does it get any better than this...

amazing (and ridiculous) night...

we had planned to decorate our christmas tree on sunday.
we were ready...hot cocoa found, new christmas pj's purchased, and the tree was assembled.

max was EXCITED to say the least.

he kept squatting down and looking at the lights.

i asked him to stand in front of the tree and smile...and this is what i got!

here he is with his santa mug full of hot cocoa. he would take a sip and say, "this is just like coffee!" hahaha!

then he decided he wanted to drink his hot cocoa in front of the christmas tree. this is where things turned ridiculous!

we started to hang the ornaments. max would grab one, analyze it, and go find just the right spot for it on the tree. he'd try to hang it up and it would fall, he'd try again and it would fall again. then he'd give up and say, "you do it momma." this happened a few times until he got the hang of it.

doing a great job. there are only a few branches with multiple ornaments. but don't worry i left them alone. i think i surprised drew with putting my perfectionism under control! :)

we took a quick family shot with our christmas pj's on! you may have noticed our new housemate...his name is jordan. he's living with us until the summer. :)

when max saw this ornament he said, "awe, what a cute little fella."

really?

i think he thought the ornament box was a sled, he kept asking us to pull him around in the snow.

mags and jordan are already best buddies!

we got done decorating and max asked where the star was for the top of the tree. how the heck does he know that a star is supposed to go on the top?

what a great night. full of laughter, togetherness, and fun. this is a night full of memories that i will remember and cherish forever!

how did this happen...

how did my little baby go from this...
...to this in just 2 years?

sometimes i look at the amazing, sweet, sensitive, active, crazy, loving, and smart little boy in front of me and i am in awe. i am so thankful to be his mommy and to get to experience every wonderful, challenging, heart-warming, trying, and simple moment.
(and take notice that somehow i managed to get him to wear a button-down shirt for church and not a "team shirt"...score 1 for me!)

silly cousins...

max, lucas and taygen had a blast playing at thanksgiving dinner!
here are two videos of them playing band!

thanksgiving # 2...

friday afternoon we headed to cedar grove to celebrate thanksgiving with drew's family.

max started playing with his cousins lucas and taygen right away!

and of course he found taygen's sunglasses and had to give them a try! cheeseball!

then the kids all decided the best place to sit was on top of aunt amie! :)

after dinner the kids were hilarious. first the boys were playing band. max was playing keyboard and lucas was playing guitar. then they were arguing so we thought they should all play drums. what a riot!

then the bowls turned into hats. monkey see...monkey do!

what a fun night. max was out minutes after we hit the road. we are so thankful for such wonderful family!

thanksgiving...

we hosted thanksgiving for the second year in a row.
i am so thankful to have a home that allows us to have everyone over!

getting things ready to lay out the spread!
we enjoyed turkey, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, peas, zucchini casserole, homemade cranberry sauce, two kinds of stuffing, gravy, rolls, pumpkin pie, and frozen chocolate pie.

i caught the head chef sneaking a glass of wine! we couldn't have pulled of this amazing meal without my mom! thanks for all of your help!

combine a packer victory with a good nap and a house full of family and max was wound up!

here is everyone gathered around the table!

max was a fan of my frozen chocolate pie. it turned out pretty great and was such a simple recipe!

these two had a blast together. it's fun to watch them spend time together. they laugh and giggle so much!

we realized that we hadn't got a family shot. this one is hilarious!

this was the best attempt...minus drew missing part of his head.

happy thanksgiving!

appleton christmas parade...

last night we headed to the appleton christmas parade.
i don't know who was more excited...me or max! :)

max and his dada (and an angry looking lady in the background!)

me and my boy...waiting for the parade to start!

quick family shot!
a very nice group of people let us put our blankets in front of them on the sidewalk. we had great seats and max was able to see everything!

we enjoyed funnel cake sticks and some yummy apple cider before the parade started!

once the floats and bands started marching down the street...our little man was in awe. he was cheering and laughing and oohing and ahhhing and dancing and having a great time.

looks like we have a new family tradition!

big boy bed...

sunday was the big day...we asked max if he was ready for his big boy bed and he said "yes!"

drew would bring each piece to the top of the stairs and then would need max's help to carry it to his room.

dada was hard at work!
max was dancing and jumping around the room cheering, "my big boy bed, my big boy bed!" it was hilarious!

almost done!

all that was left to bring in was the mattress.

a blurry picture...but he was just so excited he couldn't sit still!

cheesin for the camera!

i had to sneak in to check on him and get a shot of him sleeping. too cute.
it took him awhile to fall asleep but he stayed in his bed the whole time!
the last two nights have gone even better. way to go max. you sure are a big boy!

just max...

so, max i went shopping after daycare and i picked him up this cheap microphone.

our little rockstar.

who knew $2.99 could bring so much entertainment!

then we practiced making faces...

happy.

mad.

silly. (and blurry!)

i got this cool racetrack off of a mom's trading post on facebook.
i paid about 1/3 of the regular price! bargain!

he loves it. score one for the momma!