The Brown Brick Road

Capturing our adventures one photo at a time...

Floridian Adventure part 3

Quick “Operation Crib Nap” update:  No Change.  Yep, Tuesday was pretty much as bad as the past 3 days.  He did fall asleep in his crib but woke up crying hysterically only about 20 minutes later.  Oh well…we’ll get there.  It just might take a few more weeks.  In the meantime, we’re just going to take it slow and put him in the swing if necessary to make sure he gets the rest he needs.

Continuing on with our big Florida adventure from last week…

After flying to Ft. Lauderdale, stopping in Jupiter to visit Keath’s family, and almost running out of gas on Alligator Alley, we finally made it to Naples.  We stayed there all week – Monday through Friday.  I set up shop and worked from my parent’s office while GJ played nanny and Daddo “helped” her.  🙂  We had FANTASTIC weather all week – a very welcome change from the frigid temps, ice and snow back in Birmingham!  The best part of the warm weather?  Getting to dress Maxwell in all sorts of cute short sleeve outfits!  I love getting to see his chubby little arms and legs.  For your viewing pleasure, here are SEVERAL pictures of some of his cute outfits throughout the week (I, as usual, cannot narrow these down)…

First up, cute green monkey suit….

Second, an adorable Penguin polo from our friend, Sara.  Pants optional in Florida.

Third, a cute Petit Bateau outfit…he looks so sweet with the jacket.

But then the jacket comes off and you get tough guy Maxwell in his tank top!  Watch out for him!

You’re real scared, aren’t you?  I could eat those little arms up!

Tomorrow – our trip to Delray Beach!

A trip down south

Last weekend, Robert, Maxwell and I loaded up the car and headed an hour south to see the fam in Montgomery.  Maxwell was itching to visit LuLu and Granddaddy and Robert had a date with a 3 year old little girl.  Very important reasons to head down!

Luckily Maxwell slept the whole ride down…

got lots of good squeezes from LuLu when we arrived in Montgomery…

and had all sorts of fun new toys to play with!

It was a GORGEOUS day…

Yep, that says 75 degrees in January! Robert and I took the baby over to the nearby park where we thoroughly enjoyed the sunshine…

After all the fun strolling, Maxwell and Robert had to take a little time-out to rest and chew on their hand…

Did you know Robert’s a funny guy?  He is.  Makes me laugh every day.  Love him.

That night, Robert had a big date with his niece, Anna.  Anna and her sister Katie had plans to go to the Daddy Daughter dance at the country club.  However, there’s 2 of them and only 1 Daddy.  So, Robert gladly stepped in to play substitute Daddy.  Here’s everyone all dolled up and ready to go….

The back row looks a little more excited about the dance than the front row.  Perhaps Ronnie didn’t yet know that Miley Cyrus would be played by the DJ?  or that there would be as many heart shaped sugar cookies as he could eat?  Had he known that, I’m sure he would have had a smile as big as his brother’s!!  🙂

The girls boogied, twirled and shook their way all around the dance floor with Uncle Robert.  Meanwhile, I hung out with Jenny, Mary Beth, LuLu and my long lost friend, Pinot Grigio.  Definitely a good time for all involved!

We had a great trip and can’t wait to see everyone again soon!

5 Months Old!

Maxwell turned 5 months old on Sunday!  I love this age.  He’s so happy and smiley.  He reacts to us and interacts with us.  He’s sleeping great too which doesn’t hurt!  Every night he goes down at 7pm and doesn’t stir until 6:30am….sort of.  He won’t fully wake up until the morning but he will stir in the night and will lift his legs up and slam them down onto the mattress with a loud WOMP!  I have no idea how he doesn’t wake himself up doing that because it’s loud.  I can hear the WOMP all the way down the hall in our bedroom!  He loves spending time in his jumperoo, going for walks in the stroller and swinging at the park.  Every night he gets so excited for bath time and kick kick kicks his little legs in the water.  He’s still a great eater and now eats 4 times a day – 7am, 11am, 3pm, and 6pm.  He takes 3 naps a day – 9am, 1pm and another short nap around 4:30.  He definitely knows who Robert and I are and even sometimes gives a little pouty lip when we leave…sad to see but I love that he loves us!  🙂  He puts everything in his mouth.  I think those teeth are coming soon!  As much as I want him to stay this age FOREVER, I can’t wait to see what the months ahead have in store for him!

As usual, we did our monthly photo shoot in the green chair…

And, as usual, we had a nice little conversation throughout…

Mom:  Maxwell, do you know how many months old you are?

Maxwell:  ummm….this many?

Mom: No silly, not 2 months!  try again….

Mom:  Nope, not 4 months either!  Try one more time…

Mom:  5 months!  that’s right!  I’m so proud of you!

Maxwell:  Oh boy!  I love being 5 months old!

Maxwell then decided to show me some of his best poses….

Suave guy…

Happy guy…

Grumpy guy…

and, of course, Swimming guy…  🙂

We then had to take our picture with Little Al….

Maxwell always gets excited to hang out with Little Al…

And now, just a few close-ups to round out the 5 month celebration…

And, of course, I saved the best for last!

Happy 5 months sweet boy!  We love you!

Four month photos here:  4 months

Three month photos here:  3 months

Two month photos here:  2 months

One month photos here:  1 month

Aspiring photographer?

I tried to take some pictures of me and my little dude but he was much more interested in my camera than smiling for a photo…

He REALLY wanted to know what was going on in that camera!

Maybe he’ll be a famous photographer someday!  Until then, he’s going to stay on the other side of the camera…even if he does make faces like these…

God love him.  I could kiss those sweet cheeks all day long.

I Heart Faces

Happy Monday everyone!  I’ve got some fun pictures coming up this week but today I’m doing something a little different.  There’s a photography website called I Heart Faces and every week they post a photography challenge.  Anyone can submit a photograph to the contest and a winner is chosen on Saturday.  Now, I am obviously not doing this to win (there are some real pros on there!) but I think it might be a fun way to try new things with my pictures.  We’ve all got to be getting a little bored of photos of Maxwell sitting on the couch, right?  Ok, me neither…BUT…I do think it will be fun and challenging to try some new things.  I likely won’t do it every week but hope to from time to time.

This week’s challenge is “Smiles” and is all about “the joy they bring to each of us.”  You guys have seen this picture before.  It’s not a photo of a big, broad smile that follows a belly laugh…but a little grin that sure does bring me joy.  I hope Maxwell’s little smile with his tongue peeking out makes you smile too!

Check out all the impressive entries at I Heart Faces!

In other news, we had a great weekend. Robert and I went out on our first date since Maxwell was born!  Our FANTASTIC nanny, Susan, insisted on coming over for a few hours on Saturday night so we could go out to dinner.  We went to Bottega and thoroughly enjoyed some grown-up conversation.  It was so nice to be out and not worry one bit about our sweet little guy at home because Susan was in control!  She’s the BEST!