we survived week one!

tummy time!  max turned his head from side to side and started to push up with his feet.  good job little guy!

thank you to aunt amy and uncle justin for the fun elmo stickers for ella!

 max is one week old already!  

'max'ed out with love

what a crazy week and a half.  two weekends ago, breanna came to visit for a few days while in phoenix and tucson for business.  ella had a great time with auntie BB as always - we went to an american indian art festival and had lunch on the U of A campus.  

last tuesday, i woke up extremely nauseous.  auntie elaine graciously made the trip down to tucson just in case.  she arrived at our house at 2:30 in the afternoon and i began having contractions at 4:30.  when roger got home from work, we got ready to leave for the hospital.

it was an extremely long night - and they were still unsure if i was actually in labor or not.  at 7:30 a.m. on wednesday, the doctor determined the baby was coming that day - almost 3 weeks early.  yay!!  the hospital, doctors and nurses were fabulous and maxwell roger bissmeyer made his debut at 4:29 p.m. on wednesday, february 22nd, weighing in at 7 pounds, 12.1 ounces and measuring 19 inches long.

max shares his birthday with his auntie rachel and february 22nd also marked the 7 year anniversary since my first date with roger.

auntie BB spent another weekend with us before heading back to madison - soooo glad she was able to meet max!!

ready to go home.  ready for roger and i not to be stuck in a hospital room all day.  ;-)

uncle norm and alan joined us from phoenix.  we inadvertently started a new tradition of having a baby and the first day home hosting a dinner and sleepover.  loved it!

max's first bath

i was wrong.  max is asian roger.  

he already found his thumb!!  he's so strong already, holding his head up and pushing himself up. 

our first family pic (don't know why the pictures are out of order)

ella holding max for the first time.  she is sooo good with him - she loves giving him kisses and hugs.

gigi's here to stay!  for a month anyway.  thanks for all of your help so far mom - we love you!

all you need is love

happy valentine's day to my 2 favorite people.  ella worked with paint, glue and confetti to make a valentine for her daddy.

the beautiful orchids from my valentine

as we get closer and closer (hopefully, given my level of discomfort at this time) to having a new baby, we are realizing these are the last few weeks (or days!) with just ella.  as excited as we are, we have loved our time with the 3 of us.  ella baby: you have been the sweetest little girl and we could not love you more.  

p.s.  it takes approximately 6 weeks for your blood to thin.  yesterday was the first day that it was not sunny and 65+ degrees.  it was 55 and rainy.  as soon as we got home from the learning garden, we turned up the heat, put on sweaters, and stayed indoors for the remainder of the day.  :-(

on our way to our 3rd house in less than 18 months

we had a fabulous saturday with auntie elaine, uncle norm and alan who came to visit us from phoenix!! after lunch, we went to see the site of our new house (paperwork is all signed and construction should start on our new house at the end of the month!!!!), and then we came back and grilled pizzas.

thanks for visiting us - we had a great time with you guys!

friday at the museum

today we headed to the tucson children's museum - it was pretty cute!

they had a little play and story time for toddlers so ella and daddy worked on a craft together.

ella's green thumb - nana and daddy are proud

ella brushing the teeth of the most gigantic mouth ever

ella and daddy's fort

our puppet show  :-)

yay for civilization (just kidding, roger)

ok, ok, no more jokes on my part about phoenix being civilization.  but yesterday, we had a great day meeting up with jeanne and picking up a few things for baby-to-be!!

how to make breakfast per a 22 month old

it's been a long week stuck inside the house - we all had colds.  :-(

yesterday, i got schooled in how to make breakfast.

me: ella, do you want waffles for breakfast?

ella: no.  cheerios.

me:  ok. [get the box of cheerios out of the pantry]

ella: [pointing to correct cabinet] bowl.  [pointing to refrigerator] milk.  [pointing to correct drawer] spoon.

me:  thanks, ella.  here you go.  [sit ella down with her cheerios while i make myself waffles]

ella: no cheerios.

me: what do you want then?

ella: waffles.

thank you to nana for the fun art supplies!!  i did hide the paint through...