johanna

my brother and sister-in-law/oneofmybestfriends welcomed their baby girl, johanna rae, into the world at 10:16 am on july 8th. she weighed 6.5 lbs and was 20 inches long. they are the most loving and amazing parents already. not a big surprise since they have been the most special aunt and uncle to max. josh and sarah have been waiting for this baby for many years. she is going to be the most loved, hugged, kissed, spoiled (in the best way), and well-dressed little girl there ever was. we are all so in love with her. she is perfect. she is the luckiest little girl in the world to have the mom and dad that she has. johanna has completed josh and sarah. it has been a long and heartbreaking journey to get to this happy ending but i know it was all worth it to them if it meant it led them to her. we love you johanna rae, forever!

johanna rae, her mommy, and her daddy

gigi, grammy (mimi is what we call her...well, max calls her), and jo

grandaddy and johanna

aunt jeanie and johanna

max and "baby go" he calls her

 my favorite picture of her precious face.

 great auntie judy, josh, and jo

 these are the first time max held her the day she came home.

he wants to hold her and kiss her and cuddle her everytime he sees her.

  

tractor ride

my dad could not wait to take max on a tractor ride through his yard while we were in ohio. we even went on a long ride to see real tractors in the fields surrounding his house. max rode all the way through a field to a river along its's edge. he loved it. he wanted to sit on my dad's lap on the way back and drive with him. he only wanted to go if aunt jac rode with him.

popsicles

max loves eating popsicles. here are a few i took of him (with my phone) eating his loaded with antioxidants (so they say) all natural fruit popsicles. at least he's eating a healthy one when he asks for them alldaylong.

o.h.i.o.

our week long trip to ohio to vist my family
told through pictures

josh made this wooden seat up in the tree in my mom's front yard when he was little. aunt jac took max up there one morning and he loved it. he asked to eat his pancakes up there with grammy (mimi he calls her) the next morning and, of course, she let him.

jac loved her mcdonalds fisher price playset (drive-thru and all) when she was little. it has a real  sizzling grill for burgers and fries. it is so cute and realistic. my mom saved EVERYTHING from when we were young. she cleaned it up before we arrived. it was definitely max's favorite thing too. he would say cook each time he wanted to play with it. here he is making ice cream and filling drinks with ice.

grandmom and grandad came to visit. he loved showing off for them.

twins in their yellow shirts. he loves his daddy.

LOVES aunt jac (sounds more like aunt gac)

so sweet talking together in the lily garden. he never did see the huge snake that lives in there.

kisses all the time.

aunt jac was teaching him how to do cartwheels. he is really good at doing somersaults and so cute.

future bride and groom. my best friend from college, shelby's, little girl, emery. love her!

emery, shelby, parker, me, and max

we met my mom's best friend, georgia, and her grandson, cooper (who is the son of one of my good childhood friends, shayla), at the world famous jack hanna columbus zoo. it is almost too big to get around when you have a child who still naps. this was the amazing polar bear exhibit.

cooper and max at the petting zoo. he loves it everytime.

train ride with mommy and daddy.

aunt jac took him on a pony ride.

checking out the manatees with grandpere. he loves exploring with his grandpere.

notice the evil look on max's face. it takes him awhile to get warmed up to other kids.

yikes. watch out cooper.

big fish

we awoke to a rainy day a few weeks ago. which means, we can't go out to play. this is the worst thing that could happen for max and i and our daily summertime ritual. instead of dreading the day ahead full of tantrums, time-outs, and a tired mama, sarah and i decided that we should take max on his first visit to the georgia aquarium. he loved, in his words, all the big fish. we had a wonderful time. his favorite was watching the dolphins in the dolphin show. he kept wondering where they were between tricks. i wish they allowed cameras in the theater because the pure joy on his face as he watched the dolphins perform brought happy tears to my eyes. i could watch him be happy forever.