Road Trippin'

Long time no post! I won't even try to make excuses for my total blog slackerness. It does feel like we've been on the road since October, even though we've also been snowed in a few times during those months. Cincinnati saw a nice hint of Spring over the weekend, so our piles of snow and ice have all but melted away. We're ready for Spring, but that dang groundhog seems to have another thing in mind. And, since we used his name in vain about a thousand times in Kaz ("every day, the same thing over and over again, just like the movie Groundhog's Day"), I'm pretty sure he's out to get us.

Before I jump into lots of pictures to document where the heck we've been these last few weeks, I must humbly thank my friend Susan and her family for the nice shout-out of the Lemonade Award variety. Susan and family welcomed Leeza Grace to their family last year. Susan waited and waited and waited to travel to Kazakhstan for her daughter, and then as she was stepping on the plane, her US-based agency went out of business! Adopting internationally is stressful enough -- even when you can be in contact with your agency every single day -- but it's off the charts stressful if your agency tanks as you're headed to Kazakhstan. Maybe Susan cried or freaked out or asked God, "what's up?!", but you would never have known it from her amazing blog entries and emails during her journey. She just got on that plane, plopped herself in Kaz, and stayed for almost 3 months, never considering heading home without her daughter. So, given that she is the most positive person EVER, I am humbled and honored that she gifted forward the Lemonade Award, which she bestowed on her blogger friends who show a positive attitude, the whole "glass half full " mentality, and the whole lemon/lemonade gist. (You say lemonade, I say margaritas, but let's not get into semantics -- ha!). Anyway, thanks Susan, for the shout-out. I now need to gift it forward as well, and that post will follow soon!

It's not difficult to be optimistic when you share your home with the most joyous, happy, funny 2-year-old. Max wakes up happy and on most nights, goes to bed happy. He climbs the stairs at night, waving "night night" to anyone (and any pet) along the way, and he will generally go into his crib without much fuss after lots of reading and singing. (Side note: we're also in our very early stages of saying a bedtime prayer -- which generally causes him to break out into his own special version of Away in a Manger, which he does any time we talk about Jesus. It's adorable.) What's interesting now is that he will lay in his crib -- sometimes for up to two hours -- talking and singing to himself. I need to capture it on a recording or video. Glenn and I sit downstairs and listen on the monitor and just marvel at our little guy -- the little guy who did not speak or show an ounce of emotion during virtually all of our visits to the baby house. We can't figure out if he isn't tired or doesn't need alot of sleep or what, but we want to believe that he is just happy and comfortable, and that he is just chillin' and loving life. We could probably try cutting out his afternoon nap, but he naps at day care three days each week, and we ALL look forward to those naps on his other days at home. :-) If he doesn't have to get up for school, he'll sleep in until 9:30, which is great in our house of night owls.

He's really into music right now, and he could sit and watch Jack's Big Music Show or Backyardigans (both on Noggin, a completely unknown network to us before Max) for hours if we'd let him. This is also a new discovery -- just a few short weeks ago he would not even notice a video. As of his "two-year-old" doctor appointment last week, he weighs 26 pounds and he is 33 1/2 inches tall. He has gained a pound and has grown another inch since his appointment two months ago at the International Adoption Clinic. He continues to climb up the percentile charts in both height and weight -- he's hovering around the 15% range for height, and he's now in the 25th percentile for weight. Our doctors barely mention any of this -- they are so thrilled with his progress, and again, I only mention it as I know people like to follow the progress of children adopted from Kaz.

His primary care pediatrician concurs with the IAC that we should have his speech evaluated, so we will do that shortly. He babbles in multi-word sentences constantly now, but he still sounds like he's speaking Martian. We figure it can't hurt to have him evaluated, especially if the specialists can give us some additional ideas on how to help him. Just as I was fascinated to watch Children's Hospital test his hearing (which was perfect), it will be interesting to see how they will test his speech. He won't speak in front of strangers until he has really warmed up to them, so I can't wait to see how they get him to speak at all!

So, on to our road trip reports. We spent some time on Christmas Eve with Jessica and Tyler, and then we spent Christmas morning at home -- just Glenn, Max, and me. We really tried to keep things very simple, and it was a wonderful lazy day together. As I think back, I'm not sure that Max even made it out of his reindeer pajamas that day. :-)


We promised ourselves that Santa would not bring Max very many things, and I think we managed to keep it in check .... but I have to admit that I felt one tiny moment of regret when I pulled everything out after Max went to bed on Christmas Eve and it didn't seem to be "enough". Of course, looking back now, we know it was plenty and in fact, on a tip from Heather, I even put a few of his gifts away to bring out later this year. As with most 2-year-olds, he'll play with his "real toys" for awhile, and then he will spend an hour playing with a piece of string and a hanger.

