Another Few Pics Of Max...

Here are a few more pics of Max from yesterday. They were just to cute not to post!

Town Play A Lot...

I met up with my Mom's Group yesterday ~ The Little Yellow Duck Club ~ at this really cool place called Town Play A Lot. It's this huge indoor play area for all sizes and ages of kids.


The whole place has the big padded blocks on the floor so if anyone falls they are protected, the owner has the place immaculate. You could see her going around wiping toys down as all the kids were playing, and the bathroom were SPOTLESS! We were there from about 12 pm until about 4 pm and let me tell you Max had a blast! Here are some cute pics of him and some other the other Little Ducks....

Here is Max and Olivia. They are about 2 1/2 weeks apart (she is the older one). Her mom and I see a future couple, what do you think!

Here are our groups twins, Amelia and Adeline....they are a year old.

Here is Max trying to crawl through the little tunnel....too cute! We had so much fun and will definitely go back there!!

A Night On The Town...

Karl and I actually went out this weekend. With other adults too!

One of the girls that he work's with, Isidra, was celebrating her birthday this past weekend and we were lucky enough to share in the celebration. Here she is with her surprise birthday cake the restaurant brought her....

I think there were about 16 people total that went out for dinner and then some line dancing afterwards. Karl and I did not participate in the dancing not because we didn't want to but because we didn't know how. Well Karl might not have wanted too...LOL! We had a really good time and we were able to shoot a really cute picture of the two of us...sorry about the devil eyes. I didn't get a chance to fix that yet.

Mom-Mom was down watching Max for us so we got to sleep in a little bit this morning, which was much needed because we were out WAY PAST our normal bed time- 2 am to be exact. But it was fun and it was great to just hang out with everyone.

This morning I got up and managed to teach the craftiest woman I know ~ Mom Mom ~ how to crochet. She of course picked it up soooo quick. So here we are sitting on the couch together in our jammies crochet like "clucking hens", those would be Karl's words not mine. :)

We had a great weekend...now if it would just warm up so I could go outside with Max....

A Rockin' Dude...

Here is Max jammin' with Nana. I see a furture superstar in the making...

Almost There....

Well Max almost slept through the night. We put him down a littler early, closer to 8 pm and he slept until around 3 am. Karl got up with him for a few minutes...he would say a long time but then he went back to bed until 5:46 am. I couldn't believe it. We got up this morning and had some cereal and a bottle and he seems to be ready for a early morning nap.

Let's hope this pattern stays! Wish me luck!

Bath Time...

Here is Max taking his very first bath in the big boy tub. I am not sure why the color looks all crazy...and it's not very long but he just looks so cute!!

Chatty Cathy...

Max is becoming a non-stop babbler. A bit like his mother. For the last two nights he has woke up around 3 am and just lies in his crib and talks...

When I say talks he cooes, babbles, squeals, zirberts or does raspberries...this usually goes on for about 20 minutes until Karl and I just can't take it any more and go in to give him nuk and try to get him back to sleep. Most of the time it works. Last night he feel asleep for what seemed a milli second and then was back at it for another 10 minutes. Karl does have the touch though because he can go in for just a few minutes and that kid doesn't make a peep. Out. Like a light. It so infuriates me but at least he is sleeping.

I do have to say that he is sleeping a little better. Finally. He is still going down about 8:30 or so and he sleep solid until about 3 or 4 am. Then the rest of the night is not so great. He usually wakes back up about 5 am and I give him a bottle and then he usually falls back to sleep until about 7 am. At that point I am usually completely out and I would love it if he would just sleep for one more hour but I really don't think it's going to happen. But I will take the 4 or 5 hours I get at the beginning of the night.

For Ken and Jodi....I realize that 50 million people are going to say this but rest up. Or at least relish your sleep like you are never going to have it again. LOL! I do hope that you get a good sleeper. Maybe you guys will get lucky and she will sleep through the night instantly!!! Well secretly I don't wish that because I would be soooooooooooooooooo jealous!! HA HA!

