Pretzels and Cheesesteaks

We just got back from spending the Memorial holiday in Philly with Mike's family, and of course while we were there Mike enjoyed his favorite Philly snacks of chicken cheesesteaks and pretzels. Uncle Marshall has a part time job at Einstein bagels so we enjoyed some of those as well. They are soooo much better on the East Coast, must be in the "wader" (you should ask Mike to say "water" for you some time, It's one of the few remaining words he still says with his Philly accent). Max had a few 1sts while he was there, he tasted his first pickle- which he loved & started rolling consecutively towards something he wanted across the room. The best part is that now I'm not the only one bragging about how smart Max is. It does not even compare to GG's raving about him to everyone. :)

Our friends the Melotto's drove in from NYC to spend Friday afternoon with us and we finally got to meet their cute son Thomas. Mike spent the afternoon describing how Max would dominate Thomas because he weighs 1 lb. more than Thomas who is 5 months older. Friday night we went to Shabat at the Brownstein's newly renovated synagogue so Max could meet all GG's friends. Ok...I can't lie. We only went for the dessert afterward, but Max is only half Jewish so its ok.

Saturday & Sunday our friends the Weisbergs drove up from Virginia to spend a couple days visiting. Audra, the girls- Anna & Lilah, & I are pretty used to our routine of finding something to do while Mike and Brad golf. Spending the day taking a ferry ride in New Hope & shopping in Peddlers Village did the trick this time. Don't forget to keep us posted on Baby #3's gender Audra!

Monday we spent at the Braun's who hosted a luncheon for family and friends to come meet Max. It was fun to "east coast greet" everyone & catch up. (I agree w- you Sachia, we need to bring the hug/kiss on the cheek to the west coast). Thank you Uncle Barry and Aunt Linda for a fabulous afternoon. Max was not exactly on his best behavior. I think the time change, teething, and catching 30 min. naps here and there finally caught up to him. I apologize again to everyone for a fussy baby.

It was a great trip, and we're already looking forward to seeing Uncle Marshall, GG and PopPop again in a few weeks for Uncle Matt's wedding.

3 little Monkey's

We just had to catch this on video. Max absolutely loves this little song, all we have to do is hold up 3 fingers and he gets so excited. I just love how he starts to flutter his eyes in anticipation of the alligator snatching the monkey out of the tree (watch the video and you'll understand).

Seal Beach

Even though it was a bit overcast we had a fun morning at Seal Beach today with Sachia, Natalie & Fallon, Danielle & Michael, April & Adam. I never get much of a reaction out of Max when I dip his toes in the water, but he does love to stare at the waves. He did get some alone time with Fallon in the tent but she was more interested in trying to steal his pacifier than in playing.

After a couple hours Natalie/Fallon, Sachia and I went to a little Mexican restaurant across the street which had awsome Carne Asada burritos & great waiters who kept calling us "Momma's". I'm sure he meant to say "hot momma's". In the booth behind me there was an adorable grandpa who I guess had been smiling at Max as I held him over my shoulder. When he stood to leave he leaned over, supporting himself on his cane and whispered to me in a very thick Irish accent that his name was Father xxx (I couldn't understand it), & that he used to have his own parish. He then made a cross on Max's forehead & chest as he said a blessing, wished us a good day and left. It was so sweet, and of course left us wondering why adorable Fallon who was quietly watching from her car seat next to Natalie didn't get a blessing. I'm thinking its becuase he knew she was a thief who earlier tried to take Max's pacifier and there was no hope for her. More likely would be he figured a boy would be a handful when he gets a bit bigger (remind me to tell you all in a later blog about my nephew Carson's escapades in potty training) and we would need it more than Fallon. Pretty fun day. Thanks ladies!

Since Friday Max has been kind of fussy & today I think we figured out why...Natalie confirmed it for me that the little white dot on his bottom gums is most likely a little tooth coming in. I felt bad becuase Uncle Matt and Aunt Susan came for a visit Sunday afternoon and Max was not in tip-top form. But it's always fun to visit with them and Max loves them. We promise next time guys that he'll be much happier.

Berenstein Bears

We're crazy to brave the ridiculous heat today, but I grew up loving the Berenstein Bears books so when we heard the author- Mike Berenstein was going to be at the LA Zoo we had to go. Actually, Mike Berenstein is the son of the original husband/wife team authors & has been illustrating and writing the books for over 20 years. I was ticked to find out he was doing autographs and we didn't bring our books. He did have some photocopies of illustrations and we got 1 signed for Max, and1 for me. Don't ask my why my husband only took one picture so please ignore the hanger strap of my shirt hanging off and that my gorgeous son is not even looking when I got him all dressed up in his fish outfit from Hawaii.

ketchup

So I need to play some "ketchup" (or is it "catsup"?) with all the goings-on of the Brownstein family for the last week or so, mostly for the Grandma's benefit.

Sunday, Max wore a baseball outfit we got from one of GG Brownstein's friends. Naturally, he got tons of compliments on the hat becuase he looks awsome in them (so I'm told).

Monday was a totally fun Cinco de Mayo party at the park that our friend Sherri had the awesome idea of throwing. Fun to see everyone and eat some serious burritos. By the way, if you are ever needing a delicious chocolate chip cookie recipe, let me know. Dana's recipe ROCKS!

Tuesday we decided to try vegetables again to see if Max would eat them. Carrots & rice cereal went over pretty well when mixed with the secret ingredient (1/2 scoop of formula).

Wednesday Max & I had lunch with our friends from MortgageIT that we haven't seen in a while. Fun to catch up with Vera, Sharon and Lynn. That night was ladies night at Natalie's house where I attempted to join in on the "crafting" with this poor excuse of a shark onesie. I knew I should have paid Ciana to do it. I'm much better at eating all the treats (again, that's how I roll).

