The Hicks Family

heart (february photo challenge-day 14)...

2012-02-14T18:22:00.001-08:00

i decorated the chandelier tonight for our valentine's dinner and enjoy a meal with the ones i love the most.

blue (february photo challenge-day 13)...

2012-02-14T18:20:00.001-08:00

here are my blue running shoes.

after hurting my back last month, i'm finally back on the horse again with trying to get back in shape.

inside your closet (february photo challenge-day 12)...

2012-02-14T18:19:00.001-08:00

since my closet is a mess, i thought i'd take a photo "inside my room" instead.

look at these three!

makes me happy (february photo challenge-day 11)...

2012-02-12T10:28:00.005-08:00

beautiful gift that grammi helped max make for me.

some of the things he loves about me...how sweet.

i will treasure this forever.

self-portrait (february photo challenge-day 10)...

2012-02-12T10:28:00.003-08:00

just me.

front door (february photo challenge-day 9)...

2012-02-12T10:28:00.001-08:00

friends, family and those will love can enter here and are always welcome.

sun (february photo challenge-day 8)...

2012-02-09T11:44:00.001-08:00

it was a beautiful sunshiny day today.
but really, what shines brighter than this little boy.
so here is a picture of our "son," the one that our worlds revolve around these days!

button (february photo challenge-day 7)...

2012-02-07T18:27:00.001-08:00

we took advantage of today's sunshine and grilled steaks for dinner.

so, here's my "button" the grill ignition button! stay away snow, i could get used to this!

dinner (february photo challenge-day 6)...

2012-02-06T16:36:00.001-08:00

little one had trouble falling asleep last night + up early this monday morning + no nap at daycare = this momma has cereal for dinner.

10am (february photo challenge-day 5)...

2012-02-05T20:30:00.001-08:00

we were busy getting ready for church at 10am this morning and i forgot to snap a picture.

here is max, snoozing away, at 10pm! :)

a stranger (february photo challenge-day 4)

2012-02-05T14:21:00.001-08:00

max and i enjoyed an awesome walk yesterday.

we discovered many things that were seemingly out of place.

warmer temperatures, birds chirping, and budding trees...in february?

so this picture, of the buds on the branch, is my shot of a "stranger."

hands (february photo challenge-day 3)...

2012-02-03T18:41:00.001-08:00

these hands are always searching, playing, touching, and learning.

these hands are often sticky or messy or into something.

these hands are curious, gentle, and innocent.

these hands we meant for us to hold, guide, and love.

words (february photo challenge-day 2)...

2012-02-02T20:19:00.001-08:00

i had to lead the invocation at rotary thursday.

i shared the words from the prayer of st. francis of assisi.

your view today (february photo challenge-day 1)...

2012-02-01T17:56:00.001-08:00

finally finished my calendar at work...so much to do!

fun for me...

2012-02-01T17:49:00.001-08:00

i am going to do this for me because i think it will be fun.

let's see if i can make it through the whole month!

round two...

2012-01-25T12:24:00.001-08:00

we hit the road at 6:30am to head down to children's hospital in milwaukee. max was scheduled to have a second bronchoscopy. his ent and pulmonary doctors wanted to take another look at his airway to see if there had been any improvement. i was up at 4:30...ugh. it was a LONG day!

max took a little snooze in the car. he just put his blanket over his head and was out!

max was such a good boy. he willingly let the nurse do all of her pre-op work...get his height/weight, take his temp and blood pressure, listen to his heart, etc. he even went pee-pee and poop on the potty at the hospital. (we aren't pushing potty training but are definitely working on it right now!)

max and dada were playing cars to pass the time. max lined them all up on his dada's leg. he cracks us up!

i got a great video of max after the "goofy juice" had kicked it. i have to try to figure out how to get it from my phone onto the blog...

the procedure went great. he was in and out in no time. the doctors came and got drew and i to give us their report. they didn't see any changes in his airway. there is still a portion of his lower airway that is still 80-90% collapsed. they did notice, once he was put under, that his breathing was quieter...so that is good news. they also told us that his tonsils are huge. they want us to have a sleep study done in the spring to find out if they are contributing to his airway issue at all and causing any issues. if they find that they are, he'll have to have them out and if they are not, he'll just have huge tonsils! :)

he was a bit hysterical while coming out of the anesthesia. he wanted his mommy! :)

after some time in post-op, he was moved to recovery. we spent about an hour and a half there and then were released!

we stopped to check out this awesome aquarium and then went to have a snack.

max enjoyed some yogurt with bananas and drew and i shared a sandwich.

whenever we leave children's hospital, we take a picture by this yellow giraffe.

here is max with his da!

and a silly picture with momma!

we headed home and drew and max were asleep within 5 minutes! we made it back and spent the evening watching movies and relaxing! we made a yummy dinner and had smoothies after bath time!

i love this little guy!

here are my boys working on their computers at the end of the night! :) max always wants to play with our computer or "check his email!" (ha ha!) so we got him this little learning computer and gave it to him at the hospital. we used his christmas money from g-g and gramps! thanks g-g and gramps! max loves his new computer!

fun day with max...

2012-01-21T20:54:00.001-08:00

it was nice to have a day with nothing to do!

max spent some time playing guitar. he was singing maggie songs to "go to sleep" and then when she would close her eyes he would sing her a "wake up" song.

after his nap, he was in a GREAT mood. drew left for a gig so max and i made chicken quesadillas for dinner. they were yummy! he picks his food apart...i don't know why i even mix things together for him! :)

we played cars, took pictures with his camera, pretended we were puppies, swam in the "water," used the coffee table as a boat, and read so many books.

he is getting so tall and losing so much of his baby fat. i sometimes can't believe how fast he is growing!!

football fan...

2012-01-15T19:33:00.001-08:00

our little guy LOVES football. he wants to wear his rodgers jersey everyday! we throw, run, and tackle all the time! he was super excited for the packer game last sunday. unfortunately our team wasn't victorious. he doesn't realize that the season is over. :(

he was so excited to try on grampa ken's packer coat!

before nap he was playing in the bin of winter hats and gloves and he discovered my old skiing googles. these thing are so old, that when he took them off, small pieces of foam were stuck to his face.

he lost interest in the game towards the end. he helped himself to drew's ipad. it's crazy to me that he knows how to turn it on and open it up to his "games!"

and a football post wouldn't be complete without some packer dancing...here he is showing off raji's moves!

butter thief...

2012-01-15T19:32:00.001-08:00

saturday we were hanging out in the living room. all of a sudden, jordan asks us, "why does max have butter?" max ran into the living room holding a stick of butter and so began a new game. he ran away giggling and we chased him to get the butter back. we put it away and thought that was that. again max grabbed the butter and brought it into the living room.

drew thought he was going to teach max a lesson. so he unwrapped the end and let max take a bite. and to his surprise, max said, "i like it." (gross.) drew then tried to explain that butter was not a snack and put it back in the fridge.

after a few minutes, i thought to myself, it's WAY too quiet. so i suggested that drew go look for max. and where did he find him...under the dining room table munching on the stick of butter. (again, gross.)

drew put it away again and in his mind, solved the problem. he was so proud of himself. he came to explain to me what he'd come up with. he took one of the cabinet safety locks and put it around the fridge handle and the freezer handle. (picture this everybody...) now, next time max would try to open the fridge to try to find the butter...he'd open the freezer door too! :) problem solved!

family fun friday...

