breathe anymore! I think that I have a summer cold (the worst possible could you could ever get) AND pregnancy nose, so my nostrils have not been used in a while :( Super annoying, but well worth it in the end!
Sleep: It takes me a while to fall to sleep due to the further lack of breathing ability when I lay down. I am now sleeping in an upright position in order to avoid further hindrance of breathing. Once I do get to sleep, I usually wake up a couple of times to use the bathroom AND I always wake up at 1-1:30 a.m. for some reason. Most of the time I can go back to sleep, but some of the time it may take me a few hours to get back to dreamland. Again, all worth it!
Appetite: Really the same. I just eat when I am hungry. However, I have found that heavy meals at supper time cause me to feel nauseated, so I try to make it lighter than my other meals.
Energy Level: Great! I have been under the weather a few days and felt blah, but I don't think that has anything to do with the little bambino.
Symptoms: Stuffy, stuffy, stuffy nose.
What I am Looking Forward To: The baby bump growing. I feel like I am about to hit a huge growth spurt and I am super ready!

14-Week Update

Let me first begin by saying that I think this image is a bit misleading. I don't think my belly was really that big. I had just eaten a big lunch AND the dress made my bump look a bit larger than it really was.

BUT, the bump is definitely growing! This was taken on July 10th, and here is the information that I jotted down then.

Pregnancy Highlights

How Far Along: 14 weeks.
Size of Baby: The baby is about 3 1/2 inches long and weighs 1/2 ounce. He/she is about the size of a lemon!
Total Weight Gain/Loss: 1/2 lb.
Maternity Clothes: Pants/shorts are getting a little snug. But, I wear mostly regular clothes still at this point. My maternity shorts feel MUCH better than regular shorts/pants though.
Gender: ???
Movement: I can feel little flutters. It is nothing that can been seen, but it is definitely baby movements! So exciting!
What I Miss: Sleeping without interruption. Let the baby dreams and constant urination begin!
Appetite: The ravenous hunger has subsided. However, I do eat a lot and I do a lot of snacking throughout the day. I have been craving sweet things as well. (Which is so unlike me...I typically like salty.)
Energy Level: I have my energy back for now. Hallelujah! I have been exercising more too, so that probably plays a big part in my increased energy.
Symptoms: Sleepless nights, hunger, stuffy nose.
What I am Looking Forward To: The feeling of baby flutters becoming increasingly stronger and more frequent.

Max Lately

Here are a few pictures of Max lately.

The first series of pictures, I think, are so cute and sweet!

He looks like such a big boy on his riding toy. 

Do you think Max looks like a girl? Okay, he does have a rasberry shirt on, but still! He gets called her/girl/she ALL.THE.TIME. Even when he is wearing all blue and has all blue thing surrounding him. I don't mind it though. (However, his Daddy thinks it is because his hair is getting longer in the back and he has a ton of curls. I think it is because he is just a pretty baby boy!)

This is our water baby. I have some other CUTE bathtub shots of his little bottom, but I don't think I will post them :) They will definitely be in his scrapbook though!

Big Boy! He looks like such a toddler pushing this thing. He has learned how to back-up with it also. When he gets it pushed up against the wall or something else, he can usually maneuver it around so that he can continue pushing it. So amazing to watch him in action!

Love this guy!

11 Months!

Can you tell that it is getting VERY difficult to get this little wiggle-worm to lay still so that I can get a good shot of him & the monkey?! He thought that was so funny ;)

Max was 11 months old on July 27th. Only one more month until our sweet Baby Max turns ONE!!! We are so excited about celebrating his first year of life. What a glorious year it has been!!! The party planning is full-fledged at this point ;)

Check out what Max has been up to this past month.

Eating: You have a picky-streak these days. You definitely know what you like and don't like and you don't have a problem letting us know :) This is a part of your ever-growing personality! You LOVE peanut butter sandwiches. Although we have only fed you one sandwich per mealtime, I am willing to bet that you would probably eat more than one at any given time--that's how much you love them. Here are some other thing you like these days: grilled cheese sandwiches, goldfish crackers, grapes, anything with chicken, sweet potatoes, rice, lima beans, and a whole host of other things. You will no longer eat green beans. I don't know what happened here...you liked them for a while ;( You still love yogurt with fruit, including blueberry, apple, and peach. You now only get (2) bottles of milk per day. The rest of the day you drink mostly water, and some pear juice cut with water. Also, we have begun the transition to whole milk. We tried just giving you straight whole milk, but you  were NOT having it! So, now we are sneaky and mix it with your formula! Hahaha! You get about 1/2 formula with 1/2 whole milk. We will also start weening you from the bottles...soon it will be sippy cups only. Hooray!
Sleeping: You are still a great sleeper. You seem to be more flexible with your sleep times as well. This last month we had a couple of days when we did not get home until after your usual 6:30 bedtime and you did great. You will go to bed between 6:30-7:30 p.m. and get up between 6:30-7:30 a.m. Some days you take 1 nap, some days 2. But, you seem to do fine with either. Your naps are still between 1.5-2 hours.
Activity: You will be walking ANY day now! You walk with your little push toys all over the living room & your bedroom. You can also walk while we are holding only one of your hands. However, you will only walk/push your toy when YOU want to. No walking on demand for you! Which, leads me to the next thing...
Misc.: You are Mr. Independent these days! You definitely know what you want and what you like and dislike. You are also learning to hold your own spoon and eat off of it. You have only done this a number of times, but you are already so good at it. You are cutting two more teeth--the top ones besides your center teeth. These have given you a little trouble. I can really tell that you are hurting :( That does not make Mommy & Daddy very happy. But, you are always in good spirits regardless! You are such a happy boy and will smile at just about anybody. You have started being bashful though. Now when someone new looks at you, you will turn you head away and give them a bashful grin--priceless! You are talking all the time. You will repeat the first syllable/sound of a lot of the words that we say. You can now say "ba" for ball. And, you will go get the ball when we ask you where your ball is. Such a smarty! You temperament is so sweet. You will lay your head on our shoulders and give us hugs and kisses. Not all of the time, but it makes them that much sweeter!

You are such a blessing to us!

You make our lives so enjoyable. We love you with all our hearts!