Max is 15 Months!!!

All About Max at 15 Months:

Dr.'s Appointment: Weight: 22lbs. 11oz. (16%); Length: 31 in. (47%); and Head Circumference: 19 in. (79%). Max has gained a little over 2 lbs. and grown 2 1/4 in. since his 12-month check-up. Dr. Thompson says that everything checks out great. Although you are a little low on the percentile in the weight category, you are still right in line with your curve. Also, he would like you to drink more milk. At least 18 ozs. a day.

Eating: You eat 3 meals a day and have a sippy cup of milk with each meal. For breakfast you usually eat blueberry mini-waffles or oatmeal with either yogurt or a banana. I am so happy that you like oatmeal and yogurt because I sure don't! For lunch you usually eat a sandwich of some sort: grilled cheese, hot ham/turkey and cheese, or peanut butter and apple sauce or grapes. You love to feed yourself and you do pretty good with the spoon/fork. For dinner you eat whatever we eat. You LOVE casserole-type dishes, such as poppy seed chicken, chicken spaghetti, regular spaghetti, & chicken and rice. This is really the only way we can get you to eat any veggies besides potatoes. But, we are working on that! You also get a snack in the morning and usually a snack in the afternoon between lunch and dinner. You are obsessed with cereal bars (a.k.a Nutri-Grain Bars)!!! You get so excited when you see that shiny metallic package that you can't hardly wait for us to get it open. I wonder what you will do once you have your first candy bar. Hmmm... 

Sleeping: You go to bed around 7:30 or 8 and get up around 7:30. Woohoo! We are excited about your later bedtime!!! That way you get to see Daddy on the days that he has to work late. You take a nap around 11 a.m. after your morning snack and you usually sleep anywhere from 1.5-3 hours. You are still a great sleeper. (Let's just hope your baby sister is the same for every one's sake!!!)

Activity: Wow! You are such a bright little boy!!! You amaze me every day with all of the new things that you do. As for your vocabulary, you have added (3) animal sounds: moo, baa, and woo, woo, woo when we ask you what the cow, sheep, and dog say, respectively; you say "eye" and point to your eye or my eye; you say "sh" for shoe. My most favorite is the sheep. You just sound so sweet when you say it! I just want to squeeze you!!! You sign please now and rub your belly when you hear the word "yummy." You have started running. You raise your knees up really high and take off as fast as you can. Hilarious! You love to dance...you have some pretty good moves :) You know where your eyes, ears, nose, teeth, mouth, tongue, hair, and toes are and will point to them when asked. You can stack 2-3 blocks and you can stack all of the rings or your Melissa & Doug wooden stacker. You can climb on & off of your little wooden chair. There are so many things that you are doing these days that I could write a book! You are so much fun!!!

Misc.: You still love MDO. You never cry when I take you, so I think that means that you really enjoy it. You will start going (2) days a week in January. I think you will really like that. You do great in the nursery at Church and in the nursery at Moms N More on Tuesday's. You also LOVE to read books still and really seem to enjoy when we go to Book Babies at the library on Monday's. You want us to read each book no less than 3 times. You have started being more defiant. (I know this is normal, but I can't believe my sweet baby is already at this stage!) You listen pretty good for the most part, but sometimes you will pull our hand to your mouth and act like you will bite us when we tell you no-no. You hear no-no ALOT these days! You are a curious little guy and you notice everything. You like to pull things off of the shelves now and put your toys in baskets or anywhere else you think they should go. You love the outdoors and love to look out the window at the trees and leaves blowing and falling. You also have 8 teeth and are cutting one molar.

You are such a joy to be around and always so smiley. You still smile so big at just about everyone you meet. You give your Daddy the biggest smiles though! And, you give him a pat-pat on his back when you see him. Just precious!!!

You are our sunshine Max! We love you!!! 

This picture was from a month or so ago, but I thought he looked so cute in his tie shirt that I had to share it! Our friend Ashley made him this shirt for his b-day. SO cute!!!

Thankful!!!

I just love the Thanksgiving season!!!

I love hearing what everyone else is grateful for, but more than anything I really like to reflect on all of the things that I am grateful for. One of my personal goals is to be more proactive in taking the time to reflect each and every day on the things in my life that I am grateful for.  