Max loves to help clean (we'll take it while we can get it), so he loves his new vacuum cleaner.

My mom found this reindeer rocker at Ikea. Max likes to sit on it and rock away to his favorite episodes of Jack's Big Music Show.

Tiger devoured the Wonder Pets packaging, dreaming about how delicious Ming Ming would be as dinner.

We loaded up the car the next morning and headed to Ann Arbor for Christmas with my mom's side of the family. This was our first holiday without my beloved Aunt Barb, and it was wonderful to have Max to brighten the day for all of us. Thanks to an ice/snow storm, it took us 7 hours to get there (it should have been 4 1/2) ... and thanks to an in-car video system that Santa left under our tree, Max was entirely more content than his two parents. I didn't get any photos at my Aunt's and Uncle's house -- I'm not sure why, other than the fact that I was thrown a bit off my game due to the crazy car ride. We spent the night in a hotel in Toledo, and spent the next day with my Dad and stepmom. Max's grandparents gave him an Elmo Live, which scared the pants off of him. Have you seen this thing? Elmo goes into sleeper mode and then all of a sudden, he springs to life and starts telling another story or singing another song. Max was slowly making his way past a "quiet" Elmo to get to a safer area of the room when Elmo burst into story. Poor Max jumped three inches straight up and I almost busted a rib trying not laugh. Max still keeps one eye on that sneaky Elmo any time he walks past him.

If there's a present to be opened, Max is there to help, with what some might think is a slightly exaggerated case of excitement. Here, he is particularly exuberant about my brother's Loews gift card.

After our two-day road trip to northern Ohio and Michigan, we came home and worked two days -- and then Glenn and I took a road trip of our own. The University of Cincinnati played in the Orange Bowl in Miami on New Year's Day, and we headed to Miami for the game. Neither Glenn nor I have any formal ties to UC, although Glenn grew up in Clifton in the shadows of UC, so he's a lifelong fan and follower. I have just jumped solidly on the bandwagon, happy to have a football team in Cincinnati that actually wins occasionally. We are so so so blessed that Heather, Rich, and Max's BFFs Ellie and Maggie welcomed Max into their home for FOUR nights! We were actually only gone for three days, but because of a very early departing flight and a very late arrival flight, Max spent four glorious nights with his girlfriends. Heather is expecting her third child in April, so Max just moved into the space that will hereafter be occupied by the new baby. As you can see from the photos below, Max had no problems adjusting to his temporary home.

Watching a movie with Rich and Ellie.

Getting ready for a pancake breakfast.

Maggie loved having a "little brother", and as I understand it, she spent the three days trying to convince Max to team up with her against Ellie. Fortunately, Ellie is one tough 18-month-old, and she could probably take Max down if she wanted to!

In Miami, we rented a 3 bedroom/4 bathroom villa that overlooked the Blue Monster golf course in the Doral area of Miami. Mindy researched the accommodations and booked everything, and it was so much fun for all seven of us to be able to stay together in one place. This was the view out of the master suite, which Glenn and I managed to claim as our own (thanks to our very generous friends).

The gang as we were headed to the game, and then later that night as we tailgated with some other friends who had driven down from Cincinnati. UC lost the game, but that ended up being irrelevant for most of us. :-)

A week into the New Year, my mom had open heart surgery (proactively planned to deal with a valve problem). So, I headed back up to Toledo so that I could take her to the hospital and be there throughout the surgery. She came through the surgery with flying colors, and she has had an amazing recovery. We let her recuperate in the hospital and in a nearby nursing facility for 10 days, and then she needed a dose of her grandson. So, we piled in the car and drove up I-75 AGAIN, so that Max and Gramma could spend some quality time together.

Max is in that "CHEEEEEEEEEEEEEESE" stage, as evidenced by this photo.

More faces of Max.....