2012-01-15T19:31:00.001-08:00

friday was a pretty laid back day. we didn't have much on our list of things to do. max and i played and just enjoyed our time together.

max really had fun playing with his "tato heads" in the morning.

we had a great day. we are slowly taking potty training more seriously. i am happy to report that max used the potty 5 times on friday. so as a reward, we went out for ice cream after dinner!

me and my boy at paradise island!

i LOVE how max is looking at drew in the picture!

silly dada.

max picked out rainbow sherbert. he chose it right away. he really liked it. so much that his little face was coated in a sticky film and his hair was, well, a filthy mess. so, we headed home and our little boy went right in the bath.

he didn't mind one bit.

it has been a little crazy around here...

2012-01-13T18:02:00.001-08:00

and this photo pretty much says it all!

oh maggie...

2012-01-07T06:40:00.000-08:00

this sweet girl just makes me smile. she loves using the boppy pillow whenever she can. she got herself in this position with her ear sticking straight up. it didn't seem to bother her and drew and i thought it was hilarious!

little boy in a box...

2012-01-07T06:37:00.000-08:00

max dumped out all of his train tracks so he could sit in this box. i don't even ask why anymore!

cheesin'

"sleeping"

playing.

sleepover with h&t...

2012-01-07T06:26:00.000-08:00

back in july we gave hannah and teddy the promise of a sleepover for their birthdays. so, we decided christmas break would be the perfect time.

drew and teddy started the evening out engrossed in technology. teddy on his ds, drew on his computer and both watching tv. gosh boys.

we ran around, played with max, and ha some snacks! then we decided to get our pj's on.

here is hannah all ready. monkey see...

...monkey do. notice the slippers on top of the footie pajamas! :)

after max went to bed we had some popcorn and played games!

max and hannah enjoyed some time in the tent in the morning.

after breakfast we broke out a craft. you can stick these things together with just water. they were not as fun as i thought they'd be, but they entertained them for a little bit.

max made a spoon and pretended to eat the gross colored water that was in the bowl that we used to stick the things together.

teddy made a really cool airplane.

hannah made some letters and tried to make a house.

max took these bowls and put them on his and teddy's heads. he said, "we are kings, let's go see baby jesus." then he took teddy by the hand over to the nativity set. so sweet.

while max was napping, drew and teddy got out all of max's thomas train sets. they created a huge set up. it was awesome. hannah used one of max's microphones to "interview" them about their work and the construction of the tracks. it was great!

the dogs enjoyed their visit. they got extra snuggle time and lots of play time too!

thanks for coming over h&t! :)

2nd christmas celebration...

2012-01-07T06:22:00.000-08:00

we headed down to celebrate on christmas day with drew's family.

the kids (ages 3, 2, and 1) were so excited to open presents! i think the big kids were excited too!

max was beyond thrilled for this rock-n-roll guitar and microphone from aunt amie!

he played with it all night and for days once we got home! great choice amie!

drew and i both got some really nice things. we had a great party and were so entertained by lucas, max, and taygen running around the house and playing. this is what the holidays are all about. spending time with family, having fun, and enjoying each other's company!

away in a manger...

2011-12-27T18:40:00.001-08:00

my two favorites after Christmas morning mass. (this is also my first attempt at posting to the blog from my new phone!)

christmas morning...

2011-12-27T18:24:00.000-08:00

here was the first sign that santa made it to our house. looks like he enjoyed his cookies and milk and took the celery for his reindeer!

santa sure is a messy eater...look at all those crumbs. he must have been in a hurry!

somebody was pretty excited to see that santa had left presents1

this was the best of the many attempts i took at getting picture in front of the tree!

tearing into one of his two presents from santa.

what is it max?

an eagle! :)

my boy and i (edited with instagram on my present from santa...an iphone!)

so excited! (and pretty much the cutest picture ever!)

next he picked a present from momma and dada to open. what is it? his very own camera! he always wants to take pictures with ours...this might be a little safer!

next up, his other present from santa. a firetruck! hooray!

and last, but not least, a recycling truck from momma and dada. his facial expression here is hilarious!

dada and max got in some time with his new train sets from uncle ryan, aunt leslie, and hayden before we left for church.

twas the night before christmas...

2011-12-27T18:23:00.000-08:00

...not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse.

christmas eve day...

2011-12-27T17:26:00.000-08:00

it was a nice morning on christmas eve day and max wanted to go outside to play and use his new shovel.
isn't he so cute all bundled up! and look at little libby in the background! :)

all smiles while waiting for dada!

he couldn't wait to get his hands on his new red shovel.

dada was teaching his little buddy the right way to shovel snow.

he's a pro already!

nice work drew!

what a hard little worker!

after a nice nap, we headed to celebrate christmas eve at grama's house!

hayden and max were ready for their stockings!

digging in!

hayden was excited about the dinosaur that max picked out for him!

new thomas tracks for max! awesome!

the were just tearing into their gifts. it was super cute. they were excited about everything...even the clothes!

candy land! i can't wait to play this with max!

grama was pretty surprised to open her kindle fire!

such an action packed day. our little man was overstimulated and over tired. there were many tears shed, many laughs shared, and much fun had by all! thanks mom for hosting the party and making all the yummy food. we headed home and got things ready for santa. max didn't fall asleep until 11! not sure if he was to warm in his footie pajamas or just couldn't settle down for the night.

umm...wow...

2011-12-27T17:22:00.000-08:00

max was watching a show the other morning and i walked in the living room to find this.
i lost it. so i had to take a few shots...he started posing for me. this might be good blackmail pictures for the future! :)

crafting fun...

2011-12-27T17:19:00.000-08:00

i picked up this great foam tree at target for max to "decorate" over our break.

he was very specific to where he wanted each sticker ornament to go.

he carried the finish product around for a bit to find the perfect place to put it. he finally decided to put it on his dresser!

pals...

2011-12-27T17:16:00.000-08:00

max and teddy had a little photo shoot at church the sunday before christmas. it was baby audrey's baptism and i was taking pictures for them. drew occupied these two and got some great shots!

cookie decorating...

2011-12-27T16:59:00.000-08:00

we headed over to denny and diane's house to do some cookie decorating the weekend before christmas. (wow, i'm really behind on blogging!)
here is the whole crew, hard at work!

max got this new dinosaur and for some reasone people kept putting their drinks down right in front of him. it was hilarious!

me and my uncle denny!

max was hard at work. he was a little heavy on the sprinkles but was having so much fun!

he was so fond of his masterpiece that he had to take a lick!

looking good. people were pretty creative!

drew working on a masterpiece.

such concentration from teddy.

denny and hannah showing their skills.

my messy faced boy.

it was at this point when the boys lost interest and headed to play xbox. diane, hannah and i were left alone with many cookies to finish. so we had a race to finish them up fast. i'm proud to say that i won!

then we cleaned up our mess in the kitchen and on my child!
look at all the sprinkles on this little foot!

left out...

2011-12-27T16:56:00.000-08:00

we tried taking a family self-portrait and part of someone's head got cut out each time.

this was the best we could do.

and poor mags felt left out so she cuddled with max's dinosaurs in his tent.

a few stories...

