A lil 4th of July fun!

My brother n law Gregg, sister n law LuLu and their beautiful girls Laney and Linley came over to grill out with us Sat July 3rd! We had a GREAT time together!

Here are the kids enjoying a popsicle on the backporch! So cute!!!

After dinner my parents and Craig's parents joined us to have dessert and then go watch the BARTLETT FIREWORKS!! But first we started out with a few sparklers that Gregg and Lulu brought for the kids!

Let me just tell you these sparklers are NOTHING like the ones we played with as kids! They kept going out and didn't even work half the time! UGH!

Max still found them rather cool....boys and fire....lol

I was surprised how much he enjoyed it.....because his cousin Laney who is a year older didn't want anything to do with them! She tried a few times but them decided she didn't like them!

Time for the fireworks! It is so nice that we can lay out in the yard and see them!

Thanks Bartlett!! Notice my son is still attached to his weedeater...LOL!

I wish everyone could have been there to see Laney's facial expressions! They were PRICELESS!!!

She kept saying "they gonna get me"..."they gonna get me"...

Then Laney was hugging on Max...just in case he was scared too....Max told Laney "I okay Laney, I okay....we all started cracking up! Too funny!

Sitting with Mommy!

Max wasn't as into the fireworks as he was last year....well at first anyways...

Max and Daddy watching the fireworks together.....so serious....

Here is sweet lil Laney being silly again! She said "too loud"! I asked her if she needed ear plugs and she said "yes"! ha! ha!

Sweet sisters laying together! So cute!

Max really got into the fireworks by the time the finial hit!

WOW!!!

Max kept saying "oh wow!"

So beautiful!

It was nice to be able to share the fireworks and fun with some of my family! Can't wait till next year when I can enjoy it a little more!! It will be hard to believe that next year our lil girl Emery will be sitting there with us enjoying the fireworks! SO EXCITING!!!

Max got Tubes!

Here we are bright and early headed to LeBonheur East Surgery Center for Max's surgery to get tubes! We had to be at the surgery center at 7am! Max didn't seem to mind that we woke him up at 6:30 and threw him in the car! Such a good little boy!

We didn't have to wait long before we headed back to triage!

Max was a little bit nervous. He didn't want to leave our arms, so he wasn't too excited about getting his weight and O2 saturation taken. He warmed up quickly once the nurse gave him the okay to play with the scale! And of course he had his trusty "b" and "sassy"!

Okay so how serious do my boys look! LOL! I told him to smile and he was like this is not a time to smile....ha! I think Craig was a little nervous!!! Max really didn't want to get down after we changed him into the gown.....he wasn't quite sure what was going on!

We had to go check out the squirrels and birds everyone had been talking about! It was actually pretty cool to watch the squirrels and birds eating and playing!

Max finally got down to play with his buddy Noah that was getting tubes too! Thanks Noah for making Max realize it was okay to get down and play! Noah seemed so calm and really was having a good time!

Noah got called back pretty quick so they really didn't get to play...but Max seemed to enjoy all the fun things they had for them to do!

I mean seriously how cute does he look in his gown and footies! Trust me I hope to NEVER seem him in this attire again but he does look super cute!

It wasn't long before we headed back too! Max got to go through the "bunny tunnel" before going back to surgery. There were lots and lots of toys to pick from! Max first grabbed a bottle of bubbles, took out his pacy or "sassy", and attempted to drink them! HA! I guess he was a little thirsty! He actually ended up picking a little golf club set! Then we gave our hugs and kisses and the nurse took him! He went to the nurse without a problem, we were very surprised!

As soon as the doors shut and Max looked back to realize "hey where did my mommy and daddy go...." that is when I heard my sweet little boy's cry! Poor baby! I felt so sorry for him! I wanted to run back there and be by his side so he wouldn't have to be scared....:(

About 10-15min later we were holding our baby boy in recovery! Dr. Naidu the ENT said everything went great! Max was very disoriented and upset after surgery. He was crying off and on for about 45 min. Made his mommy and daddy so sad! I hated to see him so upset! However, we got discharged pretty quick and we headed home! Once home Max ate some crackers and drank some sprite. He just hung out on the couch with me for a little while....

Then....he was UP and PLAYING!! It was great to see him up and moving around so quickly! I am just amazed how kids bounce back so quickly like nothing ever happened!

He played with his new golf set for quite awhile!

Our lil golfer!

Max got his play on and then went down for a nap! He slept for a little over 3hrs! He was a tired little boy! He woke up very happy! He was pretty much normal the rest of the night. We are so very thankful and blessed that God took care of our son during his surgery! The entire experience really was a good one and I pray that we will not have to do the "surgery" scene with Max again!

Max is a BIG 2 year old!

Here is our little boy over the past 2 yrs! Check out how much he has changed! Our little boy is growing up so fast before our eyes....

