4th Anniversary

So, I'm a little late in blogging about this, but we had such a great anniversary! In years past, we've always taken a long weekend to go on a little trip, but I knew that wouldn't be possible this year because of our little guy. We settled for an overnight trip, and it ended up being so much fun!

We drove up near Tehachapi to Rankin Ranch. I would highly recommend it, especially for a family vacation. I thought we'd go on a horse ride, and then just kind of hang out. I bought a new book thinking that I'd finish it while we were there, but there was so much to do.
We relaxed in their lovely pool,

Played shuffleboard,

Had a fantastic "steak fry" dinner,

Participated in their evening "horse race" (the kids at the ranch made stick horses, the adults got to bet fake money, and the horse that gets to move forward is determined by the roll of the dice. Nic won the most money and got a tee shirt),

And looked at the beautiful night sky in the hot tub, until we had a bunch of kids come join us :)

In the morning, we headed out on our horse ride. I was nervous because I hadn't been on a horse in a long time. I had fun, and it wasn't scary, but my butt was sore afterwards!

I impressed Nic with my archery skills. I got a few bulls eyes. It blew his mind.

We had to head home after lunch, but even the driving was fun. We realized on the way home that we hadn't turned on the radio at all on the way there or the way home. We were just having a great time talking.
I am so lucky to be married to such a wonderful man. It was so great to spend some time relaxing with just him. It always reminds me that he is totally my best friend. Even though it was only one night, I felt so refreshed, but by the time we got home I was definitely missing my little Max!

11 Months Old

Today, Max is 11 months old.

It is really hard to get a good picture of Max now because he's so mobile. The minute I get the camera out, he's on my lap. It makes for lots of pictures like this:

He can now walk all the way across a room. He still prefers to crawl for long distances, though.

He stayed overnight without his us for the first time this month, and he didn't even cry the whole time. My parents said he was pretty cheery. :)

He enjoys trying to climb on everything. He uses anything he can find as a step stool.

I've been trying to teach him more baby signs, but he finds that "eat" and "more" seem to get him what he wants.

He is very playful, loving, active, and curious.

I love this kid!

First Steps and Cute Videos

Max took his first steps on the Fourth of July. He'd become an expert on standing on his own, and was experimenting with taking steps. He was only ever able to get one step in before falling. Nic, Max, and I were all playing together in Max's room, and Max took about five steps. It was so nice that Nic got to be there to witness it. It was so cool, and he's been practicing ever since then. He's not a full-fledged walker yet, but that's just around the corner. I tried to get a video of him trying to walk today, but we were having a rough day so all I could get was a lot of whining.

So, I thought I'd share a couple of other cute videos, instead.

Max seriously loves to wrestle me. He is such a good body slammer. :)

Here is Max demonstrating some of his baby sign language. He loved the cherries and kept asking for "more".

Fourth of July

I love holiday weekends when I have more time to hang out with my sweetie! It is always nice to have an extra Saturday. On Friday, we went down to visit Nic's dad who just got back from a fabulous trip to Switzerland and Croatia. Max loved playing in the jets at the pool with his Grandpa.

Then, on Saturday, Max was so excited about the fourth of July that he woke up really early and during the night, too. So, while we planned on going to the pancake breakfast at church, we ended up all taking a nap around that time. We did get some yummy doughnuts before we conked out, though.
Once we were refreshed, we headed out to the Corona Fourth of July Parade. I am just so delighted that our town has a parade. There were a lot of people there, and it is really cute. I was afraid that Max wouldn't like the noise (there were a lot of sirens and honking). He didn't cry, but he wasn't impressed by the parade either. We couldn't get him to crack a smile for any of the pictures.

In the afternoon, my parents came over and we had a rousing game of Bocce Ball. I'd never played before, and it was really fun. I think if we'd played according to the regulations, I would be terrible, but on a smaller backyard court, I did alright. Nic was especially impressed with my overhand throwing technique.

Afterwards, we had a great barbeque--- at Wood Ranch Grill. No work or clean up! Then my parents headed home. We put our little guy in bed and resigned ourselves to missing the fireworks, but when we could hear them going off we checked to see if we could see any of them. It wasn't a great view, but we could see them. It was so nice to enjoy them together without even having to leave the house!