Max's 1st Haircut!

We finally decided to cut Max's hair.  It was starting to get a little shaggy around the ears and neck.  We called up my friend Lindsey and went over to her house.  Max did great!  He sat still on my lap and was very serious the whole time.  Enjoy a few pics!

Checking himself out in my phone

Yes another Vacation....

We love to travel...if you haven't figured that out yet...so for Scott's fall break we took advantage of a great Southwest deal(we both flew round trip for under $200) and jetted off to Charleston, SC and then drove down to Savannah, GA.  This was Scott and Max's 1st time in either city and my first time to remember it(I went as a young child according to my parents).  Max did great traveling as always except for a brief screaming baby on the plane moment when we were taking off from Nashville.  Our flight left at 6am and I thought that would be good hoping he would just sleep.  I should have known better. Mr. Nosey was wide eyed the whole time until we got on the plane and he realized he was VERY tired but did not want to go back to sleep.  Once in Charleston we got our rental car, yet again another great deal from Priceline, and off to Savannah.  After checking into the hotel we did a little sight seeing, dinner, then a early bed time.  Scott and I were up at like 3:30am.  Max is great at going to bed, he has a great routine.....well we were in a new place and his routine was shot to H E double hockey sticks.  Needless to say the Valet at the hotel got to see one tired grumpy mama, whoops I meant baby as he got our car so Max could be driven around until he fell asleep.  The next nights went a bit smoother.

The next morning we got our dinner reservations for The Lady and Son's Restaurant, bbreakfast, then hopped on the tourist mobile AKA trolley.  Now the only form of transit Max hasn't been on is a ferry or ship.  We loved the trolley tour.  We could hop on and off as we pleased and got a lot of info!  Dinner of course was excellent!  Neither Scott or I could barely put a dent in our food though.  So sad to waste.  We loved Savannah!  So gorgeous and my fav part was the gardens in all of the squares.  Every block or two was a square and you could just sit, stroll, or even play surrounded by history.

Our last day in Savannah we drove out to Tybee Island(only about 20min from Savannah).  You will not see any pictures.  We never even stopped.  We did not see what all the fuss is about.  Tybee is just a VERY small old typical beach town.  There wasn't even a public parking area where you could get out and walk on the beach.  You just had to find a random spot somewhere on a street.  That is great if that is what you love but we like a little more action.  Scott and I never even stopped the car.

Charleston is another very historic city.  We did some touring of our own the first night, and ended up with some yummy cupcakes :)  The downtown historic area is very spread out so we decided to take yet another tour.  This time by Mule!  the guide was talking about the mules and how they get theirs from Middle TN.  Represent!!  Another great tour but Max was ready to get off about 15min before we were done so a slightly fussy baby kept us entertained.  After our tour we hopped in the car and went to Boone Hall Plantation.  This was my favorite stop.  This plantation is also known as America's most photographed plantation.  The driveway is lined with 200 year old oaks and the house has been in several movies including The Notebook(the summer home of the Hamiltons). We toured the house, slave cabins, and even a tour of the actual plantation grounds via open air coach.  Then it was off to the airport for our journey home.

Out of both cities Scott and I would go back to Savannah over Charleston.  Mainly because Savannah is much more walking friendly and that their historic area is so spread out.

14 Months!

Time just keeps trucking on in little Max's life...and he is close to trucking along as well.  Max finally decided he likes his "walker/car" and has started pushing it all around the house...well actually if an item can be pushed Max uses it to help him walk around.  When you go to set him down instead of sitting he straightens his legs so you have to stand him up.  He will walk all around holding onto the walls and will go from furniture object to wall to chair....you get the point.  I go up to him and say lets go walk and he will get up and hold one finger on each of my hands and off he goes, sometimes he will even walk just holding onto one finger.  As soon as I let go though he plops to the floor.  What I think is super cute is when I go into another room and he realizes I am gone he starts yelling "Lacey"(Scott and I both swear that is what he is saying; yes he is calling me Lacey before ever saying mama) and I will say where I am and a few minutes later there he is pushing his "walker/car" and he is so proud of himself!

