8 Weeks Old-Merry Christmas!

Max had a great time in Texas. I think he really liked being held by Grandma and Papa every night. Saturday, he got to meet most of the Fossati family. Many of them came over to my parents’ house to celebrate an early Christmas. There was lots of food, conversation and passing the baby around. It was a big day for Max, but he pretty much slept through most of it. We went on Sunday to see Ryan and Catherine’s (my cousins) new house in Goliad and got to visit with them and my aunt and uncle some more. We then took Max to visit his Great-Grandma in Refugio, Mama (my Dad’s mom). It was nice to see her and she was so excited. My Aunt Sissie and cousin Lora Jean also came by to meet him too! That night, we had Christmas with my family. It was a good time - Cora and Wyatt kept us entertained and helped us all open our presents. It was a long day, but we had to pack up and get ready for the trip back to Iowa. We got a little later of a start on Monday, but it all turned out well. We made it up to Dallas to have an early dinner with some friends and then drove for a few more hours. We made it just north of Oklahoma City and got a hotel for the night. Max did good in the hotel too. He is such a great baby! And it was nice to stop there so that we didn’t have as long of a day on Tuesday in the car. We were anxious to get home as there was a winter storm headed our way. We thought that we would go through it on the way home, but we were able to get just a few miles from home before it started misting. Once we got home, I quickly ran to the store because we didn’t have anything to eat in the house and we needed to get stuff for our Christmas Eve dinner. We all had a hard time winding down that night, but we finally did and slept well. On Wednesday, Eric was going to go get trash tags, but the driveway was iced over, so we stayed in all day that day as well as on Christmas Eve. I was busy baking and cooking. I made Texas Trash, cut out cookies, fudge, saltine toffee and little pretzel caramel candies. Lots of yummy treats for everyone! Christmas morning came this morning and we woke up to rain that then turned to snow. The temperature was dropping below freezing and we were starting to wonder if we were going to make it to Marion. We decided that we wouldn’t try to get out on the highway. We also didn’t want to get Max out in the wet cold...he’s just getting over a stuffy nose and we didn’t want him to have a relapse, so instead, we are going to try tomorrow to go to Eric’s mom’s house and celebrate Christmas with his family. But, Grandma and Grandpa Wilbanks did get out and stopped by the house for awhile for a visit. It was nice to see them...it’s been awhile. So, now, we are just relaxing inside in the warm house. Eric is downstairs playing one of his new video games and Max and I are upstairs watching my Harry Potter movie!
It was great to see everyone in Texas. We wish we could have seen more of our friends, but it just seems like time goes by so fast when we are down there. The days just fill up! I’m sure we’ll be back down in the summer time! We are wishing you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! 2009 has been a wonderful year for our family and I know that it will only get better with 2010!

7 Weeks Old

We have been in Texas this week and Max has been keeping up with all the activities like a champ. We got to Grandma and Papa’s house last Saturday evening and were greeted by Wyatt, Cora, Doug and Mary. It was their first time to see and meet Mr. Max and it was very exciting for everyone. Wyatt loves his little cousin and is the first to give him hugs and kisses when they come over-he even helped me give Max a bath the other night. Cora loves him too, she is generally just too busy to stop and pay much attention to him.  On Sunday, we went over and saw GG and Grandaddy. They were excited to see him too. On Tuesday, we all went to see Wyatt in his Christmas program at school (Max slept through the whole thing) and then we got to go eat at Las Palmas...it was so yummy! On Wednesday, we all went to see Santa. Max did great. Woke up just before he sat on Santa’s lap and took pretty pictures. It’s been an exciting week. On Saturday, we are going to have an early Christmas celebration with my family. It will be nice to see everyone and I’m sure it will wear Max out so hopefully, he will sleep well that night. Here are some highlights from our trip so far. 7 weeks has gone by so fast! We have lots of pictures so far, so enjoy them. There will be a lot more next week!

6 Weeks Old

Max’s 6th week was filled with excitement. We had a little photo session to get a picture to send out with our Christmas card. Max was so cute and I got more pictures than I could send. I love how expressive he is in his pictures. I’ll put a few of my favorites here so everyone can see.  We got our first winter storm in Iowa that dumped about 8 inches of snow at our house. It was really pretty to see the snow falling and we even watched as Eric broke in the new snow blower to clear the driveway and sidewalks around our house. The temperature dropped down to the single digits too. It was plenty cold outside, but we stayed nice and warm inside next to the fire. We were concerned because we were planning on leaving on our trip today and weren’t sure if the roads would be cleared of all of the ice and snow. We decided to start the trip anyway. We didn’t leave as early as we normally do...waited for the sun to come up and well, with a newborn (and Eric) there were some delays! :D But, we got on the road and they weren’t as bad as Eric had thought that they would be. The trip didn’t seem to drag on and on like it sometimes does. It was long, but it went by fairly quick. Max did a good job. He got a little fussy at a few times, but that’s understandable. We made sure to stop and let him get out of that car seat to stretch his legs. It was funny because he and I both fell asleep in the backseat and when I woke up, he was wide awake just looking around. He is such a good baby and I love him so much. Eric pushed through and we made it all the way to Dallas. With all of the stops it was about a 1 hour day for us, but our good friend Lonnie was ready for us and had borrowed a crib for Max and we went right to sleep and was able to rest well. So, our adventure continues tomorrow and we are going to head further south to Victoria to see the family. We are excited and tired, but it will be good to reach our destination and have some time to rest. Until next week...