Thursday was a babyshower at Tournament park- hard to find but a fun park. Also nice to see all Max's little friends again, plus I always love driving around in that Madison Heights neighborhood and dream about what it will be like when Mike finally invents something awsome that makes us ridiculously rich. I'm not going to discuss the not-so-yummy lunch Laura D. suggested which only Natalie and I ended up enjoying since Laura bailed on us. I use the term "enjoy" loosely).

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Today Natalie, Fallon, Max and I decided to try the new Americana shopping mall in Glendale. Pretty nice place, they have an H&M baby and a cheesecake factory- where we hooked up with Laura- and which is not worth the almost 1.5 hr wait (after the ridiculous hostess said she called our name but clearly hadn't as I had been standing in front of her for 35 minutes). Dana had emailed about a going-out-of-business sale at Baby style at the mall so of course we had to hit that. 1 hr. later I had cleaned the place out with very little help from Laura, Natalie & Dana. Seriously, Mike will never believe I'm a good shopper if you guys don't pitch in and buy more than me next time. Help a girl out! However, check out the serious stuff we got for Max. You'll be seeing him in these outfits over the coming months. And yes, he will play with the bowling ball set for Christmas this year even if it is for 3 year olds. I've decided he will be very advanced for his age.

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Busy week, but lots of fun.

Construction zone

I shouldn't complain, becuase really its only been about 12-14 days of actual construction work, but it really is no fun living in such a dusty mess. I'm so glad construction is getting closer and closer to being done. It has been pretty great to have a general contractor in the family to do the work (my brother-in-law, Ryan) & Mike and I are learning a thing or 2 about being handy. We've done a lot of the painting and sanding ourselves- I hate sanding.But this week he didn't come and decided to ditch us for time with his own family (where are his priorities!) .

(Former entrance to our Master Bedroom being opened up for the new family room)

For those of you who don't know, we decided a month ago to swap our family room and master bedroom to make the house flow a bit better and give us a true master suite After knocking down a wall, putting in the new arch way , refinishing the hardwood floors & painting, the family room is 80% done. Once we move the laundry room into the former master closet & decorate it will be done. We need a visit from Grandma Holmes to finish that up.

(new wall to expand existing bath in former family room to be a master bath and closet)

When it's all done we'll have folks over for Snacks & dessert (not dinner) becuase that's how I roll.

The day Max was "almost" born

Hoorraay for 31 cent scoop night at Baskin Robbins. Thanks to Natalie, Sachia, & Jen for splurging on 2 scoops with me last night.

While there I told them about the night Max was "almost" born and thought I'd share one of my embarrassing moments with everyone else.

One lovely October afternoon (this is pretty much where the pleasant stuff ends) Mike and I were out & about trying to stock the house with food and last minute baby stuff. We pulled up to Smart and Final and when I stood up to get out of the car I felt a little gush and looked at Mike with a panicked face and said really calmly (this is my story and I can say I was calm if I want to) "I think my water just broke". My Dr. had advised me that it does not happen like you see in the movies with huge amounts of fluid and the instant contractions so I figured this small amount could be the real deal. Mike asked me "are you sure?" & I'm thinking Seriously, he's asking me if I'm sure? Hello! of course I'm not sure. This has never happened to me before. Geez, man why would you ask such a ridiculous question. Honestly... I digress. I saw how freaked he looked and decided one of us better act a little more calm and said "am I sure? No, I'm not sure, but it soaked through my jeans and that's never happened before so we better get home."

On the drive home I called my mom asked how much fluid there was, "like, a teaspoon or a cups worth honey?" I told her it was more like 1/2 a cup & my wise mother who I always listen to (again, my story - my way) said I should probably call the Dr. Of course I had to call my sister who basically said the same thing and wished me luck. I wasn't really having any contractions so when we got home I waited a little while to see if I would have any. Then I remembered the labor/delivery class lady went on & on about not waiting once your water breaks to get to the hospital becuase of infections that you can die from (really its just mean to use scare tactics on new impressionable parents). We called the Dr's answering service who went through a few questions and said we should get to the hospital and they would page the Dr.

We put my suitcase in the car, grabbed my favorite pillows and hit the road. We pulled up at St. Joes and there was this family there that saw my huge belly get out of the car and they had the kindest smiles on their faces. We were so thrilled thinking we were leaving this place with a baby.

The triage nurse got me a wheelchair and Mike started taking some pictures and video. An older couple who was on their way out pocked their head in and asked "Are you having your baby today? Do you want me to take a picture of you together?" I was excited and all I could think of was how adorable this scrapbook page would be.

I was wheeled upstairs to the maternity ward, put my gorgeous blue bag of a gown on and rested comfortably with my favorite pillow. Mike called his mom (who was ecstatic) to say we were in the hospital while the nurse was testing the "amniotic fluid". The first test was negative so she did it again. After the second test she asked me how much fluid there was and said "I think it was pee". I'm going "what you talkin bout Willis?" "I think you urinated". I was pretty sure this young, pretty nurse did not know what she was talking about and politely said "That was a lot to just be pee". Then the hag with ugly scrubs said "Happens all the time sweetheart. When you stood up it probably just put a lot of pressure on your bladder. No baby today. But you are about 3 cm dilated so it will be soon". How dare she call me sweetheart.

I looked at Mike and we just started giggling. This is exactly what I did not want to happen. It's why I called so many people to make sure I should go in. Thanks for the great advice family. We totally had to do the walk of shame back out of the hospital with my suitcase and pillows with all the people starring at us I'm sure thinking "Oh, that poor girl didn't get to have her baby today". Needless to say my family got a huge kick out of me wetting my pants.

Max was born 6 days later after the Dr. broke my water. It feels MUCH different when its the real thing.