Christmas Festivities

Since we are spread all over the state (OK, just us, but anyway), we celebrated Christmas with the my family a week before Christmas. My parents did a wonderful job of hosting and making us feel so special. They are incredibly kind and generous! Growing up, my mom used to "direct" a Christmas play with us and our cousins. I have such fond memories of being an angel in the play in grandma and grandpa's basement. Veronica and Jaime decided to carry on the tradition and direct our own family play with all the little ones. It was so great!! Out of the mouths of babes . . .

Opening his 1st Christmas gift!

The bow is the best part!

Little angels - "Don't be afraid, Mary."

The Holy Family

Such a good baby Jesus!

The entire cast - (Julia says, "I just want to be JuJu."

Notice her lack of costume!!)

And then . . . a stellar performance of "Red Solo Cup"
If you've never heard the song, you should really look it up on you tube. (You'll thank me later for having an annoying song stuck in your head!)

One sleepy baby (and mommy!)

Family Photo Shoot

Back in November, while my parents were on their trip, we all got together and did a little photo shoot to surprise them with some pics for Christmas. It was an adventure, with 6 kids (5 and under), to say the least!

Not bad for putting the camera on a ladder with the timer on,

me pushing the button and running into place :-)

Thanksgiving 2011

Ahh, what a differene a year makes! Last year, at Thanksgiving, I was sicker than a dog and just 8 weeks pregnant. And now we have our little babe. This year was MUCH better! :-) Even though I didn't get many pictures of them (I'm not too good at remembering to take pics), we celebrated the day with Grandma and Uncle Jeff and Aunt Cheryl's family at my parents' house. One person was definitely missed, though: my grandpa. This was the first holiday without him and it was hard. We wil always miss him, but it seems like the "firsts" of anything are extra tough.

Max was a happy camper all day. He just learned how to roll and was showing off his skills, rolling from one end of the family room to the other. He is a social creature and it was like pulling teeth to get him to nap . . . or eat for that matter! He is too busy paying attention to everyone to do either. I might be biased, but he is such a cool kid. ;-)

Going Home

We went "home" for Zack's 1st birthday this past weekend. It seems like we never have enough time to see everyone we want to see, so we decided to spend Saturday night to extend our stay. After Zack's birthday, we got together with the Allens and Gastons. And then, Sunday, after Mass, we went over to the Parrott's. It was nice to catch up with friends we hadn't seen in awhile.

Zack is that happiest baby I know and has the most laid back personality. He is full of smiles and brings so much joy to our family. We are very thankful for your life, Zakarian!


His party was lots of fun - we got to see all my siblings and their kids, lots of cousins, Grandma and Uncle Jeff and Aunt Cheryl - seeing lots of people in one place = bonus! I love my big, crazy family so very much. We have heard all sorts of smart remarks growing up for having "so many" kids in our family, but I couldn't imagine my life without each one of them. They are the people who share my values and we openly talk about the things in which we believe. Faith and politics are often discussed at our family gatherings. We are passionate about both and it feeds my soul to be around them.

So, back to Zack's party . . . ;) . . . he was very excited about his cake - as you can see below! Wes had to hold him back while we sang "Happy Birthday!" But, when he went to eat it, he was very dainty about it and very gently ate a little frosting at a time.

His favorite gift - in case you can't see, it's Puffs!

(Good thinking, Aunt Cheryl!)

Oh man, did he love Grandma's cane!

Cool new chair from Gpa Walt and Gma Theresa
(Wish they could've been there, but they did call and talk to all of us.)


Max had a good time, too!

After Zack's party, we went over to the Allen's house, where Kathy had prepared a wonderful dinner for all of us! The visit was far too short, but we had such a great time catching up with them and seeing their kids.

Do you remember this picture from April?

Well, here are Austin and Max - born just 3 weeks apart

September and October in Pictures

Labor Day at the cabin -

Max's first boat ride

Being "artsy" at Art Pr!ze in GR

Mom, Dad, Veronica and Sophie came up

for Family Wkd at GVSU

Dad doing a little wine tasting -

obviously he wasn't a fan!

One of our new favorite places in town -

Vander M!ll

Max's new friend Kolbe (and his parents)

came to visit

Can't forget Brady!

Bradley class reunion!

w/ baby Zoe and baby Kyle

Taking in his first baseball game (Livia's!) with Aunt April

Trunk or Treat at Kam and Nicole's

Happy Halloween!