 

I am most definitely thankful for this little guy! I am so grateful to have a healthy, thriving baby boy. How cute was he on Thanksgiving morning in his Gobble! Gobble! PJ's?!?!
I am SO thankful to have such a wonderful, caring, and loving husband who works so hard for our little family. I can't imagine doing this thing called life without him!!!

This was Max's second Thanksgiving, but his first to eat all of the Thanksgiving grub :)

Daniel, Max, & I (and Hadley!) made it to all FOUR of our Thanksgiving celebrations with our family.

We started Thanksgiving Day at my Mom & Dad's house for an early lunch where we ate and visited with my Mom's side of the family. We had the traditional Turkey dinner and it was so yummy. That evening we went to my Aunt Terry & Uncle James' house to celebrate Turkey Day with my Dad's side of the family, where we ate some of the traditional Thanksgiving dishes, but we also had some Filipino food. And, Max LOVED it! (My Aunt Terry is Filipino and such a great cook.)

       
On Friday, we made the trek to Searcy to celebrate with Daniel's Mamaw & Papaw. 
The food was yummy as always! That evening on our way out of town we stopped by to visit with Daniel's Dad. We didn't eat there, thank goodness!!! By the time we got home, we were worn out and stuffed!

        

 I just had to post these pictures of Max in his pumpkin shirt since we are about to wrap up November and all things Halloween & Thanksgiving. That smile melts my heart!!!

Tomorrow we go for Max's 15-month check-up, so I will be sure to do his 15-month post before he turns two :)

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving and that you were able to reflect on all of the things that you are grateful for. We are all truly blessed!!!

34 Weeks



Here are my Pregnancy Highlights:

How Far Along: 34 weeks (Only 6 Weeks to go!!!)

Size of Baby: She weighs about 4.75 lbs.!!! She measures about 18 inches from head to heel. About the size of a cantaloupe.

Total Weight Gain/Loss: I have gained 16 lbs. (1/2 lb. since 32 weeks)

Maternity Clothes: Mostly all maternity. Some shirts & dresses in my regular clothes :)

Gender: It's a GIRL! Her name is HADLEY BOYD!!!

Movement: Wow!!! This girl is a kicker! She really likes to move in the morning & in the evening. I feel like she sometimes stretches ALL of her limbs at once!!! It is crazy how strong some of her movements are.

What I Miss: I miss running! I love to run and I am not able to do that anymore :( Only brisk walking at this point.

Sleep: I have been pretty restless lately. I attribute some of that to the decrease in the amount of exercise I get, but I am sure that pregnancy is the main culprit for my restless nights.

Appetite: Like I mentioned in the "Movement" category, this girl is all over the place! I feel like she is up in my ribs, but I also feel her in my lower abdomen. This makes it difficult to eat very much at one time. (Maybe that is a good thing being that the Holidays are here!!!)

Energy Level: I think I have hit the Nesting phase and I have a ton of energy most days. This is so, despite the fact that I have restless nights.

Symptoms: The usuals...frequent urination, heartburn, restlessness, nesting.

What I am Looking Forward To: The Holidays! It will be our last Christmas as a family of 3!!! Unless Hadley decides to come a couple of weeks early :)

12 Months!!! (A little late...)

Being that our Baby Max is 15 Months old today, I thought it was only fitting to do his 12 Month post :)

I guess I got a little sidetracked with Max's 1st B-day festivities that I forgot to finish this post and actually post it.

I am still in shock that our first-born is already ONE!!!

Look how much that monkey has shrunk in the last year!

(There is no way that my baby boy has grown THAT much!)

Look how teeny-tiny Max was in that picture!!
(And, that was when he was a month old.)

All About Max at 12 Months:

Dr.'s Appointment: Weight: 20lbs. 9oz. (17%); Length: 28 3/4 in. (17%); and Head Circumference: 19 in. (92%). If you recall, Max weighed 6lbs. 9oz. when he was born, so he has more than tripled his weight! He was 20 1/2 in. when he was born, so Max has grown over 8 in. this year.

Eating: Still a great eater! However, you don't love most veggies. I am still baffled by this because I don't think I have met a vegetable that was not my friend! You must take after your daddy in that department. So, we are working on that :) You LOVE meat. You like most fruit, especially bananas and grapes. You also love some apple sauce.

