The Aldridge Family!

Max 15 months

2010-09-24T11:14:00.000-07:00

Max is 15 months! He's pretty much walking. He still crawls too but he's getting more and more brave. He won't take a binky and hasn't for a couple of months now. He's still nursing ans loving it. He actually seemed to love it more after he turned one than ever before. He gives the best hugs...he holds tight and squeezes. He loves to give kisses ALL the time, which we love! He loves his daddy so much and loves to play and wrestle with him. He loves cars and pushes them around and makes noises. He LOVES playing in water whether it's the pool or the bath tub. I'll have to post a video of him in the bath sometime. He splashes so much that I have to cover myself with an extra towel so I don't get soaked. He has eight teeth. He loves corn on the cob. He's a very fickle eater and by that I mean that he loves a certain food one day and the next wants nothing to do with it and then a few days later he loves it again. He weighs 22lbs. and is 31inches long. He's in the 18th percentile for weight and the 64th for height. He loves playing outside and at the park. He has recently learned to open all the doors in our house so we've had to put locks on them all. He LOVES playing the the toilet and has some sort of sixth sense where he knows if you've forgotten to close the bathroom door. He gives high fives and love to clap and play pat-a-cake. He LOVES to brush his teeth and tries to comb his hair. He's getting better at being left with babysitters and so we're starting to enjoy going places, besides the temple, without him. He talks all the time and is very loud...especially in church. I don't have any clue where he gets the talking from...it's not in his genes at all. ; ) He's the absolute LOVE of our lives and we couldn't imagine this world without him. He brightens our days, makes us laugh and smile all the time and makes our lives so full. I can hardly get enough of his sweet face and have to kiss him all the time and tell him I love him at least 100 times a day...because I do!

Playing with daddy

ha ha Love this one!

He loves to kiss...he's even closing his eyes.

He thinks it's the greatest thing to kiss through the back of the chair or the banister or any sort of opening.

Love this face

When I was little and smiled big, my left eye would squint just like this. ha ha

One of my very favorite pictures of Max. This picture is the epitome of Max.

Max's first birthday Party! UNO!

2010-09-23T14:39:00.000-07:00

Max turned one on June 9th and had is first birthday party on June 12th. It was a HUGE success! My wonderful friend, Jessica, thought of using UNO (the card game) as the theme and I loved it! Jessica is incredibly crafty and creative, not mention a great friend so she made or helped me make pretty much everything! We had over 30 people over at the house all to celebrate our sweet little Max turning one. I was super stressed all the way until the party started. It was A LOT of work getting everything ready but it all worked out and I'm glad we got to have a big party for our little guy. Birthday's are a celebration of life, another year together, which is an incredible blessing that is too often taken lightly. Birthdays are supposed to be special.

This is an UNO card cake made out of UNO cards...(not edible) Jess made it and it added so much to the decor!

I made these cupcake toppers with Max's head. I thought they were so cute!

These are the gifts from Matt and me...we got him way too many gifts. He wasn't even interested in opening them so we just opened his friends and other family gifts and left ours to open throughout the next week.

These pom poms were really time consuming but really added the most color to the house. I made 20 of them!

I rented a helium tank for all the balloons so I didn't have to spend a million years blowing them up and then pass out from lack of oxygen. There were 60 total.

Our Birthday Boy who was pretty laid back most of the day. He's sporting the adorable UNO shirt that Jess worked VERY hard to make for him. Thank you Jess!!!

The weather was perfect so we were able to eat on the deck and enjoy the sunshine.

That's Max's girlfriend, Annalise, and her daddy, Dave, with Max and his daddy

Getting ready for cake!

Grandma made his cake. We used cool whip instead of super sugar thick frosting. He loved it!

He needed a little help with the candle.

Here he goes, face first!

So good!

he's even licking it off of his arm. hahaha

The one time where it's okay to play with your food.

This is the face he makes when he squeezes anything...including birthday cake.

opening presents

Matt with his mom and siblings

some of the onlookers for the opening of presents

Jess and me with our babies : )

The upside down binky...that's how it looked most of the time. He actually stopped taking a binky just a week or so after his birthday. I'm glad I never had to wean him of it but sometimes I wish it would still soothe him...mostly in the car.

This video was the morning of his actual birthday. This is how sweet he looks every morning. I was feeling very sentimental all day and couldn't believe that Max was already 1. I told him "Happy Birthday" all day long because it was his special day and I wanted him to know it was all about him. I also told him I loved him over and over and kind of begged him to stay little. He isn't listening very well...

Enjoying my family and the Zoo : )

2010-09-08T21:34:00.000-07:00

While we were in NY we mostly just enjoyed spending time together as a family. When we get together there's usually lots of laughing and not a whole lot of sleep. We have to make the most of the limited time we have together. Max didn't do super well. He just do super well with a lot of change (ie. 3 hour time difference, a house he doesn't know and A LOT of noise and faces he doesn't know) so he was pretty fussy the whole time. He also was teething a not feeling real well while we were there. It would be so nice if we saw each other so often that Max actually knew them, but that's not likely. Sad. Anyway, here are some pictures of our time together in NY.

Sad boy.

JaJa trying to cheer him up

Max and my cousin Jake... ha ha

my sister-in-law, Stef and my brother Nate

Max and Auntie Stefanie

Me and Dirky : )

Me and Stef and Kalin being a creeper in the back. ha ha

my nephew, Dean, and my brother, Scott

Me and my cousin Jake

Kalin and Stef

Max and his uncle Drew.

Max was pretty intrigued by the animals...I didn't get many pictures of them though.

trying to touch the fishes

he was happier on daddy's shoulders than anywhere else.

ha ha ha apparently the men wanted recognition for this beautiful garden. ha ha

Max had found a fun new activity

Yum! ha ha

Kalin with her kids, Dean and Addie, and our cousin Jared

Us with my little brother, Nathan

Max crashed in my cousin Tyler's arms. Very sweet.

Twins!

Best cousins!

who doesn't love cheerios?

Besides Kalin, I haven't seen them since May and am not even sure when I'll see them next. : ( I miss my family all the time and ALWAYS wish they could somehow be closer.

Dirk and Stef's Sealing -May 6th 2010

2010-09-08T18:54:00.000-07:00

So I'm WAY behind on updating my blog... what's new? I was doing okay for a little while. I've been meaning to do it but then I get so overwhelmed by how behind I am that I don't want to start...and then I become even more behind. ANYWAY... Here's what you've missed. Back in May my twin brother, Dirk, got sealed in the Palmyra temple to his beautiful wife, Stefanie. It was sooo wonderful to be able to go and be a part of their special day and be together in the temple as a family. It made it even more special for Stefanie because they were sealed on her birthday. : ) Here are some

of the very few pictures I got on my camera.

The rest of these pictures were taken by their friend David Richer-Brule who's a professional photographer and did a FABULOUS job. These are just a FEW of my favorites. : )

Right outside of the temple. I really love my nephew, Dean, in this picture. ha ha We all blew bubbles as they came out...and apparently wanted them right on Dirk's backside. : )

All of our side of the family that was there.

This is a typical picture for me and Dirk to take together. It's the "look off" and it's a classic.

Same thing at my wedding. : )Think we'll ever grow out of it? Probably not...

Isn't she beautiful?

I love how soft the colors are in this one.

This is in front of the Joseph Smith Log Home.

This is the first of at least 4 posts...possibly more. So check back for the next one! : )