Max at just 1 week! I can't believe how SMALL he is! He is wearing his take home outfit which was a preemie size!

Max at 3 months!

Max at 6 months!

Max at 9 months!

Max at 1 year!

Max at his 1st bday party! One of my favorite pics of him!

Max at 15 months! Our little book lover!

Max at 18 months!

Max at 20 months! Another one of my favorite pics...showing off that he is going to be a big brother!!

And Max at 2 yrs!! Busy..busy...busy...

Another shot at 2 yrs! I couldn't get any great chair pics...imagine that...but I thought this one really shows how BIG he is now! His little legs are almost to the end of the chair!!!

Just unbelieveable how much our little man has changed in the past 2 yrs! He is truly a blessing to our family! I will post his 2 year stats after his 2 year checkup next week! Check back soon!

Happy 2nd Birthday, Max!!!

Our BIG 2 year old BIRTHDAY BOY woke up about 8 this morning and we got in the car to go and get DOUGHNUTS!!!

Max wanted doughnut holes! He was very excited!!! I will have to make him a yummy breakfast of pancakes later....that is his favorite breakfast food!

Max couldn't wait till we got home! He kept saying "I want eat my doughnuts". I couldn't resist! I handed him the bag! I just love this picture below he is looking at me like "what momma?"

Digging in!!!

That a way to do it Max...smash it in!!!

I love how he has his eyes closed in this picture! He is really enjoying his doughnut holes.

How funny is this expression....

He ate a total of 8 doughnut holes!! He usually eats like 2 or 3. WOW!!

We gave Max his chair and a few books! I got this chair at the Pottery Barn outlet for like 70 bucks!! What a deal! I got it like 4 or 5 months ago and have been hiding it for his bday! We are waiting to give him his big gift when we do cake and ice cream with the family in a few weeks! I can't wait! I think I may be more excited about his gift than he will be....lol.

He was VERY excited about his chair and books!

He threw all the books out and sat in his chair. Then he picked them back up and started reading! This boy LOVES him some books!!

Nana and Papa came by for a quick visit to bring Max a bday present!

Max was quite HAPPY with his new weedeater!! Now he has one like his buddy Cooper! I will say I didn't know that a toy weedeater could make a little boy so happy!!

Shortly after lunch Max and Craig headed to cousin Laney's birthday party at Rivercity Gymnastics! They had a BLAST! Craig said he played hard! Got to see a lot of family and friends and enjoy some birthday cake with Laney!! So FUN!! Max even got a birthday present from his Aunt Lulu and Uncle Gregg at the birthday party! Wish I could have been there to celebrate with Laney!

Craig went and got Max's favorite food at Pei Wei!!

This boy LOVES him some "wice"! Especially chicken fried rice in a takeout container! LOL!

YUMMY!

There he goes closing his eyes again....must be some good "wice"! I have no idea how much rice he ate but all I know is he kept asking for more! What a healthy appetite he has today!

After dinner we stripped down to get a bath and Max decided he wanted to go outside! So we let him for a little! He of course had to take his weedeater too!

He went to town weedeating the grass, shrubs, sidewalk.....you name it!

Here he is making such good sound effects! :)

Here is Max's bday dessert from Chili's! Craig grabbed this on the way home from Pei Wei. I wanted to be able to sing Happy Birthday to Max on his actual Birthday! The sad thing is I didn't have any candles! BOO!

Max loved us singing to him, after we were done he would say more! So adorable! He even wanted us to sing Happy Birthday to "pooper" his good buddy! Such a sweet boy! (Cooper had his birthday exactly a week ago today!) Max took about one bite of his dessert and told us he was "all done"! Then he proceeded to clap for himself! So funny! He just cracks me up sometimes. He ate so much "wice" at dinner I don't think his belly had much room for cake. Of course he isn't much for sweets unless it is candy or "nack nacks" (fruit snacks).

He quickly headed to the playroom to show me the tractor he got from Aunt Lulu and Uncle Gregg for his birthday! Thanks Gregg and Lulu! You were so sweet to think of Max today!
If you look closely you can see Max's hand still on the weedeater! Ha!!

Max insisted "i do it"! He wanted to get it out of the package all by himself. After a few minutes of working on it he let momma do it.

Max had fun playing with the tractor with his daddy!

Here are all his goodies he got today! He even got 2 dollars from his Aunt Regina! What a GREAT birthday!!!

I still can't believe our baby boy is now a BIG 2 year old! I mean really where has the time gone! I was really worried that today wasn't going to be special for Max since I am on bedrest. But I think overall it turned out to be a wonderful day! Can't say we ate very healthy on his birthday since we ate out for breakfast and dinner :) but I wanted Max to have food that he liked and since I couldn't stand and cook this was the next best thing!! We are truly blessed to be able to share this day with our son and for the past 2 years! I can only pray for many many more years with our precious little boy! Happy Birthday son! Your mommy and daddy love you more than you will EVER know!!!