2011-12-19T09:07:00.000-08:00

the other night max woke up crying. when i got to his room and asked him what was wrong, he said, "the bees, momma, the bees." i told him it would be okay and that there were no bees and he went back to sleep. the next morning i asked him if he had a bad dream. here was his response. "there were bees that got on my nose and they put honey on my nose. i had to wiggle to get them off. then i got my baseball bat and i hit them and they got stuck to my bat."

i was driving to drop max off at my mom's house last thursday. max asked, "you have to go to work, momma?" i answered yes. i then asked him where he wanted to work when he got older. i explained that momma worked at youth go, dada was a teacher, grama works at target, and uncle ryan and aunt leslie were police officers. what did he want to do? he told me he wanted to ride thomas. he wanted to drive the big thomas, not the little thomas, and he was going to be the conductor!

max has a love for birds. i don't know where it came from. these next two stories have to do with birds.
we were talking about all the birds that he likes...penguins, eagles, seagulls, owls, and geese. and he chimed in...i like mooses and buffalos too!

we went out to dinner on friday night with a couple of friends. max brought his momma penguin and baby penguin. the waitress asked him about his penguins and if he liked them. with a mouth full of chicken tenders he answered, "yes, i like birds!" we all got a good laugh out of that one!!!

dancing machine...

2011-12-14T05:39:00.000-08:00

max could not get enough of the dance floor!
here are a couple of videos to share!

fun day in kentucky...

2011-12-14T05:36:00.000-08:00

sunday morning we went exploring around the hotel. max and dada posed in the rocking chairs on the porch of boone tavern.

then we headed to berea coffee and tea...where i enjoyed many coffees in my kentucky days. max enjoyed a hot chocolate with vanilla (whipped cream) and sprinkles, i had a vanilla latte, and drew had some awesome apple cider.

then we headed to richmond to spend the day with the west family. max and zoey played like crazy, took awesome naps, and then enjoyed their first packer game together. when he was telling my mom about the trip he called zoey his girlfriend. :)
we are looking forward to a visit from the wests in a couple of weeks!

we left late that night to put a dent in our drive. we stayed in another "hotel, motel, holiday inn," and were home by 3:30 in the afternoon on monday.
what a great family adventure!

the princess' wedding...

2011-12-14T05:21:00.000-08:00

we left with plenty of time. we were planning on stopping at our friends' house to hang out, have lunch, and change. we hit some serious road construction traffic and a closed bridge and added over an hour and a half to our trip.
we arrived at their house...quickly changed, grabbed a sandwich for the road, and drove to the church. we walked in minutes before the wedding party started down the aisle.

max did pretty good in church considering he had just been sitting in the car for way.too.long.
the ceremony was beautiful, the bride looked gorgeous, and i even got to hold my husband's hand during the mushy parts of the ceremony! :)

waiting for our turn to hug the bride and groom.

max was excited to meet "the princess." this is what he referred to her as the whole night. it was so adorable!

little man wanted to take our picture...he's got some practicing to do!

we headed to the hotel, got checked in, and went downstairs for the reception.

max enjoyed some yummy strawberry lemonade.

he enjoyed the christmas pictures at the coloring table.

he also enjoyed sharing his dinner with his dinosaur.

me with my boy!

this cardboard tube was used as a horn, a telescope, and a baseball bat.

we attempted, and failed, at a self portrait.

after this we headed to the dance floor and got our groove on.
we danced to a few songs and then heard the announcement that the cake was being passed out.

now max knows that cake comes with birthday parties AND with weddings.
this makes max one happy boy!

the two most handsome boys i know!

after cake, it was right back to the dance floor for us. max was so excited to dance with amanda. at one point he looked right at me and mouthed, "momma, i'm dancing with the princess." how adorable can one person be?

at about 8:30 his dance moves transformed into just laying on the floor.
we knew it was time to tell him that it was about bedtime. we stayed for one more song then went up to our room.

in the midst of changing into pajamas and getting ready for bed, we realized we didn't get any pictures together...so here's one with my hubby.

and a quick family shot.

we were in bed by 9 and slept til 8:30. i don't know the last time i slept 11.5 hours. it was pretty amazing. after max woke up, he went right for the door and said, "i have to go back to dance!" :)

the trip down to kentucky...

2011-12-14T05:17:00.000-08:00

we left the house on friday evening. thanks to some friends, we were ready with a portable dvd player so max could watch movies.
we made it just south of indianapolis and stopped at a hotel. for some reason, max loves staying in hotels. this time around drew had him singing, "hotel, motel, holiday inn." it was pretty cute.

we stayed at a nice place with a great breakfast but i had the hardest time sleeping and kept dreaming about bed bugs...thanks granny.

here is our little guy the next morning playing with the phone before we hit the road for kentucky to go to amanda's wedding!

pretty blurry...but oh so cute!

ladies night...

2011-12-14T05:09:00.000-08:00

we got to have a little girls night out and go to dinner to celebrate lindsay's and heidi's birthdays. also, lindsay moved to lansing to start a new job as a weekend anchor...so this was a see you later party too.
i love these ladies! :)

12-0...

2011-12-04T19:21:00.000-08:00

just a few photos from a fun packer party at grama's house a few weekends ago.
it was hilarious to get the two boys together. they have such a good time playing! :)

my boy and his favorite...aaron rodgers!

me and my favorite!

two little goofballs!

the kept saying "ca-chow" (from the movie, cars) and cracking each other up!

his girl...

2011-12-04T19:19:00.000-08:00

i knew this day was coming. the day that maggie realized that there was yet another soft, cozy, and warm place for her to sleep. drew invited her onto max's bed. she snuggled right in and got comfy. i checked on them a few times before i went to be and she just got closer and closer until her head was under his blanket.

i love this and hope that she becomes "his" dog.

trip to see santa...

2011-12-04T19:14:00.000-08:00

we took max to see santa on saturday. he was in a pretty good mood and was excited to tell santa what he wanted for christmas. i even managed to get a cute "christmasy" shirt on him. we had watched a few minutes of the santa claus the night before. the shirt has an embroidered "c" on it just like the "sc" pajamas from the santa claus. hey, i'll take it however i can get it!

here he was telling santa that his name was max.

drew stepped in to help max get on santa's lap.

last year he cried hysterically. i was hoping drew's presence would keep him from getting worked up.

it worked! santa asked max what he wanted for christmas. his answer..."an eagle and a fire truck." well, what little boy doesn't want an eagle? we're baffled where this one came from...but i'm sure santa can make it happen.

visit with santa 2011 was a success!

pitiful...

2011-12-04T19:12:00.000-08:00

we had a rough week last week.

drew stayed home on tuesday, i stayed home on wednesday, and max got to hang with grama on thursday. it's not much fun to have a sick little boy but this year is already off to a much better start than last year. this was really only the second cold he's had.

this little guy sure is pitiful when he gets sick...he must get that from his dada! :)

manger fun...

2011-12-04T19:10:00.000-08:00

when you are two, i guess a manger is just too tempting.

we find the figurines scattered around and in all different positions every day.

today, they were lining up for something. not sure what, but at least they thought to follow the "ladies first" rule.

does it get any better than this...

2011-11-29T18:58:00.000-08:00

amazing (and ridiculous) night...

