Crazy Catch-Up With The Hubers!

I've fallen a bit behind, I'm sad to say, with my blog! It has been such a whirlwind for our family the last few months and now things have began to settle down....thank God.

So - I'll begin my backtracking!

In June, 3 weeks after moving back home to California, we took an AMAZING trip to Maui! We went with our good friends Tayva, Joe and their beautiful baby girl Ziva. We met Tayva and Joe in our baby/pregnancy classes that we took before Max was born and our kiddos were only born about a week apart from each other! They are too cute together. In Maui, we spent time on the beach, driving the 'death' road to Hana....well...actually the boys took us ALL around the island. Not only to Hana. We felt like we were in Mars, the jungle, about to die....the whole car ride. Thank goodness our families are both blessed with wonderful children :) We hit up the pineapple winery that is on the island - SO good. Brought a couple bottles back home just to enjoy and 'take us back' to Maui! We also took an awesome sailboat race on the water...so much fun....and we got SO wet! Steve and I did a lot of snorkeling while we were there - saw tons of beautiful fish and caught a glimpse of quite a few sea turtles. It is amazing to be out in the water with nothing but beauty around you.....although there is that ever growing fear of something trying to eat you!! Steve is quite the adventurer - and no catamaran boat was going to take us out snorkeling....NO way. He plopped our booties in the car and took us out on his own snorkeling adventure......and this is why I love him! Unsafe...yes. But oh so fun.
When we flew home from Maui we made a stop in Portland - spent a few nights on the floor - and worked on the house. We spent all day - everyday there - finishing up all the crap that we had to leave behind because we were on such a short schedule when we originally left. Steve drove another moving truck back to California while Max and I got to fly this time. It was only fair!

We celebrated Max's first birthday on September 3rd! Our little man is getting so big! We went to the zoo, fairytale town and out to eat. Then celebrated at home with a cupcake for Max to dig into....and didn't really enjoy. On Saturday we had a small family bbq, opened presents and ate more cake! Max did wonderful the whole day - but was sooo incredibly tired by the time everyone left.

Halloween was a blast - Max was a dragon and I decorated his wagon as a castle. Too cute! He had such a great time dressing up, going to the doors, reaching in the bowls for candy......but I don't think anyone had as much fun as his daddy!! Steve dressed up as a VERY big,VERY pink Frankenberry.......Ah, yes, I do love this man! Mr. Business by day/Frankenberry by night....this man keeps me on my toes! I bet his son will do the same :) Never a dull moment in this household.

And last but definitely not least, Max took his first steps last week. Now, this little guy has waited sooo long to walk - that there was no in-between period. He went from crawling to running in about a 10 minute period! My house has not been safe since. He is adorable - running here and there wanting to check out everything from his new found stance.

Daddy's First Daddy Day

Yay for Steve's first Daddy Day! Not that I have to mention it - but Steve is an AMAZING dad. He and Max are a little two-some! They are so much fun to watch together. It shouldn't just have to be A day that is set aside for all the wonderful daddy's out there. Hopefully Steve knows how thoroughly he is appreciated for being such a great dad. Max is definitely a lucky baby. Daddy is always there to hug on him, swing him, or take him for a fun ride up on his shoulders. Steve's Daddy day was spent out on the boat and then followed up by a bbq over at my parents house. He had lots of fun fishing and kicking the soccer ball around with the boys. Once again, yay for Daddy!!

