"Scoots" update

Here's an update on my broken foot saga...

The first couple weeks of the year I continued to use my scooter - it was great!  But after I had the scooter for a month, it was time to return it. (You can see why I got the nickname "Scoots" at work.)

Going to work with the crutches was MISERY compared to the scooter.  I was slow.  It was awkward trying to carry anything (who ever thought I'd miss that silly basket on the scooter).  It was just a pain. 

I had my third visit with my doctor 6 weeks after I broke my foot.  This visit didn't go as well as I had hoped.  We did X-rays again and after looking at the X-rays my doctor started telling me the stuff that he had already said at my 3 week visit.  I had to remind him that we were actually at 6 weeks, not 3.  He said that my foot was still broken.  It was healing however not as quickly as he would have liked.  He basically said that he believed that the extra calcium I was taking to help speed the process along, was being sucked out by Max (pun intended).  He didn't want to increase my calcium intake even more due to the kidney stone that I had experienced and I am not willing to stop nursing.  So, it means that this healing process will just go slower.

He gave me some more physical therapy exercises to do at home (which, unfortunately, I've been awful about doing).  He said that when I was just hanging at home doing things like watching TV, that I could take the boot off and that I could stop using crutches and put all my weight on the boot.  WAHOO!!!! 

It's been awesome to be able to take the boot off around the house (I put it off if I am going to doing a lot of standing or walking) and then to not have to use crutches outside the house.

It's now been 8 1/2 weeks.  My doctor said that at this point I could stop wearing the boot and start wearing shoes that had sufficient support - either tennis shoes or boots.  I have to admit, that makes me kind of nervous.  I still feel some soreness after days where I'm on my feet a lot.  There are times where I step wrong and feel a little twist of pain.  All of it is completely bearable but I just don't want to start walking around in shoes if it's too early.  It's not worth the risk of injuring myself again (I would go CRAZY to have to go through this long process again.)  So there's the nervousness and then there's the wardrobe issue.  It's a lot more obvious at work why I would be wearing my airboot.  If I show up in tennis shoes on the bottom and professional dress on top, that raises more eyebrows and takes more explaining. :)  I haven't quite decided what I am going to do about that yet.  For now, I'm just going to put off the decision.

So there's the update.  I'm still broken but not as broken as I used to be.

The moment we've been waiting for...

Max is getting so big!  Fun things and big changes happened at the beginning of January.

First - we finally got that moment we had been waiting for.......... Max laughed!!!  I quickly grabbed my phone and captured the moment.

Also Max is getting so good at sitting up.   He's always seemed to be so good at holding up his head, putting weight on his legs, etc.  So we had been having him sit up more often (supported by the Bumbo, even though he will only put up with the Bumbo for a limited amount of minutes, or pillows, etc).  He's doing great at it!

I've talked about how Max likes to go to sleep with our noses touching.  I wanted to capture that in a picture so I could remember it.  I love that he does that - it just melts my heart.

 Max is so much fun!  He's observant, playful, and such a happy baby.  It is so fun to see this part of him really come out.  I was worried when he was an infant that he was just going to be a fussy baby and wouldn't ever be what I could call a "happy baby".  That is certainly not the case.  He shares sweet, big, toothless grins all the time.

Playing with dad

We bought a nearly new leather couch from someone in our apartment complex who was relocating for work.  I was so ready for a new couch and while it's not the perfect fit for our current apartment and who knows how it will fit when we eventually get a house, it's AWESOME to have something different and new.  The men (Peter and Joe) like the recliners.  I like the fact that it's not going to stain every time Max spits up or drools on it.

My happy boy!

Here's a video to show you how good he is at sitting up.  Place attention to his toes - I think it's super cute how he rubs his feet together.

Happy new year!!!

Yeah for a new year!  A year that I get to spend looking at this sweet face sounds like a great year to me!

Movie with all the things that I am looking forward to with Max in 2012:



The rest of the Holiday Season

It was great to just take it easy during the time between Christmas and New Year's.  I was still limited by my broken foot so we didn't do anything really big and exciting.  Just enjoyed time with family and time off work. 

It's time for some more cute naked pictures.  I love the last one - it's like he's practicing for flirting with the ladies... :)  He's so good at tummy time!

Katie had a great time playing with Max.  She was so cute with him.  He loved her right back.  I almost jumped in and stopped her from carrying him but then realized that she is plenty old enough to carry him around and keep him safe.  That was a weird realization.

Standing big and tall with Daddy

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Since Peter and I were off from work, Max didn't need to go over to Brittany's every day.  Landen and Hayden missed seeing him each day and when we got together they were all about Max.  Here's the cute cousins together.

Have I told you that Max won't take a binky?  Every once in awhile we give it a shot again.  This time was pretty funny!  Watch this video:

We tried to make some lavender bath salts with our Lavender DoTerra oil.  (Marriann bought a kit with a bunch of oils for each of us for Christmas.  They are AWESOME - I am so hooked.  If you are interested in hearing me go on and on about how great essential oils are and what I've used them for already, just let me know.)  We mixed the oil with Epsom salts and baking soda.  We originally were going to give them away as little gifts but they didn't quite turn out as potent as we thought.  So for now, Britt and I have lots of bath salts to enjoy.

Hayden helping mix the salts

Max loves looking at cell phone screens.  He also loves hanging with his aunt Kimi.  She even got him down with zero fuss a couple times.  I'm jealous of that!