Happy Birthday Maxwell

2010-06-09T23:06:00.000-07:00

June 9, 2010

My sweet baby boy,

Happy Birthday, Maxwell. Today is your first birthday. This past year has been such a beautiful gift. I can’t tell you what a blessing it is to have been chosen to be your mother. I can remember the months when I was pregnant with you and how I couldn’t wait to see what you would look like and what kind of personality you’d have. I couldn’t wait to finally meet you and hold you in my arms. I remember the first time I held you after you were born; it was unlike anything I’ve ever experienced. You were this most perfect precious little boy and you were mine. That whole first night, I barely slept because I was constantly touching your chest to make sure you were breathing. I think all first time moms are that way a bit. My life changed completely that day. Suddenly my priorities changed and I had this great need to be so much better, for you. Max, I want you to know that I love you so very much. You can’t quite understand this love until you have a child of your own and even then, I think a mother’s love is different. Every night I pray that I will give you all that you need and that I’ll be able to teach you what is right and what is true. I have this great desire to protect you. I never want you to hurt or be sad. I want you to know that I always have your best interest in mind. I will always want what is best for you and that may mean that you won’t always get your way and sometimes you won’t understand. I just hope that you’ll know of my love and know that I’d never do anything to take away true happiness from you. What I want most right now though, is for time to stand still, or at the very least, slow down. It’s gone by too fast and although I love every single stage that you’ve been through and I do look forward to you continuing to grow and learn and develop, I’m not looking forward to the time where you won’t need me to rock you to sleep. I’m not looking forward to the time when you won’t want me to cuddle you and kiss you when you’re sad or hurt. Selfishly, I want you to always need me. It’s funny how that works because I know that for you to grow and really experience this life, you have to be independent of me and make your own choices and I want that… but it will be sad when you don’t need me quite so much anymore. I want to tell you about some of the things that I’ve loved this past year with you. I’ve loved singing to you every night; it’s probably my favorite time of the day. You lie in my arms and look so peaceful and sweet. Sometimes you’ll be fast asleep and I’ll just continue rocking you for a while just because I love holding you in my arms and looking at your perfect little face. I love how much you laugh and smile. You are a very happy baby. I love watching you crawl. You have a very funny crawl. I love your hair. You have a beautiful thick head of hair that, I’m sure, many baby girls would love to have. You are a curious little guy and love to touch everything and you also love to put everything in your mouth. You’re very good at playing by yourself and you have become a pro at climbing up and down the stairs. You are a good eater and will eat most things that we try to feed you. You love ice cream and anything sugary, really, and you climb all over us to get it if we have it. You don’t really whine very much anymore, you mostly grunt if you’re displeased with something and it’s quite funny. You love crawling outside and try to escape out the front door every time it’s open. You get so excited when your dad walks through the door and if he doesn’t come right over and pick you up immediately, you grunt with displeasure. You’re happiest when you’re with both me and your dad. I love to watch you and your dad together. You are the two people I love most and it’s so great to see you love each other so well. You give kisses a lot and I love that. You love to wrestle, especially first thing in the morning when you’re in bed with me. I love when you give me hugs and wrap your arms around my neck and put your head in close. I could probably go on and on with all the things that I love about you, but that may take forever. I now want to share with you things that are so important for you to know. I want you to know that a year and a day ago, you were with your Heavenly Father. He loves you very much and He wants you to return to Him. He wants me and daddy to return to Him too. It’s a beautiful plan that He's created for us so that we can. Heavenly Father sent His son Jesus Christ to this earth to atone for us and set a perfect example for us s that we could have a way back to Him. He put temples on the earth so that men and women could make covenants there that would bind us together forever, as long as we choose the right. Your daddy and I were sealed in the temple which means, you’re ours forever and ever. It’s so important that you always do your best to make good choices so that we can be together as a family forever. When you’re eight years old you will be baptized. When you’re twelve, you will receive the priesthood. When you’re 19, you will hopefully make the choice to serve a faithful mission. And one day you will have the blessing of being married in the temple. I look forward to all of these wonderful experiences that you will have in this life. As your mother, I pray that you’ll want those experiences, but you’ll have to choose them for yourself. I promise that those things will put you on the path that will lead to the greatest amount of happiness. Maxwell, I love you. You bring so much joy and love into our home and family. You have such a sweet disposition and are a good natured baby. I hope those traits stay with you as you grow into a boy and then into a man. Happy Birthday Max.

I’ll love you forever. I’ll like you for always. As long as I’m living, my baby you’ll be.

All my love, Momma

Matt and his boy

June 9th, 2009

The first picture taken of our new little family.

This is from today. I made brownies and put a candle in it and we sang happy birthday to him and then let him go crazy. He LOVED the brownie and made quite a mess. He'll have his own real cake on Saturday at his birthday party.

my mom and sister, Kalin, sent packages that got here today, so as soon as Matt got home from work, we let Max open his presents. He loved them! Books and toys! Thank you Ga Ga and Auntie Kalin!

This is from a few Sundays ago. I bought these pants and suspenders in NY the last time we were there. He looks like such a little man. I love it!

Max is 11 months!

2010-05-14T13:44:00.000-07:00

Our little Maxwell is 11 months...which means HE'S ALMOST A YEAR!!!! AHHH!! How did that happen? No one asked my permission for him to get so big and so old. Ridiculous. Besides the fact that he's growing and getting closer to the time when he'll be too big for me to rock him to sleep and kiss him all the time and he'll leave the house and then get married and never need me again, Matt and I are LOVING watching him grow and learn so much. It's such a treat to watch him discover new things. I've been pretty terrible about writing updates about any of his firsts or how much he weighs each month. I always intend to do it and then by the time I get around to it the month is almost over and I'll have to write about the next month. I'm sad I haven't been better at updating about Max. So I'm going to try to make up for lost time and tell all 5 people that actually read my blog all about Max.

At his 9 month check up, Max weighed 19.5 lbs. He was only in the 30th% and I was actually quite bummed about it. I've since tried to make him eat more. I'm hoping at his year check up that he'll be in a higher percentile.

He started crawling at 71/2 months and he has funniest crawl. He uses one knee and one foot to propel off of. He's super fast too!

He's had TWO hair cuts and almost needs another.

He has 2 teeth on the bottom and I'm sad to say that I think he may be a biter. He does it with a smile on his face and doesn't ever do it when he's upset but I'm a little worried about what it'll be like when he gets more teeth. On the contrary, I'd like him to get more teeth so I can feed him more table food.

He's good at picking up food and putting it into his mouth...he's also good at picking up things that aren't food and putting them into his mouth.
He's a pretty good eater and will eat pretty much everything we give him now. That took persistence though...I tried over and over again with the green veggies and meat before he finally gave in.
He's a great sleeper. He usually takes 2 good naps every day and sleep through the night and only on rare occasions does he wake before 8 hours.

I still nurse him and we both love that time we have together. I know I'll at least go until he's a year and I'm not quite sure after that. I'll do what feels right for both of us.

For the last couple of months he's been saying mamama and dadada and I actually think he knows who he's referring to.

He talks a lot and we LOVE it!
He can wave goodbye.
He can clap his hands and does it a lot.

He's very ticklish and laughs a lot.

He LOVES playing with his daddy and gets so excited when he comes home from work.

He loves for us to sing to him every night before he goes to bed and we love it too.

He's been pulling himself up on things since he was 7 months and has been walking along things for a few months now.

3 different times he has stood without holding onto anything, for a few seconds.

I think he would already be walking if he weren't so afraid to do so.

He learned to crawl up the stairs at 8 months and at 9 months learned to climb down the stairs. He only fell down the stairs once in the process. We don't have any gates on either sets of stairs in our house.

2 days ago, Matt discovered the shell of a Lady Bug in his mouth, he'd swallowed the rest...I was quite grossed out. Such a boy!

He LOVES to rip up anything paper and pull anything he can off of shelves, couches and the kitchen table.

He loves to wrestle with mom and dad.

He has the sweetest smile on the planet.

He melts our hearts every single day.
He loves to play on the dishwasher.
He loves crawling in the cabinets.
I loves taking baths and is a wild man in the water.

He's taken 4 different trips on an airplane since he's been born.

He loves to chase after the vacuum and the broom...I was hoping he'd be afraid and stay away while I cleaned. Maybe that means that he'll love doing chores when he gets bigger?

HE LOVES PLAYING IN THE TOILET! ha ha Matt found him upstairs in the hall bathroom with one hand holding the lid open and trying to balance himself, and the other hand splashing in the water. We laughed very hard and quickly disinfected him.

Besides a couple of colds, he's been very healthy and we've been very grateful for that.

He's the most content when he's sitting with both mom and dad. He goes back and forth between the two of us and you can tell he feels very safe and very loved.

We LOVE him so much and are so grateful he's ours. We both look at him all the time and just can hardly believe that he's OURS.

This is a picture we took of Max the first time he crawled! ha ha look at all that hair!

standing at the window, eating a cookie

smiling at his daddy

He gets into this drawer every day and pulls everything out. ha ha But how can I be upset when he looks so cute?

Oh the innocence of that face

Climbing up the front stairs

Laughing and smiling at dad

such a big boy

He made a HUGE mess with his cookie

I can't get enough of this face.

Check out those two little teeth! : )

So sweet

Silly little boy

Max with his Grandma Diane

So happy!

I came over and jumped around behind the camera to make him laugh.

crawling in the cupboards

What a beautiful mess. : )

The MANY stages of Max's HAIR...

2010-04-20T09:34:00.000-07:00

Max has always had a lot of thick hair...and we LOVE it! In fact we loved it so much that is was super hard to finally decide to cut it. I think once we started seeing pictures of our little guy with really crazy looking hair we finally realize that even if we didn't think he was old enough to get his first hair cut...he needed it. Here are a few pictures of my boy's crazy hair...

Momma givin' him a little trim...

snip snip

That's all I could bear to take off at first. My sweet little boy, a little more cleaned up.

Here's one of my favorite pictures of Max's hair after his first hair cut...He's WAAAAAY better looking than Edward Cullen!

This is right before I cut his hair the second time...

It's a little more tamed now.

All cute and styled. : )

Such a sweet little boy. As you can see in this picture, it still could use a professionals touch. I was using these huge kitchen shears, so I didn't do the best job at blending and making it all even....so off to the salon we went...

Right before the first cut...

Mommy had to hold his head because he wanted to watch everything she was doing.

hahaha He wasn't a fan of me holding his head straight. Probably one of the funniest pictures of him.

