Other Christmas time pictures....

Balster Christmas Pics

Maxton did a good job opening presents surprisingly! He pulled the paper away, it was funny.

Maxton got a Celina Bulldogs sweatshirt with his name and daddy's old number on it. Too cute!

Daddy says wrong team Maxton!

Our annual family picture

The dogs weren't working with us this year, this is the best we could get.

Happy Birthday Matt!

Matt turned the big 33 today! We went out to dinner with the Klein's and Chandler's to Genji- Matt's favorite restaurant. We had a great time. Happy Birthday Honey!

Veggies....Yummmm

Little man is off to the next food group. We got the go ahead from the Pediatrician for veggies. We took Maxton in to have a rash looked at which turned out to be Eczema and Maxton weighed in at 19.1 lbs!! He's the size of like a 10 month old and only 5 months!! Our little porker is so cute! The Doc thought he was ready to move on so its been fun trying to get him to eat his greenbeans. The first day and a half we barely got through half the "jar". Today we got through the whole jar in one sitting! Hopefully he will be better than his daddy and like all of his veggies. We are off to Peas next then Squash. Yum!!!

Congrats Zach Klein!

It is almost unbelieveable that one of our friends will be working with the Obama/Biden Administration. I'm so excited to say that Zach will be on Joe Biden's staff as (I believe the title is) the Deputy Director of Administration for the Office of the VP. Something like that. He starts January 20th in DC. This is our friend who was Richard Cordray's (Ohio Attorney General) right hand man (and the one who fell on his head at our wedding :) ). Yeh Zach, Best of Luck! We'll miss you and visit soon for sure!

Maxton's Visit with Santa Claus

Oh how the times have changed! When I was little you use to get a polaroid picture with Santa and then we progressed to real pictures that could be ordered in packages. Now we have the ability to order all the pictures on a USB drive. How funny! Ordering the USB drive with a copyright release was only $5 more than the minimum picture package. So that's what we did. We'll get to print them in the sizes we want. Tuttle Mall's Santa and Workshop were great! We enjoyed our experience and he seemed so genuine. I "believe" again :)

I thought it was perfect timing for Maxton as he just finished eating his bottle but I guess he was a little tired. While standing in line, I dropped him down to the cradle position and he was out like a light. There have only been a few times when he has fell asleep without his binky and this in one of them. So then we were like what do we do, come back or stay in line and pray that he won't be screaming once he wakes up in Santa's arms like "what the hell, who is this guy!". So there's the story, he woke up when I put him in Santa's arms which is the first picture (groggy, no smile) and two seconds later he was out again and sleeping with Santa. So cute!

Send a Thank You Card

If you go to this web site, www.LetsSayThanks.com you can pick out a thank you card and Xerox will print it and it will be sent to a soldier that is currently serving in Iraq. You can't pick out who gets it, but it will go to a member of the armed services.
How AMAZING it would be if we could get everyone we know to send one!!! It is FREE and it only takes a second.
I thought this one was cute, a 9 year old did this!!

2009- The year for lots of Babies! (Not for the Balsters though!)

It seemed like only little girls were raining down from Heaven, but now we have a flood of Boys (Amanda Rae this could be a preconception for you)!! Congrats to Chris, Jamie and Jacob Bachus who are going to welcome their second little boy in April.

Also, a big Congrats to Amanda (Hairdresser/Maxton's Part-time Babysitter) and Dave Tolford who are expecting their second child in 2009! Tony's (5) going to be a big brother!

Bedtime Songs

It's funny the songs that you sing to put a baby to sleep (the correct version and incorrect version). It relaxes Maxton and gets him to sleep at night when he hears a voice. So many nights I come up with songs that I repeat over an over, sometimes a variety that I just sing once, or on my tired nights he just gets a Humm(especially if I'm walking him around and out of breath!). My favorite part is when you get to a point in the song and you're like "....WXY and Z. Now I've said...Wait is it said or is it "Now I know my ABC's"...next time won't you sing with me." (what's your version?) And you're now not singing to the baby but talking and questioning the lyrics of the song and then it bugs you when you can't remember. And then you have to Google the lyrics so that when the baby is 2 and starts to sing along, Mommy hasn't been teaching the wrong lyrics for 2 years!!! I had to do this with "Frosty the Snowman" the other day. I got the verses all mixed up and it was driving me crazy! :) For those of you that need a refresher like I did, lyrics are at the bottom. :) Anyway, here is the current song list in the Balster Household:

The Regulars:
Alphabet song
Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star
You Are My Sunshine
Itsy Bitsy Spider
Once More United (Sorority song)(AOII's you'll appreciate that one!)
Fresh Prince of Bel Air theme song :) (try not rapping it, but singing it- fun hunh?)
Sleepy Maxton (I made this one up)

