We wish you a Merry Christmas!

Max's new lawn mower, or carpet mower, compliments of Todd, Carren, & Travis!

Zak and I at the DCB Christmas party!

My favorite tradition at Christmas time! (as you can see, it's Max's too ;) Crown Center at Christmas is such a wonderful place to visit!

Jo Marie think he looks just like she did as a baby in this one! The sweet radio flyer bumper car came from Nana & Papa Bolick.

Can you tell his personality by this one??

Um, Max, the bone is actually for Abby!

What are Zak and I doing, you ask? Well, looks like we are trying to look as silly as possible in front of the mixer.

LOOK! Another present!

We've wrapped up (no pun intended!) another holiday with Max and it's been such a blast. We celebrated our first Christmas in our new home and started some new traditions. All of the presents pictured are from overly generous family! Max received some of the neatest presents this Christmas from all of his grandparents (When you have 6 grandparents you can really LOAD UP!), great-grandparents, and great aunt and uncle. He is one lucky boy to have so many loving family members! Zak, Max and I hope you've all had a fantastic holiday with your family and friends.

In other Max related news, we are constantly amazed by his growing vocabulary. He can say about 45 words and seems to be adding a new ones daily. It is so fun to see him communicate with words. He loves taking baths these days and lives for giving Abby treats. Now that I think about it, I bet Abby likes this new trait of his as well, perhaps better than he does!

We are settling into our new home and continue to slowly make changes to it to make it our own. Zak just celebrated his fourth year at Douglas County Bank and I'm still working at Washburn University, Kansas University, and Insight Schools of Kansas. It's a busy time in our lives, but we wouldn't change a thing. Until next time, thanks for visiting our blog!

Happenings since Halloween...

Well, we have certainly been busy since our last post! We have moved into our new home, and although it took a little while to get settled, each and every day feels more and more like home and not just another house! We have met most all of our neighbors, and we couldn't be more thrilled to give Max such a neat house, neighborhood, and school to grow up with.

We spent Thanksgiving at home in Kansas, but after lunch, we had to head out to Bass Pro Shop in Olathe to see the fishies, beep beeps, and of course Santa Claus. Above, you can see Jo Marie, Max, and I warming up by the fire at the entrance of Bass Pro Shop. Max is so much fun in that store, as he mocks the fishies, points to the different animals, and rides the beep beeps. Thanks to Grandpa Jon for getting him out of the city, and into nature, I guess...

You can see that the table is set for Thanksgiving lunch, and we were lucky enough to have Santa there with us. Grandma Kay has been working with Max to get him as comfortable as possible with Santa Claus. So, she picked up a 'slightly smaller than life size' Santa for us to all talk to, hug, dance with, and even eat dinner with, so that Max could see we were comfortable around him too. And it worked! He didn't even cry when he visited the Santa at Bass Pro Shop!

Here we are at the Old Fashion Christmas Parade in downtown Lawrence. Boy was it cold!

And finally, Max posing with his Ho-Ho-Ho hat, which he really does not mind, believe it or not! Thank you so much for visiting our blog, and be sure to follow us if you are not already doing so. We'll be sure to update you all on the rest of the holiday season at the Bolick house in cold, wintry Kansas!

Halloween 2010

We're walking! That's right! Max took his first steps about 2 weeks ago. He is running all over the place, and I love it! He is just so fun to watch.

Zak's parents and brother made it into town for a concert and we had a great time carving pumpkins and spending time together.

And, have you ever seen a cuter rodant??? Max is at a really fun stage. I most amazed by his vocabulary. I long ago stopped reading parenting books because I would get paranoid that he was behind, but he seems to be doing quite well with talking - wonder where he got that from?

Pumpkin Patch and Visit to SC

Oh, how our little Max has changed in a year. This is a picture of Max last year at the pumpkin patch, where it may have been a bit of a stretch to get his to stay put during the picture...

And here is a picture, ironically enough, of us trying to get Max to stay put while taking his picture!

And another...Max had a really good time at the pumpkin patch helping mommy and daddy pick out the perfect carving pumpkin. He's such a good little guy!

