2008 State Fair!

Max's 1st experience on the Fair Space Tower!  Papa said he kept saying, "Oh, wow!"


Kyle, Brandon, & Max waiting for some fun & yummy food!

Papa, Max, and Mama!

Max watching the "Worlds of Wonders" show...lookin' like such a big boy!

Oooh trucks!!

 

Brandon & Max on some trucks!

Mama and Maxwell

Here is a link to last years picture...what a big boy he is getting to be!

Mama & Max at the Fair 2007

Mama and Max on the Big Slide!!  I was a little worried that I was going to have to carry him up all those stairs, but he was so excited to walk up them and he did great...as you can see, there were A LOT! 

He laughed the whole way down and then he wanted, "Mooore!  Mooore!"

Mmmmm...a nice cold treat!

You mean I can eat the cone??!  Oh wow!

A rare moment...Max holding Mama's hand!

A sign that the fair was a success!

Tired little boy

Well, we had a blast at the MN State Fair again this year.  This is 2 for 2 for me!  I hadn't gone in so many years.  I guess once you have kids...it becomes fun again!

Anyway this year we went with our good friends and neighbors, Tom & Michelle & their 2 boys.  We ate and ate and walked and ate and ate...see the pattern?!  I'm pretty sure I packed on all the calories I'm supposed to consume over a week in 1 day at the fair!  Eeeks!  But, my tummy sure did enjoy it!

As you can see above...we had a great time.  We got there about 9:30 or so and stayed until around 3pm.  Max skipped his nap and got pretty hot, tired, and a little crabby towards the end...but all in all he did pretty good.  He naturally got tired of sitting in his stroller and wanted to get out and run...so I made him hold my hand and he did.  Which...I LOVED because he's never been much of a hand holder.  :)

By the end of the day...I had a nice grease stain on my right boobie from a taco and Brad had a chocolate stain on his left chest from Martha's cookies.  We were quite the pair!  I guess that's another sign that the fair was a success!  At one point Brad teased me and told me that maybe one of the carnies would give me a free ride because he'd feel sorry for me because of my stained shirt.  Nice.  LOL!

Thanks for a great day, TMB&K!!!

Pictures

Max and his buddies, Buzz & Woody (still referred to as Annin).  He told me they were poopie, so we had to "fix" it.  :)

"Eeeeh!  Thumbs up!"

Moes & Max

Our silly little dude!

"You talkin' to me??!" 

(Auntie Megs, these are the shoes you got me!  Aren't they cute on me?!  Thank you!)

Unique...and yet so much alike!

Maxwell - 5 months

Miles - 7 months

Max- 7 months

Miles - 7 months

Maxwell - 7 months

Miles - 7 months

Need I say more?!

Big boy Miles...is he REALLY 7 months already?!

NO! It can't be true!! I swear I JUST brought him home from the hospital not that long ago!

Sheesh...and now he's 7 months old (and 2 days) and doing big boy stuff. Aaaaahhh...slow down!!

Brad said he was standing up like this looking out the window for about 5 minutes before I ran and got the camera. He looked so cute and grown standing there. Then, of course, as soon as he noticed me taking pictures...he wouldn't turn back around. He's a mama's boy...and likes to keep me in sight. In fact...he's happiest when I'm holding him I think. It might have something to do with the fact that I'm his main food source still...but I'll take it! ;)

And speaking of Mama's boys...Mr Monkey boy has been sleeping in the past 2 weeks or so. It's been awesome! For about 6 weeks this summer he started waking at around 6am which was driving Papa and I crazy. I think he would hear Miles and wake up. Anyway, the past couple weeks I've checked on him when Miles wakes at 6:30 and Max is up and just playing quietly in his crib and then he falls back asleep until between 8 - 8:30 and this morning he didn't get up until close to 9am...after Gma and Amy arrived! But, for the past 4-5 days he wakes up in such a great mood and insted of crying so we'll hear him and go get him...he's been yelling for me. "Maaaaa-mmmmaaa! Maaaaa-mmmma!". It's so funny because his tone is kind of sing songy...like..."yyyyoooo hooo...Mammma....come geeeet meeee!". LOL!