2011-11-29T18:32:00.000-08:00

we had planned to decorate our christmas tree on sunday.
we were ready...hot cocoa found, new christmas pj's purchased, and the tree was assembled.

max was EXCITED to say the least.

he kept squatting down and looking at the lights.

i asked him to stand in front of the tree and smile...and this is what i got!

here he is with his santa mug full of hot cocoa. he would take a sip and say, "this is just like coffee!" hahaha!

then he decided he wanted to drink his hot cocoa in front of the christmas tree. this is where things turned ridiculous!

we started to hang the ornaments. max would grab one, analyze it, and go find just the right spot for it on the tree. he'd try to hang it up and it would fall, he'd try again and it would fall again. then he'd give up and say, "you do it momma." this happened a few times until he got the hang of it.

doing a great job. there are only a few branches with multiple ornaments. but don't worry i left them alone. i think i surprised drew with putting my perfectionism under control! :)

we took a quick family shot with our christmas pj's on! you may have noticed our new housemate...his name is jordan. he's living with us until the summer. :)

when max saw this ornament he said, "awe, what a cute little fella."

really?

i think he thought the ornament box was a sled, he kept asking us to pull him around in the snow.

mags and jordan are already best buddies!

we got done decorating and max asked where the star was for the top of the tree. how the heck does he know that a star is supposed to go on the top?

what a great night. full of laughter, togetherness, and fun. this is a night full of memories that i will remember and cherish forever!

how did this happen...

2011-11-29T18:20:00.000-08:00

how did my little baby go from this...
...to this in just 2 years?

sometimes i look at the amazing, sweet, sensitive, active, crazy, loving, and smart little boy in front of me and i am in awe. i am so thankful to be his mommy and to get to experience every wonderful, challenging, heart-warming, trying, and simple moment.
(and take notice that somehow i managed to get him to wear a button-down shirt for church and not a "team shirt"...score 1 for me!)

silly cousins...

2011-11-26T19:42:00.000-08:00

max, lucas and taygen had a blast playing at thanksgiving dinner!
here are two videos of them playing band!

thanksgiving # 2...

2011-11-26T19:30:00.000-08:00

friday afternoon we headed to cedar grove to celebrate thanksgiving with drew's family.

max started playing with his cousins lucas and taygen right away!

and of course he found taygen's sunglasses and had to give them a try! cheeseball!

then the kids all decided the best place to sit was on top of aunt amie! :)

after dinner the kids were hilarious. first the boys were playing band. max was playing keyboard and lucas was playing guitar. then they were arguing so we thought they should all play drums. what a riot!

then the bowls turned into hats. monkey see...monkey do!

what a fun night. max was out minutes after we hit the road. we are so thankful for such wonderful family!

thanksgiving...

2011-11-26T19:21:00.000-08:00

we hosted thanksgiving for the second year in a row.
i am so thankful to have a home that allows us to have everyone over!

getting things ready to lay out the spread!
we enjoyed turkey, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, peas, zucchini casserole, homemade cranberry sauce, two kinds of stuffing, gravy, rolls, pumpkin pie, and frozen chocolate pie.

i caught the head chef sneaking a glass of wine! we couldn't have pulled of this amazing meal without my mom! thanks for all of your help!

combine a packer victory with a good nap and a house full of family and max was wound up!

here is everyone gathered around the table!

max was a fan of my frozen chocolate pie. it turned out pretty great and was such a simple recipe!

these two had a blast together. it's fun to watch them spend time together. they laugh and giggle so much!

we realized that we hadn't got a family shot. this one is hilarious!

this was the best attempt...minus drew missing part of his head.

happy thanksgiving!

appleton christmas parade...

2011-11-23T06:49:00.000-08:00

last night we headed to the appleton christmas parade.
i don't know who was more excited...me or max! :)

max and his dada (and an angry looking lady in the background!)

me and my boy...waiting for the parade to start!

quick family shot!
a very nice group of people let us put our blankets in front of them on the sidewalk. we had great seats and max was able to see everything!

we enjoyed funnel cake sticks and some yummy apple cider before the parade started!

once the floats and bands started marching down the street...our little man was in awe. he was cheering and laughing and oohing and ahhhing and dancing and having a great time.

looks like we have a new family tradition!

big boy bed...

2011-11-23T06:31:00.000-08:00

sunday was the big day...we asked max if he was ready for his big boy bed and he said "yes!"

drew would bring each piece to the top of the stairs and then would need max's help to carry it to his room.

dada was hard at work!
max was dancing and jumping around the room cheering, "my big boy bed, my big boy bed!" it was hilarious!

almost done!

all that was left to bring in was the mattress.

a blurry picture...but he was just so excited he couldn't sit still!

cheesin for the camera!

i had to sneak in to check on him and get a shot of him sleeping. too cute.
it took him awhile to fall asleep but he stayed in his bed the whole time!
the last two nights have gone even better. way to go max. you sure are a big boy!

just max...

2011-11-20T12:20:00.000-08:00

so, max i went shopping after daycare and i picked him up this cheap microphone.

our little rockstar.

who knew $2.99 could bring so much entertainment!

then we practiced making faces...

happy.

mad.

silly. (and blurry!)

i got this cool racetrack off of a mom's trading post on facebook.
i paid about 1/3 of the regular price! bargain!

he loves it. score one for the momma!

costume day...

2011-11-20T12:19:00.000-08:00

max's school had "costume day" scheduled for the week after halloween.

i guess they aren't allowed to celebrate halloween so they call it costume day instead.

we let max pick between his lion costume and his packer costume.

he sure is a handsome little football player!

first snow...

2011-11-20T12:03:00.000-08:00

max was much more excited than i was to see this first snow fall.

he wanted to go out and play in it and i wanted it to go away.

it was a very wet snow and didn't stick around.

i'm sure our backyard will be covered in no time.

although i'd rather winter stay away all together...i am looking forward to building our first snowman!

proud parents...

2011-11-14T19:12:00.001-08:00

report from max's daycare parent-teacher conference - "max is a happy, easy going, cooperative child. he is creative and has a sense of humor. we enjoy talking to him and like having him in our room."

post haunted house vacation...

2011-11-08T19:14:00.000-08:00

i was lucky enough to be able to schedule a long weekend in florida after youth go's haunted house season ended. things just worked out and fell into place. a great deal on a ticket, my brother willing to drop me off and pick me up at the airport, and chantay being willing to let me come visit and meet her new bundle of joy! it was an awesome visit. we had time to catch up, i got to snuggle with a 5 week old beautiful baby girl, we spent time out side, visited the beach, and just relaxed. i didn't take many pictures but here are the few i do have.

the view from our seats on the beach.

amaya's first trip to the beach.

i definitely enjoyed wearing my sandals and putting my toes in the sand.

i am very thankful to have been friends with this amazing person for the past 15 years. sometimes more time passes between us talking or seeing each other than i would like...but we are able to pick right back up where we left off.

taking it all in... i have a feeling these two have many adventures ahead of them.

i sure did miss my boys when i was gone but it was nice to get away. i enjoyed sleeping in, only having to feed myself, watching the news, reading a book and going to restaurants because they looked good and not because of what was on their children's menu! i was doing pretty good until we did a little "face time" on saturday afternoon. once i "saw" drew and max...i was ready to be home to hug them! thanks to everyone who helped make this trip possible for me! i needed it!

halloween fun...

2011-11-08T18:58:00.000-08:00

we went over to denny and diane's house for trick-or-treating and lots of fun!

they had a cute little gift for max. a little ghost. he loved it!

he was pretty excited about the candy corn too! the smile on his face in this picture is pretty great!

our handsome little lion!

i love my family!

good looking trick-or-treaters!
teddy was a zombie and hannah was alice in wonderland.

max and i arrived early so that i could help teddy and do his make-up. he told me he wanted to look "severe." i think i did a pretty good job!

love it!

ryan and leslie arrived and i had to get a shot of the boys! :)

drew was posing with max for this picture but i think it was really a way for max to sneak a peak at max's candy stash! :)

he was done at this point and started digging into his loot.

we went back for dinner! thanks for the pizza.

i also enjoyed this creatively labelled beer! diane loves halloween and goes all out! :)

hannah was nice enough to eat her pizza with the little guys!

we had a great night!

children's day at the haunted house...

