The Bostrom Family

Tonight I looked up the youngest gymnast to be in the Olympics ... but then I decided that we probably should not put that kind of pressure on a 14 month old... hehe . Today we joined our playgroup at a local gym that had open play time on all their gymnastic equipment. It was a lot of fun...even for Max. They had lots of trampolines built into the floors so the toddlers could run right through them if they wanted. They had a pit of foam cubes that they could play in. Oh, they had lots of stuff to play on and with. This gym is about 2 min from Jeff's work so he stopped by to play a bit too. Max had a great time climbing on and through all the stuff. (There was a preschool girls gymnastics class going on and Max kept wanting to go over to them...he is just too young for girls!) FYI: The white dust in the pictures is chalk they gymnasts use...not dirt. :)

We went to the doctor's office today to listen to Cooper's heart beat and got some really great news. Our doctor said that "We had a green light for an induction around April 23rd,". We are so excited! A week early would be April 24th, but everything exciting happens to us on an odd numbered day so we knew that would not work. For example, all of our birthdays are on odd days, our anniversary, the day Jeff proposed, even our first date was on an odd day. Anyway, I know one week does not sound like much...but it is. One week is 7 days, 168 hours, or even up to a pound bigger baby!

Do you remember the Dr. Seuss book about Thing 1 and Thing 2 that got into lots of trouble together? I have a Thing 1 and Thing 2 living in my house but they go by the name of Jeff and Max. They have so much fun together in the evenings. Tonight in Max's bubble bath, Daddy (the engineer) put the fish tank bubbler in the tub to help out the bubbles. (Jeff told me to be a disclaimer about that being very dangerous if the plug or whatnot gets into the water....so don't try this at home.) Max was very happy yet calm in his bath tonight. I think it was because he didn't know what his daddy was doing. After bath time, Jeff tried to work on a project that he needed to use butcher paper for and Max really wanted to help. He had to be right on top of the paper holding daddy's supplies-but daddy was not allowed to take them back lease Max would cry. I hope you enjoy the picture of my very own Thing 1 and Thing 2. Very soon we will have to add a Thing 3 to that list!

We had another relaxing weekend! There were months when we didn't think we would ever be able to relax on a weekend again...perhaps because we had a newborn or could it be that we were adding on to our house a month after Max was born. (Note to self: do not do any major home additions/repairs any time soon.) Those days are behind us now and we are able to relax while at home. So what did we do? Friday was Jeff's off day so having him home made it feel like a long weekend. Saturday mom and I went to a fun consignment sale and found a few cute things for our boys including two really cool new toys. Jeff and Max were able to have manly bonding time. While Max was napping, Jeff mastered the bubble, tightrope, and a few other wii fit games. Saturday night, Jason, our friend from college, came in town and stopped by for dinner. Max seemed very relaxed with his new pal. While he was visiting, we had to play the wii....just to see how funny Jason would look playing the hoola

So I was sitting here at the computer talking to Julie (my sister in-law) online and this is what I saw when I turned around. I had to laugh and take a picture to show you how Jeff relaxes with Max.

Everyone has heard the saying "sleeps like a baby" which normally refers to someone who can fall asleep easily and peacefully. When Max was first born I never thought I would say that he "sleeps like a baby". Newborns sleep on their own schedule and if they don't want to sleep they will let you know it! Now a year later and I can finally say that Max Man does "sleep like a baby" especially after a fun filled day. T oday Max and I met our friends Casen and Mrs. Corrie at the mall for lunch and a stroll. It rained most of the day so the mall was a perfect place to meet. Max was so hyper in the food court...he was just loving his orange chicken, rice, and broccoli from the Chinese restaurant. He bounced in the high chair the whole lunch...and it started rubbing off on Casen. On the way home we stopped by Jeff's work to say hi and Max was so excited to see his daddy. He held on to Jeff and wanted to be so close to him for the first ten minutes or

For those of you who do not know, I am a cookie-aholic and yes I admit it! Today during Max's afternoon nap I found the best "healthy cookie" recipe and thought it would be worth experimenting with. I have to admit I was a bit sceptical, but these are good! They do not have any flour, sugar, or eggs in them. Taste like banana n ut bread and chocolate oat meat cookies combined. I did not have coconut or almond meal so I improvised with pecans chopped up really fine and just left the coconut out (but I'm sure it would have been better with it). You have to try this. Here is a link to the recipe and the website I found it on. I bet this lady has lots of other good recipes posted for us to try! Happy Baking! http://www.101cookbooks.com/archives/nikkis-healthy-cookies-recipe.html

This past weekend was a nice long one-thanks to our Presidents-and we got to spend it with Nana and Gramps! We had a wonderful weekend. Max just loves to be with them and enjoys their constant attention and Jeff and I love it because they give him constant attention. Well, what did we do? We dropped cable through walls, shopped for a TV, bought a TV, mall hopped, rode strollers, watched a train, pushed a train, played with a train, gazed at a carousel, ate cake, climbed stairs, crawled down stairs, watched Ratatouille, celebrated Nana's birthday, played with the doggies, took bubble baths, and I know there was more! We had a great weekend! Thanks Nana and Gramps!

