Thank Heaven for Busted Pipes in Jackson, MS...

Happy New Year everybody! I've taken far too long to post something since we got home from Christmas/New Year's in Vardaman a few weeks ago. It's been a crazy couple of weeks. We had such an amazing time seeing everyone. So glad the families were able to get together. Oma and Jiggs bought a Wii and we had a blast playing it...and watching others play it. Highlights were Jordan's kickboxing, Uncle Jeff and Jiggs' cow race, and Matt flapping his arms to make the big bird fly. :) I'm so upset we don't have video of that...you seriously had to be there to appreciate it.

Max started actually crawling while we were in Vardaman, finally getting up on all fours instead of the army crawling he's done since September. Now he's pulling up on everything like it's nothing at all and crawling all over the house. Definitely time to get that baby gate up....

This week has been a rough one. Max has an ear infection, a bad cold, and is cutting 3 of his top teeth. I've been sick too since last weekend. Because Matt and I both had stuff we couldn't miss at work this week, Oma had to come and stay with Max during the day since he couldn't go to Ms. Wanda's. Oma actually started out the week in Jackson, MS for work and should have been there until Friday. Unluckily for the city of Jackson, but so happily for us, there were some big water main breaks due to the weather and they sent everybody home. If that hadn't happened and she wasn't able to come up, I'm not sure what we would have done! Max is starting to feel a lot better and I hope now that I have a couple of days off I'll start feeling better too.

Here are some pictures and a video of late. A few more have been posted to the shutterfly site as well. Happy New Year!! :)

Max and Nana Pearl

Granne, Mamps, Max, Madeline, and Rivers

Madeline, Max, and Rivers

The whole Hamilton clan.

Mariah, Rivers, Jen, and Max

Max helping Jiggs put together one of his toys.

Max and Daddy in the "snow"

Standing up playing.

Looking out the window at the "snow"

Video from Max's First Christmas Morning

Merry Christmas!!

Merry Christmas Everybody! It has been a great week so far. Started out with Oma and Jiggs coming in for a (brief) visit last weekend, then Zack, Misty, and the girls coming in from Dallas, and then a whole week spending time with the Greer & Colbert clan. We now have a couple of days to rest, then head to Mississippi for our Vardaman Christmas. Can't wait to see everybody and have the whole Hamilton and Ward families together on Tuesday and Wednesday. Here are a few pictures from the past week. There are A LOT more on the shutterfly site. Have fun!

Merry Christmas Nicola and Thomas! Thanks so much for the toy and chocolate! Max loved opening his first present from Germany! It got here first thing Christmas Eve. We love you!!

First Christmas Present from Oma & Jiggs. He looooooooved the paper!

Playing with Cousin Caitlin. Thanks Aunt Bri & Caitlin for babysitting on Sunday! Max had a great time. Caitlin is a fantastic little babysitter!

Christmas Eve '09 - Merry Christmas from the Greers!

Max and all the girls - Isabella, Caitlin, Reagan, and Delaney. Max loves his cousins!!

8 Months!

Today Max is 8 months old. This tells me two things...first, he's growing up waaaaaaayyyy too fast. Second, it's been way too long since I posted anything (considering my last post was titled 7 months!).

We've hit a few milestones in the last month. Max has learned to sit up by himself. It's amazing to watch him, because you can tell that he thinks "ok, I'll sit up now" and then he does it. :) So much fun. Here's a video:

Max also has 2 teeth now! The first one popped through a couple of weeks ago, and the second just this weekend. He has also discovered his tongue, which is making it quite a challenge to feed him. After every bite, he sticks his tongue all the way out and licks his chin. It's pretty funny, unless you're the one trying to feed him!

Matt and I have been busy Christmas shopping. We can't wait to spend time with family this Christmas. Zack and Misty and the girls are coming in next weekend for a week. It's been since June since we've seen them, so we're so excited for Max to get to spend time with Belle, Reagan, Delaney, and Caitlin. He looooooves girls, so we think he'll have a good time.

We'll be going to Vardaman the week after Christmas and will be there through New Years. Max will be happy to be at Oma and Jigg's house so he can have some freedom in his walker. Their housefull of hardwood floors makes it easy for him to move around. Here's a video of that:

We've been bad about keeping up with the pictures lately, but here are a few of the past month. Enjoy!! In case I don't get to post again before Christmas, Merry Christmas to everybody from Matt, Jen, and Max!!

My Little Redneck :)

This is his model pose - if he's crawling and you call his name he'll turn around a pose like this.

Merry Christmas!!

'

Up close!

Trying to see what's under the tree....not much at this point!

7 Months Old!!

Can you believe it? Yesterday Max was 7 months old! I can't believe how fast time is flying - and everyone assures me it will just go faster and faster the bigger he gets. He is so much fun now! He still isn't crawling in the traditional sense, but can army crawl fast enough that we have to be on our toes to make sure he doesn't get away from us. He's just starting to try to pull up - we don't think he has the arm strength yet to do it, but you can definitely tell he wants to.

Last weekend we went to Vardaman for the Sweet Potato Festival. We were a little worried about how Max would do, because he really hasn't spent a lot of time around that many people. He was wonderful though! He loved seeing all the people and fun stuff everywhere. The festival this year was absolutely packed! Here is a picture that I took around 11 that morning.

We had a great time hanging out with all the family last weekend - it was great to be home and see everybody. It had been 3 months since everyone saw Max, and I think everyone was shocked by how big he is! Aunt Emmy & Oma are here this weekend and we'll be heading back to Vardaman next weekend to spend Thanksgiving week. Max is getting to spend a lot of time with family, and we can tell he loves all the attention.

Here are a few more pictures from the last week or so. Have a great rest of the weekend!