Grandpa's Birthday!

Grandpa has been visiting us this week from Corpus Christie. Max is having fun chasing him and making him read his favorite books. I don’t think Grandpa seems to mind though. We were extra excited to be able to spend his 78th birthday with him. Tommy made us all a wonderful dinner and then we had cake for Grandpa. Max wasn’t sure what to make of the candles and us all singing. He was looking at us all kind of funny.





Grandpa also brought some old family photos with him. Those were really fun to look through. Especially when you see his baby pictures; Max looks sooo much like him! It’s crazy! I guess Max is a Rowell, through and through … and those are some good genes.

Max's favorite activity

What is Max's favorite thing to do? Watch videos starring ... MAX! He's our little ego maniac. I have to say, it comes in quite handy. Changing a diaper and Max is a wiggle worm? Turn on a video and he's obsessed with watching and laughing at himself. Pretty dang funny. He has now learned the sign for "please". So, he stands in front of the computer, points at it, and makes the "please" sign. Oh, well ... at least he'll be a polite ego maniac!

Max and Jax .... Max's first ice cream cone

www.jax-creations.com

Max and Jax got to meet for ice cream! I got to meet Jackie's new precious boy, Charlie too. What a darling. I just wanted to cuddle him up.

Max was very serious at this ice cream shop. He had Jackie dancing on the sidewalk trying to get him to smile. It was fun for passers by too. :)

Jackie is such a wonderful photographer! I can't recommend her highly enough. Check out her web sites and see her art!

http://www.jaxcreations.blogspot.com/






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www.jax-creations.com

cha cha changes ....

such a happy guy




tough guy look



Max is changing! He's growing soooo fast! You can see the little boy in him coming out and the baby fading away. That went too quickly. But, he just keeps getting better and more fun all the time. He loves to give kisses, dancing, running in the yard, chasing the cat, etc. He is now tall enough so it's not just turning the light switch off, it's on too! On, off, on, off, on, off ....

Other favorite past times include: dumping the dogs' water dish outside, climbing on furniture, putting rocks in buckets - dumping them out and starting all over again, turning on/off TV/Dish, pulling all the books off the book shelf, rearranging furniture and trying to plug/unplug all wires and cords. Completely obsessed with watching videos of himself. Funny stuff!

He's got some serious molars coming in so he's always got his fingers in his mouth. He's taking it all pretty well, although he has woken up the last couple of nights. which is unusual. Hopefully he's feeling better soon.

Other than that, it's been the best summer ever! We have another visitor coming out soon ... Grandpa Tom from Corpus. We can't wait for him to be here!! We're hoping to pull off a painting project before he arrives. There ought to be some good blog posts on that! Are we crazy to try to pain the downstairs with a 1 1/2 year old? Probably!



playing at the lake with Daddy.



Exploring the yard.

Grandpops is a great playmate!

Max is having a wonderful time with all the visitors this summer. Grandpops is in town this week and having a “big” playmate around is lots of fun!



Max is also learning how to give kisses … just when you think he couldn’t get any cuter! He hasn’t learned to pucker yet, so he just comes after you with a big wide open mouth. Pretty funny site.



We went to the Ice House in Hope and had some great pizza, but the highlight was the bongos they had. Max and Grandpops were getting their groovy on and I think Max has got the rhythm going!

Summer guests: Part I

We’re having summer guests and it’s awesome!! Our families live so far away that we get really excited when it’s time for visitors. There was some great coordination to get Grandpa and Mema out here at the same time the Glendenning Family came through town. Candy, Andrew, Liam and Logan stayed with us for a few days, visiting from Redlands, Ca. They were pretty happy to have some cool weather and a soft bed to sleep in between camping trips.




Candy had a trunk show for her artwork, “Candied Fabrics”. We had a bunch of friends over, some wine and yummy snacks… it was a great time. It was also great fun to hang out with their two darling boys. Max really loved checking out his cousins and seemed pleased to have more “short people” around.





Tommy to Max to city beach with Candy and Logan. Max was still a little nervous of the water, but let Tommy put some on him with his hands. Progress.



Max loves checking out Grandpa and his beard too. He was a little stand off-ish at first, but he’s warmed up quite a bit and has been enjoying being silly with Grandpa. Mema, as always, is a huge help. She made some of our favorites: spaghetti with meatballs and potato salad. (not to be eaten at the same time.) She hops right in to clean up dishes or do laundry. I think I’ll keep her and not let her go home. LOL

4th of July

We just had a total blast walking in the 4th of July parade in downtown Sandpoint. Coldwater Creek had a group walking and it was fun to join in. We got to hang out with Uncle Brian and even saw Max's best friend, Chloe! It was super fun ... So much fun for Max, that he slept through most of it.

It really could have gone either way ... 90 degrees? ... nap time? I figured he'd have a melt down or crash. I much preferred the nap! We had Daddy on back up patrol with emergency diaper bag. He was prepared to rescue Max if he flipped and decided he was over being in the parade.

