Two Months Old!

Today Max is two months old. It is so hard to believe. He is smiling and laughing a lot now. This is so rewarding to see, especially after long, nearly sleepless nights! Max went to the doctor on Wednesday. He is now 8lbs 5 oz and 21 inches long. Although he is still very small for his age (his size doesn't even register on the standard infant growth charts), he is gaining weight and growing at an excellent rate.

Here are a few of Max's happy faces and his classic yawn.n.

Baptism

This past Sunday, September 14 Max was baptized at The Church of the Redeemer. It was a momentous occasion made even more special by the fact that both of our entire immediate families were at the ceremony. Neil and Liz are Max's godparents. Michael and Daniel flew in for the weekend and finally got to meet Max. It was so fun to see my younger brothers bonding with my son! Joanie and John were also in town from Vashon, Washington. It was one big happy family celebration!

Unfortunately, Ike hit just as our celebration was ending, which made travel nearly impossible for everyone who came in from out of town. Michael ended up getting grounded in Cincinnati, so he had to spend the night with us, in the dark. Even though it was a stressful situation, I loved the extra time to hang out with my brother! Our power was only out for about 16 hours or so. We were very fortunate because many others went days without power. Jeff and I quickly learned how to create just the right lighting using candles and a flashlight in order to change a dirty diaper!

It was a memorable weekend!

Meet Max

Since some of our family, including my two brothers, have yet to meet Max in person, I thought I'd post a couple of videos. Both are of Max sleeping, but you can see he that even when he is asleep he is full of expression! The first video was taken in the hospital on July 29, our 2 year wedding anniversary. Max was just 3 days old and it was his first day out of the special care nursery. The second video was taken this morning, Sept 4. Max is 5.5 weeks and he now weighs 6lbs 11oz. He is gaining weight quickly and I think you can really tell a difference is his size. Each video is only about 2 minutes, and maybe everyone but me will think they are totally boring, but I love watching them and him!

Nashville House

Last Thursday Jeff drove down to Nashville to attend the closing on our house. The house is actually in a small town just south of Nashville called Franklin. Franklin is an old country town and has a great town center with cute little locally owned shops and restaurants (and churches on every corner!). Franklin has a mixture of subdivisions, farmland and grand estates (several celebrities including Nicole Kidman and Carrie Underwood have homes in Franklin). We are excited to live in such a quaint yet vibrant area.

We are also looking forward to living in the beautiful house that we bought. We liked it right away when we saw it. It has everything we were looking for- 3 bedrooms, 2.5 bathrooms, a big yard for Maggie and Max, an attached garage and it doesn't need any work! It's the perfect house for our little family. The couple that we bought the house from recently updated the kitchen complete with quartz counter tops and stainless appliances. Eventually we will personalize with our own paint colors and possibly update the bathrooms, but for now it is ready to move into with no work on our part.

The house is in a great neighborhood called Cottonwood Estates. All of the homes are roughly 30 years old and there are lots of mature trees. Each property has a grassy area in the back in addition to a back yard called the common ground. This common ground can be used by any

resident and is maintained by the neighborhood association. It makes the lots seem much bigger and is a great area for parties or ballgames. It's also nice not to have neighbors right behind our property. At the back of the subdivision is a pool, clubhouse, playground and tennis courts. Cottonwood seems like a wonderful, family friendly community. I am looking forward to meeting new neighbors on walks with Maggie and Max.

We don't have a specific move date, but it will be sometime in the last week of September. Jeff is scheduled to start with Messer's Nashville office on Oct. 1. He doesn't know yet what project he will be on. Lots of new adventures are headed our way!