New Additions:
Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer
Frosty the Snowman (see below)

So, please respond and tell me what your favorite songs are to sing at bedtime and maybe I can add those into my repertoire as well.
~As a side note...I can't stand "Rockabye Baby" as I can't sing lyrics that talk about cradles falling out of trees to my child!!
Update: Check out this website for songs!
http://www.kididdles.com/lyrics/allsongs.html
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Frosty the Snowman
Was a jolly happy soul
With a corncob pipe and a button nose
And two eyes made out of coal
Frosty the Snowman
Is a fairytale they say
He was made of snow
But the children know
How he came to life one day
There must have been some magic
In that old silk hat they found
For when they placed it on his head
He began to dance around
Frosty the Snowman
Was alive as he could be
And the children say
He could laugh and play
Just the same as you and me
Frosty the Snowman
Knew the sun was hot that day
So he said let's run
And we'll have some fun
Now before I melt away
Down to the village
With a broomstick in his hand
Running here and there all around the square
Saying catch me if you can
He led them down the streets of town
Right to the traffic cop
And he only paused a moment when
He heard him holler stop
Frosty the Snowman
Had to hurry on his way
But he waved goodbye
Saying don't you cry
I'll be back again some day
Thumpety thump thump
Thumpety thump thump
Look at Frosty go
Thumpety thump thump
Thumpety thump thump
Over the hills of snow

First attempt at Christmas Pictures

We had an appointment at JCPenney today. We arrived at the mall to see a HUGE line, the waiting area was packed. Matt had a game today so he could only stay for a limited time. We decided to postpone the Holiday/4 month pics. I think I am going to try out Target actually tomorrow. To be determined...We'll show you the real deal once we get them. Here is Maxton in his cute little outfit (sorry for always using our brown leather chair as a backdrop!)...

Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow

It was so much fun getting Maxton in his little snowsuit (which he is totally outgrowing by the way!) today. Daddy had a basketball game, so it was just me and the little man. I didn't want to travel with him as I heard there were many accidents today. SO we improvised and played outside in the snow for a few minutes. He was so cute, I don't think he knew what to think.

Snow Angel...

SO cute (check out the dogs in the background! :) )

"Ready to go ma!"
Had to put on his Snowman PJ's to celebrate the occasion (he is also outgrowing these- first and last time he'll wear them!)

Playing catch up....It's been awhile...

We have more babies!!!

First, we are excited to have another BOY in the family. Katie and Josh found out they will be having a bouncing baby boy early April. Maxton is SUPER excited for a new little cousin!!

Also, The Tedeschi's have joined the blogger world!! Their page is linked to the side below. As you can see from their page, they are EXPECTING too!!! Yeh! We have another little one coming in early July. Congrats Mike and Shannon!!! So excited for you both!

Miscellaneous Pics

Big boy holding his ba-ba
Meet Binks

"I see the Doggie!"
"Hey Dad...What channel is the Browns on?"
"Crazy Hair" on Daddy's Lap
Relaxin' on the Boppy
Reclining in the Recliner

Maxton's Baptism/Thanksgiving Dinner

We combined two events together over the weekend. This past Sunday was the only Sunday that would work for the Parents (us), Grandparents and Godparents for Maxton's Baptism. So we planned the Baptism and Thanksgiving Dinner all in one day! It was SO great to have all the family together. Pastor John did a great job with the Baptism it was short and sweet. Actually, I think it went like this..."I baptize you in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit". Short and to the point :) We are so lucky to have great Godparents as well for Maxton. Jen (Matt's sister) and our brother-in-law Scott were willing and able. Thanks guys!!

Thanks to all the family for traveling down (or over) to us for the days festivities. It was great to see everyone! All though Maxton might not have realized what was going on, he appreciates it as well! He'll have plenty of pictures and momentos to look at when he is older. We are so blessed to have you all in our lives...thank you!!

Hope everyone had a great Holiday and you were able to spend it with your loved ones as well!!

Cereal for the first time!

Maxton got a yummy Thanksgiving dinner! He tried cereal for the first time. It was nice to have off Thurs-Sun to be able to give cereal to him and get him use to it before the sitter has to. He still is not loving it AT ALL! I'm not sure how long it will take but hopefully he'll come around soon. He's so cute with trying to eat it though. Of course he spits it out like all babies do! And the hands have to get some of the action in the mouth as well! Add Eating Cereal to the "Big Boy List" now! My baby is getting so BIG.



Second time trying to feed cereal