Somewhere in the middle of all of this craziness, I agreed with three of my girlfriends that we would not give one another Christmas presents, but instead, we would "make" something for one another. I spent as many hours lamenting my willingness to go along with this crazy scheme as I did finally actually making something! Kathleen is modeling my handiwork ... mosaic frames with a picture of the four of us at a Bengals game, and fleece Bengals scarves. I loved making both -- I actually do like being "crafty" -- but I kept thinking that I need to do the same type of creative stuff with and for Max, so I felt both guilt and joy as I created my gifts.

Last weekend, Max and I piled into the car and headed down into Kentucky, to spend the day with "cousins" Zoe and Austin, and then the evening with "Kentucky Karen", her husband Pat, and their adorable son Nick. Karen and Pat served up a yummy spaghetti meal for several of us, including another Kaz adoptive family and three UK students who are from Kazakhstan. Max and I were on the road for 12 hours that day, and we had a blast. (Glenn got a much deserved day to himself). Max's nap schedule was all screwed up, but he hung in there and had a melt-down-free day. It was just a great day.

I was so busy having fun at Karen's that I forgot to dig out my camera. If I had, I surely would have had a picture of Max climbing up the beautiful wooden slat blinds in her kitchen. I don't know what it is with Max, but he loves to hang on blinds (Applebees' are another favorite). I spend alot of time moving cords our of his reach. Nick was so generous with Max, sharing his toys and letting the "little kid" tag along. HUGE thanks to Pat, who quietly headed to the family room with the three boys while I sat at the dining table enjoying those "adult" moments with all of the guests. The time went by too quickly, but we were so honored to have been included.

Max and Austin hanging out in Zoe's room. Somehow, Zoe missed out on the pictures!

A few final pics. Our great friends Kelly and Gordie sent Max this adorable Columbus Blue Jackets outfit. Gordie is a former college hockey player and current Select Team coach, and I have informed him that Max holds baseball bats and golf clubs like a hockey stick, and he hits the balls around like a hockey puck. Gordie has agreed to serve as Max's private coach if Max's Russian genes result in amazing hockey skills. :-) The first picture is proof that Max isn't always his cute little self -- this is the result when he doesn't get to hold the camera. After "sharing" the camera with him so he could take 30 or so pictures of his feet and the ceiling (the best angel for his little fingers to push the buttons), he was back to his cute little self to pose in his hockey outfit.

And just one last picture, taken just a few days ago.

More soon! (Must gift forward those Lemonade Awards!)

Max Turns 2! (And progress updates)

It’s official. We have a two-year old!

And we are loving every minute of it (even those minutes where he reaches high above his head to pull out anything he can reach from whatever drawer he can reach!)

Max’s birthday was actually on Friday the 12th, but we saved our celebrating for Saturday. As it will likely be for the next 20+ years, we had multiple conflicts with company holiday parties, end-of-year work deadlines, etc., all sharing time on our calendar with our son’s birthday. My birthday is 3 days before his, so at least he has a mom who knows what it’s like to have a birthday that can easily get jumbled up with a bunch of holiday rush.

Despite calling out “no gifts” on the invitation, Max hauled in a great stack of goodies. And, he was just a total cutie-pie, taking his time to open each card and gift, and looking at each person as he said “dank ooo” (complete with his sign language hand-to-the-chin sign as well. I sense he will be combining the two well into college).

Enjoy some photos, and then scroll down for some medical updates and a shout-out to my Cinci girlfriends.

This is Max before all of the partying began, opening special gifts from my father and step-mother, who can't travel to Cincinnati as easily as we wish they could. We're excited to see them up in Michigan right after Christmas. Max LOVED this card, which played "Itsy Bitsy Spider" every time it opened.


Here is one of Max's BFF's, Ellie, who was happy to wear her party hat (Max wasn't nearly as eager) and devour the cookie-cutter shaped PB&J. (I stole that idea from Muriel, although hers were much more elaborate for her princess Sophia's b-day - I was happy my squares had crinkly edges!).



Max stood so politely on a chair as he opened all of his presents. (Surprisingly, I managed to tend to him just enough to keep him from nose-diving onto the floor!) I love this picture, and he was like this throughout the party -- so animated and so happy.


Big brother Tyler and big sister Jessica were of course there to celebrate with their little brother. Jessica managed to elude the camera, but Max loves to sit in Tyler's lap, and my heart goes pitter-patter when I see Tyler reading to him. Tyler had taken his ACTs that morning, so the fact that he was willing to read anything -- even Elmo -- was generous in of itself! Max is not camera shy, as evidenced by his boisterous "CHEESE" in this shot.


Hand in pocket. Very common.

