Our Visit to Denver

Max ready to start the day in Denver

 On May 3rd, we hopped a plane to Denver for a long weekend.  David had been hired to speak for Wells Fargo's regional meeting on Friday.  Max and I decided to go along so we could visit with some friends while he was there.  This was Max's second flight and what would be his fourth state visited in less than 4 months.
It was so great to be back in Denver - visiting with friends, enjoying the beautiful mountain views, the weather!  I just cannot get over the fact that it's been almost a full year since I left Denver, and almost two years for David!  You know you have great friends when despite distance and changes in circumstance, you can just pick up where you left off.  We truly are lucky to have friends who we consider to be like family. 

On the airport shuttle

There is just too much to detail about our trip but I do want to say thank you to all of our friends for opening your homes and sharing your time with us while we were there.  We had a blast and I can't wait until we can come back...maybe longer next time?! Here are some pictures from our trip and a few extras.  Hard to believe, but we actually forgot our camera, so thanks for sharing pictures, friends!

Jack Scully meets Max

Max visits with his godfather, Dan

Max meets the Sasseville Family

Valentino and his mommy Cristin

What a handsome guy!

Valentino meets Max

Valentino wants to PLAY!

Max thinks Tino's bouncer is super cool!

What a trip!

I can do it myself!

Found my toes!

A walk on Big Papio Trail in Omaha

Max shows Daddy where we have Wiggle Worm story time

Max cracks us up.  Check out this video:

https://vimeo.com/42284349

A little RUNspiration

Do you watch Dancing With the Stars?  We do.  And I've been cheering on Donald Driver, loyal Packer Backer that I am.  Go Donald!  That smile is contagious! 
I love the dancing, of course, but I also love witnessing the transformations that take place over the season.  Transformation of character and physique.  It's motivating.  Makes me want to learn to dance.  Since I probably won't be invited onto DWTS anytime soon, I decided I need to fall back into running again to get my pre-baby body back.  It's been a long time since I've hit my stride.  I've only been able to get out to run a total of 3 times in the last 6 weeks.  David's schedule changes daily and his hours are long, so I can't plan on a run very easily.  Plus, Max is not old enough to ride in the BOB during my workouts.  So, I found a women's running group that meets Wednesday nights here in Omaha.  It's great that it's after Max's bedtime but running at 8pm isn't my favorite. 
Thanks to my Laurie, my beautiful and generous sister-in-law, I've found a pair of bright and shiny new running shoes to go with my new routine.  They are called Newtons.  The technology is very cool.  You all remember Newton's Law, right?  For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.  This means when you run with a natural gait of mid-foot or forefoot strike, the shoe absorbs shock and returns energy to your stride.  For a girl who's been on the natural running train since reading Born to Run a few years ago, these make a lot of sense.  Plus, they are like runner's bling!
Now, I just need to book some races to keep my training on track.  

Check out my new sneaks.  Wait, grab your sunglasses first...now check out my sneaks.

Round 2 - Ding Ding

"In this corner, Maximilian, the Bear, weighing in at a lean and mean 15 pounds and 26 inches.  He's solid, very persistent, and has the heart of a champ.  In the other corner, it's Wendy, the Nurse.  She's bigger, she's quick, and she's armed with immunizations.  She may look friendly, folks, but that smile is skullduggery.  She's got an agenda and Max had better keep an eye on her..."

Max had his 4-month wellness exam yesterday.  He's tracking well on the growth curve.  84% for length and 51% for weight.  The pediatrician encouraged us to start solid foods anytime now.  I think David is more ready for this than I am.  It's a huge step.  I'd like to wait a little longer, either until he can sit up or when I'm feeling comfortable with how to start.  There is a huge difference between cuddling with nursing or bottle feeding and eating from a chair with a spoon.  I realize that some of my hesitation is for selfish reasons.  I'm just not ready to accept the idea that he's old enough to get food from another source other than his mommy.  I know I'll have to let go at some point, but I'm content to wait until I see some signs of readiness.  Sitting is one, showing interest in food is another.   I'm a very systematic person.  I need have a plan before I just go for it. 
We finished the visit with those dreaded shots.  Max did great.  Wendy was seriously fast and Max barely knew what hit him.  Here he is just a few minutes after the round was over:

Facelift

No, you're not cross-eyed. Yes, this page looks different.  Happy Anniversary, Blog! It's been almost a full year since Behr Trax was conceived, so I thought it was time for a make-over.  A new wardrobe, if you will.  Dust it off.  Brighten it up.  I'm not an expert at this kind of thing, so please bear with me.  I'm still trying to figure out what you see versus what I see when I log on, so things could change without me knowing.  Hee hee.  Hope you like it!