I finally finished Max's First Year Baby album and wanted to let you guys take a look at it. I made it with a company called MyPublisher and they are mailing us our album here in a couple of weeks! I hope you enjoy it! copy and paste the following address into your address bar... http://www.mypublisher.com/bookshelf/bookviewer.py?d=tq%3Ey-cppl%60je%3E3658194

How f un would it be if we could realize and en j oy new experience s everyday the way that M ax Man does? Today Max truly grasped how mu c h fun the outdoors is . The weather this week has been so beautiful an d we enjoyed it! Max is teething a gain and woke up crying this morning around 6:30am...very unusual for him. To help calm him I took him on a brisk morning ride in his stroller (1st time outside). After a morning nap and lunch we went outside again, but this time he did the walking as he pushed his beloved train all around our street (2nd time). He loved that independence! A fter an afternoon nap we went out again and played until daddy came home from work (3rd time). When we all three went back in the house to get dinner ready, Max pushed his train into the door and whined until he saw Jeff putting his shoes back on (4th time). I think we have created an outdoor monster...or maybe he is just all boy!

I thought Max was going to jump out of his stroller...he probably would if he wasn't belted in. He was so excited when we went to the pet store to buy some new fish. He kept saying "ISH...ISH...ISH" and made it a point to tell a little old lady how awesome those fish were. After looking at them for a while, we bought 6 silver colored fish about the size of a nickle. He was very proud, but did try to suck on the bag the fish came in...yuck! Max said that we had to stop by daddy's work and show him the fish, so we did. (Max is so cute...he gets so excited when he sees Jeff walking up to the car.) When we got home Max was already asleep and laid down for a nap and I proceeded to let the fish loose in our tank. They looked really happy...but...about an hour later they had all died. DON'T TELL MAX! I guess Jeff and I had cleaned it out too well and some of the bleach is still in the water...oops. I guess we will have another trip to the pet store soon.

I've heard it asked b efore, but I must ask it again; why do we call a park a park? Th e only people I see "parked" are the people with older kids who can play on their own or are just there to take in the fresh air...not the toddlers or their parents! Today Max and I went to a very nice park on the lake with our friends Mrs. Corrie and Casen. Casen is about 3 months older than Max and showed Max how to run all over that place. Max was very amazed, but played it safe by either crawling or staying clamped onto my finger. After a picnic lunch, the boys played on a toddler sized playground for about an hour. Max discovered how to slide all by himself and also that mulch can be a very nice playtime snack. The weather has been amazing park weather and gives us all so much more energy than the frigged winter wind. The sun was not out today, but we could still feel its warmth. At this moment Max is conked out in his crib. I expect this nap to be much longer than norm

Max is really tryi ng to walk! To day was the first day that he took his first "intentional" steps without holding on to someone or something! We were about to leave to go to our Bible study group and Max stopped holding on to the recliner and starting walking. Jeff then stood him up and we tried to encourage him to walk to me...and he did. In this video you can see a couple of steps and then a "monkey walk"....too funn y! He walked back and forth from J eff and I for about 10 minutes. I videoed it all, but could only send a small clip. Max was so excited about walking to each of us and getting a huge hug at the end of his trip. He smiled so big and waved his arms with excitement! We are so proud of him...our little Max Man!

When we were first Married, Jeff's Dad would always ask us if we still love eachother...well we do. This weekend we are celebrating our 6 year anniversery of our first date! I had to show off what Jeff got me because it is so neat. He said it is to help me feed Cooper...but I know he wanted it for himself too. He is very sneaky...hehe. Anyway, I will be enjoying my new Eagle's Nest lounger for a very long time. (If you come to visit us I might let you try it out.)

So I had my normal monthly doctor's appointment today and I told Jeff that he did not have to come, but he wanted to....thank goodness he did! My appointment was in the middle of Max's normal nap time and he was not going to be happy sitting in his stroller in a new place. Jeff pushed him all over that hospital while I waited to be seen and we must have given him a dozen crackers to give his hands and mouth something to do. We made it out of the doc.'s office with a good report and one tired toddler. Max was asleep in the car before I got out of the hospital parking lot! The picture I posted is one of my favorites. It is Max in our new double stroller happy as can be waiting on Cooper to be born. They will be great friends....I bet 2 crying babies in the stroller would have been a lot worse...let's not think of that just yet.

It seems that we have a little engineer in our family! I'm not sure if he will be mechanical like his daddy or a train engineer, but he sure is cute! Today is discovered a new way of playing with his train and his phone (mommy's old cell). He was so proud every time he saw the phone go through the shoot. Make sure you turn your volume up so you can hear him "hum" with delight. It was so wonderfully cute how proud he was of himself! Enjoy. (P.S. Today he also started saying "bla bla bla..." and flicking his tongue to make the funniest sound and fill his shirt with slobber.)

I am almost 28 weeks pregnant....this is rediculus! I am just glad that I'm not an elephant...I hear they are preg. for A LOT longer.

T o most people, snow is a wonderful thing. It is so beautiful and can turn an ordinary backyard into a brand new playground complete with snowball throwing and snowman building. This is not the case for our adorable 13 month old. I don't think Max was terrified, but he was "scared stiff". We went o utside to walk in the snow together, and as soon as he took a few steps he froze-and not because it was cold. I could not get him to smile for the life of me. Oh well, we did have a sweet moment when I looked back and saw his and my footprints side-by-side. I bet next year will be a lot different!