He's growing up folks!!

Oh my! I don't know if I can take much more of this growing up thing! Max turned 4 yesterday....4!!! Are you kidding me! He was just turning three...we were just packing our bags, heading to Thailand....and now he's four.....time has flown! And now today he headed off to his first day of preschool! Seriously, too much change! I'm so excited and proud of him, don't get me wrong....but man oh man...he's supposed to be my baby a little bit longer!

We had such a blast celebrating his birthday together! We've already celebrated far too many birthdays apart....so Stephen and I were beyond excited to finally be all together for Max's big day. When Max woke up on Saturday we surprised him and told him we were heading on a road trip for his birthday. We drove up north and took him to "A Day Out With Thomas the Train"! Oh my goodness, he had a blast! He kept saying "we get to ride on Thomas?!?!" We went to a Japanese hibachi restaurant for dinner and it was a perfect ending to the day. The waiters brought Max out a HUGE ice cream sundae and sang him happy birthday, complete with a big drum!

On his actual birthday, we kept the fun going! We had lunch out with Stephen and then let Max pick his favorite meal for me to make at home for dinner. And not surprisingly at all....he chose spaghetti! He got himself a scooter and a keyboard along with some other smaller gifts. We also discovered recently that his legs are finally long enough for him to reach the pedals on his bike, so after presents we headed outside to ride! Then it was cake time! Stephen and I are definitely NOT professionals when it comes to cake decorating but we had a really good time making it, and Max seemed to think it tasted good, so that's all that matters!

Really it was just a super special family day! We got to love on our boy and I got to pretend for one more day that he wasn't about to head off to preschool!

But.....then today happened! And now there's no going back! He's most definitely a preschooler! He had a such a blast on his first day and already can't wait to go back! I really am excited for him...and I'm so proud that he's in mainstream preschool...having learned so much in the short ten months he's been home! He looks so grown up in these pictures! So many big things happening these days...I'm ready to just settle into this schedule and enjoy it!

North Carolina 2011

We had another FABULOUS trip to North Carolina! We spent a week with family, and it was a perfect trip! Max had a fun over night with Grandma and Grandpa and we enjoyed a super fun day at Tweetsie Railroad (a super cute amusement park with an old time steam engine that Max loved!) The weather was perfect and it was great to have us all together! With Stephen's sister and brother-in-law living in NYC, his folks in North Carolina and us in Illinois, we really treasure these times when all seven of us can be together! We also took the opportunity to celebrate Max's upcoming 4th birthday! He understands that the big day isn't until August 29th....but he also understands that its VERY fun to take every chance he can to celebrate! He got a slip-n-slide (which he's already mastered the perfect technique for!), a microphone with stand (seriously the PERFECT gift for him!!) and karaoke machine (another PERFECT fit!) some Thomas the Train toys, a couple new books, a wooden train to sit on his book shelf and so many other things I can't even remember! He had such a great time....I think he thought it was Christmas again! Speaking of Christmas, that's when we'll all be together again...and we're super excited about it!!! Hope you enjoy all the pictures!!

A weekend of firsts!!

Oh what a fun weekend we had! This weekend was the Bagelfest in our small town (Lender's Bagels is headquartered here and sponsor's our fair each summer) and we had a great time! We took Max to his first good ol' fashion parade and he scored more candy than most kids do on Halloween! Its was so stinkin' hot outside, but he didn't seem to mind.

Later that night, we finally broke out the sparklers we had bought around the fourth of July but never got around to using. Max was in total awe. After a round of safety instructions, we let him hold them as they burned down, and I think he thought he was the coolest kid on the block! I love that about Max, he finds the joy in the smallest things! And, I love getting to experience all these first with him!

We are gearing up for a week long trip to North Carolina to visit Grandma and Grandpa (Stephen's folks) Aunt 'Ginia and Uncle Ryan and we are all SO excited! I'll have lots of pictures to share after our trip!

Summer fun!

I know its been forever since I've posted. We've been super busy this summer....and its been great! We've been traveling a ton....spending lots of time in the pool....and enjoying play dates with all our friends from church. Its been a blast...and Max has been loving every minute of it! Max is also LOVING baseball these days! He and Stephen are out there playing almost everyday after he gets home from work. And, he's getting pretty good. He'll be old enough to play t-ball next year, and he can't wait! Enjoy the pictures...and enjoy your summer!!!