It's been a rough week.

Not only do I have 3 bruises across my forehead and one black eye. I now have a cut on that black eye that sent me to the ER. I was running so fast to get to the window in time to see the dog I heard barking, that I fell and cut my eye. If my mom would just get me my own dog! (NEVER!)

Someone did not want to go to Church!

Here I am doing "Pat-a-cake". The only thing more fun than that is doing "Wheels on the Bus." I love that one even more.

Comfortable?

Lately, this has been my preferred sleeping position.

Friday Night Fun

What could be more fun on a Friday night?! We went to our neighborhood pool (indoor), and we were the only ones in it. It was great!

"Where's Max?"

This is my new favorite game...peek-a-boo...even though I am usually peeking through my fingers. I love this game so much, that if you ask me "Where's Max's ball?" (or any other question that starts with "Where's Max's"), I immediately cover my eyes. Apparently, I don't here the last word of that question. All I hear is, "Where's Max?"

Finally!

I got to play outside yesterday for the first time since I learned to walk. I was quite amazed at what it is like to walk around outside. I saw every single airplane in the sky and made the airplane sound ("zzzzzzzzzzz") each time I saw an airplane. I made the car sound every time a car went by, and barked like a dog every time any dog in the neighborhood made a noise. It was quite exciting. Yes, the snow in our front yard is still the snow from the pre-Christmas blizzard. It just might not ever go away!

Sad, but true...

Our baby is growing up! We were not quite ready for the toddler bed, but apparently Max IV was. Our plan was to move him to a toddler bed or single bed the first of May, and we were pretty nervous he wouldn't be ready. So, after 2 days of fit-throwing every time we tried to put him in his crib, we came up with an idea...bring out the toddler bed and try to put him in that! That should teach him...he thought he didn't want the crib so we were sure he would throw such a fit over the toddler bed that he would gladly get back in the crib. Well, we were wrong...kind of. We got out the toddler bed, put him in it, said goodnight, and walked out. We heard nothing...no crying, no playing...just heavy breathing. Yes, he had gone right to sleep in his new toddler bed. But it's not over. Nope. After about an hour, we thought we heard a noise. So, Max went to check on him, and he was asleep on the floor right next to the door. So, Max moved him back into his bed and it was over! He realized he could get in and out of this bed too easily. (Which was a bit of a shock to us since everytime we had shown him the toddler bed, he always acted like he couldn't get in that bed on his own.) So, as we continuously went to peek in on him, we watched him play and play and play until 3 am. If you have ever had a hard time sleeping at night, here are some things you can do: 1. find a ball and roll it from one end of your bed to the other-while walking around your bed to roll it, or 2. throw everything in your room onto your bed-then get in your bed and throw everything back off the bed, or 3. pull your window shade out so you can see what goes on outside at 2 in the morning, or 4. take your covers off your bed, then put them back on again. You see, there are so many things to do in the middle of the night, I don't know how anyone could try to sleep. Finally, things died down and Max IV slept on the floor by the door until 6 am. So, the next day, completely exhausted, we are faced with the dilemma of toddler bed or crib. We decide to try one more night with the toddler bed, and amazingly he slept 13 hours...in his bed...without getting out! How do we know this? After one night of not sleeping and constantly peeking in on him (which just excited him more each time he heard the door open), we went and purchased a video monitor. We watched him on our little monitor...as soon as we put him to bed and left the room, he threw his dog and blanket on the floor, got out of the bed and threw them back in the bed. Then he got back in the bed himself and went to sleep. We slept good, he slept good, and there is no going back. He took a great nap in his bed today (again, yes, I watched him on the monitor-it's actually very entertaining). So bye bye crib.

This is Max playing with his dog (stuffed animal, of course-wouldn't have a real one), in the middle of the room. See how much fun this video monitor can be?

Sometimes I like to play IN my toy box!

Dad's Birthday

We celebrated Dad's birthday this weekend, and I enjoyed some of his chocolate cake and participated by wearing my own birthday bib.
I tried on Dad's new snow boots--boots he could have used the past 2 months!

Genius?

I love to read...even if the book is upside down.

Bath Time

I LOVE LOVE LOVE to splash!
I splash and splash and splash and laugh and laugh and laugh! And when it is all over, there is water all over the whole bathroom.

It's a boy!

We found out last Thursday that we are having a boy (as you can see from this picture). Everything looked great and healthy and he measured exactly to the due date of May 23!
Sorry, this one is a little blurry. It is a 3-D profile picture of the baby. He is looking to the left with his hands in front of his face. I think he is frowning. Poor guy. This one is pretty hard to see.

Did I forget to mention...

that I'm walking? Yep. I said goodbye to crawling the week of Christmas.

Merry Christmas!

I loved all my presents! Here I am so excited about one of my new balls.

I even wore my new hat.

My new toolbench is great because I can put the tools in my mouth.

I love my new play set. I got to open it on Christmas Eve.

When I get tired, I suck my thumb, rub my eyes, and hold the only dog my parents will ever get me.

My First Blizzard

I'm sure no one is shocked...
that I did not like the snow.

It took 4 hours to shovel out this little driveway.

Steps...

I've been taking a few steps here and there for a couple of weeks, but last night I took a lot more. I kept taking about 5 at a time. And each time I put my arms straight out in front of me, and I looked just like Frankenstein.

Happy Anniversary!

7 years ago today we were married. I hope we have 70 more, and I have to say that I still think I got the better end of the deal.

Lots of people came to see me on my 1st birthday!

Granny came to see me.
JuJu came to see me

and Aunt Amanda, Uncle Phil, and Pierson, too.

My Cake

First of all, let me start off by saying this is supposed to be a "block" cake. Feel free to withhold any comments you might want to leave regarding the cake. My mom already said Martha would not be proud. Anyway...so, here I am looking at my cake...perhaps you can already see the apprehension on my face.
I'm looking a LITTLE more sure of myself...now that the scary candle is gone.

Now, I'm even feeling so brave that I have actually touched the cake, but that bravery doesn't last long...

Nope. Now I'm upset about all this green and white stuff on my fingers.

But that's ok because I'm going to touch it again.

Now I'm really upset because this green and white stuff is all over my whole hand!

So, at this point, I figured what is a better way to get something off my hand than to eat it.

Not so bad! I think I'll actually eat this cake I was afraid of just a few pictures ago.

Oh yes! I'm loving some cake! I think the best way to eat as much as I can, as fast as I can, is to put my whole hand in my mouth.

I LOVED this cake after a few scary moments. I can't wait 'til next year!