Max has gotten a little picky about his veggies; only eating peas so we have became a little creative.  So we have found out he loves a spinach omelet, veggie fries, and any of the pouch baby foods such as plum organics and happy baby.  Those come in super handy!  We just take the cap off and hand it to him and he sucks it right out.  Happy baby also makes "Munchies" that a packed with veggies but like a cheese puff.  We also tried to switch him over from cow's milk to coconut milk but he was not a fan, we even mixed it with cows milk; he would not drink it.  We found out that coconut milk has no cholesterol about half the calories and twice the calcium of cows milk and it has more vitamins.  On the Silk website you can see a comparison chart.  Oh well....but I have noticed that both kroger and publix brand milk is from cows that are rBST-free.

Saving the best for last on Oct 1st Max was a very busy boy.  First he started the day by deciding MAMA was a better name for me than Lacey!!  Yea!  Finally!  Now he says mama all the time!  Then later in the day while Scott's mom was over visiting she and I witnessed Max take his first step!  Then a few minutes later we tried to get him to do it again and he did.  As soon as he takes the one step he realizes what he did and sits down...but it counts!!  He has since then taken a few more steps between Scott and I, but never more than one at a time.  Max's sign language is also progressing, he now says please, thank you, drink, eat, all done, and more.

We left on Vacation on the 3rd(Max's 14th mo) and I didn't get an actual posed 14mo pic, so here is a pic from my phone as we were taking off on the plane.

Happy Birthday Scott!!

This year was a big year for Scott, he is 30!  He was a little grumpy about this day, I think he is going to stay 29 forever.  Max and I brought Scott his favorite lunch up to the school and had lunch with him, and then had dinner with some friends that night.  Sat we did some shopping and then had dinner with some more friends.  Not a wild birthday like those of birthday's past, but Scott was perfectly content with his day.  Plus he had some Phoebe's cookies!!  You can not beat those!!  As always I am also including some pic's of Max.  He has been pushing his car around the house like crazy and I finally got a picture of him standing by himself.

Because Scott is "OLD" now, Charlie is in a wheel chair being pushed over the hill

So good at this thing I can straddle it and push it backwards!



Happy Birthday Daddy!!



Welcome to the World Ava

My cousin John and his wife Emily recently had their first baby.  Sweet chubby Ava Grace! She came into this world on the 14th at 10lb 2oz and 23inches.  Not only is she the cutest little chubby baby ever..but she was born with a natural faux hawk!  How cool is she now!!  John's sister Kelly also has little Jack so she put a pic up with Jack rocking the faux hawk...well Max wanted to join his cousin's with the fun.......so enjoy a pic of each rockin the faux hawk!  Ava definitely has the boys beat :)

Flash Back Friday!

Today Max and I went to the Eagleville homecoming parade.  Eagleville is a K-12 school, so every grade participates and has a float.  This was Scott's 1st year not being there but I was off so decided to go anyways.  We watched the parade at the beauty shack with Wyatt.  As for the flashback....Last year was Max's first homecoming parade(which he slept through), this year he quite enjoyed it!  He just sat in his stroller or on the steps and just watched.

Max and Wyatt

Last year at the parade

Brush Brush Brush

The AAP now recommend children go to the dentist around their 1st birthday.  Soooo off we went.  Max currently has 6 teeth(one more is close to coming in).  When we got called back and I set Max down on the table he started to realize something was up.  After answering questions re: Juice(we don't give him juice), Bottles(he stopped drinking from one at 6mo), and Brushing teeth(apparently it is also recommended to use just a smear of fluoride tooth paste instead of fluoride free) Max had to lay down.  Well first of all he hates to lay down, and second some new scary woman was touching his mouth...he was NOT a fan.  The other hygienist and I held him while she quickly brushed his teeth, looked at them, and painted on fluoride.  Then he got a balloon and rattle so he was happy again.  The dentist came by and took another quick look and we were done!

