The Brown Brick Road

Capturing our adventures one photo at a time...

It’s black, it’s white

First, happy birthday to my cousin Amy yesterday! Amy is one of my most loyal blog readers and commenters and we are all hoping she had a fabulous birthday!

Second, I was taking some photos of Maxwell last week in his cute whale onesie and captured these two shots that I just love. I can’t decide if I like them better in color or black & white though. What do you think?

Photo 1…

and Photo 2…

So…what’s your opinion? color? or black & white?

FYI – because some of you have asked, you don’t have to fill in the “website” box to leave a comment.  All you have to do is fill in your name, your email, type your comment in the box and click on “submit my comment”.  Voila!  comment posted!  easy as pie so go on…comment away!

Arkansas Adventure

We’ve had plenty of excitement over the past few days and I have lots to report and a ton of pictures so here we go…

Last week on Wednesday, my mom and I hit the road with Maxwell to make the 6 hour drive to Arkansas to visit some of my family.  We had no idea how Maxwell would do on such a long ride and he did…ok.  🙂  The car seat is really NOT his favorite place to be.  After eating, he would be content to ride in the car seat for about 15 minutes, then he would get tired and realize he wasn’t getting out of the seat so he would SCREAM his head off for the next 20 minutes.  He would eventually scream himself to sleep but it wore me and my mom out each time.  But, we made it there all in one piece and Maxwell doesn’t seem to be too scarred by the traumatic car ride.  Personally, I’m still assessing my mental health after the trip…especially since my mom and I are taking him on a 10 hour car trip in 3 weeks to Dallas.  Yep, we’re crazy.

Anyway, we made it into Little Rock Wednesday night.  We didn’t stay long in Small Stone but were able to see my cousins, Anna and Amy, as well as my good friend Laura on Thursday morning.

My cousin Amy…

and my cousin Anna…

FYI, Anna and Amy’s dad and my dad are brothers.  I have to say, both girls looked pretty good with a baby in their arms!  🙂  It was great to see them both and I’m so glad it worked out for them to meet Mr. Maxwell!

My mom and I then headed over to one of my favorite stores when I was little, The Toggery.  It’s still around and better than ever.  My good friend since pre-school, Laura, met us there and we bought several cute things for Maxwell and for her little girl, Livi.

We then hit the road to drive to Augusta, AR to see Susu.  It was the day before Susu’s birthday and we were going to surprise her with a visit!  I had put on the blog on Thursday that we’d be knocking on her door in a few hours.  She read the blog that morning and immediately called to find out where we were!

You can see the excitement on her face as we knocked on the door!

Unfortunately, Maxwell wasn’t a very happy camper at the moment.  Luckily Susu didn’t seem to mind and let us come in anyway.

We had a fun little birthday celebration and a great visit.

Maxwell also got to meet his Great Great Aunt, Dodo!

Aren’t they the cutest?

We then drove over to Searcy, AR to visit Maxwell’s Great Granddaddy, Maxwell (he goes by Max).  Granddaddy hasn’t been feeling well lately and is actually in a rehab facility right now so we went to visit him there.  My Uncle John (my dad’s brother and Anna & Amy’s dad) was there along with my Aunt Cara.

Max meeting Maxwell for the first time!  Of course John was ready with the video camera!

Maxwell and Uncle John…

and with Cara…

I think they were both getting in some good grandparent practice!  🙂

Here I am with my two Maxwells!  We love you Granddaddy!  Hope you keep feeling better and get to go home soon!!

My mom and I then spent the night in Searcy and made the drive back to Birmingham the next morning.  It was a long trip but worth every minute.  I’m so glad Maxwell got to meet so many members of his amazing family!

Of course, none of this trip would have been possible without my partner in crime, GJ!  Maxwell really loves his GJ and they became best buds on this trip.  We can’t wait for her to come back to town again soon!  We love you GJ!

Phew…that was a long one!  Told you I had a lot to share!  Have a great day and I’ll see you tomorrow!

Out of town adventure

This weekend, we took our first out of town adventure with Maxwell down to Montgomery for Robert’s 15 year high school reunion. It was a nice weekend all around – we got to see Robert’s family, Maxwell got to meet his cousins, Robert got to see lots of old friends and we celebrated our birthdays.

I will say, traveling will never be the same again! Babies require a lot of stuff! Here’s all of our bags for the big 2 day trip…phew!

Maxwell with Robert and Robert’s dad (Granddaddy). Granddaddy wanted to take this photo next to the portrait of his father, Maxwell’s great-grandfather. Neat!

Maxwell also got to meet his sweet cousins Katie (5) and Anna (3).

On Friday night Robert and I went to the football game and then out to see some of his friends. Maxwell was left at home in the very capable hands of his grandmother, Lou Lou. Let’s just say he was not a happy camper! He showed Lou Lou just what a good screamer he was the whole time we were gone! On Saturday night Robert and I persevered and went out to the reunion. Lou Lou nicely agreed to babysit again and Maxwell took it much easier on her Saturday night. Thank goodness and thank you Lou Lou!

Here we are going out Saturday night…

We even got to take a little family picture before heading out the door!

It was a great weekend…minus that Bama loss to South Carolina. Oh well, you can’t win them all!

ps – I was so excited to get a family picture for the blog header but we’re too big! You don’t really need to see Robert’s forehead, do you? I’ll keep working on it…

Future Heisman winner?

You never know…

We’ll have to do something about that missing right foot though…

In other news, I had a great birthday yesterday. I was hoping Maxwell would decide to give me the present of 6 hours uninterrupted sleep. Instead, he was so excited about my birthday he decided to wake me up every 2.5 hours to play. Gotta love that little boy!

I got some sweet gifts from family and beautiful flowers from my hubby. I’m a lucky girl!

Have a great weekend!

Doctor Update and Birthday Recap

Maxwell had another pediatrician appointment yesterday and things look good! He’s up to 10 lbs, 1 oz!! My little chubster! He’s grown to 22 and 1/4 inches and his head circumference is 15 cm. Growing boy! He’s still in 50th % for weight and 75th % for height. He did have to get a shot in his chubby little thigh which was no fun…for him or me! But, we survived and after a few tears (him, not me) we were happy again.

The fall weather has definitely arrived and yesterday morning was pretty brisk…just cold enough to need a “light wrap” as my grandmother, Susu, likes to say! Luckily, Maxwell just got this super cute sweater and cap in the mail that Susu knitted for him! It was the perfect thing for the chilly morning and he looked adorable for our big outing to the doctor. The nurse at the doctor’s office even commented on what a sweet little sweater it was! Thanks Susu…Maxwell loves it and it fits just perfect!

Here’s a picture of Susu with my mom from a few months ago…she’s the best. She’s also one of my most loyal daily blog readers! A very talented painter and sewer, Susu can whip up just about anything you want! I’m so lucky to have her as a grandmother and can’t wait for Maxwell to meet her…hopefully very, very soon! 🙂

In other news, when Robert got home from work last night we had a little family birthday party, just the 3 of us. First, the birthday boy spent some quality time with his baby boy…one of them was a little happier than the other!

We then had a good dinner, opened presents (he got a Kindle) and finished with cake! What more could anyone want for their 34th?

See you all tomorrow!