A visit from Auntie Laurie

It's a rainy, cool Sunday afternoon.  David's sister, Laura, has been visiting for the weekend.  We've had a fun-filled last few days.  Now, Max is taking a nap and since David and Laura went out to grab some soup for our lunch, I'm enjoying some quiet time at home.  As our weekend visit is wrapping up, I thought I'd sit down and share some of our activities together. 
On Friday, we took Laura to the Henry Doorly Zoo.  As I've mentioned before, this zoo has some really great attractions.  We spent several hours exploring the new aquarium and the jungle exhibits.  The jungle is huge and features several jungle regions, such as Asia, Africa and South America.  It's like walking the jungle forest.  There is a little trail you can take on the lower level to get up close and personal with several types of animals.  The upper level has a walk-way along the outside putting you right underneath the canopy of the rainforest.  You actually get rained on!  Hippos, tapir, monkeys, birds, fish, turtles, porcupine, snakes, toads, and even bats.  I had to skip the bat section and walk all the way back around to the entrance the wrong way because I have a terrible fear of bats.  Ugh, gross! Here are a few pictures from our day at the zoo:

David and the penquins

Max loved watching the fish swim overhead

Aunt Laurie on the rope bridge

Cute monkeys

those nasty bats

Max laughing at Aunt Laurie

Here's a sloth hanging in the tree

We visited Amato's for brunch yesterday, which is a little diner that was highlighted on the show Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives with Guy Fieri.  The ricotta blueberry pancakes were amazing!  The Food Network and the Travel Channel are our go-to resources when we move to a new city.  You have to check out the local secrets, right?!  Also featured from Omaha is Jones Bros Cupcakes on Cupcake Wars.  We visited the shop on Saturday as well and talked to Bill, the owner, for about 30 minutes.  Pretty cool that I flipped to the show on Food Network today and watched his team win the cupcake war! So obviously they have great cupcakes AND you can log onto Facebook on Fridays, get the secret, and if you're one of the first 92 people in the door with said secret, you get a free cupcake.  Uhhh, dangerous much?  I digress.

Blueberry Ricotta Pancakes and Italian breakfast sausage

Max saying,"Whatsamadda fa you?" in his best Italian accent

Strawberry & Cream Cupcake of the Day

My boys at Jones Bros

Yummmm, cupcakes!

After our brunch, we ventured downtown to Old Market.  It's a very hip tourist attraction and very busy on weekends.  Cobblestone streets, lofts, restaurants, shops.  We fell upon a Pub Crawl in progress.  So, as the Crawlers got more rowdy, we headed back towards home.  Not really an environment conducive to shopping with a baby.  Max was a real trooper though, so we decided to treat Laura to a belated birthday dinner at Mahogany's Steak House.  Wow!  Yummy!  You can't go to Omaha without enjoying a steak, right?

Sculpture in Old Market

Max in the Bjorn with Daddy

I've decided that after this visit, I probably don't need to eat for several days. 
 

It's how I roll

Max and I hit The Bookworm last week for his first Story Time.  The Bookworm is a cute little book store about 1/2 mile down the street.  It's got little nooks for reading, jars with animal crackers for the kids, a coffee shop attached, and it's locally owned.  I think this activity actually works out well for the both of us.  I hate to admit it, but I had been looking forward to Story Time for almost a full week.  I needed to get out of the house.  And Max, well, he might be too young to understand the stories, but he really enjoyed looking at and listening to all the other kids sitting in the group.
I also got my first dose of "mean moms" at Story Time.  Again, I have to say thank you to my friend Sarah for introducing me to this concept before it actually happened so I didn't take it personally.  For those of you who haven't experienced this, it's a continuation of girl cattiness from your middle school and high school days.  It's cliques and snobbery and mean looks that come with moms sizing each other up.  Self-doubt, no doubt.  It even occurs at Story Time, folks.  Whatever.  It's not going to scare me away from going back this week though.  Who doesn't want to enjoy Story Time?!  Seriously.  Still, I need to find a group to hang out with to get us both out of the house and interacting with others once in a while. 
Speaking of being home-bound, Omaha (and much of the country's mid-section) had some pretty crazy weather that kept us inside most of the weekend.  Fortunately, we didn't need to use the bags of food I prepared in case we had to spend the day in the basement.  No tornadoes, only severe thunder storms and high winds.  But, staying indoors all weekend added to my stir-craziness.  I actually ran to the post office twice today just to see the outside of the house. 

Max impressed us when he rolled over onto his tummy last week.  I think he surprised himself too!  He had been practicing for a few days and then all of a sudden, he was over.  He moved so quickly that I barely caught it on camera.  Now he seems to be over the idea.  He hasn't done it again since.  Oh well.

