one year older, and wiser too...

happy birthday, to YOU!

last tuesday i took max to his one year check-up. he passed with flying colors!

length: 29.5 inches--41.94 percentile

weight: 18.21 pounds--2.03 percentile

head circumference: 18.3 inches--54.17 percentile

so...he may or may not still be in the second percentile but the doc isn't too concerned. since his head and body are growing, he is pretty sure it's all just genetics.

some of max's favorite things include:

.walking while holding onto our finger.

.playing with the bike pump.

.taking the magnets on and off the fridge.

.being extreeemly clingy to his parents.

.peeking out the front window so he can see the neighbors dogs, charlie + ralphie.

.being the pickiest eater on the planet.

{any ideas on what to feed our teeny tiny boy???}

.flipping through his favorite books, including 'bear snores on' and 'goodnight moon'.

.club crackers.

.playing peek-a-boo and clapping.

.pulling every single tupperware out of the drawer and flinging it on the kitchen floor.

we love you maxwell! thanks for being such a wonderful son, and making this past year the best we've ever known. love you! xoxo.

{below are pictures of the past year in review. it is crazy how much he has grown!!}

{meeting our sweet baby boy for the very first time.}

{just a few days old!}

{around one month}

{baby's first halloween}

{thanksgiving 2009}

{merry christmas!}

{jan 2010...he's grown into his eyes a little more since then...:)}

{feb 2010. he found his toes!}

{march 2010, looking good in his new sunday attire!}

{april 2010. lovin that stroller bar! so nice and cushioned!}

{may 2010}

{june 2010 at aaron + missy's wedding}

{july 2010. george family reunion}

{august 2010 thanksgiving point}

{september 2010. birthday month in his birthday suit!}

boot scootin' boogie

i realize that the last few posts have been very small-town/cowboy centered.

that's what has happened to us...and we've only been here three weeks, ya'll.

danny struck gold when he found these little boots for one dollar at a yard sale. and max quickly fell right in love. they are a tiny bit too big, but it won't be long before they fit him perfectly.

p.s. max is cruising around with that little pooh bear walker. i'll post a normal video soon!

yeee-haw

who knew that living in a small town could be so awesome?!?

last friday was homecoming and they went allllll out with the celebrations. after school, they had a parade complete with ghetto floats + tons of candy. {they even threw out otter pops!!} i've missed getting candy at parades, but apparently here it isn't a danger threat! we met up with the other seminary families and enjoyed all five minutes of it...it was great.

then, that night we attended the big football game. woo to the hoo. we had a good time...and our cute little football team even won!

{i probably shouldn't call them cute, because during half-time i kind of got ran into by one...}

max loved all the attention from the little girls sitting next to us, and he even seemed pretty interested in the game! we left before it was over {the game was still going on at 9:30!!} but it was still a fun night out on the town.

{half of the fans went out on the field to welcome the team back for the second half. i had never seen anything like it so i had to snap some pics...that's when i got plowed into by some dude...not cool.}

p.s. do you guys know that maxamillion turns ONE in four days??!?!?!

i'm feeling old!

dinnertime

to say that i have two very easily entertained boys would be an understatement.

this is what went on at dinner tonight:

my best friends wedding

miss. jenny rebekah pate got married this past friday to her sweetheart kyle.

oh. my. goodness.

it was an incredible day.

jenny and i met when we were reebok-wearing, jump-rope sporting, novel-writing second graders. i had just moved to provo from tempe, arizona and jenny and i instantly became bff's. {after a little bit of hatred from other girls...} and basically from the second we met, we were inseparable throughout all of elementary school. that continued on into middle school, and high school. and looking back, i realize how rare it is that two girls stay friends for such a looooong amount of time. {seeing how during the growing up years there are so many fights that girls can get into...} we went our separate ways after graduating from THS but a few summers later we found ourselves in a huge adventure together down in lake powell. we were roomies and it was probably one of the craziest, funnest, {i know thats not really a word...} most laid back times either of us have ever had. we met some very interesting people from all over the globe and got amazing at our wakeboarding skills. hah! but it was definitely a summer that neither of us will ever forget. i didn't mean for this to turn into a history book but to say it simply:

she is my "kindred spirit" and i love her so much.

