Max on film

This one is for the grandparents

Our Littlest Man

Ryan at 8 weeks

From July.2009.3

From July.2009.3

From July.2009.3

From July.2009.3

Ryan at 7 1/2 weeks

From July.2009.3

I think only parents will understand this one...

Max now says crackers instead of cuckoos. It makes me kind of sad. ; )

Big Boy Bed Saga

From July.2009.3

Things have been pretty good with the transition. We had to lay down with him the first few days or so and he definitely wasn't taking naps. Then he started getting better about going to bed but then would wake up and come into our room in the morning. This would be fine except for he usually came in whining or crying and hard to appease. He always wants milk and we can't give him THAT much milk! A few times he crashed on the floor...

From July.2009.3

The couch:

From July.2009.3

The hard part was his behavior. He was acting like a kid who used to get 2-3 hour naps and wasn't. So, Kate gave me the insight to try giving him naps on time again (instead of seeing if he would crash) and for the past 2 days he has done it! Yeah!

Day 1 of the Big Boy Bed

Max did not nap (that was the trial run). We called both grandmas and talked up the bed and I read stories and even laid down with him for a little bit. It was just not going to happen. At bedtime, he started out okay but then wanted me to lay down with him. After a little bit I got up and he wanted to come out of the room. I held the door shut which of course makes me feel mean but it worked. I held it for about 1 minute and he went back to his bed and cried there. The crying continued and daddy went in and gave him some milk and laid down with him for a few minutes. He woke up as happy as can be and proud of himself. So all in all the first night seems worse written than it was. I must say though, sometimes his 2-3 hour naps were nice. OH well ;)

Happy Campers and Not-so-Happy Campers

We went camping at Ensign Ranch this weekend. It was our first time with kids so we knew it was going to be an interesting adventure. We knew the nights might not be good but we were hoping for the best. So I am posting this today because we only stayed 1 night instead of 3. Our newborn slept through the night but our 2 year old most certainly did not go to bed easily or sleep through the night. No worries, we are hoping to switch him to a big boy bed this week so he can be used to sleeping without walls. We haven't done this yet because he's had so many changes with the move and a baby brother and well, honestly, he sleeps so good usually. So even though we'd love to be with our friends right now and we had this awesome campsite where the kids could wander in this secluded cul-de-sac type setting, we enjoyed the 2 days we were there! We went on several nature hikes, threw lots of rocks (Max says to his cousin Drew: Drew you would've had so much fun), saw lots of fun creatures and played with good friends. Ensign Ranch has horses, a slip n' slide, canoes, rope swings, and more. We're definitely going to get this camping thing down! :) Click on the slideshow to make it bigger.

Great news for Stacey!

Max has loved having Stacey living here. He loves to sit by her while she's eating breakfast and visit her in her room. She's been waiting anxiously for her mission call and it came last Friday!

From July 2009.3

She skyped as she read her call to the Provo, UT, south mission (spanish speaking)! So exciting!

From July 2009.3

New Haircuts!!!

First Tony and I got clipped and then Tony did the honors with Max. He did pretty well. You'll see at the end he was getting a little anxious and doesn't look too pleased when I had him "smile"!

From July 2009.3

From July 2009.3

From July 2009.3

Shrek Shakes

Max wanted me to write down for his future self how much he loves "apple juice" or spinach shakes. Some moms call them Shrek shakes so their kids will be okay with the green color. Alas, Max doesn't know about or care about Shrek yet so we go along with apple juice. Every juice he tries is apple juice to him. Here's what Max and I drink along with breakfast every morning (Tony and Stacey not so much ;-) frozen berries, banana, a spoonful of frozen apple-cranberry concentrate, flax seed, water and a whole lotta spinach leaves. The berrys, concentrate and banana overpower the spinach taste. So good and it has helped Max in several ways.

Ryan smiling and talking

I wanted to get Ryan's smile on film so I took 2 videos with great smiles but I had the camera turned vertical so the movies were of Ryan on his side. When I realized that and took this 3rd one, he wasn't as smiley but it's still really cute! I've just been off with my photography this week ; )

Weekend in Oregon

Ryan had his first road trip to visit Great Grandma and Grandpa this past weekend. I had some deja vu experiences during the weekend (like driving past the Mulino airport, seeing a police car speed past me on the 213 heading in the direction of the airport). I'm so grateful that time heals all wounds because so much good has happened since November 29th, 2008.

Ryan and I visited dear friends Becky and Dana. We did the Saturday Market together. Oh, disclaimer: I did a horrible job of taking pictures. I took 2 of Becky getting her henna tattoo and then went on a photo spree for 20 minutes at Grandma and Grandpa's. That was it. Here is Becky:

From July2009.2

From July2009.2

Here are some pics of us enjoying Grandma and Grandpa's house:

From July2009.2

From July2009.2

From July2009.2

Max's first ice cream cone:

From July2009.2

What a face!

From July2009.2

Here is Max driving Grandpa's tractor:

Just Some Cute Pics

Max wanted to cuddle with daddy and Ryan when he saw them sleeping together.

From JULY 2009

Max officially wants to hold Ryan all of the time.

From JULY 2009

From JULY 2009

From JULY 2009

Happy 4th of July!!!

Our 4th of July was relaxing. We did a few household projects and then went to Camp Lakeview for a church activity. From a few past experiences we thought Max might be leary of the fireworks this year, so, we thought we'd prep him with a few groundblooms. At the actual shoot (where those shooting off the boxes were wearing just shorts and t-shirts ((no thanks)), Max started out fine, then he got scared as they got louder and bigger, and then he was pointing them out and saying, "yea". He may take after the Eppersons and be a pyro tech someday. I didn't take any good pictures of our friends or Max's lake adventure, but here's a few. I'll do better next year. Hey, to actually be able to watch a shoot and not be directly under it, was a big change after all.

From JULY 2009

From JULY 2009

The Many Faces of Ryan Anthony

Ryan is growing so fast. Here are a few pictures of our handsome boy!

At 4 weeks:

From JULY 2009

From JULY 2009

From JULY 2009

At 5 weeks:

From JULY 2009

From JULY 2009

Notice the Epperson tongue in these pictures. Must be thinking of some project to build.

From JULY 2009

From JULY 2009

It's Always Fun When Grandma Comes...

We were fortunate to have Namma Kate come to visit before and after she did the half marathon in Sunriver. Here are a few highlights from her visit:

trip to the park:

From JULY 2009

From JULY 2009

trip to the zoo:

From JULY 2009

From JULY 2009

From JULY 2009

Sidewalk Chalk:

From JULY 2009

From JULY 2009

And lots of love!