Cute Hats & Tiny Carts

A BIG Thank you to Monica who made Blake & Bryce the cutest hats. These two goofy guys love hats and we really appreciate the time she put into making them for our boys.

Happy in Hats


Bryce and I have been spending some quality time together to feed his hunger for attention. Our middle boy is soooo good when we have him alone and its cool to appreciate him as an individual as opposed to one half of "Blake & Bryce". We always make a point to have special dates with all the boys so they feel special.

Momma's lil shopper. Kroger has these cute little grocery carts that serve many purposes: entertainment for tots, buys time for Moms, and allows for more space to put stuff. Yay for little carts!!!!

4 Months :)

Max was 4 Months old yesterday!! He is our busy baby who loves standing, bouncing, chewing on his own fingers, dispensing buckets of drool, smiling & laughing, rolling around, walking while holding our hands, and watching his big brothers play. He does NOT enjoy sleeping or sitting.

He recently starting sucking his thumb, but only for brief periods, and will occasionally take a pacifier. He loves to cuddle with his little lovey bear blankie though :)

Here he is after one of his rolls

On the move!

Playing with the big boys

And he LOVES his cereal. His first bite he looked at me like I was insane and he remained quite skeptical throughout his first meal, but that didn't stop him from eating the whole bowl. Now he eagerly eats it up every evening!

Oh, and this just in . . . he has discovered those two things attached to the ends of his legs: His Feet!!

Being a Mom. . .

Being a Mom means keeping a straight face when you discipline your child for something that was very wrong, but insanely funny.

Being a Mom means constantly struggling with emotions of pride and sadness as you watch your child grow and accomplish new milestones.

Being a Mom means letting go even when you just want to hold them close forever.

Being a Mom means taking constructive criticism from your children with a grain of salt. (i.e. Mom your butt looks BIG in those pants).

Being a Mom means cheering and praising over poop and pee in the toilet . . . and being seriously excited about it.

Being a Mom means sitting at the bus stop on time to pick up your child even though you have diarrhea.

Being a Mom means the world to me and I love my babies "all the way to dinosaur earth and back" . . . and then some. Just wanted to share these thoughts, go ahead and comment with your own "Being a Mom means. . . "

The Older Boys

An update on our big boys:
Bryce is loving Tiny Tots and Sunday school. He's doing very well, the teachers tried to move him up to the older class at Tiny Tots; however, he chose to stay with his friends in his 3 year old class. Our Middle Boy has become a master at testing the limits and expressing Attitude. He's so much like me it drives me crazy! :) Love this boy!!

Blake misses Max & Bryce when he's at school and sometimes this makes him sad in the mornings. He really does love school, though, and comes home very excited about the books he makes and the stories he writes.

Blake is a great big brother

and he says he has many girls at school who want to marry him!

Crazy Baby

Just a few updates on our growing baby boy:

I had to share this picture because this boy has some crazy hair.

It's fuzzy and sticks up all over the place, sometimes even taking the shape of a mowhawk. He's lost so much of it, but there are still patches of light brown hair hanging on for dear life.

(It looks red in this picture, but it isn't red in person)

He loves this book with baby faces

A picture with Pa

Bath time is fun, he is only happy if he is propped to one side of the tub with his legs hanging off the other side. Seriously!

And he is still taking down his play mat like some kind of demolition man. As you can see from this picture, it is truly satisfying for him :)

He'll be 4 Months old on Friday, can you believe it?!

Parkplace Photos of Max - 3 Months

Monica took Max's 3 Month pics last weekend and we love the shots so much we had a difficult time deciding what to order! Unlike his newborn photo session, Max was a happy guy and really did well while we propped him, posed him, and made goofy faces to get smiles!

Mimi's Favorite

About to roll, but just love the look

Aunt Erica's pick

(love the toes touching)

My favorite

Tim's favorite

Sweet baby face

Crackin' up

Tim with his baby boy

Thank you Monica (AKA Parkplace Photography) for capturing our baby boy and his true personality!

parkplacephotos@gmail.com

Roly Poly

Max thinks he's a BIG BOY rolling all by himself from his back to his stomach and vice verse. He's enjoying his new trick so much . . . but would NOT show off for the camera. As soon as the video camera was put down he rolled over again!

Best Buds

Blake & Bryce are best buddies! They love to play together and have all the same friends. Sooo, when Blake was invited to his friend Collin's birthday party Bryce was in tears because he thinks that all of Blake's friends are his friends. Being the sweet big brother he is, Blake said, "Bryce, where is your favorite place to go?" Bryce told him the mall play land, so Blake said, "Mom, can you please take Bryce to the mall on Saturday while I go to Collin's party so he won't feel left out?". I agreed and couldn't stop smiling about the closeness of these two brothers.
PS- We had fun at the mall today :)

Stuff

We went to visit my Grandpa and Aunt Shelly today in Lansing and we are so thankful to have such a loving family. Grandpa is doing great and we love to spend time with him while he's in Michigan (half of his time is spent in Arizona). Aunt Shelly spoiled the boys with presents and made delicious tacos for all of us. Bryce was the winner of the eating contest coming in at 3 tacos, several crackers with cheese ball, a few chips with salsa, and a couple fistfuls of peanut m&ms. Then we listened to him say he was still hungry all the way home!

A picture of our family with Great Grandpa Al

Max LOVES his Great Grandpa and snuggles up to him every time.

Our 3 boys with their coordinating sweaters :)

Thanks Mimi for getting these for Christmas gifts, they look so cute!

Then a few pictures of Max doing his thing on his play mat. He turns himself a full 360 degrees by the time he's finished. He uses swift movements to hike his legs up and turn his entire body before you can even blink!

Max Aiden ~ 3 Months

Our baby boy is now 3 Months old! He's wearing size 2 diapers ( and filling 'em out), mostly 6-9 month clothing (but still able to squeeeeeze into some 3-6 month stuff); he's cooing, laughing, scooting in circles while on his back on the floor, sitting for short periods with a little support, loving tummy time, and has rolled from his stomach to his back 2 times. He also smiles from ear to ear when watching his big brothers dance with their silly white boy moves.
We are so proud of him, but really feel he might be trying to grow up too fast :(

Little Man

Sweet baby face

Goofy Guy look

He wants to be a big boy and stand up all the time!

Seems like he was born yesterday, but at the same it feels like he's been a part of our family forever! Happy 3 Months Max Aiden xoxoxo