Summer goes by too fast!

Hey, someone MY size! Look out, Chewers, it won't be long before you have TWO chasing after you!

jump jump jump!!

Our last visit w/ Grandma Bellows and Amy before school starts...boo! Max will miss his time at the park with them!

Auntie Amy and Max in their fort

Well, today's visit from Auntie Amy and Grandma Bellows was bitter sweet as it was their last weekly visit since Grandma goes back to school next week. Whaaaaaa! They've been coming over once or twice a week since the end of June.

Max has really enjoyed playing with Amy and playing at the park. Gma, Amy, and Max would walk over to the park and play there for hours. And Mama could get caught up on her work and spend a little QT w/ little dude.

My mom retires from teaching after the 1st Quarter (end of January) and something tells me that our weekly visits will resume again! We sure will miss them until then!

Thanks Auntie Amy and Gma Bellows...for a really fun summer! We love you!

Bathtime for Babies!

We evicted Michael from the upstairs bathroom. This probably should have been done when he moved his room down to the baesment, but I wanted to make sure he took care of his space down there before I did. I'm sure he was getting tired of the cars/trucks/bus moteef in there anyways. :)

Anyway, after a good scrub down...last night was the first night the boys were able to share a bath in their own bathtub. They've bathed a few times in our tub, but it required me joining them as Miles gets crazy in the water. He just splashes around and goes to town. He was so cute last night...he just splashed away and couldn't figure out which water toy to put in his mouth first.

Max wasn't too sure about these close quarters (especially with Miles' baby bath in there) and I think he got used to our big tub...but it didn't take long and he was playing away with Miles. It was really crazy to review our pictures later and see how much they looked alike in some of them. They seemed to always be looking in the same direction or be making the same facial expressions. Pretty funny! The 1st picture above kind of shows it...and I thought it was funny they were both so busy playing w/ their toys. :)

Funny "Moes"

I just had to post these because they were too cute. I came downstairs and "Moes" was hanging out with Papa on the couch and he was just all smiles.

Max Updates (2yrs 2mo)

Playing with Papa

Helping Mike mow the lawn...notice how they just happen to be wearing the same color shirt?

Swimming at the Connif's pool!

Wearing Papa's hat

Oh Max... what a little nut! I know I've said this before...but seriously, he looks like Papa...but he is SOOOO my son! He's a Bellows!

Definitely going through the 2's. One moment an absolute joy and the next...in a melt down. He's so passionate about however he is feeling at the moment. But, boy...he continues to be our source of daily entertainment. He's got a funny sense of humor already and loves to be silly. I can see so much of Brad and myself in him.

He's been a Papa's boy from quite early on...but lately he's turned into a mama's boy. I'm not sure if it's because of the extra attention I'm giving Miles as he gets older (Miles is a mama's boy), or what. Tonight he was playing with Papa when I came downstairs from bathing Miles and putting him to bed and he came running over and grabbed his "go go" (blankey) and said, "Na Night". I couldn't believe my ears...so I kept asking him, "You want to go Na night?" and he kept repeating it, so Brad got up to put him down and he kept asking for me. I think Brad appreciated the break (he usually puts Max down while I am nursing Miles and getting him ready for bed) and it warmed my heart to be in demand. :) It's funny though because Max has different bedtime routines with each of us. He likes me to read him a book and then I hold and cuddle with him for a little bit. He asks to wipe his nose several times (I have no idea why) and then he asks for this little pillow he has in his room and wants his go go laid out on it and he'll lie down on it and I'll rub his back and head for awhile. Then when I get up to leave he says, "No poh-oh" (pillow) and I have to put it away. He's really particular about what he sleeps with and HAS to have his go go and likes to sleep with this little bus and maybe 1 more car or something small, but other than that...he doesn't like anything else in his crib with him.

He's speaking up a storm and repeating more difficult words. I'm trying to work on his alphabet, numbers, and colors more...but he is on the go and doesn't seem too interested in repeating them all the time.

