Reaching for Toys

This week we've started noticing that Max will reach for his toys. Above is a picture of him in his infant to toddler rocker ( Thanks Bre!) that he just loves....and now he is starting to love the toys with it too! It's so neat to see him start to develope and change.

Busy Saturday

We had a busy Saturday today but it was a lot of fun. We woke up early. Mike and Dad got started on the deck and Mom, me, and Max hit some garage sales around our neighborhood. It was a lot of fun, Mike has been excited about the deck project for a while so it was good we got to start on that, and mom and I hadn't went garage selling in a long time...we found Max the cutest little tool workshop table with tools for $3. This afternoon we went to Sean and Rebekah's wedding at the gorgeous Glass chapel in Bella vista and than the reception here in Springdale at the Holiday Inn...we finished out the day with Max's first Natural's baseball game. He even met the macot. Now we are home and ready to head to bed....Busy day tomorrow with early church and than more work on the deck!!

Adding on....

Mike and I (and Dad and Max) are going to Lowe's tomorrow night to buy the supplies we will need to add on to our deck!! We are very excited. We have been talking about expanding out deck since the first time we stepped out on it and bought the house. It is such a nice deck, but with the grill, flowers, and our table set, it's a little snug. So we are going to keep the first level and turn the deck into a 2 level deck that ends up in front our fountain we made ourselves. Thank you in advance for all who help with the project. Pictures to come!!

Trip to Kansas City

Mike and I started planning our family trip to Kansas City tonight. Since mom and dad are going to the Beach in June...and mom is Max's full time sitter...Mike and I thought that would be a good time to plan a family vacation of our own. This will be our first trip with Max by ourselves. We are 90% sure we are going to go to Kansas City. It will be Father's Day weekend. Right now we are thinking maybe a Royals game, shopping at the plaza, cheesecake factory, the zoo, and Max first time at the pool...we are looking forward to more planning soon...

Back to School

Well after a semester and a half hiatus to prepare for Max's arrival, I am back in school!  I just got accepted back for the Summer semester and will be taking my last German course in the second session.  I am a senior with almost 100 hours now, so the end is within sight.  I am very excited to finish, and that pretty much all the classes I have to take now are really cool 4000 level History classes, and a few electives.  Should be a lot of fun.  It will be slow going since I don't want to spend too much time away from Max, but that will be OK too.

No Cable in the Lamb House

Mike and I made a family decision in early spring to try and go without cable in an effort to spend more quality family time together. Last week we finally went through with it and cut off our cable. I'm not sure how long it will last, but it has gone better than expected. We just want to have more time for sit down dinners, playtime with Max, time for Mike to play the guitar for us, time to read more books, have family movie night, etc...and mostly also just to spend more time outside enjoying the summer and our big back yard. I'm looking forward to it. These days it's easy to find yourself talking about tv everyday and not even realize it...what show is on tonight..what happened last night..what's on tomorrow...you find yourself eating dinner while watching tv almost everynight instead of at the kitchen table as a family taling about your days...hurrying back from the grocery store because you have 2 or 3 shows on your dvr from just one night that feel like you need to watch. Mike and I are looking forward to the change...and to spending more quality time together...and most of all helping teach Max the importance of family time.

Homemade Salsa's not far away now!!!

Above is an updated picture of the garden. Mike and I are so proud of Max's first garden. It is growing so good...and it's only May! We are looking forward to all of the tomotoes, green peppers, onions, beans, zuchini, squash, and cucumbers to come!!

Bekah and Max

Bekah and Max got to spend some time together on Memorial Day. Bekah is just a busy bee these days and loves "taking care" of Max. We even all went out to eat at Chilis together with Bekah and Max's car seats both in the Rogue with me, Mike, and Matt. AFter we got back we spent some time on the deck and out in yard by the fountain and the garden, what goergous weather.

Mabry is 2! Today was Mabry's 2nd Birthday party at Hunts Park. Todd grilled hot dogs for the "hot diggity dog" party. The kids had fun on the playground, playing games, and eating cake. Max and Laney slept most of the time. I can't believe it has already been 2 years since Mike and I got the call while we were in Branson letting us know that Jennie went into Labor. We love our little Mabes!

The first attempt at 3 month photos did not work very well. First we forgot the bumbo seat and tried holding him up, than he was not a fan of the sun in his eyes. We went home to get the bumbo only to return with a very hungry baby. I nursed him in the car and we tried again only to realize that this was not the day to take his 3 month photo. Photo number 2 is our second try. Max was just perfect, smiling and laughing all of the time. We had so much fun and got so many good pictures and the one above is going in his baby book.

Maximus the Movie Star

We of course have been taking so many videos of our little Max and Mike is working to put a lot of them up on youtube.  So, there are a couple up there now, but anytime and in the future go to www.youtube.com and search for Maximus Warner, and you will be able to see videos of our little Max!!