13 Months

While we were in Gatlinburg our little booger came into his teens, well in months that is.  This past month Max has grown in so many ways!  He is still not walking but will stand on his own until he realizes he is doing it.  He is saying a few more words- Bye/Hi(they sound the same), Go(used in the forms of let's go and go away-he shoos you with his hand for that one), Eye(and points to his eye)...but still no MAMA!  This boy may never say my name!  He has also got much better at sign language.  He signs more basically when he wants any kind of food or drink so we sign back eat or drink and he gets excited at the one he wants.  We are currently working on please and thank you.  Oh and he has been doing "all done" for a long time now and will squeeze/cup?/grab each had but at the same time when he wants up(it is hard to describe).  I am so glad we decided to do some sign's b/c instead of him screaming and wining when he wants something he can tell us what he wants.

Now Max has also obtained a little attitude....I knew it was bound to come but I was hoping our sweet little Max would stay sweet.  Now don't get me wrong he is still sweet and a GREAT baby but he will let you know if he is mad!  He will be playing with something he is not supposed to and when we take it away he pitches back, becomes stiff as a board and screams.  And we let him.  We are going to try to instill that fact that just because you throw a fit(even in public) does not mean you are going to get your way.  He will even thrown things down when he is mad.  Scott calls him little Lacey :)  The other night at dinner he started dropping his food on the ground despite several warning and being told no.  So he got mad and threw more so we took his food away and turned his high chair around so he was facing the wall.  After a few minutes of screaming he stopped and sat there until we were done eating.

Night time has become great!  It is crazy to think that only 4 mo ago he was still waking up every 3 hours to nurse and now he goes to bed at 8pm(I lay him down, pat him for about a min and then walk out of the room) and sleeps until 6-6:30am.  Now if only we could get him to sleep past 6:30 on a weekend it would be great!

Sliding at the park

Labor Day Weekend

Scott and I both had a 3 day weekend so we decided last minute to head to Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge.  this would be Max's 1st trip to the smokies.  I got on Priceline and got a good price on a hotel and off we went.  Traffic was surprisingly good for a holiday weekend untill we got off the interstate.  Needless to say my patience and road rage was tested a lot this weekend.  After checking into the hotel(we ended up staying in Pigeon Forge) we drove to Gatlinburg and walked around.  The last time Scott and I had been there was a year and a half ago when we stopped on our way home from Ashville, NC.  They have added a lot of new things so it is not just t-shirts shops :)  It was 96 degrees and all 3 of us were hot so we went back to the hotel to regroup(Max took a nap) and then dinner. 

Sunday morning we were going to drive Cades Cove Loop, but after sitting in traffic just to get into Gatlinburg we decided we did not want to sit in traffic all day on the loop either.  So it was more walking around and checking out the sites(Check out the cool haircut I saw!!...oh and this is a "woman").  We have decided that Gatlinburg is a lot like downtown Las Vegas minus the Casinos....

It started to rain Sunday afternoon so Max enjoyed playing in the hotel room.  The rain stopped briefly so we went out and did a little shopping in Pigeon Forge.  Monday....still raining and the temp dropped to 56!  40 degree difference in a day and a half!  Crazy!

Sitting in the firetruck at Firehouse golf...this pic is for Papa

Hmmm...where is the word...smart

We had a fun little trip and are going to try and go back around Christmas time to see all the lights.

Taste Testing

This past weekend the Bolden clan enjoyed a nice slow weekend.  Max and I played and played and played.  I think he is my favorite play date!  Sat afternoon the 3 of us headed out to the Avenue in Murfreesboro for A Taste of Stones River.  For this event you bought 50cent tickets and walked around and got to sample yummy treats from 1- 5 tickets.  We had a great time and got to sample some good things for a great price.  A person could get a full meal for under $10.  Max is a big fan of smoothie king now ;)  It was a tad hot so we hit the air conditioned stores before heading home.