Ashley and J.J.

This weekend Ashlee and Jacob (J.J.), Mandy's kids, came to Rexburg for the Teton Dam Race- perfect opportunity to get my pictures done! Now all I have left is Max and Leslie's little girl, who is due in a few weeks. It will be weird to see Max next to a brand new baby- he will seem so big.

We took these pictures at some random person's house in Rexburg. They were so nice! We knocked on the door to ask if we could take pictures on their old tractor. No one was home, so we just helped ourselves. Then later the farmer pulled up on a four wheeler and was so sweet! He came right up and asked if we wanted to see his horses. There was even a two week old baby! He held Ashlee so she could pet them and let them feed the horses treats. He and his sister spend about a half hour with us and the kids and eventually talked Ashlee into riding the horse bareback. She loved it! They were seriously the sweetest people and asked us to promise to come back again and visit. Only in Rexburg would you meet people who would be so kind to a bunch of trespassers!

funny poo poo

So as many of you know, Max has a serious problem with pooping up his back. Yesterday being no exception, Max pooped everywhere while I was coaching. I mean everywhere- up the back, and down his leg on to his shoe. It was ridiculous! So I start changing him, wiping "mustard" off of his clothes and his whole body (and the smell was intense I tell ya), and Max starts LAUGHING! He has laughed a total of about three times ever, and he just thought it was hilarious that his poo was causing so much commotion with me and all the coaches. I thought I was going to die it was so funny! What a stinker. Literally.

Tay Tay

Last weekend I took some pictures of Taylee Hebdon- she is such a doll!

row, row, row your boat...

soaking up some rays

don't judge him. it's a life vest.
Max and me! Sorry- I have boat hair.

Taylee's hat fell in the water, so she tried on Max's.
Danny Hebdon in his beautiful wet suit.

Danny in his cool pink floyd hat. He got it since his dad finally painted over the prism in his room a couple months ago!

Our friends Danny and Annie (aka "the Hebs") got a boat! We decided to help them test it out this weekend. It was so fun to be out on the water- the boat put Max to sleep! I didn't get in (I hate cold water), but I loved hanging out on the dock. Danny and Heb tried skiing on a ladies ski and they couldn't get up to save their lives. They were dragging under water forever! Annie and I thought it was pretty great. Later we met up with some of Danny and Annie's neighbors, which was fun- they were so nice. The girls got to hang out on the dock while the boys went wake boarding- forever.

happy 4 month birthday Max!

Max turns four months old today- I can't belive it! He is getting so big and we love him more and more every day. Here he is celebrating with his girlfriend Taylee (actually, this was a couple days ago but whatever). In honor of turning four months, Max did two new things yesterday. First, he laughed! Like a real laugh! It was sooo cute, I loved it. He did it over and over too. Of course I went to get the video camera and when I came back, he smiled for days but no laugh. Oh well! He also started reaching for his toys that hang from the thing he lays under ( I have no idea what the "things" are called) and hitting them. I get so excited every time he learns something new! Happy #4 little buddy!

Strollin'

Here is Max looking rad in his little punk t-shirt and sunglasses on our Sunday stroll. We just changed from the bassinet attachment to the seat on his stroller- strangely it was a little sad for me! Here's Max on his first real outing- the Orange County Swap Meet! I was so nervous. How times have changed...

A Room of His Own

I saw this room in an AMAZING baby store in Bellevue called Merry-go-Round. Love, love, love it. The bedding combined with the sock monkeys and art work (not to mention the onsie hanging from the shelf)- inspired. The giraffe mobile in the corner is produced by MOMA. They also had a sheep one that was really cool. Three white sheep and a black one. I wanted it all!

My Beautiful Nieces: Lillie, Ivie, and Saige

Okay. Could they be ANY cuter? Love em. In case you are wondering, I am taking pictures of all my nieces and nephews right now because I am working on a book of photographs for my mother-in- law for mother's day (obviously she'll be recieving it late).

The pictures of all three looking at the camera are few, let alone one of all three smiling!

Lillie is five and such a little model! She posed like a champ. There were so many good pictures of her it was hard to choose! She is such a pretty girl and so photogenic. It's hard to believe she is going to start kindergarten next year!

Ivie is so cute, but she is three and a half, and a little harder to keep focused! I was lucky to have a few good shots- we have lots of silly face pictures of Ives. But in one sense, it's nice to remember her silliness too.

