Santa Baby 2012!

Santa has come, and since Max has been a very good boy he raked in the goodies!!!  Actually, we contacted Santa and asked him to come a few days early since we were going to be ay Papa's house on Christmas day.  He was pretty agreeable, so long as we left out extra goodies for him and the reindeer!  This is the first year for Max to actually be excited about Santa coming to visit which made it fun for Mama and Daddy too!

 Max's man-house, not a doll house!  The firemen and policemen have a toilet, bunk beds and a basketball court!

 Woohoo!  A stocking full of goodies.  As kids, my sister and I always received a coconut.  My aunt Nancy told me that Santa always brought a coconut for her, my mom and their siblings.  We don't really know why but the tradition continues.

 Santa did not forget that Max asked him for a helicopter!

 A new set of alphabet letters for the tub.

 A few of the ornaments that Max made at MDO.  I wanted to take pictures of them in case they break someday down the line.  This was a manger.  On the day he brought it home I asked him where baby Jesus was born expecting him to say "A manger" (I also would have accepted a stable, a barn, or the smelly place where livestock are housed a night.) but instead he said "Bethlehem".  He has a good memory for such large words.  He will also tell me that the angel said "Do not be afraid!  I have good news!".  It makes me happy to hear him repeat the story about the birth of Jesus.

 I love the upside down hat!

 Oh!  He's awake.... and he went straight for the helicopter.

 Wow!  Monster trucks!

 A new spyglass for Max.

 Trying to drive his new car... he needs to work on his driving skills a bit.

Aaaahhhh! Stuck in Mama's new footstool.  Goofy kid!

Max's 3rd Birthday

It's just not possible!  Max is 3!!!  Oh how the time flies.  We had a really wonderful day celebrating with Max.  Started out with a big gift from Mommy and Daddy, something he has always wanted.  You will have to see the video of him "discovering" it.  Keep in mind his reaction was low key, but he had just woken up.  His friends Carson, Eli, Anna, Elizabeth and baby Caleb (and their families... I'm not quite THAT brave!) came over later in the afternoon for some playtime, painting, dinner and of course a cake!  Max had such a good time playing with everyone and being the center of attention!  We will have another "party" in Carlsbad with my family, so I'm sure there will be a few more birthday pictures in a few days.  We also had his wellness check and Max weighed 33 lbs and is 39" tall.  I guess he is going to get the Boans height for sure.  Happy Birthday Max.  We are looking forward to celebrating many more with you! 

Max woke up to find a new train table waiting for him in the family room.  

I think he likes it!!!

Opening a gift from Grandma and Grandpa.

Yup, it was Lincoln Logs.  Daddy and Maxwell built a fort and added it on the train table. 

We had his birthday party here at our house.  The kids painted home-made Christmas ornaments.

Seth, Caleb and Sarah.  Baby Caleb was too young to paint today.

Elizabeth painted the longest... she was really concentrating on her works of art.

Anna Painted all of her ornaments white.

Cheese face!!!

Singing Happy Birthday.  Carson and Eli are across the table from Max.

Make a wish!

Carson, Elizabeth (who really didn't want to be in the picture), Eli, Max and Anna.

Besties!  Eli and Max jumping together.

Pictures from Galveston

So the video of Max flying his kite was taken over our mini vacation to Galveston.  We decided to us our Thanksgiving holiday to see a new part of Texas and explore some new venues.  Overall, we had a nice time at Moody Gardens as well as the new pier (new since Hurricane Ike leveled the old one in 2008).  There were some really pretty parts of the island, but at the same time there were many homes that still had major visible damage from the hurricane.  A lot of the shops in the historical area had a sign or plaque to show how high the water had reached during the storm surge.  Makes me glad I live inland!

I hope that someday we will travel over Thanksgiving to somewhere that knows it is still November!  I realize that Thanksgiving is a springboard into the Christmas holiday, but seriously!  How do you think Thanksgiving feels being treated like a second rate holiday?  Anyway, that is my rant to let you know that this WAS over Thanksgiving even though Max is posing in front of a Christmas tree.

 We rode the Colonel later that night.  It was quite chilly and I didn't have my jacket!

 Max and a white-faced saki monkey.  The Rainforest pyramid had lots of "free" animals.

Mmmmm... Picking out our ice cream flavor at LaKing's confectionary.  We also watched them pull their own taffy.  Max settled on chocolate.

At the Pleasure Pier.  Max could only go on about five of the rides.  The carousel is always a favorite, especially when he can ride a dragon!

 His other favorite ride.  It was fun to see Curtis crammed in the back of those little cars!  Hahaha!

 The pier at night.

Our las morning we hit the beach for kite flying.  It was perfect condition for the kite, but not for me!  The wind coming off the water was chilly!

Max may have enjoyed digging in the sand just as much if not more than flying his kite!

On our way home we stopped for lunch at the Houston aquarium.  We didn't actually go through it, but they have a restaurant with a HUGE tank in the center.  Max was excited to find Ms. Sharky's twin swimming in the tank.  What's this?  You don't know who Ms. Sharky is?!?  You better come for a visit to meet her.

 We took a quick train ride before heading home to Waco.  Fun trip!