They Meet, and Meet, and Meet…

Although their journey is still very new and they just celebrated their first wedding anniversary, Mom and Dad’s paths have been crossing for many years. It began many years ago when they both attended Girl Scout camp at Camp Kiwanis. Dad’s mother, “Bugs,” was the camp nurse and Dad was in the boys’ unit.

Many years later, they met one night at the Brewery Exchange in Lowell, Mass., where Mom was a cocktail waitress. The Brewery sponsored Dad’s semi-pro football team that year. The bar was looking to put together a cheerleading team, so Mom decided to join the squad. The cheering thing didn’t really workout for the league, so she soon started supporting the team by becoming their statistician. Now, 10+ years later, Mom feels very fortunate to have seen Dad play football. That whole experience was a great time in both of their lives.

Their paths would continue to cross throughout the years, but it was just a few years ago that they began their life together. They’ve traveled to Florida, Las Vegas, Washington DC, Baltimore, North Carolina, and Hawaii. They’ve also gone on their first cruise together. Mom and Dad moved 1,500 miles away from their friends and families to sunny Orlando, Florida. Mom started a new job working for the Department of Veteran Affairs in Lake Nona. Shortly following they would become engaged, build a house, get married, and bring this little bundle of joy into the family.

It’s a Boy!

Although Mom didn’t want to know, Dad was really interested in finding out the gender, as he already has two older boys. They decided to do a surprise gender reveal while they were in Boston for the holidays. A close family friend made Christmas ornaments that everyone opened simultaneously. During a family brunch, everyone opened the glass balls to find blue sand!

That Name

Dad really liked Brock. Mom and Dad were pretty certain they were going to go with Lee as a middle name as both Mom and Dad’s middle names are Lee/Leigh. So that would have left them with Brock Lee. “Broccoli” was not going to fly with Mom! This kid would definitely be the talk of the town if we had decided on Brock Lee!

Mom really liked Cooper, but they have a close friend whose son’s name is Cooper. During their wedding ceremony Mom’s father made a comment during his speech that he couldn’t wait for Max Power to come up to bat and hit homeruns. Now a year later, Mom’s father was on to something. They would end up deciding on Max! During their maternity shoot we took pictures with a sign saying Max Lee but in actuality Max was born on Star Wars Day- May the 4th and would become Max Vader Power (MVP).

Max Arrives

Mom and Dad say they had the BEST OB/GYN in the world and that made their labor and delivery. They were very fortunate to have found such a great physician! Mom was induced and at 8:30 am and had Max at 9:18 pm. After Max was born everyone wore custom shirts that announced Max Power’s arrival delivered by Dr. Snook.

Mom and Dad had a 3D ultrasound done at 32 weeks. That ultrasound showed that Max really looked like Mom! This was definitely true when Max was born. He had blonde hair and blue eyes just like his Mother!

First Impressions

The first time Mom saw Max she was still in quite a bit of pain but was overjoyed to have finally met the little bundle that had been growing inside of her for 10 months. Their first skin-to-skin was the most fulfilling, special moment that she will certainly never forget. The first time Dad saw Max he was very emotional. He couldn’t believe the amount of love he had for him immediately.

Mom says having Max still doesn’t feel real! The first few days auntie and uncle were here to help Mom and Dad. Max has been really good since he’s been home only feeding once a night which has allowed Mom and Dad to get far more sleep than they predicted! Mom and Dad love having Max home, he truly has completed they family!