Hello Sunshine....Goodbye Rain

So here we go! The moving truck is out in front of the house, my home is a MESS, and we are almost ready to head on out of here. It's a bittersweet ending to our run in the beautiful Pacific Northwest.
The bitter? Having to leave such an amazing place that we have come to call home.....
The sweet? Steve has transferred/taken a new position at his company that we are all VERY excited about. He's been traveling out to Miami quite a bit and now he's taking this program nationwide! (Insert round of applause - so lame- from me, right here!)
The even more sweet? We're moving back to Sacramento. Folsom/Fair Oaks more specifically. It is going to be amazing for our little Max to grow up around his adoring family. He will never know a life without his grandparents - which Steve and I were SO incredibly blessed to have had and remember.
This is fast you think? Us too! We found out we were moving while Steve was on a business trip in Miami a few weeks ago. We got home - packed him up - and sent him down to Sacramento. I stayed behind with Max packing as fast as I could. Thankfully I have SUCH amazing parents - who flew up with Steve on Thursday to help pack, load the truck, and drive home. My parents are so incredibly helpful - always there to help out when we need it. Thank God for them. I can't even begin to say enough.
Poor Max, doesn't know what's happening. All he knows is he wants to be held, up 'in the mix', and as close to any one of us as possible. He's flying home with Steve tomorrow. We're not about to make him drive in the car for 10 hours. He's got such a personality on him lately! He either DOES or DOESN'T want things - and man, will he let you know. I love him......can't wait to bring him home!

More East Coast Adventures!

Last week Steve, Max and I returned home from Miami. This was Max and my 2nd time out there....and Steve's 4th. Crazy. We had such a fun trip though. Lots of time to relax and enjoy being a family. We went to the beach everyday - and what's wonderful about Miami is that if it's 9am or 9pm....the water is a beautiful 79 degrees. It was like swimming in a giant bath. Definitely had to keep our eyes open though. Steve was out in the water and out of no where a huge manta ray was swimming by him. The next day we saw a man catch a shark from the shore. THEN we saw a dead blow fish washed up into the sand!! It's scary to think that these fish are in waist deep water! Be careful!
Max had an awesome time out in Florida. I took him to the Palm Beach Metro Zoo. It was his first time going to a zoo and he LOVED it! His favorite things to look at? A rooster that roamed the zoo, flamingos and the swan that was bathing himself and splashing us! Lots of giggles and lots of babbles! I also took him on a 130 mile drive up north while Steve was working. I went on an adventure trying to find some fun things to do. We went to the Manatee Observation in Port Lucia and the Treasure museum in Sebastian. I should have saved our time.....so LAME! Now I have driven the Florida coast from Sebastian to Key Biscayne. Super cool. We hung out in Juno and Jupiter that day and had some fun in the sun after Daddy was done working. Some more fun things we did was go to the biggest flee market in the US - pretty cool. Visited an ancient Spanish monastery shipped over from Europe - very neat. We went to Viscaya - a huge mansion/museum on the ocean with beautiful gardens - it was stunning. Then we went to Lion Safari. This was awesome. You start out by driving through 7 miles of roaming animals. We saw Rhinos, Lions, Antelope, Zebra, Water Buffalo, Ostrich's, and tons of others just - roaming around. I thought Max would get a kick out of the drive but instead was more interested in the sticker on the visor....isn't that how it works though?? Great times though!!

Fun On The Trail

Had an awesome time the other day walking through and discovering some new parks in our area! Max really seemed to enjoy all the flowers and bugs!

California Dreamin'

A few weeks ago we flew in to California for another of Steve's business trips. I love that Max and I get to tag along - I love being able to go home and have Max see our families. So, while Steve was off working, fishing and golfing....I know - he's got it rough - Max and I spent time with the family. We did a lot of work around Keri's bridal shower....super fun....and tooled around Folsom. We had a really fun dinner with Steve's family over at his Grandma's house and also enjoyed some good food with my parents, brother, sister in law and nieces. We had a great time walking around the neighborhood, taking pictures in the backyard and enjoying the sunshine!!

I Love You, Goodnight

For my boys -
I love you like I love blueberry pancakes.
I love you like I love strawberry milkshakes.
I love you like frogs love flies.
I love you like pigs love pies.
I love you like mice love cheese.
I love you like vines love trees.
I love you like the wind loves blowing.
I love you like plants love growing.
I love you like boots love splashing in puddles.
I love you like bears love kisses and cuddles.
I love you like the moon at night:
big and round and warm and bright.
I love you, Goodnight.