Finished product! He actually did really well! What a little trooper!

Our little stud muffin!

We decided to stop at Party City on our way home to look around. Max got a picture with Dora! haha

We found some sweet sunglasses

Max tried some on too

We're so cool...

hahaha

Max is so lucky to have such cool parents...he never has to worry about us ever embarrassing him. : )

Max and Annalise

2010-03-26T17:42:00.000-07:00

Matt and I went over to Jess and Dave's for dinner and games a few weeks ago and Jess took a bunch of these cute pictures of Max and Annalise.

Sweet little Annalise

Havin' so much fun together

I love his sweet little face.

Max is trying to teach her to share...

...and again. haha I love her face in this one.

My cute little guy. These are some of the last pictures of him before his big boy hair cut.

MAX AND ANNALISE'S FIRST KISS!!!! He's kissed her many times since, and she always seems to like it.

Now Max is using his healing powers on Annalise.

She's really feelin' it.

And after all that kissing and healing...he's beat. : )

Weekend at the Coast!

2010-03-19T22:20:00.000-07:00

This past weekend, our good friends Jess and Dave invited us to go to their family's beach house in Manzanita for the weekend. Our good friends Todd and Julie (and their friend Dan who was visiting from out of town)also came, as well as some of Jess and Dave's friends, Nicole and Gilbert. Anyway, we had a blast and I must say that the whole thing went by MUCH too fast! And I didn't get near enough pictures of everything we did. We were having too much fun and I just didn't think to take my camera out most of the time. : (

Isn't it beautiful?!?!

Max playing with Annalise's toys

Dan (who's not LDS) made up this game called "Who's the Better Mormon?" It was HILARIOUS!

Dan's a graphic designer, so he made this shirt for the winning team. It says "I'm a Better Mormon that You." haha

Matt and I won...and by Matt and I, I really just mean Matt....because he pretty much answered ALL of the questions. We were laughing pretty hard when we saw the shirt.

While we were there we visited the Tillamook Cheese Factory. It was my first time and it was fun trying thr different cheeses as well as the YUMMY ice cream!

Us. : )

Me, Jess and her sweet little girl, Annalise

I realized that Jess and I had no pictures of the two of us together, so we got a few. I just have to write a little bit about Jessica since she's become one of my very best friends in the short time I've known her. I met her through Todd and Julie last October at Julie's suprise party. She came late and we just started talking and continued talking for the rest of the afternoon, long after everyone else had left. We just clicked right away and I couldn't wait to spend more time with her. We get along really well and understand each other so well. I guess it's just exciting because we meet people all the time but, atleast for me, I find that it's so hard to find a friend who you instantly love and feel like you've known forever. Anyway, I just love her to pieces and am SO grateful that I met her at this stage in my life and now get to be friends with her forever. : )

They have this cheese called "Squeeky Cheese" and it actually squeeks while you chew it...and it's rather tastey.

Max and Matt

Max LOVES being in this backpack. He seriously can stay in it for hours and be happy. Sometimes if we have a lot to do around the house and Max isn't content playing by himself for long, Matt puts him in this while he does stuff around the house. It's quite funny.

It's hard to tell from this picture, but this tree is 15 1/2 feet across and 750-800 years old.

Julie, reading with Matthew and Max.

Julie is just one of the sweetest most helpful and organized people I know. Her and Todd are two of Matt and my favorite people. We consider them family. They're the type of people that EVERYONE wants to be friends with and I always feel so good that they choose to spend time with us.We LOVE them!

Max loves her too!

Max's first time on the beach...and just a side note- You can tell this picture wasn't taken with my camera because it looks SO good! It was taken with Todd's super nice expensive camera.

Annalise, Matthew and Max

This was HILARIOUS! Liam put his arms around Matthew and Annalise and squeezed...he was practically strangling Annalise. I laughed very hard. He was just trying to be sweet.

Me and my boy

We weren't looking and put pulled himself and got to the plate of cookies...and proceeded to stuff them in his mouth. It was very cute and funny.

This picture probably looks like I;m feeding him more, but I'm actually trying to get to huge hunk of cookies out of his mouth, since he only has one tooth on the bottom that's barely in. He sure enjoyed the cookies though.

Back to NY

2010-03-18T22:46:00.000-07:00

After visiting Zanesville, Max and I drove back with my family to NY. We stopped into Youngstown, OH where my dad's family lives and it was so good to visit with them. I got to see my Aunt Dawn, Uncle Rick, Uncle Stan, Grams, my cousin Carly, Steven, David, Nicole and her husband Carmine and daughter Melina. Sadly, I didn't take any pictures...I was just enjoying being with them and forgot to take out my camera. Anyway, I loved seeing them! You'll notice there are a lot of pictures of Max, but I just can't help it...I just think he's the cutest thing! I can't get enough of his sweet little face.

Max and his Uncle Scott. Scott was so good with Max...he loved to hold him and play with him. Nate did too. I'm so lucky to have such great little brothers and Max is so lucky to have them as uncles!

Max taking a nap with his grandma...I didn't take many pictures while in NY. I wish I had taken more.

I love this. I saw that Max was getting sleepy and so I went over to take him from Scott and he didn't want me to. It was the cutest thing...which you can see in the video which is hilarious!

He sleeps with his mouth open, like his daddy. haha

This is sooo funny...so glad I got it on video.

One of my very best friend's, Whitney, came to visit me and brought her sweet little girl, Pepper Anne. I was so glad I got to see Whitney and her baby. It was actually perfect timing because she'd just gotten back from Idaho a couple days earlier and was leaving 2 days later to move to California to be with her husband. I loved holding her beautiful little girl. Sure love and miss my Whitney.

I also got to go have lunch with 2 of my best friends from highschool, Aileen and Rachael. I was so good to chat and catch up. We could have talked for hours...definitely went by waaay too quickly! Love you girls!

Max really wanted to play with Lexi...mostly climb on her and pull her fur...Lexi wasn't a fan of Max and pretty much moved away every time he came near. haha

I was there for my dad's birthday. That's him with his cake and ice cream.

Max just hanging out on the table

eating cake...he LOVED it!!!

Max has loved climbing and pulling himself up on things even before he was crawling, but now that he can get just about anywhere, he gets up on everything! haha It's so fun to watch him learn and explore.

He also loves to try to eat everything...

He loved this box. He went back to it so many times. haha

playing with his JaJa

Max crawled over to my dad and climbed up...it was funny.

My cute little boy standing against anything he can.

I love that sweet smile.

I love how handsome he looks in his church clothes.

He tried climbing in my suit case after we got home.

Max's first trip to ZANESVILLE!!!

2010-03-17T23:31:00.000-07:00

Just a heads up, there are about a zillion pictures in this post. So back a little before Christmas, I decided that it was really important for me to take Max to Zanesville to meet my grandparents.My grandparents have played a huge role in my life and they mean so much to me that I needed to share them with my little guy. My grandma's health has gotten pretty bad in the last 2 1/2 years and I just wanted to make sure that I didn't take the time I had for granted and miss the opportunity. My sister Kalin had the same thoughts that I did about her little girl, Addie, meeting our grandparents, so she also came out to visit. It was so fun to be with my family. We always have a great time just talking and laughing together. I just wish they didn't live so far away so I could see them MUCH more often. Anyway, we made the trip during the second half of February and I'm finally getting caught up enough to blog about it.

This is my awesome/hilarious cousin Jake with Max

And again...

Me and Jake...not the greatest pic, I'm aware, but the other was a lot worse.

My sweet grandma....it was funny, we'd all be talking and laughing and then someone would point to my grandma because she kept falling asleep.

my mom and her grandbabies

pictures like this make me sad that this is all such a rare occurance. : (

Max and Addie eating on the floor...Max had to be contained or else he would have been all over the place. Kalin had it a litle easier because Addie stayed happily in place.

Max, rocking with grandma...that's the same rocking chair that my grandma used to rock me in.

playing with grandpa

I love this...

Max and his bestfriend, Addie

Max and Addie, taking a bath in the yellow bathroom
+

Max being happily entertained by my cousins, Jared and Amy

Max enjoying my Aunt Annie

Max loves pattycake!

Max crawled over to my Uncle Jan and woke him up. haha

I couldn't get this picture straight...

Me, Dirk and Kalin

Kalin and Adelyn

Oh how I miss this little package of adorableness! She seriously is an angel baby...just so happy and always smiling, showing off those big dimples. And I could just eat her cheeks. I wish her and Max could grow up together.

Me and my Twin

This was supposed to just be Dirk and Max but Max was tired and only wanted mom...so I'm in the picture too.

Max loved my grandpa...and I loved watching them together...mostly because I love seeing two people I love so much love eachother.

my grandpa has always been so silly and so good at making us all laugh...nothing's changed,

I like Max's face in this one.

He loved his great grandpa's watch.

FOUR generations!

So glad we were able to get this picture...now if my grandma can just stick around long enough for Max to get married and have a baby...

Me and my seester...thanks for making me look EXTRA white Kalin! : )

Love this!

