2012 In The Rearview Mirror

Back in January, I thought we would never make it through this year.  But once we made it through August and took Max off his heart medicine, the rest of the year has gone by pretty fast.  Max is still doing great and hasn't had any more episodes of SVT (knock on wood!).

Here is a photo recap of the last few months.

 We celebrated Grandma Jones' 80th birthday, complete with a wagon ride and chuck wagon dinner.  Challis was chatting Max's ear off in this photo - and Max just stared at Challis like he was crazy.  :-)

 We went to the zoo with Uncle Jaron and cousin Paisley.

Max learned the Aggie fight song.  Cory has big plans for this kid...

Max took his first airplane ride - we went to Newport Beach, CA.

Max got to stay in a 5-star hotel for his first vacation.  I was on a business trip to attend a conference, which was hosted at the Pelican Hill Resort.  They had a separate pool for the kids and a splash pad that Max absolutely loved.  I'm sure the staff was excited to see us leave - we tried to keep the room clean but we left behind one torn duvet cover, another that was pooped on, Nilla Wafers that had been ground into the carpet and a dresser piled high with all of the bottles I pulled out of the fridge to make room for Max's food.

Learning to walk was pretty rough.  Max took his first steps about a week after he turned one.  And he only learned how to crawl after he learned how to walk.  We called Uncle Jared over this big bump.  We thought maybe we should take a trip to the emergency room.  Max kept falling and hitting his head in the same spot as he was learning to walk.  I guess the blood vessels had finally had enough after he hit his head on the sidewalk - this bump was literally sticking out about 1 1/2 inches from his head.

 After that incident, Max had to wear the 'Thud Guard' until he was a little more steady on his feet.

We decorated pumpkins and dressed up as a dinosaur for Halloween.  Max got to go to 'Boo at the Zoo' with Grammie and Grampie.

I got a bike and trailer for my birthday and Max had a great time riding around.  He would just sit and take in the scenery and chat up a storm.

We saw Santa's reindeer.

 And went to see the Zoo Lights with Aunt Ashlee.

 Absolutely terrified of Santa.

Learning how to share our toys with Cousin Challis.

 Santa found us!

We finally celebrated Christmas at our house on December 27th.  Max got a rocking horse.

Aunt Mary gave Max his second Hallmark ornament for the Christmas tree.  It was the only ornament that Max ever touched the entire time we had the tree up.  He couldn't have cared less about the others.

Max can barely walk in his snow suit and boots.  He looks like a penguin when he walks.  The first time I tried it on him, he tipped right over.  Max is absolutely fascinated by the snow and loves to be outside.

And Grandpa Johnson turned 60 years old on December 29th.  Happy birthday!!  We love you!

Max Is One!

We had these photos taken on Max's 1st birthday.  He was so good for the photo shoot…except for when we brought out the cupcake.  He wanted to tip it over and pick off the giant sprinkles but he had no interest in actually smashing it.  I stuck his fingers in the cake and he was not happy with me.  This kid does not like to get his fingers dirty!!

We spent the weekend before Max's birthday camping at Bear Lake.  It wasn't the ideal setting to decorate for a birthday party but I gave it my best shot.  

 Cat in the Hat birthday cake (thank you Smith's bakery).

We had Swedish fish and Goldfish crackers (One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish).

Thank you Pinterest for the water bottle idea (packing tape on both sides so the paper doesn't get soggy).

Welcome to the Dr. Seuss birthday party in our RV!

So grateful for family who made the day special for Max!!  Cory smoked ribs for dinner and we ate in style!

Birthday banner - pictures of Max from birth to now.

My attempt at "Horton Hears a Who".

My sister-in-law, Ashlee, designed these amazing birthday party invites for Max.  Thank you, Ash!!!

Swimming in Bear Lake with Gracie.  Max was so enthralled with Gracie - his face lit up every time she came around.  And I was so impressed with how patient she was with him.  I figured she would get bored since he can't interact too much but she was so good to stick around and entertain Max.  Love you, Gracie!

Max loves his 'hip and happenin' aunts!!

We took Max off of his heart medication on his birthday and so far, he has stayed out of SVT.  Since there is no way to visibly see the spot in his heart that caused the trouble (without invasive techniques), we just have to wait and see what happens.  I cannot even begin to tell you how nice it is to let him set his own schedule.

This is our before:

5:00 a.m.: Wake up and give medicine and a bottle.
6:00 a.m.: Back to sleep
9:00 a.m.: Wake up
11:00 a.m.: Must make sure Max is down for a nap so that he can be awake again at 1:00 p.m. for another does of medicine.
1:00 p.m.: Give medicine and lunch
3:15 p.m.: Make sure Max is down for another nap so we're on track to give the last dose of medicine at 9:00 p.m.
6:00 p.m.: Wake up and have dinner
8:15 - 9:00 p.m.: Fight a cranky baby who is ready for bed but who must stay awake until 9:00 for his last medicine dose
9:00 p.m.: Last dose of medicine and sleepy time
10:00 p.m.: Cory and I fall into bed.

Now:
WHATEVER WE WANT!!!!!!!  Cory and I have watched two movies since we took Max off of his medicine.  We obviously could have stayed up late and watched a movie before but there was no movie worth staying up that late to watch when I knew that 5:00 a.m. was just around the corner…EVERY SINGLE DAY!!!!!!!!  I've read one book since Max was born.  I intend to pick that up again, too.  I am so thankful for the strength and mental capacity to make it through this last year without going crazy.  And I'm so glad it's over!

Max had his 12 month check-up last week.  He weighs 19 lbs and is 28 inches long (4th percentile in both categories).  Max took his first steps just three days after his birthday.  He gets so mad when he can't get to where he wants to go.  Guess you should have learned to crawl, kiddo.  :-)  He has four teeth now (top and bottom from teeth).  He is starting to mimic (or try to) our words and sounds.  I'm starting to see why people say that having a baby is fun.  I am definitely liking this stage much more than the baby stage!  Maybe ask me again in a couple of weeks when we have a full-fledged toddler who is ripping apart the house...