Cuilinary King...

I just realized today that I forgot to mention something in my Nana & Papa Jim post. Max turned 6 months old while they were here. January 13 to be exact.

Just two short days later we visited the pediatrician for his next set of "killing mommy" shots. Or as some would call "vaccinations." Anyway....Max now weighs 19 lbs and 1 oz, and he is a whopping 26 in' already. We started marking him on the wall out in the living room. I was going to do it in his bedroom but I love seeing it every day.

Max has also expanded his food selection. He has tried apples, pears, and bananas. Believe it or not he did not care for the bananas but he LOVES the apples. Just yesterday he had peas for the first time. It's funny because he did not really care for green beans but he inhaled the peas....go figure. Max also tried juice for while Nana was visiting. I gave it to him in a sippy cup and he did great for the first few minutes but then things went downhill from there...

.

He started to get angry and started flailing the cup around and eventually dropped it.

But I managed to snap a few photos of him before the flailing began. I just love how he props his feet up when I don't have the tray up on chair!! He loves to just chill!!! I do have some videos that I am going to attempt to get up tomorrow but have patience, especially you Nana!!!!

A New Bundle of Joy...

Our friends Ken & Jodi are expecting a new little bundle of joy! Jodi is due in early February and they are having a little girl. I am sooooo excited for them. They also created a blog recently so they could share all kinds of news! I added them to my links on the right and they already have a picture up of the ultra sound. She looks so cute already!! Can't wait!

This picture was taken a few years back on New Year's. They had a pimps and hoes party. It was a blast.

Karl and I decided to not follow status quo and he went as the hoe and I was the pimp!! Let me tell you that was fun putting makeup on him. It was a challenge though trying to find some of my clothes to fit him. As you can see our outfit came out kind of scary.

What A Week...

Well Nana & Papa Jim have come and gone. They arrived last Thursday around 5 pm or so and they left this morning at a very early 4 am. It was a great week...I will briefly try and recap as well as update you all with some cute pictures! Thursday night was pretty low key. We just sat around and played with Max and chatted for a while. Everyone went to bed fairly early. Friday Karl headed into work and Nana, Papa Jim, Max, and I just sat around and chilled for the day. Nice and relaxing.

That night Karl and I decided that Max was ready for the big boy tub so we filled up the tub and started to get Max ready for his bath, at one point he decided that he needed to help Daddy...

Then once we got him in we couldn't get him out! He just loved it...he almost did a face plant a few times but Mommy was right there to hold onto him!

Saturday was gorgeous out, sunny and in the low 50's so we decided to head down to Cape May for a day of fresh air. We walked around, looked at some shops, checked out the ocean, and then had lunch in a cute restaurant called Carney's. Here is Max with his Nana Sally and Papa Jim...he is wearing the cutest little snow suit that Mom-Mom got him. He looks like a little bear!

Sunday it was kind of yucky but Nana, Max and I ventured out and did a little bit of shopping. I got a belated Christmas present, a Vera Bradley bag. Originally I was going to get the diaper bag but once I saw it in person I realized it was humongous so I opted for the "Vera" Bag and I love it!


Nana also spoiled me by buying me a new charm for my Pandora Bracelet ... We tried to find one that would signify Magoo and Izzaboo but we couldn't find one that we both really liked so we opted to choose something else. Nana got a really cute silver one with black mother of pearl hearts on it and I chose this one...

Later that we night we just hung out in the house, played some Tetris and Rummy. Karl and Max did a little bit of bonding on the couch....

And Nana taught me (a.k.a Mommy) how to finally crochet. It took me a little bit but I got the hang of it and I even made myself a cute little hat....I will try and get a pic of that later on.

Monday Nana watched Max for a little while and I went and ran some errands. Tuesday was a low key day as well, we chowed on some yummy pizza, and Wednesday we had a fantastic Salmon dinner that Nana made. We all went to bed early because they were getting up at the crack of dawn to get going. They were on the road by 4 am.