The gang, after church

My grandparents. What a goodlooking couple. : )

Max and Auntie Kalin

Max and Uncle Nate

me and my sweet little blue eyed boy

I just love that little girl. Miss her so!

Max and Addie, Best Friends!

I think it's funny that they both only have shitrs on with their diapers. Too cute.

Uncle Nate with his niece and nephew

Beacon Rock and Max's first time crawling

2010-03-17T22:13:00.000-07:00

We went on a family outting to climb Beacon Rock. (Just a little tid bit-Beacon Rock is the second largest free standing rock in the world!Second only to The Rock of Gibralter. Sweet!) It was so beautiful and Max loved being on Matt's back and seeing everything. I'm way out of shape so I was warn out in the end, but it was so worth it!

Our sweet litte guy, all bundled up!

There's Beacon Rock!

At the bottom.

So beautiful

Our family...haha Max looks nice and comfy.

Matt and his boy

It's a good hike up...

Gotta love that wild hair...

Max started crawling that night...with many attempts from the weeks before.

Time for some gates and baby proofing

Max was eating his foot...haha

My boys

Laughing with dad...

Some of Max's favorite foods....haha

2010-03-17T21:36:00.000-07:00

Max has liked most of the foods we've tried to give him...except for turkey and peas...as seen in the pictures below. If I could only figure out how to get videos on here...we took the most hilarious video of him eating turkey.

Turkey...YUM!

He ate a few bites so we thought it was a success...

see, he opened for more...

apparently his taste buds had just started to work...

he can no longer take it...

here comes the gag reflex

"Are you guys SERIOUSLY, feeding this stuff to me?"

This was so funny...Matt and I were laughing so hard.

This video is of Max's first time eating turkey...it was hilarious to watch. Poor guy didn't really enjoy it too much.

Max's (and mine) first BLAZERS GAME!!!

2010-03-17T21:22:00.000-07:00

Matt's dad and Virginia invited us to go with them to a Blazers game. They had won 6 box seat tickets at a charity raffle. Pretty sweet deal! I'd been wanting to go to a game and hadn't ever been so I was sooo excited to get to go and have awesome seats on top of it! Thanks so much dad and Virginia for inviting us! We loved spending time with you and thoroughly enjoyed the game!

This is the suite we watched the game in.

Matt and Max...before his much needed hair cut. haha

Me and my boy

Max and his grandpa David

easily entertained

me and my hunk-a-burnin' LOVE!

Max with Robin, Virginia's daughter

Max playing with his grandma Virginia

our attempt at a family photo

look at those blue eyes

Max and his daddy...so sweet.

Playing in the SNOW!

2010-03-16T16:07:00.000-07:00

We got a few inches of snow one night and were sooo excited, so we had to go out and play!

All bundled up!

We were hoping to go sledding but our street wasn't steep enough...haha we didn't move more than a few inches.

Instead, we made a snowman! ...and had a snowball fight!

The next morning some kids and knocked our snowman over and poured ketchup all over to look like blood. Matt thought it was funny and I thought it was very rude.

And these are some pictures of our sweet little Maxwell. : )

Such a happy little guy!

Check out that crazy hair! haha Love it!

This was really funny...sometimes he likes to lick/try to eat the floor. Too funny!

Valentine's Day!

2010-03-16T15:58:00.000-07:00

Matt and I had a great Valentine's Day with our little Max. This post is a little out of order but oh well. Since Valentine's Day fell on a Sunday, we celebrated a little early. On Friday, I went to Matt's office and while he was with patients, I heart attcked his office. I wrote on over 100 hearts and put them all over his office as well as streamers and a bunch of red and white balloons all over the floor.He loved it and I loved suprising him. That night we went over to our friend's, The Hillyards, and had a karaoke party which was a TOTAL blast! Don't have any pictures, sorry! The next day, Matt took Max, while I slept in, and made me breakfast and decorated with a TON of Valentine's decorations all over the stairs and the front door and the kitchem and dining room. He did great! We went to Red Lobster, which is my favorite restaurant, for dinner. Over all it was a wonderful Valentine's Day and the feeling of love was even stronger because we had our little Max with us too!

I love him SOOOOO much!!!

Had to take a picture in front of all the balloons from Matt

Our first Valentine's Day all together!

Me and the other love of my life

Out sweet little Maxwell

Max's first Christmas!

2010-03-05T13:25:00.000-08:00

This year was Max's first Christmas as well as our first Christmas in our own home. Christmas morning was perfect! We slept in and then got Max and went downstairs into the front room and opened our stockings first and then onto the presents. Max didn't really get it since he was only 7 months but he definitely loved opening the presents. All he wanted to do was put the wrapping paper into his mouth so we had to quickly take it away after he finished ripping open the presents. Christmas is so different now that I'm a mom. I mean, let's be real, I still love getting presents but it's so much more exciting to get fun things for Max and this was also my first Christmas away from home. It was kind of sad but thanks to the wonderful technology of Skype, it wasn't too bad. On Christmas Eve Matt and I skyped with my parents and little brothers in NY. It was so cool! We talked for a while and they loved seeing Max. We read the story of the birth of Christ in the scriptures with them, a family tradition, and we even got to have family prayer with them! How neat is that?!?! And to make it even better, we got to do it again a few days later with my parents AND grandparents who had never met Max. It was so great! Thank goodness for Skype! I recommend it for everyone who is far from their loved ones!

Our HUGE Christmas tree

Max got this hat for Christmas and he wore it all morning. So cute!

trying to put it in his mouth, of course

One of the very few pictures of me on Christmas morning...haha

haha He fell over but that didn't stop him from ripping the paper.

Matt really wanted this...it's the second book of The Joseph Smith Papers

This was the best present and suprise EVER!!! We'd opened all of our presents and I thought that Matt got me great presents and I was VERY happy. Then he left the room and said there was one more present. I had no idea what it was...I thought it could have been jewelry maybe...anyway, he came in with a big box and I still had no idea what it could be. He gave me the box and I noticed it was heavy, and I still had no idea. I opened the box and saw TOSHIBA and STILL had no idea until seconds later when it ALL clicked! I was stunned. I had mentioned sooo many times that I wanted a lap top, 1. because my desk top was sooo old and had sooo many problems and 2. because come on, who doesn't want a lap top? But I NEVER thought he was going to get it for me for Christmas...not even for a second. haha I'd even tried combining ever holiday I could think of...ie. President's Day, V-Day, St. Patty's Day,Martin Luther King Day,Mother's Day and our Anniversary....hoping that they'd all add up to enough presentage to get me my lap top. haha Anyway, I obviously was and still am very grateful and am in fact using it right this very moment!

All things Christmas, before Christmas

2010-03-05T11:18:00.000-08:00

These are pictures taken during the month of December. The first pictures are from a Christmas party at our good friends' house Nick and Erin Campos.

Max was mesmerized by the Christmas tree

He really does love Sue. I can't remember why he started crying...but he looks so cute in this picture.

Our little Christmas reindeer

I LOVE this picture! It could be my very favorite picture of Max. I just think it's the sweetest picture!

My friend Leah came over and took some pictures of our family in front of our Christmas tree. I was hoping to get a Christmas card out...but I didn't really like any of the pictures and so it never happened. But atleast we have some pictures of the whole family. I'm going to send out a family picture as soon as I lose all the weight that I want to lose. Then the pictures will look a lot better...to me atleast.

Matt's sister, Kim, had an ugly sweater Christmas party. It was a lot of fun and I must say...Matt's never looked so good. We got our sweaters from the Salvation Army. When we got home we obviously needed to wash the sweaters. Not knowing that Matt had already washed and dried the sweaters, I, too, washed and dried the sweaters. When Matt put his sweater on, we found that (because it was 100% wool) it had shrunk...TWICE. haha Anyway, it made his look even better!

Getting ready for the white elephant portion of the party

Me and Kim

Max just being so stinkin' cute!

2010-03-05T10:18:00.000-08:00

These are mostly just random pictures taken of Max...I just love this little boy!

My sweet little guy...I wish I knew how to get videos on here...it used to have an option and doesn't anymore...anyway, I have a super cute video of Max in his jumparoo.

My cute little guy sitting in his bumbo before he could sit up on his own...made it pretty easy to get things done...he'd sit and watch me while I cleaned or cooked in the kitchen...those days are long gone now.

Max fell asleep in the swing in our bedroom...doesn't look very comfortable but it couldn't have been too bad.

Max and I went with his staff for brunch on a boat down in Portland...don't remember what it was called. Anyway, Max was trying so hard to get his mouth on Matt's food. It was hilarious!

Max also got to meet Portland's famous Cinnamon Bear!

Max was so entertained sitting on Matt's shoulders and pulling his hair. haha

So fun...at Matt's expense. Matt didn't seem to enjoy it as much as Max. haha

Thanksgiving!!

