first trip to the cottage...

daddy had lots of gigs this weekend so max and i headed up to the cottage in door county saturday and sunday. first off, i am happy to report that max is a great traveller. he did so good!!!

max spent time enjoying the beauty of nature...

napping...

smiling...

sucking on his hands...

talking to aunt heidi...

cuddling with aunt linda...
chilling by the lake...

and taking his first beach walk with mommy and aunt lindsay.

we had a wonderful time and can't wait to go back! thank you aunt linda, uncle bill, and aunt lindsay!

feet and hands...

when i was feeding max the other night, i looked down and saw this...

max is starting to open and to move his hands a lot more. this is what he was doing the when grandma vicki was holding him.

2 month well visit...

mommy and daddy got to go with max to his 2 month well visit. dr. heyrman said that max is doing great. max is up to 13lbs 12oz (90th percentile), 24 in long (90th percentile) and his head is 41.4 cm around (80th percentile). he is a growing boy.

daddy got bored while waiting for the doctor and was messing with max's hair.

mommy got some great cuddle time in!

we talked a lot about vaccinations and received a lot of helpful information in making our decision. max got a few shots, cried a little, but handled it like a champ.

hooray...

today we had our court hearing for the birth parents "termination of parental rights." things went as good as could be expected in the court room. the judge signed the papers and now all that is left is the legal adoption hearing in 6 months. i hope the birth parents know what a truly amazing gift they have given to us. their selflessness and deep love for max have allowed drew and i to start our family.

3 years...

yesterday drew and i celebrated our 3rd wedding anniversary. we've been through so much in the past 3 years and i can't imagine where i would be without my wonderful husband.

thanks to diane, hannah, and teddy...drew and i were able to go out to dinner at koreana. it was nice to spend a little time reflecting on the past, thinking about the present, and dreaming about the future.
here's to many, many more years of wedded bliss!

2 months...

max is growing and changing everyday. he is getting much more vocal these days. i think he's going to have a lot to say when begins to talk. he is starting to keep his hands open more...reaching and flailing around. sometimes when i pick him up, he'll put his arms around my neck. he's definitely starting to focus on things. now he will actually watch his mobile. he reacts to our voices but thankfully is still not phased by libby and maggie barking.

he has his 2 month check up with his pediatrician on friday. we are very intersted to get his measurements and see how he is charting.
(i couldn't get this one turned the right way...but it was too cute not to include!)

other than a bit of evening fussiness and occasional gas pains, he's a great baby. we are truly blessed to be his parents and i hope he knows what a gift he is to us!

my 31st...

we had a great dinner at my mom's house to celebrate my birthday.

mom served up a delicious meal as always....grilled chicken sandwiches with a choice of yummy toppings, pasta salad, tomato and mozzerella salad, some kind of potato dish, and berry shortcake for dessert. thanks mom!

and thanks to all my family and friends who were able to come!

my wonderful and handsome husband

me and uncle denny
leslie and hayden

me and my little man

hayden's futures so bright he's gotta wear shadesbecky, me, and meredith grandma and her two grandsons

just the two of us...

drew and i were supposed to go camping for my birthday but because of my abscess, decided it would be best to not go. we dropped max off at grandma's house and got to go out on a date (and of course forgot the camera). we went out to dinner at nakashimas (a japanese hibachi restaurant). after dinner we headed to go see what movies were playing. we decided to see the hangover and since it didn't start for almost an hour...we spent some time at funset boulevard playing skee ball, mario kart racing, and air hockey to name a few. it sure was nice to get to spend some time together. thanks drew!

mommy and daddy are ready to go...

max is ready to go too...

two peas in a pod...

my boys just snoozin' away.

thanks...

the kids at youth go made these cards for drew, max, and i. i am so lucky to work with such an wonderful group of youth. it amazes me how many talents and strengths that they have that so many other people in their lives happen not to see. it is such a blessing to work for an organization that truly makes a difference in the lives of so many.

ouch...

well, i developed an abscess right beneath my eyebrow this week. it started to swell on tuesday evening at youth go's family night. about 80 people asked me what happened..."did you get in a fight?", "did you get stung by a bee?"...nope. well, wednesday morning i went to a walk-in clinic and the doctor told me that i either had an infected hair follicle or this was the start of shingles....really doc....you went to school for how many years and you can't tell the difference. he prescribed me some kind of antibacterial cream and told me if it swelled up a lot more or started to turn red, to come back in. well, the next day i made an appointment with my regular doctor. she looked at it, poked it, and said, "yes, you have an abscess, i'll need you to sign a consent form and we'll go ahead and cut it open and drain it." WHAT???? so i followed her into the procedure room, layed down on the table, received a freezing shot and the rest is history. she squeezed and squeezed and squeezed. then she used a kind of "spoon" to scrape out the rest. well after days of pain and many heat compresses later, the rest of the yuck came out yesterday and it's finally starting to feel better. today the swelling went down considerably, which is good because i have to get my drivers license retaken before the end of the month.

this is not the best picture, but i think you can tell by the dark circles under my eyes and the sad look on my face, exactly how awful i was feeling!

aunt lindsay...

on friday morning my cousin lindsay came over for a visit. i was still in my pj's that's why there's no photo of me enjoying the delicious coffee that she brought over.

here's a great shot of max hanging out with "aunt" linsday.

8 weeks...

just 8 weeks ago, drew and i were up until all hours of the night deciding if we were ready to adopt. just 8 weeks ago, we made one of the most important decisions of our lives when we decided we were ready to become parents and welcome this beautiful baby boy into our lives and into our home.

so much has happened in the past 8 weeks. max has grown in size and so has the love we have for him in our hearts!

four days old in the nicu at children's hospital in milwaukee.

almost 8 weeks old chilling on the boppy on the couch.

it's okay, i'm with the band...

tonight we went to see daddy play a show in neenah at one of the parks. one of the bands that drew is in is called the groove hogs. they are an 8 piece rhythm and blues band. the rain held off until about 7:15, so they got to play for about 1 1/2 hours.

just hanging out on mom's lap and sporting his "it's okay, i'm with the band" onesie...thanks for picking this one out teddy!

max hanging out with becky.

he was charming us with some real smiles! max loves to be outside and look at the clouds.

and this one just because he's so cute!

isn't he sweet...

i just can't believe what a blessing max is. sure, we're not getting much sleep and having a baby doesn't leave us with much "me" or "us" time but as my aunt says, "this too shall pass." this little guy is such a beautiful gift from God and we are so thankful that He chose us to be max's parents.

solea...

we took our first family trip to solea, a great neighborhood mexican restaurant. i'm sure this is the first of many meals together at solea. it is just blocks from our house!

we can't wait til max is old enough to realize how yummy the food is here!!!

thank goodness for combs...

if it weren't for a comb after his bath...

max's hair would look like this!

seven weeks already...

so our little guy is already 7 weeks old! we can't believe how big he is getting. he's up to 12 1/2 pounds! we've had quite a few doctor visits and he's doing great. let's just hope this all continues and that he grows out of his stridor (noisy breathing).

daddy and max...

i went camping with work...we took 18 high schoolers on a leadership camping trip for two nights...and drew and max got to spend some time together. unfortunately for drew, more of that time was awake than sleeping! :)

hard work...

thanks to drew, dad, gramps, chip, and jason...the basement has come a long way in the past 2 days. we're planning on using the new space for an office/extra bedroom.

there's still work to be done...but wow did those guys get a lot finished!!!