Catching up

Well these days are so hectic that I don't really have time to post so... 

Here are the highlights.

Max graduated from the crib to a big boy bed AND
got rid of the binky in the same week.

14 Weeks to go and baby boy Burggraaf number two will be here.

Kent is running for Kanab City Council www.facebook.com/kent4kanab and
I am his campaign manager.

Thanks to Kent, Max now calls me Amy.

Max is officially "big foot" he is wearing size 5 shoes at 18 months.

Max is in nursery! YES!

Found a natural way to get rid of my migraines and have been
migraine free for three months now.

Max learned that he loves water slides again... and again... and again...

Max learned how to climb into his highchair all by himself. EEK!

Kent and I had our 10 year anniversary and celebrated with a trip to Kuai, Hawaii

 Doesn't this next look just say, 

"That's Right... You know you want me!"

 The view from our room looking over Hanalei bay.

 Queen's Bath

Not a moment to spare!

Wow this has been a busy couple of months!

We all got severe colds that seemed to last forever in February. After we finally had mostly recovered, my sister Sammy got married. I got to do her flowers which was fun, but a lot of work, especially with Max running around and still being on the mend from a cold! I received another calling as Stake Music Chairman (Don't remember if I posted that yet) and have Stake conference in less than a month, so I am swamped coordinating that and rehearsing the choir. I have 20 music students now, am trying to get our garden planted and Max is more active than ever.

We also just had out 10th anniversary! One decade. Wow.

Max loves being outside and loves rocks. Kent tried to get him to play a little b-ball with him, but the rock took priority. We might have a little geologist. He digs in the dirt studies rocks and when we went on our Easter egg hunt he ended up with more dirt and rocks in his bucket than eggs.

Kent just received a church calling as Young Men's first counselor, he is on the Kane County planning commission which meets almost every Tuesday, he participates in the local search and rescue, has to attend City Counsel meetings from time to time and has a lot of private clients outside of his normal position as Deputy County Attorney.

I feel like we are running a never ending marathon, but we are happy and healthy. Really no complaints. We get to go to Hawaii in June, so I am just looking forward to that relaxing week free of stress. Hmmm, to be on the beach again. Can't wait!

First Thanksgiving and Christmas 2012

Thanksgiving in Monroe with my dad was a blast. So fun so see all the family! Here is Max and his 2nd cousin Eathan driving Aunt Dee's John Deer. Who knew farming could be so fun! They did get stuck going in a circle though. Steering at that age is a hard concept to understand, but GO isn't.

The family minus Sammy and her new fiance Kyle.

Hanging on for dear life!

Just the girls...and Max.

Christmas morning at Grandma and Grandpa Burggraaf's house. "Mom, there's candy in this sock!"

This is Max's new favorite book. He loves to point at all the words as I say them and make the animal noises when we get to the animal pages.

Christmas at home with my mom. Of all the stocking goodies the toothbrush is his fav. Hope that is a long-term favorite!

Grandma gave him all noise making toys. Of course! This horse makes the galloping noise for you.

...and fun was had by all!

Messes, Mischief. and Missions

Well, this is me giving up. Max thinks he is now "too big, too old, too independent" to be fed by mom. I just had to walk away and count to ten which left him to attempt feeding himself. Hmmm. Wish I would have taken his clothes off.

Max loves dog food and now when I say no he jumps up and runs away laughing and screaming. I swear he is thinking, "If I run away fast enough she will think I was never there"! This is the current trend for anything he is not supposed to get into. As for buttons he is not supposed to push... He has perfected the "hurt" face. He doesn't even attach a cry to it which makes it more hilarious. Max had his first birthday this month! He was so confused when we turned off the lights and started singing. He ate the frosting off his cake one pinch at a time so it took about 40 minutes to make a dent in his cake.

We have just entered the temper tantrum phase and soooo, I just had to let Max cry himself to sleep so I could shower and this is what I found when I checked on him later.

Guess he was really working hard to resist sleep.