We convinced David to take a 1/2 day off last Friday so we could check out Omaha's zoo.  The zoo here is huge and has drive-through safari, a brand new aquarium, and a desert dome in addition to all your favorites.  We got a membership pass knowing that it would require several visits for us to see the whole thing, especially with Max's routine.  We made it through the gorillas, monkeys, bears, lions and tigers on our first trip.  I'm looking forward to seeing the aquarium once the crowds die down.    

Here are a smattering of pictures from last week:

Enjoying the zoo!

Tummy time

Max with his friend Cow-leen

Firsts

Update long overdue! Between the packing for the move from San Antonio and our trip to Wisconsin (with zero internet service while we were there), I've been tardy in blogging.  But we're finally here in Omaha and feeling more settled now that we're (mostly) unpacked. 

We moved into a really cute neighborhood in Omaha called Loveland, and are living in a 50's-style ranch house with a pool in the backyard.  The landlords have been really great and loaned us furniture to use while we're staying here, but the previous tenant moved out on bad terms and there was a lot of cleaning to do again.  Nonetheless, it's a great house and we really love it here.  Perfect neighborhood for walking - lots of hills and decent sidewalks - and the weather has been absolutely beautiful!  All the trees are in bloom and temps have been in the 80s already!  But, the potholes are humongous!  If I haven't said it before, it's a good thing we have the BOB.  Thanks, Grammy, Opa, and Aunt Laura for Max's favorite mode of transport!  We NEED the shocks and suspension of our BOB to protect the little guy's brain from rattling in his head during our excursions.  I've never seen roads quite like this before.  Let me amend that by saying, at least not in the city.

Max celebrated several firsts recently and we wanted to share them with you.


1st St Paddy's Day!
He doesn't look too keen on the idea of striped pants here, but he sure got a lot of smiles from people that day.  This outfit was in honor of the Irish blood on David's side and sent to us by Aunt Laura.  Aunt Laura always sends the cutest stuff!

1st plane ride! 
Max and I flew from San Antonio to Milwaukee to spend a week visiting with family and friends.  So actually, that's 2 firsts.  First flight and first trip to Wisconsin.  Lucky boy!  Max was truly a rock star with the travel.  I was a little nervous about how I was going to do, but he did great.  I just took the Baby Bjorn and a diaper bag and then checked a suitcase and his pack 'n play.  There was a tense moment before boarding our first flight when he was way over tired.  I'm sure people were hoping we weren't on their flight.  I could have used an extra set of hands at that point.  But once I got him to sleep, I enlisted the help of a man in his Air Force uniform (safe person, right?) to hold sleeping Max so I could get all our gear together.  It'll be a lot easier when David flies with us to WI in July.  Well, at least I hope so.   Here is Max snoozing on the plane.  He was the only baby/small tot who didn't cry during the flight!

Max got to meet his uncles and aunts, including his Great Great Aunty Jo, and his cousins.  It was really hard to spend a whole week away from Daddy.  Max missed his Daddy terribly!  But, he did enjoy his stay at cousin Canaan's house, a giggle session with Aunty Jo, making faces with his uncles, taking Nana out to lunch, and his first fish fry with Uncle Marker's family.  Here are some pictures from the trip:

Max and his cousin Canaan playing with Uncle Dominic

First play mat experience.  What is this Mommy?

Matching Super Baby outfits with Canaan

Reunion with Daddy after a week away - so cute!

We're also excited to announce Max's first night in his own room and first full night's sleep! 
Yahoo!  They didn't coincide on the same night, but very close.  Somehow I don't get a full night's sleep when he's sleeping... I keep getting up at the previously determined intervals to wonder why it's so quiet.  One of those ironies of motherhood I guess.   Here is a picture of Max's new room:

And finally, first Opening Day!  Opening Day AND 3 months old - this calls for a celebration!

Newest Brew Crew recruits

Go Brewers!  Happy Birthday Uncle Dominic!  And Happy 3-month-milestone Max!

somewhere in Middle America

It's been decided- our next move is to Omaha, Nebraska! 
And despite a move date of March 21st, we are still working on finding a home to live in at this time.  We've narrowed it down to two good options, thanks to David's amazing persistence, and are now waiting to hear back from the owners about our move-in date. 
Max and I will leave San Antonio next Monday and fly to Wisconsin to visit with family and friends.  While we're there, David is putting on his seminar here on Tuesday and then is taking on the huge task of driving the vehicles and our belongings to Omaha on Wednesday, stopping in Dallas on the way to visit with his brother and Julie and kids. 
I think we're both looking forward to our new city.  Omaha seems to be one of those great Midwestern "big towns."  No matter which home we choose to live in, we'll be surrounded by lots and lots of green space.  It'll be perfect for taking Max out in his BOB. 
We went for a very long walk yesterday in one of the original neighborhoods here.  It was absolutely beautiful out.  Here is Max, waiting patiently for us to get out the door. 