2010-03-05T10:02:00.000-08:00

Happy Thanksgiving! Matt and I hosted Thanksgiving at our house this year. It was nice but different than what I've experienced in the past. It was fun to have everyone over in my home but it was a little stressful. I've found that hosting big events like that, is not my favorite thing. Lots of kids (10 to be exact) running around and being loud never bothered me before...but it all changes when it's at my own house and I have a baby that doesn't sleep well with noise. All in all though, it went very well. And I must say...I'm grateful I married into a family that can cook...Matt's mom made homemade rolls which were delicious and my sister-in-law, Gina, makes the yummiest, to die for, stuffing that I've been craving since November...she doesn't know this yet, but I'm having her make it for Easter! Stuffing goes just fine with a ham! haha Her sweet potatoe dish is quite to delicious as well...and then of course all the other staples for a Thanksgiving dinner and the pies for dessert. Did I mention that I really love food? I do!

Max and his cousin, Andres, had matching jammies! So cute!

Corey and Gina....what a goodlooking couple!

Most of the clan!

Anne-Marie made this turkey out of a ball of yarn and then made feathers and gave them to everyone and we all wrote something we were grateful for on them. It was a great idea and I think we're going to make it a family tradition!

Anne-Marie and her fiance, David. This was David's first Thanksgiving with us.

So cute!

He looks a little shocked by the flash. haha

...and again.

Some evidence that the boys did help out! The women did all the cooking and the men did the cleaning.

My silly husband

And of course the boys have to make the cleaning fun...Corey and Matt playing catch with the rolls.

The wishbone! They always say the best looking, smartest and strongest person ends up with the biggest half of the wishbone...

Looks like I've got a winner! Go Matt! So good looking and strong and smart!

Max's first time eating solids!

2010-03-05T09:33:00.000-08:00

Max is about 5 months is these pictures. It's his first time trying solids and I think he did pretty well!

mmm...applesauce!

So good! It was a success! Love my little boy...he's getting so big and is such a sweet and fun little guy!

Celeste's wedding

2010-03-05T09:29:00.000-08:00

Back in November, my oldest sister, Celeste, tied the knot! Max and I flew to Kansas for the wedding. It was so nice to be able to see my family and be there to support my sister on her special day...I even got to do her makeup and I must say, she looked beautiful! There were way more pictures, some of the actual ceremony, but they're on my other computer and I'm having a very hard time getting them off...so these will have to do.

Max got to meet his Aunt Carissa for the first time! He loved her and can't wait to see her again soon!

Max and his grandma

Celeste and Aaron, cutting the cake

Very sweet!

Isn't my momma so pretty? Looks too young to be a grandma of 3, if you ask me.

Max and his Uncle Nate...Max loved kissin' on him.

kisses!

First dance as husband and wife

Awake....

Not awake.

This picture is blurry and quite un-flattering but...I had to post it. My little brother, Scott, was feeling a little down and didn't want to dance...so I picked him up and took out to the dance floor. It was fun but that boy is heavy! haha

This was the first time that Max met my sister Celeste

Max and Auntie Celeste

Max and his JaJa (grandpa)...look familiar?

Max has always loved his JaJa

Me and my momma

Rascal Flatts Concert!

2010-03-05T08:58:00.000-08:00

So for my birthday, Matt got me tickets to see Rascal Flatts in concert. It was such a wonderful concert! It's incredible how good they are live...especially the lead singer...he was running around the stage while belting out these very long and high notes like it was nothing. It was also our first date, besides the temple, where we left Max. We left him with Matt's mom and he did great...and I knew that because I sent numerous texts to her during the concert, just to make sure.

Darius Ruckers opened for them and he was really good too. A lot of fun!

The lead singer pulled a little girl up on stage with him. Lucky!!! I was jealous during the concert...talk about monumental for that little girl!

He even let her sing parts of the song...man that was so cool!!!

We had so much fun! It was nice to go on a real date with my hub. Thanks for the wonderful birthday present Matt! Love you!

And of course...a close up of the best looking part of the band.

On our way home from a terrific night!!!

Max's first Halloween

2010-03-04T15:27:00.000-08:00

Max was a giraffe for Halloween. We didn't actually get pictures of him on Halloween day but these pictures are from the day before Halloween. All of Matt's staff dressed up in their costumes.

I just have to say that I have one HOT husband.

Matt's dad got Max this binky a while back and it's hilarious!

haha I just have to laugh at this picture and the thought of this day. Matt and I went to lunch together and he stayed dressed up for it. The waiters at the restaurant did their best not to make eye contact with Matt. They'd ask me the questions and then look over Matt's head when turning in his direction. We laughed so hard and finally directly asked one of them a question, leaving them no choice but to look at him, and he smiled big with his nice blacked out teeth. It was so funny and very awkward for those working that day. Good times!

I'm in love!

Sept.13, 2009 - Max's Blessing Day

2010-03-04T15:09:00.000-08:00

Alright, so this post is LONG over due...but hey, it's better late than never. So I'm doing my best to remember this wonderful day, since it was 6 months ago. : ( It makes me so sad that I've been soo bad at updating my blog. Anyway, these pictures are from Max's (and his sweet cousin Addie's) blessing day. Kalin and I went to NY to have our babies blessed on the same day with as much of our family being there as possible. It was so neat that my sister and I were able to have our baby's blessed on the same day. Max was blessed by his daddy and the following men were in the circle: my dad, my brother (Dirk),my brother-in-law (Matt), my uncle Jan and my best friend's husband (Creed). We were so grateful to have so many people we love present. We were definitely sad not to be able to have Matt's side of the family and so many other men that have meant so much to Matt be present for the blessing, but it was really important for me for my family to meet my son and be present for such a special event in Max's life since they'll probably be missing most of them because they live on the other side of the counrty. Anyway, Matt gave the most beautiful blessing to our little Maxwell Kenneth. It was a very tender moment for both of us. Here are just a few of the many pictures that were actually taken that day.

All the family that there for the blessing.

Me and Max, Kalin and Addie, Tiffany and Maddie

My dad with all 3 of his grandchildren

My momma with Max and Addie

Me and Kalin with the babes

me and my twin brother, Dirk, and Max

Me, Kalin and Dirk with Max and Addie

Trip to NY : Sat Sept. 12th

2009-09-22T15:15:00.000-07:00

So Saturday was definitely was the day where we probably had the most fun. The girls did some more shopping. : ) My best friend Tiffany and her husband Creed and their daughter, Maddie, came over which was so fun! We also decided to sort of celebrate my little brothers' birthday since we were in town. So most of us went and played laser tag while my mom and aunt watched Max, Addie and Dean. We had soooo much fun! The first game we played everyone was by themselves, cut throat. The next game we played with teams. It was my family, minus Scott who played on the other team to even it out, versus a bunch of kids who were between the ages of probably 8 and 12...haha And maybe we got a little competitive, but hey, we wanted to win...and we did! haha We also had a blast playing together in the arcade. When we got home we had cake, we ate REAL NY PIZZA and WINGS!!, the boys opened a few presents and then we just hung out before heading to bed.

Creed and Max

me and my BFF...

He's basically her dad too.

I think this was right after the time that Maddie was sitting on our dog, Lexi, and Lexi stood up and Maddie fell and then cried...but skittles made everything better. : )

Max and his JaJa

This may be my favorite picture ever! This weekend was the first time my dad got to meet his grandson, Max. He didn't get in from a business trip until Friday so we were excited when he was finally there. The first time my dad held Max, Max gave him big smiles just like this...and my dad started to cry...which made my mom cry and then my aunt...and well you get the point. It was such a sweet moment. Kind of makes me sad because my dad is such a great grandpa and yet I feel like he hardly gets the chance to be because he's so far away. Sure wish my kids could get to know and love him and my mom the way I do. : ( That's life though, right?

We all had to clap and say "Yay!" to get Maddie to smile for this picture. ha ha

Max and his Uncle Scottie

Max and his pretty Grandma (GaGa is what the grandchildren are going to call her)

Creed and sweet little Maddie

Maddie was being so sweet to Matt.

Auntie Tiff with Max

Max playing with my cousin Jared

I had to put this picture so that everyone could sort of see our competition...the boys in the gray and orange shirts were on the other team...and the rest of their team looked about the same. We had 6 adults on our team...but thee was NO WAY we were going to take it easy on them. It's a good thing too because we barely beat them...they were good! Clearly they've had some practice.

Our team, minus me.

Don't we look tough?

Matt, Uncle Jan, my dad, Matt, me, Jared, Kalin, Nathan and Scott. We were deadly.

We were trying to look tough...but didn't quite pull it off.

It's true love.

Scott, Nate and Kalin...and I just want to say that Kalin, you look so cool. ha ha

The boys playing in the arcade.

Me and Kalin

One of the few pics of Nathan that I have.

We were trying to get a good pic...it didn't really work out.

I'm laughing because my dad was squatting down so all of our heads would fit and he was so low that we ended up having to bed over and then he was trying to position the camera so he wouldn't have a double chin...it was really funny...and we forgot the flash both times.