Ashley

Max's new Jeep

We put together Max's new jeep he got at a shower. He'll get better at it, but he absolutely loves it. Before the video below we kept honking the horn and asking max to honk the horn...we would keep honking it for him and showing him how to honk it...and it actually does it! take a look...Me and Mike were laughing so hard...we could not believe he actually honked his own horn...probably..haha

567

Mike and I went out to my parents house today and counted up my milk supply.  We had to get all of the milk organized by month so that my mom feeds max the oldest milk first, etc.  I can not believe I have 567 ounces of milk.  I know I had a lot but I had no idea it had saved up to that much.  That means that with Max eating about 3, 4 ounce bottles a day at my mom's house which is 12 ounces a day...that Max has a 47 day supply...and I'm still pumping!  I feel like a little milk factory...but I am so thankful that I have been ablse to provide him what he needs...and this boy likes to eat!!

Max's First Week at Grandma's House

Ashley went back to work this week after 12 weeks of maternity leave.  It has been quite an adjustment for both of us, especially for her, but she is doing great.  She gets up at 5:30 in the mornings to have time to get ready, feed Max, get him out to Grandma's house, and make it to work by 7:30 at the latest.  Then I pick Max up when I get off of work at 5:00 and we both get back to the house around 6.  

Luckily Max has been sleeping very well in his crib, that makes it easier.  We try to get him to bed between 9 and 9:30 and he sleeps until 3:30 or 4:00, then goes back down for another couple of hours after a snack.  He is so much fun to take care of!  Everytime we get him up in the morning he is smiling and trying to laugh a little.  He is generally a happy little boy, we feel so fortunate every day to have him.  And Grandma seems to enjoy keeping him just a little bit....  

Until next time,

Mike

PS We are having a cookout competition at work tomorrow, I am entering the Pork and Chicken categories.  Wish me luck!  The prizes are free days off that I could spend with Max.

Back at work

Two days down..many to go. Today makes 2 days back at work. Max is staying with Grandma during the day. I drop him off in the mornings at 6:45 am and Mike picks him up everyday at 5:45pm. We love him so much. It has been difficult going from having Max by my side 24 hours a day for 12 weeks in a row to saying goodbye to him in the mornings and not seeing him again until the evening. The good news is that the girls have very helpful and understanding of me coming back...and honestly I have been so busy since I've been back I have barely even gotten up to go to the bathroom! so it's good that my mind at times is so preoccupied I forget how much I miss my little man. One thing that is harder than I expected is dragging myself away from my desk twice a day to pump in my car...not an easy task, a little stressful to get done in such a little time, but I know it's the best thing for my son, so I am going to do whatever I can to make sure he continues to get the nurishment he needs to be a strong healthly boy..and I keep telling myself it will get easier. Here's to another day at work! All honesty I actually am really happy to back at work, I really love what I do and who I work with, I've missed it...it will just take some getting used to...but I have always wanted to learn to balance a career in something I love to do and raise and build a family..and now I'm doing just that.

Thank you to those who entered.....and the winner is

The Yankees would like to welcome new fan..Maximus Warner Lamb..like mother like son

My First Mother's Day

Little Max did so great on my first Mother's Day. We started the day off with church, than Mom and Dad ( Grandma & Grandpa) took everyone (me, mike, max, todd, jennie, mary frannie, mabry, and laney) all 10 of us out to eat at MarketPlace. It was our first time all out to eat together. Than we relaxed at the house and had a cookout that night. I loved spending every minute of the day with Max. I am so blessed to have become a mother, there is nothing else like it and no better feeling in the world. I have so much more respect for mother's out there these days and I'm truely learning the meaning of the phrase, " we do it because we love you". Thank you mom for everything you do and for all the other mother's out there working so hard.

Max's Tummy Time

Max is loving his tummy time these days. He is getting to be such a big boy! He is lifting his head up so well and we love watching him try to crawl. He of course isn't getting anywhere but he looks like a little fish swimming and it's so cute. We are so proud of our little boy and are loving play time with him every night.

First Cookout of the Year!!

Mike and I had our first cookout of the year...which was our first cookout with Little Max! It was a lot of fun and we had a great turnout. It was so good to get to see and visit with so many of our friends. Boy were there a lot of kids here! There was Max, Brecken, Carter, Elise, Rian, and Emily. We were so glad the rain held off...we had brats, hotdogs, cheesedip, baggo, bubbles, the wi, and some sun.

Rain, Rain, go away, come back another day

The rain has stopped...so Mike can mow the yard! ( While I take care of Max of course).  Not mowing our yard for 2 weeks, than having it rain for a week on top of that made some of our "grass plants" reach the 1 foot plus mark..crazy!  So here's to the new riding lawn mower, fresh cut grass, and a beautiful yard!

Hi Ho Hi Ho, it's back to work I go

Back to work this Monday, May 11th.  Today I did a test run.  I woke up at 5:30...fed Max at 5:55, made it to Sonora to my mom's by 6:50, left her house at 7:05, and was at my desk by 7:20...whew!  It will take me a little while to get used to the routine, but I think I can do it...the hardest part isn't even the waking up early or the traveling..it's the leaving my little Max...boy do I miss my little man when he isn't around.  So here's to "sleeping in" on Thurs, Fri, and Sat....because come Monday...the am traveling begins!