What Max has Taught Me (so far)

He's taught me a TON (like poop on my jeans isn't that big of a deal), but here are 2 biggies:

1) How much God loves ME. It's funny to think that a baby can teach you about God and His love . . . but he can! I can't remember if I already blogged about this, but I'm gonna again; so, bear with me. :) After Max was born, I said to Brook, "Now, I know why they say you don't mess with bear cubs, b/c the mama bear will KILL you!" Brook laughed so hard, but it's true! Never before have I known love like this. I love a lot of people, but this love is different. I think about Max and all the good that I want for him in his life. And one day, it hit me: God loves ME even more than I love Max and he wants good things for ME even more than I want for Max. It was an "aha" moment for me. For whatever reason, I really struggle with believing that God truly loves me and that He wants good things for my life. This has been a struggle for the last 10 years or so and something I have to constantly work on believing. Whenever I start getting those doubts now, I stop and think about how much I love Max.

2) I can only change me. I've heard that saying many times . . . "The only person you can change is yourself." I never really put it into practice until after Max was born. I remember the day very clearly. It was during the first month of Max's life - you know, the month where I was still like, 'Oh my gosh, my life is changed forever' and I didn't know if that was good or bad. I was tired and feeling down, b/c I was up late, trying to get him to sleep and the only way he would sleep was by me nursing him. I was driving home from Meijer and started crying. I said to God, "Just help Max not to be like that anymore!" Then, it hit me, that was not the right prayer to pray! So, instead, I said, "OK God, please help me to meet Max's needs give me the grace to get through this time." From that day on, things greatly improved (mainly my outlook). Right now, we are dealing with some sleep regression issues. At first, I was pretty frustrated and trying everything I could to get him to STTN again. Then, I realized, there is only so much I can do. He is waking up for a reason (thank you internet for explaining that to me!) and it is my job as a mom to be there for him and give him what he needs.

3 Months Old!

My little baby is getting big! How is it that he's 3 months old already? (Almost 3.5, by the time I'm posting this) I'm sure I'll be saying that for the rest of our lives . . . how is that he's 1 . . . 10 . . . 18 already?! This child has brought joy to my life that I never imagined. Besides marrying Brook, having him was, hands down, the best thing I've ever done. How can something that is so much work be so completely wonderful? It's such a mystery. I thank God every day for giving me this baby.

I went back to work full-time last week and it's going fine. It helped that I did a few weeks at part-time before that. I only teared up once; so, I was proud of myself. :-) Between Brook, myself, Hannah and 1 other person, Max is cared for at our home. It's nice not having to rush around, get him ready and out the door in the morning.

Max at 3 months:

- He is a happy, happy baby. Don't get me wrong, if he wants something, he gets his point across, but most of the time he is smiling or babbling.
- He is an awesome eater . . . latched on right away at the hospital and never looked back. I've never had to supplement with formula and for that, I am very thankful. I'm so glad I decided to BF. The first month was tough - being sore (luckily, only for a week or so), but I struggled more with feeling like it was all on me. Now, I love it! I would like to try to nurse until he's a year, but we'll see how it goes. That said, I am excited to give him baby food, b/c my mom bought me this. (Yes, I am a dork!) But I am going to try (TRY being the key word there) to wait until he's 6 months old.
- Most nights, he sleeps 9pm-5:30am. And he only wakes up (barely) at 5:30, b/c I get him up to feed him before I leave for work. Then, he goes back to sleep til about 8am. This makes mommy very happy!
- He is quite the talker. In the middle of eating, he'll just look up and start babbling, like he's telling me all about his day. Quite hilarious! Between Brook and Max, I can't get a work in edge-wise. Haha!
- He loves to sit up and look around . . . isn't much of a cuddler at all.
- He loves his daddy! When Brook calls, I put him on speaker and Max gets the BIGGEST grin . . . then, starts babbling, of course!
- He just started gripping his toys and batting at items hanging on his activity mat. When we go for walks, he just stares at all the scenery. It's so neat to watch him discover the world.
- The kid loves baths! He flails and kicks and tries to drink the water. Crazy boy! We are going to enroll him in baby swim class in 3 months - hopefully, he like that just as much.
- He is on the verge of rolling from his back to his stomach and is a very active little guy. If he's in his bouncer or on a blanket on the floor, he kicks and moves so much, he works up a sweat!
- He's wearing 6 month clothes and at his last dr appt was in the 67th percentile for weight and height.
- He fights going to sleep more times than not. (Why child, WHY?!) He likes it when we sing to him. We are good singers. Haha!

August Fun

August flew by and we had tons of fun! Here are some shots from the month.

Jaime, Veronica and the kids came up and we went to the beach - Max's first trip. He hung out under the umbrella for awhile, but got tired and we headed home after an hour or so.

It's hard to get 6 kids to look!

We went to Michigan's Adventure . . .

Maria had a blast!

Max was content to hang out all day - such a good baby!



Got manis and pedis with April, Anna, Livia and Cindy before Carey's wedding

Brought dinner over to Meghan and Carey's before their wedding

Visited my parents and family

I brought the kids Pop Rocks - aren't I a good aunt? Hehe!