Both Matts playing some hunting game....you'd think they would have had enough after all the time they spent on the wii playing my brothers' hunting game. Guess Matt wanted to get his fill since we'll NEVER own a video game system! : )

My dad and Uncle Jan's turn!

I played DDR with Nathan...and lets just say I'm not very good...and that's probably an overstatement. I'm pretty sure I embarrassed myself.

Nathan and Jared blowing

We had a competition with everyone to see who could get the high score in basketball. I think my Uncle Jan actually got the highest score, 77.

The boys blowing out candles

Nate and his Vulcan

Scottie with his Vulcan

Me and Matt and Kalin and Matt got the boys the biggest baddest, sweetest Nerf guns every made! The Vulcan! It came with a tripod and shoots out the little dart things like a machine gun...it needs batteries. You know a Nerf gun is a big deal if it needs batteries.

My momma putting Max to sleep

So sweet

Trip to NY: Friday Sept.11th

2009-09-22T14:40:00.000-07:00

My Aunt Annie and Uncle Jan got in to their hotel at midnight on Thursday so they came over on Friday morning. We're sooo glad they got to be a part of the special weekend. And what made it even better is that they brought some Donald's Donuts from Zanesville, and anyone who's had them knows that they're the best donuts IN THE WORLD! So needless to say...I had about 4. We had so much fun just talking and spending time together. Matt played HORSE in the front with my little brothers and then all the guys played some football in the back and had a great time. All the girls went shopping and the out to a late dinner while the guys watched sports and then went out to dinner as well. It was a fun filled day for sure! Just LOVE being with my family! : )

My Aunt Annie holding Max for the first time.

Max, fast asleep in his JaJa's (grandpa in Polish) arms.

The boys playing football in the backyard

They were in the middle of talking and I yelled for them to look over for a picture

They must have been talking about some really sweet plays to use in the game. ha ha

Even Dean tried to play

My sister brought her bumbo and Max loved sitting in it...so we'll have to get one for him.

Aunt Annie playing with Max. He was giving her HUGE smiles and every time I'd take a picture of it they turned out blurry....sad.

Enjoying the bumbo

Uncle Scottie hangin' with his nephews...they love him. I feel bad that I don't have any pictures of Nathan with Max.

Trip to NY: Thursday Sept 10th

2009-09-22T13:58:00.000-07:00

We got to the airport at 8:30pm on wednesday. Of course, I got stuck in security (3rd time that's happened!) and had to be taken to the side and scanned with the wand and padded down. So fun. Anyway, we took the red eye in hopes that Max would sleep most of the way...and he did! Max was actually a fantastic traveler on the way there and the way there...no crying at ALL! We lucked out! We got into NY at 9:15am on thursday and my mom was at the airport to pick us up. It was sooo exciting to see her and of course she was elated to see her little grandbaby. We all took a long nap when we got home and then just hung out with everyone the rest of the day.

my momma with her grandbabies. Addie and Max

My momma with Max

Uncle Scottie with his little nephew Max. It was the first time my little brothers got to see him. They are such loving little uncles!

Dean playing with uncle Matt

Did I mention that Dean went to the bathroom a few minutes earlier and hadn't put his underwear back on...? ha ha

Going in for the kill...trying to lick Matt's face....SOOO funny!

nothin like a half naked little boy trying to lick your face. We sure love and miss our sweet little nephew Dean!

Some sweet pictures of Maxwell

2009-09-20T19:26:00.000-07:00

These were all taken before we went to NY for Max's baby blessing...so naturally I'm blogging them first. 4 more posts coming soon!

We took a few pictures of Max in his cute jammies with the matching bib and hat. So cute! And of course he's doing his natural pose...flexing the guns.

See, he's cute even when you can't see all that crazy hair! : )

Getting a little excited

Max LOVES sucking on his hands...and really anything else he can get into his mouth.

Sleeping with daddy...and you'll notice he's in his usual position...muscles up!

Thumb in the mouth! He hasn't gotten real good at cucking on his thumb...but Matt and I both were thumb suckers...so maybe he'll suck his too...and then I won't have to find his binkie in the middle of the night. : )

Max's Face Plant

2009-09-20T18:55:00.000-07:00

This video is from a couple of weeks ago. Max LOVES to sit up...but he also loves to lean forward which makes him fall over...and makes me laugh. I have a lot more posts that I'm working on that, hopefully, should be up soon, but we're in the process of packing and moving so I don't have tons of free time.

A few pictures from the summer and...OUR HOUSE! : )

2009-09-01T14:53:00.000-07:00

Alright, so as I mentioned in my last post, I went to UT and spent 11 days with my sister. Here are the few pictures I actually took...I'm soooo so bummed I didn't take more. Story of my life.

Kalin and I at the airport the morning I left.

Me and Kalin with our babes...the only picture we managed to get of all four of us...sad. : (

Max and Dean, the only two grandsons on our side, so far. It was actually so cute how much Dean loved on Max. He loved to kiss him and hold him (with my help) and just sit next to him and talk to him. It was very sweet.

Dean's hardly in this picture...and it's the only picture of all three of the grandchildren together. We'll get more next time!

Not so happy to be getting their pictures taken.

My only picture with my sweet little niece, Addie.

Me with our friend Stephanie. We grew up with her in NY.

My Deano! He's getting so big and has become such a sweet and very smart and funny little guy. Sure wish they lived waaay closer!

So while I was there, Kalin convinced me to get my haircut by her awesome hairstylist...so I did. I actually hated it at first...but it's grown on me and I like it a lot more now.

OUR HOUSE!!!

So Matt and I have been looking for forever for a house. It's been such a long process. We put 4 different offers on houses and finally this one worked out. We're actually glad we had to wait longer because this house was the best deal and by far our favorite. This house is so much more than we ever needed but we were blessed to find it at a really great price...the owners really want to sell it. We feel so blessed and are so grateful to finally be getting into our own home. No more searching for a parking spot every night! ha ha We'll be closing on it in the next week and a half! Now I didn't take that many pictures. No bedrooms or anything...mostly because I was in a hurry because the family had just gotten home. Right now a family with 12 kids is renting the house.

Our little family on the day of the house inpsection.

Back living room

Kitchen...I actually wish it was a little bigger...I feel like for the size of the house, it should be bigger. It's the only downfall..but it's definitely bigger than what I've got now, so I can't really complain.

these are stairs that lead from the back living room up into the bonus room...I like to call it the loft...my favorite part of the house.

The loft

another of the loft.

stairs from the loft to the bedrooms

Another favorite little feature...2 stairs and french doors leading into the master bedroom. I feel like it's a grand entry.

view from the top of the front staircase

what you first see when you open the front door

Top of the stair case

View from the front living froom into the formal dining room

The office/Den...there's black paper covering the glass for privacy because it's being used as a bedroom. (remember, 12 kids)

Max is 3 months old today!

2009-09-01T14:32:00.000-07:00

Max is 3 months old today! I can't believe the time has gone by so fast. I feel like he's changed so much since we first brought him home from the hospital. This video is a few weeks old...but I forgot to put it up earlier, so I'm putting it up now. I can't seem to find the other video of him that's more recent...so this one will do for now. I also have other things to post that are past due but I just wanted to celebrate Max being 3 months first! : )

Max will suck on anything when he's hungry...so cute.

Max and Addie's Photoshoot!

2009-08-28T11:42:00.000-07:00

So I went to visit my sister, Kalin, in UT a few weeks ago. It was so fun to spend time with her. I was there 11 full days! It's really hard for me to live so far away from all of my family because I love them all so much so it was such a treat to be able to spend so much time with my big sister...and it was great for Max and Addie to meet eachother since they're only 3 weeks apart and already best friends! ha ha I really wish she lived closer cause we're so much alike and have so much fun together...just talking and doing a lot of laughing. She's such a great sister and a terrific mommy! So while I was there, Kalin's awesome sister-in-law, Marie, took these darling pictures of Max and Addie...for FREE! I've scored big with awesome pictures of my baby...what's going to happen to my other children when Matt and I are too cheap to pay an arm and a leg for professional pictures? hmmm..Guess it's true that there are always more pictures of the first child..., there are way more pictures of Kalin as a baby than there are of me and Dirk. ha ha

Max is 8weeks old in these pictures. He'll be 12 weeks (3 months!) next Tuesday...time has gone by so fast! Is it weird that I already feel a little sad because I feel like he's growing too fast? I guess I just want him to be my perfect, sweet little baby forever. I don't ever want him to get too big to want to snuggle with his mommy or ever push my kisses away. But as of now...he seems to love to be held in my arms and recieve all my hundreds of kisses every day.

He really is growing and just becoming more and more fun. He wakes up every morning, and long nap, with lots of big smiles and lots to say. He hates to lay down...he wants us to sit him up and a lot of times we'll prop him up and he's happy just sitting there. He also loves to stand up too...I can already tell that he's going to be a very active baby! He's a very happy baby, which we're so grateful for. Matt and I were talking the other night and just saying how it's amazing how much we love him...we never imagined it would feel like this. We love to look at him while he sleeps, so pure and innocent. We feel so blessed beyond measure to have him as our son. He makes us want to be so much better than we may have ever desired on our own.