New Years Eve the weather was beautiful!  I really wanted to go on a walk even though I couldn't "walk".  So Peter watched Max while he was sleeping and my sisters and the rest of the kids went on a walk.  They walked and I scooted.  

Me and Hayden lifting our feet up

It was a fun New Years Eve - we made lots of yummy food and played games.  The only bummer was Joe had to work so we missed him. 

Movie - Max cooing for his momma.  Love how much he talks to us!

These two are cute together already.  I look forward to watching their relationship grow as they get older.  It's going to be fun for both of them to have a cousin so close in age (they are a little over 6 months apart).

Kaitlyn holding her cousin

It's time to eat this great food!

Eventually Max fell asleep but not yet

The spread - dips, veggies, chips, meatballs, lil smokies, pineapple salsa

Movie - Max breaking out his dance moves

Peter treated us by making daiquiris and pina coladas

We had some serious rounds of Sequence happening!

Kimberly is such an angel!

We wanted seconds on the frozen drinks but Max was asleep in the kitchen.  What to do???  Take the blender to the bathroom!  :)

Movie - All of us sharing our wishes for 2012.

It was so nice to have Kimberly and Kaitlyn here.  I can't believe that we got to enjoy the holidays with so many family and didn't have to go out of town.  I sure hope we can get Kimberly to move out here as well.  I am so grateful that Brittany lives here.  Her living here has made all the difference with adding Max to our family.  She watches Max so he doesn't have to go to day care.  She helps me nearly every day with various things.  We have been able to support each other as we learn to live a life without our mom.  She is a huge blessing!  I have two really fantastic sisters that I can't imagine being without.  It's a major reason that I want to make sure that eventually Max has a sibling.  It is such an important relationship to have - - - a brother/sister.

The holidays were great even with my broken foot.  I had stressed a little bit going into them about what they would be like without Mom.  In the end I chose to not think about it as much as possible.  Was that me being in denial?  Sure, a little.  But it allowed me to enjoy the holidays without spending too much time being sad.  I hate that every holiday from here on out is going to have that empty space that would have been filled up with my mom - either in person, or on the phone, or skype.  I sure miss her.  I miss her most though for Max.  She would be eating up how cute and fun he is getting. 

4 month old photo shoot

We took Max to get his 4 month old pics on Christmas Eve.  Since it was Christmas Eve, we had to throw some Christmas pics in there too.  :)  He did a great job and lasted pretty long before it was too much and he was done.

Max's First Christmas

As a result of my broken foot - this is what the majority of our Christmas shopping looked like this year.  THANK GOODNESS for shopping online (and free shipping!)

Here's some cute pics of my Santa Baby

On Christmas Eve we went back to the mall to get Max's 4 month old pictures taken.  We worked hard to plan it perfectly when he'd been fed, had taken a nap, and was happy.  Overall, our efforts paid off and we got some cute pictures (I'll post them soon). 

That night, my family and Kimberly and Kaitlyn loaded into my car and the Mejia's loaded into their car and we drove over to a neighborhood by my job and looked at Christmas lights.  This is now a Christmas tradition for Peter and I.  (You can read about past years here and here.)  I did a better job this year of mapping our way through the neighborhood and we only ended up doing about 1/3 of the neighborhood.  The Mejia's loved it and thought the lights were cool.  Even though this is the third year we've done it, it hasn't gotten old.  I love looking at Christmas lights and seeing how people decorate their homes. 

Max hanging out with Momma's boot on Christmas Eve

Because of my foot, Peter took over prepping the traditional monkey bread for Christmas morning.  (Pretty impressive considering how much he hates having his hands dirty.)

Our tree, wrapped presents, and look - Santa has laid out the full stockings and some gifts for Max!

Not old enough yet to wake up early with anticipation on Christmas morn.  :)

We headed over to Brittany's at around 8 am so that we could be there when the kids got up.  It was fun to see Kaitlyn and Hayden's excitement over what Santa brought.

Going through the stockings

Me and Max on Christmas morning.

Peter figuring out his soda maker.

My Aunt Brenda made these super cute aprons for Kimberly, Brittany and I from fabric of my moms that she found at the garage sale.  It was a surprise and such a thoughtful gift. 

After all the presents were opened, the monkey bread eaten, and breakfast devoured, Peter and I headed home to prep some things for dinner.  We brought Kaity with us.  Peter made some pumpkin pies exactly the way Grandma Nelson had directed us to.  While we were waiting for them to cook, the three of us played Parcheesi and had some snacks.

Apple teeth!

Kaity modeling her cute new clothes

We headed back over to Brittany's for Christmas dinner.  We continued our Millar family tradition of potato soup, honey baked ham (and honey baked turkey - yummy!), rolls and all the other fixin's.


The fam

 After dinner we played games and enjoyed each others company.

Smiley Baby

When we got home from Brittany's we finally took the time to go unwrap our own presents with Max and each other and go through the stockings.  Max loved his new stuff animals!  We helped him open/rip the wrapping paper.  He wasn't took interest in that but he humored us a little.
Video of Max checking out his stocking.

Ooh!  It's an elephant!

Hm...what's this?  Wrist Rattles?

Unwrapping a present

Is that for me?

All of the presents Max received

Ready for bed in his Christmas PJ's