2011-11-08T18:49:00.000-08:00

drew brought max to youth go's "children's day at the haunted house event!" it was great to see both of them. my co-workers and i were all dressed up like the characters from the wizard of oz. max and i made a pretty cute couple!
dorothy and the lion!

max was a little nervous at first when entering the house. it was a little dark in there. but after about 1/2 through, he relaxed a bit and really seemed to have fun. after trick-or-treating through the house, we headed to play carnival games.

playing the "bean bag toss." he got all three in!!

a little try at "pick a duck."

he did a great job at the pumpkin ring toss.

and at quack attack...he only wanted to play with the ducks, not knock them over with bean bags!

he had a high five for the a&w bear!

then we "took a sit" and enjoyed some shaved ice.

what a cute lion!

the afternoon must have worn him out. on the way back to the car, he decided he needed to take a little rest. he just stopped, sighed, and then layed down on the ground. it was hilarious!

what a great day filled with some halloween fun! :)

haircut time...

2011-11-08T18:46:00.000-08:00

our little buddy needed a haircut.
although i love his hair when it gets long like this, it grows pretty crazy in the back. i'll have to remember to get a picture next time. it looks like he has a tail. not the best look! :)
before

after (and with blue lips from his lollipop!)
handsome little man!

celebrating uncle ryan's bday...

2011-10-26T19:01:00.000-07:00

we headed to fond du lac to celebrate uncle ryan's birthday.
these boys were rambunctious at the restaurant...not wanting to eat, jumping around in the booth, it was quite the scene. so much so, that this is the only picture i got in the restaurant and it's not even a good one.

after we were done and uncle ryan enjoyed his free ice cream...and he managed to get it without the annoying singing of the wait staff...we headed over to let the boys run around the mall.

after a little bit of a vomit mishap...we walked with the boys over to the rides. i love max's face in this picture.
he normally only likes to sit in these things...but he had fun this time...it must have been because he was with hayden.

two wild and crazy boys!

taking the atv for a spin.

cousins!

such a cute picture of hayden with paddington bear!

after the boys got to play, the dad's wanted to play too.
let me tell you a little something about drew and ryan.... you know at the store when you are waiting in line and the aisles are filled with all kinds of random, useless items. well, drew and ryan are the people they put it there for. a perfect example...they both paid $2 to stand in this tube to experience "hurricane force winds." really $2 to have someone shoot air at you? wow.

the boys with their dadas!

(leslie and i were there too...but we were taking pictures...as usual)

thanks for making the trip to meet us halfway so that we could celebrate with you!

pumpkin time...

2011-10-26T18:52:00.000-07:00

we let max decide if he wanted to paint his pumpkin or carve his pumpkin this year.
he said he wanted it to have a face.
so away we went!
i wasn't sure how he was going to do with touching all the pumpkin guts.
he dug right in!

and other than talking about how it was "ewwwie" and "cold," he didn't seem to mind it at all.

checking it all out.
he told me what shapes he wanted for his pumpkin and he watched me draw them on the paper for a test run. the design was approved so i started cutting.

drew was very focused on his masterpiece...

while i was cutting...i let max paint his small pumpkin.

isn't he just adorable! :)

and messy too!

here are our creations...drew's puppy, max's pirate, and my "scary face" pumpkin.

we cleaned up the kitchen, cleaned up the boy and put him to bed.
and i ended my night with a nice glass of wine!

i love this time of year!

welcome baby audrey...

2011-10-26T18:37:00.000-07:00

our good friends becky and nate recently welcomed their first child, beautiful baby audrey, into the world. i was beyond honored to visit them at the hospital and get to meet this sweet little girl. although the delivery didn't go quite as planned, both mommy and baby are doing great(and daddy too)!

last sunday we took max over to their house so he could meet her.
he did such a good job holding her and tried very hard to remember all of the directions he was given.

he stayed quiet...and reminded us to do the same because baby audrey was sleeping.

he was very gentle and kept putting his face up to hers...it was so sweet.

we were all taking pictures...this is his new thing where he uses his fingers for a camera and takes pictures of us too!

i'm not quite sure what he was doing here...maybe picturing marrying her? :)

i was so proud of my little buddy and what a good job he did holding baby audrey!

congrats becky and nate. welcome to the club. you do good work!

max's appointment and his reward...

2011-10-23T09:46:00.000-07:00

last tuesday we travelled to milwaukee to children's hospital to participate in the ent clinic for our follow-up visits. we were able to see the ent, pulmonary, speech and g-i. we haven't regularly seen speech or g-i but they wanted to do a consult and check max out.

things went pretty good. no real changes and no more "negative" feedback. drew and i got to see the video from the scope they did this summer. that was pretty difficult to watch but it's nice to know what things look like in his lower airway.

this is the information that we left with...
basically this is what we know...there is a "this is what we HOPE will happen" and if it doesn't then surgery will need to be strongly considered. they HOPE that as max continues to grow, that is airway will grow too and begin to harden. they said we need to start watching for signs that it is inhibiting him. for things like him not being able to keep up, having to stop and rest and catch his breath, and things like that.

after we finished the consults, after the cleaned out max's ears (which is hard for this momma to watch), and after grama gave him lots of surprises...we headed to trader joe's for a little shopping and then to cheesecake factory for an early dinner.

after we ate, drew took max to the dessert case to choose a piece of cheesecake to share. and this was his reward (and ours too!)...a piece of brownie cheesecake.

mmmmm...

drew put whipped cream on max's nose to be funny. max thought it was hilarious and kept putting in on there.

these boys love their dessert! :)

giving them a try...

2011-10-23T09:42:00.000-07:00

we have been working on going on the potty for a while now.
he doesn't have it mastered...i'm thinking we'll give it a real go during christmas break.
we decided it'd be fun for max to try on some big boy underwear.
he picked out this elmo pair and thought he'd give them a try.

seriously...look at that tushy.
too funny.

a team shirt kinda day...

2011-10-23T09:37:00.000-07:00

i'm not sure if i've mentioned this on the blog or not but right now max is crazy about "team shirts." what's a team shirt you ask? well, it's basically any shirt with a number on it. it's hilarious...every morning he tells me that he wants to wear a team shirt. sometimes i can convince him to put on the clothes i've set out...but usually i lose and i dig him out a team shirt for the day.
he started the day out in his "team shirt" pajamas from the night before.
notice all of the stickers that came in his box of pull-ups.

next we changed into our clothes for the day...his packer "team shirt."
and more pull-ups fun. he tried to put this pair on over his pants.

then after an action packed day, i got some popcorn and milk ready to watch part of the brewer game. i had this waiting when max and dada got back downstairs from bath time!

and who would have guessed it...another pair of "team shirt" pajamas! :)
i love this boy!

batter up...

2011-10-23T09:26:00.000-07:00

grampa mark and max played a serious game of baseball.

what a fun time!

max's playground...