Here is Jo Marie and Max in front of the winning pumpkin, picked right off of the vine! Don't worry, the blemish on the front of the pumpkin is just a little dirt!

And here, you will find Daddy and Max, enjoying the thrill of the hunt!

Besides visiting the pumpkin patch, we were also lucky enough to head out to South Carolina to visit with Grandpa Frank and Grandma Kathy. Our trip was amazing, as the weather and food were good, the company was fun, and Max wasn't the loudest screamer on the plane. In fact, prior to getting on on our flight out of Kansas City, we met an adorable little girl who is just a month older than Max. She and her family ended up sitting on the same side of the plane as us, about 8-10 rows back, if I had to guess. Not long after take off, she screamed her little head off, for much of the duration of the flight. At several points, Max would hear her, and fake scream, as if to mock her. He certainly had the couple of rows behind us cracking up at him! Here is Frank & Kathy with Max at the Mellow Mushroom in downtown Greenville, which is one b-e-a-utiful place to visit in the fall!

Here, Grandpa Frank is giving Max his first taste of a southern staple, Shrimp & Grits. We spent Saturday morning at the Fall for Greenville Festival, which was awesome. Max LOVED Frank's Shrimp & Grits, and nearly ate the whole bowl!

We also got to take a ride in Frank & Kathy's new home on wheels, which is really, really nice! It'll be fun to see them when they roll through Kansas on their trek across the US next year!

All in all, we have been really busy, as you can probably tell. We are getting really excited for Papa Tim, Nana Renay and Muncle Josh to visit next weekend. They will get to see Max over Halloween, which should be quite the hoot! The little booger is beginning to walk, so be sure to stay tuned for a great video of him doing what he does best, which is showing off.

A profitable Halloween...

I found this picture and grateful to see Poppy so happy holding baby Max. I miss taking Max to see his poppy!

Flashback to last halloween!!

I wanted to hop on my soapbox for just a minute and tell you to find things to sell around your house if you want/need extra money - Zak's Waldo sold for $15, my TMNT sold for $59 and Max's lobster sold for $12. Not bad for stuff we had stored in a garbage bag. If you have questions about selling on ebay, I'd be glad to help out.

Zak and I aren't dressing up this year, but watch out for Max, we have two really good options (now, if I could just decide, I'd sell the other ;)

Some of Momma's favorites!

The window at the front door is a new favorite toy!

Max's sitter-in-training - he loves spending time with Paige!

What a cheeseball!

Yep, that's right, my shirt says Math Team :)

Chilling with mommy!

Update: Looks like if the sellers agree to the inspection requests, we'll have a house! :)


Hope you enjoy the pictures! We sure are enjoying Max!

Our new (potential!) house!

Well, we are still working out the details, but we are officially under contract on a new house. We were fortunate enough to have flexibility and time on our sides, so that we could be a bit picky in finding a new house for our family. We were able to find this house in a fantastic neighborhood on the west side of Lawrence, in an awesome school district, with a little room to grow. It is on a corner lot, and Jo Marie and I could not be more excited! The inspection is this afternoon, and closing is scheduled for November 1st! So, wish us luck with all of the details, and we'll be sure to post pictures once we have them, and when we know it is ours! Stay tuned...

Video of Max walking, talking, and playing outside!

Well, it has been a very, very long time since we uploaded a video onto Max's blog. We found the appropriate cord following Move #1, so here is a recent video I took with Max playing out in front of the house with his Radio Flyer.

Now that we have the video camera dug out, and the cord has been located, be sure to check up on us from time to time to see Max exploring his new digs, along with other accomplishments that he seems to conquer each and every day! Hope you enjoyed, see you all soon, but not soon enough!

We've moved!

First of all, let me apologize for not updating the blog to update the status of our house and family before now. On August 20, we moved from our first little home on Rhode Island Street in downtown Lawrence. We sold the house in a short 6 days, and thankfully, the nice folks that bought our home also own a townhouse on the west side of town that they agreed to lease to us until we can find our next home. So, we closed on the house, and moved. Although the house hunt continues, we are so very grateful to have a comfortable place to settle in the meantime. Other than that, Jo Marie has gone back to her respective jobs. She is:

1) Teaching two math classes online,
2) Observing student teachers in the math department for KU,
3) Teaching two courses at her Alma Mater, Washburn University, and
4) Selling items on eBay, when time permits!