As for Kent and I, I have another calling in addition to my usual. I just got called as the Stake Music Chairman (chairwoman) and am now on a mission to round up a Stake choir. May not seem like a hard task, but considering our stake is made up of several small towns some distance apart it seems to be like pulling teeth to get them all to participate. Too bad. Kent "mission" now teaching the 12 and 13 year old Sunday school class. One Sunday I was in the hall with Max and could hear Kent in his class playing Gospel Jeopardy I think. His "ding!, ding!, ding!" and "We have a winner!" noises were very audible for all who walked by and he seemed to be enjoying himself, so I guess he likes teaching - I wonder if his class feels the same about him or if they just think he is a little out there. Just kidding Kent, I am sure they love you.

I just had the opportunity of directing a community choir and the local symphony for an open house performance of the new stake center and family history center that was just finished here in town. It was so fun and I was so pleased at how it turned out. We had a great turn out and a really powerful spirit there. It was a great missionary opportunity and there were a lot of non-members who turned out to tour the buildings and seee what we are all about.

The Christmas concert we did went really well. I don't know who edits our local paper, but there were two articles about it in the same edition.

Max has been very mobile these days. Last Saturday he took two steps. Must have been the day for twos. He also cut his first two teeth which kept me up with a screaming child for four hours in the middle of the night. Hmmm - don't like that part. His new found mobility has also come with a price. Here is his first significant war wound. He pulled himself up on the wood burning stove (it was not hot) and slipped. This is the day after. The swelling and purpleness was gone by the time I took the picture. Poor kid!

I think we are trying to set a record on how many national parks Max can get to before he is one year. So far he has been to The Grand Canyon, Zion's National Park, Bryce Canyon, Jacob Lake, and Arches National Park. I will spare you the zillions of picture we took, however cute they are, and give you the highlights. These are from Zion's. We forgot to bring his hat so we went grunge and used a bandanna.

Max loved playing in the water. He kept wanting me to put him in deeper.

Can you say Milk Comma? He was worn out from all the hiking and didn't even make it through a full 8 oz. before he was out.

Max's First Halloween. I couldn't help but to post several pictures of my "little tiger". He is just so cute! He kept trying to take the hood off his head. Lucky for me he couldn't get it off so I could get some pictures.

Summer Fun

I have decided to start making books for Max. He loves looking at them and I thought it would be fun if he was the star. Our first one will be entitled, "What's on Max's Head Now?" Kent thinks I am a dork, but I think it will be cute. This is my favorite so far.

We went to Max's 6 month check up and he is getting So big. He is 17 1/2 lbs, 27 1/4 inches long, and his head was 17 inches around. The doctor mentioned trying crackers. I was so excited we tried it that night. Max decided they are not too bad.

For the 4th of July we drove up to Salt Lake and went to the Real Salt Lake Game againt Seatle. IT ENDED IN A TIE! What? At least the firework show afterward was great. Max loved it. He was oooing and awing with his eyes. Thank heavens for child earplugs though.

After three weeks of 1 hour time slots here and there, I finally finished Max's room. Painting stripes are a beast. I can't really capture it in one photo, so here are a few.Still have to add pics to the frames and paint the large picture frame orange.

I also finished the "purple bathroom" as we call it. When we moved in the entire thing was dark purple. Now there is just a little bit.

And by the way, I figured out what was wrong with my blog. The new blogger doesn't work hardly at all with explorer 7. So frustrating, but an easy fix. I couldn't even upload a picture! Crazy.

Quick Update

I hate this new blogger format! I has somehow lost all of my blog list and can't access anyones blogs anymore. It is not like I am new to this or anything, so I find this ridiculous. Anyway, Max is getting big. 17 lbs and 17 inches long. He says dada now, but I don't think he knows what it means yet. He rolls all over the place and drools a lot. "Who needs a swimming pool? We have Max". We just bought a house and traded in our car for a newer one. We are spending most of our time updating the house, but have also somehow found time to join a softball lueage and participate in Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. Kanab does a comunity production every other year. We are prepping for the entire family to visit the first week in August. I am so excited, but have SOOOO much to do. Well that is it for a short little update.