My mom got this big giant elephant for Max (because he doesn't already have enough stuffed animals -- HA!). He loves this thing, and it's as big as he is. We generally let him fall asleep with it, with constant monitoring to ensure he isn't tangled in the thing! (I promise you we take it out of his crib once he's asleep). He's like our little ET -- he loves to fall asleep with a bunch of stuff on top of him. The other night, I crept in and started removing layers of stuffed animals from on top of his body, only to have him say, "Hi Mama" when I finally reached his face. I almost had a heart attack!


I love this picture -- Max was so happy to help his Papa string lights on the Christmas tree! And, he hasn't even pulled the tree over -- YET! We're taking bets on whether it will be the cat or the kid who yank it over.


My birthday was a few days before Max's, and Glenn bought me this cute little cake, and wrote "Happy Birthday Mama" in Russian on the cake (or close to it, any way). My husband is NOT Martha Stewart, and we rarely (ever?) have cakes for one another's birthdays. I love him for doing this for me, so that Max and he could sing "happy birthday" while I blew out my candles.


Just before his birthday, Max had a couple of scheduled evaluations at Children's Hospital. The first was his 6-month follow-up (WE WILL HAVE BEEN HOME 6 MONTHS ON XMAS DAY -- can you believe it?!). He tested "normal" in virtually every developmental milestone, which means he tested in at least the 20-month-old range for all areas. In "receptive speech", he even tested above his 24-month age range, because you can give him two and three part instructions and he can listen and follow all of the steps. A few days later, he had a routine hearing evaluation (as recommended by the Adoption Clinic), and not surprisingly, he tested normal in every area.

As far as his regular speech, it is really coming along, and his vocabulary and clarity improve every day. He's still testing in the "low" range, but we have every reason to believe that he will catch up. I am sharing this not to brag or take any credit at all (seriously, we do not do anything special with him -- we just read to him alot and talk as much as we normally would), but I do want to share these updates with others who I know are still on the Kaz adoption journey. This child did not speak, smile, or show any emotion beyond gutteral moans for the first few weeks that we knew him, and he didn't start making any meaningful sounds until we were home for a few weeks. The progress -- without any intense efforts by any means on our part -- is beyond amazing. The International Adoption Clinic doesn't even recommend that he come in again until three years from now, as they do want to follow his progress but they do not feel he needs any more of their specialized attention. Thank you, God, for all of our blessings.

So, just a few days after Max's birthday, we gave him the wonderful gift of a small medical procedure on his manly pieces/parts. All routine stuff, but he did have to be under general anesthesia for the procedure. He was first put under using a gas mask, and I got to hold him that entire time. They then whisked him away for what would be an IV of fluids and a epidural-like block. It was so difficult to see him wheeled away, but the procedure went like clock-work and we were reunited in less than 90 minutes. We were able to be in recovery with him before he woke up, so I was gently stroking his face and hugging him and kissing him to help him wake up. I fully expected to hear a cry and a "Mama" from my child when he woke up, sure that he would need me more than he ever needed me before. Instead, he woke up, and before his eyes were even open, he lifted his arm above his head, glanced towards the nurse, and said, "OFF." He didn't need me one bit -- he just needed the nurse to take the IV out and remove the board and bandages that held all the tubes in place. Other than taking some really tiny steps for the next two days and wincing a bit more than usual, this kid was back to being happy-go-lucky Max before we ever left the hospital parking lot.


And, I saved one of my favorite pictures for last -- not because we all look so fantastic (are my eyes closed?), but because of what it represents. This is the line-up of my Cincinnati girlfriends who came to Max's birthday party. Keep in mind that Max's party was on a Saturday afternoon on one of the prime Christmas shopping and Christmas party weekends of the year (I myself had a company holiday party the night before and another the night of Max's bday party!). Collectively, these are the women who moved me into my apartment when my first marriage broke up, gathered around one another as we sadly watched Hasbro and dozens of our friends move to Rhode Island (two of my girlfriends lost their jobs in that move -- I had already jumped ship), shared in many late nights and walks of shames that we try not to recollect now, giggled with me as I fell in love again, and hugged me as I struggled with learning how to integrate into Glenn's childrens' lives. All but one of them are single, and they've known me primarily as "single, fun Karen", the person who organizes the trips to the Reds games, the canoe trips, the weekends in New York City, the other road trips, and the happy hours. They've watched me calm down as I settled into my new role as Glenn's partner. They gathered round at a UC football tail gate party, as we announced that we were adopting a child -- and none of them said (out loud anyway!) that we were nuts. And, they decorated our house, inside and out, when we came home with our child (two of them picked us up at the airport!). I did not know how my relationship would change with these women -- women who have watched me go from "fun Karen" to "exhausted new mom who is often really cranky and now has so little time for her friends Karen." And then, Max turned 2, and every single one of them was there, gathered around his cake, singing "Happy Birthday" at the top of their lungs while wearing Elmo party hats. I cried while we sang, not only because I have an amazing husband and an amazing 2-year-old, but because I have this amazing group of girlfriends who have embraced my husband, my child, and me more than ever. I know I can and will make a stronger effort to grow additional relationships with our married friends, and friends who have children who are closer in age to Max. In the meantime, Max is surrounded by these women, all of whom are his favorite aunts ever. As the Girl Scouts taught us, "Make new friends, but keep the old. One is silver, and the other is gold."