5 Weeks Old

Another week has gone by and Max is getting bigger. Every morning I pick him up and he gets heavier every time. He is really chunking up. We took him to his one month check-up on Monday and he weighed 9 pounds, 10 ounces and was 22 inches long. I was shocked at how much longer he is now than when he was born. The nurse seemed to think that they didn’t measure him right in the hospital, but I believe that he has grown a few inches. One of our milestones this week is that we had to retire our favorite pair of pajamas. I was putting him in the other night and Eric said they were too small. I said they weren’t but once I got them on really good, I saw that they were getting pretty tight. He used to curl his legs up inside his pajamas and now he can barely stretch his legs out in them. He is growing! But, even with him growing out of some clothes, he is growing into others.  He’s also starting to really focus on things too. And, we are starting to see more of a personality develop and more funny sounds coming from him. My favorite is when he is nursing and he lets out the cutest little sighs. He is so precious!

We are looking forward to our trip to Texas. This time next week, we’ll be on the road headed south. We went to eat lunch today and while we were driving, I told Eric that it was weird to think that there was more snow in South Texas today than there is here in Iowa. It is plenty cold here though. Hopefully, it will warm back up by the time we get down there...I want warm weather!

Eric was home with us again this week. He has to go back to work next week though. It was so great having family time together, but it will be good for all of us to get back into some sort of a routine instead of staying in bed half the day and then being up all night. Max has enjoyed some good, quality snuggle time with Daddy though (see pictures below).

We got our Christmas tree put up and watched a holiday favorite “Christmas Vacation”! We are looking forward to Max’s first Christmas, spending time with the family and starting some new traditions of our own. Enjoy the pictures...next week we might be late in posting our weekly update as we will be making our way south, but we will post, so check back!

4 Weeks Old

Wow! Four weeks! Our little boy is growing so fast! I know I say that every week, but these past two weeks, he really has been filling out. I noticed today that his newborn pajamas are getting smaller on him. He is also getting stronger. You’ll notice in a picture below him holding his head up. HIs neck is getting strong and he will pick up his head and turn it over. It is so amazing to watch all of these developments.  We took Max out last Saturday night for his first restaurant trip. We went to eat pizza at Zoey’s in Marion. While we were there, we went to visit Grandma and Grandpa Ellingson and Aunt Susan, Uncle Dwight, Ellie and Sophie. It was a nice evening out and Max slept pretty much the whole time. This week has been great because Eric has been home and we have been able to just hang out as a family.
On Thanksgiving, we just stayed put at home. Eric and Max let me sleep in till noon and Eric had homemade waffles and whipped cream for me when I got up. I am so thankful for my wonderful family. I feel like I had to wait so long to find Eric, but I am so happy. Our house is filled with so much love. We had a nice little dinner on Thanksgiving...just the 3 of us.
We went to Eric’s mom’s house today and celebrated Thanksgiving with his brothers and sister. It was nice to have everyone there together.  Now we are just relaxing at home and looking forward to another week of being home together and planning our trip to Texas. We take Max in for his one month checkup on Monday...I’m so anxious to see how much weight he has gained...stay tuned for next week! :D

3 Weeks Old

Wow! Three weeks has gone by so fast! Max is getting so much bigger each day. Eric and I can’t believe how much he’s grown since he was born. He must be going through his first growth spurt. He wants to eat more often during the day, so he is awake a little more. He is still sleeping well at night. We had one night this week without much sleep, but we were able to make up for it the next day. We went to our last class on Wednesday night to share our birth story and show off our beautiful baby to all of the other couples. It was nice to get out. Max slept the entire time. Couldn’t be bothered to wake up and look around at everything. Other than that, it’s been a pretty quiet week for us. Eric was sick at the beginning of the week. He had a fever and was quarantined to sleeping in the guest room and would spend his days down in the basement so that he wouldn’t get the rest of us sick. He is feeling much better and even was able to come back to our bedroom last night. It is nice to know that I will have help once again with diaper changes and other things around the house. And even though he was sick half of the week, he was still able to be very productive at work and will finally get to take time off next week. We will get some good family time in together...I can’t wait!  My friend Becca came to visit us this week too. She brought lunch out and it was great to catch up with her. Today, Max and I went for a walk around the neighborhood. The sun finally came out and it warmed up enough, so we strolled around for about 30 minutes. Max slept the whole time, of course, but it felt so good to get out and move around for awhile. Fortunately, North Liberty has a great rec center with an indoor track that you can take your stroller on. So, even when it gets cold, we can still get out and get some exercise.
We’ll be staying here in Iowa for Thanksgiving and spending it with Eric’s family. We’re also going to be planning our trip to Texas next month. I cannot wait to take Max home and introduce him to the rest of his family. My niece Cora has taken to calling him ‘Cousin Smax’. Too cute! I think she and Wyatt are going to just love their baby cousin. I can’t wait to see them and everyone else. Here are a few pictures from this week. He mainly sleeps still, but I’m sure will start to become more active soon.