Week 4 of Maxwell-world

Here's some of what went on during Max's 4th week.

On Friday my Aunt Sue and cousin Melissa come to town (with Melissa's cute kids)!  They drove up from Houston.  It was so fantastic to visit with them.  I have appreciated being around people who knew and loved my mom.  Even though it's hard because you naturally have conversations about the loss which bring up the pain, it's nice to be able to talk about her and how great she was(is).  It is also a comfort to be able to mourn together and be reminded that I am not alone.  I felt that I have stayed connected to family through my mom and now that she is gone, it seems that connection is severed and it's just me and my immediate family.  I can tell myself that isn't true but her being gone does change things.  She helped keep those relationships alive.  Now I wonder if we'll be forgotten (my brain knows that won't happen but my heart still fears it).  I appreciate the effort Sue and Melissa made to come up and visit Brittany and I because it helps me feel not so alone.

They were ready for dinner so the first thing we did is hit up in-n-out.  Melissa was in heaven (she loves it as much as I do!) then went over to Britt's house to hang out.  The kids immediately became fast friends which allowed the adults to get in some chatting.  It was great to get some advice from Melissa and Sue on some of the techniques they've used to help gassy babies.  Max was pretty fussy during their visit and having issues with being gassy.  We have tried the gas drops and gripe water but I don't think they are helping very much.

My family at in-n-out

Saturday was Brittany's Birthday.  Having family here just made the day more special for her.  We all went over to her house in the morning and hung out some more.  She made her own birthday cake and we sang to her.  Her cake was amazing - I can't remember what it's called but I'll call it "Chocolate Toffee Pudding AMAZING Cake".

Family - I hope Max's eyes stay that blue

Happy on the floor

Another picture of our family

Max being loved on by the girls - Angelina, Vanessa, and Melissa

Enjoying the cake - Landen, Brittany, Hayden, David, and Vanessa

Mmmm - Angelina, Joe, Landen, Britt, Hayden

Max talking to Aunt Sue

We went out to lunch before Sue and co. headed back to Houston.  We went to California Pizza Kitchen and Brittany got to blow out the candle on her birthday dessert.

Make a wish!

Max slept through most of the meal

Vanessa and her Grandma (Aunt Sue)

Later that night after we went home for a break, we took the Mejia's out to dinner to celebrate Brittany's birthday.  (She shouldn't have to cook on her birthday and I didn't have my act together enough yet to cook her dinner.)  She picked BJ's, which meant we got to enjoy their awesome Pizookie for dessert!

The Mejia family

Joe and his boys - so cute!

The celebration for Brittany wasn't over.  I really wanted her to know how loved she is and bring her happiness since I know it would be hard for her since this is her first birthday without Mom.  So on Sunday, we left the little boys (Hayden, Landen, and Max) with the big boys (Joe and Peter) and had some girl time.  We went to go see the movie "The Help".  It was awesome!  Then we did some shoe shopping and Britt picked out some tennis shoes.  This was the first time it was just the two of us without ANY kids since she moved here.  I so love my sister and spending time with her.  I am grateful they moved out here and that we have been able to grow our relationship and get to know each other better.  She is a great mom and such a support to me as I am learning how to be a mom.

Here are some more pictures from the week.

Max holding onto my fingers

Sweet baby

 Cute video of Max talking -

He's growing.  I think it's cute how big his belly gets right after he eats.

This kid has had the "pouty" face down since he was born.  He can WORK that bottom lip.  It totally defeats his momma.

Max also got to meet one of his Grandmas this week!  Peter's mom was going to have a layover in Dallas at DFW airport and it was long enough that we could pick her up and take her to lunch.

It ended up being a really full day.  Since we only had one car, we had to do some adjusting to make it all work.  I took Peter to work in the morning and then drove back and stopped in at CROSSMARK to show off Max.  The timing ended up being bad and he started fussing nearly immediately.  And of course, the sound of a baby is not something normal in the office so everyone starts peaking around their cubicles and coming out of their offices to see where the baby is.  Max was screaming because he was hungry so I went into my office, shut my door, and worked on feeding him for the first time without the benefit of a couch/bed and a nursing pillow.  It wasn't perfect but we made it work.  (Thank goodness I have an office with a door that I could close and am no longer in a cubicle!)  After he ate we continued walking around and showing my co-workers how cute he was.  Again, he was fussy so I was holding him and bouncing him the whole time and no one got to hold him.  That was good and bad.  Good because then I didn't have to worry about all the germs but bad because I want people to be able to hold my sweet baby.  I did not give myself enough time to visit with everyone I wanted to.  I just didn't figure I would be there that long but there were so many people that stopped me and wanted to see the baby and chat.  It made me feel special and I was missed at work.  I still wasn't feeling healed enough yet to carry the heavy car seat so luckily I have some nice friends that helped us get in and out of the building. :)  So it was nice to visit work and see everyone but I left feeling frantic and unsuccessful as a mom because he was so fussy and I felt like I still needed so much help from other people.  I consoled myself with the thought, "at least he looked cute!"  :)

So then I went back to Peter's work and we drove to the airport.  We picked up Peter's mom, Donna, and her mother in law, Judy and took them to lunch at La Madeleine's (a YUMMY French Cafe).  It was fun to see Donna's excitement over Max.  It was special but was also hard because I was reminded that I'm not going to get to enjoy seeing my Mom and Max.  (Moments like this happened nearly every day.  It's really hard dealing with the loss of my mom at the same time I am trying to adjust to being a mom myself.)  I am really glad though that Donna was able to see Max while he was still so little and that Max could meet his great grandma Judy. 

After we dropped them back off at the airport we went to Peter's work and I hung out there while Peter had a meeting and then showed Max off around Peter's office too.  Again, I was grateful that Peter had an office with a door that I could nurse in.  I am learning that one of the con's to nursing is that when in public it's certainly not as convenient as having a bottle and it can be tough to find a place to nurse.

Here's some pictures from the day.  (I really really really love the outfit Max is in)

Grandma Donna and Max

Great Grandma Judy and Max

Max sleeping in Dad's office

A couple other pics from this week:

So cute with no clothes on!

Sleeping on Aunt Brittany

Some of the things Max was up to this week...

• He has started spitting up.  Up to this point we never really needed any burp cloths.
• He has finally started making those cute baby cooing noises
• For the first time, I feel like there is some recognition in his eyes when he sees me