Six Months Ago ...

 It is hard to believe that we have reached the 6th month mark already.  This month was full of celebrations and summer fun!

Max is starting to realize that his mom loves to take pictures and document life through pictures.  Pictures are worth 1000 words right? Well Max experienced his first photo shoot disaster with his siblings. 

His mom had this great idea for Father's Day picture and it happened to be the hottest day of the summer to date.  The pictures didn't go quite as planned and Max was done! It is all about the memories right?

We celebrated Eric's first Father's Day as a daddy to four.  I know Eric would say he is blessed even on the days when life seems crazy.  Max has his daddy wrapped around his little finger. 

Max put on quite a show as he fell asleep during our Father's Day brunch.  When Max is tired it is all over and he falls asleep wherever he is.  This is first time Eric and the kids had experienced the nod off at the table. 

I just couldn't resist this cute little shot of our little man's bottom as he was so sad his mommy was making him come in for a nap and miss out on the fun outside.  He was begging to be rescued by his sisters and brother.

Max has quickly been introduced to school.  His sisters love to play school and they now have a cute little student that often cooperates with them.  They better take advantage of it now because I have a feeling he may not be as cooperative in the months to come.  It is so much fun to see his siblings loving on him.

He also got to experience his first birthday party.  He just couldn't be left out at his brother's party and joined right in with those boys on their bug hunt.

Max loves to dress up and it just happens that there is easy access to princess high heals at our house so that is his shoe of choice at the moment.

It was pretty special to celebrate Max's first 4th of July this year as an American citizen.  I love seeing him wave the red, white and blue. 

He thought all the festivities were pretty great too! He got a kick out of the pops when he figured out how to throw them hard enough.

He also experienced his first sparkler with Papa.  What a great way to celebrate Max's first 4th of July ... at the lake with family and all the festivities. 

The lake is a little boy paradise ... there are bubbles ....

water ....

trucks ...

sand ....

swimming ....

and picnic lunches with brothers.  Max loved his time at the lake and once again jumped right in to the action and let the fun begin.

Wild Water West was another highlight of Max's month.  We spent a couple days a week enjoying the water on our hot summer days. There was no stopping Max when it came to life at Wild Water West.  He had no boundaries, no fear and loved everything about the water park.  This mom was often ready to crash when she got home from chasing her little ball of energy around the water park. I can take crashing at the end of the day when it means I have been chasing a little boy with a huge love for life and energy that pours out of him when just 6 months ago he was laying on a mat on an orphanage floor hardly moving or making noises.  Love has breathed life into this little boy! 

He often would attack the water fountains with a mouth wide open. 

After he went through the fountain and was completely drenched he would come out on the other end with a huge smile.

We quickly learned Max loved everything about the slides and the bigger the better.

He loved playing with the big boys and they had a mutual love for him.

Every time he made it down a slide there was a huge smile and a squeal to go with it! 

 It has been fun to see Max experience so many things for the 1st time.  He continues to embrace life with every ounce of himself and live it to the fullest.  Next month is a big month for Max.  We can't wait to experience more of life with Max through his big brown eyes.