Sleeping: You are a wonderful sleeper. You have transitioned to one nap a day. Which ranges from 1.5-3 hours. You usually go to bed at around 6:30p.m. and wake about 6:30 a.m. We are working on moving your bedtime back because it sure is difficult to do anything in the evenings when you have such an early bedtime :) You still only like to sleep in your crib. Never have you just fallen asleep in a random place (i.e. the highchair).

Activity: You are officially a walker! You took your first steps on the Sunday before your 1st Birthday, August 22nd, which was your expected due date. How ironic!!! You are a very cautious walker, which make for a very happy Mommy. You amaze us every day with your vocabulary. You say apple, Mama, Dada, Ball, Dog, and Vroom-vroom (for a car). Many times you will repeat a word that we ask you to say. It is so sweet! You really like to babble a lot and you act like you are carrying on a conversation.

Misc.: You started Mother's Day out about a week after your 1st B-day. You go one day a week, which is perfect! You seem to really enjoy it. I was really worried about you napping, but you seem to do fine whether you actually nap at MDO or not. You LOVE dogs and cats. You get so excited when you see either. Our neighbor has a couple of indoor/outdoor cats & you just squeal when you see them outside.

You are such a joy!!! We could never have imagined how wonderfully blessed our lives would be with you!!! We look forward to celebrating your life for all the years to come!!!

We love you to the Moon & Back Maxwell Miles!!!

32 Weeks

I am 32 Weeks.

Only 8 weeks to go!!! Yikes!

(And, this picture is terrible...I look so homely. But, it is the best I have!)

Here are my Pregnancy Highlights:

How Far Along: 32 weeks

Size of Baby: She weighs about 3.75 lbs.!!! She measures about 16.7 inches from head to heel. About the size of a jicama!

Total Weight Gain/Loss: I have gained 15.5 lbs. (1/2 lb. since 30 weeks)

Maternity Clothes: Mostly all maternity. Some shirts & dresses are me regular clothes :)

Gender: It's a GIRL! Her name is HADLEY BOYD!!!

Movement: She really likes to move in the morning & in the evening. Some of the movements make me wonder if she is head-down already! She has been making HUGE movements these past few weeks.

What I Miss: I am beginning to miss being able to bend over and climb stairs with ease. This baby bump gets in the way of both sometimes!

Sleep: I have been waking up super early. I guess I am gearing up for those newborn nights :)

Appetite: I do crave more sweet stuff than normal. I don't typically have a sweet tooth, so must be this sweet baby girl! I have not been eating as much because there is no room for it. Hahaha!

Energy Level: Because the weather has been so nice, I have been able to take a lot of walks with Max. This has really helped my energy!

Symptoms: Heartburn! I had this problem a little with Max, but it seems to be worse this time. Especially if I have eaten close to the time I go to bed.

What I am Looking Forward To: The Holidays! It will be our last Thanksgiving & Christmas as a family of 3!!!



Our Halloween Festivities

Our celebration of Fall began on Thursday when Max & I went to the Pumpkin Patch with his MDO.

 

Max loved looking at all of the animals, especially the crazy roosters!
He got to go on his first hayride. His most favorite part was the snacks that they gave him!

     

He really liked walking through the pumpkin patch and picking out his pumpkin. However, the pumpkin vines are so thick that it made it a bit difficult for him to walk through. He didn't let that stop him though!

 On Sunday, our church had a Fall Festival and it was so much fun! There were bounce/slide houses, games, a rock wall, face painting, and a chili cook-off--just to name a few of the activities. Daniel had the brilliant idea to take Max's red wagon to pull him in and it worked out wonderfully!

  
Our small group at church was in charge of manning the bounce house with the slide, so Daniel & I signed up for a 30 minute slot. The kids were nuts on that thing!!! While we worked our shift, our sweet friends Ashley, Brian, & Deacon pulled Max around for us. Deacon is such a sweet little guy and is always so sweet with Max.
 
Max was the CUTEST little Mickey Mouse!
He did a really good job keeping his costume on.
It was a little warm outside, so we didn't keep it on him the entire time.

We really enjoyed the Fall Festival. What a great way to celebrate Fall & enjoy Halloween!