anyways! her wedding was absolutely wonderful and i am so glad that i was able to make the trek back up to provo for her wedding. the ceremony was beautiful, the bride + groom looked completely stunning, the food was great, and i had some much needed catch up time with my other bff, b.da.bomb!

i didn't get many pictures taken with my camera, because when brittany is around, she is the queen at snapping them! but here are a few from the temple...and a few more i stole from britt :)

{me, the beautiful bride and b.da.bomb + jenny and her seven siblings!}

{the temple was gorgeous!! + jenny was ADORABLE during the luncheon!}

{enjoying the festivities...and all of the delicious food + the bride and groom leaving in their surprise LIMO!!}

jenny + kyle: we are so excited for you guys! congrats on the big day...and invite us over whenever you feel the need! xoxo.

mr. cheese ball

first of all, THANK YOU for the encouraging words over the last week.

we are now officially over the flu and life couldn't be better here in our home.

{ok...a few things could be better. like, our boxes could magically empty themselves and put their contents away...but that just isn't going to happen i'm afraid.}

max hasn't thrown up since saturday night so it's been almost a week. hallelujah.

and since then, he has discovered that he can make the cheesiest smile. ever.

it is pretty much the funniest thing {even though i'm afraid that he has forgotten how to smile normally...}

see for youself:

{don't you love how we never take any pictures outside of his high chair?? that is pretty much the only place we can get him to sit still for longer than two seconds!}

it's hard to get mad at that little face.

{even when he decides that he no longer likes his crib and will ONLY sleep in our bed for his naps. or when we are trying to wean him from nursing...and he will screaaaaam until he gets what he wants. even then, it's hard to be mad. but, i am open to suggestions!}

the flu epidemic

phew. i'm pretty sure that ever since we stepped foot in our new home, we have been blessed with some awesome illness. the first week, max and i both got a nasty cold, complete with sneezing, coughing, and headaches galore.

little did i know, that was nothing in comparison to what the next week held for us.

allow me to give you a glimpse of our past week:

last sunday night: we were enjoying a delicious dinner of spaghetti, garlic stix, and salad, when max lost the entire contents of his stomach. alllllll of it came out. and it just didn't stop coming. i seriously had no idea that so much food could fit inside a tiny body. it completely caught us off guard, but we didn't think much of it. we cleaned him up, and danny decided to feed him some more while i was holding him. not a good idea. a few minutes later, all of that food was covering me. yummmmm.

that night, our poor little guy would wake up every twenty-thirty minutes to try to get a little more out. i have never seen him so completely exhausted and tired. it was extremely hard for both of us to see our little boy in so much pain, but there really wasn't anything we could do. danny slept on his floor the entire night {i had to move to the bed around 2 am} and was there with a towel the minute he heard max gagging. luckily, danny had monday off for labor day but we were all so exhausted, we didn't do a whole lot.

monday: i started feeling sick. no throwing up, but tons of nausea. awesome. on danny's day off he took care of not one, but TWO sick people. max threw up a little in the morning, but was pretty good the rest of the day.

tuesday: danny back to work...even though today was the day that danny felt sick. he is such a trooper. after being thrown up on twice, max and i laid in bed basically the entire day. i would feed max a few sips of pedialyte, and minutes later he would be asleep again. it broke my heart.

wednesday: a few gags, but i'm pretty sure we steered clear of vomit. however, his menu as of late has consisted of only pedialyte, toast, and banana's.

thursday: no throwing up, yayyyy!! we thought the worst was over...

friday: max did great until that evening when he threw up again!! booo. {probably too much sugar from jenny's wedding reception...}

saturday: max was back to his happy self, eating basically anything we would put on his tray. we still stayed away from anything super sugary + fatty but he seemed like he was doing great.