These are my golden girlfriends.



Merry Christmas, with love.

Karen.

Haven't fallen off the face of the earth...

....But suffice to say that we might be hanging on to the edge of the earth by our fingernails! Actually, things are absolutely fantastic. Just slightly too busy. As much as I want to take the time to pen something really witty, I think I'll just post some photos and provide a few updates via captions.

"Cousins" Zoe and Austin stopped by to hang with Max on a nice early afternoon Fall Sunday. Max really looks up to his cousins, and we wish they lived closer than the 2.5 hours that separates us.

Here's our little puppy enjoying his first Halloween. He didn't get it at all. He thought I was torturing him when I put the make-up on his face (which I never did really finish). We went to a few houses, but he insisted on giving the candy back to whomever handed it to him. He spent most of the evening sitting in my mom's lap, handing out candy to all of the other children who stopped by. He did take a few bites of a mini candy bar, but he still isn't a big fan of sweets.
As I mentioned in a previous post, we took a vacation to the Bahamas in early November. My quick summary: "Vacation" and "Two-Year-Old" are mutually exclusive ideas. :-) I could write so, so, so much about this vacation -- about how the Internet didn't work, crushing my plans for catching up on blogs during Max's nap times and every evening; about how we dealt with the outskirts of Hurricane Paloma as it whipped through Cuba; about how I lost my wallet with multiple credit cards, ATM card, Drivers License, and cash inside, limiting our ability to access cash and causing me identity theft strife; about how Max started whispering "Mama" at about 6:15 AM each day, escalating to a screeching MAAAAAAMAAAAAA if I didn't look his way within two minutes; or about how the resort we were traveling to abruptly closed the day before we arrived, and how we were moved to a sister resort but without the "kid friendly" accommodations that were provided at the booked resort. But, rather than write about all of that, I'll confirm that we did successfully acquire additional certified copies of our marriage certificate while on the island (for use during our next adoption), and I'll just skip to the pics of our adorable vacation buddy.

Max's travel outfit. We left the house at 5 AM for a 6:30 AM flight.

We traveled on Election Day, having voted by absentee ballot prior to vacation. This is a picture of my two boys at the moment that CNN declared Obama the winner in the presidential election. They both tried so hard to stay awake for the historical moment, but that 4:00 AM wake up time that morning caught up with them both. (Glenn might have sipped a few vacation cocktails, too. HA!)

We went out to dinner every night, and Max was just amazing at each restaurant. Before we left home, I picked up a couple of cars and trucks in the $1 bins at Target, and between those and sugar packets, he managed to entertain himself each night while we actually enjoyed our dinner.

Max didn't like the beach ... at all. I coerced him into going to the beach on two days, because I had visions that he would dig in the sand while I relaxed next to him on a lounge chair. Yeah, right. He really hated the sand, and he loved the pool. Once he figured out that we had to walk past the pools in order to get to the beach, he flatly refused to walk beyond the pools. So, I spent alot of time in freezing cold pools in crappy weather, but our little guy was kicking and putting his face in the water by the end of the trip. I am excited to get him into swimming lessons after the holidays -- but do I HAVE to wear a bathing suit when I'm in the water with him?! :-)

We enjoyed our morning drinks (milk for him, Diet Cokes for Glenn and me) on the balcony every morning. I never did get over the fear that Max would somehow escape our balcony, but our room was so small that we needed to extend our space to the outdoors (plus, it was a beautiful view, even on bad weather days).