I am very proud of her, and her ability to manage her time so effectively, doing the things she really enjoys!

Max is still growing like a weed. He is crawling faster and faster, and this past weekend he managed to stay standing up while moving from the ottoman to the coffee table, albeit the trip is only an arms length away! He is talking his own language non-stop, and at the pool, he even sits on the edge and jumps in over and over again, laughing the whole time. Jo Marie and I often talk about how blessed we are to have such a happy little guy to call our own son.

Here he is laughing about wearing his 'Max' hat that Grandma Rozzelle made for him, although now it is a bit too small!

And here he is being the happy little fellow he is (most of the time!).

Thanks for checking us out, and I'll post some more pictures when I can of the comings and goings of the Bolick clan!

Happy Birthday Max!

Well, it was obvious that Max was excited about his first birthday, since this is how we found him after his morning nap:

After his nap, he was lucky enough to spend the rest of his birthday with his new friends at Ginger's daycare, where he shared bubbles with all of his friends. Later on in the weekend, we were able to have a lot of Jo Marie's family out to the house, along with our closest friends with children (that all happen to be within a few months or so of Max). There, we officially celebrated Max's birthday party with cupcakes, Jo Marie's #1 cake, fruit, veggies, meatballs, and more!

Max even got his own cupcake, which he loved!

Afterwards, we opened presents, played with our toys, and visited with friends and family. All in all, it was a very fun (albeit stressful) event!

Max has truly been a joy to the lives of Jo Marie and I. Each and everyday, we cannot believe the fun little guy that he is turning into. Each day is a suprise, to say the least. Happy 1st birthday Max, and here's to many, many more!

1329 is on the market!

Well, it is official. We have placed 1329 Rhode Island on the market. Not only is this Max's first house, but it was Jo Marie and my first owned house as well. We are a bit sad to see the for sale sign in the front yard, but there has been a little bit of early activity which makes us feel good about the work that we have put into the little place, and we are excited about where we will land next. Click on this link to see our Visual Tour: http://www.visualtour.com/shownp.asp?sk=13&t=2254899.

We are looking for a larger house in Lawrence or the neighboring town to the east, Eudora, but have not committed to anything just yet. We'll be sure to keep everyone updated as things progress, and wish us luck on finding the perfect house, neighbors, and neighborhood for Jo Marie, Max, Abby, and myself!

He moves and bites!

Max doesn't scale walls yet, but I couldn't get the picture to rotate!

Happy 4th!

Max saying goodbye to friend Charlie - he moved all the way to Topeka!

Mom and dad are thinking it is time for a new house, Poor Max is getting too big for the bathroom sink ;)

While we were in Wilmington, Max became an expert crawler. He is moving all over the place now!

He also has eight teeth, that's right friends, eight!


Can you believe he'll be one in a little over three weeks? Can someone explain to me how time passes so quickly with a little one?!?!

Summer Vacation 2010

Well, we were fortunate enough to make it out to NC for a little while, amongst finishing up with graduate school, work, and life as we know it in KS. It was nice to get away from it all for a few days, and Max seemed to enjoy his first beach trip, to none other than Wrightsville Beach, NC.

We spent a few days with Uncle Houston, where he learned a whole new way to eat watermelon!

And I think you can tell, he thouroghly enjoyed it!

Max seemed to be right at home on the beach, whether we were sitting in the sand, or heading into the water.

After our beach trip, we went into Reidsville, NC to spend the rest of our time with Max's grandparents, muncle Josh, great-grandparents, and other east coast family. In fact, we were able to spend the eve of Pop's birthday with him, enjoying a nice (albeit hot) day at Rockingham Lake.

Happy 80th Pop!

All in all, it was really nice to spend a few days down on the beach. It was also nice to spend several days with family, friends, southern hospitality, good food, great weather, and most of all each other. We are going to settle back down in Kansas for the rest of the summer, and are going to try to make it to Asheville, NC to visit with Grandpa Frank & Kathy this fall. Happy summer everyone! Thanks for checkin' up on us.