He kind of looks like a plus size model here. ha ha

I love his crazy, unruly, hair!

Not so cute of mom...but sweet of my little guy.

Smiles for momma

Max and Addie...chubby babies!

They both took their turn making silly faces for the camera

I LOVE this picture of them!

Our little Chunkers!

Probably my favorite picture of Addie

Max ALWAYS has his arms like that...constantly flexing and showing off his guns. ha ha Silly little guy.

Practically professional pictures...

2009-07-18T16:48:00.000-07:00

Our Good friend Todd took some pictures of Maxwell last Sunday. He has an awesome camera and he did an amazing job! Thanks a ton Todd!

Max is 5 weeks old in these pictures and is almost 6 weeks old now. The time has just flown by! We sure love our little Maxwell. I feel like I love him more everyday. He's such a sweet baby with a happy disposition. He's a great eater and sleeper...most of the time. But I'm still a very tired momma. I'm just waiting for those really long stretches of sleep to start happening. But really..it's a treat to wake up with him in the night and feed him, just to see his little face. We love to just talk to him and kiss his little face and snuggle with him. I just can't get enough of him! He's already growing so fast. He's out of newborn diapers and has been wearing size 1 for about a week now. He's starting to get a little chubby..which is so cute! And we just love his hair! It's so crazy...we don't even style it, it does it all on it's own! He's a very alert baby...he has been since the day he was born. He just looks around with those big eyes wide open. So fun! He has blues eyes now, of course, and I'm hoping they stay that way...then he'll have my eye color. We're still up in the air on who he looks like. He definitely has Matt's lips (sorry for all those who thought they were mine), my ears and we think my round face. We're not sure of the eyes yet...but either way they'll be big and it's a huge mystery on whose nose he has...it doesn't look like either of ours. As for his hair...Matt and his mom both think it has hints of red in it and they think it'll turn a lot more red like Matt's was as a kid. I'm still not really seeing a lot of red...and I spend the most time with him...but that doesn't mean it's not there. We'll see. It looks an awful lot like my hair color as a baby...so we'll see. We'll be happy either way. He weighed 8lbs. 9 oz. at his 2 week appt, which is past his birth weight (8lbs. 6 oz.) so I'm excited to see what he'll weigh at his 8 week check up. Anyway, that's the latest on our sweet little Maxwell and these are the latest pictures.

I love this picture of us

He looks so excited to be with his daddy! Love this picture of my 2 boys!

ha ha He looks like he's up to something in this one.

When he's hungry, he tries to eat my lips...so it looks like he's kissing me...it's one of my favorite things...so stinkin' cute!

Kinda looks like he has my eyes in this pictures...but it's too soon to tell.

Look at those little fingers.

Little feet...he has super long toes though!

Big yawn!

there's a little smirk

Our hanging Garden, 4th of July and cute pics of Max!

2009-07-18T16:14:00.000-07:00

So cute after his bath

Having fun on the 4th of July

What a stud!

Our All-American Hunk!

This is a super cute outfit that my sister sent me...not the best pictures of Max but I had to post him in the outfit.

Not the happiest right then...but look at his cute outfit! ha ha

This is how he sleeps...with his arms up like that.

He's such a sweet baby

I LOVE snuggling with my little boy

when he lays on my chest, he props his head up with his arms like that and usually falls asleep in that position. Always makes up laugh.

Having fun playing and kicking around

Besides Max, this is Matt's pride and joy! It's our hanging garden (well except a tomato plant is in a regular pot). Matt has been taking really good care of it and is loving it! We have Hungarian Hot peppers, Banana Peppers and two different kinds of tomato plants.

Hundreds of live lady bugs

He also got a Praying Mantis cacoon to eat all the bugs...it'll take a little time for it to open...but once it does...there will be LOTS of praying mantis in our garden...not so sure how I feel about that.

Matt put the Lady Bugs on the plants to eat off the Aphids (sp?)

By the time he came in, there were Lady Bugs crawling up his legs...kind of gross.

Father's Day!

2009-07-17T16:17:00.000-07:00

So I'm a little late on posting this (I've been a little busy) but...better late than never. This Father's Day was extra special because it was Matt's first Father's Day as a daddy. I knew Matt was good with kids before we had Max because he's good with his nieces and nephews...but I still wondered what kind of dad he'd be. I knew he'd love and do anything for his child but I know some dads don't enjoy the newborn stage because newborns aren't very interactive. I guess I just worried that holding and loving on Max wouldn't be everything to Matt...but no worries there! Matt LOVES Max! It's my favorite thing just to watch Matt love his boy. He is such a good dad. He comes home from work for lunch everyday just to see his boy and hold him for what he calls a little bit of "stress relief". Max is so lucky to have Matt as his dad!

Matt and Max on Father's Day

A very common position for both of them

ha ha Matt loves this...When Max is hungry he'll suck on anything he can get his mouth on...including Matt's nose. ha ha So cute!

In the hospital

watching TV together...sorta

Happy Father's Day to my dad!

I also wanted to share a bit about my dad. My mom and dad got married when I was 7...so technically he's my step dad...but really he's my dad. The funny thing is that when I was little and my mom was dating...I hated every guy she dated. Seriously...I would go outside and kick their car (so my mom says) when they'd come over to the house. I can remember a guy asking my mom to dance at a wedding reception and standing in between them, holding my mom's legs, as they danced. You get the point...I didn't like any of them...except for my dad. I liked him right away...I even started calling him dad before they were married. I think Heavenly Father knew just what I needed...and my mom and siblings. Anyway...it's been that way every since. We have a blended family...7 kids and we love each other. Blending a family isn't an easy thing to do...but my parents made it happen. Anyway, back to my dad...he's the greatest. He and I have always had a very special relationship. He's one of my very best friends. Growing up, he was always the one who understood me the best and was just the greatest listener and always seemed to give the best advice. It was always just what I needed to hear. My dad and I love to laugh together...I'll admit...he's pretty funny...almost as funny as me ; ). It may be hard to believe, but he and I are very much alike...we totally have the same sense of humor and think the same about a lot of things...we were meant to be! I admire my dad for the man he is. He's absolutely incredible. He has so much integrity and even though he isn't perfect (close), he tries so hard to do what's right. He's such a great dad. Quite possibly the best dad in the world. So Happy Father's Day dad! I love you!!!

Dancing with my dad and my sister's wedding

Waiting outside the temple for Matt and I to come out

This is him giving a toast at my wedding

My dad kept change our direction while we dance so that the camera and everyone watching wouldn't see him crying during the daddy/daughter dance. He thinks he's such a big tough guy...but really he's a major softy...ha ha sorry dad!

Us staying at a hotel in Kansas on our way to take me back to Rexburg for school.

My family on my wedding day

I'm Hans, and I'm Franz, and we are going to PUMP YOU UP!

Having lunch at the top of the Hill Cumorah

My dad is sooo cool

Our little Maxwell has finally arrived!

2009-07-16T12:00:00.000-07:00

My due date was June 3rd. I went in to the Doctor's office and he checked me and I was not dilated at all and 0% effaced...so no baby. I was sad. He scheduled me to come in again the following Monday, 5 days later. So I did...again, I was not dilated and 0% effaced. I almost cried right there in his office. My mom planned to be there for 2 weeks to help me with the baby and 5 days had already gone by and no baby. So my doctor called the hospital and there was room for me to come in to be induced that night. So I went in at 8 and they gave me pills to help my cervix get much thinner. They gave me really late that night and WHOA!, talk about some painful contractions! I tried my best to breathe through them and stay calm. After a while I got in the bath to help with the pain...it did a little. I wasn't dilated enough to have an epidural yet, so I had to bear through it (you have to be a 3...I was only 1 1/2). It finally got to the point where I was actually crying..."Please tell them to do something mom...it hurts sooo bad". So at 7am I got my epidural...and I was a new woman. I slept like a baby and felt great! Hours later I started pushing. 45 minutes later, Maxwell Kenneth Aldridge arrived. He was born at 5:00pm on June 9th and weighed 8lbs. 6oz. My mom and Matt were the only ones in the room for the delivery and I was so grateful for them...they were so good to me throughout it all. I was especially grateful to have my mom there. It was so comforting to have my mom...to help me stay calm through the pain and just to be there for me while I was in the process of becoming a mommy myself. The moment Max came out and they put him on my chest...wow. Talk about overwhelming, talk about love at first sight. It was the best feeling in the world. He was perfect...and he's mine.

Before any of the contractions started...big smile.

Last family picture without Maxwell

Matt's first time holding his little boy.

Getting his temp. taken.

Doesn't my mom look great here? We got to the hospital at 8 the night before...and this is 5:00pm the next day...she stayed up all night, no shower, no touching up makeup or hair...and she still looks great! What a woman!