Nana just called me and said that they were about 20 miles from home. It was such a great week. It was very comforting having my mom out for a whole week, and I am sure that she was thrilled to get so much Max time in. I think that Karl loved having Papa Jim out - it was good for him to have another Male in the house!! LOL! I already miss them, but I do think that Magoo and Izzaboo miss each other the most. It was a fun filled week for them...I do have some videos of the puppies as well as Max so I will try and get them up as soon as I can. :)

No News...

Sorry it's been so long since I have last posted. Nana & Papa Jim are out visiting and I just haven't had time to write. I wanted to at least make the announcement that I am still alive and well out here on the East Coast. They are leaving very early Thursday morning so I will try and get some cute pics on and some news then. See you all soon!

The Other Fat Cat...

Since Melanie put up some pictures of Jerry I figured I would put up some pictures of the other fat cat. My cat Trigger. Trigger is approximately 12 years old. He was originally a gift to my sister but when she moved in with her fiance (now husband) he had to Huskies that liked to eat cats so I took him in. At that time Trigger was a whopping 19 pounds. He was always big, even when he was just a youngin'. The vet figured that he had some type of Maine Coon in him which would explain his girth. Here is an older picture of him with Karl. This was in our apartment when we first moved in together.

When I took him I was living with my good friend Pam and she had 3 cats of her own. Yes for a while we were some crazy cat women. Her cats were all fairly young and she could just put a bowl of food out for them and they would pick at it. Well Trigger was lovin' the free buffet. We kept wondering how we were going through food so fast when one day we noticed that Trigger went up to a full bowl and left with an empty bowl. His girth became even larger. A few short years later Trigger was a whopping 24 pounds. These days since Magoo came along and we monitor his food he comes in at 22 pounds and is holding steady. Here he is in our sink here in NJ. Notice how he fills the sink up quite nicely.

He's pretty lazy these days. He doesn't really care for Max or Magoo. And when either one of them starts getting crazy he is gone. Ironic that his favorite place to sleep lately is in a basket under Max crib. I guess he figures that Magoo can't get him under there. Last but not least here he is in his normal state. Leaning up against something getting ready to hibernate.

He has quite a few nicknames as well. Of course his real name, Trigger. But he also has Triggeroo, Fatty Watty, Bubba, and Triggy. Just to name a few.

Shock and Disbelief...

I am writing about an event that happened in the Rudolph family home last night. I am sure that you will be just as shocked and disbelieving as I am.

I have decided that Max can no longer be held in order to get him to sleep. It's amazing how fast these little ones grasp a routine and it's even more amazing it is of how hard it is to break them of that routine. I know, I know another battle with Max. I am sure that you are all thinking that I have nothing better to do with my time than battle with him but I can assure you I don't.

Yesterday I put him down for his afternoon nap in his crib fully awake. He did not like this one tiny little bit. I have to say that my strength was waning when I saw him lying there with his little chubby arms out to me just screaming pick me up, pick me up. But I held fast and finally after 8 full songs on his sleeping CD (thanks for that little trick Val) he was asleep. Roughly that was about 35-40 minutes. What fun! Unfortunately he only slept like that for about 20 minutes. I could see that he was still exhausted so instead of picking him up to get him back to sleep I did the next best worst thing and put him in his swing. He slept from 6 pm until 8 pm. Relief.

When Karl I got home I told him of my latest venture and he just chuckled. We both figured that putting Max to bed was going to be a chore and Karl decided that he would take the first round. So at 8:30 pm we got Max his dinner, cleaned him up, and Karl settled down in his room and gave him his bottle. At this time I was in the bedroom trying to take the worlds fastest cat nap so I could be ready for round 2 and less than 5 minutes after he finished his bottle Karl comes strolling into the bedroom. I opened my eyes and asked if it was my turn. He said no, he is asleep.