until right before bath time and he completely lost it. allllll over danny. i'm pretty sure everything that he consumed during the day was covering the bathroom floor. we were at my parents, so mom helped clean all of us up and then we stuck him in the bath were he proceeded to give himself a gigantic goose egg on his noggin. we sure are awesome parents, huh??

and today: i felt horrible again! max didn't throw up at all today {such a blessing} so danny took him to church while i rested and tried to catch up on lost sleep.

we've all been feeling a little bit better this evening but oh my goodness. i'm scared for what this week ahead holds! our house is still such a mess from trying to move in, and i have very little motivation to do anything. at. all.

so, i apologize for the downer of a post, but if you want to send tips/suggestions/encouragement my way, i wouldn't mind one bit!

...and we're back!

i'm sure all of you have been sitting at the edge of your seats waiting...and waiting for us to get back to updating our blog. right?? :)

well, either way, it's good to be back.

i feel like i have a LOT of catching up to do. so much has happened in the past few weeks {mostly good, but also plenty of bad...} but until i have the house in order, i am just going to leave you with a few adorable pictures of max. {because that's all you want anyways!}

he turned ELEVEN months a few weeks ago, and on the 26th of this month he is turning ONE.

i can't believe it!! life has completely changed since he entered this world, but we wouldn't have it any other way. he is my little day-brightener, my otter-pop sharer, my dog-lover, my open-mouth kisser, my little shadow, and i love him so much.

this past month max has:

learned how to make the ultimate cheese-ball smile

surfaced a SEVENTH tooth!

begun standing for seconds at a time without holding onto anything. {!!!}

learned how to crawl like a normal baby :)

mastered the art of getting into every possible dangerous thing in his sight

figured out that he can push the stroller around in circles all by himself

tried out the johnny-jumper

discovered the magnets on the fridge and the tupperware drawer

...and...

once again, stolen our hearts completely.

we love you maxwell!

peace out.

well, it has been fun guys...

but as desmond from LOST would say, "we'll see ya in another life, brotha."

we're moving in the morning!!! craziness. it hasn't really sunk in yet that we are going to be residing in the smallest town known to man...but hopefully we'll adjust ok :)

i'm 98% sure that we won't have internet connection at ALL {people down there don't even know what the internet is!} so it may be a while before we sign back on.

wish us luck!!!!

two buckeroos

during the month of august at thanksgiving point they have two dollar tuesdays, where you can go to any venue of theirs, for {you guessed it!} two bucks.

yesterday kim and i escaped with the babies for a little afternoon adventure...and it was a much needed break! {all of the home renovations lately have completely taken it out of me! remind me again why we wanted to buy a house...???}

we just bought a pass to stroll through the gardens, but our two dollars were well spent. we went through the children's gardens and saw hundreds of different flowers, plus lily pads, and waterfalls. max's favorite spot was the sand box. luckily, he didn't even try to eat the sand. something about being able to hold a shovel was pretty exciting to an eleven-month old boy like him.

{i had to show you the comparison between max + ellie and this childhood fav picture of mine by mary cassatt. isn't that the cutest???}

max and i in front of "noah's ark."

thanks kim for the fun afternoon, and the good chat in the car. i'm going to miss you!!

two years, baby!

today was our wedding anniversary...can you believe it has already been two years??

a LOT has happened since we entered the doors to the manti temple, but i wouldn't change a thing.

{because of the craziness of moving, i can't find actual wedding day pictures. these will have to suffice.}

amid all the paint fumes, splinters, sanders, and brushes, it was a pretty romantic day! :)

but seriously, life couldn't be better. i love you babe and am so glad that you asked me to marry you! what would life be life without you?? i don't even want to know.

daniel scott, thanks for making life so fun, for listening to my crazy fears, for telling me i'm beautiful, and for being such a wonderful husband.

xoxo.