Homecoming in Rancho

This past weekend, we went down to Rancho to welcome home Paul's brother from his mission. I can't believe that 2 years already went by. I can't believe how fast time goes by. It was so good to see David.

On Thursday we drove down after Paul was done with work. Max did pretty well in the car, but we did have to stop to feed him and to let him crawl around. Friday was the big day of the arrival of the missionary, but he wasn't coming in until 7:30 at night, so we had the whole day to hang out. Because it was such a beautiful day, I mean it was clear blue skies. I have been going to Rancho for about 4 years and I have only seen blue skies a couple of times because there is always smog around. But on Friday the winds were blowing, so for once I could actually see the mountains. We walked around the outdoor mall and had some lunch with the fam. It was a perfect day. I wihs I took some pictures because it was so clear.

Max and his Uncle Mark meeting for the first time. Mark is in the Navy and is station in Washington.

When 7:30 came around, we all went to the airport to welcome David home from being on his mission in Alabama.

The whole family

David with his 2 new nieces, Tiffany and Ashlee and of course Max

Max with his cousin Ahslee

On Saturday, we celebrating Jo Ann's 60th b-day even though it was a week after her b-day. We went out to dinner, which the food was very delicious, to celebrate the big birthday with the whole fmaily and some of her close friends. Before we went to dinner we took a family picture because it has been 2 years since the last one. While we were waiting for everyone to arrive, I decided to take some pictures of Max because we have no nice pictures of him. One of these days I am going to take professional pictures of him, but until then these will have to do. (There are more pictures of him in the photo gallery link on my blog)

David and Max

Max with his Grandma and her birthday party.

Max with his Great-grandma

Here are some random pictures of Max that I thought were such cute, so I wanted to pot them. Here Max is ready for a morning walk and wearing is Halloween sweatshirt that is aunt Kim and Uncle Adil gave to him.

Max had a lot of fun eating beans for the first time

A sick boy and pictures

Max is now 8 1/2 months old. These past couple of weeks have been very interesting for us. Max had a lot of his first things happening and it was all dealing with him being sick. He had his first ear infection, first cold, first running noise, and his first tooth. He had to take medicine twice a day for 10 days which he did not like at all. It was always a challenge to give to him. But last Friday we went to the doctors and everything went away. Then last night, Monday, the noise started to run again, the coughing started and the fever came. How can he be sick again? He was just sick. I don't know what is going on. I guess he wasn't over his first cold and plus there is a second tooth coming in right next to the first one. I feel so bad for him when he is sick. He just looks and sounds so horrible. I hope he feels better soon. But here are some pictures of him because he is getting so big.

His first tooth. You can't really see it but it is there on the bottom

He loves to play with the DVDs. He loves to pull them down and put them in his month. Well he loves to put anything in his month. Maybe that is why he is not getting over this cold.

Whenever he sees the dishwasher down, he will come crawling over as fast as he can to play with it and he gets so upset when I shut it. I think it is one of his favorite toys.

Helping mommy folding clothes

I went to check on him during his nap and I found him like this and I thought it was funny.

He is finally crawling on his knees. He loves doing the army crawl, but he will crawl on his knees until he gets tired and then he will go back to the army crawl especially when he is on the tile.

Heidi, Eirik, and Skye got Max the jungle wall stickers and he loves to look at him. At times he gets frustrated that he can't put the lion in his mouth.

Jason, Nelly, and Ali got this shirt for Max from Ecuador and it is the cutest shirt ever.

Laguna

We went to Laguna Beach with Paul's family at the end of August. It was a lot of fun to see everyone and to spend time at the beach for a couple of days. Max did great at the beach. He took his morning nap in his little tent, played in the sand and in the water.

Max with his daddy and his cousin Ella

Owen riding a wave with his dad Rich

Max with Grandma

Max with his cousins Tiffany and Ashlee

Playing soccer

The gang

Tiff with her mommy

Here are some videos of him playing.

Growing Up

So a couple of days ago, I was putting Max to sleep for his morning nap. Usually I let him cry for a little bit until I go in and check on him. For some reason that day I went in as soon as he started to cry which I don't do. When I walked into his room I found him like this.

He was standing up for the first time. He has never been able to pull himself up like that before. Now we have to lower his mattress which is always a pain in the butt to do. Ever since that day, he is all over the house climbing on things and pulling himself up on things. He has discovered our DVDs and loves playing with them and he also has discovered our food pantry which he loves to play with all the food. Then later that day, I found Max in our living room climbing on some plastic containers. He his such a little monkey now. Yes, he has discovered his tongue now. These last couple of days he loves to stick out his tongue and we have no clue why.