So you know how I mentioned that I was getting back into cooking?  Well, I've had some fun trying out new recipes.  Here are three of my favorites:

Chicken Curry Soup  (serves 6)
1 pound chicken breast
6 cups chicken broth
1 can light coconut milk
1 1/2 Tablespoons curry powder
1 red bell pepper, chopped
3 cups spinach
2/3 cup brown rice
1/2 cup cilantro, stems removed
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
Put all ingredients in a crock pot and stir. Turn crock pot to low heat and cook for at least eight hours. Once cooking is complete, shred chicken into bite size pieces with two forks. Spoon into bowls and serve piping hot.
Note:  I cooked the rice separately and made it as a traditional curry instead, but can be made either way.

Sticky Rice with Mango  (serves 4)
1 cup Jasmine rice
1 13.5 oz can coconut milk
2/3 cup sugar
1/2 tsp salt
2 ripe mangoes (see your frozen food section for cubed mangoes in off-season)
Prepare rice as directed.  In a separate saucepan, combine coconut milk, sugar, and salt.  Boil for 3 minutes, stirring frequently.  Remove from heat.  Pour hot coconut mixture over cooked rice and stir well.  Press plastic wrap over mixture in saucepan to cover and let rest at room temperature for 30 minutes.  Spoon rice into a shallow bowl and top with mango slices or cubes.  Serve with sprigs of mint and fortune cookies. 

Carmel Apple Pork Chops (serves 4)
4 (3/4 inch) thick pork chops
1 teaspoon vegetable oil
2 tablespoons brown sugar
salt and pepper to taste
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 Granny Smith apples - peeled, cored and sliced
3 tablespoons pecans or walnuts 
Preheat oven to 175 degrees F (80 degrees C). Place a medium dish in the oven to warm. Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Brush chops lightly with oil and place in hot pan. Cook for 5 to 6 minutes, turning occasionally, or until done. Transfer to the warm dish, and keep warm in the preheated oven. 
In a small bowl, combine brown sugar, salt and pepper, cinnamon and nutmeg. Add butter to skillet, and stir in brown sugar mixture, apples, and nuts. Cover and cook, stirring, until apples are just tender and sauce has thickened. Spoon sauce and apples over pork chops.

I'm 2 months old - Look what I can do!

2 months

We popped a bottle of wine to celebrate Max's 2-month milestone one night and then we stared at him in awe the next morning - he's getting so BIG!  Max has been getting much more verbal and very active.  Cooing, gurgling, kicking, bouncing, and swinging those arms.  I love that he's so social  - lots of smiles for us.  It's too cute when he's telling stories to the owls on his mobile or the animals on his bouncer.  His expressions are very colorful.
He can go from this:

To this:

He is also moving so much that he often ends up sideways in his crib by morning.   How does he do that?! All that moving makes for some blurry pictures. 

 

 

 

 

sideways sleeper

We're still working on sleeping.  I've been using BabyWise, which came highly recommended by several friends.  The book reports that most babies on this program sleep through the night by week 8.  I was starting to wonder if this was only the formula-fed babies, but then I read my friend Courtney's blog and I learned that her BF cutie pie has started sleeping through the night too!  Max still gets me up at least 2 times per night most nights.  Last night, however, he decided to try it - we had our first night of real sleep!  Almost 7 full hours!  It was unbelievable!  So, I'm hoping he'll be in the next round of sleeping champions, by week 10-12.  Until then, I'll just keep dreaming of sleep...and keep telling myself that I'll actually take those afternoon naps.  Yeah right! 


This week, we opened Max's first savings account with the gifts from Aunt Diane, Aunt Kathy, and Nana.  Thank you so much!  Max was super excited when the banker at Wells Fargo let him check out the bank vault. 

This morning we were in the pediatrician's office for Max's wellness exam and first round of immunizations.  That was rough! It might have been harder for me than Max, though it was hard to tell from his screaming and bright red face!  He actually shed his first real tear on that exam table and I swear he was looking at me, like "Why are you letting them hurt me, Momma?" But I know the benefits outweigh the discomfort.   Here he is two hours later at home.  Some day, he'll appreciate those Spiderman band-aids, but not today.

Max is 23.5 inches long (75%), 12 lbs, 4 oz (65%), and his head is 15 inches in circumference (25%).  A perfectly healthy breast-fed baby (with a case of cradle cap).  

It was our last visit with this pediatrician - a reminder that I better start looking for one in our next city!  More on our move soon, I hope!  We move in 16 days and at this point in time are still not sure where we're moving to.  Decision deadline is tonight.  Surprisingly enough, I'm not really worried about it.  Boy, how things change!