A Christmas bug :(

Poor little Max spiked a 102° fever last night. Fortunately it came after all of the holiday festivities were over and he had opened all his gifts from Christmas Eve and Day. I hate to see him so under the weather though. Today he's still warm and not up to par...but doesn't seem to be too miserable. Actually, he went down for a nap around 1pm and is still sleeping (at 5pm). I've checked on him periodically and seen him moving around or rolling over, but he seems content to be up there either resting or sleeping. I suppose it's the best thing for him...so I'm letting him sleep. I called the pediatricians office and the nurse told me just to keep an eye on him and if he gets a fever over 102°, starts not eating or sleeping well, or his chest gets really congested to bring him in. Right now he's warm, has a runny nose, and has a cough...but will eat a little at a time. Hopefully this good rest will help to get rid of this icky bug.

Besides getting sick...we've really had a wonderful holiday!

Uncle Rob (Brad's brother) arrived around noon on Xmas eve and we spent the day with him.

Then Christmas Eve we went to my parents for dinner and opened what seemed like endless presents. Then Christmas morning we opened our private Santa/Family presents and then Grandma Donna and Grandpa Jim came to spend the day/night with us. Brad, Mike, Max and I slipped away for a few hours to spend time w/ the Bellows side of the family at Auntie Mikey and Uncle Daves...and then came back to celebrate more with Brad's side of the family. My parents came over for dessert a little later that evening.

This morning Donna and Jim drove back home and the boys (Brad, Mike, and Rob) went skiing. Max and I have just cuddled and rested today and I started trying to reorganize the house while Max has been sleeping.

Anyways...we've had a wonderful couple of days and really enjoyed all the family time!! The slideshow above is just a little snapshot of our Christmas eve and day! Enjoy!

Merry Christmas!

From our house to yours... We just wanted to wish all of our beloved friends and family...near and far...a WONDERFUL and BLESSED holiday! May you stuff your bellies with good food, fill your hearts with quality family time, and get lots of good stuff from Santa! :)

Love, Mama J, Papa B, Michael, Maxwell...and Miles!

Max & Ta-ji Reunion!

Max and TJ playing

Mel, Megs, Ta-ji, Mama J, & Max

Max and TJ High Five

One of the best parts of the holidays is being able to spend quality time with close friends and family! I've been looking forward to Meghan's visit for months now...and yesterday we spent the afternoon with the Umukoro family.

Max and Ta-ji haven't seen each other since this summer so it was really fun to see them interacting now that they are both walking and a little older. Their 7 month age gap seems less drastic each time they see each other. :)

It was a great afternoon and went by way too fast!! Hopefully we'll see them again this summer!

A father and son bond...

Maybe it's because of my past...or maybe it's because I'm a sap at heart...but there is nothing that makes my heart melt more than to watch Brad with Maxwell. I know many good fathers...and I know many not so good fathers and I think I can honestly say without bias that Brad is a father like no other.

It makes me so proud and happy to know that Maxwell will grow up knowing the love and adoration from his papa. I think it's much more common for them to receive that naturally from their mama's...but to have the same from their papa is something very special and Max already knows this.

I don't want to leave Michael out of the equation...because I think that Michael is old enough to know there is a difference in his relationship with Brad...but he also has something special with him and appreciates the love, un-ending support, and most of all the respect that Brad gives him.

I certainly am a lucky girl! :)

OB Appt update - 33wks 3dys

Just a little update...

Everything went fine at our ultrasound and OB appointment this morning!

I was surprised that our u/s tech took measurements and showed us our little Miles a little. He's certainly running out of room, so it was hard to decipher what was what unless she pointed things out to us...but we did see our little octopus sucking on his fist. :) Anyways, he's measuring right on and my cervix moved up over an inch...so it is out of the way for delivery!! YEAH! He's also head down...which I had assumed as his kicks are right in my upper right hand ribcage usually.

Anyways...everything is good and Miles is healthy and growing like he should be!

Another 5-6 weeks to go and we'll be meeting this little guy!!

1st a monkey...now an OCTOPUS??!

Brad and I were snuggling in bed this morning and he had his arm around me w/ his hand resting around my belly and Miles was showing off. Doing his morning yoga or aerobics. Brad started laughing and said, "Geez, does this kid have 8 arms and legs??!" because I've been trying to tell everyone that this kid is active...but it DOES seem like he's got too many appendages because he'll kick and I'll feel it in 5 different spots. It's crazy.

So during breakfast this morning we decided this kid must be our Octopus kid...we've already got a monkey. Hmmm...wonder if this means that he'll be a good swimmer?

Operation "Buh bye Binkie"

It's hard to see...but Max is holding one of my home made holiday cookies in his hand. This was his 1st holiday cookie and we watched our 1st Christmas movie (Santa Claus is coming to town) together!

Last night was night 2 of Operation "Buh Bye Binkie". I don't expect this mission to be an enjoyable one as he LOVES his binkie and blanket. Fortunately I decided pretty early on that those 2 comfort items were for nap and bedtimes only, so he knows when he wakes that before we leave his room...he has to give both of them up and even helps me put them away in their holding spots.

I usually go in and check on him an hour or so after he falls asleep and usually by then the binkie has already fallen out of his mouth and is lying close by, so normally I just move it to one of the corners for him to find later or in the morning, but 2 nights ago I started removing it all together so that he couldn't suck on it at all the remainder of the night/morning. I thought for sure I'd be in for early mornings once he couldn't find that binkie...but surprisingly enough he's still slept or quietly played in his crib until 7:30/8:00am each morning. I've watched him on the monitor and he doesn't even seem phased so far.