I can't remember if this was chips for breakfast or chips for dinner, but hey, "it's vacation", so who really cares? :-)

Just hanging out on the grounds one evening.

I love this picture, because his expression is in keeping with his "enough photographs, Mom!" 'tude at this point in the vacation.

Five days after we got home from vacation, we hosted our first party post-Max. Sixteen of our closest friends and six of their children came over for a "make your own Mexican" feast, washed back with yummy Margaritas and Sangria. If I wasn't already certain, this party confirmed for me once and for all that doing anything with a toddler now takes twice as long for half the results. :-) We even hired a babysitter to help with Max, but he wanted nothing to do with her -- and he wouldn't even go to Glenn. The first 90 minutes of the party is a blur of trying to welcome everyone, get the food ready and served, introduce people to one another, organize kids' activities, etc., etc., etc., all with Max glued to my side. I finally asked Chloe, the 6-year-old daughter of friends Donna and Pat, if she would mind if Max followed her and Charleigh (Jules' six-year-old) around the party. Chloe is quite possibly the coolest kid I've ever met, and by the end of the night, she'd taught him a few tricks and dance moves, she was wiping his nose, and he was back to our happy-go-lucky Max that we've come to know. This picture was taken well past Max's bed time, and they were both still smiling and giggling and entertaining the rest of us.

My best friend from college, Cindi, was in town for the weekend, to visit Max, and to go to the Bengals game. The Bengals were playing the Eagles, and Cindi is a die-hard Eagles fan who doesn't get a chance to see them play in person very often, given that she lives in San Diego! We had a "girls day" at the game on Sunday. We wrapped in blankets and talked our way through the game, which ended in a tie -- the first NFL tie in a gazillion years. Only the Bengals .... :-) I snapped very few pictures that weekend, in part because Cindi was the "official" photographer. I'll post the picture below of us headed to the game -- one of my only pictures from the weekend -- and Cindi will be so mad at me for posting a picture of her with her eyes closed.


Two days later, I was off to Mexico City on a business trip. I have to post the picture of my hotel room, the W in Mexico City. Check out that hammock in the bathroom/walk-in shower area. Too bad I was too busy to enjoy it (and sick with a bad cold and strep throat while I was there), but what a beautiful room. That big window had a view out over the city.

Max's big brother Tyler turned 18 years old on November 23rd. As I've posted before, we've had some rocky times with Glenn's children. I was weepy watching Tyler happily hold onto Max as he blew out his birthday candles. Max has brought us so much joy, and he has glued our family more closely together.

We hosted Thanksgiving at our house for my small but mighty family. My brother went to his partner's family's celebration, so we hosted my Mom, and my Aunt Sharon (a professor at the University of Michigan) and my Uncle Dave from Ann Arbor. They brought with them Mahat, a visiting professor from Egypt who will be working side by side with my Aunt for the next few months. I cooked a ton of food, again taking twice as long with a toddler connected to my ankles. :-) Everyone spent the night, and I'm not sure I did the US justice with my hostess duties towards Mahat. Hopefully she won't think that every US household is as chaotic and informal as our home was for her two-day visit!

We attended our first official holiday event when we went to the "Christmas Tree Lighting" in downtown Cincinnati on Friday night of Thanksgiving weekend. It was actually somewhat lame, although Nick Lachey was the "surprise" St. Nick, and that seemed to please all of the 13-year-old girls in the crowd. (Who am I kidding?! He is a good looking dude!) I have a hunch that we may overdo the holiday events a bit this year, and then in coming years we'll settle into the things that we truly want to make a tradition. I've been dreaming about sharing these things with a child for so long that I just have to try everything this year!

And then, today, I tried to get some "Christmas" pictures of Max, on what may be the last decent weather day we have for awhile. I am more in awe than ever of the beautiful photos that my blogger friends post on their blogs, and that my long-time friends post on their holiday cards. I am not kidding when I say that I took 30+pictures, without a single one that I would call out as the "perfect" Christmas card picture. Maybe I'll try again later (or not -- hee hee). Here are the two that came close to passing my inspection, and the third captures what Max was doing for most of the photo session -- running to and from me without ever standing still!


We have so much to be thankful for this year, and we continue to feel so blessed as we go into this holiday season. We are keeping all of our friends and families in our thoughts and prayers, sending out extra love to those who are impacted by our wars and our economic situation. Thank you for continuing to follow our story.