A Few Randoms.

 Once we brought Max home, suddenly everything seemed to go into fast forward. Here are a few bits and pieces from the weeks following his hospital discharge. 

First home bath.

 Kade couldn't contain his excitement over having Max home with us. He wanted to help and do everything for his new baby brother. He's been so helpful with Max. Sometimes a little too helpful. :)

Usually I suggest doing newborn pictures when a newborn is between 5 and 10 days old. Max's started when he was 3 weeks old and we finished them when he was 6 weeks old. Good thing he looked like a newborn for a really long time.

The photos with Aaron were taken only minutes before he left for the airport to go back to Texas. :(

 When we found out we were having another boy (Tadd),  I wanted to choose one of Kade's newborn pictures and recreate it. So going with "tradition" we did the same with Max.  Obviously they're not exactly the same but good enough.

Here are a few more of his newborn pictures. I'll be posting more on my photo blog...eventually.

We're not totally going in order. It's all good. 

My mom helped me make the trek back to Utah with the three kiddos. 

Left to right: Nana bought neck pillows for them, for the drive. --Tadd spilled popcorn all over the hotel floor. That kid makes a mess like it's his day job. --We got back to beautiful snowy weather. --Nana holding Max. --We came home to frozen/busted pipes, we were pretty mad about it. Especially Max. --Our welcome home sign from our neighbors. It was accompanied by a spotless house! -- Our drive home. -- Kade became obsessed with the alarm clock in the hotel. So retro. --The last dance party before we left CA.

Left to Right: Kade got the flu. -- My glasses broke. Cool huh? Nope. --Aaron sent me beautiful flowers for Valentines day. -- Max continued to be adorable. -- The boys continued to be adorable weirdos. They used the hamper as a battleship. --I learned, I can't take my eyes off of Tadd for even a second. -- Kade played with Uncle Mark. We sure miss Uncle Mark and Aunt Jeny.

Aaron came home for a weekend to help me get things packed and just to see the family. He took me on a much needed night out. We went to dinner, ate a delicious meal, enjoyed a beautiful view and spent the rest of the evening watching Lincoln. It was so good! Highly recommended. 

The week before the big move, we were on a box hunt. Kade  and I were in a parking lot. I saw him running, and then I saw him down. He had slipped on some ice. At first I thought, no biggie. Then I saw the blood. He was the same way. He had a look like, "geez, that hurt"... and then he saw the blood. That's when the drama party started. On the ground where he had fallen, there was a whole lot of broken glass. Not cool. After a lot of tears, x-rays,  dr.'s, pinning Kade down just for them to look at it, and some derma-bond, we went home. It was a long, long day. Our biggest concern was making sure there wasn't more glass stuck in there. He said his middle finger had a smiley face....at least there was a smile somewhere.

There's the quick update of those weeks. More to come soon. 

Showered

This post will be mostly photos again. 

The Saturday after Max was released from the hospital, a good friend of my family threw a baby shower for me. There had been talk of it being a surprise and I'm really glad it wasn't one. I would have burst into tears. No way was I emotionally stable enough for surprises, let alone one that made me feel so special. It was even difficult for me to say thank you after I'd opened up all the gifts. It was such a fun evening filled with yummy foods, friends and laughter. It was so nice to get out, and for just a few hours, forget all the difficult things. Thank you thank you thank you Kristen! 

Another, Really Fantastic Day

Once we knew that Max was coming home, Aaron made arrangements to move his flight back a few days. He'd take the rest of that week and return to work the upcoming Sunday. This would allow for some time together as a family, as well as a baby blessing. It was all working out perfectly. 

Aaron's mom was able to fly in and be a part of all of it. Here are a few photos of her, holding Max for the first time. 

Because we were given strict orders by the doctor to not take Max into public (ie, church, shopping,  or really any large gathering of people) we figured it would be best to bless the little dude at my parents house. We have a few family members that live close by and we were able to include them as well. It was intimate and happy and just perfect. We had both grandmas, and a good chunk of Max's aunts and uncles. We felt so blessed to have so many that we love, spend that day with us. Aaron gave a wonderful blessing and everything went perfectly. We also had the Hanamaikais with us. He is in the bishopric for my family's ward and they also happen to be friends of ours. I'm glad they were able to be there with us as well. 

 

When we made the plans to bless him, we ordered his blessing outfit immediately. It was shipped and delivered right in time! Aaron's sister Melody crocheted these booties for him. They were so tiny and cute. We're so glad she was able to whip these up so quickly. She made him a few hats too that were so cute and kept his head nice and warm in the NICU.

All the wonderful men that participated in the blessing. I'm so grateful to have these guys in my life. I'm also so glad they were all able to make it on such short notice!

Here are more of our family that made it. 

Melody and Nathan

My mom (hopefully since it was her house, right?)

Aaron's mom, Debbie.

Brandon and Jeanessa

Kelsey and Daniel (Daniel took a quick break from work to come and participate in the blessing. He left pretty quickly after so I only got a picture of him with the men that did the blessing.)

Jordan

Kristen Hanamaikai

After the blessing we had waffles. They were quite tasty.

Because we were in CA and I didn't have my studio with me (I know you're all surprised I don't carry it around on my back.) I took Max's blessing and newborn photos when I got back to UT. He was a few weeks older in the following photos.