I just about fell out of bed. Wait did you just say he was asleep??? How can that be. I fought with him for almost an hour and you get less than 5 minutes. He replies, "I have the touch." I had a few choice words for my HOTY at the particular moment. I would like to also say that he slept all night but he didn't. He slept until 1 am or so and then spent the next few hours rolling around, fussing, talking to himself, etc. I am not a real fan of morning these days.

I am happy to report that this morning when I put him down for a nap it only took me 7 full songs from the CD. Progress is slow coming I guess!

Jumperoo'

Here is Max in his jumperoo, just going to town. You can plainly see that he loves that thing. Sorry it's so dark but you can still tell what he is doing!

Pretty Boring...

I wish that I had more exciting news but there is not a whole lot going on here these days. But since Val has been wishing for some new posts I thought that I should at least try and write something.

Max is doing well. Still not sleeping great. Now that he can roll over (both ways) he somehow rolls around in his sleep and then suddenly wakes up on his stomach and it is like a whole new world and he wants to play. Last night he did this from about 1:30 pm on almost every hour. It's amazing a body can keep functioning with such little sleep. Mom's truly don't get enough recognition. Ok off the soapbox.

As I mentioned before my Mom and Step-dad are coming for a visit. They are staying for a whole week. I am thrilled! We have been really busy since Thanksgiving but I don't care. I would love to be worn out from having guests...gives me something else to think about. Here are a few cute pics from their wedding.

Wish that I had more to write but not to much happening out here on the East Coast. Did that do the trick Val?? LOL!

A Great Beginning...

I know that all my blogger friends have been missing me...ok so like 3 of you but who's counting right. Anyway this past week Karl and I were thrilled to have some visitors from Good Ole Snowy Michigan. Our friends Carl & Teresa came out for about a week with their two adorable kids - Little Carl and Tess...



Carl and Tree (as I call her) are truly one of our best set of friends. They have been with us from the beginning. When we weren't even dating so they have seen us be friends, date, they were both in our wedding, Carl was the Best Man, they came with us on our honeymoon (talk about a fantastic vacation!), the buying of our new house and even helped paint, and through pregnancy. Tree is Max's Godmother!

We used to spend almost every weekend together. Carl's side of the family has taken us in as their adopted kids. We spent last Christmas evening with them and their whole family that is how close we are to them. Leaving them (as with all of our friends) was especially hard.

We didn't manage to get any pictures of Little Carl with Max...he was pretty engrossed in his video games. Which we all became hooked after playing a few times. He has this little game called Brain Age...OMG. It's extremely addictive. Then Tree and I couldn't stop playing Tetris.

The day that we actually were all packed up and ready to drive out of our driveway for the last time we were all in tears including Carl (whom we call Paco, but that is another story all together). When I went home for the shower last May I stayed the night with them and we cried all over again when I left. We came home this past August for my step-dad's birthday and we hung out with them and I went down one night (Karl had to come home) and cried all over again. They really are like our other family.

But we were blessed to see them this past week. And we got to ring in the New Year with them. They came in late Sunday night and they didn't leave until Friday morning....we had a great time. We sat and talked, played cards, ate pizza - just like old times. I was proud of myself though I didn't cry when they left! It was hard but I willed myself to be strong.

All in all it was an amazing week. We were so happy to bring in the New Year with them. It was so good for the Soul!! Can't wait to see them again!!!

This picture was sooo cute...Magoo was in heaven this week. She played so much she was dog tired by the end of each day. And next week my Mom and Step-Dad are coming to visit and they are bringing Izzaboo....Magoo better get some rest this week!

Just a Few Pictures...

Sorry it has taken me so long to get some pictures posted from our Christmas trip to NYC....I have been busy for the last few days visiting with our friends Carl & Teresa. That is a whole separate posting but just to appease my mom here are some Christmas pics.

This was was tooo cute not to post! This was taken at the Christmas Party at Karl's cousin's house and Max became obsessed with my beer bottle....and no I didn't give him a single drop!!! LOL!