Last there is Saige, who will be two in October. She wasn't too sure about me, but we managed to get a few anyway!

Finally, Max's Blessing

Max was blessed on May 6th in Sugarhouse in Danny's grandparent's ward. I have been procrastinating this blog for a while now because all my pictures are bad! The blessing itself went great, no crying, and Danny did a beautiful job. Afterward, Max had a bit of an incident. After I fed Max and spend about 20 seconds with our friends and family, this happened. BEFORE I had taken a single picture of my baby in his blessing outfit! So I layed some paper towels under him and snapped a few anyway. But, they aren't so great. We also had a ton of friends and family there, which meant so much to us! Did I get any pictures of them? No. I was busy dealing with a poopy baby. By the time I was done and had a second to eat, people were on there way out. So, I'm lame, but it was a great day anyway!

Here we are after he got all changed. As you can tell, he was thrilled.

just the two of us

Blakelee took this cute picture of me and Max. If only I had a little makeup on! I love pictures of just the two of us- there aren't many because I am usually always the one behind the camera. Thanks Blake!

Many faces of Max

Max is getting so much more animated- I love it! Not to mention huge- I am dying to know what he weighs at his next doctors appointment. I love this first picture because he is making full eye contact with the camera- which is hard to get! It makes me melt every time I look at it.

Here is Max in the middle of a giant laugh/smile. He laughed for real for the first time a few days ago, but he usually makes this face like he is laughing- only no sound really comes out. It's so cute!
Max when he is excited. He always does this when he smiles- first he gets all excited and breathes really fast. He opens his mouth like this and shakes his head and will track you (or whatever he's excited about) with his eyes. He is usually flailing his arms and kicking his legs at the same time!
Sticking his tongue out- as I mentioned a few posts ago he does it all the time. Apparently he has just discovered it. He kinda sticks it out repeatedly like he's licking his lips over and over.

Some other updates on Max: we are still working on a new schedule. I was putting him to bed around 10 so that he would sleep through the night- until about 6. Now I am slowly trying to get closer to putting him down around 7:30 0r 8, which means he probably won't sleep through the night for a while, but I think it will be better in the long run.

Max still poops up his back, up his hip, or out his leg almost every day. ANY SUGGESTIONS?! I use good diapers (pampers or huggies), put them on tight, even tried putting them on so they come way up in the back, but nothing helps. The stuff usually shoots strait up his crack and he ends up with much more in his clothes that in the diaper, so it's not like it's overflowing. I am stumped.

SPT- Make new friends and keep the old

I was pretty excited to see this week's assignment because I have recently had the chance to get together with some "old friends," a few teammates from USU gymnastics. Right before I left California, I got together with Kelcy, Kyla, and Kristin (a.k.a. Bloomie).

I hadn't seen Kyla and Kelcy since I was a senior, and Bloom since I was a sophomore! It was so much fun to catch up with them and find out what they are all up to these days. Kelcy is a personal trainer now- which so doesn't surprise me! She has always loved to work out. It was funny to see her in the way I was so used to- in a workout top and sweats. It was like she never changed! Kyla is so funny- we had fun shopping around Huntington and it felt just like old times! She cracks me up and is always up for a good time. Bloomie is in nursing school (I am trying to convince her to become a NICU nurse) and loving it. She recently broke up with the guy she has been dating since her freshman year (this is a good thing) and is dating someone new, who she says is amazing and treats her like a princess. I am so happy for her! I had a great time at lunch with the three of them.

I got to see Sarah while I was in Denver, and I haven't seen her since our sophomore year (about 4 years ago!) but when we got together it felt like we had never been apart- I love when that happens! We went to the outlets together and ordered pizza- yum. It was cool because we are in very similar places in life- her little boy Austin is six months older than Max, and she and her husband Ryan were married a few months after Danny and I. You can see her blog under Sarah and Ryan. She is so much fun and I loved that we were able to get right back into the swing of things. I was also so happy to be able to see Austin dedicated at her church on mother's day, just one week after Max was blessed(which I swear I am going to blog about). I loved spending time with Sarah!

As for new friends, I suppose that is going to be a big part of the next chapter in my life, when we get settled in Utah. One part of me is excited to see the changes and new friends I will meet but sometimes I feel like I am sick of starting over and making new friends- we have moved so much! But it will be fun since there will probably be a lot of other young moms to get to know. I am also very excited to get to spend time with our old friends in Utah again. It will be great!