2011-10-23T07:03:00.000-07:00

my dad and grandparents came for a visit last weekend.
dad was going to put together max's swingset.
max was telling everyone that grampa mark was coming to build him a playground.

there were so many pieces. i was a little worried. i've seen my dad play golf and do other projects...let's just say i know where i get my stubbornness and perfectionism.

progress photo #1

progress photo #2

max decided to sit and supervise for a bit!

granny kept the puppies happy and also folded my laundry (thanks granny!)

max kept checking to make sure things were going okay!

then he and granny played a little dress up!

progress photo #3

the next morning they moved all the pieces outside.

progress photo #4

progress photo #5

they finished!
max woke up from his nap just in time to check it all out before i had to leave for work. i'm so glad i got to see all of this. it was awesome!

checking out the clubhouse.

and the slide.

looking at his swings.

this is him "taking a picture of me." seriously, how cute can this kid get?!

he LOVED it.

this is one very happy, spoiled, and loved little boy!

thanks grampa mark, gramps, and granny for the visit.

we love you!

surprise grammi...

2011-10-23T06:53:00.000-07:00

we travelled down to surprise grammi on her birthday.
i didn't get any shots of the actually surprising...but it was pretty great.
we had prepped max in the car.
we snuck in and he walked right up to grammi, who was laying on the couch watching tv, and said "happy birthday grammi!" she jumped up off the couch! it was awesome!

max and baby taygen snuggling on the chair.

we hung out and played until it was max's bedtime. then we changed into jammies and got ready to hit the road.

max and grammi layed on the floor and cuddled and read a few books until it was time to leave.

we hope you had a great birthday grammi!

volleyball and ice cream...

2011-10-23T06:08:00.000-07:00

we loaded up and headed to hannah's final volleyball game.

hannah was ready for action, her team was ready to do all of their cheers and max was ready to cheer for his hannah!

so cute. max just adores hannah and teddy.

to celebrate a great season...we went and had ice cream after the game!
nice work hannah!

the little farmer...

2011-10-10T19:14:00.000-07:00

last sunday we headed the little farmer with the everitos.

it was our first real adventure as a group of 6.

we headed straight to get snacks before the place got really crowded.

a caramel apple for nancy and a apple muffin for me!

max was all about the animals. first he checked out the bunnies at the exit of the apple house.

next it was off to see the goats and sheep.

dada got some pellets so that they could feed the animals.

i'm sure drew was giving max some kind of "lesson" about goats.

the goat wanted more...look at him sticking his head through the gate!

then we walked over to check out the llamas and hairy cows (not really sure what they are called) look at these two buddies with their boys. too cute!

family shot.

next we were off to the playground.

the last thing we did was take a hayride out to pick our pumpkins.

max picked out his own pumpkin!

i.love.him!

i definitely don't miss carrying a diaper bag. plus this is ridiculously adorable!

dada with our pumpkins.

it was a great day. we missed taking this trip last year due to sickness and rain. we had so much fun and left with a tuckered out little guy!

super max...

2011-10-10T19:07:00.000-07:00

clark kent transforms into superman in a photo booth...max turns into super max in the living room.

momma, i'm a super hero!

giving me his best pose! (this photo cracks me up!)

ready to save the world!

checking out his reflection.

flying off the deck.

he spent a good 10 minutes running around the backyard in his super hero mask and cape. it was pretty entertaining to watch! i love witnessing his imagination develop!

random pics...

2011-10-10T19:01:00.000-07:00

i sure love snuggles from max! :)

wearing momma's shoes.

giving maggie some lovin.

serious bed-head.

chilling out before bed time and watching some football.

max vs. maggie...

2011-10-10T18:54:00.000-07:00

backstory...maggie loves all things soft, comfy and warm. max loves his ming (blanket) and his nuk at nap time and bed time.

max walked into the living room and saw this:
(she did this on her own. it was not posed at all!)

he walked right up to her and grabbed the nuk. he tried to tell her, while shaking his finger, that "those are mine, maggie."

since she is a dog and doesn't speak english and is the laziest pup you will ever meet, she just laid there. she had no plans to move.

so max tugged with all of his might.

he tried to convience her that she should move. and with a little more effort and a little more pulling...

max won and maggie, well, she lost her warm, comfy spot.

go pack go...

2011-10-10T18:50:00.000-07:00

we had the family over to enjoy an afternoon of yummy food and great packer football!

heidi, diane and drew were very into the game.

max and hannah painted and then played with playdoh.

teddy enjoyed playing with max's thomas tracks. he was building a rollercoaster.

and we all enjoyed the family time, the delicious grub, and the packer victory!!!

photography by max...

2011-10-10T18:46:00.000-07:00

max has been really interested in the camera.
he wants to hold it, look at the pictures that have been taken, and watch videos.
lately he has been wanting to take picture too!
here is the first batch of "photos by max."

octoberfest 2011...

2011-10-10T18:33:00.000-07:00

(okay, so i'm a little bit behind...but better late than never!)

we headed down to college avenue for octoberfest for music, food and fun!
we found a really great band on the campus of lawrence.
max and drew were enjoying a little stevie wonder!

doesn't he look ridiculously grown up here? yikes!

look at these two handsome guys!

max was so excited to check out the firetruck. he did a pretty good job waiting in line.

cheese!

speaking of cheese...here is max enjoying his first wisconsin deep fried cheese curd. he was a fan!

then we stopped for a bit to listen to copper box. max was busting a move and he was definitely a fan favorite. he was enjoying the music and having so much fun. then, he looked right at me and said, "momma, i want to go sleep in my bed." he never asks to sleep. so drew and i headed home. he took a great nap, then we met back up with everyone for some yummy chili at grama's house.

what a fun day and a great way to kick off a new season!

what we've been up to...

2011-10-04T10:11:00.000-07:00

we've been pretty busy the past couple of weeks.
well, our whole house is battling being sick right now.
so i can blame the lack of picture taking and blogging on that...right?

i know many may disagree with me...but i'm so happy that fall has arrived.
i love the cooler temperatures, the leaves changing color, autumn decorations and the excuse to enjoy a latte with lunch! now, i don't like what follows fall, but i'll enjoy the season while it's here.
mmmm...

now here's another reason why the blogging has been sparse...youth go's haunted house season officially started on 9/30.

aren't we pretty?

what else does fall bring...football!

we headed to watch teddy play football. he is playing pop-warner this year...his team is the eagles. max LOVED going to his game. he was cheering so loud for teddy, repeating everything that the coaches were shouting to the players...it was awesome. after the game he just looked at teddy like he was a super hero. it was pretty precious.

i'll try to get some good photos throughout the rest of this week. :)

a few funny things...

2011-09-28T05:01:00.000-07:00

max doesn't like waking up. in the morning and after naps he likes to lay in his bed for awhile. it's so funny. it's like he is a grumpy old man who never gets enough rest.

right now he is a sports fanatic. any shirt with a number on it is a "team shirt." he wants to wear team shirts all the time. the other night i came home from work and he was already in bed. i checked on him and he was wearing plaid pajama pants and a striped polo shirt. drew said he insisted on wearing that specific "team shirt" to bed. it's hilarious. we've witnessed many a two year old tantrums because we put a different kind of shirt on him. i guess i just need to go shopping. :)

he asks us to do funny things. wear his football helmet, fall on the ground, make silly noises. if we say, "no, i don't want to do that." he gets this hilarious look on his face and he says, "you do!" i'll have to try to get it on video. it cracks us up.

too early for halloween decorations...?

2011-09-18T19:30:00.000-07:00

i put up our halloween decorations this week.

i know it's a little early but with youth go's haunted house quickly approaching...and by quickly i mean that we open next friday...and i wanted to make sure max didn't miss out! i get burnt out with halloween so fast because of the many hours spent on all things "haunted."

algoma wine fest...

