Max's New Skill

Max is 2 1/2 months old now and is starting to hold up his head and "push up"!

He's still a little top heavy, and can only hold it for a minute or two.

And then he topples over.

(which is not to be confused with rolling over - that will come later)

Christmas Continued

Much to Grayson's joy, Christmas didn't end with Christmas morning. That evening Mima and Pop-pop arrived, presents in tow.

A Tim Tebow jersey!

Then two days later Papa George arrived, presents in tow!

2 1/2 month old Max

Grayson's First Date

We didn't realize the Mustang would be such a chick magnet.

Grayson took Gracie on a long ride around and around the cul-de-sac.

But wait - who is that? Later the same day Grayson took Baylee on a ride around and around the cul-de-sac. Our neighborhood will never be the same if Gracie finds out (or vice versa) ;)

Christmas Morning

Christmas morning in our home started at about 6:45 a.m. when Grayson came running into our room asking whether Santa had come.

Wow - Santa did come, and he brought Grayson the light saber he asked for (Daddy is Max's great protector).

And a bunch of other toys!

And Santa brought Max a new playmat.


And a Spider-Man and Friends book.


And Max gave Grayson a Jay Jay the Jetplane.

And Max and Mommy were just hanging out.

And Mommy and Daddy gave Grayson a Candy Land game.

And Nana sent a box with lots of Wii games in it.

And Grayson's stocking was filled with candy, a toothbrush, and superhero underpants.

But then - surprise, surprise, Santa left Grayson and Max a note telling them the hiding place of their final gift - - a Ford Mustang convertible.

Which Grayson enjoyed riding around the cul-de-sac (Max can ride shotgun when he's a little older).

Then we dressed up and headed to brunch at the Ritz.

In addition to eating lots of food, we played with Grayson's new toys and colored pictures.

And Grayson thanked Santa in person for his new toys!

Even Mrs. Claus was visiting from the North Pole.

Merry Christmas everyone.

Christmas Eve

Christmas this year with Grayson and Max has been magical. Grayson is old enough to understand Christmas and Santa (though he is still arguing with me that it must not be Jesus' birthday, but his). Anyway, he has been so excited and for the past week has known exactly how many days it was until Christmas.

Christmas Eve morning he opened Mima and Pop-pop's "Christmas Eve gift" - a big box of dollar store type toys. Tops, plastic bugs, a rubber ball, etc. He loved it, and they kept him occupied much of the day.

Then in the late afternoon we went to the Christmas Eve service at our church, and then came home to a dinner of breakfast (omelets, sausage, and bagels).

Then Grayson put out carrots for Santa's reindeer,


cookies for Santa,

and milk for Santa.

Then he danced around the living room, flailing his arms,

and doing backward somersaults.

Finally, Grayson went to sleep and somewhere in the North Pole Santa and his elves were busy constructing a large toy with many parts and screws into the late hours of the night. More on that tomorrow . . .

Max is Smiling!

Max is 9 weeks old and just a couple of days ago started giving us his first big grins. Today we went for his 2 month check-up and he now weighs 10 pounds, 7 ounces.

It was really cold today - 19 degrees when we woke up! But we bundled up anyway and headed to the Target. And Max smiled!

Then this afternoon he started smiling again. Twice in one day!

And with little baby gurgling sounds.

On the left is Grayson's first smiling picture (at 10 weeks).

Christmas Cookies

Earlier this week Grayson and I made Granno's Christmas Cookies. Granno was Tony's great grandmother and these cookies were made first by her, then by Gummaw (Tony's grandmother), then by Grayson's Mima, and now by us. They are wonderful. Not too sweet with just a touch of nutmeg.

Update: Gummaw called Pop-pop, who called me, with this correction: the cookie recipe actually dates to the 1800's, having started with either Granno's mother or grandmother. Wow! Thanks for the info Gummaw!

This year Grayson was old enough to really enjoy making the cookies.

And old enough to make funny faces when I asked for a smile.

And he absolutely refused to look up while decorating the cookies. He was concentrating so hard!

Here's what they look like finished.

We even made a Go Gators, win that National Championship, reindeer!

And yum are they good!

Come on Mom, put down the camera!

Photos by the Pros

Since Max was born we've had two wonderful photographers take pictures of him and Grayson.

First, my neighbor Robin (http://www.robingaucher.com/) who is a professional photographer took some incredible photos in her studio. Here are my favorites:

Then, my friend Marti (http://www.picturemommy.com/), who is just now launching her photography business, came over and took some awesome photos at our house: