Bree and Kenoa's Visit

My cousin Breeana and her baby boy, Kenoa flew out to visit for a few days. Bree was such a big help! I think she came at just the right time. I couldn't drive (Dr.'s orders) so she took Max and I to our appointments. She gave me a lot of good pointers and was just a wonderful big cousin. It was really nice spending quality time together. I love you Bree!

Kenoa and Max showing there cousinly love!

Big cousin holding little cousin.

Max's first bath!

Last night, Max had his first sponge bath. As you can see, he was not very happy about it! He was so cute though and he smells so good now! :) After he was all bundled up and warm, he was back to his happy self. Daddy was excited to pick out his pajama. I love the way
Max looks at his daddy... such admiration! :p

The Labor Coaches

I just wanted everyone to know how wonderful my labor coaches were. Through those 8 hours of intense labor at the hospital, Mike and Soin were so awesome. I know they hated seeing me in so much pain but they were so good at keeping me focused and talking me through it and reminding me to relax and breath. Without them, I wouldn't have lasted as long as I did. I love them so much. Michael, you are the love of my life. This experience only made me fall deeper in love with you. I'm so blessed to have such a wonderful husband and daddy for our baby boy. Soin, you are my best friend and you have no idea how much you mean to me. Thank you for all of your support. You are a wonderful Aunt.

In between contractions...snacking on some jello.

Michael having a very intense conraction...trying to make me laugh and lift my mood as always (it worked for about 2 minutes)

Soin keeping me cool and helping me breath

We weren't looking forward to the next contraction!

We came home to these gorgeous flowers from Soin. She's so sweet.

Our Maximilian

We're home! I finally have a chance to put up some more pictures of our sweet angel. He is absolutely perfect and more than we could ever ask for. We love him so much. I'm doing a lot better. I'm still sore and healing. I can't believe I'm finally a Mommy. My dreams of having a wonderful husband and beautiful children are coming true. I always wanted to be a great wife and mommy growing up. I will do my best. These boys are the two loves of my life. I'm so excited for our future!

He's here!

This is Mike. I don't have a lot to say. I know once Bianca is feeling a little better she will put together a nice post on here. Bianca is doing great. Max is doing great. That's all that matters.

We love you all and want to thank you for your love. All of your support, advice and gifts have made this the most wonderful experience of our lives. Here are some pictures. You should be able to see bigger versions by clicking on them. Enjoy!

PS: 9 lbs 6 oz and 22 inches

Mike's Labor Day Burgers

Michael really wanted me to put these on the blog because he's so proud of them! He made them himself and they were delicious. None of us could finish it but Mike was pretty close. Yummy!

Still waiting...

All day yesterday, I was having contractions. My hopes went way up and I thought that Max was going to be here by today but when I woke up this morning, the contractions were gone. I've been pretty frustrated because Max hasn't come yet but I think I'm more frustrated because Mike's family is here and I didn't want them to have to make the trip without him coming. They leave tomorrow because Jimmy and Naomi have school so Jim and Brenda will have to drive all the way back in a few days. The fact that he didn't come this weekend also prevents my mom from staying as long as we wanted her to because she has to work. I've decided that there's probably a reason for this and that Max will come when the Lord wants him to. Yesterday while we were trying to walk Max out, we ran through a fountain in downtown Tempe. It felt so good... there's something exhilerating about running through water with all of your clothes on. If you haven't done it, do it. You'll love it.

Mike and Daddy

Brenda brought some old pictures of Mike and Jim. Aren't they adorable?! I think I might blow them up and put them in Max's room. Jim is gonna be such a fun grandpa. I'm so blessed to have such a great father-in-law and grandpa for my son. I know Max will adore him!

The Marshall Suprise!

The Marshalls showed up at our doorstep yesterday morning! What a surprise! They decided to come keep me company while I wait for Max to come. Mike is so happy to have his family here. All except Maxine and Lizzy. It will be a fun week! Hopefully Max comes before they have to leave this weekend. We'll see...

Peanut Butter Cookies!

I've been trying different peanut butter cookie recipes and just haven't been able to find the right one until just the other day! I found it by just browsing online. These are so soft and delicious! They stay soft for days if you keep them in a plastic container. As you can see, I added chocolate chips to half of the batch for Michael since he refuses to eat cookies without lots of chocolate chips. Both were so delicious! Here's the recipe for anyone interested in trying them:

INGREDIENTS
1/2 cup margarine, softened
3/4 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
DIRECTIONS
Combine margarine, peanut butter, sugars, egg, and vanilla. Blend together very well.
Add flour, baking soda and salt with mixer.
Chill dough 15 minutes in the refrigerator. Roll into balls by hand.
Place on sprayed cookie sheet.
Using a fork, press down the balls and create a criss cross pattern.
Bake in a preheated 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) oven until edges very lightly browning (about 7 to 10 minutes).
Don't overcook.
We store them in a plastic storage containers, and they stay soft!

Tempe Lake

Today we had fun taking some pictures by Tempe lake... probably the last photo shoot before Max is born. We love having Soin live with us. She's been my best friend for my whole life and I'm just so blessed that I am able to spend this important time of my life with her. She's going to be a great Aunt.

My wonderful husband is going to be the greatest daddy. I can't wait to watch him hold our baby boy in his arms... the two loves of my life.

Fish Belly

Today we had fun we had making paintings for Max's room but we ran out of canvas and so we resorted to the obvious alternative....my belly!

Max's paintings are not quite finished yet, but I will be posting them soon!

Max's Room

Max's room is pretty much done now. He doesn't have a crib yet because we don't really have room for one and he's probably going to be in his bassinet by the time we move out of our apartment anyway. We will have to get one when we move into a house.

Rachel, we took your advice and framed those pictures that my sister took and put them in his room! How do they look? :)

Anyway, my wonderful husband just bought me a glider and it's great! He also worked hard to put up those shelves! I love how he sticks out his tongue when he consentrates really hard! :p

Soin, Mike, and I are currently working on some paintings for his room. I will post pics when they're finished!