2011-09-18T19:26:00.000-07:00

we took our annual trip to the "wet whistle wine fest" in algoma.

drew decided that we should take our new rv for a spin...

we are excited to take full advantage of having a camper next summer. i can't wait for some awesome family adventures!

pam and mom enjoyed the comfortable ride.

this is the 4th year we've enjoyed the beautiful weather, great music, and yummy wine at the algoma wine fest! what a fun day! (we missed you becky!)

fitting a week into one post...

2011-09-18T19:08:00.000-07:00

so here is my attempt to fit last week into just one post full of random picture!

our new furniture came with way too many pillows. after months of trying to figure out what to do with them, i made a small little reading corner for max.

we have found him back there almost every day since!

hooray...the shed project is finally complete! well, the door still needs to be painted to match the siding, but the construction is finished!

what could be better than baseball in the morning in your pajamas? from this smile, i don't think anything could top it for this guy!

max, that's a tree...not a baseball! this kid loves playing baseball. we are out there at least every other day. he's got some pretty impressive hand-eye coordination. i'm actually pretty impressed. he still puts his glove on the wrong hand about 50% of the time, but he can hit!

look at that cheesy grin!

i snapped a picture of the leaves changing on one of our trees. say it ain't so. i mean i love fall, but i'm not ready to say goodbye to summer yet.

i thought he looked so grown up on thursday. he was all ready to head over to grama's house!

and he had an action packed day with her. he was pooped.

and that's about it.

seafood fest...

2011-09-18T18:59:00.000-07:00

we headed to jefferson park for rotary's seafood fest!

it was a nice, cool evening and we were off for a little family fun.

here's our little guy enjoying his star popsicle.

his face was stained red and blue for about 2 days.

sometimes i can't get over how adorable he is. :)

we had a nice evening, played on the playground, walked down by the water and did some dancing. check out his lips in this picture. i'm not sure if he was trying to sing along or if he was just really into his dance moves! :)

here he was playing air guitar! he's finally understanding that all bands don't include his dada!

we got to eat dinner that we didn't have to cook, enjoy a nice almost fall evening, visit with some of my friends from rotary, and spend time together...i think it was a success!

opening packer game...

2011-09-18T18:51:00.000-07:00

(i'm a little behind)

we headed to mom's house for dinner and to watch the first official packer game of the season. max really is the biggest little packer fan around. he had to wear his new rodger's jersey and bring his football and helmet!

cheering for his packers!

not sure what they were doing or why they were doing it...but it was pretty cute!

go pack go...1-0! :)

max-a-sauras rex...

2011-09-05T19:39:00.000-07:00

rawr.

family movie night...

2011-09-05T19:37:00.000-07:00

saturday night we enjoyed a family movie night.
i took max up for a bath and we came down to find that dada had put some of his "friends" on the couch. it was hilarious. he hopped right up there, got comfy and was ready to watch "chicken little." maggie even joined him for a bit!

nakey day...

2011-09-05T19:32:00.000-07:00

max did not want to wear clothes the other day.
he proceeded to participate in some of the day's events in just a diaper.

enjoying a yogurt popsicle! (and looking quite serious)

delicious and messy!

time to "rock and roll" as max says.
first he had to tune the guitar, just like dada.

playing me "twinkle, twinkle little star."

cheeseball!

eventually i convinced him to put on some clothes so that we could go outside!

sometimes...

2011-08-29T19:50:00.000-07:00

sometimes i can't believe how fast he has grown.

april 2010

august 2011

tratts game...

2011-08-29T19:44:00.000-07:00

we headed out to a timber rattlers game last monday with neenah rotary.
max was really into watching the game this time.
he would give us a play-by-play..."look, he's hitting" it was pretty cute

taking it all in with da.

for a day with no nap...he did pretty good. he didn't want to sit still enough for a picture, but we tried!

family photo on our way out!

5 years...

2011-08-29T19:40:00.000-07:00

drew and i celebrated our 5 year wedding anniversary last weekend.
i can't believe that we have been married that long already!
yesterday at church, a couple was recognized for being there to celebrate their 50th anniversary...only 45 more years to go! :)
to start our evening, drew took me to my moms to sit on the porch swing. we spent many evenings sitting on this swing during our dating days! :)
it was a sweet and special way to start our celebration. he had planned on taking me to a few other nostalgic places, but good friends of ours invited us to join them for dinner. since we don't get to see the both of them that often, we quickly said "yes."
it was a great night to celebrate!

cheers...here's to 45+ more years!

last adventure of the summer...

2011-08-29T19:19:00.000-07:00

drew and max wanted to go on an adventure for their last free day together before drew headed back to school. i suggested going to green bay to watch the packers practice...and off they went.

max wasn't so sure about it at first so they did some walking and exploring.

photography by max.

drew thought max was done...so they headed back to the car. about halfway there max asked to go back...so they did.

they found a better place to sit and max was really into watching what was going on.

aaron rodgers.

again.

hey coach!

i think they had a fun afternoon.

max wore his packer helmet all night. :)

michigan trip - fun in augres and the drive home...

2011-08-28T13:58:00.000-07:00

saturday morning we headed up to au gres to visit with just grama and grampa.
we stayed at one of the local hotels.
after breakfast, the boys wanted to do a little swimming.

ryan and hayden.

max has really been loving pools lately. i'm glad he's finally warmed up to the idea of swimming.

too cute!

the martin family totem pole.

my handsome guys. i sure do love them!

after naps, we headed over to grama and grampa's house for dinner. gramps cooked up some great steaks and made corn on the cob. it was delish!

then it was time for a boat ride on grampa's boat. max was so excited to drive.

what a great picture!

i'm not sure why he was doing this but it was hilarious. he pulled his hat down as far as he could, snuggled down into his life jacket and just sat there. every once in awhile he'd poke his eye out and then go back in...kinda like a little turtle.

he got all comfy and snuggled in with his blanket.

family shot.

max driving the boat with gramps.

i love him!

sunday morning we tried to get some shots with the boys. i think they were done with the camera.

tried a couple with grama mark too.

the boys just randomly started clapping in this one.

all the martin boys...

it was a long drive home. max wanted his turn behind the wheel!

we made it home safely! it was a great adventure. i don't want to drive that far with two 2 year olds anytime soon...but we did have fun!

martin family reunion...

2011-08-28T13:29:00.000-07:00

dad organized a martin family reunion.
it was so great to get to see everyone!

ryan started his evening off with a wine cooler...really classy brother!

we enjoyed some pizza, fruit salad, and pasta salad.
aunt di also brought some really cute cookies.

max picked out this turtle.

the icing was his favorite part! :)

why use your hands when it tastes so good?

dad had some trouble keeping his eyes open in the pictures....

so, ryan helped him out. haha!

there was a great playground at the park. max and hayden loved playing in the wooden train.

what a cutie!

booo.....

....peek!

here was an attempt at getting photo of all of the great grandkids. marci threw a fit, so her mom removed her from the picture. from left to right...quinn, hayden, teagen, and max.

here's a great family shot...drew, max, me, dad, hayden, leslie and ryan.

uncle ryan wanted to let max try on his shoes. my brother wears a 16 1/2 and this was hilarious!

max tried to walk and couldn't. he was cracking up!

me and my little brother! :)

me and my little man!

the whole martin gang...grampa and grama...you sure made a good looking family! :)

thanks for organizing this dad. we had a great time and it was so wonderful to see everyone!

michigan trip - the drive and the zoo...