Look at those cute buns!

My mom is a post partum nurse in NY so she got to give Max his very first bath. So cool! It also was nice that she really knew what she was doing (more than motherly instincts) so she could really help me after Max was born. I sure was lucky to have her!

So fresh and so clean clean.

Proud grandma!

Matt loved Max just as automatically as I did.

Matt's first dirty diaper...ha ha I love his face here! Just wait 'til they actually start to stink!

Daddy and his boy.

Aunt Kim with Max

Adan could not wait for me to have Max. I can't even tell you how many times Adan would ask (while I was still pregnant) if I could take him out. For his birthday (months ago) he told his mom that he wanted a seat for his bike for baby Max. ha ha So cute! He's been so excited to see and love on Max. Now every time he sees him he wants to play and kiss him. Max doesn't have any older siblings but he sure has some great older cousins!

Sean with baby Max

He asked to take a picture with me...it's one of the very few that I'm in. I swear, the mom isn't in the pictures cause she's always taking the pictures.

Our great friends Evan and Sue Simper came to visit us in the hospital. We just love them!

This is there little girl, Bryn, next to Max...she's a bit bigger than him. It seems like yesterday when I went to visit Sue in the hospital right after she had Bryn...and now look how she's grown!

Max with his grandma Diane

Max and his Aunt Annie

Max with his cousin Claire

Claire wanted a picture with Aunt Kelsey too.

Our little family.

Dressing Max and getting ready to go home!

Big yawn!

All ready to finally go home!

That sure looks like a happy baby to me. : )

Max is trying to show that he's #1!

And now he's flexing, showing off his guns.

Last few days of pregnancy ...

2009-07-16T10:50:00.000-07:00

This post is very overdue (and so was I in the pictures) and it's also backwards...it's been a while since I posted and obviously I forgot how to post my pictures in the right order. Oh well. So these pictures are from what I thought was going to be my last Sunday pregnant and then a bunch of pictures of our visit of Multnomah Falls and other sites while my mom was here. Mind you...my mom flew in on my due date but the baby was not ready to be had...so instead we decided to do a lot of walking. : )

A bunch of really really ridiculously good looking people.

This was supposed to be the normal shot...hmmm what doesn't belong?

Oh little Maxwell...what kind of family are being born into?

There was already so much pretty in the picture that I thought it needed a little ugly...

Me and my momma.

The paparazzi were snapping pictures all day long...so I finally decided to strike a pose for them.

Multnomah Falls

Look how cute my momma is.

You can barely see us up there...

He used to be a gymnast...

they wanted me to do the karate kid...I almost fell over...my balance was a little off.

This was supposed to be my last Sunday pregnant...but I was pregnant the following Sunday too.

Talking on the phone with my momma a few days before she got here.

Don't be jealous...

Large and in charge.

Our 1 Year Anniversary...and more!

2009-05-28T12:37:00.000-07:00

This blog is full of pictures of Matt and me throughout our entire relationship...from dating the first year of marriage. It was so fun to do...just reminiscing and enjoying our memories together. Anyway, hope you enjoy!

Right before I sang at Nashville Nights at BYU-I...Matt had come to visit me for the weekend (to propose) and he got to hear me perform!

In Salt Lake visiting the different church sites

Right after Matt proposed...that's the same restaurant that Matt took me for our first date and the same table we sat in too!

Boating on Utah Lake

In the Sacred Grove...August 2007

We were in UT for a wedding and doing a little last minute wedding shopping at Bed Bath and Beyond...we were totally in public...don't get the wrong idea about us being on a bed together.

4th of July 2007

May 2007...my first trip to OR to visit Matt's family.

Us after an FHE we had...

This is a picture of me and Matt before we started dating. I had brought him his favorite ice cream from Dairy Queen... a Peanut Buster Parfait.

Our first day as husband and wife (Below).

I'm so lucky to have been able to spend the last year married to the man of my dreams. He's everything I could ask for in a husband and I'm grateful to have him every day. He makes me laugh, he works so hard, he's so good at being sensitive to me (most of the time) especially with being pregnant, he tries so hard to do EVERYTHING that's right...to the very detail and I admire that so much about him. He makes me want to be the best I can be. He makes me feel safe and secure. I still get excited when he comes home from work. He's a great snuggler...not to mention the best kisser on the planet and he happens to be my best friend. On top of it all...we're about to start our family...in less than a week and I'm so grateful that he'll be the father of my children...those kids are going to have so much fun growing up with him as a dad!

Happy 1 Year Anniversary!

On May 9, 2009, Matt and I celebrated our year anniversary. Our Anniversary is actually on the 10th but because the 10th fell on a Sunday (and Mother's Day) we celebrated the day before. Because I'm so pregnant, there isn't a whole lot I can do...I just get too worn out. So we decided to take advantage of the beautiful day and the beautiful state we live in and just do some sight seeing. It was a wonderful day spent with my very best friend in the entire world.

This is one of the lookouts we went to...as you can see it was quite beautiful.

That's the Vista House

Me and my hub

He's handsome even when he's squinting! : )

And I'm just HUGE.

Matt at the top of The Vista House

Can't visit Multnomah Falls without getting an ice cream cone.

My husband should pretty much be a model. ha ha

Multnomah Falls

Us in front of the Falls

We went to Bellvue Dam and saw the salmon fish hatchery and these HUGE Sturgeons!

Kissy kissy fishy

Matt had so much fun feeding the salmon...he throw in the little pieces and they'd all dive for it...he was very amused. He's still a kid at heart.

We went to dinner at Claim Jumpers and both got fillet mignon for the special occasion...and it was soooo delicious! We ended the day off by going to the movies to see Wolverine...which Matt obviously picked but I really enjoyed. All in all...we had a wonderful anniversary celebration.

Matt making me breakfast on Sunday morning for Mother's Day. Matt HATES to cook...so it meant a lot for him to get up and make me breakfast...he was going to bring it to me in bed but I didn't know so I woke got out of bed before he could...so we ate together...which is even better.

he used to last of the batter to make one ginormous pancake...

...And was quite impressed with himself (as was I) that he flipped it perfectly!

My baby shower in WA and Berkeley's 1st Birthday!

2009-05-07T08:50:00.000-07:00

A few women in my ward threw me a baby shower a few weeks ago. It had a great turn out and I received some wonderful gifts!

Jill Taylor made this super cute chick cup cakes for the shower.

Aren't they adorable?!?!

There was lots of yummy food. Sue even made the drinks and rice krispie treats blue for a baby boy theme.

This is my dear friend Sue. Her, Lorali and Carol were the ones who put this shower together. They're sooo wonderful! Sue and Lorali are my visiting teachers and I just absolutely love them to pieces!

Some of the women at my shower.

This was my family representation at the shower. My sister-in-law Kim...we're fortunate that she lives here in Vancouver. She's actually been a huge help in getting me set up wit all the baby necessities...especially since I've never done it before and don't really know what I'm doing. It's funny because I had registered online for my baby shower by myself (Matt was supposed to help, but he fell asleep on my shoulder 5 minutes into it) and I didn't really know what I needed. Kim and my mother-in-law saw my registery and decided that I didn't have near enough stuff on it, so they got my password from me and added a lot of stuff to it. Thanks guys!

Opening the first present...

This was an outfit from Kim...can't really see it well, but it's adorable. Our little Max is going to break some hearts.

Just chatting a little after opening all my presents. What a fantastic shower! Thanks ladies!

To The Dalles fo Berkeley's first Birthday Party!

Carlie and Adan dressed up like princesses. And yes, this s the same Adan that I blogged about not long ago wearing the Tinkerbell outfit. ha ha

This was Berkeley's gift from his sister, Carlie. She actually played with it more than he did.

We got Berkeley these orange sunglasses...he kept them on for a while...it was so funny to watch him stare at everything through them.

Gina was getting a good laugh because of Berkeley.

Berkeley's had a monkey themed bedroom since he was born. You should see how many monkeys hey has in there. So for his first birthday party, Gina made in monkey themed as well. The cake was so cute, and yummy, and we also had banana splits to go along with the theme.

Here's Berkeley about to blow out his candle. I wish I had some pictures of him when they gave him his own cake to eat/destroy. It was soooo entertaining to watch. He tore the thing apart...it was all over his face, arm, belly...down his diaper. It was great! Glad we could celebrate Berkeley's first birthday with the family!

A couple more from Easter Sunday!

2009-05-07T08:40:00.000-07:00

These are a couple of pictures from Easter Sunday that I just recieved and had to add!

You may be wondering what this picture is all about. It's a little silly but I thought it was such a cute idea. We wanted to get a picture with all the cousins and so you'll notice that the kids are all touching my belly, so that Max could be in the picture too. So cute! Max's first picture with his cousin's...sorta. We could have cropped my head out somehow I guess, and then it really would have been just the cousins.

This was the first of many attempts to get this picture...the kids looked progressively more annoyed and frustrated as we took more and more pictures....they look pretty happy in this one though! : )