I still need to take pictures of our finished patio...but he absolutely loves it. He just runs around outside. I think he likes it because it's so large and wraps around the back of the house so he has more room to run and push his toys around on. He also loves to play with the hose and spray water on everything...what boy doesn't?!

His favorite TV show is Handy Manny and his favorite Movie right now are the Toy Story movies. In fact...I think Toy Story has taken over Handy Manny in requests lately. He calls it, "Anen" which is supposed to be "Andy". Andy is the little boy (the owner Woody & Buzz). He calls Woody, "Anen".

Anyway...my goodness...he's growing so fast, and like Miles...I just wish I could bottle this stage up. I'm not ready for my babies to be getting so big. Sometimes I look at him and he looks so grown. Ahhhh...if we could only slow time down a little!

Miles Updates (6mo 4wks)

Miles following in Max's footprints and doing his push ups!

Won't be long and this little one will be crawling!

He's such a happy little dude!

Chillin' outside! :)

What can I say... he is as sweet as they come! He is the perfect baby!

He is so patient and only fusses when he is really hungry or tired. Even if he's hungry...as long as he's being held, he will be patient. Poor thing has to be with such a demanding bigger brother! :) He's fairly quiet and seems as though he's just taking in everything he sees. We've actually been telling him that he needs to start speaking up to make sure we know he's still there because it's easy to get caught up in Max's sillyness and forget he's there because sometimes he's so quiet. But, he's been listening to us because the last few weeks he's been starting to squeal and babbling a lot. In fact 2 mornings ago he was nursing and he started making noises while he was nursing. Kind of like, "Mmm" and I'd repeat it and he'd just look at me. Then he'd do it again and I'd do it and then he realized that every time he did it I would respond, so we'd go back and forth. Now he does this several times a day. I remember when Max did this. It's really amazing when your baby wants to start a "dialog" with you! :)

He is a big smiler and will smile at you just because. My favorite smiles are in the morning when he wakes up (or after his nap) and he looks up from his crib and he smiles so big. I just love the squinty nose smile he does. It cracks me up. My 2nd favorite smile from him is after he nurses. About 95% of the time when he's done eating...he stops, looks up at me, and then gives me a big smile. Almost as if to say, "Thanks, mama...that was a good meal". LOL

He's sitting quite well now. I still have to stay close by because he will just jerk back for no reason occassionally or if he reaches for something he topples over sometimes. He's really trying to figure out the crawling thing. Usually when he's on his tummy and trying to reach something he will squirm and roll until he gets to it. He does push ups (like Max did shortly before he started crawling), but he puts his head in the ground...which makes me worry he's going to give himself a rug burn! ;)

Miles is a total cuddler and just loves to be held and loves to snuggle...especially when he's tired. I'll pick him up and he'll just bury his head in my neck. I just love it. Being my last baby...I hope he remains a cuddler for a long time! I just love this baby stage...and I'm not ready for it to go away. He's so anxious to be mobile and I know once he figures out crawling...he'll be on the move constantly. As it is, he is trying to grab everything he can within reach!

Max's Belated 2nd Bday party

We FINALLY celebrated Max's 2nd birthday today... 2 months late...but a great time just the same! We have just wonderful and generous family members...he just made out like a bandit and got some fantastic toys and cloths.

I had to wake both the boys up for the party and Miles (although tired) did fine...but Max woke up crabby! I think it was hard for him because he was still tired, and because our house was full of a lot of people who he isn't used to seeing, so that sets him off as well. He's really in to the whole "stranger danger" attitude lately. He keeps his distance and does not like it if people try to get in his personal space before he's ready. Actually...he doesn't even like people to talk to him. LOL! It can be a little embarassing, but I guess I'd rather him be this way than overly friendly to strangers.

Anyway, it was great to be able to enjoy some time with our family and Max warmed up to his cousins, Sarah (Barb's daughter) and Ava (Bryan's daughter).

Thanks everyone for his gifts and for partaking in our celebration! We had a great time!!