2011-08-28T13:02:00.000-07:00

we loaded up in ryan and leslie's mini-van thursday afternoon and headed to michigan.
after a stop at the outlet mall, many potty stops, and breaks to get food...we made it to saginaw.
thanks to leslie's preparedness, lots of snacks, and their dvd player...the boys did really good!

after a good night of sleep and breakfast, we decided to head to the zoo.

this peacock got a little too close for comfort. i was glad the boys were in the wagon.

drew and max went to get a good look at the giant goldfish.

grampa took max to get a closer look at the horses.

feeding the horse some hay.

the boys went to help water the garden...and max just watered himself (see the pic below).

riding the dolphin.

these two cracked me up all weekend. monkey see...monkey do! :)

driving the old truck...

i was trying to take a photo of my boys on the train ride and my brother decided to photo bomb!

here is my new favorite picture of max.

after the zoo, we headed to lunch. max had a mini-meltdown so we knew it was time for a nap. we went back to the hotel for naps and then to get ready for the martin family reunion...

cuteness...

2011-08-24T14:03:00.000-07:00

some things that i don't want to forget...

-right now everything is either "spicy" or "scary." i'm not sure where this came from or how he came up with it, but it's pretty hilarious.

-when max puts on someone else's shoes, he becomes that person. he put on my mom's shoes the other day and said, "i'm the grama." he put on drew's shoes and said, "i'm the dada." too cute!

-sometimes if we are driving at the end of the day he gets really quiet and then will say, "i had a great day momma."

quite the imagination...

2011-08-17T06:32:00.000-07:00

last night we were playing in the backyard. max looked up in the sky and said, "go up there!" we asked him how he was going to go up there. his answer, "a spaceship." he told us that he was a red spaceship, momma was a yellow spaceship, and dada was a red spaceship too. we proceeded to fly around the backyard in our spaceships. it was definitely something i want to remember. i love my little family and the special moments we get to spend together!

busy, busy...

2011-08-17T06:24:00.000-07:00

we've been busy around here...
taking family adventures, playing in the backyard, spending too much time at work, enjoying time with our extended family, and just soaking up the last bit of summer.

i have not been doing a good job taking pictures or blogging...but we've been having fun.
here are a couple pictures of our growing boy...
playing in the backyard.

enjoying some sesame street and eating his cereal!

indianapolis trip - day 1 & 2...

2011-08-09T20:48:00.000-07:00

here we go, go, go, go...on an adventure.

the hicks family is on the road...

thursday we hit the road to head to indianapolis. max entertained himself by playing piano on my ipod.

we travelled to schaumburg, illinois, about half-way. i wanted to go to ikea and we thought it'd be a good idea to take max to the rainforest cafe. he likes animals...right? well, we learned that he does not like animatronic animals.

he loved the fish tanks and was squealing with excitement watching them swim around. then they sat us down by the gorillas. bad idea. the freaked him out. we needed to move. they put us by a calm, peaceful waterfall and rainbow.

but just over max's shoulder was a jaguar. he wouldn't take his eye off that thing and did not like when it growled.

see.

then the thunderstorms started and he was not a fan of the thunder.

we did comfort him and calm him down...about every 10-15 minutes as these things all happened on a rotating schedule.

he was happy to be ready to go.

we went to ikea. the one thing i wanted...they didn't have. go figure. i was going to buy some wooden spice racks to attach to max's bedroom wall to make bookshelves. i was super bummed and may have even thrown a mini-tantrum.

we walked around the store, found some cool lamps for our bedroom and a few other things. then we headed back to our hotel.

max did a little driving while we loaded up the car. then we were off to indianapolis!
we were meeting up with 3 other couples that i volunteered with in kentucky after college. it dawned on me that i have known these people for 11 years! we now all have kids and we were going to attempt to all stay in a hotel and keep the little ones entertained. i think we were pretty successful!

here's a shot of our room.
three of the four couples arrived in the afternoon. we suited up and headed to the pool.

i have never seen max have so much fun in the water...it was awesome!

here is ali and riley. riley is about 15 months old and is a happy little ball of energy! he's got a great smile and an amazing belly laugh. ali's husband chris couldn't come. he is a firefighter and couldn't get off of work.

here is charles and zoey. zoey's going to be a big sister in october...and kiara didn't feel like swimming...i don't blame her. zoey has the sweetest little voice. she'll be 2 in november. i think max had a little crush on her. she loves to swim and is also quite the fan on sesame street. she's such a smart little girl!

max and drew shared a moment...

...and a splash!

after the pool, we headed to dinner. at that point the theme of the weekend started...controlled chaos! it was awesome. after dinner we sat around and hung out and waiting for andy, kristen, and timmy to arrive. we put the kids down and discovered that our monitors worked in the lobby! yippee!

indianapolis trip- day 3 & 4...

2011-08-09T19:48:00.000-07:00

(warning...LOTS of pictures to follow)

max was a sleepy head on saturday morning. i brought breakfast up for my boys!

here are the wild animals running down the hallway!

our big event for saturday was the indianapolis children's museum.

there were some huge dinosaurs outside...the kids were in awe.

riley got in a quick early morning nap when we arrived.

a quick self-portrait with my buddy while drew was getting our tickets.

zoey had a shirt full of sesame street stickers and she was sharing them with all of her new friends.

we went to this adventure area. the kids had a blast.
max and i rode on a tractor.

we played in the water.

zoey and riley playing in the sand.

timmy was digging away...and seemed to enjoy shoveling the sand out of the sandbox!

i love this picture!

max saw this from far away. he went running full speed shouting, "MONKEY!" he ran right up to it and gave it a huge hug. it was hilarious.

next it was time for the dinosaurs. max had fun putting this dinosaur costume on.

dada, or should i say mr. hicks, gave him a brief explanation of how dinosaurs sit on their eggs.

then we headed to check out the trains. could this be any cuter?

seriously? :)

zoey and riley were playing with dinosaurs.

they all loved this table.

we checked out the trains and had a snack and then it was time to go.

some of us stopped for lunch and others went back to the hotel.

after nap time, we all headed back to the pool.

look at all these smiles!

i had these shirts made for the kids. they were adorable.

it was quite the feat trying to get a group photo. the kids range in age from 15 months to 25 months.

this one might be my favorite...riley's had enough, timmy and zoey are eating, and max is about to take off!

none of them are looking at the camera and are playing with toys.

at this point...we gave up!

four little monkeys jumping on the bed...

next it was time for dinner. we couldn't find any restaurants that would take reservations on a saturday night. so we talked to the hotel staff and they let us use the breakfast area and we ordered pizza. a big thanks to drew for arranging and organizing all of that!

zoey loves to drink half and half creamer.

too funny!

we had a fun night, talking, catching up and making plans for future reunions. i am so thankful for this group of friends. next year...kentucky. 2013...wisconsin.

it's so nice to have people that you are so comfortable with, that are like family, and that it feels like no time passes between visits!

goofing around while the parents packed up!

here's the whole crew.

on the bed...ali, riley, kiara, zoey, drew, max, timmy, andy.

on the floor...charles, kelly, and kristen.

we missed the butlers on this trip...but hope that they can join us next year!

drew and max enjoyed shakes and rio in the backseat!

after a few stops, two crazy storms, and lots of driving...we were almost home.

max did great until about the last half hour, then he was done.

drew pulled out a lollipop and it helped get us home!

sharing with dada!

happy boy...

...and literally one minute later....sad boy. like i said, he was done.

he and dada entertained themselves with silly faces!

what a great adventure!