4th of July @ The Steele's

On the Sunday we left Evansville, we headed up to the Steele's (Aunt Sasse, Uncle Darren, and cousins Maddie & Eli) house in Brownsburgh, IN to celebrate the 4th. Aunt Ellie and her boyfriend, Tyler, made the trip up from Nashville, and aunt Hattie lives Indy making it the rare occasion that all of the Small siblings are together at once.

The Steele's are so accommodating and have such a beautiful home. Aunt Sasse did a marvelous job planning out the weekend, making sure everyone was well fed, comfortable, and happy. Everyone got some good time in with Max and were amazed by how big he's gotten since they last saw him. It rained most the time we were there but we made the best of it. Sunday night we had a Low Boil for dinner where Shrimp, Sausage, Corn, and Potatoes were cooked and served by being poured over newspaper on top of the dining room table. It was delicious and hopefully becomes a staple at Small get-togethers. After dinner Darren put on great firework show while everybody sat on a tarp by the pool and sang Proud To Be An American.

On Monday, the 4th, it was still raining so we played games and hung out around the basement bar. The family slowly filtered out throughout the day. That night the rain cleared and made for a beautiful and cool night. We sat out by the pool with Sass and Darren and watched the fireworks go off throughout the neighborhood. They were huge, constant, and from all directions. It was really cool and Max surprisingly slept through it all. We took off early on Tuesday morning to head home to home to Wisconsin. Max was once again a great traveler and slept the entire trip.

American Boy.

Cousin Eli wanted to hold Max this visit. We are so excited for Max to have Eli to look up to as his older boy cousin. It's a lot to put on a four year old, but we think Eli will set a great example for Max. He's one of the sweetest and most considerate kids, and he's crazy about playing sports. 

Aunt Ellie got her wish when Max fell asleep on her chest. 

Uncle Baby Sammy feeding Max at a gas station stop on the way from Evansville to Brownsburgh. Pretty sure that as this picture is being taken, Max is soaking himself, Sam's shirt, and the pillow with pee. 

The Low Boil.

Trip to Evansville

We took advantage of the 3-day weekend and decided to chance taking Max on the 7 hour car ride to Gus's hometown of Evansville, IN. We are so glad we did because Max couldn't have been a better traveler, and he got to see and meet a lot of the Evansville fam.

We got an early start on Friday and only had to stop twice on the way down to Indiana. Mimi and Pops were very excited to have their grandson at home for the next couple of days. They recently updated their kitchen, and Friday night we hung around the kitchen island eating chicken potpie and snacking on delicious Misses Mrs Cookies. The Hentons (Aunt Amy, Uncle Keith, and cousins Andie, Carlie, & Lucie) came by Friday night to hang out and meet Max. It was cool for Gus to see his cousins holding Max. He can remember when each of them was born and holding them when they were Max's age.

Max's moccasins were a hit. 

On Saturday we brought Max over to meet his great grandparents, Mama Jan & Paw Paw. They got to meet & hold him for the first time. It was a great moment seeing Mama Jan feed him his bottle and being able to get a 4 generations picture with Paw Paw. 

Mama Jan feeding Max his bottle.

4 Generations of Small men.

After we got back from Mama Jan & Paw Paw's, we had a string of visitors. Uncle Ubbie, Uncle Freddy, Uncle Joe, Uncle Keith, Aunt Suzanne, Aunt Martha, and cousins Frances, Annie, and Dannie B stopped in throughout the day. Max was pretty sleepy from the trip so he mainly napped in everyone's arms.

Max & Uncle Jobey

Max & Cousin Frances

It was a great experience, seeing family members that we love and mean so much to us, finally get to meet and hold Max. We wish we could see everyone more, and look forward to all the good times getting together in the future.

Catching Up

It's been almost 4 weeks since the last post, and we are amazed by how much Max is growing. Max has started to stay awake for longer periods of time, and he's been smiling quite a bit when awake. When those big blues look at us in the eyes and smile it's the best feeling. He's into typical 10 week old stuff  such as eating, being walked around, being outside in the fresh air, staring at the fan, car rides, baths, and eating. He is starting to enjoy laying on his playmat, and this past weekend he grasped and held onto one of the rings that hang off of the mat, which was really cool. We can tell he's focusing and reacting to specific items more. Max has even started to pay a little bit of attention to Oscar! We love you Max, you've changed our whole world and we couldn't be happier.

 

Max got to meet Kelsey's cousin, Lindsay's, kids Ruby, Lola, & Carson.

Friday Night Fish Tacos with Max on the Monona Terrace, on of our favorite spots in Madison during the summer.

Daytime walks with Oscar & Max