I can't believe how much he has grown up. He is getting so big so fast. I was going through his clothes and packing up the clothes that don't fit him anymore and I can't believe that he wore some of the clothes that he did especially the newborn clothes. They look so small and I don't ever remember him being that small.

Danville Trip

This past week I was able to make a trip down to Danville to hang out with family and friends. I forgot how much I love going there. It is so pretty there especially coming from the desert. I had so much fun while I was there. Max and I went a couple of days earlier before Paul came, so we could spend more time with my mom and my grandma. While we were there we went shopping, swimming, Monterey, Mt. Diablo, enjoyed the cooler weather and just hung out. Max had lots of fun meeting new people.We took my Grandma to the mall and she bought this hat for Max. It looks so cute on him. Thank you Grandma!

Hailey was so good with Max. She would bring him toys and play with him. She is a great cousin.

Hailey (3 yrs), Carter (10 months), and Max (7 months)

Max with his Great Grandma. Thank you Grandma for bouncing Max and playing with him. He just loves you and the wheelchair and the fan in your room.

Max with Grammy Babs. Thank you mom for everything. We had so much fun while we were there and thank you for the clothes for Max.

We decided to drive to the top of Mt. Diablo because Paul has never been there. We got out of the car and it was so cold. It felt like winter, but no it was August.

Max with his daddy!

Max with his Granddad!

While I was in Danville, I actually got to see my dad. My dad flew down from Seattle to spend time with his mom. It was so good seeing him and spending with him. Thank you for lunch.

One of the nights while we were there, we went to downtown Danville to listen to music and have dinner. They had all these fun things for kids to do and one of them was to hula-hop. A guy asked my mom if she wanted to try and she said yes. She actually did a very good job.

We took Max to the park and put him in the swings for the very first time. He loved it. He would just be laughing and enjoying the wind blowing in his face.

We went to Monteray and Max loved sitting in the double stoller with Carter. He thought it was so much fun.While we were in Monterey, we went to the Aquarium and it was a lot of fun. I haven't been there since I was little.

We also went to the beach to eat some lunch and once again it was very cold.

While I was there, I was able to attend Caitlin's baby blessing and I am so glad that the timming worked out. Her baby is so cute. I couldn't stop starring at her and I love all her hair that she has. Caitlin, it was so good to see you and see Olivia. Good luck with her new adventure. It is going to be so much fun. Liz, I am so mad that I didn't get a picture of Max and Will together. He has gotten so big. It was good to see you also. Thanks for the decorating tips.

If you want to see pictures of our house and more pictures of our Danville Trip then click on the link on the top right of our blog that says "Photo Gallery"

Catch up time!!

It has been forever since I have written. Lots of things have been going on with us, but I wasn't able to blog about it because we didn't have internet for a while which by the way is a total pain in the butt. Anyways, here is what is new with us.

First, we have moved into our first house. We are officially homeowners which is a little scary, but very exciting at the same time. We have been here for almost a month now and we have enjoyed every day of it. I am so happy to finally be in our house and no longer be living in a hotel. I would have to say that our house is amazing. We have so much room to put everything especially because we came from an apartment. I have never had this much room. The house will take some time to get it all decorated with furniture and pictures, but it's slowly coming along. After we get the house all decorated that is when we will have to work on the backward. That is the only down side of buying a new built, the backyard is not done. My goal is to have the backyard completely done before Max starts to walk and want to play outside.

Second, Max is 6 1/2 months old. He is getting so big. I can't believe it. On his 6 months check up he was 15 pounds 14 ounces and 26 1/2 inches long. The doctor says that he is doing great and he is. He is eating baby food which he loves pears and he is still nursing like a champ. He is only waking up once or twice in the middle of the night to eat which is very nice for me. One of his new things that he loves to his making all different kinds of sounds, blowing bubbles and sticking out his tongue. He is also doing an army crawl. He loves being on the ground and moving everywhere especially on the tile. I do have some videos of him that I will post later. Here are some pictures of Max because I know the grandparents want to see him.

On 4th of July, we went swimming and then we watch the fireworks at the practice field for one of the baseball teams. It was a lot of fun, but of course very hot.

Max wanted to let Granddad know that he is ready to go to Montana and go fishing.