Christmas in June

Miss Linda went through her darling son, Julian’s things and sent THREE boxes of stuff for Max! The boxes were filled with awesome clothes and all kinds of fun toys! Max was having a blast going through the boxes, flinging clothes around, trying on hats and playing with his new toys. It was like Christmas all over again. Thank you Linda, David and Julian for blessing Max in such a great way!! He will get tons of enjoyment out of all his new loot! Love you!

He's a shredder!

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Max has these moments where he's totally into shredding the phone book. We generally like it because he's quiet and in one place so we can get something done for 5 minutes. He'll sit in the corner, pull out the phone book and rip out a page. Then he'll start tearing the page lengthwise into long strips that he just makes skinnier with ever tear. He can spend up to 20 minutes in his confetti manufacturing process! We always pounce on the opportunity to have free hands and clean up the mess later. Just nobody ask me for a phone number, we probably don't have it anymore! :-)

Happy Father's Day

So you're probably wondering, "where is the father in father's day pictures?" ... Well, our gift to daddy was Max time with mamma so he could work on the vegetable garden.

Max and mamma had fun: a trip to CDA, running around in the yard, playing outside, and of coarse ... a photo session.

Happy Father's Day, Tommy! You're an outstanding father and the unconditional love and patience you show in taking care of Max every day is the biggest blessing to our family! We love you more than words could ever express!

2 great new things … Dancing and Praying!

Max has discovered DANCING! What fun! He just starts busting a move when he hears music, sometimes from the radio, sometimes from his toys. He gets even more enjoyment out of it if we dance with him!

Every time I think, he’s just as cute and as fun as he could possibly ever be …. He does something like this that just makes him even more of a joy!




Max dancing to Tobymac




Max and his prayer partner

Our friend Daphne gave Max this great prayer doll that he has just now discovered. Max LOVES him! He goes around pressing his belly and smiling while the doll recites the prayer. He’s learning to say, “Amen”. The other night, I put him to bed with his prayer partner. Needless to say, that wasn’t the smartest thing. I heard this prayer over the baby monitor for about an hour. Just when you would think he was sleeping, you’d hear the prayer start up again. It started to get a little creepy. LOL. But it sure is precious to see him get so happy when he hears the prayer and his version of “Amen”.

Come Sail Away

Ok - not a sail boat ... but a boat none the less ...

We had all kinds of fun this weekend, including taking Max on his maiden voyage on a boat! Jennifer and Chloe invited us to take a cruise on Lake Pend Oreille. Pretty adventurous for two moms and no boys to help hold the babies!

Jennifer is a boat master and I was super impressed with her skills. It was a beautiful day and really cool to be out on the lake. Come to think of it, it was my maiden voyage on Lake Pend Oreille too.Max was a little over heated with the cheap life jacket that mama bought him. We need to exchange it for one that breathes better; Max was a little inferno! Once we got cruising, the breeze helped mellow him out. You can tell from this pic that he looks a little flush.

Jennifer was very well prepared with snacks and some beer and wine. But because we were juggling babies, we didn’t get to partake in cocktails. I guess boys come in handy sometimes. Next cruise, we’ll have to bring the Dads!

Thank you soooo much Jennifer! It was great fun and we can’t wait for our next adventure!

and the winner is? Max with a head butt!

There is nothing Max loves more than wrestling on the floor with Daddy! Sometimes, Max even wins …. even if it’s a low blow head butt at the end of the game.

Art from cousin Kendyll

Cousin Kendyll made this great picture for Max! He LOVES it!! We hung it on his bedroom door. Thank you, Kendyll! We love and miss you. Can't wait to see you at Christmas!

North Idaho for "pool"

I think we might start playing the wash board and spoons over here soon!

Memorial Day 2009

What a perfect weekend! The weather was warm and sunny and all was beautiful in Sandpoint! We got a lot of stuff done around the house and did some relaxing and playing too.

Max got the chance to try out the cool bike trailer that a friend loaned to us. He was a little hesitant about the helmet, but seemed to enjoy the ride, even on our bumpy dirt road. I think he'd really dig a cruise along a nice smooth bike path. We're gonna need to invest in a bike trailer for ourselves.

The helmet is black with flames...very cool! And, because Max has the biggest head in the world, it's a helmet that is for a 5 year old! We tried on 3+ and it was too small for his melon! So, the next size was 5+! He's gonna be so smart!

Bookworm

Max is at such a great age. He makes us laugh all the time. He’s always got some new thing that he’s fascinated with. His latest is how much he loves books. He’s got two that are his favorites: “Mr. Brown Can Moo, Can You?” and “Where is Baby’s Belly Button?”. He will come running up to you with one of these books in his hands and make you read it over and over again. He knows it well enough that he knows when it’s time to turn the page. He also has a part that he’s not so fond of that he tries to skip every time. It’s so cute; I can’t stand it. Our marvelous Max!!

Thank you Auntie Cindy and Shannon and Diana for the great books!! :-)

Springtime in Sandpoint!

Spring time has finally hit Sandpoint! The grass is green, the flowers have their buds starting and all the natives have pink skin because of sunburn and being exposed after the winter hibernation!

Max is so enjoying running around in his yard. Late yesterday afternoon, he was running around, no pants and barefoot. He loved the cool grass on his feet! I think we just need to let him run even more so that he crashes hard and bedtime is easier! LOL.