That all being said...I know when we get to the point of not letting him have it to fall asleep...this will be a completely different story. But, until we get to that point...at least he only has it for naps and to fall asleep at night.

Lastly...on a totally unrelated subject...I purchased my very last holiday gift this afternoon!! YES!! Now I am just waiting for a delivery of some items and need to continue w/ my wrapping. Hopefully I can get the majority of it wrapped up (pun intended!) this weekend. Lots to do...

18 Months old!

Mama and Reigndeer Maxwell!

Give me some reigndeer snacks! (I usually don't get my binkie except for naps and bedtime, but I snuck it out of my room while playing with Mike!)

I know it seems like we don't have clothes for this kid because lately most of his pictures or videos are with him during naked time or shirtless...but I had just gotten home from getting his haircut and he had hair all over his shirt...so that's why he's sporting the redneck attire. :)

Anyways...our little monkey boy turned 18 months today!! WOW! A whole year and 1/2...crazy!

Brad went with me to his 18mo well baby appointment this morning...thankfully! I knew Max would have to have another shot and was not looking forward to that AND it was fortunate he came because they have new fancy computers they bring into the appointments and it made everything sooo slow. We were there for an hour. UGH!

Dr. Harrington says he's doing fantastic as always...healthy and developmental wise. She's been Max's Ped since he was born and was the Ped he saw at the hospital. I really like her and hope that Miles gets her as well. Either way...she'll be his Pediatrician too.

Here are Max's 18month stats:

Weight: 24pds 12oz (38th percentile)

Height: 32.3 inches (57th percentile)

Head circ: 18.5 inches (30th percentile)

That's about all we have to report! And I hear the little monkey waking from his nap. I put him down right after we got home (around 11am) from the Dr's and he slept for almost 3 hours! Better get him and feed him some lunch...his tummy must be rumbling now! :)

My funny boys!

This video is a little dark at first...but you'll get the drift.

Brad was yelling silly things into Max's toy bins and then Max would copy him. It's funny what you can get a 17 month old to do with little effort! Later on in the video he's actually pushing Brad forward to get him to yell into the bins. Silly kid!

Enjoy!

Gulp...ahhhhh

Another fun meal with Max. Lately he likes to make the "Aaaaahhhh" sound after he drinks something. I know these little videos are probably more amusing to proud mama and papa (and proud Grandmas!)...but it's just fun to show off his little personality! :)

5 Holiday stockings!!!

My new favorite activity is being pulled around on a blanket. Papa whips me all around super fast and Mama is a little more gentle...but I think it's a whole lot of fun and it wipes Mama and Papa out! Sometimes I sit up like this...other times I lay on my back or my belly. :)

Our new family stockings!

Well, it was my intention to make our family holiday stockings like my mom did when we were little...but this pregnancy and runnnig after Max leaves me ith little time and little energy, so I broke down and ordered some personalized stockings from Pottery Barn Kids. They arrived this week and I'm pretty happy with them...they are huge! I'd better get a job so I can help fill them up! :)

Anyway, we've only had 3 stockings up for so long...it is really great to see FIVE stockings up this year!! And since Miles is arriving so soon...we couldn't leave he little guy out! I had to get his stocking up too! Fun stuff!

The REAL Diaper Genie!

Max must have been about 14 or 15 months when I taught him how to throw away his diapers. It's been near impossible to get him on camera doing it because he LOVES to watch his video's and when he notices I have my digital camera/video out...he wants to "seee seee seeee...".

Well, I got lucky the other day.... He cracks me up because he always shuts the cabinet door when he's done. Sometimes he'll pull the trash bin out, push it back, and then shut the door even.

He's the REAL diaper genie!

Max & Santa 2007

An impromptu visit to the Mall of America to get Max out of the house and low and behold...NO LINE to see Santa!!! My gosh...that ALMOST makes up for the THREE hour wait we had last year! I did not think Max would tolerate sitting by some big stranger w/ funny clothing...nor did I think he'd appreciate a long wait to see him...so I didn't think we'd get any pictures with Santa...but we lucked out!

Santa's helpers/elves actually got him to smile a few times but weren't quick enough to capture it on camera. They were smart enough to have Santa move away...put him on the rocking horse and try to distract him and make him laugh...all while Santa snuck in behind him. He almost started to cry when he did notice him...but the girls were good enough to get his attention really quickly again.

It's so crazy to compare this year's Santa picture to last years...he was just this little chubby baby with barely any hair in the back...and now he's such a big boy!

Tis' the season!

His favorite snuggle tools...binkie and blankey

Max's 1st real snow accumulation experience!

I don't care how cold it is out here...I'm STAYING OUTSIDE!

Max got his first real experience with snow this weekend. Our little snow storm accumulated about 6 inches...maybe a little more. The boys were outside busy trying to keep up with shoveling and snow blowing on Saturday and Max thought it was pretty cool. He's not a fan of getting all bundled up when he's in a hurry to get outside though. We are going to have to learn to move a whole lot faster! :)

He's been particularly fussy in the mornings the past week and I'm starting to wonder if 1 nap is just not quite enough for him. Anyways, he "helped" me vacuum this morning. He's more like the slave driver and the minute I turn off the vacuum, he is yelling, "mooooore mooooore!". Which is so funny because he was terrified of it for so long. We went outside on the deck for a little while, but he wasn't into it. So, by 10am I decided he needed a nap and put him down. He made me sing his "Go go go" song and then I laid him down...which is usually his cue to stand up and either whine a little as I close the door or just watch me. Anyways...he just looked up at me, said, "Go go go" and then said, "Bye!". Guess he really wanted that early nap! :) We'll see how long it lasts and what that means for this afternoon...but he definitely wanted a nap this morning! What a funny kid!